My Voyage of Submission Ch. 10

Cry it out, Beth, I thought. You're going to need to be strong tomorrow too. I cried myself back to sleep, my face in her shoulder.

******

"Time get up, Beth. Get up," was what I heard when Hibbah's shaking roused me.

"I'm awake," I said. "What's going on?"

"It late. Master come by, say get you up, come his room when dressed."

Hibbah was still behind me, still naked like last night. She looked good nude, but then, I supposed Mahmoud or his men looked for pretty women to turn into slaves. I stretched, working the kinks out, swung my legs over the side and stood up. I showered, Hibbah getting in the shower with me. We washed each other, not going the last tiny step, but soaping each other off. We both dressed, armed ourselves, and went to Master's room, entering from the port side, still the sea side.

He was on his phone and he held up his hand for silence when we came in. The conversation went on for a few minutes, sounding important and officious, before he ended the call.

"Any change from last night, sir?" I asked.

"Only that it's no longer colored smudges, but living color, no. She's barely moved in a half hour. Might be passed out, half dead. We don't know."

"Master, her parents can't be at the exchange. They can't see her when she comes aboard. Not until she is seen by Manuel and Sherry and gets cleaned up."

"How do I stop them from seeing their daughter?"

"You just do it, sir. Lock them in their room if you must. I'll speak to them, see if I can't make them understand. She'll need sedatives, maybe painkillers. This is not how she'd want her parents to see her."

"I've already spoken to Manuel and Sherry. They're prepared for almost anything. I've got the Porter staff and their helicopter on standby. We'll airlift her over to them if she needs more than we can provide. Edgar is setting up a camera and feed to this room. Eat your breakfast here."

"Yes, sir, as soon as I've talked to Ben and Marian."

He sighed. "God, I hate this."

"What happened? Why you cry last night?"

I turned on my translation app, unsure if she could follow a complex conversation. "Johanna was gang raped last night. It is still going on this morning."

When she heard the translation, Hibbah asked, "How you know this?"

"The Navy has a drone flying over their camp. It can see in the dark and light. We could see it occur."

"You not stop?"

"Not without Johanna getting hurt or killed, maybe others," Master said.

"Maybe she want die."

"But we couldn't ask her, Hibbah. We can't decide for her," I said. "Sometimes, things get better than they are now. Do you still want to die?"

"Only if they take me again."

"Maybe in six months, a year, Johanna would not want to be dead."

"Me come with, see parents."

I nodded. "I'll send Ethan with, in case they give you a hard time," Master said. "When it's time for the exchange, load a round in the chamber, make it ready to fire, then put the rifle on safe."

"Yes, sir."

He called up to the bridge and Ethan came right down. "Ethan, please go with these two when they talk to Johanna's parents. Beth is going to tell them to stay away from the exchange. Don't let them leave their room. Send them their breakfast and put a watch on them if need be."

"Aye, aye, sir. Hate sparing the extra man."

"Put Kelly on it. Probably best if it's a woman anyway."

"Yes, sir. I'll let her know." He made a call on his comm system.

The three of us went to the Hoffler's room and knocked. "Just a minute," Marian called.

We waited, Kelly joining us as we waited. A couple minutes later, Marian opened the door. Hibbah immediately went in and hugged Marian, startling her. Then she hugged Ben.

"I thought she could only be touched by family," Marian whispered.

"I suppose you're family now." The family of all those who suffered from these men.

"I thought the exchange wasn't until ten," Ben said. "Why are you here?"

"I don't think you should be at the exchange, Mr. and Mrs. Hoffler. Remember I told you to get your tears out now and then be cheerful and happy to get your daughter back? I don't think you can be happy and cheerful this morning. You will be incensed and want to kill someone, and that is not what we need if we want to bring everyone home safely."

"Why? Has something happened?"

"Something very bad. We think she's still alive, since that's the only way they'll get their money, but she was treated very harshly last night and this morning. We've got our medical staff standing by and we may have to take her to the USS Porter for transport to a medical facility. She wouldn't want you to see her in this condition."

"What condition? What happened? What aren't you telling us?" Ben demanded.

"Imagine the worst thing that could happen to a young woman alone with vicious, evil men for a night and you'd probably be right."

Ben immediately began to rage as Marian started to cry. "They said the would return her unharmed," he yelled, clenching his fists. Ethan and Kelly became more alert.

"This is the reason you can't be there. You'll want to kill somebody and who knows how many people will get hurt. Kelly will stay with you. If something goes wrong, she'll be here to protect you.

"I don't think these are the type of men who consider what they did as harming someone. They sell women as slaves. It went on most of the night and into the daylight. I can't imagine this is the way Johanna would want you to see her. We'd like to get her medical care immediately and get her cleaned up before you see her, perhaps sedate her a little, give her pain killers. As soon as we know she can see you, we'll bring you to sick bay."

Ben handed us a bag with bearer bonds in it. "Don't give them a penny if she's dead."

"I don't think they'll survive if she's dead. Everyone is pissed as hell, Ben," Ethan said. "Right now, everyone has an itchy trigger finger. This morning, Joshua talked to the President of Sierra Leone. Gave the country ten million dollars and showed him a video of what happened. As far as he's concerned, we've got permission to kill the lot of them without it being a diplomatic incident."

"You witnessed this?"

"The Navy had a drone up so we could prepare for whatever could happen," Ethan replied. "I saw parts of it. No one could watch all of it. We found out how big their force is, where they were located. As a result, we don't think they can throw any surprises at us and we can beat them if trouble breaks out, but not without losses, and that includes the loss of your daughter, which is our primary concern right now. If Johanna is dead, we can loose the dogs of war."

"Get my baby girl back. I just want her back," Marian said.

Three of us left, Kelly remaining behind, Ethan taking the bearer bonds. I returned to Master's cabin, checked the feed, which seemed to be working well. Apparently, the exchange would take place in the stern room. We ordered breakfast and Jìngyi brought it. She was geared up too.

"Joshua wanted me to stay with you two."

"Thank you. Glad to have you. Did you bring breakfast for yourself?"

"I ate already, though I couldn't eat much. Too nervous, I guess."

"I am nervous," Hibbah said. "If Beth dead, please kill me."

"What?"

"Hibbah doesn't want to go back to those animals. She'd rather die. Don't kill her unless it looks as if she might be recaptured, not just if I'm dead."

"Shit, I'm not sure I could do it. It's one thing if people are shooting at you, but hell, Hibbah, I feel like you're a friend."

"You heard what they did to Johanna, right?"

"Yeah, it's kind of why I'm here. Joshua felt three guns are better than two."

"Considering what happened to Johanna, dying might be a blessing."

We ate our food. I was on edge too, and picked at it after eating half. Finally, I pushed it aside.

"Let's work on your English some more, Hibbah. You're doing well."

At 0930, men started showing up in the stern room, all of the ex-special ops types, rifles, nine MM's, knives. The looked nasty, grease paint on their faces. Jìngy said Art and Jake, the two mountainous ex-Marines, were at the top of the ladder from the stern room to the sundeck. Two sailors were with the Captain and Fatima on the bridge, ready to engage the engines. Leo, Manuel and Sherry were ready to go, to either take Johanna to sick bay or fly her directly to the Porter. Henderson and Roberta were on deck two with their sniper rifles zeroed in on the beach. Everyone else was stationed around the ship, with a couple watching the hallways near where the other women were behind locked doors. Suddenly, Sahar joined the group, walking beside Master. I don't know where she got the grease paint, but she looked as deadly as the special forces guys did, less the rifle as she hadn't qualified with it yet. She had her knife strapped to her side though.

"Are you sure you want to be here, Sahar?" Master asked.

"Mahmoud not one who take me, but I would look on faces of dead men."

"You're not to start anything, Sahar. We're getting Johanna back."

"They die some day. I be there to watch, no lie."

That's my girl. I believed her.

At 0955, the mike picked up the sound of a boat motor and a couple minutes later, one came into view, with what looked like five men and no woman. Master looked pissed, but he didn't say anything. Hibbah and I put rounds in the chambers of our nine MM's and restowed them in the integrated holster. I loaded one on the rifle and put it on safe, keeping it close by. The boat came up to the back of the ship and Ethan tied it off. Two men stayed in the boat and three of them came up the short ladder to the stern room.

The first one up the ladder looked vicious, with a nasty scar on his face. The other two were smaller men but looked almost as disreputable.

"Man with mark on face, his name Abdul," Hibbah said. "Bad like Mahmoud."

"Do you know the other two?" Jìngyi asked.

"Never see before."

Jingyi said in her comms, "Scarred man named Abdul, Joshua. Hibbah recognized him."

Master nodded slightly.

"Ah, Joshua Greenbriar, rich and powerful man, buy white girl."

"Not buy, Abdul, ransom."

Abdul seemed surprised Master knew his name, then he must have remembered we had some of Mahmoud's former slaves on board. He gave his version of a smile, and it wasn't pretty.

"Where's the money?"

Master kicked at the bag from the Hofflers. "Here. Where's the woman?"

"Back on beach waiting for us to return with the money."

"No woman, no money."

"Joshua, we bring the girl, you can kill us all, keep the girl without paying. I'm not a foolish man."

"Yes, you are. Foolish and stupid. Roberta, telescope."

A clear shot rang out, Abdul's men nervously went for their guns, then pulled their hands away when seven rifles were aimed at them.

"That was only the telescope. The next one could be a man."

"I have snipers too. Don't threaten me."

"No, you don't. You have no one."

"I have six snipers."

"You have none. Call them if you don't believe me."

Looking at Master, Abdul picked up a handheld radio and said something in Arabic. A voice responded, "Smitty here. The person you're calling is not at home presently. Leave a message and he'll get back to you."

Abdul looked a lot less confident.

"Send those two back for the girl. If she's alive," Master said, "you'll all get to live. If she's dead, you are too. I had a little chat with the President of Sierra Leone this morning, gave ten million to his country and explained our little situation and sent him footage of you and your men gang raping Miss Hoffler. He told me if she was dead, I could kill you and he'd use a bulldozer to dig a big hole and bury the lot of you in it. So bring the girl, get the money and I'll let you live."

"Why should I believe you? Why don't I just kill the girl and be done with it?"

"Because no one's dead yet. Smitty, let Abdul talk to the man you're sitting on."

"Here you are." You heard a couple slaps in the background and Smitty saying, "Wake up, fella. Your boss wants to talk to you."

A man started speaking rapidly in Arabic. There was a brief conversation. The other four men heard the conversation and understood it. They looked more worried.

"Send them back for the girl, Abdul, and you will walk out of this."

"She's unconscious, had a rough night last night."

"We already know. The only reason you're not dead already is I'm a man of my word. On the other hand, the woman was supposed to be returned unharmed. That was the agreement. Don't test my patience, Abdul. I won't ask politely again."

Abdul said something to the two still in the boat and they took off for shore at high speed. Nobody sat down, nobody relaxed. Master looked calm, but pissed. Sahar kept looking at the men, cocking her head from side to side and looking them over. It seemed to make Abdul nervous.

"What's she looking at?"

Sahar said something to him in Arabic. Whatever it was didn't please him, but he didn't say anything afterward.

Fifteen minutes later the boat came speeding back. There was a woman in the boat, but she was slumped over to the side, limp, unconscious or dead. Her clothes had been ripped from her body and the tatters they'd tried dressing her with weren't enough to cover her decently.

"Buck, get her a blanket," Master said. "Call Manuel out."

Perry disappeared behind the camera, coming back with Manuel and a blanket. Manuel was geared up, but also had a medical bag. They went down to the boat where Manuel looked her over.

"She's alive, Joshua. Bad shape, but alive."

He gave her an injection and they wrapped her in the blanket, then Buck carried her up the stairs, Manuel trailing after. Leo brought out a gurney from behind the camera and Johanna was loaded on it, tied down and wheeled away. Master kicked the bag over to Abdul.

"You'd better hope we never cross paths again, Abdul. Get the fuck off my ship."

Abdul picked up the bag and they got off, fast. When they were well away, Master asked. "We get the GPS trackers on them, Smitty?"

Whatever Smitty said in return, I couldn't hear, but Jìngyi might be on the same comm net.

"What did Smitty say?"

"They put trackers on both the trucks and all of the unconscious men's clothes. Smitty is not particularly hopeful though. The trucks looked like they were hired locally and except for the bunch that came out to the ship, looked like they might be local talent as well except for the two on the telescope, so he's not sure if we're going to find Mahmoud this way either. We'd have had better luck if we could have gotten a tracker on Abdul. Joshua said there's also one in the money bag, so if they take that, we might still find out where he is."

"So Abdul was right. Master could have killed him. There was no reason for Master to let him live except he still wants to find out where Mahmoud is."

"None at all. Still worried about Johanna, but once she was on the boat headed for the ship, they could have taken all the rest out."

"I hope it works."

"I do too, and if they find it, I wish we could just bomb the place out of existence, but we can't."

"Because they probably have more women slaves there." Almost a question.

"Right. Women who would likely be hostages if anyone tried to attack."

"I need to check on Johanna," I said, "maybe talk to her if she's awake."

"I'll go with you," Jìngyi said."

"I also," Hibbah said.

We made our way to sick bay. Master was already there, checking on her. She didn't look good from what I could see. The blanket was covering her torso and legs, but she had various and sundry bruises on her arms and her cheek, dried cum in her hair and face. I could hear the anchor being hauled up and the engines starting, heading north, the direction we'd been facing. Johanna had an IV stuck in her arm giving her fluids.

"How is she doing?" I asked.

"She's asleep for now," Manuel said. "I gave her a morning after pill and a wide spectrum antibiotic. I want to get her cleaned up so her parents can come see her. Beth, can you help Sherry get her cleaned up?"

"Of course. I wanted to stay in case she was awake anyway. Why did they have to rape her, Master?"

"It might have been partly our fault for not doing as they expected. Smitty said he questioned one of the men. He said they'd all been promised women to fuck in Monrovia. Apparently we were right; they were planning on taking the ship there. When we didn't show up, they were pretty pissed about it. Not a very disciplined group and they were making noise about leaving, so Abdul gave Johanna to them. Is she going to need the medical help on the Porter?"

"I don't think that's necessary unless she starts showing signs of major internal bleeding. She has abrasions vaginally and rectally and in her throat. X-rays were negative."

How long before her parents can see her."

"Give it a half hour," Manuel replied. "We should have her washed and dressed by then and the sedative should be wearing off."

"I'll tell them," Master said.

Hibbah stayed to help and Sherry and us two amateurs carefully removed her torn and tattered clothing, gently washing her skin and hair. Some of the bruises were large and she'd moan if we had to touch them too hard. We got a hospital gown over the top of her and covered her with a blanket again before Master brought the Hofflers down. They rushed into sick bay where Hibbah hugged Mrs. Hoffler again.

"She not awake, but soon," she said. "We wait with you."

"Mr. and Mrs. Hoffler," Master said, "if you see Hannah later and give her your account information, she'll transfer funds equivalent to what you paid for your daughter's return, plus some more. I'm sorry for what happened and wish we could have done more."

He left before they had a chance to realize what Master had said or thank him.

"Why would he do that?" Ben asked.

"You'll have to ask him, sir, but I have my suspicions," I replied.

They sat down on either side of her bed, each of them holding her hand. It was about five to ten minutes later when Johanna began to come out her drug induced sleep. As she started waking, she groaned. Realizing someone was clinging to her hands, Johanna tried yanking them away and started screaming.

"Let go of me. Leave me alone."

"Shh, Johanna," I said, smoothing her hair on her forehead. "You're on an American ship now, and it's your parents holding your hand. You're headed home. Everything will be all right."

She cracked open an eye, saw she was in a hospital type setting, looked at her parents who'd leaped to their feet and were now bending over her. Tears started flowing down her cheeks, seeing them.

"Baby, are you all right?" Marian asked.

"I hurt. I hurt all over."

Sherry stepped up and said, "My name is Sherry and I'm a nurse. We didn't want to dose you with two many pain killers without asking you some questions first. Where do you hurt?"

"All over. Mostly down there." She gestured to her groin.

"We know you have some bruises and abrasions; any significant pain anywhere else?"

You could tell Johanna was doing a mental inventory of her pieces and parts. "Some aches and pains everywhere," she replied.

"On a scale of one to ten with one being minor and ten agonizing, what level would you assign to your pain?"

"A five or maybe a six."

"I'm going to give you a shot to knock it right down. In addition to your parents, the woman by your head is Beth Wilson. She's studying to be a psychologist, and if you need to talk to someone; she's your gal. The other person in the room is named Hibbah. She was a former slave, previously captured by the same people who held you. She'll understand what you went through, okay?"

"All right."

Sherry put something to a hypodermic and added it to the IV. "It should only take a few minutes for this to start working. Give me a shout out if you need anything. I'll let you speak to the others."