TWENTY-FOUR
ELLI
After we ate the bland nutritional cubes, Sir said he had work to do but that I should sit with him. He settled himself on the couch and had me sit beside him.
“What kind of work are you going to do?” I asked, as I leaned against his side. I was always a little bit chilly, going around stark naked except for my golden collar, and Sir was big and warm. Plus, I couldn’t get enough of his scent. It seemed like the longer I spent with him, the better he smelled.
“I just have to work on my report on the Twelve Peoples of your galaxy,” he told me. “It is, in effect, a research piece that I hope to present to Her Majesty, Splendara the Third and Thirtieth, to prove you should be left alone instead of being exploited.”
“Can I see it?” I asked, intrigued. “Maybe I can help—at least with the parts about Earth. I have a Masters degree in Library science—I could write a research paper in my sleep.”
Sir frowned.
“Unfortunately, as I understand it, the translation viruses the Ancient Ones seeded your planet with allow you to hear and understand alien languages, but they cannot help you to read or write them.”
“Oh…that’s too bad,” I said, crestfallen. I loved to read and it was going to suck being basically illiterate now that I was away from Earth.
“Even if thatwasn’tthe case, I doubt you could read or write my own native tongue,” Sir told me. “Korgish is extremely complicated and quite dissimilar to the written languages of the Twelve Peoples of your galaxy. So even if your translation viruses worked for the languages here, I don’t believe they would help you to read Korgish. Don’t worry though,” he added comfortingly. “I’ll teach you how to read and write my native language in due time—we’ll have plenty of time after I present my case in Court.”
“Afteryou present your case and show me off to your Queen, I’m going back home to Earth,” I reminded him.
“Only if you find you still want to leave me.” Sir gave me his one-sided smile and lifted an eyebrow at me. “And I’m going to do everything in my power to be sure that doesn’t happen, little one.”
“Well, while you’re working on your report, I’m going to be bored,” I protested. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Here—I’ll let you look at this.” He got up for a moment and returned with another of the three-fold pamphlets like the one he’d had about human nutrition.
“What’s this?” I asked, frowning as he handed it to me.
“It’s a printout of the informational guide the Commercians gave me when I bought you,” Sir explained. “I don’t expect you can read it, but there are plenty of pictures, to look at.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said sourly, as he settled himself beside me again. “Giving the sweet little pet a pretty picture book to look at. How verykindof you, Master.”
Sir gave me a stern look.
“You’re being sarcastic again, little one. Do you want a smack on the bottom?”
To be honest, his words gave me a little jolt, especially when I remembered the other times he had ‘spanked’ me. All this time I’d been telling myself I wasn’t into any kind of BDSM relationship, but maybe I was wrong? Or maybe I just liked to be “sassy” as Sir said.
But for now, maybe I ought to settle down and let him work, I thought. Or my Sex Pet training might begin sooner than I wanted it to.
“No, Sir,” I said. “It’s just that I have an advanced degree on my planet and I don’t like being treated like a child.”
“I told you I would teach you how to read later, little one,” he said firmly. “For now, you must let me do my work. Remember, I’m trying to save your galaxy.”
“I remember,” I said, contrite at once. “I’m sorry.”
Feeling chastened, I looked down at the pamphlet in my hands. There were, indeed, many pictures of both human women and also alien men. The words, as Sir had predicted, looked like chicken scratch to me.
But then, a strange thing happened. As I stared at the letters on the pamphlet, I began to be able to read them! I flipped to the front and looked more closely at the title.
“Care and Feeding of Your New Human Bride,”it said. Only, someone had put a line through the word “bride” and written in “pet” instead.
“When you first get your human bride,” the first line read, “She may be very emotional. You may expect to see water leaking from her eyes and she may even shout expletives at you or try to hit you. Do not pay any attention to these things—they are only signs of happiness on your bride’s behalf that you have rescued her from such a primitive planet.”
“Signs of happiness!” I muttered indignantly. “That’s ridiculous!”
“Shhh,” Sir admonished me. He was doing something with a specialized looking glove that appeared to have sensor pads in the fingertips. I had no idea how it related to his work, but whatever.