IMAGINATION'S PLACE
A PLACE OF SHAME
By; Speaker Gerald Polley
THE ANCIENT ONE soared the skies hunting two abducted
children, but as of yet had no success in finding them. He was
considering heading overseas to deal with a little mat- . ter
there, when he heard a signal from one of his Spirit Agents, left
to watch someone The Ancient One had been wanting to deal with
for some time, but needed the right circumstances to be
effective. The agent's urgent call told The Ancient One he had
something of interest. He led The Ancient One to a house on the
outskirts of the nation's capitol ... a luxurious private
estate surrounded by electric fences, guard dogs, and armed
men. His guide led The Ancient One to his quarry, who was sitting
in a bar with several companions. One of the men looked Asian,
and was speaking to The Ancient One's target.
"Our friends are very upset," he commented,
"they paid you good money to arrange your little holiday
surprise, and are quite bewildered that the men you assured them
would succeed, failed. They either want their money back,
Senator, or, they want an alternative."
"I can't understand!" The Senator remarked,
"They were the best ... the VERY best. They'd do anything if
the money was right, no questions asked. I can't understand how
they failed. I'm working on a new operation. Tell your friends
they'll get their little war. I can return the bulk of the money.
You can hold it in lieu of the new operation. It will take me a
few days to cover the down payment I gave my men. I ho~e your
clients will not be unreasonable. I ve taken some grave risks in
these matters."
The Asian man nodded. "If you fulfill what you say," he
said, "I'm sure my clients will be reasonable. But I would
not fail them a second time! Their patience is not all THAT good!
"I wont fail them againl" the Senator answered.
"Though a strike here in the capitol would be difficult, it
is manageable. Now if you will excuse me, I would like to have my
entertainment and depart. I have much to do."
His host bowed and the Senator, with The Ancient One following,
proceeded to a wing of the house where two men sat in a small
office by a locked door. One of them emerged, opening the door.
"She's all ready," he told the Senator, "but it's
a good thing you came tonight. She's going fast and we 11 have
to get rid of her soon."
"That will be a shame!" the Senator remarked. He
proceeded down a hallway, took a key from his pocket, unlocked
one of the doors, and entered. The room was well furnished but
The Ancient One hurried ahead, his interest drawn to the bed
where a little Oriental girl of no more than ten was chained,
face up, to the headboard.
As the man approached, the girl begged him, "Please I Don't
do it again! It hurts! It hurts awful I Don't do it again!"
The man sat down on the bed and rubbed her leg. "I've told
you before," he said, "nobody likes a crybaby. Now you
be a good girl. It won't hurt soon. It won't hurt at all. "
The man turned around and began to disrobe. The Ancient One
realized the girl was dying. She was very near death now, and
this man knew it, and simply didn't care. When she would finally
die from the infection their entertainment had caused, they
would simply dump her little body somewhere, and get another
little girl to replace her.
The Ancient One did something he very rarely did; he entered a
female form. He slipped into the little body as easily as another
would slip on a glove. The moment he did so, the little girl's
pain vanished. The infection that had spread through her entire
body vanished. She became exactly as she was before these men had
touched her, except with one very important difference; The
Ancient One was inside her. 'She had his power, his strength.
Looking to his right The Anciient One saw that arm was only
secured with a rope, for the left one was secured with a chain
that could be slackened to allow the girl to reach the bathroom,
and have some mobility around the room when her tormentor wasn't
present. With little effort he snapped the rope, then with the
same ease, pulled the chain from the manacle that secured it, and
moved silently down the bed, coming up behind the man who was now
naked from the waist up.
The Ancient One made the girl's right hand close around the man's
neck, and pulled him backwards. The man looked in surprise.
"How ... " he started to say, but the girl's left hand
seized his jaw, and with incredible strength forced it shut. When
she spoke, it was The Ancient One's voice that emerged from her
lips.
"I would like to prolong this," he said, "I would
like to cause you even a small amount of the pain you have caused
this child. But unfortunately I am bound by rules, and unlike
you, I keep rules."
The man began to struggle but found himself in a grip he couldn
t break. Neither could he callout, for the little hand kept his
mouth tightly closed, no matter how he fought to free it. The
Ancient One began to twist the man's neck sideways. There was a
considerable SNAP and the man went limp. The Ancient One laid him
out on the bed, straightened his head, then extended his hand. A
pale blue light engulfed the body. After a few moments it jerked,
sat up, and stared at the little girl.
"Stay here," The Ancient One ordered, "while I do
some searching. You will need your strength later." The man
gave a nod then rubbed his neck; obviously still in some
discomfort. The Ancient One, still in the girl's body, entered
the hall. Crossing a corridor he opened a door. In the room was a
boy of about I5, chained to the bed as the girl had been, but
face down. A naked man was with him, stroking his back and
talking to him softly. The boy's only response was weeping. As
The Ancient One came up beside the bed, the older man looked up
in surprise.
"How in hell did YOU get in here?" he snapped.
"Get out! I don t want your kind.