Book 2: Living free from Jupiter's law - Rising from the ashes of Herbay

A second chance

After the armistice with Jupiter, many things changed in Amoi. The most significant for Katze was that the main activity of the black-market, that is, the suburban buying and selling of pets and the selection of future furnitures, had become the reintegration into society of the ones among them who had decided to take the big step of break away from the Elites.

Now that slavery had been abolished and Ceres was no longer under embargo, the very idea of a black-market no longer made much sense. However, Illicit business was still essential to avoid being trampled by the ever-present extra-planetary underworld and the skilled red-haired trader was saturated with work.

Cal had been a good substitute for him during his forced imprisonment in Eos, Katze had even wished he would ask him to stay, but he didn't. The call of submission, which dictated that a furniture had to remain so under every circumstance, had been too strong and Cal had moved with his masters to New Ceres without even considering the possibility that it might be otherwise.

'Too bad,' Katze thought, as he sorted through the records of some pets that had just been liberated from a prison brothel. 'It's hard to find such gifted, trustworthy, and quick-to-learn employees.'

Daniel had also proven to be very skilled with computer technology and office paperwork. He was a great help at work but Katze would never soil his solid morals by asking him to break the law, and even if he did, Daniel was not a person who accepts compromises, not even because of the love he felt for the one who had become his life mate, the same love he accepted Katze for as he was despite the dark sides of his job.

Being very focused on his secretarial work, a name immediately caught his attention. "Kat, can I show you something?"

The black-market leader nodded distractedly. He had a bit of a headache from spending too many hours hunching over a screen.

"I forwarded you a record. Look who it is."

Katze entered his inbox and opened the attachment. At the sight of the name of the pet who had just requested to be placed in the social reintegration program, he couldn't help but smile. Sometimes life proved to be truly ironic and unpredictable.

"Leave it to me, I'll personally take care of him," he said and sent a reply e-mail summoning him for the next morning.

Daniel turned off the computer, walked over to him, and began massaging Katze's shoulders. "When will you finish work?"

"I just finished. Where would you like to go tonight?"

"Nowhere. I want you to go to bed early. You work all day and at night you worry about taking me around. At this rate, you'll get sick."

The older eunuch gently stroked his knuckles. He was trying very hard to make up for Daniel's lost years. "I was thinking of taking you to see the sunset over the ocean."

"The sun will continue to set over the ocean even if we don't see it today." The former D-type furniture grabbed the back of Katze's chair and rotated it half a turn to come face to face with him. "Kat, I really enjoyed visiting Amoi with you. The trip to Orbitia was unforgettable, but I no longer need to be a tourist. This is my home. How about we stop with the evening trips and focus on what we have?"

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"That's what I want. I would also like to help you more in the office, but I know I'm not the right person. Why don't you hire a partner?"

The trader sighed. "That's what I want. I already have a name in mind. I was hoping he would show up of his own free will but apparently, he needs a push. I'll go and talk to him in person next week."