Ausitania :

The two women had chatted over coffee for almost an hour, still getting to know one another, both looking forward to working as an efficient team. Liza Moresecki had explained her background to her partner.

"I started as a medical student. I did a couple of years at university in Vienna before switching to criminal psychology. That was something that had always fascinated me. As a matter of fact I don't see those two years as wasted, they provided me with a valuable insight into the physiology. It's important to know both the body and the mind. It's surprising just how often the combination of the two comes in useful during interrogation. Good torture is all about getting that combination right, done correctly I don't believe there is a man alive I can't crack."

"And you enjoy your work?" Veronika realised the moment she posed the question that it was totally superfluous.

Liza threw back her head and let out a brief laugh

" Oh god, do I enjoy it. I just adore every aspect of it. I suppose a psychologist would find me an interesting subject, but do I give a damn?"

A pensive smile played upon her features. "They would certainly say that I am a sadist, but it's more than just that, giving some lowlife the thrashing of his life and knowing that he fully deserves it is just the icing on the cake. No, it's the whole experience from the time the cuffs click on until they put their signature on the confession form. It's a thrill from start to finish."

They regarded Janacek's prostrate body, now stretched out on the raised steel platform, his arms secured by heavy black leather straps around his wrists and upper arms. Veronika buckled the similar ones around ankles and thighs and tightened down the waist belt.

Liza crossed to the wall rack and studied the selection of whips and canes displayed their. Picking up a heavy leather singletail she weighed it in her gloved hands, teasing the braided tail through her fingers. She passed it to her partner.

"Feel the weight of that. The weight is very important. That's the one I will use on him. I shall give you a proper demonstration of its capabilities very soon. Assuming of course that he doesn't spoil our fun with an immediate confession."

Veronika had the buff file in her hand as she moved across to stand before Janacek.

"Let me take you back to March two thousand and sixteen Mr.Janacek."

His body stiffened noticeably as she spoke. From his position, face down on the bench, he could see only the black leather boots, their laces knotted neatly at the knees.

" You picked up Maria Tardelli at Libovice International. Do you recall exactly what happened when you dropped the pretty young Italian tourist at her hotel?"

She perceived a slight shaking of his head and continued.

"Mr. Janacek. Ms. Tardelli says that after offering to carry her suitcase up to her room you grabbed her and carried out a very serious sexual assault."

"The dirty bitch is a liar!" Janacek's accent betrayed his roots. Many rural Ausitanians shared a cultural heritage with an ancient tribe of nomadic people to whom conceding any rights whatsoever to female members was anathema. Their womenfolk were expected to defer to men in every respect. Failure to do so almost always resulted in violence towards them.

"Why is it that your response does not surprise me Mr.Janacek?"

Veronika nodded towards Liza Moresecki who stood with the braided leather lanyard of the heavy whip over her wrist as she accustomed herself to its comforting weight, feeling the thrill she knew so well. It grew inside her as the urge to see the effect the unleashed weapon would have on this man's body also mounted.

"You can't use that thing on me bitch, I know my rights!" Janacek had been animated by the sight of the metre and a half long whip being flexed between Liza's outstretched leather gloved hands.

Liza laughed softly. A gentle, good natured chuckle that completely belied the situation.

"Oh I think that you may have misunderstood the nature of our relationship completely Mr. Janacek. We have brought you back to Prochody exactly because the normal rules of law are suspended here. I think that if it is your opinion that there is anything I cannot do to you then you are sadly mistaken in your view."

His eyes followed her every move, unaware that this was all part of the process that would lead inevitably to his downfall. She moved out of his sight now, her footsteps disappearing behind him. Time seemed to stand still for him briefly, then he felt the gentle touch of the whip at the base of his buttocks just at the point where the crease in his thighs met them. The cool feel of the leather came once again as Liza adjusted her position, booted feet set apart to give the stability her next move required. Veronika watched with a growing excitement. Liza really was perfection, the move almost balletic.

Liza's slim, athletic body within the gleaming carapace of tight, black leather, long legs in laced boots moved slightly as she made minute adjustments to her stance prior to the swing that saw her whip descend in a wide, whistling arc on its journey towards where those first ranging taps now guided it. The impact of the heavy braided tail on Janacek's flesh was dramatic. The swish of its descent culminated in a loud report as all of its pent up kinetic energy was dissipated into a small area of the bound man's body. Veronika watched in fascination as the flesh of his buttocks distorted briefly before returning to its original configuration. Within seconds the site of the impact was marked with a wide stripe of vivid red, darkening quickly to an angry deep purple weal. As this was happening Janacek's scream filled the dungeon, dropping to a series of pathetic sobs as he felt the tip of Liza's whip once more as she prepared herself to give a second stroke.

The two women exchanged smiles briefly. The whip rose and fell again, his screams growing still more in volume as the assault continued. A third stroke followed quickly added to by a forth and a fifth. Liza was in a rhythm now, each stroke adding to her pleasure as she brought the whip down repeatedly across the tortured man's bound body. He pulled with all his strength against the leather straps that held him down tightly to the punishment bench. On the impact of the eighth stroke his skin gave way, the whip landing in exactly the same spot as a previous stroke, being enough to cause a fissure. Blood flowed freely from the ragged crimson edged gash, bright rivulets coursing freely across his thighs. Liza applied two more strokes, the blood splattering from the impact of the whip.

Janacek's screams diminished into a series of ragged sobs. "I just have a feeling with this one that the whip isn't going to provide us with the breakthrough that we need. But i have other weapons in my armoury."

Laying the whip down she picked up a black leather attache case. Flicking the catches revealed a bright stainless steel anal plug, a slim steel urethral sound about ten centimetres in length together with red and black electrical wires and a small black generator box with what looked like the kind of remote blipper used to unlock a car.

Liza smeared lube onto the probe and pushed two wires into it. Janacek's whole body stiffened as the plug slid in until only the wires protruded from his anus. She lubed the sound and slid it into the shaft of his cock. Plugging the wires into the generator box she switched it on. A small red light glowed ominously. Picking up the remote she walked over to Veronika and handed it to her.

"It generates a very high voltage. There is no real power at all, but it's the voltage that counts. That will make the bastard really dance! The tips of the two probes are only a few centimetres apart but when the current flows it can only pass through his body, the effect can be quite dramatic, as he will soon find out."

Veronika's finger hovered briefly over the button.

"Don't be frightened. It won't bite you. Although it will him, very hard!"

Veronika tentatively pressed the button for a fraction of a second. The strapped down prisoner's body bucked briefly, accompanied by a little squeal. She pressed again, this time for a little longer. She watched in fascination as Janacek's muscles tightened in response to the electricity. His body now thrashed against the straps that held him down tightly to the bench. A loud, animalistic howl came from deep inside him as the current coursed between the two electrodes, painfully frying the flesh in between

Liza took a leather head harness from the wall rack and tightened its straps around his skull. She inserted a solid leather phallic shaped gag into Janacek's mouth and buckled it to the harness straps. The gag was pulled deep into his mouth until he felt it almost at the entrance to his throat. He shook his head desperately in a vain attempt to fight the incursion. Liza spoke quietly to her partner.

"I find that once they are gagged the opportunity to confess their crimes often then comes as something of a relief. I inform them that if they spurn the opportunity offered to them they may not get the chance again. Sometimes they assume that these shocks will kill them. They won't of course, but they don't know that."

Veronika began to enjoy her new toy. Every stab of the button brought another strangled shriek from deep inside the bound prisoner as the electricity performed its cruel, merciless work.

"After a good electro session they feel as if they have just run a marathon. Every muscle totally worn out from their futile fight against the straps."

Liza smiled as Veronika hit the button once more. The shock ripped through Janacek, the veins on his head standing out like taut cables as the torture continued.

Eventually Liza said "Time to take a little break I think. Give him the opportunity to consider his options... not that he has any."

When they returned half an hour later Liza unbuckled the head harness and removed the gag.

"This is your final chance to sign the Tardelli confession. If you refuse then the gag goes back in and the current gets turned up." This was in fact a bluff on her part. Janacek had already received the full power of her diabolical little device.

"OK I will sign." Said Janacek. "On one condition, that I am not sent to the quarry."

Liza smiled at her partner. They had cracked him. She produced the already drawn up confession. Once signed by them both and Janacek a ten year sentence would automatically ensue. He was unstrapped from the bench and led across to a small desk where Liza placed the confession. Janacek's signature, shaky and scrawly as if a drunken spider had walked across the paper with ink on its legs was soon inscribed along the bottom line. Once he had been dressed in the prison issue blue jumpsuit and shackled into the steel transport manacles and chains Liza phoned up for the guards. "Deliver him to Maritka." She said bluntly.

Janacek's mouth fell open on hearing the name of the quarry. He began to protest loudly. Eventually, realising the scale of the trick he resorted to the foulest sexist abuse. One of the guards drew her truncheon and struck him hard across the back of the head causing him to fall to his knees. He was dragged to the waiting prison van where he was unceremoniously thrown in the back and driven off to the Maritka Stone Recovery Centre.

The Maritka quarry was an ugly grey slash in the landscape. It looked completely out of place set amongst the green hills of the Ausitanian countryside. Men sentenced to work in the state vineyards counted themselves lucky compared to the poor souls dispatched to Maritka. It was a miniature version of the Soviet gulags, reserved only for the most dangerous and vilified criminals. Seventy eight men worked at the quarry. Between them they were expected to mine and process fifty tons of granite every week. Virtually all was exported to become the kitchens and bathrooms of the wealthy, providing a healthy income for the exchequer.

The female guards at Maritka were deliberately chosen for their robust treatment of the convicts. There were no rules. Every woman carried a heavy braided leather bullwhip which she had no compunction about using should any of their charges provide them with the slightest excuse, occasionally with none. Each guard was safe in the knowledge that should a prisoner turn violent she had the assurance of the little black Walther seven millimetre pistol secreted safely inside her shoulder holster. It was into this bleak environment that Janacek found himself deposited.

As this was happening Arianne Voric was eating breakfast on the terrace of her chalet overlooking the verdant, pine covered hills. In the distance the surface of a lake glistened like liquid silver in the morning sun. Apart from the chirping of birds and the occasional distant bark of a dog all was silent. Alex Morgan knelt on a mat beside the breakfast table. He was dressed in the houseboy outfit that consisted of nothing more than a heavy black leather collar and a stainless steel chastity lock. This was the second day of his service and Arianne was already enjoying the company of the young English journalist. The conversation was stimulating.

Their talk turned to Monika Novotny, the Olympic triathlete turned justice minister.

"I think that I might invite her over for dinner. It would give an excellent opportunity for you to get a better understanding of our project here in Ausitania, we are very much aware of our reputation in the world, I am sure that we could put something together between the three of us."

Alex agreed. Fortunately cooking was a hobby of his. After Arianne had spoken with Monika Novotny they agreed that Arianne would drop him in Libovice when she went into the Prochody office to do some paperwork. Then he would cook dinner for the two women that evening. Alex was very excited both at the prospect of meeting the world famous Olympian but also of having the opportunity to serve two beautiful women at the same time. It was a dream come true.

At the same time as this conversation was taking place Janacek was being booked in at Maritka. Once registered and issued with his number, 79 his name became a thing of the past. Apart from the quarry itself the site had a stone dressing factory, a small modern office block and two wooden dormitory huts. Martina Kokoska the chief officer at the camp watched from her office window as the working parties headed out to begin their day's work. They were marched in columns of six. Each man was burdened with a heavy steel collar, locked into place around his neck and connected by a steel chain to the next man in line. Each column was accompanied by a black uniformed female guard armed with her bullwhip. Martina turned to Veronika and Liza who had brought the newly convicted man to the quarry.

"The system is a good one. Numbering them removes every trace of individuality and serves to remind them of their situation. It is an integral part of the Maritka project. Every slave needs to accept that he is a zero in here, a worthless slave only fit to be exploited and punished, even on a mere whim."

Both women nodded their complete agreement on this point. The man at the rear of the final column had a large "79" on his back. All the men adopted the curious trotting gait that was required of them when on the move. It gave the impression that they were running.

"We encourage the guards to treat them harshly. Men such as these have nothing to learn from kindness. They only understand cruelty. Either they bend to our will, or they break."

Martina offered to give them a tour of the quarry. On the way they passed a small timber building, little more than a shed. Martina opened the door and motioned them inside. A set of prison overalls with a number "18" on the back lay across a chair. A naked man stood in the centre of the hut. A steel chain was wrapped around his neck and attached to one of the roof beams. The prisoner was forced to push himself up onto the balls of his feet in order not to be strangled by the chain. His face was bright red and he emitted occasional gasps and groans as he struggled to take in enough air. His wrists were pinioned behind his back, locked inside a pair of prison issue handcuffs. "The standard punishment." said Martina. "Either half an hour or an hour, depending on how his guard is feeling."

They regarded the man for a moment. A tall, strikingly attractive woman with long black hair tied in a ponytail entered the hut and checked on him. Martina introduced her as Florica, one of the senior guards. Florica glanced at her watch as she stood looking at her charge. "You can have an extra half hour. " She turned and left.

Meanwhile Alex Morgan was in the top delicatessen in Libovice. He collected the things he needed for their soiree with Monika Novotny and headed back to Prochody to meet Arianne. His view of the ladies of Ausitania was a very different one from that of the inmates of Maritka quarry.

To be continued...