Clive Bedford - Mistress of torment

"They've changed their tactics, Lady," she said. She did not actually say that, of course, nor did she call the other woman "Lady", but that is the best literal translation we have been able to make so far of that curious language which seems to follow no rules with which we are familiar.

"We expected that… How?"

"The last two agents they sent us were liquidated… as you ordered, but there was a mistake, Lady…"

The older woman raised her thin eyebrows. Her face was suddenly cold, tense, lizard-like.

"A mistake? What kind of mistake?"

"The bodies were disposed of too soon. They were still wearing the Deprivation Belts!"

"And who was responsible for that folly?"

Gulda closed her eyes for a second, then opened them again to look square into her superior's eyes.

"I was," she said.

"What happened?"

"It was harmless, Lady. Thoughtless too but harmless…"

"I'll be the judge of that. What happened?"

"When your signal came through, I had been waiting a long time… I was bored… I was making the boy and girl… amuse me. They are always so fascinating to watch, Lady, as you know," Gulda continued, rapidly, her nervousness evident.

"And?"

"At once I tied the boy up and took the girl out for a walk, near the great river – the Thames. When we were near the bank, I pressed the destruct button on my transmitter, then pushed the body into the water. The next morning, before I had disposed of the boy, the body was discovered. And then I realized that I had left the Deprivation Belt on her…"

"After all the warnings you had had about the others? After you had seen the fate of those other fools responsible? What is the matter with you, Gulda?"

"I… I don't know, Lady. These Earth people they fascinate me somehow…"

"What about the boy?"

"I held him prisoner for a week. Then I had your urgent message about the arrival of the American girl in London. So I sent him on an errand by underground train. I followed, and as the train came into the station, I destroyed him, and he fell under the train. He was… cut almost in two. But… I forgot the Deprivation Belt again, Lady." Gulda clasped her hands. "Lady, I'm sorry, I really am. You don't know what it's like down there, with everyone's hand against you, danger at every turn – and always the fear of infection – I've been ill, Lady. It is the food I think."

The Lady stared at Gulda with eyes which held no emotion.

"What are the new tactics against us?" she asked.

"The authorities in Britain and America have at last realized that we are some kind of a threat. They have decided to try to get information about us that they can share with the two other power blocks, what they call the Russians of East Europe and Asia, and the Chinese and Japanese, the yellow men of East Asia. They hope to align the whole world against us in defense. But the method they are using is either very clever or else extremely stupid. I don't know which. They have put together a silly little blond American girl and a young English policeman, more notable for his physique than his brain. They are to make themselves bait to attract us, and after that it is left to them to do what can be done to get proof of the threat we offer to their security."

"What do they call themselves?"

"The girl is called Sonia Evans, and the man is Gerry Glasner."

"What else do you know about them?"

"I have pictures here. They are in the cleansing room and will be sent to you as soon as they are safe."

"Why are you here, Gulda?"

Gulda gave a hasty account of the events in the Westland Hotel, leaving out a number of salient facts. The Lady frowned her obvious annoyance.

"Not only have you badly failed us, Gulda, in allowing your obsession with these Earth people to overcome your judgment; but in addition, you are compounding your error by lying to me! I want the whole truth, and I will have it… but not here, I think…"

Gulda clasped her hands convulsively. "I am sorry, Lady. I will tell you the whole truth. This is what happened…"

The Lady held up her hand. "You no longer have my confidence," she said and the words were like the knell of doom to Gulda. The Lady passed her fingertips over a metal plate which glowed to life. The door opened to admit two terrifying figures who advanced to stand, one on each side of Gulda, who half-started from her chair, looking wildly from side to side.

"Take her to the cells," said the Lady. "I shall come to question her in ten minutes."

As the figures each grasped a shoulder, Gulda began to struggle and scream. "No!" she cried, "No! Not torture! No!" She fell to the floor on her knees, her hands clasped imploringly. "Have mercy, Lady, mercy, I beg you…"

The Lady stared at Gulda coldly. "Mercy?" she asked. "What nonsense is this? I think you have mixed too much with Earth people and have absorbed too much of their feebleness of character. What mercy can there be for a fool who imperils the future of two million Andromedans, refugees from galactic disaster? With no more than two years of survival left to us if we do not find a new home, what can I, one of the Leaders of our people, know of 'mercy'. You have outlived your usefulness, Gulda. Take her away!"

The guards grabbed Gulda who was carried screaming and struggling from the room. The Lady sat silent for a few minutes, deep in thought. She regretted the loss of Gulda, as a butcher might regret the loss of a favorite knife. She had been a useful tool, but the edge had become blunt. Worse still, the very metal was soft and useless. Yet Gulda had been brave and had done a lot of good work. A period of punishing and humiliating slavery would reinstate her – but never again for outside work. She must stay under control for the rest of her life which, measured in Earth terms might well be another six-hundred years. It was this longevity of her people that had made it possible for the Lady to bring her fleet from the empty space beyond the solar galaxy into this kinder and safer place – but time was fast running out. There was no room for fools! She stood up and walked from the room, traversing the empty, silent corridors, occasionally nodding to another busy figure who stood back against the bulkhead to allow the Lady to pass. She entered a small elevator and sank rapidly to the depths of the great craft that was her only home.

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And there, in a small room, in total darkness, the Lady found Gulda, with hell in her heart, trembling with fear, knowing some of the ways in which her leader would certainly discover the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about Gulda's earthly activities. And although at the moment the Lady might be willing to let her live, Gulda felt sure that when the whole story was told, the only possible end of her saga could be death!

The two guards who had led Gulda away stood, one at each side of her, detached, uninvolved. Gulda knew well how they felt, because in her time she had been a guard on several occasions. The work was taken in turns of about a solar year each. During that time, the guards, who did all the unpleasant work of discipline in the craft, were segregated from the others. They were dressed austerely, always in black, always totally masked and hooded to increase the non-personality of what they had to do. Really severe punishment was rare, but with so many people living together so many light-years from the home that no longer existed, so desperate to find a new home, tension was always high. Quarrels were frequent, and all disputes, even of a relatively minor nature were punished. In harmony was too dangerous to be permitted. Whenever there was a quarrel, both parties to it were punished equally, on the reasonable assumption that there never was a quarrel in which either party was innocent.