 |
|||
|
|
Chapter 10
At the galley of the shuttle Aries, one of the two flight attendants was leaning around the door. "I said Council Leader Mayern would like some water."
"No, its time to do it," her colleague responded. "I got the signal."
"O.K." the other replied. "Are the other two passengers comfortable?"
"Depends on your definition of comfortable." She pulled back a panel door to reveal two bound and gagged women. Each wore only their bra, panties and tights. Their mouths were evidently packed, cheeks bulging beneath strips of heavy adhesive tape. More tape wrapped their arms, legs, wrists and ankles. The space in which the two women were confined was small but as each struggled, weightless, they collided with one another and the walls of the closet.
"Well ladies, do you think we are doing justice to your uniforms?" The two captives gave grunted responses that suggested they were less than happy.
"What is it they say – 'In space, no one can hear you scream.' Guess that's true if you've got your mouth full, eh?" More muffled squeals accompanied the shutting of the panel door.
The first of the two flight attendants slid a small metal case from a pouch slung on her belt. A tap on the end of the case sent four metallic components sliding slowly from the case. She caught each of them in turn, assembling them carefully, each part mating snugly against the other. She took the device in her right hand and made her way back into the cabin.
As she approached Mayern, the Council Leader looked up from the documents that she was working on. "Do you have the water?" she asked.
"No, Council Leader, I have something more important. Something from Forgwin, something to mark today."
Mayern looked up, puzzled. "I don't understand," she said as the flight attendant leant forward pressing the device against her chest.
"This is their thanks. To you, Council Leader. For delivering the women of Sol3a to them." Mayern looked startled for a moment until the attendant pressed the trigger on the device. The compressor capsule fired and the hypodermic needle shot the measured dose into Mayern's body. The drug induced paralysis took immediate hold, holding her body locked, unmoving.
The pen that Council Leader Mayern had been using drifted from her grasp, floating free in the cabin. Her assailant picked it from the air and slid it carefully into the top pocket of Mayern's tunic. Mayern looked on in terror, conscious but paralysed and unable to move.
As the Aries shuttle approached the Orbiter, coasting towards an automatic docking, the two half naked captives were pulled from their makeshift prison. As each tried to struggle free of the tapes that held them they drifted across the cabin of the Aries. Their captors smiled as their two victims tried to avoid colliding with the walls of the cabin. Their helpless wriggles only served to increase the tumbling and twisting of their weightless, free-fall, flight.
Aries slid towards the Orbiter's cavernous docking bay. A shudder ran through the shuttle as its retro jets fired in turn, first aligning it with the station and then matching its rotation with that of the docking bay before it coasted in to dock. An automated, pre-recorded announcement sang out from the shuttle's sound system, "Welcome to Sol3a Orbiter. Please remain in your couches until docking is concluded and the 'unfasten harness – airlock open' sign is illuminated. For those arriving from Sol3b you will find a 15%G zone for your comfort on levels 3 through 5. For those arriving from Sol3a a 1G zone can be found in the Orbiter Rim on the outer level. If you are departing within the next 24 hours please contact the Orbiter Help service for directions to your onward docking station. Thank you."
The two flight attendants stepped out of the shuttle into the docking hall of the Orbiter. There exactly as planned were their colleagues. "Christa! Nataya! Hi!" one of them called in greeting. "Natty uniforms!"
Christa, the taller of the two, smiled wanly. "Well they're hardly high fashion but I think their original owners would be glad to have them back. They are in the cabin with Mayern if you want to get them out, Terrill."
"Oh, I guess they will be OK for a bit, knowing you two," Terrill replied. "Do you want to see what we've been up to?" She pointed across the docking hall to the elevator that led to the rim of the Orbiter.
Christa and Nataya followed Terrill up to the observation lounge. In the lounge two more women stood guard over about fifty others. Their captives sat in five rows on the floor of the lounge, their wrists strapped behind their backs with cable ties, their heads enclosed in identical, black hoods. Some wore the uniform of Orbiter crew, others civilian dress. Half a dozen were naked. Mostly they were still and silent. A couple of the captives turned towards the sound of Nataya's voice as she spoke.
"Is this the lot?" Nataya asked.
"Uh huh," Terrill replied. "Twenty two crew, fourteen civilian passengers in transit, six members of the council security corps and the Council Leader's welcoming party, total forty eight. Let's see – you've got three, that's fifty one total."
|
|
|