John Ringo: Emerald Sea

“No,” Megan replied, sitting up. “Tell me, O Wise One.”

Paul smiled and said something softly.

“Have you ever heard of the Sabine women?” Paul asked.

Megan thought about it for a long time and then shook her head.

“I think my mother mentioned the term,” she said. “But I don’t recall anything about it.”

“Very old legend,” Paul said, taking a sip of wine. “The Romans were short on women so they invited a neighboring tribe, the Sabines, to a festival in honor of the gods. Under a binding truce of course. At the height of the party, the Roman young men took off with the Sabine’s wives and daughters while the older men held off the Sabines. Then they raped them and took them as their wives. Quite a few years later the Sabines had built up enough force to fight the Romans and, hopefully, destroy them. But the Sabine women convinced them not to kill their new husbands. After a while the Sabine tribe was absorbed by the Romans.”

Megan frowned. “It’s a legend.”

“A legend that has had a ring of truth to this day.” Paul sighed. “Because the psychological basis of it started to be understood in the twentieth century, starting with something called the Stockholm Effect. People tend to bond to their captors in personalized imprisonments. Most of the real-life examples have faded over the last few millennia but there are tens of thousands of them that have been studied. And the psycho-physiological effects, even the evolutionary bases, are easily traceable. Women who have been kidnapped and imprisoned tend to bond to their captors even more readily and to fall in love with them. Tend. Not always, humans are individuals. But it’s the majority.”

“I’ve fallen in love with my kidnapper,” she said, hanging her head.

“You’ve fallen in love with your kidnapper,” Paul confirmed. “It’s not nice, it’s not the way that things are ‘supposed’ to be. But it’s very real and it’s very human and it’s something that I counted upon when I set up this… group. It probably goes back to prehuman conditions. Young female chimpanzees that are thrown out of their packs are often found by males from other packs. When they are, they are forced back to the area that the females stay in and are brutalized until they stay there of their own free will. To the point of preventing new females from attempting to escape. I have not brutalized you girls, but do you think Christel, for example, would support any plans to escape?”

“No,” Megan said.

“I could postulate a race which is different,” he paused and chuckled grimly. “Actually, I don’t have to. The elves are different. Attempt to rape or imprison an elf and you’d better have lots of chains. And a gag.”

“You haven’t…” Megan said, her eyes wide.

“Never,” Paul replied, definitely. “But some have tried from time to time, especially in the years when they lived among humans; elves were always beautiful. But the elves have no submit in them. They do not change their… emotions under stress. Put them in an imprisonment situation and they will always try to escape. They will tend, very hard, to try to kill their guards, even if it means their own deaths. Humans, though, tend to make the best of a bad situation. Even to the point of falling in love.” He looked at her tenderly and smiled. “I take it you’re human?”

“Very,” she admitted.

“Amber, though, seemed to be part elf,” Paul sighed. “She never would submit to this necessity and when she plotted to kill Christel and escape I was forced to make her… more compliant.”

Megan shuddered and shook her head. “Paul, do me a favor. If I ever go insane and do something that makes you have to do that, just kill me, okay?”

“I truly hope it never comes to that. You can’t kill me, you know,” he added, looking at her. “And if you even managed it through some miracle, it would be worse than it is now. That is part of this effect; faced with unpalatable choices humans choose the lesser of the evils and live through them as best they can. But you don’t want to anymore, do you?”

She thought of all the nights that she had cried for her loss and the pain. And of all the times they had talked. She probably knew more about the inner workings of the New Destiny faction than anyone not a part of it. And she knew that she no longer wanted to kill him. It didn’t mean she wouldn’t, but she didn’t want to.

“No,” she answered honestly, dipping her head again and fighting not to cry.

“If it helps you at all, I love you, too,” Paul said. “You’re… very precious to me. Sometimes when I come here it is only to see you. I can’t talk to other people as I can with you. I certainly can’t to anyone outside this group and of all the ones in it, the only other one that had your clarity of mind and ability to listen and make useful comments was Amber. And in the end, I had to make her safe.”

“I won’t force you to do the same to me,” Megan said. “At least, I hope I never do.”

“Do you know why the caged nightingale won’t sing?” Paul asked.

“You said that before,” she said, looking up with unshed tears in her eyes.

“It is because it knows that it is supposed to fly free,” Paul said. “When you can’t sing anymore, I’ll know that it is time to release you… or know that you will never sing again.” He looked at her sadly for a moment then stood up. “I have to go.”

“Paul, you are not going anywhere,” Megan said. “You’re still not strong enough.”

“I have things I have to do, Megan,” Paul said. But when he stood he swayed on his feet.

“There,” Megan said, triumphantly.

“Blood flow, that’s all,” Paul said. “I stood up too fast.”

“I’ll wake everybody up again and we’ll start all over,” Megan warned. “Where do you have to be? What can’t you do from right here?”

“I need… I don’t have to be anywhere. But I need to recall my avatars and find out what they have been doing while I’ve been… busy.”

“You’ve got projections running and not monitoring them?” Megan asked.

“They’re sentient avatars,” Paul corrected. “For all practical purposes they are me. It was proscribed pre-Fall, but it’s the only way to keep track of what is going on. I need to recall them, soon. They’re not… fully stable. I need to recall them and then send out new ones.”

“Well, you can do that here,” Megan said. “Right?”

“I need to be undisturbed,” Paul pointed out.

“There’s an empty room right there,” Megan said, pointing at his chamber. “And I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed. And when you’re done, I’ll make sure that you’re fed and comforted and cosseted and…”

“Okay, okay.” Paul laughed, hushing himself as one of the other girls stirred and snaked a hand across the body next to her. “I’ll go in there.”

“And I’ll watch. Is there anything I should be aware of?”

“No, it’s a harmless procedure,” Paul said, walking to the room. “Mostly.”

Paul reclined on one of the pillows and closed his eyes, appearing to go back to sleep or into a trance. But almost immediately he began to twitch as if hit by some invisible force. And he muttered.

“Bloody hell…” Pause. “No, no, no how stupid can one vacuous bitch be? Released?” Pause. “Ekmantan.” Pause. “Ships? Dragon-carriers?” Pause. “Damn them.” “Talbot.” A hiss of anger.

It went on for what seemed like hours and he became drenched with sweat, the increasing anger boiling off of him like a vapor.

She rose after a while and left quietly. All of the other girls were still in sodden slumber so she picked through the detritus of the orgy until she found the remains of the carafe of wine and a jug of water. She carried both in and resumed her vigil.