Page 7 of Under His Heel

[Chapter 4]

“The fuck?” Nick stepped back, putting Alex between him and Tracht. Alex tried to make himself bigger to hide Nick from Tracht’s view, although that was impossible at this point.

“Alex, and– ah. Your brother, I presume?” Tracht took a few steps forward. “I suppose you thought your messages were very cleverly coded? That I wouldn’t figure out you were planning on running?”

Well, yeah. Alex had thought that. But they were pretty far from the meeting place by now. “You read my messages, you shit?”

“Messages you sent via my ship’s network, on my personal tablet. I don’t know why you presumed to have any privacy.” Tracht reached into his pocket and pulled out the collar. “I’m a bit upset you left Mr. Parsons in that state. I would have told him to abandon his station if I’d known you’d go that far. But I suppose I can’t fault you for not noticing that the cargo hatch was unguarded; I never did end up taking you down there.”

“You left your own fucking ship vulnerable?” Nick barked. “What kind of a shit captain are you?”

One of the guards aimed his gun at Nick, but Tracht motioned for him to stay his weapon. “I see now where Alex gets his delightful personality. Now, I don’t know anything about you, Mr. Stone– it is also Mr. Stone, yes? But I suggest, if you value your good health, you allow me to retrieve my bondservant. Until the contract runs out, he is essentially my property, and you will find that nobody on this station would question my use of violent force to take him back.”

Alex imagined Nick’s expression: maybe scared, definitely outraged. Ready to fight for Alex.

“Um, yeah.” Nick said. “Uh, whatever. The contract is what, five years?”

“Yes. We did extend the contract by one day, and he has served three already, but essentially we are still at five years,” Tracht said in the same mild tone he’d used at the debt-leasing center.

“Not all that long, really.”

No. No. Alex whipped his head around to stare at Nick. And Nick, he was backing away, wearing that smarmy grin he wore when he was negotiating anything that wasn’t going his way.

“And like, you definitely need Alex here for all five of those years?”

“Absolutely non-negotiable.”

Nick shrugged theatrically. “So, okay. Guess it’s tough luck, Alex.”

“What the fuck?” Alex reached out for Nick, who quickly hopped out of reach. “What are you saying?”

“Five years isn’t too bad. And I already bought the ticket to Persephone Station. There’s nothing I can really do. You get it, right, bro?”

It shouldn’t have shocked Alex as much as it did. Nick wasn’t big on confrontation, always letting Alex be the one to handle it. Nick wasn’t big on responsibility in general, racking up a huge debt under Alex’s name, rationalizing it by saying they were practically the same person anyway.

But Alex had honestly thought that Nick would come through for him this time. That Nick would somehow stand up and fight for Alex.

“I’ll see you around. Have fun!”

Alex watched Nick run away, too shocked to do anything.

“I believe this might be for the best anyway,” Tracht said.

Fuck him. Alex let the rage flow over him, anger he’d been holding back for the past few days. He lunged at Tracht. It was a stupid move, because the three guards were instantly on him, grabbing his arms and holding him down even while Tracht shouted, “No permanent damage, please.”

His vision blurred, and he bit Tracht’s hand when he reached down to place the collar back around Alex’s neck. He got a slap across the face for his trouble, but Tracht didn’t seem particularly worried about the bite.

“Let’s get back to the ship, my little brute. We are going to have quite the heart-to-heart.”

===

Alex struggled the entire way back, until he was too tired to struggle any more. Tracht’s guards dumped him on the large bed, stripped him of his stolen clothes, and used sturdy leather cuffs to restrain him in a spread-eagle position.

He managed to bite at least one of the guards, drawing blood, but the feeling of satisfaction was short-lived.

Tracht dismissed the guards with a polite thank you, which left just the two of them in this dimly lit room. Tracht loomed over him.

“What did you expect to accomplish today?”

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