"Thank you, Master. It's lovely."

"This is more of a gift for me than it is for you. You can wear it when we're together."

Dag continued, "You've made me very happy, and I want to reward you. What do you want?"

"All I want is to serve you, Master."

"Don't you desire anything for yourself?"

"My only desire is to please you, Master."

"Do you want me to whip you?"

"No, Master! Please, no!"

"At last, a straight answer! Now give me another one. What do you want for you?"

"I want to learn to read, Master."

Dag was surprised. He had expected Sonji to ask for some frivolous, personal item, but he could grant this request.

"Bomdee taught me to read, and she can teach you. There are some basic books in the library, and you can probably find others that are useful."

The Gamma language transplant had given Sonji a complete knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, so all she had to learn were the symbols and the spelling irregularities, and this was relatively easy because Gamma used a phonetic alphabet. In two weeks she could read at the elementary level, and in a month she could read the Gamma language as easily as she read Galactic.

The 'other useful books' included everything in the library, and she spent as much time there as possible. She didn't exactly lie when Dag asked her about her reading skill, but she misled him enough that he never had to wonder why a peasant girl was reading a law book.

One evening Dag and Sonji were relaxing in bed when he said, "Tomorrow is the half-year point of your I.S."

"Is it, Master? Being with you makes time pass so swiftly that I can't keep track."

"I wouldn't have known either, except that a court official notified me that your mother will be visiting you tomorrow."

"My mother! How can that be, Master?"

"Didn't you know that you are entitled to a visit from a relative every half-year?"

"No, I didn't know that, Master. But my mother lives so far away!"

"Well, she'll be here. The court officials will question her about your treatment, and I think it would be best if they thought you were being treated more like a violent criminal being punished and less like the pampered daughter of a rich merchant. Wear your prison-issue smock and Bomdee will chain you in the storeroom during the visit."

The next morning Sonji was sitting on the pallet in the storeroom when Bomdee brought to the door a middle-aged woman wearing a peasant's dress.

The woman saw Sonji and cried, "Zongee! My baby!"

Sonji looked up and gave a cry of astonishment. It was Captain Goda!

The Captain gave Sonji a hug and whispered, "Call me Mom. We've found you at last! What happened to you?"

Sonji gave Captain Goda a detailed account of the last half-year of her life. (She didn't mention the sex). She also summarized all she had learned about the social conditions and the political organization of the planet.

When Sonji had completed her recital Captain Goda said, "This is one of the most successful field surveys I've ever seen. The method you devised to infiltrate the household of one of the most important men on the planet was absolutely brilliant! And the fortitude it took to allow yourself to be subjected to such hardship! Just seeing you chained up like an animal is so disturbing to me that I can hardly bear it, yet you accept it without visible upset. I'm going to see to it that this survey is classified as Extremely Arduous. That will make you eligible for accelerated promotion."

Captain Goda handed Sonji a communicator medallion but she handed it back. "I can't accept this without permission. Give it to Bomdee and ask her to pass it on to my Ma., I mean, Dag. I'm sure he'll let me have it."

Captain Goda ordered, "Once you're in communication with the ship transmit as much detailed information as you can. Unless we find something really bad it is likely that Gamma will be invited to join the Amalgamation. Having you on the ship will expedite the process, so return as soon as possible."

"Aye, aye, Mom."

During the next half-year Sonji read as much as she could and dictated detailed reports into her communicator. She found that Dag, like most advocates, loved to talk, so she could ask him leading questions and get a whole discourse on some aspect of life on Gamma. Every day she would upload everything that had been recorded. When Dag asked her why she always left her medallion outside the bedroom while they had sex she told him it was just a custom of her village.

Dag and Sonji cuddled together in exhausted bliss. Sonji was still tied to the bed in a loose spread-eagle. Tomorrow was the last day of her I.S., and this was their last night together.

"Sonji, I love you. I can't marry you until your civil rights are restored a year from now, but you could stay with me as my concubine."

"I love you too, Master. But my mother needs me, and I promised I would return to her as soon as I could."

Sonji started to cry. She loved Dag so much, and going away was so painful.

Dag kissed away her tears, and then continued with kisses on the rest of her body. Soon Sonji was struggling against the straps that held her to the bed.

Sonji lay awake long after Dag had gone to sleep. She had changed a lot during the past year. She was no longer innocent and naive, but she still retained her idealism and her personal code. Leaving Dag was hard, but Captain Goda had ordered her to return, and when she accepted her commission she had sworn an oath to obey all lawful orders. Sonji thought, 'Why is honor so hard, when happiness is so easy?'.

The next day Dag accompanied Sonji to the entrance hall to meet the two keepers who had arrived to take her away. The keepers buckled a belt around Sonji's waist and strapped her wrists to it. She still wore the hobble strap.

"She'll be released in a few hours. Why do you have to tie her up like that?" Dag asked.

"Regulations, sir. All violent criminals have to be restrained."

Dag said, "Then I might as well get some good from it." He kissed Sonji's lips.

The keepers wondered what there was about the kiss that made Sonji struggle so violently against the straps, and why she was crying when soon she would be released from I.S.

Sonji was taken to the courthouse. The straps were unbuckled and her collar was chiseled off. She was given a medical exam and her pebble was removed. Her smock was taken away and her possessions were returned. Soon she stood on the street wearing her dress and sandals, free of all restraints for the first time in over a year. When she was sure no one could see her she contacted the Interloper for directions to the pickup point. She walked out of the city and met the shuttle after dark. Her field survey was over.

Epilogue

Soon after Sonji returned to the Interloper Gamma's National Council received a formal invitation to join the Amalgamation. During the negotiations that followed Sonji was often consulted, but she kept away from the Gamma delegation because it was always possible that she might have to make another undercover field survey.

Now, over a year later, all of the agreements had been reached, and it was time for the formal ceremony that would mark the entry of a new member into the Amalgamation. The Star Fleet personnel who had played key roles in the process were invited to the ceremony, and Lieutenant Sonji Regan was included in this select group.

Sonji was circulating among the guests while she waited for the ceremony to begin. She was wearing the dress uniform of the Star Fleet Survey Service, with the Distinguished Service medal she had received when the agreements were reached. There was a stir in the crowd when Radg, the President of the National Council, entered with his entourage. Sonji saw that it included a young man wearing the gray clothing of an advocate.

She walked up behind him and said, "Hello, Master."

Dag spun around. When he recognized Sonji he was speechless with astonishment.

"How are you, Master? Have you found a wife yet?"

"No. It seems that every woman I meet can't even come close to matching a black-haired slave girl I once owned. But now I understand why she always seemed to be so much more than a peasant girl."

He reached for her hand but she backed away.

"We had better not touch. It would be embarrassing if I fainted. It would be even more embarrassing if you made it so I didn't faint."

Dag backed her into a corner and took off his belt. "I'll take that risk."

The End

My thanks to Leviticus and Dino Dave for their advice and encouragement. Your comments are welcomed. Email me at zack_writer@hotmail.com Copyright(c) 2001. All rights reserved.

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