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.I could not, from my position, see the entireroom.I could not see, most importantly, the figure whom, I gathered from theconversation and glances of the man and woman, sat at the far end of the room,behind a small table.I saw upon occasion the movement of his hands, long andblack, with delicate fingers.I could see, however, the man who had been called Kunguni and the woman whohad worn the tan slave tunic.I could also see, kneeling on a dark blanket,naked, her ankles tied.her hands tied to her collar, her head down, stillblindfolded, the blond-haired barbarian.:Page 84 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"I am sorry I am late," said the girl who had worn the tan slave tunic."Pembekept me later than I pleased, to finish serving paga to a drunken oarsman.""What sacrifices we must make in the prosecution of our arduous mission,"mused the fellow who had been called Kunguni.The girl looked at him, angrily.She now wore, interestingly, tight blackslacks and a black, buttoned top.I could also see she wore Earthundergarments.On her feet were wooden clogs.Her clothing seemed strikinglyat odds with her setting.She apparently had little sensitivity to theaesthetic incongruities involved or, perhaps, she wished merely to reassureherself by this device that she was truly of Earth and not Gor.I had thoughtthe slave tunic and collar had made her fit in better with her surroundings.They seemed more apt, more tasteful, more appropriate.They had been, Irecalled, "right" upon her.But are they not right upon any woman, in anyworld?There were two other men in the room, and I gazed upon them with someastonishment.They were large fellows, strong and lean, dressed in skins andgolden armlets, and feathers.They carried high, oval shields, and short,long-bladed stabbing spears.These men, I was sure, were not of Schendi.Theycame from somewhere, I was sure, in the interior.The blond-haired barbarian, blindfolded, frightened, lifted her head.Herlower lip trembled.The fellow who had been called Kunguni crouched before the girl and, quickly,jerked loose the knot which held her bound hands, which were still tied,tethered at her collar.He held her bound wrists in one hand."Please do not hurt me any more," she said, in English, "I have told you all Iknow."With his right hand, holding the girl's tied wrists in his left, the mantossed a rope up, over a rafter.He tied it then to her bound wrists, aboutthe cording which secured them.He then signaled to the two large fellows whostood nearby.They put aside their shields and short spears and, hauling onthe rope, jerked the blond-haired barbarian to her feet."Please," she wept, "I've told you all I know!"At a signal from the man near her the two large fellows drew the girl from herfeet, until she hung suspended some six inches from the floor."Begin," said the voice of the unseen man, he behind the table.He spoke inGorean.The girl in the slacks and black, buttoned top swung loose the blades of theslave whip she carried.She touched the blades to the body of the suspendedgirl."Do you know what this is?" she asked."A slave whip.Mistress," said the girl, in English.Their conversation wasconducted entirely in English.The two girls, I gathered, were the only onesin the room who spoke English.The girl in the black slacks did, however, ofcourse, translate, here and there, what the blond-haired barbarian said.Sheherself, of course, inevitably communicated with the men in Gorean."Speak," said the girl in the black slacks."I have told you all I know," wept the blond-haired barbarian."Please do notbeat me again.""Speak," said the girl in the black slacks, touching the other girl lightlywith the whip."My name is Janice Prentiss," she said."Your name was Janice Prentiss," corrected the girl with the whip."Yes, Mistress," said the suspended girl."I was recruited in-""Be silent," said the girl with the whip."Yes, Mistress," moaned the girl.Then the girl in the black slacks, suddenly, lashed her with the whip.Theblond girl cried out with misery, twisting helplessly on the rope, her toessome six inches or so from the floor."Speak!" said the girl in the black slacks.Page 85 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"Mistress!" cried the blond girl.She was struck again."Mistress!" wept the blond girl."Speak of important things, of the ring and the papers!" she snarled."Yes, Mistress! Yes, Mistress!" wept the blond.The girl in black slacks prepared to strike her again, but he who had beencalled Kunguni lifted his hand, and she lowered her arm, angrily.I saw thatshe enjoyed punishing the blond girl.For some reason, it seemed, she hatedher."The ring and the papers," she said, "notes of some sort, and two letters, Ireceived in Cos from one called Belisarius.I took passage for Schendi on theBlossoms of Telnus, a ship of Cos.We fell to pirates on the high seas.Ithink they were of Port Kar.We were boarded.Fighting was fierce but brief,Our ship was then theirs.I, and other women, placed in a net, were swung tothe deck of the pirate ship.On its deck we were stripped and put in chains,we were then carried below, where we were fastened to rings.I was later soldin Port Kar.I was purchased by the merchant, Ulafi, of Schendi.He brought meslave to this port."The girl in the black slacks struck her twice with the whip, and the suspendedslave, striped by the blows, dangled, shaken, sobbing, before her."The ring, the papers!" said the girl in the black slacks."I was captured," wept the girl."I was put on another ship.I was chained ina dark hold, with other women, naked.I do not know what happened to anything.Have pity on a slave!"The girl in the black slacks drew back her hand again, again to strike with afive-bladed lash, but he who had been called Kunguni motioned for her not tostrike.He spoke, in Gorean, to the girl in the black slacks."What was the name of the ship which captured the Blossoms of Telnus?" sheasked."Who was its captain?""I do not know," wept the blond girl."I do not even know in what market I wassold.""It was the Sleen of Port Kar," said he who had been called Kunguni,"captained by the rogue, Bejar, of that port."Watching through the wooden slats above, I smiled
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