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.