Commander Khashoggi paced through the hospital. All the Bohemians had had several treatments, and it had made them no more communicative. He was almost willing to believe they really didn't know anything.
'I love you until I die
Save me, save me, save me
I can't face this life alone
Save me, save me, save me
I'm naked and I'm far from home.'
It was a ragged, desperate voice. An alto: beautiful, arresting. Backing up several steps, Khashoggi looked into the cell. In her green laser cage sat one of the Bohemians, blond and wild and grimy, singing her heart out.
'Khashoggi to YesTwelveGlobalsoft.uk/theWorld. Bring the girl in cell 11358 for questioning.'
After he finished his rounds, he returned to the antiseptic corridor with over bright lights that they used for interrogation. The girl was there in a chair, but she was up as soon as she saw him. 'What do you want me for, pig?'
'I merely want to ask you some questions, Miss' he glanced at his clip board 'Loaf. You have the right to remain silent, of course, but you must realize the consequences to you and your friends if you do.'
'You can't do nothing worse than you have.'
'Can't I?' He caught her wrist pulling her to him, so that he felt the boning of her corset pressed into his stomach.
'Pig!' she spat again, glaring up into his face. Her make-up was a mess. He'd never seen make-up that careless, a face that dirty. The grime on her face accentuated the clearness of her eyes, large and gold-green and on the verge of breaking. He knew that if he pushed, just then, she would split open for him, as so many other subjects had, subjecting him to the stories of their lives, the minutia that was of no interest to anyone.
He shoved her away. 'AllYesThingsGlobalsoft.uk/theWorld. Blow their minds. I'll take them to the Seven Seas of Rhye'
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Killer Queen, majestic and impressive and stunning and dynamite with a laser beam, wanted results, and she wanted them now. This was not particularly unusual. What was unusual was that, for the first time in their relationship, Khashoggi had no results for her. For the first time, he was less than perfection, she was less than perfection. They were less than perfection. Globalsoft created the perfect world; imperfections were a thing of the past. Even as he begged for his life, even as some part of him wished for mercy from someone he given his life for, he recognized the fatality of it, and the irony of his punishment.