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The captain looked at me thoughtfully.
"Are you sure?"
I nodded, "yes, sir. That is a
stolen boat and the perpetrator needs to be brought to justice and the
stolen boat needs to be returned. Mistress Anne has ordered this," I
concluded.
The captain nodded. "Done."
"Thank you, captain."
I watched as the captain picked up a
satellite phone. I listened as he spoke into the phone, "we have a
situation. A boat has been stolen. Request helicopter and boat
support."
I turned and made my way back to the
pool deck to make my report.
Anne's eyebrows raised in question
when I arrived by her side. "And?"
I simply nodded.
The stolen boat began circling the
ship with the bull horn amplifying, "fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you," from all
sides.
Anne turned to me, "stop the boat."
"Yes, mistress." I made my way
to the phone just aft of the pool and dialed the bridge.
"Captain."
"Yes, captain. We need you to
stop the ship, please."
"Right away, sir."
Once again I returned to Anne's side.
The phone was convenient though I seldom used it. Some things were
better spoken in person; like ordering a helicopter loaded with capable men
of taking the boat by force if necessary. Simple matters, like
changing a bell did not require the same in person conversation.
"Done, mistress," I said.
"Good. That will force him to
slow down to keep up his taunting."
The
boat slowed and then stopped. As Anne had predicted, Damon continued
his taunting, hate-filled speech, but now he was no longer pulling away from
his and Williams' and Dana's and Louisa's home city. He
was now, basically, a sitting duck.
In the distance a thumping sound grew
louder. The drone of an approaching helicopter, the thump-thump-thump
of the spinning rotors announcing the arriving helicopter.
"Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck... Shit."
The sound of the boat motor revving reached our ears as Damon began to race
away from the ship.
The helicopter flew over Anne's ship
and gave chase to the fleeing form of Damon in William's boat.
William watched
from the edge of the ship as his boat got smaller. Dana and Louisa
climbed from the pool and rushed to William's side. Anne and I
watched as the helicopter raced towards Damon. It hovered above the
boat and a small door opened on the side of the helicopter. A rope
fell from the copter and two men dropped down the belaying line and landed
in the racing boat.
"This is too
cool," Dana said, sounding like an excited school girl.
Louisa nodded,
"uh huh."
The two men
grappled with Damon and easily took control of the stolen boat. The
helicopter turned away from William's boat and hovered above Anne's boat.
It flew to the rear of the ship and landed on the large landing pad at the
rear of the ship. Damon was handcuffed by one of the men as
the second took the wheel and brought the boat to the fantail of Anne's
ship.
"Shall we?" Anne
said to William.
William nodded,
"sure."
William, Dana, Louisa, Anne and I made our way to the
fantail. Damon was there, hands cuffed behind his back and cussing
us for all he was worth. "Cock-sucking, mother fucking, ass biting,
pieces of shit. Let me go right now, God damn it!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk,"
Anne said, wagging her finger at him. "That's no way to talk to the
woman that literally has your freedom in her hands. What am I going
to do with you?"
"Fuck you!" he
said and spat at her, the saliva dropping at her feet.
Anne shook her
head, "that is not wise."
"F... U... C...
K... Y... O... U!" He spelled out the letters.
"Fine. Gag him,"
her voice was hard. Damon had just fucked up big time.
Damon wiggled and shook, not wanting
to be gagged or held. I slid beyond the door of the fantail and
quickly grabbed a gag for Mistress Anne. Returning to the fantail I
gagged Damon with a red ball gag I had fetched while one of the men from
the helicopter held him immobile; the same man that had steered William's
boat back to the ship.
Damon grunted and
moaned but could no longer speak. His grunts were understandable...
almost. You could detect the letters he was spelling with the tonal
quality of his grunts.
"What am I going
to do with you?" Anne asked. "Let's see." She looked at
William, "it's your boat he took, what do you want to do with him?"
"I don't know,"
he said. "He is... was... my friend and so I don't want to see him
hurt. But, he has certainly not acted like I have ever seen him act
before. I don't know who he is." He sighed, "I don't know."
Anne looked at
me, "break out the cage. Bring it to the pool deck and have the
captain rig the crane."
I nodded, "yes,
mistress."
I made my way to the bridge and gave the orders that
Anne had demanded. The captain acknowledged the order and by the
time I made my way back to the pool deck six men were setting up a small
cage with the top affixed to a small crane.
Anne, William,
Dana, Louisa had made it to the pool deck as well as Damon with one of the
men from the helicopter as well as two additional guards. We
watched, Damon struggling and grunting behind his gag, as the cage was
assembled. When it was done, one of the four men setting it up
approached Mistress Anne, "the cage is ready."
"Very good." She
turned to the men guarding Damon, "lock him in the cage."
He fought, he
tried to run, but to no avail. He was forced into the cage and the
cage door was locked.
"Lower the cage
into the pool, keep his head out of the water."
Click,
click, click, the cage began to rise on the wench of the crane.
The cage continued to rise until it
hovered two feet off the ground. Next, the cage was swung around and
slowly lowered into the water. Damon sank with the cage until only
his head was above the water.
"Now," Anne said,
"you are in your prison until I decide what to do with you. You can
not move, you can not speak and if you relax you will sink below the
water. This is not comfortable for you, I know." She looked at
him with distaste. "Not wise, what you did, not wise at all."
She turned away from him, leaving him to himself.
"What are you
going to do with him?" William asked.
"We could turn
him over to the local authorities. Grand theft. He would do
some serious time."
William shook his
head, "do we have to?"
"No. We
could keep this," she paused and finally said, "local."
"Local?"
"We could punish
him here, like before. Only worse. Much, much worse."
"Worse?"
"He won't steal
again when I am done with him. It will take a while," she paused and
exhaled. "We are sailing to Tahiti and it may take that long to
finish his punishment. Or, it could take even longer. I
promise, he won't steal again."
William looked at
her, "can we go with you?"
"To Tahiti?"
A nod, "yes."
"Of course."
"Mind if we go
get some clothes and," he paused as if he was afraid to continue, "can I
bring my dog?"
Anne laughed and looked at me, "do you think he can
bring his dog?"
I smiled and
said, "be right back."
Anne smiled.
I made my way to
the master suite and opened the door. Prince was sitting on the bed,
looking at me with a grin that said, "it's about time." His tail was
wagging when I called him to my side. He bounded off the bed and
followed me to the pool deck where William stood looking confused.
Prince ran to
Anne's side. "Does this answer your question?"
William smiled.
"Thank you."
"Of course."
William spoke
with Dana and Louisa and the three of them made their way to the fantail
to leave the ship in search of some clothes and toiletries for the trip to
Tahiti.
Anne and I made our way with them.
We watched as they boarded their vessel, once again belonging to William.
He climbed aboard and helped Dana and Louisa climb aboard as well.
"Thank you, Anne," William said. "Thanks a lot."
Anne smiled, glad
that things had worked out well with the stolen boat. "You're
welcome. See you when you get back."
"Okay." With that
William cast off the lines holding the the boat to the fantail and motored
away.
"First Travis and
Melinda, now these four. You do have a way of attracting people to
you." I was smiling happily as I spoke.
Anne laughed,
"yes, and only one has been rotten."
Thinking of
Damon, I had to agree."
* * * * *
William smiled.
"This is too easy," he said to Louisa and Dana.
"Damon will be
okay, won't he?"
"Yes," William
answered Louisa's question, "he will be fine. Anne won't let harm come to him and she has no
idea what is about to happen." He laughed, a rich laugh full of
malice.
"How will we take
the ship?" Dana asked
"Tonight, when
everybody is asleep we rescue Damon and then take the bridge. From
there we will do a deck by deck walk through and finally capture Anne and
her mutt Dennis. We'll lock them in the same cage Damon is in, see
how they like it."
"Good," Louisa
said.
William shook his head, "once we have
Anne, the crew will bend to our will. They seem exceptionally
malleable."
The women agreed.
"Let's get the
guns," he said and raced away.
* * * * *
I smiled at Anne,
"more guests."
She shrugged,
"yeah," and then she laughed, a rich, happy sound. "There's plenty
of room."
Her laugh was
infectious and I joined in, "there sure is. How long until they get
back?"
"About an hour,"
Anne said.
"Shall we eat?"
"Sounds good.
I'm hungry."
"Me too," I
agreed.
The two of us made our way to the galley. The smells that
greeted us were exquisite. It was just the normal smells of the
meals for the crew, and not the selected meal that Anne may have
requested, but it still smelled delicious. Jacques was not present,
he was still up on the pool deck and the room was half full with crewmen
and women eating. We took a table and a busboy, naked and strong
brought some water, "mistress," he said.
"Hi," Anne
greeted him, "two plates please. Nothing special."
"Right away,
mistress," he replied. "And to drink?"
"Wine."
"Yes, mistress,"
the young man said and turned to fill our lunch order.
He returned a
moment later with some hot rolls and a small tub of butter as well as two
glasses of white wine and the partially empty bottle that the wine was
poured from sitting in a bucket of ice. "Mistress," was all he said
as he served us.
"Thank you," Anne said. She picked up a roll and
split it in half with a knife. She buttered it and bit into the top
of the roll. She made a mewling sounds and then added after she
swallowed, "yummy. Great rolls."
I took one myself
and after biting into it, I had to agree. "Very. We have a
phenomenal bakery on board."
We were served
lunch and we ate it in silence, savoring each bite and washing it down
with sips of the delightful wine. We each had two additional rolls
and I had one more glass of wine, while Anne had two.
With lunch behind
us we made our way back to the pool deck to await our guests.
* * * * *
"Welcome back," Anne greeted our guests as they
tethered their boat to the fantail. "All packed?"
Each of them,
William, Dana, and Louisa all raised a heavy looking bag, but only William
spoke, "sure are. Ready for months and months." He laughed
weakly.
"Good. Very
good," Anne said. "Dennis will show you to your rooms and then give
you a tour of your new home. If you need anything, just ask."
"Thank you,"
William said.
I stepped forward
and said, "please, follow me."
I led them to a
pair of rooms almost directly above Travis and Melinda's. I pointed
out the galley where they could eat around the clock. I showed them
some of the emergency equipment; the fire extinguishers and fire hoses,
the alarms to sound in the event of a fire and where phones were located
if they needed to place a call to the bridge in the event of a medical
emergency. I showed them the infirmary for what ailed them and
finally I showed them their rooms.
Dana and Louisa gasped in enjoyment,
"wow!" Dana exclaimed.
"Wonderful,"
Louisa said.
"Thank you,"
William said, shaking my hand. "We are a little tired. Do you
mind if we relax a bit?"
"Of course not,"
I replied with a smile.
"Thank you."
"No problem.
If you get hungry, help yourself. You can pretty much go anywhere.
If a crewmember stops you, it is probably just for safety reasons, like
the engine room. We can, of course, get a tour there if you want."
"Thank you,
again," William said.
I smiled and made
my way back to Anne's side.
* * * * *
The sun set and
the ship went to sleep. The men and women who were up performed
their duties as necessary to keep the ship running during the night.
The men working in the engine room kept the ship steaming towards Tahiti
while Jacques slept but his staff kept cooking and baking. The
bridge was manned, keeping the ship on course. It was quiet and
dark.
"Ready?" William
asked as he popped a round of ammunition into his Uzi.
"Ready," Dana
said as she foisted her own Uzi to her waist.
"Yes," Louisa
replied, holding a weapon of her own.
"Then let's go,"
William said.
The three of them
left their room, their guns leading the way.
They made their way to the bridge unmolested and unseen.
"Don't move," William demanded, pointing a gun at the young, naked man
steering the ship while Louisa pointed the gun at the second man on the
bridge.
"What is going on
here?" the second man asked. He was the officer of the deck, in
control of the ship while the captain slept.
"We are taking
this ship," William said. "And we are freeing our friend.
Where are the keys to the cage?"
"Anne has them.
You won't get away with this."
"Oh, we will get
away with this." He smiled maliciously.
The man reached
out to sound an alarm when Louisa pulled the trigger. A lone bullet
raced out and penetrated his hand. He screamed and placed his hand
into his armpit. Blood ran down his side as he howled in pain.
"Turn around," William commanded. "Bring is
towards the African coastline. Do not speed the ship up and turn
slowly," he spoke the last word at a snail's pace.
"Yes, sir," the
naked man at the helm said as he turned the wheel.
William looked at
Dana, "keep them here while we make our way to Anne's stateroom. If
they move, kill them."
A howl rang out
from the bleeding man.
William looked at
him and shook his head, "and bandage his hand."
"Done," Dana
acknowledged. She smiled and kissed William passionately, "hurry
back."
"Done," William
repeated.
Louisa stood proudly as she walked
with William through the ship. They descended the stairs and finally
made their way uninterrupted to Anne's door. William smiled at their
fortune as they were able to make there way through the ship unmolested.
Timing was everything, he thought with a smile. He looked at Louisa
as she stood next to him.
Louisa nodded.
William kicked in
Anne's door with a loud crack and burst into the room with his Uzi poised
to fire a lethal bullet as necessary. "Don't move," he said to Anne
and I as we sat up in bed.
Anne looked at
Louisa and William and hissed, "what the fuck are you doing?"
"Shut up, bitch,"
William snapped. "Where are the keys to Damon's cage?"
Anne raised an eyebrow and stared
quizzically at both William and Louisa. She began to laugh then,
starting slow and soft and escalating into a fit of laughter. "Over
there," she laughed, pointing to the dresser opposite the bed.
"What's so
funny?" William snapped.
Anne tried to
answer as she sat on the bed but failed, her laughter too great.
William looked at
Louisa and that back to Anne. "What is so damned funny?"
"You," she
managed to squeak out.
"What?"
Anne looked at me
and I explained, "she finds it amusing that you think you will get away
with anything."
"Oh?"
William said, "we will take this ship."
Anne laughed,
shaking her head as I replied, "no. You won't."
A loud klaxon
sounded causing Louisa to jump and William to spin around.
Louisa squeaked. "How could they... how do they...." her
voice trailed off.
"I don't know,"
William snapped. "Lock the door. If they know we are here and
what we are doing we will need her as a hostage."
Louisa ran to the
door and pushed it shut. "It won't latch," she cried, looking at the
broken latch from where William had kicked the door in.
"Well, block it
with something. Anything. And be quick about it."
Anne continued to
laugh as Louisa tried to pull a dresser over to the door. It would
not budge.
"It won't move,"
Louisa whined.
I had to tell
her, "no, the furniture is bolted to the floor. This is a ship and we may
experience rough weather. None of the large pieces of furniture are
moveable."
"Shit," William and Louisa squeaked together.
Anne just
continued laughing at the Keystone Cops-like caper unfolding before her.
Louisa looked
around the room for something, anything that she could use to block the
door. She found nothing that would do well enough to block the door.
"It's no use," Louisa cried.
William shot her
a look of malice and hissed, "then base for an assault." He turned
to Anne, "pick up the phone and call off the attack or your mutt gets
shot."
"I don't think
so."
And William
fired.
The bullet exploded at my feet and I jumped away,
startled and frightened.
"Did I make
myself clear?" William hissed. "Now, call off the attack."
Anne's laughter
faded and her voice turned cold, "listen to me. I would not call of
the assault even if I wanted to, which I don't. You will not succeed
and you will be punished. Drop your weapons and I will be lenient.
If you don't...."
"I'll shoot him,"
William screamed, interrupting Anne, "I swear I will."
"Then shoot him,"
Anne responded. "I will not call off the attack."
And he fired
again.
I felt the bullet penetrate my body
with a sense of disbelief. My stomach felt warm and my mouth fell
open. I sank to my knees as my hands gripped my stomach. I
fell forward and the room went dark.
* * * * *
Anne leapt from
the bed and bounded to my side. She slowly rolled me over and hissed
at William, shaking her head, "that was a fatal mistake."
"Call off the
attack."
"No." Still
defiant.
William could not
believe her refusal. "Do you have a death wish, bitch? Call
off the attack."
Behind him, the
door burst open.
William spun around, his finger poised
to fire, and paused. Two men burst through the door both armed with
large, automatic weapons. Two more followed them through and pointed
their weapons at Louisa. Three additional men stood in the broken
doorway with weapons poised to fire, "don't move," the first man through
the door barked.
William dropped
his gun.
Louisa screeched
and threw her gun to the ground.
The seven
men kept their guns aimed at both Louisa and William as Anne climbed from
the bed, "take them to the cages and lock them in." She looked at my body,
lying motionless on the ground, "and get the doctor down here now!"
"Yes, ma'am," the
first armed man said. He issued the orders and immediately William and
Louisa were escorted, unarmed, from the room.
* * * * *
"How are you
doing?" The voice of an angel.
I opened my eyes.
My shoulder ached and my head throbbed. My mouth felt as if it was
full of cotton; it was arid and sticky. But, the sound that reached my
tired ears was melodic and the smile that greeted me warmed my cold chest.
I opened my mouth to speak, but only a groan emerged. Slowly, I
nodded my reply.
"Thirsty?"
Again I nodded.
Anne lifted a
small paper cup to my lips and I took a small sip. The water felt
like heaven. I coughed once and slowly took another sip.
"That's enough,"
Anne said, pulling the cup away. "I don't want you to choke."
"Ho...how...how..." It was all I could
manage.
"How bad?"
Weakly I dropped
my head and raised it back up in a solo nod.
"You were shot in
the chest and you were very lucky. The bullet just missed your
heart. You lost a lot of blood but our surgeons, both of them worked
on you, had you sewn back up in no time." She was smiling at me and
light filled the room.
I opened my mouth
and Anne understood. Once again she held the cup to my lips. I
took a longer sip and this time I did not cough. "Thanks," I
croaked.
"You need some
rest," Anne said. "I am going down to the cages to see to my
captives. I'll be back later to check on you."
"Okay."
She kissed my
forehead and turned away.
I was asleep in
minutes.
* * * * *
"Did you really
think that you had a chance?" Anne asked William. He was sitting on
the cold floor as far from the door leading from his cage. Damon was
in the cage next to him and Louisa and Dana each occupied a cage opposite
the two cages that Damon and William were in. Two more cages sat
empty at the far end of the room.
Damon spoke,
"yes."
Anne turned
around and glared at Damon, "you are the leader, then? You speak for
all of them?"
He nodded, his
face wore a scowl.
Anne shook her
head, "okay, then. You are now my prisoner and I will be keeping the
four of you here indefinitely."
"No," Dana
screamed, "you can't do that." Louisa and William said nothing.
"You can't do
that," Damon said calmly.
"Can't I?" Anne snarled. "Your boat
will be sold and the four of you will remain here, as my prisoners until
such time that I believe that you can be integrated into my crew.
You will never be free again. You shot members of my crew, attempted
to steal my ship and you expect me to just turn you over to some local
authority? We are beyond the boundaries of any country, in
international waters and here, my word is law. There will be no
plea, no reduced sentence. The four of you are now my prisoners and
eventually you each of you will be my slave." She was shouting as
she finished, her anger evident in her tone.
Damon said
nothing. Dana began to cry.
"How did you
know?" William asked, speaking softly. "How did you know?" He
was shaking his head in incomprehension.
Anne turned to
face William, "Prince."
William looked
confused.
"My dog, Prince. Before the three of you left
you asked if you could bring your dog on our trip to Tahiti. I had
agreed. It struck me as odd when you showed up with your bags but
your dog was nowhere to be seen. I figured that something was up as
we started steaming away from land and you didn't ask to go back. I
reasoned that you didn't intend to make to make the trip to Tahiti, that
something was up." She swallowed and then continued, "I called the
bridge and ordered that the four of you be watched intently. My
fears were well founded."
"And those men?"
William queried.
Anne smiled,
"ex-Special Forces."
The look on
William's face caused her to laugh. His mouth was open wide in
shock, his head shaking back and forth in denial. "No."
Anne nodded,
"setting up the crew we figured that there would be times that force may
be called for and a contingent of Special Forces men were brought aboard.
Submissive men, but perfectly capable soldiers none-the-less. They
performed admirably." She was beaming in pride.
Dana continued to
sob quietly while Louisa remained silent.
"Let them go," Damon said, taking his time walking to the edge
of the cage. "It was my idea. I purposefully stole the initial
items knowing I'd get caught. Hell," he admitted, "I planned on
getting caught. It was my idea from the onset. They," he
lifted his head in a curt nod, "just went along." He sounded strong
as he finished, "punish me. Let them go."
Anne laughed
softly, "that's not going to happen," she said, shaking her head. "I
shall not allow you to play martyr to protect your accomplices. You
may have planned it but you did not fire a gun. You did not shoot
two members of my crew. No, there is plenty of blame to go around;
yours and theirs. I shall punish you and I shall punish them and you
shall never be free."
She spun around
and left the four of them alone with their thoughts.
* * * * *
"We're fucked,"
Louisa said.
"Big time," Damon
agreed.
"What are we
going to do?" William asked and Louisa echoed with a "yes, what?"
"I'll think of
something," Damon said, though he did not know what.
* * * * *
Anne looked in on
me as I lay sleeping. She shook her head and turned away.
She made her way to the front of the infirmary and asked solemnly, "how is
he?"
"He will be
fine," a young naked woman replied. She was the nurse on shift.
"He will be sore and will probably not feel like doing much for a while,
but he will be fine."
"Anything I
can do to help?"
"Just give him
time," she replied.
"Thank you,
Joyce," Anne said.
She left the
infirmary and made her way to the bridge. The captain was sitting in
his chair watching the water spread out before him. "Mistress," he
said in greeting.
"Hi," her voice
was even and tight. "How do I go about selling a boat?"
The captain immediately understood, "I
can easily make a few phone calls. Any asking price?"
Anne smiled, "I
don't care. When someone buys it, have them flown out here to
retrieve it."
"Done." His
brow furrowed, "will your 'guests' be okay here?"
Anne laughed at
his chosen word, "they will be fine. I expect them to be unruly for
a while, but, eventually, they will become acclimated and accept the fate
that was chosen for them when they started." She almost had herself
convinced.
The captain
nodded, "I'll let you know when the boat has been sold."
"Thank you."
Anne made her way to the infirmary and
watched me sleep.
Two hours later,
with Anne still sitting by my side, I sat up. "Morning," I groaned,
my throat dry.
Anne laughed
lightly, "it's afternoon."
"Good afternoon,"
I said, smacking my lips.
"How are you
feeling?"
"Hungry," I said
and the thought of food caused my stomach to grumble an affirmation to my
statement.
Anne smiled,
"that's a good sign. I am sure we can get you something to eat."
My eyebrows
raised as I looked at her and she grinned, "not me. That will come
later."
"Promise?" I
teased.
She nodded and
climbed to her feet. "Yes. Now, lets see about you getting
something to eat."
I nodded.
Anne left me
alone and returned about twenty minutes with a small ham and cheese sub
and a large glass of lemonade. It was one of my favorite things to
eat, what I considered the perfect food. She watched me eat and when
I had finished she asked, "feel better?"
"Definitely," I
said. I took a sip of my lemonade. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"How are our new
guests?"
"Basically
imprisoned. It will be a long time before they are released from the
cages."
"You know," I
said, "when we designed the cages I always thought they would just be used
for games; never did I see them actually serving as a brig. It's
ironic."
She laughed softly, a beautiful sound,
though oddly forced.
Hearing the
laughter I had to ask, "are you okay?"
"Just going a
little stir crazy, I suppose. I'm ready to get to land."
I understood, you
could be at sea too long. It had been over a week since we had left
Italy and that seemed so long ago with the assault on the ship by our
newest guests. "How long until we reach Tahiti?"
"Captain says
another four days at full steam." She shook her head, "too long."
We had come far
from the Suez but still had a good ways to go. "Well, then," I said
weakly, my stomach still throbbing. "I suppose we will have to find
ways to entertain you."
"I love the way
you think." And she laughed again, not forced this time.
I smiled with her.
Anne looked at me
and said, "get some sleep. I'll check on you later."
I nodded,
suddenly feeling very, very tired. I yawned and then winced as my
chest started to throb even more than the dull ache that had grown to be
the norm. I shook once, involuntarily, and felt my eyes drift shut.
I did not hear
Anne leave.
She looked at the
closed infirmary door and said softly, "get well."
Anne made her way
to the master suited, feeling how empty the room felt. Prince barked
at her once as she entered. She smiled at him and said, "good boy,"
in a playful tone. But she didn't feel playful; she felt as tired as
I was. Together, Prince and Anne slept.
The ship steamed
west.
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