Chapter 34

Approaching the farm, the four shuttles quietly set down so they had a clear view of the barn, office and caretakers’ residences. As soon as the doors opened, two lions eased out of the lead shuttle and quickly disappear into the darkness. Three Security teams followed. One headed for the building where the horses and dogs were kept. Another headed for the building where the doctor and male caretaker were sleeping.

Approaching the caretaker’s residence, they saw that a light was still on at the back residence. “Cathan, Sorcha, Ciar, come with me,” said Todd, as he headed toward the lighted window. Peeking in the window, they saw three women drinking coffee and talking. All three looked as if they were ready for bed, as they were naked.

“Cathan and Sorcha, go inside and see what their reaction is. Let’s stay actively linked.” Todd and Ciar watched as Cathan and Sorcha quietly entered the building. In a few moments they were standing in the door of the room where the women were talking. A few moments passed before a woman noticed Cathan and Sorcha in the door. She immediately reached for her belt but stopped when she realized it was out of reach. Seeing the woman’s movement, another gave a muted scream as she had covered her mouth. The third woman looked like she was ready to bolt for the other door.

“Good evening, ladies,” said Cathan and Sorcha, as they watched the three women look them over.

“Anneke, Krystelle, and Taysha,” continued Cathan, causing them to gasp as they heard their names, “we are not a threat to you. We are here to rescue the women being held in the barn. You can come with us when we leave. In fact, we think it would be in your best interests, but it is your choice.”

Anneke started to speak, but Sorcha said, “Anneke, hear us out before you make a hasty decision.”

“We are certain that you have many questions and concerns,” continued Cathan. “There is not enough time to consider those now as we need to act quickly. We are going to take the women in the barn to a location where they can recover. While they are recovering they will be free to decide their futures once they are drug free. It will be easier to accomplish this if you assist us in releasing their restraints and getting them ready to leave. All of you will have a much brighter future by leaving here.” She paused for a few moments. “If you choose to stay here, you will be dead by tomorrow evening.” The three women looked at her with disbelieving expressions on their faces.

“Yes,” said Sorcha. “The people who own this farm have sent a group to destroy it and they will arrive tomorrow. This group has already destroyed several other farms your owners operated or had an interest in.”

“We aren’t expecting anyone else,” replied Taysha firmly.

“You wouldn’t be. The group is waiting nearby. Their instructions are to kill everyone and destroy everything. They will arrive in the morning. Their intent is to torment some of you before they begin the destruction of the farm. Once they have completed their mission, there will be little or no indication that any of you were ever here. Our information indicates that they will die here along with everyone else.”

“They won’t be able to do that. The security system will alert us of their approach and keep them out,” exclaimed Krystelle.

“Not when the people who hired the raiders control the security system.” The caretakers frowned. “The male caretaker gave a drug to those in the barn with their evening meal. Your evening pill contains the same drug. Once you take the drug it will make the job of the raiders very easy, because you will sleep late into the morning.”

“Why would the other caretaker do that?” asked Anneke.

“He is the brother of one of those leading the raid.”

“That son of a bitch!” replied Anneke. “I always wondered about him. He did everything he was supposed to, but never took any initiative. Whenever he was around, he always watched us. It gave me a creepy feeling.”

“How do we know we are not trading one form of slavery for another?” demanded Taysha.

“You don’t. All you have is your instinct. Besides, if that is what we were planning, why would we be here, talking?”

“You said you are offering to take us as well,” said Krystelle.

“Yes, we think that is your best choice,” replied Cathan. “We believe that the three of you are just as much a victim as those in the barn. You will have the same opportunity to decide your future. Our medical facilities can provide the care you need to counter the treatments you have received.”

“I had pretty much given up hope of leaving here as a free person, or even alive,” said Krystelle. “From the records, the last caretakers were modified before being sent to a slave auction for S&M clubs.”

“How soon do you plan on leaving?” asked Anneke.

“As soon as we can get everyone on our aircraft,” replied Cathan. “The sooner the better.”

“When the women exit the barn, it will set off the escape alarm.”

“We are aware of the alarm, and are making arrangements to ensure that doesn’t happen.”

“I am willing to go with you,” said Anneke a glimmer of hope appearing on her face.

Krystelle said “I’m in.”

Taysha quickly followed with, “Well in that case me too.”

“Good. We think you will be very pleased you made that choice. What passive restraints are on the women?” asked Sorcha.

Cathan said, “Todd, Ciar, come on in. They are anxious to leave now that they think it is possible.”

When they were all inside, Anneke said, “Each barn resident wears a collar which enables the security system to track their movements. Additionally, everyone here has a RFID device implanted behind their ear. We were told that everyone who resides in the barn had a second chip implanted in their body. There is an RFID detector located on each door of the barn. If one of the residents leaves it without an escort, it sends an alert to the monitoring center. Their punishment is that they lose a finger from each hand while everyone watches. If it happens several times, then we are punished. For us the first time is a brutal whipping. Fortunately none of us have experienced any of that although we were shown videos of previous punishments right after we arrived. From our monitors we can see all the activity in the barn. When a forbidden exit occurs, a silent alarm sounds both here and at a remote location. We do not have access to the security devices or systems. The only reason we are certain they work was because of a demonstration the owners gave us. We run a weekly test on the system for the office.”

“Group, we have gained control of the monitoring system,” said Edana. “Cathan’s Clan can now go to meet Enya and Máiréad. We can negate the RFID on the main door when we use it. We don’t want to do that unless we are using the door, as indications are that it is randomly tested from an external source. Our AI doesn’t have enough information yet to fake the test. We will only use the main door.”

“Group, the doctor is sedated and ready for transport,” said Caoilinn. “The brother of the raider is sleeping soundly and will remain asleep until tomorrow morning.”

“Have Star go ahead and teleport the doctor,” said Ciar. “Someone needs to monitor the other one until we are ready to leave.”

“Anneke told us the collars have sensors in them. If they are removed for any length of time, it will trip an alarm. The collars also give position information to the system.”

While their exchange was taking place, Cathan was quickly leading the three caretakers to the barn along with her group. Once inside she opened the door to her friends’ quarters and looked around. Her friends were lying with two others. All of them were touching. “Enya. Máiréad,” said Cathan softly as she touched their shoulders. “It is time to go home.” Then she said slightly louder, “Enya ... Máiréad.”

Both opened their eyes and screamed. “Hey guys, it’s only me. I’ve brought some friends. We want to take you to a new home.” As Cathan spoke, both of them jumped into her arms. They were crying as they held her tightly. The commotion had awakened the other six women who looked on apprehensively seeing the strangers and the three caretakers. Those in Cathan’s group pushed friendly and comforting thoughts toward them.

After a few moments, Todd said, “Cathan, we need to get this moving.”

“Enya and Máiréad, we need to leave here as soon as possible. Would you introduce us to your friends?”

Once the introductions were complete, Cathan said, “Ladies, we don’t have time for a lot of explanations. We came to take you to a place where you will be free to decide what you’d like to do about your future. There will be medical staff available to assist with any medical problems you have. Enya and Máiréad are almost like my sisters as we grew up together.” Cathan’s eyes glistened when she said sisters. “Now, we need your assistance in getting everyone else ready to leave.”

“First we need to remove your collars,” said Sorcha as she stepped behind Máiréad. “Please hold still while we take them off then we will show you what we want you to do.” The women watched as Anneke and the caretakers showed everyone how to remove their collars. Sorcha took the collars and placed them on a blanket where the group had been sleeping. Ciar activated a thermal pack and placed it in the center of the pile of collars while being careful not to touch any of them, before covering them with another blanket.

“As soon as the collars are off, place them on the sleeping platform just like you just saw me do,” said Ciar. “It is critical for this to be done as quickly as possible. Don’t let the thermal packs touch the collars.”

“Now,” said Todd, “we need your assistance in releasing the others. To do this two of us will accompany each of you. We want you to wake the women. Once they are up we will remove their collars and place them under the blanket with the thermal heat pack like you just saw. We will take care of any cuffs later. Once a groups collars are removed lead the women out into the hall. Place them in one of the lines and have them hold hands. Other members of our group will stay with them while you gather the rest. Once everyone is lined up in the hall, we will board our aircraft and leave.”

“As soon as we are airborne, we will tell you a bit more about us and where we are going,” said Cathan. Both Enya and Máiréad kissed Cathan’s cheek as they gave her another hug. They still had tears of happiness running down their faces.

The care givers and caretakers went into the hall. Máiréad lead the group, using hand signals she pointed toward a row of rooms to tell them where to start. Cathan started to remind them that they could talk now, but decided it wasn’t important as she watched them begin. She was impressed with how efficient they were with hand signs and anticipating each other. It took them a little over an hour to get all the women lined up in the barn.

Once everyone was in line, Todd, Sorcha, Kurt and Christine each took the hand of the first woman in a line and led them toward the door. Cathan, Anneke, and Darcy monitored the women as each group moved out the door. As the first women in a column stepped clear of the barn, a light illuminated in each shuttle’s door. Within a few steps of leaving the barn the four lines of women began to diverge toward their assigned shuttle. Many of the women began to shake as they neared the shuttle door, they could see the lighted interior through it but couldn’t see the shuttle itself. On reaching a shuttle, the Security team member leading the women immediately stepped inside. Once inside, they directed the women to take a seat. It took only a little of encouragement to have them fill the seats at the back of the cabin first, as each of the four shuttles would be nearly full.

Once the four groups from the barn were seated, those serving as sentries pulled back toward the shuttles. As the sentries left the building containing the horses, they opened the gates and led the horses outside before turning them loose. Once the sentries were inside the shuttles, the doors closed then silently lifted off. In each shuttle, two caregivers were directed to begin serving drinks to everyone onboard. Once everyone had a drink, the caretakers and caregivers in each cabin said, “Ladies, the drink we have just given you contains an antidote to the drugs you have been receiving. All of us now need to drink the liquid. But first, let’s do this.” Each caregiver and caretaker stepped over to a woman and exchanged drinks with her. Once the exchanges were complete. As the caregivers and caretakers drank the liquid, so did the Security team members. The other women sat holding their bottles and watched as the caregivers, caretakers, and their rescuers, drink the white liquid.

After finishing the drink each caretaker and caregiver placed an arm around the waist of the Security team member standing next to them, pulling them close. After a few minutes, a few of the others began to drink and soon more of them did the same.

“Ladies,” said one of the Security team in each shuttle, “we saw some of you shaking as we moved toward the shuttle. We are not sure why you were shaking, but we can guess. What has happened in the last hour was likely quite a shock for you, especially leaving the barn. If our actions scared you, we apologize. We felt we had no choice but to get you out of the barn and off the farm as quickly as possible. As we noted earlier, the drink contained agents to counter the effect of the drugs that you have been receiving. Initially, the agents will block the drugs effecting your behaviour. It will take some time, but you will sense the change and see it in those around you. These agents will then assist your bodies in expelling them. We drank the liquid as well to show you it was safe.”

A holographic image of Cathan, Anneke, Enya and Máiréad then formed in each shuttle cabin. This let everyone see and hear them. Several of the women gasped as they watched the 3D image form. As soon as the image had stabilized, Cathan began to speak, “Ladies, first there is no restriction on talking. If you have questions of us, just ask. We will either answer your question, or find someone that can answer it. It may not have registered yet, but you are free. We are not taking you somewhere else to enslave you. Our trip will last about four hours. We are going to a place where you can stay while you decide your future. During our trip, you will notice your thoughts becoming clearer, as the effects of the drugs diminish. We have medical staff on each shuttle who can take care of any immediate medical needs you may have during the trip. It appears that some of you are due to begin labor. Our EMTs can assist you during the trip, but the facilities at our destination will make it much easier for you to deliver.”

“You ought to introduce yourself,” said Sorcha.

“Oops. My name is Cathan. I suspect that you don’t know anyone’s name. So let me introduce the eleven people you are familiar with first.” After the introductions, she continued with, “We will introduce ourselves as we speak. Our destination is a unique settlement. On arriving, one of the first things you will notice is that nearly everyone is naked. This is because we are a clothingoptional society. We only wear a covering when a task requires it.

“The second thing you will likely notice is the stature of those there, and to some extent ours. By Earths’ standards we are all quite tall and are very similar in appearance. There are other differences which we will tell you about later.” As Cathan was talking several members of the Security team had taken off their tactical suits before returning to the main cabin.

“We can dim the cabin lights to make it easier to sleep,” said Ciar, drawing everyone’s attention. She had just returned to the cabin in Alpha4 after removing her tactical suit. As she walked down the aisle, a woman reached out to touch her, so Ciar stopped. Seeing the woman hesitate, she gently took the woman’s hand and placed it on her bare hip.

“Oh my, your skin feels as soft and smooth as a baby, but your body is very firm. Who are you? I have never seen anyone like you.” Ciar’s muscles rippled in response to the caress. The gentle touch had caused her nipples to swell slightly and her labia to moisten.

Noticing the woman looking at her swollen nipples Ciar said, “We are quite sensitive to any affectionate stimulation. As to where we come from, that doesn’t have a simple answer. Most of us were born on Earth, but we are now really from another galaxy. I think if Enya and Máiréad told you about their background, with Cathan continuing the story from the time the three were separated, it would answer many of your questions. Cathan’s path to becoming one of our species is, thankfully, not the path all of us took.” Cathan stuck her tongue out at Ciar, causing many to chuckle. “Never fear, Cathan, I still love you.”

“Yes, and I love all of you, too.”

Enya and Máiréad took turns in sharing their background with everyone on the four shuttles. They told about growing up together, much like three sisters, doing almost everything together. How Cathan’s parents were as close to them as their own parents were, perhaps closer. They told of the fun they had on vacations with her family, until the last one. They described their capture and abuse. Their eyes filled with tears when they told of Cathan’s parents and sisters dying at the hands of their captors. The story ended with them being sold to a baby farm. They had lived there for about a year before being transferred to the farm they had just left.

Cathan then told them of her experiences after her friends were sold, about her time on the freighter and her subsequent rescue. She related how at first she had felt like she had lost one yoke to gain another. Her apprehension about her rescuers had lasted less than a day. She told about meeting the women who were now her spouses. Todd blushed when she told of how she felt and reacted several months later when she saw him the first time. The story finished with her explaining how her clan came together and about the subsequent rescue of Todd’s unit, along with some others, in Afghanistan.

As soon as Cathan stopped talking, Anneke raised her hand. Cathan nodded to her. “You used some terms that seem out of place. Before I go further with my question, there are a couple of things I would like to share about me. I am not sure where we are going, but I am indebted to you for getting us out of there. In college, I earned a degree in animal psychology and I never anticipated using that knowledge the way I have had to at that farm. My specialty was how to maximize livestock performance by managing their environment. Apparently, the people that owned and operated that farm liked my work. A couple of months after I graduated I was still looking for work when I received a DVD. A note with it told me to watch the DVD and then read the letter. The DVD videos showed me participating in sex shows with multiple partners and animals. In every scene, it appeared that I was freely participating and initiating the activities. While I like sexual interaction, I do not remember doing any of what was on in the videos. The enclosed letter gave me the choice of going to work for them or seeing the DVD being sold on the Internet and in sex shops. It took me a week to decide that I really had no choice.

“Once I accepted, I was told how to arrange my personal affairs for an extended journey or absence. When I had completed that I was told to call a number. I called the number well before the time limit and the next thing I remember was waking up restrained on an exam table. I looked around the room and saw that I was in some kind of medical treatment room. Shortly after I woke up, a woman entered followed by a doctor. The doctor told me that it was time for me to begin my treatments. When I started to respond, no sound came out. He then told me not to worry as my voice and control of my limbs would return in a few days. All I could do was lay there and watch as he made several injections into different parts of my body. By the time he was done my breasts, nipples, clit and labia were larger and ached. He finished by giving me two shots in my ass. Once that was done he told the nurse to put cups on my breasts, labia and clit for a day. As a result of the treatments my breasts, nipples, clit and labia are now considerably larger. One aspect of the treatment he gave me is that it is now difficult for me to wear any fitted clothing. A few days after they let me up, they had me take part in sex shows. I performed in three sex shows a day then in the evening I had to serve as a companion for a guest. As a companion, I was, essentially, the guest’s sex slave or toy. I am still surprised at how compliant I was, but suspect it was a part of my treatment. My second stop was the farm. I don’t know what the women here think of me and how we cared for them. The day after my arrival I was shown tapes outlining our responsibilities, and what the punishment would be for not succeeding. The whippings I mentioned earlier were the mildest punishment given to a caretaker. The person who was there before us was a tyrant. He was more interested in using those in the barn than he was in caring for them, or doing what the owners wanted. Sorry, I’m going into too much detail.”

“I think,” said Cathan, “there are people in our group that would be interested in everything any of you can remember about how you came to the baby farm. There are people at our destination who have had experiences similar to yours. You may find sharing with them helps you regain your footing.”

“Thanks, I think that may help. The questions I had were: What do you mean when you refer to your species? Also, you referred to spouses, like you had several. By the way you worded some parts of the story, it sounded as though you were telepathic and we know that is not possible.”

“Thank you for a great set of questions,” responded Cathan with a smile. After answering the first two she continued with, “As far as telepathic ability goes, yes, we are telepathic. Being telepathic is an important aspect of our family bonding. Some of us are more telepathically proficient than others. When the presentations are shown to all of you tomorrow or the next day, a demonstration will be given that should convince you that telepathy is real. Now, not everyone is telepathic. You indicated that you didn’t think it was possible. That belief probably comes from what you have seen or read on Earth. If you were really telepathic on Earth, who would you share that knowledge with?” Cathan paused. “I suggest, you would tell no one, except maybe another telepath. To do otherwise would probably be worse than living in the barn on the farm we just left.”

Anneke looked thoughtfully at Cathan, and then said, “I agree with your last comment and that my question was driven by things I have read. I will be looking forward to the demonstration. As to the other comments, I look forward to learning more. Will they really answer all my questions?”

“Yes we will, or guide you to finding answers in our library.”

“We think you will enjoy the learning experience.” Anneke jerked at the voices she heard and looked around. She noticed that Ciar, Cathan, Todd and Sorcha glanced at her and were smiling, while seemingly focused on other people. After a few moments, Anneke heard, “We thought we would give you a demonstration of telepathy now, to thank you for helping us get everyone out so efficiently. Seeing the three of you with the caregivers really helped settle the others. Thanks.” Anneke broke into a large smile.

“You’re welcome,” she thought.

The few verbal exchanges seemed to break the ice, and the women began to converse with each other. When they heard a question asked of a Security team member, they would stop and listen to the answer before continuing with their own topic. Many had lived together for several years, but were never permitted to talk. Breaking the rule before Anneke had led to some horrible punishments which were much worse than the whipping Anneke described.

When the shuttle doors opened on An Clochán, the Security teams assisted the women as they exited. Once everyone had exited a shuttle, Connie said, “Welcome to An Clochán. My name is Connie and I am one of the doctors here.” She then proceeded to introduce Betsy, Judy, Gail and the other EMTs. “I am going to go over several important items, then we will get some rest. For tonight we have set up temporary accommodations for you. By the time we have finished your medical evaluations tomorrow we should have your suites ready. We will give each of you a complete medical evaluation tomorrow morning right after breakfast. All of those who are nearterm will be evaluated first. Once we complete the evaluations, we will review your status with you. At that time we will offer recommendations for further treatment if necessary. Unless we uncover something urgent, reviews of the results will likely not start until the next day. EMTs and a doctor will be staying with you in the temporary area.

“Our meals are taken together in the dining hall. A chime will sound one hour before the meal starts, so you have a chance to exercise and freshen up beforehand. Once we have completed your initial medical evaluation, you can go any place on the site you want to, if you meet one condition. That condition is: you need an escort. Any resident here can be your escort, if they are not involved in something else. Just ask. Why do you need an escort? Because all of our emergency procedures are dependent upon telepathic communication. We are on Mars, which can be a hostile environment without the envelope we have covering us.”

Her comment resulted in stunned looks. Connie said, “I can see from your expression that this is a surprise. It is true. We are currently within our habitat on Mars. This will be more obvious when it is daylight. Now if you will follow Gail and Cathan, they will lead you to your temporary quarters.”

Máiréad said, “Cathan are we really on Mars?”

“Yes. We should have noted that earlier, however we chose to bring you here as your initial stop as it provides you with best access to medical services. Our alternative would have been our space ship.”

“We are just surprised,” responded Enya, “as it is a shock since everything seems so normal.”

“While it does appear normal, there are risks as this is a hostile environment. We will do our best to ensure that its hostility doesn’t tarnish your stay here. Please adhere to the safety rules. Now we would like to show you to your temporary quarters.”

Gail and Cathan pointed out the dining hall and recreational areas as they passed them while on the way to the temporary quarters, which were basically two large rooms. One was arranged like a family room, with tables, couches, TV’s and computers. The second room was filled with beds. A set of temporary showers and restrooms were at one end of the second room.

“Ladies, before many of us leave to get some rest,” said Gail, “we need to mention a couple of other items. In addition to the medical staff, several residents will be here with you all the time. Their purpose is to make sure you have everything you need. I see that all of you are lactating. We have a special way of exercising and expressing our milk at the same time. It is probably much more comfortable than what you have been experiencing. We will have the exercise equipment here for you by morning. As Connie mentioned earlier, we want to start your physicals right after breakfast. We should be able to finish all of them between breakfast and lunch. Our data indicates that you roomed together in groups of four. We would appreciate you coming to see us in those same groups of four. If you want, we can schedule appointment times at breakfast. Now sleep well.”

“Enya and Máiréad, our teams have some work to do in the morning, so we will see you at lunch or shortly thereafter.” Each of Cathan’s Clan gave Enya, Máiréad and their roommates a kiss as they left.

As they were headed toward their shuttle Todd said, “Why don’t we sleep on the shuttle during the trip back to the farm?”

“Good idea,” replied Sorcha. “We’ll get more sleep that way as I’m bushed.”

“If we do that, we need to pick up the other women for this part of the operation,” added Ciar.

“We ought to dump the idea of you all confronting them,” said Todd. “There isn’t any benefit and it puts you all in a risky situation.”

“I agree,” said Keira, surprising Cathan’s Clan.

“That is quite a change, but the change is fine with me,” said Cathan.

“Yes it is. I’ve had more time to think about it. While I think it would give me some satisfaction, I don’t want anything to trigger those memories unless it is absolutely necessary.”

“I agree,” added Mona.

“I think Todd’s assessment is correct as well,” said Edana.

“Well we still need to monitor the site,” responded Christine. “Based on what we know, I don’t suspect we will need to do a thing. I’d just as soon leave them stranded and let nature take its course.”