Tao – The way to be followed, the right conduct, doctrine or method. (Oxford English Dictionary).

My thanks as always to Jan, Angie, Nelekke and Delia, who never fail to review, and drive me ever on.

And with special thanks to Jan for all her help.

Chapter 10

I was hustled along the corridor and down the steps, all the time trying to keep from strugglin' too much. I didn't want anything worse to happen to Hutch. God we were in enough trouble already. I recognised the stairs we were goin' down. We'd been down them with Gardel the day before an' as we walked slowly along the dark hallway at the bottom of the stairs we stopped at the door at the end. Traff's door. The guard opened it and put his hands to my back. It was the guard I'd decked upstairs an' he kinda leered at me, twisted my left arm again then pushed me hard into the room. My arm gave out an' I ended up skatin' on bare knees across the stone floor. As I grunted an' looked round he laughed at me an' clanged the door shut. I knelt on the ground an' nursed my arm to me. I'd felt somethin' give inside, like a muscle tearin' and the pain was incredible. Now it just kinda hung limp an' useless. I tried hard to get it movin' again, but gave up after a while. It just didn't wanna play ball. My knees were leavin' little puddles of blood on the ground. I got up slowly an' put my pyjama pants back on one handed. They hadn't let us get dressed before we left the mission an' for once I'd managed to sleep in PJ pants an' a tee shirt.

I left the tee shirt off, coz in the corner, where we'd left him last night was Traff's body. It hadn't moved and for a minute I thought I'd killed him with an overdose of the DF118s. I shuffled over to him and put a hand on his neck, feeling for a pulse. It was there. Not very strong an' real slow, but it was there. I let out a sigh of relief an' set about tryin' to wake him up. I needed as much intel on this place as I could get, if we were gonna get out of this mess.

I shook his shoulder gently. 'Traff, S'me Curly, wake up'.

He groaned and pulled his shoulder away from me. I tried again.

'Hey Traff, c'mon buddy. Open your eyes'. I was surprised an' angry at the result. His shoulder jerked away an he moaned,

'No…….no more……..no. Please no more'. It was a pitiful sound an' it tore at me like nothin' else. What had they done to him to make him behave like that? He was one of the strongest, bravest guys I knew. The other one I'd left upstairs for God knows what to happen to him. I tried Traff again.

'Hey Traff. S'OK. Its me, Curly. I've got ya buddy, I got ya' I kept talkin' to him low an' soft an' gradually his eyes opened an' he looked over his shoulder at me.

'Curly?' His voice was raspy an' dry. He'd not moved since we'd seen him last night an' he moved stiffly. He rolled over on his back and groaned as the pain in his side flared up again. He lay a minute pantin'. He shivered, even though it was hot in the room. I levered him up so that he was sat with his back against the wall an' handed him my tee shirt. He barely had strength to reach for it, so I kinda looped it over his head an' he struggled to put his arms through the sleeves.

'What ya doin' back?' he asked, his eyes lingerin' again on my chest.

'Got a little visit from the police in the middle of the night. They invited us to join them for a little party. Hutch is up there now entertainin' 'em' I smiled grimly.

'Did ya see the doctor?'

I nodded. 'He seemed interested in this stuff' I pointed at my scars 'an for some reason asked if I had a pacemaker fitted'.

'And do you?' he asked.

I shook my head.

'You should maybe have said ya had' Traff said. 'Might have saved ya from the electrics. They don't usually kill anyone outright – against the teachings of the Church, but they come damned close'. He hitched himself a bit more upright, seemingly a bit stronger. 'Where'd ya say Hutch was?'

I nodded upwards. 'They kept him upstairs. Didn't wanna leave him, but they sorta forced the issue'.

Traff tried to smile through his smashed lips. 'Yeah, don't they just have a way of doin' that? Hope he's OK, I like the guy'.

I hoped he'd be OK too, but I had a nasty feelin' that that wasn't gonna be the case. I'd left him naked an' defenceless with a maniac doctor an' a selection of guards. How could he be OK? I stowed the thoughts away an' concentrated on the here an' now.

'Can ya remember the lay out of the place' I asked hopefully. Traff had the same trainin' I had in the army, an' then some coz he stayed in. He knew the score an' that was that ya stored away every detail in case ya needed it later.

'The place is on three floors. Top floor is where they do the interrogations. Big rooms, high ceilings and plenty o' plug sockets. Ground floor rooms where they keep the political prisoners. Usually ten to a room. Down here's for the trouble makers' he smiled grimly. 'Guards patrol in twos or threes all round the building. At least four guards on each floor at each doorway. They patrol at irregular intervals – no pattern. I've seen cameras in each corridor an' in the interrogation rooms. Pretty secure'.

I groaned inwardly. The place would be difficult to break out of even if we were all fit. I had the feelin' that by the time a chance came, we'd all be less then A1. I rubbed my left arm again and felt the elephants start up on my chest. Not good. Definitely not good. I sat with my back to the wall next to Traff and tried to slow my breathin' and stop the elephants. I'd no pain meds with me an' I didn't think the doctor upstairs was the dispensin' kind. We waited in silence, Traff drowsing and me trying to keep the pain levels tolerable.

I don't know how long we sat like that. Traff leaned against me an' his head rested on my shoulder. He was exhausted, although he seemed a little better than the day before. The pain meds had helped him an' he'd had a good nights sleep. At least he's had more than I had. Must have been about two hours later when I heard keys janglin' down the corridor. I nudged Traff an' he woke up with a jump, then grinned sheepishly. 'Sorry' he said. 'Gonna have to relax more'.

'Don't see why you're jumpy in a spa resort like this' I joked as the keys rattled in the door. It opened and two guards flung a blond body into the room, closed the door and locked it again.

Hutch's body hit the ground with a sickening thud an' I could tell he was unconscious. They'd given him his pants back, but he was still naked from the waist up. His pants were damp and his chest and back were wet. He had burn marks on his head, chest and there was blood on the front of his pants. I'd seen it all before an' it took me right back to Vietnam. Electrical torture. Victims are strapped to a wooden table and wetted down to aid the current. The prod operator applies the wand to sensitive parts of the body (head, temples, mouth, genitalia) while the machine operator works the bobbin, raising and reducing voltage. The victim's usually made to bite on rubber to make sure that they don't bite off their tongue during the shocks. Usually, a doctor is present to make sure that the victim has no heart problems and can survive the interrogation and to monitor the pulse. Real caring.

I knew he'd be out of it for a while an' I knew he'd be better off unconscious too. The pain when you're coming round is cripplin'. I moved him onto his back and sat with his head in my lap. It was hard work with only one workin' arm, but it was the only thing I could do.

I felt sick. This was too much. Traff was my friend an' I should have been the one who went through all this crap, not Hutch. But then I realised Hutch wouldn't have let me go through it anyway. I shuddered when I remembered that Dobey would only start lookin' for us after two weeks – still plenty of time for the military to have fun with us.

We sat still for a while. There wasn't much to say. Traff an' me just sat and looked at Hutch. His body was still twitchin' as over stimulated muscles kept contractin', but slowly he started to come round.

His eyes opened and looked directly into mine. He groaned, long and low as he tried to move. The blood on his pants had dried and the burns on his temples and chest were beginning to blister. I could only imagine what further south looked like.

'Fine mess we got into' he gasped as he tried to sit up. I didn't stop him, just supported him a bit. He licked his dry lips and stood shakily. Walked unsteadily towards the tap in the corner. Together Traff an' me both shouted "NO" . He stopped and looked back at us questioning.

'Ya can't drink anythin' for a while, Blondie' I explained. 'If ya drink right after that treatment you'll have fits and convulsions. Have to wait a while, then take it slow'.

He came back and gently lowered himself to the floor next to Traff an' me, gasping as he touched the stone floor.

'Know what ya mean by sparkin' company' he panted. 'How long? I kinda lost track of time'.

'Enjoyin' yourself too much' I said, 'that's your problem. A couple of hours, give or take'.

'I never experienced anything like that' he said. 'The pain! God it hurt. They just kept asking me where Gardel was. I couldn't tell 'em coz I've got no idea, but I wouldn't have anyway'. He closed his eyes as another wave of pain came, rode it out, then opened 'em again.

'How many times ya been through that?' he asked Traff.

Traff considered. 'Three or four, They usually alternate it with a beatin' or two. Ya know what they say, variety's the spice of life'.

'Well I don't intent to be around for many more sessions' Hutch said. 'We gotta find a way out'.

I agreed, but truth to tell, I couldn't honestly think of a way.

Half an hour later they came with food for us, if ya could call it that. The door opened and three plates came skimmin' across the floor. A piece of dry bread, a tiny bit of stale cheese an' a tough piece of beef about 2" cubed on each one. Traff an' me set to dividing eveythin' in two as Hutch looked on. I'd gone back into 'Nam mode, knowing the next meal might be some time off.

'What are ya doin?' he asked.

'Ya never know when you're gonna be fed again' I explained. Food ya divide an hoard, water ya drink all at once coz it'll evaporate'. He understood an' helped us break all the food in two. Half we ate, half was put carefully to one side.

'Next thing is we need to rest as much as possible' I said.

'No problem there' Hutch said, 'I'm beat. Oh wait. Maybe that's tomorrow's treat'.

As if in answer, the door to the cell opened, two guards walked in an' got hold of me, yanking me to my feet. I didn't resist. There was no point, but I kinda knew I wasn't gonna enjoy the next couple of hours.