28. Phoebe

28

PHOEBE

"W ell? Why have you come to me? Are you an assassin sent by Thruck?"

The old Emperor stared up at Phoebe, blinking his faded blue eyes.

"No, of course not!" she exclaimed. "I'm not here to hurt you—I swear!"

"Then you're a thief! Come to steal from my private collection," he accused her in a cracked, wavering voice.

Phoebe couldn't exactly disagree. She was holding The Finger of the Goddess in one hand, so it was kind of obvious.

"Not steal exactly. I'm here to recover an artifact that rightfully belongs to the Kindred," she told him. "It came from their very first home planet called First World. I'd be happy to buy it back from you, if you'll sell it to me," she went on quickly. "My partner, er, Master, has an unlimited line of credit—we can pay whatever you ask."

The faded blue eyes looking up at her suddenly softened.

"If you would pay me, then pay me with my freedom," he begged hoarsely.

"Your freedom?" Phoebe asked, frowning. Then she looked down at the soft restraints tying his wrists together. "Do you want me to untie you?"

The old Emperor nodded eagerly.

"Please! But first take this damn needle out of my arm! Thruck has me hooked up to an aging drip—he's been sucking my life away for months now!"

"An aging drip?" Phoebe frowned. "What's that?"

"It's what it sounds like—it ages me." He opened his eyes wide. "Would you believe I'm only nineteen standard years of age?"

Phoebe looked down at him doubtfully.

"Really? Because you look about ninety-five."

"That's because he's had me strapped down and hooked up to the drip for so long." The old Emperor began to cry. "What a fool I was, letting that Trollox into my palace! But my parents were dead and his mad head had the reputation of speaking prophecy while the sane head was meant to be an excellent advisor. So said the credentials he displayed, anyway."

"I'm betting those were faked," Phoebe remarked. "If I let you go free, will you let me have this?" she asked, opening her hand to display The Goddess's Finger.

"Yes, yes—anything you like!" the Emperor agreed. "Only hurry! I have so little time left. As soon as I die, Thruck will take over completely and rule my palace and my planet as his own!"

"Okay, you got it." Phoebe didn't know if he was telling the truth or not about the aging potion, but if he was going to give her The Goddess's Finger, she would do what he asked. Well, to be honest she would have done it anyway—she hated to see anyone being taken advantage of. It was one reason she'd joined the PD back on Earth.

She got to work, getting the line out of his wrinkled arm. The flesh had grown around the needle and in the end she had to yank it out.

"Ahhh!" the Emperor groaned as the tubing at last came free. The needle that had been in his arm still dripped dark blue fluid. Phoebe jammed it into the mattress beside him to keep it from making a mess.

"Thank you, kind stranger," the Emperor said to her in his cracked voice as Phoebe untied his wrists. "Thank you a thousand times. If only you knew?—"

Just at that moment there was the sound of the doorknob turning and a voice outside the door saying,

"Now let's see who wants some nummy gruel for lunch?"

The Emperor's eyes widened.

"Hide—quickly!" he muttered. His voice was a hoarse, fearful whisper. "That's my nurse, Hil'de'guard—she works for Thruck!"

The door was opening and there was no time to even get under the bed. Not knowing what else to do, Phoebe dived under the heavy gold brocade coverlet, hoping it was puffy enough to hide her.

She was still clutching The Finger of the Goddess in her hand, which was now sweaty with anxiety. She flattened out her body and did her best to be completely still. Peering up through the rumbled covers, she could see that the Emperor had closed his eyes and was faking sleep.

"Nummy nummy gruel! Just for you, sweet Emperor," a woman's voice said. There was a clatter, like someone putting a tray down on a table and then the voice came closer. "Wake up, Your Majesty! I have some delicious lunch for you!"

"Eh? What?" The Emperor cracked open his eyes. "No thank you, Hil'de'guard—I'm not hungry," he mumbled.

"Oh, but you must eat, Your Majesty! Lord Thruck told me to feed you—we can't have you wasting away. Now let me just get the bowl—my, your covers are so messy!"

Phoebe felt like her heart was going to pound out of her chest. She held stiller than ever, praying the nurse wouldn't try to smooth out the thick coverlet.

"Whatever have you been doing?" the voice went on. "I hope you haven't been trying to get loose again. You know we only restrain you for your own good."

"Too tired to get loose," the Emperor mumbled. "Too tired to eat. Go away, woman—leave me alone."

"Now, now, we can't have—wait! Where is the Lust Finger?"

The voice grew suddenly sharp and Phoebe felt more desperate than ever. Oh God, if she was caught…

If I'm caught they'll take The Finger away and I'll never get another chance to grab it again! I'll fail the mission—I have to hide it!

But where? There were no pockets on the ridiculous outfit she was wearing—it was all long strands of beads and feathers and fabric. In fact, there was nowhere on her body she could hide The Finger of the Goddess.

Nowhere on your body but what about in your body? whispered a little voice in her head.

Phoebe took a deep breath. This was going to hurt. She still had the non-con bracelets on and she was probably going to shock herself badly.

Maybe not if I use the sheet.

Moving as unobtrusively as she could, she transferred the crystal to her left hand and twisted her right hand in a fold of the heavy silver sheet. Then she transferred the crystal back to her right hand, making sure that it covered the manacle on her wrist. Reaching down between her legs, she slid The Finger of the Goddess down the length of her pussy slit until she found the mouth of her pussy.

It really wasn't much different from putting in a tampon—albeit a large one— she thought as the smooth opalescent crystal slipped inside her. It went in easily, even though she had no lubrication. It was almost as though the crystal wanted to be inside her. And once it was in, she didn't even have to clench her inner muscles—it didn't seem to want to come out.

All this time, the nurse was searching through the square display cases on the headboard and talking—sometimes to herself and sometimes to the Emperor.

"Where did it go? Lord Thruck will be so upset! It's almost time to brew a new batch of Sparkler and how can he do it without the Lust Finger?"

"Lord Thruck took it." The Emperor's voice sounded slightly stronger now, Phoebe thought.

"He did? But why?" the nurse demanded.

"Don't know. Leave me be, woman! I'm tired!"

"Not until you eat your gruel. Let me get the bowl and I'll sit here and feed it to you," Phoebe heard the nurse say.

Please sit on the other side of the bed! Please sit on the other side! she begged silently. Please ? —

And then a heavy weight sat right on her head, crushing her face into the mattress.