Read Online Tiger by the Tail by John Ringo, Ryan Sear - Free Book Online
Authors: John Ringo, Ryan Sear
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box?’”
The only answer he received was the man spitting in his face.
Mike tore off the man’s shirt with his free hand and wiped his cheek. Dropping the filthy shirt, he drew the hammer and smashed it down on the pirate’s pinky finger. The pirate screamed in agony and whipped his hand out from under the blade, scraping skin and opening a long slash as he cradled it to his chest.
“One down, nine to go,” Mike said. “Translate that.”
* * *
Breaking the rest of the fingers on the leader’s hand elicited no new information. It had, however, put him into shock by the time Mike started working on his palm. It did have the desired effect on their other male captive. He was now leaning over to get as far away as he could from his maimed leader and the crazy American working him over. For now, Mike was content to let the poor bastard sit there and think about what would happen to him when it was his turn.
The woman was more of a mystery. She sat with her head down, eyes closed. Mike had let her be for now; he knew she could hear what was going on.
He tossed the bloody hammer onto the small table. “This guy’s done for now. Get a medic out here to treat him and clean this up. Make sure he stays alive.”
“Hey, Kildar, check this out.” Vanner was sitting behind his laptop with the monitor facing away from the other two prisoners.
Mike walked over. “What you got?”
Vanner kept his voice low as he replied. “While you were busy, I put my tweaked voice stress lie-detector program through both of the conversations you just had. The meat there—” He waved at the slumped pirate. “—he’s telling the truth, he doesn’t know shit about shit. The girl, on the other hand, I’ve gotten several hits off her that tell me she’s hiding something.”
“No shit?”
“I’m not sure what it is, but there’s definitely more to her than she’s telling.”
“Two mysteries in one night? And here I thought our little training cruise was going to be fairly straightforward.” Mike straightened to regard the Chinese woman. “She looks like she might even clean up well. I’d rather not leave any marks on someone who may be sticking around, yet I want to know what she knows.” He tapped his cheek as he pondered, then snapped his fingers. “Water, water, everywhere; nor any drop to drink.”
Vanner looked at him quizzically. “It has been a while since I’ve read Coleridge, but I’m not sure how ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ fits this situation.”
“Don’t worry, you will.” Mike hadn’t taken his eyes off the woman. “And she definitely will by the time I’m done.”
* * *
Although waterboarding was only brought to most of the modern world’s attention in the past decade, it has been around for more than four hundred years.
The technique goes back to the sixteenth century and the Spanish Inquisition. The Catholic inquisitors used a variety of it, known as the toca , or tortua del agua , as an interrogation and punishment device. It popped up around the world in the intervening centuries; the Dutch used it during the Amboyna Massacre in 1623. Variations were also used as punishment in American prisons, notably in Sing Sing and in the South, during the nineteenth century. It was used by the American military during the Spanish-American War; the “water cure,” as it was called then, was privately espoused by President Theodore Roosevelt, although he spoke against it in public. Both the Japanese and German armies used it in World War II. The U.S. generals banned its use in Vietnam, although the Vietnamese used it on each other with impunity. Variants of the technique also appeared in Chile, Northern Ireland, and South Africa. Elite branches of the U.S. military still use a mild form of the technique during their SERE training to prepare soldiers for what they might encounter in enemy captivity.
Wherever and whenever it was used, the common agreement was that waterboarding was an
The only answer he received was the man spitting in his face.
Mike tore off the man’s shirt with his free hand and wiped his cheek. Dropping the filthy shirt, he drew the hammer and smashed it down on the pirate’s pinky finger. The pirate screamed in agony and whipped his hand out from under the blade, scraping skin and opening a long slash as he cradled it to his chest.
“One down, nine to go,” Mike said. “Translate that.”
* * *
Breaking the rest of the fingers on the leader’s hand elicited no new information. It had, however, put him into shock by the time Mike started working on his palm. It did have the desired effect on their other male captive. He was now leaning over to get as far away as he could from his maimed leader and the crazy American working him over. For now, Mike was content to let the poor bastard sit there and think about what would happen to him when it was his turn.
The woman was more of a mystery. She sat with her head down, eyes closed. Mike had let her be for now; he knew she could hear what was going on.
He tossed the bloody hammer onto the small table. “This guy’s done for now. Get a medic out here to treat him and clean this up. Make sure he stays alive.”
“Hey, Kildar, check this out.” Vanner was sitting behind his laptop with the monitor facing away from the other two prisoners.
Mike walked over. “What you got?”
Vanner kept his voice low as he replied. “While you were busy, I put my tweaked voice stress lie-detector program through both of the conversations you just had. The meat there—” He waved at the slumped pirate. “—he’s telling the truth, he doesn’t know shit about shit. The girl, on the other hand, I’ve gotten several hits off her that tell me she’s hiding something.”
“No shit?”
“I’m not sure what it is, but there’s definitely more to her than she’s telling.”
“Two mysteries in one night? And here I thought our little training cruise was going to be fairly straightforward.” Mike straightened to regard the Chinese woman. “She looks like she might even clean up well. I’d rather not leave any marks on someone who may be sticking around, yet I want to know what she knows.” He tapped his cheek as he pondered, then snapped his fingers. “Water, water, everywhere; nor any drop to drink.”
Vanner looked at him quizzically. “It has been a while since I’ve read Coleridge, but I’m not sure how ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ fits this situation.”
“Don’t worry, you will.” Mike hadn’t taken his eyes off the woman. “And she definitely will by the time I’m done.”
* * *
Although waterboarding was only brought to most of the modern world’s attention in the past decade, it has been around for more than four hundred years.
The technique goes back to the sixteenth century and the Spanish Inquisition. The Catholic inquisitors used a variety of it, known as the toca , or tortua del agua , as an interrogation and punishment device. It popped up around the world in the intervening centuries; the Dutch used it during the Amboyna Massacre in 1623. Variations were also used as punishment in American prisons, notably in Sing Sing and in the South, during the nineteenth century. It was used by the American military during the Spanish-American War; the “water cure,” as it was called then, was privately espoused by President Theodore Roosevelt, although he spoke against it in public. Both the Japanese and German armies used it in World War II. The U.S. generals banned its use in Vietnam, although the Vietnamese used it on each other with impunity. Variants of the technique also appeared in Chile, Northern Ireland, and South Africa. Elite branches of the U.S. military still use a mild form of the technique during their SERE training to prepare soldiers for what they might encounter in enemy captivity.
Wherever and whenever it was used, the common agreement was that waterboarding was an
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