Birds of a Feather: Chapter 7
By Theodoric of York and Wardall Clark.
Warning: NO PORTION of this work may be REPRODUCED FOR SALE for any purpose. DC Comics retains full copyright to Superman, Wonder woman and the other characters mentioned here and John Norman retains full copyright to the planet and society of Gor. Birds of a Feather contains explicit sex and violence**, including scenes of rape and torture. This story is not for anyone under the age of consent** in their jurisdiction to read such sexually explicit material. Authors Notes: This is the conclusion of an ongoing series melding John Norman's World of Gor with DC Comics heroes and heroines. At the end of Chapter Seven is a thorough glossary of terms, places and recurring characters. If you find yourself completely baffled by Gorean customs, terms, or politics you should try reading the series in order: (1) A Cat and a Fiddle [by Theodoric of York], (1a) The Cat and the Shackles. (1b) Under the Shadow of the Bat (2) Diana and the Ubar (3) The Princess and the Mercenary [all by Wardall Clark.] In these earlier works Catwoman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and Wonder Girl fall prey to Kurri interplanetary slavers. Selina Kyle escaped to become a legendary Gorean outlaw until Batman came to Gor to re-enslave her. Barbara Gordon wound up as Scully, the abject slave of Mulkar, an agent of the Priest Kings. Kara Zor-El endured years of traumatizing captivity before Batman and Selina freed her. Princess Diana escaped from degrading slavery to a power-mad Ubar only to be recaptured and brought to the Sardar where her memories were altered in a failed effort to make her a docile slave. She escaped by killing her lover/jailor and was at large when Birds of a Feather began. Troia wound up in the hands of the Ubar from whom Diana escaped and was tortured for her sister's crimes.
Lois Lane and photographer Morgan Croft fell into a trap and were raped, and kidnapped by Gorean interplanetary slavers along with a runaway nicknamed Pikachu. Supergirl was admitted to Arkham Asylum for treatment. When Batman and Superman visit Supergirl to arrange for her release, they quarrel about the practice of slavery and Lois' prospects of resisting being broken into a submissive as Supergirl was. Meanwhile, Diana took up with a Gorean warrior from Tyros in hopes of rescuing her sister from the clutches of Gor's most sadistic ruler, Lurius of Jad, the Ubar of the Empire of Cos. Supergirl submitted herself as a slave to Superman who is brought to Gor by the Priest Kings' agent Mulkar to rescue Lois and Wonder Woman.
Clark cannot read the local language, so Kara entraps a free woman scribe into slavery, then entraps a slaver as well. However Clark frees Lady Monica only to have her persuade him to accept her as a Free Companion and Guide. Diana escapes from her captor with the intention of learning to become a pony slave. She then murders that owner and briefly returns to the Northern Forests where she lets herself be captured again this time by Panther Girls. Meanwhile, Lois becomes engaged in a battle of wits and Wills with Arbus, a master slave trainer. Morgan, now renamed Cricket, displays great potential as a Pony slave racer and is sold. Pikachu becomes beloved as a story-telling kettle girl, but makes a dangerous enemy in the ex-Nazi Martin.
Chapter Seven: A PASSION FOR THOSE INSIDE THE UNIFORM
Diana knelt at the display stake, flanked on either side by other captured panther girls. One was a runaway kajira, the other had fled a free companionship by seeking refuge in the forest. Both had been rejected by Panther girl tribes they sought to join. Now they would be traded at this exchange point for arrow and spear points made of steel, and perhaps a handful of luxuries from the river city of Laura. Diana faced the same fate, although in her case it was voluntary.
Her search for the right master had so far been unsuccessful, but there were many parts of Gor she had not seen. She had originally thought that the right sort of master would be of the Warriors, but she had found by experience that those Gorean men were the worst male chauvinist pigs in the solar system. Only one of them so far got it through their thick skulls that there were women on Gor who were every bit as smart and experienced as they were. That had been Jaros of Tharna, who had come from a city with a female ruler. To Diana's lasting regret, he was now dead.
Members of the other High Castes of Gor, the Builders, the Physicians, and the Scribes had similar attitudes toward both free woman and their kajiri. Diana had not tried an Initiate as a master. She did not dare; Jaros had told her that the Priest Kings had begun seeding that caste with their agents. She felt a stronger physical affinity for men of the High Castes, for they were the closest descendents of her Founder ancestors, but she could not tolerate the way they treated all women as if they had the minds of children.
Merchants had proven worse masters. Warriors regarded slave girls as pets to be commanded or pampered. Merchants tended to see them only as property to be converted into other more valuable property. Every attention they gave to a kajira was designed to increase their profits; the girls themselves counted for nothing in their eyes. That left the males of less well-to-do lower castles such as the Hunters, the Leather workers, the Cloth makers, the Shepherds, and the Farmers. The trouble was that such men would rarely afford to buy or keep a slave with beauty as great as Diana's. Allowing herself to be sold at a panther girl exchange point was Diana's solution to this problem.
Paxton of Great Oaks village looked over the three women being offered for fractions of a silver tarn. He was not of the Merchants, but even a peasant farmer could tell that the captured panther girl in the center was of exceptional quality. She was far too big to serve as a pleasure slave, but she suited his own requirements perfectly. He needed a work slave to help with his harvest and he needed a woman to relieve his lust now that his companion was in the late stages of pregnancy.
He felt every bit of the broad-shouldered brunette's outer body. He did not probe her channels with his fingers; he had never approved of treating enslaved people as nothing but property. Paxton had pulled an oar on a round ship after a long march in chains to the coast of Thassa. He knew the whip and the lash and the feel of steel on wrists and ankles. If he lived long enough he might feel them again. This girl had a faint trace of a brand mark on her ass. Sometime in the distant past someone had tried to make a pony slave of this woman and he reasoned that she had fled to the forests to become a panther girl.
Her musculature was remarkably firm, especially given the softness of her skin, and the fact that his visual examination had noted no unfeminine bulges. The things that initially attracted his notice as a potential work slave were the V-shape of her torso and her overall size. He was pleased to now learn that this was no bit of fluff, but a true female warrior.
Her breasts, he could not help but note, were just the right size for his own enormous hands. He had never seen breasts that big ride so high, the muscles underneath must have remarkable strength. He also liked the shape of her bottom. It was small and tight but still soft to touch and rounded like a woman's should be. It would feel right in his hands as he pulled her down onto his over-sized erection.
Even under her dirt, her face was undeniably lovely, but in this one area, he much preferred his Ilsa's angelic blonde innocence. Ilsa had seen one hundred fifty-five summers and born three children so far, but the Stabilization Serums had slowed and then arrested her aging so that she looked like was a perpetually willow-slim seventeen year-old. And yet because she loved him it bothered her not at all that her free companion had become a grizzled hulk in his early fifties during his years as a galley slave. She had welcomed him back into her life as if the missing twenty years had never happened.
Paxton paid the money the panther girls wanted for their raven-haired captive and headed south to his village, which was half-way between Koroba and the Northern Forests. He had been gone a full day already and that made him uncomfortable. He was not of the Physicians. But if the child came early his companion might be in desperate need of his presence.
* * * *
Lois knelt on the bed, looking resentfully at Martin. In her month in the House of Arbus and Rollo, she had not yet been slave raped by Martin. She realized that run of good luck was about to end. Martin was cheerful, he quipped "You shouldn't give me that look, Lois! I am your knight in shiny armor. It was I who rescued you from time clock duty!" Lois said, "Lucky me. Do you knights in shiny armor usually wrap yourselves in this?" She was referring to what she was then wearing, the jacket and cap of a dress uniform for an officer of the SS. The clothes were in remarkably good shape; Martin obviously kept loving care of them. Martin answered, "You should be honored. I don't let many slave girls wear those." "I wonder why I don't feel honored," Lois hissed, "you racist, Nazi swine!" Martin laughed out loud. "That is a point well made. I cannot argue that I am something of a swine." Then he answered the rest of her accusation with complete seriousness:
Yet I am certain I am no racist. One cannot live on Gor and have traveled as much as I do to not know that the very concept of racial inferiority or superiority is Tharlarian shit. I have fought against and alongside too many men whose features distinguished them as members of the so-called inferior races to think otherwise.
As for the Nazi's, by and large I found them to be a bunch of pompous fools who destroyed their own country and people. I hate all Nazis with a passion."
He stopped to compose himself and then continued.
"When I returned to Gor I brought some of those Nazi bitches back with me. After I burned a brand in each and every one of them, I first made sure that they were all bred with males of so-called inferior races. Then I made sure that each and every one of them was sold to a man of those races. After that, I believed that I was done with the Nazis forever.
Then just a few years ago in a bazaar I chanced upon an earth girl who had swastika tattoos. The fool truly believed that she was superior in some mystic way to the other slave sluts she was being sold with. She was delighted at first to become the slave of a former SS. officer, but I broke her. I made her see that she was just a worthless slave slut in the hands of any master. She now works in a brothel in the far south, serving dark-skinned masters. She is well used, her pink skin being somewhat uncommon in that part of the world." "Do you want me to give you a medal?" asked Lois sarcastically. Martin answered, "Not at all. I just wish you would…, how do you Earth people say it?…. I wish you would not judge a book by its cover." Lois asked, "Then why did you become one of Himler's thugs?" Martin asked, "Why did I fight for Germany or why did I join the SS?" Lois answered, "Both, actually."
Martin recounted:
"I have lived on Gor a long time and in those centuries I have gotten to know many in influential places. I maintain friendships earth's slavers and they have let me know what is happening on the planet on which I was born. From time to time, I hitched a ride… as you Americans say. Some decades ago I came to believe that my German peoples were in danger from a coalition of other powers and volunteered my services to help defend them. I had not yet realized the true arrogance and incompetence of the regime I was fighting for.
By the time I did, it was too late; I had grown fond of the men under my command and I fought for their sake, determined to save each and every one of them if I could. They were just dupes that joined a cause not knowing who or what they were fighting for. The true Nazis in my command all were soon dead at the hands of the Russians, or at my own.
We fought the Russians for almost four years and never had I fought such a worthy opponents. We officers would sometimes sit around and discuss which aspects would we most admired about each nationality in the war. We all agreed it would be the Luftwaffe fighter squadrons and the Panzer divisions of Germany. It would be the Navy and infantry of the British. From the Americans we would take logistics and bombers. From the Russians we would take their morale. Often with inferior weapons and incompetent leadership, the Russians would fight with a determination that was inhuman."
Then Martin ended his digression:
"As to why did I join the SS: What can I say but that I was dazzled by the uniform and that the SS. had a style and élan to them which I was more comfortable with? I was a landsknict from way back and I could never feel quite at home with the regimentation of the Wehrmacht. The SS. was much more reminiscent of the world before the industrial age. Plus they always had the best equipment and rarely were in need of supplies.
At the end, though, it really came down to the fact that those were some good men I fought with, well worthy of my companionship. I swore that someday I would bring them to Gor when the war was over, where they could be true men and live the lives that they deserved."
Lois asked, "What happened?" Martin's voice grew cold. "None of them survived. They all died because of HER!" "Her?" asked Lois, who was puzzled and a little frightened by the extent of Martin's obvious bitterness even after more than forty years.
Martin alternated between sadness and rage:
"They were some of the finest soldiers I have ever had the pleasure to serve with, true warriors. Yet to her they were only obstacles in the way. My men fought with the dash and determination that I had come to expect, but in the end she defeated us because she was superhuman. Because of my almost four hundred years of experience of combat, I survived when they did not. I could even have killed her, but she fled the scene of my unit's destruction.
I will someday have my vengeance on her, but until then proxies will have to stand for her, uppity women who think they are special. Do you think you are special, Lois?" His knuckles grew white. "Prove to me that you are just a slave slut and I will go easy on you." Lois asked, "When you came upon a Russian woman, what did you do to her?" "What do you think?" Martin asked as he pressed Lois against the furs. He forced himself between her thighs. She gasped as she was entered. "Please don't!" she cried. "I have been waiting for this for a long time. You like it rough, don't you?" commented as he started to pump. "Not with you!" she whimpered. "Please, not with you!"
"Why not? What makes me so special?"
"You are SS. Please just have me. Do not make me go any further!" "But you will find that I am not the SS. that the stories and propaganda say of us."
"Too much of it is true. You have admitted that yourself. I can see it in the gleam in your eye. You enjoyed raping and pillaging just like when you were a landsknict."
Martin answered, "Taking and enjoying a woman like you has always been one of the pleasures of war. Fight me. Resist me. I order you to." "I am not an obedient slave, Master!" she answered as she felt jolts of pleasure with each of his thrusts. "Please do not order me so, lest I hurt you!"
"Hurt me? How could a cuddly little slut like you do that? This should be interesting. I order you to hurt me!"
Lois whispered, "Please, master, don't order me to do so. I will be your slave if you don't. I swear I will."
Martin hissed, "Must an order be repeated."
Lois gasped, "My grandfather fought the SS. He was a Ranger. He survived the cliffs of Normandy when three quarters of his comrades did not. He fought both the Wehrmacht and the SS. He was contemptuous of the SS. I thought they were terrible soldiers. He used to sneak up and shoot them up the ass when they were taking a crap. He would never have done that with the Wehrmacht; he respected them."
Lois cried out when she felt Martin's fist slam into her chin.
As they hurried southward, Paxton of the Peasants had expected his new slave girl to tire, or at least ask for permission to rest. Instead she kept up easily with his long-legged stride. He decided that she must have been a racing pony, rather than a show pony as he originally assumed.
She was silent until the time that he stopped for the night and laid out the blanket they would share. To his utter surprise, she asked him if he wanted to continue traveling through the night. "I can see that you are troubled, Master, and that we are in a hurry as well. If the reason for the haste is the cause of your worries then perhaps it would be best if we continued southwards. Will we reach you village soon?"
"For a kajira, you are full of questions and suggestions."
"No more so than most girls, Master. The difference is that while I have been instructed that curiosity is not becoming in a kajira, I do not fear to voice my thoughts in hopes my master will be intelligent enough to heed them."
"I am just an ignorant peasant, slave girl. I am sure that you will be able to teach me much about how to harvest Sa-tarna grain or perhaps you will instruct my free companion in the baking of the loaves or the churning of the butter."
"I know nothing of such things, Master. I have been taught only the arts of pleasure. Forgive your girl."
"There is nothing to forgive, except for the lie you just told me. You were a pony slave at one time, were you not?" When his slave nodded her head, the huge peasant gestured for her to crawl to him.
There is something about a spanking that makes it both humiliating and arousing for some grown women. Diana had always been one of them. Paxton manhandled her into position and beat her bottom until it was as red as her face. He used only his bare palm, at that made it all worse. Even as Diana was shrieking her indignation, her body was producing lubrication between her legs. When he finally stopped she promised sincerely never to lie to him, and asked to have her needs relieved.
"Would you prefer touch or use?" Miles asked her. She figured that it was a trick question, but since she had promised to be truthful she responded: "The choice is her master's to make; but this girl would be grateful to him even if he only choices to touch her womanhood." "So you would rather have full use, is that right?" He persisted.
"Oh yes, Master. This girl only feels truly happy when she is in a strong man's arms and he is stroking inside her."
"In that case, I will fully satisfy you. What is your name?
"I have had many slave names, Master. At one time I was only Mul-Delta. My mother called me Diana, as did my dead love master."
"Then Diana you will be. Let me know when your bottom stops hurting and we will begin."
Diana was dumbfounded, "I do not understand, Master."
"I see nothing to understand. I have no wish to cause pain when I ride you, so we will wait until you are no longer tender before beginning."
"But I thought Master felt the need of great haste?"
"My haste is great, but so apparently is your need. We will see to that need and continue in the morning. My Ilsa does not expect me to return before sundown tomorrow, in any case. I will simply pray to the Priest Kings that nothing goes wrong in the meantime."
"You speak of her with great tenderness, Master. What peril is she in?"
After Paxton explained that the baby might be too big for a woman of Ilsa's slightness, Diana tried to insist that they continue their journey immediately. When that failed she offered to allow her new master to use her immediately. Again he refused. In exasperation she suggested that she ride him, since in that position she would control the motion and could protect her still-sore bottom. To her astonishment he went along with her suggestion rather than cuffing her for impertinence.
* * * *
Bound up in her ponygirl harness, Cricket pranced proudly up and down the stage. She looked stunning; her bridle bore magnificent feathers. There was a rule of thumb that one never bought a slave clothed, but Pony slaves could be the exception. It was not as if the serious bidders had not seen her nude. Most of them had already tried her out and found her to be a hot, spirited filly. They had seen her race, too; and they realized that the times that the auctioneer claimed for Arbus and Rollo's Cricket were no exaggerations. And, though she was being marketed as a race pony, it was recognized that if she proved to be an exceptional show pony that could only enhance her value.
Studying the soft, useless pleasure slave waiting to be sold, Cricket snorted with contempt. She thought, "To think I once wanted to be one of them. All they ever do is sit around all day, waiting to be used." Oh how she wished that Lois was one of those waiting to be sold. Cricket was sure that she would bring much more gold than that stupid, lazy, good for nothing-but-fucking-and-time-keeping slave.
Cricket had come to relish her new life. She realized that other Pony slaves did so also. Make no doubt about it, Pony slavery was a hard and demanding slavery. The constant workouts and training sessions could be grueling. As things stood now, she was in the best shape in her life. She little doubted that she could take the gold in several events easily, were she back on Earth. Pony slaves were not your typical slaves. They were graceful, tall, and hard-bodied, marking them as very different from the typical smaller and softly-rounded pleasure slaves.
Pony slavery had been introduced to Gor by slave girls themselves. With the help of the slavers, it had really caught on. This form of bondage filled a niche in the slave trade that was underutilized because so many Goreans preferred their slaves to have more statistically-average measurements. That meant that tall, athletic females previously only fed a small market. Also, on the whole, Goreans preferred their women curved and shapely but had some distaste for a more endowed Kajira. There was a common belief that a woman's breast only had to so large to accommodate a man's hand.
Yet a large bosom was an asset for a Pony slave. One of the primary purposes of for pony slave was to be shown off to large crowds. Like a stage actor who exaggerates his movements and makeup so that he could play to the back of the house, the same was true for the pony slave anatomy; a pair of large, firm breasts gave something for the crowd to look at to assure itself that those athletic animals prancing or running around were indeed female humans.
Tonight Cricket could see appreciation of that femininity in the crowd's eyes. The bidders and spectators was fully aware that these proud, strutting, leanly-muscled beasts were very much slave girls. They saw the slave fires burning brightly in the eyes and movements of each and every ponygirl kajira. They could also see it in the sluts' joy in taking direction from their trainers or drivers. Even proud Cricket would glance with pleading eyes to a groom just to get him to touch her.
She had discovered she craved the touch of a man. The occasional switching was nothing in comparison to being left unsatisfied. She understood that she was a slave and that would be all that she would ever be. Now it was all that she wanted to be. Best of all, she was a pony slave. For the first time in her life she felt that she had made it into an elite sisterhood. Never in her life had she felt so proud of her accomplishments and what she was. As the Pony slave Cricket, Morgan Croft was fulfilled.
Taller, more muscular free women seemed to sense a change in male attitudes. They looked upon their enslaved fellow females with a mixture of awe and trepidation. Before this, they could be assured that they were not the most desirable type of slave girl. Now they could see men openly appraising them as potential Pony slaves. Would they find them selves forcibly inducted into this new form of servitude? The women knew that several of their number would some day be wearing pony harnesses.
Arbus and Rollo looked on with a different type of pride as Cricket used every sensuous trick at her disposal to increase her sale's price. It looked like she alone would probably bring them more profit than the rest of the consignment they had brought with her.
That hoped proved to be reality. When all bidding stopped at the end of the evening Cricket she had sold for over twice the second most expensive girl, a certified-trained pleasure slave. Hitherto now, that feat would have been unheard of for a girl of Cricket's size and body shape.
Arbus watched Cricket being led away by her new master's representatives. Though he was pleased by the profit he had just made, he felt twinge of disappointment that he did not own her any more. No doubt he would hear of Cricket dominating the derby circuit. He briefly wondered what Kafka and Eta would have brought had they completed their pony training. He had no doubt that Selina Kyle and Barbara Gordon would have made even more magnificent Pony slaves that Cricket was. But there was no use moaning further over that lost opportunity.
He walked away in a slightly melancholy mood, He was thinking "What I would not give, to have another try at taming Kafka!" Arbus probably missed her more than any other slave which had passed through his establishment. Yet he now had Lois. He was enjoying gradually breaking down her resistance. She was turning out to be a wonderful slave. He would regret selling her too, but that was the lot of the slaver. It was never a good idea to get too attached to a slave. He would have to remember that with Lois. When he and Rollo returned to their establishment they were met by Sylvia. She rushed towards them, worried. She cried, "Master, it's Lois! She had been beaten near to death."
Paxton of the Peasants lay on his back and closed his eyes to further intensify the sensations emanating from his hard staff*. " My slave girl's mouth had been more talented than the best paga slut he had ever sampled. And now this!"* Her hot wet vaginal walls would clench extra-tightly each time she rocked forward to bring her pendulous breasts to his lips. She had not lied about her training. She might have also been a pony slave for some brief time but she had also been some man's pleasure slave at some point.
She shuddered in orgasm above him, and the convulsive spasms of her lower muscles almost provoked him to come before he was ready to finish. She asked if her master was ready for her to go faster and he gasped his agreement.
Before long he was unable to stay still any longer, his hips began to rock in counterpoint to her motion. She leaned down to offer her lips to him and he accepted. Somehow she managed to keep their faces together even as her breasts and hips swayed from side to side to the rhythm of this thrusting penetration of her tight, but deep feminine tunnel. She was the first woman who could take all of him and so he gave her long deep thrusts that grow faster and faster as their mutual excitement grew. She broke the kiss to urge him on with cries of "Faster!" and "Harder!" and "Oh Master, fuck me deep. I want to feel you all the way in my belly."
Every man has different tastes in lovemaking. Paxton liked an occasional sigh, but so-called dirty talk was not to his taste. He rolled her under him. One hand held her wrists against the small of her back, the other clamped over her mouth. He continued to thrust with his hips and attacked her left breast with his lips and teeth. He expected his kajira to start struggling, but her wild wiggles and squirms were the spasms of a series of powerful orgasms, which continued on and on long after he had pumped his seed into her receptive womb.
Diana thanked her master profusely for the most gratifying sex she had enjoyed since escaping from Firnax of Tyros. Then she rose to her feet and donned the tunic she had been given. When he asked her what she was doing, she replied that she would prepare them a small meal before they continued through the night. When he tried to say that there was no need she told him that that was an untruth.
"You love this woman, Master. It is right that you should be with her at this time, especially if she loves you as well. Your girl can maintain a warrior's pace the rest of the night if need be."
And so they walked and ran and walked and ran southward, stopping only to drink water and chew on loaves of bread in the backpack they took turns carrying. They reached the village of Great Oaks by mid-morning. Paxton brought Diana inside his hut, and commanded her to kneel. From that point on there was only one woman in the room, his beloved Ilsa.
Diana's eyes glistened with tears. Her master had acquired one of the most beautiful slave girls on Gor and all his thoughts were for the plain-faced flat-chested, splindly-legged blimp with stringy flax for hair who sat in a rocking chair by the hearth. The glow in the woman's face at the return of brutish-looking companion indicated that even after 80 years together, he was still her hero and protector and friend. Diana resolved to stay until Ilsa recovered from the birthing and then find her own way southward. It would be a sin against the gods to separate this pair.
* * * *
Arbus studied Lois's badly bruised body. Eta was carefully applying salves to her bruises. She looked up and said. "There is good news, Master. The girl had not been permanently marked and she should fully recover." Arbus asked, "What happened?" "That should be obvious. Marcus here beat Lois nearly to death, like he does any woman he is with!" answered Rollo, staring coldly at Martin.
He leaves a few bruises but nothing like this. What happened, Martin?"
Rollo exploded, "A few Bruises! Pikachu had been refusing to eat because of one such encounter with Martin." Martin ignored Rollo's outburst. He answered, "It is my fault. I lost control of myself. Lois said something that made me lose control." Arbus looked angrily at Lois. "What did she say that made you lose control?" Martin answered for her, "It doesn't matter. She did not deserve what she received from me. My point is that she was a good slave who was only doing what I commanded. Lois is learning that she is a slave and someday she will be an excellent slave, unlike Pikachu. Even so, I feel responsible for what has happened to both of them. I may have made misjudgments in their training. To make amends, I am willing to pay generously to buy them, more than you could ever hope to sell them for on the block." Pikachu is not for sale!" bellowed Rollo. Arbus answered, calmly, "And neither is Lois for the time being. What has gotten into you Martin? You never used to be like this. True, you were a bit rough on slaves, but nothing that they could not handle. You never ignored their slave needs." Martin chuckled, and then grew serious. "It is a woman. I thought she was long gone but she is back. She tasks me. After she had paid for her crimes then I will be better. You will see."
"Who could this woman possibly be? What could she have possibly done to you?"
"On Earth she was known as Wonder Woman. On Gor she is known as the Larl Woman. She killed many men who were dear to me. She hates Gor and all that our world stands for. She should be destroyed. She must be destroyed, and I will the instrument of her destruction."
Rollo asked, "So why aren't you in the Northern Forests. That is where she had last been reported." There is no need for me to go the Northern forests." Martin answered. "Plans are already in motion. An unwitting ally had already been dispatched to fetch her. Then he will bring her here to me. And then they will both die. It has already been arranged." Lois suddenly gasped, "Clark!" Yes, Clark." Martin confirmed. "Her Free Companion?" asked Arbus.
"The same. He is no ordinary man just as this Wonder Woman was no ordinary panther girl. That is why it is imperative that you sell her to me; he will not be fended off by the swords and shields the Priest Kings allow us. When we finally meet it will be exceptionally dangerous. I think of you almost as my son. I do not want you to get mixed up in this. It is not your affair!"
"Why do you want Pikachu? In what way does she matter in these affairs?"
Martin answered, "None whatsoever. As best I can tell she is just a damaged slave who will never be worth even a copper tarn but is fun to torture. You might as well sell her to me. She is of less that no value to you now, the way you have her chained up and are force-feeding her. She is a proud slut and deserves the whip! I will break her and make her kiss my feet." Rollo screamed, "By Thor I will kill you!" and reached for his ax. Quickly Arbus stepped between the two. He grabbed Rollo by the shoulders, saying "No, my dear friend, he will kill you." He paused and added, "And then who would be left to protect Pikachu?" Rollo glared at Martin and then stormed out of the room. Sylvia rushed after him. Arbus then turned his attention to Martin. "Had he grabbed his ax, you would have killed him, wouldn't you?" Martin answered, "Of course. On Gor one is held responsible for one's actions. I do not draw my sword lightly. That is one reason that I have survived almost five hundred years. Another is that when a big stupid brute attacks me with a weapon I make sure that he can not do anything like that again. Next time he grabs for an ax I will kill him. I am sorry but that is the way it is. You know that!" He paused and then added, "I know you care the brute. That is why you should sell me Lois. That way I can leave and be well away from your establishment before Rollo rashly attacks me again." Arbus answered, "If you stay away from Pikachu, I can handle Rollo. He appears to have grown fond of the girl." Marten answered, "As you are fond of Rollo. It is better for all concerned that you sell me Lois." Arbus asked, "What will you do with Lois after you have killed her Clark and the Larl Woman?"
"I will keep her. It will give me great pleasure forcing her to yield and serve the man who killed her beloved."
"That grows tiresome after a while. What will you do with her after that?"
Martin studied Arbus for a while. Then he offered, "I could give her back to you. Would you like that?" Arbus answered, "This whole discussion is immaterial. She is not for sale, not for now at least." Martin cautioned, "It is never a good idea for a slaver to grow too fond of a slave, you know that!" "You have nothing to worry about. I have not grown too fond of the foolish, stubborn slut. I will sell her after she has served her purpose." "What purpose is that?" asked Martin.
"I too want to meet this Clark!"
GLOSSARY
Overviw of the DC+Gor Universe:
Gor: a planet in an artificial orbit on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth. Gor was moved the Sol star-system by the Priest Kings dwelling in a underground city beneath Gor's Sardar Mountains. The Priest Kings created the ecology of Gor using creatures and plants from other planets. In our stories, Gor is known through the novels of John Norman but widely believed to be a fictional place. The governments of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and many super heroes and villains know otherwise. The Priest Kings rule Gor using a device known locally as the Flame Death to spectacularly punish individuals and even whole cities who violate their edicts. Their Technology Laws severally restrict all other rational species in the areas of weaponry, transportation, and communications. This enables communities of Vikings, American Indians, Mongols, and African tribesmen to keep their traditional ways of life. The bulk of the population lives in and around city-states with medieval Arab-Roman cultures which sanction the practice of slavery. On the other hand, Medicine on Gor surpasses that of Earth in several areas. (see Stabilization Serums.) EARTH: a planet with a population of super heroes and villains with powers beyond those of ordinary Homo Sapiens. Some of the most powerful heroes formed the Justice League of America**, which works in conjunction with the Priest Kings and Earth's governments to fight off the alien Kurri.** Afraid to make another unsuccessful incursion in full force, the Kurri have temporarily reverted to trying to disrupt the societies of their enemies. One mechanism for this is to kidnap Earth women and sell them as slaves on Gor for drugs, which are then sold on Earth to finance more kidnappings. Educated women from Western Society possess information the Priest Kings and the High Castes of Gor want to keep from the general populace, so the practice undermines Gor's social structure. Special Notes: The action all takes place at least five years after John Norman's Magicians of Gor. While we presuppose the plots of the many earlier novels the reader may rest easy--any and all relevant events from those novels are mentioned below or in our stories. Comic fanatics should be aware that the DC Universe has been rearranged to the authors' convenience, which in this case reflects most, but not quite all, of the events of Supergirl Fallen and Catwoman's Prey by Citizen Bane. Also, Wonder Woman's lasso, tiara, girdle, and the bracelets all the Amazons wear are items using the technology of a group called the Founders. Like the unseen Aliens in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Founders shaped the evolution of the Human race to their specifications. In DC+Gor, their goal was a sexually compatible species destined to become their slaves in the distant future. Founders have Vulcan-like powers of the mind, physically superior bodies, and the sexual appetites of the Gods of Classical mythology. With the exception of some Gorean terminology, all the above information and what follows below can be gleaned from the following stories: (1) A Cat And A Fiddle: A Cat And A Bat On Gor by Theodoric of York, (1a) The Cat and the Shackles by Wardall Clark, (1b) Under the Shadow of the Bat by Wardall Clark. (2) Diana and the Ubar parts I and II, by Wardall Clark (3) The Princess and the Mercenary parts I and II by Wardall Clark. (4)The six previous chapters of Birds of a Feather.
Excerpts from the Gorean/English Dictionary
Ahn: roughly one hour of time. There are twenty Ahn in a Gorean day. Ar: the
largest and oldest city on Gor. Ar is over ten thousand years old as a
continuous civilization. Formerly a growing empire under Ubar Marlenus, it was
brought low when the Priest Kings engineered an alliance against it. Barbarian:
anyone from lands outside of known Gor, especially Earth Black Wine: Gorean
coffee Bosk: Gorean form of buffalo, noted for its thick skill. It can be
herded, but not domesticated. Builders: members of the high caste certified by
the construction guilds. Chaka: a highly revealing one-piece garment for
adorning slaves. A chaka can be swiftly removed by untying a single knot at the
belt. Chamber Slave: a slave confined to a room or set of rooms and whose
duties are the comfort of the room's primary occupant. Sexual service is common
when the occupant is of the opposite sex. Chenbar (the Sea Sleen): Ubar of the
Island of Tyros. Chenbar of Kasra is extremely capable, being personally brave,
highly intelligent, and both diligent and honorable in pursuing the interests of
his people. Although comparably new to his position, his men idolize him. The
Codes: The set of ethics for a Gorean caste. The Codes of the Merchants
emphasize profit-making coupled with fiduciary responsibility. Those of the
Warriors emphasize personal Honor above all else. Coin girl: a slave girl used
in the manner of Earth's street prostitutes. The slave wears a locked coin box
around her neck for customers to put coins in after having sex with her. Cos:
the island empire of Lurius of Jad. Cos invaded the mainland and defeated Ar
Couching Laws: a set of rules governing sexual relations between free people and
the slaves of others. In some cities, a woman who sleeps with another's slave
becomes the slave owner's property. Talena of Ar fell afoul of this law while
she was puppet Ubara of Ar. Ehn: roughly a minute. There are forty Ehn in an Ahn
Exchange point: a location at which business with outlaws can be safely
conducted. These are commonly located on beaches or riversides. The panther
girls of the Northern Forests utilize such places to trade the captives they
take for other goods. First Girl: Title of female slave in authority over all
other slaves in a household. A successful first girl not only carries out her
master's wishes, she anticipates them and keeps him from getting complacent or
bored. First knowledge: information permitted to the general Gorean populace.
Does not include knowledge of Earth. Flame Death: incineration in a blue flash
by a weapon of the Priest Kings. This is the invariable death for using an item
of prohibited technology. Free Companionship: A Gorean marriage, renewable on a
year-by-year basis in most cases. High Caste: Gorean Warriors, Builders,
Physicians, Initiates, and Scribes. Only High Caste citizens may vote on City
affairs or service in high offices. Home Stone: A rock symbolizing the unity and
freedom of a city or village or household. Gorean citizens take oaths of
allegiance to their city's Home Stone when they come of age. Home Stone, Law of:
A planet-wide custom of city or village loyalty protecting citizens from being
taken captive and sold as slaves by their fellow citizens. Ihn; one fortieth of
an Ehn; roughly the time between the heartbeats of a resting slave girl.
Initiates: the religious priesthood dedicated to studying, propagating, and
enforcing reverence for the will of the Priest kings. The Priest Kings regard
the Initiates' cult of worship with great puzzlement, but find them useful in
enforcing the Technology Laws. Ishindi: an Equatorial jungle Ubarate, run by
black-skinned people. Kaiila: A clawed horse-sized predator domesticated to a
riding animal by some Gorean cultures. Kaissa: literally, "the Game", the Gorean
variation of chess is a planet-wide craze. Kajira (
Part Three: A Guide to the Recurring Dramatis Personae:
Introduced by underlined name in order of appearance. Be alert for additional slave names. Characters appearing in a single chapter have been omitted here Characters acting only in 'offstage' roles are marked with '* *'. ( 3 of them are already dead.) Melissa 'Mouse' Suzaki) 18 year-old runaway and victim of sexual abuse. Slave name: Pikachu. This highly imaginative kettle girl became a popular story-teller, but she makes a deadly enemy in her time on Gor. Lois Lane (Kent); Daily Planet newspaper reporter; & wife of Clark Kent (Copyrights: DC Comics). Slave names: Lois/none/Kafka/none/Lois, The character falls into a trap and is brought to Gor by Kurri Slavers. She resists full submission to her trainer during her pleasure slave training. Morgan Croft: Daily Planet staff Photographer & Olympic quality runner. Slave name: Cricket, mute Pony slave. Morgan is initially trained by the House of Arbus and Rollo to be a racing ponygirl. Cricket passes from owner to owner throughout the story and is treated as a champion thoroughbred would be. Scully: formerly Batgirl with secret Identity of Barbara Gordon: daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner. (Copyrights: DC Comics) Slave names: Eta/Boopsie/ batgirl/ Scully. She was broken to slavery by the events of Catwoman's Prey and A Cat and a Fiddle: a Cat and a Bat on Gor. For her time as Batman**'s slave, see also Under the Shadow of the Bat. She recognized a mind-wiped Wonder Woman** in The Princess and the Mercenary part II. Mulkar: Former slave of the Priest Kings Mul-Kar, now the trusted 'Agent Mulder**', liaison to the authorities on Earth in the ongoing covert war against the Kurri.** . Purchased Batgirl in the final section of A Cat and a Fiddle; A Cat and a Bat on Gor. Played a role in Wonder Woman's escape from the Sardar in The Princess and the Mercenary. Agent Bach: Federal Special Agent in Charge of UFO task force, ally of Mulkar, and the JLA superheroes such as Superman and Batman. Clark Kent: Daily Planet investigative reporter & husband of Lois Lane; secret identity for Ka-El, the alien from Krypton more commonly known as Superman(Copyrights: DC Comics). He travels on Gor as Clark of Kent an Assassin posing as a Scribe while he fulfills his commission to find a lost slave girl. Kara Zor-El: Kryptonian alien, cousin to Ka-El**/Superman**; Formerly Supergirl (Copyrights: DC Comics). Slave names: Superslut/(Kiara)/Kara. Supergirl's body was altered by a Rogue scientist to make it hyper-sensitive to sexual stimuli and pain in Supergirl Fallen and her personality was broken to slavery. She is temporarily rescued at the start of Diana and the Ubar only to fall into the hands of Marcus**, a slave runner for the Kurri. Marcus**'s capture by Batman and his slaves in the final scene of A Cat and a Fiddle: a Cat and a Bat on Gor led to Kara**'s treatment at Arkham Asylum. She travels on Gor under special restraints as the blonde slave of Clark of Kent**. Bruce Wayne: Gotham City billionaire; secret identity for Batman (Copyrights: DC Comics). Works with the JLA (Justice League of America) in both identities to fight the Kurri. Went to Gor to capture and remove Catwoman, who had escaped her slaver captors to become a very disruptive outlaw. Briefly owned and then auctioned Batgirl. Now secretly owns four slaves: Buffy(Catwoman), Ivy(Poison Ivy), Harley(Harley Quinn), and Rebecca, a Kurri agent and child author) Ivy slave name for Dr. Pamela Isley, PhD: Formerly Poison Ivy, super criminal-botanist-biochemist(Copyrights: DC Comics). She was captured and secretly enslaved by Batman, whom she now worships as a demigod; Full details are found in Under the Shadow of the Bat. Harley: slave name for Dr. Harlene Quenzel, MD: Former homicidally insane psychiatrist and super criminal Harley Quinn(Copyrights: DC Comics). Some details of her enslavement can be found in Under the Shadow of the Bat. Selina Kyle: former super criminal Catwoman(Copyrights: DC Comics). Slave names: Kafka/(panther woman)/Buffy**. Sent to Gor by her fellow Kurri agent Marcus, the slave Kafka** escaped from the House of Arbus and Rollo to become a legendary outlaw, the Panther Woman. At one point she betrayed Barbara/Boopsie to a gang of outlaws. Batman captured her and returned her to Earth where she took Barbara Gordon's place as his crime-fighting partner, the Batgirl. They have an infant daughter, Kafka Wayne. These events are detailed in The Cat and the Shackles and The Cat and the Fiddle: a Cat and a Bat on Gor. Firnax of Tyros: a warrior on a mission from his Ubar to capture and enslave Verna**, a renowned panther girl and Marlenus of Ar's former paramour. He also finds and thinks he captured the Larl Woman** during that same mission. Diana of Themyscira: Eldest daughter of Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons of Paradise Island. Centuries old warrior fought villains as Wonder Woman with secret identity Lieutenant Diana Prince (Copyrights: DC Comics). Slave names: Princess/Diana/Mul-Delta/(Larl Woman)/ Tima/Diana/Pegasus/Aganipe. Diana tried to save Kara from Kurri slave runners and was shipped to Gor in Kara's place. She is sold to Lurius of Jad**, the Ubar of Cos and escapes by staging a slave revolt among the galley slaves of Telnus. (See Diana and the Ubar for details.) When recaptured, she is taken to the Sardar by Jaros of Tharna**, whom she had served in Telnus. They fall in love on the way. In the Nest of the Priest Kings, it is decided that Diana's genetic heritage makes her too dangerous to return to Earth. She and Jaros are brainwashed into believing that she is just a Gorean passion slave. The plan fails because Scully and Mulkar recognize her. To escape, Wonder Woman kills Jaros**. The Priest Kings tell the populace that Diana** is the Panther Woman and that she has murdered her master. This begins the career of Gor's Larl Woman. (See The Princess and the Mercenary for details) **Verna: an exceptionally competent panther girl who broke Marlenus' daughter to abject slavery. Marlenus sought her, collared her and subsequently freed her and gave her the ring of an Ubar's Free Companion in Hunters of Gor (copyrights: John Norman) Verna is so old she remembers the time when the Amazons ruled cities on Gor. She was a friend of Queen Hippolyta. Lurius of Jad: Ubar of Cos and its empire. Ubar Lurius became the most powerful man on Gor when his alliance with Tyros and Brundisium conquered a half-dozen major cities and forced Ar to sue for peace (copyrights: John Norman) He installed Talena of Ar as a puppet Ubara, then made her his personal slave after she was deposed by an uprising led by the underground Delta Brigade. After Diana escaped he substituted her sister to cover his failure to recapture her swiftly, but continues his efforts to re-collar the true Wonder Woman. Lurius is notorious for his gratuitous torture of slave girls and his proclivity for raping virgins. Troia**: younger sister of Wonder Woman**; once Donna Troy and Wonder Girl of the Teen Titans (copyrights: DC Comics).Slave names: Diana/Valkyrie. Although this clone sister was originally brought to Gor to make a set with the true Princess Diana of Themyscira**, Troia is deceitfully presented to the people of Cos as her escaped and recaptured sister by Lurius of Jad**. At the behest of the Ubar's free companion, Troia became a permanently muted ponygirl. Talena of Ar: former Puppet Ubar of Ar, daughter of the Legendary Ubar Marlenus of Ar and former Free Companion of the legendary Tarl Cabot of Bristol & Koroba.(copyrights: DC comics) Slave names: Talena. She is being used as a permanently mute ponygirl when the action begins. **Jaros of Tharna**: Gorean warrior of legendary strength and skill. Jaros** is already dead when Birds of a Feather begins, but his time with Diana greatly effects the story. This bionic slave of the Sardar served as a spy while serving as mercenary Captain of Lurius of Jad**'s personal Guard and enjoyed Diana**'s use as his chamber slave. When Diana escaped, the Ubar of Cos gave her to him as gift for his service. Later he went to Port Kar to take personal possession of his new slave. He took her to the Sardar but experienced a change of heart and made her a free companion. This displeased a faction of the Priest Kings High Council and he was mind-wiped about Diana's true origins. When Jaros took vengeance for this and Diana**'s rapes by two humans of the Nest, Diana** was forced to flee for her life. At Jaros' request, she freed Jaros from his slavery by decapitating him, but only Diana knows it was not a murder. Arbus**: Two hundred year-old master-slaver. Formerly a Warrior of Vonda in opposition to Ar, he operates a slavers' house in Ar in partnership with Rollo.** Extremely experienced in the initial training of slaves, he has a world-wide reputation for his skills with barbarian kajiri (i.e. women from Earth.) In A Cat and a Fiddle: and The Cat and the Shackles his house breaks Barbara(Eta), but narrowly fails with Selina(Kafka). Before her escape, Kafka charmed him. He used the slave name 'Eta' shortly afterwards , but calls no slave 'Kafka' Because she is middle-aged, previously married, and holds out hope of rescue, Lois presents him with a unique challenge. Martin of Bremen: Émigré Teutonic warrior from Earth, and friend and mentor to Arbus. Martin visited Earth during WWII and served in the Waffen SS. He claims women are only fit to be slaves, but greatly fears strong women of any type. Rollo of Torvaldsland: descendent of transplanted Vikings and full partner in Arbus's slavers house. Although gigantic in physical size, and Gorean in his attitudes about slavery and marriage, he is a kind-hearted and quickly takes pity on the enslaved kettle girl, Pikachu. Sylvia: She is First Girl of the House of Arbus and Rollo, making her Lois and Pikachu**'s trainer. Formerly Emily Hardcastle**, a nineteen year-old Victorian era courtesan. Eta: (1) a slave who serves as house physician for Arbus' business establishment. (2) slavename given by Arbus to Barbara Gordon during her initial slave training. Lady Justina: a woman of Thentis who finds both Kara and Clark of Kent attractive. Slave name:Justina. She violated the couching laws and wound up as Clark's slave. Lady Monica of Thentis: a slaver who became the Free Companion of Clark of Kent. Slave name:Mira. Lady Monica lost her property when she was judicially enslaved yet talked Clark into accepting her as a free companion and guide after he freed her. Lucius: chairman of the three judge/magistrates of Thentis. Woman in Blue: another judge/magistrate of Thentis. She is worried about the loss of two many talented women to slavery. Thesius: a wealthy warrior of Thentis serving as a judge/magistrate. He is handsome and amorously inclined. He regards lesbian tendencies as moral degeneracy. **Tregor of Koroba**: An owner of Diana** interested in using her to breed Ponygirl slaves. He meets a just fate. Paxton of Great Oaks Village: a peasant with personal experience of being a galley slave. He buys Diana/Tima from panther girls to help with the farm chores until Ilsa delivers her baby and returns to full health. Ilsa: Paxton's pregnant Free Companion.
CHARACTERS TO BE INTRODUCED IN LATER CHAPTERS
(Warning: Some Spoiler Information) **Mul-474: former slaver who helped in turning Mul-Delta into a fully trained pleasure slave. Jaros killed him for brutally raping his slave/companion Diana while she was under the control of a slaver's Lasso. Lady Viveena of Brundisium: Wealthy Builder rejected as Free Companion by Lurius of Jad. Slavename: Bina**. Lady Viveena** has a passion for ponygirl racing and for sexually abusing her slaves. Andre: A warrior friend of long standing to Martin. He becomes enamored with Pikachu. Lady Katrina: A free woman victimized by Martin of Bremen. Slave name: Ayeka Thamas: Lady Katrina's very young son. The Dogs of War: Human servants of the Sardar with experience of combat on Earth. Some of them remember Diana from her time in the Nest of the Priest Kings. Their leader is an old friend of Martin. Morganna: a slave girl whom Kara believes to be Morgan le Fay. She speaks in cryptic phrases and offer sage advice as she dances the MACABRE on Gor and Earth. Artorius the Briton: A warrior from Earth who remembers the court of King Arthur. He trades slaves with Clark of Kent **Marcus**:** a Gorean slave runner working for the Kurri whom Kara remembers in her nightmares. Marcus was responsible for sending Catwoman**,** Batgirl and WonderWoman to Gor and kept Kara as his private pet on his underwater ship. He and the ship were eventually captured by Batman and thus Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth wound up in Wayne Manor. Lady Florinda: twin sister of Lady Viveena and Free Companion to the Ubar of Cos. The rivalry between the sisters is extremely intense and Viveena/Bina will do practically anything to publicly best her sister. Lex Luthor: criminal genius billionaire rival of Clark Kent and Superman.(Copyrights: DC Comics) Lex has connections that reach all the way to Gor and ambitious plans to carry out in Superman's