20.
Lieutenant Jeremy Nark, having successfully deposited Sue McDonaugh at her barrack, returned hastily to the office he occupied adjacent to that of his superior, Colonel Grossmann. Slumping into his desk chair, he sat quietly for a minute or two in order to catch his breath and collect his thoughts, and then pressed the call button on his desk intercom.
“Yes?” responded his boss.
“I’m back, Sir.”
“Good. Then get your ass in here right way!”
“Yessir!”
A moment later he was seated in front of Grossman’s desk. The contrast in appearance between the two men was stark ... one being massively corpulent and perpetually red-faced, the other thin and pale, with a weasel-like countenance.
“So, I assume that 5535 ... or should I say, Sue McDonaugh ... has been returned to her barrack without incident?”
“Yessir! Already huddling with her friends when I left.”
“Good, good!”
“You sure put on a good show, Sir, letting her think she was in charge and could manipulate you at will.”
“Listening in again, were you, Lieutenant Nark?”
“It’s what I do, Sir.”
“Well, yes. But you’re right. She certainly thought she had me where she wanted me, didn’t she? So smug and full of herself ... she had no idea that she was being played, did she?”
“Not a bit. Your performance was masterful, Sir.”
“And credit goes to you as well, Nark, for arranging the meeting and tipping me off about her.”
“Thank you. I think she actually believed that she was manipulating me into granting her an audience with you. But, I must say that her idea of dressing her friends up as cheerleaders will add an interesting twist to the usual entertainment provided at the post-banquet party.”
“Yeah, hard to believe she was so naive as to think she could fool us into thinking her friends were actually cheerleaders! And so clueless to think that I had nothing planned to entertain this year’s visitors, and that I would need ‘Her’ help to save ‘ME’ from embarrassment!”
“As I recall from a quick check of her friends’ files while you were still speaking with her, Sir, one of them actually was a cheerleader ... that would be 5536 ... Kristin Magruder.”
“Well, then, there’s at least a kernel of truth in McDonaugh’s pathetic little attempted snow job. But that’s about it.”
“Yessir.”
“But, having stolen a look at their files, Nark, would you judge them all to be lookers?”
“Most definitely, Sir. They all received high grades when they were inspected during procurement, and judging from the procurement photos taken of them on procurement day ... I’d say our honored guests at the banquet should find them ... uh ... quite delectable.”
“Alright, Nark, here’s what I want you to do yet tonight. First, get online at one of those sites that sell athletic equipment and uniforms, and order a rush delivery of five cheerleader outfits. And take care to pick out the skimpiest-looking ones available.”
“Yessir.”
“Second, deliver this list of frames, apparatuses and accoutrements to the Center’s carpentry and metalworking shop, and tell them I want them all assembled and mounted on the stage of the VIP banquet hall by no later than the end of the day tomorrow. And don’t take no for an answer.”
“Yessir.”
“And finally, I’m putting you in charge tomorrow of Sue McDonaugh and her five friends. Clear the VIP exercise room as a place for them to practice their routines, keep them busy, and, above all, keep them clear of the banquet room and the preparations going on there. Got it?”
“You’re not really planning to free them when this is over, are you, Sir?”
“Now, what do you think, Nark?”
“Probably not, Sir.”
“What an astute observer you are, Nark.”
“Yessir. It’s what I do. One more thing, if I may. Will you be requiring any of the staff to be present on banquet night? If so, they’ll need to be notified.”
“Ahhh, yes. Thank you for reminding me. Let’s see, there’s Major Straf, of course, and let’s have Teufel present too. Oh, and we’ll need to have some muscle on hand, as well. Please select some guards, preferably ones with appropriate dispositions, and order them to be present.”
“Yessir.”
“That’ll be all, Nark. Dismissed.”
“Yessir.”
***********
“Ms. Whitaker? Rose? Are you all right?” cried Paul Montague ... after being unceremoniously pitched into an empty cell after her, and having landed sprawled on top of her naked body.
“Yeah, I’m okay, Paul. Get off of me, please.”
“Sure, hang on. There! Okay, better now?” he croaked in his high pitched voice as he slid his body alongside hers in the cramped space of the small holding cell.
“Yes, that’s good, and it’s so much better now to have those nooses removed from our necks, isn’t it?”
“Yeah ... listen, Ms. Whitaker, I want to apologize for what I did to you on that gurney back in the infirmary. I don’t know what came over me ... well ... I mean ... that’s not quite true ... what I meant ... uh ... we’ll, you see, I’ve always admired you from afar ... ummm ... I mean, I always thought you were hot and dreamed I’d someday ... and then ... oh shit, Ms. Whitaker ... why am I telling you this?”
“Shut up, Paul!”
“No, I mean it ... I didn’t mean to try to do what I did to you ... it was ... well ... ummm ... I thought ... God, it was so ... well ... tell me ... did you like it? Was it good?”
“Shut up, Paul!”
“I mean, here we are, lying side by side, completely naked in this little cell and I’m sure they still want to execute us, so maybe we ought to do it again? Whaddaya think, Rose? You know ... you and me ... alone in this cell ... last chance?
“Shut up, Paul!”
*************
Barb lay on her back in her bunk, staring up at the ceiling. Her mind swirled around the revelation of Sue’s secret plan. Was it really going to work? Could they all really get their cull nullified by simply prancing about in front of a bunch of older men wearing embarrassingly brief costumes ... and by afterwards holding their noses and doing the unthinkable ... prostituting themselves with those horrid men. She found the whole idea disgusting ... repulsive ... but then ... again ...
Kristin too found it impossible to sleep. Her mind was awhirl ... busily inventing the choreography of the routines she couldn’t wait to teach Barb and the Graingers. She had so many great ideas! Lurking somewhere in the back of her mind, though, were nervous doubts about how she might perform when the time came to service those gentlemen. She would have to put her faith in Barb’s extensive experience in such matters and Barb’s ability to give her the pointers she needed.
The Graingers were awake too, huddled together in a heated discussion of whether they could trust the Hamiltons. Sue’s well known condescension towards them was not to be forgotten. There was always the chance, if push came to shove, that she might sell them out. Accordingly, they resolved to be wary and stick together.
Only Sue was asleep, secure in the knowledge that once again she had triumphed ... succeeding, with little effort, in working the system to get what she wanted.
TO BE CONTINUED