Page 59 of Fear and Desire

The computer genius grinned. “There’s ten people who are going to be a little late to something called the Eroticon Convention outside of London, because the airline overbooked their seats. I took the liberty of rebooking them in first class on the next flight and paid for the first night in their hotel, to make up for the inconvenience.”

Dan chuckled. “Is that the kind of convention it sounds like?”

“Is sure is.”

Laura:

There was only silence in her cell for most of the next day, but suddenly the silence was broken by a loud yell, followed by screaming. Laura huddled into the corner of her tiny cell, hands over her ears, but the sounds echoed in her head long after they had ceased outside her cell. When she finally pulled her hands away, her face was wet with tears. She might not survive this. Her future with Dan, the one thing that had held her together through the last month, might just have been an illusion. She wouldn’t create a home with him, or have kids. She’d helped a hundred babies into the world, but there would be no tiny baby placed on her own stomach. As she lay on her pallet, she whispered his name over and over.

No one brought her any food. Eventually, she gathered herself together enough to yell until she was hoarse, desperate to know she hadn’t been forgotten. She tried to ignore the gnawing sensation that felt like her insides were digesting themselves. She whispered to herself, she sang, she slept, but in the absence of any noise, her mind wandered. She wasn’t going to hold out forever without food, but she was determined to fight as long as she could.

When the little Asian lady appeared again, Laura took the soap and rag without protest. “My name is Laura,” she whispered to the silent woman as she pointed to herself. “Laura.”

The woman’s eyes darted around before she looked at Laura again. “Kamlai,” she whispered back. Laura smiled at her and she gave a tentative smile back. Then guards appeared, and she washed and dressed in silence. They bound her hands and led her to DeLeo’s office.

The fragrance of beef soup met her long before they arrived at the office. Her stomach growled loudly.

“Will you kneel before me and call me your Master?”

She stared at the soup as she shook her head. “No.”

He nodded like yesterday and settled himself to eat. Laura wobbled on her feet but kept silent as he ate. He motioned to the guard, and she was returned to the cell and the silence.

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Laura:

Stomachpainbeganthenext day, and it was more intense than the hunger pains she’d become accustomed to. How many days since she’d eaten? She couldn’t do the math in her head, and it didn’t matter, anyway. She drank water as much as she could, but it stopped helping the hunger after a while. And she was getting colder. There was no blanket on her pallet, so she took to huddling in the corner, her arms wrapped around her knees.

When Kamlai came back, Laura had trouble washing herself, so the tiny lady helped her. The guards had to steady her as she walked to DeLeo’s office. Standing was almost too much effort, but she forced herself to keep her legs straight as she gave him her answer, and watch as he ate grilled steak. The smell drifted across the room and tempted her like a lover.

When she got back to her cell, the water was turned off. DeLeo was forcing the issue, and her time was growing short.

Thehungerwasgoingaway, but now thirst consumed her. She shivered all the time and had bizarre and frightening dreams. Perhaps they were hallucinations? It wasn’t just the lack of food or water causing them; it was also the sensory deprivation of the utterly silent cell. She treasured the thirty minutes in DeLeo’s office each day, just to hear some noise and soak in the sight of the sunlit gardens out of his windows. She lost herself in the riot of color as she clung to the edge of a desk to stay upright, and he ate barbecued ribs and drank a large glass of wine.

Twonightslater,insectsbegan crawling over the walls and floor of her cell. She cowered in a corner, screaming, though a tiny sliver of her rational mind knew they were delusions. She whispered over and over,they aren’t real––they aren’t real,as she scraped her fingernails over her skin, desperate to wipe them off. A few minutes later, she opened her eyes to find them gone, and the only evidence of her hallucination were the long red scratches down her arms and legs. She spent the rest of the night in the corner, crying dry tears, regretting that she wasn’t stronger, and knowing the time had come for her to surrender.

Dan:

The team’s flight to London had been trouble-free, and they arrived to find all their gear ready just as Murphy promised, thanks to more of his contacts. But the commercial plane that was going to fly them to Latvia hadn’t actually left Latvia yet, because of mechanical problems.

Once more, Murphy came through. Safely ensconced in his bungalow at home, he was weaving magic for them the whole way. A private jet was suddenly available for their use, and not only would it remain at their disposal until they returned; it would fly them to within a couple of kilometers of the border to a tiny airport. Dan didn’t even want to contemplate the source of Murphy’s funds, but he suspected all the brass in the agency would be a few dollars short on their next paychecks.

They landed late in the evening just outside Ziguri, Latvia. An armed guard met them as they rolled to a stop. He informed them the airport was closed for the night.

“Closed? So, what does that mean?”

“You cannot leave the plane until tomorrow morning.”

“What? You’re fucking kidding, right?”

A semiautomatic rifle gave the guard’s answer, and Anders pulled him back.

“You will remain on board until the airport opens in the morning. Then you can go through customs, like regular people.”

They were thwarted for now. They needed the goodwill of the local government in case something happened. He nodded and headed back up the stairs. He hoped the seats reclined, not that he was going to sleep.

Customsopenedat8am,and they were the first in line. They were theonlyones in line. In fact, they were the only plane expected all day. Dan gritted his teeth in frustration, but kept his temper in check as he went through the red tape.

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