Chapter 26

The elementary school would soon be getting out and the limo should be on the way. Sandra went to the phone and called the desk. A moment later she had the driver's number and quickly punched the buttons to get in touch. When the man answered Sandra said, "The five girls you are to pick up now may be in danger. Two men were here at the hotel asking about us and then not wanting the facts to be told to us. I am phoning the school now. Only you or one of us will pick them up."

"I understand madam. I will treat the children as if they are my own. Please call the school right away."

Sandra had to go through the switch board because there was no phone directory in the room. She got the school switchboard just as she heard the bell ringing in the background. She eventually go through to someone in authority and two teachers were quickly dispatched to find the children.

Long minutes of waiting had the principle finally get on the line. Four of the girls had been found and the fifth was being sought. Sandra regretted not putting a tag into each of the children now as she had done to Ana-Margarida.

Catrina was hovering around the phone and Sandra directed her to an extension so she could hear. More minutes passed but finally the principle said, "We found Yelena in the washroom. She is safe and will stay in school until you pick her up."

"Thank you sir. You have made me very relieved. A dark limousine is outside now. The driver took the children home yesterday and brought them to school this morning. The children will be safe with this man."

Catrina was very relieved too and started to cry. Sandra got the operator again and got the local highschool. It was five minutes to the bell so Alicea could wait inside. The principle was called directly and he got the information a minute early. He sent a clerk to the class to get Alicea to come to the office.

Catrina was very happy to hear that her daughters were safe. She even put down her extension and came over to Sandra to hug her. Sandra though waited on the phone until an excited principle said, "Alicea has left the school. She didn't show up for the last class and that was an hour and ten minutes ago."

"See if you can get her friends or the whole class to stay a moment. I want to see what they know. This may or may not be a kidnapping."

"I may not be able to find many but I will try."

Sandra held the phone to the stunned mother. "Alicea may just have skipped class. I am going to find out what happened. You stay here. If you hear anything call this number." Sandra wrote out a number that the computer AI would connect to her boat and thus to her at anyplace within almost fifty seven light years.

Sandra ran to the other suite. The boat came around and Sandra jumped through empty space to enter it. In less than a second she was over the highschool. She dropped quickly and emerged from an alley very visible. In less than a minute she was in the school.

The principle met her and then introduced her to three of Alicea's classmates. They knew nothing special and Sandra had to go thorough the formality of asking them verbally. She did pick up some of Alicea's friends names and addresses. These may have to be checked after they got home. There was still a very good chance that Alicea had just skipped class.

She thanked the principle and said, "I will check another possibility. Thank you for your help."

Sandra ran out of the school and into another alley to become invisible. Seconds later she was flying to where Catrina lived only a few days ago. She raced to the superintendent's door. He was still grumpy but happy to see Sandra. She asked some questions verbally while she tried to ferret out all the information she would need. It would be better to ask him something that was close to what she wanted.

She then ran to Catrina's old pimp's door. Before knocking she stopped to listen to the minds inside. It took a minute to get enough information. Inside she heard the crying of a child and two sources of abject fear. She knocked lightly low on the door.

"What do you want?" Came belligerently from inside the apartment.

In a little girl's frightened voice she said, "Cruz sent me to this place. He said you would give me money."

The pimp opened the door with the security chain in place. He quickly tried to close it again. Sandra was more than prepared and drove herself into the heavy door and snapped the chain from the wall. The pimp was thrown across the room and landed on a small table. It broke under his weight as the pimp fell to the floor. Once again Sandra stepped in and kicked the man in the jaw and effectively put him out of action.

In the bedroom, two young girls huddled in the bed as they pulled the sheet up to protect their nakedness. One had the pimps seed on her face along with dark matter that was a combination of blood and faecal matter. The younger one just looked dazed but had just enough sense to hide herself.

The younger girl had been found in a village and lured into a slaver's car. She was the one now too stunned to know much about what was happening. There was enough damage done to her mind and body to require a considerable effort to correct.

The other girl was one of thirty nine girls hired from small rural villages supposedly to take care of small children for the wealthy. The jobs were completely fabricated and the girls had just entered a lifetime of prostitution. This particular group had been kept on a farm. They worked there unmolested until suitable 'families' were found.

Sandra went to a window and opened it. Two med units came flying to the building then remained stationary. Sandra palmed one of the units and went to the girls. With the unit hidden first one then the other fell asleep. Sandra pulled the sheet back to see blood and other body fluids over their young skin. With a silent command cleansers came in the window. The cleaning was done first.

The top sheet was put on the floor and the girls were put onto it. After a minute she turned them over. The med units were working on their torn orifices. While this was happening Sandra worked her way into the pimp's mind. He knew of no direct threat to Catrina or any of her children. He did know that one of the three men that came to help him was very incensed at the way he was treated. Sandra took what information she could get before pulling out.

Walking to the doorway she saw people peering into the apartment. They could not see the two naked girls or the units working on them. She picked out a young man and said, "Will you get Ana Santoz for me?"

"Yes Senhora." The man ran off happy to be of use. He never did like the pimp and now he may get a chance to see him laid out. He had missed the time before.

Ana Santoz came into the room with the young man. The male was told to watch the pimp while the older woman was taken further back to the bedroom.

She stopped abruptly seeing the two naked young girls. The lower sheet was still bloody on the bed and the upper was only a bit cleaner.

Sandra said, "The girls were raped. I have exhausted my mental powers cleaning and healing them. It is necessary for somebody to look out for them for at least one day. Will you take care of them for that long?"

The woman now thought that Sandra was a witch but at least a white one. She kissed her own hand and made a sign of the cross but said, "I will watch them for you."

"Let's find their clothes but I want them wrapped in clean sheets. Some of the men can carry the children for you. I am looking for Alicea. She may have skipped school but that may not be the case."

The woman was shocked one more time. Sandra gathered the clothing from the floor. Soft ropes and gags were also seen and pointed out. The pimp did own some clean sheets and Sandra moved the girls to a new sheet and wrapped them securely. The young man was suddenly intrusted with a sleeping girl. Ana told him where to go. Ana called one more man and Sandra put the second child into his strong arms.

Before anybody got out of earshot Sandra said, "One of these girls was kidnapped from her village. The other was lured with thirty eight others to jobs tending little children. Their families would never hear of them again. The man that rents this apartment raped them both. He bought these two and was then going to sell their bodies."

"Tell me what the police will do to him. He will be on the streets in a day and doing it to all the women of your families if he got the chance." The feeling of unrest was very strong and there was a good chance that the pimp would never wake up again.

One older man with a two grandchildren the ages of the two girls was asked by Sandra, "These could have been your granddaughters." The man just growled and thoughts were running through his head of how he could kill the pimp.

Sandra slipped some money into the woman's hand and said, "This is for the food, medicine and clothing for the girls."

To cement her words she closed her eyes and started to chant a text in Latin attributed to Plutarch when he talked of Julius Caesar. Her voice rose in pitch and emphasis as the strange words passed her lips. She immediately disappeared to the gasps of all those around her. She hurried back into the apartment and jumped out the window. Her witch reputation would surely grow now and the two children would be even safer with so many adults watching out for them. Fear of a witch in a superstitious population would ensure it.

Felipe Taguchi Peres was one of the men that Oliveira thought might be angry enough to seek revenge. Now was the time to call in reinforcements.

"Leif, are you busy?"

I was currently sitting in the back of a taxi as it cruised through the capital of Brazil. Brasília was a completely new city. It was specially made for the country and reflected the strengths and beauty. I had my eyes closed trying to find people with one of the three auras we required. It had not been a fruitful search for me. I did think of all the added responsibilities that the five females that Sandra had found me.

Megan and Marina had started to work even harder because of the lead Sandra had gained. I was worried about dropping of exhaustion but even more about the loss of the time I needed for study.

"No, just continuing with the search. What's wrong? I can feel that something is bothering you."

"Catrina's oldest daughter may have skipped school or been lured away. I found two young girls that had been forced into a pimp's bed. Both are going to have mental problems unless they are treated. One was kidnapped from a small village while the other was recruited as a servant but will be put into prostitution. I want to find Alicea and the thirty eight other girls and free them."

"I will be there in a few minutes." The distance was only a thousand kilometres but I had to find a safe place to meet my boat.

"Hurry please."

"I will do my best."

I brought out the money I promised the driver for the entire day and told him to pull over. I reached in front and handed him the sum stipulated. He had six more hours of paid for work and this would be his tip.

Getting out of the taxi I ran to the sidewalk and back the way I had come. Many people just looked at me for the eagerness I presented. This time I ran into a parking lot and disappeared between cars and I was then assisted into the boat by the tractors. The trip to Curitiba took seconds.

A few kilometres from Sandra I asked, "How do you want me to proceed?"

Sandra sent the information about the farm that was close to sixty kilometres from the city but over a hundred by the old roads. "I have only one other lead. You take the farm and I will take Senhor Peres' home. Find the girls and put a stop to these men. I doubt if any amount of talking would be enough."

I didn't like the sound of this. Sandra was asking me to kill or to alter their minds. Both were reprehensible to me. I killed only the enemies of my people or Humans that were far beyond possible reconciliation.

The farm though was easy to find. Dieguo Pica and his wife Aline owned an area of land comprising more than six hundred hectares. They had a large native population working for them. One of the many barns had a group of thirty one beds that had been used recently. In the very highest portion of the home were two girls chained to the beams. They were seriously dehydrated and suffering from heat prostration. Their minds were dull with fatigue for they had escaped last night and tried to get to a town to call the authorities. They had been captured and beaten but not enough to damage them too much.

Digging deeper into Pica I found that he only owned the farm on paper. A wealthy criminal owned the land but had to hide the fact. This out of the way property was used for storing girls and housing stolen goods. A very large building had a concrete floor and all sorts of valuable equipment on it. Some were aeroplanes, expensive automobiles, large farm and construction equipment and even a cold room for storing furs hunted illegally in the interior.

One area was even hidden in this building. It contained a wide assortment of drugs that would supply most of South America.

The more I looked the more I found. Another larger building had an arms cache that included military weapons. Here I found many sophisticated Russian, American, French and Chinese small arms, missiles, vehicles and fieldpieces. There was enough here to take on one of the smaller countries or successfully launch a coup in this country.

I wanted to clean this mess up. The problem was with Estevez Eduardo Braga. He was the real owner of the farm and probably the one that bought the stolen goods. The girls were quickly located. I left a dozen probes to monitor the farm with Pat'uch's help. The girl that Sandra was looking for was not here.

Braga lived in Curitiba, so I flew there immediately. Sandra had not found her quarry but left to check on new leads. Those people may have known where he was or more importantly about Alicea.

My prey was just as elusive and I had to go from his home to many of his various businesses until I found him in the office of one of the city's magistrates. The two were in league with each other and Braga wanted to make sure one of his important henchmen was not convicted of the crime he had committed.

I did find out a great deal from the two. The most important was that the man would be very difficult to bring down with just Human beings and a Human court that was in itself corrupt.

This looked to be a matter that was best handled by more troops. "Megan, Marina, will you two wind up what you are doing and help me clean up an area I find it filthier the deeper I dig. You have to look for a daughter of a woman with your aura. I have to stay away from them for a while."

The girls had been partially following me with their minds. They quizzed Sandra and got a fuller idea of what she was after. Less than a second later they were in my public mind to find out what I had uncovered when I turned over the rock that Sandra wanted cleaned.

Going back to the farm, I landed near the military stockpile. The building had a dozen Soviet SA-10s in their launchers. These were very large surface to air missiles and had a range of a hundred kilometres. The Grumble could hit mach-6. The warhead could be used for both strategic or tactical targets.

My PK was effective against both the alarm system and the locks. The boat came in and I worked to get one of the missiles ready to leave. At present they were secured in a mobile launcher and had both the solid fuel for the rocket motor and kerosene for the jet engine.

I had to make a strap to support the weight for it was greater than the tractor's capability. There was more than enough head room to lift the vehicle into position.

Pat'uch gave us the appropriate time to leave. Everybody was looking the other way or occupied by looking down. Ten minutes later we took one additional unit then six smaller shoulder fired Stingers made by the United States. A variety of small arms were taken along with suitable ammunition.

We flew toward the coast with a visible missile hanging below. A Brazilian commercial flight was presently eighty six kilometres away. I hated to give the passengers a fright but some things had to be done or nothing would change. The small construction probes integrated with the missiles control and in seconds the jet engine billowed into life.

The active radar soon found the target and the missile gained speed. The airliner didn't know what was happening until the missile exploded less than a kilometre away. Now the plane gained more altitude and speed but nothing more was coming its way.

Radio traffic was very heavy for a long time. The plane continued on its course but Pat'uch told me that the military was now sending a team to investigate.

Another commercial plane was heading for Asunción, Paraguay from Rio de Janeiro. I flew back to the farm then further north. It was out of range but I gave the next SA-10 missile some help and sent it on its way. This time it was picked up and the plane made a frantic attempt to avoid the missile.

The pilot and co-pilot may have had heart attacks for I flew it within metres of the cockpit before exploding a kilometre away. This would surely hurt Brazil's reputation but if I went through channels there would be so much coverup that nothing would be accomplished.

Mealtime was coming up at the farm but as yet they knew nothing about my theft of property or of the two acts of war I had made on their behalf. Twenty minutes later a squadron of fighter jets with a AWACS flying high patrolled a hundred kilometres to the north. It took another hour for one of the many fighters to get close to the farm and I released a Stinger but gave it an additional push. The pilot knew of the danger almost immediately and tried to get away. I made sure the Stinger got very close before exploding and doing little harm to the craft.

Aircraft were all around us now. They were going supersonic at low altitudes hoping to lure out more Stingers. I helped them by sending another of my super Stingers. This time it was much closer and it more serious damage to one of the fighters. It was superficial but the pilot knew that he had been hit.

I used up all but one of the remaining four missiles. The military would have to be fools if they would not come, for the centre point of all five launches for it was the farm buildings.

Those on the farm were very worried. Phone calls to Braga were made. It was believed that some leftists had decided to take on the military from a position close to the farm. The farm workers were all ordered to go to the main buildings to protect Braga's property from guerilla attack.

When everybody had made it to the farm buildings I began the attack they were waiting for. Nobody was killed or even wounded but all the farm vehicles seemed to be hit and made inoperable. A feed barn was set ablaze but no animals were present other than rodents and birds.

I flew the boat while invisible but produced the same radar signature as the Stingers had. Though there were no more explosions the pilots knew in their minds exactly where the firing was coming from. The blaze produced a great amount of smoke and helped locate the area even for blind pilots.

Small imitation missile units made by Borin arrived. It seemed that the whole family was getting involved. I said hello to Tom and Margaret and they gave me an excited reply. They saw what I was doing and continued with this form of attention getting.

In the course of five minutes I sent three of our 'missiles' at the AWACS but they exploded far enough beneath them to let them think they were safe.

Megan came to join me and we kept the jets away from strafing the buildings. In an hour the fighters retreated or went for refuelling. Other units came and I think it was the highlight of many of the pilots lives to fight the aggressive well armed enemy on the ground.

I left Megan and her parents with the fun while I went back to find Braga. He had moved but I found him through his cellular telephone. He was currently haranguing the Minister of Defence to protect him and his property. He claimed that he was standing off an army. He could see the danger to himself and was now in the midst of moving many of his sensitive documents to a safer location.

Luis De Oliveira and Felipe Peres were contacted through intermediaries. Sandra took the former while I took the latter. Peres was actually close to the farm and I thought this very suspicious. The phone number was recorded and I quickly got into the area. It was getting dark and there was a lot of overhead cover for the man to hide in. I had few probes but decided to call with the telephone. In seconds I was over a vehicle stopped under some trees.

Peres was smoking furiously in a small cargo van with five chained girls in the back. The sounds of the jets could still be heard. Some had even come overhead with a giant sonic boom behind them. Everybody was a bit deaf now though it had happened twenty minutes ago. In the background sounds of the battle could still be heard but mostly it was just sonic booms.

I landed in the centre of the dirt tract and walked invisibly toward the truck. I knew that one of the girls in the back was Alicea. I called and informed Sandra. She simply said, "Kill him or I will do it."

"Come here and swim in this cesspool for a few moments and find out what was happening before you go to that irrevocable decision."

I stopped and in less than a minute Sandra and Marina were within metres of the van. They found out what the plan was, and moved in to take out Peres. Sandra was so mad she wanted to kill him with her mind alone but this didn't sound suitable. This time they appeared visibly so he would have a chance to worry. I became visible myself and ripped open the back door as Peres got out the front. The entire truck shook with the violent manouevre but I knew that Peres would be too busy to deal with this.

The passengers in the truck were dumfounded by my actions. They had wide frightened eyes as they looked on me. I tried to be much more subtle now and said to the first girl on my right, "Hello Alicea. I came with Sandra to find you. You are safe now." This didn't seem to work as well as it should so I released the bounds on my aura. Now the girls knew I was not one of the abductors or if I was, they would not worry.