“That’s right, Erzites,” the agent said. Perennius was irritated at the pleading note he seemed to hear in his own voice. That was bad form for a pitch like the one he was making. “And you know, smart men like you and your brother could make it big with help from – ”
“Shut the hell up!” the guard shouted. “I don’t want to hear about it, you know? Shut up!”
Perennius slipped back a step into the protective darkness of the cell. His companions watched him silently. All of them were now alert. The agent spread his arms, drawing the others’ heads close to his by suggestion rather than by actual contact. The couch continued to creak in the other room as their guard settled his weight. “We need to get his attention,” Perennius said softly, “and we need to get it on one of you. Now, I don’t like the choices, but it seems to me the only thing we’ve got to offer is sex. . . .”
Sabellia’s sudden tautness was no greater than the tension that had gripped Perennius’ bowels for minutes, while his mind planned and his mouth had spoken friendly words. The agent continued to speak now as if he were ignorant of the effect he was having.
Because like it or not, they had no other choice.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Hey, Erzites?” Sestius called in a husky whisper. There was no need for silence, but the tone seemed appropriate to the purpose.
The greatest problem had been to convince Sestius of what he must do. The centurion had foreseen Sabellia’s role in the skit, but it had been a shock to him that he would have to act as her pimp. Sestius could see that Perennius had to remain as far out of focus as possible; and it was obvious that neither Gaius nor Bella herself spoke enough Cilician to carry out the task. The centurion had still balked, with an increasing and unreasoning anger that came near explosion. That would have called Erzites’ premature attention, so the possibility had Perennius measuring Sestius for a rabbit punch.
It was only after Calvus laid long fingers on the centurion’s cheek and throat that Sestius had grown calm again.
Even that had not ended the discussion – or rather, had not brought Sestius around to what the others regarded as reason. He had shuddered frequently while Perennius pressed his case. No one suggested that Calvus could do the talking. Though the woman had not spoken a word of Cilician in his hearing, the agent was sure of her fluency in that dialect. Her grotesque appearance – grotesque if one knew her real sex and did not know her as a person – made her a dangerous risk for the job, however.
The darkness had been enhanced by the fact that the prisoners were huddled in a back corner of the cell. The two large pots along the wall, for water and their wastes, screened them further. Sabellia had whispered abruptly, “Morals don’t matter. You can do it easy, you have to do it if we’re going to get out. You didn’t watch them crucifying the fellow they brought in, you were gone by then. I don’t want to be up on that wall next.”
“Easy!” the centurion sneered. “Sure, I saw you prancing with those goddamned Germans, I saw you – ”
“Did you see me before that, too?” the woman rasped back. Her right hand gripped Perennius’ shoulder. He could feel her tremble like an arrow drawn to the head. “Did you watch them rape me, Quintus? Twenty-three times. I counted every one, I could only count. . . . Did you want that to go on every day until I – don’t you turn your head away! Every day till I bled out! Is that what you wanted?”
“I’m sorry, Bella,” the centurion had mumbled.
“Don’t be sorry,” she snapped back. “Act like a man and it won’t happen again.”
The Cilician had nodded. “All right,” he said, “all right.”
Now the guard turned to his charges. They had waited until he got up and tore off a piece of a loaf from the hamper of food near the lamp. Every moment’s delay increased the risk that the current victim would die and the congregation would come out in force to choose another. The escape attempt would certainly fail, however, if Erzites were angry at being awakened. Even now there was a hostile rasp in the guard’s voice as he replied, “You’ll get food when I’m damned good and ready to feed you.”