The words of the Second Amendment saves Sam.
I recited the words of the Constitution to the conspirators.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or protecting their free exercise thereof; abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
Before I finished, the six people seated at the table rose as one person. I had moved them to their gut. It was as if I had played the national anthem. One of the women was crying. The eyes of some of the men were wet.
“He’s no pig. No Secman ever spoke those sacred words aloud,” a woman breathed, her voice filled with suppressed emotion.
The person next to “Paul,” a short blond man with a scar on his jaw identified himself.
“I’m James Peters, Cago. That,” he pointed to my questioner,”is Paul Harsh, our Cell Leader. You will get to know these others soon.”
For the first time several of the members of that grim crew smiled. The tense atmosphere lifted.
Paul cautioned, “You have placed Mirabelle and the rest of us in jeopardy as well. You’ve already guessed, I am sure, we oppose the Theocratic State. You would be surprised to know how many of us there are. Cago, you are the first Secman that has ever defected … against your will perhaps,” he said. “Now you have no choice. If they catch you, you will go right to security headquarters. Their modern inquisition makes the 15th-century Holy See seem like children playing in a lawn garden. The least of their tortures is water boarding. You will suffer pain and psychological tortures that you cannot imagine until they finally wring you dry. You will plead to be allowed to tell them every secret in your life. Even then you would not suffer a quick death.”
His face was grim.
“They like to draw it out for days.”
Now I was even more certain that I must leave this reality as soon as possible. If I were caught, as Paul warned, I would place, the Underground and my entire world in jeopardy.
Paul said, “We must vacate these premises immediately. As long as they are looking for Cago, and probably Mirabelle as well, none of us is safe.”
From my college days and a history class I remembered the Spanish Inquisition of the 15th century. I read an excerpt from history about the Spanish Inquisition of the 16th century.
“The inquisition’s rules and methods are few and simple. If the prisoner refuses to confess his crime and manages to survive the first interrogation there will be a second session. The second time of torture, usually four weeks after the first, to allow time for recovery from wounds, is conducted in more earnest. The prisoner’s arms are forced backward. Ropes tie the arms together at the wrist. An engine draws the arms together, closer, by slow degrees in such a manner that the back of each and each elbow is exactly parallel to each other. As a consequence of this violent contortion, both shoulders become dislocated. The ensuing distress and the victim’s groans and constrictions rupture blood vessels in the throat and chest causing blood to issue from the victims mouth and eyes. …”
A full day had passed. I began to believe that I would be here, in this dangerous theocratic society for a very long time. My life in this reality had taken a turn that I hardly suspected when I first became Sam Cago; I was a criminal on the run.
The Underground had taken my pistol, my AntiGravity device and my body armor. I was kept in another hideout. I had no idea where because I was blindfolded. It was all cloak and dagger stuff. I was about to discover more about the antitheocracy Underground.
Next episode: In the Underground Headquarters.
Gene Paleno is an author and illustrator living in Witter Springs.
