by E L Russell
* * *
Meret took a deep breath to relieve the tension that stretched up her neck and surrounded her head in thumping intervals of pain. “I hate what I’ve become,” she said, rubbing her shaking hands together.
Nancy waved her off with a hand. “It’s natural to take some satisfaction in her predicament, but I wouldn’t have joined your team if all you were about was inducing physical pain. I think your idea to remove her identity is brilliant. I can see that your goal is to get some leverage so she’ll reveal her plan to wipe out the government. She needs to recognize you as keeper. That her only hope for a better existence is through you. You are the only one who can help her.”
Meret felt somewhat better with Nancy’s words and was glad for her support. Phew, though, there was a moment there . . . she shook her head. “I’m sure Katya’s fingers or toes hurt from the nail removals . . . and more so from flinging them about in her struggles. Her mouth is sore, too, from the teeth extractions. A mild painkiller in her IV drip should take care of that.”
“Nancy smiled. "But she’ll have to earn it, right?”
Meret nodded once. “We’re of the same mind. Damn right she’ll have to earn it. We’ll make it the first rung of her personal stepladder out of this hellhole. We’ll give her a personal pain pump.”
“And one that doesn’t work unless she gives us the information we ask for?”
“Exactly.” Meret rubbed her eyes with fingers and stretched. "We need to get on with this.” Tired and impatient, Meret’s pulse jumped when Katya changed her position on the bed. "Let’s move a chair to the foot of her bed so she’ll see you when she wakes up. Don’t forget your clipboard for the total ‘look.’.”
Katya's eyes remained closed and Meret checked and rechecked the connections for the small pain pump, about the size of a tube of lipstick, to make sure it worked yet would not release too much of the medication. She didn’t want the bitch pain free.
She made eye contact with Nancy, who was perched on the edge of the chair ready to stand to confront Katya when she woke, and gave Meret a thumbs-up before moving to a chair behind Katya’s head where she couldn’t be seen. “It shouldn’t be long now.”
Katya gave snarl and hiss of rage, waking with the same anger and venom she’d passed out with.
Nancy walked closer, drawing Katya’s glare.
“Ha ah ooo?”
“What, Nancy said. Can you repeat that?”
Katya stopped her struggling. “Hoo yoo?”
“Oh. Me? Is that what you want to know? Who I am?’ If looks could kill. She’d be a goner.
“I am you.” Nancy tilted her head to one side. “Do you understand? You no longer exist.”
Silence met her statement until a wail filled the room.
Meret came around the bed to be in Katya’s field of vision. Showing no reaction to the outburst, she said, “Those ‘N’ words. There the devil without teeth, aren’t they? Yes, that woman is you and you are nobody. You should get used to it.”
“Uck ou. Et loozz.” She pulled on her imprisoned arms trying to tear at Meret's face.
Meret grabbed Katya’s nail-less fingers in both surgical-gloved-hands and squeezed as hard as she could. “Those straps are something aren’t they? You might want to check out your hands, though, bitch. You’ve got no claws. Or did you forget?”
Katya arched her back and screamed as she banged her fingers in the process of reaching for Meret again.
“Tender, aren’t they?” She examined her own nails and blew on them as if drying nail polish, or maybe soothing a pain. “We tore them from your nail beds. They’ll grow back. Hmm. Maybe not.. I’m not sure. If they do, it’ll take a while and they may grow in a funny shape. We’ll see.”
Katya’s head rolled from side to side with her screams, while she kicked as far as the restraints allowed.
“I wouldn’t do that either. We pulled your toenails out the same way. You are rubbing your toes against the sheet. That must hurt.”
Meret's eyes never left Katya’s as she slowly pulled the pain medication's pole closer to Katya's head and then showed her the lipstick-tube-sized white cylinder. She moved it back and forth inches from her nose. Katy’s eyes followed in silence. Her eyes were probably the only thing on her body she could move without pain.
“No pain watching, is there?” And then she reached down and grabbed the toes of Katy’s closet foot..
Katya screamed.
Meret returned the pain pump to Katy’s view.
“This will help.” Meret dramatically squeezed the button three times.
Katy's body relaxed, and her hands fell to her side. Her torso sank into the bed like a punctured ballon.
“Ah, you see how it works.” Meret gently placed the pain pump in the palm of Katya's hand and folded her bandaged fingers around it. She held Katya's hand for a moment before removing it and leaving the pain pump in Katy’s hand. Katya’s eyes danced from the pump to Meret’s face several times before she fell asleep.
"She’ll sleep for at least twenty minutes,” Nancy said. “Good job. How are you?”
Turning to face Katya, Meret dramatically positioned the pain pump inches from Katya's nose, and then smiled, holding out both hands. "Steady as a rock.”
72
Jack’s Back
November, D.C. Black Site - new position defined
Meret said to the ceiling. “She’ll sleep for at least twenty minutes. Send the IT guys in.” She fell into her lounge chair.
Damn. She felt like a monster. She didn’t hurt people intentionally. This was not her. She shook her head. Yet she had been happy to inflict some pain on Katya. She’d gladly inflict more. Afraid she’d spoken out loud, she glanced at Nancy who seemed to be studying her.
“Are you doing okay?”
Rather than reply, she asked a question. “How long have you been interrogating prisoners?” She didn’t think she could endure this a second time
"Not something I like to talk about, but,” she waved her hand toward their sleeping prisoner, “this one's unusual. Would you believe that during the years after nine-eleven’ when torture was restored I rarely worked with prisoners who were charged with a crime? It took us far too long to get information. Finally, I realized that torture was not an effective way to get information. I don't think it would be effective with Katya, either."
The door opened and six technicians wheeled in three large-screen TV monitors. Nancy instructed them how to position them on the wall behind Katya’s head and on both sides of her bed. While they did that, she moved her chair from the foot of the bed to its head, next to Meret’s.
"What did you mean by not effective?” Meret asked. “We need to get three pieces in information from her.” She counted on her fingers. “Foremost, everything about the pending attack on the Homeland. That’s vital. Then we want to know who is paying her to do this hellacious deed and why, although abolishing our government leads to an obvious conclusion. And last but not least, we need to get the keywords that unlock Granger’s mind.
"I don’t mean to be a pessimist,” Nancy said, grimacing, “but in my opinion, we’ll be lucky if she gives up anything. Everything is too important to her. Perhaps I’ll know better after a few more sessions.”
* * *
Later, Meret called Steve and spoke first. “Steve, we need to find Jack Strake ASAP. Our other options look looks like they’ll take more time unless we find him first.”
Steve groaned. “I’ll take that as a negative update on Katya’s progress.”
“Quite possibly, but anyway, we need Stake. You know the longer it takes us to locate him, the less chance we’ll find Debby and Agent Kennedy alive. Strake and his goons were a long-time favorite of Donahue’s. I know we have no real evidence of foul play, but from reading Donahue’s management reports, few prisoners survived Strake’s interrogations. I managed to tag both of them with a tracker that had a range of five miles. Why haven’t we found trace of them? Are our agents
making a proper air survey of locations in and around Washington? Can we use the drones?”
“Ah shit, Meret, you know they were lifted off the hotel’s roof in a chopper. They could be anywhere within five hundred miles.”
She lowered her chin. “I’ll touch base with Zhen. He may have an idea.” She looked into the eyes of Steve’s image on her screen. “I’m sorry, Steve. I know everyone in the Company is working their ass off on this one.” And then in a softer voice, “Any chance of locating the hacker, Henri Baudin? He might be able to provide some information on Katya’s rabbit holes.”
“Baudin?”
“Right, Steve. You’ll recognize his name from papers you found in your PSI Corps raid. Henri did some work for Katya and PSI Corp a while back.”
Steve said, “I recognize the name, but how is he connected to all this? We’ve been monitoring Debby's new message handle on TOR, and so far, we’ve found no INTEL of value.”
“Debby claimed Henri can be invisible if he chooses.” Meret made a fist. “Damnit. I’m afraid we’re gonna need all three of them to get the info we need. Can you put more resources on Debby’s TOR activity? When we find her, we’ll convince Debby Katya plans to blame her father and Henri for the Homeland attack. Be sure to tell her we have Katya locked up under total control. Send her a video of Katya in her Littler Box and tell her to forward it to Henri. We’ve got to make him feel safe enough to work with us. He’s the key to finding everyone supporting Katya.’
“And Strake?”
“Katya probably put Strake in charge of getting information out of Debby about Henri. Furthermore, I’m sure the people we’ve recorded tagging congressman are Jack Strake’s men. Katya is the queen of this nest, but I’m afraid we caught her too late. She probably has Strake managing the tactics and logistics of the attack on the Homeland.”
Steve frowned and nodded and then thought aloud. “So Henri is who we need and Debby is our only connection. If we catch Strake before the attack, maybe we can make a deal with him. We’ll tell Strake that Katya is about to break and if she does, he’ll lose all leverage with us.”
“Right. And that cause him to lose the opportunity for better jail time the rest of his life.” Meret ended her call to Steve and examined the two video monitors positioned on each side of Katya’s head and a third lowered from the ceiling at the foot of her bed. “Good. Katya couldn’t possibly ignore her new her new hairless look no matter where she looks.
Nancy whispered, "She’s coming around. Let’s stand behind her and watch her reaction to what she sees on the TV screens.”
"She’ll be seeing herself for the first time,” Meret said. “I expect she’ll be good and pissed.”
Katya howled when she saw the three.
“Ah, she’s awake.”
Silence followed until the pain pump hit the floor with a small clatter and she shrieked again, filling every nook and cranny of the room.
“I’m on this,” Nancy said. “I think it’s time she and I had a chat.” She walked around the bed so she stood in Katya’s full view. Posturing, she swished her silky black hair and ran her hands down the length of her lab coat, which raised the volume Katya’s screaming to a crescendo. Then, just as quickly, the assassin of hundreds of woman and children dropped her objections to a pitiful mewling whimper.
Nancy raised her arms and did a pirouette in her sleek stiletto sandals. "Do you like my look, Katya? I am you, as you can see. You, on the other hand, are nobody. Look in any of the TV monitors and see for yourself.”
* * *
In the corner of one of D.C.’s seediest bars, Jack Strake sat alone sipping on a third, or possibly a fourth, bottle of New Castle Pale Ale and although he faced the bar’s entrance across the smoke filled room, he paid little attention to the four dark figures gathered by the front door. He didn’t remember seeing them enter nor had he paid much attention to when two men went toward the head behind him. He raised his chin to get the barkeep’s attention.
Something stung his arm and the floor rose toward him.
* * *
Not knowing how long he’d been out, Jack woke in a panic cuffed to a dentist chair in the middle of a white room. In front of him stood a woman with long black hair. He stretched his neck for a closer look.
“Katya? Is that you? What the fuck? You some Fed in a bad movie? Get me out of here, you bloody bitch. I thought we was working together.” He jerked on his armbands and roared. “Get me the fuck out of here. They stuck me in some deep Barney Rubble cartoon with fucking skinny Katya look alike and her fucking clipboard.”
The woman adjusted her grip on the clipboard. "Don't toss any of your Cockney bullshit at me, Jack. I'm here to tell you this is your lucky day. Yeah, you can think of me as the ghost of Katya past. Behind that window you will soon see the pathetic form that is Katya, present and future.”
Meret stood behind Jack’s chair and kept out of his sight. With a lift of her chin, Steve, who monitored Katya’s room from the control center, cleared the mirror allowing Jack to gawk at the writhing bald woman restrained in a hospital bed. The monitors, to each side of him, gave him a clear close up her face and hands.
“Who? That’s not . . . it can’t be . . .” With bulging eyes and stretched neck, Jack stopped his half sentences and stared.
“Yes, yes. That is Katya.”
He recoiled as far as his bindings allowed.
“She is unable to speak, Jack. Nor is she able touch you, see you, or hear you. Let me turn up the sound so you can enjoy the whole show."
She motioned to the ceiling at Steve and the bald woman’s toothless cries and screams drove Jack deeper into the back of the chair and he swiveled his head back and forth from Katya to Nancy.
“’Ere now, what you playing at? His lips curled as he looked again at the bald woman writhing on the bed. “That really ‘er?
"Right-o, old chap. She’s our prisoner. And so, it seems, are you.”
Jack’s anger dissolved a bit into respect. “Blimey, how’d you manage that? Hey.” He pulled on his arms and rattled his cuffs. “Wadda ya need me for then?”
Meret walked from behind his chair. and spoke to him. "Jack, I’m Doctor Mather. I work with the CIA. Here’s what we know and here’s what will happen to you, Jack. First, we know you had nothing to do with the murder of fifteen hundred women and girls last month. On the other hand, no else ones knows you weren’t involved. Either way, your association with PSI Corps gives us the right to lock you away with Katya forever. Maybe together.”
Horror oozed from his pores. “Lock me up? With her? No. I mean no! You can’t do that.”
She raised on corner of her closed mouth and sneered. “We can do a lot of things, Jack.”
“But I’m not guilty. You just said so. I heard you.”
“Second,” Meret said, “we know there will be an attack on the government soon and I will tell you plain and clear, if you don’t tell us what you know in time for us to intervene, we will make what’s left of your life hell on earth.”
“But—”
She shushed him with a raised hand. "Not now, Jack. I’m not done. Third, if you help us prevent that attack from occurring, we’ll treat your sorry ass just like a ‘no harm, no foul,' deal. Do you catch my drift, Jack? You could be in a good bargaining position. How does ‘little’ time and ‘early’ parole, sound?”
She watched him digest that bit of info as he re-examined Katya through the window. She hoped to hell he had a whole lot of information.
“Keep in mind, Jack,” Nancy picked up on the thread, “if Katya tells us what we need to know about the attack first, the deal is off. You and she could be cellmates yet.” There was no question that Katya terrified him and the idea of being close to her in any fashion about made him wet himself. He jerked at his cuffs. "Christ, ‘ow long will she be screaming like that?”
Meret leaned closer. "Jack, the word is, ‘forever.’"
73
First Things Last
&n
bsp; November, D.C. Black Site - New Tactics
Special Agent Steve Fairchild planned to meet with Meret and Nancy in the large central interrogation room, but at the suggestion of Granger's nurse, the four of them met in Granger's white room.
Robert arranged the chairs around the bed. "I’ve had patients tell me that in their semi-conscious sleep they found comfort in hearing friendly voices even though they couldn’t follow the conversation. That’s why I suggested we meet here.”
That made sense to Meret and she sat in the chair closest to Granger so she could hold his hand. It broke her heart how helpless he looked, so unlike his virile conscious self. She squeezed his hand and murmured a greeting, but got nothing in return. “Give me an update, Robert. Can you guess when he’ll wake up? Do you know how he’s doing?”
“Hmm, a difficult question.” He tucked his clipboard between his hip and armrest and leaned forward. “There is a great contradiction between the Granger the monitors show and the man I feel is in there when I examine him.” He glanced at the collection of wires and black boxes with a wide array of lights and numbers before fixing his gaze on the inert Granger. He murmured almost inaudibly, as if he were thinking aloud. “The doctors have ruled out coma.” He paused. “To me, he is switched off.”
After another pause, he locked eye contact with Meret, looking deep inside for what? Answers? Confirmation of his thoughts? She wasn’t sure.
“You know doctors may put a patient into a coma for deep healing. Patients sometimes do that to themselves so they can heal. Nothing in my training tells me that he couldn’t do this to protect his sanity. We don’t know what he is dealing with in terms of Katya. It is possible he is fighting the effects of her conditioning. or if the drugs they gave him were too much for his system.”