Chapter Four: Old Friends and Silver Mines

On an unusually cool morning in June Arthur stood on the patterned brick walkway that he helped build. It was the 8th, exactly one month since his arrest. In that time the brown and yellow path had advanced a hundred meters closer to the war memorial. Though there was a slight glow in the east all the brighter stars were still visible in the predawn sky. At least the sky is familiar here Arthur thought.

The fog that rose off the Andras River always made it feel colder than it actually was, so to warm up Arthur started setting up some of the equipment that he and a few other workers would use. After another thirty minutes Jakt's old pickup truck came rumbling down the road. By that time the sky had lightened just enough to see his newest worker walking toward the truck. The old man laughed.

"Arthur I don't know what I'm going to do with you. Standing around out here in the damp air while its still dark, you're going to get sick. The others have the good sense to stay in bed for another hour, sometimes I think they put that collar of yours on too tight."

Though he didn't understand everything that was said Arthur smiled and tried to respond using the couple hundred Danubian words he knew. " I could say same Jakt." He guestured to the tall pile of bags in the truck bed. " Big load for small truck."

By the time Arthur had the truck unloaded the sun was rising and the three other young men that Jakt employed had arrived. They were recent high school graduates and seemed to be close friends. Arthur hadn't bothered to learn their names since they avoided any contact with him anyway. Arthur thought that most free people probably didn't want to be seen with a criminal.

Just as he dumped the first bag of cement into the mixer there was a tap on his shoulder. Behind him was one of the bicycle couriers who deliver packages around the city. This young woman said something after he turned around, but the mixer was too loud to make out the words. Arthur threw the sack down and walked over to where the courier had parked her bike. She repeated a phrase twice before Arthur realized that she was trying to pronounce his name.

�I'm Arthur Liggett." The courier handed him a clipboard so he could sign for the package.
Inside the large brown envelope was a form printed in English on Ministry of Justice Letterhead.

"Criminal # 88588 Arthur Liggett: You are to report immediately to the office of Spokesman Ralkliv. By order of the Ministry of Justice you are released from all previous responsibilities to give priority to this directive. Failure to respond in a timely manner will result in further reprimands."

Nothing good can come from this, Arthur thought. After informing Jakt Arthur went directly to his spokesman's office.

The secretary said Spokesman Ralkliv was expecting him, so Arthur opened the door to his office and walked in. A surprise, a very bad surprise. Before he thought Arthur blurted out "Son of a Bitch!" Kneeling on the floor in front of Ralkliv's desk were the two girls that he met the previous week. They were completely naked and totally terrified. Samantha and Laura looked back at Arthur and cried uncontrollably.

Spokesman Ralkliv focused on Arthur with a furious expression. "Criminal # 88588 you will address me in the proper manner and kneel while doing so!"

Arthur came back to his senses. He dropped down and pressed his forehead to the floor then greeted his spokesman in the manner that protocol demanded. During this time Arthur understood why Ralkliv had been so severe. Three police officers were seated to the left of his desk.

�Criminal # 88588 you may kneel upright but remain on floor." Ralkliv looked even more agitated when he turned to the two naked girls weeping by Arthur's side. "Young ladies you must stop this crying immediately, I'm trying to help you!"

When they quieted down somewhat Ralkliv turned to Arthur. " These two young Americans were arrested last night for the possession of a controlled substance. During interrogation they mentioned spending some time with you. Is this true?"

"Yes spokesman." Arthur knew he must be very careful with his words. " I met them about a week ago on the west side of the city. I bought them lunch and then escorted them back to their hotel."

Ralkliv translated to the police investigators then they posed another question.

�Arthur, I want you to think very carefully before answering my next question. Did you know that these suspects had ecstasy tablets with them?"

Arthur knew these foolish girls must have already spilled their guts or he wouldn't be in this situation and no one would ask him that question. "While we were at the diner they mentioned having something they called �skittles�, from the way they acted I assumed they were talking about illegal drugs."

Spokesman Ralkliv and a police investigator talked at length.

�How did you respond after these suspects told you of the �skittles��as you say it�that they brought into this country?"

�I told them to stop talking about it, so they wouldn't get in trouble."

After speaking to the police Spokesman Ralkliv turned to Arthur with a disappointed look.

�Arthur, by not reporting criminal activity to the police and encouraging the suspects to avoid capture you have violated one of the conditions of your sentence. The judge may show some leniency however if you testify at the trial of these young women."

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For the second time in thirty days Arthur was back in the Rika Chorna Courthouse. This time he was a reluctant witness for the prosecution. As Spokesman Ralkliv had explained the two suspects already admitted their own guilt, so Arthur would certainly have nothing to lose by testifying. His testimony wouldn't really add anything new to the case but the prosecutor wanted all the evidence on record regardless.

The court decided to try both suspects at the same time, which Arthur thought might not have been such a good idea. It seemed that every time one of the girls broke down crying the other would start in as well. Arthur just tried to ignore the theatrics and focused on the floor until it was his time to testify.

Arthur knelt next to the prosecutor�s desk, which was to the right of the judge�s seat and faced the elevated platform. His two "girlfriends" stood a few meters in front of him in their usual hysterical state. With multiple spotlights focused on them their naked bodies seemed nearly to glow. They were quite attractive, Arthur thought. Samantha was tall and willowy with a light complexion and shoulder length blond hair that not surprisingly was natural. There was nothing subtle about Laura's form though, the generous curve of her hips, the slender waist, and full breasts that moved in a most fascinating manner as she sobbed... Arthur came to his senses just in time and averted his eyes away from the bodies of the two naked suspects. In just a few minutes he would have to stand and speak in front of a courtroom full of people and several television cameras. Arthur really missed wearing pants.

The prosecutor had Arthur describe the events from a week earlier, and then confirm that the girls told him of the pills they had at the hotel. After just a couple minutes of testimony the prosecutor was finished with him but the judge was not. She turned to Arthur and a court official translated.

"Criminal # 88588 you have admitted to violating one of the terms of your sentence by not reporting criminal activity to the police. I will see you and Spokesman Ralkliv in my chambers at break to discuss the penalty for this violation. Is this clear?"

Arthur knew this was coming. "Yes, Your Honor."

Arthur was dismissed. The prosecutor ordered him to kneel at that back of the courtroom, safely out of public view, at last. He quietly withdrew and resumed kneeling with at least some dignity as the prosecutor called his next witness. A security guard rose to testify. The prosecutor showed him photographs that were also projected up on the big screens for the audience to view. First there was a photograph taken inside a hotel hallway. The next photograph was a close up of a tall ashtray canister that was along the wall. The metal tray had two cigarettes and a couple of gum wrappers, and something else. Fourteen pink pills, each with a smiley face stamped into it, were half buried under the sand and the wrappers. The prosecutor brought a plastic bag containing fourteen pills to the judge.

Arthur badly wanted to strangle Samantha and Laura. AN ASH TRAY. They got rid of their damned �skittles� in an ashtray�apparently not realizing they were in a place where almost no one, except foreigners, smokes! I told them how harsh drug laws are here and they act stupid, get caught and then bring my name into it. Maybe I'm dead and this is hell, Arthur pondered.

After an hour the prosecution rested and the judge retired to chambers. Spokesman Ralkliv left the two girls under the supervision of an apprentice while he and Arthur went to meet with the judge. The judge however wasn't going to discuss anything; her decision was made already. She just motioned Ralkliv over to her desk, said a few words and handed him a signed form. Spokesman Ralkliv read the judge's orders to Arthur as soon as they were back in the courtroom.

"Supplemental Judicial authorization has been given for the additional punishment of criminal # 88588 due to a violation of the terms of sentence. The items of this authorization are as follows:

Item 1: Criminal # 88588 shall receive a formal judicial punishment of twenty five strokes of the standard leather switch to be administered by the arresting officer or other qualified personnel on the 9th of June.

Item 2: Criminal # 88588 will report to the Ministry of Public Works on the 10th of June to be assigned a place on a work crew performing hard manual labor for a period of three months time."

This was certainly not what Arthur wanted to hear. Not only would he have another appointment with Officer Stashak in the morning but then the next day he would be shipped out to some labor camp for ninety days. As Spokesman Ralkliv tried to comfort and focus his newest clients Arthur stood quietly to the side and contemplated his bad luck.

When the trial restarted Spokesman Ralkliv gave the girl's defense, which considering the length of his talk, wasn't much. He finished in just over ten minutes then the judge focused her attention on the two girls. As the Judge spoke a court official translated.

"Defendant Samantha Sherman do you have anything to say before this court pronounces the verdict?"

Samantha had briefly stopped crying so she could address the court. " Please Your Honor I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..." Then there was a long series of apologies, crying, and senseless babbling. After a while the Judge cut her off.

She asked the same of defendant Laura Brawne. Laura had started crying during Samantha's statement. She just stood there and continued sobbing. Apparently that was good enough for the Judge.

Arthur heard the details of the sentence translated by the court official. Three year sentences each with a switching twice per year. Three years�for possession of fourteen tablets with smiley faces. He wondered what they would do with somebody caught with a pound.

While Ralkliv was trying to get the girls over to the collar machine the room was readied for the punishment phase of the trial. A second portable table was brought in and set up near the permanent one.

Arthur noticed that Spokesman Ralkliv and the other court officials were having a great deal of trouble with the girls. With all the hysterical crying, begging, and thrashing about the technician couldn't keep them still enough to put their collars on. Spokesman Ralkliv looked embarrassed and the judge was growing furious at the delay.

Having lost her patience the judge called four court guards over to take control of the criminals. They grabbed Samantha first, handcuffed her hands behind her back and then forcibly held her still while the technician measured her neck. Then with a guard on each side of her and another securing her head the technician clamped the collar on Samantha's neck. She just collapsed to the floor weeping while Laura was put through the same ordeal.

Arthur glanced out into the audience, it seemed they were eager to see the girls beaten. From what Spokesman Ralkliv had told him, Danubians expect a stoic attitude from their criminals and above all a respect for authority. The out of control behavior of these young women was probably interpreted almost as a personal insult. The four guards and two pairs of police officers all but threw the girls on top of the tables and quickly strapped them down.

Samantha's face froze in a horrified expression when the policeman pulled the leather wrapped switch from his belt. As he walked closer to her she stopped moving altogether like a frightened rabbit trying to hide from a predator. He took his time though examining her exposed body. His left hand wondered to the small of her back just below the leather strap that held her waist so firmly to the table. Samantha broke her silence when the officer's hand slid further back to explore the curves of her bottom.

Arthur looked to Spokesman Ralkliv who just sat there with a serious expression while the policeman fondled his client in front of the judge, court officials, and hundreds of spectators in the audience. The policeman and his female partner then moved behind their helpless victim. He used his hands to further expose the most intimate parts of her body to the other cops and leering crowd. A close up view of this lurid scene played on one of the large video screens at the front of the courtroom. Arthur could hardly believe that no one was stopping this policeman's conduct. If the police can do that to a criminal, Arthur thought, what else can they do?

After humiliating Samantha for a minute, the policeman began her punishment. He aimed and then struck hard across the left cheek of her exposed bottom. As she screamed the policeman and his female partner exchanged devious glances. There was a brief conversation with the other pair of officers. Then it was Laura's turn to feel the switch.

Laura's fuller figure afforded the policeman a fine target for his switch. The curves of her bottom drew his eyes and then his hands. Laura made a pitiful sobbing noise as he traced his fingers across the contours of her full cheeks and then lifted and spread them to further expose his captive. With a wicked glance toward his partner he quickly stepped to the side and delivered a cruel strike of the switch across her bottom. Laura screamed as the pain built and the police admired the strength of the blow.
It seemed to Arthur that these two pairs of police officers were having some kind of competition with the girls. In between strokes of the switch all four cops would examine the unlucky girl's bottom with a great deal of touching by both the men and the women. They alternated back and forth with pauses between strokes of about forty seconds. By the time each girl had felt the tenth stroke their bodies were slick with sweat and their sobbing was only broken by screams each time the switch landed.

During the middle of the punishment Arthur figured out it was a competition of accuracy. As the switch fell on the girl's unfortunate bottoms the red line of a welt would rise then the next would stroke was aimed about two widths of the switch lower and so on until they reached the crease that separated their buttocks and thighs. On the way back up the officers tried to strike the unmarked skin in between the raised welts. Obviously if the first set of strikes weren't parallel there would be no way to strike the undamaged skin in between.

Try as they might one of the officers would eventually miss and overlap one of his strikes. On the thirty-first stroke of the switch the policeman in charge of Samantha grimaced and had to admit defeat as his poorly aimed strike overlapped. Though the officer had apparently lost a wager the agonized scream from Samantha made him smile nonetheless.

Spokesman Ralkliv got up then to check the condition of his clients. For reasons that Arthur didn't understand the police can put a criminal through agony for an unlimited amount of time but if there's a little drop of blood the punishment must end.

The Spokesman directed the last few strokes to the thighs of his clients. Then after fifty minutes it was over and the girls were released from their bonds.

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Arthur arrived at the office of Spokesman Ralkliv early the next morning.

�Spokesman, I didn't mean to disrespect you in front of the police officers yesterday, please excuse my careless words. I was just so surprised to see those girls that I said something I shouldn't have and I failed to show the proper respect."

�Make sure you don't do it again. Maybe in America it's acceptable to use that kind of language but here in Upper Danubia we do not burst into someone's office cursing 'son of a bitch'. Let me tell you if the police had understood your words you would have gotten more than just yelled at."

Ralkliv leaned his elbows on the desk and rubbed his temples. "I woke up this morning with a pounding headache. I know it was that trial. I believe it was the low point of my career. The behavior of those American girls... they dishonored themselves and damaged my credibility as a spokesman."

After a pause he looked at his client. "As for you, the additional punishment that the judge ordered for the violation of the terms of your sentence will be carried out this morning. The way this will happen is that Officer Stashak and her partner will come to my office, handcuff you and take you into one of the rooms in the basement. Only the two officers, a judge, and myself will be present for your switching. There will be twenty-five strokes but other than that it will be the same as your first switching." Here he paused and picked up his phone.

�I'm going to have my secretary get me something for my headache. Arthur, would you like some coffee or something to eat? No?"

After taking his pills and pouring a cup of coffee Spokesman Ralkliv continued.

"Tomorrow you need to come by my office at seven in the morning to pick up the paperwork that transfers your custody to the Ministry of Public Works for the next three months. You're going out of the city with a work crew that's stationed in a town to the west of here, so I may not see you again until September."

�A switching and three months in a hard labor camp. Spokesman that really doesn't sound overly lenient."

"No, just average I'm afraid. Even though the prosecutor requested leniency in exchange for your testimony the judge had the final say, and I suppose she wasn't impressed."

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Officer Stashak had an unexpected treat on the 9th of June. There was an official memo from the Ministry of Justice waiting on her when she went to pick up her morning assignments. The American Spy had slipped up it seems and earned himself another beating.

She smiled at the thought of punishing the criminal who had wrecked so many lives. Stashak thought criminal # 88588 deserved to be executed for what he and his partner did. While she couldn't take his life, Officer Stashak was determined to exact the most suffering she possibly could from criminal # 88588.

Two hours later she had Arthur securely strapped down and ready for his punishment. Officer Stashak flexed the switch in her hands just like the last time he was at her mercy. She struck him hard across the buttocks and then waited for the pain to increase. She and her partner admired the strength of the first hit as the white line on his skin turned to red and began to swell. Below the first welt she tapped to get her aim then stuck another fierce blow.

Almost an hour later the twenty-fifth stroke fell and Officer Stashak nearly made him cry out, nearly. Of course his body was wet with sweat, and trembling from the pain but he had remained relatively silent during the punishment. Next time would be different she promised herself.

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In the courtyard of the Ministry of Public Works hundreds of criminals were lined up. Arthur turned in his paperwork and was issued a ticket with his name and group number on it. Ten buses were parked on the circular drive at the front of the courtyard; each bus had a two-digit number painted on the side. Arthur and the other men in group 13 filled the bus to capacity. Although the Ministry of Public Works allowed criminals to sit, Arthur and four other recently switched men chose to stand in the isle.

Bus 13 turned west toward the mountains that divided the Upper Danubia into east-west halves. Thirty minutes later the bus arrived at the city of Novo Sumi Ris. This was the center of the Danubian silver mining industry; every load of ore came by rail through this small but industrious mountain town. The crushing, smelting, and refining went on all day, giving the dusty collection of rail lines, cheap housing, and factories a sulfurous metallic smell.

Steep forested slopes hemmed in the town to the north and a mountain stream cut a narrow gorge into the overgrown tangle of willows, brambles, and bedrock to the south. Rows of buildings crowded onto the only flat ground available: narrow strips of land to either side of the train tracks. Novo Sumi Ris didn't look so much like it built the railroad tracks, but rather the other way around.

A contingent of guards awaited the criminals as they unloaded from bus 13. The collars' electronics were useless outside of the Rika Chorna collar zone so the guards used more crude measures to control the criminals' movements. Ten criminals at a time had to line up and then drop to their knees so the guards could fasten their collars together on a long chain. As a guard locked the chain onto his collar's loop Arthur glanced back at the rest of group thirteen, all hooked together like fish on a stringer. Further down the road he could see a group of about twenty female criminals marching up the street.

Group 13 was marched though town to a fenced-in complex of metal buildings adjacent to the railroad tracks. As they stopped by the gate to the men's barracks the group of female criminals that Arthur had noticed earlier walked past. When he heard someone speaking English he couldn't make himself look. It can't be, he thought, there must be other Americans here.

�Arthur... Oh my god Laura. Look its Arthur!"

There can be no doubt, Arthur realized. The chains, the sulfurous smell, the futility of trying to escape these two. It all made sense. I have passed through the turnstile of Hell!

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Arthur didn't sleep much that first night. For one reason the canvas cot that he rested on had an aluminum bar on the end that he kept banging his head on, another was that freight trains rolled past every couple hours.

Once after nodding off Arthur dreamed of the beach in Washington State that his family used to visit when he was a child. Huge ocean waves rolled in and crashed against the rocks throwing a spray of salty mist into the air. His father and a five-year-old Tee were examining one of the big crabs that the surf threw onto the beach. Arthur climbed up one of the jagged outcrops that protruded into the sea. Then he glimpsed an especially large swell rising out of the Pacific. It grew like a dark mountain rising out of the sea and came ashore with such force that the ground shook under foot...

Arthur awoke in a panic and sat up. There was no wave, just another freight train passing through town. After being startled awake for the third time in one night he decided to get up and get dressed. Getting dressed... after looking around he remembered where he was; there would be no clothes for years to come. The barracks had a line of twenty-five cots along each side, with about ten feet in between. There was a tin roof and a concrete floor; to the north of the structure there was a primitive restroom and a water spigot. The most soundly built part of the whole complex was the high perimeter fence topped with razor wire.

Just as the eastern sky brightened guards came to take their criminal work crew to the mess hall. There were several other crews and five shotgun-wielding guards present at this high security breakfast. The food was surprisingly good, Arthur thought, far better than the meals that him or Jakt tried to cook. Jakt's idea of breakfast was a bowl of plain oatmeal and water, whoever was cooking back there, at least knew how to make biscuits and fry eggs.

Then it was off to work. The group was issued orange work boots, leather gloves, and hard hats. Fifty men chained together wearing just these three items marched through the middle of town. Arthur was sure this was one of the weirder sights he had ever seen, but residents on the street seemed to take no notice. The guards marched group 13 down the paved street that paralleled the railroad tracks for a kilometer then they turned up a smaller road that squeezed between the smokestacks of the refinery complex and a row of rusty warehouses. The road lead upslope toward the forested hills northwest of town.

The worksite was a long abandoned mine on the steep slope a hundred feet above the road. There were multiple shafts cut into the cliff near the top of the slope and a thick talus deposit extended down almost to the edge of the road. After Arthur and the rest of group 13 climbed to the flat spot near the mine the guards removed their chains and ordered them to kneel as the work foreman arrived.

Though Arthur couldn't understand all the foreman's words, it was obvious what the problem with this location was. The old shafts had undermined the integrity of the slope resulting in occasional landslides that spilled onto the road below. The hillside would have to be blasted back and terraced to reduce the overall slope. That sort of job produced a lot of debris and that's where criminal work crew 13 came in.

After an exhausting day at work the crew was rechained and marched back in to town. Arthur ate a huge supper, bathed using the soap and metal bucket he was issued, and then collapsed on his cot to rest. Just as he laid down on his stomach he heard a woman call out his number. At the front gate of the men's barracks stood an irate female guard with two kneeling criminals behind her.

Arthur started to get down on the ground too but the woman motioned him to stop. She spoke slowly and clearly so he was able to understand most of her words.

"Criminal # 88588 you are American?"

�Yes, officer."

"These are also Americans, but they do not know Danubian language."

"You teach girls Danubian after work."

This was one of those times that Arthur thought Peter Rumak had gotten the better deal.

Then this stern woman pulled out her switch and waved it about to make a point.

That apparently wasn't a question, Arthur realized. " Yes officer."

�Teach well or girls and criminal # 88588 get hurt. Tell girls that you teach them every day after work. That will be all."

Samantha and Laura remained kneeling on the ground until the policewoman was out of sight. Arthur could see the switch marks from their judicial punishments two days ago had turned dark like bruises but there were a few more recent welts across their shoulders now.

�Oh, just get up already. She's gone."

The girls cautiously stood up and Arthur could tell they were close to crying again so he attempted to get them focused on the task at hand.

"You two have to learn to speak the language, and unfortunately that guard ordered me to teach you. I don't want to hear any excuses, you're going to learn to speak and understand the few words and phrases that I know. We will meet here everyday after supper. Now lets just go somewhere quiet and do the first lesson before I fall asleep."

Samantha broke her silence. "Arthur the people are so mean here, they hit us and chained us up, and..."

Arthur was really not in the mood to hear more. "Oh, shut the hell up! You notice the switch-marks on my skin? The Judge had me switched for the second time in a month because of you, and she sent me here for three months hard labor also because of you and your stupid drugs!"

Laura was first to speak. " I'm really sorry we got you in trouble Arthur, Its not right..."

Arthur calmed down a bit; he was just too tired to stay angry. " If you want to help me and help yourselves try to learn everything I can teach you." Arthur smiled a bit. "Of course with that angry guard threatening to beat us all half to death getting motivated shouldn't be a problem."

�So I'm just curious. I know I got sent here for violating the terms of my sentence, how did you two end up here?"

Samantha looked down avoiding his eyes; Arthur could tell she was deeply ashamed of herself. "You watched our trial. The judge was angry with us for disrespecting the court; yesterday morning we were brought back before her in her chambers."

"She sent us here for three months. She said that the guards here would teach us to respect authority. We were sent here yesterday with a group of female criminals who had earned some extra punishment."

�What did your parents do after you were arrested? Are they still in the country?"

Samantha's looked down at the dusty grass and barely more than whispered. "I don't know; we were supposed to leave for Athens Monday morning. The police arrested us Sunday night, then there was our trial the next day and after that I was too afraid and messed up to ask questions." She paused for a couple seconds and almost imperceptibly shook her head. "I don't know if I want to see them now, I don't want anyone to see me like this... I don't want anyone to know what the police did to me. I'm too ashamed. I can't face them now."

Arthur nodded; he couldn't help feeling some sympathy now. "I know what you mean. Listen, there's no point in me being mad at you two for getting me in trouble. What's done is done, so lets just forget about the past and focus on today, ok?"

The three criminals made their way over to a shaded area beneath an enormous oak. Using a stick Arthur scratched some important Danubian words into a patch of bare clay. "This," Arthur said, "means 'yes.' its pronounced 'doc' just like it looks."

After an hour Samantha and Laura could say their official names, and three essential phrases: yes officer, no officer, and I don't understand officer. That was good enough for day one he thought. Arthur was so exhausted after the past three stressful days that not even the trains woke him up that night.

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The Not so Secret Agent - Chapter 5