The Resilient

The bustle of the room continued to grow as the clock chimed. Just at that moment the crowd went quiet and a short chubby alien with eight arms and four eyes. He stood on two legs and held himself high as he spoke in the traders tongue, welcoming everyone to the slave trade. Looking around there was several different species of aliens standing around with others chained or bound in various ways. The human man was forced to stand in a hall slightly behind. They weren't keeping him hidden per say, but they didn't want him in the center of attention yet.

It took a matter of minutes to go through the first two auctions, soon enough it was his turn. The human man was forced onto stage as he fought and cursed in the English language. That stopped as his body convulsed and a electric shock was sent through his body. He collapsed to the ground. There was a chuckle from the crowd before the bidding commenced at a sarcastically low price for a slave. The last slaves had sold 300 or more Kuffles each, the bidding for this man though started at 25. He however just spit at their feet, almost egging them on, causing them to curse at him some, kicking him while he was down.

 

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"Hold your position. I will be there shortly." Though they may have been desparate to save one of their own kind he was not about to allow the crew to throw themselves in harm's way when there was no need. Garrett had followed Emma's description of the area he needed to keep an eye out for heading left from Resilient and going through the third door on the right while moving as fast as he could without running. In another few moments he arrived by Emma's side after having spotted her but kept his distance from the entrance after making a quick peek around the corner to ensure that the human had not been placed on auction just yet.

It seemed the Admiral had given her blessing on completing the mission here without her and with good measure. The admiral could not just put herself in harm's way for everything that popped up and she was certainly going to be amongst the first to greet their fellow human in any case assuming things went well. "Just keep an eye out for the highest bidder. We'll track down the buyer and take him once we're away from this crowd." Garrett moved to the other side of the entrance and leaned against the wall while he casually peeked inside. If only they could have done something about these kinds of sales...but with their limited firepower there was little in the way of doing anything from stopping the slave trade once and for all.

It didn't take much longer for their person of interest to show up. The bidding had started out low and the man's attitude only caused a beating from his handlers. Sensing that this might disturb or provoke Emma he calmly spoke. "He won't be in this situation much longer. Whatever harm they're doing to him now can be fixed once he's back being looked at by Simon." Garrett spoke lowly so that no random passerby could hear him.

 

The bidding was slow, which suited the man fine. If he went for cheap then they wouldn't want him around long and perhaps he could get away. If he did get away he didn't know what he would do with himself. Perhaps he would just kill himself, it was better than being a slave to someone else. Or perhaps he could try and find those humans, though that would require a ship, and that wouldn't happen. He studied the last bidder, the one that he assumed was going to put a claim on him, and a new mark of ownership, when there was one more bid. Glancing over it wasn't just another alien that bid, but the voice seemed to come from a purple haired girl. Purple, just like that annoying little brat on the Everlast that always had a habit of making him smile. He thought back to the ship for a quick moment before his thoughts were interrupted by a sharp yank on his chains as he was lead away until the end of the auction.

When the auction eventually came to a close, the man was taken back to the stage to meet with the person who had bought him. The alien handling the man had a bit of a devious grin on his face as he studied the girl. "So that will be 65 Kuffles. Plus an additional 30 for transfer costs. And 80 for the documentation. When the money is in hand and the papers are signed, he is yours to do as you please with." The alien told Kathi. The costs were completely made up and usually cost 10 and 20 respectively but seeing as this was a human buying another human, he had a feeling that he could get away with getting more money out of this, and since he was forced to sell the slave for so cheap, may as well take what he could get. The man meanwhile kept his eyes down, refusing to let himself build false hope towards being with his own kind until the transfer was complete. He knew that the pricing was not realistic but his entire body hurt and he didn't want to make things worse on himself.

 

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This was what he wanted to avoid. Simply buying the slave had obviously been the most direct and easy solution but there had been one very important reason why he did not pursue it. It was wrong on principle. By buying the human they were validating the slavers barbaric business. It was sickening that this kind of thing was allowed on the station. For all the terrible things he had seen over the years it still surprised him how backwards some races were when humanity had long abolished slavery centuries ago. Then again, humanity had allowed their own planet to fall into ruin...

With a sigh, Garrett spoke directly towards Emma and the just-newly-arrived Allec. "Finish gathering the supplies we need and return to the ship. There's nothing to see here." His voice was sterner than usual, a hint of disappointment present. Ensign Rierson had disobeyed orders and she would have to pay the consequences later but for now it seemed that since his original plan was no longer an option he had no choice but to step in to ensure everything went smoothly. The commander headed inside the auctioning room listening in just as the seller was finishing the list of added charged to Kathi's original bid. Typical scum behavior. It only made sense that they would be overcharged given how apparent it was that they were the same species as the slave.

If Garrett had been twenty years younger he would have fired his pistol into the air before pressing the barrel, heated by plasma, against the seller's face for his sheer greed. However, acting on such violent urges would have only placed his people in danger and would likely ruin the trade agreements Admiral Carrillo had worked so hard to forge. Not to mention, if he so much as reached for his gun they would be outnumbered in seconds. Swallowing his pride Garrett spoke when he reached Kathi's side. "So that would make it 175 Kuffles." Garrett made no attempt to make eye contact with the ensign. "We can pay your fee."

 

The slaver's expression tightened as he tightened his grip on the mans chains, yanking them slightly. He clearly was not impressed with the fact that someone was smart enough to read the sign and understand it properly. There was some deliberation on the traders part as he thought through his options. He could still try for more, but if they gave up, especially on such a broken man, then he would not make that much money on the man again. Still he was bitter on the matter and looked over at the slave, who thankfully had stayed quiet for once.

"20 and 40 and he is yours." The slaver said as he glanced over at the man who had said he would pay before. "I assume you are the one in charge of these children? Perhaps you should put chains on them too. Keep them in control." He scoffed, clearly not impressed with the way things were going. "Meet me in the office and bring the money, the papers will be waiting." It was clear he was frustrated as he turned to leave, yanking the mans chains hard enough to make him fall forward. He tried to brace is fall with one hand, but it merely slowed it for a moment before his arm gave out and he hit the ground. The slaver let out a gruff laugh before giving the man a kick in the side and ordering him to his feet, disappearing down and corridor.

 

Sitting in her office Dania was going through their finances, seeing how much money they had to spare on this ship in preparation for the lists coming in. The back of her mind she wondered how the situation with the slave was going on. Soon the first list came in from her Captain. "As a reminder, please mark what is of utmost importance and what are things you want. I will try to accommodate everything, but I must make sure that money is put towards the necessities first and foremost." She said as a general announcement over the communicators before she started to mull over the list.

It wasn't long before she decided she couldn't focus, she had seen on the screens that some people were returning to the ship. She had heard nothing about the slave, and seen no evidence of them returning to the ship. Finally getting a little impatient, Dania came over the communicators once more. "Status update. What is the situation with the slave? Is there anything I can do to help with this?" Dania requested, even if it meant getting money together, she would do whatever she could to help.​

 

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"125 Kuffles it is, then." Garret said, glancing over Jael's way. "Well done." Thanks to Jael the price had been lowered a considerable amount though the seller was still unwilling to drop it further. Perhaps they could have pushed it down even more but the moment the he thought that this deal was too troublesome they would risk a confrontation in attempt to liberate the slave. Garrett walked alongside Kathi to ensure there would be no further changes of plan or more complications. With Jael giving the Admiral a status update he remained silent and planned on doing so until the business was done. Once at the office Garrett folded his arms ready to reach for the gun concealed on his person on the off chance that their business associate decided to make an attempt to rob them.

Simon let out a sigh of relief on hearing the status update. Still, his father had not ordered the security team to stand down so he could not afford to let his guard down so far just yet. There did not seem to be much need for him to be around to take care of any casualties if everything had been proceeding as "non-violently" as it sounded to be going. He remained at his post regardless absentmindedly rearranging the medical equipment for the third time as he waited for the ship to leave the station. He would have told Emma that he had been ordered to stay behind but using the comm system for such a trivial matter when they were still technically on alert seemed like a misuse of resources.

Time passed and not so much as a crewman with a runny nose came to see him. Simon hoped his assistant was being more productive than he was with getting their supplies...and that his assistant was having just as dull of a time as he was. No subordinate would have more fun than him. As Simon made his way to sit down on one of the empty medical beds to catch up on some reading a distinctive knock came at the door, ringing against the metal like...a small fist on a metal door. There were no musical metaphors to be had here for such a sound.

Years ago Simon and Emma had come across an old Earth code in the Resilient's database that they learned simply for the sake of passing messages along that neither would want overheard by the adults or, as they grew older, their fellow colleagues. With a ship of this size and with so few people aboard rumors were always bound to spread like a cold. Of course, the two were always careful to keep from using this code around the ship's translator. Even though they had modified it some, they had still been certain Morse Code would probably be under Jael's training.

Simon knocked in their typical response pattern indicating that he was alone. "Hey. You caught me while I was busy." Simon greeted Emma, looking over to the empty infirmary. "The crew's come down with phantasmic disorder so...you can't see any of my patients." He motioned for her to come in. "So, did you get a good look at the human? Any ideas where he came from? ...And I hope you didn't take all your savings with you to spend on hair products." Simon smirked, taking a seat at one of the beds.

"But seriously...a new human? I'll have to have him sent here straight away to check him out. I've seen a few species practicing genetic modification and...well, for all we know he could be a walking pathogen. Or a lizard-man in disguise."

 

By the time the two made it into the office, the slave seemed like he was in slightly worse shape than before. He was chained in a corner of the office away from everyone else. His eye had begun to turn black as he sat quietly, more quietly than normal. In the time it took to follow he had fought back once more and got a swift punch in the face to shut him up for the time being. The Slaver sat behind a desk with a stack of papers in front of him. When the two entered the office he signaled for them to take a seat. He had them sign the paper work, just ones to transfer the money, and one to transfer ownership of the person. When it was all said and done, he through the key at them, taking his own set of paper work and leaving the room. The office was one used for this purpose, it wasn't decorated, nothing to take in there. It was a side spot for guests of the ship to meet and deal.

When the Slave trader left the office and the door shut behind him, the man slowly looked up. He had not decided if these people were on his side or not, he had very little trust for others. "Congratulations you are now the owner of a one armed slave with a bad attitude. What are you going to do with him first?" He asked in a bitter tone, speaking in English assuming that they would understand. It has been so long since he was able to speak in English to people, he missed the language. However when you are a slave you have to at least learn to speak the trader tongue, it was the one thing that was universal no matter where he went.

 

Simon crossed his arms over his chest, rubbing the one that Emma had punched as he thought over what she had said. Well, it was more than that. Simply bringing in another one of their kind was not so simple and was guaranteed to be big news throughout the ship but in the back of his mind he could not help but be skeptical. He'd only believe it after he saw the scans and test results for himself. Whatever became of the man's crew was something Simon was very curious to know. Was he the only survivor? Were there other humans enslaved? Had they been sold off already if they were? Was this man dangerous to Resilient?

"So then if he's coming here..." Simon glanced over at Emma returning the smile she had given with one of his own. "I suppose I should unleash the leeches, huh?" He chuckled at his own joke then paused realizing that Emma would not get the joke given the extreme age of the reference he had made. "Uh, centuries ago on Earth it was common practice to treat most diseases with leeches that would suck out blood from the patient. It was a barbaric method by today's standards and it rarely worked but there were some cases that such a treatment was viable for. It was something I read during one of my readings on Earth." Thankfully he did not have to explain what leeches were either. Though the variety that lived on Earth were long extinct they had run into such creatures during their travels. Simon had even heard a rumor some years back that there existed a species of leech that had obtained sentience...nightmare fuel indeed. Simon almost shuddered at the thought of it.

Noticing Emma had not yet taken a seat Simon motioned for her to sit down. "Go on. I'm sure Ensign Ghostly won't mind you crowding her space." He motioned to the medical bed directly beside the one he had been sitting on. He leaned back in his chair as he considered for a moment how the meeting with their new shipmate would go down. Despite his doubts about the man, no one deserved to be enslaved. Regardless of who this man was Simon intended to treat him to the best of his ability. He scratched his chin, absentmindedly wondering if the man looked more rugged than he did. It had been some time since his last shave and hair cut and perhaps he would have scared Emma if he stopped looking so "mountain man"-ish. Maybe his own father wouldn't recognize him. Brushing off the irrelevant thoughts that came to mind, Simon spoke. "Slavery though...I can't believe that could still be a practice for spacefaring folk. I have no doubt that I'll be able to treat his injuries and get him back to full health but I can't imagine what kind of psychological trauma he's been through."