Planet of Pain

by B. A. Bradbury

  How shocked, how mortally afraid she would be when the pain didn’t stop; when it grew even more excruciating, in fact. Perhaps then she would have an inkling of the sort of man she was dealing with. Someone who couldn’t be fooled. A man who would never let up, who would continue to make her suffer till her body and mind were in tatters. And at the end, with her will to resist utterly crushed, she would tell him the truth. Then the final quest would begin: laying hands on the woman who murdered his son.

  Talmann picked up the pliers once more, and touched the cold metal to her breast.

  ‘No more,’ she whispered hoarsely. ‘Please… no more.’

  Though his face remained impassive, inwardly he smiled. Did she truly think such an entreaty might soften his heart? Surely not. She couldn’t be so naïve. And yet, in a way, she was right. He was done with her breasts, for the present at least, and sought pastures new. The steel jaws moved slowly downwards, over her ribs, then over her ravaged stomach, coming to rest finally between her legs. Kepler whimpered. The admiral taunted her with the dreadful prospect for a few moments longer, then the pliers moved on. It was too soon for such delights; her genitals would have to wait a while longer.

  The instrument of her suffering didn’t move far, however. He selected the inside of her thigh, specifically the sensitive area close to her groin. He opened the pliers, took a pinch of soft skin in the jaws, and began to squeeze.

  The first thing Jo did when they were back in their quarters was take Bel to one side and repeat, quietly, what she’d overheard about General Nielsen.

  ‘So they got him after all,’ Bel muttered. ‘Shit!’

  ‘After all?’ Jo whispered. ‘What… you knew he was in the sector?’

  Bel just looked at her and shrugged, and that was when things clicked into place. ‘That was what Colonel Hendricks wanted, wasn’t it?’ Jo said. ‘That’s why Tucker interrogated us… tortured us. They suspected the general was coming and wanted information.’

  ‘Don’t feel bad, Jo,’ Bel said. ‘It was a need-to-know thing, and you didn’t have clearance, that’s all.’

  ‘I don’t feel bad,’ she said. ‘It’s a good job I didn’t know. I’d have spilled everything when Tucker started on me with the baton.’

  ‘Maybe not,’ Bel said. ‘You’re tougher than you think.’

  Jo said nothing, but was confident Bel was wrong in this. She would have told them anything – everything – to make the pain go away. Then something else occurred to her. It seemed to be her evening for brilliant insights. ‘We weren’t on a routine patrol at all, were we?’ she said. ‘It was something to do with the general, wasn’t it?’

  Bel paused before answering, then smiled ruefully. ‘It can’t hurt to tell you now, I don’t suppose. We were spotters. Four scout ships jumped into the sector through different transit points. The idea was to locate any prowling Leaguers so General Nielsen could come in behind us safely. Great plan, just a pity it didn’t work. Something or someone must have tipped them off. They were waiting for us, jamming our transmission so we couldn’t warn base. We were scooped up, so was Linda, and then they grabbed the general.’

  ‘So it was all for nothing,’ Jo said glumly. ‘We blew it.’

  ‘Maybe we did, but that doesn’t mean we stop trying. Let’s talk to the major.’

  Nina Reyes was silent for a full minute after Jo finished speaking, and then she nodded. ‘Okay, we need to find out where they’re keeping him. Once we know that we have to get a message through to Fleet, or better still, deliver it in person. With luck they’ll figure out a way to spring him.’

  They were in the shower block, with the showers turned on as before to mask their conversation. Jo thought that if they were overheard they’d likely be taken for lunatics rather than conspirators. All this talk of escaping and contacting Fleet Command sounded to her like crazy babble. Stella came into the room at that moment, and marched straight up to them.

  ‘You three are planning to bust out,’ she said. ‘I want in.’

  ‘What makes you think we’re planning anything?’ Nina said.

  ‘Gimme a break. You think you’re invisible, huddled together in here whispering? You ain’t reminiscing about what a terrific fuck you had last night, that’s for sure. Anyway, you need me. I got skills.’

  ‘What kind of skills?’

  Stella shrugged. ‘Lots. I can take these goddam collars off, for one thing.’

  ‘How?’ Nina asked. ‘They’re tamper proof.’

  ‘No they ain’t,’ Stella said. ‘Leaguers tell you that to stop you trying. I can scavenge some stuff, cobble together a bridge to fool the lock into thinking it’s still secure. Electronics used to be my field, that and working around security systems. Best goddam thief on Renfrew Station, till my scumbag partner ratted me out.’

  Nina gave her a long hard look, then nodded. ‘Okay,’ she said, ‘you’re in.’

  So now they were four, but it didn’t change Jo’s estimation of their chances. As far as she was concerned they were still nil.

  The small band of conspirators dispersed, and Jo could finally take the shower she’d been longing for. She went straight to bed after supper, waking after a sound and thankfully dreamless sleep to find Bel about to seek out Vaughan. Nina had tasked her with getting information on escape pods, under the pretext that they might need to know this if the ship was attacked. But it seemed an extremely risky ploy to Jo, who couldn’t imagine how Bel could manage it without raising Vaughan’s suspicions; from what she’d seen of him, the man was no fool.

  Stella was to concentrate on their collars. She reiterated that it wouldn’t be a problem, and her confidence helped alleviate some of Jo’s fears about fooling around with something that could take her head off.

  Jo had no specific job to do, other than the one they all had – to glean whatever information they could from their ‘clients’ on Nielsen’s whereabouts.

  They all gathered again at the next shift change. Nina, fresh from her assignment, was looking tired but insisted on an update. Stella reported good progress. She had dismantled one of the readers and had most of the components she needed to make her electronic ‘lock-pick’. Another couple of days, she said, should see it finished.

  Bel, too, had good news. ‘We won’t need to use an escape pod,’ she said. ‘Firefly’s grappled to Eridani’s hull. They’re shipping it back to their workshops for analysis, Vaughan said.’

  For a second Jo’s spirits lifted, knowing their own ship was right here. Then she remembered that Firefly was dead, her core memory erased.

  ‘But we can’t use her,’ she said disconsolately. ‘You wiped the deck, remember?’

  Bel just smiled.

  ‘What…’ Jo said, ‘you didn’t?’

  Bel’s smile grew broader.

  ‘Bugger!’ Jo said, astonished. ‘Colonel Hendricks was right about that too, wasn’t he? You didn’t erase the deck, you locked it down!’

  The most amazing thing of all was not that Bel had fooled her crewmate along with her interrogators, but that she’d stuck to her story despite everything they did to her.

  ‘So we’ve got a ship, if we can just get to it,’ Nina said. ‘Was Vaughan suspicious when you pumped him?’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Bel said. ‘He was a little distracted at the time.’

  She actually blushed, and Stella laughed. ‘Oh yeah, she was “pumping” him, right enough!’

  ‘Keep it down,’ Nina warned. ‘Did he say anything about Linda Kepler?’

  Bel’s good humour vanished instantly. ‘Yes, and it’s bad news. The worst. You remember the admiral asking Linda if she took part in the Zeta raid?’

  They all nodded.

  ‘Talmann’s son Leo was stationed there. He was a fighter pilot. He was killed when our second wave went in, but it wasn’t a clean kill. His ship was badly shot up,
just drifting. One of our pilots grappled him, boosted him to max velocity, and cut him loose… straight at the local star.’

  ‘I’ve heard of that sort of thing being done,’ Nina said quietly. ‘You always hope it’s just a tall tale.’

  ‘This time it’s true, I guess,’ Bel said. ‘It’s a lousy way to go, even if he was a Leaguer.’

  Nina nodded grimly. ‘Cabin temperature creeps up till it becomes an oven. They baked him alive.’

  ‘But, I don’t understand,’ Jo said. ‘What’s this got to do with Linda?’

  ‘Apparently a League listening station picked up our fighter’s com,’ Bel said. ‘It was faint and distorted, but they could tell it was a woman. They heard her telling her wingman what she was planning to do.’

  ‘And Admiral Talmann thinks it was Linda?’

  ‘Who knows what he thinks? Vaughan said the admiral views all of us – female Alliance combat personnel, that is – as tarred with the same brush. Any woman who falls into his hands can expect brutal treatment.’

  ‘Sounds to me like the man’s a little unhinged,’ Nina said.

  ‘More than a little,’ Bel said. ‘League com recorded Leo Talmann’s final transmission. The admiral has a copy, and he made Linda listen to it; and when it was over he started to hurt her. Badly.’

  ‘Oh God,’ Jo muttered. ‘So she’s dead?’

  ‘Not yet,’ Bel said heavily. ‘Vaughan says she’s wishing she was.’ She fell silent. No one said anything. Jo was remembering how the admiral stared at her and talked to her about fear. She could feel his hands on her, squeezing her nipples. She shuddered.

  ‘We can’t help her,’ Nina said at last. ‘We have to focus on the task in hand. General Nielsen is more important to the Alliance than all of us put together. You three have assignments coming up, so see what you can learn. I didn’t get anything, unfortunately. The four squaddies I drew weren’t too interested in talking to me.’

  As they left the shower block Jo put her hand on Bel’s arm. ‘If Linda hadn’t been there the admiral would have taken you, wouldn’t he? You saw the way he looked at you.’

  ‘Perhaps so,’ Bel said tightly. ‘You too, maybe.’

  Just the thought of it was enough to make Jo shiver with dread. Linda hadn’t had a choice about where she’d been assigned or the missions she flew; it was sheer bad luck she’d flown on the Zeta raid. But if she hadn’t it might be Jo and Bel who were suffering at the admiral’s hands.

  Though she knew it was selfish and despicable, Jo couldn’t help feeling relieved that it was Linda who’d been taken, and not them.

  Chapter 11

  As A-shift followed Sergeant Vaughan along the corridor, Stella was the only captive present who didn’t look depressed. Cassie and one of the others were almost in tears, and even Bel – who was tougher than anyone else Jo knew – was looking pretty down-in-the-mouth. Though Jo was trying to put a brave face on it, she was secretly dreading the thought of ten hours of sex.

  Vaughan began knocking on doors, and one by one they were delivered to their clients. Jo prayed silently that her name would be called later rather than sooner, one man being infinitely preferable to four. And fate was kind to her. She was next to last, and as she followed the sergeant into the cabin assigned to her she came face to face with a young officer.

  ‘She’s all yours, lieutenant,’ Vaughan said. ‘I’ll be back for her an hour before shift change.’

  ‘Right… fine… um, thanks, sergeant.’

  Vaughan departed. The young man’s cheeks were flushed and his hands shook as he keyed the door lock. Jo realised he was more nervous than she was, and the knowledge calmed her faster than a triple shot of Old Glen on an empty stomach. This could work to her advantage.

  ‘Hi,’ she said, taking the initiative. ‘My name’s Jo.’

  ‘Hello. I… I’m Danny.’

  He held out his hand, jerked it back, then stuck it out again. They shook hands, ludicrously polite considering the circumstances. Jo looked around his cabin. It was exactly like Captain Taks’ room: bed, table and chair, locker, shower/toilet cubicle. There was a poster on the wall, an artist’s impression of Saturn and its rings, with one of the satellites – Titan, she thought – in the foreground. On the table was a framed photo of a somewhat younger looking Danny with a smiling couple, presumably his parents.

  ‘I don’t suppose you have anything to drink, do you?’ Jo asked.

  ‘I’ve got coffee,’ he said. ‘Would… sorry, did you mean booze?’

  ‘Coffee’s fine,’ she said. ‘Thanks.’ She wasn’t thirsty, in fact: she was just trying to break the ice. Getting him to talk seemed like a good idea, if he was to do anything besides fidget and stare at her for the next ten hours. He wasn’t bad looking, and the idea of sex was nowhere near as daunting as it had been just a few minutes before. Besides, she reminded herself, she was on a mission.

  He took two cups of KwikFix from the locker and pulled the tabs. Steam rose in seconds, and he handed one to her.

  ‘That smells good,’ she said. She took a sip, burnt her tongue, and made a face. He was watching her anxiously and she rolled her eyes. ‘Hot,’ she said ruefully. ‘I never learn. I like your poster, by the way. Is that Titan in the foreground?’

  He nodded. ‘I went there once, a few years back. You know, with my parents. Have you seen it? Saturn, I mean?’

  ‘No, I’ve never been to the Solar System. I never even left Alonzo Station till I joined up. I’m a pilot. Well, I was a pilot. Prisoner of war now, I suppose.’

  ‘I’m a navigator,’ Danny said. ‘Grade three.’

  Grade three meant he wasn’t long out of training, just like Jo. The conversation dried up and they concentrated on their coffees for a while. Danny kept sneaking glances at her, but dropped his gaze whenever she looked at him directly. Either he was painfully shy or this was all pretty new to him. Either way she was the one in control here, no doubt about it. He took the empty cup from her and deposited it with his own in the waste chute, and she could see him steeling himself to ask her something.

  ‘Do you… do… did you want anything else?’

  That wasn’t what he wanted to ask her at all. Nerves were getting the better of him, and though she sympathised she found it hard not to smile at his gaucherie. ‘No thanks, I’m fine,’ she said, and added gently, ‘Would you like me to take my things off, Danny?’

  He nodded, relief and trepidation showing in equal measure in his somewhat fevered eyes. Jo undressed without looking at him, so he would be free to watch her. When she was naked she turned to face him, feet together, arms away from her body in a look-at-what-you’ve-won pose. He gawked at her, his eyes almost popping out of his head.

  Taks had told her she was lovely, but that was just a line – empty words that had barely registered with her. Mundell and the gang had ogled her and called her pretty, and cute, as she remembered, and it hadn’t meant a thing, whereas Danny’s open-mouthed admiration was honest, free of artifice or ulterior motive, and she found it truly touching. ‘Now you,’ she said.

  He undressed with clumsy haste, and as he discarded the last of his things she took his hand and led him to the bed. They lay side by side, and she guided his hand between her legs, parting her knees to give him access to her. She was certain now that he was a virgin, for she had to show him what to do – the poor boy didn’t even know where her clitoris was. He was tentative at first, as though afraid he might damage her, but quickly gained in confidence with her coaching. He put his fingers inside her, shaking his head in wonderment at the miracle of her anatomy.

  After a while she held his cock and began to masturbate him. Sensing that he was already close to climax she worked him slowly, watching his face, but restrained as she was it was barely half a minute before he ejaculated, his semen shooting up into the air.

  Afterwards he lay still, his eyes cl
osed and his hand resting on her hip. His breathing slowed to normal, and he opened his eyes and looked at her. ‘You’re wonderful,’ he murmured.

  His voice was thick with spent passion and affection. She let him rest for a few minutes more, then began to stroke his inner thigh. His lethargy vanished in a second and his cock stiffened again. He sat up, and Jo turned onto her back and took him aboard. It would have been easier with her on top, but she thought it would be good for him if he could make the running. She raised her left leg and wrapped it around him, putting her heel in the small of his back. It took a while for them to find the rhythm – he kept wanting to push when she pushed – but eventually they synched.

  He was very gentle with her, insistent and needful. She stroked his hair and kissed her neck and she found herself murmuring endearments… and meaning them. He came with a muted cry and she hugged him tight. He belonged to her now. He would have other women, vagaries of war permitting, but she would always be his first.

  As they lay together afterwards Jo wondered how to broach the subject of General Nielsen. Nina had stressed the need for subtlety and extreme caution. None of them were in any doubt what would happen if their questions raised suspicions they were spying, or planning something. Danny might be naïve about sex, but that didn’t mean he was a fool. Jo needed to be very, very careful. And then, just as she was wondering if she even dared broach the subject, Danny brought it up himself, right out of the blue.

  ‘Have you heard?’ he said. ‘We’ve captured your General Nielsen.’

  It caught her out and for a second or two she just gawped at him.

  ‘Erm… no,’ she said, collecting her wits. ‘That’s good news, isn’t it? For you, I mean. Bad news for our side I suppose.’

  ‘They reckon the war won’t last much longer.’

  ‘Let’s hope not,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t want to be in the general’s shoes, even so, locked up in some prison or other.’