Field Survey by Zack

(story continues from Field Survey)

*
The Star Fleet Series
Field Survey
by Zack
Copyright© 2001, 2002. All rights reserved.

Part Three

A guardsman pulled Sonji from the auction platform and dressed her in her smock. He took her to a table where the warrior who now owned her was paying money to a clerk. The warrior hardly looked at his purchase; he grabbed her arm and led her into a small room, where another warrior was standing next to a large barrel. They picked Sonji up and stood her in the barrel, forced her to crouch down, and fastened the lid. The barrel was put on a hand truck and rolled outside and down the street.

The barrel had a hole in the side that let in light and air, and it was large enough that Sonji wasn't excessively cramped, but she was very frightened. The man who bought her looked cruel, and she was afraid of what he would do to her if she didn't please him.

The two warriors with the barrel were joined by another man. He had a patrician look and wore fine clothes. One of the warriors tapped the barrel and said, "We have her, Councilor Radg. Are you going to take her to Tarnbeg?"

"No, take her to my house here."

The group walked about a kilometer and stopped in front of a large house. One of the warriors knocked, and the door was opened by an elderly doorkeeper. A young man met the group in the large entrance hall.

"Hello, Dag. Can we come in?".

"Of course, Father. It's still your house." They embraced. "But I am surprised to see you. You haven't been here much since you were appointed to be Brombeg's representative on the National Council. I thought you were still in Tarnbeg."

"I'm just in town for some meetings. I wanted to stop by to wish you a happy birthday. How are you, Dag? How are you doing with your studies?"

"I'm doing fine, Father. A year from now I should be an advocate. Can I get you some wine, perhaps?"

"No thanks, I have a meeting and can only stay a few minutes. Join us for dinner tonight at your brother's house. By the way, how's your love life?"

"Bleak. Studying doesn't leave time for courting. I visit a brothel about once a month, and that's it."

"I haven't given you your present." Radg pointed to the barrel.

"What's this, Father? Beer? Wine?"

The warriors removed the lid and lifted Sonji out of the barrel.

"Here's something to keep you occupied when you're not studying. When you aren't using her she can be Bomdee's helper. She's been convicted of a violent crime, so you have to keep her restrained. That hobble strap qualifies when she's escorted, but she has to be in something more secure if she's left alone." He handed Dag a clamp tool. "Use this to remove the strap if her legs won't spread far enough."

Radg and his bodyguard went to the door. "Good-bye for now, Dag. I'll see you later."

As soon as the door had closed behind his father Dag returned to Sonji. He removed the straps from her wrists and said, "Hello, my name is Dag. What's your name?"

Sonji replied, "Sonji." Then she remembered what Flixee had shown her. She knelt, bowed her head, and said, "How may I serve you, Master?"

Dag's erection nearly tore his pants. He pulled Sonji to her feet and dragged her after him by her wrist. "Come to my bedroom and I'll show you!"

When they reached the bedroom Dag took off his clothes and Sonji's smock. He threw her on the bed and lay down beside her. He kissed her deeply and stroked her breast. Her nipple started to harden, and then she fainted.

Dag revived her by splashing cold water in her face. He said, "I once knew a girl who laughed uncontrollably when I touched her, but this is the first time someone has fainted. I wonder what happened?"

Sonji was terrified. She knew exactly what had happened. This was the way her church kept girls from being tempted by physical pleasure and thus be denied Enlightenment. But how could she explain neuro-psychological conditioning to someone who had never even seen a brain scan? And if she couldn't participate in sex, what would he do to her instead?

"Please, Master. Permission to speak?" she begged.

"Yes, Sonji. Anytime that we're alone you can speak without asking for permission."

"Thank you, Master. This had nothing to do with you, Master. I have been this way since I changed from a girl to a woman. I'm sorry, Master."

"You mean every time you get aroused you faint?"

"Yes, Master. I can't help it. Could you have sex with me anyway?"

"No. Necrophilia has never interested me."

Dag sat on the bed and touched Sonji's shoulder. She flinched at the contact and Dag could tell that she was trembling. "Why are you so frightened?"

"I didn't do as you wished, Master." Sonji still remembered 238's screams. "I'm afraid of being whipped."

"You can relax. I'm not going to whip you now. How did your other men work around this?"

"There are no other men, Master. You are the first."

Dag thought about that for a while. Then he said, "Suppose I don't touch your body? Kneel between my legs and open your mouth."

At the first touch on her lips Sonji fainted. This was one of the ways her church kept the boys from being denied Enlightenment.

Dag revived her and said, "I'm sure that we'll solve this problem eventually, but I've got to leave soon. Get dressed, and I'll take you to Bomdee."

They found Bomdee taking an inventory in the kitchen.

"This is Sonji. She'll be your helper when I don't need her. I'll leave the details of her duties to you. Remember, she was convicted of a violent crime, so you can't let her run around loose. I'm going to tell Mudg to fix up the inner storeroom for her, so tuck her in there before you go to bed. I'm going to dinner at my brother's house and I won't be home tonight."

After Dag left Bomdee inspected Sonji carefully and then she asked, "What did you do before you became a criminal?"

"I was a peasant, Mistress."

"Your master is Dag. Call me Bomdee. Now, listen carefully. I think it's foolish to bring a violent criminal into this house, but I wasn't asked. I have been with this family since before Dag was born. I was his nanny, and I couldn't love him more if he were my own flesh. If you even try to hurt him you will regret it every minute of your brief, painful life. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Bomdee."

"Good. Now, your duties. There isn't a lot of work to do here when the family is living in Tarnbeg. Dag spends most of his time at the university. On most days he leaves here just after morning meal and returns several hours after sunset, so only the staff's meals have to be prepared. I'm the cook as well as the housekeeper, and if I eventually feel that you can be trusted you can help me here in the kitchen. Until then there is cleaning you can do."

Bomdee took a coil of thin brown rope out of a drawer. "I can't watch you every minute. Hold out your hands."

Bomdee had Sonji cross her wrists and wrapped the rope in both directions. She cinched the wrappings and tied the final knot on the bottom, where Sonji couldn't reach it with her teeth. She took another piece of rope and made two turns around Sonji's waist and tied it in the back. "Knees and hands on the floor." she commanded.

Sonji quickly got down on the floor. Bomdee tied a rope from the knot at Sonji's waist to the center of the hobble strap and pulled it tight. "You can get that loose, but you'll be sorry if you do." Bomdee threatened.

Bomdee put a scrub brush and a bucket of soapy water on the floor next to Sonji. She said, "Get the kitchen floor clean. When you finish you'll be fed."

Cleaning the kitchen floor took Sonji over two hours. When she finished she was in a lot of pain from kneeling on the stone floor, and the motion of her hands while she scrubbed had chafed her wrists until drops of blood appeared in a few places.

Evening meal was served shortly after Sonji finished cleaning the floor. Bomdee cut the ropes off of Sonji's wrists and waist. She examined the red marks left by the rope but didn't say anything.

At evening meal Sonji met the elderly doorkeeper Ludg and his equally elderly brother Mudg, who was sort of a handyman. They, along with Bomdee, were the entire staff. Sonji thought that if she really were a violent criminal she could probably escape. Then she remembered that Bomdee was tall and looked strong and fit, and that she had never turned her back when Sonji was near, even when Sonji's hands were tied.

After the meal Sonji washed the dishes and utensils, and when she had finished it was time for Bomdee to put her to bed. Bomdee lit a candle and directed Sonji to a small, windowless chamber near the center of the house. Sonji was happy to see that it had a straw mattress and a coarse blanket, but she wasn't so happy to see the short chain that was attached to a ring mounted in the floor.

Bomdee put her candleholder in a niche in the wall near the door and said, "Use the chamber pot now. It won't be as easy after I've chained you up."

After Sonji had squatted over the pot Bomdee padlocked the end of the chain to the ring on Sonji's collar. The chain was so short that Sonji could just sit up. Bomdee took her candle and left the room, and when she shut the door it was totally dark inside. Sonji heard a bolt being fastened. She put her head down and tried to sleep.

The next morning Sonji was scrubbing another floor. Her wrists were still chafed, so Bomdee had used the leather straps to fasten them instead of the thin rope.

Dag saw her and said, "I know a woman who is aroused just by being tied up. If she were fixed like you are now she'd be moaning on the floor, but it doesn't seem to have any affect on you. I've got an idea on how to get around your problem, though. We'll try it out tonight."

"Yes, Master." Sonji bowed her head. Her stomach churned with anxiety. She wondered how long Dag would be patient if she couldn't perform a slave's first duty to her master. He might not like to hurt her, but what if he gave her to somebody who was cruel, like the scar-faced man who bought her?

That evening Dag brought Sonji to his bedroom and had her drink several glasses of wine.

"Wine releases inhibitions. Maybe this will be the solution."

He fondled and kissed Sonji. She fainted. He revived her. She threw up.

The next day Dag was late leaving for the university. Bomdee and Mudg had gone to the market, so he had to secure Sonji before he left the house. He took her into the storeroom intending to lock the chain to her collar, but he found that Bomdee had locked the padlock and taken the key with her. The straps were there, so he crossed Sonji's wrists behind her back and fastened them tightly using both straps. He put her on her side, released the hobble strap from her right ankle, pulled it around her wrists, and refastened it.

Sonji was very uncomfortable. The tight straps irritated her chafed wrists and the hogtie strained her sore knees. She moaned quietly.

Dag heard the moan and said, "You won't have any discomfort if you've fainted."

He kissed her neck and stroked her bare bottom. At the same time she tried to relieve her pain and frustration by pulling against the straps. She tried with all her strength to separate her wrists and ankles, and as she did so she felt a wave of heat through her body, centered between her legs. Where Dag touched her her skin seemed to be on fire. She panted, "Master, I..."

Dag could hear Sonji's panting and see her flushed face. He rolled her onto her back and stroked her bottom with one hand and a breast with the other hand. She moaned and thrashed. He opened his trousers, spread her knees, and entered her. Sonji screamed. She pulled against the straps in synchronism with Dag's thrusts, and with each pull she felt a wave of sensation. The waves increased until she felt Dag come inside her and then she screamed and fainted, but this time it was from ecstasy.

When Sonji returned to the world she was lying naked on Dag's bed. Dag, also naked, was standing beside her.

He said, "I think we are on the way to solving our problem. Let's try an experiment."

Dag had a coil of rope, and he used it to tie Sonji's wrists and ankles to the four posts of the bed. He adjusted the ropes so there wasn't any slack, but she wasn't stretched, either.

Dag instructed, "Now, just remain quiet. Don't move a muscle."

Dag kissed Sonji and stroked her breast. She promptly fainted.

After he revived her he said, "This time struggle. Fight to get loose with all your strength."

Dag got on the bed with Sonji and moved his hands all over her body. She thrashed and twisted, straining against the ropes until the bed creaked and groaned. Dag kissed her hard nipples and when his probing finger found her clit she screamed and spasmed. After he entered her she again synchronized her pulls against the ropes to his strokes and came twice more before he had his climax.

When Sonji was able to talk she said, "Thank you, Master. Did I please you?"

Dag brushed her sweat-soaked hair away from her eyes and kissed her on the forehead. "Yes, Sonji. You pleased me."

When Dag removed the ropes from Sonji's wrists he was shocked to see that the skin was raw and even bleeding in places. Her ankles were also red and chafed.

He heard Bomdee return. He called her to him and said, "I'm leaving as soon as I wash and dress. I want you to bandage Sonji's wrists and ankles. Don't tie her wrists until they've healed, and go easy on her."

Bomdee helped Sonji wash and dress and then took her to the kitchen. She said, "Hold still while I put this salve on your scrapes."

After she applied the salve Bomdee wrapped Sonji's wrists and ankles with strips of cloth and clamped the hobble strap loosely around the bandages on Sonji's ankles. She thought about how best to secure Sonji's arms. Bomdee still regarded her as a threat, no matter how Dag felt about it, and she wasn't going to let her go around the house with only her ankles hobbled.

Bomdee fastened the two wrist straps together to form a loop. She pulled Sonji's arms back, put the loop around them just above Sonji's elbows, and tightened it to hold Sonji's arms to her sides. To keep the loop from slipping down Bomdee tied rope from its center to the ring on Sonji's collar.

Bomdee handed Sonji a cloth. "Go dust everything that needs it. Start with the books in the library."

Later that evening Dag sent a message saying that his father had summoned him to Tarnbeg and he would be away for several days. Sonji was disappointed. Now that she knew what sex was like she wanted more of it.

Four days later Dag returned. He summoned Sonji to his bedroom and had her undress and get on the bed. He kissed and fondled her until she fainted. Then he got out the leather goods that had just been delivered by the harness maker and clamped padded cuffs on Sonji's wrists and ankles. After some thought he closely strapped each wrist to the corresponding ankle.

When Sonji was awake Dag said, "Surprise! Now you can struggle without damage. Let's go!"

Dag got on the bed with Sonji and moved his hands all over her body. She thrashed and twisted, straining against the straps that held her wrists and ankles together. She liked this position because it let her use most of her major muscles. She strained so hard that Dag was glad the cuffs and straps were made of the thickest leather.

Dag liked this position because it left Sonji open and exposed. He entered her and she synchronized her struggles against the straps to the rhythm of Dag's strokes until they both climaxed.

As they cuddled together afterwards Dag said, "You are unique. I've known women who liked to be tied up during sex, but you are the only woman who HAS to be tied up to have sex."

This set a pattern for the days that followed. Dag would make Sonji faint and then strap her body into some erotic position. He even had Mudj rig a hoist so Sonji could be suspended over the bed and lowered onto Dag's waiting body. But after the novelty of the more bizarre positions was exhausted they settled on a few favorites, such as the wrists to ankles position they both liked.

* * *

About a month later Dag returned from the university just as Sonji was finishing her kitchen work. He sat in one of the kitchen chairs and gestured to her. She went to him, knelt and bowed her head, and said, "How may I serve you, Master?"

"I'm sure you know the answer to that question by now, but we'll get to that later. I have something for you to wear. Put it on."

Dag pulled a brown object from his case and gave it to Sonji. She stood up, stripped off her smock, and put on the new garment. This too was a smock, but instead of coarse sackcloth it was made of fine linen, and the numbers were embroidered with gold thread. It was also smaller, so more of Sonji's body was exposed.

"Thank you, Master. It's lovely."

"This is more of a gift for me than it is for you. You can wear it when we're together."

Dag continued, "You've made me very happy, and I want to reward you. What do you want?"

"All I want is to serve you, Master."

"Don't you desire anything for yourself?"

"My only desire is to please you, Master."

"Do you want me to whip you?"

"No, Master! Please, no!"

"At last, a straight answer! Now give me another one. What do you want for you?"

"I want to learn to read, Master."

Dag was surprised. He had expected Sonji to ask for some frivolous, personal item, but he could grant this request.

"Bomdee taught me to read, and she can teach you. There are some basic books in the library, and you can probably find others that are useful."

The language transplant had given Sonji a complete knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, so all she had to learn were the symbols and the spelling irregularities, and this was relatively easy because Gamma used a phonetic alphabet. In two weeks she could read at the elementary level, and in a month she could read the Gamma language as easily as she read Galactic.

The 'other useful books' included everything in the library, and she spent as much time there as possible. She didn't exactly lie when Dag asked her about her reading skill, but she misled him enough that he never had to wonder why a peasant girl was reading a law book.

* * *

One evening Dag and Sonji were relaxing in bed when he said, "Tomorrow is the half-year point of your I.S."

"Is it, Master? Being with you makes time pass so swiftly that I can't keep track."

"I wouldn't have known either, except that a court official notified me that your mother will be visiting you tomorrow."

"My mother! How can that be, Master?"

"Didn't you know that you are entitled to a visit from a relative every half-year?"

"No, I didn't know that, Master. But my mother lives so far away!"

"Well, she'll be here. The court officials will question her about your treatment, and I think it would be best if they thought you were being treated more like a violent criminal being punished and less like the pampered daughter of a rich merchant. Wear your prison-issue smock and Bomdee will chain you in the storeroom during the visit."

The next morning Sonji was sitting on the pallet in the storeroom when Bomdee brought to the door a middle-aged woman wearing a peasant's dress.

The woman saw Sonji and cried, "Zongee! My baby!"

Sonji looked up and gave a cry of astonishment. It was Captain Goda!

Captain Goda gave Sonji a hug and whispered, "Call me Mom. We've found you at last! What happened to you?"

Sonji gave Captain Goda a detailed account of the last half-year of her life. (She didn't mention the sex). She also summarized all she had learned about the social conditions and the political organization of the planet.

When Sonji had completed her recital Captain Goda said, "This is one of the most successful field surveys I've ever seen. The method you devised to infiltrate the household of one of the most important men on the planet was absolutely brilliant! And the fortitude it took to allow yourself to be subjected to such hardship! Just seeing you chained up like an animal is so disturbing to me that I can hardly bear it, yet you accept it without visible upset. I'm going to see to it that this survey is classified as Extremely Arduous. That will make you eligible for accelerated promotion."

Captain Goda handed Sonji a communicator medallion but she handed it back. "I can't accept this without permission. Give it to Bomdee and ask her to pass it on to my Ma.., I mean, Dag. I'm sure he'll let me have it."

Captain Goda ordered, "Once you're in communication with the ship transmit as much detailed information as you can. Unless we find something really bad Gamma will be invited to join the Amalgamation. Having you on the ship will expedite the process, so return as soon as possible."

"Aye, aye, Mom."

* * *

During the next half-year Sonji read as much as she could and dictated detailed reports into her communicator. She found that Dag, like most advocates, loved to talk, so she could ask him leading questions and get a whole discourse on some aspect of life on Gamma.

Every day she would upload everything that had been recorded. When Dag asked her why she always left her medallion outside the bedroom while they had sex she told him it was just a custom of her village.

* * *

Dag and Sonji cuddled together in exhausted bliss. Sonji was still tied to the bed in a loose spread-eagle. Tomorrow was the last day of her I.S., and this was their last night together.

"Sonji, I love you. I can't marry you until your civil rights are restored a year from now, but you could stay with me as my concubine."

"I love you too, Master. But my mother needs me, and I promised I would return to her as soon as I could."

Sonji started to cry. She loved Dag so much, and going away was so painful.

Dag kissed away her tears, and then continued with kisses on the rest of her body. Soon Sonji was struggling against the straps that held her to the bed.

Sonji lay awake long after Dag had gone to sleep. She had changed a lot during the past year. She was no longer innocent and naive, but she still retained her idealism and her personal code. Leaving Dag was hard, but Captain Goda had ordered her to return, and when she accepted her commission she had sworn an oath to obey all lawful orders. Sonji thought, 'Why is honor so hard, when happiness is so easy?'.

The next day Dag accompanied Sonji to the entrance hall to meet the keeper who had arrived to take her away. The keeper buckled a belt around Sonji's waist and strapped her wrists to it. She still wore the hobble strap.

Dag objected. "She'll be released in a few hours. Why do you have to tie her up like that?"

"Regulations, sir. All violent criminals have to be restrained."

"Then I might as well get some good from it." He kissed Sonji's lips.

The keeper wondered what there was about the kiss that made Sonji struggle so violently against the straps, and why she was crying when soon she would be released from I.S.

Sonji was taken to the courthouse. The straps were unbuckled and her collar was chiseled off. She was given a medical exam and her pebble was removed. Her smock was taken away and her possessions were returned. Soon she stood on the street wearing her dress and sandals, free of all restraints for the first time in over a year.

When she was sure no one could see her she contacted the Interloper for directions to the pickup point. She walked out of the city and met the shuttle after dark. Her field survey was over.

Epilogue

Soon after Sonji returned to the Interloper Gamma's National Council received a formal invitation to join the Amalgamation. During the negotiations that followed Sonji was often consulted, but she kept away from the Gamma delegation because it was always possible that she might have to make another undercover field survey.

Now, over a year later, all of the agreements had been reached, and it was time for the formal ceremony that would mark the entry of a new member into the Amalgamation. The Star Fleet personnel who had played key roles in the process were invited to the ceremony, and Lieutenant Sonji Regan was included in this select group.

Sonji was circulating among the guests while she waited for the ceremony to begin. She was wearing the dress uniform of the Star Fleet Survey Service, with the Distinguished Service medal she had received when the agreements were reached.

There was a stir in the crowd when Radg, the President of the National Council, entered with his entourage. Sonji saw that it included a young man wearing the gray clothing of an advocate.

She walked up behind him and said, "Hello, Master."

Dag spun around. When he recognized Sonji he was speechless with astonishment.

"How are you, Master? Have you found a wife yet?"

"No. It seems that every woman I meet can't even come close to matching a black-haired slave girl I once owned. But now I understand why she always seemed to be so much more than a peasant girl."

He reached for her hand but she backed away.

"We had better not touch. It would be embarrassing if I fainted. It would be even more embarrassing if you made it so I didn't faint."

Dag backed her into a corner and took off his belt. "I'll take that risk."

16.06.02