The Sarcophagus
Chapter 2
Christine had, in a twinkling, become only a numbered body.
She retreated to her original place in front of the desk. The two men took
the papers, drew them back, then signed each in turn. All went into a file folder
and they stared at her, smiles lighting their faces.
"Very good, 130146." The Warden stared at her with a frankly appraising glance.
"You will be a welcome addition at ICESG. They have not had an experimental
subject of your race or age to study until now. As Abdullah here has told you,
your time there will be quite, 'stimulating' shall we say. You won't like it
much at all; but it's certainly a better alternative than ending your life in
the jaws of a crocodile."
He pressed a button on the phone.
"Send in the Acquisition Escort."
A moment later, the door behind her opened soundlessly and two large, tough-looking
women strode in to stand on either side of the quailing, chained prisoner. Both
carried black leather-covered cases, setting them down when they stopped behind
Christine, facing the Warden's desk.
"Is this the prisoner? Frank, Christine: 130146?" asked the older of the two.
"It is."
"May I have her papers, please?"
The file folder was passed wordlessly across the desk and the woman took it
then flipped slowly through the three pages it contained.
"Everything appears to be in order, sir. I'll have these copied for your records
and sent back by courier to you later today."
"That'll be fine, Captain. You can use this office to secure the prisoner
for transport if you wish."
"Thank you, sir. We'll do that and be on our way."
All during the exchange Christine remained standing numbly before the desk,
staring straight ahead, fearing to look at her new captors. The wardress on
her left grasped her arm and pulled her to the side of the office. What she
saw was immediately intimidating. The two women were dressed alike in long-skirted,
severe blue uniforms that seemed to emphasize both their height and their over-all
size and adding to their aura of mystery and threatening intent, Christine saw
that each ones face, except for her eyes, was concealed by an opaque veil that
descended almost to their waists. Each wore a wide leather belt and slung from
these were the usual hardware pouches that prison guards and policemen the world
over seemed to collect as a part of their job function; a holstered automatic
pistol on one side, large key rings, hand-cuff pouches, radios, and billy clubs.
"Sit down on the chair, 130146. Move slowly!"
She sat numbly on the hard wooden chair, grateful to at least be off her feet.
The other wardress brought over the two cases, set them down on the floor
in front of her, then popped the latches and lifted the lids. What lay revealed
in one were coiled loops of glittering chain, packed in poly-ethylene, zip-lock
bags. The other contained a large selection of gleaming, thick, and wide steel
bands, together with other constructions that she could not comprehend the function
of, yet.
"Remain quiet while we exchange your ankle cuffs."
Christine sat immobile while her shackles were quickly removed, then, she
felt the wide bands of her new restraints locked no less tightly in their place.
They were a little easier to bear, for they didn't cut into her flesh as much
as had her previous ones; but she was surprised and a little shocked when a
pair of platform-soled, six-inch-heeled, ankle strap pumps was produced. It
seemed completely absurd that they would provide this kind of footwear, especially
in a prison; but there was obviously a sound reason for it. In The West, the
wearing of such footwear not only changes a woman's walk but also lessens the
wearer's mobility, even though this circumscription of freedom is suffered in
the name of fashion. Here, the purpose was exactly the same; but fashion didn't
enter into the equation in any way. Once the shoes had been strapped and locked
onto her feet; and in combination with her hobble chain and ankle cuffs, Christine
was even more helplessly restricted.
"Wrists!"
One at a time, each of her hands was freed of it's cuff, being immediately
re-confined by another of the tight, wide bands, then fastened to an arm of
the chair.
"Move to the front!"
She slid forward and one of them went behind, opened the back of her gown
and unlocked her waist chain. A wide, thick metal strap was slipped around her
waist and locked tightly in place, no less crushingly so than its predecessor
and she closed the dress. Christine's wrists were separately released from the
arms of the chair and the wardresses pulled each around behind her back and
locked it to her belt, palms facing outward. They weren't finished with her
yet, for one of them reached into the opened case and drew out a smaller wide
band.
"Lift your chin!"
Christine stared numbly and helplessly up at the women, praying that what
she knew was about to happen was not really going to.
"I said, lift your chin, 130146!"
"Oh, p-p-please ....?"
Nevertheless, Christine raised her head and tried not to look at the mesmerized
male on-lookers while she was fitted with her collar.
The device that was clasped around her neck seemed to have been made especially
for her, flowing intimately around the ivory column of her throat. It clamped
firmly, then she heard a distinct metallic click from the back when it closed
and locked. Christine gulped, feeling the compression of the wide steel against
her windpipe and a small sob of mortification welled from deep within her. Her
fingers clawed fruitlessly at the air and she tugged her arms fruitlessly against
their fastenings to the back of the belt. One of the wardresses picked up a
short length of chain.
"Bend forward!"
Trembling with humiliation, Christine did as commanded and felt her long hair
brushed aside then felt a lock close through the ring on the back of her collar.
The short length hung loosely down her back; but only for a moment.
"Straighten up! Arch your back!"
Reluctantly, Christine followed the order. The chain to her collar slowly
tightened and there was another solid-sounding click when the bottom end was
locked to the central back ring of her steel belt! She tried to resume her normal
posture, only to find that the links ascending to her collar now held her unequivocally
in an embarrassing, breast-displaying position. Another sob of embarrassment
shook her shoulders. The wardress in charge reached down to the opened suitcase
and withdrew a wide and intricately curved U-shape. Either end of this specialized
strap was equipped with a small mechanical fitting; but Christine was horrified
by what she saw waiting at the bottom curve of the U. It was a large, hump-backed,
black, slippery-looking pear-shaped object. Instinctively her mind put all the
pieces together in a flash.
"Ooooohhhh ppppllleeassse, no!" she wailed, shaking her head desperately from
side to side, yet keeping her eyes fixed on the inimical object in the wardress's
hands.
"All females accepted by ICESG are required to wear a silencer, 130146." the
woman stated with unequivocally. "You will open your mouth and keep it that
way to allow us to fit you with it, or there will be severe consequences."
"Bu-bu-but, I'll ch-ch-choke!" Christine wailed fearfully.
"Nonsense! Oral Cavity Blocks are carefully designed for long-term usage.
Now, open your mouth!"
Numbly, Christine let her mouth drop partially open. She'd been through a
perfectly horrid day already, and this seemed to be the final indignity. The
long time in the cell combined with the inevitability of her severe sentence,
and her feelings of total abandonment and helplessness worked to the advantage
of her captors. Her natural resistance had been reduced almost to nil.
The evil assembly was raised to her face and the thick pad began to slip between
her slightly separated teeth. It only entered about an inch between them.
"Wider!"
She reluctantly allowed the rubber horror to be pushed deeper into her mouth,
feeling the large hump at the centre pressing firmly against her upper and lower
teeth, spreading her jaws even further apart.
"Aaaauuughhh! Nnnnooooghhghh ...." she wailed, too late realizing that there
was to be no turning back.
One of them pinched her nostrils closed. Christine attempted to shake her
head free of the assaulting hands and opened her mouth slightly wider to continue
breathing. That final fraction was all that was needed. The pad was made of
a slightly compressible rubber and it squeezed down just enough that the wardress
was able to push it all the way in. She felt it slide deeply into her mouth.
"NNNnnnnnnoooo .... nnngghhh ...." she managed to wail as it plopped fully
inside, cutting her off in mid-protest.
Christine's nostrils flared widely while she gasped for breath and she shook
her head frantically to try and find some freedom from the thing that had been
forced into her mouth. It barely moved.
"Hold your head still, 130146!" the wardress in charge ordered harshly.
Despite her tongue's frantic attempts to eject the thing, she did as ordered.
The wardress knelt and stared into her prisoner's fear-widened eyes, then reached
out with both hands and clamped them to the straps over her cheeks. The other
had moved behind and held the back of Christine's head with both hands, her
arms rigidly braced against her abdomen.
"Keep still!"
The hands over her cheeks suddenly pushed back and pressed firmly together.
The large gagging pad was forced even deeper into Christine's mouth and throat,
creating a spasm of frantic retching; but it was too late! With small mechanical
joining sounds, the locks at the ends of the down curved gagging strap engaged
on their collar mounting knuckles, locking it and the pad irrevocably onto and
into Christine's head. The strap sealed her lower face from under her nose to
the point of her chin. A deep shelf cupped underneath, back to her throat, preventing
her from opening her jaw. She spasmed for an interminable two minutes as her
body automatically tried to reject the horror that had been inserted; but she
hadn't eaten in two days and so nothing came up. The continuing reaction made
her thrash weakly in the chair until her brain finally accepted the fact that
whatever was in her throat, was not going to go away. Christine stared up at
her two escorts through streaming eyes, jerking her hands uselessly against
their confining lock.
Again, they reached into the ominous suitcase and this time came up with a
set of the curved metal bands, resembling a cage. As soon as they brought them
into Christine's view, she knew what it was, or thought she did. With her head
already held rigid by the gag strap and its collar mounting, she couldn't avoid
the cage being slipped into place, its cross-strap resting lightly on her hair.
It was tightened slowly around her skull until snug, then interlocking latches
were flipped down to mate to the gag-strap. The device had become firmly attached
to her head and collar. Christine could still see out from within the snug,
goggle like frames pressing into the sensitive skin surrounding her eyes; but
then, they did something utterly horrible and alien to her experience. Two smooth,
and very long curved metal rods, were swung around from the sides and slowly
inserted far up her nose! When this happened, Christine squalled with reaction,
shivering violently as the disturbing penetration continued until there was
a muted set of clicks. It was awful!
"Stand up!"
"Mmmmmmnnnn! Nnnnnnhhhh ..." was all she could manage from under the cruel
strap.
She rose to her feet, quaking with terror, feeling the thoroughly confining
wide bands clamped around her ankles assert their authority. Her ankle-length
skirt was swept aside for a moment by one of the wardresses and a long chain
lead was connected to the large central ring of her hobble. The same one then
stood and reached to Christine's collared throat with another glittering length
of links held in her hand. She tried to move her head away to avoid having the
humiliating leash attached; but naturally, there was no way she could stop it
happening and with a solid click, she was doubly tethered.
"Hold still!"
On the sides of her head, another set of thick, blunt-ended, curved metal
rods was swung up and inserted deeply into each of her ears! Christine felt
a pair of audible clicks when they locked into place, almost deafening her completely.
These additions quickly drove her to shivering distraction from their twitching
pressure on her ear drums. What had she signed herself away to???!
