Chapter 25

I started breakfast and saw the groceries were getting low and knew the girls would have to go out and shop. Now they at least would have the bus driver to take all of them when they went. When I was just about to wake up the children I felt that I had the three robbers back with me.

They stood before the house waiting my pleasure, looking much cleaner and they didn't stink now. Their beards were bad because I had slashed them off but left major portions behind. Although they were very poorly educated, they were not really stupid. I took a paring knife from a wooden block and concentrated on it for a while in order to produce a mono molecular edge as I slowly walked outside.

The men saw me coming with a small knife in my had and just closed their eyes. Prayers were being mumbled for they thought they still might go to meet their maker.

"Squat down. You are only getting a shave. All of you look ratty." One then the rest did and I shaved them in less than five seconds each. Their hand came up and felt the smooth skin and still mumbled prayers. "I am offering each of you an honest job. Protect my house from burglars, thieves and anybody else that may take advantage of this property when I am gone. You will get paid so your families won't starve but you will not steal again from anybody. The alternative is that you die. Is my offer acceptable?"

I got all sorts of head shaking. An agreement that left them with their lives was always welcome. Each was given some money to start and I sent them around the property to get a feel for it in the daytime. "Look for how others would come to this property and tell me of ways to prevent this."

"Yes effendi," came from three throats.

I woke the children up first and started to get them ready. Many of the children now extended their arms so that I would get them up and give them a kiss and a hug. After the young ones had been washed and changed, I seated them in their chairs as I later fed them their breakfast. When we were all done I cleaned faces and set the children down on the floor in another room to play. They now had quite a few toys to play with which would keep them occupied.

I heard some screeching from another room and knew right away what had happened. I ran to the room and found Yeshi and Nishan the fifth and seventh oldest holding each other and pointing through their doorway and out the window in the back room. Werkneh had walked by investigating points of possible entry into the house. The girls had seen him then his cousin checking the wall.

Both girls were Swedish and had hair close to my colour but a little darker. They were just 20 and 19 and had a child each. These had managed to keep their old tongue because they had been purchased at the same time and managed to talk clandestinely to one another. I walked up the girls as they wore their gauzy nighties. Their thin blond hair displayed under the hem.

I took a hand from each and said, "Yeshi, Nishan," when they looked down at me I said, "Do not worry. I hired these men to protect this house if I am not here. The only predator in this house now is me and I am hungry." I picked up Nishan and laid her across the bed then laid Yeshi beside her and picked up their legs and sucked on one as I fingered both of them. In a moment I switched and did it the other way. As they relaxed from their fright I slipped in my probes and worked both of them until they climaxed in unison.

The two year old son of one and the eighteen month old daughter of the other came into the room to see me making their mothers happy. At one time they would have been frightened but the older children had explained this to them. I shifted again and again till the women were no longer worried about anything in the world. I gave each a kiss and moved them to a more comfortable position in each others arms. These two were also lovers. The rest of the family knew and sympathized. Most had times when one or another of them would relieve the tension for another member and be loved for it.

The two children I scooped up in my arms and took them out. The little girl reached up and touched the saliva on my face then smelt it. Its odour was not new to either of them. I took their clothes off and my own and got into the bath tub with them and while I washed off we played. There were floating toys where only soap was before. The hand soap was definitely from Paris but it did clean and was hard so it lasted a long time. The soap scouted all over the bottom of the tub as the children tried to catch it as it nibbled on their toes. By the time we were done the room was wet and we had lots of visitors.

Their mothers had recovered and stood at the open doorway that others had opened and watched the play. When we were done I rinsed each off in clean water and handed them to their mother's waiting arms. When it came my turn Teru the second youngest and the mother of the youngest child came in and dried my back then fell to her knees in front to do my legs. Within seconds portions of me were being washed again and I let her continue as my power worked on her openings and clit. She came first and then I did.

This girl was from Belgium, she had been kidnapped at the age of ten and had been sold at an auction. She like the rest had been here ever since. She did like to have her love on the rough side. She saw Mebreatu's rough attention as love and it would be difficult to get her to change. I would meet her half way and give her love and more energetic sex.

I pulled my cock from her lips and she sucked to get all the moisture off. My hands went to her shoulders to get her up then I grasped her thighs and used my power to position her. Her legs spread and I lowered her onto me. She groaned in contentment and hugged my neck. Soon my power was into her too and I raised her up then down and slowly picked up the pace until her tight breasts rose and fall to their maximum extent. Her groans turned to grunts and pleas for more. I opened her rear passage and continued to take both her lower openings. I worked in further and further and her cries went incoherent from the sensations flowing through her.

She cried loudly in the tile enclosed room and everybody at the doorway saw her actions. Some of the mothers were playing with their clits and Benyam had his hand in his loose fitting trousers. With some powerful grunts I dropped her hard repeatedly on my pelvis and had my orgasm. Teru clutched me even tighter and had her own and just melted onto me as the quivers racing through her body subsided. I waited a few minutes with Teru in my arms and then carried her to her bed and carefully laid her down. Her arms tried to hold me but I just kissed her lips and covered her with a sheet.

I went back to the bathroom with everybody looking at me. The women wanted me now. The girls wanted me for more than a father and the boys were excited but didn't know what they wanted. I took a quick shower instead and put the clothes I made this morning back on.

The women stared at me, like lions did at a gazelle, but I made breakfast for them and encouraged them to eat. Nishan got up and staggered to the table. I had to feed her as if she were an infant till she got the message and ate herself.

I wanted to call them my wives but I knew that this would only make things harder later but I did say, "My loves, the pantry is getting bare but we will be leaving in a week. I want all of you to go out with the bus and make whatever purchases you want. The driver will go where you want and stay until you tell him to leave. Take all the children and have a fun time. The men that you saw on our property are my new employees and will be here to protect you when I am absent. I will even be watching when I am away and you will all be safe. Wub and Zema will come with their father. I will meet all of you back here at two." They knew who this 'father' represented now.

I made the phone call and the bus would arrive in an hour. I warned the driver to bring drinking water because the women would be shopping till the last minute.

All the mothers were concerned about me taking the two children and the children's mothers in particular. This was only because they thought a male could not take care of them. Zema was a boy of only six months and fully Ethiopian. Wub was a half Icelandic girl of three. The mothers got the children ready and I made a bag with the things I would need to care for the children. If I handled it right it could go over my shoulders like a pack. Wub cuddled up close when I sat on the chair and Zema used his fingers to move them over my face and I would catch his fingers in my lips.

When my car arrived I kissed the others goodbye and got in. I tried to get the children comfortable. Considering the precious cargo in the car I felt that it would be good if there was a restraint system similar to that which fighter pilots had. The children would be much better protected. My sword sat in the back seat with me for another type of protection.

"Good morning," I said to the driver. "Please take us to the palace."

"The palace?"

"Yes, do you know where it is?"

"Yes effendi."

We travelled across town and I demanded we turn into a residential street with old trees. I opened my window and threw the sword and sheath out and it flew into the air and rose to about a mile and stayed there. Wub was shown some of the interesting things but, being only three, was not that interested.

When we pulled up to the main gates I gave the guards my name and who I wanted to see. The man scanned a chart and curtly let us through. The gate closed behind us. When we got to the main entrance to the building a man came down the wide steps and opened the car for me but was concerned that it contained children.

To the driver I said, "We will be a few hours. I suggest you try to stay with the vehicle as much as possible. The guards here are proficient and would shoot you if they even think you are a danger to the Emperor."

I put the bag on my shoulders, carried Zema and walked with Wub in my right hand up the steps. Behind the door we were all searched and the baby bag was even more scrutinized. Wub was a little intimidated but I said that all was fine. "They are just looking for some bugs and a mouse. Did you bring one?"

She shook her head and said, "No," and after a second she added, "daddy."

We were shown a large hall where we were to wait. The Emperor was still talking to a minister and I set the bag down and looked at all the artwork that depicted different eras of Ethiopian history. I guessed at the figures depicted and talked to Wub about what I saw.

She said, "They look silly."

"When we get to London you will see the people there and think they are silly too. You will be different then and I will get you some clothes like what girls your age wear there. It is going to be colder than here but you will get used to it. We will have some fish 'n chips and you can say cheerio once in a while."

She laughed at that. We walked around and saw more things. I had to take Wub's shoes off so she could stand on the chair to see some of the finer points. A major-domo came in and was angry at where she was but said nothing. It was almost an hour later when we were called in for the audience. I had to get Wub off my lap and sling the bag over my shoulder before we could follow. The man walked fast and I went at what Wub could manage as she looked at the different things in the long hallway. The man was going to tell me to hurry up but declined when I looked him in the eye and dared him.

Large doors were opened and I was ushered in. The thin man with his grey beard sat at a long table with six bodyguards and the man from the interviews at the hotel. I bowed my head and raised it slowly in respect.

The emperor did not go in for small talk, "Why did you bring children to this meeting Sir Shawn?"

"For the same reason you have six bodyguards and more hidden behind the walls with rifles. You are afraid of me and what I can do. I brought my children to put you at ease. You must know by now that they come first and I would not risk them for anything."

"We had heard that Sir Shawn. Now, why have you come to our country uninvited?"

"Next time I will ask my kidnappers to get your permission first before stepping foot here."

The man that had stuck up for me at the meeting said, "You are being more than just impudent now."

"We came here to talk and I brought some of my children as an act of good faith. Your boss has heard about the kidnapping and pretends he doesn't like a little boy. I had heard your monarch was not senile but why is he acting that way?"

A guard came forward as if to strike me but stopped waiting for his master's voice. Wub began to cry and Zema woke up and did the same. I just looked at the guard but said to Wub, "Don't worry Wub these men are playing a game and think I am an ignorant hill man that will play with them. They won't hurt you."

The Emperor now said, "How do you know that Sir Shawn?"

"A lot of people know me and also know that I try to save lives until people I loved were attacked. Then I only kill the real bad ones. Sometimes the young can be salvaged and sometimes not. If I were hurt or imprisoned then you would be looked on as the bad person not me. I do have some influential friends and they would bring up about you harbouring rapist, kidnappers and thugs in your country but imprisoning me. Bringing the children with me would mean that I had not gone to you with an evil intent."

Zema was still crying so I stopped to move him around and give him a chance to stop naturally. The boy stopped and then and peed in his diaper. He gave himself a little shake and used his hands again at my face and I captured his fingers and licked one.

"I think you are far older than what your folder says Sir Shawn."

"In the mind perhaps, but the body is still nine years old. You can kick out the guards now. I promise that if you don't try to hurt mine or me I will not hurt yours or you."

"Quite magnanimous of you Sir Shawn and I am inclined to agree." A guard was called over and in one of the other Ethiopian languages said to remove the sharpshooters from the wall and to leave us." The guard was about to argue but did as he was told.

Since I had not been offered a seat I went to the long ornate table and put the heavy bag down on it then took out the blanket one handed and placed it still folded on the table. Zema went down and I started to undo his diaper and as his little penis came up I quickly put the diaper back in place. A few seconds later I knew he was empty of urine.

"Your guards did search for weapons but missed two of them." The guards that were leaving suddenly stopped and waited to attack.

Haile Selassie said, "What were those Sir Shawn?"

I picked Zema up and presented his front to the emperor. "Quite formidable for one only six months. Wait till he is eighteen. He will beat people with it."

The guards being guards were still ready to attack. The emperor and his minister laughed and told the guards to leave. "What is the second Sir Shawn."

"We must wait for that too. I think three hours and I will have to use another diaper. I will tell you truthfully you will want to run from him." I got more fatherly laughs and I dressed Zema and walked to the Emperor and placed the boy in his lap with a small flannelette sheet. I turned around and pulled a chair close and called Wub over. I sat in the chair and brought Wub into my lap. "Now you hold the balance of power. Shall we begin now?"

Zema looked at the shiny buttons and the medals and reached for them and cooed. "What do you plan to do with Alem Neh Mebreatu's property Sir Shawn?"

"The property is mine now your majesty. Many people were hurt in this man's rise to power and even more hurt afterwards. I have already turned his gangster arm into a security service for the other companies that I now own.

"The companies have all been ordered to pay the taxes that are legally due, but also to search out for any legitimate loopholes. The people hurt by this man will be compensated. Your country was hurt and I plan to dig many wells in the surrounding land and pump purified and chlorinated water to the city. This I will do at my expense. You have to supply electricity and the piping from the main line that will go through the town. I will build a large swimming pool but it is for all not just the elite. You will supply electricity, chlorine and the lifeguards. We can split the cost of the land if your jackals get wind of this."

"You alone are going to pay for all that?"

"Yes I am as a way of compensating Ethiopians for what they had to put up with. The companies will pay their fair taxes and will not cheat. Accountants will begin to rule the country and you will have to slap them down like the political factions you do now. As you know I hate corruption and I will root it out and destroy it, as it comes between the people and the things they deserve so it will have to be removed. The head of an international drug distribution organization has been removed already."

"That was you?"

"Yes. He was sending three trucks of troops to take me at my home. Not smart of him at all. I could have dragged him out and taken all the incriminating papers on his desk but I left them. The military would have protected even the rotten ones and the court would have found him innocent and cost the people a lot of money."

Zema was getting tired so I said to Wub, "Go get the blanket then the bag for daddy please, honey." The child slid off and got the blanket that dragged on the floor. I shook it out and laid it on the table so that Zema could lay down on it and perhaps sleep. Wub climbed back and I arranged her to sit comfortably.

"I also want a university here to train engineers and managers. I will pay the instructors in lieu of taxes. I will find those instructors. You find the students and where to house and teach them. Does that answer your question?"

"Pretty much Sir Shawn. When is all this going to take place?"

"I intend to take my new family, along with my older one from the plane, home with me when I leave. I will leave a bank account here in the sum of one million pounds sterling. When I come back after getting my other affairs in order I will begin construction. I need permits to bring pipe and pumps in. You pay me for the pipe I bring for the feeder lines or you get it yourself. I will need chlorination equipment and the liquid chlorine. I am not going to be charged any government fees on any of this. My company will administer this service at a small profit. That is on my word. I will need to talk to your engineering staff to see how to get the electricity to the pumps."

"Do you require some partners in these ventures Sir Shawn?"

"Do I require people always asking questions about the business or their stake in it? No. Do I need people trying to get their incompetent relatives into a good paying job? No. Do I need a way for more graft to sink in? The answer is the same. I will work honestly and I expect the people I work with to be the same. The ones that don't like it or can't do it will go no matter who his relatives are."

Before we left I took Wub onto the terrace after opening the tall French doors. I returned to the table and said, "Before I leave today I want to give you a gift. The emperor got up and put Zema to his shoulder after the small sheet. He walked to me and I met him half way. My arm came from behind my back and the sword in the scabbard was placed in his startled hand. I came forward and took Zema and the sheet and retreated a few feet.

The emperor marvelled at the workman ship and the simple attachments. This was a sword that would be used to fight not for display.

"Sir Shawn this is beautiful. I have never seen such detail."

"Go to a dark room and draw the blade. Remember this above all else. The edge is sharper than anything you have ever known. Draw the blade now and hold the edge upward."

The man did as directed and I took Zima's sheet and threw it one handed so it landed across the blade. The sheet did not even slow down but parted where it touched. A small portion that missed the blade kept the two pieces together. The emperor's eyes went wide. He could not believe the blade.

"Many bad men recently felt this blade. This blade was meant for a warrior not a bureaucrat. When you go into the dark I think you will see the 'Light of Allah' but don't trip or you will cut you penis off."

The emperor said nothing just stared at the blade. I waved goodbye to the minister and walked out. When I got to the main entrance the major-domo rushed to open the door for me and then the automobile. Before stepping in I looked up and waved to the two men standing there. One waving a sword and the other watching the blade very closely tried to do the same without being hurt.

From then on things moved quickly for us. The passports for Ayana and Brihan were easily obtained. The other children that would normally get to ride on their parents passports were listed as my children. Perhaps in some ways their new surname was better than the old one. In almost every case though the children had not even been registered. The twelve European women would not be given passports because they were now seen as foreign nationals. Other documents were issued in their real names and these would be used until they could get the documents from their own countries.

As a public service I went to the two hospitals and donated my services to assist the people of this city. Mostly it was the poor who received my services till the word got out that I was a world renown physician and then I had the more wealthy trying to push their way into position.

Benyam was dressed as I was, in a long white smock with a stethoscope hanging from his neck. I would discuss things with him as if this were a teaching hospital. Soon some of the patients were asking him about their pains.

I called another company meeting and everybody attending was happy that I did not have my sword with me. I told them about the work and how some could gain from my spending. My 'security force' was issued uniforms and given the job of watching my extended family and giving my businesses an image boost. There was grumbling among the people forced to wear the clothing but they knew it was necessary if I said so. My home security unit was incorporated into the security service and received training from the other professionals but this time for the opposite effect.

The municipal engineers were consulted and their words listened to. I knew the strata beneath the city and its environs better than they did. One of my companies got the job of building large water tanks to keep the pressure even. Men, machinery and horses were readied for the pipe that would be laid in the trenches. Another of my companies shared a contract to manufacture fire hydrants.

A large area in the city was set aside. This was to form our staging area. Soil would be dug from here and separated into pea gravel and other sizes to form a bed for the pipe. Eventually this would be our municipal swimming pool.

The people from the plane were escorted by my security service wherever they went. The men seemed to enjoy being photographed with their celebrity clients. The co-pilot and engineer were pushed around in wheelchairs I made and finally got to see the sights of the city.

The plane had been loaded with enough fuel to make it to Addis Ababa. I deposited most of the money in the hidden room but kept 20 percent for my family. A presentation ceremony was made where the Emperor declared that he wanted the project for the people of his capital city and I presented him with a cheque that went into an account only for this project. Many entrepreneurs came out of the woodwork and tried to see what they could get from this venture.

The family was readied and with coordination from the security service we were prepared one night. I flew out to the airfield under my own power and almost gave the old man a heart attack. "I am sorry but I also came to give you good news."

"What is that effendi?"

"You now are working for my company and I want you to continue with the field maintenance. A grader will make it here soon and it will be levelling and widening the road as it comes. It has a map so that the field can be lengthened. So you still have a job. The original owner is running not only from the law but also the people that have always wanted to kill him."

We used the tank to pull the plane out of the dark hanger and I went over the aircraft carefully. I used much more stringent requirements than the most picky pilot ever did. It was in good shape but I made a list of things that were not perfect. I waved goodbye to the man as I taxied out and flew the short trip to Addis Ababa.

The plane was fuelled and employees cleaned and stocked the plane. My hotel now had the contract to stock the plane and the food would be many times better. At three in the morning everybody boarded the plane. This time harsh memories came to most and outright fear to the ones that had never flown before. I felt good because the airline had no control over how their plane got delivered.

Before the ramp was pulled away I thanked the security service for the exemplary way they had performed their duties. I got a military salute from men that had not long ago been nothing more than street thieves.

Before we took off I called for Peter and Benyam to help me fly the plane. Peter took the co-pilot's seat and Benyam took the navigator's spot as he tried to make out what duties he should do. Over Libya the Addis Ababa family came in to see what we were doing and they saw the confusing arrays of lights, dials and indicators that filled the entire cabin. I got up from my seat after setting the autopilot and told Peter to fly the plane. He took the controls and tried very hard to make no mistake as he 'flew the plane' while on autopilot.

Benyam was better only because I had partially trained him on this job and he knew what instruments to check and then use the circular slide rule to plot our position. After we crossed the Strait of Gibraltar I regained the pilot's seat and took us off autopilot and let Peter feel what it was like to really fly a plane.

We flew into London and I let Peter take most of the radio traffic as I monitored his performance. I had cued him in to the correct terminology and we performed fairly well. At four thousand feet I took over and landed the plane as well if not better than it had ever been landed at this particular airport before.

When the platform was pushed to the waiting door the most recovered people descended first. Flashbulbs made the girls blink and shade their eyes. There was no running and they descended the steps like ladies. The parents and family were behind a barrier with police to control the crowd. Everybody was clamouring to get through and to their loved ones. The line of returnees went to a very large and brightly lit room prepared for them in advance.

At the end of the line I assisted some men to get the co-pilot and engineer from the plane. Behind me came my family. As they passed me at the bottom of the ramp, I took two of the infants and carried them to the room. Behind me two men with heavy boxes carried the gold and precious stones that I brought with me. I wasn't going to let this out of my sight, for things at airports went missing all the time, whether in the smallest bush airstrip in Africa, or the largest international airport in London.

I found seats for the family and kept the two infants in my lap. The president of BOAC came onto the stage and started his speech. As quietly as possible I translated for those that didn't understand. He said that he was going to get to the bottom of the matter but the truth was that there were few survivors to prosecute. Alem Neh Mebreatu had died under torture and his body was found by authorities a day before we left Addis Ababa.

The outside doors were opened and carefully screened individuals were allowed in. They ran to their children and the heartfelt reunion let me know what I did all this for. The hall filled and after twenty minutes we were directed to where we could snack on some food and drink. Soon the next round of speeches would begin. This time the back of the room held a line of reporters and photographers.

Both my grandparents and Sharon came in and she led them to me. I introduced everybody. I found grandma had been angry at me for risking my life again. Grandpa was proud of what I had done but wanted me safe. I had to translate again after getting some hugs and kisses. The children were kissed too. It was many done because of what I thought of children in general and these in particular. Somehow the women got an equal treatment. Partially this was because the youngest woman here was only sixteen.

Too soon I was asked to go to the front. I put the babies back in their mother's arms and gave another short speech about what happened. I stayed away from mentioning my family as much as possible. I talked about how Alem Neh Mebreatu's money was now being spent on helping Ethiopia. I mentioned how they were only one of many countries that could be brought into the twentieth century. The speech was as short and sweet as possible and I took my seat again. A few more speeches and we were free to go.