The Alembic Plot: A Terran Empire novel

  30b. Torture (Medart's point of view)

  The scene through the observation room window wasn't as bad as Medarthad expected. Or not as bad yet, he cautioned himself; it appearedthat Cortin was still conducting her preliminary examination.

  What she'd called the third-stage room resembled, more than anythingelse Medart could think of, a twentieth-century operating room, withcabinets of supplies and equipment, monitoring machinery, even asurgical table. But operating rooms didn't have chains hanging fromthe ceiling, and patients weren't held spreadeagled, naked, betweenthose and eyebolts in the floor.

  A couple of minutes after they entered, Odeon glanced toward theobservation room, raised a hand in acknowledgement, and said somethingto Cortin. She turned toward them. "Colonel Bradford?"

  "Yes," Bradford said, "with Ranger Medart and Lt. DarElwyn."

  "If you'd care to, you're welcome to join me in here."

  "Thank you, Excellency." Bradford switched off the intercom and turnedto the others, looking surprised. "That's a first; she doesn'tnormally allow anyone in there except Captain Odeon or otherInquisitors. The disadvantage is that you can't avoid her prisoner'sscreams by shutting off the intercom."

  "Even so," Medart said thoughtfully, "if an invitation's that rare, weought to accept."

  The three entered the larger room, which smelled of antiseptic--ratherto Medart's bemusement. Why should Cortin care about infection inpeople she was torturing to death? He kept that question to himself,though.

  "The interview went all right?" Cortin asked.

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

  "Good--thanks, both of you." Cortin turned back to her prisoner, stilladdressing the observers. "This one's nothing special, except in thenumber of his crimes and the fact that he wanted witnesses until he gotto the last victim in each series. It was the rapes that were hisparticular thrill; the murders were enjoyable, but more of a sideeffect. So I'll be concentrating on the punishment for rape."

  Medart tried not to pay too close attention to what she went on to do,sometimes with Odeon's assistance. He had to learn about thisculture's less pleasant aspects as well as its more enjoyable ones, andhe definitely had to learn all he could about Cortin herself; thatdidn't mean he had to like, or even approve of, what he found out.

  This was one of those things. Medart couldn't reasonably argue againstthe criminal's execution; most societies, the Empire included, haddeath penalties for some crimes, and Medart himself had ordered orcarried out a few. Those, though, had been quick; Imperial justicedidn't demand vengeance.

  Kingdoms justice did, and by the time Bradford left a few minuteslater, Medart had no doubt Cortin enjoyed exacting that vengeance.Before he had to raise his mind-shield to protect himself from thecriminal's pain, Medart got the feelings both she and Odeon werebroadcasting. Odeon didn't like the work; he helped only because heloved Cortin, and there were things her own torture and maiming by theBrothers had left her physically unable to do, until Jeshua, and laterShayan, had healed those injuries. Medart caught a strongvisualization of a seriously injured Cortin before Odeon forced histhoughts away from that subject.

  After that image, Medart was surprised to find no trace of personalrevenge in Cortin's broadcast. She was determined to exact vengeance,yes, but as she'd said, on behalf of the criminal's victims and theirfamilies. She got considerable pleasure out of it, but again it wasn'tthe type Medart would have expected. There was no sadism involved;what he felt from her was, in a sense, worse. Her emotions in causingthe most prolonged and agonizing death possible were intellectual--thepride in skill and workmanship of any professional doing a challengingjob to the best of @'s ability. As for the healing--Medart frownedto himself at that. Odeon seemed like the practical sort, yet he wasfirmly convinced that God and the Devil had cured Cortin. He'd have toget one of them past that reluctance to talk about religion, and giventheir differing attitudes, Odeon would be the one to work with. Later.

  Keith, unlike Odeon and Medart, seemed to have a true appreciation ofCortin's intent and ability. Not, Medart told himself, that that wasreally unexpected; Sandemans considered it perfectly honorable totorture a captured enemy for information, and certain offenses againsthonor or custom demanded the offender's lingering death. But they weremore direct about it; a beating was the usual method.

  That, bloody as it was, seemed somehow cleaner than Cortin's cool,meticulous precision. It was several hours before she was satisfiedwith the prisoner's general condition: his entire body except thegenital region so bruised or abraded that even a light touch broughcurses.

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

  "This is eroticine," she said, forcing the liquid in the vial down herprisoner's throat. "In small doses, it's a male aphrodisiac. Inlarger ones, like this, it forces an erection and increases semenproduction by several hundred percent. He has no way to stimulateorgasm, so that is forced out by simple hydraulic pressure--quiteuncomfortable, I've been assured. This dose is oral, so he'll be thatway for about twelve hours." She picked up a syringe, cleared it ofair. "And this is algetin, a pain-enhancer that's most effective onswollen tissue such as an erection. It's a combination I thinkparticularly appropriate for a rapist."

  Medart didn't agree that an aphrodisiac combined with a pain-enhancerwas necessarily appropriate for anyone, but it was clear the Sandemandid approve.

  "An intriguing combination," Keith said. Moments later, when the man'serection firmed and grew moist, he looked curious. "Is that wetnessnormal, or is it a drug effect?"

  The question was so out of character for a Sandeman that Medart wasshocked, but Cortin seemed to take it as a matter of course. "Neither,Lieutenant; it's a side effect of the satyr plague."

  "I see." Keith paused, cocking his head. "You said he can't bringhimself to climax, Excellency, and this does seem effective--but whatwould happen if he did? Would it be a temporary relief, or would thealgetin make it as much an agony as it usually is a pleasure?"

  Medart and Cortin both stared at him in astonishment, for differentreasons. After several seconds, Cortin said thoughtfully, "We'recautioned against it in training, since it's presumed orgasm wouldbring relief; if anyone had experimented and found otherwise, itshould've been reported in the professional literature. Since I'venever read about such an experiment, I doubt it's ever been tried--butnow that you suggest it, the idea seems plausible. If you'd like totry, Lieutenant, be my guest."

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

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

  Neither would Medart, because of both his heritage and the Academypsych testing that weeded out people with such inclinations. Thatmeant Cortin's peculiar Talent was going beyond influencing Keith tolove her, it was giving him some of her personality quirks. The firstwas probably due to his lack of mind-shield; the second, since herTalent hadn't affected Odeon to anywhere near the same degree, wasprobably due to the Sandeman tendency to extremes. Medart hid a sigh."Just how strong is this admiration, Lieutenant?"

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

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

  Keith returned the smile, then acted on her promise and knelt."C
olonel Joan Cortin, I wish you as my chosen lady, if that should beyour will. I offer all that is in me to give: body and mind, will andhonor, whatever courage is mine. And death itself may not deny theservice I offer, in whatever afterlife is to come."

  Cortin extended her hands, smiling again. "I accept your service andyourself with thanks, warrior."

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

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

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

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

  "Very much, Thakur." Keith paused, then continued apologetically."I'm afraid I don't know how, though. One of our strongest customsforbids any same-sex physical intimacy. Since it seems yours doesn't,that no longer applies to me, of course--but the fact remains that Ihave no such experience."

  Cortin chuckled. "That can be remedied easily enough, if you decideyou 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 afriction surface but not tight. The eroticine will make him take careof the rest."

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

  Medart frowned as the Sandeman carried out his torture. It was hard tobelieve anyone, particularly a Sandeman, could change so drastically insuch a short time. His mindprobe of Gaelan DarShona, thirty years ago,had given him the experience of briefly being a Sandeman warrior, so hefelt, as well as knew intellectually, how deeply unacceptable Keithwould have found his present actions before he came under the influenceof Cortin's Talent. Seeing a man stripped as part of punishment was noproblem, that was normal Sandeman procedure for particularly seriousviolations. But handling another man's genitals was enough to earndeath in disgrace if you lived that long--unlikely, since it was farmore likely to get you killed on the spot. And while warriors enjoyedfighting, would torture for information, and a chief would inflict slowdeath for serious violations of custom, they didn't get any realpleasure from doing it. Nor would Keith have, earlier--but it wasclear he enjoyed what he was doing, now.

  The Sandeman's smile grew as the prisoner's moves became faster, moreurgent--and he climaxed in a prolonged series of spasms, screaming inagony.

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

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

  "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 liketo help? You seemed to enjoy yourself as much as an Inquisitor would,and Mike doesn't have that particular quirk; he helps because he lovesme, 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 fromsomething 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 theSandeman, he went on. "As she says, I don't have the mental quirk thatlets 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 tohurt, I took a great deal of pleasure in causing him as much pain as Icould."

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

  "In the meantime," Cortin said, "I'm hungry. Let's go up to supper."

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