Chapter 1

 

My name is James Kincaid and I am a physical education instructor at a high school. I am fit and athletic and I think I am reasonably good looking but I have no girlfriend-and never have had one, at least not permanently, for my sexual predilections are rather bizarre. I am a sadist and given a free rein, would love nothing better than to take a beautiful girl, strip her naked, preferably brutally, and then string her up for a good thrashing. I know it is bizarre and I am afraid of what might happen in the throes of sexual tension and so I avoid such situations.

Oh, I go out with girls of course but I never let myself get close to them ...

What about masochistic girls? I don't know. I've never been able to find one. I suppose I could go looking on the Net or patronise some of those way-out bars, but in every other way I am respectable, even conservative and I just can't bring myself to try either.

On that fateful morning, I woke up to find myself in a strange bed in a really strange room. Strange is the understatement. The room was like one in a 12th Century castle, or at least like I imagine such a room might be. It was all stone. Stone floors, with some scatter rugs on it; stone walls with tiny slit-like windows and a stone ceiling. The bed was normal enough, I suppose and quite modern, as was the rest of the furniture, but the room, well, really.

I got up and put on the clothes I found at the end of the bed. They were a mite strange, being mostly leather but they were comfortable enough-and, even more oddly, they fitted me perfectly. I went out of the room to find myself in a long passage with dozens of other similar doors ranged along it. Other men were coming out of a couple of these and they greeted me by name-Jim. I had no idea what their names were and so I just grinned and stumbled through the 'good mornings', trying to piece together where I was and why.

I soon realised I was no longer on my Earth. It seemed I was still in England but an England as far removed from the one I had been born in as, say Zululand. I quickly gathered this castle was a prison-of sorts. But it was a very special prison ... A prison for girls and young women who failed to meet up with the appallingly strict standards laid down for females on this Earth.

Here, they learned, under the whip and other punishments, how to behave as females were expected to on that world. And it wasn't just Britain. The whole world treated its women identically, as I shall attempt to outline in this report.

I followed them along to breakfast and was hit with the first of many revelations that were going to knock me for six. We staff members sat at a long table at the head of the refectory and were waited on by some of the prisoners-every one of whom was stark naked! Yes, totally naked, at least except for a silvery collar of tubular stainless steel that each wore snug around her neck. Otherwise though, not a stitch on the lithe, highly athletic, slender and mostly very beautiful bodies. It sent shivers up and down my own body as I stared in confusion at the sight.

But then there were the rest of them, all kneeling in pairs of rows facing each other with piles of washed but otherwise untreated raw vegetables placed on the plain stone floor between each set of rows. There were four such sets. The girls had to kneel facing their partner and look directly at her, only taking her eyes off the other to pick up a carrot, stick of celery or the like and then munch it until it was finished and then pick up another piece. They too were absolutely stark naked. They didn't even have pubic or other hair on their bodies.

As we ate our cereal, followed by bacon and eggs and toast with all the normal accoutrements as well as tea or coffee I could see the other staff members looking at me slyly from time to time and suddenly realised they knew I wasn't from there! It all came clear a few minutes later when the governor, who had moved to my side as we left the refectory and asked me to accompany me to his office, where he explained everything: "Do they call you James or Jim?" he began.

"Jim, mostly," I replied.

"Good. That's what we call our version of you, too ..."

"Look," I began but he held up his hand.

"I'll explain it all first and then you can ask all the questions you want. First, my name is John Bertram and, as you can see, I am the governor of this prison. As to you and why you are here, well, your alter-ego is our physical education instructor but he has a personality disorder ... He finds the way we treat our women distasteful whereas you, at least secretly, would like nothing more than to bring them into line ..."

I was shocked. "How did you know ...?"

"The Time Lords know everything. It was they who decided to send our James Kincaid to your Earth for a look at what so-called free women are and how they behave and to bring you, who have a much more acceptable attitude here-at least for a time."

I stared at him, bemused by his words. "Time Lords?" I stuttered. "How could they possibly know what I have kept secret all these years?"

"They know, Jim. There isn't anything they don't know!"

"Who are they? I mean are you talking about God?"

"No. They are not God but we don't really know who, or what they are. They have never been seen but they guide the governments of this world ..."

"How?"

"I don't know that, either. Suffice to say they do, from the background and only when they feel it necessary. In your case, you will be given a taste at least of our system of behaviour and government and in the other Jim's case, what happens when you give women free rein. He will come back to us a new man, I am sure ... If he comes back, that is."

"Good God," I said. But then I sobered up. "All right, what will I be doing here?"

"Good man. I knew you would soon see their wisdom. Okay, you will be in charge of all physical education of the prisoners. As you will have seen at breakfast, they are all slender and athletic. That is our aim.

"These women are here because they are rebels. They want more from life than our society is prepared to give them. We therefore give them a short, sharp and very hard shock. Here, in a few months, we knock the rebellion right out of them and prepare them for their future lives. It will be your role to ensure they have the best bodies we can give them."

"What are their futures?" I asked, very interested now.

He grinned. "They will be slaves for the rest of their lives. Women get only one chance here. They either behave themselves or they lose their citizenship and become slaves. Once we have cowed them, they will be put on the block for sale. Most will end up as domestics-which means pleasure slaves really, although they will of course do domestic work during the day. Some will be employed as ponies, others, the less attractive, may end up as labourers, but whatever their future employment, they will never again be permitted to wear clothing-and this will be a source of a great deal of shame for them for we cover our women totally. Much like the Muslims do with their females on your Earth."

I was bemused at this revelation and hardly knew where to begin with my questions but the most pressing seemed to be the fact of other Earths. "You seem to know a lot about my Earth, as you call it. What do you mean by my Earth and how did I get here, anyway?"

Again he smiled, patiently, I thought. "Jim, your people aren't aware of it yet, although some may, for your science fiction writers have touched on it many times, but there are thousands of parallel universes, all existing side by side in a fifth dimension. You will know that space occupies three dimensions, length, breadth and depth, and time is the fourth. This further one enables many objects to sit in exactly the same place, at the same time and yet exist quite separately from the others. It's hard to grasp, I know, but that's the way it is. If you know how to move between dimensions-and it is quite simple-you can slip from one world to another as easily as stepping through a door.

"You will be enjoined to say nothing, of course, if and when you are returned to your world ..." He paused and grinned at me again. "You might start a riot but more likely, you would end up in some government psychiatric ward-never to be released, so keep quiet when you get back, if you do ..."

"You keep saying, if. How will these Time Lords determine it?"

"It will depend on how you fit in with us and how our James Kincaid gets on in your world..."

"But he won't have anyone there who will be able to explain all this to him?"

"He knows and he'll cope. Our Time Lords do it all the time. It's a much better way to correct a man that, say sacking him or punishing him-usually.

"Now, a few pointers for you. You will have noticed the collars on each prisoner?" I nodded. "They contain a device that can give them a massive shock. All you have to do is to point this small gun at the collar and press the trigger. It'll work from about ten yards away and the guns are very accurate. If you thumb this switch on the gun, it makes the unit universal and works for every prisoner within the range you set with the switch. You would use that setting if there was a concerted attack on you-not that it's likely. We've never had a rebellion in my time here and that's fifteen years ... Here's your gun." He handed me the small unit that looked like a small automatic pistol.

"Next, while any of them are available for you to take to your bed at night, never get familiar with any of them and certainly never fall for one. Chain both her hands above her head to the bed head and if she even looks like giving trouble, zap her or whip or cane her-there and then. Best not to have the same girl twice. Don't take any risks.

"As to their exercising, forget they were once citizens-they aren't any more. They are now slaves ... animals ... things. You can work them as hard as you like. Exhaust them totally if you believe it will hasten the conditioning of their bodies for we are always short of space here and a quick turn around means we can take in new meat."

"How many can you take at any one time?" I asked.

"Up to a thousand, in eight weekly groups labelled from A to H. Others must be held in the various jails around the city until we can take them in so you can see we have to ensure as quick a turn-around as possible."

"And can you tame them that quickly?"

He laughed. "Oh yes. Remember they were brought up in a society that believes women are inferior and are placed on Earth to serve Man. Even the rebels are accustomed to such a place in the scheme of things. It usually only takes around the eight weeks to turn them into very compliant slaves so you don't have a lot of time to do your part."