Chapter 19

Barbara Gains was standing next to her husband while he manned the helm; being towed still required concentration and a firm hand on the wheel. Hearing a soft scratching noise Barbara moved to the doorway and looked out at the moon over the water. Someone brushed by her as they went toward the main cabin, but the older woman didn’t seem to notice. She stepped to the rail and enjoyed the wind blowing through her graying dark brown hair. She was average height, and though she was a little plump, at her age, that was generally normal. If it wasn’t for her intelligent eyes and her infectious smile, she would almost be everybody’s grandmother. That was an image she worked hard to maintain. Returning to her husband, Barbara asked, “Any idea how much farther?”

“I’m guessing around an hour.”

“Then I’m going to rest in the cabin for a bit.”

“That’s fine, darling. I’ll see you when you wake up.”

Barbara went to her cabin and fastened the door. She removed an SD card from her pocket and pulled a small MP3 player and a set of headphones from her baggage. She listened carefully, but in spite of what she heard her facial expressions did not change. Once she finished listening she stuck her head out the door and saw Sophie. She said, “Sophie dear, could you help me a moment?”

“Sure, Barb.”

“I need to discreetly talk to Julie, Marie and Kim. Could you ask them to meet me here without anyone else knowing? It deals with some concerns they have about their husbands.”

“I’ll be glad to. They were standing together near the bar a few minutes ago.”

Over the next few minutes, each of the three women mentioned carefully made their way to Barbara’s cabin. Inside, they each listened to the recording on the MP3 player, but their reaction was not near as calm as Barbara’s. Of course, Barbara already knew a lot about the three men and their involvement with corruption and misuse of their positions.

“Thanks, Barb. That confirms much of what we already suspected,” stated Kim.

“What do you think we should do about it?” asked Barbara.

“The first thought to my head involves walking the plank,” answered Marie Isley.

Julie commented, “I’d suggest keelhauling, but Wilson’s so fat he’ll slow us down so much it’ll take us another ten hours to get to our destination. I always felt he was an asshole, but I’d no idea just how bigoted he was. Giving us the right to vote a mistake; I’ll show him a real mistake when I accidentally castrate the bastard.”

Sweet Kim, always a calming influence, answered, “Barbara, I’m already committed to following Grant’s leadership. I think we should let him decide the best way to handle this. After all, in spite of all the other crap we’ve had to endure from these pigs, it’s Grant and his ideas that are being attacked on this recording.”

“Unless we can get Grant to use our husbands in a demonstration of his katana,” said Marie, “it won’t be as much fun as our ideas. At the same time, I guess Kimberly is correct; this needs to be dealt with by Grant.”

A frustrated Julie sighed, and said, “I guess I’ll make it unanimous, though I’m going to ask Grant for at least some payback for the beatings I’ve endured. Maybe once they’re gone we can find someone who’ll cherish us and give us children.”

The other two women nodded in agreement and Kim instructed Barbara to bring Grant into the picture. Leaving her three friends in her cabin Barbara looked for Grant. She quickly found him talking to Sophie and Moses Asser. She slipped beside them, and quietly said, “Grant, I need to see you in my cabin, please?”

He smiled, and asked, “Is this something my wives or Victor should worry about?”

“Not likely, but we do need your involvement.”

“Okay, let’s go. I apologize for the interruption,” Grant said to Sophie and her husband.

“What’s this all about?” Grant asked while they walked to her cabin.

“We’ll talk about it in a moment.”

They entered the room, and Grant was surprised to see the three women. They were all in their mid-twenties, blond hair and a well sculptured body ... classic trophy wives. Barbara closed the door, and explained, “Grant, I used to do some freelance covert work for some of the lettered agencies.”

“I suspected something like that after I watched the smooth way you handled that man on the dock.”

“Anyway, for the past few years I’ve set up a small network of women who could help me secure evidence of wrongdoing by abusive husbands. These women are Julie Carlisle, Kimberly Banks and Marie Isley, and their husbands have been the hardest to catch doing something. Earlier tonight one of my people recorded this conversation.”

Barbara handed Grant the player and he listened to the three men. Their attitudes were so ridiculous he almost broke into laughter.

“We feel something should be done, but we’ve unanimously decided to delegate their punishment to you.”

“Gee thanks,” replied Grant. “But as much as I find the men and their attitudes offensive, I’m not sure if they’ve broken any laws.”

“Well add this to the list. They regularly beat these women, and they have denied them the children they were promised.”

“Do we have any evidence that could convince a jury of wrong doing?”

“Nothing but he says, she says. That’s how they’ve stayed out of the court to this point.”

“Well, if I killed or maimed them like I’d prefer to I’d drastically diminish my message and my beliefs.”

A stunned Julie, asked, “So you’re going to do nothing?”

“I didn’t say that, either. It’s obvious these men are a security risk, and as such will have to be placed in custody as soon as we land. When this mess with the British Fleet calms down I’ll consider my options and come up with something.”

“I still think having them walk the plank is a good idea,” commented Marie.

“One side of me won’t disagree with you,” Grant responded, “but I’ll make sure, one way or another, you don’t have to live with them any longer.”

Marie kissed Grant on the cheek, and said, “That’s a good start right there.”

“Good. Just make sure your things are separated from theirs and hang with Barbara as everyone exits the boat.”

Grant looked at Barbara, and said, “I’ve got Sabrina looking for places for everyone, but some may have to stay on the boats temporarily. I’m hoping she can find a place for Victor and you in my house.”

“Thank you. We’d like that.”

Grant returned to the helm and found a new larger boat was pulled alongside. Six men transferred over to the Cutlass and Mike and Jenifer climbed aboard Secret.

After introducing the couple to many of those in the main cabin Grant went back to the radio and called John, softly said the word, “Ear.” With that, Grant returned to his cabin and pulled his tactical unit earpiece from his bag. He was close enough to John for them to communicate. “John, communicate with the house and advise we need secure location for three men. We may have to keep them under guard for a while. Also, make sure the area is bugged and includes a security camera.”

“Problems?”

“Just some wife beating bigots who are trying to figure out how to cause trouble.”

“Shoot ‘em.”

“No, I’ve got to figure out an innovative way to use their own cockiness and beliefs against them. The lesson will be more effective to the rest without me having needless blood on my hands. I’m going to have more than enough of that in a short time.”

Less than an hour later the three boats entered the Santee entrance of the new Santee-Georgetown harbor. The changes were pretty impressive and Grant could quickly imagine how new docks, warehouses and even factories could be built without destroying the ecological structure of the wetlands. After the British fleet was dealt with one project he envisioned was expanding and developing an interconnecting waterway between Charleston and this newly expanded harbor. Using small steamship tugs and barges would effectively combine them into one port. In addition, if they expanded the tidal creeks at the same time as they built the channel it’d have a tremendous effect on the fish and shrimp populations.

As they entered their own small harbor John cut his engines while Victor placed his idling diesel in gear. The tow line was released from the bow of Secret and Victor maneuvered the two sailboats to the long pier. John pulled the Rapier away from the sailboats and slowly backed his boat into something that looked similar to a submarine pen. Once inside large metal doors swung closed and the boat disappeared from sight.

The Amanda Dear and Victor’s Secret were separated and the ships were secured to the dock. Gangplanks were put in place for each vessel, and after some encouragement from both on board and ashore, Grant was the first one off either vessel. He was immediately smothered by two wives, two teens and two smaller children. The rest of the people from the Santee Base were lined up to greet and assist everyone as they came ashore. Victor, Barbara and Tina were next and while they were being introduced to Grant’s family the rest of the people came ashore.

It was an amazing sight. Blacks, Chinese, uptimers and downtimers were all standing together greeting each other. The only three who looked out of place were the three husbands who had been brought to Grant’s attention. Barbara nodded slightly in their direction, and Grant gave some instructions to Cal and Zeke.

Zeke came before the three, and said, “Mr Carlisle, Mr Banks and Mr Isley; if you will follow us, we’ve set up accommodations that are appropriate to men of your stature.” Impressed they were finally getting the attention they were due, the three willingly followed Zeke. Michael Camden and Bobby Johnson followed with their luggage and Cal trailed the group with drawn pistol hanging beside his leg. When they reached what looked like a small house or storage building Zeke opened the door, and said, “Your quarters, gentlemen.”

The three entered the darkened building and were pleased that the air conditioning was working. Their bags were set by the door, and just before the door was closed and locked, Zeke flipped on the lights. When their eyes adjusted the three men found a small table with three chairs. A pitcher of Ice Tea and some disposable glasses was placed in the middle of the table, and three small cots were on the far side of the room. A white chamber pot and lid was sitting in the corner to the left of the door and a roll of toilet tissue was beside it, held in place by a nail driven at an angle into a stud. If this wasn’t enough of a shock, they soon discovered all the windows were barred.

“Who does that asshole think he is?” demanded Malcolm Isley. “I’ll sue the hell out of him for false imprisonment.”

“Well, to do that, we’ve got to get out of here, countered Wilson Carlisle. Also, with this setup, what do they intend for us to do with our wives?”

“Let ‘em sleep on the floor,” answered Todd Banks. “After all, it was their talking us into this excursion that brought us to this place. Be prepared for when Marie does get here, because I’m going to beat the shit out of her bottom and then rape her ass. That’ll remind her who’s the boss.”

“That sounds like a winner. I’ll think I’ll join you,” proclaimed Wilson.

“Me too,” added Malcolm.

“Well, we can at least see if our cell phones work,” remarked Wilson, while happily thinking of what he’s going to do to his wife.

The three fished their phones out of their bags and turned them on. As can be expected, they were sorely disappointed.

Drew Smith looked up at Trey and Marcel, the two young Marines who, like him, had accidentally become part of this adventure. They had been observing the three prisoners on the security monitor.

“What are your thoughts?” asked Cal.

“Food for them gators along the river bank,” answered Marcel. “That or feed for the hogs. That’s bout all they’re good for.”

“I don’t know,” responded Trey, “for me, I have the strongest urge to see us bring back public flogging.”

“I like that idea myself,” Cal added. “The key thing is to understand that their attitude was not brought on by their time jump. It was already a reality in our time, but according to Miss Barbara, they couldn’t get sufficient evidence to take to court. The funny part is their bigwig, ego bloated minds can’t accept the truth of the situation. They may have been sharks and a power to be reckoned with in Washington, but if they were turned loose around here they wouldn’t last a day.”

“Cal,” said Grant from the doorway, “you may have just given me an idea of how to handle the three.”

“Glad I could help, Skipper.”

“Also, speaking of adapting to the situation, how are the three of you doing?” asked a concerned Grant.

Touched by his obvious care and concern, Cal answered honestly, “Skipper, I miss some family and a girl I was just starting to date, but beyond that, I’m excited. The Coast Guard was a great life, but chasing druggies and searching for lost fishermen could get old at times. Here, we’re working to make a difference, and we know it. My life here has real meaning, and I wouldn’t change that for the world. Would I go back if I had the chance? No Way!”