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  "Gunther, she whispered, prone, the left side of her face on the mattress.

  "Yes," he said. He removed the chain from her ankles. He stood up.

  "What—what if the experiment does not go well?" He looked at her.

  "What if it doesn't work—if Herjellsen is not successful?"

  "You mean if he cannot transmit you?" asked Gunther.

  "Yes," she said, "—if I cannot be transmitted."

  "Surely you understand," said Gunther, "that you cannot be released."

  She turned, wrist back, lying on her side. She looked at him, fearfully. She, dragging the handcuff along the iron bar, sat up on the edge of the cot, her body twisted, turned to face him.

  "You know too much," said Gunther. "You could put us in prison for years. He regarded her. "If the experiment is unsuccessful, if you cannot be transmitted, you will be disposed of in the bush."

  "I do not want to die," she said, "Gunther." She sat on the edge of the cot. She shook her head. "You would not kill me, would you, Gunther?" she asked.

  "Yes," said Gunther.

  She put her right leg on the cot, beneath her; her left leg was not on the cot; the toes only of her left leg touched the floor; her left leg was flexed; her body faced Gunther; her left wrist was back, handcuffed to the iron bar at the head of the cot.

  She shook her head. "Don't kill me," she said.

  He regarded her, unmoved.

  "Sell me," she whispered.

  He did not speak.

  "I am a Caucasian," she said. "William says that I am beautiful."

  Gunther said nothing.

  "Surely you could get a good price on me," she said.

  "Do you know what you are speaking of?" asked Gunther.

  "There are markets, are there not, secret markets, where white women are sold?"

  Gunther looked at her. He did not speak for a long time. Then he spoke. "Yes," he said.

  Hamilton looked at him, agonized, pleading.

  "I have been in two such markets," said Gunther.

  "You?" she said.

  "I am trusted," he said.

  "Don't kill me," said Hamilton. "—Sell me."

  Gunther smiled. "What do you think your body is worth?" he asked.

  "I—I don't know," she said.

  "It might be interesting to see you on the block," he said. Her lower lip trembled.

  "Can you smile?" he asked. "Can you pose? Can you excite the interest of buyers? Can you move your body in such a way that it suggests that it could be a source of incredible pleasure for a man?"

  She looked at him with horror.

  "If you do not perform well," said Gunther, "you will be whipped."

  Hamilton said nothing.

  "There are difficulties in transportation," said Gunther. "You would have to be smuggled across borders in a truck, perhaps at a given point carried northward in a dhow."

  "Drug me," said Hamilton. "I do not care if I do not awake until I am dragged naked before the buyers."

  He looked at her, carefully. "It could be done with you, I suppose," he said.

  "Yes, Gunther," she said, "yes!"

  "It would be simpler," said he, "to dispose of you in the bush."

  "No, please, no," she wept. "Sell me! Sell me!"

  "Perhaps," said Gunther, "perhaps." He looked at her. "I shall take it under consideration," he said.

  He went to the door.

  "Gunther," she said. He turned.

  "What is done to such women?" she asked. "Where are they kept?"

  He shrugged. "In isolated villas," he said, "in desert palaces, in luxurious slave brothels, catering to a rich clientele."

  "I see," she said. Then she said, "Gunther, you have denied me sexual experience. I gather that if I were a slave, I would be granted such experiences."

  Gunther threw back his head and laughed. "Yes," he said, "your master, or masters, and their guests, or clients, would see that you served them well."

  She put down her head, blushing furiously.

  "Even superbly," he added, smiling.

  She clenched her small fists.

  "You said," said Gunther, "that you were my whore."

  "I am," she said, "Gunther." She looked at him. "Any time you want me, I'm your whore."

  "A slave girl," he said, "is the whore of any man who buys her."

  "I know," she whispered.

  He laughed. "Any man," he said.

  "I know," she whispered.

  "You know nothing," he said.

  She looked at him, puzzled.

  "A whore," he said, "is a thousand times above a slave."

  "No!" she cried.

  "Yes," he laughed.

  "Is it true, Gunther?" she begged.

  "Men care more for their dogs, than for their female slaves," said Gunther.

  "No," she whispered.

  "It is true," said Gunther. "I know." He looked at her. "Would you not prefer to be disposed of in the bush?"

  "No, Gunther," she said. "Sell me."

  "Then," asked Gunther, looking at her evenly, "you are truly willing to be a female slave?"

  "Yes, Gunther," she whispered.

  He regarded her, half kneeling, half sitting on the cot, in the brief white dress, facing him, on the striped mattress, her hand back, handcuffed to the iron bar at the head of the cot.

  "I always thought you were a slave," he said.

  She looked at him, angrily.

  "Slave," he sneered.

  "Yes—slave!" she said.

  He left.

  8

  "I see that you are still a virgin," said William.

  Hamilton was silent.

  She stood before the two men, under the light bulb, barefoot on the floor of her cell, the cot and mattress in the background, stripped, freed of the shackles, wrists cuffed behind her back.

  "Is your examination finished?" she asked.

  "I would have thought that Gunther would have used you by now," said William.

  "She is for others to use," said Gunther.

  Hamilton's physical examination had been thorough, including blood and urine samples taken earlier in the day.

  William's black bag lay beside his cane chair.

  When they had entered the room together this evening, she had been startled. William was a physician. Gunther was not.

  She had not wished to strip herself before Gunther, not in the presence of another man.

  "Remove your clothing," had said William.

  "No," had said Hamilton.

  "Are you being insubordinate?" had asked William.

  "No," she had whispered.

  Gunther's eyes had met hers. He had snapped his fingers.

  Clumsily, quickly, she had pulled the cotton shift over her head.

  "Turn about," he had said.

  He had put her wrists in handcuffs, thrown her to the cot, removed the shackles from her.

  "Stand," he had said.

  She did so.

  "Come here, dear," had said William, opening his kit, removing a stethoscope.

  "Must Gunther be present?" she had begged.

  "Is a slave modest?" asked Gunther.

  "No!" she said, angrily.

  She had approached William. The examination had begun.

  William now snapped shut his kit, but left it on the floor. He, sitting, Gunther, too, to one side, regarded her. "Is the examination finished," she asked. "Come closer," said William. She did so.

  He looked up at her. She looked away.

  "Do you find that you desire sexual experience?" asked William.

  "No," she said.

  "It does not matter," said William. "That you yourself are found sexually desirable will be more than sufficient."

  Hamilton looked at him with horror.

  "We shall now conduct a small experiment," said William. He placed his hand, gently, cupped, between her legs. He lifted his hand, pressing it gently against her delta.

  Hamilton looked away.

  "N
ow say aloud, slowly, five times," said William, "the name Gunther."

  She looked at Gunther. She did as she was told.

  To her horror she felt her body, her hair, press into William's hand. She wished it was Gunther's hand.

  William lifted the hand. He held it before Hamilton, who quickly turned her face away. For the first time, she had smelled the odor, her own, of an aroused female.

  "For all practical purposes, Gunther," said William, "this woman belongs to you."

  "I can have many women," said Gunther.

  Hamilton closed her eyes.

  "Of course," said William.

  Hamilton opened her eyes, furious. "Are you quite finished with this examination?" she asked, icily.

  "The medical portion is completed," said William.

  She looked at Gunther.

  "Gunther," said William, "was requested to be present by Professor Herjellsen. He is supposed to render something in the nature of a consulting opinion, though not precisely from the medical point of view."

  Gunther went behind Hamilton, and removed the cuffs from her.

  She stood across the room from them.

  "He is to render something in the nature of a flesh assessment, or appraisal," said William.

  Hamilton blushed.

  "I informed Herjellsen I am fully capable of rendering such an opinion myself," said William, smiling.

  "I'm sure you are," said Hamilton.

  She looked at Gunther. His eyes frightened her. He had looked, she knew, on countless women. He had even looked on them in slave markets.

  "How do you find her?" asked William.

  Gunther did not answer him.

  He continued to look at Hamilton, until her eyes fell, acknowledging his dominance, her femaleness.

  "Do not, William," said Gunther, "interfere with me in what I am going to do."

  "Very well, old man," said William.

  Hamilton looked at Gunther, angrily.

  "You will follow my instructions implicitly," said Gunther to Hamilton, "without question, without hesitation, and in your mind and imagination, as well as in your body."

  "No," whispered Hamilton.

  "A slave obeys," said Gunther. His hands went to the buckle of his heavy belt.

  "I will obey," said Hamilton.

  "A slave," said Gunther, "is given no place to hide. Her entire person is her master's. She is totally open to him. You will follow my instructions, accordingly, in your mind and imagination, as well as in your body."

  "I am not a slave," said Hamilton.

  "For the next four minutes," said Gunther, "you are a female slave."

  "Gunther," protested William.

  "Do not interfere," said Gunther.

  William shrugged, angrily, and returned his attention to Hamilton.

  "For the next four minutes," said Gunther to Hamilton, "you are a female slave—only a female slave."

  Hamilton looked at him. "Very well," she said, "—Master."

  William breathed in, sharply.

  "Close your eyes," said Gunther.

  Hamilton did so.

  "Think now," said Gunther, "think deeply, of yourself as a slave."

  "Very well," said Hamilton.

  "It will be impossible for this to be simulated," said Gunther, "for there is a congruence between the thought and the behavior, and if this congruence is not present, betrayed by the slightest, most subtle, unconscious inappropriateness of behavior, you will be beaten."

  She looked at him, frightened.

  "Close your eyes," he said.

  She did so.

  "You are familiar, surely, with Stanislavsky's theories of acting?" he asked.

  She nodded, terrorized.

  "Think of yourself now," he said, "profoundly, as a female slave."

  Hamilton, frightened, dared to do so.

  Suddenly she felt herself slave. Her body shuddered. She moaned with misery.

  "You are now a slave," said Gunther, "a slave girl, willess and rightless, completely at my bidding."

  Hamilton's body shook.

  "Do you understand?" asked Gunther.

  "Yes," she whispered.

  "You are owned," said Gunther. "You may be bought and sold. You may be whipped or slain. You are branded. You must do what men command you."

  Hamilton, in misery, slipped to her knees, her head down.

  "Before," said Gunther, "you were acting, but you are not acting now."

  She shook her head.

  "Now," said Gunther, "the acting is finished—what are you now?"

  "A slave," she whispered, "—Master."

  "To the block, Slave," said Gunther.

  Brenda Hamilton stood on the slave block, her body reflecting the torchlight She felt sawdust beneath her feet. She felt herself turn and felt the auctioneer, his hand on her arm, exhibiting her. She heard the cries, the bids, of the men.

  "You have been sold," Gunther informed her.

  She stumbled from the block. She felt her wrists locked in slave chains. She felt herself hooded.

  When the hood was torn away, in a large, marble-floored room, with rings set in the floor, she first saw, clearly, the features of her master.

  She had been fastened by the wrists to one of the rings.

  "He beats you," said Gunther.

  She writhed beneath the blows of the whip.

  Sobbing in pain she felt her wrists unfastened from the ring.

  "You are eager to please him," said Gunther.

  She danced her beauty before him, to placate him, pleadingly, piteously.

  "He consents to let you please him," said Gunther.

  Hamilton crept to the cushions and arched her body for the kiss and touch of her master.

  Suddenly she felt her left hand handcuffed and heard the other cuff closed about the iron bar at the head of the cot.

  Her face was slapped to one side.

  "You are no longer a slave," said Gunther. "You are the female prisoner, Doctor Brenda Hamilton."

  "Yes, Gunther," she said. She turned her head to one side.

  William was standing, watching her, in awe. "Fantastic," he said.

  "That is how an assessment is made of a woman, short of using her," said Gunther.

  "What is your opinion?" asked William.

  "What is yours?" asked Gunther.

  "Incredible, fantastic," breathed William.

  Gunther looked at Hamilton. "She is satisfactory," he said.

  With his foot he shoved the wastes bucket to the side of the cot.

  They had not put the shift on her again.

  The men turned to leave.

  "Gunther," said Hamilton.

  "Yes?" he said.

  "Why was I examined today?" she asked, red-eyed.

  "Did William not tell you?" asked Gunther.

  "No," she said.

  "Yesterday evening," said Gunther, "quite late, we managed to transmit the leopard."

  She looked at him.

  "You understand what this means?" he asked.

  She shook her head.

  "We can now transmit an animal of that size and weight," he said.

  She looked at him.

  "Nothing now stands in our way," said Gunther. He regarded her. "The third phase of experiments can soon begin." He looked at her. "How much do you weigh?" he asked.

  "One hundred and nineteen pounds," said Hamilton.

  "The leopard," said Gunther, "weighed one hundred and forty pounds."

  "It seems, then, Gunther," she said, "that I need not fear either the bush or the slave markets of the north and east."

  "Not our bush," said Gunther, "not our markets."

  She looked at him.

  "Doubtless there are other wildernesses," said Gunther, "other men, other markets."

  She pulled at the handcuff, defeated.

  9

  "More wine, Doctor Hamilton?" inquired Herjellsen.

  "Yes," said Brenda Hamilton.

  Herjellsen nodded, and one of
the blacks, in a white jacket, stepped discreetly forward and filled her glass.

  "Thank you," said Brenda Hamilton.

  The black did not reply.

  "May I smoke?" asked William, drawing out a cigarette.

  "Certainly," said Hamilton.

  He lit the cigarette. "Would you like one?" he asked.

  "No," said Hamilton.

  They sat at table in Herjellsen's quarters, where, in earlier weeks, they had commonly dined together, a continental supper, served at nine P.M., after the heat of the day.

  Herjellsen, and William and Gunther, wore evening clothing, black tie.

  Brenda Hamilton wore an evening gown, a slim, white sheath, off the shoulder. She had never worn such a gown before. It fitted perfectly. Except for a string of pearls, and two pearl earrings, it was all she wore. Gunther, standing behind her, had put the pearls about her neck.

  Her ankles, her wrists, were free of fetters.

  Hamilton looked down at the white linen tablecloth, the napkin, the silverware.

  There was candlelight.

  The evening was comfortable.

  The conversation, mostly unimportant talk, had not been unpleasant.

  Hamilton sipped the wine.

  "A toast," said Herjellsen, lifting his glass toward Hamilton. "I had forgotten until now," he said, "how beautiful a European woman could be." He used "European" in the African sense.

  Gunther, with William, and Herjellsen, lifted their glasses to her.

  "Thank you," said Hamilton.

  She blushed, and lowered her head, pleased in spite of herself, in the depth of her new-found womanness, which they had released in her, at being the object of their admiration. William, she had seen, had not taken his eyes from her all evening. Even in Gunther's eyes she had detected a grudging admiration. This had stirred her, helplessly, deeply. He was the most exciting man she had ever seen. She knew she was his for the asking, even though she knew he despised her, and had, as her jailer, treated her with contempt, with harshness, and even cruelty. She sat among them as a slim, erect, elegant young woman, educated, beautiful, and civilized, in a white sheath gown and pearls, but she knew that if Gunther wanted her, she would yield to him on his own terms, whatever they might be. If he so much as snapped his fingers, she would prepare herself, eagerly, for him. She wanted to serve him, intimately, desperately, at length, even if he, in his cruelty, forced her to take payment for doing so, a cigarette, or a shilling. She sat across the table from him, looking at him, over the candlelight. "Do you know, Gunther," she asked him, silently, to herself, "that I, sitting here, elegant in my white silk and pearls, am your whore?" She regarded him. He smiled. She put down her head. She knew that he knew.