ONE
Alexa picked her way carefully down the crowded, dirty street, trying to be sure she didn’t step in any puddles of filth left by the stray shorgs—canine-like creatures with long, sharp orange teeth and burning red eyes—that inhabited this district. Packs of them roamed the streets here at night, devouring anything—or anyone—they could find. Thankfully, it was still midday so she didn’t have to fear them…yet.
Of course, she wouldn’t have had to fear anything at all if only she’d do as the rest of the Yonnite Mistresses did and take a bodyslave to protect her. But that wasn’t Lexi’s way and she didn’t consider herself a true Mistress. She was only here on Yonnie Six for a little while—a woman on a mission.
As she stepped aside to avoid a particularly large pile of shorg droppings, her shoulder bumped that of a male who was passing by her.
“Hey—watch it!” He looked up, his eyes burning with anger and frustration. He was dressed in filthy rags and his neck bore the marks of a pain collar though he didn’t wear one now. He must be an abandoned bodyslave, Lexi thought—one whose Mistress had grown tired of him and so she had cast him out on the street to fend for himself.
“Pardon me,” she said, trying to keep her voice level and pleasant. She felt sorry for such males—it was one reason she was here in the first place. Well, that and the title and wealth she’d inherited from her Great Aunt Granipants. Otherwise, she would never have left her home on Zetta Prime.
Her home world was almost entirely inhabited by females, who reproduced via artificial insemination. Though the Zettites didn’t believe in having relationships with males or allowing themselves to be sexually penetrated, they didn’t treat them like the Yonnite Mistresses did—using them as slaves and then casting them aside. Lexi’s people believed in a complete separation of the sexes—males were beneath them—but that was no reason they should be tortured or enslaved.
“Watch where you’re going, Mistress,” the ragged ex-slave spat, eyeing her balefully.
Lexi opened her mouth to tell him she wasn’t a true Mistress but he had already moved on, stalking down the street with his head low, looking like the miserable creature he was.
Lexi shook her head and continued walking. The way the Yonnites treated males was beyond shameful. In fact, when she had been informed that her Great Aunt had died and left her both a title and considerable wealth on Yonnie Six, she had almost turned the entire inheritance down.
After all, she was happy in her life on Zetta Prime. She had a small business—a bakery where she made delectable pies, cakes, bread, and pastries by hand every day. She had no heir, but she didn’t really need one—she could leave the bakery to her young assistant, Grettah, when she was finally ready to retire.
Lexi had never felt the need to go be inseminated at the Impregnation Center and bear a daughter in her youth as some Yonnites did, and now she was getting a bit too old to go through the trauma of pregnancy and birth. She hadn’t reached the end of the road yet, but she was happy, even though she had no life partner. It got a bit lonely at night, after the bakery was locked up and she was in her snug little home all alone, but Lexi could deal with the loneliness far better than a crying baby. Especially since she would have no one to help her raise it.
Part of the reason she’d decided against having children was the fact that she had no one to co-parent with her. Most Zettites paired with other women and signed commitment contracts, but Lexi had never found herself attracted to her own sex. There was nothing wrong with that, of course—many Zettites were single and there was no stigma attached to being either single or childless in her society.
So she was mostly content and if her life was somewhat lonely at times, well, at least she was healthy and her bakery kept her busy. So she nearly turned down the inheritance out of hand. But, after consideration, she had decided to at least go to Yonnie Six and see what Great Aunt Granipants had left her. She had given Grettah the keys to the Bakery, reminded her to let the stroven dough rise at least three times before she made it into the sweet buns the shop was famous for, and took an Interstellar flight to Yonnie Six.
The inheritance from her little-known Great Aunt turned out to be much more than Lexi could ever have dreamed. She now owned a vast skyscraper in the middle of downtown Opulex, the capital city of Yonnie Six. In fact, it was the tallest building in town, as the Estate Agent told her when Lexi met her for the first time.