This was my first day on the job and jobs are hard to come by for people like me.  What a celebration in our family when I was hired to be a guard in the state prison!  A paycheck at the end of each month and a pension for my old age!  I began my first day with the greatest determination not to screw up this, the opportunity of my life.

 

The sergeant gave me general instructions and then told me that because I was so “reliable” – whatever that meant! – I would be assigned to the detail guarding the special prisoner.  Then he gave me this book.  It had a plain cover with an even plainer title:  Orientation for X.

 

* * * *

From Orientation for X.

 

Purpose:  Orientation for new guards of the special prisoner.

 

I.  Introduction

 

Objective:  Total deprivation and control of the special prisoner (codename “X”).  To set example for other potential rebels against El Leader.

 

Subject:  Maria Velasquez; age 23; height short 5 ft. 2 inches; weight slim build.  Religious (Christian) disposition.  Pacifist.  Parentage 70% Native American; skin tone brown; hair black.  Only child, both parents dead.

 

Reason for Special Treatment:  Opposed to El Leader’s narcotics operations.  Private prayer vigils for “God’s healing our country”.  She stated that her activity in her own home does not violate El Leader’s laws because she only does it while alone.  However, she has not kept it a secret.  Public knowledge of and appreciation of this activity was growing in the region.  She refuses to support El Leader.  She refuses to renounce opposition to his rule.  Even though the region of the county where her hamlet resides is both small and remote, her reputation in it has been growing and can be source of future problems.

 

Our Public Position:  Prisoner is religious fanatic and U.S. Government spy. (Note recent U.S. efforts against drug cartels in our region.) We will not make her into a martyr.  Rather, prisoner is being re-educated for her own good and public safety.  More on public relations aspects of case in Section VI below.

 

The Truth:  [WARNING:  THIS PARAGRAPH IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY.  DO NOT DISCLOSE THIS TO OUTSIDERS UNDER PAID OF SEVERE PUNISHMENT!] 

 

Prisoner is simple peasant girl whose shy demeanor, quiet behavior, and good looks have attracted unwanted attention to her activity from our standpoint.  Expect submissive obedience to your commands due to her belief system.  No ties to US can be found and no other political activities are known.  However, she has been known to watch such tv shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel which she says “are real cool”.  (Note the fighting, the good vs. evil motif, the general anti-establishment attitude of these shows and most importantly, their US origin.)  She has participated enthusiastically in local dance events especially ones where US rock bands were played.  This participation has extended to singing karaoke.  It appears that she is unaware of the effect that this has on young men of her age and how it enhances her danger to us.  “I only have a few boyfriends.  If I fall in love, I will get married but I would like to play the field for a little while longer.”  As part of our remedial action plan, all her friends have been shot.

 

Summary:  Prisoner’s punishment is to be both private and public.  Her inner spirit must be broken; the peasants of the region must be cowed.  Once these intermediate goals have been accomplished, the prisoner will be kept where she shall be forgotten and her life made a hell until old age comes and she eventually dies.

 

* * * *

 

So this was the famous Maria Velasquez!  She really didn’t look like much.  She stood with her back to a large post in the ground.  The post was about 8 feet high and about as wide as a telephone pole.  Her arms were wrapped around it and the wrists tied together.  Since her arms were bare, I noticed that the position was putting a strain on the muscles.  The upper arm flexed and rippled as she labored to get a more comfortable position.  Other cords around her ankles, thighs, and chest bound her body to the post.

 

Her face was a study in agony.  Her hair was matted on the top of her head.  It was dark black.  It scraggled down the back and sides of her head to her neck.  The other guards sat in the shade fanning themselves in the heat of the Central American afternoon.  Everybody had apparently been this position for a long time. 

 

“So, we’ve got a new man!”  I turned to her in surprise. She looked at me with a crooked grin on her face.

 

“Are you allowed to talk?” I asked.  “Why not, we’re having such a party!” she answered.

 

The head guard chuckled.  “She is quite a comic.  Just when you think she’s done up good, she gives us a joke.  Such a jokester!”  He got up, took my papers from my hand, grinned at me, then turned and slapped the prisoner’s face.  She moaned and rocked her head from side to side.  He turned back to me and said, “Welcome to the detail.”

 

This situation was certainly not what I expected.  All I want is a paycheck.  I reflected that humor can see one through the greatest adversity but that presupposes that there is another side to the valley, that the phrase “getting through” means that there is an end to get through to.  What if the adversity in one’s life will never have an end, that it will become as in the words of the manual, “the prisoner will be kept where she shall be forgotten and her life made a hell until old age comes and she eventually dies?”

 

I believe that this is when the thought of murder first entered my mind.

 

From Orientation for X.

 

II.  General Rules

 

Identity:  Prisoner to be stripped of all sense of self.  She shall be addressed at all times as  “X” and referred to as “The Prisoner”.  The term “Prisoner X” is prohibited as that implies other prisoners in the system and hence kindred spirits.  Guards’ behavior shall emphasize that she is all alone and shall always remain so.

 

The Outside:  Under no circumstances shall she receive any information of anything going on in the outside world.  Her entire universe shall consist of you the guards, her bondage, and her suffering.  Guards shall not even speak among themselves within her hearing except for necessary matters relating to the prisoner and her punishment.

 

Time:  Wake-up, bed-down, and other necessary items of the day shall be varied so that the prisoner may have no frame of reference.  No watches or calendars may be displayed within the prisoner’s sight.  Guards must never let the prisoner know the time or the day or the year.  The prisoner shall exist in a timeless fog of endless suffering.

 

Privacy:  None.  At least three guards shall be with the Prisoner at all times when she is out of her cell pit.  The number shall impress upon the prisoner that she is absolutely under our control.

 

Attire:   To facilitate handling procedures, normal daily clothing shall be minimal.  No hat for head and feet kept bare.  Prisoner shall wear shorts extending from lower belly at their top to the upper thigh at the bottom.  Since prisoner’s breasts are small, she shall wear the fitted cloth strap across them.  Guards should make sure that strap is firmly secured in back as garment has no shoulder straps to hold it up.  Other attire may be assigned for punishment and other special purposes.  At no time shall the prisoner be allowed any input as to dress or the bondage she shall wear.

 

Bondage:  The prisoner’s arms and legs shall be shackled at all times except for exercise periods and other occasions specifically designated.  Prescribed length of chains for ankles is 12 inches to allow minimal movement by prisoner.  When unshackling a limb observe the following procedures:

 

            1)  arms.  With one hand grasp the prisoner’s inside muscle of the upper arm firmly just below the shoulder.  Wrap your other hand around the outside wrist just above the handcuff.  Squeeze but not so hard so as to prevent blood circulation.  Another guard then shall remove the cuff from the prisoner’s wrist.  That guard positions the arms to a new position.  While this is in process, the prisoner is to have no freedom of movement.  Do not allow the prisoner to guide you to the new position; you guide her.  Only after the cuffs are placed back onto the wrist may the arm be released.

 

            2)  legs.  This will require three men for each leg.  The prisoner will normally be seated or laid down for this procedure.  One guard will wrap both arms around the prisoner’s thigh and will squeeze firmly.  The second guard will wrap both hands around the prisoner’s ankle and also squeeze.  Then the third guard may unlock the cuff. 

 

            3)  both.  Prisoner must be blindfolded.  A guard should stand behind prisoner and place arm around prisoner’s throat. Press forearm to front of throat so that back of prisoner’s neck is pressed against guard’s chest.   Give prisoner detailed orders for what specific acts are required of her once released.  Have her repeat those orders to you.  Only when she has exactly proved her understanding of her orders may the cuffs be removed from her arms and legs.

 

Since prisoner may tend to sweat in the hot days in our latitude, the guard may wish to dry prisoner’s thighs and upper arms with a towel before gripping them with his hands.

 

Note that releasing prisoner even partially from her shackles may undermine our regime of absolute control over her.  These actions emphasize to her that no minute and no part of her life is her own.

 

Movement:  For normal movement between prison areas, prisoner shall be blindfolded.  She must have no sense of space as well as time.  Each area of the prison she is exposed to shall be an entire universe to her with no sense of relation to anywhere else.  A guard shall stand on each side of prisoner.  Each guard shall firmly grasp prisoner’s upper arm with both hands.  One hand shall grasp inside of prisoner’s arm while the other hand grasps the outside of the arm.   March prisoner to destination.

 

* * * *

 

I stood watching X staked in the sun, with her arms tied together behind the post.  Her head was still reeling from the blow.  It rocked from side to side with a soft moan.

 

I noticed a drop of sweat come down the side of her face.  It curved down the front of her ear and then ran down her neck.  The neck was so thin!  It ran down to her collarbone.  Because her shoulders were pulled down by the ropes, the drop went out to the front of her arm.  It stopped at the band of ropes that tied her body above her breasts and around her upper arms.  Other drops of sweat joined it until it was too big a drop to be held by the cord.  It fell over the cord and ran down her side.  Her body was wet from the perspiration so the drop glided straight down.  The chest was heaving from her suffering.  Her little tummy was soft and glistened in the sun.  The drop fell over the stomach rope and disappeared into her shorts.  I imagined it going down her lower area and then starting down her leg.  A drop emerged from her shorts just inside her thigh.  It followed the curve of her leg;  the cord binding her legs just above her knees was now no obstacle to it.  The drop leaped over it and slid around her knee to the inside of the bone on the front of her lower leg.  It followed that around the large muscle and landed on her foot.  It stayed there for a moment, and then ran down the side and into the dirt.

 

From Orientation for X.

 

III.  Daily Routine - Wake-up:  Send wake-up signal to prisoner’s sleep helmet.  (The sleep helmet monitors the prisoner’s brain waves.  This device has two purposes:  1) psychological, the prisoner has absolutely no privacy even in sleep, and 2) security, any escape will break the signal that the helmet sends to control.)

 

Look down into pit.  Prisoner will be inside it.  Tell prisoner to stand with hands raised above head in surrender mode.  Note that previous shift has left prisoner in the prescribed sleepwear.  (White sack dress to make her more visible in dim light.  Dress should leave arms visible below lower half of shoulder muscle, cleavage three inches below neck, and hem just above knee.)  Observe that her feet are bare and placed together with hobbles on, that the helmet has been placed at the foot of her cot, that she stands without slouching, and that her arms are fully erect and vertical with hands apart and extended to the full 8 inches that the sleep shackles on them allow.  Lower the hook into the pit.  Tell the prisoner to put the wrist chain over the hook.  Then raise her.

 

Lower prisoner onto platform above her cell pit.  Unshackle prisoner’s arms and legs.  (See General Procedure II-Bondage-3 above.)   Direct prisoner to remove her dress and stand naked.  These procedures result in pain in the hoist up and the humiliation of stripping and standing naked within minutes of having wakened. 

 

* * * *

 

It was only a dream!  I was a little girl again.  Papa and I were on the side of the hill above our village.  The breeze was just right.  The kite was so high; it was many feet above the ground!  Then Papa turned to me and held the string out to me.  “Here, you can take it now,” he said.  His face was beaming.  I took the string and ran and ran and ran.  Then I woke up.

 

I have a headache.  I always wake up with a headache.  There’s this awful thing I must wear on my head.  Now that I am awake, I must take it off.  I stand and raise my hands.  My bare feet ache on the cold cement.  All around me is cement.  I have on only a slip.  I have had no clothing over my arms or legs for such a long, long time.  Well, my slip does go down to my knees.  But under that, nothing.  Everything I wear is so drab and small.

 

I cry.  I can’t help myself.  I know I’m a big girl now.  I shouldn’t cry but I do.  I can barely look up to see the hook coming down.  It’s all just so awful!  I can’t stop crying.  O, God!  What have I done?  Whatever it was, it must have been something really bad!  I know it wasn’t praying.  That’s good, isn’t it?  It couldn’t my being a rebel against El Leader.  How could it be?  I didn’t do anything!  What was it I did?  I must be a really bad person to have a life like this.  I’m sorry, I’m so very sorry – whatever it was I did.

 

I imagine that somewhere in the universe there is a book that records all of my thoughts.  I can’t write; I’m not allowed to.  Not really.  That stupid stuff they make me write before they send me to this pit doesn’t count.  Somewhere out there is my invisible book where I can write my invisible thoughts.

 

In the meantime the hook has arrived and the guards are yelling at me.  I must concentrate on putting my chain over the hook and not cry at my helplessness as they raise me up.

 

* * * *

From Orientation for X.

 

III.  Daily Routine - Morning Prep:  In line with General Health Procedures described below, prisoner shall commence toiletries including brushing teeth and combing hair.  Medical Adjutant (MA) shall check prisoner and direct further actions by her at this point.  MA shall perform the day’s first tests of blood pressure and other vital signs.  Since prisoner is in unshackled state, guards shall grab hold of her wrists stretching her arms out in the crucifix position while medical tests are performed.  When MA concludes tests, guards may delay a few minutes before presenting her with her day’s underwear, shorts and top to let her humiliation sink in.

 

Egress from Sleep Area:  Once clothed, order prisoner to extend hands to receive cuffs.  Prisoner must face guard and extend her arms directly in front of her with no bending of elbows.  Hold cuffs directly in front of her face and order her to look at them.  This daily ritual shall impress on her mind that her life is in bondage to the state.  She shall stand there with her arms extended until she looks strait at the cuffs and says, “I accept these chains as the just punishment of the state.”  You then put the cuffs on the wrists, tighten them to the acceptable degree and allow her to lower her arms.  Cuff  her ankles.

 

Present her specially fitted blindfold.  It’s 1 inch wide thin design allows maximum exposure of the face (lack of privacy again).  Hold blindfold under the prisoner’s nose and make her gaze at it.  Then look directly at her.  Get in her face to emphasize the point.  Announce that you will now take away her sight.  Put the blindfold on top of her head.  Slowly lower it.  Adjust the plastic nose guard to prevent sight from the bottom of the eyes.  Do not adjust elastic band at the back of her skull.  It is especially fitted so as to prevent excessive headaches from too much pressure while preventing eyesight from slippage.

 

Stand stretcher behind prisoner.  Order prisoner to step directly backwards until head, back, but, and legs are directly touching stretcher.  Strap her in.  Buckle strap about her shoulders and upper chest.  Buckle strap just below her breasts.  Buckle strap about her hips.  Buckle strap above her lower thighs just above her knees.  Buckle strap about her ankles.  Place plugs in her ears.

 

Lower stretcher to floor.  Lift it up and carry her out of the dungeon.

 

Great care must be taken not to let the prisoner have any sensation of going up or out.  At night she is walked down the flights of stairs to impress upon her that for her everything is down.  Her cell is in a pit deep below ground.  Even though logically she must realize that to get back out she must have to be taken up, that thought must not be reinforced by any additional sensory input.  As far as she can tell, she is strapped to the stretcher and then unstrapped outside of the building.

 

Breakfast:  Once outside building set end of stretcher with prisoner’s head against wall so that body is at 45 degree angle to ground.  Remove earplugs.  Inform prisoner that you shall now feed her breakfast.  The meal will be found on the table next to her. 

 

Prisoner is aware that failure to eat and drink will result in MA forcing her to do so.

 

Before allowing her any sip of liquid or morsel of food you will order her to open her mouth.  It is usually best to begin with liquids (usually water). 

 

Touch glass to her lips.  Order prisoner to drink.  For liquids, prisoner shall use her lips to move glass to position where she can transfer sip to mouth.  She shall hold liquid and food items in mouth until you order to swallow. 

 

Touch food item to her lips.  Order prisoner to eat.  Prisoner will use lips and teeth to take food from fork or spook and chew.  Order her to swallow.

 

She is not allowed to swallow until she is ordered to do so.  Vary the length of time that she must have water or food at her lips or in her mouth to emphasize to her the extent her life is now totally controlled by us.

 

* * * *

 

I’ve been thinking a lot of the times when I was a little girl and Mama and Papa were still alive.  I would wake up and bounce out of bed.  Since our house had only one room, I could see Mama cooking.  There was a steaming bowl of cereal on my place on the table.  I scamper to my chair.  At his place at the table sat Papa smiling at me.  I dived into the cereal.  I was vaguely aware that we were poor but I never noticed.  Mama always put berries and sugar and a surprise – something else really, really good – in it.  Many times I ate really fast because when I see the sunbeam (only one, we had only one window) when the sunbeam was on the floor just 2 feet beyond Papa, I could hear the other children outside.  Mama said, “Now Maria you must not leave until you eat it all, the bread, too.”  So I would gobble it all up and bounce up and down in my chair.   Papa, would smile and say to Mama, “okay Theo” (her name was Theodora), “I think we can let her go now.”  And I would jump up and go outside to play.

 

From Orientation for X.

 

III.  Daily Routine - Exercise Period:  In line with health goals, prisoner shall be exercised to maintain heart, lungs, basic muscle tone, and general health.  The procedures also emphasize our control over her life and her submission to it.

 

Remove breakfast items from vicinity, then remove buckles from stretcher.  Remove blindfold.  Order prisoner to stand.  Allow prisoner her first 15 minute “free period” for mental and physical health reasons.  (See Health Section below.)  During this period prisoner is allowed to stretch and relieve herself in nearby toilet facility but is not allowed to leave immediate area.  Prisoner commonly will spend some of this time in some kind of Catholic prayer devotional.  While the state discourages this kind of activity, no amount of torture in the past has prevented the prisoner from doing this, so we now allow her do so.  However, she must enter the cage (see Cage Section below),  because this is the only place where she is allowed to pray.

 

When her time is up, unlock the cage and order prisoner out.  March her to the exercise area.  Remember to use standard prisoner transport procedures (see General Section above).  This means blindfold and guard’s arm grips.  MA will examine prisoner on arrival at exercise area.  Remove blindfold.  For each exercise remove shackles from hands and feet as necessary.  MA will supervise all exercise activities.

 

a) Jumping Jacks.  She must extend arms and legs to furthest possible.  When she jumps to outward, feet must land as far apart as possible.  Hands must touch at top of arm’s arc.  When she jumps to inward, feet much touch and hands must be against her sides.  Exercise shall be performed at the rapid rate prescribed by MA.  Guard shall stand behind prisoner and whip her for each failure or infraction.

 

b) Sit-ups.  Prisoner shall sit on ground with wrists crossed behind head.  Cuff them.  She must keep hands in that position throughout the exercise.  Lock prisoner’s feet in stocks.  Push prisoner down to the ground to make her lay down with knees bent and up in air.    Order her to sit up and touch elbows to knees.  Prisoner finds this exercise difficult and painful so keep it short.  Remember that these exercises are only to keep prisoner healthy and strong enough to endure her captivity, not to get her strong enough so that she gets ideas of self esteem.

 

c) Treadmill.  Prisoner shall walk until ordered to stop.  MA will adjust speed from slow walk to fast sprint.  Guards will beat prisoner each time she falls off.  At conclusion of this activity, prisoner will be winded and sweating heavily.  Give prisoner towel to dry herself and water to drink.  Prisoner is not allowed to sit or kneel down.

 

d)  Push-ups.  Prisoner must keep back and legs straight throughout exercise.  When down, nose must touch ground; when up, arms must be fully extended with no bending elbows.

 

            e)  Cool Down.  Shackle legs and cuff her hands behind her back.  Blindfold her.  Order prisoner to walk around the area in that condition.  Prisoner has great fear of falling due to the many times guards have tripped her or caused her to run into things.  While the ground in this area is sandy, you should still be careful of injuring her.

 

* * * *

 

Yesterday we forced X to stand up.  -- How odd that after only a few weeks of working here, even I have come to think of her as “X”!   At the end of her push-ups, X is gasping for air and hardly able to stand.  Tension on her legs and arms shows that she is aching throughout her body.

 

The Orientation Book’s description of the Exercise Period makes it sound like something from a high school gym class.  In reality it is an opportunity for brutal torment. 

 

“Time for cool down,” the head guard said.  While I put the chain on her ankles, other guards held her arms behind her back and put on the handcuffs.  Then I took her blindfold.  She knew what was going to happen next.  She stood there groaning.  She begged me with her eyes to help her, while knowing that I could not.  The expression on my face told her that.  She nodded in acceptance.  I lowered the blindfold over her head, placed it over her eyes, and adjusted the nose guard.  While doing so, I touched her face.  Her cheek was damp and hot.  I resisted the urge to wipe it with a towel.  I knew what the other guards would do.

 

“Does this mean that I can lay down now and go to sleep?” she asked.  “Jokester,” the head man said and zapped her with his electric tazer in the back of her leg, behind the knee.  She yelped and fell down.  The guards laughed and picked her up.  “Stand up!” we yelled at her as she struggled to regain her balance.  Then we walked her.

 

She staggered forward, trying to keep her balance.  Even with her blindfold on, her terror clearly showed on her face.  “Ahh” came from her mouth, quite involuntarily.  It wasn’t quite a scream but more than a moan, more like a continual wail.  One guard lashed her with a leather strap on her back.  “Quiet!” he demanded.  “Glup, Glup,” she wailed as she her conscious mind tried to stop making noise while her fear insisted on continuing.  More beating was unable to resolve the struggle and in the end the struggle of mind versus fear was a draw.  Her body collapsed onto the ground.

 

“Let’s give her the ‘Run Around’”, the head guard said.  The other guards grinned.  One picked her up.  She is small, so it wasn’t much effort.  We formed a circle.  He pushed her to me.  Blind, hobbled, and exhausted, she went forward but immediately started to fall.  I caught her before she could do so.  With my two hands around her torso, I spun her around and pushed her to the next man.  He then did the same.  We threw her in random directions.  She was continually falling.  Even if she had been fresh, she would still have been unable to regain her balance because she was always caught, spun, and then pushed/thrown before she could do anything.

 

Between the challenge of catching her, spinning her round and round, and groping her body I actually had fun despite myself.  And I could not find any opportunity in the daily routine so far for the murder.

 

* * * *

From Orientation for X.

 

III.  Daily Routine - Exercise Period:  At conclusion of exercise period, take prisoner back to the cage.  MA to examine her.

 

The Cage:  This is the holding pen for the prisoner while punishments and other activities are being prepared.  It’s dimensions are 6 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 5 ½ feet high.  This means that the prisoner is able to lay down with 10 inches to spare and stand with 3 inches to spare.  It hangs from a cable; it’s floor is 6 inches off the ground.  Space between bars is 3 inches.  Inside is a chamber pot for prisoner’s toilet needs.

 

Before placing prisoner in cage MA will perform medical examination.  Make prisoner drink water to ensure that she is fully hydrated.  Unless prisoner is being rewarded, her hands and feet must be shackled while inside cage.  If prisoner’s hands are behind back, move them to front.

 

Open door of cage and order prisoner to walk into it.  Then close and lock the door.  Cage is located in nook of prison grounds where walls limit prisoner’s visibility to immediate area.   Once in cage, guards should not speak.  Should prisoner’s emotional distress become extreme, summon MA.

 

Also inside the cage are a Bible and a small plastic rosary (a Catholic prayer gadget).  These are included for the prisoner’s mental health.  These are the only personal items that the prisoner is allowed to have.  She is only allowed to have them inside the cage.

 

Prisoner receives lunch and dinner in the cage.  Watch closely to make sure all food is eaten and water drunk.

 

* * * *

 

I like my cage.  This surprises me.  The guards usually leave me alone while I am in my cage.  Sometimes they poke me with sticks through the bars but since things are worse everywhere else, I accept this.

 

The bars define a space.  It’s kind of my space, the space behind the bars.  Nobody else goes behind the bars but me.  In my space is a bowl.  This is my toilet.  Sometimes they put water and food in my space.  And finally in my space are my things.  There is a rosary and there is a Bible.  They weren’t my things before my arrest.  But they are now. 

When they poke me with sticks, those sticks are invaders, aliens from another space, aliens from outside.  The sticks hurt, the alien sticks, the invaders from the outside into my space.

 

My things.  My space.  There’s still a piece of the world that is mine.  My space.  My things.  My body.  My soul.

 

I pray the rosary.  The touch of the beads reminds me of my existence.  I can pray without the beads but the touch of them makes me remember that they’re my beads.  My things in my space.

 

When my eyes are blinded, and my ears are plugged, and my hands tied so long that they grow numb, I remember the feel of the beads and the sight of the Bible.  And I’m reminded that there’s a God, my God.  That invisible book where my thoughts send these invisible words may not be real but I know God is.  Everybody has a friend in Jesus and that includes me, too.  I’m still a person.

 

From Orientation for X.

 

III.  Daily Routine - Daily Tribunal:  This function holds prisoner accountable on a daily basis for her conduct.

 

Inform prisoner that she shall now be taken to the Tribunal.  Throw water on her and generally clean her up.  Present her with her court dress.  This consists of one-piece grey canvas dress that is sleeveless and hemmed just above knee.  After you have pulled dress down over head, make sure the dress’ straps are buttoned on top of shoulders.  Place blindfold over her eyes.

 

March prisoner to Administration Building.  Two guards shall stand on each side firmly holding her upper arms with both hands.

 

Once inside the courtroom, remove blindfold.  March her to the concrete pad that is marked the defendant’s place.  Lighting will be very dim so wait to adjust your eyes.  Allow prisoner to sit in wood chair while waiting for judges.  (Judges will usually consist of prison administration staff.)

 

Bailiff will turn lights on, announce arrival of judges, and command, “all rise.”  Make prisoner stand.  When the judges are seated make prisoner kneel.  Since prisoner will remain kneeling throughout the Tribunal, strap her ankles together.

 

Judges will take testimony from guards and question prisoner about her conduct during the past 24 hours.  Prisoner must look at each Judge as he asks questions or makes comments.  Guards shall beat prisoner for each failure to do so, as well for the following infractions:

 

·         each time she speaks when not directly answering a question put to her;

·         giving a non-responsive answer to a direct question;

·         failure to maintain erect posture;

·         non-respectful demeanor;

·         emotional behavior.

 

Administer beating immediately upon each infraction.  Use heavy leather strap upon your choice of bottom of prisoner’s feet, back of her legs, or arms as these areas of her body are bare and exposed.  Do not beat face because we do not want face marked when we exhibit her in public.  If the prisoner gets dizzy or starts to sway back and forth, dump a bucket of cold water onto her head.  Since she has nothing to hold onto, guards may have to hold her up themselves.  Be sure to keep her in the kneeling position and turning her face to each speaker with eyes open.

 

Each session the prisoner will be asked to recant her religious activities and confess that she is a spy.  As always the prisoner must respond.  She always answers in the negative.  This is an incorrect response.  Beat her again for that.

 

Judges shall then decide prisoner’s punishment for the day.  These will range from mild to severe.  Prisoner usually breaks down and cries around the time judgment is pronounced.  Allow her to do that.

 

Remove strap from ankles but leave chain on.  When Bailiff cries, “all rise!” order her to stand up and make her do so.  March her to courtroom entrance.  Blindfold her and march her to the cage.  Care must be taken to hold her upper arms as per standard procedure as by this time prisoner is usually in a greatly agitated state.  She may also suffer from a spell of depression.  These mental conditions may result in her not submitting to your orders.  Taunt her for abandoning her belief system.

 

* * * *

 

We took X to the courtroom.  It was dark.  Removing the blindfold from X’s eyes caused little of the blinking that eyes normally do to adjust from darkness to light.  We marched her to her place.  I pointed to the small wooden chair.  She quietly sat with her head slightly bent down, and waited.  Her hands, with her wrists crossed together by the tight bolts of the iron cuffs, rested on her lap.  The economy of her motions left her chains no opportunity to make sound.  The quiet of the act compared to the usual rattling of her transport chains was memorable to me.  The expression on her face was one of resignation to her fate.

 

When the judges entered, she stood in that same quiet, resigned way.  When they sat behind the large bench, she kneeled on the concrete floor.  I strapped her ankles together.  Her head now had to look up at the judges but her face held that same impassive poise.  To me she looked like a young, vulnerable girl, not the monster depicted by the state’s propaganda.  The judges, the prosecutor, and the guards regarded her with unconcealed hate.  She was alone.  Everybody was together but she was alone.  The outline of the murder began to focus in my mind.

 

When a judge asked her a question, the veneer of her poise began to break.  The jaw quivered, she hesitated.  “Answer the question,” the judge snapped.  She answered the question.  The chief judge totaled up the infractions of the previous day.  There were five of them.  Five!  The judges glared at her.  X lowered her head.  A guard grabbed her hair and raised her head back up to the proper position.

 

Then the court took up the results of last evening’s writing exercise.  “You were specifically directed to write of your sex life,” a judge thundered. “Yes, sir,” she answered.

 

“You told us nothing at all.”

 

“I am a virgin.”

 

“All you talk of in here,” the judge waved X’s papers, “is about is your relationships with boys.”

 

“I had boyfriends.”

 

“Do you mean to tell us that you’ve never had so much as a sexual fantasy with anybody, ever?”

 

“No, Sir.  I mean yes, Sir I have.”

 

“Then with who?”

 

 “With him.”  She turned her face to me. 

 

From Orientation for X.

 

III.  Daily Routine - Daily Punishment:  The procedures for prisoner’s daily punishments will vary according to the punishments handed down by the day’s tribunal.  Guards should remember that punishments are intended to cause torment and pain but no harm.  This means no broken or torn bones or ligaments, minimal bruising, no dangerous impairments to blood circulation or breathing.

 

The tribunal has a wide menu of punishments to choose from.  They vary so much that only a few can be discussed here.  These punishments are for regular misbehaviors.  Special Punishments are for exceptional circumstances and are described in a special section below.  (Section V.)

 

* * * *

 

I don’t know why I had told the judges what I did about that guard.  I was tired.  Of all the people that are now in my life, the judges, the MA’s and the guards, this one guard seems like a decent person.  At least he looks at me like he somehow has feelings like he’s still a human being.  I need to see a human being.  What would it be like to be married with a husband and a family?  This man could be husband material.  So I said what I said to that judge.

 

Afterwards, they came up with the most unusual punishment yet.  They dragged me out of my cage and made me stand.  Then they uncuffed my hands and made me cross my wrists behind my back.  They tied them together with thin twine.  They removed the chains from my legs and substituted twine.  This was a special kind of twine.  It reminded me of fishing line.  I could feel it on my ankles but when I looked down could hardly see it.  I had the same amount of restraint on my walking as I had before but now the ties made no sound and were nearly invisible.

 

Then they pulled a cotton dress over me.  It was all black.  Since my arms were tied together under the dress, they tucked the sleeves in.  Then they brought me a nun’s whimper.  This is the white thing they put on about their heads.  Before they put it over me and arranged the veil down my back, they plugged my ears so I couldn’t hear anything.  The veal was black, too.  White fabric acted as a collar around my neck.  Other hard fabric blocked the sides of my face and a heavy band circled my forehead.  My face was framed by the nun’s whimper.  As a final touch, they put a pair of dark glasses over my eyes.  These weren’t ordinary glasses for blocking out the sun.  Their insides had been painted so that I couldn’t see.

 

They stuffed me into a van and tied me down.  I felt straps over my shoulders and my stomach.  My back was tied to the side of the van.  They strapped my ankles together and tied them down to a hook in the floor.  I felt guards seated on each side of me.

 

Some time went by.  At length the van stopped.  They unstrapped me and pushed me outside.  The guards on each side of me made me stand up.  They removed the glasses from my eyes.

 

We were standing on a busy street in the capital city.  I could see the traffic and the people walking but I couldn’t hear anything.  I felt a thrill as finally I saw something normal.  There was a couple about my age walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the street.  How I wished I could be the girl on the boy’s arm!  Then I felt such great sadness as I realized that I would never again experience anything like that.  My arms were tied behind my back, my legs were hobbled so that I could only walk slowly, and my ears were plugged so that I couldn’t hear anything.  I was a prisoner and everybody else in sight was not.  I had been sentenced for life.

 

They made me walk down the street and around the corner.  The nice guard was dressed in regular street clothes.  I supposed this was to mock me.  I fought back my tears.

 

Around the corner was a small sidewalk café.  The nice guard and I sat down at a table.  The guard ordered.  I couldn’t hear what the waiter and the guard said.  In a few minutes drinks and a snack were placed on the table.  The guard had a sorry expression on his face.  Maybe they were making him go through this, too.  He didn’t seem to enjoy this.  He spoke something to me; I have no idea what it was.  He nervously drank from his glass.  With my arms tied, I couldn’t do anything.

 

I was in the middle of all of these people.  They looked at me with shocked and scandalous expressions.  I guess they thought that I was a nun who was fooling around.  I knew I must not say anything.  That is one of the prison’s firmest rules for me:  I must not speak to anybody outside of the prison or I would be severely punished.  These punishments can be really bad.  I will do anything (almost) to avoid them.  So I didn’t say anything.

 

All of these people lived normal lives but I could never again be one of them.  I felt like I was a ghost.  I was there; I was even noticed but I could never be a part of the scene.  My arms were tied behind me.  My ears were plugged so that I could not hear.  My legs were hobbled.  With the nun’s habit arranged around my face, even my peripheral vision was taken away from me.  And the people around me knew nothing about any of this.  I could never know them and they could never know me.  The only human reaction I would ever be allowed to receive from them was their deep disapproval.

 

I felt so very bad and so very sad.  This was also torture and it hurt even more than usual.

 

* * * *

 

On another day X was sentenced to the puppet machine.  When the judges pronounced her sentence, she tried to maintain a brave expression but the slight tremble of her shoulders and her quivering jaw betrayed her.  She stared at the judge as the regulations required but her eyes were wide despite her efforts.  She bent her head downwards and a small tear rolled out the side of one eye.

 

I unstrapped her ankles.  Two other guards grabbed her arms and helped her up.  We blindfolded her and marched her to the cage.  When we received the word that the machine was ready, we took her out of the cage, blindfolded her again, and marched her to the punishment area.

 

We took the blindfold off her.  She took one look at the machine and collapsed to her knees.  “Oh, no!” She said.

 

Despite myself, I couldn’t help thinking what an ingenious device this machine was.  It consisted of a flat system of beams, wires, and pulleys.  Pilings held it ten feet high.  Four ropes hung from it.

 

We dragged her under the machine.  The operator lowered the ropes.  We attached the special cuffs to her wrists and ankles.  These cuffs needed to be soft and wide with sheep hair inside so as to not damage X when operations began.  We ordered her to raise her hands.  We clipped the cuff on her left wrist to one of the ropes. We clipped the cuff on her right wrist to another rope.  Then we took her regular handcuffs off.  After attaching the other two ropes to her legs, we took off her leg chains.  The head guard asked her, “how do you like this now, X?”  She said, “If I say ‘it’s okay’, will my nose grow?”  I noticed that though X tried to smile her fear and sadness prevented it.  She tried to mask her emotions but she failed to do that, too.

 

“You want to make like Pinocchio?” the head guard said.  “Let’s make you like Pinocchio.”

 

He waved to the operator.  He pressed some buttons, moved some levers and the rope attached to X’s right leg started to retract.  With a yelp, X stared at her leg as it came off the ground and upwards in front of her.  She stood there for a moment on her remaining leg.  The operator did his thing with the controls and presently the other leg was dragged out from under her, too.  She hung there for a minute by her arms, with her back bent towards the ground and her knees in front of her eyes.  Then the operator slowly raised her legs and lowered her arms until she hung by her ankles with her hands just inches above the ground.  She stretched but her fingers but she just could not get them to the ground.

 

As her blood gradually flowed down to her brain, her face showed her agony.

 

The operator reversed the ropes.  He slowly lowered her legs and raised her arms.  Presently, X was again hanging by her arms.  The next half hour was spent in raising and lowering arms and legs so that she was either hanging by her arms or upside down by her legs.  X was trying to be brave but the strain on her body left her softly moaning.

 

Now that X’s strength has been weakened, it was time to begin the cartwheel.  While hanging by her arms, one of her arms was lowered.  She was left hanging by just one arm.  The pressure on her arm’s joints caused pain to shoot down in it.  She groaned.  At the same time one of her legs was raised.  Presently, she hung by that one arm and the leg.  Then the arm was lowered.  She hung by just the one leg.  That one leg had to hold the entire weight of the rest of her body.  She groaned and her head turned from side to side.  The operator raised the other leg.  Now she hung upside down by her legs.  The leg was lowered and the other arm was raised.  Now she hung by the one arm (the other one this time).  The other leg was raised.  This process slowly turned her around and around as if she was on a wheel.

 

Her worst suffering was the brutal pressure on an arm or a leg when she hung by just that one limb.  Each time the operator paused the operation.  Sometimes X would raise her other arm or leg in some desperate attempt to distribute her body weight over two limbs but since the rope to that limb was slack, she found no relief.  At length, the operator raised the next arm or leg in the lineup.

 

An hour into the torture X fainted for the first time.  We threw water on her face and continued her punishment.

 

She swung when we started pushing her body.  Since all she wore was her shorts and her breast strap that meant that we mostly touched her skin.  I was startled when I first pressed my hands against her hip and her thigh to push her.  Her flesh felt warm.  I was reminded that this was a person and not just a toy.  That surprised me.  It especially surprised me that I realized that I had been forgetting that.  I wondered what she would have been like if none of this had ever happened.

 

* * * *

 

From Orientation for X.

 

III.  Daily Routine - The Water Chamber:  After the exertions of the exercise and the punishment periods the prisoner’s hygiene needs shall be met by dunking her in the chamber.  The chamber is a vessel filled with water.  It is 4 feet high and 2 feet in radius. After marching prisoner into the chamber area, remove her blindfold, her shorts, and her breast band.  Reshackle prisoner’s legs.  Secure prisoner’s arms behind her back.  Use brush to soap prisoner’s body.  Make her ascend steps to top of chamber.  When she reaches the platform at the top, push her in.  During the cleaning process, guards may dunk her face under the water.  When finished, pull prisoner out, clothe and blindfold her, and return her to her cage.

 

* * * *

 

The excursion to the capital had been especially cruel.  I could see it in the eyes and the face of X.  It reminded me that this was Maria Velasquez, that she was now 24 year old, and that she liked to sing and dance.

 

I couldn’t help but look at her body as she was being prepared for the chamber.  She had been stripped naked.  The guards were cuffing her arms behind her back.  The chains had already been put back on her legs.  Her face looked so tired and sad.  Her body was barely able to hold her up with the punishments and the stress it had received during the day so far.

 

I had noted before that Maria was beautiful.  Her body was thin and short.  Now I decided it was particularly hot.  Even now, at her worst time of the day, one could not help but notice the spirit and personality that was a part of it and her.  This was a good person.  I knew that if she was to have ever to fallen in love, it would have been totally and irrevocably.

 

Because of the stress that the torments and tortures had put on her body, there was a silver lining.  Her muscles were developed beyond what one would have expected of a prisoner forced into a sedentary life.  Her legs had slender but feminine curves.  The brown skin of her thighs had a sheen.  Her soft tummy was flat but not so flat that her ribcage stood out above it with more than a small outline.  Nobody is perfect.  Her breasts might be considered a mite too small but her shoulders, her neck, and her face filled me with erotic desire.

 

The sentence to go to the capital had taken me by surprise.  This sentence had given me a tremendous opportunity for the murder.  But how could I escape the aftermath?  After the killing came the problems of disposal and my own fate.  I pondered the elements of this trip.  Then in my mind, something clicked.  In my plan an important piece connecting  those two puzzles fell into place.

 

From Orientation for X.

 

III.  Daily Routine - Evening Session:  After the prisoner’s afternoon meal, take her to the classroom.  This is a small room with just one student desk.  Sit her down in the seat and make her sit facing left.

 

Attached to desk legs under chair find wood stocks for the occupant’s feet.   This is a box with two holes in it.  The apparatus swings 90 degrees to the left for leg insertion and then back.  Swing them out until they click.  Remove leg chains.  Unlock the box, place each foot into it’s designated hole, then lock stocks snugly shut against the prisoner’s ankles.  Swing prisoner’s legs and stocks into place under desk and lock in place.  Prisoner will now be facing forwards.

 

Bend prisoner’s head down to desk.  Place wire crown on top of her head.  This crown consists of a circle of wire whose radius matches the back of the prisoner’s skull.  Attach wires from each side of desk sides of to crown.  The purpose of this crown is to force prisoner to look straight down to desktop and to prevent head motion in any other direction.

 

Keep manacles on prisoner’s hands but lock them to designated chain on the desk. 

 

The result of these procedures will be that the prisoner’s legs are immobilized by her ankle restraints, her hands secured to desk and given just enough mobility to write on paper laid in front of her, and her head and eyes restrained from looking anywhere else but the papers placed under her on the desktop.

 

Procter shall give her the writing assignment for the day.  When command is given, the prisoner must begin writing and continue to write without stopping.  This mandatory “stream-of-consciousness” exercise is an excellent interrogation technique which will cause prisoner to divulge background information about herself that can be used against her in other torment sessions.

 

* * * *

 

I have no boyfriends.  You already killed everybody I had ever cared about.  I have no other names to give you.  I don’t know why you killed them.  I don’t even know why you are doing this to me.  I am innocent!  Please let me go.  I didn’t do anything wrong.

 

I used to worry about dates with boys.  I used to worry about if he [sic] liked me or even if he thought I was pretty.  I was sure I could never look as good as some of the other girls.

 

But none of this matters.  I am condemned for life.  My life is over.  I don’t even remember their names!   I am your prisoner now. 

 

* * * *

 

From Orientation for X.

 

III.  Daily Routine - Descent into the Dungeon:  Bind prisoner with hands behind her back, leg shackles, and blindfold.  Guards on each side of prisoner shall firmly hold her arms.  Enter Dungeon Building and slowly march her down stairs.  Stop at landing.  Slide heavy bomb-proof doors open.  March prisoner through.  Stop prisoner and close heavy doors close behind her.  Descend steps to elevator.  Be advised that dungeon used to be old mine so that there are many steps to go down.  Put prisoner in and descend to lowest levels.  Exit and continue descending stairs to bottom.  Unlike ascent in mornings, prisoner must fully evening’s descents by walking down all the way and hearing the heavy doors closing behind her.

 

* * * *

 

She was so tired.  We finished cuffing her wrists.  “No, I don’t want to go in there,” she said.  “Please don’t make me.”  I slid the blindfold over her head.  “I’d like to go back to my cage now.”  She added, “Please.”

 

The head guard slid the door open.  It hit the end of it’s track with a loud boom.  She said, “The night air is actually quite pleasant, don’t you think?  Ooo, feel that breeze.”  We grabbed her arms and shoved her inside.

 

“Evening is just the best time, right?  Don’t you guys think so?  Anything to say?  Guys?  Come on.  Talk to me.”  March, march, march.  Down, down, down.  Even to us it seemed as if we were being entombed in the lowest caves of the Earth, one where we would never be found, one where we would never escape and we were the guards and we could see our way in and out.  What must have it be like to Maria?

 

Down, down, down.  We came to the first bombproof door.  We halted her.  The head guard inserted the key and slid it open.  Boom!  The door was open.  Maria sighed.  We marched her through.  Boom!  The door was closed.

 

March, march, march.  Down, down, down.  Her chatter was incessant and trivial.  I wished she would shut up.  The pitch of her voice went higher and higher.  At the bottom of the elevator she started sobbing.  Her knees started to buckle.  We forced her to keep standing.  Then we continued to march her down.

 

* * * *

 

From Orientation for X.

 

III.  Daily Routine - Down into the Pit:  An automatic door separates the bottom level from the lower dungeon.  Bring prisoner through and make her descend to platform.  Remove blindfold, handcuffs, and leg chain.  Order her to remove her clothes and stand naked.  Hand her the white sleep garment and order her to put it on.  Put her 8 inch chains on her wrists and her leg chains on her ankles.  She shall remain standing throughout the procedure.  Order her to raise her arms in straight up vertical position.  Lower hook.  Order her to place her wrist chain over hook.  Raise hook and prisoner and position over her cell pit.

 

The pit is 20 feet down with vertical wall.  There are no handholds on the walls and no way to get out without the assistance of the hook.  Floor and walls are concrete.  Cell furnishings consist of cot for sleeping and bowel for toiletries.  Prisoner’s dress must be white so as to be visible in dim light. 

 

When prisoner reaches bottom, order her to lift her chain from hook.  Raise hook.  Order her to place her sleep helmet on her head.  Helmet operator will activate green light on wall when helmet’s connection is made.  Look down into pit and observe that X has complied with all requirements.  X must remain standing until you give her permission to move.  Then she may lay down in cot and go to sleep.

 

Leave pit area and close door behind you.

 

In case of any defiance of prisoner of any of these orders or procedures, remove her from her pit immediately and return her to surface using sensory deprivation procedures enumerated in morning wake-up section above.  She will have forfeited that night’s sleep period and punishment will commence.  Report to head guard for further instructions.

 

* * * *

 

We have now descended into the lowest depths of the dungeon.  It is so deep that everybody dreads climbing the stairs on the trip back up.  Every time I come down here, I am oppressed by the stillness of the air and the dread quiet.  Nobody ever comes down here except the detail assigned for the prisoner.  Oh, and the poor person assigned to clean up the prisoner’s pit.  If the prisoner wasn’t there, nobody would ever come down here at all.

 

X is never as alone and as vulnerable as when she is in the pit.  When we left, only her sleep helmet connected her to the outside world and that only to the operator monitoring her signals in the control room far above.

 

I pondered the implications of this for my plan.  Yes, the pit will be a central scene of the murder.

 

From Orientation for X.

 

IV. Health Issues

 

It is our objective to keep the prisoner mentally and physically healthy so that the maximum usefulness can be extracted from her.  Stories of long term torture may sound good in theory and even better in fiction; in practice torture duration may be truncated by prisoner breakdown.  The health policies are designed to prevent this from occurring.

 

The prisoner’s health shall be the primary responsibility of the Medical Adjutants (MA’s).  The MA’s shall check X’s vital signs every 15 minutes throughout the day.  They shall also monitor X’s mental state.  Guards shall defer to MA’s whenever health issues are raised.

 

Long periods of restraint may put pressure on the heart, lungs, and muscle tissue.  The physical exercise periods are designed to prevent atrophy of vital body systems while integrating into daily regimen of torment and suffering.  The Cage provides a break for mental recovery while maintaining the atmosphere of helplessness and restraint.

 

Prisoner is deprived of almost everything but the bare essentials needed for psychological sanity.  She is deprived of any human companionship.  She is allowed no knowledge of the outside world.  She is allowed no possessions.  She has no control of what she wears and even what she has been assigned to wear is minimal.  She is not even allowed control of her own person.  Every minute of her life is regimented.

 

We inflict three levels of punishments on the prisoner.  First level punishments are the regular, daily punishments.  There are a large number of them on the menu.  Some of these were described in Section III Daily Routine, subsection Daily Punishments above.  Should prisoner decide that things are so bad that they can’t get any worse, she may decide to just give up and slack off.  To neutralize that, the second level punishments were instituted.  These punishments are meant to provide the ultimate in pain, fear, and suffering.  Their effects upon the prisoner will be especially lengthy and brutal.  Therefore the tribunal will impose them infrequently and only under exceptional circumstances.  Level 2 punishments are discussed in Section V. Special Punishments below.  The third level of punishments are the public punishments.  These are implemented on a regular basis to make an example of the prisoner and to strike fear into the people of the region.  Level 3 punishments are discussed in Section VII. Public Example below.

 

V.  Special Punishment

 

Prisoner must be made aware at all times that behavior outside of normal parameters will be disciplined with especially drastic punishments.  The Authority reserves the right to impose such punishments upon X as it deems fit.  These extraordinary punishments may include but are not limited to the following.

 

Firing Squad:  This punishment simulates the terror and pain of being shot by a firing squad while eliminating the fatal aspect of the experience. The firing squad uses non-lethal rubber bullets and bursts of rock salt.  The special guns and ammunition for this kind of shooting was developed by the US and the democracies of Europe to give police a humane way to deal with extreme situations in riots.  The punishment is actually worse for the prisoner because for her, the procedure does not end with the impact of bullets on her body. 

 

* * * *

 

When the special tribunal pronounced sentence on the prisoner, her whole body shuddered.    All I knew of the firing squad was the instructions in the guard’s manual but she had faced it before, so she knew what to expect.  Even though she was kneeling and her ankles were strapped together, her feet started tapping on the cement floor.  I lifted her up.  Her jaw was quivering and her eyes were open wide.  Her back lay in my arm; my other arm was under her knees.  She put her manacled hands behind my head and lay shaking in my arms.  She put her face in my shoulder.  I carried her to the door before I set her down.  It seemed to me that she should get some kindness at least.

 

Then the other guards and I readied her for transportation.  One unstrapped her ankles and checked that her legs were properly hobbled.  Some of the rest of us unlocked her hand cuffs and moved her arms behind her back.  We crossed her wrists and cuffed them together.  The head guard, cruel as always, lowered X’s blindfold over her eyes and then wrenched her head to the side and whispered into her ear.  I didn’t catch all that he said, only something about what he’d do to her after she had been shot.  She shuddered again.  Then he kissed her.  She collapsed to the floor.

 

We picked her up and marched her to the special holding cell.

 

* * * *

 

From Orientation for X.

 

V.  Special Punishment - Firing Squad (continued):    The holding cell has padded walls and floor.  No furniture (cots, tables, or chairs), no furniture or items of any kind are allowed in the cell.  There are no windows.  The door locks with a soundproof seal.  The only features of the cell are a surveillance camera and a large digital clock.  Both of these hang from the ceiling out of the prisoner’s reach.  No sound may come through the cell’s walls.  There is no light except that coming from the large digital clock.

 

Allow the prisoner a toilet break before inserting her into the cell.  Once she is inside, remove her blindfold but leave her legs shackled and her arms cuffed behind her back.

 

The clock will be set to four hours.  It will count down to zero from there.  The prisoner will have nothing to do but sit in a corner and watch the clock count down to her doom.

 

* * * *

 

I sit in the corner facing away from the clock but there is a vague reflection on the opposite walls.  I am not able to escape the sound of it’s ticking.  It is a very soft sound; that only makes it more stressful.  I shiver.  How I wish my ears were plugged and my eyes blindfolded!  I know that this clock is part of the torture but I can’t escape it.  I turn around and squat on my knees.  My butt rests on my feet; I bury my face in the corner.  I still can’t escape that dreadful sound.  The knowledge of what they will do to me is ripping me apart.  I’m so sick, I feel like throwing up.  My skin itches all over, especially on my back.  The vertical lock on my cuffs prevents me from raising my hands above the small of my back.  I can rub my arms against my sides but I can’t reach my back.  I turn around and rub my back against the wall.

 

I’ve got to turn my mind to something else.  This is my invisible book with my invisible writing.  I can’t remember much of what I’ve written in it before.  Someday, when I really do die, maybe God will show me my book so that I might read it.  How I wish those bullets were real!  Then I won’t have to experience what they will do to me after the shooting.  In fact, this whole nightmare would end.

 

I’ve got to think of something else. 

 

I’m thinking now of Whoopi Goldberg.  Why?  I saw that movie where she was a nun.  It was very funny.  I especially liked the singing.  She did a take-off on “My Man”.  This is weird.  Or maybe not.  The other day they dressed me up like a nun and flaunted me on the capital.  I could have been a nun.  A nun isn’t so bad.  In the movie there was a scene where the Mother Superior told Whoopi’s character that as a nun she would have to observe three rules:  1) Poverty (Whoopi said she that could handle that); 2) Obedience (Whoopi said she that could handle that, too); and 3) Chastity which means no men (Whoopi said “I’m out of here.”)

 

Me, I never cared about money so that would be easy.  The men part might be a problem.  I liked going out on dates; I especially liked them when the boy would treat me right.  If I fell in love, married and started raising a family, that would be good.  It would be like the old days in our village when Papa and Mama were alive, only I would be Mama.  Christmas would be grand.  We’d go up the hill and have a huge picnic.  But nuns have Christmas, too.  If the convent was filled with sisters who were real sisters to one another, sisters in attitude and love not just as a title, I could fit in with that.  We could teach school or maybe serve an orphanage, so that would be like having children, too.  No, the big problem with being a nun for me is the requirement for obedience.  A nun looses control of her life.  She must go where she’s told and do what she’s told.  But I know that the authorities in the church basically means well.  They make mistakes but they try to do right, well, mostly anyhow.  So, I suppose I could live with that, too.

 

But I can never be a nun.  Or a wife.  Or a mother.  I can never be anything but what I am right now, a helpless prisoner.  Getting hurt is my occupation.  Today it will be worse, much worse.

 

At zero we opened the cell door and came in.  X sat in the corner, her legs crossed and her head bowed.  The head guard put his hand on top of her head and snapped it back.  “Ready to be shot?” he asked with a wide grin.  “Yes,” she said very quietly.  The head guard said, “What, no jokes?”

 

“No.”

 

The head guard squatted down and peered into her face.  X just stared ahead with a calm expression.  It appeared to me that she had accepted her fate.

 

We made her stand up and then we took off her chains and handcuffs.  Then the head guard ordered her to take off her clothes.  They weren’t much, just the usual shorts, chest strap, and panties but her firing squad uniform was more minimal still.  It was a small bikini.  The firing squad needed precision aiming for this task; no dress or robes to obscure their targeted places on her body.  Of course it’s color was black, the only appropriate color for such an event.  She stood in the middle of the cell.  Her bikini bottom covered only her pubic area and the crack in her butt.  As small as her breasts were, her bikini top was so thin that for the first time I saw cleavage while she was clothed.  I reflected that these two items of cloth was the only things she wore.  She had no jewelry, no piercings for her earrings, nothing for her hair, no shoes, nothing at all.  This was the poorest woman on earth.

 

Once she was properly suited up, we hobbled her legs, blindfolded her and led her outside.  We left her hands free so that she could take a potty break on the open toilet just outside the special cell.  We stood around it and carefully watched her as she used her hands to remove her bottom and maneuver on it.  When she was done, she stood up, wiped herself, put her bottom back up, and stretched her hands groping blindly for the sink.  When she found it, she splashed water on her face and on her hair.  She started using her finger nails to try to comb her hair.  “Uh, uh,” the head guard said, “no messing with your blindfold.”  The prisoner sighed, dropped her hands to her sides, and turned her back to the sink to face us.  “Take two steps forward,” the head guard commanded.  She did.  “Okay, let’s finish her up, boys.”  We put her arms behind her back, crossed her wrists, and secured them with the handcuffs.

 

She stood there staring into space with blind eyes, not knowing what else we were doing.

 

I grabbed one of her arms in the regulation grab; another guard did the same to her other arm.  We marched her to the execution field.  Along the way we heard a loud crack.  It sounded like multiple rifles going off at once.  “The firing squad must be practicing,” I thought.

 

We came through the gate and approached the scene.  For the first time since I had been employed here, I was truly struck with horror.  A large wooden post was planted in the dirt.  Another prisoner was tied to it.  I recognized her as one of the condemned murderers from death row.  Some terrorist something or another, I couldn’t remember what.  I really hadn’t been paying attention to anything else since I had been assigned to the X detail.  My mind was edging over into hysteria.

 

The head guard guffawed and pushed the three of us, prisoner and us two guards holding her arms, forward to the post.  He snatched the blindfold from X’s head.  X blinked her eyes, looked at the prisoner tied to the post, glanced towards the firing squad and screamed.  She wrenched her body and started running away.  I don’t know about the guard holding her other arm but I was so astonished, I actually let go!  She took about two steps before she tripped over her leg chains and fell to the dirt.  The head guard was laughing uproariously; the six men in the firing squad stood there grinning.  Me and the other guard took hold of X, got the proper grips on her arms and put her back into position facing the prisoner tied to the post.

 

That prisoner was quite dead.  That execution had been for real, oh yeah, very real.  From her shoulders to her knees, the bullets had torn huge holes in her body.  We could see her organs, glands, and other guts.  Some of them were spilling down her legs and onto the ground.  The dirt was crawling with blood and guts.  Then I saw creepy insects; they were the reason the dirt seemed to crawl.  For them, this was a feast.

 

There is nothing sexy or erotic about a real execution.

 

Special guards were assigned to the execution area.  They cut the cords holding the body to the post with machetes.  It fell to the ground.

 

 X screamed and gasped and then screamed some more.  She struggled in our arms, trying to break free.  She was pretty hysterical but I must admit that I wasn’t too far behind her myself.  The guards loaded the body onto a wheelbarrow.  They hacked off one snakelike piece of gut that was oozing out from beneath the body’s belly and left it on the ground.  Then they wheeled the body away.

 

 

We obeyed the head guard’s orders and pushed X into the middle of the mess.  We had our boots on; she had nothing but her bare feet.  We removed the handcuffs but tightly held her arms.  The execution field special guards took over.  We let go of her and got out of the way.  “Step back to the post.”  X stepped back.  The guards commanded her to put her feet together.  “Back your heals against the post.”  They made her stand straight, so that her feet, legs, butt, back, and head solidly abutted the post.  X had lapsed into a trancelike state.  Her breaths came in quick gasps.  Her chest heaved; her stomach rippled; her jaw quivered.  “Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no . . .” she repeated over and over.  Then the guards began to tie her to the post.

 

They made her put her arms around the post with hands touching each other in back.  Because of the size of the post, she could only touch her finger tips.  The guards tied her hands together in that position.  They then put rope across her chest and around the post.  X turned her face towards me and asked, “Please do something!”  Her eyes were pleading.  Her mouth was stretched in that shape that comes when people beg for something from the bottom of their heart.  I shook my head.  “I can’t.”

 

I admit that I had had ideas of eventually using the firing squad as a cover for my own murder plan.  My thoughts had angled towards sneaking special ammunition in the firing squads’ guns.  I abandoned that idea right then and there.

 

Another set of ropes secured her legs to the post just above her knees.  Rope tied her ankles together.  More rope around the post tied them to it.  Behind the post, U shaped nails were driven over the rope and pounded into the wood.  This kept the rope from moving.  This was done to all three sets of rope binding the prisoner to the post:  the one around her chest; the one around her knees; and the one around her feet.  Finally, these nails were driven over the rope between her hands and into the wood.  X was now completely secured to the post. Unable to bend her legs, the prisoner lost her ability to move her body downwards.  Multiple restraints prevented her from moving her body sideways around the post.  Her feet were tied together so there was no help from there either.  Ropes around her chest prevented movement of her upper body.  The ropes around her hands and knees served as backup to sideways restraint.  With a minimal amount of ropework, her body had been effectively immobilized.

 

“What about the blindfold?”  The head guard chuckled. He twirled the blindfold in his hand and grinned at X.  “Naw, you don’t want to miss anything,” he laughed.  As worried about my job as I have been, I was so disgusted that I went over and snatched the blindfold out the head guard’s hand.  “Hey!”  I ignored him.  I went over to the post.  As I began to press the blindfold down over her hair, I couldn’t help but notice that X’s face was messy with tears and snot coming from her nose, and drool from her mouth.  Down below a few drops of urine had come down her leg.  She was a mess.  I took a rag and cleaned her up as best as I could.  Then I put the rag over her nose and told her to blow.  She tried but everything had already come out.  She looked up at me and said, “Thank you.”  I lowered the blindfold over her eyes.  “You’ll get through this,” I said.  She whispered back, “I know.”

 

The head guard said, “Now get away from her, you prissy prick.”  I did.  He glared at me.  I realized that I had made a powerful enemy and I despaired.

 

The sergeant of the guards marched up to the prisoner.  “It is customary for the condemned to have a last smoke,” he said.  “Please don’t,” Maria (I was back to thinking of her as Maria again) said.  She pleaded.  “Isn’t this bad enough?  I don’t smoke; I’ve never smoked.  The only time was the last time you executed me.”

 

“Well, now that you’re experienced, how about a nice big cigar this time?”  The sergeant pulled out a jumbo Max Hoggie. He bit off an end, struck a match on the post beside Maria’s ear and lit the cigar up.  He held it under Maria’s nose.  The cigar was so strong, I smelled it all the way from where I stood.

 

“Ready?” the sergeant challenged.  He was already pinching her nose shut with the fingers of one hand while pressing the cigar to her mouth with the other.  “Please no,” was all she could get out.

 

Maria was coughing and screwing her head around to avoid the smoke.  With the fingers pinching such a tender part of the body as the nose, she could move her head very little.  Color drained from her cheeks.  One could not look at the part of her face that was visible under the blindfold without thinking of such words as torment, suffering, agony, and anguish.   The other guards stood there stone silent.  Then I remembered that the main event had not even begun.

 

“Hey, doesn’t the condemned prisoner get a last request?”  This came from me.  I had already jumped over the cliff with the blindfold/facewipe thing.  Still, I was surprised to hear the words come out of my mouth.  The head guard regarded me with astonishment, then with outright loathing.  “What are you, her lawyer?”  I can’t remember if this came from the sergeant or my head guard.  Either way, I was screwed.  I might as well kiss my job goodbye. 

 

“Well, uh,” I stammered, “aren’t we doing enough?  I mean as it is, I mean.  And,” I sighed.  Oh, well, might as well say it.  “If we are going to follow customs, the prisoner is entitled to a last request.  And she did request that you not make her smoke.”

 

The sergeant glared at me. 

 

Maria continued to choke and cough.  Suddenly, the sergeant withdrew the cigar.  “Our team observes the customs.”  He straightened to posture of defiance.  He said to me, “Nobody can ever say otherwise.”  He turned to somebody sitting on the side, I assume some kind of clerk.  He said, “Let the record show that the prisoner’s last request was that she not smoke.”

 

There was a short pause.  The sergeant started to walk to the side of his firing squad. 

 

“No it was not.”   Maria was still coughing, but those words had definitely come from her.

 

“What?”  I think we all said that. 

 

The sergeant spun on his heels and charged to the prisoner tied to the post.  “I swear I have had enough of this,” he yelled.  “If not having to smoke was not your last request, I’m going to stuff this cigar back into your mouth and cram it down your throat!”

 

Maria stood there staring ahead with her blinded eyes.  Her jaw was quivering again.

 

“Well, answer me!”  The sergeant was fairly screaming now himself.  “Your time limit for last requests expires in the next five seconds.”

 

“I, I,”  she was stammering, “I w want the name of the woman who was just here.”

 

Now I was getting mad.  Had I just thrown my job away for nothing?  “Do you realize that he’s going to put that cigar back into your mouth?  Do you realize that you will have to face the aftermath of your shooting with your lungs filled with that cigar’s smoke?”  I was yelling.

 

She turned to me or rather she turned her face to the sound of my voice.  “I know,” she said simply.  She was still hacking but except for that, she had suddenly grown calm.  “I want to pray for her.”

 

The sergeant snorted and spat on the ground.  The men in the firing squad shook their heads in derision.  The sergeant said, “Alright but do you know that that prisoner was a Communist.  She was a terrorist.  She didn’t believe in any God and is now surely in hell.”

 

“Maybe, but I want to pray for her anyway.”

 

The sergeant was actually surprised.  “Do you mean that you will take this smoke so that you can have the name of a person you don’t even know and is already dead?”

 

Maria’s mouth worked into a sideways grin.  “I don’t suppose that I could get a two for one deal here, could I?”

 

The sergeant was stamping his foot, he was so beside himself.  “You’re out of time!  Now what is it?  Smoke or name?”

 

“Name.”

 

The sergeant spat the name into her ear.  He turned and glared at the clerk person.  “You got that?”  The prisoner nodded.

 

“Alright, now here’s your smoke.”  The prisoner stood silently staring ahead though her eyelids were shut by the pressure of the blindfold.  The sergeant held the cigar to his side and peered into the face of the prisoner.  The prisoner could not look back.  She just stood there with her lips together with sadness but acceptance.

 

The head guard said to the sergeant, “I think I can help you out with that.”  He produced a set of noseplugs from his pocket.  “I remember from last time.”  The sergeant nodded.  The head guard walked over and put them into the prisoner’s nose.

 

With breathing restricted to her mouth, the cigar went in easily.  The prisoner was soon coughing and choking to beat the band.  She stood there in all the muck and horror with a cigar in her mouth, not knowing how to smoke, not knowing how to get the smoke out of her lungs.  She stood there as miserable a figure as I had ever seen with her lungs constantly filling with the smoke.  She stood there until the MA’s made the sergeant stop.

 

She stood there with her body already exhausted.  Only the ropes held her up.  The one remedy the human anatomy has to extreme punishment is fainting but the prisoner was even denied that last relief because of the coughing.  Even when the noseplugs were removed, relief did not come.  Instead the torture of the coughing continued as the respiratory system worked to empty the lungs of the smoke.  All the while the stench of the dead predecessor’s remains wafted up and around the post.  The insects started crawling up her legs.

 

It was now time for the main event.  The sergeant had taken station beside his squad.

 

“Firing squad, attention!”

 

“Raise arms!”  Six men raised six rifles.

 

“Ready arms!”  Six rifle butts were planted into six shoulders as six barrels were lowered into the horizontal firing position.

 

“Aim!”  Six laser targeting systems were activated.  I noticed the red dots on the prisoner’s thighs, chest, and shoulders.  The firing squad was going for broken bones, not permanent injury.  It was going to hurt like hell.

 

But for the prisoner’s coughing and the buzz of flies over the human mess at her feet, the field was silent.  She probably felt the slight heat of the laser beams on her skin, so she knew where the bullets would strike.  The ropes held her body fast.  The knowledge of what was coming and the anticipation of it only tortured her mind even more.

 

“Fire!”

 

The body shuddered as the bullets hit it.  Maria’s head rolled and sagged.  The trauma to her body that the bullets had caused had finally made her faint.  The fainting spell lasted for only the briefest of times as the lungs demanded to breath and so the coughing woke her back up.

 

The ropes held her fast to the post while she coughed her remaining strength away.  On the surface it seemed as if nothing had happened.  She stood there against the post, a picture of soft flesh and rope.  But then the guards began to cut away her ropes.  They first cut the rope tying her hands together.  The arms drifted back from behind the post and hung limply at her side.  They cut the ropes around her feet.  Then they cut the ropes above her knees.  No sooner had they been cut than the knees immediately began to buckle.  Only the ropes beneath her now dislocated shoulders held her against the post.  Now they were cut, too.  She fell straight to the ground.  She lay there in the muck, her chest heaving while she coughed up everything she had in her.

 

I couldn’t help but reflect that the dead Communist terrorist whatever was a lucky woman after all.  If there was a God and He did value prayer, then He must know that rarely had such a prayer ever been offered as the one I had witnessed here.  This wasn’t fanaticism, this was caring, caring enough to sacrifice.  Dying is easy; living, now that is hard.

 

From Orientation for X.

 

V.  Special Punishment - Firing Squad (continued):  Immediately after the execution, MA’s shall examine prisoner.  When they have finished their preliminary evaluation and cleared the release, the special unit of guards shall cut the ropes holding prisoner to the post.  The fall from the post to the ground will likely result in much pain from the injuries sustained in the shooting.  When the prisoner hits the ground, responsibility passes from the special unit back to you.  Keep in mind that further injuries may result while handling prisoner.  Put the prisoner onto a stretcher by rolling her onto it and carry her to the medical facility.  As always blindfold must be securely in place when transporting prisoner between sections of the prison,.  Doctors will administer X-Rays and determine the extent of injuries incurred to that point.  Medical procedures will be limited to diagnosis and only essential care. 

 

When cleared from Medical, carry prisoner on stretcher to the regular punishment field.  Set stretcher on ground and roll her off it onto her back.  Prisoner will probably have sustained broken bones in both arms and legs and will be in great pain.  Spread prisoner’s arms and legs directly out from body in spread eagle position.  Pound stakes into ground just beyond her feet and hands.  Tie feet and hands to the stakes.  Remove blindfold.

 

Prisoner shall be left in this position for 24 hours.  MA’s will monitor prisoner and prescribe water and nutrients as necessary.  Guards shall be present for the entire period.  Individual guards shall rotate into and out of the punishment area according to their assigned shifts.  Guards shall interrogate prisoner and shall administer pain to the extent necessary to fulfill the prisoner’s sleep deprivation sentence.

 

After the 24 hour period is over, untie prisoner, blindfold her, and carry her back to the Medical Center on the stretcher.  There she will receive treatment.  Some bones may need to be rebroken so that they can be set properly.

 

Carry her to the cage.  She will remain in her cage exposed to the rain and the other elements until she fully recuperates.  Guards shall closely watch her for the entire period.  Estimated recuperation time is 6 to 8 weeks.

 

* * * *

 

It was raining.  The downpour was turning the ground to mud.  Fortunately, we had pounded the stakes far enough in so that X’s arms and legs were held firmly in place.  The other guards drifted to the shelter of the wall.  I stayed behind to guard the prisoner.  I looked down at the her.

 

She lay on her back in the mud. She was still in her black bikini.  Her arms and leg were spread eagled out and tied to the stakes.  She had not tried to move them since we had tied her down.  She still had a slight cough.  I imagined that her throat must be raw and her chest one cavity of hurt.  As I stood over her, I noticed that she moved her head from side to side, trying to find a position to get her face out of the rain and failing each time.  There were giant bruises where the bullets had hit.  There were more bruises on her chest than could be accounted for by the bullets.  The MA’s told us that the X-Rays had shown minimal bone breakage and so she had not received any treatment so far, that is treatment of a positive variety. 

 

I leaned down to shield her face from the rain with my body.  She was moaning and coughing and moaning and coughing.  I took a handkerchief out of my pocket and wiped her face with it.  It was as wet as everything else outside but I hoped that it would give her some relief.  She stopped turning her head and looked at me.

 

“Oh, it’s you,” she said.

 

“I’m sorry what he did.”  I really was.

 

No sooner had we taken her off the stretcher and pounded the stakes into the ground, than the head guard had knelt beside the prisoner.  She had been yelling with pain from the lifting of her injured legs and arms.  He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her face to his.  It had still been only an hour since the execution, so she was still coughing horribly.  “Remember what I promised you, jokester?”  X just moaned and coughed.

 

He turned to the other guard and me.  “You don’t need to see this.  Turn around and look the other way.”

 

“I’m already a goner anyway.”

 

“This will put us back to even.  Turn around.”

 

I turned around.  “Ahh!” X yelled.  Then silence.  I turned around again.  X had fainted but her coughing had waken her back up.  The head guard had his hand under X’s bikini bottom.  He was clearly sticking his fingers up the insides of her private area.  X’s hips were writhing and she was bobbing her head up and screaming.  He grimaced and grimaced and pushed further into her.  Her back arched, her mouth opened wide but no sound came out.  Without the strength to keep her head up, she dropped it back to the ground and then brought it up again.  Only coughs broke her screams, silent screams, ghastly screams.

 

This was definitely in violation of the regulations.  Where were the MA’s?  Only us three guards were there with the prisoner.  I wondered about that.  “You’re not seeing anything,” the head guard said.

 

“Nope,” I replied.  “I’m not seeing a thing.”

 

He nodded to me.  I nodded back at him.

 

“Up to now.  I’m about to start noticing real soon.”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“I figure you got more to loose if it comes down to it.”

 

He scowled and withdrew his hand.  “Don’t think you have something on me for long.”

 

“Fine.  All I want is to get back to even with you, head guard.”

 

He pondered this for a moment.  “Alright.  Done.  I’ve had my fun.”  He removed his hand and let the bikini bottom snap back to the prisoner’s flesh.

 

That had been ten hours before and I meant what I had just said to X (I mean Maria.)  It was night and the rain continued to pour down.

 

I looked at her and contemplated what a hot babe she was.  Her was black, her skin was a reddish brown as were most of the people of our country.  Her body was petite and thin.  I gently probed the bruises on her chest.  She howled.  Cracked ribs, I concluded.  I lightly traced my finger down the side of her leg, I’m not sure why.

 

 

Her face was contorted in suffering but even now her personality glowed faintly through it.  I wondered what kind of person she was; I knew so very little about her.  What would she have been like on a date?

 

She startled me out of my reverie.  “Hey, knight in shining armor, don’t stop now.” 

 

“Uh, I’m not hardly.”

 

She had calmed down.  That startled me, too.

 

“Say why aren’t you with the rest of them?”  She gestured with her head to the other guards.  We could only see dark forms huddling against the wall in the blackness.  “It’s kind of unpleasant out here.  You did happen to notice the rain and the mud and stuff, didn’t you?”

 

I couldn’t help but smile.  “Actually, somebody’s supposed to keep you awake.  You’re not allowed to sleep, you know.  Sleep deprivation.”

 

“Yeah.  I supposed you’re not going to be singing me any lullabies then.”

 

“No, I’m a bad singer.  Really bad.  In fact I would sing to you but I figured you’re being tortured enough already.”

 

“What’s with you, anyway?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean the proverbial question.”

 

“Oh, what’s a good man like me doing working in a dump like this?”

 

She nodded her head and smiled, “That’s pretty much it.”

 

“Very simple.  It’s a paycheck.  That’s all.”

 

“How?”

 

“How what?”

 

“How did you get this job?”

 

“Oh, I have a cousin in the army.  He’s in explosives.”

 

“I haven’t talked to anybody in so long.”  I knew what she meant.  “I think the others are too far away to hear us.”

 

I sat there, looking into her face.  She lifted her head.  I pushed it back down.  “You need your strength.”  She looked into my eyes.  I looked back into hers.  At length she said, “I’m writing a story you know.”

 

“Well, I’d like to hear your story.”

 

“I have an invisible book.  That’s where I write – in my invisible book.  I even have a piece in there about you.”

 

“Is it about us having a date?” I blurted out.  “I wish we’d have a date.”

 

I thought for a minute.  This was really going far afield.

 

“You know I’m really particular about what kind of fellows I go out with and I’m really tied down with this busy social schedule.  But then you’ve noticed, I’m sure.”

 

“Playing hard to get, are you?”

 

She started to laugh.  “Oh, that hurts.”  There was a low moan.  “My whole chest feels like one big sore.”

 

“How about your arms and legs?”

 

“Oh, I don’t feel them anymore,” she said matter of factly.  “But my back really hurts.”

 

“I really am sorry.”

 

“I wish I could just go to sleep and never wake up again.”

 

“No, you don’t want to do that?”

 

“Why not?”  It was a genuine question.  So I gave her a genuine answer.  “Because I am going to do a murder.”

 

That startled her but only for a moment.  With some anticipation in her voice, she asked, “Will you do it now?”

 

“No, I’m sorry.  There’s still the problem of the aftermath.  My murder plan involves my getting away with it.  That’s pretty important.”

 

“Well then, talk to me about that date.”

 

We chatted like this for the next hour while the rain continued to pour.  I suggested she wear a nice sun dress.  She said she would a pants suit.  I said I liked to look at her arms and legs.  They were sexy.  She said that she hadn’t worn anything over her arms and legs for so long that she would wear the pants just for a change.  And a blouse.  She had definite ideas about her blouse.  So we argued about that for awhile.  Then she wanted to know where I would take her.  To a movie.  What movie?  I told her that “The Sound of Music” was the best movie ever.  She said no, it was “The Wizard of Oz.”  So we argued about that.  While we were doing all this arguing I was running my hand over her body, while avoiding her bruises and respecting her private areas.  She accused me of torturing her.  So I stopped.  Then she chewed me out for stopping.  So I put my hand along her face.  She pressed her cheek to my hand.  I said, “Oh, hell” and bent down and kissed her.  She kissed back.

 

“I don’t even know your name.”

 

“I can’t tell you.”

 

She was surprised.  “Why not?”

 

“It will mess up my plan for the murder.”

 

“You’re serious?  You’re really going to murder me?”

 

“Yes I am.”  And I was, in a way.

 

Thankfully special punishments were imposed rarely.  During the time I guarded X, I saw only three of them.  The execution I just described was one.  Each of the other two was pretty diabolical.

 

The one where they again forced the prisoner to wear her bikini and then took her on a boat off the ocean and made her walk the plank, certainly qualified.  She stood at the edge of the plank and gritted her teeth.  She bent her legs.  She was determined to keep her balance. But even a ship in the calmest of seas is rolling and pitching.  The chains cut into her legs as she tried to move.  Her arms strapped behind her back; this handicap to her upper body’s balance proved impossible to overcome.  Her face was a study in concentration and determination as her body moved in time to the movements of the plank.  I remember her legs, especially how her inner thighs curved to meet her private area.  The flesh was so brown, it’s tone so shiny!  I just wanted to wrap my hands around her and squeeze. But the result of the battle of the prisoner’s courage and determination versus the chains binding her was hopeless.  She inevitably lost and toppled off into the waters and the horrors waiting her below.

 

The suspended cage was the cruelest of the three because of the control it demanded of her attention.  The cage was suspended a few feet above the ground.  It was so small that the only way the prisoner could fit into it was to make her kneel with her head between her knees.  There is no way that a person can maintain that position for 36 hours in real life (blood flow to the head would be fatal), so a hole in the wall of the cage was cut and X was made to put her head through that.  The hole was then closed about her neck.  Electrodes were attached to the palms of her hands and the bottoms of her feet and slaved to a computer.  The computer then flashed random questions at a screen just above her head.  Each multiple choice answer had an alpha-numeric code next to it.  She had to punch the code for the correct answer in the number pad just below her nose within 30 seconds or a shock would zap her.  The power has enough to really hurt her.  The hands and feet had been targeted for the electrodes because the nervous system in those parts of the body are so sensitive and vulnerable.  The prisoner had to constantly move her head up to see the questions and then down to punch in the answers.  The process prevented her mind from escaping by daydreaming or by “writing in her invisible book”.  She had to constantly concentrate on avoiding the zap.  She collapsed, of course.  Many times, in fact.  36 hours is a day and a half – too long for any human being to keep it up.  Whenever she collapsed, they restarted her by really laying on the torture. 

 

* * * *

 

From Orientation for X.

 

VI.  Public Relations

 

It was anticipated from the outset that this operation would attract outside attention.  In fact, one of this operation’s prime objectives was to make an example of the prisoner to the inhabitants of her region.  In formulating the punishment program for the prisoner the regime was aware of the dangers of negative publicity.  Our public relations strategy for this operation is designed to cower the region’s inhabitants while minimizing the publicity from outside media and humanitarian organizations.  Our strategy will address three audience groups.

 

Domestic Inhabitants:  We frankly acknowledge that the prisoner’s punishment is especially intense.  Stress that nobody should want to be sentenced to this prison.  Inhabitants should know that the government will crush any opposition even the smallest.  This means that if a peasant says to you that Maria Velasquez hardly did anything wrong, you should turn that point around and say back that however small you think the prisoner’s offense was it was very big in El Leader’s eyes so you should avoid even the smallest opposition.  You would not want to see happen to the person you are speaking to, what happened to Maria Velasquez.

 

Be aware that the Catholic Church has a high degree of influence and support in our country.  It is very important that you do not let this audience group think that the prisoner is a martyr.  Stress that her activities were done on her own.  They were not sanctioned by her church or by any other.  Don’t forget to remind the peasants of the good relations El Leader enjoys with the Cardinal and the other church leaders of our country.  Minimize talk of Cardinal’s statements against government’s policing policies by noting that the government must deal with the practical problems of public safety and that El Leader and the Cardinal continues to dialogue together to resolve their differences.

 

Mention that the prisoner is an agent of the US CIA.  US industrialists would exploit our country and its people for their own profits.  That is why El Leader has to be so firm with the prisoner and others of her ilk.  He does not oppress the people; he protects them.

 

Others who oppose El Leader are the bands of godless Marxists in the hills.  How can Maria Velasquez be a martyr for the Church if she is on the same side as them?  While the Marxists would take away the Church’s property, El Leader generously contributes vast amounts to the Church every year.

 

Finally, it is most important to stress to the peasant farmers of the region that many of them depend on the sale of the poppies that they grow for El Leader to sell on their behalf.  If the prisoner and the US government had their way, the entire narcotics trade would be ended and the farmers would be left destitute.

 

Foreigners -- General Information:  Foreign observers can usually be classified into two broad groups:  Leftwing groups and rightwing groups.  Both groups have their buttons.  Governments like ours have made effective use of these buttons throughout the world.  Once you have properly classified the foreigner you are speaking with, then minimizing his or hers organization’s interest in the Maria Velasquez case is merely a matter of pressing the right button.

 

Foreign Groups with Left Wing Leanings:  These people tend to respond very negatively to names like Pat Robertson and George Bush and very positively to issues like abortion.  To a person of this group, point out the prisoner’s strong religiosity.  She reads only one book and that’s the Bible.  She also believes in the Pope’s position on abortion.  That is usually enough to do the trick with this group.  Experience has shown that they usually loose sympathy for prisoners who have been identified with these kinds of things.

 

Foreign Groups with Right Wing Leanings:  These people tend to respond opposite to the left wingers to names like Pat Robertson and George Bush and to issues like abortion.  To a person of this group, point out the prisoner’s opposition to the established government.  Note that the only organized opposition is the Communists.  Call her “a women’s rights activist.”  This technique was used very successfully to deflect humanitarian concerns from right wingers during the Reagan era in such places as El Salvador and Nicaragua.

 

Your PR Role:  The reason this section is appearing in a manual for prison guards is that all levels of officials who may interface with the outside should be aware of our public relations strategy so that it may be effective.  As the prisoner’s guards you are the ones who are most familiar with her regimen.  Moreover, you are the ones who will accompany her to her public punishments.  Hence, you will be the ones closest to the people witnessing them.

 

Prisoners are harshly treated throughout the world with minimal negative consequences to the governments involved.  Proper use of public relations can allow us to punish the prisoner publicly while avoiding negative publicity.