Love & Prostitution Ch. 08

Emily & Sansa are still in the brothel lounge chatting with Madame, Igor and Amy. They've been up all night and Bangkok Girl's engines have gone silent, indicating their arrival in Bangkok. They are about to go to their cabins when one of Igor's assistants rushes in and whispers into Igor's ear. His expression immediately becomes serious and the ladies wonder what can be wrong. He decides to give them early warning and says that the vessel is about to be raided and the they should all change into the most modest evening gown they can find in the staff changing room. He adds the suggestion that they put on something warm like a jacket or wrap. When dressed they should then go to the guest lounge and wait there together. Emily says on behalf of herself and Sansa, that if they are separated from them for any reason then please to have confidence in them, they love their new life on board Bangkok Girl and will say nothing. Igor assures her that they have his trust which calms her a little.

The 4 ladies go to the changing room, select gowns and wraps then manage to be seated at a table in the lounge, with drinks, by the time the companionway has been lowered and secured. The SWAT teams, all dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, have boarded Bangkok Girl and some of them enter the lounge with their weapons at the ready. They station themselves at all the doors to ensure no one can leave. The ladies have no need to act alarmed, because the presence of so many weapons elicit exactly that response so they sit frozen in fear. Emily, Sansa and Amy hold hands, in case the situation suddenly deteriorates. After a minute or two, which in the tense atmosphere feels like hours to the ladies, a male and a female police officer enters the lounge and takes charge. She stands beside and slightly behind him.

They both bow and he says after straightening up again: "Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am Commander Chakthip Chaijinda of the Royal Thai Police. May I apologise for any personal inconvenience caused to innocents by this operation which is under my command. The reasons we are here are very serious and necessitate an orderly evacuation of the vessel to facilities ashore that are more conducive to conducting individual interviews with everyone. Clearly this will take a lot of time and your kind cooperation and patience are respectfully and kindly requested. Once the evacuation is complete, a comprehensive search will commence. Please do not worry, personal belongings will be restored to owners once they have been formally processed. First to be evacuated will be the ladies. Please follow me and I will guide you, my female associate will bring up the rear".

They all stand and follow the Police Commander out of the lounge, Emily is still holding onto Sansa's hand, so together they walk out into the cool early morning air and down the gangway to the dock. They become aware of more armed police escorting them and hopes it is for their protection. The 'facility' mentioned by the Commander is only a short walk away and once inside the warm environment they are asked to sit and are offered tea or coffee. Both Emily and Sansa opt for coffee which is served in plastic cups. They are offered biscuits, and having missed dinner, they each take three, the coincidence causing them both to giggle nervously. Sansa gives Emily a gentle poke in the arm and points outside.

The men from the Bangkok Girl are being escorted under a much closer armed escort past the building and they assume there is a 'facility' for the men also. What is learned later is that the men, both staff and guests have been taken to a jail within the port. In groups of six the ladies are escorted to interview rooms. There are 12 doors in the corridor and 1 lady enters every other door into a room with a table and 2 chairs. Opposite each of the ladies from the vessel is a large mirror. Everyone realises that the mirror is in fact a one way window through which interviewees can be monitored from the apparently unoccupied rooms between the ones the ladies were shown into.

After a short while, Emily's interviewer enters the room, smiles to her and speaks to her in English: "Good morning Miss Emily, my name is Mr S.K. Ghosh. I have the honour to represent the Embassy of India, here in Bangkok. My colleague Mr M.J. Chowdry is currently with your servant Sansa next door. Please try to relax, you are both safe at last". He shows her his credentials which bears his photograph and title: 3rd Secretary. She breathes a sigh of relief and points to the mirror. He smiles and assures her that as it was she and her servant that were abducted, neither are suspected of any wrongdoing, therefore there is no one observing her or her servant, neither is anyone listening to the conversations. He explains that diplomatic immunity has been extended to her and to her servant under instructions from the Indian Foreign Office in Delhi.

Mr Chowdry goes on to explain that are being treated the same way as everyone else from the vessel for reasons of their protection. Finally, he produces a photograph of her and Sansa together with Baapoo and Maa. She bursts into tears of joy on seeing the photograph and when she has composed herself a little, asks how she was found. Mr Ghosh says that Delhi, in cooperation with Interpol, had been able to identify and track the 'Bei of Bengal' which was intercepted and searched revealing her captivity on board by the necklace she wisely left behind to be discovered. After that, they were able to identify, that the most likely vessel they were transferred to was, 'Bangkok Girl' on passage to Bangkok. The Royal Thai Police and the Thai Coastguard did the rest.

Emily follows Mr Ghosh from the interview room and when Sansa joins her, they are escorted hand in hand, unseen along corridors and through a locked door, which their escort unlocks, emerging into an enclosed car port where a convoy of 3 Indian Embassy cars awaits them. Armed Indian soldiers are in the first and the third cars. The doors of the second car are opened for them. There is a chauffeur and armed soldier in the front.

The convoy moves off on the relatively short drive to the Embassy. When they turn off the main road, the Embassy wrought iron gates open automatically and armed soldiers, seeing Mr Ghosh, wave them through. Emily breathes a sigh of relief but wonders how they will get them out of Bangkok without being seen. They, now exhausted by the lack of sleep and of food, are helped out of the car and into the Embassy. Mr Ghosh smiles and tells them that there is a plan in place to return them home, but first he believes some sleep might revitalise them. He wishes them good night, although it is daylight, and they are conducted up to their room.

Emily wakes up in paradise i.e. spooned by her beloved Sansa who smiles down to her and whispers a sweet good morning. Until minutes before the rescue, all their energy was used in just surviving and now they are safe, but their trauma has caught up with them. When they feel a little better, Sansa helps her get up, they take a shower and dress in sari outfits. To protect her identity they both wear a traditional Indian full-face veil, like a beaded curtain, which covers their faces but allows them to see. A helicopter lands on the roof of the Embassy and takes them directly to the Indian military Learjet at Bangkok airport. They fly directly to Kolkata. A car with one way windows drives up to the plane, so they will only have to wear their veils for a few minutes until in the car.

Back at home in Kolkata, Baapoo, Maa and the family welcome them home and say how pleased they are that they are safely back home with their family. On the advice of a psychiatrist, no questions are asked by anyone, they were told that they would talk about her experiences, if and when they feel ready. The psychiatrist will visit daily to monitor their progress, but if they become concerned to telephone her at any time.