“Wow.” Wendy said as she stepped into their suite.

“I agree with you there.” Kathy said eagerly dumping her bag on the floor and strutting into the room.

Four rooms opened at right angles to each other into a central circular space. A unit with video screens hung from the ceiling. Baths alternated with sofas right around it, so each guest could choose to lounge on cushions or in the water to watch the screens. A whole range of programmes were showing from pornography to gambling to combat sports to tourist information about the planet.

“This is cool.” Sharon said, heading to bag the yellow room.

“Well, where are out slaves?” Kathy asked a little disappointed.

“What? You want to leap on one and screw him here?” Susan jibed.

“Sure.”

Wendy explained. “Well, not all hotels on An-Kil-Lye have them, mainly the ones attached to casinos. Anyway I didn’t want Malcolm getting nervous about what I might get up to.”

“Spoil sport.” Kathy giggled. “Well, I guess I’ll have to get out there and find some of my own. I am sure I can snare some high roller and get him to lend me a slave or two.”

The women each took a room. Susan ended with the powder blue room and dialled up calming scenes of slowly swirling Ankilyan sands for the wall décor. She was pleased to find each room had its own bathroom too, as she did not welcome being forced to bathe in front of the others when simply wishing to wash.

“I’m taking a quick bath.” Susan called into the central area, she received brief grunts in reply, suggesting her friends were already busy with their own arrangements.

Susan quickly filled the large bath and was soon sliding deep into the bubbles. The bath seemed to shape to her body, holding her comfortably in place with her head resting just out of the warm water. This felt good. It was excellent to have a break from work and the rather crowded house she shared with her housemates, most of them students, as she had been until a year ago. Getting a place of her own was still beyond her budget, but she looked forward to the day when it was possible. For now she could forget about it all and relax.

“Sue! Sue!” It was Kathy.

Susan woke up. The water still felt as warm as when she had eased into it, but she must have been there a while and have dropped off. Susan focused on Kathy in the doorway. She was already dressed in her party gear of bright silver clothes: a bra top, shorts and knee-length boots. Susan was certain her friend would fit right in on An-Kil-Lye.

“Didn’t you hear Wendy calling? We’ve been waiting for you. We’re hungry and are heading out. I guess you’re not ready.”

“I guess not.” Susan was loath to hurry from her bath and knew it would take a while for her to dry off and select an outfit.

“I’m not that hungry. You guys go on, I’ll catch you up. Where will you be?”

“I thought we’d check out this place called ‘The Cathouse’, it’s a club, there’s food there, a bar as well and a show later.”

“Sounds good. I’ll catch up in a short while.”

“Sure thing.” Kathy said and with that she was gone.

“Sue, Sue.” Moments later Wendy had appeared, her sweatshirt and jeans replaced by a short foil dress and strappy, heeled shoes all in a deep red. “I’m leaving you these. I know you only usually have sneakers, and they won’t do here. Okay?”

Susan looked up to see a smart black pair of leather shoes, with a rather too sharp point and rather too high heels.

“Okay, I don’t want to show you up on your big holiday.” Susan replied lightly.

Wendy smiled thanks, then she too was gone.

Susan had no idea whether she had fallen asleep again, but she now felt it was time to leave the bath. She clambered out and pressed the button on the side which quickly sucked all the water away and cleaned round the bath, in minutes leaving it as if no-one had used it. Susan walked over to the drying unit and soon warm air was wafting around her. She pressed the hair dryer button and the hemisphere lowered blowdrying the damp ends of her shoulder-length auburn hair. This was the life, she really felt pampered, and was glad she had not rushed getting ready the way her friends seemed to have done. It was a rare opportunity to be able to benefit from the facilities of a hotel like the Excelsior.

Susan walked into her own room. The shoes Wendy had left were at the foot of the bed, and one of the others had laid out a plain black dress of Susan’s. Susan guessed it had been Sharon, while she could appear at times to be a bit out of touch with what was going on, she was considerate and Susan was pleased she had unpacked the dress and also known that tonight Susan would want to wear something with a bit of class. Susan was in no hurry to dress though and was enjoying the afterglow of the bath. She crossed to her case and pulled out her small make-up bag. She did her lips and eyes, pleased with how she looked. Then, having selected underwear, she went back to the bed to dress. It was big enough to hold all four of them, and Susan guessed that was the point.

“Video screen on.” Susan called, bringing the screen fitted into the wall, to life.

The screen showed a list of options. Susan was not keen for any of the programmes she had seen out in the central area of the suite and simply called for the ‘What’s Happening?’ option, to play in the background while she dressed.

“… I’m here talking with Domina Zyrenne, a celebrity of the Lauzier fiefdom.” The video came to life.

“Evening, Serena.”

Susan glanced up at the screen. This seemed to be a magazine programme, and it aroused her curiosity to actually hear from residents of An-Kil-Lye and see what they were really like. The woman, this Domina, whatever that meant, seemed to be in her late thirties, and it was immediately clear that she was an Owner. Her top seemed to be of sheer satin or was it rubber, a scarlet shade under the cropped jacket of dark maroon leather. Around her neck was a heavy gold torc and in her nose and ears sat rubies. Her hair was an auburn mane of braids scooped back from her strong-featured face.

“What brings you to Masterton this evening? Are you attending the opening of the Crowe-Appeline display?”

“I’m hoping to drop in later, but tonight Selena, I am more out on a shopping spree, I am keen to buy another slave, a nice nubile young lady for sexual service.”

“So you’re not daunted by recent comments that the supply of slaves has fallen, pushing up the price until it becomes prohibitive.”

Zyrenne shook her head. “No, there’ll always be people seeking to drive up the price of slaves, it increases the value of their holdings. I’ve seen no evidence of a shortage of slaves, in fact I’m off to a late-night auction later. The SEB serves us well, great new slaves are always coming forward. You can still get excellent females at good prices, and I always say that quality is what matters.”

“Thank you Domina, I wish you luck with your shopping.”

“Thank you Selena.”

The screen narrowed its focus on to the presenter. “Now, we’re crossing to Andy who’s out over the Hythe Plateau …”

Susan realised she had been holding her breath whilst watching the feature. It had locked her in, and now the women had disappeared from the screen she was released. Strangely she felt a tingle when she thought back over what the Domina had said. Domina, the word sounded so strong. It was how open she had been, simply talking about buying a woman, a woman at that, to service her sexually. It seemed so far removed from anything Susan had experienced, but saying that, almost everything she had seen since arriving, fell into that category. Again Susan wondered if there was something in the air conditioning that was provoking all these strange thoughts in her mind, but she guessed that was nonsense, many of the visitors here simply came for the gambling or the combat sports and would have no interest in the slave-owning society which underpinned all their fun. It must have been a mixture of tiredness then that long bath. Susan told herself she needed to stop lounging around here, catch up with her friends and get a few drinks inside her.

Susan put on the sexy black bra and matching panties she had got from her luggage, then slipped into the dress Wendy had chosen, followed by the shoes she had lent Susan. Susan strutted in front of the mirror, pleased with her appearance. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, not a style she ever really wore, but she had seen many women, both the owners, and the women they led, with their hair like that. She fiddled with it, wishing it was that bit longer but persisting until her hair seem to rise from the top of her head the way they did, rather than just hanging down her back. Now Susan was ready. She left the room, tucking her key into her clutch bag. Soon she was in the foyer. In moments, a slender man dressed in the Excelsior livery, and sporting the ubiquitous collar of a slave, was by her side.

“How can i help, madam?” The porter asked.

“Erm, yes, I need a taxi. I don’t know my way around. I need to catch up with my friends.”

“Come this way, please, madam.”

The porter guided her to the hotel entrance. Whilst Susan knew she was under a huge dome, it still felt as if she was outside and she wondered if she would be more aware of being inside when daylight returned to An-Kil-Lye. This place seemed to thrive in the night. The street might be like one of those replica ones of historic towns you found in museums – all inside, but it certainly felt as real as any one she could find in a city on her home planet. Various vehicles passed, of all shapes and sizes from motorbikes to small buses. It was all pollution free of course, there was really nowhere inside here for fumes to go, but for noise and busyness it matched anything down-town Ostia could throw up. The one key difference was the amount of human-drawn traffic. Susan had notice those moving luggage and small items by barrow, but now she picked up on the carts drawn by people too. As she stood there, a large carriage pulled by four, barely clothed, strong men passed. Susan gazed curiously at the leatherwear they wore, bridles and reins, and those strange hoof-like boots. Now accustomed a little more to the scene, she spotted smaller traps pulled by a single man or woman, or a pair of them. It was one of these that pulled up close to her.

“This way, madam.” The porter said.

Susan was a little hesitant about getting in the vehicle, but felt embarrassed about refusing. A woman in a long leather skirt, a fitted jacket and a top hat, sat at the reins. The trap was covered but was open towards the ‘horses’ as Susan thought of the two women pulling it. The porter pulled down the step and opened the little door into the trap. Susan stepped on board, very curious about what it would feel like, worrying that her weight would be too much for the women to pull, concerned too that the journey might be bumpy. The porter closed the door and it was too late for Susan to think of going back.

“Where would you like to go, ma’am?” The driver asked without turning round.

“Erm, I’m going to meet my friends. There’s three women.” Susan said, wondering if the driver would have seen them from the taxi stand at the Excelsior.

“And you’re the fourth. Where did they go?”

“Erm,” Susan tried to remember the name Kathy had said. “The cat-something, it’s a club, do you know it?”

“Sure do, ma’am. We take people where they really want to go.”

Without any hesitation the driver flicked her long whip and it lashed across the naked bums of her two ‘horses’. One snickered, but soon both of them were striding forward, their steps perfectly in time with each other's. Susan’s attention was focused on them. Like the men pulling the larger coach they were half-naked, their bodies criss-crossed with leather straps. They both wore leather ears on the tops of their heads and their long hair was primped into manes. Tails sat in their butts, which were striped with marks of the whip. Reins ran to bridles, that, as Susan had seen when getting on, had bars pressed down on their tongues. The driver directed the women by their reins, steering them skilfully through the busy street. Susan was surprised at how smooth the ride was, but she could not take her eyes off the women working so hard to pull her.

“Here you are ma’am.”

Susan looked out at the building in front of her. It was a large hemisphere, which seemed to have a huge black cat balanced on top of it, one paw reaching down to stroke at something and in fact indicating the entrance. Susan had been paying little attention to where she had been going, and realised that she was now off the main street and whilst this road had people coming and going it was quieter than what she had seen outside the hotel. The road here opened into a circle with a large fountain coming out of an erotic statue filling the centre. Various buildings, some shops, others offices, were grouped around it, and roads ran off in six directions, four of them into rather dark tunnels, the other two open like the street where her hotel was.

“How much was the ride?” Susan asked as she manoeuvred herself down from the trap.

“To serve is our reward, ma’am.” The driver replied and cracked her whip.

Before Susan could make any reply the trap was disappearing out of sight. Susan wondered how long it would take for her to understand this planet and its ways. She guessed anyway that it would be a cheap trip if taxi fares cost nothing. The door to the club was closed, but through thick glass Susan could just make out lights and movement inside. She wondered if the others were in there. She looked up at the name emblazoned above the door: ‘City Cat Club’. Was this the right place? It looked more like a private club, but then again, would a private club have a huge cat on its roof? Susan walked to the end of the building and saw there was the entrance to a small covered market next to it. Shopping, now that took Susan’s attention. She wondered if she would have time to do any once the girls got fully into party mode. She could browse down here for a few moments before catching them up.

The market stalls had their wares on tables out the front and then small shops selling more things behind. The market had a few tourists walking around browsing, but certainly did not seem to be at its peak, many of the stallholders were taking the opportunity for a meal break. Susan preferred that to them jumping out trying to cajole her into their shops. The range of stalls varied considerably, many sold recordings of combat sports or pornography, but Susan was not interested in those, and anyway, most would be illegal outside An-Kil-Lye. Weapons and sex toys were similarly in ready supply. Susan turned off the main path of the market and soon found herself among stalls selling food. As yet she did not feel really hungry and anyway she had difficulty identifying many of the things on offer.

Around one stall were grouped chairs and one was filled by a corpulent man literally pushing greasy food into his mouth. He wore a heavy robe that seemed to strain to cover his body and the long sleeves of which dragged through the plates of food he waited to consume. Two female slaves, wearing little bar pink leather bikinis, crouched at his feet and sprang up, scrapping between themselves for the morsels he tossed them. Susan turned to go away, but found her path blocked by another man, a few degrees slimmer than the one she had just watched. He was probably in his late fifties and dressed like a businessman in a costly suit. In each hand he held two leashes, and behind him four young women, entirely naked besides the characteristic collars, were being dragged along, their heads bent as they tried to keep up with their master’s marching pace. They looked weary and seemed relieved when their master slumped down in a chair and warmly greeted his friend, the corpulent master. With the path clear, Susan retraced her steps and headed off down what seemed like a quieter spur, away from the noise of cooking and those it clearly appealed to.

Susan soon found herself between stalls which held things that more attracted her attention. She made sure she bought some vials of genuine Ankilyan sand, taking a selection from different parts of the planet as she liked the variety of colours. They would be nice presents for her grandmother. Then she saw a couple of jewellery stands, this was what she was keen on for herself, and she also wondered if there would be something nice to supplement the wedding present she had already got for Wendy and Malcolm, something just for Wendy. The assortment of jewellery, in all kinds of metals, was very wide. Aside from the usual earrings, necklaces and bracelets were more exotic items that Susan could only guess at the purpose of. Some were more easily identifiable, and it was clear there was a demand for chains, collars and shackles in the finest metals as well as the toughest. That kind of thing had no interest for her, though she smiled when she imagined Kathy turning up with a filigree bracer or gold ankle shackles for their next girls’ night out.

Susan spotted some finely worked torcs. They were certainly different to the necklaces she knew at home, the silver, electrum, gold or platinum was all carefully worked and she guessed they must be expensive. They had the feeling of containment, but as they circle was open at the front, in most cases ending in spheres or hemispheres, there was the