Whatever she was trying, they decided it couldn’t be good. The next idea came from Collins. He had remembered a bit of history about psychological warfare. In several wars, the broadcasting of extremely loud music was used to weaken an enemy’s will to fight.
In one case in the early 1980s during the American invasion of Panama, the Panamanian Dictator, President Manuel Noriega, took refuge in his presidential palace until he finally surrendered. The besieging American forces played loud rock and roll music twenty-four hours a day for the better part of a week. He was later found guilty of drug trafficking, money laundering, and was sentenced to a total of forty years in prison.
Mike reluctantly suggested that every time she started her meditations, a loud beeping noise or even rock music would be programmed to play until she stopped. To make sure she didn’t get used to one method, it would be randomly changed each time. Most of the command staff thought it was a good if nasty idea, and even Bre-Nan looked as if he was pained at the notion. He agreed that it should break her concentration enough to prevent her mental practice.
Doc Beilor pointed out that such treatment could be considered a violation of the Geneva Convention. Masters quickly countered that the Karduans didn’t sign that agreement and probably didn’t even know where Geneva was. She suggested that they could place her in cryogenic suspension or even drug her into unconsciousness.
Captain Hope settled the matter by approving Mike’s suggestion. It wasn’t the most humane method, but they needed her awake if they were going to learn anything from her. That was three weeks into their stay at the “Hole in the Wall.” Since then, the Karduan lady was less than happy with the Wolf’s crew.
Their first meeting happened three weeks into her isolation and a few days after they started her disruption of meditation. Their interrogation team included Doc Beilor, Gunny Masters, the two former Austro security men - Eric Wayne and Peter Bachman. The first was chosen for her medical and psychological training, while the latter three for their years of police experience. Because of her telepathic ability, none of them would be part of the face-to-face interviews.
Commander Hutton was to be the lead interrogator due to his intensive training to resist mental intrusions. Mike would also be in the room to assist him. He was chosen on the premise that he was a Psi Void, and that he might be immune to her power. Nonetheless, he worked extra hard with Bre-Nan and Hutton to ensure that he was prepared to stand in the same room as Lady Seil-Ca. He didn’t necessarily believe that for whatever reasons, he was a Psi Void. He had spent his whole life training in martial arts and swordplay and though religious, he tended to be the prayer-at-bedtime type more so than the devote atoner.
They had practiced their routine with the two guardswomen who had also been held in isolation for weeks. The younger guard was extremely happy to see them though she was erratic in her answers. She was now more than willing to talk. The old female warrior was hardcore and extremely angry. She was in their faces yelling at them and at one point was stupid enough to get physical with Hutton.
The Master of the Sword took her down in about two seconds flat, easily avoiding her strike. He grabbed her arm and took control of her momentum to slam her face-first into the wall. That seemed to work as the older guardswoman settled down and nursed her bleeding nose.
Both women seemed to respect authority and strength. These attributes being part of their cultural upbringing, conditioned them to be submissive to a clear source of strength or power. It also seemed that the common Karduan warrior was unsure how to deal with the interrogation questions - questions that a human soldier would have clearly avoided or refused to respond to. Bre-Nan explained that males and even lower cast females were not entrusted with important information even in operations they were involved in.
The information they provided was mostly irrelevant consisting about their former units, ships they had been assigned to and their upbringings. At least, it seemed irrelevant to them. Remarks on ship assignments and base stations were noted. Positions of training facilities and planet names were logged into an intelligence file. The information was currently of no use, but it was one of those things that you never know when it maybe useful.
The ultimate test was still before them as they prepared for their interrogation of the Karduan Lady. Mike had a sleepless night even though he had spent two duty shifts working. He had spent eight hours on the bridge, four hours of which were as command officer. During his second shift, he spent the first half working on fighter drills as well as checking on repair operations. The last half he spent with Masters, Hutton and Bre-Nan in final preparation for their meeting the next day.
Despite their preparations or Mike’s exhausted condition, he lay there staring at the ceiling, trying to relax enough to fall to sleep. Finally, after almost an hour of tossing back and forth, he drifted off to a dream-filled slumber.
Waking the next morning, he felt more tired than when he went to sleep.
The interview wasn’t going very well; at least that’s what Mike thought as he stood nearby. The Lady Seil-Ca had immediately protested being taken prisoner. She had also objected to her isolation and the constant intrusive noises to her meditation. While she spoke in a non-stopping stream of both English and Karduan complaints, she seemed to be focusing her eyes at first on the Commander and then on Collins.
Hutton also noticed this increased facial scrutiny and smiled at her as she frowned in return. She turned her gaze to Mike and her frown deepened. It was almost funny as her youthful and unblemished pale blue skin wrinkled in displeasure.
“You both have been chosen wisely,” she stated and then concentrated on Hutton. “You have been well-trained, and I can feel your artificial barriers.”
“Thank you, we aim to please,” the Commander said, trying to be gracious.
She then glanced at Collins and again made a sour face but said nothing.
Hutton noted the look and then continued with a series of questions that the interrogation staff had drawn up. The questions were made to find out personal and military information in a round about manner. What was weird was not that she fell for their questions but that she answered most of them without hesitation.
Her attitude was one of smug superiority, realizing that these humans had already lost but just hadn’t noticed. The personal questions asked were mostly about her family and House as well as her education and background. The more sensitive questions were about her mission and any fleet movements or deployments they could pry out of her. She refused to answer them but did speak about the worlds they had conquered or the worlds that had asked for independence and neutrality. The picture she painted was a bleak one.
“She didn’t give us squat!” Edie remarked, shaking her gray head as they played back the vid recording.
“I disagree. We learned a lot from her,” Hutton replied, starting the vid to review frame-by-frame and word-by-word of the interrogation.
Masters grunted and rubbed the side of his face, feeling the shadow of his beard’s stubble. “It’s also the things she didn’t say that leave us clues to information. Point in case, she mentioned the destruction of our Twelfth Imperial Defense Fleet but she didn’t mention a word about the Thirty-Fourth Imperial Attack Fleet.”
“She also left a whole list of cut-off worlds from her Treaty of Neutrality and Alliance,” Mike added, sitting down and watching the vid along with the others.
“But how do we make sense of all of it?” Doc Beilor commented, rather facing a sick patient than trying to make heads or tells of the intelligence game.
Peter Bachman spoke up for the first time.
“Admiral Kirkland might be able to help us. After all, he had access to sensitive information and updated intelligence both before the fall and afterwards.”
“He hasn’t been very forthcoming,” Hutton commented, looking doubtful. He and the other senior officers had believed that the former Confederation captain would have joined their cause in earnest by now but a
s of yet he still remained in Austro uniform. He had energetically given help with repairing ship systems and had even volunteered to teach numerous classes to the midshipmen.
“I’m sure he will help us,” Mike said, having sat in on several of his classes as well as having asked him once or twice about tactical advice or ship procedures. It was easier to approach him than Richards or Hope sometimes due to duty shifts or simply because he was nonjudgmental. The old officer was not only capable and sharp, but was also still loyal to the Emperor and the Confederation. Of this Mike was sure, he just wasn’t sure what was keeping the old warrior from truly joining them.
Hutton shrugged. “I guess it never hurts to ask.”
“One other thing of note is her body language,” former cop Eric Wayne said, pointing to the flat screen. “She tends to sit forward and straight when she is exaggerating and she slumps back in her chair when she is admitting something we know as true.”
“Another thing is the way she looks at Mister Collins,” Masters commented, freezing the frame just as the Blue noblewoman glanced to where the young officer was standing.
Even Doc Beilor agreed with his observation, “There is definitely something going on between you two.”
Mike was dumbfounded by their comments. He hadn’t felt any special interest or attention from her nor had he given any to her.
“What?”
“They’re right. I noticed it too when we were in there,” Hutton said. “Every time she was stalling or trying to decide whether to answer, she’d look to you.”
“But why?” Mike questioned in confusion. “Her matriarchal society looks down on men and she would never need my approval or seek my confirmation.”
Bre-Nan looked equally confused by this information.
“I do not know. I have served Lady Seil-Ca for almost two years and this is not her normal behavior. She has never once shown weakness in decision-making and has never treated a male as anything more than a slave or at best a favored servant.”
“What of love?” Hutton asked, thinking of his lost wife for a moment.
The Blue male threw his hands up. “Women love each other and love things but their feelings towards us males is mostly that of indifference. We are sometimes treated as special servants or as a favorite slave but there has never been a case that I know of what you would call ‘love.’”
“What about the men? What do you do?” Beilor inquired, wondering if they had any type of social or moral abnormality.
“We are conditioned to love our honored ladies and to be chosen to mate is the highest honor or reward we can receive. The common women initiate mating rituals and select the male they wish to take. Sometimes they will even fight each other if more than one female wants the same male. Other than that, we live to serve and are educated to do so.”
The room grew quiet for a moment as his words sunk in. The concept was an alien one. To live to serve and love your abuser with no other hope of true love or the chance for freedom was a concept hard for humans to accept. It also said something about Bre-Nan.
“What made you choose to break from them and join us?” Hutton asked, finding it hard for such a well-trained dog to bite its master.
The Blue’s iris-less eyes lit up as he smiled. “I’m a Believer Disciple.”
“What’s that?” Gunny asked, thinking that it sounded like the Christian term for someone who believed in Christ.
“It is an old, as you say ‘legend,’ of an oddly colored male who would bring balance to our people and lead the Karduan males to equality. He would be able to defeat their powers and turn their loyalty from their Houses to him. He would give males a new voice and freedom,” he said, sounding as if he was reading from the Bible he always had with him. It was clear that this Karduan myth could easily be confused with not only Jesus Christ but also with several other Earth-based saviors like Buddha, Moses and even humans in general.
“Sounds a little like the legend of the Aztecs and Quetzalcoatl,” Mike commented to no one in particular.
The Aztec legend he referred to described Quetzalcoatl, a good god of soil and earth as a light-skinned and bearded man, who would return after being driven out by his rival Tezcatlipoca, the god of the night sky, stars and the moon. Tezcatlipoca was also called Yaotl (the warrior), and was a war god who was also associated with the cosmic forces of destruction and evil.
When the Spanish conquistador, Hernando Cortez, arrived in 1519, the Aztec Emperor Montezuma was easily convinced that he was the returning god. When he finally realized his mistake it was too late as Cortez had a taste of his gold and had allied himself with the Aztecs’ former slave tribes to eventually overthrow the rule of the once-mighty Aztecs.
It made Mike wonder if every enslaved people had a legend of a savior. Hope was the last thing that was left in the box when Pandora opened it and it was the only thing that slaves truly had to call their own.
“Perhaps she was still trying to use her telepathy on you or trying to use an even older weapon of women,” Doc Beilor suggested, breaking Mike from his thoughts of Aztec gods.
Gunny saw his bewilderment and came to his rescue and embarrassment. “She means sex,” he said rather bluntly with a smirk across his wrinkled face. He was also wondering what they taught those young gentlemen at the academy.
“Is that possible?”
“Yes, the parts are right but it would be like a donkey and a jackass: no offspring would result from such a union,” Edie answered, having already researched such matters.
This left them even more confused. “So what’s her game?” Bachman wondered, running a hand through his thinning blond hair in frustration. This was unlike any police case he had ever worked.
“You don’t think she believes that I’m this savior guy,” Mike asked, randomly throwing out the idea.
“No, you are not the Redeemer!” Bre-Nan said with such fever that everyone stopped and looked at him.
Hutton broke the silence as the Blue claimed down, “Why do you say that?”
Bre-Nan had collected himself enough to speak normally. “I’m sorry but there have been rumors among the male caste for the last ten years that the Redeemer has appeared. Some say he has already freed a world where any male can escape to and be free.”
“Do you believe these rumors?”
“Yes, and it is just one of the reasons I have for escaping.”
Gunny took this opportunity to pull them back on topic. “I think she is fascinated with your ability to block her. I bet she has never met a Psi Void and doesn’t know what to make of you.”
“That’s more than possible but we should leave all options on the table and see if we can use this to our advantage. Let’s give it some thought,” Hutton suggested, feeling that the meeting was coming to an end. They already had plenty of possibilities as well as information to work on to keep them busy along with their regular duties. “Any suggestions before we call it quits for now?”
“We should let Bre-Nan have contact with them, perhaps serve them their meals. That is, if he is willing,” Gunny suggested, looking to the Karduan male.
The Blue nodded his agreement.
“Why?” asked Bachman, not following his reasoning?
“They might lower their guard with someone familiar and give us information through casual conversation with him,” Masters explained, figuring that weeks of isolation would open them up not only to interrogation but also to discussion.
“Agreed,” Hutton declared, making it so with a single word.
Three more weeks had passed since their first meeting and though they learned more and more about them, they still had nothing that was of immense intelligence value. Admiral Kirkland was invaluable in designing a picture of the current front and had helped with the dissemination of intelligence. He outlined possible hotspots and safe or unknown zones. This was extremely valuable so that they could avoid enemy battle fleets or hardened fortified systems. From some of the intelligence that they gathered they
tried to determine any holdout worlds or simple safe areas to operate in. The last thing they wanted was to bend into an enemy battle fleet or star base.
During one of their interviews with Lady Seil-Ca, Hutton had intentionally left the room, leaving Mike and the Karduan female alone. They wanted to see what she would do.
For several minutes she sat there quietly waiting for the commander to return. Slowly her attention was drawn to Mister Collins as she found herself once more staring at him while he pretended to ignore her.
“What are you?” she finally demanded, letting the emotion of growing frustration slip into her voice.
Mike tried to act surprised by her question. “I don’t know what you mean?”
“Yes you do!” she insisted rising to her feet. “It is almost as if you are not even here. I cannot sense your thoughts or the presence of your mind, yet you’re standing not a meter away from me.”
“They call me a Psi Void - someone who was born with a shielded mind but I have never been tested,” he admitted truthfully.
She let out a sigh of dissatisfaction. “Are you a telepath?”
“I know that telepathy doesn’t exist in humans and I have never had any kind of extra-sensor experience in my life.”
She took another deep breath through her petite nose as she stepped closer to him. It kind of reminded him of an animal smelling the musk of a potential foe or even a mate. Her pale blue face was flushed with deep indigo colors and she seemed to be sweating.
“There is something different about you unlike any other human I have ever met. Your kind smell bad to us and we are repulsed - even nauseated - to be in the same room with humans. You smell different, almost like the sweet flowers of my home world.”
Mike didn’t know what to say. He was shocked that she had gotten so close to him. Before he could take a step backward, the Karduan female grabbed his right arm with both of her hands. Perhaps it was all an act to get closer to him, though he really didn’t know why. He had no weapons on him and she was clearly no match physically for him.
The Log of the Gray Wolf (Star Wolf Squadron Book 1) Page 22
