Chapter 3

Report to Archives committee

Hello, my name is Arnie P. I am filing this report for the "Recovery Archives Committee."

This is a report on how the "Recovery in Space" fellowship got started.

For many years I was a proud member of the Hapsburg Sunday meeting. We called the group the Hapsburg Half Moons and we met at the town hall on Sundays from 11 am till noon.

In the fellowship, we were known far and wide. An active group, we were often 20 or more strong to speak at meetings. We went as far as Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Cape Cod and Newport.

We had a colorful bunch. "One Horse Bill" had one horse. "Shoeshine Charlie" had a stand by the courthouse and "Bob the Baker" always had fresh cinnamon rolls at the meeting.

A few weeks ago, we got a message from a former member, John K. He had contacted the central office and they got our rep. John asked if he could come in with some friends of his and put on a meeting. Said it was short notice, but that he had a special surprise for us.

You know John K? You do? Think that he's okay? I knew him way back when. We started off about the same time. The oldies were bettin' that he would not last three months. He stuck around awhile and we ain't seen him since. Kid was about as loose as a coffee can full of quarters. Heard he moved to Worcester and then on to Springfield.

Well, we were a tight bunch and once a Moonie, always a moonie. We asked the group that we had scheduled to come in later and let John's group come in.

On meeting day, John and his crew showed up about 11:15. Said that they wanted to check out the hall -- something about sound quality. John didn't change much -- a little more gray hair but man, what an attitude. That jumpy kid was as calm as the Narragansett Bay in a hot summer day. And you should have seen the folks he came in with. All big folks, even the women. There were seven in all besides John, four guys and three gals. It was like he recruited the New England Patriots to speak at our meeting.

Meeting time came and we had our usual full house. There was a crew of latecomers standing along the back wall. We had our mix of old timers and new faces. Most of the group members had grabbed the front row seats. After the secretary started the meeting, John took over. He briefly qualified but you could tell that recovery had changed him. You could tell that he was finally comfortable. He was looking people in the eye.

When the speakers took to the podium, the crowd went silent. For the next hour every ear was on them. They shared their stories. One had been a waitress, another a lawyer, and another a prison guard. They told what it had been like, what brought them to the halls and what things were like today.

Still, I could tell that there was something fishy. Something rubbed me wrong. Folks like that usually come in different shapes and sizes. These were linebackers.

As John ended the meeting, the walls went gray.

In a voice that seemed so unlike him, John spoke to the crowd, "Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is John K. and I am an ensign in the Confederacy Marines. This meeting is over and this is now a pick up."

The people he had brought with him stood up and the room went silent.

"We have the names of fifteen volunteers who are to be picked up. Would you all come to the stage with your CAP cards? If you have pre-packs, bring them with you."

"Anyone with weapons, raise your hands and you will be disarmed."

A few hands were raised and the Marines moved in.

"You can't do this!" came a voice from the crowd.

"We can and we are. The meeting is over. Your anonymity is safe. All that anyone outside this room knows is that we are doing an extraction. Those of us who are here are all members of the fellowship.

Many of you know me and have heard our stories. You have nothing to fear."

"If there are any more volunteers here, would you come forward now."

"Any of you who would like to be extracted as concubines, move to my left. If you wish to stay behind, to my right and would someone please escort the children to the library."

I had already moved my prepack to the stage. I had a 6.7 CAP and had one of my spouses and her daughter with me. The female sergeant checked our cards and motioned us to the stage.

We looked into the crowd and it was kind of funny. I saw John move over to an older blonde he had seen and he proceeded to ride her hard. They then joined us on stage with a young girl. The sponsors were going through the concubine candidates and the Marines were encouraging test drives.

Believe it or not, most of those joining us were fully clothed. Within a few minutes everyone had been gathered up and we were off to our new home.