Adventures of Joe Trader

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"Girl," Joe began, She broke in, "The police chief ran your dossier for me, I know you to be a pretty honorable man, retired military, decorated for bravery, several times, Very competent in a dangerous situation, you are a good man to be with in a difficult situation, The chief approved of you, He wanted to help me to get off the planet. It was real fortunate for me when you happened by, I would have lost all my possessions to my uncle and been forced to marry the man who would pay him the most for me."

Joe thought, Now the uncle will be after me, fortunately he doesn’t know where I am going, He figured it wasn’t any of his business the amount of money she left with and where she sent it.

"Do you suppose your uncle will be on my tail?"

"He will try to figure out where you are going, your cargo may be a hint. But there was no shipping destination, I would say he is very upset now. The police chief is smart and won’t give him any help, he made it possible to get here, so I’m sure he won’t talk."

"Well," he said, " you should be able to get passage to your destination at my next stop. I don’t think you know where we are bound for either, You took one hell of a chance"

"Slavery on that rock or on a space ship is still slavery, If I am to be a slave, I wold rather have a master with your reputation than the one that was planned. I am glad to see you are not an old man"

"OK, enough of this idle chatter, Did you bring any luggage?"

"I have only this, and a small purse with my proof and identity codes for my deposit, Some credits for my passage." She gestured to her form fitting leather outfit.

"Maybe we can program the replicator and get you some suitable clothes, although that suit sure leaves little to imagine. I’ll bet you would like a bath, you can have the executive officer’s quarters. The officers on this old tub lived pretty well." He took her to the stateroom next to his quarters in the passage way.

He checked the directory in the replicator and found women’s clothes, Showed her how to operate the controls and left.

Back in the control room, he contemplated the last couple hours. Apparently she was the property of a rich land owner on Altoid. She could be an escaped slave. There may be trouble, But one thing for sure, she was a real beauty, with that rich red hair and dark blue eyes, her owner must be real miserable knowing she was gone, But she could be telling the truth, there were no tell tale signs of a lie as she told her tale.

She appeared in a pleated skirt that stopped at mid thigh. A short cashmere sweater that exposed her midriff.

"I hope you don’t mind," she said. ‘" We are not allowed to wear this type clothes on Altoid, the skin tight suit I wore was gotten for me by an off worlder. I had to wear it under other clothes until I was off planet.

"I see other women from off planet wear skirts and sweaters, they looked so comfortable,"

"You look quite beautiful," Responded Joe. "By the way, It would be nice to know what to call you, Hey You, may get old after a while ,".My birth name is Aletha Franz.