The Hotel Ch. 07

Chapter Seven.

The first evening of Kirov's occupation was quiet but not without incident. Sarah and Marta had remained in the room together, as Sarah did her best to Marta's abrasions and cuts, the bruising she could do nothing about. They stayed quiet and gave the two guards no reason to check on them after night fell. Marta had told her everything after she had left the camp and gone out into the countryside looking for Kirov, finally, without any prompting she unburdened herself with the events that happened after her capture.

"We sighted the stragglers of his column after three days and signalled the Colonel to let him know our position, he had ordered me to send but not receive signals to prevent any triangulation from Kirov or anyone else. Our radios are supposed to be encrypted but we took no chances.

Sarah sat listening with rapt attention, she wanted to know how far Adam was and what he planned to do. "Go on, "she urged.

"Then as we followed them, a flanking patrol stumbled upon us. There was a firefight and we scattered. I ran back along the tree line and found a wooden cabin, used for keeping animals in winter and then waited. For three hours, I heard nothing. I ditched my radio after one more signal and then moved out after dark. As I moved through the forest, I was caught by two camouflaged 'werewolves' and knocked out." She sighed, as she told her story, she wrung her hands anxiously.

"Where were you?" Sarah asked, breaking the mounting tension,

"Near the bridge, Kirov had doubled back and retook the village," She nodded, confirming her recollection.

"We don't have to talk..." Sarah gave her the chance, but Marta shook her head.

"I woke up tied to a chair and then Kirov came in. He questioned me and I refused to answer and then one of his men started on me and he watched. They started with waterboarding; you know what that is?" Marta turned to Sarah, who sat horrified.

"Yes, I know..." Sarah nodded at the practice of 'enhanced interrogation' techniques such as simulated drowning. She scrutinized Marta, who now sat still, a far-away look in her eyes.

"Well, after an hour, they decided to have some 'fun' with me!" She hissed. Marta breathed slowly now, her recollection harrowing as it was, gave her a sense of herself again. The broken pieces were slowly reforming like coloured pebbles disturbed in a mediation garden, forming new patterns from the chaos.

"Marta, you survived them, and you'll survive this," Sarah's words sounded hollow.

"You would think after two or three men being inside you, the body would be numb to it, but biology is cruel, isn't it? For women, I mean. After Kirov and his interrogators used me, they tied me to the back of a truck and let his officers have their way with me. After them, he threatened me with the whole company, do you know what he said?" Marta smiled ruefully, the abstract humour of her ordeal causing her emotions to rip like tissue paper, "He said he would like them fuck me to death!"

"Marta, stop! You are safe now," Sarah soothed, knowing that neither of them was safe at all. Kirov was a convict commander of a penal company abandoned by his central command and left to roam a foreign country as bandits, they did not retreat as they had nowhere to retreat to. All of them had death sentences upon their heads or many years in prison. However, Kirov was no fool, he operated along the border and he could buy some protection from another foreign state, he could march across the border, to avoid capture and then cross back whenever he wanted. His reputation was hugely important, if people feared him and his men, it made their life easier. The stories of pillaging, looting and rape were true and often exaggerated but that worked for him, a terrified population would be easier to control and subjugate.

"We are not safe, "Marta hissed, "He will come for me and you. When they tied me to the truck, he used me as a reward for the men who had pleased him, one after another," Marta's tears welled in her eyes and tumbled down her cheeks.

Sarah knew what she said was probably true, in a war, rape and sexual assault were weapons to be used against civilians and prisoners. In war, men who were given guns rarely became examples of good human beings. The chances of them both being abused were near certain, she wasn't sure her status as a war correspondent would protect her and it was certain that it would not protect Marta. Sarah's mind was working overtime, it seemed stupid for Kirov to make for the hotel. If he was being pursued, as Marta's presence was ample evidence of, he should have made for the border, to avoid any reprisals. There was no reason to move further away from safety to a location that made him vulnerable- unless there was another reason!

"Marta, when you signalled the Colonel, what position did Kirov make you give him?" Sarah, always one to see patterns in the world, had begun to put pieces together, but lacked evidence.

"A position near the..." Marta thought.

"Border?" Sarah interjected, "That would make sense but why didn't he run for the border as he had in the past? I think I know why!" Sarah smiled.

Marta and Sarah were undisturbed until the early morning, though Marta slept little and in the few hours she did, she woke at every noise outside the door. They slept in their clothes, not willing to make themselves any less vulnerable. Every minute she was expecting to be seized and abused by the convict soldiers, but no one disturbed them. With no nocturnal visitors, it cemented Sarah's suspicions and when they were roused, the men found them waiting on the bed, and although tired, Sarah was sharp as a freshly stoned blade. They were hauled down the corridor of the hotel and taken to the lobby, where Kirov was waiting on one of the chairs sipping hot coffee, the women had been left hungry and thirsty all night, but all that did was make Sarah lean and hard.

"Ah ladies, well-rested I trust!" He chuckled at his joke,

"Yes thank you, Valentin Abrahamvitch Kirov, late of the Eastern division of the Penal Battalion, First Volga and soon to become an arm of the new provisional government's internal security?" Sarah watched for a reaction and got it.

"What do you mean?" Kirov looked hard at Sarah.

"Your location to this region and installing yourself in this building and finally your demand that I report on the stability of the region and how your liberation has secured the peace here?" Sarah looked straight at the man and saw him set down his cup,

"Coffee!" He barked. An orderly stepped forward and ladled out two cups of hot, viscous liquid into two enamelled tin cups and gave it to the women. Marta sipped at her as she watched Sarah intently, Sarah set her cup down and could see Kirov's mind working. How had she worked it out?

"Thank you, we will have two, "Sarah smiled smugly, then decided to chance her arm, " I hope to start work immediately on interviewing members of your 'peacekeepers' and the returning civilian population. I have enlisted the former corporal as my official interpreter and will be under my direct supervision and will be afforded the same courtesies as myself, meaning so unwelcome attentions!" Sarah chose her words carefully, and precisely, now she needed to ensure that should Kirov not protect her and Marta, from any further molestation and abuse, Kirov would lose an important asset in his ambition to dispel the notion of being a war criminal and now as a force for good in this worn-torn country.

"Of course, "The answer was glib, but Sarah saw how he needed her, at least for the moment.

"I must commend you, on brokering an agreement with the provisional government, it's an inspired idea, you reinvent yourself as the ally of the new government, and they get a loyal armed group as 'state security' to cement their position and prevent them from being ousted by an armed coup. All the government needs to do now to declare peace in the country and begin demobilising those regiments with popular commanders and fragmenting those who might attempt to stage another coup. Colonel Chenyy, is one such commander, isn't he?" Sarah delivered her statement as an accusation, but Kirov smiled broadly,

"You are a clever young woman and if you do your part, then you and Marta here, will be free from any hindrances and after I meet with the Interior Minister, and your subsequent favourable reporting, I will allow you to leave here." Kirov glanced at Marta, "Both of you!"

"You must understand that I must insist that Marta remains under my supervision, I will require true and accurate translation of any interviews. I do not consider any officer under your command will as truthful as she, "She looked hard and him and then glanced at Marta, "and my interpreter will bunk in with me of course, just to ensure her safety.

Kirov nodded, his eyes drifted across to Marta and clicked his tongue in disappointment. He clearly would have enjoyed forcing Marta to spread her legs for her, whether she wanted to or not but now he had bigger fish to fry, and it was more important to be seen as an ally and liberator than a brigand and war criminal. Sarah could see how his eyes lingered and decided to press home the schemes he had in play.

"I do commend you on your scheme, with the country's army demobilised and the government able to call upon you to come to its aid should there be a restlessness in the army or even remove any commander the government didn't like! As in Roman times, the army made law legal and supported the leaders," She looked for a reaction, but Kirov shrugged, "Of course, your command will need to similarly cleansed and bleached whiter than white, to bring them with you!"

Kirov gave her a sharp look, had she been too clever? He stood and finished his coffee, "Hmm. Too clever." He walked away and Sarah felt a glimpse of a weakness in her captor and a sense that perhaps she might do something to upset his little intrigue.

Back in her hotel room, Marta breathed out, long and slow as if she had been holding it during the conversation.

"What are you going to do? "Marta asked, with a deep frown. She could see that Sarah had seen through Kirov's plan but if she went along with Kirov, then she would be aiding her enemy.

"I am going to conduct interviews with your help as an interpreter and see just how the rest of Kirov's men are on board with the idea and even if they even know. Maybe, he expects to eliminate a good number of his more wolfish troops. Essentially...." Marta interrupted,

"Kill them off! Cull them like the beasts they are!" She grinned cruelly, even my two-faced government couldn't allow rapists and murderers to go free or even serve in their army. I am going to watch them all die, I'll even volunteer for the firing squad!" The poison in her words, dripped like venom and she smiled cruelly.

"You have every right to be angry and want some vengeance but do not become like them! They will be punished, I promise you but don't become so desperate for death, that you forget how to want to live!" Sarah took her by the arms and looked at her, tears tumbling down her face.

"They used me... they did things to me that no man should! They didn't even use condoms with me. I thought they would kill me after they had finished, but they kept coming one after another! Two of them took me at the same time, one in my...." She sobbed now, "And they could still come tonight! They could come in here and they wouldn't be able to stop them! They could..." She stammered.

"Then make them pay with years in prison, being used by other prisoners like they used you! If you go out for revenge, you first dig two graves- one for them and one for you!" Sarah held her tight, "And they wouldn't come here tonight, they wouldn't dare as Kirov needs us now!"

"I can't forget them, Sarah. I just can't!" Marta flopped on the bed and curled up into a foetal position, and Sarah could only stroke her head and wait for her to fall asleep.

By the afternoon, Marta woke and heard Sarah showering in the bathroom. She sat up, looked around, and saw Sarah had put the back of a chair to the door handle, bracing it tight. She stood up and caught the unpleasantness of her body odour. Without a thought, she stripped off her dirty clothes and went into the shower, Sarah stood with her back to her and Marta looked at her pert buttocks and felt the warmth of the water,

"They've put the heating on again?" She asked quietly, not wanting to frighten Srah in this most private moment,

"Yes, and we'll use some of it, to wash our clothes, we can use the shower gel I've secreted away!" She turned around and saw Marta's naked body, dropping the filthy clothes in a plastic bucket Sarah had set to one side, filled with the suds and water from the shower. Despite the bruising and the abrasions, she still looked good. Her toned body, the muscles rippling beneath her pale skin, and her pert naked breasts with two dark nipples stiffened in the cool air before she stepped into the shower.

"Can I join you? It will save water," Marta smiled and Sarah nodded and handed her the small travel-size shower gel and stepped aside so the water could soak her. Using the gel, Marta began to wash her hair, and then smarted at the pain in her left shoulder,

"Are you alright? "Sarah asked, she wasn't but waited for Marta to allow her to wash her sweaty, dirty encrusted hair,

"My arms were tied to the truck, I struggled and thought I had dislocated it, "She let Sarah's hands soap her hair and then allowed the hot water to rain down and wash the filth away. The hot water and suds slid down her body and Sarah squeezed a further glob of the green gel and rubbed it on a lather on her body. Marta stood still and allowed Sarah to soap and cleanse her body. Sarah's left hand was methodical and proficient, the bubbly suds slipped down her flat belly and Marta felt Sarah's hand on her belly, rubbing her in relaxing circles. Sarah's other hand soaped her back and finally her buttocks. Then Marta turned and put her hands on Sarah. She rubbed some of her soapy bubbles on her back and then reached down and parted her buttocks gently, but firmly to soap the pubic hair of her vaginal lips.

"Marta, I... "Sarah stammered. Marta stilled her lips with her left hand, their eyes locked. Sarah relented, if this was what Marta needed to begin her recovery, then so be it. If making love to her, was the price for making her stronger. She let her body relax and enjoyed the simply touch of Marta's strong hands.

Marta's right hand slipped round from the back to the front and cupped the soaped sex of her friend and slipped a lubricated finger into her pussy. Sarah didn't move, didn't resist, she needed the old Marta back, she needed Marta to be emotionally stronger to help her in the task, she had set herself. She needed Marta to translate interviews with Kirov's men and find out what she could but that would put Marta in close contact with the soldiers that had probably attacked her. As Marta caressed her left breast with her right hand, her other hand plunged two fingers into Sarah's aching sex. All she could do was think of Adam and stifle a deep moan as Marta suckled on her left nipple. As Marta nibbled her stiffened nub, her other fingers deftly slid into her wetness.

They fell asleep locked in each other arms.

End of Chapter Seven.