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Cellulose & Steel	By : Not-Taylor Category: Misc Books > FemmeSlash Views: 1028 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own HDG or its characters and I don't make money from this work.

Chapter List
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With a dry mouth and fuzzy head, Olivia awakes. “Fucking xeno.” It hadn’t been a dream. As her vision regains focus, she tries to process her surroundings. The bed, “our” bed, is still under her. The creak of the shuttle tells her that it’s still going wherever they were taking her. The floor appears to be made of bamboo, or something that looks like it. There are a few chairs, a sofa, a table, and something that looks like a suitcase on a table, probably the only place to store things out of sight.
Olivia shakes her wrists. Her cuffs are no longer attached to anything, so she gets up to look around some more. She groans as the weight of her body lands on her feet. Her body feels so clumsy after months in zero gravity, inside a human ship and as it. Still, she had missed walking. It’s surprisingly wholesome, especially after all the stress she had been under. She still feels blind because she can’t see behind her any more. She feels lame because she can’t strafe up. It’s… wrong.
There’s a rudimentary kitchen area, barely more than a stove and some cabinets. That wasn’t so surprising since they were offworld. She opens the nearest door to see what there might be to eat. They had to feed her if they wanted her as a pet, didn’t they? On the way, she notices the size of everything around her. It wasn’t obvious from where she had been lying, but all the furniture in the room was affini sized. Only the bed seems suitable for a human. Probably to intimidate her, she scoffs.
Fortunately some of the cabinets are within her reach. The first she comes to contains a number of bottles and jars with labels in the Affini language, illegible xeno nonsense. How many terrans speak Affini, she wonders. The words look like little trees and flowers to her. It seems cute, far too cute for the likes of the glorified crab grass who created it. Maybe they’d stolen it from another species on their planet, whose kindness they’d taken advantage of to enslave. That sounded right to Olivia. Xeno filth.
She pulls the top off of one of the bottles with a safe looking exterior, spilling a little on herself. She yelps. It’s cold! The clear liquid appears to be just water. No xenodrug taste in it, but she couldn’t be sure. Still, she feels very thirsty and can’t help drinking the entire bottle, which couldn’t be more than a half a liter. After finishing she notices that it tasted slightly off, but not in a tainted way. It wasn’t quite like other water. For sure it wasn’t reclamation water. Even clean, that had a very obvious signature from the distillation process.It was almost like terran water but…
“You’re awake.”
The voice came from directly behind Olivia, startling her again. She whirls around to face the tall plant who had snuck up on her so easily. Her eyes dart around, looking for something to keep herself safe with. There’s a knife behind the affini, but she knows better than to try to grab it. Even a slower enemy would have no issues intercepting her, and in her state it was a pointless risk. Instead, Olivia puts her hands behind her back in hopes of finding some latch on her wrists. It should be obvious she hadn’t been holding anything.
“I’m awake,” she repeats, nodding weakly.
“Good morning, pet.” Verda smiles warmly. She seems pleased with something.
“I’m not your pet and it will not be a good morning until Terra is free.” The xeno frowns.
“I thought we were past that.” She sighs, looking to the side.”Now what’s this?”
Verda picks up the empty bottle and chuckles, her leaves growing from the front of her chest shaking as she does. “‘Free Terrans’ have a powerful thirst I see. Did you enjoy this luxurious and limited distribution fresh water?”
“Fresh water?” What else would it be, stale water?
“Yes of course. You didn’t drink something without knowing what it was, did you?”
That was precisely what Olivia had done. She scowls indignantly, hopeful the conversation would move on.
“And look, you dribbled all over yourself.” The affini touches somewhere on her ward’s right breast, where she had in fact dribbled. “You see? This is why you need somebody to care for you and feed you, so you don’t make a mess of yourself.”
That was too humiliating to react to. Mercifully, the affini doesn’t press the topic. Olivia’s right hand is free, excellent. She starts on the left, stalling the weed for long enough to try to escape. Ginger is out there in need of her pilot.
“Um… Not… feeding me is a violation of the t-treaty,” she stammers, burning inside that she can’t think of anything else to say other than that.
“What treaty would that be, darling?”
“The one you forced my people to sign.”
“Me? I’ve never forced anyone to sign a treaty! Perhaps you could be more specific?”
“The… the peace treaty.” Saying that makes Olivia feel ill. There can be no peace, not until Terra is free and the xeno has been forever expelled.
“Oh, that treaty.” She nods, continuing to play dumb with an air of pointed exposition. “That’s right, Terrans and Affini are at peace, now that you’ve gotten that silly war out of your systems. I suppose that means we have nothing to fight about, and you’re, mmm free to be taken care of. I’m more than happy to ensure that you’re happy.”
“I don’t want that! I want to go home!”
“You are home, with me.You’ve already helped yourself to our pantry, after all. Would you like me to prepare something for you? You must be famished after such a long nap.”
“My real home, with…” What was home? Was anyone waiting for her? The Affini had surely issued a domestication notice as they did with every captured soldier, for mass demoralization. Olivia couldn’t guess how many of the names were fake but it couldn’t be that fake, given how things had been going. But before then, was anyone waiting for her? No, not really. That was a part of why Olivia had decided to enlist, aside from the benefits and bonuses. She vows not to admit that to the xeno.
“Your home with?” She had picked up on it.
“All my family and my friends and my old job.” It wasn’t completely a lie, and with that the second cuff comes off. Can she get the collar off without making it too obvious?
“Of course.” She can’t tell if the affini called her bluff. “If you’d like I can have one of your friends brought out to join us. The three of us would have so much fun together. Or four, if there are others you’d really like to have around.”
Olivia choked. Rat out her friends and have them captured too, if they’d escaped? Despicable. Clearly, loyalty is a virtue terrans and affini don’t share. Just because she doesn’t have friends worth protecting doesn’t mean she’d snitch if she did! Maybe naming her ex boss… No, then she would have to live with that scoundrel, who would hopefully be turned into a pet by now. As unpatriotic as it might be, Olivia gets a good feeling from imagining that.
“No, I’d rather that not happen to anyone, especially not anyone I care about.” She didn’t mention who was coming to mind.
“That’s quite all right, my darling. Now, would you really like to eat or is that an excuse to get me to talk to you?”
Olivia’s stomach rumbles but she needs to get away more than she needs to eat, for now anyway. There would be food elsewhere. There have to be uncolonized worlds, or backwater spaceports somewhere. There’s always a way out. If training had taught her anything it was that. She’s so close to removing the collar, and the xeno hasn’t noticed her hands clawing desperately at her neck. It’s now or never. If she can just get the weed away from the knife…
“I’m very hungry. What rations do you have?”
“Rations?” Verda chuckles. “I was given some food suitable for terran consumption. I’m afraid it won’t be anything acceptable for long term nutrition, but it should do, at least until we return to the command ship. I’m not sure what you call this substance…” She ambles to one of the cabinets in search of the mystery substance. Probably stale peanut butter from an abandoned scout ship or something laced with xenodrugs, Olivia thinks.
With Verda’s back turned, Olivia pulls the final latch on the collar and flings it as far as she can to produce a distracting sound elsewhere, lunging for the knife. Her foot hits the floor once as her hand lands on the handle and she pulls it from its holder. By then it’s too late. Verda sees her out of the corner of her eye and sends a quick tendril over to restrain her wrist. The plant matter feels so nice on Olivia’s skin she loses her focus, and in that moment her captor takes the knife and grabs at her other wrist. Refusing to be captured again so easily, Olivia bits the first tendril, surprising its owner enough to momentarily let go. With that, Olivia is out the door as quickly as her weakened state allows.
In the hall she dodges a different affini. This one is taller than Verda and has fewer vines. The affini doesn’t care and only briefly turns as the human passes by.
“Now what?” Olivia thinks. “I’m free, so where do I go? How do I get out of here? Should I self destruct the ship? Would they be stupid enough to make it so I could achieve that without knowing their language?” The last question seems unlikely, so she settles on escape. There should be escape pods somewhere.
If there are, they’re well hidden. Olivia runs at least two laps of the craft, seeing nothing that looks promising. There’s nowhere to run. She’s even more tired and sore than she had been. She slows down as she realizes she has no idea what she’s doing. She starts hitting every door she comes to. None of them open. None of them even beep. She starts panicking. Surely there must be somewhere to go, some refuge for the prisoners of the affini when their slaves are mistreated. Wouldn’t that be part of the treaty? It feels so wrong, so alone. Olivia has nothing, not even her mistress- captor! Her captor who tied her down and drugged her for the crime of defending her world and her species. She would be caught again and put back in bondage as soon as she fainted from hunger. The xenos’ cruelty knew no bounds.
Beep!
One of the door buttons worked! Olivia cautiously looks into the room. It’s empty. Finally, safety! She tiptoes in, watching to make sure nobody sees her enter, and shuts the door behind her. Verda shouldn’t be able to follow here. Hopefully this would be a spare room without a weed occupying it. Perhaps there would even be prestocked food in the pantry, and there was certain to be water, wasn’t there? At least a little?
“Welcome back, little ‘free terran.’ Did you enjoy your excursion?”
Verda Edok, fourth bloom, peers over her tablet from a chair hidden in the corner, the same one she’d been sitting in when Olivia had first woken up here.She can’t help standing, rooted to the spot as it were, motionless. A chill sweeps through her as she realizes what has just happened.
“I assume you really needed to work some of the tension from your system, so I let you go. Did you get into any trouble or were you well behaved?”
Olivia has nothing to say and doesn’t know what to think.
“I was worried when I saw you had removed your bands, but I see I was right to trust you to return to your mistress. You’re already such a good pet!”
She flinched.
“I forgive you for biting me, of course. I know that even feral terrans only behave in such a manner under extreme stress, and what greater stress is there than want? I promise that once I’ve had a chance to restore you to health and once you’re no longer tired, filthy, and hungry, you won’t think of biting me or running away any longer. Now eat. I have your meal set out for you, alongside some more of that water you were so eager to experience before.”
The enormous botanical woman smiles broadly and rises from her seat, turning off the screen as she does. Her vines spread wide, blocking any avenue of escape, short of returning to the hall. Olivia isn’t confused about whether running out again will accomplish anything. She walks to the high table with a plate on it and examines what her next meal will be.
Bread and butter. What a strange choice for a starving woman. The bread appears to have been crushed and squeezed back into shape by somebody who didn’t understand the idea of bread. Still, it’s something. Olivia puts a hand on her stomach. She’s so hungry. It might have xenodrugs, but she’ll be drugged anyway and at least now she has a chance at survival.
It tastes… unobjectionable. It probably would be downright bad, even by rations standards, but for now it’s food and it’s fantastic. Olivia devours everything in front of her, not pausing to look up at the other person in the room, who sits at the table rather than standing. She downs another bottle of water and slams the empty bottle on the table, gasping for breath. It was food, and she’d eat it again, even if it wasn’t that interesting.
“And I didn’t believe that if you left out a meal that a runaway terran would come home. It seems it works better than I hoped. Of course, you chose to return. Are you glad you did, darling?”
Olivia couldn’t say no to that. After who knows how long without food, what she just ate could have been caviar and wine and it would have been no more satisfying. She couldn’t say she wasn’t glad to find it either. Will the xeno offer her more?
No, evidently not, at least unless she says how grateful she is to have been fed.. Olivia scowls. The affini sighs. “If it was that bad, I can try to find you something different, but you seemed happy enough when you were eating. We were too successful finding feralists in need of new homes, so I don’t have much more to give you for now. Besides, you ought to let that settle before you have anything else. You might get sick.”
That… wasn’t incorrect. “You let me leave.”
“I did. I trusted you to come home, and you did. You just discovered what I wanted to do to you.” She gestured at the empty plate. “I truly have your best interests at heart, even if you don’t believe me. I’m not trying to keep you prisoner.”
“You put me on a leash!”
“I did. You would have run off if I hadn’t, wouldn’t you? But when you slipped your leash you came back. Everyone will be so proud when I tell them.”
“But you took the knife from me.” She looks around and didn’t see it anywhere.
“You might have hurt yourself. We can’t have that, can we?”
There’s nothing to say. The affini’s point is very obvious to Olivia.
“I see.” She takes another sip of water, finishing what’s in front of her. She still can’t identify what’s unusual about the taste.
“No matter, now that you’ve eaten and had a few minutes to digest, it’s time you had a bath. And became presentable.”
“No.”
“No?”
“I don’t want a bath. I’m clean enough, I don’t need it.”
Verda laughs at full force, leaves and vines jittering around her as she convulses.
“Darling, really? You’re dressed in tatters, you’re covered in grime, and your hair has turned into a helmet. Is that how the Terran Accord teaches its citizenry to care for themselves? I’ll have to educate you myself, I suppose. There’s plenty of soap waiting for us. Let’s go and I’ll wash you. It’s this way. Besides, you already removed your cuffs for me in preparation,” she said, reaching out for Olivia’s hand.
The Terran patriot bristles with indignance. “I know how to wash myself! I just… don’t want to right now. It’s a bad time for it. The stars are wrong.”
“Oh? Well if you can wash yourself,”Verda exclaims, sarcastically impressed. “Perhaps, since you’re a good and trustworthy pet, I’ll let you do that. I’m sure you won’t run down the drain.” Her expression melted into an affectionate smile.”Everything you’ll need is already in there. I can turn on the water from here and you’ll be able to adjust the temperature from the tub.”
Olivia smirks, not believing her luck. Not having to undress in front of the xeno is a blessing. “Excellent! Let me see your legs first.”
Olivia stretches her right leg out to the affini, leaning back to maintain her perch on the oversized chair, not understanding why she’s supposed to do that. Verda reaches down and undoes the clasps holding the anklet shut, pulling it off gently. In the process her vines brush against Olivia’s upper heel, causing her to inhale sharply. Damn those xenodrugs!
“Now the other.” She complies, and jumps down once it’s finished. Wait a minute…
“Verda,” she begins, trying her best to be diplomatic in a temporarily futile situation. “You were listening when I told you my name!” The xeno’s lips contort into a grin. “Though it would be better for you to start saying ‘mistress.’”
“The ankle things have injectors in them.”
“Yes, pet. They do. Why mention that?”
“Um, I… like mentioning things.” Olivia scurries to the bathroom, deeply unsettled by that realization.
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Cellulose & Steel