Chapter 27

When they got there they were shown to the cell where the young lady sat, now in a dressing robe.
"We made her strip," the guard remarked "to her underpants. She had no other weapons concealed on her body."
The girl came up to the bars. "Can I see Stephen?" she asked.
"You don't really want to," Samuel assured. "He can't be moved until the coronor gets here. And he's not very pretty any more. I take it you're not a Redman. Definitely not the Aryan type."
"Good Catholic stock, though," the girl answered.
"Listen," Samuel continued. "You're in big trouble. The mere possession of that little toy you had would put you in prison for the rest of your life. The fact that you didn't use it is going to help a lot. But if you cooperate now, there's a good chance the legal system could decide to be lenient How did you get on base?"
The girl hesitated a moment, then shrugged. "Oh hell!" she moaned. "I suppose I may as well tell you what I know. We swam in, at the beach where you people swim in the nude all the time. A couple of more young people swimming ashore nude weren't even noticed. Our clothes were buried by some bushes, where we could dig them up, unnoticed. Then we hid in an underground facility until our inside contact gave us the signal it was time to move."
"Who was that contact?" Samuel asked.
"Honest to God," the young woman answered, "I don't know! Stephen went out and met whoever it was. I never saw them. But from the way Stephen talked, I had a feeling it was a woman, though he tried not to use gender terms. I just kept getting the feeling he was speaking of a woman."
"I want you to show us exactly where you came ashore," Samuel requested. "We'll get you some clothes and take you out to the beach. I want to retrace every step you took."
"Well, if I'm going outside," the young woman commented, "I'd like some clothes." She came closer to the bars. "And I need to change something," she whispered. "I'm getting rather desperate."
"What?" Samuel asked.
"You know," the girl continued, blushing, "what we use certain times of the month."
"Oh!" Samuel giggled, "Guard, find this young lady some attire and she needs feminine hygine kit #2."
"Yes sir!" the guard snapped. He disappeared, a few minutes later returned with a bundle of clothes, the necessary items on top of them.
"You may shut the curtain a few minutes," Samuel instructed, "but do not be long."
"Yes sir!" the girl answered.
A few minutes later she opened the curtains back up. "All set!" she announced, "Thanks!"
"NEXT time," Samuel encouraged, "just tell them."
"We don't talk about these things as easily as you people do!" the girl answered. "The way you people are so open about it, I don't know!"
Samuel and the others grinned. They got the vehicle and were very quickly at the beach. The girl showed them where she'd come ashore. The container their clothes had been concealed in was buried right where they'd left it.
"This is a hospital container," Samuel remarked. "It's got the clinic's mark on it. Show us where you stayed."
They were led into a small clearing where there was a hatch sticking up out of the ground. The young woman opened it, let them down through a tunnel, into a rather large complex of rooms that had complete toilet facilities. "What is this?" Samuel asked.
One of the guards spoke up. "It is the control facilities for the second fish farm," he explained, "They were built when the Academy was built so that when the second farm was started up we wouldn't have to tear up the ground again for more construction. From time to time they're used for emergency storage, but they've been cleaned out as the work on the second farm is supposed to start this spring."
The young woman led them where her and her companion had slept. Samuel examined all the gear on the floor, but did not touch it. It would all need to be fingerprinted.
"How did you get from here into The Academy?" he asked.
The young woman led them into a tunnel that came out half way between the issue room and the hospital.
"Really handy," Samuel remarked. "This little bend in the tunnel makes it extremely easy for anyone to open this access gate, rush around the corner, drop stuff, off, then get back into the hall, unnoticed. The supplies were probably brought here a little at a time. You may take the prisoner back to the brig!" Samuel ordered.
When the prisoner was gone Holmes looked at Samuel questioningly. "You know who it is, don't you?" he remarked.
"I've got a pretty good suspicion," Samuel answered. "A few more questions and I'll be fairly certain. When she said she was Catholic it made my suspicions begin to fall into place. There's only one person on base that has contact with the Catholic community, our liason for charitable work....the chief nurse, the supply officer's wife! Let's go up to supply. I want to talk to the clerk, then officer White!"
Holmes nodded. Samuel called the clerk out into the hall. The small man was obviously nervous. He took off his glasses and began to clean them.

Page 35

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