Part 28
Beka took what she needed from the rations the Gilads had, it wasn't much but she knew it would be enough for Harper and herself to delay starvation for another day. Grabbing a water canister, she hastily made her exit without needing to speak to any of the other people inside in the tent.
"They've taken him, Harper's no longer where you left him," Junia intercepted Beka as she headed back to the tent.
"What? Who?" Beka quickly asked.
"Buz, and some others," Junia answered sadly. "All you can do now is wait until you're summoned."
"No, I have to help him," Beka dismissed pushing past Junia, but then felt the Edenian hold her back.
"They won't let you near him, not until they want you to be there," Junia explained.
"He's still recovering from that game, he can't face anything yet," Beka panicked. "Man, I shouldn't have left him, what was I thinking!" she snapped at herself.
"That he needed food, and water? You were doing what you always do, and it's why you're in the position you are now, as his carer," Junia calmly noted.
"What good is this to him now, if he's no longer in the tent?" Beka snapped, and then realised she was venting her rage at the wrong person. "Thanks, you know, for telling me," she offered backing off. "I wouldn't have known what to think if I'd returned to an empty tent," she added.
"It's usually a good guess that one of the others has taken him, if he's gone," Junia offered helpfully.
"Well maybe, but I just had this, kind of heavy talk with Harper on a subject I know he's sensitive about," Beka explained. "I wouldn't have dismissed him doing a runner, to avoid talking to me for a bit, it's something he's done in the past, years ago," she added with a frown. "I really need to know where he is, to try and help him; I have to do something I can't just sit here waiting."
"Unfortunately you'll have to," Junia sadly explained. "Harper is no longer someone you can help, you can only care for him now, he's not yours to protect, I'm sorry."
"I don't buy that, they can't stop me," Beka stressed.
"Yeah, they can," Junia disagreed. "If you want to help Harper, don't be getting yourself into any chains because you've annoyed them, no one else will be allowed to help him if you're otherwise engaged," she hinted strongly.
"So I do nothing, and let them do what they want?" Beka's anger was growing.
"You're learning fast," Junia shrugged and walked away.
Dylan grimaced and rolled his shoulders, trying to encourage the pain away. Rhade just observed him from a little distance away, and didn't seem too concerned. They had stopped for a moment to try and consider their options, still trying to find some clue or location for the main controls for Edenia's defensive shields.
"The control room must be inside these walls, it makes no sense to have them outside, prone to attack," Dylan considered out loud.
"They wouldn't be obvious inside, to ensure no internal take over," Rhade shrugged.
"Come on Rhade, we're trained to be able to locate these types of places, what are we missing?" Dylan stressed.
Rhade looked around. "This city within these walls does not rely on technology," Rhade turned to Dylan. "They hardly use it, it's not a part of their lives, these people appear to prefer the more simple life," Rhade explained.
"But all around and above them, technology exists, and protects them," Dylan stated gesturing above.
"They just don't see it," Rhade added.
"When it's staring them right in the face, they chose to ignore it," Dylan continued, as they tried to make sense of the situation. "Whoever installed it, they knew to keep it hidden, unseen and it was designed to fit in," he added. "The towers that support the shield were built in the same style as the buildings we see, with no clue that inside they contain technology not associated with this city."
"The control centre must have been designed in the same way," Rhade then considered.
"There are thousands of buildings in this city, all looking alike," Dylan reminded him.
"We know of tunnels underneath this city," Rhade then stated, and he moved closer to Dylan. "And the building would need to be secured on this level, above ground, but it would still need to fit in."
"No windows or doors?" Dylan raised his eyebrows.
Rhade half smiled. "It's something to go on," he agreed.
"I'm willing," Dylan agreed.
"We just have to hope it's on this side, and not the other," Rhade then motioned to the side of the city occupied by the Haves.
"Apparently we're protected now, remember?" Dylan reminded the Nietzschean.
"They might ask what our business is, considering we'll be going to Kenan's side," Rhade countered.
"Then we have to ask one simple question," Dylan stopped and Rhade turned to him. "If Kenan leaves the Gilad's alone, as it's been said, why have the Gilad's set up their base on this side, that apparently has nothing."
"Maybe we're on the right side after all," Rhade perked up.
Harper wasn't sure how long they had been walking, but his feet were telling him it had been a while before Buz gestured for them to stop. Looking around Harper saw a large building ahead of them, taller than the others he had seen on Edenia, the windows were barred and the heavy door told him it was a prison or holding facility of some sort.
Buz instructed for the door to be opened, and between two of his guards they managed to push it open. Soon, Harper was being led inside until they finally reached a rectangular room, with no windows and the only light came from a flickering candle in one corner. The heavy door of the room closing made Harper jump as it locked into place.
Standing in the centre of the room, Harper felt uneasy as Buz began to circle him. After a full circuit, Buz looked Harper in the eyes.
"Your friend did a good job in patching you up," Buz smiled approvingly, then gestured for his men to remove Harper's shirt, and the human didn't protest knowing he was easily outnumbered six men to one. "Your ribs, nice work she did on taping them," he commented and then jabbed his fingers into Harper's rib cage, causing Harper to grimace. "But the nanobots did a better job, right?" he stated. "Remove the bandage," he then instructed.
"How did you know about the nanobots?" Harper asked in a sneer.
"You already know," Buz partially smiled.
"Zal tricked me, that old lady?" Harper guessed.
"She works for me, well, the Gilads," Buz corrected calmly, and now examined the bruising around Harper's ribs. "I knew after our first chat that you would make a fine candidate for us."
"Really," Harper showed a lack of enthusiasm.
Buz then looked to one of his men. "Go get his carer, she'll be needed soon enough," he ordered and the two men quickly left, leaving Harper's panic to inwardly rise as Buz turned back to him.
"Now I need to know more," Buz continued regardless, and Harper just looked at the Edenian as Buz took a moment to stare at his port and neck. "It was important to us to clean up the mess that Kenan made of your neck, your being sick helps nobody."
"You might have to wait for the thank you note," Harper stressed, fully expecting a retort of some kind, but Buz just smiled, and then the human noticed the slight gesture Buz made to his man, a silent order.
"I need to test your endurance, and survival abilities," Buz then proclaimed. "I know you came from a bad place, Earth, I believe was a horror story in itself, so I think this should be child's play to you, but we need to see how far you can go."
"Don't tell me you have some lame mission for me to go on," Harper mocked with arrogance.
"You'll be going no where, Harper, because the Gilads have a fine tradition in being able to test the strength of a man using certain tried and tested techniques," Buz smiled now, and it sent shivers down Harper's spine. "You need to know that we control you now, and you will become accustomed to knowing when we are happy with you, and when we are not, all by how much pain you are in."
"Great, I've joined the sadistic anonymous organisation, I've been waiting for my membership to be approved for years," Harper frowned, and then felt his arms being pulled back behind his back. "Look, I've been tortured by ubers, attacked by Magog, you think you can do any worse than that, I've already passed your damn tests by default," Harper then stressed, panicking slightly as he heard the metal cuffs snap shut around his wrists, and feeling the same around his ankles.
"We have to do this, to make sure you can back up your grand claims," Buz simply stated.
"You think I make that stuff up?" Harper snapped, now hearing and then feeling the weight of the chains being attached to cuffs around his wrists and ankles. "You seriously don't have to do this, I'm not big on pain and if you want me to do something, just say," he added.
"We don't want you to just do what we say because you're once again saving your own skin, we want you to know how our society works," Buz explained with precision.
"On fear, terror and pain?" Harper questioned, already knowing the answer.
"We find it's a good distraction for people who have proven track records in not following orders, and deserting their own people to save their own skin," Buz sneered, close to Harper now.
"You know nothing about me," Harper stressed, his anger rising.
"Didn't you escaped punishment and allowed your own captain to suffer great pain because of what you did?" Buz questioned.
"What are you? A fully paid up member of the Rhade fan club?" Harper snapped back.
"I know he's not in yours," Buz smiled back, taunting Harper with his continuing calm exterior. "You need to be trained into knowing what it means to be accepted into the Gilads, as an asset."
"An asset?" Harper spat.
"Your two friends, Dylan and Rhade, they never made the grade," Buz revealed.
"What?" Harper questioned, taken aback. "But they are the pride of the Commonwealth, like Gods, how have I made the grade and they haven't?"
"Are you wishing once more for your friends to take the pain, and escape it yourself?" Buz countered.
"No, stop twisting my words," Harper stressed, a little flustered with confusion and he ignored the fact that two of the men were now lifting his arms up, whilst two others began to wrap a flat piece of strong looking fabric around his stomach. "I just don't normally get picked ahead of those two, you know, with being the weak puny human?" he offered.
"Your captain is too weak, and injured at this time, and your other friend, or not as the case might be, either way his anger is not all that attractive to us," Buz answered. "Maybe they might make the grade later, but right now, we're best off without them."
Harper considered this and then finally took notice of the length of strong fabric that had been wrapped twice around his stomach, covering the area between his pelvis and just below the rib cage. "So what is going on?" he asked, testing the cuffs around his wrists that still secured his arms behind his back.
"You're about to experience some of the Gilads history for training techniques," Buz revealed, as one of the men released a chain above their heads, letting the end of it crash to the ground in front of Harper.
The moment the chain fell, the two ends of the fabric wrapped around Harper were locked together by some metal device. The chain from the ceiling was slipped through the device effectively attaching Harper to it, and then secured leaving the length of fabric that was twice wrapped around his stomach taunt in front of him.
Still confused, Harper tried to understand the method of torture the Gilads were employing, seeing the chain simply lying around his feet that was secured to his ankle cuffs and also the ground, but with plenty of give that he could easily kick the chain. He guessed the same was true of his wrists, as he could feel a chain hanging from his wrist cuffs, and after testing the give, he had discovered the chain behind him was also secured to the ground.
Harper then heard a noise that sounded very much like a pulley system above, and he glanced up to see that the chain from the ceiling was being pulled up. Immediately he felt the fabric around his stomach become tighter as the chain pulled it up with it, and all too soon Harper was struggling to remain upright, as his whole body was being lifted by the fabric, and the pressure on his lower back was already telling.
The breath from Harper was suddenly short as his feet were lifted from the ground, and the fabric took his full weight. He soon realised that the chains connected to his ankles and wrists suddenly had less give, and all too soon they were trying to pull him back down, whilst the chain above was still trying to pull his middle upwards.
The strain showed now on Harper's face, as his body was clearly caught between chains that tried to pull him both up and down, and the fabric wrapped around his stomach tightened around his lower back, putting a lot of pressure on an area not designed for such weight.
The pulley was then stopped, and Harper found himself trapped in an impossible position. Already the aching pain around his middle was unbearable, adding to that the strain that he felt in his arms and legs from the suspended position he now found himself in.
"We will be back, but whilst we're gone we only ask that you consider your position right now," Buz teased, and before Harper could even fathom a response through gritted pain, they left the room.
Harper closed his eyes. The pain was different to anything he had experienced before, it was more of an intolerable ache than sharp pain and he began to wonder if he could continue to tolerate the position he was in. The worse pain was in his lower back, and it was unrelenting even when he tried to shift. That part of his back was not able to comfortably take his weight, and all he could think about was the position he was in, knowing it was designed to not only test his strength, but his spirit as well, as he focused on trying to not to think about the agony he was feeling.
TBC