Chapter 19

Month 126—June at Morongo, CA

AS SOON AS there was no movement in the grounds, the Pirates moved in to toss the bodies onto the raging infernos of the house and bunkhouses. A crew picked up the unconscious guards and zip-tied them to make sure they weren’t a problem if they woke up. They dragged the men outside and tossed them into a transporter nexus. The unconscious men arrived on Anouilh and were picked up to be tossed into another nexus. No one went straight from California to the Confederacy.

When the women were released from their cages, they were conducted to a nexus in the barn so they wouldn’t see any of the carnage outside.

“You sliced through our locks with your knives and you’re putting us through a transporter. Are we Confederacy slaves now?” one asked. The line waiting to be transported stopped.

“No. We have some of their tech but you aren’t headed to the Confederacy. This is a rescue mission, not a slave roundup.”

“But you’re all so beautiful. You must be from the Confederacy.”

“No, honey. We’re just from California.” A few of the women were able to laugh. Most were sullen and looked like they’d been beaten. Maybe worse.

“Ladies, we’re not taking you to be enslaved. We’re taking you to a safe place where you’ll have a chance to heal and recover. We’ll get you all cell phones so you can call home or to anyone you think will be concerned. When you’ve been fed and have a good night’s sleep in a real bed, we’ll talk to you about your options. Generally, they are to be extracted if you want to go to the Confederacy, to return home if you think it’s safe, or to stay with us in our refuge. We’ll also try to get you counseling and there will be no pressure to decide immediately. You’re safe now.”

With that the first woman stepped on the transporter and arrived at Papillon Base. When the women had stepped through, the commandos walked through the barns making sure everyone was out. Risqué stopped at a cage when what looked like a pile of discarded clothing or rags moved.

“Hey, are you okay there?” She entered the cage and knelt by the sniffling figure huddled there. Her partner stood near just in case there was a problem. Moving the clothing aside, she found an emaciated figure. She shuddered when Risqué reached out to her. “Come on, honey. You’re safe now. Can you stand up?”

“Mommy?”

“I don’t know who your Mommy is.”

“She said hide in the rags and wait. Where’s Mommy?”

“I’m not sure. How long ago was that?”

“A long time.”

“Let’s get you with the others and see if we can find her. Everyone else has gone to our safe place.”

“Wait?”

“Not here, honey. You can wait at the safe place.”

The girl tried to stand but was too weak. Risqué picked her up and carried her through the nexus.

The remaining commandos policed the area to be sure there was nothing left. They cleared all the cages of anything that was left, including piles of shit and urine. All went onto the large fires.

“Emergency vehicles are turning off the main highway,” Ubie said to Molly.

“Time to clear out!” Molly called to her troops. “Hit the ridge and get out of here.” The remaining troops took off at double time and were transported one after the other from their original nexus. All the others had been gathered. A drone swooped down and collected the nexus and moved to its pickup location a hundred fifty miles away in Arizona.

Month 126—June on Papillon

“COME RIGHT THIS WAY; we’ll help you.” Over a hundred women greeted the refugees when they stepped off the transporter nexus at the old army base. Some were Pussy Pirates and some were simply local women who answered the call to help. Food was prepared and served at a buffet where the rescued women filled plates as soon as they’d had a chance to wash their hands and faces. Baths would come when they had a little more strength.

Most of the women were dazed, still not comprehending what had been done to them. They’d been snatched out of their normal everyday lives in front of their homes, in grocery store parking lots, and parking garages. Some had children with them and some had left children behind.

And one was a child left behind by her mother when the woman was loaded into a container truck and taken away.

Risqué Reader hadn’t put the little girl down. She was the only one of the commandos who showed up at the old army base. The others had returned to Anouilh after the action, believing it was better for them not to be seen or questioned by the freed women. After she had managed to get the little girl to swallow a few bites of thick seafood stew, she walked among the rescued women asking if anyone knew the little girl.

“She was hiding in the discarded clothing when I was brought in, two or three days ago. I heard someone say to put us in the cages they’d just emptied. That’s all I know. I gave her some water, but we didn’t get food.” The woman turned away and took her place in line for showers.

Since coming to the island, all the little girl had said was “Mommy” as she buried her head against Risqué’s chest. When Risqué tried to set the girl down, she clung to the commando and wouldn’t let go. Eventually, Risqué went to the transporter and returned to Anouilh, still holding the girl.

“She’s Afternoon Delight’s daughter,” Cali said firmly. “She’s the one I was supposed to pick up when they snatched her. According to what Delight told me, her name is Angie and she’s thirteen.” Cali started crying as Dakota held her. “That means we missed her. We didn’t get there in time to rescue her mother.”

I sat in my office listening to Dakota’s distraught wife. It had been two days since the raid and everything was a jumble. Over a hundred of the women had expressed a desire to be extracted by the confederacy. A dozen of the women wanted to be returned to their homes, husbands, or children. I was surprised it wasn’t more, but the others who had dependents went to the Confederacy with the promise that their children would be extracted. That left us with 170 who had made no commitment. At least twenty were near catatonia. We were constructing a nursing home in the island’s main town and had put out a notice that we were looking for trained therapists and medical professionals to come to the islands. We were getting responses.

We’d given every woman who wasn’t extracted by the Confederacy an opportunity to call friends or loved ones to let them know they were safe. But we’d been careful not to tell them where they were.

Dakota and Cali left my office and I prepared for my conversation with the unnamed person on the moon who worked for a department that didn’t exist.

“Hello. Your commandos did a good job. A little heavy-handed for our taste, but they managed a full recovery. With an explosion that big and the evidence that remained, an investigation has been launched by the California Republic. We believe there were some high-profile people in the houses you bombed. It seems there are some people missing from local law enforcement and even two state assemblymen. I hate to say it, but I’m afraid you’ll get some backlash.”

“Let them come. Did you have any luck tracking the last shipment from the ranch?”

“Yes. Most were taken to a shipping port near San Diego and put aboard a container barge. Our AIs are tracking the barge and we’re planning a quick extraction.”

“Please watch for a woman who goes by the name Afternoon Delight. We have her daughter with us. The daughter is thirteen and barely responsive to one person. Our med tube analysis is that she was raped as well.”

“We’ll try to get a match.”

“How are the women you extracted from our base?”

“Most are doing well. We’ve kept them isolated from the meat markets and nearly a dozen have tested as sponsors. A handful have requested that we return them to Earth. We will. Unfortunately, we can’t expect them to survive there. I’d class them as homicidal/suicidal. They each have at least one target they know was involved in the scheme. We also have six who have requested to be given to the Pussy Pirates. No one has been told of your involvement, but the women have said they were already hoping to join you before they were kidnapped. They got confused in the aftermath and didn’t think you’d be an option. Will you take them?”

“Yes. Please keep us informed of the status of the women on the ship. We’ll offer sanctuary to them as well.”

“Of course. That’s all I have for you. Please let me know if you plan other rescues.”

“Affirmative.”

Ubie disconnected the call. It was time that I went to visit Papillon Base.

Of course, I didn’t go alone. We hadn’t allowed any men to have contact with the rescues since they arrived. Dakota went with me and we agreed she would be the major spokesperson. Things were different than we expected when we arrived at the base.

“Boss,” the elder greeted me at the base entrance, “we have 147 women who wish to remain here. Of them, twenty-three have asked specifically to join the raiders who rescued them. They have already organized themselves and are exercising vigorously. We have not yet exposed where they are or who rescued them.”

“Well, that will change in a few minutes,” Dakota said. “I’d like to meet this new squad before we greet the rest of the women.” The elder nodded and led us to the parade ground on the base.

“Susan, you wanted to talk to the leaders,” the elder said. “This is the Captain and the Boss.” A blonde hardbody stepped away from the group with the elder and then snapped around to the rest of the women.

“Squad, attention!” she snapped. I wouldn’t say they acted with military precision, but they got in some semblance of rank and file. She turned to us and saluted, a little disconcerted when we didn’t return the salute.

“We’re not really a military organization,” Dakota said. “The closest thing we have to ranks is that I’m Captain and this is the Boss.”

“Sergeant Susan Rand, USMC Retired, sir. Or ma’am.”

“Susan, why didn’t you request extraction with the Confederacy? I’m betting you have a qualifying CAP score.”

“Yes, ma’am. But our duty is here.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Ten of us were training on a deserted beach early on the morning of June 24. We’ve been concerned about the number of disappearances in our communities. We had no idea we’d be among them. A dozen men attacked us with tranq guns. It was pretty powerful stuff. I’m not sure how long we were out when we woke up in a cage. No one there knew what day it was. We have since discovered we were there three days when your commandos showed up. We had no food and little water in that time. Thank you for providing for us.”

“And why do you want to join us?”

“Your commandos had Confederacy tech and acted with calm efficiency. It was obvious the guards inside were stunned just before you showed up. The commandos were well trained. We want to rescue more women from Earth First scum. And we want to be ready to protect them when the aliens come.”

“Uh ... fighting Earth First isn’t really in our game plan,” I ventured. “This was just something we couldn’t avoid. Captain? Are you sure you want to engage in this?”

“Did you see Angie today? She’s still clinging to Risqué. Her mother is either dead or on a container ship to God knows where. The Pirates need action. We’ve been training for three years.”