IV. The Tale of Two Women
"Why did you spare me?"
Diana heard the voice from a distance. Her eyelids were heavy. She tried to turn herself in the direction of the sound, but found that she could hardly move. She sat in some kind of chair, her strong limbs shackled to its arms and legs. Even her upper body was kept fixed, by means of a fetter around her neck and attached to the chair's support. Her head hung heavily forward.
"Tell me. I don't understand, and I'm really curious. I hate things I don't understand."
The rustle of robes indicated someone approaching her. The young Amazon forced herself to open her eyes and lift her head — a fog hung over them and she still couldn't behold her surroundings clearly.
"Where am I? What — what will happen to me?"
Her voice was coarse.
"You're in my lab. And the court has sentenced you to death, obviously."
The voice spoke casually in ancient Greek. Diana, astonished, looked up, her mouth slightly open, her lips dry, focusing her gaze as much as possible on the person in front of her. She felt it was vital to know who this was. A fearsome voice, a woman's voice.
A cup touched Diana's lips, fresh water moistened her tongue.
"What else would you expect, hmm? You're a secret agent, a murderer and a spy. Don't tell me you didn't know the risk of your venture before you started it."
She drank eagerly. Someone was meddling with her left arm. The veil was slowly lifting by now. Diana suddenly realised who the woman in front of her was; she recognised her from the photograph she had seen at the War Council's meeting room, though the face close to hers was gruesomely marred, up to the point as to make it unrecognisable: this was Dr. Isabel Maru. A thin glass barrel with a pointy needle sticking out at the end sat loosely in between the fingers of her right hand. Diana had no idea why, but the sight of it terrified her.
"Dr. Maru — "
Maru put the syringe in Diana's arm. Diana was shocked at the sight and the feel of the needle disappearing slowly into her flesh and tried to retract, but she couldn't do anything to prevent the disgusting thing from piercing her skin. Diana's hightened bodily awareness made her feel the cold, sharp sting as if she were ripped open by a javelin or a spear. Her jaw tightened while she saw a thick red liquid pour from her arm into the small vessel connected to the needle.
"You're taking my blood!"
"Only a little bit — for now." A slight grin passed over the masked face.
Diana's muscles tensed. The shackles of the magic chain — she knew she could not break them, but hot rage boiled in her blood nevertheless. The thick veins in her neck stood out visibly. The doctor, impressed, took a step back to observe the warrior stack up her formidable powers and wait for the enormous, but pointless, mustering of energies to withdraw.
Pearls of sweat glistened on Diana's front; her frustrated attempt made her pant audibly.
"Why are you doing this to me? If you so fear me, why not just get rid of me? Why not simply be done with it and execute me honourably?"
"Your — ehm, capacities are amazing; I witnessed a demonstration of your strength with my own eyes — how you lifted that tank. It is in the interest of the Imperial Army to know the origins of that kind of power. But you are not invulnerable, as is clear from the few experiments I'm performing on you right now. Moreover, you withstood the Yperite gaz at Veld, but I easely undid you with some chloroform. A dazzling array of inconsistencies you are, Princess. You're a mystery, and I like mysteries, provided I can solve them."
"You seek power over others."
It was said so evenly, so matter-of-factly, that it came to Isabel as a slap in the face.
"Yes, and why not? You say that as if it were something objectionable. But in this world, for a talented woman, there is no other way to survive."
The doctor was irritated. Who did that unwitting child think she was, confronting her so blatantly? She concentrated on preparing her next experiment, messing around with conductors and batteries.
"On your nice little island, eh, how do people live there then? There must be someone in charge. Or do they all live like the animals in God's Paradise, hmm?"
Diana looked the doctor straight into the eyes. The cynicism was completely lost on her.
"We live according to our ordinance. It is our sacred duty to save the world of men; our lives are spent in preparation for that task. We love each other as sisters — no one is valued more than anyone else, though we all gladly obey our revered Queen — "
The thought of her mother overwhelmed Diana like a wave. Her head sunk to her breast. Tears ran over her cheeks. Why? Why this — disaster? She couldn't fathom even the beginning of an answer; she couldn't think of anything to keep despair at bay.
A gloved finger slipped under Diana's chin and lifted her head. The abysmal sadness in those deep brown eyes was breathtaking, even to the hardened Doctor's soul.
"Why did you save me? I really want to know. That monstrous Wargod of yours delivered me to you; you could have killed me in one stroke, and yet you didn't. Why?"
"Ares tried to make me hate mankind — but I don't want to hate. He wanted me to join him and destroy you, all of you, but I couldn't. I'm devoted to love, not hate — "
One split second of hesitation. Then Maru plugged the peg deeply into Diana's flank. The young woman, taken by surprise, gasped for breath.
"Ouchhh — "
A zooming sound, amplifying. Suddenly a tremendous crackle. A flash of lightning sent a shockwave through Diana's convulsing body. The Amazon princess passed out, her body slumping forward.
Isabel Maru looked down on the unconscious prisoner clamped into the chair. Her eyes traced the curves of the lean and strong, but now utterly powerless, young woman's body, entirely at her mercy. For the first time in long — she couldn't even remember how long a time ago she felt something she'd forgot she knew; for the first time in long she felt — pity.