A Slave's Tale

by straypup

email straypup40@hotmail.com

--Prelude--

[ WARNING: While there is nothing sexually explicit in this segment, it is part of a larger story that contains sex and other content that you might find objectionable. If you are easily offended or underage, do not continue reading.]

It was the summer after my freshman year at college. I had just arrived on a Monday in Tokyo for a summer internship at a biotechnology research center, and was looking forward to starting work in another week days. Until then, I was determined to explore the city as much as possible while I still had free time.

When I woke up Tuesday morning I found a small envelope on my floor near the door. Inside was a formal invitation to a day-cruise from the city, along with other college-aged summer visitors. The trip was, most surprisingly, entirely free. In small print at the bottom was a notification that the cruise was being sponsored by Tanrio Inc., a consulting firm that I knew recruited heavily from American universities. I chuckled for a moment, wondering what mistake had led the corporation to believe that a not-yet sophomore would be interested in an obvious - and expensive - recruitment attempt. Nevertheless, I decided I wasn't going to waste a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a cruise at a major corporation's expense!

Two days later, I arrived at the designated wharf for the voyage. The ship wasn't much to look at, but the passengers were a different matter- a collection of young American and Japanese students boarded with me, several of them very attractive. I spent the first few hours getting to know Kimi, a Japanese student who I met staring out at the ocean at the bow of the ship. She spoke perfect English, and over the course of our meandering conversation I f learned that she lived in Japan, but was attending college at a school less than an hour away from my own, and as the morning progressed I became increasingly attracted to her. Her narrow eyes seemed to be constantly twinkling with merriment and her long dark hair floated beautifully in the breeze. I may have been imagining it, but I started feel that she might be developing an interest in me as well.

As soon as we left Tokyo, the ship had headed straight out to sea, and - talking with Kimi - I didn't even notice that after four hours we had yet to regain sight of shore. It was then that the ship slowed down and eventually stopped, surrounded by ocean. An announcement in English was quickly made declaring that there was an engine problem, and while we were in no danger of sinking, we would be unable to proceed. We were all ordered to assemble on the main deck and wait for a nearby ship, which had been radioed, to arrive and pick us up. Kimi and I were both alarmed and a little frightened, but we noticed that while the crewmen were moving about quickly, they did not seem overly concerned, and so we relaxed a little. We joked about the wonders this trip was going to do for Tanrio's recruitment efforts this year, and wondered how long it would take us to be rescued.

After another ten minutes, the rescue ship pulled aside us. It was clearly a cargo ship of some kind, several times our size, and marked in both Russian and English letters as the "Tremov". The crew of the Tremov very efficiently produced several motor-powered rafts, and crossed over to our ship. In just a few minutes, Kimi, myself, and the other eighty or so passengers were ferried over to one of the Tremov's smaller decks, where we stood around nervously, carefully watched by several of the ship's crew. To our surprise, the last boat leaving the cruise vessel contained that ship's entire crew, including the captain.

Just as that last boat was raised up onto the Tremov, a small explosion rocked our previous vessel. As we watched in amazement, smoke billowed up from the below decks, and the ship rapidly sank in to the ocean.

[This story is (c) copyright straypup, 1999-2000. Textual modification or commercial use of this story is prohibited by the author. If you have any questions, comments, encouragement, or criticism, email him at straypup40@hotmail.com]