Chapter 1

"She's back! Aksana is back!" I said to myself, almost too loudly. It was a good thing that I was standing by myself in a corner of the Library lobby.

The she that was the cause of my outburst was a young librarian that I had ... Well, let's face it; I had a crush on her. The woman in question was of mid stature with an athletic, almost boyish figure. Her angular face was accented with her dark hair in a sort of 'Prince Valliant' kind of cut, and dark rectangular framed eyeglasses.

You would say that this woman sounds rather severe in appearance, and you would be correct ... until she smiled! Her rather wide mouth lights up the room with ten thousand watts of sheer brilliance when she smiles and everyone in the room must smile with her just from her 'joie de vivre'.

This day, though, that smile was at best, mechanical. The light and life were gone!

Let me backtrack a bit here, to explain. I am a disabled man of sixty-five years that is carrying some extra baggage around the middle ... well ... the extra is all over, really. To make matters worse, I'm now bald. Okay, okay, I'm fat and bald!

Now there is good and bad with an appearance such as mine. The bad is that I'm not attractive. The good is that I'm non-threatening in appearance.

Because of that last fact I have from time to time been able to talk with the lady about whom I am speaking.

I know I am being an old fool, in having such a crush on this woman; but the heart wants what it wants, and that is the end of it. Oh I had no illusions that I would be able to obtain such a woman, but it was nice to dream and bask in the out spilling of joy that came from her ... that is, until that fateful day.

There is one other thing that I should mention, here. You see ... I'm blessed with some ... ah ... talents, for the lack of a better word. I'm a telekinetic and also have some telepathic ability. No, I can't just read your mind ... but I am able to get bits and pieces of thought, and I am also able to implant thoughts and feelings into the minds of others.

I came upon these gifts rather late in life, in a time when my value system is far more benevolent than the ones we all read about in the novels of today. No, I rarely use my abilities, and then only for the good of others.

I hate bullies and abusers, so that makes them my targets whenever I run into them.

That day I found my young woman back working at the Library, I was quite swept away by the waves of despair and fear emanating from her. THERE WAS NO JOY IN HER AT ALL!

Fearfully I opened my mind to what she was broadcasting. What I received shocked and angered me. I was enraged and in that rage I very nearly roared out my displeasure right there in the middle of the Library for all to see and hear! A totally inappropriate behavior!

Pictures of brutal beatings, depravity and hopelessness, commingled with the images of a young child poured forth from the woman. It was obvious to me that this sweet joyful woman had been enslaved by threats against her child!

I was greatly distressed!

I decided to lure this poor creature to one of the catalog computers in an isolated part of the stacks so that I might glean more information and to also implant healing thoughts.

As we walked back to the computer that I was using, I kept sending her comforting thoughts. By the time that we arrived at my station there was the hint of the old smile, but just barely a hint.

"There is something about you that makes me feel better, safer, somehow," she said.

"Oh? Really?"

"Yes. Things haven't been good for me of late, but for some reason I don't feel as bad here with you. It's strange, but it's nice for a change."

"I'm very sorry to hear of your troubles. Is there anything that I can do to help?" I asked as I pushed stronger feelings of comfort and trust upon her.

"There's nothing anyone can do for me now! He has my baby," she said in a chocked voice with tears beginning to spill from her eyes. Soon she was in full despair, crying silently with great shudders and gasps.

I continued to fill her with comfort and trust. I also implanted the impulse to tell me her story.

Slowly she gathered herself together and asked, "Would you mind letting me tell you what has happened to me? If I don't tell someone, I will go crazy."

"Of course not! Go right ahead."

"You're so nice. I always liked it when you came to the desk. You always had a kind word or a little story while you checked out your materials."

"Thank you. I enjoyed those times, too."

That earned me another little bit of a smile. Then the smile was gone as she began her story.

"Six months ago I was invited to a party. There I met a man. He was a very striking and charismatic person. I thought he was a businessman, and he is, but his business is the training and selling of sex slaves.

"That night I was drugged and kidnapped. When I woke up I was naked and chained in a sort of modern day dungeon. It was horrible, but that was not the worst. Across the room was a large screen TV showing my baby boy in a cage like some animal! I screamed and screamed until I had no voice left.

"As I hung on the chains I was suddenly aware that there was some one behind me. I managed to move around enough to see the college student from Texas that I hired as a sitter for Toby. She had been beaten badly and was really suffering. Suffering from the beating and from the fact that she was unable to protect Toby. She wept and apologized over and over.

"The poor girl was covered in huge bruises, except for her face, so I guess they were going to train her, too. I never saw her again."

Just then, the head Librarian came looking for her employee. However I implanted the thought that Aksana was busy helping patrons. With the shake of her head, the woman left us alone.

"The training was brutal! I was later told that I was the first slave to successfully complete the new training method. My trainer was very proud of his new way of doing things. He had developed new psychotropic drugs that alter the brain, permanently. With the use of the drugs he was able to train me in two weeks where it usually takes three months to fully train a new slave.

"There were still the beatings to break the spirit of the trainee but because of the altered state of mind it took much less time. He did have an additional 'tool' to use on me though--the safety of my little Toby."

Here she began to sob softly again, "I think that he's dead! Now that I'm finished with my training and my new owner, the man that contracted for my enslavement, now has taken possession of this slave. You see they no longer need Toby. The drugs did indeed alter the mind of this slave.

"The new owner is very displeased with his new slave though. It seems that he was attracted by my happy nature. Now that I am without my sweet, sweet Toby, there is nothing to be happy about. He keeps trying different things to get that happiness back, but all to no avail.

"Last week my owner became so frustrated that I thought he was going to kill me. I think he was trying to scare me but his efforts had the wrong effect. Now my programming prevents me from suicide, so when he threatened to kill me I smiled and said, 'Yes! Please! Please kill me!'

"I kept smiling and even reached up and put the muzzle of his pistol to my own forehead. My actions so shocked the man that he didn't even bother to hit me for my insubordination. He just left the room, looking very sad."

"Surely you have no proof that your son is dead. These types of people are very pragmatic. I would think that a healthy young child would be worth thousands in the adoption Black Market," I interrupted.