Sandy was able to recuperate at home after leaving hospital. The Doctor’s in the UK were shocked by what had happened to her. They had not seen Female Genital Mutilation performed on an adult woman and were unsure why it had occurred. The road to recovery would be a long one and would involve a number of reconstructive operations.
Her flight and escape from Allenby’s clutches were a distant memory and at Gerry’s behest she returned to work. Sandy had agreed despite the fact she was extremely tired, she did however stipulate that she could work mornings only as her sleep was being interrupted by terrible nightmares. She had flashbacks which left her screaming in the middle of the night. Martin would do his best to comfort her but it was no use, the twins were shipped back to their grandparents. The screaming and crying was too upsetting for them.
Gerry had had access to Sandy’s Medical Records in order to arrange the Insurance for the Med-Evac from Washington. He knew what Allenby had did and he was fired up to complete Sandy’s project and to get Alex and now Sandy the treatment they needed. Dr King was in Japan and was safe. Gerry was an absolute genius when it came to organising and editing Sandy’s material. He also appointed a top team to organise the News Awards Ceremony where the final part of Sandy’s Documentary on Allenby would be shown. Allenby and his retinue would be attending in anticipation of gaining more funding and global acceptance for the work they were doing.
Gerry had arranged for Sandy’s work telephone number, email and passwords to be changed. Gerry knew that Allenby would try to contact Sandy and as her nerves were frail, it could be very harmful. One morning as Sandy and Gerry sat drinking coffee in the shared social area, Gerry’s mobile rang. It was Allenby. Sandy sensed who it was and Gerry signalled to her that he would take the call elsewhere. Sandy sighed with relief.
When Gerry returned, Sandy had almost finished her coffee.
” So what did he say?” Sandy asked Gerry.
” Took the bait, hook line and sinker, he’s coming on the 29th , he’ll be staying in London a few days.”
“What am I going to do , I cannot face seeing that man.” She looked pleadingly at Gerry.
“We’ll see what we do closer to the time. As far as he’s concerned you are still getting treatment. I can handle him, I can give him a busy time. Keep him away from you, but I assure you when he falls he’s going to fall hard, so you’ll want to be around to see it.”
Sandy looked at her empty coffee cup.
“We’ll see, Gerry, I’m very tired , can I go a bit early today.”
“Of course, look if you need a few days, I’ve got everything done our side. Maybe see you Monday?” Gerry could see that the call from Allenby had upset Sandy.
” Yes that would be good thanks. My head just isn’t right. Allenby is such a cruel man, I have such weird thoughts. It’s like Allenby’s won, subdued me by his will.”
Gerry surprised her by leaning over her and giving her a big gentle bear hug.
” Allenby hasn’t won and isn’t winning, and by facing up to him you have given our son the best chance he has. You’ve done the best job ever. Don’t be hard on yourself. I’d pay for a psychologist , but I know you Sandy, you’ll rationalise all this yourself, remember who you are hasn’t changed. It was the cruellest thing imaginable to have happened, which I’ve no doubt Allenby intended, but the man and his friends need to be stopped, the lid is going to be blown on this in a very public way.
Sandy was taken aback by the gentleness of his hug and the encouraging words.
” Our son Alex, has two daddys, Martin and you.” She began to sob.
“Yes, you , Martin and I are definitely a Nuclear Family and what could be better than that. Get some rest.”
They both embraced each other as someone passed by.
” Final cuts” Gerry said out loud” Gets you like that and winked at the passer by.
Sandy drove home, she still was not mobile enough to look after the twins and this frustrated her. She missed not picking them up from school. Sandy could be tearful one moment and the next she could feel a surge of anger which was so powerful it would make her heart race. As her car pulled into the driveway she used her voice to turn the engine off .She knew it would be painful getting out of the car. Some scarring had got infected and she desperately wanted to go to the toilet. She opened the car door and struggled to her front door. Once safely inside, she made her way to the restroom in the hall.
The opening day of the Great Show arrived and the Tedi had the job of pulling the ribbon at the door of the House to tell everyone that the Show was open. All the villagers had entry tickets and the rest of the tickets had staggered arrival times to ensure everyone would have a good day. It was sold out.
When Tedi reached up and pulled at the ribbon which covered the great door with his paw there was a great cheer from the surrounding area as the door swung open. It was televised on big screens throughout the park and at the locations where the entrance booths were. Everyone around the Park cheered when they saw the ribbon fall to the ground and Tedi excitedly gazed up as the door swung open. Mr and Mrs Graham who had VIP tickets and were standing near Tedi walked through the doors . The whole house was full with animals of all shapes and sizes, there were so many exhibits.
As well as the wild animals , there was a livestock show, with cows, sheep and goats , and of course a dog show, with a special competition for the best “Village Dog”, which gave the “Village Dog’s ” a chance to show off. Which of course they did.
The day was going to be incredibly busy for all the people attending there was so much to see.
Tedi was one of the judges at the The Village Dog Show along with Cross, so after they’d had some tea with the Graham’s they made their way to the arena which had been set up for the Police Dog Demonstration and The Palace Top Breed Show and then various demonstrations by Agility, Dog Behaviourists, Dog Dancing and Flyball.
Tedi and Cross arrived just as the Flyballl was finishing, it was one of the early rounds, so there were no prizes ,but there were a lot of excited dogs. Tedi recognised the Village dogs, they were all hanging around waiting for the “Flyballers” to come out of the arena. Tedi knew this meant trouble, but Cross had him on the lead, and Tedi knew Cross would not understand why Tedi would pull him towards the Village Dogs. Cross would think Tedi just wanted to say hello to his friends.
Tedi gave the equivalent of a dog sigh, which in truth most people wouldn’t even have noticed. He continued to the main arena and walked up the steps to the booth where all the judging was being done.
Tedi was introduced to some of the other judges and the various dignitaries that were watching the demonstrations and competitions. They were all very pleased to be introduced to this famous dog, and in order to enable Tedi to meet everyone Cross took Tedi off lead. Tedi waited a few minutes and finished greeting the local Councillors, then looked up at Cross and went running off to the back of the tent at great speed.
Tedi was in a great hurry to avoid disaster. The ” Flyball dogs ” were with their owners on their leads and we’re just preparing to exit the arena.They were all very tired and excited having enjoyed their game of flyball.
The Village Dogs were however waiting for them to exit the arena and they were going to ambush them. It looked to most people that the Village Dogs were just waiting their turn to enter the arena to be part of the show, but Tedi knew different. The Village Dogs hated “Flyballers” as the called them and thought they were idiots. He had to stop them. The Flyball owners would get very upset if the Village Dogs scrapped with them. The Village dogs were not on leads, some didn’t even have collars on , they were a rough lot really , and just wanted to show off.
Tedi reached the arena and ran in front of the Flyball owner who was first in line and stopped her in her tracks. She was very close to the exit, everyone stopped behind her , no one really knowing what was going on. Tedi waved a paw as a signal to stay and wait there. Luckily the lady understood and waited.
Next Tedi turned and ran towards the exit, he found he could crawl under the tarpaulin to get to the other side where the Village Dogs were waiting. The minute he got out, the village dogs saw him.
“Tedi” ” they all barked!”
Tedi was not pleased, he knew what they were up to .
“Right you lot, you leave the “Flyballers” alone, I don’t want any name calling, I know you think it’s stupid , but they enjoy it and I don’t want any trouble. “
” Aw Tedi, but they’re stupid!”
” No, you are not going to annoy them, you must behave!”
The Village Dogs all looked disappointed, it was too good of an opportunity to miss, but what Tedi says goes, so they all looked at him and said the equivalent in dog language of
“OK”
Tedi turned and squeezed underneath the tarpaulin again and signalled to the lady leading the “flyballers ” that it was alright to exit the arena now.
Tedi led the way and the flyballers walked by the line of village dogs who were mostly quiet , although, there was a few murmuring growls of derision from the back, but Tedi told everyone to keep going and to ignore those ruffians. Tedi knew the growl had came from a little Chihuahua who was always causing trouble and was actually very posh but was always winding up the bigger dogs. Fortunately the bigger dogs listened to Tedi.
When they were clear and the Village Dogs had been called to the ring , Tedi ran back to Cross, who told him that the Village Dogs Show was just beginning. Cross had been watching and when Tedi stopped the Flyball lady, he had a good idea what Tedi was doing. So Cross gave Tedi a tummy rub and said come on boy, I hope you can keep these ruffian Village Dogs on the straight and narrow. Tedi looked up at him and Cross swore there was a smile on his face.
The Village Dogs wandered into the arena like as if they owned it, it was their to time shine and they were going to enjoy it. Their owners accompanied them , some were on lead and some walked to heel nicely. There was a prize for obedience and also the best looking dog prize.
First up was the obedience. The owners did there best to make it look like a proper dog show, but for most of this unruly lot it was impossible. The Judge was in the centre of the arena and it was his job to give commands for the dogs to show what they could do. The Judge had his work cut out because there were dogs of all sizes from a Chihuahua to a Great Dane Cross.
The first command, to walk around the outside of the ring was going well until the Great Dane stopped as he needed a wee. He’d spotted a nice post and decided to head for that pulling his owner with him. Two or three other dogs behind him followed him , pulling their owners too. The rest of the dogs continued walking in a circle, and when the Great Dane had finished , he realised he’d made a mistake and leapt back into the middle of the dogs who had continued without him, knocking two or three with their owners sideways.
The Great Dane was big enough to get his spot back by pushing the Chihuahua out of the way , but the ones that had followed him, after sniffing at the post , couldn’t get back inside the circle and just walked around the outside with their owners. The Judge shouted the next command.
” Sit”
The Great Dane almost sat on the Chihuahua, but it got out of the way and yelped at The Great Dane, who was oblivious and actually sat very nicely so the judge thought. Some of the dogs by now were very tired and the judge got a mixture of sitting and lying down. He looked at the dogs and their owners despairingly.
It was time now for the dogs to be assessed individually, so the Judge walked up to each one and chatted to the owner and for the ones that were lying down instead of sitting, he gave a tummy rub. Which of course was all the dogs wanted.
A very intelligent Collie did all his obedience instructions correctly, and ignored all the other dogs shouting at him that he was a show off. He remained sitting up , and when the Judge came over to him very nicely gave his paw when asked and also responded to the command.
“Lie down”
The Collie didn’t roll over to get his tummy rub.
“At least something is going right ” thought the Judge as he handed the “Most Obedient “Rosette to the Collie’s owner. Both the owner and the Collie were very pleased. Though there were lots of derisory growls and yelps from the rest of the Village Dogs who were actually very jealous.
Added to that they were getting bored and began to bicker amongst each other. They had really lost interest by now.
The prize for the “Best Looking ” was next and it had been a vote from the local dignitaries that decided it . The result and the prize was handed to the judge and he walked back to the centre of the arena. All the dogs were looking at him wondering what was happening next.
The prize for ” Best Looking ” was a bag of treats and as he opened the envelope, the smell of the treats wafted across the arena and it was just too much.
Tedi and Cross looked at each other , but it was too late.
All the Village Dogs, except the Collie ran towards the Judge and jumped up and flattened him into the ground. They grabbed the bag of treats. They began to race around the arena chasing each other as the bag was dropped and then picked up and all the treats went everywhere. Some dogs stopped to eat some and there were scuffles and scraps as the bag burst open and emptied very quickly. Soon there was none left and the owners frantically ran after their dogs and put them on their leads and walked them out of the arena.
Funnily enough, no one ever found out who won the “Best Looking Dog” that day, but everyone enjoyed the chaos of the Village Dog Show, even the Judge after he had cleaned himself up thought it had gone well and that the Collie had been a very deserving winner.
Allenby’s plane was late and Joss arranged for the chauffeur to pick up Martin and Sandy and take them to the airport. They had packed everything and were both about to get into the waiting car when Sandy’s phone beeped, it was Allenby.
“I’ve arranged another car , I’d like to see you , you can catch a later flight.”
Sandy really wanted to get in the car with Martin and get out of there, but something told her she was not going to be allowed to. Another car appeared in front of them and the driver signalled to Sandy to come with him.
“Oh,Oh” Martin said.
“I’ll be fine, I’ll let you know how I get on. Don’t make a fuss . Kiss me , you’ve got the film . Sandy’s pupils were dilated with fear.”
Martin gazed helplessly as Sandy got into the other car and was whisked away, there was the driver and another man in the front passenger seat. Martin continued through security and the small electronic device that held all the footage that Allenby would not want anyone to see remained undetected.
Martin sighed as the car drove out onto the highway and he hoped Sandy would also be on her way shortly. The filmed evidence would protect her, but he knew she was in a precarious situation. He wanted to go back and get her, but it was impossible. The anti-dote for some of the truth drugs that Allenby could use was on a small crown at the back of her mouth, all she needed to do was bite on it half an hour before the drug was administered. Hard to judge though, he thought ,and suppose it didn’t work. What would Allenby do if he found out what they had done?
Meanwhile when Sandy arrived at one of the interrogation buildings, she immediately sensed something was wrong. The car stopped abruptly and the driver and the other man in the front of the car jumped out and opened Sandy’s door. She was manhandled out of the vehicle with each man taking one of her arms and frog-marching her in through the entrance. There was none of the usual security , everything opened automatically and she realised she was in an “interrogation area” she had never seen.
They came to a reception area and she was literally thrown at one of the chairs. A few minutes later Angela, the make-up artist was wheeled by semi-conscious in a wheel chair. Angela lifted her head to look at Sandy but there was no recognition.
” Angela” Sandy stood up and shouted. ” What have you done to her , she should be on the plane, what the hell is going on?”
Sandy was roughly thrown back and made to sit down by another Security Guard who unbeknown to Sandy had been directly behind her.
“As Angela was wheeled by, Sandy watched as the limp body in the wheelchair almost tipped forward, the orderly who was pushing her frantically grabbed at her and Angela gave a slight whimper .
“You people will pay for this!” Sandy shouted.
The Security Guard hit her viciously in the face. Sandy thought he had broken her jaw, the pain was so intense.
Angela was wheeled through some double doors and disappeared. Sandy was stunned and then Allenby appeared.
“Oh my , my not so rough! ”
Sandy knew that Allenby had been watching all the time and thought perhaps this had all been staged. She wondered what had happened to Martin , was he at the airport, would he make the arranged flights? If he did then the film that he had would be enough to stop Allenby in his tracks. The pain in Sandy’s mouth was intense and she knew her mouth was bleeding.
“My dear Sandy, that is certainly not a good look” Allenby walked up to her and put his hand on her chin and held it up to his gaze….. damaged goods eh?”
“Nurse, clean her up”. A Nurse appeared and wiped the blood from Sandy’s face. Sandy’s lips were beginning to swell.
“You’re a Mad Man Allenby, what the hell is going on , is this how you get your kicks. You pervert””
Sandy’s mouth hurt like hell , but she got her words out. She felt at the back of her mouth for the gel capsule that contained the anti-dote to the truth drug and bit into it. She felt the fluid dissipate and swallowed.
” You won’t kill me Allenby , I’m the Star Presenter, you can’t explain away me disappearing, you need me just as much as I need you.”
” You think so , I’m not so sure . There are worse things than death you know, as your colleague Angela has just found out. She’ll never be the same . Accidents happen , a viral infection , loss of all motor function. We will say we did the best for her that we could . We can say the same for you. It’s awful isn’t it?” Allenby smiled and continued.
“Nothing is ever how it seems, Angela told us everything, I just want you to collaborate her story. This will help.”
The nurse reappeared with the paraphernalia to administer the truth drug, the Security Guard moved to hold Sandy down.
Sandy wanted to delay the drug a bit longer. She jumped out of the chair and ran towards the door and turned directly to look at Allenby.
” Allenby you are mad, do what you want ! You are a mad control freak. Ever think that you might not be the genius you think you are? That you are wrong and everyone else is right!”
Allenby looked as Sandy moved around the room. He signalled to the Security Guard to leave her alone.
“How admirable a journalist to the very end, still asking difficult questions. Well perhaps not really that difficult. According to my peers , I am no genius, but that matters little now. They are nobodies, some have died , some have retired, but look at me , look at my reputation, my honours, my awards , this place. Funny none of my peers thought my work of any value, none of them would work for me. Now , I force people to work for me. It’s not pleasant and I’m not happy about losing Dr King Sit down Sandy.”
” No I will not sit down!” Sandy remonstrated and gesticulated at Allenby, she moved closer to him, even though the movement caused a throbbing pain in her jaw.
Allenby shouted “Guards”
The Guards grabbed Sandy and made her sit down on one of the reception chairs.
Allenby moved towards the now seated Sandy.
” Losing Dr King has very much upset me.”
“Where did he go? He wanted to retire , he said he was looking to complete the project and get the hell out of here. Let’s face it you are running a prison camp here.” Sandy looked up at Allenby.
“Don’t play the innocent with me young lady” Allenby raised his fist and hit Sandy on her right breast. The pain Sandy felt was horrendous and she was severely winded.
” I don’t want to mark that pretty face anymore, I still find it most attractive. ” Allenby held Sandy’s chin in his hand and raised her head to look directly into his eyes. Sandy’s eyes filled with tears. She tried to talk , but all she could do was mumble a few words which were incomprehensible.
“Creep!” was all Allenby heard.
He hit her again , this time on the other breast.
Sandy felt the pain go right through her body, she was very frightened but still wanted to give herself more time. The truth anti-dote had to work, it was her only chance.
“I want Martin!” She cried.
“Martin is on the way to the Airport, he can’t help you!”
“This is crazy, what is it you want? Call him back please?
“What for? The man is an idiot. A useless dolt. Nurses ! ” Allenby raised his voice and the Nurses with a gurney and a trolley with the paraphernalia to inject Sandy arrived . Sandy kicked at the trolley and caused one of the silver kidney dishes containing a syringe to fall on the floor. One of the Nurses , hurriedly left the reception area and came back with a replacement.
” That was stupid Sandy!” Allenby , moved back and the Security Guards held Sandy while the Nurses gave her the first injection.
Within a few minutes Sandy’s body went limp and she was aware that she was lifted onto the gurney trolley and strapped onto it and wheeled into another room. More drugs were administered and the room that she was brought to was brightly lit. Sandy heard an instruction given by Allenby to strip her.
Sandy could no longer struggle but was totally aware of what was said and done to her. After the interrogation which she kept to the story that Ian and Angela were additions to the crew she knew nothing about and that Dr King was chosen because Martin had said , he was an expert in genetics. Sandy did not know who he was.
She remembered, that Allenby had calmed down as she had answered his questions . Sandy remembered that after the initial interrogation Allenby had instructed the other people who were there to leave them alone. Sandy was helpless.
When Sandy regained consciousness, the ties that held her down had been removed , she was still in the interrogation room and Allenby sat in a chair opposite watching her. Sandy was very groggy and all she could feel was the moistness and stickiness between her legs, she could hardly keep her eyes open.
” Ah, Sandy , you are awake. Well it seems that what you were saying was true.”
The sound of Allenby’s voice caused her irritation and gave her the strength to reply.”
“What are you talking about , you Madman?”
” You knew nothing about Dr King’s escape?”
” I don’t understand, what gave you the idea that I did? What have you done?”
“It was just too convenient, you arrive with the crew and Dr King disappears. Your set up was infiltrated.”
“Look , you’ve dragged me into this, where’s Martin, get me Martin. I want nothing to do with you. You’re a dangerous Madman.”
“Oh yes, you’re right, I’m dangerous, but you needn’t worry, we’ll make you all better and we’ll continue with our work.”
” Fuck you” Sandy screamed, she began to feel the pain that was shooting through her body.
” Oh don’t be angry, perhaps I’ll give you some more pain relief. Like a good doctor , I will look after you, I’ll take you to the recovery room , you will need to rest, and I must dispose of this. “
Allenby held up a sample dish. Sandy looked at it , there was blood and bits of tissue in it. Sandy could barely register what he was showing her.
“Yes Sandy, I am the last man to enjoy you and pleasure you. No one else will ever be able to do that now. I’ve taken away all your external genitalia. I just couldn’t help myself. “
Sandy fainted.
Allenby continued talking and rubbed her forehead.
” I shall look after you myself the next few days, my sweet girl. You will be in pain when the anaesthetic wears off and the stiches will take some time to heal. We’ll telephone your office and say you’ve caught a virus and won’t be able to fly for a couple of weeks. Angela unfortunately will not make it as we discussed. I’m sure you understand that this is for the best .
Allenby wheeled the unconscious Sandy into the recovery room.
The next week passed in a furore of set pieces and filming. Joss , was always on hand when Sandy needed assistance always professional and helpful. The crew were given access to all areas of the site and Joss was very frank when answering questions about the role of the site.
Sandy located Dr King within days, thankfully he was in a good state of health and was working in one of the Prison Laboratories. Sandy request to Joss for an interview with Dr King had been approved , Joss so no problem and arranged for the meeting the following Friday which would be there last day of filming.
Martin and Sandy sat down with Ian and Angela and discussed their plan to help Dr King escape. Ian as a sound expert managed to block any listening devices which meant they had more time for discussion. Sandy explained that the interview arrangements were simple, she would go alone , with just Ian as the sound man. There was no need to follow through with the information about Genetics in Ancient Mexico.
” Are you sure ?” said Martin.
” Yes, I didn’t mention anything about the Aztec’s, I just said I wanted to interview someone who was “captive” and that Dr King seemed a good candidate. So Joss accepted that. Once we get him out of the Prison building , that will be where we need to move quickly. The plan is that he goes to Japan. All the flights are booked and he will be part of the crew leaving for Japan. We need to get him to the make up room quickly and without any fuss.”
Ian interjected. “Hold on , are there guards in the Prison building? How can we just walk out with him? How do we get him out?”
” That’s why you need the Aztec thing, we need to get him out of the Prison and somewhere I can sit down and have a proper Scientific discussion. That way we won’t have any need to force our way out. We need to meet him outside of the Prison and not too far away from the Condo that Angela is in.” Martin said.
” Perhaps, you are right, we need to squirrel him away, I’ll have to speak to Joss again, get her to agree that we meet Dr King for lunch in one of the annexes.”
Joss dutifully agreed and seemed to accept the need for Martin to be involved in the interview. So on their last day of filming on Friday, Martin and Dr King were sitting at a table in a meeting room . There was a security guard outside. Martin had his laptop and some old skulls which were not at all relevant to any scientific discussion.
Dr King was at first very puzzled, but played along with the situation, he was glad to be out of the Prison Facility . Martin began discussing basic skull anatomy. Dr King held the skull in his hand and pointed to a small projection on the base of it. Martin looked down with interest at what Dr King was pointing at and then moved his hand slightly.
Dr King saw the sticker on the bottom of the skull which said “Escape”. Dr King and Martin had a heated debate about genetics and archaeology ,they examined data on Martin’s laptop and played with the skulls. Eventually Martin said that he was hungry and he’d call for a bite to eat. He rang the number on his mobile that he’d been given and a small buffet appeared in about ten minutes.
“Pass the fruit bowl, for some reason we don’t get any fruit around here, they must keep it for the VIP’s like you.”
Martin passed the fruit bowl and Dr King took a few pieces and put them in the pockets of his white lab coat.
“You make it sound like a prison, is it?”
Dr King laughed. “Oh , no , not really , only of the mind , a self-imposed prison , once I’ve cracked the data that they’ve given me I’m told I can go. Hopefully I can retire from the scene. I hope I’ve been of some help to you. History or Archaeology can prevent us from making the same mistakes again and again. It’s amazing how our global gene pool has remain unaltered since the world began and even more amazing that we seek to control it. I’m at the forefront of a science that will advance human kind, you’d think they’d be more generous with their fruit.” Dr King smiled at Martin , but Martin could see he was getting concerned about how he was going to escape.
The plan was that Martin would finish talking with Dr King by 3.30pm and when the guard came to escort Dr King back to the Prison Facility then Ian , the sound man would “neutralise” him by injecting him with a drug which caused symptoms similar to a heart attack. Martin would call for medical aid and while the Medical Emergency continued Ian would take Dr King to the make up room , where Angela would be ready to disguise him as one of the catering staff that left the site every evening. The plan worked like clockwork, by 9.00pm that night, Dr King was on an executive jet to Japan and a secret location and the PR machine of Allenby’s Research Institute remained quiet, trying to ascertain what had happened. Ian the sound man had disappeared and was thought to be the culprit. The Allenby organisation had been compromised.
Joss was at her wits end when Sandy finally spoke to her. The Security Guard who had had the heart attack was in hospital and she hadn’t had a chance to talk to him about what had happened. Martin had briefed Sandy that the “need to know” was what she had to think about. Sandy and Martin knew nothing, they did not know Dr King and Ian was as far as they were concerned their sound man. Sandy had not picked him , he was some sort of specialist. Martin was confident that once they’d showed their footage to Joss and Allenby that they would leave the next day without any problem.
Joss took a call from Allenby while Sandy was talking to her. He was coming back tomorrow . Early in the morning, before the T.V. crew had left and he wanted to see Sandy. Joss was very uneasy. Allenby was very angry.
Sandy’s film crew had been hand picked by her except for two additions who were specialist contractors that Gerry had arranged. A sound specialist called Ian and a make up girl called Angela. After everyone had unpacked it was decided they would they would all meet up and have dinner together at one of the on site restaurants which Joss had recommended.
Over dinner there was a heated discussion as to what was going on at the site .Joss had supplied a detailed map which included areas marked as “detention centres” and “interrogation rooms”. Sandy reassured everyone that this was her second visit and she had been to those areas and they were not as bad as they sounded. Sandy said that there was a “containment” element to the buildings and the facility but that it was not by any means intimidating.
The breath of opinion expressed by her crew and the discussion over dinner surprised her. Some were very vociferous about defending freedom and their rights and Sandy couldn’t help but think it was more about noise than practical experience. Those with the bad experiences never said much, it was their way of coping. She noticed that Martin, Ian and Angela spent a lot of time talking quietly among themselves at the end of the table while the noise continued among the rest of the crew.
Later back at their Condo , with the signal blocker on , Martin told Sandy about the plan to find and help Dr King escape once they had located him. There was going to be a room in a Condo set aside for dressing and make up which Angela would be taking care of. Sandy needed to persuade Joss that Martin needed to “interview” Dr King for a piece about the South American Genetic discovery , a layman’s piece about genetic coding and Ancient Aztec Civilisations. Ian would be the “Sound Recordist and Camera man” and would help Martin get Dr King to the “make up room” and get him to change into one of the cleaners uniforms and use make up to disguise him. He could then leave like some of the contractors do each day. Martin suggested that Sandy set up a lunch meeting with Joss the next day , and go through the filming itinerary and the interviews that were needed.
The next day , at lunch Joss and Sandy sat down and agreed an itinerary, they would be on site for two weeks, as there has been a change of plan and some of the crew would be flying to Japan for another assignment. Thus it had cut short the actual filming time. Sandy outlined her plan and asked Joss to suggest interviewees that could cover the key subjects Sandy wanted to include.
Later that day , Joss confirmed the interview attendee’s and much to Sandy’s relief , Dr King was on the list. He was still alive and perhaps like Gregor was being forced to work for Allenby’s organisation. Sandy dutifully filled in the details on her computer and set up a team meeting so that everyone would know what was required of them . It would be a busy couple of weeks.
One subject that Joss had been unsure about covering was the use of truth drugs in the interrogation centre. Sandy had assured her that it would be all handled extremely sensitively. They agreed that there would be specific named members of crew allowed in those areas along with Sandy herself. All filmed material would have to be approved by Allenby himself. Sandy was happy to do that , she was sure that the Professor would be delighted with what she produced. Joss looked her straight in the eye and smiled.
News and the people in it can be hysterical, unfortunately not in a funny way.
It is provocative nonsense and is exhausting for anyone really trying to establish the truth.
So my first Executive Order if I was elected President of America would be to ban Hysterical Headlines
I thank Modern American Politics for heightening the role of The Presidential Executive Order,without so many being issued I wouldn’t have known about them.
It’s like a super insect that has the power to provide the most delectable nectar or to sting with the most vicious poison that will make the unwary sick in mind and body.
Internet Bee
It’s the genie that has already jumped out of the bottle and is running rings around the mediocre.
thenotsomightyom 