Just want to say THANKS for all the great and encouraging comments :)

In answer to the origins of the torture technique, its about 70 genuine from historical fact that I researched, the other 30 is writers license hehe. I should say at this point that this whole story is very much inspired from a recent holiday I took to the island of Malta that has a very cool history (and a Torture Exhibition! see above re: research hehe) that revolves around the time of the Knights of St John and their heavy handed occupation of the island, and that Edenia is based on the ancient fortified city of M'dina, the old capital of Malta.

enjoy, there's plenty more to come yet!

Part 30

Beka was forced to watch from the far wall as Harper remained suspended in the painful position. She saw that his head had fallen back, and that he was perspiring now. His hands and feet appeared to be swollen and she knew his circulation was suffering from immobility. Harper's breathing was certainly laboured as he struggled to remain conscious, and his face was red as it continued to hang low.

Without looking for permission, Beka got to her feet and returned to Harper's side. Gently she lifted Harper head to rest against her shoulder and supported his shoulders across her collar bone. His arms were outstretched either side of her, chained to the floor, but seeing the colour return to Harper's face was enough to keep Beka where she was standing.

Only vaguely aware of her presence, Harper's eyes rolled slightly before he closed them once again.

"Harper, I'm right here, sweetie, right here," Beka soothed him, never had she felt so protective of her friend and she desperately wanted his pain to end, he had only been suspended for about fifteen minutes but it felt like a lifetime already. "I'll stay here, I promise," she continued, mindlessly speaking to keep not only Harper's spirits up but her own as well. She wrapped her arms around him and let them rest of his chest, feeling the slow rise and fall, as his heart struggled to maintain a constant rhythm with the pressures being put on his body.

Beka was so consumed with focusing her efforts on soothing Harper that she didn't notice when Buz and his men entered, until the pulley above began to turn and Harper exclaimed a cry of pain as his body was lowered, and allowed to relax.

"Still got you Harper, I promise," Beka immediately assured him and she held him close until his body reached the stone floor. The others soon left, leaving Beka alone with Harper once more.

"Why is the room spinning?" Harper wearily asked as he half opened his eyes, leaning back once more against Beka for support.

Beka put a hand across his forehead. "Try not to think about it too much," she requested, not really knowing if it was connected to his faulty port or the suspension somehow affecting his circulation, causing his systems to respond in this way.

His chest moved with more vigour now, as his position enabled him to take in more oxygen, and circulate it around. The light sheen of perspiration made Harper appear in a bad way, and Beka reached for the canister containing the supply of water. She readily held it to his lips and he eagerly took the sips he needed.

After a few moments of silence, once Harper had taken all the water he wanted, he spoke up again.

"Beka."

"What is it?" Beka asked, sensing a request.

"I need to go," he answered.

"Yeah, we all need to get out of this place," she returned, holding him a little tighter for comfort.

"No, I mean I need to go," Harper offered weakly. "Like I need to pee," he added.

"Oh," Beka was suddenly flustered. "Oh, right, erm," she looked around, not knowing what to say or do.

"I know they want me to, but I really don't want to wet myself," Harper continued tiredly.

"No, of course, I understand," Beka tried to sound assured and in control, but the request had totally thrown her. "I'm just going to rest you down on your side, ok? I'll go look for something for you, you know, to use."

"Sorry," Harper offered then, sensing her uncertainty. "Any other time I'd relish this chance to humiliate you," he smirked. "But it's starting to hurt," he added wearily.

"Just hold on," Beka stated, as she looked around and then spotted an old bucket that she assumed was for the purpose Harper needed. On reaching the bucket however she heard Harper speak again.

"Forget it," he spoke quietly, too quietly for Beka's liking.

Beka turned and felt a spike of guilt spear her gut and very being, and for a moment she nearly lost the control she had on her emotions. Holding herself tight, she took several deep breaths before returning to Harper's side.

"I made a bit of a mess," Harper offered, his voice low and lacking any sign of life.

"Seamus I'm so sorry," Beka blurted out, and she quickly tried to resume the position he'd been in, resting against her but his cry of pain at her actions stopped her, and she simply held him as best she could, without causing him further distress. "I'm sorry, really I am, Seamus," she offered, her eyes watering now at her own failure to care for him.

"I should have said something sooner," Harper offered softly, responding to her embrace. "But I was too embarrassed to ask," he admitted. "I mean, it's not a nice thing to ask of a friend, is it?"

"But I'm here to help you, to care for you," Beka stated. "Don't be afraid to ask again, ok, you promise?"

"Promise," Harper agreed.

"And I'll be more prepared," Beka added. "I'll see if I can't get something to clean this mess up the next time you're," Beka stopped herself, feeling Harper tense in her hold. "Sorry," she sighed heavily, knowing she was not helping Harper much and the silence between them felt tense suddenly.

"Brendan was one of seven cousins," Harper then spoke to break the silence, with his head now resting against Beka's shoulder as they faced each other, lying on the ground and Beka supporting his weight. "He was the eldest, the one I looked up to."

Beka listened as Harper spoke of Brendan, knowing he was talking to break the tension, and was in his own way helping them both to adjust to their roles. By simply talking to her, he was reassuring her that things were ok, and he was obviously remembering her previous request for more information before he'd been taken by Buz. As he talked, she began to get the sense that Harper was no stranger to these kinds of situations and that he was drawing on experience, having taken things so well as far as she could tell. She'd heard him complain more about warm beer, than he'd complained about his treatment by Buz. He had every right to be cursing Buz using every word under the sun, but instead, he was talking as if they were simply sat on the Maru drinking coffee. Never before had she been this close, physically, to Harper, and normally he wasn't the touchy feely guy that she was clinging to now and he likewise to her.

"He would hit me," Harper continued but Beka's attention was caught with those words.

"Hit you?" she asked with surprise. "Brendan? The cousin you worship?" she checked, knowing she had zoned out as he spoke.

"Just to keep me in line, said I needed it with the mouth and cheek I had," Harper offered with a sigh sounding a little more awake now, and he would have continued had a couple of Buz's men not walked in.

Beka glared at them as they approached, one was carrying a bucket and a mop of some sort, the other carried a parcel and she realised it was fresh clothes.

"We don't want our friend getting sick," one of the men simply offered and then walked away, leaving the items behind for Beka to use.

"How am I supposed to put these new clothes on you?" Beka questioned, seeing the ankle and wrist cuffs still firmly in place.

"You'll put them on me when I'm released," Harper answered logically.

"But," Beka began and then just as quickly stopped. "Oh," she simply realised and then frowned again. "But then how am I supposed to remove what you have on?"

"I doubt they'll wash and press these clothes I have on for me," Harper partially grinned. "I think they don't think I need them anymore and can be sacrificed."

"No way, there's no way I'm doing that, Harper, no way, that's too much," Beka stressed, moving from Harper's side. "How can you be so calm about this?" she demanded, as she stood up.

"Looks like I'm not the only one being tested," Harper realised remaining calm.

"It's you I'm thinking about, not me," Beka returned firmly. "You don't need that as well, the humiliation."

"Hey I'm proud of my scrawny body," Harper lightly protested, sounding too tired to get as worked up as Beka. "If they want to see more of the Harper, let them," he stated defiantly, his eyes not leaving Beka's stare.

"No," Beka stood her ground, and shook her head. "You're already bending over backwards for them, literally, no more, it stops here."

Harper grimaced as he tried to move and stretch his aching limbs. "It does kind of smell though," he admitted through gritted teeth.

"I'll clean up as best I can," Beka offered. "But the pants stay on, ok?"

Harper just smirked. "Story of my life," he quipped.

Beka just shook her head, as she began to use the cleaning utensil to soak the floor where Harper had had his accident, and it soon washed away into the nearby drain in the floor.

"How come you're not freaking out about any of this?" Beka then asked, with more composure.

"Waste of energy, something I need right now," Harper answered genuinely, and Beka had noticed that he had hardly moved or shown any emotion since they had lowered him down, not even to show his pain.

Beka encouraged the last of the water down the drain, and found herself staring at the cover, having noticed the strange discolouration around the rim, it wasn't red as she was use to, but she knew what it was without needing to be told, Edenian blood.

"Could you at least throw what's left of the water over me?" Harper compromised, interrupting her thoughts and forcing her to move away from the drain.

"That I can do," Beka agreed quickly composing herself, before checking the water to ensure it wasn't filled with chemicals that could do harm. Once satisfied that the water was safe and clean, she proceeded to pour the contents over the human, and took some joy from the pleasure it appeared to give him.

"Wow, that's great," Harper declared showing animated emotion for the first time in a while, as the water washed over him. "A week without showers, that's got to be the next best thing," he smiled broadly. "My body thanks you, Rebecca Valentine," he stated joyously.

"It's nice to see you smile again, I can't quite believe a bucket of water enabled it, but it's good to see," Beka seated herself next to Harper again, ignoring the wet floor around him, and this time rested his head against her thigh for comfort.

"You know, Beka, I'm stronger than you think," Harper simply said after a moments' silence.

"I'm starting to realise that," Beka admitted, remembering that she had heard Harper mention being tortured before in passing, but she had never truly considered what it had meant, and now she was seeing someone she had protected for so long, give her strength.

Beka leaned back and rested on her elbows, simply looking at Harper lying with his back to her, his head still on her thigh. Her hand idly moved to one of his, still tied by chains behind his back, and she felt how cold they felt to touch.

"Can you still feel your hands?" Beka idly asked.

"I still have hands?" Harper responded surprised, answering her question.

Beka adjusted her position, moving to her side slightly and she began to rub both his hands, to try and encourage circulation. "What about your feet?"

"They kind of tingle a bit," Harper offered. "But I still feel them," he added to assure her. "Ow, ow," Harper then tensed. "Ok, feeling returning to hands, ow," he stated.

"What's wrong?"

"Extreme pins and needles," Harper managed, as he tried to compose himself.

Beka saw the colour now returning to his hands, and how swollen they had become with low circulation. "That any better?" Beka asked, still rubbing his hands rapidly.

"Better," Harper answered, and then heard Buz and his men returning. "But about to get bad again," he quipped, and Beka quickly got to her feet.

"This stops now," Beka demanded.

"You're in no position to insist on that," Buz answered calmly.

"I'm his carer, and I say it stops," Beka persisted.

"It's noted, but it doesn't stop," Buz smiled, and gestured to one of his men to move Beka aside.

Beka was fuming as they began to hoist Harper back into position, suspended from the ceiling and unable to move a muscle with his wrists and ankles secured by chains to the floor. She then saw a knife, and watched in horror as one of the men sliced the leg of Harper's pants, and quickly looked away knowing what they were doing and unable to watch. Finally she turned back, and sighed heavily as the final humiliation was bestowed on her friend, with the last garment being removed.

Dylan and Rhade moved around the assembly of tents, and casually peered inside trying to catch sight of their friends.

"Where are they?" Rhade spoke under his breath, trying to appear inconspicuous.

Dylan shook his head. "No idea, we were told they had been sent here," Dylan answered under his breath, still scanning the area. "No one seems to be in a hurry to assist us," he added.

"People are too preoccupied with staring at you," Rhade noted. "Your funny hair."

"My hair is anything but funny," Dylan returned seriously.

"You need some of that stuff Harper used to darken his hair," Rhade continued to gently mock the captain.

"What I need right now is my first officer and my engineer," Dylan moved past Rhade, who simply smirked as he followed.

"Excuse me."

"Hey," Dylan recognised the Edenian girl, but hadn't caught her name previously. "You know Beka, right?"

"Correct, I was the one of the ones that told you about your new position in the Gilads," Junia agreed hurriedly, seeing the flash of confusion on both men's faces. "I'm Junia, and the other girl was my sister Tarah."

"Where are Harper and Beka?" Rhade cut in, direct to the point.

"Harper was taken, Beka has joined him, but I don't know where they are," Junia admitted.

"What do you mean taken?" Dylan questioned.

"For his training," Junia answered.

"What kind of training?" Rhade asked.

"It depends, I'm not sure," Junia stuttered, clearly feeling intimidated. "It all depends on what they are planning to do with him, what his duty will be with the Gilads," she offered. "The very fact he's been assigned a carer, that's a good thing, means he'll have rank," she added brightly.

"Rank," Rhade repeated and glared at Dylan. "He'll outrank us, great."

Dylan smiled at the obvious disgust this brought to the Nietzschean. "How long does the training last?"

"Depends."

"On average," Rhade pushed.

"In total it can take about six months, on and off," Junia answered. "We see people go for a day, a few days, weeks or more at a time, then come back and just wait until they are next called, could be a day, a week-"

"We get the idea," Rhade interrupted her.

"When was Harper taken?"

"About two hours ago," Junia shrugged. "Beka about the same though about twenty minutes after Harper."

"We need to find them," Dylan turned to Rhade.

"You can't disturb training," Junia warned.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Rhade mocked smiled, and then with Dylan taking the lead, Rhade followed the captain away from Junia who simply looked on with concern.

TBC