Chapter 9: The Sting

Phase two began.

The remaining human trash was tossed through a portal to Siân’s waiting interrogation teams, already at work on their predecessors. Dora monitored each session for information useful to the on-going operations.

As it happened, Sheriff really was a sheriff, but from a town in the next county. A call to his office yielded information that he was on vacation in Florida. Dora again perfectly mimicked his voice and called Gus, Scooter, and Junior, instructing each of them to bring coffee and donuts to the school. Upon arrival, they were stung unconscious and removed to more of Siân’s not so tender interrogations.

From the sheriff’s minions came bits and pieces of information, mostly surrounding their own roles, the overall scheme and timetable. Of particular note was the plan to leave evidence that the disappearances were a Confederacy pickup, and the dead bodies of the volunteers were to be left as ‘proof’ of the Confederacy’s inhumanity.

After Sheriff’s wounds were bandaged but not numbed, he and Stevie were placed together in a room and left with a looped video running showing Patricia’s entry and interrogation followed by a close-up of Billie and her pliers in operation. The only audio was Sheriff’s defiant statements, followed by his screams.

After a half hour wait, the interrogation of the sheriff and Stevie proved surprisingly easy, given Sheriff’s ‘tough guy’ stance while at the school. Both subjects, having soiled themselves, were allowed to clean up and change clothes. Sunny replaced Sheriff’s penile bandages while muttering derogatory comments about his size and shape.

With little subsequent verbal prodding, Sheriff yielded all the information needed for the continuing sting operation. With Dora monitoring for lies and any sign of omissions, the team was confident that they could rely on his revelations in order to plan.

The operation was to continue under Hannah’s leadership, and teams quickly reconfigured and rotated through quick naps. Siân’s marines proved a huge blessing.

Together with some of their concubines, they prepared the school for the next phase. Claymores, sans triggers, were left in the lobby and other areas likely to be observed by the arriving ‘customers.’ The marines removed the explosives from the gym and less visible areas, while their concubines removed all traces of the occupation and violence that had taken place.

A pair of audio-visual technicians were recruited from the concubines extracted during the recent blood drives. Under Dora’s guidance, they rigged three monitors in the entry lobby and added more in the school’s auditorium.

Sheriff had explained the rules of the auction stipulating that payment had to be made in gold or silver. Jewels could be considered, but only as evaluated by Stevie, who was a jeweler, ‘take it or leave it.’ Stevie volunteered that all the necessary tools were in his blue SUV parked in a visitors’ spot near the entrance.

In the recently vacated teachers’ lounge, a table was set up with scales and other items from Stevie’s vehicle. And yet another concubine was recruited for his skills.

From the sheriff’s interrogation, they knew to expect a catering van at 9:00 AM on Saturday morning with a huge order of high class sandwiches, salads, pastas, cheesecake and specialty cookies. Rachel and Carley, dressed appropriately, were to meet them at the cafeteria loading doors. There they would have the caterers set up a buffet line, cover the dishes with specialty table cloths, and then they would usher them out.

Other preparations included providing separate security lockers for the arriving weapons and portable chests for the valuables. Several deactivated transporter portals were placed strategically in case of need, and Dora’s drones let her keep an active watch.

The sheriff and his minions had videoed the capture of the school and their subsequent actions so that they could use them to conduct the auctions. Dora edited them and produced several videos featuring the former captives, much the same as Sheriff intended.

The first video showed the captives as they woke in the auditorium followed by Sheriff announcing the phony pickup. The four tallest Firsters, dressed in fake Confederacy marine uniforms, separated the excited women and girls into three groups -- ‘volunteers,’ ‘potential concubines,’ and ‘don’t wannas.’

The camera then followed the ‘don’t wannas’ as they were led away and sequestered ‘for their privacy.’ Similarly, the larger group was herded down the hall, into the gym, and into the circle of Claymores. The group of ‘volunteers’ were lead to the room where their ‘briefing’ was to begin.

At pretty much the same time, the latter two groups began to realize they were being hoaxed, and the look of horror on their faces was difficult to watch.

The beating and rapes of the volunteers began almost as soon as the door was closed and locked behind them. Resistance was met with a fist, a gun butt, a kick, or any combination.

In the gym, women and girls were told to “get naked” and sit. Then, virgins were instructed to line up and were called out one-by-one. Each had a number marked on her forehead and was recorded front to back -- up and down. The recording continued while each was forced to spread her legs and show her hymen or explain how she had lost it. After the virgins were led out to their own holding room, the remaining captives were also numbered and recorded.

At sometime late into the processing, Dora’s drones arrived and began observing and recording.***

As expected, the first group of ‘customers’ arrived promptly at 10. Three men wearing ski masks arrived in a large camper, exited, and walked through the front door into the foyer carrying a cooler. Michael and Jimmy were standing behind the disarmed Claymores, and Michael welcomed the newcomers. “Good morning folks; you’re right on time. The sheriff is in the auditorium, but he recorded a message to be played for everyone as they arrived.”

The three turned to the TV screen, where Dora impersonated the sheriff. “Good morning and welcome. So that everyone is on the same page, I’m going to restate the rules.

“One -- no firearms or cell phones past the lobby. A chest will be provided that you can use to secure everything. Anyone caught with a firearm or cell phone will be considered law enforcement and shot dead. Period.

“Two -- All transactions must be in gold, silver, or approved jewels. From here, you will go to the counting room to have your funds verified. You may leave them there secured in a chest, or carry them with you -- entirely your choice.

“Three -- You will be escorted everywhere in the building. Some of your escorts will be the merchandise who have been told you are sponsors. Keep your hands off these escorts until you have paid for them. Also, say nothing that will make them suspicious.

“Four -- There is a buffet laid out in the cafeteria. If you are hungry, ask your escort to show you the way.

“Five -- In the counting room you will be provided with a clipboard with these rules and a list of the merchandise with item number, name, age, and virginity status noted. The numbers will correlate to the videos you will see in the auditorium.

“Six -- Bidding will start at one PM or earlier if all we expect have arrived and are processed in.

“Seven -- I repeat again. Keep your hands off the merchandise. You have been warned!

“With all that out of the way, again welcome. See Michael or Jimmy to secure your weapons and phones, and your escort will meet you as you exit the lobby.”

When the screen blanked, the men secured their phones and firearms, and excitedly exited to find Rachel waiting to take them to the counting room.

So it went until fifteen groups, varying in numbers up to eleven, had processed through. Much of Michael’s remaining family was pressed into escort duty. Posing as Firster guards, Richard and Jackson and a few sponsors without the full marine package were issued stingers and Earth-type sidearms. They patrolled the halls and monitored the gym using their visibility to prevent trouble more than expecting to respond.

Vehicles in the parking lot ranged in capacity from Suburbans, to campers, to school buses, and there were even two eighteen-wheelers.

In the auditorium, excited and stimulated men watched the various videos, making notes to prioritize their bids. Dora recorded it all, making sure to capture the faces and comments of all Firsters present. Drones and marines assured that no vehicle was occupied and the school’s grounds were checked for any lurkers.

Promptly at one, the lights dimmed, and the buzz of conversations rose, then dropped to an expectant silence. All Confederacy personnel exited the room, and a hologram of the sheriff entered from stage right and stood behind a podium. “Gentlemen, this is a Confederacy operation, and you’ve just been fucked!”

With that, an interdiction field went up within the walls, and buzzing stingers stunned one hundred eighteen exceedingly pissed Firsters.

And still it wasn’t over. Phase three began.

Cleanup crews tossed Firsters willy-nilly through the transporter portals where they were wakened and interrogated. The first priority was to obtain the names and locations of wives, girlfriends, and children. Interrogations for criminal activity and Earth First operations were saved for later.

Other crews cleaned the school of any sign of the weekend’s operations. Doctored in-house surveillance recordings showed only an empty building as recorded on a previous weekend. Teams of drivers boarded the Firster vehicles and drove them away towards Mississippi, where a recycler located in a garbage dump reduced them to atoms and molecules. More doctored photos, this time satellite, showed only the staff vehicles remaining in the parking lot.

While the cleanup was on-going, teams began visiting the locations where the Firsters’ families resided or hid, according to their situation.

A typical approach would be made by one of Michael’s team sponsors accompanied by a companion, both dressed in neat off-the-rack clothing. An adult answering a knock on the door was handed a PDA-looking device that injected nanites blocking disclosure of any following discussion. Children were asked to fetch an adult, and the procedure was essentially the same, then repeated if there were other adults present, followed by any children old enough to speak.

Then, “Ms. Firster, your husband (or boyfriend) has been caught in a mass kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder operation and will not be returning to you. We can spare you the details or offer proof in the form of video as you prefer.” Tears, screams, curses, or expressions of joy followed.

“As part of the clean up, the Confederacy is offering you the opportunity to be extracted with your dependents and any qualified adult now present. Those over fourteen will receive much the same conditions as any pickup -- sponsor or concubine -- as their CAP score warrants. Those without CAP scores will be tested. Should you decline, and you surely may, you will be unable to speak of this visit to anyone not currently present, and a simple injection will erase the memory. You will simply not know where your husband (or boyfriend) has gone, nor the location of anyone who accepts our offer.”

There had been over one hundred thirty Firsters involved in the school takeover and auction, and with families, girlfriends, harems, ex-wives, and whatever, there were something over one hundred fifty visits deemed probable to yield suitable extractions. Siân and Sam had recruited volunteer canvassers from their respective organizations, so the project was doable -- just barely.