in fact, on the site of a former small nomadic village on the edge of the
northwestern desert. Sinkiang was a beautiful, exotic province, but it was not a
place that could ordinarily support large numbers of humans except in a few
isolated spots.
It was light before they reached Center, and ordinarily she loved to look out at
the vast expanse of mountains, tablelands, and desert from which the great dome
of the city rose, but she felt nothing now, not even apprehension. It was as if
something within her was already dead, and she had even managed an uncomfortable
and intermittent sleep on the journey.
They landed in a special security zone after clearing the shield. The door
opened, and the flight crew shut down and got out, then the captain undid her
restraints and helped her up. She was stiff and sore from being held in one
position for so long.
Although she knew the great city well, she had never been in this area before.
She had known it was here, of course, but the area had held little interest for
her before.
They marched her down a long corridor with automatic security gates every ten
meters or so, each one opening easily before them but closing behind with a
strange finality. The corridor led down far below even the maintenance level of
the city. Finally, they reached a reception room of sorts, where the captain and
his guard were relieved of their responsibility. There they were met by a
five-member squad of military women, all of whom looked like they loved
torturing small children and animals. All five wore the loose-fitting tunic and
baggy trousers commonly worn in Center, but these clothes were white with broad
red stripes on them. She wondered why they would wear such strange and ugly
things.
Honorable lady, I apologize for the journey and thank you for allowing us to do
our duty, the captain said sincerely, clearly glad that his part of things was
over. I wish you only the best fortune.
She felt as if she were expected to thank her executioner, but the man was
clearly in a spot himself and had treated her with respect. Return with my
blessings, Captain, she responded. Thank you for your courtesy. And with
that, the two soldiers got a signed receipt from the head of the squad, bowed,
and left.
Stand there and remove all of your clothes, the squad leader instructed in a
harsh, nasty voice.
Song Ching was startled. Never in her life had she undressed in front of
strangers. I am the eldest daughter of a warlord and the chief administrator,
she responded proudly. I do not get spoken to like that, nor do I disrobe in
public!
Get one thing straight, little flower, the leader snapped. You were those
things. In here you are nothing. You are the property of the state, and we are
the state. We have all sorts of highborns here, many greater than you, and it
all means nothing here. If you do not begin to disrobe in five seconds, you will
be restrained and forcibly disrobed. From this time on, there will be no second
chances. When someone gives you an order, you will obey it or it will go hard on
you. Voluntarily or bound and gagged, it is all the same to us.
For the first time she felt really scared, but she still did not comply. Her
pride would not allow it. A gesture from the leader was made, and two women
moved swiftly, throwing her against the wall and then ripping off her fine
silks. She screamed and struggled, but no one came to her aid or seemed to mind
in the least. Her arms were brought forward, and light but strong handcuffs were
placed on both wrists, each clip fastened to the other by a chain roughly half a
meter long. She could use her hands, but only within limits. Nearly identical
cuffs were placed on her legs above her ankles.
Now, will you walk or must we carry you? the squad leader asked, a note of
satisfaction in her voice. Clearly she enjoyed exercising power over those born
to a higher and more privileged position than she.
I will walk, she responded sullenly.
They moved fast; she almost had to shuffle to keep up, her stride limited by the
leg restraints. They took her into a room and sat her in a barber’s chair, and a
woman there quickly trimmed her shoulder-length silky black hair to a short
masculine cut. Her long, pointed nails were not cut down, but they were trimmed
to a roundness that looked grotesque. She was then given a crude but thorough
shower, with the guards doing the scrubbing. The experience was humiliating, and
she wanted to scream, but she wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction. She
decided quickly that what would disappoint them the most would be to keep an
aristocratic air and remain fatalistic.
Again she was marched down an endless series of corridors until they reached a
line of doors. When the squad leader activated one with a thumbprint, the door
slid back and Song Ching was ushered into a cell. Her arm and leg bindings were
then undone and removed.
The cell was completely empty. The walls, floor, and even the ceiling were
featureless and thickly padded. Lighting tubes at the wall-ceiling joints
provided good, if soft, light, but those fixtures were a good four meters up and
protected by some sort of opaque material. The whole cell was not more than four
by three meters.
Now, listen well, the squad leader told her. You will remain here until
called for. Your father who committed you ordered this so that you might not do
harm to yourself. You will be fed twice a day here, in the cell, under the eyes
of a guard. Anything you do not eat will be removed when the guard leaves, and
you will get no more until the next scheduled meal, so eat. The cell is
soundproof, but that small piece in the door is one-way glass. We will look in
on you from time to time to be sure you are all right, but we will not disturb
you. If you need to eliminate, go to this corner and sit. A toilet will adjust
to you. Do not, however, put your hand or anything else in there. The toilet is
a dry one, and anything that should not go there will be trapped and held there
until we come and remove you. If you look over here next to the toilet area, you
will see a small flexible tube in the wall. If you thirst, suck on it and water
will be dispensed in small, measured amounts. The reservoir takes one hour to
refill.
Also, any attempt to do yourself harm and you will get far shorter handcuffs and
leg chains. Any questions?
Yes. How long will I—be here?
As long as is necessary. Don’t worry. When you leave here, you won’t remember
any of this, even in your nightmares. With that, the squad left, and the door
closed with an awesome finality.
For a while she paced and fumed in frustration. They had it all worked out,
their methods honed over centuries of experience. Worse, they really could do
almost anything they wanted to her because, as the guard said, she would
remember none of it and so could not complain or report it. She even guessed the
reason for the guards’ odd clothing. Probably workers left their own clothes
outside and picked up those uniforms once inside the security barriers. Thus,
even if someone managed somehow to get out or make a break while going to and
from the medical area and somehow beat the security checkpoints, that person
would either be nude or wearing very conspicuous clothing.
What was so frustrating was that her own computer lab was probably no more than
a hundred meters up and then a kilometer away. In those rooms she could take
control and show them all—if only she could get to them. If, if, if, she thought
sourly. If only she’d kept her big mouth shut about this and worked out a way to
come back here to finish up a few things. If only she hadn’t been so wild that
even her mother could no longer see her as anything but a threat. She had been
so smart with all things electronic, but she realized she’d been pretty stupid
when it came to people. She had always been in command, in control. She’d never
had to worry about other people.
The cell was an effective prison. She examined it closely, every joint and
junction, until she saw a small dark spot hidden behind the light guard in one
corner. The others were harder to make out, but there seemed to be one in each
corner. Somewhere, perhaps not far off, someone was sitting in a chair and