The slave girl

Hans Meijer The slave girl

Chapter 1

Upon the rich austerity of David Murchinson?s polished mahogany the silver chrome of the handcuffs were a shining incongruity against the reticence of Corporate good taste. Corey Gibson eyed them with disdain. She was more concerned with what Murchinson was saying.

"On the face of it I should simply shut up, keep quiet. I should allow Planet Oil Corporation to slide down the drain and your father with it. But I don?t want that." He sighed heavily. "This old family role isn?t all it?s cracked up to be. I?m going to give you two alternatives and advise against both. I suppose that means I?m telling you something I think you ought to know."

She laughed at his sobriety. "David, do cheer up, please! Are those absurd things on the table for a reason?" She nodded at the handcuffs. "Is one of us going to jail?"

"His name is Assef Aslam." Murchinson gravely ignored her question. "He comes close to being one of the most powerful private citizens in the world." Corey Gibson wrinkled her nose. "I've met him…. at functions. He stands still and allows a lot of worried looking men to talk."

"On two occasions you were pointedly rude to him."

"Well, someone had to be… all that brown nosing! Besides, the way he looked at me…!" Corey Gibson sniffed with all the assurance of great wealth. "I've been optically undressed often enough, but that brother to the Sphinx takes off a girl?s skin along with her clothes."

"Hmmmmm. No doubt it was those two expressions of your disapproval that made a fix in his mind. He wants you bad." Murchinson grinned. "I?ve seen you rude a few times. You do it with a flair."

"I?m said to be a bitch. Probably I am."

"Never to me." "David, you?re sweet – and you want to sell me into slavery."

"No, I don?t."

"No, I don?t think you do. But that?s what Aslam?s proposition amounts to. Next time I shall be very rude indeed."

"Corey girl…." Murchinson held up a deprecatory hand. "Let?s look at it cold. Next week the Planet Oil Corporation becomes a dry hole. Your father will be worse than broke, there?s income tax suits pending. Assef Aslam will save it at a price. The price is you."

"I followed you that far. Does this mid-Eastern jackal want to marry me?"

"No. It?s just as you said. Some form of slavery. Those handcuffs are his. He invites you to put them on your wrists and go down to the floor one of his companies rents in this building."

"David, it?s too bizarre! Chains…"

"Exactly. But consider him. No one knows his nationality. He is self-made. He has never married. He carries a big, big chip on his shoulder about something… The Establishment probably, and I expect colour is in there somewhere. You epitomise something he envies. You have also hurt his pride. I fully believe his intent is to give you a thoroughly bad time. You also represent a hostage, a useful pledge of The Planet Corporation?s good behavior." "What did the old Kings call them! A?whipping boy?, wasn?t it? So I?d be his whipping girl! Dammit, David, the bastard probably actually would whip me." Corey Gibson?s indignation overflowed. "Can I go down and throw those handcuffs in his face?"

"Possibly you could. But I don?t advise it."

"David, you?ve something up your sleeve, you old so-and-so. What is it?"

"It?s a last hope." The Vice President of Planet admitted dourly. "But I never underrate the power of a woman. Go and talk to him. Keep an open mind. See if you can touch a nerve."

"And spread my legs! No thanks." "I didn?t say that, Corey. Talk. Sometimes words work magic."

"Before of after he whips me?"

"I know how you feel." Murchinson made a gesture of defeat. "Probably I?m a silly old man. The whole thing?s an outrage. But in business we explore loopholes."

Corey rose and patted a dejected male shoulder. Her voice still held laughter. "Father and Planet won?t go broke. I just don?t believe…! I?m going to take those things on the table, and next time I come face to face….! You know what I?ll do-"

David Murchinson silently watched one of the world?s most beautiful women scoop Aslam?s handcuffs and drop them in her bag. He accepted her light kiss on his forehead, then echoed her unworried good-bye. Long after she had gone he sat in contemplation of catastrophe. Corey Gibson herself was pressing buttons. The elevator should not have stopped where it had. It should respond to the controls but it did not. When its gate unexpectedly slid open she exited in anger.

"Reid Hunter! Well, how nice…"

"Corey!" His smile was always attractive. "You picked the wrong elevator. Happy chance. Spare me fifteen minutes for a drink?"

"Why not." Corey allowed herself to be possessed. Reid was nice. He was one of the casual ones who admired but did not push.

Doors. The indefinable smell of money. Another office like Murchinson?s but far less austere. A bar. The chairs were for lounging. Corey picked one and watched the mixing of her cocktail. When it was done they clinked glasses to Reid Hunter?s toast.

"To beautiful females. Specially you."

"I didn?t know your office was in the Planet Building?"

"It isn?t." He gestured apologetically. "I?m afraid I?m borrowing it. Really lush, eh."

"Mmmmmmmm, mmmmmmmm! What?s his name?"

"I think you?re about to meet him, Corey. I hear sounds in the outer office. Ah, yes!"

She should have known! Corey Gibson was furious with herself for not guessing. It had been far too slick….! She turned upon her bogus host. "Reid, d?you get paid for this? It?s a damn lousy trick."

"Friendship, Corey. Just helping out-"

"You?re not helping me. Damn you!"

"This is the time to hurl the handcuffs, Miss Gibson." Assef Alam was politely entertained.

She was on her feet, gulping the last of her drink. Flushed with anger she was on her way to the door when Hunter?s blunt voice halted her steps. "The conversation upstairs, Corey – I?m afraid the room was bugged."

"You bastards!" Corey Gibson looked from one to the other in disgust. "In that case you know my sentiments. I need not repeat them. Good-bye." Chin high, she headed for the door.

"I fear, Miss Gibson, you?ll find it won?t open." Aslam informed apologetically.

"In that case you can unlock it. Oh, and take those too." Breasts heaving, she threw the handcuffs at Aslam?s feet. "You know what you can do with them." There was no answer. Just a waiting silence. Impatiently she strode to the door and grasped the knob. It would not yield. An angry rattle and tug achieved nothing.

"I did mention it was closed." The dry voice was only slightly mocking.

Corey Gibson was not yet afraid. The full weight of the Planet Corporation was solidly around her. Reid Hunter was a decent sort who, just at this moment, was being a bit of a bastard, but that was all. Assef Aslam was too ridiculous to consider a composite out of melodrama. The situation was best ended. Coldly she conceded: "I presume the door means you have something to say to me. Let?s have it."

"You already have it, Miss Gibson. David Murchison was reasonably explicit."

Corey glared at Reid Hunter. "What do you get out of this?"

"I?m an intermediary, that?s all."

"Wouldn?t Judas goat be more accurate?"

Hunter waved a deprecating hand. "For this small deception, yes perhaps. Corey, you?re not easy to proposition. Without that locked door you wouldn?t stay long enough to get a message." He grinned a comradely grin. "What are you, Corey? The most beautiful, the best dressed, the richest, the most eligible…? You?re high in the top ten. It makes you hard to reach."

"So you kidnap me?"

"Yes. Somehow, I want to make you understand what?s happening. To grasp an extraordinary power that?s fallen into your hands."

Corey Gibson sneered. "Barter my body?"

"Yes."

The single word caught her attention. Reid was trying to give her a message. It was not like him to be so blunt. Corey?s pulse quickened when he sauntered to the door. Having turned a key, he faced her squarely. His tone unusually sober. "It?s not just your father, or Planet, or me, Corey. What you and Mr. Aslam decide will affect several thousand people." He nodded, shrugged, and was gone. The click of the lock was clearly audible.