"Do you believe that she's still alive?"
"From what they've told me, yes. But that's something you should determine for yourself. Safe Haven is telling me that the girl who got away is an escape genius. Is Princess Freya an escape genius?"
"That's not possible."
"Take an armed long-range solar copter. No military markings. If you need help, I can give you a partner. I can give you one or two platoons of Special Ops infiltrators if you need a military force to help recover her."
"For now, give me a partner with her own copter so I can send her back with messages and receive instructions. If Benedikta Ekelund is available, I'll take her. We've worked together before."
"But only in Finland?"
"Yes. She has never been in North America. I don't know where she is now."
...
One phone call later, Wilhelm told Jak that Lieutenant Ekelund was working as a martial arts instructor at the army's main base. She would receive her new orders that afternoon.
Wilhelm's briefing continued. "Tell Lieutenant Ekelund only that you and she are in North America to find Princess Freya and bring her home to safety. You were part of her security detail so that's why you're on this mission. Tell her that Queen Freya is safe, but in a different North American location. You can tell her that Princess Freya was abducted by the Safe Haven people who kidnap girls to work on their slave ranches. They did not know who she was, nor do we want them to learn who she is. They lost her. They'll help us find her and, in exchange, we may give them some additional contract work. Keep that part of the briefing fuzzy. Do not tell her how we are using Safe Haven's blonde girls here in Scandinavia. If she proves reliable, we can bring her into the pestilence operations later."
"A training exercise for her?"
"More of a reliability check, I think. Will she do what's necessary and keep her mouth shut? Can she operate undercover on her own for long periods of time without jeopardizing the mission? If not, you know what to do. The security of the pestilence operations cannot be compromised. Leave no loose ends."
"Understood."
"Why did you choose Benedikta Ekelund? She's too noticeable for undercover work in the daytime. Good for fixing the hole in the window behind me, I suppose."
Jak looked up at the window. It was one of those high arching windows and there was a very small hole at the very top. No way could even Bean have reached it. "Stray bullet?"
"No. I've been told it's a stress fracture from a bird or something. Maintenance will fix it next week.
Jak returned to the topic at hand. "Bean fixed something more difficult than a hole in a window for us, if you'll recall."
"I do recall now. Your colleagues gave the two of you a unique nickname. Did you mind?"
"Having the name of a child's fairy tale? No, not really. We found it amusing. Why do you want Princess Freya back so badly? Why don't you just order her assassinated like you did with the Queen?"
"In time, I will. But for now, Prince Samuel has made some leaps forward in being able to mass-produce blonde, blue-eyed girls. We want Princess Freya for her eggs. Imagine over 1 million young Scandinavian girls looking like Queen Freya.
"Queen Freya was not particularly smart."
"Even better."
# # # # # # # #
Jak's briefing with Wilhelm had been April 26. We're back to present time now. It's Sunday, May 5 2086 and Jak and her partner will be meeting a man who calls himself Fred Brown. Jak suspected that this was not his real name. The place of the meeting will be the abandoned Safeco Field, home of the old Seattle Mariners baseball team. The field hadn't been used for baseball for decades.
Fred Brown had selected the Mariners' field as a meeting place for several reasons. First, it was usually open but empty. The occasional fitness buff might be huffing up and down the cement stairs, but otherwise, there'd be nobody in the stadium to see them meet. Second, the field was very noticeable from the air. All his Scandinavian visitors had to do was find Bainbridge Island and head east. They'd see the green of the artificial turf easily enough. Third, when they met on the pitcher's mound in the center of the empty field, there was zero chance that somebody could be listening in. Fred Brown was always careful. His job required it. My readers know of him as Safe Haven's personnel officer.
Jak and Benedikta landed their copters in center field and walked to the pitcher's mound. Mr. Brown's 4-seater copter had a standard white exterior with yellow highlights. The back two seats could be removed for carrying cargo such as kidnapped girls. The brochure from the manufacturer hadn't mentioned that benefit specifically.
The Scandinavian operatives were using two entirely black military copters that were supposed to appear like normal copters that any family might purchase. The snout of the machine gun in the nose of the copter was concealed. The guns that could fire from the two openings on the sides of the copter were safely hidden in two shapeless sacks. Two crates full of miscellaneous weapons were sitting innocently in Jak's cargo area labelled as CANNED VEGETABLES. Jak had also stored two duffle bags of military clothing that might be needed for nighttime operations. She had brought only one suitcase of civilian clothes holding two presentable disguises. She was wearing one of them now. A dark blue pantsuit with a white blouse. Her other pantsuit was black. Her second blouse was dark blue. Jak wasn't wearing her usual combat boots. The black pumps went better with this outfit.
Benedikta had the same two pantsuits to choose from as Jak, but she had picked black for today. She also had two duffle bags of military clothing. The two crates sitting in her copter's cargo area were labelled SEED POTATOES. One held various forms of explosives and detonators; the second contained various surveillance tools.
As they strode across center field and approached the pitcher's mound, both Jak and Benedikta were trying to get a sense of this Fred Brown. They knew it was a very common name. The man himself looked very common too. He was dressed just as any other male in his mid 30s would be. He was average height, average weight, average build, and average appearance. His most unique feature was a tiny scar mark, like a chicken pox indentation, on his left cheek. He wore glasses, had an average nose, as well as a reasonably good haircut that was becoming a little shaggy. Typical for males of his age, he had a receding hairline and a preceding gut. If you looked up average man in Wikipedia, you'd find Fred Brown's picture.
For his part, Fred Brown was eyeing the two women striding towards him. His first thought was military. He had expected that. What he hadn't expected was the obvious nature of their employment. The two operatives must have participated in countless parades. Unconsciously, they were marching, arms swinging in unison, shoulders back, and head straight. They may as well have had a sign on their clothes that read: We are soldiers. We wear clothing that has been mass-produced. The colour of our underwear is khaki. Their military background stood out. That was not a good thing as far as Fred Brown was concerned. Especially not if these two were supposed to be undercover operatives. Mr. Average Man, who could walk down a street and not be noticed, was not impressed.
Introductions were made; hands were shaken. Jak took charge.
"We have come prepared to assist you in the search for and recovery of this girl from Bainbridge Island. What was her name again?"
"Madison Smythe," Fred Brown answered. Military people don't forget names. Why are you pretending not to know?
"We'll follow your lead on her recovery. Ask for resources if you need anything. My partner and I are just the first two in what could be a larger force at your disposal."
Sounds like you're desperate to find her. Why is Madison Smythe so important to you?
"We'd also like to talk about some additional contract work with you. We'll have to examine your facilities to determine whether you can meet our needs. We'll also be looking at the security issues your facilities might face if you have to increase your numbers of kidnapped girls. It appears that two if your storage sites may have been compromised. We
'd like to visit those places. Perhaps we'll see something that others have missed."
"I'd be glad to give you a tour."
"Perhaps to maximize our time, you could give my partner the coordinates of the slave ranch where this Smythe girl was first kept? She'll talk with your key people on site. Look for security weaknesses. Traitors. That kind of thing. Meanwhile, I'd be happy to have you show me around other sites. We can use my copter, if you like."
Too conspicuous. "Let's use mine. People are used to seeing it. I'll show you where you can hide yours."
"How long will this tour take?"
"At least a week. I have a side trip to make."
"Let's meet up with Benedikta on Tuesday May 14 – at the slave ranch. I'd like to see what a slave ranch looks like."
Fred Brown watched the two Scandinavians marching back to their copters. Mr. Brown was an average male; his mind wandered down average paths. He had noticed that Jak was a good-looking blonde. Everything that an average man would be interested in was in its right place and appearing very healthy. Not that he'd try anything with a woman who had the ability to kill quietly and efficiently. But it was still good to be with the good-looking woman in the pair. Benedikta was tall and skinny to the point of appearing vulnerable to a sudden gust of wind. She had no figure to speak of. At least not one that Fred Brown could discern. In fact, with the wire glasses on her face and the black hair cropped close to her skull, she looked like an accountant. She could pass for a man. Perhaps she was. A man posing as a geeky, awkward looking woman. Would they do that? Why would they do that?
Back to the Table of Contents
Chapter 6
Sunday morning. Reese looked up from his cereal bowl as Maddy skipped into the kitchen. She went immediately to the fridge and turned over the page showing her name for the day. It now read Madison. Then she went to Reese and gave him a big hug. "Hi Daddy." It was an awkward hug since Reese was sitting and facing the table; still, she managed to pull it off.
"Hi Madison. What do you want to do today?"
"I dunno."
"Shall we start with breakfast?"
"OK."
Reese looked at Madison. She was still standing next to him, her arms clasped around his neck and looking at him in expectation.
"Would you like me to make you something to eat?"
"Yes please."
"What would you like?"
"I dunno."
So Reese put a bowl of cereal on the table along with a single slice of toast and peanut butter. Madison sat at the table next to him and ate contentedly. Afterwards she stood next to him, put her arms around his neck again and asked, "Can we play some games?"
Reese agreed, but first Madison had to clear her place at the table. When they went back to her bedroom, he told her that she had to make her bed too. In fact, she should make her bed before leaving her bedroom. Madison replied, "OK" and made her bed. Next it was teeth brushing time. And face and hands washing time.
"What games would you like to play?"
"All of them."
Reese bundled all of the games on Madison's floor together and took them into the kitchen where they could sit at the table together. He explained the first game, Snakes and Ladders, and they started. Madison lasted a few minutes before losing interest. She stood next to him and put her arms around his neck.
"Are we done?"
Madison nodded and said, "I won."
"Now what?"
"Next game," she said.
Reese played bits of three more games. "Let's do something else," she said at the end of fifteen minutes.
"First we have to put these games away."
"OK." Madison stood watching Reese.
"You take two games back to your room and I'll take the rest."
"OK."
# # # # # # # #
The morning went very slowly for Reese. Madison's attention span was measured in minutes. For example, when she was sitting on his lap and Reese was reading from a book, he would only get through the first couple of pages before Madison took the book out of his hands, close it, and announce, "Next book."
At one point, desperate to find something that might keep her interest, Reese took her back to the storeroom and asked her if she saw anything that she'd like to play with. That was a mistake.
"Everything," Madison said.
So Reese and Madison shared the job of bringing all of the books, toys and stuffies to her bedroom. Reese did exercise some judgement in only bringing things that were suitable for her age. They placed everything on the floor in front of the closet. Then Madison did something somewhat surprising.
"I'm going to play in my bedroom by myself now," she revealed and almost pushed Reese out the door. She closed the door firmly behind him.
Reese shrugged, went into his bedroom, plopped on his bed, and closed his eyes. Winnie's voice from the hallway woke him. "Where's Madison, Reese?"
"She's in her bedroom. Playing by herself."
"She's not there."
Reese trotted down the hallway and looked through the open doorway. The big mess that had been on the floor ... he checked the time ... an hour ago was gone. All of the picture books were organized into four neat piles on the floor of the closet. The biggest book was on the bottom; the smallest book was on the top of each pile. The games were similarly organized, although the stacks were nowhere near as high. The stuffies couldn't be organized into piles; instead, he found a clump of stuffies in each of the four corners of the bedroom. "I closed my eyes for only a second."
"Let's do a TiTr search," Winnie proposed.
...
They found Madison in the recreation center, although her route there was hardly direct. Madison had wandered around the compound, looking at the buildings. She had seen the gym and had tried to enter but was blocked by the invisible walls. She had been quite persistent – walking around the entire perimeter and pushing against the electronic barrier. From the gym, she walked to the recreation center, saw the open door, knocked on it, and had entered. She was now in the corner of the main room, fully engrossed in playing with Reese's figurine armies when Reese and Winnie came in.
"There you are," Winnie said.
Madison looked up and stared silently. Then – "Mommy! Daddy!" Next – hugs. "I found more toys," she exclaimed.
"Let's have some lunch," Winnie said. "This afternoon you can play with the wolves."
"What are wolves?"
# # # # # # # #
After Winnie had supervised Madison's bedtime bath, a worried mommy and daddy met with Yolanda and Granny. Reese described how his morning had gone. He also admitted that he had fallen asleep when he was supposed to be watching her. "Anything I tried to do, she tired of it in just a few minutes," he summarized. "I ran out of ideas. I was exhausted."
"Same for me," Winnie admitted. "I thought that she'd enjoy playing horsey with Patella and Scapula. She was too frightened of them so I sent them away. She had tried very hard to get into the gym, so I took her in and tried to play kick ball with her. She wasn't interested. I tried reading; I tried games. I took her around the compound and told her who lived in each house. We visited with Granny and she ate a cookie. But she couldn't sit still and started climbing all over me. Stu and Momaka aren't back from their holiday yet, so we didn't go in there. I thought I'd take her a little further into the compound so that she'd be able to wander around on her own if she wanted to. I'd point out where to be careful. She kept trying to walk on my feet, and when I wouldn't let her, she started pulling and tugging on me. Whining. Asking me to carry her in my arms; asking me to put her on my shoulders. I called Reese and he put her on his shoulders and we walked together. That was the only time that she sat still the whole day!"
Reese took over. "Winnie talked about the things we were passing and how Madison should not go near the river. We went all the way downriver to the security fence and I explained how she shouldn't try to go past the signs. I told her that we had a fence to kee
p bad people out and told her that she should never go outside that fence without an adult."
"Did she understand?"
"I think so," Winnie said. "On the tour, she listened to everything we said. She wasn't squirming around trying to get down or trying to hug one of us. She just stared at everything. I don't know if she was enjoying the walk or not. She wasn't smiling, but she did look really curious."
"Afterwards we came home and it was time for supper. We promised to take her upriver tomorrow. She went in her bedroom to wash up for supper and it was huggy huggy time all over again. She ate supper quietly and wanted to go to bed. It was way too early for that."
"She seems to like having an hour by herself before bedtime," Granny observed.
"Yeah. She wanted some private time yesterday too. I listened at the door for a bit. She was talking to herself. I couldn't hear what she was saying."
"Little girls talk to their dolls," Yolanda said. "Perfectly normal."
"She doesn't have any dolls. Yollie used hers for target practice, remember? I got to play with detached heads and limbs."
"Stuffies, then."
"What are we supposed to do?" Reese asked. "She won't even listen to me read a five page picture book."
"She does seem to be a little behind in attention span," Granny admitted. "The behaviour you described is what a toddler would exhibit."
"Perhaps she'll focus more if she's involved in the activity. Get her doing things, not just listening. Colouring? Cutting paper? Tracing?"
"Yolanda's right. Some children are more quiet and passive; others have to be doing something all the time. Lucas was like that."