Planet of Pain (9 page)

‘Maybe,' she said, absently toying with the top tie on her gown. ‘Was there something in particular you were wanting?'

‘Hell, yes,' he growled. ‘From the first moment I set eyes on you.'

Their mutual preoccupation was absolute, and the sexual tension so thick you could take a bite out of it. Jo felt guilty about eavesdropping on so intimate an exchange, but couldn't have torn herself away if her life depended on it.

‘Then I don't get it, sir,' Bel said. ‘Looking at our situation here, it seems to me all you have to do is snap your fingers and you can have whatever or whoever you want.'

‘Not my style,' he said. ‘Freely given is my preference, but I'll settle for a fair trade. Do we have a deal?'

‘We do. I need to get some sleep first, though, unless you fancy bedding a zombie. I'm bushed.'

‘That's fine,' he said. ‘Let me see what I can turn up. Catch you later.' He headed for the door, and Bel watched him go, clearly intrigued.

‘I wasn't sure he'd help us, to be honest,' she said, ‘but he's not what he seems, is he? That parade ground despot act certainly had me fooled.'

‘Me too,' Jo said. ‘It was lucky I was here turning on the charm, though. I mean, it's patently obvious he's totally uninterested in you.'

‘Go easy on me, okay?' Bel said, with a rueful smile. ‘I had a rough day.'

She took herself off to bed, asking Jo to wake her when ‘supper' arrived. A little while later sixteen packages and a box were delivered to the door. Each package carried a printed name, and Jo and some of the B-shift women sorted through the pile looking for their own. Jo came across one marked
Kepler L
, and that's when the seriousness of the situation hit her. She put it to one side, wondering if Linda would ever get the opportunity to open it.

She found her own, and discovered it contained two pair of pale grey coveralls, two pair of white stretch panties, and a pair of boot-style slippers. The coveralls were fairly plain, with a zip up the front, two hip pockets, and the owner's name stencilled over the left breast. Jo changed into hers and found the fit tolerably good.

The box contained the hygiene products Nina had requested, along with half a dozen readers. Jo sat down with one and paged through the index, discovering a mix of fiction and non-fiction. To pass the time she started reading one of the novels, but couldn't get into it. She didn't have a problem with hunky heroes, but damsels in distress she could do without; there were enough of those around already.

 

Bel was poor company at supper – thirty minutes of sleep seemed to have made her more tired, not less. B-shift were looking pretty glum too, which was hardly surprising considering their first assignments were imminent. Stella Fournier was the only person present who seemed remotely cheerful, and she drew black looks for daring to laugh at something Jo said.

After the meal Bel went straight back to bed, as did the rest of A-shift. B-shift headed for the showers, and soon after Sergeant Quinn took them away. With their departure Stella and Jo had the place pretty much to themselves, and having slept during their assignments neither felt tired. Jo realised her inner clock was completely out of kilter, but she was at the mercy of fate and circumstance. If she'd drawn an enlisted men's cabin no doubt she'd be feeling shattered too.

As it was she and Stella spent the day chatting, playing checkers – at which Stella was unbeatable – and generally getting comfortable with each other, and by the time Bel and the rest were stirring Jo felt as though she'd known Stella all her life.

The arrival of B-shift was something of a shock. They were moving like automatons, silent and spiritless. Even Nina looked drained, and Jo went straight to her. ‘Are you all right, major?'

‘Not really,' she said. ‘Can you and Bel talk to the others? I know it should be me, but I'm buggered, in every sense of the word. I need to lie down before I fall down.'

‘Of course we will,' Jo said, looking round for Bel.

‘Thanks. I'm especially worried about Malka. She was crying when we went up, and Quinn had to threaten her with a flogging before she would go in. Now I can't get a word out of her.'

‘Who's Malka?' Jo asked, finally catching Bel's eye.

‘Malka Vesely.' She pointed to the young woman with the tattoo on her cheek, the one who kept asking about her husband.

‘Major,' Bel said as she joined them, ‘you survived it, I see.'

‘I'm reserving judgement on that,' Nina said, forcing a smile. ‘I've asked Jo to talk to the others… offer a little moral support, you know. Can you also make sure nobody misses supper?'

‘Sure thing,' Bel said.

‘I hate to drop this on you, but I'm beat.'

‘Don't worry about it. Go take a nap; we'll wake you when the chow arrives.'

Nina went off, and Jo and Bel talked to the other women. The answers were generally monosyllabic, or just a nod, with the occasional tired smile that made the whole exercise worthwhile. Malka was a tougher challenge but they finally got through to her, at which point she burst into tears. Bel hugged her, and eventually the tears dried up.

‘Sorry,' she said. ‘I'm really sorry. It's just… I keep thinking about Ben…'

Bel listened sympathetically while she poured out her troubles, and when she finally ran out of steam Bel took her through to the dormitory and put her to bed.

Jo sat down, more depressed than ever. She had an awful feeling that Malka Vesely was just the first to break down, and that eventually all of them would suffer the same fate. Her only hope was that Nina could somehow pull off a miracle and come up with a viable escape plan, but right now, given what she knew, that seemed impossible.

 

 

 

 

The eight members of A-shift trailed along behind Sergeant Vaughan in single file. Jo was among the first to be called forward this time, so she pretty well knew what to expect. Sure enough, as she followed the sergeant into the cabin four faces turned towards her.

‘Jeez!' one of them said. ‘They actually sent us a pretty one.'

‘Come right on in, sweetpea,' another said, stepping towards her. ‘Let's get you out of these nasty old prison rags.'

‘Kaz is a real gentleman,' the first one said, grinning at Jo. ‘Help a lady out of her clothes any day.'

‘Shit, that's no lady,' a third chipped in, ‘that's the Reiver bitch we're gonna fuck till she don't know what day it is.'

Jo was having trouble taking it all in. She hadn't been prepared for the verbal assault and panic came out of nowhere, overwhelming her. She felt totally intimidated by the situation, and the thought of being left alone with these men was more than she could handle.

‘All right, pipe down,' Vaughan said. ‘I want her intact when you deliver her up again, you hear? There's a whole bunch of guys waiting their turn, and they won't appreciate damaged goods.'

‘Hey, trust us sarge,' one said, while another laughed.

Jo struggled for sanity and control, knowing that if she lost it now she might never get it back.
When in trouble, rationalise
. Instructor Red's course on Battle Psychology; and she fought hard to put it into practice. She looked at the room, which was bigger but more Spartan than an officer's cabin: just four bunks complete with footlockers along the left-hand bulkhead, and four tall lockers on the right. On the back bulkhead was a digital display of ship's time, alongside a big poster showing a trio of naked, smiling women on a beach.

‘We'll treat her real good, honest.'

‘Yeah, like a fucking princess.'

She looked at the men, trying to see them as individuals. It didn't help that they all looked the same. Every man was stripped to the waist, wearing just black fatigue trousers and boots, and all had shaved heads and tattoos.

‘I'm serious here,' Vaughan said. ‘I don't want to find so much as a single bruise on her. You hearing me, Kazarian? Snake?'

‘Hey, sarge,' one whined, ‘why pick on us?'

Whoever it was, Kazarian or Snake, had the most tattoos. Across his chest was a bound, naked woman with huge breasts, being penetrated by a python. Snake, then.

‘Because you're a pair of lowlife scumbags, that's why,' Vaughan said. ‘Mundell, I'm looking to you to keep your guys in line. Any harm comes to her all four of you get proscribed. You won't see another pussy till you're wizened and grey and fucking is just a distant memory, you hearing me?'

‘Loud and clear, sarge.'

Mundell – possibly the squad leader. Just one tattoo, on his shoulder: some sort of bird of prey with a pulse rifle in its talons. A regimental emblem, probably. And with that thought her panic began to subside. She could do this. Some deep breaths, a little calmly applied logic, and she could get on top of this.

But time had run out. Vaughan was leaving, and she wasn't ready yet. The door closed and hands were already reaching for her, unzipping her coveralls.
Rationalise
. Snake was one of the two men stripping her, so presumably the other was Kazarian. He had gold studs in his ears, and under normal circumstances she would have considered him good-looking.

‘Fuck, take a look at this,' he said as they dragged the coveralls down. ‘Is this kid one fucking cute package, or what?'

Snake wrapped his arms around her from behind and lifted her off her feet. The good-looking one tugged her slippers off, followed swiftly by her coveralls and pants. Snake set her down again, but didn't let go of her. One hand went to her breasts and the other to her groin, squeezing and rubbing.

‘Quit mauling her, Snake,' Mundell said. ‘What's the plan here, guys? We could take her together, or we could cut cards to see who goes first.'

‘Shit, I can't believe we're even discussing this,' the good-looking one said. ‘You can do what the fuck you want, but I ain't cutting no fucking cards, and I ain't waiting.'

‘Me neither,' Snake said. ‘Fuck the bitch now, I say.'

Mundell turned to Jo. ‘How about it, kid? Reckon you can handle a gangbang?'

‘What the fuck you asking her for?' the good-looking one said.

‘Yeah,' Snake said, ‘the bitch does as she's told or she gets a slapping.'

Mundell ignored them. ‘How about it?'

Jo nodded, though she felt far from certain she could.

‘Good girl. What's your name?' She told him. ‘Okay, Jo, I'm Mundell, this here is my buddy Eran, the fucker with his hands all over you is Snake, and the motor-mouth with the bad attitude is Kaz.'

She looked at the men in turn, repeating their names in her head to fix them. Mundell was the squad leader; Kaz, short for Kazarian, the good-looking one; Eran the big one who hadn't said anything yet. As for Snake, sniggering as he poked his finger inside her – well, it wasn't likely she would forget him anytime soon.

‘You finished with the introductions?' Kaz asked. ‘I say it's time young Jo was fucked; and that cute mouth is all mine.'

‘I get her ass, okay?' Snake said belligerently.

Mundell nodded and turned to the quiet one. ‘I guess that gives you her pussy, Eran.'

‘Her pussy?' the big man said, looking confused.

‘Sure, retard,' Snake said. ‘This little wet crack right here.'

He leaned Jo back and spread her labia with his fingers, and Eran's bewildered expression changed instantly to a broad grin.

‘Pussy,' he said, ‘right.'

That was when Jo realised he was a little slow – or perhaps more than a little. A jagged scar, like a shrapnel injury, ran from temple to cheekbone on the left side of his head. Maybe that was the problem, she thought.

Mundell and Kaz pulled the blankets off three of the bunks and dragged the mattresses onto the floor, laying them side-by-side. Snake released her and the four men stripped off. Three of them already had erections, Eran being the odd one out. Snake's in particular was impressively big, and she wondered if that was the origin of his nickname, and not the tattoo.

‘You want to lay down, Eran?' Mundell asked.

‘On the floor?'

‘Sure, on your back, right here on the mattress.'

‘Okay, corp.'

‘I ain't a corporal no more,' Mundell said. ‘Just lay down, buddy, like it's time to hit the sack.'

‘Okay.'

Eran flopped onto his back in the middle of the makeshift bed, put his hands behind his head, and grinned.

‘You'll have to get him hard,' Mundell said to Jo. ‘It won't be a problem.'

Jo nodded. It was starting, and so was the churning feeling in her stomach. She knelt on the mattress between Eran's legs and took hold of his cock. She had intended sucking him, but the instant she touched his penis it started to stiffen. A few quick pulls were all it took to get it erect, and she looked up at Mundell.