Chapter 43: Return to the Colony

Our guests were stacked uncomfortably in the Huey, it was a effort to breathe but I am sure they had time to think many things. Most of the thoughts were likely not bad enough, but we can hope they also did some reflection on how they got to this place.

I was concerned about the interrogation of the prisoners. Simple brutality did not result in maximum useful information, and we really wanted to squeeze some critical facts out of these bastards in a short amount of time, before somebody else stole it. I would feel a lot better if we had twice as many people who were trained.

As we were on approach into the Colony, I saw whipping stocks were being set up. For my grandfathers, old habits are hard to break.

In movies depicting England or New England you have probably seen stocks used to hold minor criminals and vandals in some public place, on display as punishment for their act. Those had a certain element of comfort and ease of use, since the primary punishment was exposure to public humiliation and shame.

The Colony went another way, have you heard of the Spanish Inquisition? Or the Auto-da-fe? Let’s just say that the Spanish of 1600 had a history of terrible punishment as public entertainment, up to and including lighting them up. Our stocks held the ankles in place with shaped wood pieces. Then we used a simple pipe crosswise under the chin, and a chain around the neck to keep the head in place. Adjustable locking cuffs were welded to the chin-level pipe. It was uncomfortable to even look at, but that was not the interesting part. Wooden panels stood between each prisoner, so they could not see each other. Not knowing who was alive, injured, dead or escaped contributed to a feeling of isolation, which was so useful. Prisoners would be brought to the stocks bagged and fitted with headphones that played bad music too load to think.

The stocks were terrible punishment for holding prisoners in the sun for a time. The greater problem was that my grandfathers wanted a crowd gathered to watch, and what they would watch was a brutal whipping with real fucking bullwhips. The Patron found it hard to let go of some of old traditions, but this was contrary to modern methods in so many ways. The shock of a real bullwhip could kill somebody.

I told him repeatedly, “I cannot waterboard a dead person, it just wastes water.”

There were about two dozen stocks set up in an arc facing a hill forming a natural outdoor theater large enough for the Colony and the Tribe. We had the Five plus the couple, a total of 12 guards, and we figured there was at least one spy among the Chinese, so there were a couple of extras. Well, better to have too many than too few. Still, with that many the odds of somebody having a heart attack from the whipping were dangerously high, these were not all heart-healthy specimens.

“For anybody who dies, it means some of their wealth might escape us,” I told my grandfathers repeatedly in emails. But I could not dissuade the pair from their public chastisement of the Five using bullwhips built to their standards - those used in 1600 AD to whip real bulls.

I did convince them to delay the exercise until Monday afternoon, so I could get some clean facts first. “Could I at least get names for everyone? Plus, we can get more of our people back. They could be in danger.” They bought that last argument, Monday it was.

It was important that no prisoner had any contact with any other prisoner unless it provided a clear benefit. My guys stuck to the program. As soon as the Huey set down, before the drug wore off, I had everybody photographed, then bagged again and real cuffs moved to their backs. Then they were moved in wheelbarrows to a set of windowless one-person shacks that were their new last homes. At the shacks all clothes were removed, cut from their bodies, even the woman. People would not think of escaping naked so they would focus on clothing, which was a waste of time. Once they were secure I was ready for the next arrival. That would be the C-130 Hercules with the Chinese female spy and last two guards for me. Plus Chin and the released captives.