"Yes," Bradford replied over the intercom, "with Ranger Medart and Lt.
DarElwyn."
"If you'd care to, you're welcome to join me in here." Normally, she
wouldn't permit anyone except Mike or another Inquisitor to be in the
same room while she was working, but these were unusual guests. And
there was something particularly appealing about the Sandeman . . .
"The interview went all right?" she asked, as soon as the three entered.
"Quite well," Bradford replied. "I'll get the operation moving as soon
as I get back to my office."
"Good--thanks, both of you." Cortin turned back to her prisoner, still
addressing the observers--primarily, for some reason she didn't
understand, Keith. "This one's nothing special, except in the number
of his crimes and the fact that he wanted witnesses until he got to the
last victim in each series. It was the rapes that were his particular
thrill; the murders were enjoyable, but more of a side effect. So I'll
be concentrating on the punishment for rape."
She continued with the preliminaries, both enjoying herself and trying
to evaluate the Sandeman as well as she could when her primary
attention had to be elsewhere. He, unlike Odeon and Medart, seemed to
have a true appreciation of her intent, which she wouldn't have
expected--but which she found highly gratifying. It was several hours
before she was satisfied with the prisoner's general condition: his
entire body except the genital region so bruised or abraded that even a
light touch brough curses.
She stepped back to survey him, then smiled at her audience. "That
takes care of the preliminaries; now we can get to the real
punishment." She went to a cabinet, removed a vial and syringe.
"This is eroticine," she said, forcing the liquid in the vial down her
prisoner's throat. "In small doses, it's a male aphrodisiac. In
larger ones, like this, it forces an erection and increases semen
production by several hundred percent. He has no way to stimulate
orgasm, so that is forced out by simple hydraulic pressure--quite
uncomfortable, I've been assured. This dose is oral, so he'll be that
way for about twelve hours." She picked up a syringe, cleared it of
air. "And this is algetin, a pain-enhancer that's most effective on
swollen tissue such as an erection. It's a combination I think
particularly appropriate for a rapist."
"An intriguing combination," Keith said. Moments later, when the
prisoner's erection firmed and grew moist, she saw curiosity. "Is that
wetness normal, or is it a drug effect?" he asked.
"Neither, Lieutenant; it's a side effect of the satyr plague."
"I see." Keith paused, cocking his head. "You said he can't bring
himself to climax, Excellency, and this does seem effective--but what
would happen if he did? Would it be a temporary relief, or would the
algetin make it as much an agony as it usually is a pleasure?"
Cortin stared at him in astonishment. That was the sort of question
she'd expect from an Inquisitor-Trainee, not an Imperial Marine! After
several seconds, she said thoughtfully, "We're cautioned against it in
training, since it's presumed orgasm would bring relief; if anyone had
experimented and found otherwise, it should've been reported in the
professional literature. Since I've never read about such an
experiment, I doubt it's ever been tried--but now that you suggest it,
the idea seems plausible. If you'd like to try, Lieutenant, be my
guest."
"No," Medart said firmly. "He can observe, since this is within your
law; taking part would go against a number of the laws that govern the
Imperial military." He turned to the Sandeman. "What's wrong,
Lieutenant? You're not acting like any warrior I've ever
met--including yourself, a couple of days ago."
"I feel fine, sir--I'm just not embarrassed by his display, the way I'd
have expected, and I . . . admire Colonel Cortin's work, which I
wouldn't have expected at all."
"Just how strong is this admiration, Lieutenant?"
Keith looked from Ranger to Inquisitor and back, his expression
answering Medart's question before he spoke. "Strongly enough that if
I thought there was any chance of acceptance, I would offer her my
fealty."
Cortin looked at him thoughtfully, then smiled. "If that means what I
believe it does, Lieutenant, you'd be in no danger of refusal."
Keith returned the smile, then acted on her promise and knelt.
"Colonel Joan Cortin, I wish you as my chosen lady, if that should be
your will. I offer all that is in me to give: body and mind, will and
honor, whatever courage is mine. And death itself may not deny the
service I offer, in whatever afterlife is to come."
Cortin had no idea of the words a Sandeman would use in such a
position, but she doubted if Keith would care. She extended her hands,
smiling again. "I accept your service and yourself with thanks,
warrior."
Keith took her hands and rose, then bowed to her. "You do me great
honor, Thakur."
"The honor is mine," Cortin replied. "Are there any formalities that
need to be taken care of?"
"I'll handle those when we finish here," Medart said. "His release
from service, back pay and allowances--but it'll be up to you to notify
his clan and make arrangements for his tattoo."
"When we're done here, as you say." Cortin turned to her new sworn
man. "To give you a status recognized here, I'm commissioning you a
Royal Enforcement Service officer. Now, would you like to test your
theory?"
"Very much, Thakur." Keith paused, then continued apologetically.
"I'm afraid I don't know how, though. One of our strongest customs
forbids any same-sex physical intimacy. Since it seems yours doesn't,
that no longer applies to me, of course--but the fact remains that I
have no such experience."
Cortin chuckled. "That can be remedied easily enough, if you decide
you want to, but for your present purposes you don't need experience.
All you have to do is take hold of him, snugly enough to provide a
friction surface but not tight. The eroticine will make him take care
of the rest."
"That sounds simple enough." Keith reached for the prisoner.
Cortin watched critically as her new sworn man began his experiment.
It went against conventional theory--but then one of her more
spectacular successes had come from the use of a hallucinogen, a
procedure theory said was useless.
Hmm, that was interesting . . . Keith had told her, truthfully, that he
had no sexual experience with men, but he was starting manipulation as
effective as she'd ever seen. That surprised her almost as much as the
fact that he had time to--with such a strong dose of eroticine, she'd
have expected the prisoner to erupt within seconds.
She wasn't quite sure what he'd meant by saying his people's strongest
custom no longer applied to him--his oath, it had to be--but if he
could get the idea this quickly, and implement it, she was willing to
bet he'd enjoy the other parts of homosex. It would be almost as nice
seeing him enjoying himself with Mike or one of the others as it would
be enjoying him herself-- She told herself firmly to stop daydreaming.
She had no idea if his oath covered sex with his chosen lady--she
suspected it could if she wanted it to--but either way she was supposed
to be evaluating a new technique, not thinking about who to take to bed.
Wait a minute--that was a smile on the Sandeman's face as the
prisoner's show of pain increased! Keith was actually enjoying his
first attempt at third stage, something so rare she knew of only three
others beside herself who'd done so. Mike had been ill at first just
watching her work, had taken a week to get where he could help at all,
worked as her assistant only because she needed him. Keith could free
him of that unpleasantness. Get the Sandeman some training to go with
his talent, and he'd be awesome . . . Very good, he was able to keep
stimulating the prisoner as movements grew frantic, gasps and cries
turning to screams of agony as semen spurted--dear God, what an
Inquisitor Keith would make!