Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 18:05:02 +0000
From: Gerry Taylor <gerrytaylor78@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Dahran Way - Chapter 10 - Gay - Authoritarian

This is the tenth chapter ex twenty two of a novel about slavery and gay
sex.

Keywords: authority, control, loyalty, slavery, punishment, re-training,
submission, gay, sex

This story is entirely a work of fiction and all rights to it and its
characters are copyright, and private to and reserved by the author. No
reproduction by anyone for any reason whatsoever is permitted.

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The Dahran Way

Chapter 10 The importance of power

 Pete Downings

The head of household at the Aloe Palace was Pete Downings -- a quiet
Australian, though that might appear an oxymoron, who before his lifting
had been a painter and decorator.

The new Mistress herself was an interior decorator and I had tried to
allay some of Pete's fears first about a new authority and a female one
at that in his Palace -- I had stressed `his Palace'.

`Master, you never interfere. You let me get on with my job. What
happens if the Mistress and I...'

`Don't get on? Come to blows? Pete, you and she will get on like a
house on fire. You are more alike than you know.'

`Master, I am a slave and merely head of your household at the Palace
by your wish alone. The Mistress is a free woman and has the love and ear
of Master Jack. They can choose their own head of household. I am dead in
the water after that sheet incident.'

`Pete, you seem to forget that you were the choice and wish of all the
overseers to be the head of my household at the Aloe Palace and
recommended by Aziz himself. Of all the overseers without exception! How
foolish it would be of me to ignore your wishes in anything. The Palace
and its surrounds look superb. You love your job and no one, Pete, could
do it better. No one! And talking of love, how are you and Randy getting
on? Yves Fournier is not keeping him too busy in surgery?'

`Since the attack, Master, we just hold on to each other at night and I
see how lucky I am in having a buddy and lover like Randy. And when we
fuck, Master, we fuck like mad. We are like both immensely happy with
each other.'

`Pete, just finishing on the question of power. The new Mistress may
exercise power directly and you shall obey her and Jack and even I will
obey them in their own home, while they are still at the Aloe Palace. But
while you are here, you have all my authority to exercise as well. You
exercise that authority indirectly, but no less powerfully than if I were
saying the words myself. Understood?'

`Yes, Master, but what do you mean, while the Mistress and Master Jack
are still in the Aloe Palace?'

`My wedding gift to Jack is a new residence in Dahra, wherever they
want it. That's for your information and ears alone. And also for only
your information, I have just bought the next farm beside the Aloe Palace
and have made Komil Rostov its new stables manager. You are the only one
to know this. Does this sound like you are not part of my authority,
Pete?'

`Sorry, Master, but I have just been so worried in getting everything
right for Master Jack and the new Mistress that I am almost physically
sick.'

`Stop being sick, Peter. It's all settled as far as I am concerned.
You and the Mistress will get on fine. Now go and find Andy McTee for
me.'



Andy McTee stood before me at `rest'. He looked much better than when
he had first arrived at the Palace and had to be given extra food to make
up for having been starved by his previous owner. As English teacher to
those slaves, who needed to learn the languages, he was second to none.
He and Tommy Saunders were on a par.

`How are you, Andy?'

`Well, Master.'

`And Thor?'

`Very well, Master.'

`Andy, I just wanted to tell you two things: first, how pleased I am
with your work for me as an English teacher and the second thing, more
difficult for me to tell you, is that I have sold you.'

Had I actually hit Andy McTee the reaction could not have been greater.
He staggered back and looked positively frightened.

`Relax, Andy, relax! I have sold you to the new Mistress because she
herself has requested it. For the moment, you and Thor will move to the
Aloe Palace and she wishes you to continue on with your current duties.'

I was going to ask him if he had any questions, but he had started to
cry.

`Why, Master, why? I have tried to do my best for you. You never have
sold a slave before. You said that! You said that! I felt safe here --
safe that I would never be treated like an animal again.'

`Andy, I have sold you not because I love you less, but because I
believe that the new Mistress loves you more. And when she gets to know
you, she will love you even more than I do. I will however make you a
promise, if you are not one hundred per cent happy, or even the slightest
bit unhappy in six months' time, I will buy you back. I am sure your
Mistress will not refuse to sell you back again, if I ask her for it. Is
that a deal?'

`Yes, Master. But I thought that slaves could not make deals.'

`But men can, Andy and friends can. And I think of you more as a
friend, Andy, than as a slave and always will.'

Andy McTee's tears started afresh as he sank to his knees at my feet. I
waited for him to compose himself with my hands on his shaking shoulders
and one of his hands clasped mine.

That evening I had Ben Trant, my secretary, prepare the standard sale
document and an invoice for twenty thousand four hundred euro, the same
amount as his purchase price some thirty months previously.

I took Andy McTee to bed for the last time that night. Before I rode
him, I rimmed him for almost an hour, until he was fully aware of how
much I loved him and how I would keep my promise to him in six months'
time, if he were unhappy with the new arrangement.

When I took Andy, he had no longer any difficulty in being ridden hard
by me and when he himself came his shouts rocked the bedroom suite.



The following day I received Fiona's cheque -- the first one drawn on
her new chequebook on her new account at the Bank. In a way, it was an
auspicious omen and a sign of good things to come.

Although Fiona had a British driving licence, she had never owned a car
of her own and had never accumulated much driving experience. For a
variety of reasons, especially driving on the `wrong' side of the road
and her pregnancy not least of all, Jack did not want Fiona to drive in
Dahra. She agreed with all his arguments, even the pregnancy one and
therefore asked me for the loan of a slave, who could drive.

It would be the first time that a slave of mine would be outside the
Palaces on a regular basis.

I asked Greg Logan if he could spare Jess Tollman from training and Greg
agreed.

Jess arrived at the study all excited when told by Greg.

`The Mistress will have to order you some clothes, Jess. I think she is
talking of a nice pink uniform and some high heels,' I said

I could not resist the joke, because Jess is the manliest of slaves,
with a broad-shouldered physique second to none and a piece of Michigan
manhood between his legs to be proud of. His jaw dropped.

`You ARE joking, Boss?'

`I am joking, Jess. Now take your chin up off the floor. The new
Mistress needs someone to drive her around and do messages for her. Have
you any preference in car?'

`Boss, you're asking me to choose the car?'

`Let's make the Mistress a surprise present, not just only of the loan
of a driver, but also the gift of a nice car? What do you say?'

`You're on, Boss. And you really want me to choose the car?'

`Yes, Jess. Have a word with Faisal and he will get you the brochures
from any of the dealerships you want in the capital city and ask him if
he knows a tailor, who can run you up a couple of proper chauffer suits.
A couple of light suits in grey, perhaps.'

Looking down at his bare feet -- the slaves or the assistant overseers
never wore sandals or shoes -- I said, `You had better give Faisal all
your measurements, boxers, a half a dozen white shirts, socks and two
pairs of shoes and you had better pick a size bigger as your feet,
without shoes, will have grown out. And don't forget a peaked cap in
grey. The lot!'

`Right, Boss.'

`Another thing. As you will remember, the code signal of a slave's
bracelet sets off an alarm as soon as it leaves a given radius around the
Palaces.'

Something intangible, like the shadow of a dark memory, flickered across
his expression.

There was a catch in his voice as he answered very quietly `Yes, Boss.
I remember. I will always remember it, Master.'

I wondered for an instant what he was thinking of. The day when he lost
his freedom? Better not dwell on the past, I decided.

`The GPS limit can be set to the borders of Dahra.'

I did this temporarily for Flavio when I had him treated at the hospital
and later for Randy and Stan. I did it another time when Aziz, who was
then still my slave accompanied me to the capital city.

`I have now altered the setting for yourself on a long-term basis. I am
choosing you for this job because you have served me well and because you
have earned my trust.'

`Thanks, Boss,' he answered. `For everything and for your trust. You
can count on me, Boss.'

Then, just as on the day when I had won him unwittingly in a bet from
his former Master Farouq al-Hamdi, my American slave came over to where I
was seated and made an obeisance before me.

He kissed my right foot, kissed my left foot and looking up at me said
`Master, I will always remember to whom I belong and I say this not just
because of what you have done for my wife and kids.'

The Foundation had helped relocate his family away from his so-called
`friends', who had actually sold him to lifters for $5,000.

Jess bent down and put his forehead on the floor. His strong warm hands
gently encircled and lifted my right foot to place it on the nape of his
neck.

I left it there a few seconds. Then I told him to stand up. We rose in
unison, I from my chair and he from his position on the floor. Jess being
slightly taller than me, I looked up into his eyes and smiled.

`Think about what kind of car you would like to drive, Jess and then go
talk to Faisal.'

When it came to the car, being American, Jess chose a Lincoln
Continental in dark blue. Fiona was thrilled. Jack merely said, `Uncle
Jonathan. Some car! Thanks again.'

All I can say was that three days later when Jess Tollman walked into
the courtyard at dinner time, giving us a dress rehearsal of his new
look, dressed to kill in a grey suit that was sprayed on his body --such
was its perfect fit -- and a peaked cap under his arm, he stopped the
traffic as they say and everyone of the slaves and overseers gave him a
round of applause as he walked across to the veranda where I was sitting.

Jess put the peaked cap perfectly straight on his head and saluted. For
that, he got a cheer and another round of applause.



I heard that when Andy McTee presented himself to the new Mistress and
made an obeisance to her, as he got up she threw her arms around his neck
and gave him `a wee kiss' on the cheek and for the second time in two
days Andy McTee was in tears. Thor had gone down with him to the Aloe
Palace merely to be introduced at the same time, having donned a pair of
boxer shorts -- pairs of, which were now being left at the entrances to
the courtyards into the Aloe Palace.

According to Jack, the new Mistress wanted `shorts in the Palace', but
that the slaves outside on the farm and in the gardens should be naked.
Jack agreed as it was the normal Dahran custom for slaves.

`How is she getting on with Pete Downings, Jack?' I asked one morning
on our way to work.

`Her comment to me as she looked at my socks was `at last, I have
someone, who understands something about colour coordination',' Jack
said with a smile.

`But Uncle Jonathan, she also asked Pete to get her the latest two
catalogues of the slave auction-rooms. I'm beginning to ask myself, who
precisely have I married -- a shy girl from outside Edinburgh or a modern
day Sultana hell-bent on slave ownership.'

We got part of the answer some days later when Fiona asked Jack his
advice about the catalogues she had received. None had contained Scottish
slaves and she wanted to know how she could find out if there were
Scottish slaves in Dahra. As Jack knew little of such matters, he asked
me to come and have a drink at the Aloe Palace one evening, which I did
and I filled both of them in on the computerised records of the slave
dealers.

The very following day Fiona arranged to go to both slave-auction rooms,
with permission to use my name as an entrée and she outlined what she was
proposing to do.

We got more of the answer ten days later, when Pete Downings came to the
Lime Palace with his usual weekly accounts and lists of things for my
approval, which I normally merely listened to and to, which I always said
`yes'.

`One other thing, Master, the Mistress has told me that she would like
to see you to discuss with you the best way to purchase thirteen new
slaves. I have quarters prepared for them already. The Mistress said she
wished to speak to you about them whenever you are free.'

I went to see her.



That second occasion was a beautiful, mild April evening, so I strolled
down to the Aloe Palace with Pete Downings on his return there after some
business with me and I noted how the fields were coming on, with the new
type of water-irrigation spray switched on, which Dumi had ordered.

`Jonathan, how delightful to see you. Let me offer you some tea. Beno,
tea for two, please' Fiona said upon my arrival.

`Pete mentioned that you wanted to see me about the purchase of some
new slaves' I commented, coming uncharacteristically quickly to the
point.

`Yes, indeed, but first and foremost, Jonathan, thank you for Andy
McTee.'

`Thank you for your cheque.'

`I have already visited both the slave dealers at al-Mera and al-Qatim,
did Jess not tell you?'

`No, he did not. He is your driver and he reports only to you and
Jack.'

`Thank you, I was not quite sure. And thank you for allowing me the
mention of your name. It opened doors I do believe that otherwise might
have been closed for me. I mentioned to Jack what I have in mind and he
said to talk to you.'

Fiona went on.

`I told both dealers that I wanted them to search their records as you
and Jack had explained to me. They said that their computer records are
some of the first in this country. Do you know that? They go back almost
thirty years and ledgers before that. I told them both very simply that I
wanted to buy any slave in Dahra, who on their records was Scottish.'

I looked at her in silence and wondered from where at twenty years of
age had she got that presence of mind.

`I also saw from the brochures that sometimes slaves have their origin
listed as a town or city, not as a country, so I gave each a list of the
principal fifty towns and cities in Scotland. They have found no female
slaves and thirteen male slaves.'

`Thirteen Scottish slaves here in Dahra?'

`Yes. And that is where I would like to ask your help. They have sent
me from their old records, a copy of the folder as they call it, of each
of the slaves. I received the folders yesterday, which are in the
library. Some more tea, Jonathan?

I needed more than tea to keep up with Fiona Tuttle.

`I have two favours to ask you, Jonathan. I don't know anything about
slaves, but I am going to learn. The first thing, I want you to take a
look at the folders of these thirteen -- that's what Jack recommended --
and make any suggestion you want. Secondly, I want to purchase the
services of your medical staff, so that my new slaves get the same
treatment that yours have.'

I noticed that she had said `my slaves', not `our slaves', or
`Jack's and my slaves.' It was clearly `my slaves.'

`A pleasure, Fiona, on both scores. Perhaps, Pete can give me a hand in
taking some notes. By the way, where is Jack now?'

`Out playing tennis with Vedel, I think that's what he said, or maybe
he has taken him to the sauna by now, as they do after a game. He wanted
to allow me to have this talk with you alone. He said that if he were
present, that he would cramp my style.'

`That Fiona I hardly believe possible after what I have just heard. And
talking of Pete Downings, how are you getting on with him? Do you want to
appoint a new head of household?'

`Good grief no, Jonathan! Pete and I are getting on famously and Jack
is very pleased with him, too. Did he say something to the contrary?'

`No, he just feels that he is not going to be able to anticipate your
every wish. That's all. Tell him what you think of him.'

`I have, Jonathan, but I will tell him again. He's an absolute tower
of strength.'

`Well, if you would call Pete in, I would like to take a look at the
folders with him in the library. And talking of buying slaves, the two
trainee cooks I bought for you, whom I am having trained at the Lime
Palace under Flavio, my own chef, seem to be settling in well. They just
need some more training, maybe a month or so. I don't know what you are
doing at the moment, but these two seem to have some talent.'

`Jonathan, it is hard to burn milk or porridge. We have a very simple
diet here, apart from some strange cravings I am getting from time to
time,' and she laughed quite heartily.

`Have you thought about buying a sand buggy like the one I have? Its
very pleasant to walk around in the gardens in the evening, but maybe, at
times, with the heat during the day, it is exhausting for you to walk
everywhere.'

I felt that as Fiona was wont to go around the Palace grounds, in her
pregnant state while walking and exercise was certainly good for her, too
much in the extreme Dahran heat would be bad for her and the child.

`Now that is an idea! Thank you for mentioning it. I like spending a
lot of time outside in the fresh air and I want to be able to carry the
extra weight without getting tired all the time. Now that you mention it,
I think I will get one of these vehicles; they seem very convenient.
Especially after I have given birth. I guess while the bairn is still
small we can mostly just walk around carrying the wee thing. But it is
not really the fastest way to get from pillar to post.'

It took Pete and myself about an hour to go through the files and he
made various notes at my request, the bottom line being that it would be
necessary to either have the slaves bought for a maximum eighteen
thousand euro each, which I thought was a little more than what some of
the slaves would fetch on the open slave market and if more were demanded
that we would seek an inspection of the slaves at al-Qatim, it being the
nearer of the two auction rooms.

Pete read my mind, when he said, `I think, Master, that you should warn
the Mistress that these slaves may not be all that healthy and as fit as
those at the Aloe and Lime Palaces. She may be under the illusion that
all slaves are well cared for as yours. '

`I could not agree more, Pete' and this we did. And though we did it
in the clearest of terms, Fiona Tuttle insisted on coming to any
inspection of the slaves that might take place.

As we came out of the library, we met Jack returning from his game of
`tennis' and, as they say, it takes one to know one. He had had more
than tennis.

`Do you want some tea, Jack?'

He sat down beside Fiona and they kissed.

`So, do we go to the sauna together later, or did you and Vedel use up
all the towels?' she asked.

Jack smiled back at her.

`I think in this Palace nothing gets used up quickly.'



Six of Fiona's slaves were bought for her for the figure of eighteen
thousand euro, the maximum the slave dealers were allowed to offer,
purchase unseen.

The seven other slaves were to be assembled at al-Qatim for inspection
on a Wednesday afternoon, when I could be driven down easily from the
Bank by Faisal.

Fiona's new slaves, if their files were to be believed, were nothing to
write home about as far as being slaves. They were generally very poor
specimens ranging in age from twenty five up to fifty three years of age.
The oldest had been in slavery for over twenty years and the folders
usually were accurate on that score at least, when the data were
inserted.

Most of the files had not been updated in quite a while, some even from
the date of purchase, with the following item in being their date of
sale.

When I got to al-Qatim that Wednesday, Fiona was already there in the
dealer's private rooms having attendance danced upon her from all
angles. She merely said, `Jonathan, thank you for coming,' when I
arrived.

I suggested that I look at the slaves first and she agreed. The slaves
seemed to realise that something was up as they soon realised they were
all Scots.

If anything, they were a worse looking bunch of slaves than those of
Mohamed al-Shaad whom I had purchased sight unseen at the Lemon Palace
next door, as I was calling it -- even though there was still no such
building.

All the slaves were heavily ringed one way or another. One had had a
broken wrist, which had clearly never been set properly. All needed acute
dental treatment. All had been engaged in factory or farm work and all
had been used sexually at some point and though not medically-minded
myself, it was obvious to me that most, if not all of them, would need
medical or optical treatment.

A sorry bunch of misfits if there ever was one is what I told the two
slave dealers in no uncertain terms. They could see the state of the
slaves for themselves. Their faces could not contradict my statement. The
prices that were being asked for by their owners, who smelled a killing,
was that they were valuable factory or farm slaves. I finally argued down
the prices to an average of twenty two thousand euro each. A total of two
hundred and sixty two thousand euro for the thirteen.

When I told Fiona the price, she merely produced her cheque book and
said `A good day's work. Do I write one cheque or two?' -- there being
two dealers to accommodate.

Business is business and it required two cheques.

`Now, can I see my fellow Scots, Jonathan?'

Although the slaves had been washed previously at the auction-rooms,
they looked nothing like the clean figures, which the slaves of the Lime
and Aloe Palaces cut, even after a hard day's work. The previously
bought six slaves had also been brought in and all were standing in a
line. The smell in the room was gamey despite the air conditioning. It is
strange that you don't notice such things when you are there on your
own, but with another person at your side, such a thing can become very
obvious.

As we came through the door, Fiona said to me, looking at the miserable
sight they cut, `Jonathan, they look so different to yours. Do me a
favour, hold my arm and just tell them that they now have a new
Mistress.'

This I did, merely saying to the slaves that they had all been sold to a
new Mistress, here at my side. I think some of the slaves must have taken
Fiona to be my wife, as I had not given her name.

We walked down the line of slaves and she gave her hand to each to be
kissed and I kept a firm grip on her arm in support. It was the only time
that I ever remember seeing Fiona Tuttle in a moment of weakness.

I had told Pete to have Yuriy and some of the other slaves to hand on
the Wednesday for the arrival of the new slaves and that he was to speak
with the medical staff.

`And by the way, Pete, Fiona thinks you are a tower of strength.'

Pete smiled at that, but it was a bit forced. He still needed some
convincing.

`Pete, tell the Mistress when the slaves arrive that you want them
properly prepared and cleaned up before she sees them again. If our own
experience is anything to go by, they will be a mess. Ensure that the
sick are kept in the infirmary and the others are seen by the medical
staff. Take my word on this. It will pay dividends.'

`Yes, Master.'

My words to him that morning had hit the bull's eye. Those slaves
needed preparation and cleaning as few others before them.

It was, in fact, not bad advice. Pete followed it. Fiona accepted it on
our return to the Aloe Palace. Jack told me that he looked on as his wife
agreed and saw how hard it was for her not to contradict Pete's firmness
in the matter.

Pete Downings had twenty six minders lined up for the morning the
Mistress' slaves were due to arrive. They arrived promptly.

The arrival of a new slave, or even a couple of slaves is absorbed quite
well by the overall body of slaves. The arrival of these thirteen was a
shock to my own slaves due to their overall poor condition. All had been
with different owners.

At Pete's suggestion, all were to be treated like the other slaves in
the Palaces, so all were unmanacled or unbound, brought in to shit, to be
showered, douched, given their first treatment with the depilatory cream
and finally given a haircut.

Pete said to me that what stopped our slaves in their tracks was the
thinness of the slaves, their tattoos -- some old, some new, some self
inflicted -- the nose or nipple rings on seven of them, the cinches on
two, the balls stretcher on one and the deep metal collars with chain
hooks on eight of them.

I could not figure out for a while why so many of the slaves after
dinner on the Thursday and Friday, just lined up at the veranda to make
an obeisance and to say `thank you, Master', before moving on, without
asking for anything.

I subsequently found out that the slaves had seen or heard of the
condition of the new arrivals and were merely grateful for their own more
humane conditions. This caused me some reflection in that I do regard the
ownership of my slaves like the ownership of a business. Those, who work
in any business have to be good at what they do, have a job that they
like and have reasonable conditions attaching. The one difference with my
slaves was their inability to move from their workplace and that they
worked for me free.

In a way, I tried to look after them as one would a good piece of
machinery, keeping it well tuned and functioning properly.

Yves Fournier had gone down to the Aloe Palace to inspect the twenty six
new slaves -- saying that it was easier to go to them than for them to
come to him. Not a single one was in full health, each in need of his
services for something. Apart from a majority, who had tattoos, there
were two serious hernias for immediate attention, serious haemorrhoids
affecting four, one with a burst eardrum, the wrist which would need
re-setting, and the list went on and on.

Yuriy produced his bolt cutters and went through the rings like a knife
through cheese. It took some more time to get rid of the cinches and the
metal collar rings, apparently being of a design difficult to cut off.

Various of the slaves cried when relieved of their years of forced
ornamentation, but the majority I was told were just merely happy to feel
their skin again without impediment.

Cal Thorsen had cleared his appointments calendar for three working
weeks and started with the first of Fiona's slaves the very next
morning.

Nacho Cuesta found that ten of the thirteen need either contact lenses
for the sun, or corrective laser treatment.

Pete Downings promised his Mistress that he would present the first of
the slaves to her a week to the day, having put them through a compressed
training course with Greg's help.

And so it was, that on the Wednesday, a week after their arrival, the
first four slaves, ring- and tattoo-free, with minor surgical procedures
performed, newly capped teeth and three with sun lenses, stood nervously
beside him in their blue boxers to be inspected by the Master and the
Mistress.

Jack did not stay long before joining me for the trip to the Bank,
merely sufficient to thank Pete for the work done and to say `Welcome to
our home, your new home' to each of the four.

Pete told me that three of the four had boners by the time Fiona had
finished talking to them and putting them at their ease.

`Now for breakfast,' she said and all sitting down on the flagstones
in the courtyard, with herself on a chair, for the first time in years to
eat Scottish porridge and two biscuits, which according to Pete, took all
of forty-five minutes to finish. Pete, being Australian, had never taken
oats or porridge previously and thought it tasteless and wet.

Pete then walked the slaves around the Aloe Palace grounds, pointing out
that they would work naked when working on the farm.

Pete told me that one of the slaves would not believe him that they
would only work four hours in the morning and two in the afternoon.

`Wait and see' was his reply.

When they came to the water-wheel with a slave walking his way of
punishment inside it, Pete said there was silence and he waited for the
questions to come.

`What did he do?'

`Why is he chained?'

When told the story and that the slave on the water-wheel was not to be
approached or spoken to, out of years of obedience to orders, the slaves
merely turned their backs on him and went on viewing the Palace grounds.
It was, as if the slave on the waterwheel was already dead.

Yves Fournier operated on the two hernia cases and on the three
haemorrhoid cases with the help of Nacho Cuesta on anaesthetics.

A further week later, a further four of the Mistress's slaves had their
Scottish breakfast, but it was a full month before all thirteen, plus
Andy McTee sat down on the flagstones in the courtyard to feed each other
on porridge and biscuits.

When I met Andy coming out of one of his English classes, as he
continued in that function for a number of weeks until I had found a
replacement English teacher, I noticed that he was nude and not wearing
the boxer shorts, which I had previously seen him wear.

`We spoke with the Mistress, Boss and as the other Scottish slaves have
not worn clothes for so long, they felt more comfortable working without
them in the heat when outside in the gardens. We asked the Mistress, if
we could dispense with them entirely.'

`What did the Mistress say to that.'

`Ye'll be a rare bonnie sight, if Master Jack also agrees, but I think
he will' was all she said.

`The following morning, Master Jack came out and said `Off with them
there boxers, lads' and, Master, there and then we all shucked down our
boxers and started to laugh. And that was the end of the boxer shorts!'

I smiled at the ease with, which a Scottish lass was fitting into a
strange and foreign environment.

`Remember, Andy, you and I have an appointment in six months.'

`Master, we may not have to keep that appointment. I am very, very
happy with the new Mistress and I hope she is with me and Master Jack has
never said an unpleasant word to me.'

Yuriy, my stables manager at the Aloe Palace was particularly happy at
having extra hands for the farm work.

When I asked Fiona and Jack to what use they were going to put the new
slaves, Jack and Fiona looked at each other and then both of them looked
at Pete Downings. As Pete smiled back at the new -- albeit temporary --
Master and Mistress of the Aloe Palace, he was clearly in with the new
sources of power.



There is a small aside to the story of Fiona Tuttle and Jess Tollman,
her driver, which shows yet again how Fate can enter and leave our lives.

It happened just a few weeks after Jess started driving into the capital
city and wherever else Fiona's excursions took her. She had gone
shopping in one of the larger stores and was being followed around by
Jess, who was there to carry the purchases back to the car. It happened
almost a year after Jess started driving into the capital city.

Someone in the store saw smoke coming from under a door and shouted
`Fire'. A subsequent investigation found that there was indeed a fire
in a waste-paper basket caused it was believed by an employee's
cigarette smoked on the q.t.

However, the shout `Fire' caused an immediate panic in the store,
which was unfortunately thronged.

Fiona was on an escalator coming down from an upstairs floor, Jess two
steps higher up behind her, when the shout went out. Although still some
twenty feet from the floor level, Jess threw two bags of shopping over
the side of the escalator, which was packed and scooped Fiona up in his
arms, protecting her from shoppers pushing down the escalator.

When they reached floor level, they should have been relatively safe but
the pushing became worse as panic-driven members of the public rushed
towards the doors. Two large displays of crystals came tumbling down from
an upper floor and Jess spotting the falling displays just in time
covered Fiona with his back and upper body as vase after vase and sets of
tumblers came showering down.

Fiona struggled from out under the glass and wood debris and from under
Jess with nothing more than a bruise on her forehead. When she told Jack
and myself of it afterwards, Jess was lying there on his face
unconscious, having been hit by piece of a display counter, the jacket of
his driver's suit peppered by slivers of crystal from the floor above
and blood oozing out of a multitude of cuts in his jacket and trousers.

Although the panic abated as quickly as it had arisen, seven people and
Jess Tollman had to be hospitalised. Fiona insisted on going in the slave
ambulance with him and seeing that he was immediately attended to in the
slave wards at the University Hospital. Jess had been concussed and there
were seventeen pieces of glass in his back, on, which Yves Fournier came
to operate that same day.

The Mistress was very visibly upset not just for her own ordeal, but at
the injuries Jess had sustained.

`Jonathan, what can I do for a slave, which is not even mine?'

`Nothing really, Fiona, Jess has everything that he needs as a slave,
even a Mistress-on-loan, who cares for him. Yves has given him the best
that medicine can provide. But maybe there is a way, I can do something
for him.'

`Jonathan, you don't know how dangerous it was and just what could had
happened. I could have lost my life and I could have lost the baby.
Whatever it costs, just let me know, Jonathan.'

`I don't think it will cost a lot, Fiona, maybe ten thousand dollars
at the most.'

She went for her purse, as if to get her chequebook, but I waved her not
to.

`This is something you need not know about, but something that I think
will please Jess, in a certain way.'

`Jonathan, you are being mysterious.'

`I suppose I am, Fiona. I suppose, I am.'


End of chapter 10. To be continued...