# # # # # # # #
Marie returned to the ship Wednesday afternoon – the same afternoon that Dreamer arrived to resume her basketball life. Lucas also arrived Wednesday afternoon after some time alone somewhere. He didn't mention where he had gone and nobody was tempted to ask. Coping with near death experiences needed time. Hank did ask him if he had any difficulties with his new pinky ring. Lucas remembered little of the trial itself, but the TiTr record showed clearly that the judge had taken the ring for evidence that Lucas had assaulted the judge. They searched the courtroom but didn't find it. William made sure that the new pinky ring was calibrated with Lucas' sling before he left. Lucas said that it worked fine but he was angry that he had lost a lot of personal files.
Theo started talking about getting back to the gym and Yolanda took the hint. The Wilizy from the home compound left Toronto Wednesday evening. Marie and Nary joined them and would share a house back at that compound. What else they'd be doing was anybody's guess. Other than smelling things, neither had any skills that the Wilizy thought would be useful in their own, non-Voodoo'ed world. Hank had made it clear that Safe Haven Ranch #2 would have to wait. Any available time that the Wilizy had outside of business would be spent bringing the judge and his friends to justice.
As for that justice front, an interesting news item didn't hit the Toronto media until two days after the Wilizy visitors had left. The remains of a woman were found in a dark, heavily treed area of Toronto Island Park. A large animal had mauled the woman and had enjoyed the contents of her stomach. People in the area had heard a panther scream. This incident was reported on the bottom of the first page of Toronto's Starry and Sunny Globe but none of the young people on the Wilizy/Asia were paying any attention to media news. Basketball season had started again.
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Chapter 13
Tuesday morning, December 31 was full of activity. Let's look at a certain bedroom in New York State.
I can tell you that Maddy had been left alone in that bedroom for the 28th, 29th, and 30th of December. But she herself had no way of knowing how many days she had been locked in the bedroom without food as there were no windows to show the passage of time. Nor were there clocks. The reader may be wondering how Maddy had gotten from Ontario to New York State. That wasn't what Maddy was wondering. She was wondering if Big Daddy was going to beat her like he had beaten the other slave.
Safe Haven's New York personnel officer based in Syracuse happened to be doing some personal shopping in Canada on the morning of December 27th when he saw a young blonde girl sitting in an alley, shivering inside two ratty blankets. His recruitment area did not extend into Canada, so she wasn't in his database. But it was only a few days before December 31 and the birth of his God, Cia. December 31 was the day that Cia followers gave presents to themselves. Cia didn't agree with giving presents to other people on his birthday like another popular god. Why would anybody do that? Instead, Cia dictated that his followers should give themselves a present on his birthday. The personnel officer did what his religion encouraged. He gave himself a present of the blonde girl sitting all by herself in a copter outside of an Ontario food store.
The snatch was quick and easy. On the way back to Syracuse, the personnel officer set down in the small town of Watertown where two of his temporary parents had asked him to drop in for a visit. When he arrived, Brute and Pissy reported that they had found themselves with an acute case of dead blonde on their hands. These two temporary parents had developed a standard routine for acclimatizing freshly assigned daughters to their new situation. They would leave them alone without any human contact or food. At the end of two or three days, the little girl would be so grateful for something to eat that she'd do anything they'd ask in fear of being starved again. For this particular little girl, that routine hadn't worked too well. She was a crier.
The personnel officer made a quick decision. He wouldn't report the death to Safe Haven. He'd slide the new girl from Canada into the unexpected opening in Watertown. Brute and Pissy would be relieved that their little slip-up would not be punished and would willingly give him a cut of their proceeds when it came time to sell the girl. The ages of the two girls were the same; their sizes were the same. The new girl could use the same clothes as the first, play with the same toys, and use the same name. God Cia had smiled on him. In his happy state at receiving his god's benevolence, the personnel officer actually considered going into missionary work. But the idea of traveling to another country and spying on people there didn't appeal and he soon gave up that idea.
# # # # # # # #
Brute and Pissy lived in the U.S. near the shore of Black River Bay, which was itself part of Lake Ontario. They were living on Snake Island just west of the Old Watertown International Airport. Lake Ontario was much shallower than it used to be, but Snake Island was still technically an island. It was surrounded on three sides by Lake Ontario, and on the fourth side it was connected by very swampy land to mainland New York State. They liked this spot because it was isolated from the small community of Watertown itself, some 6 miles (10 km) to the east. Few people had any reason to trudge through swampy mud to their home. Brute discouraged any that did from coming back.
Brute and Pissy's home consisted of a one-level cottage. Unlike the more secure bunker-based homes that housed the kidnapped girls of Washington State, a home on swampy ground could not have a basement. Dig down into that soil and you'd be hitting water soon. However they did have a well-secured bedroom on the ground floor for their mini-guest. The floor of the bedroom was solid wood. If a young girl managed to break through that wood, she'd have to dig deep into the sandy loamy ground to escape under the cottage, but the soil would allow no such tunneling. Cement blocks backed the four walls of the bedroom. There'd be no escape that way. Cements blocks were too heavy to place in the ceiling, so the Safe Haven contractors had devised a different way to prevent escape that way. They made the ceiling too high to reach. Brute and Pissy had put nothing in the bedroom that could be placed on the floor, or even on the bed, that would allow a young girl to reach the ceiling. Not even an adult could reach that ceiling. In addition, as already mentioned, the bedroom had no window to the outside and no doorknob on the inside of the door. They didn't need to electronically seal their new prisoner into her bedroom at night; they just walked down the hallway and pushed the door shut behind her as she entered.
There was no risk of their young prisoner escaping from the home itself when she was out of the bedroom. Yes, she could slip out the front door. But the security transmitter hidden in Brute and Pissy's bedroom was set on a short leash. She'd be zapped if she stepped too far away from the house. And even if somehow she managed to unfasten her dog collar, where could she go? Swim across Lake Ontario? Walk through the swamp back to Watertown? The whole area around the cottage was full of water snakes lying in small colonies on rocks near the shore. On Maddy's first outing outside of the cottage, Brute would ensure that she saw them. But that pleasure was still to be experienced.
# # # # # # # #
"There you are, you little honey," Pissy said in her happy cheery voice. "You're awake. I was hoping you'd be up. I have some breakfast for you. But first, let's find out your name. You can call me Mommy. What's your name, you sweet little thing?"
Maddy looked at the very large man looming in the doorway. He was big like Big Daddy, but not black. This was the man who had whipped the cheery lady.
"Come on honey. Tell me your name."
Maddy opened her mouth but nothing came out. Not even a squeak.
"Honey, we expect the girls who stay with us to do as they're told. Your daddy won't like it if you don't obey. Do you understand me?"
Maddy nodded.
"So tell me your name like a good girl."
Maddy opened her mouth. Nothing came out.
"I'll help you," Brute said. He pressed the button on the wand.
Maddy screeched and flailed away at t
he dog collar. But no words emerged.
Brute let up on the button and waited for the wailing to stop. "Your mommy doesn't like it when you cry. You don't want to make your mommy mad. Do you understand?"
Maddy nodded her head as she used both palms to wipe the tears from her cheeks.
"Tell us your name."
All Maddy could get out were a few sounds.
"I warned you that you didn't want to make your mommy mad." Brute passed the wand to Pissy.
Pissy knelt in front of Maddy, put her face close to Maddy's, and screeched at her. "Tell me your name, you little witch!" She didn't use her happy and cheery voice this time. Definitely not the happy and cheery voice. Spit from Pissy's mouth mixed with the tears running again down Maddy's cheeks.
Maddy tried, but she was too frightened. All she could get out were some incomprehensible sounds. Those sounds became shrieks when Pissy held the wand's button down.
"He gave us a dumb one," Brute observed as Maddy rolled on the floor screeching and wailing. "Take your finger off the button, Pissy."
Pissy did and they both watched Maddy try to crawl into the bathroom still wailing and shrieking.
"Mute, I think," Pissy said as she held Maddy's right ankle aloft. "Not dumb."
"Still blonde though," Brute observed as Maddy tried to claw her way across the slippery floor.
"Lock her in the bedroom?"
"Nah. She can come out. Put some food on the table. We won't have any trouble with this one."
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Chapter 14
It was Friday, January 3 at about 6 p.m. Theo returned to the Wilizy/Asia to find Wizard sitting in the ship's galley. Theo had been working out in the university gym all afternoon in preparation for team practices that would begin on the Monday. Over the holidays, he had received a message that he could work out with the practice team from now on. He wouldn't be on that team, but he could work out with them. So Theo was in a good mood, tired but happy. It had taken only an hour and his shot and his timing had come back. He had spent the rest of the day on conditioning.
Lucas and Dreamer had helped Theo with his practice, but had stayed behind when Theo quit for the day. Lylah, Dreamer's housemate/coach, was back in town and wanted to work out with Dreamer that evening. Lucas volunteered to stay and help. That offer wasn't strictly so that he could keep an eye on Dreamer's shooting form. There was another form that he was interested in.
"Hey Wiz," Theo said when he saw Wizard sitting in the kitchen chair. "What are you doing here?" He didn't notice the glare that Wiz was aiming at him.
Wiz stood up and put his arms up in a strange fashion. His right arm was extended in front of his face, but bent at the elbow. His right hand was in a fist. His left hand was closer to his body, but still in front of his own face. That hand was in a fist too. "Put up your dukes, Theo," Wiz commanded.
"What?"
"Put up your dukes." Wiz had been researching the Internet for quick ways to learn how to box. He had found this picture and it looked reasonably easy to copy. The article said that this was how real men fought. The man in the picture had been the first Heavyweight Champion of the World – John L. Sullivan. He had lots of muscles. He had a thick moustache too. Dukes were fists. Putting your dukes up meant putting your fists up. It was how real men warned other men to prepare for a fight. Wizard liked the warning and the stance. The moustache was good too. He hadn't noticed that this picture had been taken in 1882.
"What are dukes, Wiz? And why are you standing like such a...." Theo was searching for the right word. Geek seemed somewhat harsh, but Wiz did look like a geek right now.
"Put up your fists, Theo. I'm going to fight you."
"I'm not going to fight you, Wiz."
"Yes, you are. I have challenged you properly and now I will thrash you." Apparently this was how people spoke in the 1880s. Wizard wasn't sure how he was going to thrash Theo – the bot hadn't been clear on that. But the bot had dwelt at some length on the honour of boxers fighting each other – the warning, and then the fighting with bare knuckles until one man went down and couldn't get back up. The book hadn't mentioned that the losing boxer couldn't get back up because he had been beaten so badly that he didn't have the strength. Wizard had never felt the blow of a fist striking his face. He didn't know what he was getting himself into.
"Why would I fight you, Wiz? What's going on? Why are you mad at me?"
"I don't like what you've been doing with Dreamer!"
Here, Wizard was referring to Theo's pastime of sleeping with Wizard's ex-girlfriend. Wiz had seen Dreamer walking around half-naked in the galley and he had seen how passionately she had kissed Theo one time in the university gym. He had put 2 and 2 together.
"I'm just helping her, Wiz."
Here, Theo was talking about how he was helping Dreamer practice basketball. He hadn't been sleeping with Dreamer, although at times he had thought about that. Theo had had romantic ideas, but those had faded away to be replaced by another thought or two about somebody else.
"What you're doing is not helping, Theo. You're taking advantage of her. You have to agree to stop or I will thrash you."
Wizard really liked that word.
"I'm not going to stop, Wizard. Dreamer wants me to help her. She likes it. I like it. Why would we stop?"
Well that slowed Wiz down a bit. In his mind, he had always thought that Theo and Lucas had put some sort of Vulcan mind paralysis on Dreamer and she had been participating in wild sex against her will and without her knowing anything about it during the event. The reader may recall that Theo and Lucas had enjoyed all the Star Trek bots that they had watched while they were alone in the pirate ship and waiting to ambush the North Korean freighter. They had shared their favorite stories with Wizard. Wizard's favorite character had been Spock. At the time, the boys had believed that the Star Trek bots were documentaries – real events.
"I'm still going to thrash you. For corrupting her. She used to be a good girl."
"She's still a good girl, Wiz. She's very good at this."
That ended the civilities. Wizard couldn't stop himself once he heard Theo praising Dreamer for being good at sex. He started flailing away at Theo's face, body, and anything else that he could reach. Theo had some decent skills in martial arts by now, plus his arms were much longer than Wizard's. Wizard did a lot of thrashing, but no connecting. Theo just blocked everything that Wiz threw his way. After a while, Wiz became tired of flailing and Theo got tired of blocking. Theo gave Wiz a two handed push in the chest, Wiz went down hard on his butt, and Theo went below deck without saying another word.
# # # # # # # #
"Thanks for helping with the practice, Lucas. But we'll be doing skill work now that won't need your help."
Lucas heard Lylah's words but didn't take them in. He was too busy looking at Lylah. She was wearing a perspiration stained green t-shirt, a loose pair of green sweat pants that went down to her calves, and short white socks inside a very expensive set of green basketball shoes. Her blonde hair was done up in a bun at the back of her head and wisps of her hair were in the process of escaping. The band of cloth that wasn’t quite keeping that hair contained was green. Shamrock green. Like the other green clothes she was wearing. Only the sweat beads on Lylah's forehead were not colour coordinated.
Dreamer took Lucas by the arm and steered him towards an exit. "You have to go now, Lucas. Women don't like guys staring at them when they're working out."
"You don't mind, Dreamer."
"You don't stare at me like you're staring at Lylah. I'll see you back at the ship."
# # # # # # # #
Lucas returned to the ship re-running Lylah's message in his head. He wasn't focusing on the words; he was remembering the voice. It was very close to Azure's voice. Not quite the same, but there were a lot of similarities. Obviously, Azure had tried to disguise herself by speaking in a higher voice when she had met with him, but that hadn't fooled Lucas. Azure a
nd Lylah were the same person.
"Hey, Wiz. What's up?"
Nothing was up. Certainly not Wizard. He was still sitting on his butt – Theo having deposited him there and then departing scant seconds ago.
Wizard pushed himself up off the deck and assumed the stance. "I'm going to thrash you, Lucas."
You have to admire Wizard's persistence, but Lucas was a boxer. He could crack ribs with a single blow. Lucas did recognize the stance though. The university boxing coach had described it as an incredibly stupid way to box. He had even showed Lucas why it was stupid. Lucas knew exactly how to put a man in that stance down with one blow. That blow wouldn't be in the ribs. It would be in the face.
"Get real, Wizard." Lucas pushed by Wizard, went to the fridge, pulled out a sports drink, and inhaled it. He reached into the fridge for another. When he turned around, Wizard was in the stance directly behind him.
"I'm going to thrash you. You have to fight me. Otherwise you'd be a coward."
"I'm not fighting you. Why would I do that? Why do you want to fight me?"
"Because of what you're doing with Dreamer."
In Wizard's mind, Lucas was the main culprit here. Wiz had seen a naked Dreamer leaning over Lucas' shoulder and kissing him on his ear. They were seconds away from having sex at the time.
"What she and I do on our own time has nothing to do with you, Wizard. You aren't her boyfriend any longer."
"I suppose you'll say that both of you enjoy it."
"Yeah, we do actually. We do it a lot. We have a lot of fun. She's becoming very good at it, Wiz."
(Narrator: None of this would have happened if these males had used sentences longer than four or five words. As in, she's very good at basketball, Wiz. Men and their grunts!)
Wizard didn't know what to say.
"Did you know that she's thinking of going pro?"
"Pro as in prost..."
"Yeah. Pro as in being paid. I believe she could make a lot of money. I help her practice – I would know how good she is at it. Theo too."