by Jessie Wolf
“Well Willie, are you going to answer me?”
This time he doesn’t hesitate. “They were promised fifteen hectares a piece to betray House Nakatoma by the rebels.”
“What else?” my patience was wearing out. “WHAT ELSE?!”
“They would also get their picks of the women in the compound as slaves.” The man pissed himself at this point. “They even promised that for every man they could get to work with them forty thousand gold credits.”
When Alice hears this she doesn’t even wait for me to tell her, she just cuts off his feet at the ankles. Her rage is understandable. Taking the laces from his boots she makes a tourniquet around each leg to stop the blood flow. Looking up at me. “Sorry about that I don’t know what came over me.”
“Don’t worry about it, love. He’s still alive, unconscious, but alive. Come on we still have work to do.” I turn and head out of the room. Outside I find Top waiting for us. With him is a young man in hand cuffs.
“Ladies may introduce Private First Class David Arnold. This fine young man believes that it is better to talk now than face you later. I believe he’s looking for a chance at leniency.”
“If what he has to say is worth it, then he’ll have it. So start talking, PFC Arnold.”
The young man, really just a boy starts talking as fast as he can. He tells me everything. It seems he was Captain Rockwell’s company runner. As such he had heard a great deal of what Rockwell and Kinsley had planned. How they had tried to sabotage the House’s ammunition dump to explode during the next attack. To trying to delay supplies. The young man told me everything about the traitors in the House military.
“So young man how did you get roped into this?” I really wanted to know.
“I…I… uh… I… uh…” he stuttered.
“Well speak up. I won’t hurt you if you tell the truth.”
“I was told that if I didn’t go along they would kill my parents and enslave my younger brother and sister, my Lady. I’m ready for your judgment now. I only ask that you not harm my family.” He may be little more than a boy in age, but he has acted like a man of honor who is three times his age.
“Release him, Top. He is just as much a victim of these criminals as anyone else. You have done the best you can in an impossible situation Private. You will not be punished for your actions. However you will be punished for not bringing this to your Head Captain or one of the other House military commanders. For that you will spend the next forty-five days confined to your barracks room and you shall also have extra duty during that time. You will forfeit two months’ pay and loss of one stripe. "Top, see to his punishment.”
“Yes ma’am, Lady Maiha.” The little smile on his face lets me know that I did the right thing. As they’re walking away I hear Top talking to the young soldier. “Now you know what to do the next time something like this happens. Remember no matter what, your first duty is to the House, then to the unit. If we had known sooner we could have acted sooner to protect your family.” Their voices fade away into the distance, and I don’t hear the rest of the conversation.
“You know, you were a bit harsh on that boy.” Alice states.
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Yes you were. The extra duty and restriction to barracks I can see, but two months’ pay and a stripe. Come on that is a little on the over kill side aint it?”
Giggling at her telling me that Private Arnold’s punishment was a little harsh I just look at her. “This coming from the woman who just cut the feet off of a man?”
When she hears me say that she can’t help but giggle herself. “Yah, your right that does seem a little wonky doesn’t it?”
“Hey. It does. Now we have one more jackass to deal with.” We stepped out of the way as the medics from the Temple hospital came rushing by to help the unfortunate Willie. “Say did you have to cut his feet off? Look I know he hurt you and was an all-round piece of shit but now we’re going to have to give him a pair of fake feet?”
“Oh, I didn’t think of that. Sorry.” Alice tilts her head and shrugs her shoulders. She’s just so cute when she tries to act all innocent.
“Forget about it, as a matter of fact you know what; to hell with him, he ain’t getting replacements for his feet. He doesn’t deserve any mercy.” As the medics bring him out on the stretcher I stop them. “Tell the doctors he is a convicted rapist, he is to be treated the same as the other two. Do you understand?”
The head medic bowed form his waist. “It shall be done, my Lady Maiha. We all know the penalty for rapists at the hospital. I have only one question my Lady. Is he to be muted as well?”
Looking down at Willie, I look over at Alice and realize how much her voice had been muted after her rape. No, this dog was not going to have a voice ever again. “Yes.”
At that simple word they bowed to me and left with what was left of Willie. Sighing “Come on love; let’s go have a word with Rockwood. I figure that the Death Dealers have been able to get him tell them his names by now, but not much else. What do you think?”
With a total lack of respect for her contemporaries in the Death Dealers. “If they have gotten that much I’ll be surprised.” I can tell that Alice has almost no respect for these men. I wonder what could be her problem with them. Seeing my distress over her comments. “Maiha, I know they’re good at their jobs, but they’re out of their depth here. They don’t have any idea of the culture on Hades. If they had put Death Dealers here two or three generations, hell, even one generation ago then I would sit back and let them handle things. But they have no point of reference for what works on Hades. The only thing these men understand is brute force.”
As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. The biggest mistake the Emperor made in this system was not placing a Death Dealer division here. Without the knowledge of the local customs and peoples they were severely handicapped. The only way we were going to get the information we needed in time was to do things ‘the Hades way’. It’s really simple. They pull a knife you pull a gun. They hurt one of your people; you put one of theirs in the morgue. That’s the Hades way.
“Alright love, let’s do this.” Then thinking about all of the men in Captain Rockwood’s unit I remember a certain PFC Laurence Taylor. “You know something I think I know how to kill two birds with one stone.” The cold smile that plays across my face makes Alice take a step back. “I believe that PFC Laurence Taylor can help us with getting Rockwood to talk.”
When she hears me say this she turns around to a private standing guard to one of the doors. “Private, which room is PFC Taylor in?”
The young man pulled out a piece of paper and looked up where Taylor was being held. “He’s in room 2D ma’am.”
“Thank you, Private. Come on Maiha let’s go get us a rat.” She headed down the hall to an intersection and turned right. I had to almost run to keep up with her. When she stopped at the door to 2D, I saw that her hand was shaking.
Stepping quickly to her side I placed my hand over hers on the door handle. “Relax, babe. He can no longer hurt you. You know that I will always have your back. Come on love, let’s use this rat as cheese for the king rat.” when she hears this from me she gives me a brave smile. Goddess how I love this young woman. Here she is facing her own personal demons just to help me get the information to put an end to the rebellion inside of our House military.
Opening the door she steps inside with what I can tell was boarder line false bravado. “Well, well. If it ain’t the low life everyone loves to hate. How’s it going there Laurence?”
“Frack off you cunt. I want my lawyer.” When neither, me or Alice made a move, he screamed. “I said; I want my lawyer, cunt. Now!”
Alice just looked at the stupid ass hole. I could see the rage starting to rise in her. Taylor must have been her main tormentor. If I let her handle this I might just have a dead man before he did me any good. Even though I was madder than a wet cat I had to keep control of things here. What I did was the
one thing I really didn’t feel like doing. I started to laugh. “Alice, I do believe this dip shit has lost his mind. He actually believes he has rights like some common criminal.”
When Alice hears me start laughing she looks at me first like I had gone mad, but when she hears this she joins in. “Oh! My! Goddess! He has to be kidding.” She looks down at the helplessly secured man with nothing but contempt. “A lawyer? Really? You’re demanding a lawyer. I hate to tell you this Taylor the only thing you can ask for, and maybe get is a quick death. Other than that you have absolutely no fracking rights, you animal.”
“Now, now Alice, let’s see if he has any redeeming qualities first.” Looking down at Taylor I can see why Willie wanted him for backing him up. Tayler was an easy six foot five to six foot six and weighed around two hundred and twenty pounds. In short he was a monster. “So, Laurence, this is what I want to know. Just how much of Captain Rockwood’s scams do you know?”
“What’s in it for me?”
“That depends on what you have to say?” I tell him. Not that it is going to be much. This man has terrorized and bullied far too many people. The best he’ll get is the same treatment as the rest of the rapists.
He sat there thinking over his options. I decided to give him a few moments before pushing the issue. “I can give you the names of all the people in his organization.”
I look over at Alice and she nods her head. “Start talking and I’ll know if you’re lying.”
“How?” I could see that he was scared for some reason. I think he was going to give me some false information.
“Oh that simple, your rape buddy Hazes gave up a whole lot during his interrogation. Why he even gave you up when asked about the Lady Allison’s rape.” I watch as the color drains from his face. “Oh, yes, he told us everything about how you planned the assault. From how you planned to get her drunk, slipping her the ‘Mickey Finn’, and in what order you all would go in.” I had made up that last bit. I figured if he believed we were looking at him as being the master mind he just might get mad and give up some more info. I was right about one thing he did get mad.
“That lying sack of shit! That’s not what happened at all. I’ll not take the fall for his and First Sergeant Kinsley’s bullshit.” He was ready. Time to get all the info from him I can before I take him down to Rockwood’s’ room.
“What do you mean? I have his written statement telling how it was all your idea.”
“Look, I know what they’re telling you, but that’s not how it went down.”
Alice looked down at Tayler and growled. “I was there, remember. You, Haze, and Sergeant Lyle, all got me drunk at my promotion party. Then the three of you took turns raping me. Don’t lie!” she was screaming and near tears by the time she stopped talking.
“Alice, listen to me, please. It wasn’t me. I couldn’t have raped you. I couldn’t do that to you or anyone!” the big man started to cry at that point. For some reason I believed him. Everything about him told me he just might be innocent of rape.
“Tayler, you better start making sense here. Why can’t you do what they say and how you weren’t involved.” I tell him in a softer tone of voice. At Alice’s shocked look I stop her from interrupting. “Just a moment Alice. I want to hear his side of the story. There might be more to it than you realize. Trust me if he’s lying you can cut off his manhood and shove it down his throat.”
The laugh that comes from Tayler makes both of us look at him strangely. “Too late for that, Lady Maiha. I lost that when I turned nineteen.”
“What do you mean?” Alice demanded.
“The reason I’m so big is because of the steroids I have to take.” The big man is crying at this point. I can tell he is in real pain as he lays out for us his biggest shame. “I was castrated to save my life when I turned nineteen.” When neither of us looked like we understood he explained. “One out of every three young men on my home planet suffers from Bowden’s Syndrome. I’m from Doreen V. the only cure for Bowden’s is full castration and a life time of steroid use. Most of us never live to our fortieth birthday if we stay on Doreen, so we do whatever it takes to get off planet. Most of us sign away our lives for ten years as indentured servants to some rich ass hole or like me stow away on a drop ship praying we don’t get caught. When I got here I joined the first House military that would take me.”
“If that is the case then why did you throw in with Rockwood? House Nakatoma gave you a home.” I demanded.
“Because I’m a wanted man back on Doreen. It’s a felony to stow away like I did. If Rockwood turned me in I have to go back.”
I was starting to see a pattern here. Alice however wanted proof. “If what you say is true, standup and prove it. Drop your pants and underwear.” Damn that girl just won’t give up, but that’s one of the things I love about her. To mine and hers surprise he did just that.
With his pants and underwear around his ankles. “There, are you happy now? Go ahead and call me a freak now, you hateful cunt. Why don’t you go ahead and turn me over to immigration for the reward. The last I heard it’s worth ten grand for runaway servants so you so get at least fifteen for me!” he was screaming at this point. I have a real strong feeling about something but Alice beat me to it.
“Haze knew about you and the reward didn’t he?” when Tayler just nodded his head yes. “I bet he used that to get you to do his dirty work right? Let me guess, he said that all you had to do was his enforcer work and he wouldn’t turn you into immigration.”
“How did you know? That was almost word for word what he said. Only he throws in Captain Rockwood and Top Kinsley. I was supposed to be their enforcer.” The man was literally giving me the entire network on a silver platter. He truly didn’t want any part of this mess. It was Alice who put it all into perspective for me.
“Holy hell! You really are a big teddy bear.” She whispered.
“Ah! Come on Boots give me a break here. Don’t call me that, you know how much I hate it.” He was practically whining like a little kid.
“Ok you two, what am I missing?”
“That’s his unofficial call sign. The one Haze saddled him with.” She tells me before looking back over at Tayler. I can see the anger in her eyes is gone. In fact what I see is forgiveness. This is a good sign; she is no longer letting her emotions make her decisions for her. “Sorry about that, Stalker. Go ahead and get dressed. I believe you about their blackmailing of you. What I want to know is why didn’t you go to the new Head Captain when he took over about all this?”
“Who do you think they would believe Alice?”
“That’s Lady Allison to you, Mr. Taylor.” I say.
He looks over at me and then Alice after a few seconds a smile crosses his face. The first one I believe anyone has seen on his face in a long time. “Congrats Lady Allison, you too Lady Maiha but there is one other fact you forgot about, Lady Allison. That I’m here illegally. The new Head Captain would have to turn me in, so would anyone else in the chain of command.” Turning back to me. “Well, Lady Maiha; there you go. My sad pathetic story all laid out for you. As for the rest well, I have nothing left to lose.” For the next fifty minutes he told how Rockwood had either blackmailed, coerced or bribed all of the men in his rebellion. He left nothing out; he even told how it was Kinsley who had planned out Alice’s rape to discredit her, all because she had refused to sleep with him.
When he got to Kinsley he really opened a can of worms. It seems First Sergeant Kinsley had his fingers in every illegal operation there was. Everything from drugs to prostitution to gambling. It didn’t matter what it was. He even had a connection to white slavery. The man was the real connection to House Light. The more I hear the madder I become. I can forgive certain things, like the illegal trading of parts, and black market alcohol sales. Those are sometimes needed to keep a military unit going. However, what Tayler was telling me went far beyond that. So far beyond that I would have no choice, but to send that man to prison for life if
he was caught by the civilian police. When I point this out to Taylor, he laughs at our blank looks he says. “What? Didn’t you know his brother-in-law is the local police chief and part of his little crime syndicate. Hell, over half, no make that three quarters of the local human cops are on the take.”
Hearing this I realize just how big of a mess I had on my hands. “Will you help us to bring them down?”
“I don’t see why not. If I have go to prison for trying to have a better life than that of a servant, then they can get life for all they did. Sure I’ll help.’ He says fatalistically. I can see that the young man feels like his life as a freeman is over.
“You made one mistake in that statement, Taylor.”
“What do mean ma’am?”
“You’re not going to prison, or back to Doreen V.” At his look of confusion I tell him why. “I can’t, nor can anyone else deport you for being an illegal immigrant. You see the moment you became part of House Nakatoma’s military you also gained membership in the Temple. As such you became a citizen of Hades.”
“You… you… you… you mean that for the last four years I have been living in fear for nothing?!” The realization that he has been used and tortured for nothing must have caused something to snap inside him. “AAAHHHGGGAAA! I”LL KILL HAZE AND THE REST OF THEM!”
I slap him across the face. It has the desired effect. He calms down. “Now Corporal, this is what we’re going to do. Lady Allison is going to release you, and then you’re going to pull your head out of your ass and prove to me, and no one else, that you’re worth a second chance. Do you understand?”
Taking a few calming breath’s he looks up at me. “How do I do that? By the way Lady Maiha I’m not a Corporal, just a Private.”
“Wrong. You’re what I say you are Corporal. You have all the makings to be a first class NCO. Now all you have to do is prove me right. Don’t you agree, Lady Allison?”
