fredbassett | Fic, Silk and Steel, Part 11

Title : Silk and Steel, Part 11
Authors :

munchkinofdoom
Fandom : Primeval
Characters : Lester, Nick, Connor
Rating : 18
Disclaimer : Not ours, no money made, don’t sue
Spoilers : None.
Summary : Nick gets a shock.
Warning : Slave!fic!
A/N : We’ve now gone from plotting this AU together to actively co-authoring! The remainder of the series can be found here

Nick was already regretting not heading straight home after the anomaly he’d spent most of the day watching had finally faded. His hangover had also retreated somewhat during the course of the day, but he still felt like something more commonly found on the sole of a shoe.

“Feeling better, Professor?” Lester asked, managing to convey, in two simple words, that he really wasn’t remotely interested in Nick’s answer, whatever it might be. Without waiting for a reply, he waved a hand towards a chair, and continued, “I have some news for you.”

Nick hesitated, one hand on the chair back. “And I need to be sitting down to hear it?”

Lester shrugged. “Your choice, but please, no more unseemly tantrums. You have a position to uphold, Cutter, remember that.”

“The only acceptable position round here seems to be a kneeling one.”

“Funny you should say that,” sighed Lester, holding out a piece of paper, with something that actually resembled reluctance. “While you read this, just bear in mind that I didn’t solicit these orders.”

A minute later, Nick sank into the chair, still staring at the piece of paper in his hand, reading and re-reading it in the hope of seeing something different miraculously appear on the page. But nothing changed, not even on the third re-reading.

       Memo to Sir James Lester, Director
       The Anomaly Research Centre

       In accordance with Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, the Government facility known as the
   Anomaly Research Centre is hereby granted Prohibited Place status, effective immediately.

       In furtherance of this, all persons below the level of Section Manager must be securely collared within
       forty-eight (48) hours.

       Any persons found to be obstructing this security measure will be deemed to be in contravention of
       Section 3: misleading or obstructing a police officer, soldier or civil servant on duty at a Prohibited
       Place, and will face immediate collaring if free, and imprisonment, with hard labour, of not less than
       two (2) years if already collared.

       By Order of the Intelligence and Security Committee
       The Office of the Prime Minister

“Collared? Everyone below Level 2? That’s …….” Nick groped unsuccessfully for the right word, and failed.

“Expedient,” supplied Lester. “It’s also on the PM’s direct orders and isn’t open to challenge by either of us. You do see that, don’t you?”

Nick Cutter was conscious that his mouth was opening and closing, but for once, he was lost for words. His fist tightened on the paper in his hand, and slowly, and carefully, he squashed the memorandum into a tight ball and hurled it at the window behind Lester.

“No fucking way!” His stomach churned suddenly and uncomfortably, reminding him all too forcibly that all he’d eaten today had been a soggy cheese sandwich, several hours ago, at the anomaly site. Not quite enough to calm a rebellious stomach in the aftermath of a major hangover.

“Don’t try and tell me you’ve never thought about collaring the delectable Dr. Hart?” asked Lester, with one of his trademark sneers.

For a moment, Nick considered launching the chair over the desk in the direction of the window, but something in Lester’s eyes, a warning maybe, made him hold back.

“No.”

“Interesting. That’s not what your Personnel File says. You really do seem to be a changed man, Professor Cutter. You’ll be telling me next that you’ve never performed such a ceremony either.” Before Nick could reply, Lester waved his hand again, “Sit down, Cutter, before you fall down, and listen to me. Whether you approve or not, this is happening. The PM has no desire to take any chances with a project of this importance. We were already on lock-down so far as personnel and security were concerned. This is no more than an extension of that. The memo is quite clear: anyone below Departmental Head on the scientific teams is automatically indentured for the duration of the Anomaly Project. The same goes for Administrative and Technical staff. If it’s any consolation to you, the thought of having to collar my own secretary isn’t exactly something that thrills me, but I don’t have a choice in that. None of us do.”

Nick opened his mouth to protest, but for once, the words wouldn’t come.

Lester took full advantage of his silence. “It’s quite simple, Cutter. Either you perform the ceremony, or Leek will no doubt be delighted to stand in for you. And in case it has slipped your mind, a Collaring Ceremony is quite an …..” Lester coughed, delicately, “intimate moment.”

Nick’s eyes opened even more widely, but the words still wouldn’t come. Collaring Ceremony? His mind gave up the brief, unequal struggle, and he stood up, knocking the chair backwards.

Lester glanced over at the ever present security camera, then calmly drew another sheet of paper from the printer on his desk, and reached for a pen to scrawl his uncharacteristically untidy signature with a flourish at the bottom.

A moment later, he looked up. “Still here, Professor? You have until 10 am tomorrow to prepare your team. The Collaring Ceremonies will commence at noon precisely. Don’t be late. If you have any questions, direct them to Lorraine. She will no doubt be able to fill in any gaps in the estimable Mr. Temple’s knowledge of practice and procedure in this area. Close the door on your way out.”

* * * * *

“You want to know about the Rites of Indenture? Why?” Connor’s eyes widened and flicked instinctively toward the security cameras.

Nick swallowed, his nausea rising again in response to Connor’s obvious anxiety. He bent down, bringing their heads close, offered a tentative smile and then turned toward the computer screen in front of them. “Humour me.”

Connor didn’t look reassured. If anything, he looked like he wanted to throw up, as well. Nick knew that feeling well. Connor stared at him. Then something clicked behind the young man’s eyes. He nodded at Nick and turned his attention back to his keyboard. Nick watched Connor’s hands fly across the keys, only half paying attention, still pondering what he had read in Lester’s office. So much of this bloody reality made no sense, and this was yet another kick in the gut just as he was trying to come to terms with slavery, floggings and bodies used as chattels, as little more than bed-warmers. And now Stephen, Abby and Connor were to be thrust even deeper into this madness?

“You know you’re supposed to already know about all of this, don’t you, Professor? That you’ve already presided over the Rites of Indenture before, so Stephen says? Not a good way to stay below the radar - researching the Rites - if you ask me,” Connor muttered, his lips barely moving.

“Humour me,” Nick repeated, offering a reassuring smile.

Connor just looked incredulous. “Fine,” he muttered, “just treat me as the resident mushroom… nothing to it… not as if it’s my life at stake or anything…” All the while his fingers flew over the keys and screen after screen flashed before Nick’s eyes.

The images stopped and Nick took a deep breath, which Connor glared at and inclined his head toward the camera again. The inference was clear.

Nick nodded and started reading.

“The System, clarification of rules and procedures.… Rites of Indenture…. Section 2(c), to be presided over by an authorised representative of Her Majesty’s Government…. subjects to be naked….WHAT?”

“Shhhhhh!” Connor whispered, fiercely. “That’s only an option. No-one does naked these days, unless they’re a sick fuck who works for the Prison Service.”

“Leek worked for the Prison Service!”

“Then we’d all better hope that Leek doesn’t get the opportunity of doing any collaring here, for all our sakes,” Connor quipped.

“That isn’t funny!”

Connor turned to look at Nick. He just sat there for a long moment, staring, assessing. “You could just tell me what’s going on. I’ll find out, anyway, when I hack into your email, so you might as well just save us both the time and trouble.”

“Lester got a memo from the PM. Something about the ARC being granted Prohibited Place status,” Nick paused at Connor’s gasp, “and everyone has to be collared, starting noon tomorrow.”

“Everyone? Abby? But she’s not long been freed! I knew I’d be collared one day, once I’d finished my studies, but Abby’s already served her indenture and Stephen’s from money, so he was never going to need to worry about it.”

Nick swore under his breath. “Connor. Please. What are the Rites of Indenture? Just spit it out, man, and get it over with!”

Connor breathed in and out, slowly, and appeared to be steeling himself. Then he turned to Nick and started talking, calmly, “A representative from the Government has to do the collaring. There’s no such thing as private slavery.” Connor gave a wry laugh. “The Government holds all the indenture contracts and farms out the indentured to trusted persons and institutions, as per the National Indenture Act of God Only Knows When. So, when someone is indentured, there’s a collaring ceremony, called the Rites of Indenture. The indentured are dressed in white – tee shirt and trousers for males, shift dress for females – and are made to kneel before the Government rep. He – or she – the Government’s an equal opportunity enslaver - fixes the collar on so that it can only be opened with a special key, and recites an oath outlining the government’s responsibilities toward the newly collared.” Connor chuckled again, but it was singularly lacking in humour. “The indentured don’t have to swear anything or even say anything, which is probably a good thing, because if it were me I’d be likely to throw up on the shoes of the bastard collaring me.”

Nick groaned, and Connor’s eyes widened.

“You?” Connor asked.

Nick nodded.

“Oh, bugger.” Then the student’s expression brightened slightly. “Still, better you than Leek. May as well be thankful for small mercies. We aren’t likely to get any big ones, any time soon, that’s for sure.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

fififolle

Wonderful, both of you!
This is getting really serious now. Abby, Stephen and Connor too? Erkanauts. Who the heck was Abby indentured to? *wonders if I should know*
I like the memo with the words (and numbers) *g*
This is all quite scary, and I love it, and very, very evilly cannot wait to see the Rites of Indenture *veg*

From:

fredbassett

Abby is likely to have served her period of indenture, ie paying off her education, working in the zoo or something similar, before gttig involved in th Anomaly Project.

We had oodles of fun plotting this.

Fic, Silk and Steel, Part 11

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