SHORT STORY (11,639 words) Ke’ja has been stolen from Earth and taken to the planet Mezdon. He’s a sex slave, living in a hovel while his master, Vor’trev, lives next door in a modern house. This is the way of Mezdon, where every master has a slave and sex is considered something that can be done anywhere, anytime. Thrown by this reality, Ke’ja has to adapt—or find a way to return to Earth. The problem is, he’s already falling for his master and is fighting his emotions. He wants to go home but at the same time doesn’t want to leave the man who lights him up inside. Vor’trev is not only a master but a judge, a man who has the power to return slaves to Earth if he feels they’ve been abducted unfairly. He’s broken the law for his previous slaves and engineered it so that their return to Earth went unnoticed by other members of Mezdon authority. But Ke’ja… No, he can’t bring himself to set the slave free. He’s Vor’trev’s, the only slave that has touched his heart, the only man he’s wanted as a life partner. Letting him go isn’t an option. Two men, both wanting each other but unable to get past what they have to do to be together. Which one of them will break first?