“Captain!” Rosh said, getting his attention.

  Dexter stopped and looked at him, then nodded for him to go ahead.

  “She’s amazing, Captain,” he said honestly. “Stronger than…well… the strongest man I know!”

  “Who’s that, Rosh?” Dexter asked, already knowing how powerful the man was and promising himself to never run into the man Rosh considered the strongest man alive.

  “Well, me, I guess,” he said, scratching his scruffy chin. Dexter laughed, unable to stop himself.

  “She learns fast,” he continued. “I show her something once and she’s better’n me at it!”

  Dexter grunted, offering a half-hearted smile. It did him little good to hear that she was as promising as she sounded, since he planned to be rid of her as soon as they returned to Port Freedom.

  “Well, keep at it, we’ve four days to return to Port Freedom, no telling what we might run into this far out,” Dexter said.

  “Wait, Captain,” Rosh said, looking around and lowering his voice. Dexter paused for Rosh to continue. “I hear you’s looking for more helmsmen?”

  Dexter stopped, not sure he heard him right. He nodded after a moment and Rosh finished his request. “I’d like to learn me how to fly a ship… Sir.”

  “I’d still work the rigging and deck off shift,” he hurried to add.

  Dexter cocked his head and thought about it, after only a short moment he shrugged and smiled, surprising his anxious deckhand. “Alright, we’ll try it out.”

  Rosh grinned ear to ear, then clapped Dexter on the back, which sent him staggering. He straightened and smiled weakly before turning to leave.

  “Um, Captain… one more thing.”

  Dexter turned, “yes?”

  “I know that Fed wizard said she was belonging to you and I was wondering if I, um, if I could, ya know, borrow her?”

  Dexter’s eyes widened and he fought the urge to laugh at the incredible request. “Rosh…I,” he paused, then shook his head, unable to find words to say. “No, Rosh, I don’t know what she is but while she’s on my boat, she’s nobody’s property.”

  “Yes Sir,” Rosh said, nodding and turning back to his work quickly, his cheeks already flushing red with embarrassment at the rejection.

  Kragor found Dexter on the forecastle, staring at the stars. Or, perhaps, he was trying to see into the future, the dwarf could only guess.

  “Dex,” Kragor said by way of greeting, leaning against the railing beside him.

  Dexter offered the dwarf a smile. “Hell of a day,” he replied.

  “We need a bigger crew, boy-o,” Kragor said.

  Dexter nodded. “I’m working on it,” he said. Then he chuckled before adding, “Can you believe Rosh wants to learn to be a helmsman?”

  Kragor shrugged. “Who ya think told him to ask you?”

  Dexter looked at his first mate and long time friend and then chuckled again. “Figures,” he said. “And Jodyne thinks I’m the troublemaker!”

  Kragor could not hide his grin. He did, however, glance at the deck to make sure his wife was not on it and able to hear him. His eyes fell on Keshira and he watched her work, her strength amazing as she worked the ropes that Rosh showed her.

  “She’s a sight,” he offered.

  Dexter turned to look at her and sighed. “That she is… and it makes sense now. All of Ormitor’s servants… they’re like her.”

  Kragor nodded. “Aye, I was thinking as much. Strong, beautiful, and not alive. I’m for guessing he’s not a man to be on the wrong side of.”

  “Wizards,” Dexter grumbled, to which Kragor agreed by way of spitting over the railing.

  “Reckon we’ll be on that side when he learns she didn’t make it to Grafton,” Dexter said.

  “Aye,” Kragor acknowledged. “We could run. Hide, stay clear o’ this part o’ the void for a bit.”

  Dexter gave him a look that confirmed what the dwarf already knew. He missed the old Dexter, the mischievous man that would poke fun at anyone he could, especially if they were bigger, stronger, and more powerful or dangerous — so long as he had a hole to bolt to. The new Dexter was responsible for a ship and crew, and he knew it and acted it. While Kragor missed the old Dex, he admired the man he had turned into even more.

  “I’m not for wanting her, old friend,” Dexter said. “I’ll have no slaves about me.”

  “You heard the wizard, she’s not alive! She’s an object… a thing,” the dwarf said. It was a bit eerie, he supposed, but she looked to be able to do the work of two men.

  “Look at that,” Dexter said, gesturing at her with his chin. “She look like a ‘thing’ to you?”

  Kragor stroked his beard thoughtfully, trying to come up with something to shore his argument. He could not and grudgingly admitted as much, “guess not. Them others din’t seem like her, them was more… lively.”

  Dexter looked at Kragor, realizing the dwarf had just pointed out something that bothered him. Why was Keshira less lively? She behaved like a child, soaking up everything around her, but unlike a child she had no personality. Jarnella had been full of personality, or at least it seemed like personality. Perhaps it was just part of her conditioning, to be a sultry seductress.

  Remembering Jarnella brought a rush of blood to Dexter’s face. To think, he had almost let himself be seduced by a…a… well, whatever she was. A construct, the Federation wizard had called her. He shook his head to rid himself of his incriminating thoughts.

  “I’d best relieve Bekka from the helm,” he muttered. Kragor nodded to Dexter’s back as the captain headed for the forward staircase.

  On the bridge Bekka decelerated the ship and rose from the helm slowly, stretching out the stiffness that inevitably set in. It was a shock, separating from the helm, because the consciousness had to part from the ship and re-associate with the body.

  “We’ve got a new deckhand?” Bekka asked him.

  Dexter nodded, having forgotten that Bekka had not been around during the encounter. From the helm she could sense everything that took place on the ship, and she could see in all directions from it, but she could not see inside the ship or onto the main deck.

  “Only till we’re back at Port Freedom and the wizard takes her back,” Dexter said.

  Bekka looked at him blankly, not understanding. Dexter sighed and explained the encounter with the Federation wizard and captain in the cargo hold, as well as what they knew of the girl that was with them. Dexter was more than a little dismayed to see how excited Bekka was getting as he explained things. While not a wizard herself, she was a sorceress, and magical mysteries such as this interested her keenly.

  He replaced her on the helm, anxious to give a simple direction for his thoughts, and let her explore the deck and learn what she could on her own about Keshira.

  * * * *

  They were less than a day out from Port Freedom and still Dexter found Jenna unwilling to converse with him or, if she could manage it, even willing to spend time in the same part of the ship with him.

  Keshira had come to him the first night and inquired how she might service him. Shocked and dismayed, and a little bit disturbed at the improper thoughts he had, he had sent her away to continue her work. He first had learned that she required no sleep, but she could do so if commanded to.

  Now, with only hours remaining until they returned her, Dexter found himself curious about her. More than that, she had begun to become a natural part of his crew, interacting with them when they spoke with her. That she could handle the duties she had learned from Rosh was beyond question. While still bland, she did seem to have a hint of a personality about her. Dexter found himself wondering what more might lay hidden beneath her beautiful exterior.

  Bekka had become fascinated with her, perhaps even more so than Rosh. She studied her and chatted with her whenever possible, trying to learn everything she could of her. As Dexter stood on the bow of the ship Bekka was busy talking to her as she worked, in fact. Bekka did most of the talking, but Keshira responded to any questions asked, though she had yet to ask a question of her own.

  “Keshira, come up here please,” Dexter called out to her. She rose from where she had been kneeling on the deck scrubbing and sanding the planks to keep them smooth. Bekka looked at Dexter and smiled, then wandered towards the stern where Rosh was working on something.

  “Yes Master?” Keshira said when she had climbed the stairs and stood before him.

  “Captain… call me Captain, not master,” Dexter insisted.

  “Yes Captain,” Keshira said, smiling brilliantly.

  Dexter looked at her, studying her face and eyes. She seemed so alive, so real. He could not imagine her as artificial. “Tell me about yourself,” he asked her, hoping to find something more to support his line of thinking.

  She looked at him blankly, not understanding the question. “I am your servant, Captain. Command me and I will obey. I will do anything you desire.”

  Dexter sighed; this was not going well. “No, that’s not what I desire. I want you to tell me about yourself. Where were you born…er, created. When? How? Have you any friends or family…or, um, others like you? Anyone you’re close with?”

  “I knew nothing until I awoke and saw you. That was all that was needed to form my bond. I do know how to do many things, all of them designed to make your life easier and more pleasurable,” she said. “Some things I require your permission to use.”

  “What? What things?” Dexter asked, surprised.

  “I am unable to use my powers until you approve their use,” she said.

  “Powers? Like what?” Dexter had a feeling he had just unraveled more of Jarnella’s allure.

  “Minor glamours and cantrips.”

  Dexter found himself rubbing his chin thoughtfully, then realized that he was starting to act like Kragor. He shook his head and dropped his hand. “Show me an example, please.”

  Keshira beamed, pleased to finally be given an order to complete by him. It looked as though a gust of wind blew over her face, for her hair bounced and flowed, swayed by unseen and unfelt currents. Dexter gasped when he realized that she suddenly looked even more alluring and sexy than she had when she had first come out of the crate.

  He nodded, feeling he had put the final nail in the coffin to explaining how Jarnella had been so wonderfully arousing. This woman, or thing, in front of him was very much the same. The difference being that she insisted that she belonged to him.

  “What sort of loyalty do you feel you owe me?” Dexter asked, wondering just how dangerous she and others like her truly were.

  “I do not understand, Captain. I am your servant. Anything you bid me do I will do.”

  “Anything?” Dexter asked, rhetorically.

  “Yes, what would you like of me, Captain?” She said, not understanding that his question was for his own benefit.

  “No, I mean… well, I don’t know what I mean,” Dexter said, then stared up at the stars passing slowly over the ships deck. “Keshira, you are a beautiful…thing. I want to call you a woman but I cannot if it is true that you are not human or even alive. Do you need to eat or drink or breathe?”

  “Yes, Captain, I must do all of those things,” she responded. “My body is resilient but it can be damaged and it will heal. It is alive, Captain, so I do not understand why you say that I am not. Touch me, Sir, and you will find that I am warm and very much alive.”

  Dexter was tempted to touch her, but he just smiled regretfully instead. “Thank you, Keshira, but I will never take something not freely given.”

  “I do not understand, Captain. I am yours. I give myself to you at any and all times in any way that you would have me.”

  Dexter cursed. “That’s not what I mean. Aye, you’re alive, but you’ve no soul, no spirit, you said yourself you exist to serve me. That’s not giving, lass, that’s taking.”

  “I do not understand,” she said, standing tall and beautiful on the deck in front of him and looking serenely at him.

  Dexter nodded sadly. “I know, that’s the problem. All I’m wanting of you is that you know who you are and why you want what you do. I want you to have your own wants, your own desires, your own goals.” He sighed and looked at her. “I’m wanting you to be your own person, owned not by me nor any other man nor woman.”

  Dexter was amazed when he saw a sad expression cross Keshira’s face. “I… I am sorry, Captain. I cannot do that. You are my Master, it can only be undone if I cease to exist.”

  Dexter was sorely tempted to take the girl in his arms, but he refrained, knowing it would do neither of them any good. “Is your sadness real, or just how you’ve been made to feel?”

  “I do not understand, Captain.”

  Dexter sighed and waved his hand dismissively. “No matter,” he said. In truth it was, but then again, could he say that his emotions were any less real because he, too, had been made to feel them simply by being human.

  “It may be no concern to you, Keshira, but I promise you that I’ll do what I can to see you set free to live a full life. The wizard that made you will answer to me or I’ll die trying.”

  Keshira smiled. “Captain, I do not understand why you would do such a thing, I belong to you.”

  Dexter chuckled. “That’s okay, Keshira, I’m for hoping that one day you’ll know.”

  “If that pleases you, I shall try to understand, Captain,” she said, bowing obediently to him.

  “Go ahead back to work,” Dexter said, dismissing her. Smiling happily at having a task from him, she returned to her place working on the decking.

  Dexter watched her work for a while, thinking about her plight, or his plight, as he considered it, and wondered what Port Freedom would bring. He turned back around in time to feel the ship decelerating out of cruising speed. There, ahead some distance, loomed the moon sized planetoid that Port Freedom called home. Dexter took a deep breath and headed to his cabin to ready himself for what was sure to be an eventful confrontation.

  Kragor and Jodyne stayed at the ship, keeping it ready to go just in case a hasty departure was necessary. All manner of ideas passed through Dexter’s mind, but he really had no plan for how it was going to work out.

  Keshira trailed along behind him and Rosh walked beside her armed for war with multiple weapons and even a chain shirt over his leather sleeves and leggings. Bekka trailed behind them, watching everything with a keen eye.

  Jenna was along for the walk as well, making it officially the most time she had spent with Dexter since Keshira had joined them. She took up the rear guard of their small procession, also wearing her full battle garb.

  “This could sour fast,” Dexter said after he came to a stop a block away from the wizard’s large house. “Anyone that’s not for wanting the risk can go back to the ‘Hawk right now.”

  Nobody spoke up or moved to leave, filling Dexter with a sense of pride at his crew. “Alright, Kragor gets the ‘Hawk if I go down, so treat him right.”

  A few of them shuffled uneasily. They were not bothered by the thought of answering to the dwarf as Captain, but rather the thought of surviving an encounter that he fell in sat poorly with them.

  Dexter turned and resumed his march, with the rest of them falling in behind him.

  They were greeted at the door by Jarnella. She beamed at Dexter happily, then saw Keshira standing behind him and her expression darkened somewhat. “My Master will be displeased to see her return,” she said.

  “About that,” Dexter said. “It was unavoidable. I’d like for him to break the bond she made so we can done with this.”

  “There is no breaking the bond. She is made to be a servant for life,” Jarnella explained, turning and beckoning them inside the house.

  They followed her in, each looking about nervously in case of a trap. Only Keshira seemed at ease as they moved through a foyer, then down a hallway and through a sitting room. Jarnella opened the doors to a large study, where Ormitor sat waiting in a plush chair.

  “Have you any idea what you have done?” he asked, his tone one of irritation.

  “I know only that I damn near lost my ship, my crew, and my freedom carrying your ‘product’.” As soon as the words left his mouth he realized he may have been a bit too aggressive.

  “I want no part of your gold or business,” he continued, softening his tone slightly. “Undo this bond she speaks of and free her, then we may go our separate ways.”

  Ormitor rose up and walked over to them. He looked at Keshira with a critical eye, noting everything from her posture, her look, and the same blue dress she had risen from the crate in. “The manufacturing and ensorceling of a pleasure golem is no simple task. The materials alone are far beyond your ability to comprehend!”

  “Good thing I’m not for wanting her then,” Dexter said. “Undo this thing and we’ll be done with it.”

  “There is no undoing it, you fool!” Ormitor snapped. “And now you’ve defaulted my agreement with Sir Drayful as well! You’ve no idea how much you have cost me!”

  Dexter took a deep breath as Ormitor vented at him. He could practically feel Rosh tensing and fighting the urge to explode behind him. It only made him wonder how Jenna, who seemed especially incensed at the ‘pleasure golems’, was handling herself.

  “No undoing it? Then what does she cost. I’ve no want of a slave, but I’ll accept the cost of ruining her for you,” he said, trying to mollify the wizard.

  Ormitor laughed. “You fool, the cost is more than you will ever see in your life! She is worth hundreds of thousands of gold!”

  Dexter cringed at the mere thought of that much money. While he hoped it would be otherwise, he could only silently agree with Ormitor that he would most likely never see that much wealth in his life.

  “Why is she different from Jarnella,” Bekka asked abruptly, stepping out and throwing back the hood of her cloak.