Planet of Pain (11 page)

‘Nothing like that. When you're back I'll go. And grab a shower while you're out; this place stinks.'

The three men pulled on trousers and boots and went out, then Mundell squatted beside Jo and laid a hand on her shoulder. ‘You tired?' Jo nodded. ‘Guys will be gone awhile,' he said. ‘You should maybe try to get some sleep.'

He pointed to the bunk in the corner, the one that hadn't been stripped, and she climbed stiffly to her feet and went over to it. She lay down facing the back bulkhead and he covered her with a blanket. She'd said she was tired, but she felt weary rather than sleepy. Her inner clock was still skewed and looked likely to stay that way, but it was good just to be able to close her eyes and relax, and know that no one would bother her for a while.

Maybe twenty minutes or so later she heard someone come in. ‘How's she doing?'

Kaz's voice. She lay still, eyes shut, hoping they would leave her in peace a while longer.

‘Keep it down,' Mundell said quietly. ‘Kid had a busy night; let her sleep.'

‘My heart bleeds,' Kaz said. ‘You heard the news about General Nielsen?'

‘What about him?'

‘You ain't heard? We got the bastard.
Shadow
snagged him yesterday, not fifty light from here.'

‘You serious? How solid is this?'

‘Rock. I got it from Jaggs, who got it from Wimpy in com. Word is we'll be home in time for Christmas.'

‘Yeah?' Mundell said sourly. ‘They said that last year too, and we're still here.'

‘Yeah… but with Nielsen in the bag maybe it's true. Not that I want to go home, mind. Occupying force on some Reiver station is the place to be, right? Free booze, and women just for the taking. Speaking of which…'

She heard footsteps, and then the blanket was drawn off her. She mumbled some nonsense and yawned; feigning waking up so they wouldn't know she'd overheard their conversation.

‘Rise and shine, kid,' Kaz said, as she rolled over and blinked at him.

‘I need to take a shower,' she said.

‘Oh, sure thing,' he said. ‘Maybe a massage too, huh? Hell, why not a manicure while you're at it?'

He took her hand and lifted her to her feet, clearly amused by what seemed to her a perfectly reasonable request. He stripped off, sat down on the footlocker Snake had used, and patted his knee. Jo looked at Mundell, who just shrugged. With a sigh she straddled Kaz's legs, facing him, and eased herself down onto his waiting cock, and as he entered her he gave a grunt of satisfaction. She began to raise and lower herself, her hands resting on his shoulders, and as she found her rhythm the door opened and Snake came in.

‘Where's Eran?' Mundell asked.

‘Still feeding his face,' Snake said.

‘Aw, shit,' Mundell said. ‘What have I fucking told you guys about leaving him alone?' He dressed quickly and headed for the door, and with a final warning that she wasn't to be marked he left, leaving Jo alone with the worst two in the squad. Kaz winked at her, and slid his right hand down between their bellies. He began to stroke her clitoris with the ball of his thumb. He was patient and unhurried, and soon familiar feelings were stirring. She rode him faster, pushing down hard onto his lap, seeking distraction from the here-and-now.

He watched her face as she rode him, a knowing smile on his lips. He had terrific eyes, grey and astonishingly clear. His thumb never paused in its endeavours, and against all odds she felt her climax starting to build. She hadn't expected that, or wanted it – distraction was one thing but an orgasm was altogether different. In a way it would condone what was happening, and that wasn't good. She tried to suppress it by reminding herself what lurked behind that great face, but it made no difference. The situation slid rapidly out of control and soon she was gasping, pushing down on him ever faster.

‘Oh man,' Snake said, ‘look at her go! That's one hot bitch, for sure. You want to get her down on the deck? Crying shame to let them other holes go to waste, right?'

‘You'll just have to wait, pal,' Kaz said, his eyes never leaving Jo's. ‘Me and sweetpea are having us a moment here.'

‘Hey, she ain't your private fucking property, you know.'

Kaz ignored him, but just as she felt her climax approaching the movement of his hand slowed, then stopped altogether and she let out a sob of dismay.

‘Yeah,' he said with a grin, ‘disappointing as hell when that happens, ain't it?'

She reached down, desperate for release, but his hand blocked hers and he refused to move it. There was a brief tussle but he was too strong for her. Her movements ceased and she sat on his lap, shivering, his cock unmoving inside her. ‘You bastard,' she groaned.

He laughed. ‘You don't know the half of it, kid. Shoulda seen me on Midas-four. Remember that recon trooper we snagged, Snake? The one with the dragon tattoos on her tits?'

Snake just glared at them, saying nothing, and Jo guessed he was still mad at his squadmate for refusing to share her.

‘Holed up in a burned out bunker for three days, we were,' Kaz said, seemingly oblivious to the animosity flowing in his direction, ‘till the flyboys could clear a path and bring in the transports. Four of us and one Reiver squaddie, unhappy as hell that we snagged her. I tell you, we sure did make that girl squeal. Like you said, I'm a bastard. Put your hands behind your head.'

‘What?'

‘You heard me.'

Cautiously she did so, and slowly, purposefully, he began to thumb her clitoris once more. His free hand slid around behind her and kneaded her buttocks. She was wary, wanting to trust him but convinced he was planning to trick her again, so she tried to deny him the opportunity by keeping still and holding herself in check – and for a while she was successful. Then, just when she thought she had mastered her feelings, he dipped his head to her left breast and sucked her nipple. Her insides melted and she felt an overwhelming desire to clutch him to her. She resisted the temptation, but the damage was done. Need surged in her and before she knew it she was bouncing on his lap, already past the point of no return. His lips released her nipple and his face turned up to hers, his thumb flicking rapidly.

They came together, Kaz with a shuddering groan and Jo with a wail. As the aftershocks rippled through her she took his face in her hands and kissed him. He gave a startled gulp but recovered quickly, worming his tongue into her mouth, and he was a great kisser – another item on the growing list of things she hated him for.

He held her in the aftermath, but their embrace was all too brief, for Snake was already tugging at her arm, and with a pat on her rump and an enigmatic smile Kaz yielded her up to him.

‘Kneel down,' Snake ordered, she did so, and he stood before her, pulling on his cock till it was stiff. ‘Open.' She opened her mouth and he fed his cock inside. She began to suck, he grabbed a handful of her hair in one hand and pinched her nose with the thumb and forefinger of his other, shutting off her air supply. ‘Open,' he said. ‘Open.'

She didn't understand – her mouth
was
open. The only thing she could assume was that he wanted it wider still, so she complied, opening it as wide as it would go, but it struck her as counterproductive since she could no longer use her lips or her tongue effectively, but she soon discovered he had something very different in mind. He shoved his cock deeper, right into the back of her throat, and she gagged, her hands lifting instinctively to push him away.

‘Hands down, bitch.' He released her nose just long enough to slap her face. It wasn't brutally hard, but the unexpectedness of it shocked her.

‘Cut that out,' Kaz warned. ‘You get us proscribed, I swear I'll rip your fucking heart out.'

‘Shit,' Snake said, ‘that was just a love tap.' He slapped her again, as if by way of demonstration, then pinched her nose once more. ‘Come on, bitch,' he said. ‘Open.'

He proceeded to subject her to a thoroughly degrading fifteen minutes, pushing his cock into her throat and keeping it there while she gagged and retched, desperate to draw a breath. Respites were pitifully brief: he would pull back for a second or two only and Jo would suck in a few precious lungfuls of air, wheezing and gasping like an old woman, before that engorged monstrosity slid over her tongue once more to perpetuate her suffering, and her tribulations only ended when Mundell returned with Eran in tow.

Jo's reddened cheek told the whole story, she supposed, for the squad leader went mad, although if anything he seemed more angry at Kaz for allowing it than at Snake for doing it.

‘What the fuck was I supposed to do?' Kaz protested. ‘The guy's a rat, okay; but it's why she's here, right?'

‘She ain't here to be slapped, shit-for-brains,' Mundell snarled. ‘You think the sarge was kidding about checking her for bruises?'

It marked a turning point in their treatment of Jo. Snake was sent off to fetch a wet towel, which Mundell made her hold against her cheek. He wouldn't even consider allowing them to use her again, despite Snake's whining protestations and Kaz's obvious disgust, and as a result her final few hours with them were almost pleasant, as she lay on the bunk waiting for Sergeant Vaughan to collect her.

 

 

 

 

Admiral Talmann's gaunt face was impassive as he studied the naked, sobbing woman on the table before him. She was restrained at wrist, ankle and waist, and throughout that long first day of her interrogation she heaved and thrust against her bonds in a desperate, futile attempt to escape the pain. Talmann had watched her frantic thrashings with grim satisfaction. Though he had caused many women to suffer as Kepler was now suffering, she was the first member of Second Attack Group to fall into his hands. The first, crucially, who could name his son's killer.

But progress in that respect was slow. At the start she had denied that the incident in question even took place, and stuck to her guns for a good two hours despite the evidence of the tape, which she maintained, ludicrously, was a fake. But careful work with the pliers and escalating pain levels eventually paid dividends, forcing her to admit that it may have occurred, though she insisted she possessed no direct knowledge. Talmann had switched his attentions from her belly to her breasts, and an hour or so later she was again changing her story. Yes, she'd heard rumours that a crippled League fighter had been boosted into Zeta's sun, but she didn't know who was responsible. He didn't believe a word of it.

Kepler's blubbering subsided, though he knew she was in pain still. He ran his hands over her, causing her to moan as he fingered her abused flesh. Her breasts and belly were covered in small, distinctive bruises where the sharp jaws of the pliers had bitten on tender flesh. Her nipples received his especial attention, and she writhed and wailed pitifully as he plucked at them now.

‘The name, Kepler,' he hissed. ‘Give me the name.'

She shook her head, refusing to betray a colleague, or perhaps she was still pretending she didn't know. Misery, fear, despair – all were plain to see in her eyes; yet she continued to resist him. She was strong, certainly, but that was nothing new. Others before her had been equally tenacious, but none had been able to hold out indefinitely. All had succumbed, divulging everything they knew, just as this one would succumb. It would take time, but time wasn't his enemy. He had waited two years for that name, and learned the art of patience in the process. Nothing could bring Leo back. All Talmann could do was avenge him, and in this time was his ally. Kepler's suffering would last many days – weeks, if he could contrive it. Agony in payment for his son's agony. And the admiral had a great deal of experience in this field.

Soon she would give him a name, but it would not be the one he was seeking. Some squadmate killed in action or otherwise beyond his reach would be blamed for the atrocity. Kepler would hold out for as long as she was able, of course, to give credence to her capitulation, thinking to make her interrogator believe he had truly broken her spirit. Her predictability was laughable.

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.'