Harkess didn’t look up. “Ursula and her husband left early this morning on the shuttle. She’s gone.”
No, oh no! Now she understood why they’d delayed her interrogation until the next day. “She had important information. Don’t you understand? Can’t you contact her on the shuttle and—”
“Shut up,” snapped the constable. “Show some respect.”
“The evidence is clear cut. You struck Millicent. You encouraged the Corporate wives to show their wicked side.” Harkess snorted.
“Wicked?” Her voice trembled.
“Don’t you understand, slut, nobody is coming to help you,” murmured the constable in her ear.
“My husband, you can’t pass sentence without him. Sir,” she added, praying for some kind of mitigation.
“Blake is currently on Colony 16,” pointed out Harkess. “He isn’t here.”
Lysa hadn’t seen Blake for five days and he wasn’t due back for two more. “He will come, once he knows. You have to wait.”
“We have to?” growled the constable, his foul breath heating her neck. “We don’t have to, do we, sir.” He chuckled.
“The rules are quite clear, young lady, in the absence of your husband, you will be punished by the constable.”
Lysa’s legs seemed unable to take her weight, she struggled to stop her knees wobbling. “But… but… he promised he would not let… He will come. Please, don’t do this. I have rights, don’t I? Shouldn’t somebody rep
resent me?”
Harkess leant back in his chair. “You are a Corporate wife. A woman of little status. We own you, don’t you see, silly girl. Think of your marriage as a loan. While you’re here, we have jurisdiction over you and we, I, decide what is to become of you. I am your representative.”
“You! You can’t be both, that isn’t fair… it’s wrong.” She edged forward, closer to the desk.
“Enough.” The constable yanked her ponytail, dragging her head backwards. “You’re already facing a severe punishment, don’t make it any worse.”
“My husband loves me,” she stated, shaking her head free of his brutal grip.
“Loves you,” Harkess laughed. “My, my… that is quite entertaining. They all say that, my dear. Don’t you realise these miners are all the same? Brawn, pure muscle and little else. We choose them because they’re strong, can endure the harsh conditions underground and because they do as we say. Money, sex… it doesn’t take much to keep them in line. You, Lysa, will be divorced by him, take my word for it. Come the end of their contract, they change their minds and think of Earth and their future.”
Lysa stumbled backwards, clutching a hand to her mouth. How could he say such terrible things about the miners? Blake did love her. She was convinced of it and he wouldn’t divorce her. They’d talked so much about his sheep farm. How she would help him run it, even if the venture meant temporarily putting aside her own plans to become an engineer. Once he’d set it up, she’d fulfil her own dreams and he would support her.
She straightened and glared at Harkess with the defiance Blake had seen in her catalogue picture. “He does love me and I love him.”
The constable sniggered, while Harkess shook his head. “It will end with your heart broken,” he muttered. He rose up, straightened his plain jacket and clasped his hands behind his back. “I’ve considered the charges and given the seriousness of both, I’m sentencing you, Lysa, to twenty strokes of the cane. In the absence of your husband, the constable will carry out your punishment in two hours.”
Two hours! Blake would never make it back to Colony 14 in time to intervene. A public caning and the humiliation would be unbearable if she didn’t keep her nerves under control. Anger replaced despair and with it came defiance. She would show them, all those eager eyes lapping up her caning. She would show them how brave and strong she could be.
The constable pinched her elbow, pulling her towards the door. “Out.”
She fought to free her arm and as he bundled her out of the room, she turned to Harkess. “You bastard!”
“Make that twenty-five strokes, constable, and ensure her bottom is well heated. I want to be able to hear her scream from here.”
“My pleasure, sir.”
* * *
They took her clothes, the men in black garb, and thrust a white shift into her hands. She changed in the corner of the cell, facing the wall so they couldn’t see her properly. It wouldn’t matter soon how hard she hid her nudity, she would be undressed in front of a hoard of onlookers.
The two men escorted her down the tunnel that connected the cell block to the punishment block. Leading the way, the constable, swinging the switch in his hands, whistling to himself.
Lysa heard voices. A hubbub of people chattering quietly amongst themselves. She entered the arena and halted in her tracks as a barrel load of nerves hit her, overwhelming her emotions and turning her into a statue. The place was heaving. All the benches fully occupied by men with more standing by the walls, shoulder to shoulder. Her impending punishment had attracted a considerable crowd.