Chapter 3

Sam Howe and Jane Edwards took over from Sassy and Bert at half-past five. It had been a quiet night though, Bert had perked up noticeably after he’d had a couple of hours to recover. Chalky White arrived five minutes before they woke the trainees as it had been considered that the new admission (not to mention the problems Fifty-nine – Louisa – had given them the previous week) might be difficult.

As it turned out, Sixty got up when called and did her best to adopt the approved stance. It was obvious when the exercise period began that she had little idea of what was expected, but she did, at least, try. But Fifty-nine ... Louisa had undergone a transformation. Firstly, she was positively glowing. Also, she was one of the first in position, and threw herself into the exercises enthusiastically. When Jane Edwards spoke to her and complimented her ‘form’, she actually giggled. “I’m inspired, ma’am,” she said. “And I slept really well last night.”

“I see,” Jane smiled. “shall I give the Sergeant Major your compliments?”

“Definitely!” She sobered. “Actually, I wanted to do something for him. But I think I ended up with the best of the bargain, ma’am.”

“I find that’s often the case,” Jane told her. “I expect you’ll be happy to hear he was very pleased with you.”

The younger woman blushed. “I never knew...” she hesitated, but went on, “The trainers, well, the sex was actually good. I mean, before I came here I only had orgasms from my fingers, and they were nothing like I experienced last week. But last night ... he really made me take off. I don’t suppose...”

“Well, why don’t you carry on the way you have been today, and we’ll see what happens.”

Sarah, meanwhile, was awake. She decided to forego the potential pleasures of a cooked breakfast from the kitchen; there were cereals in the cupboard, milk and butter in the little refrigerator, and a small loaf in a bread-bin, all of it obviously fresh. Muesli and milk, toast, butter and marmalade (feeling just a little guilty about the latter) and – oh joy! – coffee. It was a very small pot of roasted coffee beans; enough, maybe, for four cups. She ground enough for one cup, made use of the small cafetière and added hot water to fill a mug. If the coffee was a bit watery, it was still a treat.

How to dress? Uniform? Civvies? Scrubs? She ate her breakfast with the small t/v on. It was mostly ‘local’ news, of course. Information was available, if spotty, from the internet, but there was very little ‘official’ news from outside the area. A press release from the Committee informed her that science teams were planning to enter, very carefully, the devastated cities in order to obtain samples for analysis. They would be wearing chem/bio protective equipment. It would, however, be some time before the results could be known.

Breakfast eaten, coffee drunk, she dressed in scrubs and checked her equipment bag. An old-fashioned, mercury sphygmomanometer and stethoscope. Otoscope, ophthalmoscope, and several old-fashioned mercury thermometers. A suturing set. Pinard stethoscope (for fœtal heartbeat) and other items she hadn’t been permitted to use for several years, but all usable independent of modern technical support.

A call to the Centre at nine forty-five let them know she was on her way – necessary until she was registered with the security systems. Stuffy was waiting outside.

“Good morning, Sarah! I hope you slept well?”

“Yes, I did. And it was nice to have a leisurely breakfast. Someone stocked my quarters with fresh stuff.”

“That’d be Imogen. Lovely person, very caring, very efficient. Married in a menage a trois with one of our trainers.”

“That might explain the glow.”

He laughed. “I think it probably does. I expect it also explains Steve’s smile.”

She shook her head, still smiling. “He’s obviously a very perceptive chap. I mean, She is lovely, but not exactly a beauty. And their partner? She is gorgeous. And rather good with that flute.”

“Just so. But come with me, Sarah, and we’ll get you registered on the system, so you can access all the staff areas.”

It wasn’t quick. It took several minutes for Stuffy to painstakingly enter his access codes and authorisation to add a staff member. It was particularly demanding as Sarah was to have the same level of access as himself. “Chairman Booth, himself, authorised this,” he told her. But from then, the system demanded ten shots of each of her eyes, followed by ten impressions of each of her hands. He then escorted her back to the Centre, where she used her access for the first time.

By the time they were in the office, some of the trainees were engaged in some constructive activity outside the training area; two in the laundry, two in the kitchen and one outside with Chalky White, dealing with weeds around the front of the Horseshoe. Of the others, four were engaged in scrubbing floors, two in sweeping and just one was intent upon her laptop.

Stuffy commented upon the latter. “Seventeen is halfway through a mathematics course for engineering. Did you know about Karen Booth?”

“The Chairman’s daughter?”

“Just so. We got her admitted to the Engineering faculty at the University. She had to be escorted by a man, so we sent her with Andy Downs, who had been studying Mechanical Engineering before the Wars. They both took electrical engineering, but Karen ended up tutoring Andy. They should both graduate this year. When her Indenture expired, they married. Come to think of it, we seem to have had an unlikely proportion of romances.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. Once the trainees discover that sex is actually enjoyable, not an unpleasant, painful duty, they’re open to other options for life. Especially since a stay here can make a maid ‘unmarriageable’ in ‘society’. Karen actually said that once her eyes were opened and her expectations changed, she was very happy to marry Andy.” He paused, but went on, “I have some paperwork to complete, then I want to discuss your requirements. Probably after lunch.” He glanced at his watch. “Yes. If we get on, we can finish the admin before the lunch arrives.”

They did. Some of it was, indeed, paperwork, but some they could enter on the computer. “This is hard-wired to a secure internal network,” he told her. “Even so, as you saw, critical entries have to be made direct to the server in the secure room. We can access personal records, at least with our level of access. Junior staff can write up reports, but they have to be approved by myself or Reg ... and, now, you, before they are entered on the server. There is an automatic backup in a well-protected cellar under our feet.”

She filled in personal information, signed form after form, but at length they were done. Just in time, as the lunch-trolley arrived five minutes after she laid her pen on the desk. Lunch was sandwiches, so was hardly critical for timing, but the sandwiches were made with freshly baked wholemeal bread. Sarah was glad to eat straight away, as the bread was crusty and tasty, filled with tangy cheese and tomatoes which had been on the vine just an hour or so before.

After lunch, when the afternoon crew arrived, Pete Norris and Sven Olsen, she sat in as Jane and Sam handed over, ending with, “Only fifty-seven and seventeen have had a real cock this morning. But Jane had a long chat with Fifty-nine. It seems that the Sergeant-Major had a profound effect on her yesterday.”

“Do I need to know?” Stuffy asked.

“Oh, nothing major, Major,” Jane smiled. “It’s just he gave her some intimate attention that she really enjoyed, and now ... I think she’d happily be his concubine.”

“I see. Well, let’s leave it there for now. I trust Reg to keep things between the lines. Is there anything else?”

“Yes,” Sarah said. “I need a space. Semi-private. Office/consulting room/clinical room.”

“In the Centre, or separate?”

“In would be better. But somewhere ... discreet.”

“One of the unused cells? Like this office? A curtain inside the bars?”

“Perfect. But I’ll need an examination couch, a desk, a couple of chairs and a computer. Probably a drug-cupboard and a small lockable refrigerator.”

Stuffy raised his eyebrows.

“I’m assuming you’ll want me to administer the contraceptive depos. Haven’t you had any diabetics yet? What about asthma suffers? Depo Provera and alternatives require cool storage, and insulin requires refrigeration. Antibiotics and analgesics...”

“We keep those in that cupboard,” Stuffy indicated a metal cupboard at the back of the office.

“Good enough.”

“But having your own cupboard makes sense, too.” He sighed. “Several things I hadn’t thought through.”

“I can oversee drug withdrawal, too.”

“That’s a thought. On the whole, though, I’d prefer to leave that to the hospital and keep non-essential drugs out of here.” He paused. “I’ll see to getting a cell reconfigured for you in the next few days. Certainly by the weekend, I think. Do you know how you’re going to start?”

“Yes. I’m going to examine and interview each trainee individually. Probably one a day. In the beginning, I’ll use their own cells until mine is ready. Just a question, though...”

“Yeah?”

“Can I use their given names?”

Stuffy frowned, thinking. “During your one-to-one sessions ... yes, I think so. As I said, you’re out of the usual chain of command and you’ll want to try to establish a different relationship with the trainees than we have. In public, though, I suggest you stick to their IS identification.”

“Fine. That’ll work. Tell me, do you – you plural, that is – have sex with all the trainees?”

“Most, but not all. There have been cases where it was felt appropriate to exclude a specific trainee from the rota. The original concept was to force what you might call ‘frigid’ women to acknowledge their sexuality. However, in one case, the trainee was referred here under false pretences. She was moved out and is now third wife to Joshua Sutherland; everyone except her father is very happy about it. In another case, the deflowering of a trainee resulted in a romantic attachment which we recognised and legitimised. She has never had sex with another man. In several other cases, addicts had used their bodies to obtain drugs, and we excluded them until they begged for full intercourse. That was after they’d become accustomed to experiencing and enjoying orgasms. If you’re wondering about me, then, yes. I participate too, if not every day.”