“What the fuck is going on?” Arlo’s anger exploded all over him before he could even find a seat. “You said this was to be an interrogation.”
“It is.”
“Really?” His wide-eyed stare said he didn’t believe him. “Then why did you undress her? Does your new method of questioning involve some form of defilement?”
“Defile—If you’re insinuating what I think you are, I should slug you for the insulting remark.” He slumped into a chair, bewildered by his brother’s offensive comment. Arlo knew them. He knew better. “Why would you all of a sudden start thinking we’d use any form of violence to interrogate a woman?”
“The answer to that stupid question stands there for itself, don’t you think?” Arlo glared through the mirror toward Fay’s chained and nearly naked form.
Logan’s glance followed. He could see where a stranger might conclude that, but not his own brother. He knew their strong beliefs against violence on women and children. “Arlo, things aren’t always what they appear to be. At twenty-three, you’re old enough to know that.”
“Then stop talking to me like I’m a child or some moron.” He pounded his thumb into his own chest. “You’re not my fucking father!”
All the heat drained from Logan’s face, replaced with a cold, silent rage. He narrowed his eyes into icy slits at the affront. His words echoed Arlo’s but were laced with righteousness. “Not my fucking father?” Logan ground his teeth together so hard they hurt, but it gave him a moment to think before he spoke. “You idolized your blood father. Yet, you dishonor his soul with a reference like fucking father, and you insult Drakker and me with your insinuations of abuse and torture?”
“Stop it! You’re twisting the meaning of everything I say so you can avoid answering my questions, and you’re doing it on purpose.”
“No. I’m not. I’m trying to understand what’s going on in your head. What makes you so virtuous you feel you have a right to judge others and hurt those who love you?” He jutted forward in his chair but kept himself from getting up, afraid he’d knock some sense into Arlo. “We’ve never used any form of pain to interrogate a woman. Why would we start now? What in the hell is going on with you?”
“Why do you think I’m sitting here in shock, Logan? I’d never expect anything like this out of either of you.” Arlo gestured toward Fay. “But what am I to think? I didn’t even know this room existed! It sure looks like some form of abuse goes on here. The fact that she’s chained and cuffed shows there’s an intent to use pain on her. Look at all those whips, suspension devices, ropes, shackles, and—” He pointed, his eyes bulging like someone was squeezing all the air out of his body. “Shit! Whatever those things are!”
“Those are spreader bars.”
“Jesus, Logan!” There was condemnation in his voice. “Are you into this kinky shit too?”
The weight of disappointment slumped Logan’s shoulders. “See this is what Drakker’s talking about. What gives you the right to call what turns him on perverted or kinky? It’s just his thing, man.” He stretched the knots of tension from his neck then added, “Unlike most of us, Drakker’s lucky enough to find an occasional female who is willing to play his…shall we say…stimulating games? So stop judging him.”
“I’m not into gratuitous or warped sexual games, Logan. Christ, does he actually sleep with them?”
“You mean—does he have sex with them?”
“Yes.”
“Sometimes, but it’s not like this is the only kind of sex he has. He’s into straight sex as well. What the fuck is going on with you? Why am I sensing so many biases from you? I’ve never known or heard you to be so prejudiced as you have been today. Have you gone near or been exposed to a Dirt Dweller contamination area?”
“Just because I’m no longer mimicking your beliefs or my father’s doesn’t mean I’ve been exposed to some Dirt Dweller drug or HAARP wave. It means I’m a man now, and I’m coming into my own beliefs.”
“Yeah? Well, I can’t say I approve of your newly found beliefs if it means you think you’re better than everyone else. That’s a Dirt Dwellers’ belief system. The Arlo I knew had sympathy in his heart for the less fortunate. The mutants survive on what we give them. Many of them are attractive—”
“You’re kidding, right? They’re deformed. It isn’t right to have sex with them.”
“Not all of them have physical malformations. Some only suffer with internal defects that keep them from reproducing and becoming wives. They’re still caring women who want to please. They have needs too, Arlo.” Logan leaned forward in hope of raising his younger brother’s awareness and acceptance. He rested his elbows on his knees. “There’s something you’ve got to understand. Because men outnumber women here most of us without a wife don’t have sex as often as we’d like or need.”
Arlo smirked. “Trust me, I know that.”
“So, those of us with a higher sex drive have had to create ways to find a more stimulating release.”
“If you’re talking about masturbation, Logan, I’m well aware of its benefits. That’s why I don’t get this.” He flung his arm out in Drakker’s direction.
“Yeah, well you’re young. In time your imagination and hand aren’t going to be satisfying enough. Right now, you release your sexual frustrations and creative abilities through sweet poetry, beautiful art, and wonderful music. One day your poems may take on a more sensuous voice. Your art may become more erotic, and your music will have more romantic interludes.”
“Okay. So?”
“So…for us men who aren’t artistically inclined, we find our release in other ways. Ways you should be more tolerant and respectful of. Instead of pointing an accusing finger at Drakker’s occasional fetish, you should realize he’s releasing his warrior-like personality and aggression through acts of dominance.”
“And you? What are you into?”
Logan sighed before answering. It was time his little brother grew up and opened his eyes to the real world around him. “I’m into voyeurism. Once in a while I like to watch.”
Arlo winced. “Why?”
“I don’t know—fear of intimacy, I guess.”
Arlo’s gaze hit the floor. “Logan?”
“Yes?”
“I was too young to remember much, but don’t you think you and Drakker have these disorders because of what happened to our parents? I mean—”
Arlo’s words hit him like a sword in the chest. His anger returned with a vengeance. “What the fuck are you talking about? Disorders?”
“Hear me out, Logan! Their deaths? Don’t you think that’s what all this is about?”
“No. I don’t.” He slammed back into his chair, feeling judged. “There’s no talking to you.”
“Me? Come on, bro. You two need to get out of your denial. If you don’t start dealing with their deaths, it’s going to take you both over the edge of sanity. Look how far it’s taken you two already. Voyeurism is due to feelings of inadequacy. I know you feel that way because you weren’t able to prevent their deaths. Drakker’s into pain so he can repress the pain he feels at the loss of them.”
Logan snickered. “Bro, your schoolyard psychology is so far off the mark it ain’t even funny.”
Arlo glanced toward the two-way mirror as if it were his trump card before looking back at him to finish. “Is that so? Tell me what else I’m to think when I see you remove all her clothes? I’m warning you right now, I won’t let you or Drakker cause her any pain.”
Logan raised his middle finger. “Like Drakker said, nice to know you think so highly of your brothers.”
“Come on, bro. You know what I’m saying.”
“No. I don’t.”
“Look!” Arlo rubbed his hands over his face as if he were at his wit’s end. “I’m just shocked to see you do this to her.” He got up and paced.
Logan shot out of his chair, stepping into Arlo’s path. “Tell me! What have we done that is so perverted?”
�
�You’re humiliating her. She’s nearly naked.”
“Humilia—she could be a spy! She’s to be interrogated, Arlo. Questioned, to find out what she knows or wants to know. Do you get that? She could mean the death of our race. If she were to collect enough information on us, she could bring an end to the world as we know it. What do you want us to do? Offer her tea and crumpets along with the lives of our people?”
“No! I don’t know.” He crumbled into a seat. “Maybe the stress of these skirmishes with the Dirt Dwellers and the constant threat of a major war with them are getting to me. I shouldn’t have jumped to that conclusion. I’m sorry, but it’s just…well, it would be easy, especially for Drakker, to get carried away. She’s gorgeous. I think—”
“Do me a favor. Don’t think.” Logan shook his head, but the deep love he felt for his younger sibling won out. “I adore you, bro, but sometimes you’re a complete ass.”
Arlo grinned the silly smirk he always gave when he was in trouble. A lopsided slant across one side of his face that said he knew he could smooth it over and make all the wrongs right. “And you aren’t?”
“Fuck you.” Logan pressed his lips together in a begrudging smile as he sat down, flipping on the speaker so they could hear the interrogation. Drakker was just getting started, but Arlo’s hurtful words still nagged at him. “Arlo?”
“Yep?”
“Tell me, without a doubt in your mind, you know in your heart, neither one of us would rape a woman.”
“Bro, when I see you take her clothes off—what am I to think? You’ve been stressed lately.”
“And you’ve been spending time with people I don’t know, nor care to know, if your new beliefs are coming from them. Some of the alien Star Riders are known for such prejudices. Have you been hanging out at Blade’s Saloon?”
Arlo’s shrug was a silent admission to his putting in time there, but his words gave a different story. “Look. Drakker hasn’t been himself either, and then I see you do this. It doesn’t make sense to me. You’re just asking her questions. You can talk to her with her clothes on. So, why else would you do that?”
“Quite a wide jump to conclusions, isn’t it?”
“Is it? You can’t seem to give me a sound reason for the removal of her garments.”
“So, the logical deduction is to leap to rape?” Logan scratched his head trying to grasp Arlo’s reasoning. “Never…means…not at any time. Under any circumstances.”
“I know that!”
“Do you?” Logan shook his head in frustration. “For your information, Drakker hasn’t been himself because he’s been working sixteen hours days formulating a new truth serum working off the basic human needs. Pain is not a need. Humans can take a lot of pain before you can break them. There’s a fifty-fifty chance you’ll lose them to suicide or death during a brutal interrogation before you get what you’re looking for. Those aren’t good odds when you need the information they have.”
“I agree. Those are very bad odds.”
“But…sex, sleep, hunger, thirst, and warmth are strong bodily needs. That’s what Andonis and Drakker’s new potion does. It makes it harder for the interrogated to fight a simple need for satisfaction. Everyone will have a different reaction to this truth serum.”
“So how does creating a need in them help you extract the information you want?”
“Her body will respond to one of those needs. If she’s a woman who finds comfort in food, this potion will make her desire that comfort, in all probability it’ll be chocolate cake.” He shrugged. “Seems most women ask for…chocolate. Drakker will promise her whatever she’s requesting, but only after she tells him what he wants to know, will she get it.”
Arlo snickered. “Sounds a little simplistic for extracting secret information nine out of ten people will die for.”
“You’d be surprised what they’ll tell you just to acquire a simple need. We’re excited about this painless breakthrough.”
“Amazing. If it works.” Arlo pursed his lips before he continued. “I didn’t know Drakker was doing all that. I’ve been so damn busy organizing our next defense—”
“I know.” He wished life were different. “Anyway, you’ll notice the room’s designed to help stimulate these needs, and the reason why it’s kept a cool sixty degrees, with the aroma of cinnamon, apple, or cherry pie filtered in when needed.” Logan pointed toward the two-way mirror where Drakker stood. “He’s turning on a meditational waterfall. It will heighten the urge for thirst. Depending on how stubborn or strong the person is, sleep will become an issue. I’m told, there’s no physical pain from the drug unless the person is wearing synthetic clothes like she was. The man-made material can cause a permanent and painful rash on the body wherever the material meets the flesh. I stripped her for no other reason than that.”
“Fuck.” Arlo hung his head in shame. “Logan, I’m so sorry I insulted you and Drakker.” His glance slid to Fay. He jumped up. “Christ! You left her underclothes on. That’s the last place you want her to have a rash. Can you tell Drakker through the speaker to get them off her?’
“Calm down. Her lacy undergarments are made from threads of silk. It’s a natural material. She’ll be fine.”
“What about those restraints? Can the metal harm her?”
Logan shook his head. “That’s why she’s chained with leather and cotton-lined cuffs.” He smiled. “Trust me if anyone’s going to get defiled today, it’ll be Drakker by her if it’s the desire for sex that hits her instead of hunger.”
“Yeah, right. She’s going to assault Drakker?”
Logan smirked. “Watch. Try being a kinky voyeur for the next hour and see.”
“Bastard,” Arlo said it with a smile, letting him know it was said with affection. “I still don’t believe she’s a Dirt Dweller. You’re jumping the gun on this one.”
“I don’t understand. Why are you being so protective of her? There’s a very good chance she’s a spy.”
“I’m not protecting her.”
“Yes, you are. You’re doing it in a passive-aggressive way, but it’s still protection. You hardly know her.”
“We spent two days with her. She was traveling with me, on my horse. I know her.”
Logan snorted. “Bullshit, you didn’t even know her name.”
“She not a spy.”
He reached over and slapped a hand down on Arlo’s shoulder in a caring way. “I’d hate to see you get hurt if Drakker’s right about your attraction to her.”
“I won’t get hurt.”
“So, you’re attracted to her?”
Arlo leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s just…well okay, maybe I am.”
“Maybe? How about you’re head over heels in love with her?” Logan frowned, his heart pounding at the realization of the truth and the pain that was going to come of this. “Don’t deny it, Arlo. I can see it in your eyes.”
“Okay.” He opened his arms in a surrendering fashion. “I admit it. I like her. A lot.”
“In all honesty, how can you fall in love so fast?” Logan held his hands out, waiting for his answer. When none came, he said, “Bro, Fay marries one of us, she marries all of us. It’s the law.”
“I’m aware of that. I ain’t stupid!”
“Arlo, I’m the leader of our people. Even if Drakker and I got to know her and fell in love with her, I don’t think our marriage to a Dirt Dweller spy would be acceptable to our people. Do you? They’d see it as taking the enemy to bed with us.”
“She didn’t admit to being a Dirt Dweller, let alone a spy, and she won’t.”
“She never denied it, either.”
“She’s a woman.”
“I’m very much aware of that.” Logan glanced through the mirror, his body reacting to the vision of the sexy red silk framing her lean torso.
“Logan, we need women to love, not torture.”
“True.” He looked at Arlo. Why was he feeling so concerned? His brot
her fell in love every other week. This infatuation would pass as well. So why was his gut telling him this situation with the female spy was different? “We do need women, but we can’t afford a spy.” Logan jerked his chin back toward the mirror, letting Arlo know he was done talking. “He’s starting.”
“You sure she won’t feel any pain?”
“None,” Logan muttered. “I hate to do this, but I see no other option.”
Chapter 5
Drakker stood with his back to her. She had to figure a way out of this and fast. She scanned the area using her Prana Energy Control Detection lens. She spotted the translucent, fast moving energy of a mind traveler in the room.
She volunteered to be a secret test subject for her friend’s PECD experiment. It was a simple procedure to place the concave PECD under her cornea. This special disk allowed her to view the world with her normal vision, as well as see the presence of a mind traveler invisible to others.
Her friend invented the lens after the government forced him to develop a new Orgone weapon disguised as an energy-aid packet to help mind travelers during their missions. He confided the real purpose to her—to kill mind travelers the UG felt they could no longer control.
Out of guilt, he developed the PECD covertly to help mind travelers detect the Orgone weapon and any unwelcomed mind travelers. For the first time since its insertion, she could confirm her friend’s device preformed as designed.
To her relief, she didn’t see the blue energy the traveler would have if carrying an Orgone weapon. Not this time anyway. So, her government already had someone watching her. That was fast. It wasn’t easy to find a moving target. For them to find her this quickly meant the mind traveler had to be a friend of hers. Without location coordinates, someone unfamiliar with her would have taken the better part of a day to locate her energy, but only once she became anchored to a location. Her government must have forced a friend to find her as soon as possible.
Sinful Surrender Page 8
