Author’s note.

When I was considering the number of people involved in this chapter, I looked up the Oregon State Police missing persons list. It contains over 1200 names, mostly young people. I filtered down to 2023, and found that over 500 of those names were from last year alone. I was surprised at how many people could go missing in a single state in only a year, and not generate some kind of massive outcry. I’d originally put in some numbers, but after seeing this I increased them.

It might be unrealistic to hope that they all return safe, but I hope that at least some of them find their way safely back to their loved ones.

PM

Caleb 92 – Rosie

I was on my way to the airfield for my flying lesson when my phone rang.

“Hello?” I answered it.

“Caleb?” a woman’s voice that I half recognized.

“Yes?” I replied.

“It’s Martha,” she said. “We…er met the other week.”

“How can I help you?” I asked, guardedly. Although I was no longer enraged about what she’d done to Sarah, and I could kind of understand it, she’d still attacked my baby sister. I wasn’t best disposed toward her.

“Ah,” she said. “You’re still mad?”

“Let’s just say,” I told her, “that it’s probably good that we’re having this conversation over the telephone. I know you thought that you were doing the right thing, but you attacked my sister and then, when you couldn’t breach her shields, you tried to set your goons on her. What would have happened if she’d have fought back?”

“They’d have contained her,” she said. “They’re trained mental health professionals used to taking people down without injury. I’m still not clear on what Sarah did. I thought she didn’t have TK.”

“Obviously,” I told her, “your information was flawed in more than one respect.”

“I guess.” She said. “Look Caleb. I’m really sorry that…”

“And what about the drug you tried to give her?” I went on. “How did you know that you weren’t going to overdose her instead of just knocking her out?”

“That wasn’t a sedative,” she said. “It was a power suppression medicine. It’s what all LEO’s take when they go to arrest power users. It’s completely safe, although it does have some unfortunate side effects. If she’d drunk it, then the boys would have simply wrapped her up. We’d have taken her to our facility where we’d have looked after her until we could have figured out the truth.”

“Terrifying her in the process,” I said. “Why the fuck didn’t you come and talk to us in the first place? We could have saved all of this? As I thought, it was the Empathic attraction that had affected Connie, so I really understand why she did what she did. I also kind of understand how Brian could get bullied into going along with it, but you’re supposed to be professionals at this. You didn’t even know who I was. Surely that information would have been the minimum to find out before blundering in like you did.”

“You’re right,” she said. “I should have done my due diligence better. If its any consolation, I’ve completely updated all my processes for taking such cases on. But you have to understand that sometimes we have a limited window of opportunity, and we have to move. I know we got it wrong with Sarah, and I’m sorry for that, but we’ve helped so many more kids, some of whom would have suffered terribly or even not survived. I also have a filing box full of cases where we failed to move in time and the results of that are more heartbreaking than you can imagine.”

I considered that, admitting that she probably had a point. I only saw the one case, and I was on the wrong end of it, and probably not best placed to make an objective judgement.

I sighed.

“So did you call me for my forgiveness?” I asked sarcastically, guessing that she had another motive for contacting me.

“Not exactly,” she said. “I’ve spoken to Vince about you, at length. He told me that he thought so highly of you that he brought you into our family.”

I was puzzled about that for a second until I realized what she meant.

“He’s a good friend who helped me when I needed someone,” I told her.

“And you more than repaid him,” she returned, “by getting the Healer network to finally agree to heal him and carried out a lot of the healing yourself.”

“Is this going somewhere?” I asked.

“I was hoping to ask for your help,” she said. “And maybe to show you what we do, so that perhaps you might not be so angry with me in future?”

“Why does my opinion of you matter to you at all?” I asked. “We’d never met before, and it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever meet again.”

“Not true,” she said. “I work closely with the FBI, and I’m sure that we’ll cross paths again, but more importantly you’re family, and I can’t be at odds with my family.”

“But…” I began.

“You’ve seen Penelope,” she said. “You showed us the love that her father had for her. We felt it, all of us. I don’t think you can imagine how much that piece of history from our heritage means to our family.”

“I’m kind of tied up today,” I said. “What exactly did you need help with?” I still wasn’t sure about the ‘family’ thing, so I was using the question to divert her.

“There have been a number of young people go missing,” she said, “in Portland. Mostly in their late teens and early twenties. Most of them had already left home, and were making their own way, so it took a little time for people to notice they’re missing.

“However, a young man who, although he’s twenty two, still lived with his parents went missing last week. Don’t ask me about the family dynamic, but they not only had location sharing on his phone, they had a tracker on his car, and they were both traced to a property outside of the city. His phone has since gone offline, but his car is still reporting in. I doubt that they even considered it would be lowjacked, it’s an oldish beater so not a model to be connected to such systems.

“When his parents went to the property, they spoke to the boy. He told them that he’d joined the commune there, he was happy, and he just wanted to be left alone. He was accompanied by another man, who wore what looked like a monk’s robes, who told them that her son was with their commune now and he’d decided he no longer wanted to be a part of the twenty first century rat race. They were all going to live a far simpler life away from the pressures of the modern world.

“They were then escorted off the property and asked not to return. When the police were called, they interviewed the young man who repeated his wish, so they had to leave. His parents received notification in the mail that a restraining order has been issued against them. They’re not allowed to contact him or approach within five hundred feet of him. He, apparently, also signed over all his possessions to the commune, including his savings. His parents fortunately had some access to his bank accounts and have moved most of his money into an account that he has no access to. They also know that it’s only a matter of time before another court order comes through ordering them to hand over the money. The commune seems to have excellent legal representation.”

“So what are you going to do about this?” I asked. “Surely this is bigger than a single person being inducted into some kind of cult. Even if you do manage to kidnap this kid and remove whatever conditioning they have on him, what then? Won’t you have the hounds of hell chasing you through the courts?”

“That’s why we need your help,” she said. “We can’t grab the boy. He’s on the compound and, despite their ‘rejection of the modern world’, it has state of the art security and armed guards. They are fully licensed as a religion and state that they need the level of security because of religious persecution.”

“Can’t the FBI help?” I asked.

“They won’t,” she said. “There’s been no crime committed, and until there is it’s just a gathering of people. They are constitutionally protected by the first, second, and fourth amendments.”

“I’m still not seeing how I can help,” I said.

“I’m not strong enough,” she said, “to go in there alone. I need someone with real power to back me up, and Vince said you were that man.”

“I can’t just walk in there and start waving my dick around,” I said. “I’ll be the one locked up by the FBI. Like you said they’re protected by the Constitution. I’ve already sworn an oath to protect that, and I can’t go against that.”

“I was hoping,” she said, “that you could go in, undercover, and maybe find out how they are controlling these kids.”

“They’re not kids,” I said. “They’re adults, making their own decisions. Are you sure they’re not just making decisions that you don’t agree with?”

“They are definitely doing that,” she said. “But my concern is that they are not making them of their own volition. If you get in there and find that these kids are free to choose and are just making what we would consider to be unwise decisions, then I guess we’re done. I’ll back off and tell the parents they should do likewise. But if, as I suspect to be the case, there is some form of control, either powers, coercion, or something else, then we need to know about it, so we can take them down and make sure that no more people are taken in by them.

“According to records, that property has been there for five years. This year alone something like five hundred people were reported missing in the Portland area alone. How many of them ended up there? When I was there, aside from the guy in robes, I never saw anyone over the age of twenty five. I’m wondering what has happened to the older ones. Where are they going? Are they moving to other areas, being sold off, killed, what?”

“And you’ve approached the FBI?” I asked.

“I spoke to Maggie. I already told her what she told me. She said we needed more proof, and she couldn’t spare anyone for an investigation.”

“And she told you to speak to me?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “Vince told me to speak to you.”

“I’ll need to speak to Maggie about this first,” I said. “If she says to stay away then, I’m sorry, I can’t get involved.”

“I understand,” she said.

“I’ll call you back after I have,” I said. “But I have other stuff on today, and Maggie is not always available. Don’t expect an immediate answer.”

“I’d ask you to hurry,” she said. “I have no idea what’s going on in that enclave. People could easily be getting hurt.”

“Understood,” I said.

“I have some images of the compound, and some of the people that are living there,” she said. “I’ll send them through to you.”

“Images?” I asked.

“We’ve been watching for a few months. We’ve seen maybe four or five ‘new recruits’ brought in. They all seem happy to be there, but there’s something about this that raises my hackles.”

“Okay,” I said, “I’ll take a look, although I don’t know what I’ll get from the pictures.”

“Just look at their faces, their eyes just look strange to me,” she said. “It’s subtle, but I think it’s relevant.”

“I’ll take a look,” I said again.

“Thanks Caleb,” she said, “I’ll wait to hear from you.”

A short while later, my phone beeped to inform me an email had arrived but, since I was in the air, and having fun in the Robinson R44, I ignored it. I’d take a look when I finished my lesson and see what I could see. I’d also try contacting Maggie and see what she had to say about things.

After my Rotary wing lesson, I was going to log a couple more hours in the Cessna 150 before flying the Baron just to keep sharp. I had another check ride booked for the next week to cover my advanced certificates. Once that was done, I just needed to log hours before I could move on further.

“You fly like you’ve been doing this all your life,” Joe said, as I brought the helicopter down on the apron, and shut it down. “If it weren’t for the fact that you need to log certain hours, I’d be recommending you book your check ride. When do you want your next ‘lesson’?”

He actually did the air quotes motion with his fingers, since he’d not taught me a thing, just asking me to carry out certain manoeuvres and watching me do them almost flawlessly. I had the memories, I was still building the muscle memory.

“Can I call you?” I asked. “Something’s come up that I might need to see to. Once I know, I’ll let you know.”

“Surely,” he said. I thanked him and then walked around to Danny’s flight school. Danny was out, presumably at the Lawyers office, but Arnie was in there having just finished a lesson.

“Hey Caleb,” he said. “I thought you were taking the 150 up?”

“I was,” I said, “but I just need a computer. I’ve been sent some pictures and they won’t open on my phone. Can I use yours?”

“Hey…I can’t have porn on the office PC. My dad would go mental,” he said grinning.

“It’s not porn” I said. “It’s art.”

He laughed.

“Go ahead,” he said moving to vacate his chair. He’d been sitting in front of the computer.

Logging into my Gmail account I opened the email from Martha and saw there were five pictures attached. Each of them dated, the latest some time last week.

I opened the earliest and saw a young girl, probably in her early twenties, walking hand in hand with another girl. I presumed the ‘victim’ was the girl indicated by the arrow superimposed on the picture. They were laughing together but I agreed with Martha; there was something off about the expression on the girl’s face.

The second picture showed a young man. It seemed that they only took good looking people. He was tall, handsome, and buff. He was holding hands with the same girl as they walked onto the property. He too was smiling, but there was the same feeling of strangeness about his expression. It was impossible to put into words. But there was something definitely not right.

The third and fourth images were of equally beautiful young people being led onto the property. They too were being led by the hands, and I realized just what was going on. They weren’t holding hands, as I’d assumed from the first picture, they were being led. One by the same girl and then a girl was being led by an equally beautiful boy. Each had the unfathomable strangeness in their expressions I’d noted on the others.

Finally I opened the last picture and gasped.

I picked up my phone, and dialled.

“Caleb,” Maggie answered.

“Vince’s sister said she spoke to you,” I said.

“She did,” she said. “And I told her what I’m going to tell you. We can’t go in without probably cause. The local LEO’s interviewed the young man that Martha was tasked to find and he assured them that he was there of his own free will and his parents just didn’t want to let go. The officers both said that he seemed to be alert, and fully in control of his faculties. He was also interviewed alone and away from anyone that might influence him. As far as they were concerned it was his choice.”

“Did she send you the pictures?” I asked.

“What pictures?” she queried.

“She sent me pictures of people going into the compound,” I said. “Did she not send them to you?”

“No,” she responded.

“I’m sending you one now.” I said. “You need to look at it.”

I forwarded only the last picture to Maggie’s email address. As soon as I got confirmation it was sent I told her.

“Just received it,” she said. “One second.”

I actually heard her click the mouse, and then take a breath, as she saw who the last person being led into the compound was.

“Rosie?” she said.

+++++

“Who’s Rosie,” asked Arnie who’d been watching over my shoulder.

“She’s the receptionist at the FBI office in Portland. Didn’t you meet her at the house warming?”

He thought for a moment. “Oh yes,” he said. “I thought she looked familiar.”

“She just didn’t turn up for work last week,” Maggie said, “which is so unlike her. When was this taken?”

“It’s dated last Friday,” I said.

“Come in to the office,” she said. “We need to think about this. I’m going to get Martha to come in too. Is she safe in the same building as you?”

“I’ll hold off on divine retribution until we sort this, whatever this is, out.” I told her.

“Good enough. See you soon.” She hung up.

“Sorry Arnie,” I told him, “I’m going to have to cancel my flight this afternoon.”

“What’s going on?” he asked. “What’s the problem with that girl being in the picture?”

“It would be quicker for me to show you,” I said and he nodded. I gave him the memory of my phone call with Martha. He smiled softly.

“You can stop being mad now,” he said. “Sarah’s safe and fine. But I love the fact that you feel so strongly for her safety.”

“As I would for any of our family,” I told him.

“I know,” he said. “You go and do what it is you do. Don’t worry about the flight. I’m pretty sure Dad’s decided to stop charging you for lessons in any case.”

“You can’t…” I began.

“Hey,” he said. “Family. You played the card, you have to take the consequences.”

I laughed. “I’ll pay fuel at least,” I said.

“That’s fair,” he said, now go.

I logged out of my email account and headed out.

“Caleb,” he said as I opened the door to leave. I looked back at him.

“Be careful?” he said, his upward inflexion turning it into a question.

I smiled at him and left, trotting to my truck and driving to the FBI office.

When I arrived at the FBI office, I rushed inside forgetting I was still wearing my CQB. The metal detector on the door went off. Normally agents would go through a separate line, I’d just gotten into the habit of going through the ‘public’ entrance

“You carrying?” asked one of the guards, having seen my FBI ID.

“Sorry yes,” I said. “I forgot I had it on. I pulled up my jacket to display my CQB”

“Use the other line,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said, covering the weapon.

“Nice piece,” he said.

“Birthday Present,” I said. “From my in-laws.” I bypassed the reception and headed directly for the elevators, punching the button for Maggie’s floor when I got inside.

Cuthbert saw me approaching.

“Take a seat,” he said. “ADD Forbes is just on a conference call. She asked if you’ll wait.”

I thanked him, and took a seat. Five minutes later Martha arrived. Once she saw me she raised her eyebrow.

“Caleb,” she said. “What’s this about? I was just told to get here as soon as possible.”

Before I could utter a word, Maggie’s office door opened and she stuck her head out.

“Inside,” she said. “Both of you.”

Martha went in first, and I followed, surprised to see Dianna in there and also, visible on the large screen on Maggie’s wall, was Judge Roder. Behind her I could just see Melissa.

“Have a seat,” Maggie said. We sat.

“ADD Forbes has just been briefing me regarding the enclave,” Judge Roder said. “I read the reports from the officers that went to interview Perry, the young man you were interested in, and I can see no probable cause to issue any kind of warrants against the property or persons within.

“However,” she said, “the discovery that a member of the bureau has also been ‘sucked in’ does make me a little more inclined to take some action.”

“Who?” asked Martha.

Maggie turned her screen around to show the image of Rosie being led into the compound.

“Who’s that?” asked Martha.

“That’s Rosie James,” said Maggie. “She works in this office. Although she’s only administrative staff, she does have a security level and some access to classified information and areas. Her compromise might be construed as a security risk for the bureau.”

“She’s a receptionist,” said Roder. “It’s a stretch, but one I’m prepared to make, provided you go in there with kid gloves. What was the plan?”

“I was thinking,” said Dianna, “that we get Caleb to go and ask to speak to Rosie. Say he’s her friend from work and concerned about her wellbeing. If they follow the pattern they did with Perry they’ll bring her out to speak to him. Then he can read her and find out if and how she’s being controlled.

“And if they deny she’s there?” asked Roder.

“I could ‘gently’ prompt them to tell me the truth,” I said.

“You mean Compel them,” said Roder.

“Not into any action,” I said. “Only to answer a direct question truthfully and fully. And the question would be, is Rosie James here?”

“And what if they say she’s there, but doesn’t want to speak to you?” she asked.

“The likelihood is that they’ll want her to speak to him,” said Martha. “They know if he leaves without talking to her, he’ll take further action. How much easier is it if he’s sent away by the person he’s come to see?”

“It makes sense,” said Roder. “Okay, I’ll sign off on a single question and truthful answer. I will give you the option to ask multiple people the same question, given that you might encounter someone who does not know the answer.

“Once you’ve ascertained that she’s there, I’ll allow you to read her only to establish method of control. Any other information obtained from this reading will be excluded from any legal proceedings. When you’ve talked to her, and found out what’s going on, report back and we can decide what we’re going to do from there on.”

“Yes ma’am,” said Maggie, who reached for the computer to end the Teleconference call.

“And Mr. Stott,” said Roder, causing Maggie to pause, “I heard about what happened with Mr. Bleasedale. I think you and I need to have a chat. When this is over, I want you to come to my chambers.”

“Yes Ma’am,” I said, wondering about that.

Maggie cut the connection. I looked at her.

“She heard about you going to see Bleasedale, and wanted to know why. I told her, but she sent Melissa to go and find out more. When she came back saying that she’d been unable to connect to Bleasedale in any way. Roder wanted to know what you’d done and how. I had to tell her, I didn’t know, because, guess what, I DIDN’T KNOW!!!”

“You should have given me a heads up about that Caleb,” She said. “Now Roder is going to want you to explain just exactly how you did it.”

“Nope,” I said. “Not going to happen.”

Maggie sighed. “That’s a worry for later. Let’s talk about Rosie and how we’re going to rescue her.”

“It won’t be hard,” I said. “I go in there, tell them I’m a friend of Rosie James, and am worried that I’ve not seen her for a while, and was told that she was living here now. I’m going to ask to see her, to make sure she’s alright.

“If Rosie is trotted out as Martha seems to think she will be, then I’ll scan her and find out what the deal is. If not, I’ll make some noise until something happens. Worst case, they’ll physically eject me. I’m not going to resist or do anything other than shout and stomp my feet so unless they threaten physical violence I’ll leave, but I’ll see what I can overhear all the time I’m in there.

“Good enough,” said Maggie. “Do not take your weapon in with you. You can take your FBI ID, since they know where she works and thus any colleagues will, by definition, also have to work here. The fact that you’re a consultant rather than an agent plays better for us too. Also, you’re young and good looking. They may even try to take you. Be cautious about eating or drinking anything in there. If they are using drugs, they may offer you something with a little extra in it.”

I nodded.

“Martha,” said Maggie. “I want you to give Caleb everything you have on this ‘enclave’.”

“I pretty much already have,” she said. “Other than looking up property records, and knowing how long they’ve been there, and that the site is owned by a shell corporation, there’s nothing more to tell.

“You don’t even know who’s in charge?” asked Maggie.

“We presume the guy in the monk’s robes,” said Martha. “We know who their legal representation is, we’ve had plenty of contact with them, but other than that, we don’t even have a name.”

“Not helpful,” said Maggie. “I’m starting to agree with Caleb’s comments about you needing to do more groundwork before you act. I understand your need for haste, but this is two operations where you’ve gone in woefully unprepared.

“When it comes, Mr. Stott’s justice will be well deserved I think.”

Martha glanced at me, a look of worry in her eyes. “Justice?” she asked.

“Later,” I said. “Right now, we have more important things to think about.”

“We’ve already frozen Rosie’s bank account,” said Dianna, “so it will take a court order to get those funds released. Until that happens, she can’t give them any, or all, of her money. Her apartment is a rental and she doesn’t own a car. At least if she is being controlled in some way, they can’t take all her wealth, at least not before we can make sure she’s there willingly. She’s not made any purchases over the weekend, nor contacted anyone we’re aware of. Her phone is switched off, but its last location was in a nightclub. I presume that’s one of their hunting grounds.”

“Is it worth going there to take a look around?” I asked. “Maybe someone there knows something?”

“If we were investigating a disappearance we would,” said Maggie. “But we know where she is, or at least where she was on Friday. I do wonder what was going on Thursday though. If we assume she was taken on Wednesday night, which was why she didn’t turn up for work Thursday, and didn’t go to the compound until Friday, where was she between times?

“Perhaps they have somewhere that they pre-condition them,” I said, “so that when they arrive, they appear to be willing.”

“Makes sense,” said Maggie. “We need to roll this backwards, but we’ll start at the compound and work outwards. There’s not much more to prepare, get going. It will take you about an hour and a half to get there. Go see what you can find out.”

I nodded and stood.

“Be careful,” Maggie said.

“I will,” I said.

I left Maggie’s office and was soon on the road, heading towards the compound where Rosie and others were being held. Or were they? Had they truly found somewhere that made them happy, and just wanted to live their lives and be left alone?

I contemplated that thought as I drove. What if that were the case? I’d been accused of being the head of such a cult only recently, so was I falling into the same trap of cynically assuming the worst? Well, I would make no assumptions. I’d do what Martha failed to do. I’d investigate, and then I’d take action based on what I found, not on what others told me.

Just under two hours later, I pulled onto the road leading up to the compound. It was surrounded by a high wall, with a gate, which was open. There was no barrier, but I could see holes in the road which might signify an anti-vehicle device which could be raised if required.

I pulled towards the gateway and a man came out of a booth, and walked toward me, waving me down. He wore a sidearm but wasn’t carrying anything else.

“This is private property Sir,” he said. “There’s nothing here you need.”

“I disagree,” I said. “I know my friend Rosie is in here. She disappeared from work last week, and nobody has spoken to her since. A friend saw her entering your compound on Friday. I want to speak to her.”

“Rosie?” he asked. “I don’t…”

“Look,” I said, opening my ID. “I’m a consultant with the FBI. Either you let me speak to Rosie or I’m going to make a call and get every agent in the state down here, and we’ll come in to talk to her.”

“If she’s here,” he said, “then I assure you it’s because she wants to be.”

“And as soon as she tells me that herself,” I said, “I’ll go away, and not bother you again. But until then I’m going to assume that you’ve got her here under some kind of duress, and will take all legal measures to find out.”

“Would you wait here please?” he asked. I nodded, shutting my truck off. I didn’t want him thinking I might try and drive through the gate without permission.

While I waited, I remembered to remove my CQB and put it in the gun safe. I could see a camera looking down on me through my windshield. I was certain that they’d seen me remove my weapon. I was hoping that it would provide some reassurance that I wasn’t here to cause trouble.

The guard was back.

“Do you have any weapons on you Sir?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “I do not. Look, I’m not here to make a fuss, I’m just concerned about my friend. I just want to see she’s okay.”

“If you carry on up the drive, and park to the left, you’ll be met there Sir. Please stick to the road. You’ll be shown where to park.”

“Perfect,” I said smiling. “Thanks.”

I’d not heard a great deal from him, other than he had to turn people away, but if people insisted he was to send them on to his boss. He was only to activate the anti-vehicle defences if either the alert sounded, he was directed to do so, or a vehicle approached at speed and didn’t seem to be stopping.

I drove through the gate and followed the road. After about five hundred yards I saw a man similarly attired with a sidearm. He indicated a parking space, and I pulled in. He waited until I got out of my truck and walked over to him.

“We do not allow weapons onto the site,” he said. “Are you carrying any?”

“I have a pocket knife,” I said, showing him the knife that Dana had bought me for my 21^st birthday.

“No firearms?” he asked.

“No,” I said shaking my head. I opened my jacket to show I had nothing in my waistband, and even turned, flipping up the back to display nothing there either.

“Follow me please,” he said.

Once more I listened in to his surface thoughts. He too was a rent-a-cop. He’d been watching from his control room as I’d approached, and seen me remove my gun and put it in the gun safe. Since I’d not once looked directly at the camera, he wasn’t certain if I’d seen it. If so I’d removed my gun for theatre and I might have a back up, possibly in an ankle holster. If not, I might be genuine in not wanting trouble. He hoped for the second but planned for the first. The metal detector on the main door would tell him which.

“Please put all your metal items in the tray,” he said, “and then walk through the detector.”

I did as bidden and predictably no alarms went off.

“Genuine then,” he thought. “He’ll be out of here in an hour.”

He’d apparently been working here for some time. Having never gone further than the second door, he didn’t know what was inside. He had had to remove several people from the lobby who’d tried to force entry, supposedly looking for people that had gone missing, even when they’d already spoken to them and been told to leave by the person they were looking for.

Me, he decided, I’d be one of the easy ones. I was probably a boyfriend feeling jilted. I looked like a good kid who’d probably be upset at being dumped, but would ‘respect her wishes.’ He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Part of him though I should fight for the woman I wanted, if I really did, and part of him just wanted a quiet life.

The inner door opened and the woman I’d seen leading Rosie onto the compound came out. She was wearing a bright smile.

“Mr. Stott,” she said.

“Caleb, please,” I answered with an equal smile.

“Rosie has told me all about you,” she said. “She said you and she were colleagues and that she was at a party at your house only recently. She’s sorry to have not told you of her plans, but she felt that a clean break would be kindest.”

I continued to smile.

“And as soon as she tells me that,” I told the woman, “Miss?”

“Veronica,” she said. “Veronica Wood.”

“Miss Wood.” I continued. “If Rosie really wants to be here, and doing whatever it is you are doing here, then I’ll be on my way and never bother her or you again. But as you can appreciate, working with the FBI, we do come across situations where people are taken into situations that they do not want to be in, and are held against their will. Now I’m not saying that is what’s happening here, and if Rosie tells me she’s all good, then like I say, I’m gone.” I sighed. “Although I have to admit if she has found somewhere away from the rat race, I’m kind of jealous”

“Oh,” Veronica said. “Are you feeling the pressure too?”

I laughed. “You could say that, but I’m not here for me just now. Maybe after I see Rosie’s all good I’ll talk to you about my life, if you think I might be a good fit, but until then Rosie is my focus.”

All the time we were talking, I was listening to her surface thoughts.

“He’s cute. There’s no doubt we’d find a buyer. We can’t take him now, I’m sure he’s told someone he’s come to see if Rosie’s okay. Maybe once she’s reassured him, we can entice him back. Maybe even use Rosie to do so. She’s not quite ready yet, but another few weeks or so and she’ll be fully trained.”

“Rosie is out in the gardens just now,” she said. “It will be a few moments, if you care to follow me, I’ll take you somewhere you can wait.”

“Thank you,” I said. making it obvious that I was watching her ass, which was actually worth watching.

“Like a lamb to the slaughter,” she thought.

She took me into a library, the walls filled floor to the overheight ceiling with books. Glancing around they looked false, like the ones that would be out of reach from the ground were actually not real, but were cardboard facades, painted to look like books. I spotted a couple of places that I thought might conceal cameras.

“Please,” she said indicating a chair. I sat.

She sat opposite, and across, a small knee-high table from me. On the table was a jug containing some kind of cold beverage.

“Might I offer you some refreshments?” she asked.

“I’m good thanks,” I said. “I have the bladder of a gnat. I don’t want to have to keep stopping on the way home.”

“Of course,” she said.

“So not quite as innocent as he looks,” She thought. “But there’s nothing in the tea today.” She took a glass for herself and took a sip, grimacing slightly, “Not even tea apparently.”

I had to suppress a chuckle at that.

Roughly ten minutes later the door opened and Rosie came in, accompanied by the guy that I’d seen on one of the pictures. They were holding hands.

“Caleb,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

I stood and went to her. She didn’t let go of his hand, and so I stopped short of the hug that I’d planned.

Rather than try and read her, I simply took a dump of her memory, just as I had with Harold. I had a complete copy of her mind in my storage, for me to look at, at my leisure.

“I was worried about you,” I said. “You didn’t come to work, and then someone told me that they’d seen you here. You didn’t say anything to me, not even a note.”

I expected her to ask why the hell she’d leave me a note, since we weren’t together. Instead, she said something else.

“I’m really sorry,” she said. “I just found somewhere I really wanted to be. It’s amazing here, it really is.”

I found her speech ever so slightly out of whack, but I couldn’t figure out why.

“What shall I tell Maggie,”

This time I noticed the guy apply a slight pressure to her thumb.

“Tell them I’m sorry,” she said, apparently full of remorse. “I just needed this, for me.”

“Is it really good here?” I asked. “You think I’d like it?”

Another subtle press, I heard him think. “Response three”

“I can’t really talk about it,” she said. “But I’m sure one of the elders would be happy to talk to you.”

I nodded.

“Well,” I said, “if you’re sure you’re happy, then I’m happy for you. I’m just sorry things didn’t work out for us.”

“I’m really sorry,” she said.

I nodded, projecting a little sorrow.

“I guess I’d better be going. I’ll leave you to it. Be well Rosie, I’ll miss you.” I even allowed a tear to roll down my cheek, pushing sadness onto myself to provide it.

The man turned and led her toward the door. I heard him thinking, “response five, that’ll finish him.”

“Caleb,” Rosie said just before she left. I looked at her.

“Yes,” I responded.

“Be happy okay?” she said. I nodded mutely, forcing out another couple of tears, and then she was gone.

I slumped down in my chair, sighing. When I looked up Veronica offered me a tissue.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t tell you how often I’ve had to witness this kind of event. When people find their happiness, it can sometimes be distressing for those they leave behind. Don’t blame her, you couldn’t possibly understand unless you’d found it for yourself.”

“If only,” I lamented, then sighed again, wiping away the tears.

“Thank you,” I said. “At least I got the chance to say goodbye. I’ll get out of your way and let you get back to your day. I’m sorry to have caused you so much trouble.”

I kept my voice low, and dejected sounding.

We stood, and she led me back to the foyer, where the guard was waiting.

“As expected,” he thought, “although I didn’t expect him to be a crybaby.”

“Thank you” I said to her.

“Tell you what,” she said. “Why don’t you and I have a drink, later on in the week. Maybe we can talk about the pressures you mentioned, and we can see if you might be a good fit with us. I’m sure Rosie would be delighted if you were to join us here?”

“Really?” I asked, hope in my voice.

“Why not,” she said, taking out a card. “How does Thursday night sound?”

I looked at the card. It had the name of a nightclub I’d never heard of on it, although that didn’t mean much since I wasn’t a great one for nightclubs.

“Sure,” I said. “What time?”

“Just go and have some fun in there,” she said. “I’ll find you. Take the card, it’ll get you in.” Then she grinned. “Give it to the barman and your first drink is free.”

“Okay,” I said cheering up slightly. “I’ll look forward to it.”

“It was nice meeting you,” she said holding out her hand. I shook it.

“Definitely,” she said, “an easy mark. If his got as good a body as it looks from here, then I’m sure he’ll get snapped up.”

I allowed the rent-a-cop to walk me back to my truck.

“Looks like we might be seeing you again,” he said, smiling. “You poor stupid fool,” he added in his head.

He’d seen lots of young people brought into the property, but none ever left. At least none that he saw. The property had a boat dock onto the Columbia river, and occasionally helicopters would land on the pad around the back. He assumed that they left either of those two ways.

He didn’t ask questions, he just did what he was told and picked up his sizeable paycheck.

“Perhaps,” I said half smiling at him.

I got in my truck, turned around, and headed back to the gate. The guard there just waved me through.

As soon as I was on the road, I called Maggie to report.

“Caleb,” she said. “Give me the cliffnotes,”

“Something screwy is going on,” I said. “There are definitely drugs involved, but I don’t think power. I’m guessing some kind of drug induced mental manipulation. What’s more disturbing is I think they’re selling them on. Possibly into some kind of submissive or slave role.”

“What?” she asked. “Get back to my office. I need to debrief you properly. I’ve no doubt that Judge Roder will want to hear all about it. Is Rosie in immediate danger?”

“I don’t believe so,” I said. “I think they still have some training to do with her before she gets moved on. I got the feeling that this place is a training facility to prepare the people for what comes next. What that is, is anyone’s guess.”

“Get back here as soon as you can,” she said. “Drive safely though and stick to the limits. Let me know when you’re ten minutes out, I’ll make sure that everyone that needs to be is in my office. Come straight up.”

“Yes Ma’am” I said with a grin.

When I was near, I gave her the ten minute warning, and arrived on her floor almost exactly ten minutes later. Cuthbert nodded to me. “Go straight in,” he said. “They’re waiting for you.”

I knocked on the door, and entered when bade to do so.

The next forty minutes was spent reporting everything I’d seen and done. I’d given my memories to all those in the room, which comprised of Maggie and Dianna. Strangely, Martha hadn’t been invited. I then told the Judge over video link exactly what I’d heard and seen. I had to be explicit about how I’d gotten certain information, telling her that it had been overheard thoughts and not an active reading that had brought me information about training and selling. I had to recount conversations and overheard thoughts over and over again, as well as explaining what Rosie remembered.

That was more difficult.

Rosie had been picked up by a guy in the nightclub that I’d agreed to meet Veronica at. She’d gone there after she’d been sent a voucher for free entry and free drink.

She’d taken all precautions regarding drinks and not left hers unattended. After her first drink, she’d stuck to soda, she bought bottles and watched the barman open them. When she was not actively drinking from the bottle, she placed her thumb over the opening, even when she was dancing.

Even so, sometime in the evening she’d stated to feel strange, and had found herself being guided to a seat by a good looking guy, who, she had to admit, was pretty hot.

He’d spoken to her for a while, and it was only then that she realized that the seat she was in was in a room, not in the nightclub. It was quieter and they could talk. He got her another drink, but this time she had no qualms about taking it from him, and drinking it. They talked some more.

He spoke about freedom, and life, and getting away, spinning tales of dreams and plying her with more drinks.

He took her back to his place and the sex was mind blowing. She came and came and came, not thinking about anything other than what was happening to her. He played her body like a musical instrument. Between bouts, while they both recovered, he injected something into her. He explained why it was necessary and she was fine with his explanation although she couldn’t remember for the life of her what that explanation was.

Her next memory was him taking her to the compound. Her head felt fuzzy but she felt so happy, so content to be following him. His hand in hers seemed to complete her, and she followed him in grinning like a fool.

Rosie’s memory after that was a fractured mess of lights and sounds, of fuzzy headedness, of orgasms, and more lately of orders. There was pain and sadness if she disobeyed. He hated to have to punish her but, when she didn’t do what she was told, he had to. Oh but how he would reward her when she was good. He could make her cum with just a word. All the time her head felt thick and wooly. It was like it was happening to someone else.

When she saw me, she was confused. Why was I there? But she’d already been trained to say the phrases he instructed her to. He’d press on her hand, and she’d say the phrases. She only had time to learn a few, only five or six, but that seemingly was enough. She hoped the Master would be happy with her after she’d said the phrases. The last time he’d been unhappy, it had hurt, a lot, but she was certain it was her fault. She’d have to try to do better.

There was silence in the office after I reported all that I had found.

“We have to get in there,” Maggie said. “They’re running some kind of slavery ring. Picking up good looking young kids, brainwashing them, and then selling them on to who knows where. I am in no doubt as to the use they’ll be put to. But they’re not going to be young and pretty forever. What happens when they get old and tired. What happens to them then?”

Judge Roder looked grim.

“I agree,” she said. “But do you have enough intel for a raid?”

Maggie shook her head. “Caleb already saw some defences,” she said. “The vehicular blockade is pretty standard, but if they’ve bothered to put that in, I’m sure there’s more. Also the electronic surveillance. Finally, we have no idea of the layout of the compound. We need much more information.”

“I could get it,” I said. “I could go and meet Veronica at the nightclub, and read her. Surely there’s enough her for a warrant for that?” I asked the judge.

She considered for a moment.

“Yes,” she said finally. “I’ll issue you a warrant to read anyone from the compound you meet in the nightclub. It might not be this Veronica person. Also listen out for how they managed to drug her. I suspect the barman is in on it, but if Rosie watched him open all her drinks, I’m not sure how.”

“Maybe they have a stock of doctored bottles,” I said, “kept especially for those with the vouchers.”

“Sounds plausible,” she said. “See if you can find out, without violating his mind.”

“Yes, your Honor,” I said.

“Also,” Maggie went on, “this is an FBI operation. Martha is no longer involved, and no information is to be given to her.”

I looked past Judge Roder to Melissa. Judge Roder noticed my glance.

“Melissa knows well enough not to leak information,” she said, “even to her aunt. ADD Forbes, keep me posted.”

She leaned forward and cut the connection. The screen went dark.

I looked at Maggie and then at Dianna.

“You’d better go home and catch your girls up,” said Dianna. “They’re going to want to know what’s going on.”

“I will,” I said.

“And Caleb,” she said. “Think hard about what you’re going to say to Judge Roder. You can’t just say ‘no’ to her. She has the weight of the legal system at her back. If you refuse her request, then you could easily find yourself in serious trouble. Think of how that will affect the rest of your family.

“It was a mistake to use that on Harold. You should have told me, and we could have figured something out. Now the cat’s out of the bag, and I’m not sure it’s knowledge I particularly want out there. The ramifications of it are huge.”

“I know,” I said. “And there’s no way, no how, I’m telling anyone what I figured out. That would be a weapon that Norms would not be able to resist. They’ll start to research it, and before you know it there’ll be vivisections of power users underway.

“I thought it might be useful, to protect our guys when they have to go in to take down a power user, but I’m not releasing that information to her, or to anyone else, ever.”

Maggie shook her head.

“This is going to get bloody,” she said.

“I hope not,” I said.

I wasn’t out of the building before my phone rang again. Martha.

“Caleb,” she said. “Did you find him…and your friend?”

“Did Maggie speak to you?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said. “She told me that the FBI were taking the investigation and I was told to back off.”

“She told me the same thing,” I said. “I was also told not to talk to you about it.”

“I see,” she said.

“I’m sorry Martha. If I could I’d tell you what’s going on, but I can’t.” I told her.

I heard her sigh. “Please,” she said. “If and when you CAN tell me something, please will you call?”

“As soon as I’m allowed,” I said, “then I will. You have my word.”

“And Caleb,” she added. “About Sarah…”

“It’s over,” I said. “Forget about it.”

“Maggie mentioned some justice?” she said. “Do I have to worry?”

I sighed.

“No,” I said. “I was furious at you at first. When I got to the cabin I very nearly stripped your powers. It was a very close call.”

“You can do that?” she asked.

“I can,” I said. “I’ve done it a few times already. Most notably to Zach Everson after he tried to kill me and my family.”

“I heard about that.” She said. “Although not the details. Melissa is always very tight lipped about what goes on with the Judge.”

“Once I was over that, I was still angry at you. I was going to take a petty revenge,” I said. “It’s kind of my trademark.”

“Oh?” she said.

“I was going to give you a very personal itch you couldn’t scratch,” I told her. “For a week. All of you, your guys included.”

She actually laughed at that.

“That would have been… uncomfortable,” she said. I could hear the grin in her voice. “You are rather Machiavellian. That’s quite brilliant, and quite evil. So am I still in line for the justice?”

“When I saw what was going on in the Enclave,” I told her quietly, “what you said made sense. I could see why and how you might get ‘carried away’ and want to step in as quickly as possible. I think I understand your drive to help. It doesn’t help Sarah, or me, or anyone in cases where you get it wrong, but the damage you prevent when you get it right, kind of makes it worth it. At least I can see how it would from your point of view.”

“Maggie was right,” she said, more soberly. “I, we, have to do better, but thank you for seeing it that way, and for telling me.”

“As soon as I can say anything more,” I told her, “I’ll be in touch. But I fully expect you to hear it from others before you hear anything from me. Keep that in mind.”

“I will,” She said. “And thank you. If the FBI is taking this up, then you must have done or found something to convince Roder to act. I hope your friend is okay.”

She hung up, just as I arrived home.

++++

“We’re going with you,” were the words that started the biggest row we’d ever had.

I’d told everyone, Arnie included, about the Enclave, and what I’d found when I got there. I explained the plan and how I was going to be going to the nightclub and catching up with Veronica to try and get more information.

It was Amanda who’d said the fateful words, and my refusal started a torrent of arguments, shouts and tears.

In the end I had to call Dianna and get her to come over to referee. Melanie was the hardest to placate, since she had no in-built deference to Dianna as the twins did, when Dianna tried to ‘put her foot down’ Melanie simply told her to get fucked, and that she had no right to tell her what to do.

I thought that Dianna would lose her cool and pull out the…’this is an FBI operation and any interference will be unlawful’… bullshit but she didn’t. Instead, she spoke gently to Melanie for nearly an hour. There were more tears, but eventually they all accepted that them going would actually make things more dangerous for me. If they went with me, I’d be splitting my focus, trying my best to look after them, and so not able to give one hundred percent of my attention to making sure I was safe.

The atmosphere in the house Tuesday morning was much more subdued than it had been the previous morning. We all got ready and went about our day without any banter. You’d have thought that I was headed for my immediate execution judging by the expressions on the girls faces and the subdued tones.

After everyone left I decided I needed to do something about it. This, after all, was going to be my career. If we were going to end up with this performance every time I went out on a job, it would get incredibly old.

I apparently was not the only one to think that, because when Mary came home that evening, she came into the kitchen where I was preparing an early dinner.

“Caleb,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

I put down the knife I’d been using and wiped my hands. Turning to face her, I took her in my arms.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” I said. “If it were you then I’d be equally worried, and want to be there to keep you safe.”

“Yes,” she said. “But I’m sure you’ve considered that if we’re like this now, what is it going to be like when you’re an actual agent? These histrionics are going to make all our lives miserable.”

I considered this for a few moments. “I could think about…” I began, but she cut me off.

“Don’t even say it,” she said. “All you ever wanted to do was to be in law enforcement and it would be wrong for you to change that now because of us. Whether it’s the FBI, NSA, CIA, or just a state trooper, every time you went out to work, our worry would be the same. You can’t live like that, we can’t. We have to trust that you’ll use every bit of your power and training, when you get it, to keep yourself safe, and come back to us."

I felt the girls gathering in the living room, and so I took Mary through and joined them. The hours we spent talking meant that we had no time to eat before we had to be at the Dojo, so I called out for pizza when we got back. I remembered the wonderful ones we’d had at Danny’s just after Arnie had been attacked, and we called out to Olys.

When Sarah told Arnie, who’d gone back to his Dad’s since we were going to the dojo, I felt his pout through the connection.

“He thinks we did it deliberately,” Sarah giggled.

Wednesday, I had no attention for my Ethics class, and would be hard pressed to recall what was discussed. I was worried for Rosie and wondered just what was happening to her. I was certain she wasn’t going to be moved before we went in to rescue her, and Maggie had told me that the compound was now under surveillance, including the boat dock. I wondered if and how they’d be able to spot Rosie being taken out of there, and if they did, what they’d do about it.

Thursday morning Sarah and Melanie ran with me. Arnie had made noises like he was going to start training with us, but Sarah asked him to wait until after my ‘operation’. He’d agreed immediately.

I’d also cancelled all my flying lessons that day, even though I’d had both a rotary and a fixed wing lesson booked. I knew I’d have no focus for them, and while I didn’t really need it, it was dangerous to fly distracted.

I also got notification that my next check ride was booked for the Tuesday of the last week before we went to the ranch. That was five days away, if you didn’t count today.

The day passed slowly. I tried to divert myself, but instead found myself reviewing Rosie’s memories of her abduction over and over and over again.

The girls came home at their normal time and Mary cooked dinner. I wasn’t hungry but thought it best if I ate something.

I made sure to leave my CQB at home. I also decided to get Arnie to drop me at the club, just so my truck would be safe at home.

“You sure you don’t want me to come in with you?” asked Arnie as we pulled up just down the block from the club.

I smiled at him. “Thanks for the offer,” I said, “but no. I’ll be fine.”

I got out of his car, pulled my jacket down to straighten it, and took a deep breath. It was time.

“I’m outside the club,” I told Mary.

One of the concessions that Dianna had made was that Mary would provide comms, via our link. She was currently sitting in a dark van parked a block over. We’d passed it on our way in.

“We saw you,” she said. “Be careful. I love you.”

I smiled at that and sent them all feelings of love. I was careful not to transmit the tingle of fear I was feeling.

While I was confident in my powers, the incidents with Green and the school shooter had shown me clearly that my powers were not infallible. Anything could, and probably would, happen.

I strode up to the nightclub entrance. There was a short line, but I went straight to the bouncer on the door. I showed him my ticket and he stood aside to let me in. There was some muttering from those at the head of the line, but a look from him quelled it.

“Thank you,” I said, wondering if I should tip him. Since I had nothing ready, I chose not to, and simply went inside. He didn’t look upset so I guessed he hadn’t expected anything either, or maybe he just had a great poker face.

The club wasn’t exactly full at this time. It was quite dark inside and there were a few people dancing to the thumping music that was already playing. That, I decided, was going to give me a headache.

I worked my way over to the bar, which had a few people standing against it, but it seemed nobody was waiting for drinks. It seemed that it was still early.

A young woman, came over to me and smiled.

I presented the card to her, and she nodded.

“You have a choice of either beer, soda, or wine.” She said. That made sense. If they were doctoring the bottles they’d want to limit the number of bottles they’d need to keep on hand, pre-doctored.

I listened to her mind as she spoke. She didn’t seem to know about any drugs or drugging. As far as she knew this was simply a promotion to get people into the club. She was surprised at how few people presented the tokens, the first time she’d seen one about a month ago, she’d had to ask what they were about. She’d seen only a handful since.

“I’ll take a beer,” I said with a smile, “thanks.”

She walked off and reached into a chiller, which, when she opened it, I saw contained only the choice of drinks mentioned. There was one type of beer, two kinds of soda, and some small bottles of wine.

She grabbed one of the beers and walked back to me, popping the cap as she arrived.

“You want a glass?” I asked.

I shook my head, and she handed it over.

Thanking her, I pretended to take a drink, keeping my tongue over the mouth of the bottle as I did. I doubted that what was in there would be powerful enough to take me down with just that little contact. If that had been the case then a full bottle of the stuff would probably kill me.

I made my way around the perimeter of the dance floor and found myself a seat, ostensibly watching the girls dancing. There were not many of those this early.

After a few minutes, I went to the bathroom, taking my drink with me. That was not unusual these days, given the amount of people who were drugged in clubs. In fact, most people did that, at least they did if they’d gone to the club alone.

Since there was nobody else in the bathroom, I emptied the bottle down the toilet, and rinsed it out, filling it with water. I then went back out into the club to wait for events to unfold.

A young guy came to talk to me. A quick scan told me that he was a genuine club goer who had only just come out. He’d spotted me sitting alone and decided to try his luck. He was nervous as hell and almost visibly shaking when he approached.

“Hi,” he said. I smiled at him.

“Hi,” I returned.

That seemed to be his total repertoire.

“Quiet in here tonight,” he offered.

“I’m sure it’ll get busier later,” I said. “I wouldn’t normally come out so early, but I’m meeting someone,”

“Ah,” he said. “Okay, have a good night.”

“You too,” I said. he wandered off, taking a seat a few tables away and watching both me and the crowd. I wondered if he believed me or thought I was just brushing him off. I didn’t bother to check.

I was approached twice more before I spotted Veronica about an hour later. She looked around the club and spotted me, her face breaking into a wide smile as she did so. She came straight over.

“Caleb,” she said. I stood and was surprised to receive a warm hug and a peck on both cheeks. “You made it.”

“I was thinking about what you said,” I told her. “And Rosie obviously.”

“You have to let Rosie go,” she said. “Even if you do join us, she’s found her happiness. You’re a connection back to her past life, her pain. You wouldn’t want to deny her would you?”

I dropped my head. “She’s found someone else?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “We don’t encourage that until people have been with us a little while. It confuses things. The first couple of months is about finding yourself, not about finding others. That comes later.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Can I get you a drink?”

“I’ll take a white wine please,” she said. I nodded and left her sitting at the table. When I went to the bar I noted that there was a barman waiting for me. He seemed to be ignoring other people who were wanting serving.

“What can I get you?” he asked.

“Can I get a white wine, and a Cola please,” I said.

He nodded.

“Perfect,” he thought. “We already have those ready.”

He went back to the cooler that my original beer had been taken from and pulled out my soda. Then, ignoring the wine in the same cooler, collected a bottle from a cold shelf further along the bar. He brought the two drinks back to where I stood, opened both bottles, and poured them into glasses.

I paid him, giving him a small tip, and he thanked me before moving off to serve some of those he’d ignored before.

I took our drinks back to where Veronica sat.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “The barman already poured them. If you would rather…”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I don’t think you’re going to try and drug me, are you?” she laughed.

We sat and chatted, and had more drinks. She told me about the Enclave, how it had been set up by a monk, but was not overtly religious. There were advantages, she’d told me, of being thought of as a religion. It gave them extra freedoms and some tax benefits, but the ethos wasn’t about any kind of god, but was about becoming free, casting off all of the shackles of modern life, and achieving your happiness.

“Look,” said Veronica, after we’d been drinking for some time, and I’d become much more relaxed. “It’s very noisy here. I know the manager and he lets me use one of the private rooms. Why don’t we go in there. We can talk more easily.

I smiled a sleepy smile at her, and nodded. Dropping the illusion that I’d been drinking with her, as she stood and led me into another room.

I’d shared everything so far with Mary. She’d kept up a running commentary to Dianna who was seated in the truck with her, and was in constant contact with Maggie.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” I heard from Veronica as we entered the room. She took a seat next to a small table. The room was big enough to fit maybe two hundred people and there was a small bar, currently unmanned, at the end of the room. There were chairs and tables around the edge and a dance floor occupied most of the space. The music was much quieter in here, and I could see a control just inside the door which I presumed controlled the volume. There were ‘disco’ lights mounted to the walls and in the ceiling, but they were currently not operating. The room was cooler than the nightclub had been, and lit by a smattering of downlights in the ceiling.

“That’s better,” she said as I sat beside her. “You want another drink?”

“I’ll…” she stood up.

“Like I said,” she said walking over to the bar, and collecting a couple of bottles. I didn’t see where from. “I know the manager.”

She popped the tops and then came and sat down.

That’s when I struck.

She had no shields, no powers, and so it was no trouble whatsoever to control her. I read her mind and found out exactly what I wanted to know.

Veronica Wood was not her real name. She was actually Gail Prescott and she herself had been taken about three years ago, but not from Portland. She’d been picked up in Vegas, and had woken up to find herself in the compound, and in the training process.

For some reason the leader of the Enclave had decided that she’d be a good candidate to find others for them to ‘recruit,’ and so she’d been trained for that purpose. Using a combination of drugs, sex, pain, and audio and visual stimuli, they seemed to completely destroy her personality and make her into who she was today.

She had a vague memory of Gail Prescott, like she was someone she used to know, but had lost touch with. That was someone else. She was now Veronica and she worked for, and with, Brother Ephraim.

Brother Ephraim was the leader of the Enclave, an older man, who controlled every aspect of everyone’s lives in the Enclave. He was the one who chose those to be recruited, having several ‘scouts’ who would circulate through the Portland nightlife and look for potential victims. Once a person was spotted, pictures were taken, and Brother Ephraim would select those for further investigation.

As much information as could be was gathered from social media, covert surveillance, and other methods, including enticing the victim into bed, were used to further evaluate a potential victim. Once they’d gotten all the required information, they’d collect the victim and spend up to forty eight hours, in various safe locations around the city, doing the initial conditioning. This would make the victim compliant and allow them to be taken into the compound. They weren’t taken directly to the compound so that should there be any unexpected problems with the person, if they managed to resist conditioning, or someone was unexpectedly missed far more than had been anticipated and a hue and cry went up, they could be cut loose without compromising the rest of the operation. I suspected that being ‘cut loose’ involved the death of the victim concerned, although Veronica didn’t know for sure. In the single instance she’d had where a victim had resisted conditioning, she’d merely called Brother Ephraim and a couple of people had arrived to take the drugged victim away.

Once the victim was taken to the compound they were there usually for about two months, where they underwent far more rigorous conditioning, again using drugs, sex, pain, and various other mind-altering methodologies. They were trained to be the perfect slaves, to provide services both sexual and non-sexual. They were catalogued and buyers could make a selection at this stage and thus have a say in the type of training each victim received. When they were ready, they were sold, either to pre-selected buyers for a set fee or, if nobody had pre-ordered them, they had a generic slave training and were sold at auction.

Veronica was aware of several girls being purchased for harems, some boys as catamites, and yet more were castrated and purchased as eunuchs to work in, and protect the women of, the harems.

I was amazed that such things still existed in the modern world, but it seemed that some customs persisted, especially when the people whose customs they were, were ultra rich and could afford it. I was also sickened, and enraged, wanting nothing more than to go and turn Brother Ephraim into a red stain on the carpet.

“Focus,” Mary warned me, bringing me back to myself.

Veronica was a trusted minion so had full access to the compound. There were eight of them so trusted, four women and four men. Veronica and a man called Craig operated in Portland, and they usually took twenty or thirty people each a year from the city and surrounding area.

There were three other teams of two working the neighbouring states. As well as grabbing people like Rosie, they also grabbed transients, and sometimes they cruised the highways looking for hitchhikers to snatch up. They were even better as they attracted even less attention.

Veronica had seen sales, and auctions, where the average slave being sold for upwards of five or six million dollars. Special orders for more. Very occasionally an order might come in for a specific person. Those cost even more and on the two occasions that had happened, that she’d known about, the value had been in the tens of millions.

I took everything from her, all her knowledge, all her information about the compound, Brother Ephraim, security codes, safe locations around the city, the identities of all the scouts used, and the trusted minions working other states and where they were based. All of these would have to be picked up.

“What now?” I asked Mary, having passed on a lot of the information I’d gained. Veronica sat quietly staring into space.

“Find out what her next move would be with you, and do it,” Mary sent. “We saw Rosie was taken to a safe location. Go there. Make sure that she checks in as she should with the compound, if she needs to. Give me everything you have from her, and they’ll start planning the raid.”

Veronica led me, slack jawed, out of the club. A couple of the bar staff looked on knowingly, and I made a mental note of them. We’d have to come back. I also saw the bargirl who’d given me my first drink spot me and go and speak to one of the bouncers. She told him that she thought I looked out of it, and wondered if I’d been spiked. He told her not to worry and that he’d deal with it.

He came over and had a brief word with Veronica. She looked over at the bar girl, and noted she was young and pretty. The bar girl was added to the list of potential victims.

I followed Veronica out to the parking lot where we got into her car, a small non-descript compact. She looked around, before reaching into the center console and pulling a small syringe, preloaded with something, out. Taking my arm, she quickly and skilfully found a vein, and injected its contents into me.

Dropping her into an illusion, I took the still full syringe out of her hand and stashed it for analysis later.

Using a combination of illusion and Compulsion, I spent the next twenty-four hours seeing exactly what the primary conditioning entailed. There would have been a lot of sex and I would honestly have been happy with that. Veronica was a beautiful woman with a great body and very passable ass.

About eight hours in, Mary tapped out, and handed over to Amanda. She was going to be my communications interface so that Mary could get some sleep. I was concerned about both of them taking time off from school but was glad of the backup.

On Saturday morning, Veronica’s male counterpart arrived to check me over and make sure things were going to plan. I had no trouble taking control of him too, and mining even more information from him. He pronounced me ready. I was to be transported to the compound. This was what we’d been waiting for.

Over the last day and a bit, I’d been ‘virtually’ involved in the planning of the raid. I’d piggybacked onto Mary’s senses, hearing and seeing everything going on in Maggie’s office. I’d been given my instructions, along with making suggestions based on knowledge and information I had gained from Veronica.

I knew, for instance, that there were ten guards on duty at any one time. That other than the one manning the gate, and the senior manning the control room, both of whom I’d met. There were eight others. Two stayed on the boat dock and the rest patrolled the grounds. The patrols were armed with automatic weapons, while the static guards wore sidearms but had access to weapons stored in lockers at their locations. Each guard also carried a personal attack alarm, which they could press if attacked, but also would detect if they’d been incapacitated and fell to the floor. That would immediately instigate a full lockdown, until the cause of the problem could be ascertained.

There were fifty staff on site, most of whom had been ‘recruited’ at some point. They took care of, and were involved in the conditioning, of the victims, of which currently there were forty one. Brother Ephriam was pushing to get another twenty victims at least on site ready for an end of year auction.

The journey to the compound took just over the hour and a half it had taken me earlier in the week. When we arrived, we drove straight through the gate. The guard nodding, almost sadly I thought, as he spotted me in the passenger seat of Veronica’s car.

In passing I quickly implanted the compulsion that he’d continue his duties, completely ignoring anything going on around him. He’d see and hear nothing out of the ordinary. Under no circumstances would he activate his personal alarm and would instantly obey any instructions given to him by anyone identifying themselves as law enforcement.

The other guard wasn’t there to meet us when we got near the house. Victoria simply parked in what appeared to be a staff parking lot and told me to get out. I obeyed. She then took my hand and led me into the foyer. This is where we met up with the second guard.

“I thought we’d be seeing you again,” he thought when he noticed me. “Serves you right for sticking your nose in. I wonder if anyone’s going to cry over you?”

He also got the instructions I’d given to the gate guard along with instructions to disable the security system. He would then call in all patrols.

He immediately went into the control booth and complied.

Over the next fifteen minutes every patrolling guard came in and was neutralized. Two went out to relieve those on the boat dock and they also came in and were dealt with. I’d been in the compound less than twenty minutes and had all but taken control.

Once I was certain that all the armed guards were dealt with, I told him to turn off all the surveillance cameras. I’d expected this to provoke a response since I knew that there were remote monitors in Brother Ephraim’s office.

Almost immediately the phone in the security office rang. When the guard didn’t answer, Brother Ephraim came storming out into the foyer.

“What’s going on with…” was all he got out, before I took control of him too.

“Clear,” I sent to Mary – who was back in her role as Comms.

The rest of the raid was anticlimactic. Within five minutes of my calling Clear, the place was swarming with FBI. All the guards were disarmed and taken into custody, as was Ephraim, and everyone else on site. Since they’d all undergone significant mental reprogramming, and there was no way to tell what they might do, so they were all, Rosie included, treated as potential hostiles. They all responded to orders and docilely allowed themselves to be cuffed and led away. Rosie didn’t even look in my direction as she passed me. I resisted the impulse to look into her mind, to try and find the vivacious young woman I’d known. That was something for someone else to deal with. The thought sickened me though.

I did peek into Ephraim’s mind though, and found that this was only one of a dozen such compounds nationwide. Ephraim was not the top of the tree and reported in to someone else. Again, this was not my problem, but I did pass that gem on to Mary, and from thence to Maggie who said she had suspected such. They would interrogate Ephraim and find out everything he knew, and then make a plan to take down the rest of the organization. That would not involve me.

“Maggie says to come back to the office.” Sent Mary.

“I have no transport,” I told her.

“Go to the gate,” said Mary. “Someone will meet you there.”

Agent Drey waved at me as I reached the gate. I walked over to where he was standing by his SUV.

He surprised me by putting his arm around my shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Tired,” I said. “And hungry.”

He laughed. “Mary said you might be. I stopped off at a drive through on the way. Its still hot if you get in there quick.”

Opening the back door of the SUV I saw a coolbag. I opened it to find a dozen burgers and several orders of fries along side several orders of chicken dippers with various dips. Next to the bag was a drinks carrier which held four large shakes.

“I’m not that hungry.” I said.

“Mary said to get a lot, and she stressed a lot,” he told me.

I grabbed the cooler and took it and the drinks to the passenger seat, putting the cooler between my feet. The drinks I secured in the cup holders for both front and back seats.

“Want one?” I asked offering him a burger, as he pulled the car out onto the road. He accepted readily, and between us we munched and slurped our way through the contents of the bag.

I was feeling uncomfortably full when I got back to the FBI office. Daniel had had a burger, some fries, and one of the drinks. Later on, he’d taken a portion of the chicken. The rest I’d devoured, having not actually eaten for over 24 hours. During that time, I’d been using my powers constantly and it had left me drained and starving. Even so, I think I went a little overboard.

We’d stopped at a gas station just before we arrived back, and I’d emptied the trash there.

“Have you ever,” Daniel asked, “thought about a career in competitive eating?”

“Strangely enough,” I told him, “when I first started training my TK I did a couple of food challenges. It was a good way to fill up cheap, or even free. After that, though, I kind of forgot about it. I don’t eat that much regularly, and a lot of the challenges are not just about quantity, but about eating stupid stuff, like food so hot it would melt the sun. I’m not up for that.”

“True,” he said pulling into the FBI parking lot.

I followed him into the building. Since it was Saturday, there were very few people there.

Mary was waiting for me in Maggie’s office. As we entered she ran to me and hugged me, hard.

“I’ve missed you too,” I said holding onto her, enjoying the feel and smell of her. Of all the girls, Mary’s was the scent I enjoyed most. They all smelled different, and I loved them all, but Mary’s was something special. It always took me back to that first time, when she’d handed me back my sweatshirt in the school cafeteria, and it had smelled of her. It comforted me and aroused me in equal measure.

She giggled, “Down boy,” she said, feeling my arousal against her leg. “Wait until we get home.”

I released her, and turned, only to be pulled into an embrace by Maggie.

“Amazing work,” she said. “From what Dianna is telling me, there are over seventy people who were registered as missing persons in that compound. The latest batch obviously, but most of the staff there were people who’d been taken and ‘recruited’. Using them saved problems with security. They were one hundred percent loyal, didn’t need paying, days off, holidays, or pensions.

“Mary told me about the people at the club, and we’ve sent a couple of agents to pick those guys up too. We’ll read them to see if anyone else there was involved. We obviously brought in the manager as well.”

“What about the other compounds?” I asked.

“We’re going to deal with those,” she told me. “You don’t need to worry about them. You did your part here, and did it exceptionally well. However, you have other things to concern yourself with. Judge Roder is waiting for you. I told her that you were coming back and she’s made the trip in. She’s in the conference room.”

I sighed. “Don’t I at least get a last meal?” I asked.

“You can’t be serious,” she said. “From what Agent Drey said you put away copious amounts of on the journey home.”

“He did share,” I said defensively.

Maggie shook her head. “I’ll never know how you’re not five hundred pounds given the amount you eat,” she said. “You’d better go. Her mood will not get better for waiting for you.”

“Are you not coming?” I asked.

“She asked for you to meet alone,” she said. “Obviously Melissa will be there but…”

I wondered at that.

Since it was only one floor down, I took the stairs, and walked to the conference room, knocking on the door.

“Enter,” I heard the Judge’s voice. I obeyed.

She was sitting at the head of the table, Melissa sitting to her right. I took up station at the foot of the table, standing to an approximation of attention.

“Oh sit down,” she said irritably, indicating the seat to her left.

I walked around the table and sat.

She regarded me for a moment.

“You’re an asshole,” she said, surprising me greatly.

“I’m sorry?” I asked.

“So you should be,” she said. “You know how much trouble you’ve caused me?”

I opened and closed my mouth. No sound came out.

“Did you think nobody would notice?” she asked. “Did you think that once they figured out what you’d done, they wouldn’t want to know how?”

I dropped my head. In truth I hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“Do you have ANY idea how dangerous that knowledge would be?” she asked. “What it would mean? How bad it would be if it were to fall into the wrong hands?”

I nodded. “I do,” she said.

“And now they want me to get that knowledge for them.” She told me. “And I have no idea how to stop that.”

I gave her a small smile.

“I do,” I said.

She leaned forward in her chair.

“Tell me.” she said.

“It’s like this,” I said. “I realized instantly how dangerous that information would be, and that anyone that knew I’d figured it out would want it. So, to protect it, I placed certain Compulsions on myself.”

“You can do that?” she asked. she looked at Melissa. “He can do that?”

Melissa nodded. “Compulsion users can Compel themselves,” she said. “They don’t usually, but it’s been known.”

“And what are these compulsions?” she asked.

“If I’m ever in a position where the information was about to be discovered, either by being read by a telepath after my being forced or ordered to drop my shields, or maybe presented with a court order to do so, or if I’m ordered to reveal the information or perform the act whilst under direct observation so as to reveal it’s nature, or even if I were to be put under some kind of other pressure using my friends or family to try and get me to divulge the information, then it will be immediately and irrevocably wiped from my mind. Gone and irretrievable.

“The only way that this might be overcome would be by someone stronger than me breaching my shields and then taking the information by force. If anyone tried that, immediately when I came under attack, the Compulsion would trigger and again the information would be lost.

“I’m sorry, but now the Compulsions are in place, I cannot remove them without losing the information. Indeed, any attempt to extract the information by any means, physical, psychic, pharmacological, or emotional would immediately result in the loss of said information.”

“I will, of course, attempt to comply with any order of the court, or order from a superior agent once I join the Bureau. I would make the best effort I can to prevent such loss of information, but I’m certain that I would fail.”

She looked to Melissa. “What do you think?” she said.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “But I think he’s right. If he’s locked the Compulsions in there’s no way to undo it, without losing the information. My father would be able to give a more expert opinion. He’s dealt with many more Compulsion users than I have.”

“Call him.” she said. Melissa did. The conversation with Vince involved him laughing quite a lot.

“He’s done probably the only thing,” he said finally, “that could possibly work. The only weakness in the plan is if a stronger user were able to catch him fast enough, but since Caleb is THE most powerful user we’ve ever seen, I doubt anyone stronger exists. A co-ordinated attack might breach his shields, but not fast enough to prevent the compulsion from activating and the information being lost.”

“Thank you,” said the judge, ending the call.

She glared at me for a moment.

“You’re still an asshole,” she said with the tiniest of smiles. “But at least you’re an asshole with a half workable plan. Would them asking you to make people immune for them to study trigger your compulsions?”

I shook my head. “I fully expected that to happen. If they figure it out for themselves then that’s on them. I seriously doubt they’ll be able to find it though. It’s the same as if they were to stumble across someone with natural immunity and studied them, like I did.”

“They would want to do that, to make sure the process is safe. But once they have, would you be willing to make key people immune?”

“One of the Compulsions I placed, was to prevent my becoming a tool, just used for that purpose. I envisioned a scenario where I’d be assigned to a post, sitting in a room, having a train of people brought to me to be made immune. I considered who that might entail, members of the FBI, the Secret Service, the Legislature, the President, judges, members of the armed forces? I wouldn’t live long enough, even given my lifespan, to get to everyone they might want. Then someone would find out about it, money would change hands, and rich people would want to be made immune.

“I imposed a limit. I would allow myself to be ordered to spend a single day a month, of no more than eight house duration, making people immune to powers. My Compulsion would not allow me to spend more time than that doing so, and again should I be forced into doing so, I would of course do my best to comply with orders, but my Compulsions would remove any memories of the information and make it so I’d be unable to do so ever again.”

“Would a simple request outside of that time trigger the compulsions?” she asked.

“As long as it was not an order couched as a request,” I said. “Then no, my Compulsions do include a warning statement, so that if there is time, I’ll issue a warning that the information is about to be lost. I will not, however be able to delay, or otherwise affect, the process.”

“So if you were ordered to divulge the information by someone?” she asked.

“I would say that there are measures in place to prevent that information being revealed, measures that I have no control over and that, should the order be pressed, the information will be erased and irrevocably lost. I guess I could end up being tried for disobeying a direct order, but I’m sure it would come out at trial that I was under Compulsion and unable to comply. Since the Compulsions are already in place, there’s nothing I can do about them I’m sorry.”

“So the moment you feel under duress of any kind, the compulsions activate?” she asked.

“Yes, your Honor,” I told her.

“You do realize that could be used against us,” she said. “Someone could deliberately order you to divulge the information, merely to remove it from our arsenal.”

I nodded. “I thought about that, and figured the only way to prevent it would be for someone to give me a process, that I could legally refuse such an order, and refer the person giving the order to a higher authority.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “I’d have to take advice on that,” she said. “I’m sure there would be precedent somewhere, but it doesn’t spring to mind. I may have to go way up the chain on this. However, it looks like you’ve covered as many of the bases as you could.”

She sighed. “I wish you’d trusted me enough to discuss it with me before acting,” she said a little sadly.

I didn’t answer that. She seemed to be genuinely on our, my, side. But she’d already told me that we were all tools for her use. That was a lesson I’d not forget.

“Good job today, Caleb,” she said changing the subject. “You saved a lot of people, including one of our own, and exposed a network of human traffickers we can now dismantle. I’m personally putting a letter of commendation in your file.

She looked at her watch. “Go home, be with your family. I’ll be in touch soon no doubt.”

“Thank you, your Honor,” I said.

I left the conference room, and found Mary waiting for me in the hallway outside.

“All done?” she asked.

“All done,” I said. “Let’s go home.”