LOGAN (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 5) (18 page)

Geoffrey took advantage of the gathering to tell everyone that they could resume eating but should continue to avoid the water. If they felt at all unusual after eating, they were to notify Tarla immediately.

The hungry crowd practically tripped over each other to get to the kitchen. Refortified, there was barely a complaint uttered when Geoffrey gave out the day's chore assignments. Though he knew they all needed to get some sleep, he requested a meeting with Logan's team, Tarla and Robin. He had ordered Higgs not to share his story with anyone else yet, but knowing the temptation would probably be too great for him, he asked Higgs to join them as well.

Geoffrey waited until all the other teams departed then gathered his group under one of the large shade trees near the big house. As soon as they were settled, he asked Logan to open the discussion.

"Actually," Logan said, "you heard all there was to report when we came out of the barn. Everyone was in place. I heard the hissing sound and pretended to fall asleep. We waited as planned but nothing happened. They had to have known we were up to something."

"There is another possibility," Higgs said. He paused for Geoffrey to acknowledge him before continuing. "They might have come for you and you may have attacked but they overpowered you then replaced your memories with what they wanted you to remember, which was, that nothing happened. They might have that much power."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Look, Higgs, I've had just about—"

"Hold off on that," Geoffrey said quickly. "I think you need to hear something first." He still wasn't entirely convinced that Higgs's tale was true but he also wasn't convinced otherwise. "Go ahead, Higgs, tell them what happened. But, please, try to stick to the basic facts without your assumptions. I'd like everyone else's opinion without being influenced by your superior knowledge of extraterrestrials." As he had hoped, Higgs took that as a compliment and proceeded to give a fairly concise report that was only slightly more enhanced than the story he'd told Tarla and Robin. If nothing else, he provided a much needed boost to the team's spirits.

Gianni laughed the loudest. "Right! Out of all the men stranded here, she picked you to teach her about sex!"

"You were lucky it wasn't a giant lizard who came for a few lessons," Lee taunted.

"If you were so damn good," another prodded, "how come she didn't abduct you and take you home in her spaceship?"

"Oh, sure," Higgs whined. "You can all laugh but you wouldn't think it was so funny if you were the one forced to strip and play stud-horse to the creature from the black lagoon."

Geoffrey cleared his throat to stop the not-so-good-natured teasing. "That's enough everyone. I can vouch for the fact that Higgs was near hysteria when he came to my tent.
Something
happened to him out there and, considering the fact that we're sitting under a green sky it's certainly possible that he was used, or abused, by a woman from outside the farm." He covered his mouth with his hand but couldn't quite conceal his smile. "I do apologize, Higgs. I am trying to believe your story but you must see how difficult it is to imagine. All the residents we've talked to claim they've never
seen
anyone from the other side of the wall, let alone be assaulted by one."

Higgs opened his mouth to reply but Tarla cut him off.

"Okay," Tarla said. "No matter how hard it is to imagine, this is all we've got. I've been thinking about it for hours and I keep coming back to one thing. This woman warned Higgs not to drink the water. By tonight, if everyone is feeling even more clearheaded than last night, we should know whether the warning had basis. If so, we have to consider what else she said."

"Yeah! And you know what that was?" Higgs asked in a challenging tone. "She's coming back for me. She'll make me do it again. And she threatened to turn me into dust if I didn't have something new to show her. Maybe you should all come and watch. Then you'll see that I didn't make any of this up!"

"That's it!" Gianni exclaimed, fighting a grin. "We'll all go watch Higgs perform and when he's got the alien blinded by lust, we grab her. Maybe if we threaten never to let her use Higgs's body again, she'll take us to her leader."

Everyone burst into another round of off-color joking but Geoffrey put a stop to it by saying, "It could work. If Higgs distracted her sufficiently, we might be able to capture her."

"A hostage?" Logan asked, still looking somewhat amused.

"Have you got a better idea?" Tarla countered then was immediately sorry she had, for it brought his attention to her. As much as she wanted to lower her gaze, she didn't allow herself to be such a coward. Finally, he was the one who looked away to speak to Geoffrey.

"The only other thing that's come to me would be for one man to go into the tack room with a mask of some kind to prevent him from inhaling the gas. We could stage another fight and have the loser appear to have a broken nose or something, like Wilkes's jaw. That way the mask wouldn't be noticed for what it really was."

"They have too much power," Higgs declared. "I didn't stand a chance and I was only facing one of them."

Logan ignored him. The differences between Higgs and himself weren't worth wasting breath on. He kept his eyes on the major until the man was obliged to make a decision.

"We'll try to capture the woman first," Geoffrey said after a few more seconds of silent deliberation. "If that fails, then I'll consider sending in one man, but only as a last resort."

Contrary to the old adage, keeping their hands busy for the remainder of the day did not make the time go faster. At sundown, Tarla and the other nurses took a poll of everyone's mental condition. They were bored with the menial tasks and anxious for action. No one could be described as
relaxed
.

On a personal basis, she could attest to the fact that in spite of numerous glances passing between her and Logan, neither was overcome by desire. Her defenses were firmly in place, and apparently his indifference was as well. The only emotion she was suffering from was lingering bewilderment... and some disappointment.

Geoffrey's team gathered together without his having to call them.

Tarla made her report first. "I don't think there's any question about it. The only thing we have all avoided is the water and everyone is behaving normally."

"If, by normal," Logan added, "you mean Higgs is so antsy he's making my skin itch and Wilkes is preparing to go ten more rounds with Lee Tang, then I agree. The drug, or whatever it is, must be in the water."

Geoffrey nodded. "Of course, this is only supposition, but, if we hadn't stopped drinking the water yesterday, I believe we would all be totally passive by now."

"Just like the puppet-people," Logan said.

Robin made a face. "We'd probably be bedding down now, perfectly content to sleep until it was time to work again.
Yuk
! What a horrible thought."

"Agreed," Geoffrey said. "We would have given up on any escape attempt and our caretakers would still expect that, which gives us the advantage of surprise."

Logan agreed. "It's probably also safe to assume that they'll be lowering their guard once they're certain their drug has taken effect."

"Which means, we need to act the way they expect us to," Geoffrey stated. "Slow-moving, little or no conversation, early to bed, early to rise. This meeting is to be the last of its kind. We'll have to be extremely discreet from now on."

Higgs couldn't stay silent another moment. "If you capture the woman tonight, none of that may be necessary. I could tell she was somebody important. Used to giving orders, you know. They'll probably agree to anything we want to get her back."

"Are you still willing to go through with this?" Geoffrey asked Higgs.

"I'll do whatever I have to," he replied seriously, despite several snickers from the others.

"Then, unless anyone has thought of an alternative," Geoffrey concluded, "we go with the hostage plan." He waited a few seconds, but no one spoke up. "That's it then. We all retire to our tents except Higgs, who will be patrolling the area as he did last night. There's even less moonlight tonight and heavier cloud cover which will help some, but that field is still wide open. It's going to be very difficult to sneak up on her without her seeing us."

Logan offered his advice. "The clothes we have are all light colors, but the blankets are dark. If we're lying on the ground, covered by the blankets, we should be fairly well camouflaged. At midnight, my team will crawl out of their tents, hidden under blankets and position themselves in a horseshoe around the spot where Higgs is to have his rendezvous. Once he gets her good and distracted... preferably naked and disarmed... we'll close up the ends of the horseshoe and move in."

"What about weapons for us?" Alicia asked.

"No weapons," Geoffrey said. "Take ropes to tie her up, but I don't want to risk any accidents that might reduce our bargaining power."

Logan went over the timing and each person's positioning and movements. "Any questions?"

"Should I give some kind of signal when I see her coming?" Higgs asked. His unintentional pun earned another round of chuckles and, once he got the joke, he laughed with them. "I'm serious," he protested in vain. "I could whistle to let you know she's approaching then I can say something appropriate when it's a good time to move in, like...
now.
"

"It works for me," Lee said with a grin and everyone else agreed.

Gianni gave Higgs a pat on the shoulder. "Even if you imagined this whole thing, I appreciate you giving me something to laugh about."

Geoffrey shook hands with each member of Logan's team wished them luck then they each straggled off to their own tents to try to get a few hours' sleep before beginning another vigil.

At the appointed hour, Logan's team stealthily slipped out of their tents and started creeping toward the field. Higgs had to keep reminding himself to walk slowly and ignore the dark mounds slithering their way across the ground. As he meandered repeatedly along the same patrol path he had set for himself the night before, he kept his gaze focused on the spot where he had first noticed the woman in the field.

What if she doesn't come back
? He would never live it down.
Why couldn't she have chosen someone else, like McKay or Wilkes
? No one would have laughed at them.
What if she does show up and he can't get it up
? It was one thing for a couple of guys to share the same whore in front of each other but this was different.
Geez
! He was going to have to do it in front of the whole squad!

He did a quick check of his male anatomy to make sure it hadn't disappeared altogether. He had to forget about how many people were watching and counting on him to make good. He decided his best bet was to call up one of his favorite fantasies and concentrate on that.

Keeping his attention on the field, he pictured two gorgeous lingerie models driving along in a terrible thunderstorm. Suddenly, their car stalls out, right in front of his house. Since his parents are out of town, he's the only one home. By the time the two girls knock on his door to ask for help, they're both soaked, their thin tee-shirts clinging to their perfect, perky, and braless breasts.

As his mind automatically replayed the part of the fantasy where they exchange their wet clothes for towels and proceed to show him their appreciation, he felt his body quickening. If Parisia came—oops,
when
Parisia came for her next lesson, he would simply close his eyes and pretend she was one of his stranded models.

Despite his positive attitude, however, when another hour passed and she hadn't shown up, all his worries resurfaced. He glanced up at the black sky and wondered if he was going to get rained on now as well. As he passed near one of the mounds on the ground, it spoke to him.

"
Psst!
Higgs. Isn't it about time for wonder woman to show up for her date?"

Higgs was about to shoot back a smart reply when he saw a figure in the distance. He walked a few steps more until he was fairly sure it was her. Puckering his lips to make the promised announcement of her approach, he realized he hadn't been told what tune to whistle. The only song that came to his mind was "The Star-Spangled Banner," and that seemed a little disrespectful. Telling himself that what he was about to do was in fact his patriotic duty, he licked his lips and whistled the opening bars of the national anthem.

Holding on to the mental picture of his two wet models, he prepared himself to confront the enemy.

Chapter 10