But my fate will not be so gruesome – because I know enough science to avoid it. If Captain Aelon makes good on his threat and throws me from the airlock, I’ll huff out all the air from my lungs and clamp my eyes and jaw shut – so no liquid is exposed to the ice-inducing coldness of space. Like that, I’ll last fifteen shivering seconds before I pass out.
Then, lights out. The end.
“You wish for the airlock.”
Captain Aelon’s mocking tone snaps me from my thoughts. I open my eyes and find him staring down at me imperiously.
“You’re so eager to throw yourself away for your worthless crew,” Aelon speaks so slowly it’s as if he’s running his tongue over each syllable before he utters it.
He knows I’m listening in rapt attention – because each word might be the last I ever hear. I’m completely at his mercy, and by the very laws that I’ve begged him to abide by, I will be executed by my choice.
Eventually, Aelon growls: “I don’t think so, Tasha. Your crew misbehaved. You are responsible for their disobedience – but not their lives. I think a mere spanking is in order.”
My jaw drops.
Chris snickers, and my cheeks turn bright red at the sound of his mirth. That dumb bastard was the reason I’m in this mess, and he has the fucking audacity to laugh about it?
To be honest, that’s the worst part – hearing his laugh. I’d rather take the kiss of the lash than suffer this – the shame of losing respect in front of my crew.
“You can’t do this!”
I take a defiant step forward, hands on my hips…
…but the grin on Aelon’s face tells me he feels he most certainly can do this – and that he fully intends to.
Even more humiliating? The two Aurelians guards are now leering at me, too – and I know they’re imagining me over Aelon’s lap, being disciplined by his huge hand.
But that’s when the Captain’s smile softens for a second. In a more contrite tone of voice, he grudgingly admits:
“You’re right, Tasha – I can’t do this… At least, not without your agreement. So, what’ll it be, Captain Tasha? Twenty lashes for each of your crewmembers?” His slate-grey eyes flash. “Or a spanking for you?”
My hands ball into fists. I can’t believe this!
Of course, I know he’s testing me. I remember what Captain Aelon told me in his private chambers just minutes earlier. This damned Aurelian thinks he knows me so well...
He thinks I’d never willingly let my crew see me weak – so he’s confronting me with a choice that’s really no choice at all. Aelon wants to know which I value more – my pride, or my crew.
He wants to know if I’m willing to humiliate myself in front of the very men whose respect I was willing to fight for. He knows that I’ll lose either way – either they’ll hate me for letting them take the lashes they’ve been sentenced to, or they’ll lose all respect for me when they see their tough, capable captain being manhandled and spanked like a naughty little girl.
But pride lives deep inside us, and it isn’t as easy to crush as Aelon might think.
I take a deep breath and stand up to my full height.
“I’m their captain. I’ll bear their punishment.”
I turn and look at my men – my face defiant as I meet each of their eyes in turn, before finally locking my gaze with Chris. I want him to look into my eyes as I say this – to know that I’m sacrificing something much more precious to me than anything I’d lose beneath the crack of a lash.
“I’ll take the spanking.”
As I say the words, I turn back to Captain Aleon – and I can instantly see the surprise in his slate-grey eyes. That gives me a little surge of triumph.
Captain Aelon misjudged me – he thought I’d be too proud to accept a spanking, and that he’d have the chance to break me utterly with the threat of the lash or the airlock. He’s both impressed and surprised that I’d call his bluff.
But there’s no coming back from this, though. My crew will never be able to look at me the same way again if I submit to Aelon’s punishment.
How could they? How could big, burly miners like Chris follow a leader after watching her being spanked and humiliated over the knee of a dominant man? Even now, Chris and his cronies are snickering, and my cheeks burn a deeper shade of red at their mirth.
The fuckers! Don’t my crew understand I’m doing this for them? If it wasn’t for Theme – poor, vulnerable Theme – I’d have been better off letting them suffer the agony of the lash. Instead, I’m being punished twice – once by Captain Aelon, and again by the mirth of the very men I’m suffering this indignity for.
If there’s any comfort from this, it’s that Theme is looking up at me like I’m an angel – descended from the heavens to save him. He understands what I’m sacrificing, even if Chris and his cohorts don’t.
For Theme – for that man who’s barely more than a boy – I’ll bear this shame. I know he wouldn’t survive the twenty lashes, even with Aelon’s promise that he wouldn’t kill my crew, so my sacrifice will not be entirely in vain.
For Theme, I’ll suffer the greatest disgrace imaginable.
Aelon has regained his composure. He looks at me, and purrs:
“The punishment will be administered tonight. You’ll have a few hours to look forward to it.” Then, he clicks his fingers – turning to the two guards. “Take her to the female cells.”
And, like that, the towering Aurelian commander turns away – leaving me with the two Aurelian soldiers. I stand there with my cheeks burning – wanting more
