"Even so," Medart said thoughtfully, "if an invitation's that rare, we ought to accept."
The three entered the larger room, which smelled of antiseptic—rather to Keith's surprise. Why should Her Excellency care about infection in people she was torturing to death? He might ask her later, if it looked like she wouldn't mind discussing her work.
"The interview went all right?" Cortin asked.
"Quite well," Bradford replied. "I'll get the operation moving as soon as I get back to my office."
"Good—thanks, both of you." Cortin turned back to her prisoner, still addressing the observers. "This one's nothing special, except in the number of his crimes and the fact that he wanted witnesses until he got to the last victim in each series. It was the rapes that were his particular thrill; the murders were enjoyable, but more of a side effect. So I'll be concentrating on the punishment for rape."
Keith watched attentively. These were the preliminaries, obviously, but he was interested in anything and everything she did. It was several hours before she was satisfied with the prisoner's general condition: his entire body except the genital region so bruised or abraded that even a light touch brough curses—and by that time, Keith was admitting to himself that what he felt for her was more than fondness.
Cortin stepped back to survey her prisoner, then smiled at her audience. "That takes care of the preliminaries; now we can get to the real punishment." She went to a cabinet, removed a vial and syringe.
"This is eroticine," she said, forcing the liquid in the vial down her prisoner's throat. "In small doses, it's a male aphrodisiac. In larger ones, like this, it forces an erection and increases semen production by several hundred percent. He has no way to stimulate orgasm, so that is forced out by simple hydraulic pressure—quite uncomfortable, I've been assured. This dose is oral, so he'll be that way for about twelve hours." She picked up a syringe, cleared it of air. "And this is algetin, a pain-enhancer that's most effective on swollen tissue such as an erection. It's a combination I think particularly appropriate for a rapist."
"An intriguing combination," Keith said. It sounded rather like a peculiar form of induced need, with no intent of release—and he had to agree with the Inquisitor; it did seem appropriate for a rapist. That reaction made Keith more than a little surprised at himself. Since this was a punishment situation, the prisoner's nudity hadn't bothered him; that was a normal part of punishment for serious violations of custom at home. But that didn't include sexual arousal, even drug-induced. He should have been seriously embarrassed, to the point of having to leave; instead, he found himself intrigued by the phenomenon as the man's erection firmed and grew moist. "Is that wetness normal, or is it a drug effect?" he asked curiously.
Cortin glanced at him. "Neither, Lieutenant; it's a side effect of the satyr plague."