This story is written for Miss S. She is travelling abroad in a former Eastern Bloc country when she is pulled in for questioning in relation to a suspect package found in her luggage. The story is written to her directly, and I hope that this style doesn't put you off!
*
You are at the airport when you begin to feel slightly panicky. There should be no reason for that, however, you are being stared at intently by one of the uniformed security men. A puzzled expression comes over your face and further lack of comprehension registers when you are tapped quite sharply on the shoulders from behind. A female security guard beckons you aside.
"Please ... Follow me," she barks in broken English.
You have no choice. Her build and demeanour are those of someone who is used to having her authority obeyed. She walks ahead of you and then you are aware of a second guard behind you. People stare at you - your compatriots, fellow travellers, people with whom you have a common national identity. They can do nothing to help you. There are looks of concern, of surprise, but also you can sense that they are glad they are not in your shoes.
"What is the problem?" you ask.
"Please ... all will be explained!"
"But ... my luggage, my passport ... everything is in order ... I don't understand!!"
You are led down a hallway and then you turn left and left again and finally right, where you find yourself in a different annex. This part of the airport appears more like the old military wing of a civilian airport. The building seems even less comfortable than where you just were a few moments ago. How you wish that you were there now and not here ... but where was "here"? An endless stream of hallways and corridors were taking you further and further away, leading to growing confusion and disorientation in your mind. At the end of one such corridor, there is a room into which you are shown. The room is small, measuring no more than 10 feet by 10. It is tiled in white and lit by one naked light bulb. There is a small table and a chair. There is no window. The room is airless and very claustrophobic.
"Strip!" the female guard commands.
"Why on earth ... What exactly have I done? Why are you doing this to me?"
Your voice is now several pitches higher than usual. Your heart is beating and adrenaline is pumping through your body. A sickening feeling, a feeling of dread, a feeling of lack of control ... all of these feeling and emotions are mounting in your body and producing a state of near panic. You are on the brink of hysterical tears. How quickly it has happened. Why has it happened? One moment, you are on the verge of boarding a plane, and the next, you are in the middle of this ... this nightmare.
The female guard snaps a latex glove onto her hand. She waits. The other guard makes no move to leave. He smirks. You get the feeling that this is not the first time he has witnessed the humiliation of a passenger at her hands. You start to undress. You are not comfortable, not one bit comfortable. You take off your coat, placing it on the table, followed by your boots, which you bend down to untie. You are wearing tights under your skirt and as your pull them off, you think how pathetic tights are when they fall to the ground in a pile. You are wearing a long skirt and this is next to come off, leaving you in a white blouse and your underwear. Now, you feel the dampness of the perspiration which has built up under your arms. You have not shaved there for a few days and the sharpness of the new growth irritates you. Next, you take off the blouse, followed by your bra and panties.
"Bend over the table please!" she commands as she snapped another latex glove onto her hands.
This scenario was now totally beyond your ability to comprehend. You caught the look in the male security guard's eyes as you bent over, exposing yourself completely to his gaze. Just as she prepares to search your body cavities, the door opens and both of them snap to attention. Frome your position, you cannot see what is going on, but the curt order given by the new arrival, dismissing both of them leaves you hope that your dilemma is over. However, your situation is far from being resolved and is in fact about to become a lot worse.
"Miss S?" a heavily accented male voice commands your attention.
His is the voice of authority, a voice that calls and demands respect.
"Can you explain this?"
A small bag, containing approximately 100g of white powder lands on the desk in front of you.
"We found this in the luggage when you, how you say ... checked in."
"That's impossible ... I have no idea what it is. Somebody must have planted that in my luggage."
"It is cocaine Miss S. and indeed, it may have been planted there ... I care little for the truth. Truth bores me. Let me tell you something about myself Miss S. Under the old regime, I had a ... reputation for getting results from people particularly difficult to interrogate. Here, I have been reduced to the level of a mere pen pusher, with a small amount of authority ... and sometimes situations like this one give me the chance to ... refresh my skills."
He spoke his words slowly and with a certain degree of lazy menace. He takes out a cigarette and lites it up. Usually S, you do not like the smell of cigarettes but his are different, with a kind of sweet smelling flavour to the smoke.
"I recognise something of a fellow traveller in you ... Around here, my word still counts for something. I can make this nightmare disappear for you. Would you like that? Would you like the memory of my face and this room to be a distant one? Let me offer you a way out. You can spend 30 minutes here with me, where I will teach you a lesson in respect ... respect not for yourself but for me, or you can spend the next 15 years eating boiled cabbage in a filthy prison cell based on a trumped up charge of possession of narcotics ... the choice is yours ... the plane will be late taking off ... I, we, have the opportunity to decide your future ... together. What will we choose?"
Bent over the table, with everything on show to this man and very quickly guessing that he was 100 percent serious, you decide that you do indeed have no choice.
"Ah the old days Miss S ... I would love to tell you so much about them, but I fear that we will have to wait for another time which will give both of us the opportunity to ... enlighten ... ourselves further. Would you be so kind as to put on this blindfold ... I find it offensive to look at your eyes ... You are so pitiful ... Look at yourself ... You are such a pitiful creature ...Look, I cannot even get hard looking at you ... My dick, it is like it doesn't work. You are such an excuse for a woman. Here, let me hide your eyes"