A Long Time from Home Ch. 31

The yacht had arrived in the morning, so he had made his move and kidnapped the people he wanted, with the intention of taking them along as he left for Costa Rica in the morning. It was also the reason why the five women in the cage was here and not in the safe house, where Curtis and Parker normally kept their slaves while they were being trained.

At that point I stopped paying attention to the information I was absorbing. Not only because trying to remember all the different names was close to impossible, even with a perfect memory, but also because I had discovered a major flaw in both their organizations: Parker and Curtis had isolated themselves to a degree, where nobody knew they ran it except those who were mind controlled. I had all the information, as well as the ability to use that mind control to transfer their loyalty to me, which made it possible for me to seize it all, without anybody being none the wiser.

That left me with a dilemma: I really just wanted to take it easy while I tried to understand this new age, but that would mean leaving a lot of children to one of the worst fates I could imagine.

I ran the advantages and disadvantages with the various solutions through my head and sighed when I realized that the only way to both save the children and shut down the human trafficking, was to take Parker's place as the head of both operations for a while.

Besides, there was a certain poetic justice in taking Parkers companies away from him the same way he had taken it from others.

The thought brought me back to Parker. Considering the number of people, he had destroyed, he really deserved to die as Delina had suggested, but it would be better if Interpol got hold of him instead. The international police could stop the child trafficking in Europe, as well as rescue some of the children, and since they haven't used any of the yachts or houses for that, nothing else would be affected, giving me time to examine Parkers and Curtis' children and save those in Costa Rica.

An idea hit me at the same time as the memory transfer was finished and while the idea was utterly distasteful, it was both a fitting punishment and would allow me to turn Parker over to the police (so they could use the information to save even more children), without fearing he would come for the Twins later... or anybody else for that matter.

Grinding my teeth against the pain of the growing headache, I reached into his mind again and did to Parker what he had done to so many women over the years: I destroyed his free will and personality, making him an Abdere, ensuring he would answer any question the police would ask him. Then I used a high-powered Ars Mentalis trick to slowly and deliberately erase everything about his past, Starlight Merchant Group and Erebus from his mind, leaving only knowledge about Curtis' child trafficking organization and the world in general.

Next, I turned my attention towards Parkers mental powers. Permanently disruption the connections in the mind would take more time and energy than I had, but I erased his knowledge about how to use mental powers. It wouldn't make the abilities go away, but without any knowledge or training, they would be nearly useless and that meant that the police couldn't use him as some kind of 'attack dog'.

Just in case some idiot decided to re-train him, I made sure I could enter his mind at any time, ensuring that if we ever had a mental combat, he would be defenceless. As an added benefit, that would also allow me to make mind contact with him whenever I pleased, enabling me to keep him under observation.

It felt like the room was spinning when I done, and I leaned back in the chair, waiting for the thundering headache and the accompanying nausea to lessen just a bit. It was the most complete mind-wipe I had ever done and despite that Parker without a doubt deserved it, it left me sick.

The TV screens in the office still showed the areas by the doors, but the picture looked a bit lighter than before, indicating that dawn was near.

Remembering Julian and the party, I lifted my sleeve, looked at the watch and swore. The work with Parker had taken a lot longer than expected and it was now four o'clock in the morning, which meant that Wave Dancer had left along with my suitcases and that I had missed the transport out of Malaga.

I shrugged for myself. I would have to use Parker's plan, assume the identity of one of the leaders of Erebus and sail away on Dream Weaver.

It would have been nice to be able to sit down and wait until the headache was gone, but we needed to get out of the building while it was still dark and people weren't working, and time was catching up on us.

On the positive side, Parker had been ready to leave Malaga for good and besides the few things in the warehouse, everything important had been packed and delivered to Dream Weaver.

The brown skinned Delina must had seen me leaning back and asked "Done?".

Looking up, I discovered that she changed her clothes and cleaned up, looking extremely good in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt under a light summer jacket.

"Yes, I'm done." I said tiredly and looked around.

Petra and Esther were sitting on the floor, talking with the Twins, who used pen and paper to write on, while Riya and Ayanna were relaxing on two office chairs. Idly watching the screens showing the area outside the warehouse. All four had one or, in Petra's case, two, guns within reach.

I wasn't surprised. Trained soldiers don't like to be unarmed in a place of danger and given what the five women had been through, they most likely felt safer now that they had weapons.

Like Delina, they had washed while I was reading Parker's mind and were also dressed in new clothes, looking a lot like the other tourists in Malaga, only better.

Hearing my voice, Zena looked at me. "< What were you doing? You have been holding that guy's head for hours! >"

Since short-ranged mental communications didn't take any energy, I answered. "< I was getting information to rescue some children and making sure he didn't kidnap more people >"

Answering mentally instead of verbally was a mistake, as I was hit with a spike of pain as soon as I had finished the sentence, making the room spin for a moment.

Fortunately, Zena just nodded and gave me a thumps-up sign.

"Are you sure, he can't remember anything?" Asked Delina with a frown.

"Yes. It's gone for good."

"Okay. We're ready to leave when you are."

"We need to take care of the security system and..." I started, but Delina interrupted me. "Ester and I have already disabled that and removed the recordings. We have also cleaned everything we have touched or used and stuffed the dead guards into some crates." She lifted a small plastic bag with Parker's destroyed gun. "Riya found this. I guess you want that to disappear."

"Right." I took the bag and pocketed it before I walked over to the same closet as before and took out yet another suitcase. According to the information from Parker, this suitcase contained valuables, like money, credit cards and papers, including the fake passports for the five women.

Petra looked thoughtful at the suitcase for moment. "I'll find the car that brought us here. A lot easier than walking."

"Good idea." I said, "Just be discrete."

She nodded, stood up and placed her guns on a table, before she took Parker's bundle of keys and walked out the door, while Esther started to clean up.

I waved the Twins over. "Listen girls, I have to disappear now."

They nodded, and Zena sent "< I guess that means, that we're to tell the police that we didn't see anything? >"

I nodded, but with the headache, I didn't dare try to answer her using mental powers, so instead I quietly said, "That would be for the best. I don't want to be a wanted criminal."

"< We'll try >" Cyra sent and gave me a hug. "< But it won't be easy to fool mom >"

I considered that for a moment and Cyra was right. Alice knew the Twins all too well and seemed to have a well-developed instinct for when they were up to something. "Don't mention any use of Powers, but if you really need to, you can tell her that I helped you, if she promises not to tell the police... and please wait until the two Interpol agents isn't around anymore." Remembering that Karen already knew about Vis, I added. "If necessary, you can tell Karen as well."

"< Okay >" said Zena as she joined the hug "< Come visit us in LA as soon as you can >"

"Don't worry, I will do that." I promised with a smile.

Cyra looked a bit insecure. "< What if more guards come? >"

I gave her an extra hug. "Relax, honey. I read his mind and he doesn't have more guards or mind-controlled police officers in Malaga... Just to make the waiting easier, I'll make you sleep."

"< Can we at least move the mattresses into the room where mom is? >"

"Sure." I answered with a smile. "Come, let's go move them."

After a moment of hesitation, she nodded and followed me.

As soon as the mattresses were placed, the two girls lay down on them, while I placed Parker's phone next to them. "Alice, Rita and Karen should wake up around nine... Would you like to sleep until then?"

"< Yes please >" sent Cyra with a little smile. "< and safe travels, Ivan >"

Zena nodded "< Yeah... safe travel and call when you can >"

"I will do that. Sweet dreams." I said and used a Vis power to make them fall asleep. After a moment of consideration, I used another Vis power on them, that would ease the memory of the whole kidnapping. It wouldn't make the memories go away, but it made them easier to deal with.

As I rose to walk out of the room again, I noticed Delina standing in the door, watching me with a thoughtful expression in her face.

"Yes?" I asked as I came nearer.

"They're ... eh ... Mentats as well, yes?" she said in a low voice and even though it was phrased as a question, it was more of a statement. "You were the only one speaking and yet the three of you had a conversation."

There was no way I could think of to deny it, so I just nodded. "Yes, but please keep it a secret. If people know, the Twins will be in danger."

"Can I tell Petra?"

I sighed. It seemed like Petra was the unofficial leader of the five and keeping things from her was likely going to be difficult. "Yes, but only Petra and she can't tell it to anyone else."

"I promise." Delina said with a smile, as the door opened, and the subject of our conversation walked in. "The car is ready. Let's get out of here."

-------------

As soon as I had retrieved my bag, and everybody was in the car, Petra drove us to the centre of Malaga. Just in case somebody gave the police a description of me, I placed the jacket and hat in the bag, since they were the most distinctive features now.

On many levels, the women's situation reminded me of my own when I had just awakened:

They quite literally had only the clothes they were wearing, and they needed go shopping to get all the things they needed. On the bright side, they all spoke English, proving that I had underestimated how much that language was used.

Petra parked the car near a shopping centre that looked like it was open despite the early hour and we left it there with the keys in it after the women discretely wiped it for any fingerprints.

I took a bunch of money from the bag and handed them to Petra. "Take this and buy everything you needed for two weeks of vacation, including a suitcase and a bikini. I'll meet you at the café over there in two hours."

She took the money, flipped through the bills, and whistled softly, before looking at me. "And if we take the money and run?"

I laughed and said, "then my life would be a lot easier."

The Ukrainian smiled at that. "True. See you in two hours."

Looking from one to another, I suddenly realized that keeping a low profile was going to be close to impossible for five sexy women. "Ladies, you'll need to go in smaller groups. The five of you together is too much beauty in one group to not be noticed."

Smiles appeared on their faces.

"We'll handle that." Promised Petra.

I nodded, took the suitcases from the warehouse, and walked to the harbour.

---------------

A little while later, I was at the dock, heading towards Dream Weaver. There had been a mind-image in Parker's mind of the yacht, but it was only by seeing it with my own eyes, that I understood the sheer size of it, as it was one of the biggest sailing yachts in the harbour.

Sleek lines combined a ninety cubit (138 feet/ 42meter) long shining blue hull with a white superstructure and an enormous mast.

To my pleasant surprise, the yacht was built in the in the same way as the Baylon Geminus or double hulled ship: Instead of having one hull, Dream Weaver had two hulls connected by the superstructure, making it a lot wider than single hulled ships. It was, however, bigger than even the largest Geminus or any other sailing ship I had ever been on.

I've sailed many different ships in my time, since it was usually the fastest way to travel in the old days and the biggest sailing ship I had ever been on, was a roman ship plying the grain route from Alexandria to Rome. Back then, I had found the ship enormous and while Dream Weaver was about the same size as the grain ship, it looked at lot more elegant than the clumsy merchant ships of the past.

From Parkers knowledge, I knew that it was called a catamaran now and it had been his favourite yacht. Just from looking at it, I could understand why: It was breathtakingly beautiful.

As Parkers favourite yacht, he had used it several times, posing as the The Nightmare, and the crew were mind controlled for secrecy and loyalty, which suited me just fine.

A young man spotted me standing there with suitcases and came over to me. "May I help you?"

"Yes, indeed." I said with a smile as I activated a mind-trick and added. "I'm the Dream Master. "

Even with a face tanned from the sun, the young man in front of me managed to become white as he saluted me. "Welcome, sir. I'm Mark... the deckhand."

"Thank you, Mark. I would like to talk with Captain Wolf."

"Certainly, sir. This way."

It didn't take long before I was looking at a stocky middle-aged woman in a white shirt with four golden stripes on the shoulders. Her brown hair was set in a ponytail and as she came walking up to me, she took off her sunglasses and placed them in a pocket, looking at me with pale grey eyes. From Parkers memory, I knew that her name was Denise Wolf, originally from Germany and married to the ships engineer, Karl Wolf.

Unlike Mark the Deckhand she smiled when I gave her the code line and extended a hand. "It's so nice to meet you, mister ... ehh..."

I smiled back as we shared a handshake "Oh... please just call me Ivan."

"Certainly, Mr. Ivan." She glanced at the suitcase. "I know it's your yacht, but may I give you a tour of the ship, while the crew takes your luggage to the owner's stateroom?"

I could feel the pride in 'her' ship emanating from her and nodded. "Yes, that would be nice."

I had found the house Alice and the rest had been living in, to be luxurious, but compared to Dream Weaver it was plain and I was in awe most of the tour. The yacht had an owner's suite, six staterooms with full size bathrooms, entertainment systems everywhere and even a small pool. It also had a salon the size of two living rooms, a den to relax in and a huge aft deck, complete with a large oval dining table, sun beds and two different seating areas with chairs and sofas.

The ship was an incredible blend of sailing ship and luxury hotel, and while Captain Wolf used a lot of terms I didn't know, I did understand that despite the luxury, it was a fast and efficient vessel.

In my mind, it was as if someone had taken two large ships, removed the super structure and then slapped a two-story house on top of them, before equipping the whole lot with a single giant mast.

The eight-person crew was surprisingly small for such a big ship, but after having seen the controls, I realized why: The rig was largely automated and most likely a lot more complicated to sail than the ships I had sailed in the past.

"I understood from the message that you wanted to sail across the Atlantic to Costa Rica." Said Captain Wolf when we were seated in the incredible comfortable sofa group and something in her voice made me look closely at her. "Yes, is that a problem?"

"Not as long you let me sail her." She smiled a bit. "The hurricane season has started, but we still have time to sail south of the main belt and so far, it has been a quiet year. Just be aware that I'll turn around if we run into trouble. Thankfully, we're faster than most storms."

"Captain, it's your ship and if you say it's too dangerous, you're probably right."

That seemed to please her. "Thank you, Mr. Ivan. When did you want to leave? We're done loading unless you have something extra. We'll need fuel, but we can get that in the Canaries."

"I would prefer to get under sails as soon as possible, but we'll have some guests aboard. Five of them to be precise."

Captain Wolf smiled again. "Not a problem. The usual kind?"

Reaching out with my mind, I connected with hers to see exactly what she meant with 'the usual kind', since the information from Parker wasn't clear about which ship that had been used for what. One of the downsides with reading minds is that the information is only as good as the memory that was being read.

As it turned out, she meant smuggling people and she was actually proud about it, since she saw herself as one that helped people to a new and better life.

Considering that the people who were normally transported by yacht, was the kind that could pay for a new life in another country, she wasn't wrong about it, though this case was different.

The simple trick made my vision blur, so I retreated as fast as I could. I really needed sleep, food, or both.

"Yes and no." I said and briefly explained that they were female refugees that would be killed if they returned home, and that the previous transporter had dumped them on me.

"Don't worry, sir. We'll have the staterooms ready for them." She paused for a moment. "Do they have passports?"

"Yes... The usual kind."

"Good. Just leave it to me... It won't be a problem."

"Thank you. Oh, can we get a late breakfast when we get here? I'm starving."

This time she chuckled. "I'm sure the chef can arrange something."

--------------

The rest of the morning went smoothly. I met up with the women at the shopping center and guided them down to the harbour.

Captain Wolf had gathered the crew to help and since they were all there and I had gotten some energy back, I used the opportunity to repeat the code phrase 'I'm the Dream Master', while broadcasting the mental trick, making sure they all knew whom I was. Most of them looked slightly worried, but not overly so and I was pleased with the outcome, as I walked down to the owner's cabin to unpack my belongings, before I ate a late breakfast.

Since the police knew my name from the fake passport I had shown Sheena, I hid in a secret compartment while Captain Wolf greeted the two officials that had been sent to check the yacht. I was prepared to do some Ars Mentalis to get them to leave, but Captain Wolf just showed them around without them finding anything and they left the yacht without any incidents.

Then I went down to the cabin again to meditate to make up for the lack of sleep.

When I got out of the meditative state again, the gentle motion of the ship told me that we had left the harbour while I was meditating and were now in open water.

Yawning, but feeling a lot better than before, I walked into my extremely luxurious bathroom and took a quick shower, silently praising the wonders of techno-magic, that enabled me to not only have a private bathroom aboard a ship, but also a shower with hot water.