Crash Land on Kurai – Chapter 24

The door finally opens and light shifts into the room. I sit up and regret it as my head swirls, my blood sugar so low it might as well be in subzero.

“Have you calmed down now?” I shield my eyes from the light, and Akikazé comes to stand over me. “At least you didn’t soil yourself.”

Could he be any nicer?

“You did manage to leave me a toilet, so thanks for that. Just a little hard using it with my hands bound.” I can’t help the sarcasm, but I’m trying to be less confrontational. Seems like a good move considering I have no idea what’s coming next.

Akikazé releases my hands, and I shake them out to get the blood moving through them. “Ladies first,” he says, gesturing to the door.

I walk unsteadily, following his direction, until I’m back in the room where I first met Narumi. Once again, she sits behind her desk, going over data on her tablet. I stand before her for a couple of breaths before she even looks up at me.

“Yumi Minamoto, you seem to have been a bad investment.” Her face keeps a sour demeanor, without a hint of humor, and I know I’m in deep, deep trouble. “I thought taking your contract from Aka Matsuba would mean you’d help us find the rest of your shipmates. This moon is very harsh and not welcoming to strangers. The Shiroi Nami exiles who continue to live here would rather kill your shipmates and not have to deal with them. But I am willing to give them contracts. You don’t seem interested in that.”

I snort. “Please. You’ve killed more of my shipmates than they have.”

“Don’t interrupt. It’s rude.” She keeps her voice even, knowing I have no choice but to obey. “You’re right. I’m only interested in keeping the ones who aren’t injured. My corporation can always use more skilled tradesmen and women. There’s a labor shortage on Hikari which is why we make androids in the first place. Our newest model, the Fukusha Model Eight, goes into production soon, and they’ve proven to need a lot more training than I originally specced for. Aka Matsuba has dried up my workforce, wooed many of my lower caste workers away with promises of better housing and salaries. They won’t sell their educated workers to us, so I might as well glean your people from this moon. It’s not ideal, but they cost less than even the lowest of criminals.”

Bile churns in my stomach. She’s looking to buy slaves, and she wanted me to help her. I’m glad I was such a pain in the ass.

“But Akikazé gave me a great idea.” She stands and comes around the desk to me. “You’re a curiosity, an alien to this world and a Minamoto too. You would fetch a high price on the open market. I bet I could get enough for you to pay off any expenses I may incur looking for more of your shipmates.”

I don’t like where this is going.

“My family swore a long time ago to keep our contracts out of the prostitution business. People of lower castes can choose prostitution if they wish, but my family has been divorced from the business for over ten generations.” She smiles, raising a finger in the air. “But! But you are not of Hikari, and I see no need to make my family poor over your misdeeds.”

My mouth is dry, and no amount of wishing will make my knees stop shaking.

Wait. Wait! I’m about to be sold into the sex trade. I panic, looking left and right, wondering if I can make it through the far door. Akikazé steps into my eye line and shakes his head with a wry smile. The sweat running down my back turns cold, the futuristic fabric probably so clogged with dirt and my four-day-old filth it no longer works.

“So let’s start the bidding.” Narumi picks up her tablet from the table, and with a few keystrokes, several wallscreens turn on. “Thank you, everyone, for waiting.”

Each of the screens light up with six faces, women and men, data on each floating next to their heads. I don’t recognize any of them, and all their expressions are stern and businesslike. There will be no friendly faces here. Hell, no one I’ve met so far has been particularly friendly. Even Rin, who I had an agreeable meal with, was not warm nor affable in any way afterward. It’s been one argument or disappointment after another since crash landing.

I look over each of the men and women and try to determine at first glance who’s trustworthy and who’s not. Wasn’t this supposed to be one of my strengths? My stomach sinks as I realize my skills are useless here. No one is trustworthy. No one.

“Let me start with a brief introduction. You all saw the documents which is why you’re here, but let’s talk about a minimum bid. If Miss Minamoto was a low-ranked prostitute in your business, I would expect she’d fetch about 100 credits per hour. If you have one client per hour, and four clients per day, she’ll make you 400 credits free of charge. She has no Hikari presence which means you don’t have to pay her like you would a normal citizen. Our average days per month is thirty-two and months per year is thirteen, so you’re looking at 166,400 credits of pure profit.”

I notice she didn’t give me any days off, the bitch. A screen flashes, calling for attention, but Narumi plows on.

“Yes, you’ll still have to feed her and clothe her, so we’ll say it’s 160,000 credits. If she lasts five years, which I’m sure she will, she’ll bring in 800,000 credits. 800,000 credits will be the minimum bid today.”

Narumi opens her arms wide and smiles at the screens. “But ladies and gentlemen, we all know she’ll fetch more than 100 credits per hour.” She turns to me, a pleasant smile on her face. “Don’t we?”

An older woman dressed in a smart kimono, her hair coiled about her head, raises her finger, and her screen lights up.

“Yes, Bidder Number Two?” Narumi asks, and I cringe at the way ‘bidder’ sounds to me, a slap in the face.

“I have a question about the veracity of her documents. Yumi Minamoto? This can’t be true. The last of the Minamoto family has been exiled to Kurai, and we were told the family held no one below the age of thirty.”

Narumi smiles as she circles around me. “As it should be since we had them all sterilized. But it is true about this one. She comes from the Minamoto line. People from her family who were left on Earth during the Exodus survived and continued to live there before heading to this sister planet of ours, Orihimé.”

A different man’s screen lights up, Bidder Number One, and Narumi gives him permission to speak. “So the rumors about an alien vessel are true.” Several of the people nod, and Bidder Number Two turns to whisper to someone offscreen. “I find it troubling you’ve kept this information from us. Hikari citizens will want to meet them.”

Narumi shakes her head. “We’re not here to talk about the spaceship or those people on it. My corporation has done the work to round them up and bring them into our ecosystem. To show my good faith that I’ll continue to spread their wealth, I am offering this one to the highest bidder.”

Bidder Number One laughs. “When has Aoi Uma ever shown good faith? This is just another ploy to take our credits.”

I sit in stunned silence, unable to open my mouth and defend myself. Akikazé looms over the proceedings, just waiting for me to be disobedient.

“Be careful,” Narumi warns, narrowing her eyes at Bidder Number One. “This auction is by invitation only. If you’re rude, I will eliminate you from the proceedings.”

The man smirks but doesn’t reply.

I know there’s no getting out of this, so I let my curiosity take in every last detail of what’s happening. The men and women on these monitors appear to be wealthy, so I’m glad to see that even societal standards that were set before the Exodus are still in place now. That will make it easier for me to read people and understand what’s going on. Everyone is well-groomed, wearing clean and simple garments with not a hair or thread out of place. The rooms in which they sit are modern, clean, and orderly.

“This one will be a good moneymaker for most of you. She’s a fighter, though, so you’ll have to be careful. But with her height and weight, you should be able to get by on a small amount of sedatives per day. And with her name and family bloodline, there’ll be many people happy to use her for revenge. Your investment will pay itself back in no time.”

My skin grows cold and damp, and my stomach lurches. Shit. She’s talking about drugging me and sticking me in a prostitution ring. Why aren’t more people objecting?

I am so fucked.

“No,” I say, reaching out for her. She steps out of my fingers’ grasp. “You can’t do this.”

She leans in closer to me. “I can do whatever I want.”

Bidder Number Two, the woman, shakes her head, and her screen darkens. I guess she’s out. I close my eyes and try to burn her face into my memory. Just in case.

“We’ll start the bidding at 800,000 credits.” Narumi becomes a silent auctioneer, precise and at ease like she’s done this a million times. And I don’t doubt it. Maybe she deals with regular slaves, lower caste members, or perhaps she’s the one buying them. I’m not sure, but it doesn’t matter. Her face remains placid as my price climbs. I’m not sure if it makes her more or less evil that she shows no pleasure as the bidding continues past a million credits. I am nothing but a transaction to her, a way to get rid of a pesky nuisance.

What has become of these people? Where along the way from Earth to Hikoboshi did things go wrong?

Two of the men bidding begin to argue with each other over who can use me best, and an older woman rolls her eyes at them. My whole body weakens as I begin to root for her to buy me. This is not right. My brain says I should protect myself as best I can, but my heart is dying a swift death.

Narumi holds up her hand, and all the screens silence. She turns to a man waiting in the doorway. I was concentrating so hard on the screens, I didn’t hear him enter. With the light shining above me, keeping me in focus for those bidding on me, I can’t see who’s entered the room, but a dark presence stands at attention along the outskirts of my field of vision.

“Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. I need to pause the bidding at one point eight million credits.”

I flex my knees and sink down a few centimeters to rest my hands on my legs. I want to collapse to the ground and die. It would be the easiest way out.

“Stand up straight,” Akikazé says, smacking me upside the head. I don’t cry out. I don’t flinch. I take an extra breath to straighten up. Even the smallest of fights are worth fighting.

“Okay,” Narumi says to the person who entered. She returns to my side and gestures to the screens. They illuminate, and everyone’s attention comes back to her. “We have a new bidder. He’s aware that the bidding has halted at one point eight million credits.”

The man steps into the light and my jaw slackens. It’s Rin.

I said I would give anything to see him again, and I take it back. I take it all back. When I left him, I was an autonomous human being with my own will, desires, and dreams. Now I’m a commodity, and… I’m ashamed of it.

“Two million credits,” he says, keeping his eyes on the screens.

The older woman takes one look at him and leaves the bidding. Four men are left, along with Rin.

Bidder Number One raises his finger to speak. “Are we now bidding against Kiiroi Yama?”

Rin crosses his arms and rocks back onto his heels. “I’m a private citizen, but if it makes you feel any better, I’ve promised Narumi Ogawa that I will not report your activities to my superiors.”

Another bidder winks out. He had been especially interested in me. I try not to sigh in relief.

Three left. One laughs. “Prostitution is not illegal.”

Rin raises his finger. “But there will be problems with these people because we have no stated laws of immigration.”

“I’ve looked at her records. They’re legitimate.”

Rin nods. “They are. For now.”

“I have enough money to keep going, even with lawsuits.” He counters. Bidder Number Five has guts, and he wants me. His eyes burn with anger. “Two million, two hundred thousand.”

“What do you mean ‘for now?’” Bidder Number One asks.

“It’s a ruse. Her records are perfect,” Narumi says, looking directly at Rin. I’m sure she told him to play nice before he came on to bid, but he’s sowing seeds of doubt. I’m so grateful I could kiss him, and I haven’t kissed anyone in years.

Number One and Number Three leave without saying goodbye. It’s just Bidder Number Five and Rin left.

“Two point five million,” Rin says, and my eyes fill with tears. “I suggest you let me have her. I have a silent partner. He wouldn’t be happy to lose her either.”

Bidder Number Five’s face flattens. He didn’t see that coming, and neither did I. Who’s the silent partner? I’m going to guess Tamura and his corporation, Aka Matsuba. I’d bet Kazuo begged him to get involved. Maybe there’s hope for me yet.

Bidder Number Five looks directly into his camera. “I won’t forget this, Rin Hara. She’s yours for two point five million. I hope you like working overtime.”

His screen winks out, and my knees give way. Rin reaches out and plucks me from the air before I hit the floor.

“Shall we complete the transaction?” he asks Narumi, clutching me around my waist. Her lips pinch into a tight X.

“Are you sure you want to do this? I can call him back and —”

“I’m sure,” he grinds out with a locked jaw.

She produces her tablet, Rin waves his wrist over it, presses his thumb to the screen, and speaks a series of nonsensical words. The screen changes to ‘PAID.’ My profile comes back up, and the status shows I’ve been sold to Rin Hara.

I look up at him, but he doesn’t look at me.

“Done,” Narumi says, placing her tablet on the table. “Akikazé, please take her to get her belongings.”

“Go,” Rin says to me, jerking his chin. “Make sure you get everything that’s yours.” His eyes bore down into mine, saying things he can’t say aloud. He came back for me, for any information I had, for anything I could take away from here.

I shuffle to the store room I was in just a few days ago before we went out to the life pod crash site. Akikazé opens the storage locker and stands over me as I grab my tablet.

“I hope you enjoy your new life. Better get used to parting those legs, sweetheart,” he growls. I step away from his hand as he tries to stroke my cheek, reach into the closet, and grab the data device too.

“Fuck you,” I say, and march away from him.

I hope I never see him again.