For a moment, one of the creature’s heads turned and looked directly at her, its yellow eyes narrowing as it scanned her body. Jillian shivered and looked away hurriedly. The Trollox was ten or twelve feet tall and it had grayish-green skin and long yellow tusks sticking out of its drooling mouths. It looked like a cross between an ogre and one of those weird pig-men guards in the Star Wars movies, she thought.
Resolutely putting the giant Trollox out of her mind, she started looking for a stall that sold thaelite. But every proprietor she asked shook their heads.
“Sssoory. Too rich for my blood,” hissed a Saurian, his long, alligator tail swaying gently in negation. “But you might try the Yonnite Missstresss at the end of thiss row of stallss. She often has rare and expensssive ingredientss for ssale.”
Jillian thanked him, making sure to stay well clear of his long, snapping jaws, and made her way to the end of the row. There, she found a rather gaudy-looking shop hung with golden cloth and decorated with rare venga healing crystals in all the colors of the rainbow.
The crystals caught the weak sunlight of Prius Six and spread rainbows over the smooth golden brocade, which covered the front countertop. It looked more like a place that you might find incense and balms and salves with dubious medical properties than actual, usable ingredients to Jillian. But she thought she might as well ask if they sold thaelite, since she was having no luck at any of the other stalls.
There was a tiny silver bell attached to a long rope hanging from the top of the stall’s sunshade. Jillian rang it and waited until the gold brocade curtains at the front of the stall rustled and the Mistress of the stall came out.
Even in a world full of aliens, her appearance took Jillian aback. She was wearing meter-tall heels and a dress that clearly showed her full, bare breasts, which were pierced with large gold hoops and covered only by a thin, transparent piece of silk.
Well, maybe this is how they dress on Yonnie Six, Jillian had thought to herself. She’d heard a little about the female-dominated planet which was run by cruel Mistresses who believed men were only worthy of being servants and bodyslaves, but she’d never met anyone from there before.
“Yes? What do you want?” the Mistress asked rudely. “I’ve very busy at the moment, so it had better be good.”
Jillian frowned at her insulting tone. She would have left at once, but she hadn’t had any luck getting thaelite anywhere else.
“I’m looking for a brick of thaelite,” she said shortly. “The Saurian at the far stall told me you might be able to help me.”
“Ah, thaelite. Such an elusive substance.” The Mistress got a crafty look on her heavily made-up face as she looked down at Jillian from her extremely high heels. “It’s very hard to come by, you know,” she added, smiling in a way that didn’t reach her lavender eyes.
“I’m aware of that,” Jillian pointedly. “Do you have any?”
“I do, but it’s not cheap,” the Mistress warned her. Turning, she lifted one of the brocade curtains and shouted, “Kalis—come at once and bring me that brick of thaelite I bargained for last week. Hurry up! A customer is waiting.”
There was a rustling sound from the back of the stall and then the gold brocade curtains parted and the huge warrior had come out. In his cupped palms was a small black brick about six inches long and three inches wide. It didn’t look very heavy to Jillian, but he was carrying it cupped carefully in both huge hands, as though it was precious.
“So that’s the thaelite?” Jillian asked.
It looked exactly how Suzanne had described it. The dense material was so black it seemed to suck in all available light, making a kind of dark shadow around itself.
“Yes, my dear—that is thaelite.” The Yonnite Mistress nodded her head as her bodyslave stood there, holding the small brick.
“I see. How much?” Jillian didn’t believe in beating around the bush.
The crafty look was back on the Mistress’s face.
“Well, there are two possible prices, my dear. Five hundred credits if you can handle it by yourself. For a thousand, you can buy both the thaelite itself and the means of transporting it to your vehicle.”
“I’ll take the cheaper price then,” Jillian said, frowning. “I have a way to transport it right here.” She patted her straw tote, which was hooked over one shoulder. It was only halfway full, since she’d just bought a few vegetables and fruits—there was plenty of room for the small brick of thaelite.
“Apologies, little Mistress,” the huge bodyslave said, speaking for the first time in a deep, rumbling voice that seemed to vibrate Jillian’s bones in their sockets. “But I’m afraid that fragile little bag won’t be able to withstand the weight of an entire brick of thaelite.”