“Who are you?” Lena asked, already guessing what the answer would be.
“Totally irrelevant.” He looked at Zoya. She looked terrified. “You, chunky, get up off your stool slowly. Then turn away from me.”
Fear made her movements awkward and she almost stumbled and fell just dismounting.
“Careful now. We don’t want any more facial injuries. They hurt like hell, just ask Dr. Hamlin here. Now, put both your hands behind your back, the wrists touching each other.”
She complied listlessly, like she was just emerging from a coma. He slipped a plastic tie of some sort over her hands and snugged it up tight.
“Excellent. Now you.” He turned toward Lena. “Same routine exactly. Stand up slow, turn away, then both hands behind the back. Nice and easy.”
She was clearly frustrated, but options were lacking. Slowly she complied. Soon she too was trussed up tightly.
“There we go. Now, let the raping begin!”
Both women stiffened noticeably.
“Oh, come on now. I’m just kidding. Where’s your sense of humor? Do you really think we went to all this trouble to grab a piece of Russian tail? Honestly ladies, don’t flatter yourself. We could do much better at home. Come on now, it’s time for a short walk. Step around me and out into the other room. Let’s go.”
They walked out obediently. Lena was seething inside.
“You too, Hamlin. Let’s go.”
“You said Tylenol when we got here,” he slurred.
“You know, I might have lied about that. With all the weapons you allegedly have, I think it is in my best interests to keep you in sight. March!”
He obeyed awkwardly. When they reached the common area, they were the only ones there.
“How’s it going back there?” their captor yelled down the hallway.
“Good,” came the return reply.
“In that case, you ladies stand over there together with your backs up against the wall. Hamlin, you don’t look so good. Take a seat at the table with me. It’s time you took a load off.”
He sat with a groan. He looked toward Lena and she met his eyes. She looked strong and defiant. Weirdly, he felt proud of her at that moment.
Soon the other men came marching in the room, arms bound behind them.
“Very nice. Look at the excellent partner I have. Good job. All you men, stand beside the two ladies if you will. Backs to the wall, please.”
The men, choices now non-existent, all complied.
The other man sat beside his partner, his silence still intact. He set his pistol on the table and it made a solid clunk.
“Can you believe this? Supposedly they have enough weapons to repel a platoon of marines but we just walk in like we own the place. Not so much as a single shot fired. Oh my. But I suppose you are researchers, not fighters.”
The room fell silent.
“Okay, we need to establish some structure to this farce. Here it is. I’m going to ask questions…you’re going to answer questions. That will keep things moving smoothly, and, much more importantly, it will keep me and my partner happy. Very important, that last part. And that’s all there is too it. Couldn’t be easier. Do you all understand?”
The group stared silently, unsure of how to respond.
“I said do you understand!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, causing them all to jump. Heads nodded and some mumbled an affirmative response.
“That’s better. Just work with me. My partner and I simply want what we came for. And I’m sure you’d be happy to get rid of it. So cooperation should come easily, you see?”
More mumbling and head nods.
“Outstanding. Now for the first question. We’ll start with an easy one. I want you to get your self-confidence in gear. That should help as we work our way through this. So here we go. Listen carefully. Are you seven the only people here at this station? Take your time. Think about it if you have to. Just don’t give me the wrong answer. What do you think?”
They seemed confused about how to respond.
“Oh, I see what’s happening here. You all want to cooperate so badly, but you also want to do it politely. So, in order to prevent you from interrupting each other’s answers or cutting each other off, or God help you, contradicting each other, I will assign one person as spokesman for the group. Okay? But before we go any farther, I have to shed a layer. Excuse me.” He stood up, pulled his arms out of his parka, and then laid it on the table.
“There. Much better. Now, let me see. You sir, what is your name?” He pointed at a short, dour-looking man.
“Grebenshchikov.”
“Are you serious? Sorry, but that doesn’t work for me. I’m going to call you Greg, okay?”
The man didn’t know if he was actually supposed to respond.
“I said, okay?”
“Yes! Yes, of course.”
“Good. Very good, as a matter of fact. Because now I need an answer. What do you say?”
“Yes. We seven are the only ones here. Now.”
“Congratulations, I believe you got that one right. As a prize, there will be no beatings or other assorted forms of torture meted out. Very nice indeed. Now, we come to the all-important second question. Again, it is critical to answer both thoroughly and truthfully. Here we go. Where are all the weapons from the cabinet?”
Grebenshchikov cleared his throat.
“Can you answer this one on your own, Greg, or do you need help from the team?”
The secondary question seemed to confuse him. Finally he spoke. “They are under the beds in our room. Except the big ones. They are in the back storage room on the shelves.”
“Well done. I complement you on your speed and accuracy. My partner is going to go and confirm your answer. If you please.”
He was already up and moving.
“I’m so confident that you told the truth, I’m going to go on with the next question while my partner is checking. Everybody okay with that? Are you sure? Great! Then here we go. Now this is a big one. Where are the samples?” He said it with a bit of a flourish to emphasize the importance.
Grebenshchikov looked like he was about to choke on his tongue. He had been there that night and watched the shed go up in flames.
“Which samples?”
“Oh, come on now.” His voice took on a nasty edge. “This is a really important one. Don’t mess up now.”
“I…”
“Greg, you look like you could use some help from the others. Come on, team. Help him out, now.”
“We burned the shed.”
“Oh, Greg. I’m extremely sorry, and I appreciate the effort, I really do. But that is the wrong answer. Darn it all, that means we have to talk about the various negative consequences of a wrong answer. I was really hoping we could avoid all the unpleasantries, but now, here they are staring us all in the face.” He took his pistol and played with it on the tabletop. His partner walked back into the room.
“Well?”
He nodded slightly. “I found them all but one pistol.”
“Excellent. I can live with that. So, one problem resolved. One still remains. Perhaps this could be settled quicker if you all had some perspective. Let me give you some by telling you about myself. I am a military man. I have had extensive training in many different fields. Because of my affiliation with Special Forces, I was able to take a little side course on how to make people tell you what you wanted them to. Some would call it torture, I prefer to think of it as utilizing the benefits of duress. My instructor was very pleased with me. I don’t like to brag, but he said I was a natural. Are you all following me so far?”
There was a smattering of nods.
“Wow. Where is the enthusiasm? Do you not get how important this is? I mean, please do an inventory. You’re all physically intact. No injuries, mild or otherwise. No sharp, debilitating pain, with the possible exception of Hamlin over here. Lifespans most likely to carry you through this into the spring when you will get picked up and returned home to your families and your life. That could change in the next few minutes. So I ask you again, are you with me so far?”