"But they're not the Saskatchewan army?"
"I suspect that they could take the Saskatchewan army out to the woodshed and spank them. Actually you and I could do that."
"What will you be doing?"
"I'll be looking at the island slave camp to see how our dumb Princess Freya could have made it off that island alive while deliberately leaving misleading evidence that she had been killed by an alligator."
# # # # # # # #
The debriefing had now turned to more personal matters. These two women were a team of assassins that had nothing to do but talk when they were waiting in the shadows. On such nights, they had shared information about their sex lives as a way of staying awake.
"Did you learn anything more from Prince Samuel? Other than he's a lousy lover?"
"I already knew that. I didn't particularly enjoy the reminder. He's working with another geneticist now. That's all that's different. What about you? How many men did you have sex with?"
"Six. I was a naughty naughty girl."
"We won't get any blow-back from your personal hobby will we Bean?"
"It will be like I was never there."
"Six men? Really?"
"I found the best looking one in the Walk Like a Duck Pub in Watertown, the place where two sex crazies were keeping Princess Freya on a nearby island that was covered in snakes..."
# # # # # # # #
The Wilizy planning team was meeting again. Jock and Lucas were in Regina, Melissa and Mac were in the satellite compound, and the rest (Winnie, Marie, Nary, and Theo) were in the home compound.
"We've been fortunate," Winnie started. "The slaves in each of the five Montana ranches have an established escape committee. Marie was able to make quick contact with a key person in Ranch #4. Her name is Pililiani and she's the senior housekeeper in the region. That housekeeper group meets on a regular basis. All the other housekeepers are either in charge of their escape committee or they're close to the person who is."
"We've had face-to-face meetings with the key person at each ranch to tell them that their rescue is coming. They don't know when, or where, or how. They won't tell the other slaves anything until the night before. I doubt that we'll have any leaks, but the plans may have to be changed at the last minute if we encounter unexpected difficulties."
"Like losing our head housekeeper," Marie interjected.
"Pililiani had been demoted and we needed her back as ranch #4's housekeeper so that she'd be able to give us access to the other housekeepers. Marie put some plant into the ranch's water tower. The next morning, every female who was still of childbearing age had such terrible cramps and mood swings that they started snarling, backbiting, arguing, and fighting with each other. Big Momma gave up after two days and brought Pililiani back to control the staff."
"It was part of a curse that lasts a full year. I watered it down to only three days."
"Good one," Winnie said.
Nobody else was impressed.
Winnie continued undeterred. "Bottom line for us is: we can be operational in Montana in less than 48 hours. The slaves will stop the bosses from reaching their weapons. They have a way to break into the storage shed holding all of the garden tools and that will give them access to metal tools, like shovels and rakes. We know where the security transmitter is located in each Montana ranch and Lucas told me that William is working on a transmitter destruction tool. The slaves have said that they'll take care of the bosses and the Big Mommas and Big Daddys. That means that all we have to do is take out that dog collar transmitter and monitor the battleground in case of surprises."
"Lucas, what can you tell us about William's weapon?" Jock asked.
"He has to field test it still, but if it works, we'll have a weapon that will find the security transmitter and disable it. He didn't want to destroy the transmitter with an explosion because that would create a noise. This way, there'll be no warning when we attack. He'll test it against some of the ranches to ensure that the signal will penetrate the walls of the house. He's not expecting any problems."
"Theo, your report?"
"Nary and I have finished searching the ranches in South Dakota. We know where weapons are stored, but not precisely what weapons they have. In cases where the weapons are stored in an attackable area, like a bunkhouse, we can probably destroy them. Similarly we can destroy the weapons that are cached outside the perimeters. For some ranches, we don't have the necessary information yet. We will need more Wilizy personnel or more time to complete these searches. Unless William has a non-explosive way of disabling the weapons, we'll be making plenty of noise. More troubling is the fact that every South Dakota ranch has arms stored in several locations inside the main house. Contrary often found it difficult to pinpoint the location exactly. That means the arms are hidden well away from the outside walls. I doubt that we can get at these arms without slipping into the house itself. We might be able to do that in the dead of night, but it will be time consuming and dangerous. The question becomes, how many of these South Dakota ranches can we hit in one night."
Nary took over. "We have no idea if the slaves in these ranches have any escape plans or who the leaders might be. Winnie's housekeepers have had no contact with anybody in South Dakota."
"As to the ranches in North Dakota, we haven't gotten to them yet," Theo explained. "They're next up on our sniff patrols. But I expect that we'll have the same results. We'll learn the location of external arms stores but not the internal ones. Plus we won't find anybody that we can approach. Plus these ranches will have superior weaponry. Plus we have a personnel issue."
Jock looked up at that. "What do you mean by personnel issue, Theo?"
"Something is wrong with me. I don't know what it is. I have no energy. I want to sleep all day. I even have trouble focusing on planning."
"Have you talked to Doc?" Melissa asked.
"Not yet, but that's why we came home. I had some improvement when I started adding meat to my diet. I'm actually eating a lot of it now because I always feel famished. But I've had no change in energy levels. I think Winnie should take over command of all the scouting. She's finished with her ranches. Nary and I can continue to do sniff patrols, but Winnie should be the one making the decisions. I can't focus."
Nobody knew what to say.
"Winnie?" Jock asked.
"I have the time to do it," she said. "Perhaps even an idea."
"Like?" Lucas asked.
"If we can find one slave in each cluster of ranches – just one housekeeper kind of slave – that slave could have contacts in the other ranches. Once we have one personal contact, we might be able to find out most of what we need."
"That would be better than what we have right now," Theo admitted. "How?"
"Ask Reese to join us. We'll have him look at the colours of the housekeepers that we know are loyal; next he'll go looking for other slaves on other ranches that have the same colours. We'll still have problems making contact with the slaves, but at least it's a start."
# # # # # # # #
Everybody liked Winnie's idea, so she was asked to invite Reese onto the team. Marie didn't say anything but she did make a mental note. I knew she was the smartest. She also didn't say anything about the concern that Nary was showing towards Theo. Nary had kept one hand on Theo's arm the whole meeting, and even helped him get out of his chair to see Doc. Theo didn't have to go far. Doc had showed up at the meeting immediately after Theo had mentioned he was ill and took Theo into the kitchen and closed the door at that point. Jock had one final item to report.
"Lucas and I had a good-looking young blonde drop by the Regina command center," he started. "She followed us home. Normally I wouldn't be surprised to see a good-looking blonde following Lucas home, but she was interested in me."
Everybody went Ooh and Ahh.
"She was also interested in the base. From the way she carried herself, it was obvious that she had a military background. I have activated some hidden security f
eatures on our command building and on my quarters in case she comes back. She has returned yet. I downloaded these pictures from TG's drones in the hallway of my office. I'm sending them to you now. Take a long look. Tell me if you've seen her before."
...
Nobody had seen her before.
"It's possible that she was honestly interested in joining up. She has the military background. She told our staff that she's a good pilot, but we told her that we didn't need pilots. So she decided not to pursue it and that's why she didn't come back. But if that were the case, why did she follow me home? If she had wanted to talk with me, why didn't she come up to my door and introduce herself?"
"Have we given the U.S. military any reason to be unhappy with us, Dad?"
"No, Mac. We have good relations with the limited number of contacts that we have had. Why did you assume United States military? They hardly exist now."
"Who else could it be?"
"I don't know," Jock replied. "The Saskatchewan army did receive some publicity in Toronto. Perhaps she heard about us from that. We're all thinking that this blonde was somebody from Safe Haven. Perhaps she actually was interested in Saskatchewan. Anyway, keep these images handy. Keep an eye out. If anybody sees her again, message me immediately."
At that point, Theo and Doc came back into the meeting room. Theo asked Nary to stand beside him.
"You see," Theo insisted. "I told you. I haven't grown. Nary reaches my shoulders just like always."
"But Theo, I used to come up to your nose," Doc pointed out. "Now I barely come up to your chin."
Turning to the group, Doc explained. "Theo's in a growth spurt. An aggressive growth spurt. He has added height in the last couple of weeks. He has also filled out in the chest. More muscles. More bulk. That's why he's been so tired. Here's my prescription, Theo. Eat, Eat, Eat. And get plenty of rest. Be prepared for aches and pains in your joints. Jock, Theo will not be at his best as long as this growth spurt lasts."
"U of T is going to love you," Lucas said.
"Nary is in a growth spurt too," Doc added. "You get the same prescription."
Marie nodded in agreement. And now it begins.
Back to the Table of Contents
Chapter 13
Yolanda was puttering around in the kitchen while EmmaGee was in the living room playing one of her make-believe games. Otherwise the house was empty, as it almost always was these days. Theoretically Reese and Winnie still lived here, but both were working on the Safe Haven battle plans right now and were camping out with Marie somewhere in the northern states.
Theo had messaged Yolanda this morning that he was beginning to feel better. He ought to. He had taken a full freezer with him when he left after the meeting. Theo messaged that it had flown like a giant... well, like a giant freezer. But it was manageable if they flew slowly. Thank goodness for William's filaments. Who would have thought four years ago that Theo could take an invisible freezer full of vegetables and fruits on a camping trip? Nary was in a growing spurt too, but she said that she didn't feel tired. Probably because Contrary was eating enough for the two of them. Eating enough for two of them brought another thought. Yolanda had seen Theo easing into the root cellar before he and Nary left. A quick check after they had gone revealed that he had taken some birth control protection with him. Yolanda was actually relieved about that. She had seen how Nary was looking at him, and how she had her hand on his arm all meeting long. Nary would be good for Theo. If they weren't having sex now, they would be soon. Yolanda didn't have any strong feelings about her children having sex before marriage; just so long as both felt strongly about each other and both of them were ready for it. Casual sex was another matter. She had made her feelings on that abundantly clear when she had given each of her teenagers her version of the sex talk.
Lucas was getting better about messaging Yolanda frequently. He admitted that he was finding it difficult to prepare the battle plan, but Melissa was helping him a lot. When he wasn't doing that, he was plowing through some books that Jock had lent them. They were tough going. History books on old battles. Interesting though.
Wizard wasn't sleeping at home any longer. He had moved to Toronto and was managing all his business operations from the Wilizy/Asia. Supposedly, Dreamer was living in the boarding house with the girl who was giving her coaching help. Perhaps she was sleeping there; perhaps she was sleeping in the ship. Yolanda wasn't going to ask. She was just happy that Wizard and Dreamer were friends again.
Winnie had finally coughed up the name of Lucas' love interest. Dreamer's basketball coach – Lylah. That love interest wouldn't stick around long with Lucas ignoring her all summer to work in Regina. Too bad, but Lucas was too young for anything serious anyway. Winnie had said that Lylah was enrolled in university courses and had played university basketball. Lucas would be much younger than her. It would be best if the relationship ended before it could become serious. But Dreamer and Wizard – they were close to the age where teenagers like them would be considering starting a family of their own. Yolanda wouldn't mind the two of them being together. Dreamer seemed to have her dreams under control. Momaka said that she was continuing to recover from her father's abuse even though the Raging Gardeners hadn't planted any perverts recently.
Momaka and Stu were hardly ever around now. Yolanda felt certain that they had established semi-permanent residency in the sub. The last time Yolanda had seen Momaka, she had been clinging to Stu, just like Nary had been clinging to Theo. Bob was under control now even when Momaka was sleeping. Too bad they couldn't start a family of their own.
As to the family in the satellite community, Melissa was the only one who messaged with any frequency. Wolf certainly wouldn't. Great stone face also meant great stone communicator. It's hard to get words out of a rock. All three of the satellite's women were very busy with their families. Seven children and none of them had seen their seventh birthday yet. Eight children soon. Melissa was pregnant. Yolanda wondered if William had messed around with the genes again.
Yolanda looked out the kitchen window onto her garden patch. Only a few years ago, the boys had been flying over the garden and plucking out weeds. It beat weeding on your knees. Eventually, that kind of weeding had ended up in weed throwing wars. Yolanda didn't keep a vegetable garden any longer. The family bought all the fruit and vegetables they needed. Wizard had insisted. They had ample money. He said that she shouldn't even think of having to do all that weeding by herself. Now they had a peanut patch. Very little weeding involved. Two crops a year and their first crop was ready now. Yolanda went outside with a big bowl to pick some peanuts.
# # # # # # # #
Peanuts are easy to pick. Yolanda was back quickly and paused at the door. EmmaGee was wearing pink shorts and a green top with a blue butterfly attached. It was somewhat of a garish combination, but Yolanda actually approved of it. She had had a major fight with EmmaGee about her clothes.
The week after they had bought the tops at the second-hand store, EmmaGee had gotten into the habit of changing her top multiple times during the day. She'd wear one top for an hour or two, and then go into her bedroom and change. The next top would last a few hours. Each time she changed, the top had to have a similarly coloured butterfly. These constant changes during the day meant that all her tops would need washing every day. EmmaGee protested that she didn't mind wearing clothes that she had worn the previous day, but Yolanda wasn't going to have any of that. "After you wear a top, it goes into the laundry basket," she told her. Boys might wear the same clothes for a week, but girls wore clean clothes every morning! No ifs, ands, or buts about that! This meant that Yolanda was doing a small bit of laundry every day. It had been sort of cute how EmmaGee would have colour-coordinated tops with butterflies, but that kind of cute didn't last long.
EmmaGee had become quite agitated when Yolanda insisted that she couldn't change a top once she had put it on. That had brought on a crying fit, a temper tantrum, and a long sulk in her bed
room. Yolanda was certain that she could purchase some more tops of the same colours, but the whole idea of throwing a top into the laundry basket after only an hour of use – well, that wasn't going to fly, not even if it had a butterfly attached to it.
Yolanda had another talk with EmmaGee after she had settled down. EmmaGee insisted that it wouldn't be fair if she could only wear one butterfly a day. She argued that this would hurt the butterflies' feelings. Yolanda found that hard to fathom. Why would a butterfly broach mind if it hadn't been worn enough? EmmaGee played games where she pretended her stuffies were real babies. All girls did that. But was EmmaGee also inventing games where the butterflies were real too? To the point of them having feelings?
Yolanda suggested a solution. She and EmmaGee would go on a shopping trip. Yolanda would buy her one additional top of each favorite colour. Also, because it was too hot now for jeans, she'd buy shorts in the same colours. EmmaGee would end up with two pink tops, and one pink pair of pink shorts, etcetera. EmmaGee could mix and match the tops and shorts however she wanted, but once she put her clothes on in the morning, they had to stay on. No changing every hour. To be fair to the butterflies, EmmaGee would be allowed to switch them whenever she wanted to.
EmmaGee said that she had to think about that and came out of her bedroom the next morning to say that everybody had agreed. Presumably, the butterflies had talked about it among themselves. Girls and their pretend friends! If stuffies could talk, why couldn't coloured butterfly broaches talk too?
The two had gone shopping, found some nice shorts and more tops in the right colours, and had come home quite happy about the solution. EmmaGee would still feel the need to change colours – even in the middle of supper, for example. She'd leap off her chair, go into her bedroom, and come back with a different butterfly. Granny reassured Yolanda that it was just a passing phase.
As Yolanda came into the house from the peanut patch, EmmaGee was in the living room playing with a pretend community of sofa cushions and pillows from her bedroom. One cushion was a grocery store; another was a school; another a playground; plus she had numerous houses. There were stuffies in abundance. One for the storekeeper, for example; more for other children playing in the playground. Two for the schoolteachers. She had quite the little village going for her. Along with a running commentary.
Bite Me! Page 9