Captain Fukushima stood and turned to look at the woman lying on the narrow bed. He had noted her complete stillness, and he studied her face to see if she had remained motionless out of fear or calculation. "Good evening madam. My name is Captain Haruki Fukushima. You may address me as Captain Fukushima. I do hope you speak English, since I don't know any Dutch except overgeven, which I am informed means surrender."

Elke had expected many things, but this was a complete surprise. He spoke perfect English! "Um, yes do I speak English."

"You will address me as Captain Fukushima!" he snapped.

She jumped in fright, shocked by his sudden changed in attitude. "Of c-course, Captain Fukushima. I meant no disrespect."

He nodded, mollified by her obedience. "Better. You will remember to show proper respect for your betters." He noted her expression at this and smiled. "You disagree I see. You are thinking, how can this Nip monkey possibly think that he is the better of a white man, or woman in your case." He held up his hand to silence her when she started to protest. "I was educated, if you can call it that, at Cambridge University and I had ample time to learn what you Westerners really think of "Orientals", and especially we Japanese." He pulled the chair over to the side of the bed and sat down, leaning back and crossing his legs. "Now, I will be blunt. You are an enemy civilian. Your own soldiers have abandoned you. The Geneva Accords do not cover civilians, besides which, Japan is not a signatory to the Accords. You could have honourably committed suicide rather than being captured, but you chose not to do so. Therefore, you are mine to do with as I wish. Nod your head if you understand."

Feeling numb with shock, Elke slowly and reluctantly nodded.

"Excellent. Now, the only question is whether you will serve me willingly and without resistance."

Her cheeks reddened, but she said, "I know I cannot resist you, but why should I cooperate in my own shame?"

This made him smile. "A good question. If you please me in every way that I require, you have my word that you will not be killed, and will be accorded good treatment during your detention, as well as being exempted from being conscripted into the military brothels that will be set up when our main army arrives. On the other hand, if you resist, you will be beheaded after I am done with you."

His mention of organised forced prostitution was a fresh shock, but Elke barely took any time at all to make her decision. "I will do whatever you wish, Captain Fukushima."

He clapped his hands together in approval. "A wise choice."

"May I ask a question, Captain Fukushima?"

"You may."

"If you merely wanted to ... to sleep with me, you could have had your way with me simply by untying my ankles. May I know what else you want of me?"

His eyes narrowed, but he grunted in approval. "You are an intelligent woman and you have spirit. I like that, so I will do you the honour of being honest. I intend to use you for my amusement and pleasure. What will amuse me is to avenge myself upon your body for the slights and insults that I suffered at the hands of the many white people that I met in England and Europe, as well has in Asia."

Elke suppressed the desire to whimper in fear. Instead she calmly asked, "And you expect me to go along with these ... things that you intend to do to me?"

"I do. Unless you have changed your mind? If I had more time, I could try to break you, but we only have tonight."

Elke nodded slowly and then tugged at her bonds for emphasis. "I'm already helpless. Why don't you just do whatever you want to me instead of asking?"

His smile was wide and genuine. "As the English say, where would the sport be in that? You claim to be superior to we Orientals in all things, so why not prove it to me?"

Elke smiled ruefully. "A cunning argument, Captain Fukushima. Very well. I will play your game. Untie me, and I will do whatever you say." His strong fingers quickly unwound the rope from her arms and she gasped in relief, despite the painful pins and needles caused by her returning circulation. The ropes around her ankles fell away as well, and for a second she was tempted to kick him and run for the door. Turning her head, she saw that he was watching her face and realised that he guessed what she was thinking when his eyes flicked quickly to the door and back.

"I give you permission to try," he said, and stepped aside to give her a clear path to the door.

With a rueful shake of her head, Elke sat up. "Even if I got to the door, where would I go? Your men are outside, and I can't survive in the jungle."

"In that case, kindly remove all of your clothes. Or I could cut your clothes off with my sword. I would enjoy either choice."

The Dutch woman rose unsteadily to her feet, which were still slightly numb, and with shaking fingers, unbuttoned the front of her floral print dress. Shame broke through the wall of numbness created by her fear, and a storm of mixed emotions, anger, embarrassment, and sheer terror spun madly through her mind, and she felt alternating waves of chill and heat as she pushed her dress over her hips and allowed it to fall to the floor. Underneath, she wore a thin cotton shift, bra, and white cotton underpants. Absurdly, as she lifted the hem of the shift over her head she found herself worrying about whether her panties were stained.