Karmal's Saga

Chapter 3

Karmal finished the last of her lunch,then the flight attendant returned to take her tray and handed Karmal an envelope with the W_S-T_N logo on the front,with her name had written across the address section.Opening she finds a memo form inside and reads”Karmal,

I forgot to tell you but there will be a $5,000 signing bonus waiting for you when you get to corporate headquarters.You will be able to pick this up late this afternoon in room 225.

You may want to go ahead and take care of the paperwork and do the medical exam first, then go by and pick your bonus up as it is in the form of traveler's checks which you will need to sign.So glad to have you aboard!-Steele.

“Oh how nice.” Karmal thinks to herself and the contrast between her first day with this company versus that of her first work day with the slavers in Mexico again sets her mind racing and the anger wells up in her again at the thought of how she was treated by the overseer on her first work assignment.Karmal's mind starts to replay the details as she starts to doze again as the hum of the jet engines, combined with the big lunch lull her

into another dream state. Karmal had been awakened at 4 A.M. for her first day as a labor slave and after being allowed a few minutes in the bathroom and breakfast on the run, she was led into a small room and was given a “uniform” of sorts.

Her uniform” consisted only of a pair of low cut boots and a pair of heavy socks to protect her feet. Except for the collar around her neck and the boots she was informed she

would work totally naked. After putting on the boots she was taken out to the timber yard where the overseer there went over her assignment and his expectations.

Leading her down past many stacks of Red Oak logs he leads her to a clearing in front of a huge stack of logs, then explains” We import Red Oak logs in as they seem to give the most even heat in the tile kilns. These logs come in by railroad and have to be cut

into 3 foot sections and then we stack the 3 foot sections so that will dry evenly.

You have several things to do here in this process; first you will retrieve each log with this

hand powered winch and place each log on the saw rack. Then you will need to mark a 1 foot section on each end and then measure your three foot sections from there, using this measuring stick. We have found that these extra 1 foot cuts give us the best interior wood and it heats better. That's a lot of extra work, but since we use slave labor, it makes no difference to us. Then you take this single crosscut saw and make your cuts .Once you have the sections cut you use the winch again and stack the sections as you see these drying stacks over to the left here are stacked. We let the sections dry for 2 weeks then we will have you return and split these

sections into halves then quarters.”

Now I will let you do your first one while I watch so you get things right. I will also watch how you work then set your quota for the day. Now you got any questions?”Karmal thought for a minute and then asked “How many of us are going to be working on this?”

The overseer chuckled and said”How many? Well that's an easy one, help, hmm you don't get any help with this! Now, take the cable and winch your first log off the stack.

Karmal, took the heavy cable and climbed up to the top of the log pile and attached the cable to both ends of a huge log, then climbed down and went over to the winch, which she found was indeed hand powered. A large handle extended from the main pulley

she grasped the handle and began cranking the winch, which took all her strength

In her back and chest muscles, Finally the log clears the pile and Karmal has to pull

to the winch to the left and position it over the saw rack.Then, the overseer shows her how to reverse the winch and Karmal carefully lowers the log into place.Then, taking the measuring stick she carefully marks the 1 foot cut at the base end of the log and than marks the other sections, noting that with the extra 1 foot cuts this log will require 6 cuts.

She picks up the saw and starts the first cut and soon finds that sawing is probably the hardest part of the job as the saw makes its slow progress through the dense Oak, she pauses to catch her breath and the overseer orders” Don't ever stop once you start a

Cut, it's too much effort to get the cut started again and you need to cut faster.”

Karmal starts the cut again and tries her best to speed up the saw putting all her effort into it ,finally the 1 foot section falls free and she moves to the next cut and starts the process again. Half way through this second cut her muscles are screaming for relief and she tries to work through the pain, willing her arms to push and pull the saw. Despite her best efforts the overseer is not pleased” All right Miss big titty flab queen, lets double up, see if you can double the pace on the next cut, in fact I think you need a little motivation.”

Moving to the third cut the overseer moves behind Karmal and watches her effort and says” Faster damnit, I said double the pace!” Then Karmal feels a sting of fire across her back as the overseer uses a small multi-tail whip to motivate her. Somehow she gives him the pace he is demanding and he backs away. The next cuts go quickly and finally the last cut falls to the ground and Karmal stops to survey her work. The overseer orders”Now, these first ones you can roll over to form the base of the stack, but after the next two logs you will need to winch each one in place.”

Karmal,rolls each section over to the section the overseer indicates and then he inspects her work and says” You got the method down, but you have to work a lot faster than you just did, as it took you over an hour to do that one log. What I need is for you to complete

4 logs per hour, but it being your first day I will modify that some, but only this first day.

Checking his watch he says”Alright its 6 AM, so that leaves you 14 hours today, so by

8:00 PM you will have done 42 logs. I'll send the water wagon by here in about two hours, in the meantime you had better get your ass in gear, because I will be by from time to time to check on you.BTW, I know the thought has crossed your mind already, but don't think you can escape from here, there is a 100 miles of desert in all directions surrounding our place here and without any water to take with you, you won't make it very far, and we control who gets water when. Plus there are lots of Sidewinders, Scorpions and banditos out there.”

With that he leaves and Karmal starts on her daunting task, winching the next log into place and then as she starts marking and sawing, the Sun finally starts shining down on her work area and soon waves of heat rise up around Karmal and this only exacerbates her growing thirst as the waves of heat cause her to sweat even more profusely as she saws

away at the cuts in the log.

Finally as she is winching the cut 3' sections into place she looks up to see a brown haired, muscular female pulling a large cart behind her. Spotting Karmal the female turns in her direction and

and stops the cart beside the winch,announcing”Water Break” in a loud voice.Karmal climbs down from the winch and the female hands her a bottle of spring water, which she quickly consumes. Looking about the female asks” Where are the others?” to which Karmal replies” What others, the overseer told me that I wasn't getting any help.” The female turns and looks at Karmal and replies”Oh no, don't tell me they are having you do all this by yourself!”Karmal then explains her instructions from the overseer that morning and the facts that he had walked her through all the steps necessary to cut the logs in three foot sections and then stack them for drying. She also explained that she had specifically asked about the what help she was going to get and repeated the fact that the overseer indicated

she was not going to have any help.

The female handed Karmal another bottle of water and then indicates that she take a seat.

“I am afraid I have some things I had best tell you.” the female states as she too takes a seat in the shade of the cart” I have been here for over a year now and the assignment the overseer has given you to carry out is normally carried out by a 4 woman team. In fact they have to team up and coordinate their efforts in order to meet their daily quota.” she pauses and then asks Karmal”What quota did the overseer give you this morning?” Karmal replied “42 logs by 8PM tonight is what he told me, but I don't see how I am going to meet the quota as there is so much to be done to each log.” The female looked at Karmal in disbelief as she said”42 logs in 16 hours!Oh honey they are working you hard,

You see normally the quota for a 4 woman crew per day is 50 logs cut and stacked

and they achieve that by putting 4 logs at a time of the saw rack and then the pairs

push and pull them in concert.” she points to the saw rack and says”See it's wide enough to take 4 logs at once and as the logs are winched in place by the other 3 women, the fourth one is marking the logs as they are put in place.” she then asks “What kind of saw did they give you to use?” Karmal gets up and retrieves the saw and returns with it and hands it to the female. She looks it over and says” In all the time I have been here I have never seen one of these single saws, most saws are 10' or 12' in length with a handle on both ends.” She then points to the saw teeth on the blade and says” Look here every other toot on this blade has been flattened very precisely, causing you to have do twice as many strokes than if they were all sharp.”

Karmal absorbs this news for a moment, then asks “What happens if I don't meet my quota each day?” to which the female replies “A variety of things, the overseer may increase your hours or you may have other tasks waiting on you when you finish here

Each day, it all depends on how much quota deficit you have at the end of the week.

One fortunate thing is they are not as strict here in the log yard about missing quotas as they are in the Clay Mines and Sand Pits.” the female pauses and then explains” See

Most of us are sent here to the log yard for a few months as this gets us in condition

for the work in the Clay Mines and Sand Pits, now those two are where the real work takes place and will make what you are doing here seem like an easy stroll in the park.” She stands and says “I need to go, hand me your empty bottles as I have to turn them in at the end of each run and account for them. I will be back in two hours and we will talk some more.”Karmal asks as the female starts to leave ‘Will you bring any food next time?”

And the female replies”No, that's the trip after this next one.” And with that she trots off

in the distance as Karmal wrestles with the news she has just learned.

She awakens again as the flight attendant advises her that the plane is only 20 minutes from the airport and tells Karmal that if she looks to the left in about 10 minutes she will begin to see the island that corporate owns and uses for it's headquarters location. She looks below and sees miles of ocean below and several small islands come into view first, and then what must be the corporate island fills the view as the plane descends.Karmal

sees what is apparently corporate headquarters, a compound of ultra-modern looking buildings which is centered inside a series of 6 fences, which seem to grow outward from

the compound. The plane lands and then taxis and comes to a stop and the flight attendant

opens the door as a stairway is wheeled to the forward passenger door.Karmal says bye to the flight attendant and two men in coats and ties are at the foot of the stairway.

“Ms.English? How do you do I am Bob Connors and this is Bill Wilkinson.Welcome to

Headquarters and also welcome aboard the company as well.”Karmal replies” Thank you, I am certainly glad to be here. I didn't realize the island was as big as it is the brochure Mr. Steele showed me just doesn't do it justice.” Both men laughed and agreed with her

as they lead her over to a Mercedes SUV.Wilkinson holds the front passenger door open for her and tells her her bags are already off the plane and on the way to her

suite in the company hotel.

Connors takes the wheel and cranks up and starts driving and Karmal notices about a dozen private jets parked on one side of the airport, all with different colors and several bearing Arabic writing on the tail and body.” Does the company own all these jets?”

Connors replies” I wish we did, it would sure beat having to wait for one of our jets to show up. No, actually, these jets are owned by some of out clients, including several from our clients in the Middle East. Those oil sheiks seem to get more paranoid as they get richer and they hire us to beef up their protection. We have a special event coming up

With some of our better customers starting tonight and that's why all the private jets.

Wilkinson then adds” Matter of fact that will be part of your training ,as you will get to meet some of these client's and in turn this will give them a chance to meet you and some of other new employees as well.”

The SUV approaches a gated entrance and the gate opens automatically and then this process is repeated several times as they pass through the 6 fences Karmal saw from the air.Karmal asks” Why so many fences, I saw six from the air?” Connors replies" Well it keeps intruders of any sort out and on several occasions we have had client's come here

for protective custody. The fences are not the only measure we have as each square inch

of ground inside the fences is monitored by motion sensors, infra- red sensors and closed circuit TV as well. Biggest problem we have with this is these sensors pick up every lizard that comes to visit at 3 AM.!” This brings a round of laughter from them all.

Finally clearing the last gate, the SUV pulls up to the Headquarters entrance and Karmal

is met by a woman at the front door and introduces herself as Ivy Goodwin. Like Connors and Wilkinson,Ivy also is very welcoming and then leads Karmal through a series of

doors,each requiring that Ivy place her thumb on a scanner.They finally reach Ivy's

office and Ivy says” I know you have had a long trip on the plane and if you need to freshen up, please do.Karmal replies”No, actually I slept most of the trip and freshened up on the plane. To which Ivy replies with a smile”Alright then, well we have time today to get your medical exam completed then you can tackle all the paperwork in the morning if you like. The medical exam does not involve much as most of it consists of a full body open MRI, which is about as easy as standing in a phone booth.” With that Ivy picked up

The phone and punched in a number”Hi this is Ivy, Karmal English just arrived.Can I bring her down now? You do how many? 6, ok well we don't want to keep her waiting, she is on the executive list .Alright, be there in a minute.”

Ivy hangs up the phone and gets up from her desk” Lets walk down there, there are several new hires waiting, but they will take you back as soon as the next nurse is available to assist you. Rank has its privileges!” she said with a smile. They pass through several

gates all requiring Ivy to place her thumb on the scanner and Karmal says” I guess it is

as hard to get out as it is to get in this place with these scanners on the doors.” Ivy replies

“Well you would think so, but thank goodness they are designed otherwise.” Ivy pauses at an elevator and again places her thumb on a scanner and the elevator doors open and they start downwards finally stopping at the lowest floor where they walk down a corridor and into a plushly appointed lobby type office. Ivy walks to the desk and speaks to the receptionist who looks up from her work and then smiles at Karmal”Ms.English ,I apologize but you may have to wait just a few minutes and then as soon as one of the nurses gets through she will take you right back, may I get you anything while you wait?”Karmal replies that she does not require anything at the moment and the receptionist indicates a seat for her and then deferentially adds” please let me know if I can do anything to make you more comfortable.” Ivy then says” I am going back to my office, just dial 05 in any phone to reach me when you are through and I will come back for you.”

Karmal then takes a seat and notices the 6 other women waiting as well ,as two leggy brunettes are chatting with each other and a woman with reddish blonde hair is reading an Engineering Journal, beside her is a heavy set read head who appears to be dozing, and to her left are two frowning women with brown hair. In another minute a nurse enters and walks up to Karmal and says”Ms.English, I am Lynn Dobbs and I want to apologize for your having to wait. If you will follow me we can have you out of here in a half an hour or so.”Karmal follows her into a medical exam room and then the nurse has her to take a seat on the exam room table.She then takes Karmal's blood pressure and checks her pulse

and carefully records each measurement. She then says”Ms.English ,most of our medical exam will be conducted using a full body scan MRI.In order to do that I will need for you to fully disrobe and remove all jewelery.We will have to take a short walk down the hall

to the MRI room and here is a paper garment for you to wear until we get to the MRI chamber itself. I will step outside now, please come out when you are ready. Your clothing and jewelry will be safe here as I will lock the door after you come out.”

Karmal starts to undress and a small shudder runs through her as getting naked again brings back echoes of Mexico. But she thinks, these folks have been treating me like royalty since I came in and they do provide this paper dress to wear down the hall. She slips the paper dress over her head and she sees it does cover things quite nicely.Karmal then opens the door and the nurse smiles and locks the door and then leads Karmal down the hallway

and through another thumb scanner controlled doorway. She then stops and opens a door

labeled “MRI-6 and she Karmal enter the room and the nurse closes the door and says

“Now Ms.English, the first part of the scan will be for you to walk forward and stand

between the two red lines indicated, this is not the actual MRI but a scan to insure

That you don't have any perfume or other substances that might interfere with the scan itself, we have found this saves a lot of having to come back for a rescan. I also need your dress off before we begin.”Karmal removes the dress and then a walk to the spot between the two red lines and the nurse then says”Alright, raise your head and stare straight ahead, that's fine.”Karmal hears a click and then is told to turn facing left, then facing the

back wall, then a quarter turn to the right, each position followed by a metallic click.

The nurse then says now lets step into the MRI chamber itself as she opens a door just beyond the red lines.Karmal enters and the room is actually quite spacious with a contoured scanning table in the center of the room. The nurse has Karmal to sit and then lie back on the table itself and then directs her to place her arms well above her head

and her ankles about 18” apart .The nurse then says I will step outside now and in a moment the scan will begin, you will hear a slight humming sound and it is important that you not breathe or move during the scan.” With that the nurse leaves the room and Karmal waits for the scan to begin.

Then she hears a low hum and holds her breath as the table seems to vibrate slightly then in the blink of an eye and before she can react she her wrists, neck, thighs and ankles are secured in steel restraints.Her heart pounds as she struggles helplessly to get free of the restraints and then she screams as her mind tries to comprehend the reality of the moment.

Then the door opens and a man walks in and looks her over slowly.” What is this? This isn't part of the scan is it? What is this some kind of joke?” Karmal asks, desperate for answers and near panic. The man pauses as if thinking then says “No, this is no joke.”

In reply Karmal says well I need to be let go. I have all sorts of things I have to do

for my new job!” The man then says”Job?Oh that, you fell for that hook, line and sinker my dear. Let me ask you do you know what the letters W_S-T_N stand for? Karmal replies

“Yes, Mr.Steele said it stood for We Stop Terrorists Now” The man laughs and says

“Steele, he does get creative with these letters.” then the smile leaves his face and

Karmal's blood runs cold as the man says” Actually, W_S-T_N stands for White Slave Traders Network and you are our newest acquisition!”In just a few hours you will be marched totally naked and in chains to the auction block and sold to the highest bidder and with those tits my dear we will make a very,very nice profit on you.