Planet of Pain (6 page)

‘Don't forget it.'

He escorted them to an assembly area where they saw a dozen or so women sitting on fold-down benches along the wall. They were dressed in a mishmash of clothing – coveralls, smocks, even a uniform or two – and all wore silver collars. Two sergeants in League black were standing next to them.

‘Franklin and O'Donnell, sarge,' the corporal reported.

‘Okay,' one of the sergeants said, checking off their names on his own panel. ‘You two, find a seat and keep your mouths shut.'

They sat down and waited. No one spoke, and every woman avoided eye contact with her neighbours.

Jo was sharing a bench with Bel and a young woman with cropped dark hair and a small flower tattoo – a red rose – on her cheek. After a while Jo realised this person was surreptitiously sliding closer, so that eventually they were shoulder to shoulder. The young woman was watching the sergeants, and the instant their backs were turned she leaned closer still.

‘Have you seen my husband?' she whispered. ‘His name's Benedikt Vesely, but everybody calls him Ben. He's tall, with light-brown hair. They took him away with the other—'

‘You again?' the first sergeant snapped, his head whipping round. ‘Just shut the fuck up, Vesely!'

The woman shot him a terrified look and sidled away again. Bel nudged Jo in the ribs, and she turned and saw the corporal approaching with another female prisoner. With a shock she realised it was Linda, a pilot in their squadron. Linda looked around at the faces of the other prisoners, and her eyes fastened on Bel and Jo. She gave a curt nod of recognition but didn't seem overly surprised to see them there.

‘This is Kepler, sarge,' the corporal said. ‘She's the last, right?'

‘That's right,' the sergeant said. ‘Secure the hatch and dismiss the men.'

The corporal nodded and left. The sergeant turned to face them.

‘All of you, on your feet. Form a line here, in front of me.' He waited till they had formed up and he had everyone's attention. ‘All right, listen up. My name is Sergeant Vaughan, and this is Sergeant Quinn. You, however, will address us as “sir”. Anyone here have a problem with that?'

‘Yes, I do,' a woman called out. ‘I'm a major in the New Worlds Alliance, and the day I call a sergeant
sir
is the day they open a beach resort on Neptune.'

Vaughan checked his panel. ‘Nina Reyes, right?'

‘That's right… sergeant.'

‘Well, listen and learn, Reyes. Your rank means zero here. Aboard this ship you'll—'

‘I repeat,' she cut in coldly, ‘I'm a major—'

‘And if I were you,' the sergeant said firmly, ‘I wouldn't keep bragging about it, unless you've a hankering to know what an elbow-deep anal fisting feels like. We have guys here who would just love to get a major on her back, trust me. And this is the last time I remind you to address me as “sir”.'

The major didn't look any happier, but at least she had the sense to hold her tongue. Vaughan stared at her a second or two longer, and then cast his eyes over the rest of them.

‘Make no mistake,' he said, ‘when I say “on your back”, that's precisely what I mean. You've been brought here for one reason and one reason only: to fuck. This is the troop carrier
Eridani
, and we have close to nine hundred officers and enlisted men onboard. They're fresh from combat and they haven't set eyes on a woman in seven months, except maybe through a gun sight, so naturally they're all eager as hell to make your acquaintance. They're even prepared to overlook the fact you're Alliance riffraff, that's how romantic they're feeling. Reyes, you look like you want to say something.'

‘I do,
sir
. Speaking for myself, I can't tell you how flattered I am that nine hundred horny guys want to get into my pants. My knees are weak just thinking about it. But maybe not every woman here feels the same. What if someone doesn't like the idea of a mega-fuck?'

‘I'm not asking you to like it, Reyes,' Vaughan said, ignoring the sarcasm, ‘I'm just telling you what's going to happen. Enjoy it, don't enjoy it; that's entirely up to you, just so long as you
do
it, okay?'

Major Reyes seemed far from placated, but her only response was to shake her head and stare at the sergeant in disgust.

‘So,' he went on, ‘this is how it works. The ship operates a two-shift system and so will you, twelve hours on and twelve off. You'll spend the bulk of your on-duty hours – ten, to be precise – in one of
Eridani's
three hundred cabins. The ship's computer selects the cabin number at random, and it doesn't discriminate between officers and enlisted men. Share and share alike is the rule in the Solar League, and that extends to the use of you lot. Each officer has a cabin to himself, enlisted men bunk in fours. Do I need to spell out what that means?'

There were uncertain looks on the faces of some of his audience, Jo's being one.

‘Seems I do,' he said. ‘Okay, what it means is that if the computer picks an officer's cabin, you'll spend ten hours with him. If it picks an enlisted man's cabin you'll spend ten hours with the four guys who share it. You all following this? They'll share you too, is what I'm saying, to hurry the whole process along. Sixteen of you, nine hundred of them; you do the math. And I'm betting a year's pay Nina Reyes wants to come in at this point.'

‘She does, sir,' the major said. ‘I assume you're serious about all this? Ten hours?'

‘Relax, Reyes; it doesn't mean they'll ride you for ten hours straight. Unlike you they'll be off-duty. They've still got to eat and sleep and take a crap and whatever, right?'

Jo glanced at Bel, who looked thoughtful but not overly concerned. Most of the others were looking pretty apprehensive. Jo wasn't feeling too happy herself, but she tried not to let it show. As they'd drummed into her at the Academy, officers were supposed to set a good example.

‘Okay,' Vaughan said, ‘this next item is important, so pay attention. There's a copy of the rules posted in the dayroom – which is where we're headed right after this briefing – and I strongly suggest you study it if you plan on keeping skin on your backsides. Break the rules and I'll have you flogged. Floggings take place in public, and I absolutely guarantee you will not enjoy it one little bit.'

He paused long enough to stare at each of them in turn, as though to reinforce the message.

‘Ways you can screw up are as follows,' he went on. ‘One: refuse to obey an order. Two: tamper with ship's equipment. Three: strike any man onboard. Four: bite when you should be sucking. Do any of these things and I'll have you flogged. These are just examples in no particular order; there are twenty-three altogether. The worst offence of all is trying to escape. For that you'll be flogged first then shipped off to Paradise.'

Jo gave an involuntary shudder. Horror stories about the League prison planet had circulated for years.

‘Right,' Vaughan said, ‘most of you are looking less than thrilled, but this doesn't have to be a balls-up. If you obey the rules and do what you're told – no arguments, no hesitation – we'll all get along just fine. Any questions? Yes, Vesely?'

‘When can we see the male prisoners, sir?' she asked. ‘My husband, Benedikt—'

‘Like I told you before,' Vaughan said impatiently, ‘you can't. The men have already been shipped out. Anyone else have a question?'

‘But I have to—'

‘Shut up, Vesely!' he snapped. ‘Anyone else? No? Okay, let's go take a look at your quarters.'

 

Their new accommodation was basic but functional. The dayroom had chairs and couches enough for all of them, a couple of small, low tables and one long one, and a locker with chess and checkers sets. There was a big screen on one wall; right next to the notice board with the rules Vaughan had spoken of. At the back of the room doors led off to the dormitory, the mess, and the toilet/shower area.

‘Any questions about any of this?' the sergeant asked after they'd completed the tour.

‘A request, sir,' Nina Reyes said. ‘Two changes of clothes for every woman; hygiene products; food and drinks dispensers; exercise facilities; readers—'

‘Write it down,' he said. ‘I'll see what I can do.'

‘I haven't finished, sir.'

‘Write it all down. I'm not making any promises.'

‘If we don't get the clothing and the hygiene products, sir, I doubt your men will
want
to fuck us.'

‘Don't bet on it,' he said. ‘After seven months, if it's female and breathing these guys will hump it.'

He left then, taking Sergeant Quinn with him, and the door slid across behind them. Nina Reyes waved her hand in front of the sensor, but the door stayed shut.

‘Figures,' she said. ‘How many officers do we have here?' Bel, Jo and Linda Kepler all raised their hands. ‘Any of you outrank a major? No? Okay, follow me. The rest of you make yourselves comfortable.'

‘Not all of us are military,' one woman said. ‘We don't have to take orders from you.'

‘You'd better,' Reyes said, ‘if you want to survive this.'

She led the three of them into the shower block, turned on all the showers, which were communal rather than separate cubicles, and beckoned them in close.

‘I'm assuming this whole area is bugged,' she said quietly. ‘If this water gimmick doesn't fool the pickups, we're screwed. And since we're screwed anyway it's a risk we'll just have to take. Okay, introductions. I'm Major Nina Reyes, but you know that already. Weapons fire control is my field.'

Each of the others said who they were and what they did.

‘All three of you are pilots?' Reyes said. ‘Jeez! And here was me worrying I might not have
one
. All we need now is a ship and we're home free, right?'

‘We looking to escape, major?' Linda asked.

‘Hell, yes. I don't know about you but I signed up to kill Leaguers, not fuck them.'

‘But…' Jo stammered, ‘the sergeant said… anyone caught trying to escape would be sent to Paradise.'

‘True,' Major Reyes said solemnly. ‘So we'll have to make damn sure we're not caught, won't we?'

 

 

 

 

‘We've just had word from
Eridani's
, admiral,' Sam said. ‘The refuelling is complete and they're ready to depart on your command.'

‘They have the female prisoners onboard?'

‘Yes, sir: sixteen, including the scout ship crews. I'm sure our men are most appreciative.'

‘And so they damn well should be.'

Talmann had changed his orders regarding the disposition of the Alliance females, giving them over to his troops as a morale booster rather than keeping them for his own amusement. It was an act of unprecedented generosity on the admiral's part, and not even Sam understood just how great a sacrifice he had made.

Nielsen's capture had changed everything, however. A major Alliance strike was imminent; they knew that from data found on the general. There would be precious little time for personal indulgences in the weeks and months ahead.

‘Will you be inspecting the prisoners before they leave, admiral?'

‘Probably not,' Talmann said. ‘I doubt there'll be time. I want to review the data before we continue Nielsen's interrogation.'

‘I think you might want to make time, sir. The computer just turned up this.'

He handed Talmann a panel, which showed an extract from an Alliance personnel record. A single entry leapt out at him, and he became very still.

‘You've verified this?' he asked, his voice unnaturally quiet.

‘Yes, sir.'

Talmann handed the panel back. His magnanimous gesture was already paying dividends, clearly: the gods were showering blessings on him. ‘Have my launch readied immediately,' he said.

‘It's at the port now, sir, fired up and waiting.'

Physical contact between the two men was rare, and displays of affection on the admiral's part even rarer, but Talmann beamed as he patted his young aide's shoulder. ‘Sam, my boy,' he said, ‘what would I do without you?'

 

Jo and Bel were playing chess when Vaughan came into the dayroom and told them all to line up for an important announcement. ‘We will shortly receive a visit from Admiral Talmann,' he said, ‘commander-in-chief of the Solar League fleet. This is a great honour, and I expect you to behave impeccably. Stand to attention when he comes in. If he asks you a question answer promptly, respectfully, and truthfully. Do not lie to the admiral. Ignoring this advice might well prove fatal.'