The Alembic Plot Part 69

The other was an attack on half a dozen Imperials and two Strike Force troopers on the way back from town, by twice that many Brothers of Freedom. There were casualties on both sides, but to Cortin's unconcealed delight, no fatalities on either. She left interrogation of all but the leader to the Detention Center's staff of Inquisitors, since they were unlikely to be either knowledgeable or particularly difficult to break. Even the leader wasn't too promising, given the Brotherhood's secretiveness, but Cortin took him anyway; these Imperials were her responsibility, and she wanted to personally punish the one in charge of harming them.

And she did get some useful information from him. The Brotherhood's still-anonymous new leader was no fonder of the Empire than she was, but instead of bowing to the inevitable and making the best of it, he vowed to destroy all he could. Killing Imperials was to take priority even over killing Strike Force members, including Cortin the b.i.t.c.h herself. When Cortin pa.s.sed that information along and it reached the public, the general att.i.tude toward the Imperials became more favorable; for most people, anything the Brotherhood wanted to destroy must have its good points.

Return to main storyline: 29. Arrival

30a. Torture (Cortin's point of view)

Cortin was conducting the first part of her preliminary examination when Odeon interrupted. "Someone in the observation room, Excellency."

She turned that way. "Colonel Bradford?"

"Yes," Bradford replied over the intercom, "with Ranger Medart and Lt.

DarElwyn."

"If you'd care to, you're welcome to join me in here." Normally, she wouldn't permit anyone except Mike or another Inquisitor to be in the same room while she was working, but these were unusual guests. And there was something particularly appealing about the Sandeman . . .

"The interview went all right?" she asked, as soon as the three entered.

"Quite well," Bradford replied. "I'll get the operation moving as soon as I get back to my office."

"Good--thanks, both of you." Cortin turned back to her prisoner, still addressing the observers--primarily, for some reason she didn't understand, Keith. "This one's nothing special, except in the number of his crimes and the fact that he wanted witnesses until he got to the last victim in each series. It was the rapes that were his particular thrill; the murders were enjoyable, but more of a side effect. So I'll be concentrating on the punishment for rape."

She continued with the preliminaries, both enjoying herself and trying to evaluate the Sandeman as well as she could when her primary attention had to be elsewhere. He, unlike Odeon and Medart, seemed to have a true appreciation of her intent, which she wouldn't have expected--but which she found highly gratifying. It was several hours before she was satisfied with the prisoner's general condition: his entire body except the genital region so bruised or abraded that even a light touch brough curses.

She stepped back to survey him, then smiled at her audience. "That takes care of the preliminaries; now we can get to the real punishment." She went to a cabinet, removed a vial and syringe.

"This is eroticine," she said, forcing the liquid in the vial down her prisoner's throat. "In small doses, it's a male aphrodisiac. In larger ones, like this, it forces an erection and increases s.e.m.e.n production by several hundred percent. He has no way to stimulate o.r.g.a.s.m, so that is forced out by simple hydraulic pressure--quite uncomfortable, I've been a.s.sured. This dose is oral, so he'll be that way for about twelve hours." She picked up a syringe, cleared it of air. "And this is algetin, a pain-enhancer that's most effective on swollen tissue such as an erection. It's a combination I think particularly appropriate for a rapist."

"An intriguing combination," Keith said. Moments later, when the prisoner's erection firmed and grew moist, she saw curiosity. "Is that wetness normal, or is it a drug effect?" he asked.

"Neither, Lieutenant; it's a side effect of the satyr plague."

"I see." Keith paused, c.o.c.king his head. "You said he can't bring himself to climax, Excellency, and this does seem effective--but what would happen if he did? Would it be a temporary relief, or would the algetin make it as much an agony as it usually is a pleasure?"

Cortin stared at him in astonishment. That was the sort of question she'd expect from an Inquisitor-Trainee, not an Imperial Marine! After several seconds, she said thoughtfully, "We're cautioned against it in training, since it's presumed o.r.g.a.s.m would bring relief; if anyone had experimented and found otherwise, it should've been reported in the professional literature. Since I've never read about such an experiment, I doubt it's ever been tried--but now that you suggest it, the idea seems plausible. If you'd like to try, Lieutenant, be my guest."

"No," Medart said firmly. "He can observe, since this is within your law; taking part would go against a number of the laws that govern the Imperial military." He turned to the Sandeman. "What's wrong, Lieutenant? You're not acting like any warrior I've ever met--including yourself, a couple of days ago."

"I feel fine, sir--I'm just not embarra.s.sed by his display, the way I'd have expected, and I . . . admire Colonel Cortin's work, which I wouldn't have expected at all."

"Just how strong is this admiration, Lieutenant?"

Keith looked from Ranger to Inquisitor and back, his expression answering Medart's question before he spoke. "Strongly enough that if I thought there was any chance of acceptance, I would offer her my fealty."

Cortin looked at him thoughtfully, then smiled. "If that means what I believe it does, Lieutenant, you'd be in no danger of refusal."

Keith returned the smile, then acted on her promise and knelt.

"Colonel Joan Cortin, I wish you as my chosen lady, if that should be your will. I offer all that is in me to give: body and mind, will and honor, whatever courage is mine. And death itself may not deny the service I offer, in whatever afterlife is to come."

Cortin had no idea of the words a Sandeman would use in such a position, but she doubted if Keith would care. She extended her hands, smiling again. "I accept your service and yourself with thanks, warrior."

Keith took her hands and rose, then bowed to her. "You do me great honor, Thakur."

"The honor is mine," Cortin replied. "Are there any formalities that need to be taken care of?"

"I'll handle those when we finish here," Medart said. "His release from service, back pay and allowances--but it'll be up to you to notify his clan and make arrangements for his tattoo."

"When we're done here, as you say." Cortin turned to her new sworn man. "To give you a status recognized here, I'm commissioning you a Royal Enforcement Service officer. Now, would you like to test your theory?"

"Very much, Thakur." Keith paused, then continued apologetically.

"I'm afraid I don't know how, though. One of our strongest customs forbids any same-s.e.x physical intimacy. Since it seems yours doesn't, that no longer applies to me, of course--but the fact remains that I have no such experience."

Cortin chuckled. "That can be remedied easily enough, if you decide you want to, but for your present purposes you don't need experience.

All you have to do is take hold of him, snugly enough to provide a friction surface but not tight. The eroticine will make him take care of the rest."

"That sounds simple enough." Keith reached for the prisoner.

Cortin watched critically as her new sworn man began his experiment.

It went against conventional theory--but then one of her more spectacular successes had come from the use of a hallucinogen, a procedure theory said was useless.

Hmm, that was interesting . . . Keith had told her, truthfully, that he had no s.e.xual experience with men, but he was starting manipulation as effective as she'd ever seen. That surprised her almost as much as the fact that he had time to--with such a strong dose of eroticine, she'd have expected the prisoner to erupt within seconds.

She wasn't quite sure what he'd meant by saying his people's strongest custom no longer applied to him--his oath, it had to be--but if he could get the idea this quickly, and implement it, she was willing to bet he'd enjoy the other parts of h.o.m.os.e.x. It would be almost as nice seeing him enjoying himself with Mike or one of the others as it would be enjoying him herself-- She told herself firmly to stop daydreaming.

She had no idea if his oath covered s.e.x with his chosen lady--she suspected it could if she wanted it to--but either way she was supposed to be evaluating a new technique, not thinking about who to take to bed.

Wait a minute--that was a smile on the Sandeman's face as the prisoner's show of pain increased! Keith was actually enjoying his first attempt at third stage, something so rare she knew of only three others beside herself who'd done so. Mike had been ill at first just watching her work, had taken a week to get where he could help at all, worked as her a.s.sistant only because she needed him. Keith could free him of that unpleasantness. Get the Sandeman some training to go with his talent, and he'd be awesome . . . Very good, he was able to keep stimulating the prisoner as movements grew frantic, gasps and cries turning to screams of agony as s.e.m.e.n spurted--dear G.o.d, what an Inquisitor Keith would make!

Keith turned to his chosen lady. "Was that satisfactory, Thakur?"

"Most satisfactory," Cortin said with unconcealed admiration. "You've just given me--all Inquisitors, once I get it published--what promises to become an extremely useful standard technique, especially with rapists. I'll see you're given full credit, of course." She smiled at Keith. "You've also changed my plans for him. That degree of pain, administered repeatedly, can be lethal--and I can't think of a more fitting end for a rapist. We'll let him drip overnight, then give him a fresh dose and see how many times he can take what he forced on others. What do you think?"

Keith looked flattered that she asked his opinion, but . . . "I don't share your expertise, Thakur, so my opinion may not be valid. Still, it sounds appropriate to me."

"So be it, then." Cortin smiled at him, approvingly. "Would you like to help? You seemed to enjoy yourself as much as an Inquisitor would, and Mike doesn't have that particular quirk; he helps because he loves me, not because he likes the work."

Keith hesitated briefly before answering. "It surprises me, Thakur, that I did enjoy it. But I would not displace Captain Odeon from something that brings you two close."

Cortin looked at her second in command. "What do you think, Mike?"

"If he wants it, he's got it," Odeon replied promptly. Turning to the Sandeman, he went on. "As she says, I don't have the mental quirk that lets me like hurting people; I'd be glad to get out of the job."

"It seems I do," Keith said. "At least since she wants this one to hurt, I took a great deal of pleasure in causing him as much pain as I could."

"It's all yours, then," Odeon said promptly. "With my thanks, by the way--which I'll demonstrate later, if you want."