Chapter 8: The Professor’s Surprise

Chapter 8: The Professor’s Surprise

“Yes?” he asked.

“Professor Millard?”

“Yes.”

“I have to talk to you.”

For a long time he simply looked at her, and then he stepped back to allow her in to the apartment.

It was filled with books in shelves and cases on every wall, stacked in piles in the corners, and some even on the dining room table, not totally unexpected for a university professor. There was a smell of onions and coffee the air and she guessed she had interrupted his dinner.

“You’re not in any of my classes,” he said as he waved her to a chair.

“No, I’m not.” She was having a hard time getting words out. If this man was not what she hoped he was, well, she would be in deep shit.

“I want to talk to you about… Do you… I mean… Oh, hell. Do you know anything about a resistance movement against One World?” she blurted out.

The professor did not react as she expected. It was as if he had expected her to say that exact thing. Calmly he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small automatic that he pointed directly at her chest.

“Please keep your hands were I can see them,” he told her. “And no sudden movements.”

Dawn felt her heart sinking fast.

The professor rose from his seat, walked backwards to one bookcase and took something out of a box hidden between some books. As he approached her, Dawn saw that is was a pair of handcuffs!

“Slowly stand and turn your back to me. Put your hands behind your back.”

She obeyed meekly, when what she really wanted to do was run screaming from the room.

There was the familiar bite of steel on her wrists and the clicking of metal cuffs closing.

“You may turn around and sit down again,” he told her.

She did but started to speak, “I only wanted to…” But words failed her. He would call the Guards and she would be hauled away in one of those transportation boxes again. This time she was sure Saint Secundina’s would not be so kind to her. She remembered the punishments meted out to those who had only attempted escape. She had actually done it!

“Do not speak,” he told her. Then he pulled the backpack over and began going through it while still holding the gun upon her. He held up the .45 automatic with its holster and belt, but said nothing. Likewise the handcuffs and ropes.

“Young lady, you are in a lot of trouble,” he said. “Tell me why I should not shoot your right now.”

Dawn swallowed. But a tiny part of her mind wondered why he should threaten to shoot her when all he had to do was call the Guards and have her hauled away.

So she told him her story, right from the day she was arrested up to her escape. She even told him that a student had directed her to him, but did not give Karen’s name.

“That’s it. I came here hoping that you could direct me to the underground or whatever it might be called. I want to fight the evil I have seen.”

A long time passed without him saying a word. When he finally spoke it was with disbelief in his voice. “That’s quite a story you have. But can you prove it? That gun in your backpack is Guard issue. And the handcuffs. One might suspect that you came here to try to get me to admit to being part of the resistance and then arrest me. Again, can you prove otherwise?”

Dawn thought hard. “No, not really. I found the gun in the car I stole. I don’t even know how to shoot it. You sure you can’t think of something I can tell you or do? I can’t.”

Then Dawn had an idea. She stood up slowly and careful to show him what she was doing, bent down to step through the handcuffs and bring her joined hands up in front of her. She unbuttoned the front of the skirt and let it drop to the floor. The professor seemed a little bit uneasy for the first time at the sight of her nudity from the waist down. She turned around and bent to present her bottom for his view.

The whip marks given her by Saint Secundina’s were still there. Most had faded to some degree but the more recent ones still showed as bruises.

“They did this to me at Saint Secundina’s. And a lot more. My ID number is branded on my ass. See? My breasts are marked up also. Unbutton my blouse and you can see.”

She turned around to face him again. Slowly he rose, placed the gun on the coffee table, and approached her. He unbuttoned the blouse and pulled it aside. She was correct. There were marks all over her breasts, mostly older but a few still black and blue bruises. He returned to his seat.

“Did you have to check my breasts?” she asked him. “Wasn’t my poor bottom enough?”

“It was,” he replied. “But those are very nice breasts. I wanted to see if there were really as nice as they seemed through your blouse.” He smiled at her. “I get to see a lot of breasts from female students who want a higher grade. But none as nice as yours.”

“Well, thank you for the compliment,” she said. “Now can I have my blouse closed?”

“No. The view is too nice. I’ll finish getting dinner ready while we talk about the evils of the establishment.”

She did not bother to ask him to take the handcuffs off. He would just refuse. Nearly naked and handcuffed she had dinner with Professor Millard.