He was still pondering its meaning when the station mistress interrupted his thoughts.
“Come it is almost time,” Bie-Tor called to him from the open doorway.
“Almost time for what?” he asked.
“You will see,” she replied and moved out of view.
Returning the ring to the table he hurried to catch up with them.
In the hallway he found them waiting for him along with the traitor Darden and the broken navy commander who they called Dog.
Darden had two bloody pieces of cloth stuffed in his broken nose. He glared at Mike who in turn ignored him.
“How about that older light cruiser the Le’Insurgent?” Peter Alexander proposed taking this moment to try and bargain.
“One last thing to see and then we shall speak of payment,” she remarked and turned away heading not to her office but to the doorway that opened upon the central plaza.
Walking out into the central common area they saw that a human slave shift was just ending. The human slaves were being escorted back to their cells before the next group of prisoners would be released to work the next shift. The returning workers literally dragged themselves across the central floor being exhausted from their fifteen-hour work shift. Dirty, hungry and exhausted summed up their condition.
A public announcement system suddenly broadcasted in English causing the workers to freeze where they were on the common area’s floor.
“All prisoners of Work Group Four will immediately form ranks!”
A collected moan could be heard from the tired Confederation prisoners. Their Karduan guardswomen repeated the order driving them together, forming a configuration that loosely resembled a military formation.
As the tired crowd waited, two Confederation naval officers stumbled to the front of the formation escorted by several guards. Mike recognized them as the two men who had been in the pillory and who had their feet savagely whipped. Both of them had their hands shackled behind their backs and their heads downcast as they staggered to the front of the formation. Once there they were pushed down to their knees.
“These prisoners were caught trying to sabotage the bender drives of the ship they were working on,” a guard mistress announced walking around them while holding a drawn patar in her hand.
“She’s going to execute them,” Mike said out loud having seen something like this from a history book about Japanese prison camps of World War II.
“But of course,” Bie-Tor said walking their group closer to get a better view of the spectacle.
“Why?” he demanded.
“Discipline must be maintained,” she commented “if we let them off without punishment than all of the slaves would try to disrupt our work and that cannot be tolerated so examples must be made.”
“These two had been given corrections twice before and have failed to become obedient. Now they will submit to the final authority for their defiance,” the guard mistress announced moving behind them with her sword.
The plaza was filled with Karduan guardswomen, who were both armed and armored. They encircled the formation of human prisoners and though they expected trouble they knew that the prisoners’ obedience collars would shock them en-mass to the ground if they dared to try and interfere. It sometimes still happened but less and less as they became broken by the collar. Violence and pain where always the ultimate authority of those that enslaved others.
Mike Collins didn’t have a slave collar to disable or impede him. Though this was not part of his original mission he couldn’t stand by as these men were killed. Grasping his extension sword in one hand and activating a comm. signal with the other he rushed towards the kneeling pair.
The guard mistress pulled back her arm as she angled the edge of the patar to cut the head off of the first prisoner. It was a good test of her skill and she always liked to sever them in one clean stroke. If she did if perfectly the head might still sit on their shoulders for a moment or two before it fell off to land on the ground and roll away.
As the blade came down she was surprised as another sword intervened and blocked her strike. Her surprise lasted for only a moment as the other swordsman smashed into her throwing her backward and to the ground.
To almost everyone’s surprise Mike had crossed the distance to the prisoner in a blurred flash. He had previously moved up just behind the station mistress and the pirate to get a better view. Now he acted, moving as fast as he could and reaching the first man as the patar came down to end his life. He used a hanging parry to intercept the strike and followed through with a full on body check smashing his moving mass into the Blue officer’s torso. He didn’t hold back and hit her as hard as he could.
The Karduan guard mistress flew through the air and crashed to the floor where she laid unmoving.
Lt. Collins spun around and yelled out to the mass of Confederation prisoners.
“Your slave collars are deactivated! Rise up and give them hell!” he ordered as loud as he could.
He then touched the comm. pad on his sleeve and waited for the explosions but nothing happened. He again touched his comm. signal’s control pad but the only thing that happened was that all of human prisoners were shocked though their obedience collars and sent to the plaza’s floor in an electrified heap.
Looking around he saw that the only people still standing in the common area were the Karduan guardswomen. They were closing in on him, many of them armed with what looked like copies of Confederation stun batons that were used by the Colonial Constabulary Force also known as the CCF. Others guards carried rifles that he didn’t recognize but he could guess what they did.
Transferring his sword to his left hand he drew his 8mm Starburst automatic pistol prepared to go down only after a fight. Scanning the area for an avenue of escape he glanced back to station mistress. She was now standing further back with Alexander and the swine Darden on either side of her. All three of them were smiling at his demise.
“Remember, I want him alive,” Bie-Tor announced in Karduan as her order was repeated over the plaza’s speakers.
Mike brought his pistol up and fired at the three guards between him and the station mistress. All three snap shots hit their targets knocking them to the side as he charged towards their leader. His fast action took many of the guardswomen off guard and gave him a moment.
Peter Alexander quickly grabbed Darden and pulled him in front of the station mistress to use him as a human shield.
Taking about a half dozen strides towards them, Mike could feel numerous hits all over his body followed by powerful electric shocks. His armor protected him a little but several shot darts hit exposed skin. Surprising even himself he managed to stay on his feet and take two more steps before he was finally overwhelmed by the electricity surging through his body.
Collapsing in front of Darden and those standing behind him he involuntarily dropped his pistol and sword. The traitor seeing him helpless took that moment to kick him in the face repaying him for his earlier broken nose.
Mike last coherent thought before the darkness took hold of him was so much for part one of his plan.
Chapter Twelve
Lt. Collins couldn’t remember anything as he came back to the world of the living. No dreams, no visions or even nightmares. His nightmare began as he realized where he was. Snapping his blue eyes open he scanned the room as he fought to stand up.
As his vision slowly cleared, he found himself on an operating table of a standard Confederation automated medical station that was located in a small room. Trying to move his arms and legs to get up he found that he couldn’t move at all. Despite his augmented strength he was left as helpless as a newborn baby.
The table’s restraint field was active and just like a set of CCF police’s handcuff called force restraints, the harder you pushed against them the more kinetic energy was created to work against you and hold you in place.
Turning his head, he realized several things all at once. From his torso down he was tota
l immobilized and the only parts of his body he could move was his head and neck. The door to the room was left open and he could see that he was in the hidden room at the back of the station mistress’s private research lab.
When he first started to wake he could have sworn someone was standing nearby but now found that he was alone. Glancing around he was certain that he was on a Confederation model auto surgical unit but it looked a bit different. It seemed to have a few extra monitor panels and several extra surgical arms. At the moment he didn’t want to think about what they were used for.
Craning his neck, he could see that a group of people were coming through the lab headed directly for him. All of them were familiar and known to him, and he wasn’t all that surprised to see them.
Bie-Tor led their little group with Peter Alexander and Scotty Darden trailing close behind her. A little further back he could see the former navy commander known as Dog slowly following them like the dutiful pet that he now was.
“I must say that I would have thought your recovery from those shock darts and stun sticks would have taken much longer,” the station mistress declared as she entered the room. “In fact, most people both human and Karduan would have died from that much electricity coursing through their body.”
Mike didn’t say anything to her but looked to the space pirate.
“So you’re a fucking traitor too!” he said knowing that comparing him to Darden would strike at the pirate’s self image.
Alexander smiled and shrugged his shoulders a bit.
“You can’t be a traitor if you were never on one’s side,” he stated and stepped closer to the bound navy officer. “Remember, I told you I’m only on my own side. How stupid can you be? After all I’m a fucking pirate! I only agreed to help you in this insane mission of yours because I was your prisoner and I wanted to escape.”
Bie-Tor had moved to the surgical center’s control panels and was playing with its settings as she joined in on their conversation.
“Yes, when I read his mind as you entered my office he didn’t try to hide anything from me. He eagerly revealed your whole plan to me and I must say it was a very foolish if daring plan.”
“It had a good chance of working,” Mike commented.
“Yes, a computer intrusion program was hidden in the sword box that you placed on my desk to try to override my station’s security protocols and deactivate the obedience collars. It would later explode to destroy my computer station as well as to distract my people or even possibly kill me. At the same time that Vanguard ship you came here on would explode damaging my station as you led a prisoner uprising while trying to capture or assassinate me,” she said outlining his plan for him.
“Don’t forget the attack cruiser and those other starships that were suppose to assault us,” Darden chimed in earning him a frowning glace from his mistress that basically said shut up.
“Yes, where is your task force? They seem to be late or perhaps you just acted a little prematurely,” she said looking over to the captive officer.
“That’s why she walked us around her station so long, showing us all the levels of her operation,” Alexander added.
“I wanted to distract you as my people disarmed your bombs. As for your computer program, I deactivated my desk station the moment you walked in the door. It never had a chance to upload your program,” Bie-Tor revealed with great satisfaction.
“So now what?” Mike asked wanting to know what she planned next.
“Now I get to try and break another Psi-Void,” she said leaning closer to look at his young face. “The last time it took three days of intermediate persuasion and two other Prendere to help me break the Dog. He was left with a feeble mind but since then I have been studying the process and I think that this time I will have much better success. Afterwards, I plan to dissect you and find out what makes you what you are.”
“I don’t think you’ll live that long,” Mike commented putting on a brave face and stalling for time.
“Yes, your ships should be arriving soon, but don’t worry I’m already planning a surprise for them,” the station mistress replied.
“What are you going to do with him?” Alexander asked as he looked over the modified surgery bay.
The Station Mistress smiled a little as she pointed to a control pad by the side of her hand.
“Over the next three days our friend here will receive a series of electric shocks. They will be delivered on timed intervals and slowly build in intensity. This combined with the lack of sleep, food and water will weaken him to a point that I will be able to attempt to use a mind probe to break into his thoughts.”
Peter shook his head.
“By that time the Star Wolf and those other ships will have attacked this station and any valuable intelligence that he has will be worthless. You should just start cutting pieces off of him until he talks.”
“This has nothing to do with those Confederation ships,” Bie-Tor announced and continued, “This is matter of science and finding the correct way to breech the mental barrier of a human Psi-Void.”
“What about those warships that are coming?”
The station mistress let out a sigh.
“I shall be dealing with them shortly,” she replied finally locking her controls to the settings she wanted to try this time.
The last time she believed she rushed the experiment and used too much long term high intensity intervals of pain. This time she would add a psychological aspect of brief breaks where the subject would wait for the next session to start. If it didn’t work she would restart the experiment again that is if the subject lived and wasn’t brain damaged by the process.
“What about my payment? What about giving me that older light cruiser?” Alexander inquired anxious to get out of here before the fighting started.
“We shall see, that is after the battle is over,” she answered shattering his hopes of escaping before the conflict began.
Mike had remained quiet as they spoke listening to their conversation as well as trying to use his enhanced strength to break the table’s restraint field. After all it was designed to hold someone of average strength and he hoped he could overwhelm the table’s system.
Darden had been standing in the background taking everything in as he watched and listened. He was still nursing his broken nose and seething with anger at the young Confederation spy.
“Struggle all you want, you can’t escape!” he declared wincing as he laughed at him. “The Mistress has improved the restraint field to hold even the strongest of augments.”
“Be quiet slave, let him struggle in vain,” Bie-Tor said leaving the controls and walking over to the captive officer. She leaned down and took a deep breath in through her nose happy at the scent coming from him. She then ran a long finger down the side of his face and then brought it to her mouth. “Oh and human you have but a few moments before the first shock interval starts, so you may want to pray to your primitive gods,” she informed as she turned to go.
Peter Alexander followed after her shaking his head at both Collins’ fate and at her odd behavior.
Scotty Darden stayed behind for a moment, glancing nervously to the pair as they slowly crossed the lab to the far door. Stepping closer to the table he pulled back his arm and punched the helpless lieutenant in the face as hard as he could.
Mike saw the blow coming but couldn’t do much except turn his head with the punch rolling with the force of the impact. Looking back at the traitor he saw that he was shaking his hand in pain.
“You punch like a pussy,” Collins taunted turning his head back and smiling at him.
Darden had crazy in his eyes as he looked toward his distant mistress and back to the man who broke his nose.
“We’ll see who is the pussy,” he declared and hurried to the surgical center’s controls and adjusted the electrical current of the impending shocks doubling them in their intensity and shortening the time between their progression. He then overrode the inte
rval sequence and set the shocks to start immediately.
Mike’s body was jolted and shook uncontrollably from with electrical current coursing through his body. When the sequence stopped the room was empty but it didn’t matter as he promptly passed out until the program of shocks started up again.
Cia-Ta of the House of Win had shuttled over from her destroyer KD-709 with one of her junior officers and several of her guardswomen. She wanted to supervise the prisoner transfer as well as the repairs to her transport’s bender drives.
By the time she got there her transport mistress had already moved the Confederation prisoners to the station’s main plaza. There she met with the station’s Second.
“Forty-one human slaves as agreed,” Cia-Ta stated placing her left hand casually on the hilt of the patar on her hip.
The Second didn’t fail to notice her subtle threat but ignored it. Instead she surveyed the new slaves much to her disappointment.
“They are mostly old men and young boys who all reek of human meat stench,” she said in disgust at both their ages and their condition. The smell alone was enough make one sick and she wished she had worn a sealed suit of armor or a space suit like most of the guardswomen which even the destroyer mistress’s people were smart enough to do.
Cia-Ta ignored her obvious complaints.
“They are all fitted with obedience collars and except for eleven of them that are injured they are all able to work. Most of them are technicians and engineering staff,” the Ship Mistress said casually while pointing to the last group of prisoners that had stumbled in behind the others.
“Very well,” the second replied taking the data cube with their obedience collars’ codes from her.
“When will you get to work on my transport ship?” Cia-Ta asked sounding frustrated at their lack of urgency.
Wolf's Run: The Chase of War (Star Wolf Sqaudron Book 2) Page 46
