time kickingforcibly upwards. I then, bending his wrist back, thrust him to the side. Theother fellow was caught with a backwards kick, his steel no more then halfwayfrom its sheath. As I had not been facing him he had apparently been taken bysurprise by this blow, by its direction, its nature and force. Untrained menoften expect assaults to occur frontally. Various options in the martial arts,of course, are available to the practiced combatant. My blade was free from mysheath before his knees began to sag. I faced the drovers then, my blade drawn.
He crumpled to the floor. Men quickly cleared space about us.
'Well done!' said the fellow in the broad-brimmed hat.
I faced five drovers, their steel drawn. Bottles were cast aside.
'The first man who attacks,' said the auctioneer, from the height of the centralplatform, 'is a dead man.'
The drovers looked about. Attendants in the sales barn held leveled crossbowstrained on them. The short, heavy quarrels lay in their guides. The cables weretaut. Fingers rested on the triggers.
Angrily the drovers sheathed their steel. They gathered up their two fallencomrades and, supporting them, with dark looks, withdrew from the sales barn.
'The two leading fellows there,' said the man with the broad-brimmed hat, 'wereMax and Kyle Hobart, from the Bar Ina. They will not make pleasant enemies.'
I shrugged. I resheathed my steel.
The two tavern girls, auburn-haired Ginger and dark-haired Evelyn, frightened,began to move unobtrusively toward the door.
'One moment, young ladies,' called the auctioneer, pleasantly.
'We are going, Masters,' said Ginger, plaintively.
'Perhaps not,' said the auctioneer.
'Masters?' asked Ginger, frightened. Behind her there was the heavy ropish soundof heavy cordage being dropped. She spun about. The exit was blocked by thereticulated structure of a stout, hempen slave net. She caught with her fingersat the net, and then, frightened, looked back over her shoulder. 'Masters?' sheasked.
Evelyn immediately knelt. 'Please forgive us, Masters,' she said. 'Please do notwhip us!'
Ginger then knelt, and swiftly, beside Evelyn. 'No, Masters,' she said. 'Pleasedo not whip us.'
'Who is your master?' asked the auctioneer.
'Randolph, of Kailiauk,' said Ginger.
'Russell, of Kailiauk,' said Evelyn.
'No, pretty little slaves,' said the auctioneer. 'Your master is the house ofRam Seibar.'
'Master?' asked Ginger.
'You have been nuisances long enough,' said the auctioneer.
'Master?' asked Ginger, frightened.
'Two days ago you were purchased from your respective masters,' said theauctioneer. 'You have now, as we anticipated, effected your self-delivery.'
The girls looked at one another in terror.
'Your time of being bothers to the house of Ram Seibar Is now at an end,' saidthe auctioneer.
There was much laughter among the men at the rich joke played on the two slaves.
'Remove their collars,' said the auctioneer to an attendant. He removed thecollars. The keys were correct. Doubtless they had been supplied by their formermasters, probably at the time of the transactions effecting their purchase.
'Get your clothes off,' said the auctioneer.
Swiftly the girls complied. Ginger removed even the beaded cuff on her leftankle. Evelyn removed even the black-ribbon choker on her throat. They were thenstark naked. Both, I saw, had been well branded.
They looked about themselves, frightened.
Their clothing, with the collars, was collected by an attendant. Such articles,doubtless, would be returned to their former masters.
'We have here, for sale,' laughed the auctioneer, ' two of the prettiest taverngirls in Kailiauk. Should you doubt this, scrutinize them closely.'
The girls shrank back. Men laughed.
'We are willing to consider any bid over a silver tarsk for them,' said theauctioneer. 'However, we encourage their buyers to see that their pretty, curvedasses are removed from Kailiauk.'
There was more laughter.
'Can you communicate with these other slaves?' asked the fellow in thebroad-brimmed hat of the two stripped tavern girls. He indicated some of thegirls on the side blocks.
Ginger approached one of the girls. Evelyn, too, approached her.
'Do you speak English?' asked Ginger in English.
'Yes, yes! ' said the girl, startled.
'What of the others who were with you?' asked Ginger. 'Can they speak English?'
'Most,' said the girl, 'as a second, if not a first language.'
Ginger then turned to the fellow in the broad-brimmed hat. 'I can communicatewith most of them, I think,' she said, in Gorean. 'If there is a particular girlyou are interested in I can interrogate her specifically.'
The man pointed to the naked red-haired girl, her hands bound behind her, on thecentral platform.
'Do you speak English?' asked Ginger.
'Yes,' said the girl, pulling at her bonds, 'yes!'
'Yes,' said Ginger to the man in the broad-brimmed hat, in Gorean.
He nodded. I could see that he was pleased by this. That seemed to be the womanhe was interested in having understand him, and clearly. I did not think he wasparticularly concerned, truly, about communicating with the others. The uses towhich he intended to put them, I gathered, did not require subtleties ofcommunication. His desires with respect to their performances, I gathered, couldbe adequately conveyed by such means as the boot and whip.
'What is the language in which you have been speaking to these women?' he askedof Ginger.
'English, Master,' she said.
He indicated Evelyn. 'Does this slave, too, know this English?' he asked.
'Yes, Master,' said Ginger.
Evelyn nodded. 'Yes, Master,' she said.
I smiled. Two girls, doubtless, could train the red-haired barbarian morequickly than one. For example, they could work her in shifts.
'You speak English ' cried the girl on the side block, the collar and chain onher throat, 'what is this place and how did I come here!'
'This is the world called Gor,' said Ginger, 'and you were brought here byspacecraft.'
'What manner of place is this,' begged the girl, lifting the chain on hercollar, 'and is this how they treat all women?'
'I shall not expatiate on what manner of place this is' said Ginger, 'for you,yourself, shall soon learn, and well. And this is not how they treat all women.
Women on this world, most of them, enjoy a status and freedom of which you, fromEarth, cannot even conceive. Their raiment is splendid, their station is lofty,their mien is noble, their prestige is boundless. Dread them, and fear them-'
The girl looked at her, frightened.
'For you are not such a woman,' said Ginger.
The girl clutched the chain, kneeling on the block.
'No,' said Ginger, 'you are not such a woman. You are less than the dust beneaththeir feet.'
'I–I do not understand,' said the girl, stammering.
'You are the sort of woman who will wear rags, said Ginger, 'who will rejoiceif a crust of bread is thrust in your mouth.'
'I–I do not understand,' said the girl.
'You will learn the weight of bonds, the lash of the whip,' said Ginger. 'Youwill learn to crawl, and bend, and obey.'
