Chapter 3 is actually titled "Sentence Negotiation," the same as the title of Juan1234's original story. Ellie Ruck has already been sentenced to be crucified which, in this universe is the penalty for treason and other heinous crimes. She's been found guilty, and she will be crucified. The only options open to negotiation are the ways in which it's carried out.
This chapter is where Ellie has to sit and listen to them negotiate over how they will torture, humiliate and kill her slowly and horribly.
Also in this chapter we learn how executions are carried out by union crews employed by contractors. There are federally-licensed whipmasters and executioners who are certified to have the skills required for their jobs. They have assistants on their crews who are called "wranglers." They are also certified to have the skills and strength to manage unwilling subjects in their executions.
The negotiations might have gone better for Ellie, but...
Chapter 3: Sentence Negotiation
The judge, prosecution and others filed in as Alice was finishing. She and Ellie waited in silence. The judge took his seat, looking bored. Everyone else took their seats.
“Prosecution, you’ll open,” he said. “What’s your offer?”
The prosecutor stood while the judge rummaged through his paperwork to get the sentence conditions in front of him.
“Your honor, the Federal Government proposes the following.” He read from a paper, “First, execution date is to be moved to Saturday, May 15 at 10 a.m.
“Second, the condemned shall undergo preparation prior to execution with standard IV military-grade time-release nutrients, stimulants and sensory enhancements, which she shall continue to receive throughout her sentence.
“Third, condemned shall be stripped completely naked for her crucifixion. Let’s see… No change to the crucifixion procedure, four nails, basic Category 1 ‘T’-cross.
“Fourth, prosecution requests an upgrade to a Class 3 gender-specific sedile.”
Alice’s eyebrows went up at that. She made a note on her legal pad.
“Fifth, duration of crucifixion to be at least seven days,” the prosecutor continued, “after which death shall be allowed to occur at such time as the condemned shall die without intervention. Body to remain on cross twenty-four hours following death.”
“Mmm-hmm,” the judge responded. “Well, we’ll see what the defense has to say about that. Counsel for the defense, state your counter.”
Alice stood up. “Your honor, defense yields qualified acceptance to prosecution’s nudity proposal for Ms. Ruck’s crucifixion, subject to her being stripped to panties prior to nailing, panties allowed to be removed following completion of nailing and raising. This acceptance is conditional on prosecution’s agreement to a forty-eight-hour Guaranteed Death stipulation.”
The prosecutor was shaking his head, already disagreeing.
Alice continued, “In addition, your honor, defense offers total nudity during whipping, stripping to occur just prior to fastening the condemned to the whipping post.”
The prosecutor gave a noncommittal look.
“This nudity is conditional on two things: For the first condition,” Alice continued, holding up a forefinger, “Following her whipping, condemned is to be allowed to dress in a standard grey disposable gown and panties which she will wear while walking to place of execution, where the gown may be removed by the executioner at his discretion.
“And for the second condition,” Alice went on, holding up two fingers for emphasis, “There shall be no sedile used during the condemned’s crucifixion.”
There was a murmur from the gallery and the prosecutor’s face took on a dubious expression. Alice knew he was unlikely to accept dispensing with the sedile, but she had to get him back to no more than the Class 1 sedile in the original sentence. Any sedile was bad, but the Class 3 was horrible.
“As to the execution date, your honor, defense is willing to accept an execution date of one month from today, which allows for completion of the condemned’s next menstrual cycle.”
“When and how long are her periods?” The judge asked, sounding a little less bored.
“The last one started five days ago. They are typically three days long and twenty-eight days apart, your honor.” Alice replied. The judge made notes.
That son of a bitch is talking about my periods as if I’m not here! Like it’s his business to know! Ellie thought.
Ellie snapped.
“You bastard!” Ellie jumped up and shouted. “You fucking bastard! Scheduling my – my death to fit my periods! How dare you! You son of a bitch, you can kiss my ass! And furthermore… ”
Alice had hold of her arm, shaking her insistently, “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up, now! Right now!” Alice said in a loud whisper. There was some muted laughter from the gallery.
“Sounds like she’s on the rag right now!” The prosecutor pretended to study his notes and laughed under his breath.
The judge banged his gavel. “Order in the court. Not very professional, prosecutor. See if you can do better.” He picked up a paper and studied it. “Defense, please control your client,” he said without looking up.
“Ellie Ruck,” the judge frowned. “I find you in contempt of court. Normally, that’s a few days in jail, but for you that’s not an option. Well, let’s see. Court accepts the prosecution’s request for a Class 3, gender-specific sedile, so that’s off the table. Also, minimum cross time will be five days. You two can negotiate anything more than that, but nothing less. Nudity, let’s see… Let’s just say Miss Ruck will remain completely nude throughout her sentence, final stripping to take place just prior to her whipping. No panties, no G-string. Whipping, since she’s nude and therefore nothing off-limits, will be inverted ‘Y’ suspension rather than a post. Let the whipmaster be unimpeded. That’s it. Continue, defense.”
“To be clear, your honor,” Alice said, “no clothing allowed while walking from her whipping to the place of execution, either?”
“That is correct, defense,” the judge replied, checking his phone messages.
Alice wrote on her legal pad.
“Anything else, defense?” The judge asked without looking up from his phone.
“Yes, your honor,” Alice said. “In light of your new ruling, we revise our request to state a 5-day Guaranteed Death clause, time to begin at commencement of whipping.”
The judge was shaking his head before she finished speaking. “No, the five-day minimum starts when the condemned has been Fairly Crucified. To be clear, ‘Fairly Crucified’ is defined in the GACP as the point when the contractor has delivered the condemned fully nailed, raised, sign properly set and any sedile and/or other implements of torture properly installed according to the official execution work order. Additionally, the work area has been properly cleaned and restored, and the federal crucifixion inspector certifies the condemned is crucified and custody transferred to the guarding and maintenance contractor. You should revise your request to reflect that.”
“So noted, your honor.” Alice said. “So, my client could be hanging on her cross for, say an hour or two, before the inspector certifies her to be ‘Fairly Crucified’? And only then does her time begin running? I ask this for my client’s benefit, your honor. I’d like her to fully understand what her earlier outburst has cost her.”
The judge chuckled. “Yes, defense, you are correct. Those are union crucifixion contractors. They have one licensed executioner and four wranglers to do the assembly – that’s how they refer to it, ‘assembling’ the cross and condemned into a single unit.
“Then there’s lifting, which they do, but they don’t do clean-up and restoration, that’s another union crew. Clean-up takes care of blood, urine, feces, any other body fluids, divots and other damage to the park due to the condemned’s struggles while the nails are being driven through her wrists and feet.
“If that crew gets delayed, or a scheduled break occurs and they go drink coffee, then it could be two or more hours until they obtain the ‘Fair Crucifixion’ certification. But what’s two hours after she’s spent five days on the cross? She won’t even be able to notice.”
“All right,” Alice said, “In return for a 5-day GD clause, time to start at ‘Fair Crucifixion,” plus installation of sedile to occur after she is hanging on the cross, daily lubrication of sedile, and support of her body while her crosspiece is moved to the post and lifted into place, my client would accept an execution date on or about May 30 or when her menstrual period has completed.”
“Prosecution?” The judge said.
The prosecutor smirked as he spoke. “In view of the heinous nature of the condemned’s offense and the need to set an example for others who might contemplate such crimes, prosecution feels justice should move swiftly in her case.
“Due to the schedule of the condemned’s menstrual cycle, pressing need and the availability of a window of time in which to schedule her execution to complete before her next period would commence rather than begin after it would complete, prosecution requests an expedited execution date of May 3. In return, prosecution will concede that the sedile shall be installed after the condemned’s crosspiece has been hung on the cross. Prosecution will also concur with daily lubrication of the sedile’s horns.
“Prosecution points out that GD has been shown to have no value for the condemned after four days on the cross, while display of the condemned’s living body, even though she is in a delirium state and no longer lucid, continues to be in the government’s interest. Therefore prosecution rejects defense’s request for GD.
“Prosecution understands that dragging the victim’s body by her wrists to the base of the post and then suspending her body by her wrists while assembling the crosspiece to the top of the post is the procedure set out in the Generally Accepted Crucifixion Practices manual, and only the Execution Services Department has the authority to modify that procedure under special circumstances. Which, to date, they’ve never done. It’s simply a required step in the punishment of crucifixion, your honor.”
The judge made some notes. “Agreed. Thank you for pointing that out, prosecutor. Defense?” The judge looked at Alice.
“Defense rests.” Alice said, dropping her pencil onto her legal pad in a gesture of surrender.
“Prosecution rests.” The prosecutor said smugly.
