said Rodriguez. “They are slaves.”
“But you do not think she is a slave?” asked Brenner.
“No,” said Rodriguez. “Are you disappointed?”
“Of course not!” said Brenner.
“The second reason, or second main reason,” said Rodriguez, “that I doubt that she is a slave is because this is Company Station, and it is highly unlikely that they would have slaves here. The company, you see, like many of the companies, at least in public matters, must maintain its image, on the home world and similar worlds.”
“I see,” said Brenner.
“It would scarcely do for the company to be discovered to be keeping slaves here,” said Rodriguez. “Think of the political embarrassment, and the leverage this might provide competitive companies.”
“I understand,” said Brenner.
“The company, however, doubtless keeps slaves one place or another,” he said, “in one out-of-the-way place or another, perhaps on vacation worlds, or resort worlds, such places, for their executives, or something along those lines. Too, of course, the company does have holdings on several worlds, even strong worlds, where there are slaves, and who is to say on such worlds to whom those slaves, in one holding or another, belong. Too, it is rumored that the company, and other companies as well, here and there, do dabble in the slave trade, that they capture or buy such merchandise, that they transport it, train it and sell it, such things.”
Brenner was silent.
“The Serian girls, the little blue beauties, are mostly bred now, of course,” he said.
“Like cattle?” asked Brenner.
“If you like,” said Rodriguez. “But they are, of course, also educated and trained.”
Brenner was silent.
“Some companies are doing this, here and there,” said Rodriguez, “with women of our species.”
Brenner looked at him, aghast.
“Yes,” said Rodriguez.
“But what of the woman we just saw?” asked Brenner. “What is she?”
“I would guess,” said Rodriguez. “That she is either a convict, or a delinquent assignee, or, more likely, a contract slut.”
“What?” asked Brenner.
“A woman who is contracted,” said Rodriguez. “This can come about in a number of ways. For example, she may have been subjected to contract in virtue of incurred debts, or she may have contracted herself for a certain fee, for a certain time, or this may have been done to her by a reformatory board, or a correctional board, many things. Her contract can be bought and sold and she, with the contract, passes from one hand to another.”
“And what are her duties for the contract holder,” asked Brenner.
“Whatever he wishes,” he said. “He holds the contract.”
“When does the contract expire?” asked Brenner.
“Normally when it is paid off,” said Rodriguez, “but, as she is considered a free woman, and is usually charged for her board and such, things are usually arranged in such a way that she cannot pay it off.”
“Then she is in effect a slave?” said Brenner.
“Her contract might be purchased by someone, who pays it off for her,” said Rodriguez.
“Is that likely?” asked Brenner.
“Not at all,” said Rodriguez.
“What is the usual outcome?” asked Brenner.
“The usual outcome?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Brenner.
“Usually, on one world or another, sooner or later, they find themselves reduced to bondage.”
“They become full slaves?”
“Exactly,” said Rodriguez.
“I see,” said Brenner.
“The hostel is ahead,” said Rodriguez, who had by now caught his breath.
“I thought you were looking for a bar,” said Brenner.
“I don’t see one, do you?” said Rodriguez.
“No,” said Brenner, making certain that he did not look too carefully.
“Let’s check in, and change our clothes,” said Rodriguez. “I want a shower. I want to be warm and dry. Then we can go out again.”
You can go out again, thought Brenner. I will stay in the hostel. He did not find Company Station an inviting locus for ambulatory peregrinations.
“The bars are probably off the main street,” said Rodriguez. “Are you all right?”
“Yes,” said Brenner. To be sure, he still seemed short of breath. Too, his heart was pounding, and he was in a state of agitation, perhaps from his encounter with the young woman and his conversation with Rodriguez, or perhaps from the normal adjustments involved in adapting from the weightlessness, or comparative weightlessness, of the ship to the gravity of a world. In such a transition one recovers a sense of the cubic content, the weight, the reality, of one’s body, which, of course, after a period of adjustment, is forgotten.
Brenner then, bag in hand, trying to keep his footing in the mud, squinting his eyes against the precipitation, now again a drizzle, followed Rodriguez toward the double doors of the hostel, some two hundred yards, or so, down the street.