Chapter 20

The next day about noon, they set out for the construction site in the two trucks. All 11 of the rebels and the 4 Canadians were split between the two trucks. That was very nearly a full load for each truck if they were going to ride comfortably, but more people could be crowded in if it made a difference.

They stopped behind a ridge before they reached the main gate of the site. George and the others had not known what to look for on their previous visit, so they had nothing to tell John about how the place was defended, if at all. John and George got out of the truck and crept up close to the fence and main gate of the site.

John was completely taken aback at what he saw. The slaves were laboring away, digging and hauling dirt by hand. There was no sign of earth-moving equipment or anything else to make the job easier for the workers nor to speed up the work. Furthermore, every slave had a cable running from the restrainer ring around his balls to a metal plate that he had to carry every time he moved from one place to another. That explained why there were no guards, as such.

They counted 14 supervisors who were carrying short whips that resembled a cat-o-nine-tails. The women supervisors were not reluctant to use the whips, and they saw several slaves fall from a particularly vicious hit from the whips just in the few minutes that they watched.

George said, "We've got to call off the attack for today. We are not prepared to handle the problems that I can foresee just by watching for these few minutes. We will need something to cut loose the ball rings for the slaves that want to join us, and I have something I especially want to do to those supervisors. Let's go back, and I'll explain what I have in mind on the way home."

John was disappointed that George had seemed to get cold feet, but he was there to advise, not to direct the rebellion, so he had to go along with George's decision.

Back at the trucks, George had the trucks turn around and head back to Phoenix. "We are not prepared for what I have seen, people. I'll tell you about it when we are safe at home."

They climbed back into the trucks and headed home. George said to John, "There are at least 50-60 slaves working there, and we can't handle half of them if they want to join us. Furthermore, those restrainer rigs they have will have to come off before we try to remove them from the current site. We don't have anything that can cut them off nor cut that cable. Do you have any solution to that problem?"

"George, I understand your position, but I'll have to think about a way to cut the men loose. A portable grinder can cut that cable, but we don't have one. Do you think that they will have one on site?"

"I have no idea. Who else would have one that we could steal tonight?"

"I think that one could be found at a well equipped hardware store or a place selling machine tools. Joseph should be able to find a suitable place by searching the internet. Of course, they could have the key to release the locks in the construction office, though I agree that is a long shot.

"On a separate question, where would you put the slaves who agreed to join you? You certainly don't have the space for them in your current building if most of them wanted to join up."

"Yeah, that was the other reason I wanted to back off. We need to find another building close by that we can convert into a secure barracks. We don't want cops or anybody else wandering in on us. I was thinking about assigning Otto to supervise the barracks, but I haven't talked to him about that yet. I am overwhelmed by the number of possible recruits that we could get."

Otto was in the other truck, so George couldn't talk to him until they got home. However, he was able to talk to Joseph about finding a source for a portable grinder. George called a general meeting as soon as they got home. He got Otto's agreement to supervise the barracks until something else could be worked out.

At the general meeting, George said, "Folks, I know that you are disappointed that we did not attack the construction site, but I know that you will understand and agree with me once you hear the story.

"Very simply, Joseph, Otto, and I goofed by not taking a look at the construction site when all of the workers were there. I found out today that there were just too many slaves for us to cope with. There were at least 50-60 slaves at work on basic manual labor, and I don't know how many more doing specialized jobs like Explosives Slave was doing. If only half of them wanted to join us, we could not have transported them back here, much less found a place for them to sleep.

"We are going to have to take over another building just to have a barracks for them, and then we will have a hell of a time feeding them all. Frankly, I don't know what we will do to get enough food. To keep up, we would have to empty a small warehouse every week, and I don't see how that would be possible.

"We can move in and take over the site where all of those slaves are currently working, but that wouldn't work because we would be fully exposed to retaliation by the National Guard attack helicopters. If we free them, we have to hide them until they can defend themselves, and that we can't do!

"Folks, much as we want to help those poor slaves. I can't see any way that we can do it now. It's just too ambitious a project for us to handle. We need to free slaves, but we need to do it in batches of up to 10-12, not 50 or more. Therefore, I am declaring that the construction site raid is put off indefinitely.

"That doesn't mean that we are giving up on rescuing slaves, but it does mean that we are scaling back our ambitions. We have no other choice!

"Does anybody have any other suggestions?"

Even the Canadians seemed to be stunned by George's words. There was a lot of quiet conversation within the group, but nobody seemed ready to offer a suggestion. Then, Jack held up his hand.

With some relief, George said, "Yes, Jack, do you have a suggestion?"

"Yes, I do. How about raiding some of the homes of the richest women in town. Most of them have from 3-6 slaves. That's a small number that we could handle, and it would let us build up our strength in manageable bites."

"Dammit, Jack, that's a brilliant idea. We might pick up some useful skills while we are about it. That sounds really good to me. Does anybody else have any comments on Jack's idea?"

The meeting collapsed upon itself at that point because there was a general voice of acclamation. Everybody was in favor of giving the idea a try. They had nothing to lose, and a chance to perfect their raiding technique. Even the Canadians thought it was a good idea.

That's when John asked for the floor. George had to work to regain control of the meeting, but he finally had the conversation calmed down and gave the floor to John. "I think Jack's suggestion is brilliant, but I have a few suggestions to add. For one thing, I think that you guys need a uniform. That would give you a strong psychological impact on the slaves you are rescuing, especially if the men are fully dressed and obviously equal to the women. Clothes can convey a strong message, and you people are going to need all of the help that you can get.

"The other point is that I think that you should have some formal rank within your organization. You already have informal leaders, so it should not be difficult to assign them formal leadership positions. What I have in mind is calling George by the rank of captain. And, while I'm thinking about it, he should take on a more striking name. Specifically, I suggest that he assume the name of Capt. Spartacus.

"Otto, Joseph, and Nancy can have the rank of Lieutenant, and can come up with special names if they want to. Mavis and Helen could be Sergeants, and the rest could have the rank of private soldier until they were promoted for some good reason.

"Through history, this sort of thing has really helped a rebellion get off the ground. Of course, you may do what you please, but I think that these two suggestions would provide a major psychological boost to your movement."

John's suggestions were debated by the group, but finally adopted as he stated them. A committee of Lena, Joseph, and Helen was formed to design a uniform that would be comfortable for both sexes and would convey a sense of authority and control.

Meanwhile, George, now Capt. Spartacus, John, and Jack would plan a trial raid to test Jack's idea for feasibility. Jack knew most of the slaves in his neighborhood, so he was able to suggest the best places to hit to get the best results.