The Courier Ch. 12

"Item Four: Finally, Spokeswoman Kimberly Lee-Dolkivna will be awarded full legal custody of the Colombian Maria Elena Rodriguez-Torres for the duration of her sentence. Spokeswoman Kimberly Lee-Dolkivna will act on behalf of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Danubia, and as her custodian will be held personally responsible for any violations of this sentence that might be committed by the Colombian Maria Elena Rodriguez-Torres."

Kim looked up at her client.

"Maria Elena, you are now convicted and sentenced. You need to come down and kneel at the judge's table."

Once Maria Elena was kneeling on the floor the judge issued another command. The collar technician walked up to her and put a measuring tape around her neck. He checked the pulse of her jugular vein and wrote down the measurement from the tape. He left and shortly returned with the collar-fitting device, which looked like an enormous pair of salad tongs. Maria Elena glanced at it in terror.

"That's what they use to put the Ministry collar on you," explained Cecilia. "It won't hurt."

The technician slipped the imposing tong-device over Maria Elena's head and closed it around her neck. He checked to make sure it would not pinch her skin, and then clamped it shut. There was a faint hiss and a dull click. When the man opened the device and moved it away, Criminal # 101025 had a metal collar around her neck. Maria Elena now was marked as a convicted criminal by a collar that was virtually indestructible. Like every other person who had been collared, Maria Elena's hands went involuntarily to her neck to feel the device that permanently set her apart from the world of free citizens.

The court attendants were collapsing the prisoner's stand to reveal the switching table. Maria Elena glanced at it not so much in fear, but rather in sad resignation. Over the past two weeks, Kim and Cecilia had told her how to behave in court and what to expect, so there was no need to explain now. Kim would release custody of her client to the airport dog handler, he would punish her and present her to the judge, she would thank him, and she then would return to the police station to spend a painful afternoon on the recovery table in Kim's office.

Kim and Cecilia, with Maria Elena kneeling at their side, saluted the airport officer and his partner. There was the tap of the switch on Maria Elena's shoulder, which was the cop's recognition that Criminal # 101025 had been handed over to his custody for the duration of her punishment. The dog handler's partner tapped the criminal on the shoulder, pointed at the switching table and touched one of the straps, indicating that she needed to position her hands so she could be immobilized. Maria Elena reluctantly complied. The female officer tightened the leather around the criminal's right wrist, then took her left hand and immobilized her other arm. She tightened a thick strap around Maria Elena's waist before tapping the insides of her thighs to force her to spread her legs. The criminal felt the cuffs tighten around her ankles, forcing her legs to remain spread and completely exposing her bottom. The cop placed the switch in front of Maria Elena's face to let her see, close up, the implement with which she would be punished. That small taunt had the effect he wanted; the criminal began trembling with fright.

Cecilia whispered in Spanish:

"Maria Elena, a lot of people have sacrificed for you. You need to be brave and show everyone you have guts and honor. It's gonna be hard, but you've got to do it."

Maria Elena took a deep breath and nodded, but she couldn't stop from trembling.

The dog handler exchanged glances with his partner, and then with the Spokeswoman. He picked up the switch and tapped the implement to Maria Elena's bottom to let her know where the first stroke was going to land. He repositioned himself slightly, drew back, and struck hard at the base of her buttocks. A reddish line appeared and quickly began to darken as Maria Elena winced and clenched her fists. The pain continued to mount...and that was just one stroke...the first out of 50. Tears welled up in her eyes and she continued to tremble, but managed not to make any noise. Honor...stay silent and defend your honor, she thought to herself.

The dog handler slashed the switch through the air several times before tapping Maria Elena's bottom again and striking another vicious blow. A second line of solid pain marked her exposed bottom, soon to be joined by a third, a fourth, a fifth. The criminal bit hard on her lip. She couldn't believe how much the blows hurt, but she managed to stay silent. For a while she pressed her forehead against the table as she involuntarily pulled hard against her cuffs. She understood that there was no way the officer would show her any mercy and no way that either her Spokeswoman or anyone else could help her. However, as hard as it might be, she knew that she had to show Kim and Cecilia, as well as her two tormentors, the courtroom, and most importantly herself, that she could take a severe punishment would courage and dignity. It had to be that way, a vital step in her path to personal redemption and to the beginning of the rest of her life.

The dog handler punished Maria Elena in the normal methodical manner that was taught at the National Police Academy. He tapped the victim's bottom to let her know where the next stroke would land, drew back, and then delivered a fearful blow. He waited for his subject to fully appreciate the pain from the stroke. After about 40 seconds he tapped his target and struck again. He slowly worked his way up towards the top of her bottom leaving it covered with 20 welts. Starting with the 21st stroke he slowly worked his way back down, trying as best he could to aim at the unmarked skin between the reddish lines on Maria Elena's agonized backside. He wanted to leave her bottom a solid mass of evenly placed welts before moving on to her thighs and shoulders.

Sweat and tears poured down Maria Elena's face as she gasped through her clenched teeth. Her knees were shaking and her body jerked each time the switch landed. The punishment was a real judicial whipping, far more severe than the paddling she had faced in the interrogation room. As the pain intensified, it forced her mind off of everything else that had occupied her thoughts over the last several weeks. Her old life had completely ended. Even as everything else faded in her mind: the blows drove that point home. Her old life was gone and all she had left was her future as a Danubian criminal.

The cop continued striking viciously. He carefully laid a series of hard strokes at the base of Maria Elena's bottom cheeks and then continued down her thighs. As the painful area extended beyond her bottom, Maria Elena couldn't resist any longer. At the 28th stroke she let out a cry and began sobbing, totally humiliated that she had not been able to stay silent after-all. Kim and Cecilia exchanged looks. She still had 22 strokes and 30 minutes of punishment to go. As the cop continued to land blows on the criminal's legs she sobbed, but managed to avoid screaming.

As the welts swelled and darkened, the Spokeswoman carefully watched the final portion of the punishment. It was her duty to make sure the cop did not come close to breaking her client's skin, and if she felt that the criminal was in any danger she could order him to strike another part of her body. At the 43rd stoke Kim raised her hand and pointed at the Colombian's exposed back. The cop would have to finish by laying blows across his victim's shoulders to spare her badly swollen bottom. She screamed pitifully as each of the final blows landed.

Nearly an hour after the punishment began, the cop struck for the 50th time and Kim was able to raise her hand. It was the Spokesperson's job, not the cop's job, to make sure the switching did not go beyond 50 strokes. Maria Elena's body was jerking with sobs and her bottom was deep red, with a series of dark purple lines punctuating where the dog handler had landed his final blows before moving on to her shoulders. Seven solid reddish stripes crossed her upper back.

Kim and the cop saluted each other as the man's partner began unbuckling the broken prisoner. In spite of what she thought about her own resistance, Maria Elena had held up fairly well. She wasn't the bravest criminal Kim had ever defended, but at least she had not dishonored herself either. Once the straps were completely unbuckled, she struggled to get off the table. The pain seemed to be getting worse, not better, even though the punishment was completed. In spite of what everyone had warned her, she couldn't believe how much the switching actually hurt. Her legs trembled and barely supported her weight as she struggled to get up. She was unsteady while standing, but the dog handler and his partner grabbed her arms, walked her over to the judge, and turned her around. The judge counted the strokes to make sure she had been struck 50 times before signing the punishment certificate. Once he stamped that document, the two cops led the still-crying criminal to Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna. Cecilia translated:

"OK, that's it. All you gotta do is get on your knees and thank the officer. Just kiss his shoes and say 'thank you for correcting my evil behavior'."

Maria Elena clumsily got on her knees and between sobs repeated the required sentence in Spanish, which Cecilia translated for the court. The cop touched Maria Elena on the shoulder with his switch and saluted Kim. The Spokeswoman saluted back, and with that formal custody of Criminal # 101025 was transferred back to her.

With her client slumped on her knees at her feet, the Spokeswoman saluted the judge. He asked if Criminal # 101025 had gainful employment that exposed her body to public view. Kim responded that she did, explaining about the gardening position at the university. The judge was satisfied and stamped another document verifying that Maria Elena already was working.

There was one final indignity waiting for Maria Elena at the Courthouse, one that was a final ritual of her trial and conviction. Immediately following her switching, Criminal # 101025 had to pose for a series of photos for her official sentencing certificate. The certificate included two photos of her teary face, now complete with her permanent collar, and three shots of her body, with the evidence of her switching on prominent display. Sadly she turned around for the camera, knowing that the welts on her body would be forever part of her official criminal record.

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A few minutes later Criminal # 101025 exited the Central Courthouse with her Spokeswoman and translator. Kim held her arm as she struggled to get down the stairs, but informed her that she would need to walk across the plaza unassisted.

She passed 13 naked kneeling classmates, who looked at her injured backside in horror. The Americans were not allowed to say anything, because they had been instructed that to maintain the dignity of their solidarity they needed to remain silent. As soon as she crossed the plaza they would be allowed to stand up, after nearly four hours of kneeling. However, they would have to accompany the Priest to the Temple of the Ancients and go through the purification ritual to begin formal Public Penance. The physical agony of kneeling in silence had ended, but their commitment to Criminal # 101025 had only begun.

Maria Elena made her way across the plaza towards the Central Police Station, a journey made by every criminal following trial and conviction. It was a long, agonizing trip that exposed her punished body to hundreds of ordinary people running about. A recently convicted and punished criminal always drew a lot of attention, so most of the people in the plaza stood still to watch as the injured woman made her way to the police station. Kim and Cecilia gave their assistance to help Maria Elena get up the steps to the entrance, and again assisted her as she made her way up the steps leading to the third floor and the Spokeswoman's office.

Merchant Victor Dukov was waiting for Criminal # 101025. Exhausted and traumatized she fell into his arms. She began crying again, as he did what he needed to do, hold her and not say anything. He gently helped her get on a recovery table and continued holding her hand as she lay on her stomach. Victor continued massaging his lover's hand as she quietly cried on the table. After a long time she finally fell asleep, happy that he was with her.

As they waited for Maria Elena to go to sleep, Kim and Cecilia stood in silence, enormously relieved that the trial and punishment had ended. Finally Kim commented:

"Go check on your students. And make sure they know that I am very grateful for what they did for her. Because of what they did, I got 20 years cut off her sentence and her switchings reduced by two thirds, if not more. Make sure they realize they made a difference, and that I am honored to have them in this country."

Cecilia nodded and left the police station. As she entered the Central Plaza, she realized that in one day 13 of her students had learned more about what it meant to have honor in Danubia than she could have taught them in an entire semester.