Chapter 3

I awoke tied to a chair and feeling like shit. Whatever had been used upon me had left me with a mouth that felt as if it had been used as a toilet brush holder, along with a splitting headache and pins and needles all over my body.

“He’s awake,” came a distorted voice.

“Good, it’s time for some answers,” came another.

“What do you want to know?” I croaked out.

A vicious blow to the side of my head twisted me on the chair and caused the ties they used to dig in and cut open my skin.

“We ask the questions,” came a flat statement.

“OK.”

“What did you do to Guardian Kirim?”

“Re-attached her leg, fixed her, though it was mostly Healer Cassire.”

“Liar!” came a reply along with another blow that mashed my lips against my teeth and caused bloody drool to run down my chin.

“Not lying,” I muttered. “I never lie.”

“Device says he’s telling the truth,” came a calm voice from out of my sight.

“Of course he’s lying! I know when I’ve had sex!”

“Kirim?”

This time the blow was vicious and broke my nose as several of the people around her grabbed her and hauled her back from presumably killing me.

“Perhaps not all the truth,” the calm voice stated.

“No, not all the truth, but I’m under conditioning not to reveal that to anyone who doesn’t have the requisite security clearances,” I managed to reply, albeit very mushily.

“I’m going to castrate the shlecking rapist!” came the voice I now knew was Kirim.

“You really don’t want to do that as the shitstorm that will descend on you and yours will come directly from the Empress herself,” I struggled to get out.

“Truth,” came the calm voice.

“He raped me!” she screamed.

“No, I restored your leg. It was dead. It would have gone gangrenous had I not intervened,” I moaned as I felt the room spinning and my bracelet giving off low level pain impulses as I skated close to the edge of what I could say.

“Liar!”

“Truth, actually,” came the calm voice. “I suspect we’re now in serious trouble with ImpSec as we appear to be trespassing on an Imperial secret.”

It was apparent that there was now serious disquiet in the room. The mutterings increased, mostly along the lines of they’d come to deal with a rapist, not commit treason.

“Let me loose,” I slurred. “Come to the medical centre tomorrow, Kirim. Bring a witness if you want and I’ll explain it in front of Healer Cassire as I can’t explain it here as my bracelet might just kill me ... even if you don’t.”

“You won’t report us?” came the calm voice.

“No, but you’ll have to get me to a medical centre as a reported mugging,” I replied, the room now spinning only slightly.

“Kirim?”

“OK,” she answered begrudgingly. “But if I’m not satisfied, I’ll kill him and to hell with the consequences. I’m only doing this so the rest of you don’t go down!”

“Take him to the medical centre near section five. Make sure he’s alive when you push him through the door.”

I was hauled to my feet, then blacked out again.

“You’re lucky to be alive,” came the voice of Herrick.

“What happened?”

“Looks like a mugging, though nothing appears to be missing, other than your boots.”

“Boots?”

“Better quality than anyone can get in the lower levels; they’re often the first thing that goes missing.”

“Do we know who?”

“Local gang probably. We haven’t moved the sensors in a while, so they’ll all know where they are. It’s also why we heartily disapprove of your going down there.”

“Herrick, without my gift the people down there would have no last chances. Cass and her friends can only do so much with the limited resources they have. So no, I’m not going to stop going there, despite your fears and setbacks like this.”

A slight smile came to his face, before he just nodded and left.

The centre’s healer then came in, gave me a once over then more or less threw me out, still in bare feet and covered in blood though fully healed. Still a lift got me to my apartment and a change of clothing as well as a shower, though I was never getting used to it not using water.

I turned up for my next shift somewhat in trepidation. I wasn’t sure how Kirim was going to take my explanation and I certainly didn’t want her to find herself in the hands of ImpSec. Not that I knew what the hell ImpSec would do with her other than a mind-wipe.

I made a start on cleaning up the treatment rooms, putting stuff away in the right places rather than where Cassire just stuffed it when she was busy. It didn’t take too long before Hiqua brought Kirim and an investigator through to see me and went to find Cassire. Both Kirim and the investigator had neutral faces showing, but visual cues that I could read on Kirim told me she was seething.

“Cass,” I introduced them. “Kirim and... ?”

“Minat,” the investigator answered.

“Minat want to know what happened when we re-connected Kirim’s leg. Kirim feels that I raped her, a charge that is not far from the mark,” I sighed.

“Oh hell, I forgot the Guardian helmets block mind-wipes,” Cass sighed.

“Wouldn’t have mattered. I was full of ... him, when I got home. I would have known!” Kirim grated out.

“I’m sorry for that, normally we’d douche you, but circumstances were a bit fraught at the time. David here has a gift and it’s also an Imperial ultra-high secret and he can’t discuss it with anyone not above a certain rank. I, however, can, which is why I presume he asked me to be here when you are.”

“Gift?” Minat asked.

“He can cure the incurable, including restoring dead flesh, as we’ve found out yesterday.”

“How?”

“Well, that’s the rub, isn’t it? The secret is in his sexual emanations and only works when reacting to the environment of a vagina,” Cass explained carefully.

“He has to fuck someone to cure them?” Minat asked, looking shocked.

“Yes, otherwise Kirim there would have to wait a year for re-growth or be fitted for a prosthetic and, either way, lose her job.”

“I don’t believe you,” Kirim stated looking utterly aghast.

“It’s true enough,” came Herrick’s voice from the doorway causing us all to start in shock.

“Monitor Herrick...” I began.

“Sit down and shut up, David.”

I sat as I recognised the official Herrick and he was not my friend in any way, shape or form at the moment.

“Investigator Minat and Guardian Kirim, you have stumbled upon an Imperial ultra-high secret. As well as probably being involved in the mugging and torture of an Imperial high slave. I now have some serious decisions I have to make as to what the Empire will do with you.”

“I thought I had been raped,” Kirim replied very nervously.

“You were, technically, even if it restored your health and prevented a dismissal to the lower levels. Do not judge David harshly. He did you a favour and the Empire sympathises with him as he truly does not like to force himself on the unfortunate to save their lives or in this case your career. Nevertheless, what he did was, as I said, technically rape and will act as mitigating circumstances on your part.”

“I take full responsibility for the actions of those under my care against this man,” Minat stated, white faced.

“You will give me the names of the ones who assaulted him. They will be mind-wiped to remove the details of the assault and why. Nothing else will be done about them though; I do understand their anger at the assault of a colleague.”

“Thank you.”

“As for you personally, investigator Minat, it is my belief that it will pay to have someone in the local chapter of the Guardians who knows just who and what David is. There is evidence that someone very high up wants him dead and I cannot permit this. The gift he has is priceless and the Empire needs it. Hence you will never mention this again, except to inform your colleagues to keep an eye on David to prevent him from coming to harm or warn us of any harm coming his way. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Monitor.”

“Guardian Kirim, I do hope that one day you can forgive David, though this is entirely up to you. We can offer you a mind-wipe or counselling if you wish. However we cannot allow you to harm this man or act against him. The choice is yours.”

Kirim just sat there, a tear trickling down one cheek and I got down on one knee and took her hand, glad she didn’t react to my touch.

“I’m truly sorry, Kirim; I just wanted to prevent you from being thrown on the streets due to something not your fault. I never meant to hurt you and hoped you wouldn’t remember,” I said quietly.

“I ... I understand,” she nodded. “I will take the counselling, Monitor, as I wish to talk things over more with David here.”

“A wise choice,” Herrick nodded. “He truly cares for you.”

“He does,” Cassire added. “He feels a great deal of anguish over what he has to do, yet never flinches as those who do not get his treatment will surely die or in your case be cast out through no fault of their own.”

“Thank you, Herrick,” I finally said.

“Oh, you’re not out of the woods yet. The Empress wants a word with you.”

“Oh hell.”

“Reasonable assumption, yes,” he replied with a slight smile. “Come with me. You too, Kirim.”

“I’ll have the names of those involved transferred to your office, Monitor,” Minat added.

“Good, we’ll deal with it when they sleep.”

And with that Kirim and I followed Herrick to a lift and were whisked away.

The lift journey took a long time by the standards of the ones I normally took. Eventually it opened though and Herrick escorted us to what appeared to be an office, if only because it contained a real desk.

“Sit please,” he commanded; as it definitely wasn’t a request despite the politeness.

A few moments later a tall dark-haired woman entered and took a seat on the other side of the desk, opened a holographic screen, read a few details and then looked at Herrick.

“Are you sure this is wise?” she asked pointedly.

“Yes, Serenissima.”

It was at this point I realised just who the woman was ... as I’m sure did Kirim, who was now visibly sweating despite the coolness of the office.

“Reliability report on Minat?”

“Supremely competent investigator, almost sure to be bumped up to the upper levels in a couple of years. An asset to the Empire.”

“Reliability report on Kirim?”

“Loyal Guardian, effective at her job, should make investigator in a year. Too early to tell, but I suspect she’ll do well there. An asset to the Empire.”

“So neither to be eliminated?”

“No, Serenissima. If anything we need more like them. It is unusual for two to crop up in the same sector at the same time.”

“Very well,” she nodded. “Take Guardian Kirim to counselling. Whatever can be done to help should be. The Empire will pick up the cost.”

“At once, Serenissima. Please come with me, Guardian Kirim.”

“At once, Monitor. Thank you, Serenissima,” Kirim finally got out as she stood and followed Herrick.

“What am I to do with you, David?” the woman finally spoke, once Kirim and Herrick had reached the lift. “We’ve never had to deal with a Cure with a conscience before.”