by Jay Darby
Klose stood, avoided eye contact. “I’ll be in touch…” He started to leave.
“Thanks…And Fred, one more thing.”
Klose turned to face him, eyebrows arched.
“When this is all over, you’ll look back on this day with pride. It’s the day we started to change our world for the better.”
SIX
“KA43, wait!” KA7, the Master of Ceremonies, yelled from the platform. His voice echoed around the air raid shelter and pierced the black army’s expectant silence. “Stop!”
KA43 looked down on Nadia. She hung face down in the corral, legs shackled to chains, hands held by KA207 behind her head. He shifted his gaze to the platform and lowered the metal rod.
KA7 addressed the black army “Our dear leader has grown bored of spectating and wishes to join in the fun.”
The black army roared from their seats in the elevated, concrete rows.
KA1, the Supreme Leader, stepped slowly down stairs and left the platform. He stopped in front of corral number three and acknowledged his followers with the flick of a hand. They fell silent. “My brothers, dear KA7 speaks the truth.” His powerful voice filled the shelter. “I am not the most patient of spectators, and besides, it has been months since I had my hands on fresh, young meat.” He pushed the gown’s sleeves back and revealed wrinkled forearms.
The black army cheered, his aura pulled them in.
“Before we begin,” KA1 cried out, “let me share the history of this wonderful tradition…We of pure Celtic blood, like our ancestors from the ancient lands of Alba, are the only rightful ruling class. Pretenders have come and gone, believing themselves to be the chosen leaders of mankind. Germanic, Ottoman, Roman, Egyptian…Mongol. The list is long. Yet all have failed, where we will not. Because we are Celtic, white and pure, and the Gods will always favor us.”
“Magnus est Alba!” KA7 shouted in ancient tongue.
“Alba is great!” repeated the black army.
KA1 shook a fist. “Let us not forget today’s enemies...This ISIS, and other Muslim extremists, the scum who threaten our nation’s way of life. And just as culpable are those politicians from Labor and the Greens’, who support the Shariya law invasion and must be defeated.”
The black army sneered.
KA1 waited for calm, then turned to the corrals and waved a hand along the line of naked girls. “Our forefathers saw value in these girls, as we do today. They called them, Cumal, from old Irish, the word for a female slave. We no longer enslave our own kind, but thankfully, the Gods gift us lesser beings to profit from. And, my brothers,” he turned to the black army, “if we use them wisely, we shall grow richer and stronger.” He raised his hands towards darkness above.
The black army roared in adulation.
KA1 faced KA43. “Captain, proceed. KA207, hold her tight.”
“Yes, my lord,” KA43 said. He studied the metal rod’s orange tip, then waved it inches from Nadia’s back.
She screamed and struggled against the chains. KA207 held her hands behind her head in one hand, bent her forward at the waist with the other.
KA1 stooped in front of her. He stroked her shoulder-length hair.
“Piss off you dirty old pervert,” she yelled.
“Tut-tut, manners now.” KA1 ran a hand across her face. She gagged then spat. He straightened and turned to KA43. “I like this one, very feisty.”
KA43 bowed his head. “She is, my lord.”
KA1 addressed the black army. “Our forefathers believed that branding their slaves was akin to branding cattle. However, our mark upon these girls is more than a sign of ownership. It is a permanent reminder that they are beneath us in every way, and always will be.” He held his hands out, prophet-like, and looked up. “Si Diis Placet.”
“Pleased be the gods,” the black army chanted.
“Our branding mark is also a sign of quality. Loyal customers the world over know that a girl bearing our mark is guaranteed to be of the highest quality. A beautiful specimen. Young, untouched, untainted…It is why we can demand a premium price for our slaves.” KA1 turned to KA43. “Would you agree, Captain?”
“I do, my Lord.” KA43’s voice quivered. “Absolutely…”
“Speak up, our brothers in the back cannot hear.”
“I agree, my Lord,” KA43 said louder.
“Good, now tell me this...” KA1 cocked his head and patted Nadia’s glistening back, a child with a pony. “Will we fetch a premium price for this fine, black beauty?”
KA43 lowered his eyes, he saw KA207 wince. “No, my Lord, we won’t.”
“And why is that?”
“She’s tainted, my Lord.”
Shocked whispers spread throughout the black army. High Council members yelled obscenities from the platform. KA207 shook his head.
“Again. Louder,” KA1 demanded.
“She’s…Tainted, my Lord. She can’t be sold.”
The black army gasped. Whispers became chatter.
“Well Captain, that being the case, you know what you must do.”
KA43 peered down at Nadia and told KA207 to hold her. He raised the metal rod above his head. A hush fell over the shelter. He swung the rod down with such force it shattered KA207’s skull like a hammer striking an egg. A second blow ripped skin from scalp and face. Bright blood and dull brain spewed from a gaping hole and splattered over Nadia’s back. She fell forward onto her hands and screamed.
KA207’s lifeless body thudded against concrete, his face fixed in terror.
KA43 changed his grip, swung the rod down like an axe and split the shattered skull in two. A third vicious blow, followed by a fourth. More blows mashed it to a soggy grey pulp.
Nadia screamed and kicked her chained legs.
The black army gasped.
Silence fell over the shelter. KA43 stood over the disfigured corpse, his cloak soaked. The rod slipped from blood covered hands and clattered to the floor.
Men dragged KA207 from the corral.
“Bring a new iron,” KA1 ordered Fireman. “Unfortunate, but necessary,” he told the black army. He moved behind Nadia and instructed KA43 to hold her hands behind her head.
Fireman returned with a metal rod. The branding iron at its’ tip glowed bright orange. KA1 took it from him, then stepped closer to Nadia and caressed her with a skeletal hand.
She screamed and kicked. “No! Please…No!”
KA1 pulled her towards him. He held her waist with one hand, swung the rod high with the other and hollered like a rodeo cowboy. The black army laughed, the High Council applauded.
Without warning, he slammed the branding iron into the small of Nadia’s back. Her high-pitched howls rose above the hiss of scorched flesh. Foul smoke spiraled from her back. She sank into KA43’s arms.
Other girls stirred in their corrals and sobbed in a pitiful chorus.
KA1 pushed on the rod, a last violent thrust. He grunted, his chest heaved, and narrow shoulders sagged. He bent to inspect her back, then pumped the rod above his head and retreated from her. The black army roared. He nodded to KA43, who released Nadia’s arms.
She tried to run, the chains at her legs snapped tight, and she fell forward onto her knees. The black army sniggered. Men unshackled her, she collapsed to the floor. They prodded her with boots. She lay still.
KA1 held the metal rod in one hand. He pointed at Nadia with the other, then swept it across his body. “Take this impure beast from my sight. I shall dwell on her fate…”
The black army cheered and clapped.
Men dragged Nadia Tindall over the concrete floor. She disappeared into shadows.
Silence. KA43 stood alone, in front of his leader.
“I am pleased you understood the need to punish the Lance Corporal,” KA1’s voice boomed. “What if his selfish act of lust had gone undetected? Imagine our shame if we sold a slave, guaranteed as pure, only for a buyer to discover she was not. We have not spent decades building an excellent reputation in the market t
o have it tarnished by the foolish actions of one man. He showed a lack of discipline, a lack of respect for authority, and, total disregard for the proper order of things. Abhorrent traits that made him no better than the mugs we trade. Such actions cannot be tolerated. Agreed?”
“They can’t, my Lord.”
“And tell me, Captain, do you agree that you have failed in your duties as team leader, and have thus failed the brotherhood?”
KA43 bowed his head. When he raised it, his eyes begged KA1 for mercy. He felt the black army’s stares upon him, their condemnation heavy on his conscience. “I do, my Lord.” His shoulders slumped. He looked at the holes in KA1’s ivory mask and saw demonic eyes staring back, focused on his forehead. KA1 raised the metal rod above his head. “But what happened is not my fau--.”
KA1 swung the rod downwards. It whooshed through the air.
SEVEN
Porter woke earlier than he wanted to on Wednesday morning. His red brick, two-story house in the heart of western Sydney suburbia had never been insulated, and the chill of winter filled his lungs and made him cough. His head throbbed, as though eyeballs had been drawn out through ears. He stumbled into the bathroom to urinate, recoiled at the sight of blood-shot eyes in the mirror, then headed downstairs.
He yawned, dawdled to the kitchen counter and turned to face the middle of the room. “Good morning ladies.”
Jane sat at the table, her eyes remained fixed on a magazine. “Guess so…”
Amber jumped up from her seat and pecked his cheek. “Morning Dan, kettle’s boiled,” she said in a cockney accent with an Australian twang. She wore a pink robe over mocha skin, her black hair in a pony tail. Taller than most fifteen year old girls, she had legs up to her armpits.
He opened a coffee jar, smirked and nodded towards Jane. “What’s up with Rhianna today?”
Jane despised the nickname her fellow nurses had given her, and Porter knew it. She had an uncanny resemblance to the famous Jamaican RnB singer – tall and sexy, with a similar cute nose and pouting mouth.
Amber giggled into her cereal.
Jane kept her head down. “Not funny, da both of you.” She glanced up at him, then back to the magazine. “Don’t know what’s worse? Da girls at work calling me that stupid name, or them calling you ‘Russ’?”
The younger nurses had swooned over Porter at the hospital’s most recent Christmas party and had told Jane he resembled Russell Crowe. Handsome, they’d said, in the same rugged way.
He smiled. “C’mon babe, is it my fault I’m a dead ringer for Maximus Meridius?”
She studied him. “These days you look more like da raggedy Russell, da one in Body of Lies. You sure aint no gladiator…”
“You obviously forget about when you seduced me. You said my deep, husky voice sounded just like Maximus…” ‘Gladiator’ had long been Porter’s favorite movie. He held his fist high, as though wielding a sword. “On my command, unleash hell!”
Amber laughed and coughed up cereal.
Jane’s eyebrows arched. “I seduced you? You’re still drunk…”
Amber giggled. “And you’ve woken half the neighbors.”
Jane sighed. “You came home late again, Dan…Guess I should be grateful, at least you made it past da couch this time.”
He took a deep breath, prepared for battle. “Had a mongrel of a day, then worked past midnight searching for the girls. End of shift had a few beers with Betts. Was only two or so when I got in, right?”
“Four thirty-three a.m.” Jane’s eyes darted over him. “And from da state of you, it was more than a few.”
He made a coffee then sat next to her and placed his feet on Amber’s lap. “Well, I feel like crap too, if it cheers you up any…”
“Would be nice for Amber and I to eat dinner with you once in a while.”
Amber huffed. “Geez, don’t bring me into this. I’m going to watch tele...”
Porter waited for her to leave the kitchen. “Babe, if I wanna have a beer after work, I will.”
“Oh yes I know, it helps you coppers unwind. To deal with da stress, right?” Jane’s face contorted in a crimson scowl. “Wah di rass mun!” She flung the magazine across the kitchen.
He frowned and tried to decipher the abuse she’d hurled in Jamaican slang. Then he grinned, because only Jane could sound that cool and angry at the same time.
She growled. “Don’t you smile at me like that, Dan Porter.”
He realized he’d pushed too far and tried to pull her close.
She leaned away from him. “Don’t touch me…” Her voice rose. “Think you da only one who has terrible days at work? Well, I did too…
“Babe, I’m sor--.”
“But I came home and cooked your dinner, that’s still in da fridge, ironed our clothes and helped Amber with homework…And guess what? Didn’t need one beer to help me through it.” She stood, brown eyes glazed, her gorgeous face furrowed.
He held her wrist. “Sit down. Please?”
She shook her head as she sat. “Can’t go on like this, you’re drinking way too much. Amber’s been through it already and I won’t put her through it again...”
He leaned in to kiss her, she pulled away. “Again, I’m sorry babe...” He put a hand on her knee. “Can’t sleep sometimes and dunno why...” His conscience groaned at his lie. He knew the reasons he couldn’t sleep, and they’d multiplied since Sydney’s girls had started disappearing, but he’d never burden her with them. “The booze helps…”
She gazed into his eyes. “Hate when we fight like this…I know you’re tired and not sleeping well. Hear you every night...”
“Hear me?”
“Yes, when you do sleep. Talking, yelling…Screaming, kicking, punching. Some nights swear you’re gunna knock me out of da bed. It’s like you’re having nightmares.”
He sipped coffee, stared at the fridge and said nothing.
She leaned closer. “Will you let me help?”
He had to give her something. “Just feel like my career’s going nowhere, and it’s getting me down...”
“Why don’t you put yourself up for promotion?”
He scoffed. “They’d never promote me, rubbed too many bosses the wrong way. They want pimple-faced social science grads these days, not old hard heads…Just a phase, I’ll get over it.”
He kissed her cheek, brushed away silky black hair, then ran soft kisses down her neck. She chased his lips with her own.
“Amber?” he called out. “Where're my pancakes you promised?” He stood and stretched.
Jane pulled her satin nightie over ample bosom then studied him over the coffee mug. “Babe, we really need to t--.”
“Don’t wanna tell Tugger what happened at the meeting last night. Won’t be too over the moon yourself...”
“What you talking about?”
Amber walked into the kitchen and draped an arm over Jane’s shoulder. “Heard yelling. Everything okay?”
Jane smiled.
Porter ruffled Amber’s hair. “All’s good…Just about to tell your mum, they’ve scrapped the taskforce I’ve been working on.”
“What?” Jane’s mouth stayed half open. She took hold of Amber’s hand.
“Not enough money they reckon.”
“How do those bastards live with themselves?” She turned to Amber. “You’re staying home, no school today.”
“Mum? I’ve gotta go, there’re netball trials.”
“Nope, too dangerous. Crazy sickos are plucking pretty young black girls from da streets. They’re not taking my baby girl.”
He winked at Amber to let her know he’d take care of it. Her eyes sparkled in reply.
“I’ll drive her to school and bring her home,” he said. “Until this is over.”
Jane groaned. “Okay, okay…And days you can’t, I will.”
Amber pecked her cheek. “Love ya.”
“Don’t leave da school grounds until Dan’s there to pick you up. Clear?”
Ambe
r saluted. “Yes ma’am.”
Jane faced him. “I see what you mean about Tugger now…” A phone vibrated on the table. “It’s yours.” She glanced at the screen. “Claire?”
He picked up his phone. “The analyst with Azelia...”
Amber had a mischievous glint in her eye. “Hmm, Claire…She pretty?”
Jane glared at her.
Porter pressed the ‘answer’ button. What couldn’t wait until he started work later in the day? “G’day Claire…”
“Sorry to bother you at home Dan, was asked to pass this on right away.”
“No worries, go ahead…”
“We’ve got a lead on Nadia Tindall.”
“Serious?”
“Two council gardeners didn’t return to their depot in Redfern last night. Had been no sign of them, or their truck. Guess where they worked yesterday?”
“Surprise me…”
“Kings Park.”
“Where Nadia was last seen? The white van...”
“Yep. Crime scene guys combed the area at first light this morning but unfortunately found nothing. You won’t believe this…”
“Reckon I will…”
“Twenty minutes ago, close to seven-thirty, the council truck was found burnt out. Near Newcastle’s shipping terminal.”
“Newcastle? That’s a fair hike in a stolen truck...And the missing council blokes?”
“Inside it. Fried...”
“Bloody hell…” Porter scratched behind his ear. “Does Steve Williams know?”
“He told me to call you. Wants you and Bettsy to check it out asap. I’ll send you the location.”
“Okay, cheers. Catch up later.” He sensed Jane’s eyes on him as he ended the call.
“We’re not chilling out together today, are we?” She placed hands on his shoulders, made a sad puppy face and circled him with seductive swagger. “I was looking forward to some alone time when you got back from taking Amber…”
Amber pretended to vomit. “Mum. Gross...”
He took Jane’s hands and kissed the back of each. “Sorry babe, gotta get to work. Something humungous has come up.” He ran up the stairs.