Ever since Albion closed its borders almost fifty years ago rumours have swirled around about what life is like on the island. For ten years no-one has entered or left apart from the few diplomats to and from the countries with which Albion has retained diplomatic connections and they are, to state the obvious, diplomatic! Very little filters out about what it’s like to live there anymore. Despite having around 50 million citizens, what the rest of the world knows about it is minimal. The island still carries on trade, but exports and imports are all dealt with at official ports where non-residents can go no further than the security centre. Oddly, for what the world sees as a repressive regime, there are almost no reported instances of refugees fleeing the island.
So, I was very surprised when my editor told me that he was appointing me the paper’s first Albion correspondent. Not only that, but that the Albion government had decided to allow a small number of press representatives onto the island. Albion, like Japan in the 19th Century, was opening itself back up a bit, and was going to start by letting a handful of journalists in. Even North Korea only allowed journalists in on very controlled tours and visits. Apparently, we were to have more or less free access to the island, and there would be no restrictions on what we could report. Well, no restrictions except no photography would be allowed except that provided by the Albion government.
My first concern was whether I would be safe. I’m an out and proud gay man, and there are definitely countries in the world where I would feel less than safe being an embedded reporter. But my editor assured me that Albion’s inclusive laws, passed before the closure of the borders, were still very much in force. In fact, he reckoned that it would be far safer for me there than at home.
But there was one thing which shocked me. It was the confirmation of one of the most persistent rumours about the island. Weeks after the closure of the borders, Albion had legalised slavery. Not only that, but most prison sentences had also been changed to terms of slavery. Only for men, though. Women could not be slaves, unlike in Ancient Rome or the pre-war South. My editor knew very little more than that.
Before telling me that I would be flying into Albion in one week’s time, he handed me a slim, glossy brochure. The official Albion briefing from the government. Not sure it would be much use, probably just promo fluff, but read it before heading off, he had said.
He was right, I thought. The brochure was very like reading the fictions which come out of North Korea or some of those African states which are really dictatorships yet pronounce democracy. Albion has open, free and fair elections every four years. The people are wealthy, happy and fulfilled. I couldn’t argue with some of the stuff about the excellent goods which Albion exports – Albion meat, beer and textiles are some of the most highly prized and highest priced you can find, among other things that Albion ships out. Apparently, Albion also has one of the lowest carbon footprints of any country in the world, in fact it is more or less completely carbon neutral and has been for years – way ahead of anywhere else in the world.
There was a page about the slavery laws. Although the brochure didn’t call it slavery. Apparently, there are two forms. What they call ‘community restoration’, which is what has replaced prison for the vast majority of crimes. And ‘voluntary indenture’, about which I knew nothing hitherto. If you are in debt, or your family is in dire straits, or you need money for something specific, you can enter slavery voluntarily. You get the same treatment and status as former prisoners would, but the money goes to your family or to pay off your debts. You have to be at least 21 years old, male, obviously, and get to choose the terms of your indenture - whatever that means. I guessed one of my jobs when I got to Albion would be to find out! The only other information was that only four ‘terms’ of slavery were possible: one year, five years, ten years or twenty-five years.
A week later, I was on a luxurious, small private jet with four other journalists:Jenny, a young woman of around twenty-five; Margaret, a severe looking older woman who was probably in her sixties; Clayton, a handsome man of about my age (mid-thirties); and Leslie, an older man whom I knew slightly and who was in his fifties. With no scheduled or charter flights in or out of Albion, this was the only way to travel, not that I was complaining. We were waited on by three handsome male cabin attendants, who looked after everything we might possibly have needed. A very well turned out and professional woman called Anna had been allocated as our liaison officer. Before we landed, she gave us a briefing. After reiterating quite a lot that had been in the brochure, she did give us a few pieces of information which were not in the brochure: that almost no power was provided using fossil fuels or nuclear energy, 95% of the country’s needs were provided by renewable and sustainable energy sources; that no private motorised traffic was allowed in town or city centres during daylight hours and that all motor vehicles were fully electric; that all large cities and most larger towns had either trams or light railway services instead of buses or taxis; that high speed rail ran between major cities, with regular branch services to most smaller towns; that we should reserve judgement about the presence of very visible slaves; that we should not talk to them without checking with either their overseer or owner but that we were free to talk to anyone else we met.
The plane landed at what had clearly once been a small private airport just outside Ludenwic, the re-named capital of Albion. Anna told us that no internal flights were permitted in Albion and that we had had to get special permission to fly into the country – imports and exports were all handled by sea and any diplomatic travel also used ships. This was obviously one reason why the carbon footprint of the country was so low. The only flights allowed were occasional use of helicopters for emergencies and crime solving purposes. As we were preparing to leave, Anna reminded us that we were not permitted to take photographs anywhere in Albion. We’d all been issued with phones with the cameras disabled. We would be able to make videocalls to work and to our friends, but only on approved devices provided for that purpose in our hotel rooms.
We walked down the steps of the jet and the first thing I noticed was just how quiet it was. There was no traffic noise that I could hear and there were no planes lined up on the tarmac waiting to take off as there would have been in any other airport I had ever used. The place was deserted. There wasn’t even a baggage truck waiting to take our larger bags to the terminal. Anna told us that they would be waiting for us once we had gone through security. They had already been thoroughly searched by a member of the Albion Security Force before being allowed on the plane, to ensure that we were bringing nothing into the country that was banned. After walking about 100 yards, we entered a small building that had probably been a set of offices originally, but which had obviously been converted to serve as a security checkpoint for our arrival. Anna told us that so few planes landed in Albion (we were only the third that year and it was July!), they had nothing set up to manage them on a permanent basis.
Security took ages. We knew it would. Our hand luggage was thoroughly searched again, as I assumed our hold luggage would also be. We had all been given visas which allowed us to remain in Albion for six months, with extension possible. Our photos, fingerprints and other biometric markers were all taken. Despite being journalists, we had all been given diplomatic status. We were free to travel around the country as we saw fit. Anna would continue to act as a concierge for us while we were staying and would arrange travel and accommodation as and when we needed it. We were all initially staying in one of Ludenwic’s ‘top’ hotels – I was interested to see what that meant in this very unfamiliar place. It was getting to be late afternoon by the time we were all finally processed and everything had been checked and cleared. Despite having slept and eaten well on the plane, I was getting tired and hungry.
We were finally ready to see Albion properly. Anna herded us together and said that we would be leaving international space and entering Albion itself. She said that there would likely be quite a significant culture shock and that the difference between Albion and everywhere else on the planet would become obvious as soon as we left the building. She again entreated us not to make any snap judgements about them and their country.
Wondering what she could mean, and exchanging puzzled looks, we all followed her out of the door at the other end of the building. As we came out into the bright sunshine, there was what looked like a large golf buggy drawn up by the doors. We could see the rear of it, where our cases were piled up. Anna led us to our seats, and that’s when we got our first culture shock, and our first experience of slavery.
The buggy didn’t have an engine. Instead, six men were reined and tethered in pairs like horses to the front of the vehicle. The men were also all stark naked, except for sturdy boots. They were all much the same height and build and were well muscled, with especially well-developed legs. Seeing us all stopped in our tracks, Anna explained that most vehicles in towns were now pulled by slave muscle. It was how the carbon footprint was so low. We’d see rickshaws in the centre of Ludenwic being pulled by slaves, as well as carts delivering goods. This was a more unusual situation, because of the weight of us and our luggage. Doing my best not to be completely phased by what I was seeing, I took my seat in the buggy. Once we were all seated, Anna finally told us that slaves were, by and large, kept naked and we would soon become as accustomed to seeing them as the citizens of Albion were.
Once we were all seated, the ‘driver’ of the buggy gave the reins attached to the slaves a sharp jolt, and the team began to move. Slowly at first, as if gauging the weight they were pulling, the slaves moved in step. The driver used the reins to gradually speed up the team, until we were moving at quite a clip. We left the airfield and pulled out onto what had been a road. As we moved, Anna told us that because there was little motorised traffic, most of the tarmac in Albion had been removed and roads replaced with gravelled and grassed paths. Better for the ponies than tarmac. Once we got into the city centre we would see roads more like we would be used to at home, she said. The ponies (as she had called them) kept up a steady pace, pulling us much more slowly than we would have gone in a motor vehicle, but I was realising that the pace of life in Albion was much slower than I was used to at home.
After about half an hour, we got to the outskirts of Ludenwic itself. Whilst it largely looked like what I was used to at home, albeit with generally two-storey terraced houses rather than blocks of flats, what was different was that every roof had solar panels and every garden had a small wind turbine. The other obvious difference was the presence of the slaves. Anna began explaining slavery to us.
Basically, all menial and boring duties are done by slaves in Albion. Taxes are very low, because the government is not paying staff to work. Only slave rations and their ‘upkeep’, which is far less costly. Most transport is slave-driven. But it’s not just manual or menial work which is done by slaves. The government uses the slavery system to upskill men who otherwise might struggle. Young men from poorer backgrounds, especially, might not be able to stay in education so might decide to put themselves forward for a five-year term of slavery and hope that, instead of a manual job, they get put into a government office and learn a trade. They’ll still be worked hard and treated like any other slave, but they will learn and when their term ends can move into a supervisory or managerial role. Some young men may also be offered a direct opportunity for training which will also mean voluntarily entering a five year term of slavery.
That’s not available to slaves who are there because of criminal activities, however. Anna said that the crime rate had fallen significantly, but that there were still men that either thought they could get away with it, or were too drunk or drug-addled to realise what they had done. And there were still men who thought they could get away with fraud, or theft. And, since slavery was now the only option for the courts for men between 21 and 50, even minor lapses would lead to enslavement. The more privileged or well-off a man was who was sentenced to slavery, the more likely he would get a longer sentence and serve it in a less pleasant manner. One of the reasons that Albion’s exports were so competitive was because they used legal slave labour to produce them. And anything which could be done by manpower instead of electricity was. Why run machines when these were plenty of slaves who could do the work?
By now, the buggy had reached the centre of Ludenwic. It looked very little different to most large cities except for the absence of the skyscrapers and glass fronted buildings. I guess it looked like a capital city would have looked in the 1950s. Well, apart from the naked slaves, of course. We passed a refuse truck, pulled like out buggy by a team of slaves, four in this case. These were bulkier and less toned than those pulling the buggy. Two other slaves, one a very young looking skinny lad and the other much older were collecting the bins and emptying them into the larger vessels on the truck. Anna told us that citizens didn’t have to sort their rubbish – slaves at the depot would go through the bins and sort everything manually. We saw rickshaws which replaced what would have been private vehicles or taxis - most seated two people comfortably and they were all pulled by a naked slave. We passed a rank where an overseer was hiring out rickshaws to people just like a cab rank back home.
Anna pointed out the difference between the rickshaws for hire and those which were private transport. The rickshaws for hire were all dark blue in colour and the same design, and the naked slaves pulling them all had the same shaved heads and bodies and wore identical dark blue boots which reached almost to their knees. The private rickshaws, however, were all different colours and designs. Some of the slaves pulling them were shaved like the slaves for hire, but others were hairy, or had been allowed to retain just their pubes. Some had shaved heads, but there was also a wide variety of hairstyles, from long flowing locks to mohicans. Some of the private slaves were adorned too - we saw several whose nipples had been pierced and some of these had bells jingling from them. Similarly, some had pierced genitals, again some with bells attached. A few had tails protruding from their rears like animals - clearly some kind of plug had been inserted into their anus with the tail attached. One thing which I noticed as well was how many of the slaves we saw had bright red buttocks - clearly corporal punishment of a slave was fine too.
I thought I was open-minded and pretty unshockable, but I was somewhat taken aback by just how many naked slaves I was seeing and how brazen it was.
Another colleague clearly felt the same, because he asked Anna in quite a shocked tone just how many slaves there were. She said that there were about 100,000 men performing ‘community restoration’ and almost a half of a million in ‘voluntary indenture’! I have to say that the second figure really did shock me, but Anna explained that indenture was a choice quite a few men made at one point or another in their life to tide them over a difficult period or to get a new skill. Indenture never lasted more than a maximum of five years, whereas almost all those sentenced to ‘community restoration’ were sentenced to a minimum of five years, and generally began at the ten year sentence. Anna did say, though, that there were slaves who had started off with a five year term of indenture and then opted to remain as slaves. At the end of the five year term, it was possible to sign on for a second term and if the slave didn’t want to go free thereafter, he would be transferred to a lifetime contract.
Finally, we arrived at our hotel. It wasn’t at all what I had expected. Instead of a modern, luxury hotel, it had clearly been the house of someone well-to-do over a hundred years ago. A large, elegant, detached house at the end of one of Ludenwic’s historic squares. The ponies stopped in front, panting and sweaty, and a traditionally dressed commissionaire of the type one sees in books about Albion before it closed its borders came forward and greeted Anna. He was clearly expecting us and greeted us all politely as we disembarked from the buggy.
We were led into a plush foyer where four slaves knelt against the wall beside a reception desk. The commissionaire told the slaves to go and fetch our luggage while we were handed keys by a pretty young woman at the desk.
Margaret asked the young woman what she felt about having all these naked slaves around. She said that she had been born after the law changed and had known nothing else, that Albion benefited from the work that the slaves did and that if men didn’t want to be enslaved involuntarily, they shouldn’t break the law.
Once we all had our keys, Anna led us to a room off the foyer which was furnished like the library of an old-fashioned gentleman’s club. After waving us to the various chairs around the room, she pressed a bell button and a slave came in carrying a tray with glasses of sparkling wine and two others followed with trays of canapes. They circulated while Anna began to brief us on the plans that the government of Albion had drawn up for us.
“Ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome you properly to Albion. I very much hope that you enjoy your time with us and can help us reassure your readers and viewers that we are a peaceful and happy country despite anything you may have read or heard to the contrary.
“You’ll find everything I talk about in the briefing packs which are in your suites upstairs, but I want to start off with a few ground rules.
“As you know, you have free rein to travel around Albion after our initial guided tour. Please liaise with me as to travel and accommodation.
“A couple of things about the slaves. As we’ve already discussed, please don’t engage with a slave that is working without the permission of his owner or overseer.
“I realise that you are still getting acclimatised to the presence of slaves in Albion, but please do try to understand and not judge. If you are invited to engage with a slave, please talk to him in a way that ensures he knows you are superior to him.
“If a slave displeases you in anyway when serving you in any capacity, please let his overseer or owner know immediately or as soon as possible. You will see signs in some places which will say ‘feel free to chastise the slaves’. This means that if a slave displeases you then you can punish it immediately. In your suites you will each find a small leather paddle and a penis whip.”
Here Anna pickled up examples of both implements from the table beside her.
“All free citizens over the age of sixteen carry these and you will see them in use. You may also, if you wish, use the flat of your hand to spank the buttocks of a slave. Only owners or overseers may use other forms of discipline on slaves unless they delegate it to someone else.
“Slaves have no privacy and limited personal rights. You may touch a slave in any way you wish except that you must not penetrate a slave anally in a public setting. Slaves cannot refuse sexual service - you have all been tested for venereal diseases and will be expected to be tested monthly whilst here. Miss Saunders,” here she addressed the young woman, “I understand you are using birth control, but please do consider protected intercourse if you plan on using slaves sexually.
“Slaves may not ejaculate in public. Please do not embarrass yourselves by knowingly causing a slave to do so. If it should happen inadvertently, how owner or overseer should be summoned at once.
I was reeling slightly with the matter of factness with which Anna outlined these rules. As I’ve said, I’m broad minded and frequent nude beaches on holidays, but the open sexual and personal nature of slavery still shocked me somewhat.
“Whilst slaves can be used sexually with the consent of their owner or overseer, we do not allow this publicly except in specific contexts.
“You will see slaves being punished publicly. Please do not try to be kind to these slaves and only engage with them if it is clear that this is permitted.
Anna moved onto more banal issues - we were having dinner together that evening in the hotel restaurant and then tomorrow would be taken to meet the Albion Foreign Minister for a lunch and reception, then to the theatre in the evening. Anna said that there was a guided itinerary for the first two weeks that we were here and that after that we would have a week in Ludenwic before we could then travel wherever we wished.
“In the hotel,” she said, “there are service slaves available twenty-four hours a day. Do not hesitate to call for one to do anything that you require. I can highly recommend a slave to give you a foot massage and tongue clean - especially after we’ve been walking a lot during the day.
“The hotel only employs the best slaves and they are highly trained. In your suites you will find a tablet which controls the atmosphere of the room and enables you to order room service and slave service. You will see a list of the available slaves on the tablet, so that you can select your preference if you wish. If you do not care which slave serves you, simply choose the service you require and a slave will present itself within ten minutes. You can also prebook services such as foot service or a massage.
“So, you have a few hours to rest, please do get settled into your suites and either take a nap or feel free to explore around the hotel. We will meet here for a pre-dinner drink at 7.”
With that, a member of staff came into the room, followed by five slaves which were assigned to each of us to lead us to our rooms. My slave was probably 10 years older than me, in very good physical shape, about 175cm tall and with neatly trimmed body hair. Like all the slaves we’d seen at the hotel, he wore a stainless steel cockring and ball stretcher. Having invited me to follow him, we walked to the lifts and two of my fellows and their assigned slaves joined us. Jenny was accompanied by a tall young slave with a shaved body and shoulder-length blond hair. Leslie’s slave looked to be of Indian heritage, very slim and quite short and hairless except for his eyebrows.
The lift reached the third floor and we all exited the lift. My suite was 301, Jenny’s was 303 and Leslie’s 306. We said our goodbyes and ‘see you in a bit’s at our doors and then the slave let me into the suite.
