Chicago, IL
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“I’ll check it out!” Bart offered and zipped off, before Clark could stop him. Xena and Gabrielle sidled up to Clark, as he watched them through the corner of his eye. In a flash, Bart was back. The helicopter had landed on the beach between them and the ship, scattering sand and debris all over the immediate area.
“It’s bad, CK.” Bart explained as he sped around in a circle, making the girls dizzy. “The ship is the Komarabi, out of South Africa, the captain, Nimpambi, is dealing drugs, and …trading slaves!” Xena and Gabrielle gasped.
“Damn!” Clark cursed. “We have to stop them, CK.” Bart urged, “And rescue the women…they have girls on board as well, some of them can’t be more than thirteen.” Xena was suddenly ready for action, powers or not. “Let’s go!” She stepped forward.
“Wait a minute!” Clark physically held Xena back. She felt as though she’d hit a canyon wall. By the stars, Clark is strong! She silently admitted. “You two are staying here. We don’t need you to get captured as well.” Clark directed. Gabrielle hid a bright smile. Just like Hercules! She sighed happily.
“Bart, I hate to mess around with things that we don’t understand.” Clark mildly protested. “What’s to know? Wrong is wrong!” Bart was livid at Clark’s hesitancy.
“I can just do it myself.” He hissed. “That’s not what I meant.” Clark defended. “We need a plan to hustle the slaves away from their captors, without getting anyone killed.” Xena flashed him a lopsided grin. “Death is irrelevant Clark!” She teased as Gabrielle smirked.
“Not to me it isn’t.” Clark countered sternly. “Clark’s right, Bart, we need a plan.” Xena agreed, surprising the boys. “We should be decoys for the crew, while Clark and Bart rescue the women and children.” Gabrielle suggested.
“That’s too dangerous.” Clark argued. “Uh, Clark, we can take care of ourselves.” Xena protested. “It’s no use Clark, once her mind is made up…” Gabrielle took the alien superhero’s hand reassuringly. “We’ll be careful.”
Gabrielle stood on her tiptoes, reaching up to kiss Clark on the cheek, turning it red, as Xena stared in shock. Bart laughed and grabbed a handful of small rocks. “We’re going to throw rocks at them?” Xena was skeptical.
“Ordinarily, that wouldn’t make much difference.” Bart explained. “However, thrown at high speed, the rocks can become small missiles.” Xena forced a lopsided grin. “Well, if David could defeat Goliath with a single large stone and slingshot…”
Gabrielle agreed. “We’ll make use of what we have.” Clark held up his arms in resignation. “Okay. Okay. The girls can distract the crew, while Bart and I free the slaves. Do it carefully. At the first sign of trouble, run for it.” He directed.
That ought to provide an opportunity for me to use more of my abilities that the girls don’t know about, Clark plotted silently. As usual, Bart was the wild card. He watched with an eagle eye as Xena and Gabrielle headed for the beach.
They slowly wandered into the middle of the exchange, emerging from some thick tropical foliage just as one of the crew offloaded two slave girls and a package. The helicopter was now silent, and only one pilot remained on guard.
Bart meanwhile sped on board the ship in search of the rest of the slaves. He quickly located the two filthy cargo holds where the traders stored the girls. Most of the women were chained to the children.
One or two had been secured against the wall. The two women separated from the others were dressed oddly, and had lighter skin colors than the others. They resembled natives from an island colony that Bart had seen in passing one day. He’d nearly forgotten about that location until now.
Bart reached up to unlock the manacles that held the two young women. He’d already stolen the key ring from a now unconscious guard. “Don’t touch me, filthy pig!” One girl snapped at Bart as he held her wrist. “Whoa! Easy chickee!” Bart had a shocked expression on his face. “I’m one of the good guys. I’m here to help!”
The other woman resisted silently, just missing Bart with a vicious kick aimed at his head. Being vertically challenged helped him in this situation. He easily ducked below the reach of the woman’s leg. Bart held her ankle as he unlocked her wrists. “Get off! Dog!” She hissed. “Nice attitude, lady!” He grumbled. “I’m rescuing you.”
“Thank you!” The first girl said. “It’s just that no man may touch an Amazon!” Bart shrugged. “Whatever! You two can release the others.” He handed the second woman the key ring. She unlocked her own ankle and gracefully dropped to the floor. Bart had already sped away. “Was he an emissary of Hera, Ranaya?” The taller of the women asked.
“Why would Hera pick a man to save us, Amori?” The smaller girl had no answer for her. “Perhaps she was all out of female warriors, Ranaya.”They proceeded to free the rest of the slaves in the first hold.
“Let’s go ladies!” Bart urged as he poked his head into the cargo bay and again zipped away. Clark had located the second storage area. This section held only a few women, and was mostly filled with bags upon bags of dope. The stench nauseated Clark. He quickly snapped off the manacles of three slaves.
These women were from somewhere else. They were tall and blonde, mostly slim in physique, and seemed to be in better shape than the prisoners of the first bay. One said something that sounded Swedish or Dutch to him. Another kissed Clark and ran off, vaulting up the stairs two at a time.
The last slave girl had been hung from the rafters of the hold, just below the main deck. She was shorter than the others, and Clark estimated that she was barely into her teens. “Hold on, I’m here to save you.” He announced.
She had long straggly red hair, a light complexion, and brightly colored eyes. The youngster smiled and looked down at him as she spoke. He didn’t understand her. Clark vowed to make it a point to learn more of the languages of the world when he had some free time.
Clark glanced around, but could find nothing to climb onto to reach her without arousing suspicion. Oh well, some things are more important than my secret. He justified his next move. Clark jumped straight up, startling the foreign girl.
link to chapter 4
Chicago, IL
gardy720