Chapter Twenty Two
Karl sat on the front porch absently stroking the dog's back, his mind in torture. This time there was no doubt, he had taken a man's life and he'd done it in front of witnesses. What truly tortured him was that he didn't feel guilt, instead he felt relief. That actually frightened him. All his life he had been taught that a human life was sacred. Now he had been forced to shoot a man in cold blood. He was almost terrified because it was so easy to do and it had felt so right. He sighed softly, worried that the action of shooting a man that he'd learned to hate was going to haunt his life.
Even though his mind was wrestling with it's own demons, his eyes still scanned the area and his rifle was near to hand. In his own way he was still on guard against danger. He noticed the activity around the helicopter and he saw first Springfield, then Elgin, arrive from below, but he was astounded when all but the doctor and Springfield left in the chopper. His mind made note of the happenings, but he didn't move, instead he sat there quietly, just watching, taking note of what went on.
When the doctor hurried off toward the tents and Springfield approached the front steps, his eyes seemed to finally focus on something particular. He sighed deeply at Springfield's frown.
"Hello Karl." Springfield said quietly.
"Hi."
"You okay?"
"No!" Karl snapped, answering honestly.
"It's a bitch ain't it?" Springfield eased into the other deck chair and absently stroked the dog's head once Bruno had swung his head to sniff him.
"How the hell can you do it?" Karl almost whispered.
"I don't know." Springfield answered. "Part of it is training, I guess."
Both of them sat silently for a moment, both of them waiting for the other to speak.
"I suppose it's like gardening." Springfield finally sighed. "Someone has to hoe out the thistles or they'll choke out the peas and carrots."
"Mmm." Karl grunted, as if forced to acknowledge the other man's words.
"He'd probably have killed the Doctor you know."
"I guess."
"It might not have been your shot that killed him either. Both Peters and Wilcox shot him too."
"Doesn't matter. I didn't miss."
"So what?"
"Pardon?"
"You were protecting life. He was a raving maniac at that moment, bent on murder. If I or even L-C Greene had been here, we'd have done exactly what you did, only maybe not so well."
"Whatever."
"Don't you damn well give me that you old bastard." Springfield growled. "Under the circumstances, you had to do just what you did. You didn't have a choice in the matter. You know you didn't. There isn't a court in the land that would do anything but commend you for what you did, so how can you be so upset with yourself."
"That's just it." Karl finally snapped an answer. "It was too bloody easy. I didn't even think. I just reacted. I saw who it was and what he was doing. I simply had to stop him so I just shot him."
"Did you have any other way to stop him?"
"Fuck no. I was too far away."
"Did anyone else have a chance of stopping him?"
"Not that I could see."
"So, let's get this straight. Circumstance put you in a position where you had to react. You reacted in the only manner open to you at that time. Your action was identical to what any civilised man's reaction would have been in the same circumstances. Yet you are sitting here condemning yourself for your action."
"No, not really." Karl sighed. "I know I had to do what I did, I'm upset that I don't feel guilty."
"Ah, I see." Springfield nodded. "The ten commandments - 'Thou shalt not kill.' Didn't the bible also back David when he 'slew' Goliath?"
"I'm not David and he wasn't Goliath." Karl sighed.
"No, but they would have been comfortable with each other and I think you'd have liked David. As it is you were a man who was doing his best to protect others from being maimed or raped or killed. You weren't judging the bastard. You were acting on a certainty. You had already had an illustration of what he would do and you were preventing him from doing it again."
"And what happens the next time someone threatens me or mine? That's what scares me."
"I imagine you'll make a judgement call." Springfield smiled. "Now, although I can keep an eye on most of the place while I'm sitting here, I am supposed to be guarding the whole encampment, not just you and your house, at least until everyone returns from hunting for the fourth crook down below that is. I have another helper coming but I'm going to ask you to have everyone in your family stick close to the house, all right?"
"We're already doing that." Karl said quietly. "I guess I should go inside for now though."
"It might be an idea. There's still that one guy on the loose and if you're inside, there will be one less target for me to worry about him shooting." Springfield rose and walked down the porch steps to begin his rounds.
Keri hurt, part of it was physical, but mostly she knew she hurt because she had been attacked, raped, and sodomized. She had been given no choice but to suffer the humiliation of having her body sexually penetrated against her will. What he had done was unforgivable and she was glad he was dead. She knew she should feel grateful to Karl for killing that bastard, but in a way, she wished the son of a bitch was still alive so she could extract some form of revenge from him. Yet when she tried to think of something that she would relish doing to torture the bastard, her mind reeled away from the idea. She just couldn't torture anyone, couldn't extract revenge. Anything like that simply sickened her.
She felt someone move beside her on the bed and without thinking, she pulled away. It was wrong, no one should touch her, she was dirty, tainted, unclean. She rolled into a ball, trying to get away, trying to hide. Her mind screamed at her to tell them to leave her die, just let her wither away. She had to . . .
"OH God." She screamed suddenly, her body straightening so quickly that she threw Linda off of the edge of the bed where she had been sitting.
Keri sat up, her face a mask of torment.
"My baby, did he hurt my baby?" She moaned, staring at Ely in terror.
"We don't think so." Ely answered immediately. "So far there's no sign that the baby has been hurt."
"Oh God, you have to find out. You're the nurse, get a doctor, do something! I've got to know!" She shouted.
"There's a doctor here already, and so far she thinks that you're okay and that the baby is fine, but right now she has her hands full. The son of a bitch who attacked you just hurt a lot of other people and she has to care for them."
"I thought Karl killed the prick?" Keri questioned.
"He did, but he didn't even see the bastard until after the other people had been hurt."
"You're sure my baby is still healthy?"
"Yes love, as far as we can tell, your baby is fine." Linda answered as she got up from the floor. "But we have to keep you healthy so your body can keep him healthy."
"Oh shit, I'm so screwed up." Keri began to cry. "I just want to die, but I don't want my baby to die. I don't know what I want."
"Well, to keep your baby healthy, you need something to drink and maybe something to eat." Ely said quietly. "I've got some orange juice here. Would you like that to start?"
"Oh yes, I am thirsty." Keri managed to smile wanly as she took the glass and drank deeply.
"I have a pill here that might help you feel less threatened by things." Ely added. "Would you take it for me? You can swallow it with your juice."
"A sleeping pill again?" Keri asked.
"No dear, a mild tranquillizer. You'll still be able to think clearly, but it will take the edge off of the painful thoughts."
"Do I have to?" Keri asked quietly.
"No, but it would help you to rest easier and that will make everything better for both you and your baby."
"Okay." Keri sighed, as she took the pill. "If it will help the baby, I guess I should."
"Now, what would you like to eat?" Linda asked with a smile.
"I don't care really." She shook her head. "I'm not really hungry. Could I have a bath and another glass of orange juice while I think about it?"
"Certainly." Ely answered. "Linda and I can help you to the tub, then I'll get the orange juice. Linda can stay up here with you in case you need anything else."
A few minutes later, after she was leaning back in the tub of hot water and Ely had gone downstairs, Linda sat on the edge of the tub. Keri looked up at her and seemed slightly upset.
"Linda, I'm sorry." She whispered. "I know this is hard on you, but right now I'd just like to sit here and soak all by myself for a bit."
"You don't want me here?" Linda looked like she wanted to cry.
"I do, but again I don't." Keri sighed. "Right now I just want to . . . Aw hell, I don't know what I want, but mostly for a bit, I just want to be alone, okay."
"You're not going to do anything are you? Not anything to hurt yourself?"
"You don't have to worry." Keri sighed softly, knowing without the words being spoken that Linda was worried about suicide. "I couldn't do that. If I hurt myself, I'd be hurting my baby."
"Okay, I'll be right nearby if you need anything." Linda said quietly.
Keri could hear the hurt in her voice. She knew that Linda loved her and she knew that in her own way she loved Linda, yet the idea of having her nearby right now felt unsettling. She knew Ely was going to be back in a minute or two with her glass of orange juice. It seemed that Ely understood. Ely stood close by in support, yet she didn't impose, but then Ely was her sister and Linda was her lover and . . .
"Oh my! Am I afraid of hurting Linda?" Keri thought and then her mind twisted her thought. "Or am I afraid of Linda hurting me?"
She didn't know, but she knew she had to resolve her reasons before too long or she would hurt Linda just by drawing away.
"That Bastard, that dirty rotten bastard! He's even screwed up Linda's life because he screwed up mine." Her mind twisted again, running off onto another tangent.
She forced herself to remember that he was dead. He couldn't hurt her again.
"May the son of a bitch burn in hell." She condemned him.
"Get off this tack girl! He's gone and you're here and your baby is fine. Ely says there's a doctor here and that she said everything was okay. The baby hasn't been hurt."
"He's gone and the baby is fine. He's gone and the baby is fine." She repeated the thought over and over, leaning back and trying to relax.
It worked, or else the pill did. She relaxed, began to breathe slower, deeper. Now she was thirsty again, really thirsty. Where was Ely? She had said she was going to bring her back a glass of orange juice. She licked her lips, tasting the tiny remnant of orange juice that was there, making herself want another glass even more.
"Linda?" She called quietly.
"Yes Love." Linda answered, stepping back into the bathroom almost instantly.
"Didn't Ely say she was going to get me some orange juice?" Keri's voice was pleading, almost whining.
"Unh huh, I don't know what's keeping her." Linda agreed. "Would you like me to run see?"
"Oh please, yes. But could you get me a glass of water first? I'm just so thirsty."
Linda turned and ran out, coming back with a glass of cold water in seconds.
"I'll go see if there's a problem with the orange juice." She said and darted out the door again.
Linda ran downstairs and saw Ely stirring something in the kitchen while chatting with Trudy.
"Ely, Keri seems so thirsty. Could there be something wrong. I mean I had to get her another glass of water. She seems so thirsty. She was wondering what happened to you and . . ." She began to rattle on.
"Easy Linda. Easy, she's mildly dehydrated." Ely interrupted. "She didn't have anything to drink for almost twenty-four hours. I had to mix up more orange juice and the concentrate was frozen solid, so it takes a few minutes. However, there's a pot of fresh tea on the counter. Why don't you fill a mug and add a spoonful of honey, she usually likes that? This damn concentrate is taking forever to thaw and mix in."
"You're sure she'd like tea?" Linda sounded uncertain.
"Yes, she likes tea and honey." Ely smiled, then she frowned. "Linda, for a while she may seem to want to pull away from you. Just remember that it's not your fault. She's reacting to what's happened to her."
Linda didn't seem to acknowledge what Ely said, only hurrying to fix the cup of tea and rush it upstairs.
As soon as she was gone, Trudy looked at Ely. " If Keri's dehydrated so badly, she's not bleeding internally is she?"
"I doubt it, Trudy. Her blood pressure is fine and she doesn't seem to be passing blood. At least not from a quick glance that I had.when I peeked after she went to the bathroom, just before getting into the tub. I'm sure she's just slightly dehydrated. We'll be able to tell in a short while, but I will mention it to the doctor."
"I didn't think the doctor would miss something like that. I like her."
"Fran? Yeah, I like her too." Ely smiled. "By the way, how are you doing today? Feeling any more limber?"
"A lot better, thank you." Trudy grinned. "But George says he's never seen bruises the colour of some of mine. He says green and yellow skin doesn't suit me."
"Just tell him that means they're healing quickly." Ely grinned back. "And how is he today?"
"Pissed off. All the local radio signals from the military are either in code or so strong they're distorted too badly to understand and he's getting frustrated with the other news he's getting."
"Hmm, hold that thought. This orange juice looks drinkable and I'd like to look Keri over a bit more. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Okay, do you think I should come up and see her too?"
"Not right now." Ely opined. "From the way she pulled away from Linda a while ago, I think she may be starting to go through that don't touch me, I'm unclean' stage that a rape victim can have."
"Oh no." Trudy sighed. "That could be extremely hard on someone like her."
"Yeah, and on Linda too." Ely said, taking a large glass of orange juice and heading upstairs.
When she walked into the bathroom, Linda was leaned against the counter by the sink. She looked like she wanted more than anything to be closer to Keri but was forcing herself to hold back. Keri was laying back in the tub and had it brim full of water. She looked up at Ely and sighed softly.
"Thank you." She sighed lifting her hand to take the glass of juice, then taking a small sip. "I think I'm finally getting enough liquid into me and around me."
"You have a whole day to make up for." Ely smiled. "Now, I need to ask you, how does your body feel. Where do you hurt and how much?"
"My ass hurts a bit, but mostly it itches. Then I have some scrapes on my belly that hurt a bit." Kelly spoke slowly. "Other than that, I just feel like I was run over by a bus."
"No aches inside your belly?"
"Unh uh. Not after I used the can the second time, but . . ."
"But what?"
Kari took a deep breath and slowly let it out, as she stared at Linda. "Look, I don't know how to explain it, but I feel dirty, okay? It's like I was dirty from the inside. I don't want to pull away from touching you, but I feel that I have to. I'm scared if I touch you, you'll get dirty too."
Ely could feel the tears come to her eyes and she saw that Linda was crying too.
"You aren't dirty and you never were." Ely said quietly as she cried. "We love you very much. All of us do and that hasn't changed one bit. We'll do our best to give you as much space as you need, but if you want a hug at any time, all of us are here."
"Thank you." Keri whispered, crying as well.
George was frustrated. He was listening to the happenings of the world at large and it sounded as if the whole damn world was going to hell in a handbasket. He was getting news from all over the world yet he couldn't even find out what was happening here on the island. He wanted to talk to someone, anyone. Just what the hell was going on?
"Trudy." He called finally. "Could I speak to you, please?"
"Yes, Dear." She answered coming to see him quickly.
"Is there any chance I could talk to Karl?" He sighed. "I feel like a mushroom . . ."
"You aren't being kept in the dark and fed bullshit." Trudy grinned at him. "Right now Karl is talking to Springfield on the front porch, I'm sure he'll have to come inside soon, he never even finished his lunch and he's still got to finish installing that damn toilet."
"Okay, I suppose." George sighed deeply. "I am finding all of this rigamarole exceptionally frustrating however. Considering that we have the military here for our protection, it appears that Karl is actually the one who has been protecting them. I find this forced confinement quite difficult as well. I want to be in my den and surrounded by my books."
"Oh I understand, I understand completely." Trudy smiled and bent to kiss him lightly on the top of the head. "At least you have the kids to keep you amused."
"To be honest, they're partially at the root of my frustration." He smiled sadly. "I never thought I would say this, but my patience has worn very thin with their youthful exuberance."
"Oh, George." Trudy laughed aloud. "Just think what they feel like. Thank goodness we have home-school lessons to keep them busy. They aren't any happier at being penned up inside than you are."
"Mmm, I suppose there is that fact." He grumbled. "However the fact that they are also suffering from frustration and ennui does not relieve my frustrations one iota."
"Well, what's new from the outside world?"
"Well, the eruptions from the various volcanoes appear to have lessened, but it is still continuing to a certain extent. In the case of the more local volcanoes, mostly what is happening is the venting of steam and smoke. Meanwhile, that new flu is still spreading. It's been reported in England and France now. They believe it is being spread by airline passengers and some countries are threatening to cut off access to their airports from selective countries. For instance Israel has sealed its borders and others are threatening to do the same. Of course France is screaming bloody murder about being barred from anywhere just because they happen to have a few instances of the flu which they claim to have fully contained."
"Stopping airline flights now is probably too little, too late." Trudy sighed. "Have they decided that it's spread by contact then?"
"Yeah, remember the SARS thing? From what I've heard, they feel it's vectoring in the same way, by close human contact. The strange thing is that some people seem to have complete immunity, as if the virus itself was selective."
"They've said it's a virus now, have they?"
"I believe they have felt that way all along. What I find truly bothersome is the fact that there is a strong rumour that it may be a bio-engineered virus being developed at a U.S. government facility. I thought the government of the U.S. had entered a world wide treaty not to do bloody biological weapons research." He growled.
"George, you're jumping to conclusions again." Trudy sighed softly. "Now, I don't know the circumstances, and neither do you. It may have been something else altogether."
"Look, they've admitted that it came from a semi-secret biological research facility in the Nevada desert. It seems that the facility was less quake proof than they had thought and a quake of 4.9 on the Richter scale broke one of the labs wide open. Only 4.9 for Christ sake, the quake that hit here was a 6.2 and all Karl lost was a window or two and a damn toilet. Karl could have designed their bloody place better than their fancy engineers did."
"Well, Karl is one of those 'fancy' engineers." Trudy grinned.
"Oh piddle." George waved his hand in dismissal. "Karl happens to have a piece of paper that says he's an engineer. He's much more than that. Now where is he? I'd really like to talk to him and find out some of what's happening here on the island."
"I'll go have a look George." Trudy smiled at him. "And as soon as he has some free time, I'll have him come talk to you."
"Thanks Love." George sighed and turned back to his radio.
Ely was sitting in the kitchen sipping a cup of tea and looking sad when Trudy came out of the room with George.
"Something has upset you." She stated softly as she poured herself a cup of tea and joined Ely at the table.
"It's what I feared. Keri says she feels dirty and that she's scared she might make the rest of us dirty if she touches us." Ely sighed through her tears.
"She hasn't heard about our fear of HIV has she?" Trudy said immediately.
"I don't think so, I don't think I've even mentioned it to Linda, let alone to her." Ely stated flatly. "I think it's a reaction to being assaulted but I don't know how to help her."
"There isn't much we can do." Trudy reached out and held Ely's hand gently. "I think the best thing we can do is to try to treat her with love and affection."
"I just feel so helpless." Ely sighed.
"I know, it's getting to me as well, but then George and the kids are starting to get to me too. Being cooped up in the house for two days shouldn't be that bad, but it is."
"Well, it's different than being cooped up by the weather." Ely sighed. "Right now we're actually frightened to go outside, that makes it a lot worse."
"Yes, it's like being imprisoned."
Just then the door opened and Karl stepped inside. Ely leaped to her feet and went to him, hugging him tightly.
"You didn't get to finish lunch, are you still hungry?"
"Not really, is there any coffee on?"
"Tea. Would that do? Or I can make a small pot of coffee for you if you'd like." Ely frowned, his face was drawn and he looked downtrodden.
"Tea will do." Karl answered and as he sat down at the table.
"What's wrong?" Ely asked. "You look like you're upset."
"That's putting it mildly." He groaned softly. "I think I need a pain pill again and I'm thoroughly pissed off with L-C Greene. If it wasn't for him two people wouldn't have been badly hurt and that degenerate bastard wouldn't be dead."
He had hardly started to explain when there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it Mom." David called, running over.
Before anyone could say or do anything, he had opened the door, it was the doctor.
"Hello." She said stepping into the room. "Sorry I'm late on checking my patients, I was inadvertently held up."
"We noticed." Karl snapped.
"Ah, my hero." She smiled as she walked toward him. "And how is your arthritis?"
"Right now I ache." Karl admitted. "My knees are giving me hell."
"Well, if you must insist on running around the yard like a teenager, you'll have to expect some aches and pains." She smiled. "Now, how bad is the pain?"
"Bad enough that I'm enjoying sitting." He answered. "Now you seem in a lot better mood, may I ask why?"
"First let's take your temperature and you might as well open your shirt, I want to check your heart and lungs."
As Karl opened his mouth to speak, she filled it with a thermometer, then she smiled at him.
"Now that you have something in your mouth to keep you quiet, I can answer your question about my mood. Lieutenant - Commander Greene will most likely be relieved of command. Commander Davis is on his way here from Esquimalt on the helicopter as we speak. The two seamen who were injured are already in the base hospital and so are the two captives. The captives will be under twenty-four-hour guard. Now, no sounds, I want to listen to your innards."
"Deep breath, please?" She asked in a second. "Ah, do that again."
Her forehead creased into a frown and she tapped his chest with her finger as she listened. After asking him to take another deep breath, she stood straight and took the thermometer from his mouth, checking it absently.
"I'm surprised. You're in far better shape than you were yesterday, your breathing is much more regular and you've lost a wheezing sound that you had then."
"Not surprising." Karl waved a hand. "I've practically been forced to rest by you Navy people. Now, what's this about a new commanding officer?"
"Naval command does not like to have its people injured during prisoner transport and certainly doesn't like to have to rely on outside assistance to accomplish the defence of its personnel." She stated quietly. "There is someone coming to take L-C Greene's place while he returns to base."
"Pardon?"
"By modifying the restraints of the prisoners before transport and by failing to use proper restraint procedure, L-C Greene stepped outside of certain limits that the Navy has for such procedure. He's also done two or three other things that I won't mention at the present time. Command has asked for an investigation and I imagine they will have him return to reply to the charges made against him."
"Now, I need to see Keri." She said, turning to Ely who went with her as they headed up the stairs.
Karl was left in deep thought as he buttoned up his shirt, then picked up his cup of tea. George wheeled out to stop near him.
"I overheard part of that conversation, what did you make of it?" He asked.
"George, the Navy may not have its head stuffed up its ass after all." Karl said quietly.
"Hmph." George snorted in derision. "What's all this about modifying restraints and procedure anyway?"
So Karl explained to George, telling him all that he knew and most of what he suspected about what had been going on that day. As well, he explained again what Dr. Baker had said about Greene returning to Esquimalt to answer to complaints made against him.
"Doesn't that seem to be a very fast reaction to you?" George said quietly. "I would have expected a military group to take longer to react than that. They usually are quite tolerant of minor infractions in the field."
"I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at." Karl said quietly. "I think you're forgetting that we aren't in wartime status, this is a civil emergency and they're a lot less tolerant of life threatening situations then."
"That is true, however it is a field situation. The people they have here are in combat readiness and . . ."
"Oh like hell!" Karl interrupted. "Some of the troops they have here are almost acting like this is a holiday in some ways. Look at that asshole Greene, he's been so damn upset about Springfield and Winchester stealing his thunder that he's been reversing things that they've done. It's almost as if he's trying to show that he's the biggest, or the strongest, or something."
"Well, Greene is supposed to be in command, after all it isn't as if everyone in the Navy could just do whatever he wants to do. In actual fact, it sounds to me as if Springfield abrogated the Lieutenant Commander's authority on at least one or two separate occasions. I will admit that I find Greene's decisions to be less than optimal, but then I am seeing them from an outside viewpoint."
"George, at the moment I'm not going to argue." Karl growled. "Right now I'm going to go hook up the water to the new can that I installed, so you can have a leak without having to climb the stairs first."
Karl knew he was shutting off a discussion with George by walking away, but at the moment he was so wound up that he knew he had better just get away. Calling David to help him, he went back to the unfinished job in the bathroom.
Upstairs Linda was sitting just outside the bathroom, crying quietly. The doctor looked at her with surprise in her eyes and then glanced at Ely who had just delivered a deep sigh.
"Keri is certain that she's dirty in some way and doesn't want to be too near anyone." Linda said softly.
"Ah, I see." Fran nodded. "I'll go talk to her. I want to examine her more closely now anyway."
She paused outside the bathroom door and coughed, but she mustn't have caught Keri's attention. When she stepped inside a moment later, Keri was so startled that she actually jumped to her feet, sloshing water out of the tub and onto the floor.
"Who the hell are you?!" She demanded.
"I'm sorry I startled you, I'm Dr Frances Baker and I'm here to help you. I happen to be with the contingent that George and Karl called in to assist after your attack took place. I treated you last night but you were sleeping, so I don't imagine you were even aware of me."
"You're my doctor? Why are you in a navy uniform?"
"Well, I happen to be in the Navy as well. Even sailors get sick you know."
"I bet not many of them are rape victims." Keri snorted.
"You'd be surprised." The doctor answered quietly. 'We not only have women in the service now in almost all ranks, but we still have the problem of how the military mind treats homosexuality. On top of that, some of the men are bullies. Of course if any higher ranking officer was to hear you repeat that, I'd have to deny saying it, especially if I want to stay in the Navy in the future."
"You mean they turn a blind eye to someone getting raped?"
"Not exactly." She sighed. "What would probably happen instead is that both of the parties involved would be disciplined and then encouraged to change occupations, encouraged quite strongly in fact."
She held up a hand to stop Keri's protest. "When you are in a less volatile state of mind, I'm willing to sit and talk to you on the subject. For now, I need to examine you and see if there is anything I can do to help you to recover."
"What do you want to know? That my asshole itches? That I feel like I've been dropped into the stinkiest, dirtiest, fucking slime pit and that I can't get out? That I don't really want you or anyone else touching me? That my head is going ninety miles an hour in all directions at once? That I'm terrified that the stinking bastard may have hurt my baby?"
Suddenly Keri was crying and then, to the doctor's surprise, she stepped out of the tub and came toward her. In seconds Dr. Baker was holding a sobbing and still soaking wet woman in her arms. For a moment she just held on tight, then seeing a huge bath towel hanging on the door knob, she grabbed it to pull it around the smaller woman's shoulders.
"Linda, could you help me please." She called. "I need a hand to dry Keri off and get her back into bed."
Both Linda and Ely leaped to help, but then Ely paused. She held back with a soft look at Linda. Fran saw that and smiled at her briefly to let her know that she knew Ely was giving Linda a chance to be there first.
When they had Keri dried and back into the bed, Fran carried on with her examination, as well as talking, listening, and just being there to care. She wasn't really surprised when Keri began to act tired and accepted her suggestion that she might want to sleep a bit more. Warning Keri that when she woke up, she might find herself alone, she convinced the other two women to accompany her downstairs. Once she was down there with them, she asked them to corral both Trudy and Karl and meet her out on the front porch.
She heaved a deep sigh as she stood there for a moment, then girded herself for the job of warning this family of the problems they could be facing. When they were all assembled and waiting, she paused briefly drawing just one more deep breath, hating the pain that sometimes went with her job.
"Now that I have you all together, I'd like to explain some of the possible problems Keri may be going through in the next few weeks." She started speaking in a quiet tone. "Right now she's still recovering from shock, but in the next few days she may feel cold, she may feel faint, she may be nauseous. Perhaps she'll tremble for no obvious reason and she may develop headaches, back aches, stomach aches and so on. Those are just the physical signs of what she's going through. They aren't the worst of the problems. Mentally, she'll probably be much longer recovering. She may cry, lack concentration, pull back from contact with anyone or else do the exact opposite and not want to be alone. She may be especially alert to strange sounds. She might get overly upset about tiny details. She may be either withdrawn or overly demonstrative. The one thing I want all of you to try to do is to act normally and to accept her, but don't coddle her."
"She has to be convinced that she had nothing to do with causing her assault but at the same time, she has to realise that none of you are to blame for it either. You are all going to have to walk a thin line. I believe one of her worst worries right now is that the attack may have harmed her unborn child. To reassure her, I would like to take her and one of you with me back to Esquimalt in the next while. I'd like to have an ultrasound done if I can, both to reassure myself as well as to reassure her. To be honest, the person I'd like to come with me is Trudy."
"Why Trudy?" Linda asked immediately.
"Because Trudy was attacked as well and after being struck as hard as she was, I'd like an x-ray of her neck and shoulders as well as her upper back. On top of that, Trudy is more mature and I believe from what little I've seen that Keri will respect that maturity."
Karl and Ely glanced at each other, then Ely spoke up.
"Fran, I think your estimate of Keri's mental health may be comparatively pivotal to her recovery and I think your assessment may be more critical than factual."
"Oh please, don't get me wrong," the doctor interrupted, "I was giving a set of pessimistic possibilities, not a list of facts. But I do want you to realise that no matter how strong her personality or how loving her family life, there are bound to be long term effects."
"We understand that." Trudy spoke for the first time.
Both Karl and Ely nodded.
"What we would like you to do is to try to be optimistic." Karl smiled. "Keri is influenced by the environment around her. One of the things I'd like everyone to do is to treat her with care and affection yet as you said, we can't coddle her too much."
"Thank's Karl." Ely spoke again. "We do know that we have to accommodate her problems into our lives, but we can't let them rule what goes on either. We do know this is going to be rough on her. Hell, it's going to be rough on all of us, but life does go on."
Linda frowned and Trudy reached out to stroke her arm gently.
"Honey, this next while may be rough on you." She said quietly. "You and Keri were just barely getting to know each other and this attack will have changed her."
"It couldn't have happened at a worse time." Linda sniffed back tears. "I'm going through PMS and emotional as hell anyway, then this happens."
"We all know what that's like." Trudy smiled.
"I don't, thank you." Karl said, straight faced. "Except for being on the receiving end of the emotions. Now, is there anything else you wanted to talk to us about Doctor?"
"Not really, I did want you to know that she was in a fragile mental state. She needs a good support network that won't smother her and I think she'll get that, particularly from what you've said to me just now."
"Yeah, now I'm going back and check to make sure she's still okay." Linda stated, turning on her heal and walking inside.
"There may be our problem." Karl groused. "I'm hoping she eases up a bit."
"Karl, don't be too critical." Ely answered. "Linda is simply unsure of where she stands and on an emotional roller coaster as well."
"All of us are on an emotional roller coaster." He snapped.
Then to everyone's surprise, he turned away from them. Going down the steps, he walked off toward the figure of Springfield, who was standing near Karl's old cabin and talking to a man Karl hadn't seen around before.
As Karl got nearer, the man moved away toward the trail, obviously on the lookout for problems but also moving quite rapidly as he went off somewhere.
"New guy?" Karl asked quietly.
"He was guarding your boat with another man." Springfield answered. "I just sent him off to check out the other house and see that it's okay."
He sighed softly. "Winchester just let me know that the search down below didn't turn up our fourth man, so everyone is on their way back here. I'm not looking forward to the sparks that are going to fly when L-C Greene and Lieutenant Baker get face to face again."
Karl simply nodded as he turned to survey the scene around the cabin.
"Actually I think Dr. Baker would just as soon be clear of the command role she's had to assume, or did you take charge."
"Unfortunately I can't." Springfield gave a wry smile. "I can only advise her for now."
"Yeah, I guess it's a military thing, huh?"
"I can't really say." Springfield winked at him.
Karl just rolled his eyes.
"You're no damn better than my women folk." Karl sighed. "I'm all wound up and there's nothing for me to do to let out the tension."
"I thought you were plumbing or something?"
"All done." Karl sighed. "I was just cleaning up when the doc asked us all to step outside to talk to us about Keri."
"Oh, the rape victim." Springfield nodded. "How is she?"
"So far, it looks to me like they've been keeping her drugged to calm her down. I'll be honest. I really don't know."
"I understand." Springfield nodded again. "How is everyone else coping with this semi-forced confinement?"
"Getting edgy." Karl answered honestly. "To be strictly honest with you, I'm getting pissed off. I want to do things and I need the women to help me, but they need to stay in the house to be safe."
"I can understand that, even if it's really only been one day."
"Damn, I suppose it has. So much has happened it's felt like a month." Karl looked surprised. "Looking at it that way, you've done a hell of a job."
"Just not a complete one." Springfield sighed heavily. "I'm starting to second guess myself about what I did this morning. I just wish we'd caught that fourth guy."
"Three out of four ain't that bad."
"Actually it is. We seem to have forced him to leave the low swampy ground. Now, he may well be up here on the plateau and around the houses. That's why I sent a man to the other house."
"So what you're saying is that there's more reason than ever to be watchful?"
"Well, yes and no. I think if the guy came up here he'd find himself trapped in your far goat pasture area, he couldn't get past this yard easily without being seen."
"Why not?" Karl looked at him in surprise. "All he'd have to do is walk up along the high rocks."
He turned and pointed his finger in a slow arc at the cliff behind the house. "There's a steep slope up to there from the bottom end of the goat pasture. All the guy would have to do is to get over or under the goat fence and then he could walk along the ridge. He'd be above us all the way around to the drop off, near the dam. That would put him on the upper end of the island fairly easily. Surely the men who checked out the goat pasture saw that possibility and reported it?"
"Maybe they did, but it would have been reported to Greene. I certainly never heard about it, I thought it was all steep cliffs for some reason." Springfield said sharply. "Thanks, now I have another problem."
Karl watched him as he hurried off. Shaking his head, he went back toward the house. Ely and the doctor were still on the front porch.
"Sorry if I sounded off." He said quietly.
"That's okay." Ely smiled at him. "We're all under stress. We were just discussing it."
"Yes, and for the next day or two it could get even worse." Fran sighed.
Karl was just going to tell them about the fact that Greene and company were on their way back to camp when they all heard the sound of a helicopter in the distance.
"More changes on the way I guess." He said as he looked up at the sky.
"I would imagine." The doctor excused herself then, hurrying across the yard to be with Springfield, who was now obviously moving to meet the chopper.
"What a bloody muddle this has all become." Karl sighed.
"Pardon?" Ely asked.
"There's so much going on that I'd need a map to figure it all out."
"Well for me, all I intend to worry about is my family." Ely said shortly and with that she got to her feet. "I plan on looking after us and to hell with the rest."
Karl was surprised to see her stomp to the door and go inside, closing the door firmly behind her. He was alone on the porch again, just him and his dog.
The helicopter swung in and landed, then as several people disembarked, the chopper's engines powered down and quiet quickly descended on the area. Karl watched with interest, recognising at least two of the passengers but realising that at least three of the newcomers were strangers to him. Two of those newcomers were obviously officers and the other one was obviously a woman. It was no surprise to him that a mass of luggage and equipment was being unloaded. He frowned to himself, just how long did these people plan on staying here?
His frown deepened as he began to think deeply about several issues that had been bothering him. Just what in blazes was of so much interest to the military that they would invest this much time in such a small problem? He decided to ask someone why they were here in force, to his mind one or two men like Springfield would have been enough. And come to think of it, why weren't the police involved, where was the RCMP? He'd shot a man for cripes sake. That should have meant that the cops would have come to investigate, but so far, there was no sign of them at all.
He watched the parade of people moving away from the helicopter. Once more there were two people headed toward him, but to his surprise neither figure was that of the doctor nor that of Springfield. There was something very familiar about one of the two men approaching though, something Karl couldn't quite put his finger on. Wait a moment, what was the name the doctor had mentioned? He simply couldn't recall, but he felt sure he should know one of the men approaching him, in fact he looked a lot like one of Karl's childhood neighbours.
"Good afternoon, Karl." The man in question spoke. "I see you're still doing things your own way, even after all these years."
Karl stared at him, still unable to place the man.
"You have the advantage, I can't seem to place you, although your face is very familiar." Karl said almost formally as he rose to his feet and held out his hand.
"Don Davis, well actually 'Commander Donald Davis' now." The man in uniform grinned, grabbing Karl's hand in his own. "I imagine I remind you of my father."
"Oh wow!" Karl laughed aloud, returning the handshake enthusiastically. "Now I know why I thought I should know who you were."
"Well, I'll be your guest along with the rest of the Navy personnel for a day or so, along with Lieutenant James Colliver here. I need to do a field interview of some of these people and we've still got one fugitive to catch. In fact, if I'm right, we have the most important fugitive to catch."
"You're welcome I guess." Karl said quietly, then he sighed. "I really don't have a clue what's behind all of this."
"Lieutenant - Commander Greene didn't explain?"
"I probably didn't give him much chance, things moved rather rapidly and I developed a bit of a dislike for the man." Karl admitted. "I've been rather emotional and a bit agitated about all that's been going on. I'm not used to being under attack by strangers, having women of my family raped and beaten, or having to shoot people. It would help a lot if I had any damn clue what was behind all of this crap."
"Right, well I had best take the time to explain." Davis said firmly, then turned to his companion. "Colliver, you go ahead and get some help to set up our tent. After that, you know the drill. I'll be here for a while, visiting with Karl and his family."
"Right sir." The younger man snapped to attention and then wheeled away.
"Wow." Karl sighed. "That guy is real . . . military."
Commander Davis smiled wryly. "Yes, so am I, in some situations. For instance I'm going to be extremely officious with this group. Especially so since I'm here in an investigatory position, as well as being the highest ranked officer in attendance. I'm going to have to maintain strict military discipline when I'm with any military personnel. However, I'd like to be less formal with you."
"As an old friend, you'd damn well better be." Karl grinned. "But since you want to maintain discipline, would you like to go inside so you can keep up appearances?"
"That might be an idea."
"I'll warn you, my family will be extremely interested in everything you say." Karl laughed softly as he got slowly to his feet and lead the way to the door. "You may be in for a grilling."
"That won't be a problem." Commander Davis answered. "I think your family deserves some answers."
When they went inside, Ely was busy in the kitchen and the two kids were doing school work on the coffee table but the rest of the family was out of the room.
"Ely, this is Commander Don Davis, we went to school together and at one point, I even dated his sister." Karl grinned at her, then turned to Don. "And Don, this is Ely, the mother of my son and a very important part of my life."
Ely smiled and reached out her hand. "Hello Don, since you're an old friend of Karl's would you like to join us for dinner, I'm just about to prepare it?"
"I'm afraid I can't." Don replied. "I am here in an official capacity today so I should eat with the men, perhaps another time."
Then Karl introduced David and Mary-Beth, expecting to have to send them off to get the rest of the family, but Trudy and George came out of the spare bedroom, and Karl included them in the introductions. By the time that was done, Linda appeared on the stairs, only to disappear again after Karl had introduced Davis. To everyone's surprise, she and Keri reappeared in only a moment or two.
Keri looked haggard but resolved and after she had been introduced, she moved to a seat at the counter that divided the kitchen from the living room. Linda sat near her after she had gotten a glass of water for both of them. Ely offered Commander Davis a cup of coffee, pouring one for Karl at the same time. Soon the whole family was gathered in the kitchen. Karl glanced around and then his gaze rested on the military man.
"Don, this is my family, any explanation you give me will get to them eventually, so you might as well explain to us all in the first place."
"That suits me." Davis said quietly as he glanced around and then sighed. "I can't tell you everything I know, but I can tell you quite a bit. Quite simply, you people happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, even if you do happen to be in your own home. I'll have to go back a bit for part of this explanation, so please bear with me."
He paused for a sip of coffee before continuing. "You can blame this on the cold war of the sixties and the way the Russian government treated its people at that time."
"What?" Karl frowned. "Don, you're going to be here forever if you start by explaining things that happened before some of these women were born."
"Well Karl, it does have a bearing, in more ways than one." Davis smiled. "During the cold war, Russia was ruled by a totalitarian regime who tried to control everything about anyone's life. Literally from the day a person was born until the day they died, they had to live under absolute dictatorial control. As well as that, the government tried to maintain it as a Spartan society because of the economy that they were forced to endure because of the monetary demands of the cold war. They did their best to actually prevent people from having luxury goods and tried to make everyone spend their money on state-sponsored projects and government-sponsored goods. However, human nature being what it is with people wanting their little luxuries, a system of smuggling and bootlegging soon developed."
"Because the government forces were ruthless in trying to stamp out any illicit luxury trade, the smugglers became even more ruthless and at the same time they became even more devious. You could say that the political system bred the 'Vor V Zakoye', or in English, the 'Russian Mafia', and created one of the most hardened criminal systems in the world. The 'Russian Mafia' now move drugs, arms, and almost any other contraband anywhere in the world with relative impunity and we believe that we're dealing with them here."
"And what the hell makes you think they were 'Russian Mafia' of all things?" Keri demanded. "Just because the guy who attacked Trudy and I had a Russian name?"
"Oh a little more than that, I'm afraid." Davis grunted, lifting one finger. "First; Dimitri Karpichov, the guy you're talking about, was never far from his cousin, who happens to be a hardline member of the 'Orginizatsiya', he's a so called 'salesman'. He goes in and opens up new territory for them to take advantage of and he clears the way for more of his henchmen to follow. His name is Vladislav Chenkovich."
He paused then raised a second finger. "Second; the ship that ran aground is registered in Cambodia and if you trace its ownership back, you'll find that it belongs to a company which is basically a front for a man named Mogilevich. From what we can find out, Mogilevich is the head of one of the crime families, in fact perhaps the most influential crime family in Europe."
He lifted yet another finger. "Third; I got a chance to speak to one of the other prisoners for a moment or two. 'Doc' Iverson was one of the men who was captured here and he admitted that he was working for Chenkovich and he was sure Chenkovich was working for Mogilevich. Now, since we found almost a hundred kilos of heroin aboard the ship and that heroin can be traced back to a Russian link in the 'golden crescent', we feel relatively sure that the Russian Mafia is involved."
"You're throwing names around here like we should know them." Karl said quietly. "But from what you said, I take it the guy that's still running around free here on island is this, what was his name, Vladislav Chenkovich?"
"Yes, his father was from the Ukraine, his mother from Moscow. We believe he was initially educated by the KGB, but he fell into the trap of smuggling and actually spent time in the Gulag, that's the Russian jail. After the fall of the USSR, he emigrated to Israel and we believe that's where he got involved with Mogilevich. He moved to Hungary within a year of Mogilevich setting up operations there and he's been travelling around the world since, always to places where Mogilevich's empire is expanding."
"Since you mention the KGB, does the mention of that organisation have some bearing on this man?" George stated his question in a short blunt sentence for once.
"Yes, amongst other things that happened while he was with them, he was taught a smattering of several languages but his instruction in English was extensive. His accent is that of someone from the northern Midwest of the United States."
"In other words he could pass himself off as a Canadian very easily." Karl said.
"Oh yes. In fact that's exactly what we think he planned on doing. You see in Eastern Canada, another branch of the Russian Mafia has moved in, they're the 'Solsnetskya'. We think Mogilevich wanted to do the same sort of thing on the west coast, and Chenkovich was one of his advance men."
"Well, from what I heard, they seem to have sailed in as if they were totally unprepared for problems." Karl stated. "Why were they as bold as that?"
"Ah, that was a surprise to us too." Davis smiled. "Actually, they had a legal cargo disguising the contraband and we only found the heroin by accident. The contraband was inside a small separately sealed compartment which was hidden inside a ballast tank. We'd never have noticed it if we hadn't gotten a completely extraneous clue. You see after 911, we check every foreign vessel for radioactive materials and this ship had a trace of radioactivity which we traced to this ballast tank and then found the secret compartment."
"So they had a nuclear bomb aboard?" Linda asked in amazement.
"Oh no, I'm not saying that." He shook his head in negation. "However at some time in the recent past they carried radioactive material in that area. We actually didn't get any of the radioactive material, we only detected the contamination it left behind. Whatever it was, it wasn't well protected and if possible, we need to find Chenkovich to find out where it went."
"I see why you're involved." Karl said quietly. "I was wondering why the RCMP isn't here instead of you."
"Well, actually with all the muddle that the earthquakes and tidal waves have caused, the RCMP is extremely busy as well. To be honest, we probably wouldn't be here either, except for that trace of radioactivity and the fact that your description of the assailant matched the description of one of the men we were looking for."
"So then this is an official military action?"
"Our present involvement is." He nodded. "You people are all listed as cooperating civilian personnel. The only real benefit from that for you is the medical service you are receiving. Oh, and the fact that Karl will not even be questioned about the death of Karpichov. Officially, he died while attempting to escape from detention during military transport."
"Pardon?" Karl frowned at him.
"Since Karpichov was shot and killed while attempting to escape military confinement and deportation proceedings, no civilian participation needs to be listed. That means that the RCMP will not investigate."
"And how do you explain the .32 special slug in his body?" Karl snapped, unthinkingly.
"The doctor reported that your shot was aimed at his head, right?"
"That's where I aimed, yeah."
"Well, even at a quick glance at his body, I can tell you that a bullet of some undetermined caliber entered his skull via his left eye and exited via the area of his right ear. Officially, I believe his demise will be linked to the shots of Able Seaman Wilcox who was preforming his duty as a guard at that time."
"In other words you're saying I'm free and clear in your books?" Karl asked.
"Officially, you watched everything happen from a seat on your porch." Davis said firmly. "Unofficially, both Elgin and Wilcox told me on the helicopter that they want to shake your hand. I think my stock with them climbed when I told them that you and I grew up and used to hunt together as kids."
"All of this is very welcome news. However, what should we be prepared for? What is going to be happening now?" George asked. "In other words how much longer are we going to be confined to this house and its environs?"
"Well George, I've left word with my men that as soon as Lieutenant Commander Greene and his men are back, we're sending up the helicopter with the infrared detection equipment." He grinned at Karl. "However, this time we'll have it set to eliminate any cats or small pigs."
"So you're planning on sweeping the island again?" Ely sighed. "Don't you think he's going to try to hide on you this time?"
"I imagine he is, but the difference this time is that we're planning on having people here, aboard the helicopter, over at the other house, and down at the boat. We think that we have a good chance of finding him unless he can get to somewhere that he can disguise his heat print."
"There are lots of places in the trees where he could hide." Karl snapped. "And you've missed two buildings, the building in the middle of the gorge, where the generating plant is, and the water treatment building up at the lake. Hell for that matter, he could hide under the bloody bridge."
"We have a man stationed on the edge of the gorge to watch the hydro electric plant and the bridge. In addition we are going to have men check out the area around the lake. I looked at the overhead view of the island as we were flying out here and considering the amount of time he's had, I think he is more than likely still up on the ridge above us, that is if he even got up the cliffs from below."
"I just hope you're right but . . ." Karl was saying, then was interrupted by a knock on the door.
He stepped over and opened it to see Wilcox standing there.
"Hello Karl, could you please tell Commander Davis that L-C Greene is back?"
"I'll be right with you Able Seaman." Davis said quickly, then thanked Ely for the coffee as he stood up to leave.
Karl went out onto the porch as the Commander left and he watched for a few minutes as the bustle of activities started when people began to follow Davis' orders. In a few minutes, the helicopter lifted off and a small group of men moved away along the trail toward the other house as well. Quiet rapidly descended on the area, marred only by the sound of the helicopter as it flew over the island.