...The Minister of Finance raised her hand for silence, her face a study in anger and triumph. She pointed toward the video and monitor sitting on a trolley near the far wall. Ms. Sharkey rose to her feet and pushed it to the middle of the room, clearly visible to all interested viewers. She turned on the power. As the pattern appeared on the screen, she slid in an unnamed videotape that had been sitting on top of the machine, then took her seat beside Mrs. Harder.

“Are you certain you won’t change your mind and sign those injunctions?” Sharkey asked as Harder reached for the remote control. “It will be less embarrassing for all concerned.”

“There will be no injunctions,” Sir David said. “That is my last word. I am not here to play games. I have important work to do. Until the law is changed, the injunctions remain unsigned.”

“The laws might not change, but the rules have,” Mrs. Harder said, smirking. “I’m sure you will agree with my assessment—after you have watched this very educational video.”

Sir David watched as a view of a blank door filled the TV screen. The lighting was subdued, but bright enough to clearly pick up the details. In the silence of the room, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door. Slowly it swung open and a stranger entered, followed closely by two staggering females, obviously under the influence of drink. Sir David suppressed a gasp as the camera panned to fill the screen with the faces of the two girls—his daughters Kate and Yvonne.

“Want to change your stance?” Harder said, putting the video on freeze-frame so he could study the faces of the girls.

“My decision still stands,” he said .

“Then let the action proceed,” Mrs. Harder said, restarting the video.

Sir David clenched his teeth, fighting to control his anger, as the camera followed the girls’ seduction and rape. They appeared to be happily cooperating with their friends—yet the two men weren’t friends whom the girls had previously invited to their home. Sir David cringed when the sisters were encouraged to use each other’s bodies. The camera zoomed in on their faces. Their eyes were glazed, but was it from lust or something more sinister? He couldn’t accept that they would perform in such a way unless forced. Yet he saw no apparent force being used.

“Now are you prepared to change your mind?” Mrs. Harder asked in triumph.

“Never,” Sir David growled. “The injunctions will not be issued.”

“Then the video shall,” she snarled. “It shall be given a worldwide release, with publicity to draw the attention to the fact that the two stars are the daughters of the Chief Justice of New Zealand, sisters who found pleasure in each other’s arms. I’m sure your family will die from embarrassment. Don’t you think you owe it to them to keep the video under wraps?”

“Even if I agree, what guarantee do I have that you won’t bring forward this filth again when you want me to carry out other illegal activity?”

“No guarantee at all,” Harder sneered. “I hold the trump card, so I don’t have to give guarantees. You will do as I say, or else the video will be issued.”

“How did you trick my daughters into performing such filth?” Sir David asked.

“That’s for me to know, and for you to find out. Sufficient to show you I have it on tape. This isn’t the master, only a copy for you to study at your leisure—a reminder of the skills your daughters possess. I should think it has been a long time since you’ve seen them naked,” Harder added, rubbing in the hurt. “They have certainly developed into luscious young women. I wonder how many people will drool over their soft naked breasts and firm white thighs. They certainly had a strong effect on my libido.”

Sir David glared at her. “What the girls have done is inexcusable, but it was obviously done under duress. I don’t know how you managed it, but it is something we will have to live with—”

“Only if you don’t issue the injunctions,” Sharkey said.

“—until it is overtaken by the other problems that face our country. We are a family. We will stand together. You cannot break our faith in each other.”

“You mean—”

“The injunctions will not be issued—not now, not ever.”

“Then the tapes go out. The publicity is prepared. Nothing shall stop me from carrying out my threat.”

“And nothing shall stop me opposing your blatant efforts to pervert the course of the legal system,” Sir David said, outwardly calm but inwardly seething with anger, “which I am sworn to uphold. Your attempts at blackmail shall come to nothing. I’ll never become one of your lapdogs, ready to bark at your command.”

“We shall see, Chief Justice. I’ll have the Prime Minister formally demand that the Queen remove you from your position as being a person unfit to uphold such a high and honorable place in the judiciary.”