Chapter 96

I sat in the car watching the countryside as one of Elastic's marines drove me to the factory. Soon, I would own all of the land between Martinè and the factory. There were only three or four blocks remaining and their owners were willing to sell, it was the price that we were negotiating now. For these last few hectares I was willing to be a little more generous, but I wouldn't be ripped off.

The driveway into the factory itself had changed considerably. The road was now a single lane wide and made a number of very sharp bends. There were deep ditches on either side as well. No truck bomb could be driven to the factory without going into the ditches or being blown to pieces by the guard towers on top of the factory itself.

The grounds were clean and gardens had been planted. I heard the squeals of children having fun and saw a group of women practicing Tai Chi. All in all; it seemed to be an idyllic place.

The car pulled up in the large forecourt and I got out and looked over the gleaming white walls and shining windows. Mika stood beside me looking round in awe.

"This looks wonderful, Master," she said, "Do you have a problem making the slaves keep it this clean?"

I had to laugh.

"Mika, the last time I saw this factory it was dirty and run-down. The slaves themselves wanted to repair and paint their home, I just paid for the materials."

Jill came hurrying out of the building, I opened my arms to her and we hugged.

"Master, welcome to June's."

"June's?" I said, smiling at her.

"Yes, Master. Karen thought that as she was expanding beyond just lingerie, it would be better to just drop that from the name. Her design and production is now all under the name June's."

"Well, in that case, Jill, please show me around June's." I said with a smile.

Jill shook her head, "Master," she said in a very good imitation of Umber, "You shouldn't say please to slaves, as Umber says, we get uppity."

I hugged her again and then she led me across the lawn to a group of children running and playing.

"Master, the children of June's are ready for your inspection," said a woman. She clapped her hands and the kids ran to us and crowded round. They were all bright-eyed and attentive. They didn't show any fear of Mika or I, just a lively interest in the new people in their world.

"I know you," cried a small boy from the back of the group. "You're the man wot send the bad people away. You gave us Mistress Karen to look after us."

"Yes, I am." I answered. "Do you like it here with Mistress Karen and Mistress Jill?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Mistress Karen makes us go to school, but Mistress Jill gets loads of good things for us to eat." His eyes widened as he remembered special treats. "Have you ever had a banana? They're wonderful aren't they?" he continued without waiting for my answer.

The children round him nodded their agreement.

A small girl tugged on my trousers, "Are you the Master?" she asked.

"Yes, I am."

"Why does my Mummy have to work on the top of the factory?" she asked.

I knelt down to her. This was obviously something that puzzled and concerned her.

"I don't know. Perhaps I can ask and find out for you."

She looked a little sad, as though she'd been promised much in the past; and received little from those promises.

"Why don't you come with me and then you can be with me when I ask?"

"I don't know if 314 will let me go. She's my teacher and she is quite strict."

"Of course you can go with our Master," said 314. "You should know that he is the one who we all rely on for everything we have. He is the one who gave us Mistress Karen."

"Well, you hold on to this lady's hand and you can come with us as we go look round your home. We'll ask about your Mummy and see why she works on the roof."

I pointed to Mika and the girl held up a small, and slightly grubby, hand. Mika held her hand with a smile.

"My name is Mika, what's your name?" Mika asked.

"I used to be called 723, but Mistress Karen said that all of the children had to have names like free people do, so Mummy said that I was to be called Ruth," she answered.

"Come along then, Ruth," I said, "Let's go and see what we can find out."

I turned to 314, "Thank you for looking after these children so well. I'm sure that their parents are reassured by your care for them."

Tears came to her eyes, "Master, it has always been my wish to teach children. I finally have my lifelong desire. You never have to thank me; I thank you every day I wake for freeing us from the tyranny we suffered under. And then you gave us Mistress Karen and Mistress Jill. No, our Master, I," she gestured around her, "We, all thank you."

We started walking round the building, taking in the obvious improvements, the lawns and gardens, vegetable gardens, flower beds terraces and shaded paths. Everywhere we went the working women would stop work and kneel.

We saw 10,000 in the distance, mowing a huge field with a small unpowered hand lawn mower. I think that the grass was growing faster than he could cut it.

A woman came running up to Mika, "Mistress, let me take the girl. You have much more important things to do for our Master."

Mika laughed, "Do you think that this child is unimportant?" She asked with a smile.

The woman nodded her head, "She is just a child of no import. A child of a slave, what status could she have?"

Mika looked at Ruth, "Ruth dearest child, I was told this myself just yesterday, told by one of our Master's gold-collared slaves. 'Our Master is The Baron. Even the lowest of his slaves has more status than the wives, favourites and mistresses of all the other owners.' You, Ruth, have the opportunity to become a personal slave or body slave for our Master. Nothing is beyond your grasp."

Mika looked back at the woman who'd tried to take Ruth away from her, "It is my privilege to escort this high-status girl for my Master. It is her privilege to accompany her Master too."

"Yes, Mistress," the woman replied, she looked a little shocked by Mika's words. I smiled at her, "Come with us, you might be able to answer some questions for us."

In the building, the ground floor was taken up by communal spaces, school areas, indoor play grounds, to one side were a number of computers, two or three small kitchen areas with kettles and coffee making facilities; all in all a comfortable relaxation area. The various areas were painted according to their function, pastels for the rest areas, more dramatic and dynamic colour schemes for the more active areas.

A woman seated at a desk in the school area saw us approaching and came and knelt before us.

"Master," she said with a smile, "The school for June's children is ready for your inspection."

"Thank you, please show me around." I said.

"Master!" hissed Jill, "You're doing it again."

I gave a small chuckle, "Show me the school, let slave Jill have the protocols that she desires."

The school teacher ... administrator ... looked a little puzzled.

"Yes Master," she started, "This is the first class area, it comprises of 15 pupils taught by three teachers..."

"Are they qualified in any way?" I asked.

She looked at me as though she couldn't understand the question.

"Qualified, Master?"

"Yes, teaching or educational qualifications," I elaborated.

"For the children of slave's Master?"

"Yes, for the children of my slaves."

"Oh," she was now sure that she'd done wrong and was on her way to a punishment. "I don't know, Master. We never thought to ask. I don't have any qualifications."

She knelt down, then placed her forehead on the floor. "This girl has failed her Master and is ready for her punishment."

I could hear the barely restrained tears in her choked voice.

"Stand girl, tell me your name." I ordered.

She stood and faced me, tear tracks ran down her face.

"This miserable wretch is 776, Master," she said.

"Well 776, your punishment is to organise every one of the school teachers and school staff to obtain their qualifications. I want you to ensure that the best people are running this school and that the best people are teaching in it. Do you understand?"

"But Master, that will take years," she said.

"Yes, so you'd better get started as soon as you can, hadn't you."

She nodded, "And my whipping, Master?"

"776, before you have finished this task, I am sure that you will have wondered if being whipped might not have been easier."

We moved on, leaving a confused 776 behind us.

"Mika, remind me to have someone check the progress of the school staff's education monthly at least. And I need to get Nigel Williams to increase this place's budget to account for the travel and university costs."

"Yes Master," she answered.

We moved upstairs to the first floor. (Note 1) This was the first of the working floors. It was light and airy. The windows had been cleaned until they gleamed. The walls had been painted, again soft pastel colours, colours which relaxed. The machines were all clean and fitted with sturdy safety guards. Posts in the centre of the room, alongside each machine held emergency stop buttons. I turned and saw more of the large red buttons by the door.

Each row of looms was widely-spaced, giving the workers plenty of room. There were two tables at each workstation. One held the tools and equipment needed to service the loom, the other held food and drinks for the worker. Each of the workers was intent on her job, letting nothing interfere with her duties. Three women walked slowly up and down the central walkway.

I heard one of the workers call out "Relief!"

One of the women in the centre aisle hurried over to her and took over her machine. The relieved worker hurried to the other end of the building and entered the living quarters. To go to the toilet, I presumed. Less than two minutes later she returned and took over her loom again.

Karen had certainly set up good conditions for the workers here.

I turned and we went up to the second floor.

This was the same as the floor below. This time though I called one of the centre walkers over.

"Yes Master?" she asked as she knelt in front of me.

"I would like to see your living quarters. Is that permissible?" I asked.

"Master!" she was shocked, "You are our Master, you can go anywhere and see anything. Please Master come and see the wonderful things that Mistress Karen has provided for us."

The door into the living quarters was actually a double door. The two effectively kept all of the loom noise out of the living and sleeping areas.

The living area was like a huge family room. There were three seating areas, comfortable sofas surrounding well-made tables. Rugs were spread here and there, but mainly the wooden flooring, gleaming from daily polishing, was open to view. There was another set of doors at the end of this room. I went through and found myself in a large, communal, bedroom.

A bathroom door opened and a young woman came out. She saw me and hurried over to a low bed. She stood there looking a little unsure as to what she should do.

"Hello," I said to her.

"Er, Hi." She was quite nervous. "You're the boss of this place aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." I replied. "Were you brought over here from England?" I asked. I had suggested that the women rescued from exploitation in the UK, could be brought here.

She nodded, "I was being forced to work as a prostitute. But a bloke called Prof found me and sent me over here. The people here are good. I can't work the looms yet, but I'm trying. And I've mostly cleaned up. They only have to help me a bit now." She looked worried for some reason.

Then another woman came over, I saw this one was tattooed with a number, 27.

"Sandra, this is the master that we've talked about. He's not going to send you back and he doesn't want anything from you. He has many, many women and girls who would gladly share his bed and perform anything he wished. So he doesn't need to make you do anything for him. You were brought here to help you. So relax, help where you can, and when you're better, when you can take care of yourself, then, if you want, you can go home."

Sandra turned to 27 and almost sagged, "I'm trying, I really am trying, but it's so hard. He made me take so much of that junk, he made me take it every day. I couldn't stop, I always needed more. And then he said he would kill me if I ever left him. He said he'd kill my boy too..."

27 hugged her. "David is downstairs playing with the other children. You are both safe here, the warriors on the roof will stop anyone getting here and harming any of us."

Sandra turned to me, "Are there really people on the roof? People with guns and stuff?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Why don't we go and find out." I suggested. I held out my hand and she took it, holding on to me with a vice-like grip, holding on as though her life or sanity depended on not letting go. I wasn't sure of her stability, perhaps it did.

"Let's go there now, let's see for ourselves."

We climbed up to the roof, emerging into the blustery wind on one end of the building. Immediately, two women wearing flak jackets came over to us, their hands resting lightly on their side-arms. They relaxed when they saw Jill.

"822, Brenda, this is our Master. You all must learn to recognise him," said Jill quite sharply.

"Yes Mistress," answered one of the women. The other was staring intently at me. Sandra hung onto my arm, half hiding behind me.

We left the shelter of the stairway into the open area of the roof itself. There were defensive positions at each corner and halfway along each of the longer sides. I could also see extra gun mounting points almost every metre along the wall. In the centre of the roof there was a small control post. Monitors showed the surrounding countryside, one was obviously infrared, its green screen showing a fox crossing the clear ground about a mile away.

"Well Sandra, there ARE warriors on the roof." I said, with a little laugh.

"Yes, there are. I'm sorry I didn't believe 27, she's been very good to me."

"RUTH!" a woman cried, "What are you doing up here?"

"Mummy!" Ruth ran over to her mother and they hugged.

"Oh Master, I'm so sorry she disturbed you, she should know better than to pester people, especially you, my Master. She's always wanting to know why I'm up here." Ruth's mother was very worried about possible repercussions from her daughter's actions.

I smiled at her, trying to ease her fears a little.

"Why don't you show her what you do and tell her why you want to be up here and not down with the loom workers or doing another job?" I suggested.

Ruth and her mother went over to the corner post, talking all the time. The other women there turned and greeted Ruth warmly. I noticed that only one woman at a time took her attention off her area of cover. These women may not be trained professionals, but that had a high standard of professionalism. With the right training, they would be a formidable force.

I turned to Jill, 822 and Brenda, "So who set all of this up?" I asked with interest.

"The Coven came over for a week, and two of Paula's girls have given some input too. We've had three test exercises so far. The first time they got inside and would have killed a lot of us before the second floor girls just swarmed them. If that had been real, we'd have lost a lot of those girls, but I watched them, Master, they just threw themselves onto the attackers. Eight of them suffered bad injuries, burns and broken bones. But they wouldn't quit. When we called off the exercise they were cheering." Jill's eyes glazed a little as she remembered the occasion.

"The second time, they never even got past the road constriction. That is a wonder isn't it? And it was dug by the women themselves, by hand. They worked like demons, Master. They really want to defend this place. They won't let anyone just come in and take over."