Planet of Pain (13 page)

‘Jesus,' he muttered, ‘her asshole's red.' He poked into her anus and Jo flinched, biting back a cry.

‘Not too thrilled with this, is she? You said fifty for her ass?'

‘That's right.'

‘Okay, I'll take some of that.'

‘Blowjob for me,' the skinny one said.

‘Fine,' Schaeffer said. ‘You, Reiver, whatever your name is… on your hands and knees.'

‘No, on her back,' the fat one said. ‘I want to watch her face.'

Jo didn't move, so the fat one slapped her buttocks and she rolled reluctantly onto her back and raised her knees to her chest. There was a tap at the door, the same code, and Schaeffer swore.

‘I said two at a time, for Christ's sake,' he muttered. ‘Can't the moron get anything right?'

He went to the door and opened it, then took a hasty step back. ‘Major Ames,' he said in dismay. ‘But how…?'

An officer stepped into the room, with Sergeant Vaughan close on his heels. ‘How did I know about your little scheme?' the major said. ‘You're on my deck now, mister. Nothing happens here without my knowledge.'

He swept a frosty glance over the other two men, who were standing rigidly to attention, then turned his attention to Jo, who sat up. He stepped to the bed, put a finger to her chin and turned her face to one side. ‘Which one of them hit you?' he asked.

Jo's eyes instinctively flicked to Schaeffer, then she looked away quickly, saying nothing. The major stared at the well-dressed young man, who turned somewhat pale under that chilly scrutiny.

‘You three follow me,' the major said. ‘I feel sure the captain will want to convey personally his displeasure with you.' With that he led the trio out, leaving Jo alone with Vaughan.

‘Seems to me you're making a habit of being slapped around, O'Donnell,' the sergeant said. ‘I didn't have you pegged as one of those women who enjoys the rough stuff. Was I wrong about you?'

So he knew about Snake. She wondered if all the cabins were bugged. Or maybe Mundell had told him, pre-empting anything she might say.

‘It wasn't all Lieutenant Schaeffer's fault, sir,' she muttered. ‘I sort of provoked him.'

‘Fair-minded of you to admit it. I'll see that gets back to the brass; not that it will help him much. Now put your goddam clothes on before
I'm
provoked into doing something I shouldn't.'

 

 

 

 

Nina looked surprised and even alarmed to see Jo back so soon, but her concerns were dispelled when Jo explained what had transpired, including what she'd learned about General Nielsen.

‘Gamma sector,' the major mused. ‘I wouldn't have expected that. Is the information reliable?'

‘I believe it is. Danny – Lieutenant Norcott, I mean – is a navigator. If anyone knows about fleet movements it's likely to be him.'

‘That makes sense. Good work, Jo; this could be really important. We'll have a meeting when Bel and Stella get back.'

But they never got the chance; within minutes of A-shift's return there was a commotion and a number of men entered the dayroom. In the lead was Major Ames, flanked by two armed troopers, then a captain Jo had never seen before, both shift sergeants – Vaughan and Quinn – and finally two more armed troopers. Definitely, Jo thought, this did not look good.

The women were made to line up and a roll call was taken. Once he was satisfied no one was missing, Major Ames began to address them. ‘We're aware that an escape is being planned,' he said. ‘Give me the names of the ringleaders, and the rest of you won't be harmed.'

There was an awful silence, but it didn't last long.

‘I'm the one you want,' Nina said. ‘The others didn't even know what I was planning.'

‘A conspiracy of one?' Ames said. ‘You must take me for a fool.'

‘Not at all, sir. As senior officer here—'

‘Me,' Stella piped up. ‘I was in on it too.'

‘You?' Vaughan said, looking doubtful.

‘Sure,' Stella said indignantly, ‘why not? You sayin' I ain't smart enough?'

‘God forbid,' Vaughan muttered.

‘So who else?' Ames said. ‘Come on, there have to be others. If these women can do the honourable thing, so can the rest.'

There was a lengthy silence, broken only by a solitary cough and the shuffling of feet. Then Bel spoke up. ‘Me too. I'm the last.'

Ames looked at her, looked around at everyone else, and finally nodded. ‘Very well,' he said, ‘the three of you will follow—'

‘And me,' Jo said, holding up her hand. She had no clear idea why she did it, except that the idea of being separated from Bel – her friend as well as her captain – was unthinkable. Jo knew she would rather be in deep trouble with Bel than totally in the clear on her own.

‘Okay,' Ames said, ‘the
four
of you will follow me. The rest can stand down.'

They were led out and taken to the brig, and old fears came back to haunt Jo as she saw the grey bulkheads and the cages. They were put into separate cells and left to their own devices.

Though she was certainly afraid of what was going to happen, what was worse was the thought that this might be all her fault. Danny must have reported their conversation to his superiors; that, or she'd been right all along – the men's cabins really were bugged. Either way, someone had realised her casual enquiries about General Nielsen's whereabouts weren't entirely innocent. They'd put two and two together and come up with a conspiracy.

‘You fool!' Bel muttered angrily and Jo flinched. She should have known it wouldn't take the others long to figure out who was to blame. ‘Why the hell did you have to go and open your mouth?' Bel demanded. ‘The major was willing to leave it at just us three. Why couldn't you?'

‘Oh…' Jo muttered, ‘I thought… I didn't…'

Bel continued to berate her for a while, but Jo knew she was just worried about her. And the four of them had something to worry about, for certain. A public flogging was bad enough, but Vaughan had promised them transportation to Paradise in addition. And that, God help them, was infinitely worse.

 

They were quick about it, grant them that. In no time at all the four were brought from their cells by an equal number of troopers armed with rifles.

‘Guess we must be real dangerous people,' Stella said, eyeing the display of firepower.

‘Shut it, bitch!' one of the guards snapped, hustling her out of the room.

They were taken up to the assembly area they'd congregated in when they first came onboard, though it now looked very different. Most of the space was taken by rows of chairs occupied by members of the ship's company. There must have been fully two hundred men here, but it was apparent the rest weren't being excluded from the ‘entertainment'. Several individuals with mini-cams were in evidence, and Jo guessed the proceedings were being broadcast over general com.

At the far end of the room a raised platform had been erected, and on it was a heavy stool complete with restraining straps. Standing next to this was a corporal holding a long thin rod.

‘No way the Alliance can win this war,' Nina muttered darkly, and the other three looked at her, startled. ‘If the Leaguers can organise this little lot in under twenty minutes, they can manage just about anything.'

Stella laughed, and received a rifle butt in the ribs for her trouble. ‘Fuck off, you black-backed shit!' she snarled, rubbing her side, the commotion causing a mass of heads to turn as one, and Jo quailed under the gaze of two hundred pairs of eyes.

‘Move!' the guard growled.

A central aisle had been left free of chairs, and they walked the length of the room with their watchdogs in close attendance. The rows of heads followed their movement, and a murmur of anticipation rose from the audience.

‘Goddam Leaguers got no imagination,' Stella said. ‘Shoulda played
Here Comes the Bride
.'

Jo expected a reaction from the guard, but in fact they reached their destination without further incident. A set of steps led up onto the platform, and alongside these, facing the audience, stood Major Ames, Sergeant Vaughan and Sergeant Quinn. The women were chivvied into position alongside these three, with the guards taking up station behind them.

Major Ames stepped forward and proceeded to read an indictment listing the various regulations they'd broken, quoting article this and sub-paragraph that, after which he pronounced sentence: thirty strokes each to be administered forthwith, followed by incarceration in a penal colony for an indefinite period. He then turned to the four women.

‘The prisoners will now remove their clothes.'

The four of them exchanged rapid looks, then Nina nodded grimly and they began to undress. From the expressions on the faces of the others Jo knew no one was happy about this. A flogging was degrading enough without the humiliation of having to strip in front of an audience. One of the cameramen approached, and when they were naked he panned his mini-cam slowly along the line. Predictably, Bel seemed oblivious to this blatant voyeurism and Jo, standing next to her, attempted to mimic her captain's indifference. She managed it, though it took every ounce of willpower she possessed to keep her arms by her sides when her every instinct was to cover breasts and groin.

‘Reyes,' Ames said, ‘one pace forward.'

Nina took a deep breath, and stepped forward.

‘Carry on, sergeant,' Ames said.

‘Sir,' Vaughan said.

He and Sergeant Quinn each took one of Nina's arms, and led her up the steps and onto the platform. Vaughan told her to lie over the stool, a solid affair with a tubular steel frame and rectangular padded seat. Nina lay across it facing the audience, her stomach on the seat, and the two men proceeded to tie her down. One broad strap went over the small of her back, her wrists were fastened to the front legs of the stool, low down, and her knees and ankles were similarly secured at the back. Their task complete, the two sergeants retired to the back of the platform.

The nearest cameraman backed away down the aisle to frame the whole scene, whilst the other two moved in for close-ups. One knelt down right in front of the platform, the camera pointing up at Nina's face. The other went up the steps and stood just behind her and to one side, targeting her buttocks.

Once everyone had settled the corporal took up his position. He held out the rod and touched it lightly to Nina's buttocks, as if gauging the striking distance. Apparently satisfied, he glanced at Ames. ‘Ready, sir.'

‘Very well,' the major said. ‘Proceed with the punishment.'

The corporal drew back his arm, paused for a heartbeat, then whipped the rod down. It cut through the air with a vicious whistle and contacted Nina's buttocks with a sharp crack. Nina's whole body jerked violently. Her head snapped up and her eyes opened wide in shock and pain. Her mouth gaped, but only the faintest of mewling sounds escaped her throat.

The corporal struck her again, and then a third time. Jo quailed at the ferocity of the beating. He appeared to be putting the full strength of his arm and shoulder into the blows.

After that first fierce delivery Nina clamped her lips shut, clearly determined to endure her punishment in silence, but she broke down after a mere half dozen strokes. A pitiful cry was torn from her lips, and after that her self-control seemed to fragment. Her cries became louder and more anguished till she was shrieking at each bitter cut.

The corporal lowered his arm finally and stepped back. He took a cloth from his trouser pocket and wiped the rod. Sergeant Vaughan and Sergeant Quinn came forward, undid the straps and helped Nina to stand. Her legs seemed barely able to take her weight, and she leaned on them heavily as they made their way down the steps and back to the line.

Close up it was plain to see she was in a dreadful state. Her face was white, her eyes misted with pain, and she was trembling. Bel took her arm to steady her, but Nina shook her head. ‘I'm all right,' she murmured, though none of them believed it.

‘Fournier,' Major Ames said.

Jo's spirits, already at a low ebb, sank even further; wanting to get it over and done with as quickly as possible she'd hoped she would be called next. But Ames' plan seemed to be to punish them in the order in which they'd confessed; which meant Jo would go last of all. She would have to endure the torture of watching and waiting, knowing her turn was still to come, longer than anyone else.

Stella's boisterous good humour was nowhere in evidence as she was escorted onto the platform and strapped down. Major Ames gave the order to proceed, and the punishment commenced. Jo counted the strokes. Stella, who was obviously just as tough as she looked, somehow managed to take thirteen in silence, and though she cried out at each stroke thereafter she was less voluble than Nina, gritting her teeth throughout and grasping the legs of the stool so tightly the muscles and sinews in her arms and shoulders stood out like cords. And when it was over and the straps undone, she shrugged off the sergeants' hands and stumbled from the platform unaided.