 


 
 Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 ï>¿Maragana Girl by EC

   Chapter 11 ï¿½ A partial reprieve for Eloisa

   Kim spent the middle of March confronting the emotional turmoil that
resulted from Cindy's trip.  Without realizing what was happening until it
was too late, she had long since passed a point of no return.  She couldn't
go back to her old life.

   Kim expected the first crisis from her decision to hit about 48 hours
after she said goodbye to Cindy.  Sure enough, two nights after her sister
left Kim's parents called her, in hysterics over the result of Cindy's
trip. Cindy's decision to support Kim's desire to stay in Upper Danubia
only made their parents more irate.  Both girls had completely lost their
senses.  Why wouldn't she want to come home, even with the tough transition
that awaited her?

   Kim's father was adamant.  "Well, we're filing, no matter what you want.
You're coming home and I'm going to knock some sense into you."

   Kim asked her Spokesman to call her parents.  He seemed to have a better
ability to reason with them than she did.  Dukov decided to talk to Mrs. 
Lee, since she seemed to have a greater understanding of how messed up Kim
was.  Dukov spent nearly two hours carefully explaining why Kim thought
staying in Upper Danubia was her only realistic option.  He played on her
drug use, knowing that her mother had been appalled when she found out what
her daughter had been doing in Europe with Tiffany and Susan.  At last
Kim's mother agreed that if she wished to stay in Upper Danubia, perhaps it
was best to not pursue the effort to overturn her sentence.  If nothing
else, it would keep her clean and off drugs for two years.  With that both
Kim's mother and Kim's sister worked to change her father's mind.  In the
end he decided to wait and not file anything for the time being.

   Kim's decision ended up saving her parents a lot of money and
heartbreak. Later that year her father's lawyer was arrested for fraud.  It
turned out he specialized in promising the parents of young American adults
jailed overseas that he could get their convictions overturned.  He
collected vast amounts of money, but did not successfully pursue a single
case.  He finally was caught in Peru, relaxing at a beach resort when he
was supposed to be in Lima working on securing the release of two Americans
arrested for terrorism charges.  The Peruvian government extradited him to
the United States for trial.  One result of the lawyer's arrest was that
Kim's father never questioned her judgment again.

   ----------

   There was no question Criminal # 98945 had made the right decision in
requesting that her sentence not be challenged.  Still, it was a horrible
feeling to think that she had burned a bridge in her life.  There truly was
no going back.  The finality of what had happened frightened her.

   Images drifted through Kim's mind, the most vivid of which was that of
an enormous set of steel doors, far larger than anything that could have
existed in real life, slamming shut behind her.  That huge set of steel
doors, now bolted and rusted solid, stood between Kim and everything she
had ever known in the US.  The only reality she could ever know from this
point on would be her life in Upper Danubia.

   Kim knew she was being overly dramatic.  Of course, at the end of her
sentence, she would be free to do what she wanted, whether that be to stay
in Europe or return to the United States.  Still, the feeling that the
person she had been just a year before was completely dead continued to
fill her thoughts.  As March progressed and the trees started to bud out,
she wrote at length about her feelings.  She wrote actual poetry, not just
essays, about the deep philosophical issues that surrounded her situation
and what she thought about her life.

   Kim shared her thoughts during the reading sessions at the Socrates
Club. As she stood in front of her fellow criminals, reciting her emotional
journey in her accented Danubian, she wondered what her friends from high
school would have thought if they could have seen her.  Here she was, in an
old building standing on an old stage, naked and with a collar on her neck,
talking about her philosophical view of the issues affecting her life.  A
year ago she had been sitting in the smoking area behind her school,
drinking with Tiffany and Susan out of soda bottles spiked with ever-clear.
Most definitely the Kimberly Lee of today was not the Kimberly Lee who
appeared in her senior high school annual picture from the year before.

   Dima ended up writing several songs for the group based on some of Kim's
thoughts.  One of those songs, titled "The Wall that Divides My Soul",
later became extremely popular throughout Europe, and ultimately a
signature song for the entire group.

   ----------

   Kim's life faced even more changes as April started and the Danubian
springtime began in earnest.  On April 1 Danube City's 2,200 criminals
lined up in front of the Central Police Station to return their winter
capes and boots.  At the moment she turned over her clothing, Kim pulled
off her criminal's number 98945 from the Velcro patch on the back of her
cape and held it up to the clerk, who verified that Criminal # 98945 had
returned the property lent to her by the government.

   After the capes were turned in, the criminals bantered with each other
and posed for group pictures in the main plaza.  They joked and smiled as
they held up their numbers for the cameras.  For some reason the returning
of the winter capes was a customary time criminals posed for group
pictures, perhaps because it was a time of the year they all were gathered
in one place.  Kim posed over and over with Sergekt and his friends, all 28
of them, plus several girlfriends and boyfriends who had ended up as part
of the group in the same way Kim had joined, by dating one of the members.

   Kim had to resolve the dilemma about her work situation.  She loved her
job at the music store, but she also had promised Victor Dukov to return to
his courier service as soon as the weather warmed up.  Kim wanted to return
to making deliveries for Victor, not just because of her promise, but also
because she wanted to put her mountain bike to good use.  It was Sergekt
who came up with the best solution.

   "Why not just keep both jobs?  You can work each part time, for example,
ride for Victor Dukov Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and work the rest
of the week at the store.  That would get you out on your bike exercising
and at the same time make everyone happy."

   Kim approached both her bosses with the idea, making each of them
understand she had a commitment to the other.  In the end Kim went with
Sergekt's suggestion.  She delivered messages for Victor Dukov on Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays.  She worked at the music store on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Saturdays, the days Eloisa usually liked to have rehearsals
or performances after work.  Kim's work-week thus was split between working
outdoors and indoors.  Because each day she did something different, Kim
never was bored with either job.

   Kim moved about quickly throughout Danube City on her mountain bike as
she delivered Victor Dukov's messages.  She went everywhere within the
collar zone, now that her ability to speak Danubian allowed her to make
deliveries and ask questions as easily as any other member of Victor
Dukov's staff.  She became a familiar sight in Danube City, the naked
Maragana Girl on her fancy bicycle, yes, the same one who was singing with
Eloisa and her group of ex-students.

   Kim now spoke to Victor Dukov in Danubian instead of English.  Over the
winter she had become fluent in speaking Danubian and now spoke the
country's language better than Victor spoke English.  That was not entirely
a good thing for Kim.  She no longer could hide behind claiming that she
did not understand something when her boss got unpleasant with her.  Victor
was his usual self, in spite of the fact Kim was doing him a favor by
coming back to work for him.  However, Kim understood Victor actually liked
her a lot and that his unpleasantness was simply a part of his personality
he couldn't change.

   Kim enjoyed riding, a task made much easier now that she had a proper
bicycle.  She loved the feel of the cool spring breeze and the warm sun on
her body.  She loved the sight of the pleasant streets and parks of Danube
City as she whizzed down the tree-lined avenues.  She loved her mobility,
and the fact that every so often she could drop in at Sergekt's cafï¿½ and
say hello to him at work.  On the days she delivered messages, Kim rode
herself to exhaustion, knowing that the following day she would be at the
music store and could rest her body.  By the end of the spring, Kim was in
great shape, with her muscles toned and her body evenly tanned from the
hours spent outdoors on her bike.

   ----------

   April ended with the group becoming depressed again.  Four months had
passed since their last switching.  They were due to be switched again on
April 25, more than two years since their original crime.  Once again they
faced the prospect of being marched in chains to their old school and
humiliated in front of the current students.

   On April 24, the day before the switching, Eloisa showed up to work with
her pubic hair shaved off, as did the other three members of the group of
ex-students who were working at the music store.  Of course the main
purpose of shaving was to prevent the humiliation of being shaved by the
police, but there was more to shaving than just that.

   Over her time in Upper Danubia Kim had learned that it was customary for
a criminal who faced being switched to shave the day before the punishment,
instead of the day of the punishment itself.  It was an unwritten part of
the entire punishment ritual that a criminal announce to the world that he
or she faced punishment by appearing in public shaved the day before. 
There was no formal requirement that criminals make such an announcement,
nor even that they shave at all.  However, the criminals of Danube City had
their own subculture with its own traditions and protocol, which included
proper behavior for those facing the switch.  Part of that proper behavior
was to be shaved 24 hours before the punishment itself.

   Kim planned to spend the evening with Sergekt.  They would go to the
Socrates Club and rent an "intimacy room", since tonight probably would be
the last night for several days that Sergekt would want to have sex with
her.  She already had told Dukov she would not be home until very late.

   In the early afternoon Kim was surprised to see Vladik Dukov enter the
music store.  He was in his police uniform, which meant that his behavior
around her had to be different than it normally would be at home.  In spite
of living under the same roof, when Officer Vladik Dukov was in uniform,
Criminal # 98945 had to treat him like she would treat any other public
official.  As Vladik approached the information counter, Kim dropped to her
hands and knees.  She touched her head to the floor, feeling very strange
having to do this to a person with whom she lived.  However, to have not
greeted Vladik in the formal manner would have caused a scandal in the
store and have been a direct challenge to his authority.

   As Kim prostrated herself at his feet, Vladik asked to speak to the
store manager.  Eloisa knelt, received the order, and got up to find the
manager.  Once he showed up, Vladik explained he needed to speak with
Criminal # 98945 and that she needed to be excused from work for an hour or
two.  Kim left the store in the custody of the young police officer.

   Kim nervously accompanied Vladik, not having a clue about what the
police officer wanted from her nor why the conversation could not wait
until the evening when they both would be back home.

   A police officer and a criminal could not talk normally on the street,
so Vladik took Kim to his father's office at the Central Police Station. 
Only when they entered the reception area could Vladik converse in a more
normal manner towards his father's client.

   "Kimberly, I apologize for having to pull you out of the store like
that, but I need to talk to you and then you have get back to work as soon
as you can."

   "OK, so what's up?"

   "Well, you know that your music friends are all getting punished
tomorrow, at their old school?"

   "Yes, Vladik, I'm well aware of that."

   "Well, it turns out that I have to stand in for one of the arresting
officers.  He got into a motorcycle accident a couple of days ago and won't
be out of the hospital for several weeks.  So, I end up with the 'honor' of
punishing some of your friends."

   "You?ï¿½you meanï¿½you're going to punish Sergekt?"

   "No, not him.  I can't punish him because he's eaten at my father's
table.  That's strictly forbidden, you know, to avoid conflicts of interest
and trouble within our household.  Someone else will get him.  But I'm in
charge of punishing a couple of the women.  Right now your singing partner
Eloisa is on my list.  I have to switch her, and that's what I need to talk
to you about."

   "What's there to talk about Vladik?  She doesn't deserve any of this. 
It's not her fault she got molested and I don't see whyï¿½" Vladik held up
his hand.

   "Kimberly stopï¿½just stop.  I'm not here to argue the merits of her
case.  My partner and I were ordered to participate in this punishment and
that's the end of it.  Whether or not she deserves what's happening to her
is a decision that's beyond my authority.  She and the others will be
punished tomorrow, and I will be responsible for some of the punishments.
Nothing can change that.  What concerns me is that your friends are
punished fairly and appropriately.  I intend to respect their dignity as
best I can and will ensure the blows they receive fall within the
guidelines set by the Corporal Punishment Code."

   Kim looked at Vladik with a bitter expression, not understanding what he
was driving at.  "So why are you telling me this?  Do you think it'll clear
your conscience?"

   Vladik sighed.  "I don't think you fully understand the situation.  What
my partner and I plan to do is stay just within the guidelines of the
required punishment."

   Vladik paused and then continued.  "I will make a confession to you. 
The fact is, I do think what happened to your friends is unfair.  A lot of
us think the same about that case, in the police department, that is.  But
we can't say anything about it.  To question a sentence is not our place,
nor our authority.  Now about my situation.  I try to respect the people I
punish.  I punish with force, but I do not fondle the criminals like a lot
of the officers do.  I find that practice disgusting and there are some of
us in the police department who are trying to put a stop to it.  Another
thing.  The judge who will sign the punishment certificates for my group is
an old professor of mine from the police academy.  We know each other and
he is of the same mindset I am, and that Father is; that we need to have
some reforms in the system.  Things are going to change, Kimberly, but
that's not going to help your friends right now.  What will help your
friends, or at least the ones turned over to me, is that I plan to switch
them to the absolute minimum of the legal standard.  They'll get their 50
strokes, but my partner and I want to go easy on them."

   "Wellï¿½I meanï¿½I appreciate that Vladik, but what can I do to help?"

   "Well, here's my idea.  My partner and I will punish eight of your
group. There are eight women, including your singing partner, right?"

   "Yes.  Eight."

   "Alright, here's where you can help me help them.  Your group usually
has the women all go first.  If they do it that way tomorrow, my partner
and I will only punish two of the women and six guys.  What I want is to
have all the women sent to my room, basically to keep them away from a
couple of the other officers who, I know for a fact, will mistreat them. 
They'll mistreat the guys as well, but it won't be as bad as the women. 
Now, here's what I want.  I want you to very quietly approach the leaders
of your group, and tell them to re-organize so that all the women come to
me and my partner.  The judge will go along with it, but it has to be done
quietly or we will all get in trouble."

   "But why just the women?  Why can't you try to help the guys also?"

   "Because my partner and I are only in charge of eight of the
punishments. I can help eight out of your group.  The reason why it's the
women I'm worried about, is becauseï¿½well, if you knew the other officers
you'd understand.  I don't believe that criminals should be our playthings,
and they very much disagree with me."

   "So, with those other officers, it'd be like what happened to me in
January?"

   "Worse.  I know those other officers, and, let's just say there's two of
them who I don't think have the right to be wearing badges."

   "Alright, I'll talk to them, see if they'll go along with it.  I don't
know if they will becauseï¿½"

   "No!  You will not talk to the whole group about this!  Nor will you
tell any of the women what I'm trying to do!  I want you to go directly to
your singing partner's boyfriend and have him make the arrangements with
the group's Spokesman.  You can tell Sergekt as well, he seems trustworthy.
But that's it.  I don't want this to get out.  I'm taking a real risk here,
not just for myself, but also the presiding judge."

   "But why are you going through me?  Couldn't you just tell Spokesman
Havlakt?"

   "That's illegal.  I am not allowed to make any such arrangements with a
Spokesman.  That's for a very good reason, because it helps prevent
corruption.  Nor am I allowed to talk directly to any of the criminals
involved in tomorrow's punishment.  I'm going through you because you're a
member of my household and I can legally talk to you, even though you're a
criminal."

   "OK, I'll talk to Dima about this, and I'm sure he'll do what he can to
help out.  I won't tell anyone else except Sergekt."

   Vladik let out a nervous sigh.  "Thanks.  I have to take care of some
paperwork and I'll be downstairs while you're gone.  Once you get back,
have Father's secretaries call me and I'll escort you back to work."

   With that Kim rode her bicycle to Sergekt's cafe near the Temple of the
Ancients.  Kim was relieved to see Sergekt and Dima working there alone. 
Several of the guys from the group had jobs at the cafï¿½, but the others
were not working the mid-day shift.  Sergekt was surprised to see Kim show
up on her bicycle, knowing that she was supposed to be at the music store.

   Kim quickly and quietly talked to Dima about Vladik's plans.  She then
explained that Officer Vladik Dukov was the son of Spokesman Vladim Dukov
and she lived with him.  Dima's face lit up with relief.

   "So there really are human beings among all those cops!  I was starting
to wonder!"

   Dima promised to re-organize the group to accommodate Vladik.  He would
talk to the group's Spokesman, who would make the arrangement.  He would
not say anything to any of the group's other members, including Sergekt. 
The group's de facto leader fully understood the need to keep everything as
secret as possible.  The women would go in wondering about the change, and
come out wondering why their switching was not quite as severe as it had
been during previous punishments.  The guys would know nothing, at least
not until the day was over.

   With that both Kim and Dima returned to the Central Police Station. 
They parted as Dima disappeared into the doorway of Spokesman Havlakt's
office.  With that Kim slipped into Dukov's office and called Vladik to
escort her back to work.

   A half hour later Kim was back at the music store, kneeling in front of
Officer Vladik Dukov as he dismissed her.  Kim's feelings about Vladik had
been neutral until just a couple of hours ago.  He was Vladim Dukov's son,
but he was also a cop.  Because of his profession, Kim always felt very
uncomfortable around him.  And yet, working within the restrictions of his
position, he was willing to take risks to try to ease the burden of a group
of criminals he felt had been treated unfairly.  That small act of
rebellion on his part totally changed how Kim felt about him.

   ----------

   That night Kim spent several somber hours alone with Sergekt in an
"intimacy room" at the Socrates Club.  She asked him to lie on his stomach
as she sadly caressed his bottom.  Sergekt had an attractive bottom, smooth
and fairly hairless for a guy.  She pressed her palms to Sergekt's skin,
fill with regret knowing by this time the next day this same bottom would
be covered with cruel welts and blood blisters.  She gently kissed and
massaged Sergekt's bottom-cheeks, the final night before they would be so
cruelly marked up.

   Kim was fascinated with the clean-shaven area around Sergekt's penis. 
It felt smooth and looked so vulnerable stripped of the surrounding hair.
Kim felt an overwhelming desire to kiss and run her fingertips over the
clean skin.  She licked the base of his penis until he was hard, then
gently ran her tongue around the tip, tasting his pre-cum.  She straddled
him and impaled herself on him, enjoying the unique feel of Sergekt's
hairless lower body against her crotch.  She grabbed his arms and pinned
them to his sides, relishing the feel of his momentary helplessness.  She
climaxed with loud moans, in one the best orgasms she ever had enjoyed.  It
felt so incredibly good.

   Once they were finished making love Sergekt wanted to set the room in
order and join the others downstairs, but Kim stopped him.  She needed to
talk.  She told Sergekt about Vladik's tentative plans to try to give the
group's eight women a partial reprieve from their punishments.  She then
briefly went over her conversation with Dima and his trip to the Central
Police Station.  Sergekt was a bit surprised.

   "No wonder he came back in such a good mood!  He was totally happy, but
he wouldn't tell me why.  He said that I was just imagining things."

   "Well, you know, it's just going to be the women that are getting any
leniency.  You guys are going to get it just as bad as last time, or worse.
From what Vladik told me, there's a couple of real bad apples among those
cops that you'll be facing tomorrow.  That's the reason he wanted to
separate out the women."

   "Well, he did something for us, or at least for the ones who needed it
the most.  We" (Sergekt used the Danubian masculine term to refer to just
the men) "can handle most of what the punishing officers do to us, but we
always worry about the girls.  Every time we go through this it's the same
thing.  We're always stressed about what they're going to do to the girls.
At least this time we don't have to worry about that.  It will put
everyone's mind at ease."

   "Sergekt, no one's mind is going to be put at ease.  You will keep your
mouth shut about this.  Don't tell anyone.  Vladik and his partner are
putting their careers at risk by trying to keep the women away from those
other cops."

   "Of course.  I'd forgotten about that.  I won't say anything."

   Kim and Sergekt remained in bed for a while, quietly staring at the
ceiling.  Kim's thoughts returned to Vladik and his stern but fair outlook
as a cop.  She wondered what motivated him to go to the police academy in
the first place.  He was smart and educated, a cut above the majority of
his co-workers in the police force.  She wanted to get Sergekt's opinion of
her Spokesman's son.

   "What do you think of Vladik?  I mean, you've eaten dinner with us, and
talked to him a bit, so what do you think of him?"

   "I don't really know.  I come over and what I see is a cop.  It's weird
for me to sit with him.  It's weird because, at your Spokesman's table I
can talk to him just like I could with anyone else, but the moment I step
outside, I have to kiss his shoes.  That makes me feel very uneasy, and I
can't really separate him from his uniform."

   Sergekt continued.  "You know, we've been criminals for two years.  We
still have another year to go.  The whole thing has changed me: the
restrictions, the beatings, the collar, being referred to as Criminal #
92876 instead of my nameï¿½it's made me different.  I'm not like I was two
years ago.  I'm a criminal, and I can't believe I'll ever see myself any
differently.  And until just now that's how I saw Vladik; as a cop, as a
blue uniform with a switch.  I couldn't really see him as a human being,
and I still can't picture that he sees me as anything other then a
criminal. Soï¿½this plan of his is a bit of a shock to me, finding out that
he actually cares about the girls.  I never could have imagined that any
cop would care anything about any of us."

   Kim and Sergekt got up, figuring it was time to clean the room and go
downstairs.  They showered and replaced the bed sheets.  As Sergekt tossed
the used sheets into the overflowing hamper at the end the upstairs hallway
Kim remembered something else that Vladik had mentioned that gave her hope.

   "Vladik told me something that was interesting.  He said there's a whole
bunch of people in the justice system: cops, Spokespersons, even at least
one judge, who want to make some changes and stop the sexual crap when we
get punished.  He thinks the laws about that will change at some point.  Of
course it'll be too late to do us any good, but stillï¿½"

   ----------

   The following day Kim was scheduled to ride as a courier for Victor
Dukov.  He simply contracted her out to Spokesman Havlakt for the day.  She
had to ride back and forth with numerous legal documents to Sergekt's
school, two different police stations, and the Central Courthouse.  She was
busy riding the entire day, so she only caught very brief glimpses of her
friends as they were moved into and later out of the school.

   As the criminals knelt in front of the small police station near the
school, Kim noticed the eight women were chained together.  The guys were
separated into three groups: two groups of eight and one of four.  Vladik,
his partner, and another cop stood over the women, waiting to march them to
the school.

   Kim did not see the punishment itself, but heard the rest of the story
that afternoon from Eloisa.  Spokesman Havlakt ordered the women to kneel
as a group instead of the usual arrangement of two women with six guys. 
The women were surprised to be chained together, and unsettled that their
punishments would not be taken care of at the beginning, as had been the
arrangement for previous switchings.

   The women had never seen Vladik and his partner, so they did not know
what to expect.  Vladik seemed to have a rather stern appearance that
frightened them.  However, he did not yell at them nor beat their
shoulders, as was happening to the guys.

   The criminals marched down the street in chains for the sixth time in
their lives.  It was a humiliating experience, and it was meant to be
humiliating.  Once inside the school there was more humiliation coming.  In
Upper Danubia it was customary that, if at all possible, a student punished
at a school should be switched in front of an audience of the opposite sex.
The police took the male criminals into the school auditorium, which was
full of female students.  Vladik and his partner took the women to the
school gymnasium, where all the male students were sitting.

   Because Spokesman Havlakt was in the auditorium with the male criminals,
a second Spokesman was present to turn over custody of the criminals to the
police officers assigned to punish them.  That Spokesman was Vladim Dukov.
Eloisa recognized him, and suddenly realized that the cop standing near the
punishment table looked a lot like the Spokesman, only much younger.

   The boys were sitting eagerly.  They looked forward to watching the
switching of the eight young women.  However, they also were anxiously
waiting to see the women humiliated, as they had been during the punishment
prior to Christmas.  The fondling was the part they really enjoyed, but
today they would be disappointed.

   The third cop escorting the group ordered the women to stand in a line
as he took off the criminals' handcuffs and leg chains.  He then unhooked
the chains that linked their collars together and ordered them to kneel. 
They knelt forward, touching their heads to the floor.  Because they were
facing away from their audience, the women's vaginas and bottom-holes were
in full view to hundreds of eager eyes as they knelt.  As much as they
tried to ignore their exposure, the feel of the air from the gymnasium's
ventilator blowing against their most private areas made the women all too
aware of how much on display they truly were.  They could hear the boys
quietly making comments to each other and comparing their bodies.

   Vladik's partner picked up her switch and stepped in front of the
kneeling criminals.

   "Criminal # 92870, rise and present yourself at the table."

   Eloisa stood up, walked to the punishment table, and resumed her
kneeling position at Vladik's feet.  As was customary, the Spokesman and
the cop saluted each other to signal the change of custody.  As was
customary, Eloisa kissed Vladik's shoes.  He tapped her shoulder with his
switch and Eloisa sadly stretched herself out on the punishment table. 
Vladik's partner secured her wrists and ankles with leather straps.

   Vladik touched Eloisa's bottom with the switch.  He gave her a stroke
that was painful, but not vicious.  He re-positioned the switch, and struck
again.  Vladik continued to strike methodically, laying on one stroke after
another.  The punishment hurt, but was much less severe than what Eloisa
had experienced previously.  She closed her eyes, trying to cope with the
pain.  Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she was able to resist the urge to
cry.

   Vladik continued switching Eloisa, sharply but not full-force.  He
tapped her bottom before each stroke, then twisted back and struck her.  He
punished only her bottom.  The welts were not serious enough to risk
breaking Eloisa's skin, not even when the punishment was close to the end.
As a result of the lighter strokes on her bottom there was no need to
punish Eloisa's back or thighs.

   The lead singer's switching was over in less than 20 minutes.  The last
time she had been switched, the cop took nearly an hour.  She was in
considerable pain, but was not feeling the agony she felt back in December.
Vladik's partner unbuckled the straps and Eloisa stood up.  Vladik then
presented her to the judge, who signed her punishment certificate. 
Criminal # 92870 was hugely relieved.  It was over.  She knelt, kissed
Vladik's shoes, thanked him for punishing her, and with a tap of his switch
on her shoulder, was released.  Vladik saluted his father and that was the
end of Eloisa's switching.

   Eloisa felt enormously grateful to Officer Vladik Dukov.  He had
punished her to the absolute minimum of the legal standard.  She realized
that some sort of secret arrangement must have been made on her behalf,
which also would explain why all the women were together today and
separated from their classmates.

   Eloisa knelt quietly while the second criminal, one of her back-up
singers, was called to the table and switched.  The second woman's
switching also was to the minimum legal standard and was finished within 20
minutes.  No mistake about it, some sort of arrangement had been made. 
There was no humiliation, no teasing, no fondling.  The young harsh-looking
officer was showing leniency to the group.  Eloisa looked at Vladik Dukov,
then at Spokesman Dukov, then back to the officer.  She realized the cop
must be the Spokesman's son, the same cop with whom Kimberly Lee was
living. That explained a lot, but not everything, in Eloisa's mind.

   Once the fourth criminal in the gymnasium had been punished and
released, the first four women from Vladik's group walked past their
audience of somewhat disappointed boys and left the school in Spokesman
Havlakt's hired van.  They briefly returned to his office, but none of them
needed to get on a recovery table.  Already the pain from their switchings
was subsiding.  They quickly drank some tea and then left to check on the
guys.  They knew the guys had not been so lucky.



   Chapter 12 ï¿½ The Punishment in the School Auditorium

   Officer Vladik Dukov had been concerned about the other police officers
for good reason.  Several of them had a reputation for being perverted and
two of them already had been reprimanded for abusing criminals.  Vladik was
appalled when he found out they would be part of the punishment team, which
was what prompted him to take charge of the women.

   Along with the deviant cops, several of the medical students from the
Central Police Station were present in the school auditorium.  As the male
criminals looked over at the group of medical students standing with the
cops, they knew they were in for a rough time.  There was no legal need for
the medical students to be present; they were there to have fun.  Magda,
the female student who had tormented the two burglars in Kim's presence,
was included the group.  She stood next to a cop she was dating, holding a
box of medical gloves in her hand.

   The 20 male criminals were forced to stand at the edge of the stage,
facing away from their audience.  Their punishment began when they were
forced to kneel.  When they put their heads to the floor, they were fully
exposed to hundreds of jeering teenaged girls whose ages ranged from 15 to
18.  A couple of female cops walked behind them, kicking apart the knees of
the guys who were not spread widely enough.  The harsh stage-lights shined
brightly on the testicles and bottom-holes of the 20 young men.

   The sight of 20 very exposed bottoms lined up on the stage was something
the cops and medical students found extremely amusing.  The cops, both male
and female, kicked and slapped the kneeling criminals, to the point
Spokesman Havlakt objected several times to their treatment.  However the
presiding judge in the auditorium was not the one same one who was in the
gym.  The criminals in the auditorium and their Spokesman received very
little support or sympathy from the judge.

   The female students were encouraged to taunt and whistle at the
criminals.  Many of the older girls remembered Eloisa's case and were
sympathetic to the 20 guys on stage.  They sat in the back of the
auditorium and stayed quiet.  However, the younger ones were elated at the
spectacle unfolding in front of them.  The teachers in the room were
divided.  Some of them secretly sympathized with the criminals, others felt
they deserved everything coming to them because they had attacked one of
their co-workers.  It was an ugly case that continued to hurt the people
involved and one that sharply split the school.

   Four medical students put on medical gloves and shoved their fingers up
the exposed bottoms of four of the ex-students.  They massaged their
prostate glands and forced furious erections from their victims.  The cops
then grabbed their arms and forced them stand up and face the audience. 
Four erect penises faced the mob of jeering teenagers.  The cops, male and
female, ran their hands up and down the criminal's bodies and teased them,
to the delight of the girls in the front rows.  The criminals' humiliation
was complete, or so they thought.

   Spokesman Havlakt was beside himself with disgust.  There was no way he
could get this to stop.  The presiding judge would not support him, leaving
him only the option of filing an official complaint once he got back to his
office.  However the complaint would do nothing to stop what was going on
at the moment.

   At last the first four criminals were ordered to kneel at the switching
tables.  As they knelt and kissed the shoes of the cops tormenting them, it
was almost a relief to no longer have to stand in front of all those girls
with their penises bobbing up and down.  The cops secured them to the four
switching tables.  Magda, the medical student, placed her hand on the
bottom of the criminal stretched out on the first of the four tables on
stage.  She addressed the audience.

   ï¿½How many of you think criminal # 1 will cry first?ï¿½

   A portion of the girls cheered.

   ï¿½Very wellï¿½how many of you think criminal # 2 will cry first?ï¿½

   Another portion of the girls cheered.  She asked the question two more
times for the other two criminals and got cheers from two other groups of
girls.

   Sergekt remained kneeling with his forehead touching the wooden stage
floor and his bottom spread and high in the air.  He was totally horrified.
He knew that he would be humiliated and punished in the second batch of
criminals with three others.  He was so nervous he was sweating and shaking
slightly.

   Still, Sergekt was immensely grateful that at least Eloisa and her
companions were not facing this awful treatment, nor did they have to
witness it.  He now understood why Vladik Dukov had been so determined to
get control over the women in the group.  What was happening to the guys
was bad enough, but at least they did not have to watch these indignities
heaped upon their female friends.  From what Kim had told him, Sergekt
understood that Vladik planned to punish the women and get them out of the
school as quickly as possible.  He fervently hoped they already had left.

   The switchings began, four at the same time.  The four cops struck as
hard as they legally could, each trying to get his or her criminal to cry
first.  The four criminals, following the protocol of their subculture,
resisted as best they could.  They wouldn't have wanted to admit it, but
they were competing against each other to see who could hold out the
longest.

   The four punishing officers struck the criminals simultaneously, but
each trying a different tactic to get his or her victim to be the first to
cry.  They tried striking fast, striking slowly, punishing across the
entire bottom, punishing one bottom-cheek at a time.  The first criminal
screamed at the 21st stroke, the last one at the 42nd stroke.  All of them
were crying towards the end of their punishments.

   Spokesman Havlakt nervously went from table to table, waiting to do the
one thing he was authorized to do.  One by one he redirected the
punishments against the criminals' backs or thighs to prevent permanent
injury to their bottoms.  When the punishments ended the Spokesman was
sweating from stress and anger.  However, he had to maintain his
self-control.  One group had been punished, there still were four other
groups to go.

   The police un-strapped the four criminals.  The four young men were very
badly marked up; their bottoms, upper backs, and upper thighs covered with
dark welts.  They staggered off and sank to the floor to kiss the shoes of
their tormenters.  One by one they were presented to the presiding judge,
who signed each of their punishment certificates.  To conclude their
punishments, they had to thank the officers for the mistreatment they had
just endured.  With that they exited the stage towards the waiting van, to
spend a long and painful afternoon on recovery tables.

   Sergekt felt a hand caress his bottom.  The hand slid between his legs
and squeezed his testicles, so hard that he felt some discomfort.  He felt
his penis being massaged, and then the hand returned to fondling his
testicles.  He did not dare move his head or try to see the face of the cop
who was tormenting him.  Then he noticed part of a white smock out of the
corner of his eye.  His tormenter was not a cop, but one of the medical
students.  He felt a rough finger slide up his bottom.  The finger briefly
searched inside him and found what it was looking for, his prostate gland.
He gasped and tears ran down the bridge of his nose as the finger circled
around his gland and worked up a furious erection.  The medical student
began massaging his penis with her free hand and continued working his
prostate from behind.  She abruptly pulled her finger out of his bottom and
ordered him to stand up.  Sergekt did so, and was forced to face the
audience.  The medical student stood behind him, running her hands up his
chest and pinching him.  She whispered in his ear:

   ï¿½You know, you filthy little beast, that you look like you could use
some relief.  You're all worked up and no one to fuck.  Now isn't that
sad?ï¿½

   Sergekt was mortified at the thought the medical student might force an
orgasm out of him on stage, but she knew better than to go that far.  As it
was the punishment crew stood very close to passing the legal line of
mistreatment of the criminals in front of their under-age audience. 
Forcing Sergekt to have an orgasm on stage would definitely cross the line
and result in a legal reprimand.

   The girls sitting in the back and the teachers who had sided with the
criminals were furious at what was going on.  The school already was very
bitterly divided over the merits of the sentences.  The division would
become even sharper after the punishment of today.

   Sergekt and the other three criminals in his group finally were led to
the punishment tables and kissed the shoes of the officers who would switch
them.  They bent over the tables and were strapped down.  In spite of the
fear of what was coming, he was relieved to no longer be standing up facing
the auditorium with his erect penis on full display.  However, the
humiliation portion of his punishment was far from over.  Several cops,
male and female, as well as some medical students, caressed his bottom and
continued to massage his penis, as he lay stretched out on the punishment
table.  It was the ultimate humiliation for Sergekt, to be touched by other
guys.

   Finally the cops in charge of actually wielding the switches took
position.  Sergekt was so mortified by what had just happened that he no
longer was really paying attention to anything going on around him.  Still,
the criminal protocol of resisting his punishment as long as possible was
burned into Sergekt's mind, and he was prepared to attempt not to scream or
cry as long as possible.

   Once again Magda posed the question to the screaming girls, which
criminal would be the first to cry.  The girls screamed the loudest when
Magda touched Sergekt, making it even more important that he resist, just
to prove them wrong.

   The cop took her time delivering the first stroke.  She made several
false starts, trying to catch him off-guard and perhaps get him to scream
at the very first stroke.  Finally she struck, a hard vicious blow that
burned into Sergektï¿½s backside and made him gasp as he tried to stay
quiet.  The cop patiently waited for a while and then struck again, with a
stroke that approached, but unfortunately did not pass, the maximum legal
standard.  Sergekt clenched his fists and pressed his forehead to the
table. Sweat trickled down his body.  Very slowly the cop struck him again
and again, waiting a very long time between each stroke.  She would break
him simply by dragging out the punishment.  The pain was mounting and
becoming intolerable, but the punishment was only beginning.

   The female cop and a couple of medical students periodically ran their
fingers over Sergekt's welts.  They pressed hard on them, knowing that
sharply increased the mounting pain from the raised reddish lines
crisscrossing the criminal's bottom.  The waiting was an important part of
what made the punishment almost unbearable; the pain continued to mount and
yet the punishment was no closer to ending.  In spite of what he had told
Kim in January, that nothing lasts forever, Sergekt now felt that attitude
was a lie.  The fact this was the sixth time he had endured a punishment
didn't matter.  What mattered was that he had only taken 10 strokes so far.
There were 40 to go.  It seemed this would indeed go on forever.

   Spokesman Havlakt nervously walked from table to table, trying to
prevent any serious injury to any of his clients and looking for anything
that would allow him to cut short a switching.  The one thing that would
end a punishment immediately would be blood.  Danubian law prohibited the
further punishment of a criminal whose skin had been broken.  In fact, if a
cop broke a criminal's skin during a punishment, the officer risked losing
the switch as part of his or her uniform and with it the right to punish
criminals in the future.  The officers were well aware of that limit and
were very careful not to whip to the point of drawing blood.  The Spokesman
could see nothing that would legally justify stopping any of the
punishments.

   Sergekt made it to the 37th stroke without crying.  He had defied the
girls' prediction by being the third criminal out the four to start
screaming.  The final holdout cried out less than a minute after Sergekt
broke.  In this aspect at least, Sergekt maintained a shred of his dignity.

   Sergekt's punishment ended in the usual manner, with six strokes
re-directed against his thighs and another six on his upper back.  He was
in so much pain he nearly passed out, but with every bit of energy and
self-control he had left, he struggled to get off the table and accompany
the police officer to verify he had been properly punished.  He knelt to
thank the cop for punishing him and finally, an hour and a half after he
first had been told to stand up from the stage, Criminal # 92876 was
allowed to exit towards the waiting van.

   ----------

   Kim was well aware of what was going on inside the school.  She picked
up a batch of punishment certificates and caught a brief glimpse of the
punishment in the auditorium.  There were only four criminals still
kneeling on the stage and four others on the tables, in the middle of their
switchings.  Even at a distance Kim could tell they were being savagely
treated.  She was relieved to see that Sergekt was no longer there. 
However, Dima was present, still kneeling on the stage.  He would be in the
final group to be punished.

   Kim was surprised at the sharply contrasting attitudes of the girls
filling the auditorium.  The students in the back were sitting in disgusted
silence, while the younger ones in the front were acting like they were at
a rock concert.  Kim decided to discuss the school's division with Vladim
Dukov, hoping that somehow he would find the information useful.

   Some of the girls sitting in the back sadly looked over at Kim as she
left with her hands full of folders.  The students recognized Kim as the
ï¿½Maragana Girlï¿½, having seen her singing on stage with the criminals
being punished today.  Kim took a last look at the eight criminals
remaining on the stage.  Besides, Dima, there were two others who Kim
considered close friends.  However, there was nothing she could do for them
by staying.  Kim left the school and rode with her folders downtown.

   ----------

   Kim returned to the school one last time in the mid-afternoon to pick up
the final batch of punishment certificates.  The students were back in
their classes, pretending to pay attention to their teachers in spite of
the spectacle they had just witnessed.  The purpose of having the criminals
punished in the school was to frighten the students into not getting into
trouble themselves.  That goal was easily achieved.  There was not a
student in the school who would have wanted to trade places with their
ex-classmates.

   Kim picked up her folders and quickly moved towards the main door, not
wanting to be here any longer than necessary.  However, she was stopped by
one of the teachers, who signaled her to go with him to the school library.
Once in the library the teacher quietly spoke to her in bad English.

   ï¿½I want tell you.  Youï¿½criminalï¿½Advocat Vladim Dukov?ï¿½

   ï¿½Yes sir.  He's my Spokesman.ï¿½

   ï¿½You knowï¿½many teacherï¿½many studentï¿½we no like today.  Very bad.
Very bad.  No good to criminal.ï¿½

   Kim nodded.  ï¿½Yes sir.ï¿½

   ï¿½You good girl.  Good singer.  Now you help me.  Take list to Advocat
Vladim Dukov.  You no show listï¿½only Advocat Dukov.ï¿½

   With that the teacher handed an envelope to Kim.  It was fairly thick,
but sealed.  Kim looked at it, mystified.  The teacher tapped it,
nervously.

   ï¿½You no show list.ï¿½

   Kim understood.  The envelope had to be hidden.  She stuffed it among
the other envelopes.

   ï¿½Now, go-go.ï¿½

   Kim quickly mounted her bike and sped to the Central Police Station. 
She should have gone to the Central Courthouse first, but she decided not
to risk having someone there question the extra envelope she was carrying.
She wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

   Kim entered her Spokesman's office, passing the two secretaries and two
of Eloisa's female friends as they were rubbing lotion onto the welts of
four punished male criminals.  The contrast between the women and the guys
shocked her.  The two women still had switch-marks on their bottoms, but
nothing too serious.  The women moved about normally, none the worse for
their experience with Vladik.  The guys were covered with dark raised welts
that looked awful.  Kim realized that Officer Vladik Dukov really had
spared the group's women.

   She entered Dukov's office to find him there with four other
Spokespersons, including Eloisa's.  Dukovï¿½s co-workers looked at her with
surprised expressions.  Kim quietly started to back out, but Dukov called
her back.  He addressed her in Danubian.

   ï¿½Kimberly, I presume you have something urgent, to have come in here
with such haste?ï¿½

   Oops.  Kim had forgotten her public duty as a criminal.  In the presence
of the other Spokespersons she had to greet Dukov in the formal manner, not
just charge into the office.  She immediately dropped to her knees and
placed her head on the floor.  She held out the teacher's envelope.  Dukov
took it, but did not give Kim permission to stand up.  She felt very
strange, given that she never had knelt for her Spokesman before.

   Dukov opened the envelope and unfolded the sheets of paper it contained.

   ï¿½Kimberly, please rise and finish your deliveries.  Once your
assignment has been completed, you are dismissed.  You may wish to report
to Eloisa.  I believe she could use your assistance.ï¿½

   ï¿½Yes, Spokesman Dukov.ï¿½

   Kim bicycled across the main plaza to make her final delivery.  Upon
getting back she sought out Eloisa, and finally found her in Spokesman
Havlakt's office.  She was with Dima, standing next to his table.  He was
very badly marked up, not just from the 50 maximum-strength stokes of the
switch he had received, but also from having been struck on the shoulders
at the beginning of the punishment and having been slapped many times
across the face.  His face was swollen and his lip had been cut.  He was
asleep, or to put it more accurately, he had passed out.

   Kim was not surprised that Dima had been treated so badly.  What did
surprise her was to see Eloisa holding his hand and caressing it.  She
looked up at Kim with tears streaming down her cheeks.  She noticed Kim's
surprised expression, given that she had never seen Eloisa touch anyone
before.

   ï¿½Iï¿½I need to be a bit stronger for him.ï¿½ Eloisa stated sadly. 
ï¿½I'm going to make myself get over my fear of touching people.  I need
toï¿½beï¿½a real woman for him.  I realized that when I saw him this
afternoon.  He's given up everything for me.  The least I can do is hold
his hand.ï¿½

   Kim was so upset she felt sick.  ï¿½What did they do to Sergekt?ï¿½

   ï¿½He's better.  He forced himself to get up to help the others come in
at the end.  Sergekt's tough.  I don't know where he is now, though.  I'd
guess he's in one of the offices, or maybe helping people get home.ï¿½

   ï¿½I want to find him.ï¿½ Eloisa sadly nodded.  Kim continued.  ï¿½Will
you be OK?ï¿½

   ï¿½Kimberly, I have to be OK.  I have no choice.ï¿½

   Kim spent the next few minutes looking for Sergekt, but instead ran
across her Spokesman.  Dukov signaled Kim to go back into his office.  The
other Spokespersons were gone, ending the temporary need for Kim to treat
him in the formal manner.  He was very agitated.

   ï¿½Kimberly, I wish to ask you something.  Are you aware of the contents
of the envelope you gave me today?ï¿½

   ï¿½No, Spokesman Dukov.ï¿½

   ï¿½Well, I will tell you.  What you handed me was a petition, signed by
37 teachers, three administrators, and 138 students.  The petition objected
to the immoral treatment of your friends today.  The teacher who worded the
petition argues that to punish criminals in such a blatantly sexual manner
will corrupt the morals of the school's young people.  What they want is
the punishments to stop, or at the very least to be moved elsewhere.ï¿½

   Dukov sat back, stretched his arms backwards, and continued.

   ï¿½There is something else I wish to tell you, which may or may not help
you.  All 20 Spokespersons in Danube City finally have agreed that our
system of corporal punishment needs to be reformed.  I will introduce
legislation next week that would specifically prohibit police officers from
touching a criminal with their hands during a punishment.  We wish to
outlaw any act designed to sexually satisfy a police officer.  Also, we
wish to outlaw allowing persons such as medical students to participate in
corporal punishments.ï¿½

   Kim said nothing, not really knowing how to react.  Dukov put on a pair
of surgical gloves and opened up an ancient-looking law book that was
placed in a felt-lined wooden tray.

   ï¿½Today's decision is a very grave step on our part, Kimberly.  Our
judicial system has kept our country at peace for ten centuries.  We have
had only two major reforms during that entire time.  The first was in 1524.
That was when our King, Vladik the Defender, created the position of
Spokesman for the Criminal.  The second was in 1780.  That was when the
Grand Duke abolished the use of whips and instead opted for switches.  We
have had no reforms since 1780.ï¿½

   ï¿½So why now?  What's made things different?ï¿½

   ï¿½What has made things different is a recent breakdown of morality
among the younger police officers.  The sexual abuse of criminals is
something that started only about 10 years ago.  When I was sentenced, no
police officer would have disrespected a criminal in the manner we are
seeing today.  Now the practice is becoming common.  It will destroy our
entire judicial system if we do not stop it.  The problem we face is public
opinion and the widespread belief that a police officer should have
complete control over a criminal's corporal punishment, within the
standards set in 1780.  The standards of 1780 no longer properly protect
criminals, so we must set new ones.ï¿½

   ï¿½But, what's the problem?  I mean, isn't obvious that it's wrong to
like, rub us andï¿½?ï¿½

   ï¿½No, Kimberly.  It is not so obvious.  I can tell you there is very
little sympathy for criminals in this country.  We cannot debate this issue
by arguing that criminals deserve leniency.  We need to argue from the
point of view that the changes are needed to protect public morality.  That
is why the petition from the school is so important.  It supports my
argument in terms acceptable to the people of this nation.  What we saw at
the school today was immoral acts being performed in front of young
teenagers.  Those girls were corrupted by what they witnessed.  That gives
me the image I can use to make my argument when I speak next week.ï¿½

   ï¿½So, you're going to the Parliament next week?ï¿½

   ï¿½Yes, Kimberly.ï¿½

   ï¿½Aren't you scared?ï¿½

   ï¿½Yes, Kimberly.  I anticipate this with much anxiety.  I am not a
politician, and to challenge the statute of 1780 will disrupt the
tranquility of my family's life.  It will bitterly divide the Judges, the
National Police Force, the schools, and the public.  I will be blamed for
disrupting the peace of our society.  Only the Spokespersons are in
complete agreement about the need for reform.  My responsibility over the
next several months will be to convince the rest of the nation.  At the
beginning that task will be very difficult.ï¿½

   Kim left the office, briefly wondering about the wisdom of her decision
to stay in Upper Danubia.  What the hell was wrong with this country, that
its people didn't recognize the obvious?  Who wouldn't want to put a stop
to what had happened in the school auditorium today?

   And yet, change was indeed coming to the Duchy.  There were good people
in the police force, in the schools, and in the legal system, who would
push for reform.  Some would challenge the system because of their
definition of public morality, others out of genuine sympathy for the
nation's criminals.  Perhaps it would be enough to update a law that was
two centuries old.  Kim held out hope the result would be a better Upper
Danubia, one in which she would feel more comfortable spending her life.

   With that Kim returned to Eloisa and her boyfriend.  He was up and
somewhat recovered.  The three left the Central Police Station.  Tomorrow
was another day, one in which Kim and Eloisa would return to the music
store, and Sergekt and Dima would be returning to their cafï¿½.  There
would be a rehearsal tomorrow night and a concert to prepare for on
Saturday.

   Every four months the 28 members of Eloisa's group went through this. 
They still had over a year of wearing their collars and at least three more
switchings left on their sentences.