Chapter 22: In prison

We stood in front of the Major's desk like errant school children. There were no chairs so we knew we were in trouble and he was clearly not in a good mood. The summons came a few days after a holiday, a holiday that we'd spent in the children's community homes. We'd written a piece on them and were impressed with the welfare and care the children received and the standard of their schooling. Two boys had been chastised while we were there but we didn't consider the punishment excessive considering the country that we were in. It was no more than children received in England thirty years previously. I tried to think of anything we could have done wrong but nothing came to mind.

"Colonel Nubaro has received a complaint from your editor about the last few articles you've written and he reprimanded me because I approved them. They were considered, in Ted's words, to be too 'vanilla' which I assume means that there wasn't enough sex or punishment in them." He threw the email to me.

<Colonel Nubaro

Colonel,

The last few articles I've received from my reporters in your country have been well written and have kept the interest of the women here but the men, who mainly are the ones buying the uncensored DVD, are complaining that the subject matter of the last few have been too vanilla in content and sales have dropped. In view of this I would appreciate it if they could be sent to report on something a little more 'challenging'.

Yours

Ted>

I read the email twice before passing it to Roger. I guessed it was similar to the previous one from Ted that Roger saw in Riku's office. His face fell and it took on that scared look that I'd become to know so well. With shaking hands he passed it to Sumala who read it without commenting. We waited in suspense for the Major to tell us our fate but he seemed to be taking a great delight in prolonging our agony. "I'm sending the two of you to prison, the main prison. Sumala who has nothing to do with the writing and will not have to guide you there, can stay behind," he finally announced with a smile. The tone of his voice made it sound as if we were to be incarcerated, possibly for an unknown length of time. Incarcerated without Sumala's protection.

"But why Major? What have we done that was really wrong? We've only reported on the things we've seen and done. Mainly things you've sent us to see. The email says they were well written and the women liked them and they are the ones you want to come here. You're surely not going to have us whipped again and put away just so we can experience prison life first hand?"

"The most popular DVD's are the ones showing you being strapped at the airport and caned at the whipping post."

"But... but I'm pregnant now... with your baby..." I heard Roger hit the floor but didn't make any attempt to pick him up this time.

"Many girls who've been flogged, even in the more advanced stages of pregnancy, go on to have healthy babies." At that moment I guessed he was playing cat and mouse with me. He grinned widely.

"You want us to witness the execution and report on it?"

The case had made the headlines of the local paper. S'naya, an ugly brute of a man, had dragged a young girl from the field where she was working and raped her. Because she struggled and resisted, he afterwards thrust a knife into her belly. Surgeons were able to save the life of the girl but not the baby. Worse, the girl would not be able to have any further children. The court had decided it was rape because the girl was at work at the time and took a severe stance over the fact that not only had the girl nearly died, she would no longer be able to perform the manual work she'd been doing to provide for herself nor would she have any more children and contribute to the country's economy. Public opinion made much of the fact that it was the girl's fifth child, one that she would have kept. The execution by firing squad was scheduled for three days time.

"Please Major, don't do this to us. You know capital punishment is abhorrent to our way of life. I don't think I could stand the sight of seeing someone killed in cold blood. Please Major don't send us there." I begged and pleaded but he still just smiled. I knew he already made the decision.

"You will witness it just as will all the other inmates of the prison." From his use of the words 'as will all the other inmates of the prison', I was half afraid we were all going to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment there to fully understand the regime but his words were ambiguous and again I felt he was playing a game with us. "You will report to the holding prison at ten o'clock tomorrow morning ready for transporting to the prison with another woman who is to start her sentence. You will lock the link between you and leave the key with Sumala. The guards at the prison will open the link if required."

"How long will they be kept there Sir?" Sumala asked.

"That I will decide after I have talked with the governor... and that might depend on their behaviour." The Major turned to me, "Get out now and make what arrangements you need for a stay in prison. Take your laptop and cameras and whatever else you need to do an in depth report, and make sure you use them."

Despondently we sat in the IT office and discussed the situation. Roger was convinced that we were going to be kept in until the Tumali government received the aid they wanted. Neither Sumala nor I believed that to be the case. "Are we being sent in as reporters or taken and kept as prisoners and subjected to the punishments other prisoners received and then have to write a story on them?" I asked Riku.

"Colonel Nubaro gets emails direct from your boss, Ellie, they don't come through our office so I haven't even seen it and until you told me, I had no idea this was to happen." She genuinely didn't seem to know but she cuddled Roger like a very concerned mother as though to protect him.

As you can imagine, we didn't get much sleep that night. Even with Sumala's attentions, my thoughts continually worried about the next few days... or weeks.

Promptly at nine-thirty two local guards appeared. We knew them of course but that day they had serious expressions. "Sorry Miss Ellie, but we're here to arrest you. Are you ready?"

"Almost. Do you know..." My voice broke.

"Sorry," the guard replied, "They only told us to come and get you and to march you to the holding prison. Has Sumala got the key?"

I nodded and Sumala came and gave me a hug and a kiss. It would be the first time for months we'd be separated. When I thought back to that first night in the cell and what I thought of his behaviour then and what I thought of him now, I realised just how much I had changed. "Walk tall Bluestone girl. Don't let them see you cowed." Somehow that boosted my morale and I knew, even if it was for Sumala's sake, I would have to look as though I was in charge.

"Shall we go gentlemen?" I remarked to the guards and received a smile from them in return and a scowl from Roger. Several times he stumbled and we had to wait for him to pick himself up before continuing. Nevertheless we arrived before our appointed time.

Nurse Muniba checked us over but didn't say much. Her face wore a worried expression especially when she examined Roger. "How many times has he passed out from pain now?" she enquired.

"I don't know nurse, lots. Is that a problem?"

"Is he able to withstand more pain now before he fades?"

"Less if anything. Sometimes he only has to think it is going to be painful."

"Keep a close watch on him." She wrote a lengthy note on her board and left us without further explanation. I wondered if she knew what was to happen to us or whether she surmised that we would be treated like other Tumalian prisoners. The guards locked us in a cell. Further along, I heard a woman crying but I couldn't see her properly because she lay curled up on her bed with her back to us.

"That's Shenau," Zulam, who I recognised from our first visit, informed us, "She's going with you. We're waiting on the van now. She's had twenty lashes of the whip and has been given seven days in prison. You might have to be careful with her. Loses her temper quickly and when her main man wouldn't leave, she hit him with a pan and broke his arm. She's still in a lot of pain although the new whipmaster doesn't strike as hard as the old one. Even so, twenty for a woman is plenty and she'll get more punishment in the other place..." I thought he was going to add, "and so will you, ' but he didn't and I guess that made me all the more worried. Roger looked sick but didn't actually vomit.

For over an hour we sat side-by-side and waited. Roger, I knew was very fearful of what was to happen to us. I was too but I thought that I could see behind the plan; because we weren't being told of our fate, I suspected all we were going through now, was to make us feel like we were real prisoners and would be dealt with in the same way. However, the fact we had brought our reporting equipment meant we would have to have some free time to use it. How much? How free? They were questions I couldn't answer.

Eventually our cell was unlocked and we were led out. Near the door, Muniba appeared again and thrust a sealed envelope in my hand. "Give that to the staff there and try and make sure they read it." With that she left and I had the impression that she was doing more than was called for in her line of duty. This worried me greatly and it probably did Roger too but before we could discus it, they hustled us into the police van and shackled us to the rear seats. These guards were definitely more brutal than the ones at the holding prison and went out of their way to make things difficult for us. Their straps were continually in their hands and used to chivvy us into the positions they wanted.

Shenau hobbled in after us and when she wasn't quick enough the guard gave her a push, causing her to stumble and cry out as she pulled the muscles in her back. This didn't deter him from thrusting her hard into the seat opposite us and making her scream as her arse hit the hard wood. We only glimpsed the welts on her back as she was twisted round but what we saw horrified us and then to treat the poor woman with such brutality seemed almost inhuman. We could foresee our having a rough time in prison and Roger was already shaking with fear but from the way we were shackled, I couldn't even hold his hand. From the attitude of the guard we rightly guessed that prisoners there wouldn't be treated as kindly as in the holding prison. Shenau bowed her head and sobbed as he guard shackled her in place.

To my surprise he then came to me, lifted my skirt high and stared at my crotch for a short while. "We should all get to try out a bit of white cunt now," he grunted and pushed a finger into my dry opening. I gave a little cry but his efforts to feel me were short lived because the driver called out and told him to lock the doors so they could get going.

It was with a real sense of foreboding I heard the doors slammed and the locks sliding loudly into place. We were confined in a dark, hot, metal box with small, deeply tinted windows set so high up that we couldn't see out. That in itself was enough to send shivers of fear through us. Shenau cried as the van bounced us around and aggravated her welts but I could do nothing to help. Shackled, I couldn't cuddle Roger to give him a little comfort.

Inside the van the heat became stifling and soon my clothes were soaked with sweat. Shenau, I could see in the dim light, was glistening with sweat too and as the journey progressed I wondered if we were going to make it before were passed out but we did and it was a great relief to feel the fresh air when the doors were opened. They unshackled Shenau and for the first time we clearly saw the deep welts across her back and arse. I suppose they weren't any worse than those Sumala had when he was returned from the whipping post but any healing Muniba had done was nullified by the rubbing and chafe of the slatted wooden seats during the journey. I was appalled at the cruelty but the guards didn't seem affected by the sight and when she didn't move quickly enough for them one used his strap on her already tortured arse. The poor woman gave a tremendous scream and fell to the ground, only to be hauled roughly to her feet and pushed towards the main door.

Both Roger and I felt the strap too when our chain snagged and we were brought to a sudden halt but the blow wasn't hard enough for Roger to pass out. We'd hardly gone five steps across the courtyard when the guard deliberately and forcefully lashed Roger again. This time he went out like a light and lay still on the flagstones. "I'd heard you was a mummy boy but I didn't believe you were as tender as that," the guard grinned and then kicked Roger on the rear and ordered him up. When he didn't move he kicked again.

"No!" I yelled, "You'll kill him!" I knelt down to give him some protection and received a hard lash with the strap across my back. This was pure sadistic cruelty.

"Get up and get him inside," I was ordered.

It took a great deal of effort to lift him, especially as the chain continually got in the way but I managed it and dragged him into the main building. In front of a desk, I sat him on the floor. Roger was still unconscious and showing no signs of life. I was becoming increasingly worried.

"Stand up!" the woman behind the desk shouted. During my efforts to lift him, the chain had become entangled so both of us would have to stand. Even using all my strength I was barely able to hold him and when my foot slipped we both fell to the floor. Fortunately Roger started to come round and howled and cried but I was able to get us both to our feet. "Undress and be quick about it. We need to examine you," the woman snapped.

To one side I could see Shenau being examined, mauled would have been a better term. I dropped my skirt and Roger managed eventually to get his shorts down but of course we couldn't take our shirts off properly because of the chain. "You will have to unlink us first... please."

"Criminals do not tell us what to do bitch," the woman screamed in my face.

"We're not criminals," I protested.

"Maybe, maybe not. The letter from Colonel Nubaro says you are to be treated like them. Give them another couple Zard, perhaps they will realise their position then."

Almost before the strap touched Roger, he was on the floor. For a while he lay still and then his body started shaking and his limbs went out in all directions. Zard raised his strap. "No! Don't be a stupid fool! You'll kill him and then there will be hell to pay." I screamed as the strap hit me instead. Roger continued to thrash about on the floor and with the chain linkage, my arm was being thrown around too. Suddenly I remembered the envelope. "Here read the notes the nurse sent. Don't kill him. Don't." My words must have had some effect because Zard stopped and the woman picked up the envelope but didn't look inside. She just stared at the pair of us, seemingly not knowing what to do.

"What's going on here?" A man wearing a decent looking uniform entered. I rightly guessed he was the governor.

"Please Sir, he's having a fit. He can't help it Sir. His body cannot stand pain. Please ask them to stop Sir."

To my surprise he immediately ordered a warder, "Get a medic... pronto." I quickly noted the difference between guards and warders. Guards wore a camouflaged uniform, were armed with a pistol and carried a leather strap; warders wore a blue uniform but only had a strap.

In the short time it took for the medic to arrive, Roger began to quieten but it was still some time before he really awoke and then he seemed very dazed. The medic did examine him and declared that there was nothing wrong with his heart but Roger probably had a dehabilitating syndrome that was triggered by pain but that was totally outside of his experience. I wondered if we would be released but that thought was quickly dashed.

The governor turned to the woman at the desk. "Process them but strictly heed the Colonel's instructions. His letter said if I remember correctly, 'As far as practical, treat them like they are criminals having been sentenced to a term inside here.' It isn't practical to punish them in quite the same way as usual. Reserve any severe punishments for major breaches of discipline. Remember, they will undoubtedly tell the world of their experiences here. Be strict with them but don't overdo it, especially with the boy. Have them brought to my office in one hour."

"Yes Sir," the woman responded but I could see she resented the order. It only took a few moments for them to remove our shirts and refasten the chain. We were both completely naked, except that I was still allowed to wear my bluestone, when they made us stand with our hands spread high on the wall for our examination. "We have to check that you are not carrying drugs or anything in your body cavities," the woman grinned and proceeded to frisk Roger. Her idea of frisking meant kneading his flesh and particularly his prick and balls. I received similar treatment from a male guard. It was definitely a sexual examination although not a very painful one except when the areas caught by the strap were squeezed and twisted.

This over we joined up with Shenau again and were marched naked along stone corridors to what was labelled the shower room. Our clothing was not given back to us but my backpack with the laptop and cameras were and from that I deduced that we were going to have to record our experiences. We weren't the only one recording our experiences. At one point, Roger tripped and when I turned I noticed a man surreptitiously filming us. This frightened me as I guessed we would be treated harshly so the DVD would find a ready market. Shenau was allowed nothing at all. The poor girl walked bent over like an old woman and was in considerable pain. I tried to support her a little by wrapping her arm around my shoulder and received what was almost a smile in return. Although we tried to hurry along, it wasn't fast enough for the guard, (I suspect that if we'd run like athletes that wouldn't have been fast enough) and we received more stinging slaps from the strap.