Tremble in the Dark: A Gwen Farris Novel (32 page)

"Stop
being a little girl, Reg. We can be friends, but if you insist that the woman
from another world instantly be responsible for everything here, you're in for
some disappointment. I did what I had to, based on too little knowledge and
information, making things up as I went along. I messed a lot of things up. You
can blame me for it, if it makes you feel better, but that doesn't really fix
anything." She waited for him to
snoot
at her, which wasn't a thing
in her world, but needed to be a word here. They all did it so well. It wasn't
really even derision, being more of a sign of social bafflement, and the hiding
of that fact, if in an obvious way that was sort of useful, now that she
actually knew what it meant. He just seemed sad and looked away.

"At
least you managed to do a good turn for the Westmorlands. I've been studying up
on them, for my politics classes. Their history isn't a good one. Well... you
know. I didn't think anyone would stand up for them. Then, not many knew about
how they're trained, before you spoke of it. I..." He froze and looked
across the room, where Beth was standing near Peter, and then he swallowed.
"Do you think I could see that training you were speaking about, first
hand? The one for children?"

She
raised her eyebrows and snorted. Then she looked across the room, at little
Peter, who was standing there proudly, but off in the corner, with Clara and
Beth. They all looked a bit out of place, dressed in different styles, and not
exactly part of the world around them, if all for different reasons. Shaking
her head she waved.

"Beth,
Peter, over here." That would leave her new maid just standing there
however, so she kept signaling. "You too, Clara."

Reggie
went stiff, and seemed very ashamed suddenly. She understood, she thought, given
the way people did things in this world. He figured that she was going to
torture one of those
others
, to give him the show he'd just requested.
Which had Beth nodding at her, since she was clearly on high alert, reading
minds exactly like she wasn't supposed to.

"Reggie
here wanted to know if we could set up a demonstration of the lower level
training protocols. The ones that you grew up with, Pete. I'm betting he has
some friends from school that will want to try it too. Can you set that up with
Manly and some of the others? I need to go over Teletransport myself, if a week
is enough time to get that started? I don't know what these others will want. I
figure something like Curse breaking? That wasn't
too
miserable really
and seems like a potentially useful skill. At least if we're dealing with
people pushy enough to actually try training like this."

Bethany
looked at the redheaded man and smiled, glancing down his firm and trim body in
a way that held far more calculation than it should have.

"Or
they could learn to resist mesmerism? That's useful for many occupations. How
many will be attending? I need a number for Manly."

This
all went to Reggie, who, credit to him, didn't proclaim that he only wanted to
see
someone else tortured.

"I
don't know, do you think I could borrow the Telestator, Kate? I won't be but a
minute." He didn't seem to realize what he'd just called her, so she let
it go. That had to be hard, just taking other people's word for something like
a different person being in a body you knew well.

"Go
to. I think we'll be sitting soon though, so hurry." She smiled as if they
were discussing some treat, or a pleasant outing. It got him to smile a tiny
bit in return, which was less than normal, from what she had seen of the boy
before. He was normally all big smiles and witty remarks. This he was taking
seriously. Probably not enough. Then again, the more people that tried this
out, the more that could tell others about how ugly it was. Especially when
used on children.

That
was, as far as she knew, still happening, too. A few words on the Telesar and a
chat with the King didn't stop it all. There were kids, as young as Pete, or
even younger, that were being strapped into pain devices as she stood there
thinking. Others had probably been in them for days on end, teaching them the
fastest and surest way that the people here knew how to do.

Reggie
got back before the Vernors got there, and Admiral Welk, Reggie's father came
in with both of them. They'd clearly been in some kind of meeting, and it had
to be serious, if they hadn't included her and Reg. That made her slightly
curious, but she didn't ask, since it wasn't the time or place. They might not
want her to know anyway. That last bit seemed like the most likely thing, since
they all just took their places around the table. Clara was placed between her
and Bethany, as if they were there to guard her. Peter was directly across from
the woman, presenting her with a now familiar-ish face, as well as a safe one.

At
least if you didn't know how much Westmorlands still freaked the woman out.
Then, it was good for her to be around different people. Maybe she'd see that
they weren't all that scary? That or she'd drop from a heart attack. Right now
she seemed to be handling the two in the room with her pretty well.

Cousin
Reg looked over at Bethany, and then down the table at Pete.

"Six
of us? If that isn't too much? There were ten in all, but some people need to
study for tests, so we set four of them aside for now. That's just in my
immediate group. There are others willing to try it." He held his head
high, and Gwen cleared her throat.

"Good.
We can probably set that up too, for the rest of those that want to try it
out."

It
was the unfortunate part of being in a large crowd like they were, since Robert
Vernor looked at them all, smiled winningly, which he was good at, and then
spoke comfortably, as if it were his table or something.

"Oh?
Some kind of event in the offing?" This was addressed to his nephew, but
Peter did the talking, his voice going very serious.

"Yes,
sir. Some University people are coming to try out the first level protocol
training techniques. If we're doing that here, we'll want to isolate them.
Screaming, you know. It can become distracting. At Central we have a second
building, just for that. Maybe if we cleared out the large shed in the back? If
that's allowed, I mean." For all the world he seemed like a little angel,
sitting there, politely discussing torture with the head of the household.

Robert
gave him a look that was distasteful, to say the least.

"That
kind of thing? Well, having seen it done, I can't imagine volunteering for it.
We can do that though, clean out some space for it. Brave of you to try it,
Reginald. I wouldn't. Gwen's screams still haunt me, in the night. It's enough
for me."

They
haunted her too, but normally got drowned out by the thoughts of tentacles
wrapping her up and smothering her in fear and dread.

Because
the social order was different that day, clearly, Clara spoke, her voice
slightly wistful.

"I
wonder if I could try that, to learn to be a better charger? Then..."

Peter
nodded. "Yes, that's part of our training too. Not as intense really. I
can get you a practice unit for that. I'll put the word in with Central. I bet
Adam is going to love us stripping all these trainers away for this. Still,
maybe we can find more people willing to volunteer? No one thinks that will
happen at all."

Beth
nodded, since she agreed with her young compatriot. To them, being people that
knew the score, the idea of anyone doing that kind of training on purpose was
insane. That was the real point though, wasn't it? It didn't matter if anyone
made it through the whole treatment or not, as long as they experienced it
enough to know that they never wanted anyone to go through that again.

Gwen
smiled, keeping her opinions to herself. After all, she was just putting things
together for these people, after being asked. They might all stop in the first
minutes. She wasn't going to be allowed that, she knew. In fact, she'd have to
make certain she
couldn't
get out of it. If she had the ability to do
that, she'd use it and that wouldn't help her friends at all. She'd avoid pain
like a coward, even knowing that Beth and the others would have to pay for her
weakness with
other
pain that was even worse.

So,
that had to be handled. Luckily it was part of the process. After a while
everyone tried to get out of it, she bet. They weren't allowed to, under threat
of more torture. At least at the levels she'd seen. By the end point, she
didn't doubt they just strapped people down.

After
thinking about it, Gwen shrugged and waited for the soup to come. It was served
in a very tiny bowl, and had enough of the thin broth for about ten little
spoonfuls. Everyone used the right utensils for it, though both Peter and Clara
watched her to see what she was picking up each time. Luckily for them she'd
actually had lessons in that, as well as spent most of a year learning the ins
and outs of it. This was a simple meal however, so it was just starting at the
inside on the right, and moving out, alternating with each course, right, then
left.

Simple.
The really complex meals required you to actually recognize which utensil was
needed for each course and could change, depending on what you asked for, when
the cart came around. You had to know the difference between a sorbet spoon and
an ice-cream
spoil
. That last was kind of like a flat paddle, and like
everything they used here, was so small that you only used two fingers to hold
it.

She
managed to avoid having to speak, personally, until the last course came, being
served by Winslow himself. He did the first and last dishes of the night.
Though technically there would be brandy after the meal too, for those that
drank. She looked at Reggie when it was being suggested, and shook her head,
which got a soft smile from Beth and a slightly evil sounding chuckle from
Peter.

The
boy cleared his throat. "No drinking, and I recommend you get a full
night's sleep, if you can. After all, you have an adventure in the
morning."

His
voice was mature and sounded like someone telling a little boy that the dentist
wouldn't hurt them, knowing full well that it was a lie the entire time.

It
didn't take a big discussion as to why though. Either her cousin got the idea,
or he was just going to trust the professionals. It was just that it could
lower pain response, making things not work as well. That and dehydrate a
person faster than was healthy.

Beth
excused herself, to go and use the Telestator. That was both to set up the
thing with Manly and the rest from Central, as well as get in touch with her
fiancé. Which, Gwen realized, she should do as well, when the line was cleared.
It was later back on the East coast however, so she decided to do that in the
morning. Before the torture fest started. Hopefully that would work out. She
wondered if anyone would finish what they started?

Reg
was nice, and funny at times,
fun
. And in a fight, even without
training, she'd be willing to bet every met she had on Peter, to take him inside
a minute. All the Westmorlands had to be tough. It wasn't something they got a
choice in. University kids however, that was a different story. For half a
minute she considered suggesting to them before they start that they let
themselves be hooked up in a way that meant they couldn't get out of it either.
After all, it was one thing to sit there with horrible pain coursing through
you, weeping and sobbing, knowing that you were in control, and could end it
all with a word. It was something very different to be there, hurting at that
level, knowing that no amount of begging, pleading, or even
dying
, would
help you.

That
all you could do was endure, because there was no other choice at all.

If
the students were smart, they'd flip her off and leave, once she suggested they
do that. Still, she decided to do it anyway. Why not? They'd all live. Mostly.

Gwen
nearly went to chat about it all with Beth, but she was still on the
Telestator, so that decided Gwen to just grab Clara and make certain she got to
bed safely. Not that anyone would harm or even stop her, but it was very
possible to get lost in that place. It was huge, after all. So much so that it
had towers at several of the corners. Now it all made sense to her, but it had
taken a long time to really get it.

The
former prostitute seemed ready for bed at least, and Peter walked along behind
them, which was interesting. That he was staying there was normal enough, but
he was going to be off in the other wing, she knew. In fact, Ethyl had planned
it that way, so the boy wouldn't be tempted to try and peek at her or Beth in
the shower. He was still twelve after all, and hormones were powerful things.

Before
she could call him on the potential stalking, he raised his right hand toward
them both.

"This
is where I need to leave you then. I'll be by in the morning, to get you both
up, however. See you then." Spinning on his heel, he strode away as if he
owned the whole place. It was cute, but she rolled her eyes.

"We
need to watch that one, or he'll try to convince us that 'guarding us' while we
bathe, from inside the room, would be so much more effective than not..."