Breaking Point Ch. 16-20 free porn video

16. Revelations "There is an ancient tribal proverb I once heard in India. It says that before we can see properly we must first shed our tears to clear the way." -- Libba Bray ***** Five minutes after Rodriguez left, Rachel stirred from the bed and reset the straps on her left shoulder. Humming, she danced a few steps around the room, until she saw herself in the mirror. The voice inside spoke then. 'Wake-up.' Which happened with a start. "Shit! This is crazy. I've got to get out of these clothes." The remnant of male thinking perhaps driving this act, she stripped as fast as prudence would allow, fumbling with the bra and stockings. 'Shit, laddered them, well, that should please Heinmann. Oh god what do I do now?' And then sat, sobbing, on the floor, clutching the housecoat like some kind of a children's soft comforting blanket. As she did, she felt something paper-like crinkle in the pocket. Without changing position, she checked again. Then she dropped her hands to her abdomen and headed for the one place without a camera. Once inside, she found and unfolded the little note. 'Can't brief team. No-one else knows your status. Plans going well but you're on your own here. "If you're saying that coming here was a bad idea, I'm starting to agree with you."' Rachel read the last phrase out loud before she ripped up and then chewed some of the paper, flushing it down the bowl. smudging her lipstick into the bargain. Emotionally drained and confused, she then crawled back into the main bedroom and curled up into a foetal ball. "God stop this, please stop this, I can't take any more!" Rachel wasn't sure if the sound was still on, she didn't really care. The final trigger phrase had finished the note. So all the 'intel' could now be divulged. In the control room Heinmann was looking daggers at Rodriguez, not the least for his failure to 'seduce' Ray, instead of at the screen. It was the shout and the whimpering sounds from the speaker that made him look at the screen. "Quick, get someone in there..." Rodriguez ordered. "No! Leave her alone. This is very sudden." Heinmann was suddenly very apprehensive. "What happened?" he snapped at the corporal. "The Colonel left the lady on the bed, fainted way," he told them. "...she recovered, danced a moment, then saw her reflection, and went quite mad. Tore the dress off and then went to the toilet, after which she crawled out and curled up, like that." "Well?" Rodriguez asked, raising his eyebrows. "Very well, but they go in with the safety off." "Someone should contact General Cortez." "No need, I'm here," Cortez said, walking into the control room. "General?" "No reports for a week, and then my chef goes missing for the evening, with rumours of a woman being entertained down here. What would you do Lieutenant-Colonel? Or will that be Major again?" "Oh I think Full Colonel sounds much better sir. We've done it. If you would observe." They directed his attention to the screen where Rachel was still sobbing into her hands, the housecoat covering her shoulders. "What happened?" "Well, we decided to increase the pressure, and show Barker just how feminine he had already become, so we um, persuaded him into a dress, aided by the bribe of a proper meal, we added a movie, at the end of which I eh, kissed him into submission." "I wish I had seen that." Behind him the corporal grinned and glanced at the video-recorder, still running beneath the second monitor. Rodriguez noticed the glance and then noticed the red 'record' indicator on the machine. "It would appear, sir you will get the chance." "Is he naked?" Cortez asked, pointing at the screen. "We refer to Barker as she sir, you remember?" "I do not need to be reminded of gender pronouns by a subordinate." "I'm sorry General, I apologise, my remarks were ill considered." "Well, show me the tape and then we will decide what to do," commanded Cortez curious to see what Rodriguez had just done. They watched the tape; from the moment the 'couple' returned to the room until the feminised figure lay on the floor in the foetal position. At the end of it, Cortez turned to Heinmann. "Well Doctor, this is your scheme, has it worked?" "It looks as though it may have done, but Barker is really tricky." "Oh trust me Doctor, Raymond Barker knows who the real man is, and it's not him," Rodriguez boasted happily. "Fetch the prisoner to the Salon; we will begin the questioning there." "Clothing?" Rodriguez asked. "Of course!" "No Sir, I meant male or female?" "The housedress will do, if it isn't too damp." "Very well." Rodriguez took two soldiers with him to fetch Ray Barker. When they got to the room Rachel had stopped moving, but was still crying softly. "Miss Barker, get dressed please, the General wants to talk to you." The figure continued to sob. "Ray, Get Up!" Still no reaction. "Rachel stand up immediately." The commanding voice seemed to get through and the figure rose, or had it been the feminine name. "Put the housedress on properly." Rachel moved automatically and slipped the housedress from her shoulders over her head and let it fall into place. Not trusting her to walk, Rodriguez himself fetched the wheelchair and wheeled her along to the Salon. He would have preferred the Infirmary, but Alvarez was recovering there... "Miss Barker, this is General Cortez, he has the power to end this for you. All you have to do is tell him about the rebels. Just tell him what you know and we will then sort out your future." Rachel was babbling. "Please, no more nasty needles... no more electrolysis, oh maybe yes, get rid of beard... Such funny coloured nails... Pretty Red." "Just tell us what we need to know." "I've got tits... You gave me tits... I can't ever be Ray again...you need to know something? Do I know something? Oh, Dave, my mind is going, I can feel it." "Ray, concentrate. You need to tell us about your friends in the Freedom Army," Rodrigues asked. "Ray again? I...I...you kissed me. Did you mean it?" "Yes, now concentrate Rachel." "Have you ever retired a human by accident?" "Not now. Your friends in San Carlos City, the people who helped you booby trap the refinery." "Friends, yes..." a sob interrupted the sentence. "My contact, he's a nice man, I mean; you really want me to... to grass on him? Won't that mean you arrest him?" "Yes, but it's quite important that you do," Rodriguez said, smiling benevolently at her. "My contact is Juan Hernandez, of the Caf? De Sol. Will I always have breasts now?" "Only if you want them, now, your contact phrase?" "Oh, a line from an old UNCLE film, 'the swallows have returned to Capistrano.'" "I have details on him being a film buff," Heinmann said, smugly. "What about his sabotage cell?" "Oh, I know that voice... Old bollockless bratwurst. Karl Friedrick Heinmann." Rachel swung her attention and looked around for him. "You know; (sob) I owe you an apology. I thought nothing good would ever come of you... " "You are avoiding the questions Barker," Heinmann snapped. Rachel sobbed again, a genuine sob of regret. "I didn't mean them to get hurt. I warned them not to get involved. It wasn't until after that I found out... They never used their real names." "Lies!" Heinmann's eyes flashed pure hatred at the sobbing figure. "Filthy lies. Now answer the question." "But it's true. Oh so young...." "Answer the question." "No, or should that be yes?" Rachel's concentration was wandering again. "Where's Alvarez? Oh yes you had him castrated, that funny, frightened, vicious man... Like you Karl. Only he used physical pain." She was warming to her theme. "You! You are really nasty. Messing with people's minds, inflicting all sorts of agonies. This was all you wasn't it? All this? These tits, the hair, the walking. All you? Looking for something were you Karl, you sick bastard." Cortez and Rodriguez backed away during this confrontation, each looking at the other with the slow dawning of understanding creeping across their faces. "I'm sorry. There I said it. What else did you want? You can't really want... Oh my god," She looked in his face and read something in his face that none of the others saw. "You are insane." "I think you should leave," Cortez suggested to Heinmann. He nodded agreement and left. "What was it you asked for?" Rachel asked. "Everything!" "Now? Why? Why can't you leave me alone...?" "We want information!" The phrase seemed to cut through Rachel's confusion and her face became strangely determined. "You won't get it!" Rodriguez took the cue at this point. "By hook or by crook, we will." Cortez looked on in confusion as Rachel smiled at Rodriguez. "Who are you? The new Number 2?" "We need you to help us some more my dear, you will help us, won't you?" "If you want me to?" "Yes, I want you to." "Please, can I have some water, I feel sick?" Rodriguez fetched a beaker of water and helped Rachel to drink. Once she was happy, she sat back in the wheelchair. She seemed coherent and her eyes focussed, although they were still brimming with tears. "Alright, I feel a bit stronger now. What do you want to know?" "We need to know everything you can tell us, but rest for a moment." "I think I ought to know what my options are?" "It depends on what you want Rachel?" Rodriguez said, evenly, believing that the figure was now really broken and had only a feminine response. "Not really... I've not had a choice since you got me here. You made that plain earlier. So, you could reverse the hormone effects and maybe even give me back some beard. But I will never have the same assurance that I had before you did this to me. Besides, you told me I'm dead as Ray, so I am completely in your hands." "That is true, yes," Rodriguez replied. "Besides, you prefer me this way... Don't you?" "Yes." "You could kill me. A potential waste of resources but a viable option." "Too wasteful," Cortez answered. She turned and looked at him. "You are too kind General. Then there is the Alvarez solution. How is she by the way?" Cortez looked askance at his two subordinates; he hadn't known that Ray had seen the operation performed on his former deputy. Rodriguez supplied the answer. "Coping a little better now." "I suppose my level of survival depends on how much I tell you. So I may as well shoot for the moon. You'd better get a tape recorder; this is going to take a while." While a soldier searched for the tape recorder, Cortez had one burning question he wanted answering. "Tell me, how did you manage to booby-trap the refinery?" "Oh that was simple. We were the oil company inspectors who gave your plant the green light. You actually built the devices for us; I just added explosives and a detonation system." Cortez was shocked for a few seconds, and then gave an almighty guffaw. "Priceless, they even paid you to do it." "I thought it was funny too." Cortez smiled, then looked at his watch. "Ah I have another meeting if they have arrived on time. Keep me informed" He left but the interrogation continued. The tape recorder was duly found and set up and Rachel began a long litany of passwords, dates, places and other information. "My strike team was Miguel Diaz, Paulo Tormollo, Manuel Perez and Luis Montego. I know Montego died at the refinery. Diaz was horribly tortured by Alvarez and is probably... oh yes he 'died' with 'me' didn't he? Tormollo was caught with me, but was still alive last I heard, Perez escaped." "Not for long he did a Butch and Sundance when we cornered him," Rodriguez replied. "Oh Manuel, you stupid boy. And Tormollo?" "Still in the prison." As much as possible, she tried to control what came out, but the tears, the remorse and the stress were proving a far greater handicap than she had imagined, there was no doubt that some real intelligence information leaked out with her babbling, but it all sounded good on the tape. They stopped the session after two-and-a-half hours, because it was obvious that Rachel was just babbling, nothing coherent was being recorded, just tears and regrets for those innocents he had injured over his career. So she was sent to bed, with a nightcap of chocolate, intermixed with a strong sedative. ***** Heinmann had gone back to his hotel room, unaware that his son was officially 'in-country' and about to have a conversation with General Cortez. If he had, probability was he would have used his luger on the General. Blissfully unaware of any potential danger Cortez arrived at his office to find Johan waiting, drinking tea. "Thank you Isabella, I wish not to be disturbed." The two men went into the office. The Privacy light came on over the door so the aide didn't monitor the conversation, although the tape recorders did. Johan spoke with Cortez for an hour, then the light went out and the two men exited the room. Their relationship seemed cordial, but with a hint of reserve on the visitor's part. "I will keep you informed," Cortez confirmed, shaking Johan's hand. "Have a driver take Mr Kepler back to his hotel. Isabella." "Yes sir." "Then get Rodriguez and Hernandez up here, I don't care if they have just got to bed. I want them!" "Yes sir." Johan got the driver to return him to the British Embassy, where he was received by Sir Paul Reeves. Their conversation covered what Cortez had wanted and additional information that had been picked up in Mexico. When asked where the two SEALs were, Reeves waved his hands. "About. They are due for a meeting tomorrow." "Okay. Have you arranged accommodation?" "Yes a suite at the Grande. It's only 3 star but in keeping." "For a businessman you mean?" "For a businessman." Johan grinned and shook Sir Paul's hand. They parted and he grabbed a cab to the Grande. ***** Hernandez and Rodriguez presented themselves to the General and he gave each of them a mission. Rodriguez looked like he might argue, then he just nodded and left. Cortez then worked with his aide to re-arrange his timetable for the day. Most of it would be preparing for the hurriedly arranged Cabinet meeting where he had some pointed questions for certain members of the Junta. ***** Rodriguez mission was to an old mentor of his, Field Marshal Torres, who was still Minister for Defence. The message was very simple. Make sure you turn up, and bring your least favourite aide. The one you trust the least. Problem was that the Field Marshal lived on his family ranch when not at a meeting and he had been called back there by a family tragedy. Persuading him to attend after nearly losing a family member would be hard enough. That set him thinking, Torres was old-school, blood and bullets, all for joining in the Malvinas conflict against the British before the Belgrano went down. What was Cortez after? He almost wished he was driving himself; he could take a few short-cuts. Then he asked his driver. "Gerardo, what could have upset the General so much tonight?" "Probably talking to that nasty German's son." "He what?" "Johan Kepler, He's Dr Heinmann's son. The General spent an hour with him. I picked him up from the British Embassy and took him back there. I'm surprised that devil knew a woman long enough to make her pregnant, yet alone sire a son." "Talk like that could get you killed Gerardo," Rodriguez reminded the driver. "Just between you and me Sir. I wouldn't tell anyone else." Rodriguez gave his driver 'the look' through the rear view mirror then settled back to finish the two-hour drive in silence. ***** 17. Chaos "The Chinese used gunpowder to make fireworks for celebrations, and the white man came along and said, Holy shit, we can use this to kill people. What better way to celebrate than that??" ? Jarod Kintz, Seriously delirious, but not at all serious ***** Collecting the Field Marshal proved difficult as he wasn't prepared to leave his wife. Her accident had been the emergency he had come home for. Rodriguez used every method he could to encourage the man to leave, eventually Torres relented, but only after being assured that his wife's condition wasn't critical would he leave with this 'upstart Colonel' That had taken three hours. The two-hour journey back was filled with tension. Torres because he didn't like unexpected summons, even from the Junta, and Rodriguez because he was fretting over Rachel and Heinmann. They reached the outskirts of the city and Gerardo was just turning left onto the main thoroughfare when there was a sudden crashing sound and the car flipped over and over again. It came to a stop resting on the driver's side and Rodriguez, dazed, bruised and bleeding, found himself under the deadweight of Field Marshal Torres. "Quick! Help!" Someone outside cried. "Hold that driver," another voice cried. "He needs help." "Help me turn the car back." Rodriguez heard scraping metal and then felt the car move as several people tried to right the car. Eventually it crashed back onto four wheels and the doors were wrenched open and he felt his waist seatbelt being released and someone hauled him from the car. "Mother of God, It's a security Colonel. Get an ambulance quickly." "The Colonel's driver is in a bad way. This other man is dead." "What happened?" Rodriguez thought he'd asked, but no-one replied. "Is the tank leaking? Move them away." "What about the corpse?" "Him too." Rodriguez found his vision clearing and found himself propped against a building with Gerardo's head resting on his thigh. On his right was another man, he took him to be the driver of the other vehicle. A woman came up with a damp cloth and washed his face, a second woman was checking Gerardo. "What happened?" "A child ran into the street, the van driver swerved and struck your car in the side and you went over and over," the woman explained. "The Field Marshal?" "The other man with you? He seems to be dead." "Oh my god!" The scream of several ambulances and two security cars make even thinking difficult until they killed the sirens. An officious lieutenant stared shouting orders about arresting all the witnesses almost as soon as his feet hit the road. Then he noticed the official car and looked across at the casualties on the sidewalk. "Lieutenant, stop what you are doing and get here." "Who do you...? I'm sorry Colonel Sir." "You will be! Everyone here in ambulances and off to Central Hospital." "I'll have the coroner collect the corpse sir." "No Lieutenant, you will respectfully take the Field Marshal to the hospital so that they can confirm if he is dead. Then you will report to my office at headquarters. There you will WAIT until I get to you." "Your Office Colonel?" "Yes, Next to General Cortez's office." "But that's Colonel Alvarez' office." "No son, It's mine. Coronel Paulo Rodr?guez. Don't you read standing orders?" "Yes Sir." "Get on with it then, and leave me a driver and a car!" "Yes Colonel." "Colonel, where does it hurt?" The ambulance man asked. "I hit the back of my head and was winded by the cars somersault. Clean me up." The medic cleaned him up while three others lifted Gerardo onto a stretcher. The other driver and the Field Marshal were also carried away. The Lieutenant travelled with the Field Marshal's body and his driver took Rodriguez back to headquarters. He arrived to find a full scale alert at the office. He managed to grab a sergeant to enquire what had caused the alert. "Some idiot tried to re-activate the refinery. The control room blew- up." "Who gave the order?" "According to the survivors there was a written order from Colonel Alvarez." "Impossible. Does the General know?" "Oh yes Sir. He was on his way there with Vice Admiral Marco. He got there to pick up the pieces." "Where is he now?" "Senate building with the Vice Admiral and Air Marshal Vargas. They were expecting the Field Marshal; shouldn't you be taking him there sir?" "Long story." Rodriguez about turned and grabbed his temporary driver again to go to the Senate Building. Making his way through the Senate he became aware of the fact that he wasn't as unscathed as he thought. Twinges from his lower back, neck and shoulder slowed him down, but didn't stop him from reaching the Cabinet room. Two Sergeants were on sentry. "Colonel? Where is the Field Marshal?" "I have to speak to the Cabinet, there is a problem." One of the sergeants slipped into the room, to appear a second later and usher him in. The Junta had originally consisted of twelve officers and the President, only eight people sat in the room. He was taken aback, then realised that he himself knew of three members no longer available. Cortez looked at him then looked behind him. "Explanation Colonel?" "There was an accident, our car was struck by a large van and somersaulted. The Field Marshal was not wearing a seat-belt. He is at Central Hospital where I fear he will be confirmed as dead." "How was the accident caused?" "A woman who treated me while the ambulance came told me that a child had run in front of the van and it has swerved only to catch us as we turned across its new path." "You were injured? Where?" "I was wearing my seat belt sir. I have pain and nausea and a massive headache. But I knew you would need to know as soon as possible." "What about the bunker?" "I have no idea." "Lock it down. Only Sanchez-Montoya and Mendez are to be admitted outside of the normal detail." "Not Herr Doctor Heinmann Sir?" "Especially not him." Rodriguez wondered if the change of attitude was something to do with the visit of Kepler, but didn't ask as he didn't want the General to know he knew. "Carry on Colonel, once that is done, visit the hospital yourself." "Yes Sir." Rodriguez made his way to the Interior Ministry to update the orders of the day. He first made sure that Heinmann had not returned to the facility, then gave his instructions. Once he was sure he was understood he allowed the driver to take him to the hospital. ***** Reeves, Martinez and Flanders joined together in the secure room. "Is there anything we can do to gain access to Ray?" Flanders asked. "Not that we've found. There are two entrances to the bunker, both of which are guarded at the top and the bottom of the lifts and stairs. The areas are monitored on cameras as well." "Could we get in as soldiers?" "The Presidential Guard is responsible. They all know each other in their small groups but the groups cover every shift and rotate duties." "Don't they have visiting soldiers?" "Not in the bunker, the general population isn't supposed to know about it, I only know because it was us that built it." "Us?" Martinez queried. "The British. Our engineers dug it, our lift engineers installed the lifts, our contractors built the building above." "Do you have the plans?" Flanders asked. "Not officially," Reeves replied, his eyes sparkling. "Wait here." He disappeared for about ten minutes while the two Americans fidgeted with their coffee cups. When he returned he had a thick book of folded plans. The three men poured over the plans for several hours. ***** Constantine, watching he screen intently, noticed a movement and logged the time, nine hours since the Colonel had put the prisoner to bed. Barker stirred again and then sat up and looked around slowly before looking down. The floppy hairstyle, somewhat flattened and scrunched by sleep, bounced disjointedly as the head shook in disbelief, or resigned acceptance? He didn't know, or care. All he knew was that there was no- one to tell, so he noted it in the log. Then he rang the kitchen. In the bedroom experiences were being evaluated, physical conditions considered and decisions were being contemplated. How they thought of themselves would dictate what happened from here on in. Of course the events of the night before weighed heavily, slewing the decisions towards acceptance of the inevitable and full acknowledgement of a knowledge that had been suppressed for decades. That thought crystalized, Rachel pulled back the covers and tiptoed her way to the bathroom. Bath running, she set to, removing the smudged make-up from the night before and brushing her teeth. Happy, she stopped the water and slipped easily into the bubbles and luxuriated in the warmth of the bath. "Buenos D?as Se?orita?" "Buenos D?as Carmelita. I'll be out in a minute." "Si, your breakfast is waiting." "Gracias." 'That proves it.' Rachel thought. 'I was restricted from speaking Spanish while the conditioning was in place. Better watch my step. Better not appear too enthusiastic either. Oh this is going to be worse than before.' She frowned and exited the bath, grabbing a towel as she went. Wrapping it over her bust, under her armpits, she re-entered the bedroom to find Carmelita laying out new clothes. Simple underwear, a cotton petticoat, a linen skirt and blouse, similar to the first outfit given to Alvarez. "Oh," Rachel said, looking at the clothes with suspicion. "You be nice Senorita now, remember?" "I thought, since I gave them so much information last night, they might let me have trousers." "Orders not changed, so you wear skirts. Not seen Colonel today, Sister Sanchez along in one minute." "Oh, okay." "Just powder and lipstick this morning, you back on exercises." "Oh. Okay." As they talked so Rachel finished drying off and then began to don the clothes. It was relatively simple to feign unfamiliarity with the clothes; in fact, she wasn't feigning. After about five minutes she was ready to have her breakfast. Carmelita took her leave, promising to be back. Moving into the boudoir she discovered a tray with a covered plate. Removing the cover revealed two kipper fillets, with strips of inch wide bread on a small plate, Rachel was delighted. 'Must be a reward.' She thought. Juanita entered at this point, bringing her own bowl of cereal. "Good morning." "It would seem so," Rachel replied, serving herself with one of the kippers and three 'soldiers'. "Are you alright?" There was a note of concern in Juanita's voice. "Yes, yes I'm fine. At least for the moment. If they come back to question me again I might not be so happy." "Did you answer their questions last night then?" "I answered some of them, the things I could remember. Do you know if I'm still to have female hormones?" "Yes. Do you want to continue with them?" "Don't know anything different here." Rachel was non-committal. "I suppose it depends on if they are going to let me live and what they expect to do with me." "So you don't want to return to being a man?" "I don't know that I can. If they give me a little while I might make sense of it all." "It is possible to return you to masculinity, otherwise there wouldn't be female to male conversions. So again I ask, do you want to go back?" Rachel looked her in the eye. "I really don't know." "Then take the pills, until I am ordered otherwise I must continue the treatments." "Okay." Rachel downed the tablets with a little water and tucked in to the kipper. Between mouthfuls she asked. "How's Juanita Maria?" "Recovering. Today will be the most shocking for her I fear." "Today? Why?" "You really want the details of something that may yet still happen to you?" "If you put it like that, then no." "I must go. I will try to see you for lunch as we haven't had a proper chat today. Besides," She paused to listen. "Sounds like Carmelita is on her way back." Rachel picked up the second kipper and started to portion it out. "I hope we're not eating in the 'restaurant' that Paulo took me to," she said, only looking up at the end of the sentence. "Paulo now is it?" Juanita teased. "What he said then, although I strongly suspect it will be Colonel Rodriguez who I see next." Carmelita entered with a big sack so Juanita took her leave. Carmelita gathered up the dirty clothing from the last couple of days and put it into the sack. "You look okay, but hair need fluff... fluffing. We go Salon after exercise." Rachel was quite surprised that she was being allowed exercise so she followed Carmelita as quickly as the modified stride would let her... When they got to the gym Rachel asked if she could use the treadmill to lengthen her pace a little. Since she was mincing to keep her balance and it felt and looked wrong, to her way of thinking. Carmelita consulted with Rosaria and they both nodded in agreement. Rachel spent an hour walking at a reasonable speed at a nearer normal pace length balancing herself as he acclimatised to the longer stride. Combined with a number of sedentary exercises aimed at her waistline and some massaging of calves and thighs. It certainly used up the protein from the kippers and she was quite hungry when the others called a halt. Bemused that she had not had any official visitors all morning, Rachel was pleased to be joined by Juanita for lunch, the four of them chatting like any other group of women as they ate in the gym. Admittedly it was only chicken burritos, but it was the convivial company that had been missing for so long that made the experience joyous for her. It wasn't until they adjourned to the showers that she suddenly became extremely self-conscious, and a little bit of Ray crept in when Carmelita started to strip. "I can't go in there, certainly not with you." "Why not? You've effectively been a woman all morning? It's not as though we haven't seen everything you have, is it?" Juanita pointed out. Torn, Rachel looked at Carmelita, who was now naked. That decided it, she stripped and the two of them went into the shower together, soaping each other and washing each other's backs. There was nothing in the actions at all, except the need to wash off the sweat. The only thing Carmelita wouldn't let Rachel do was wash her own hair, reminding her that was next anyway. Clean, and strangely exhilarated, Rachel slipped on the heels and tightened the towel around herself, following the others to the salon. Rosaria washed the already wet hair and then Carmelita started to reconstruct the soft bangs of the hairstyle, again using moose, the hairdryer and a thin round brush. Again Juanita left, this time to check on her notes. She had some very interesting observations to add. She picked up her notes from the infirmary, checked on Alvarez, who was sleeping, and left. As she stepped into the barracks area Captain Constantine approached her, in a state of agitation. He quickly explained what had happened to Rodriguez and that he was summoned to the senate, so could she take over, since Major Ortega was also absent. Taking her notes, she went with him to the command/ observation centre and he formally handed over command to her in front of the 'staff'. Then he rushed off while she sat in a corner and leafed through the notes she had made and added some of her observations. Some she kept to herself, for her own reasons. ***** The Junta meeting was not going well when Constantine was called in, rarely had the members of the ruling council been in the same room together, for security reasons. But it was security reasons that had thrown them together now. They asked mostly about what Constantine had done with Heinmann, what he knew of Heinmann's plans, for 'the prisoner' and in general as he seemed to like manipulating people. Constantine gave them a full run-down of what he had done, either on Heinmann's direct orders or by proxy. Vice President General Araya wanted to know if anyone had implied that he was Heinmann's pawn. Constantine reassured the VP that no such rumour had reached him. Then Vice Admiral Marco commented on the disappearance of Alvarez. The evil look from Cortez warned the over-awed Captain to mind his words. The carefully shaken head warned him to say nothing, while his superior fielded the questions. They dismissed him and sent him back to the bunker, with instructions for Colonel Rodriguez to be sent as soon as possible. He made his way back dazed and confused. ***** Rodriguez was checked over by the doctors at the hospital. Including an x-ray of his abdomen to make sure he hadn't ruptured his spleen. Fortunately, they passed him fit, but confirmed that the Field Marshal had died in the accident. He didn't take the news well, the man may have mocked him, called him a liberal and often humiliated him as a cadet, but he had also got him to Major five years earlier than all of his peers. He made his way back to the Senate; Cortez would want a report even if no-one else did. He was admitted and almost immediately questioned about what had happened in the car. He reported what he had seen and felt and what he had been told. He also told the assembled officers that the other driver had been discharged after treatment, but his address was bogus. Throughout the interview the questions came from all directions and some contradicted each other. The one subject that stuck in Rodriguez' mind, however was, why the focus on Alvarez? They eventually ran out of questions and dismissed him. Cortez excused himself briefly and walked out with him. "Why are they obsessing about Alvarez?" He asked Cortez, once they were in the corridor. "A number of recent rehabilitations amongst the more moderate factions have removed suitable replacements for the lost members of the Junta; Alvarez was one of the potential replacements for some reason." "I don't think they would want her now. Speaking of which, she should be fit to move from today, and we are moving on the information we got from Miss Barker yesterday." "Good. You followed my orders?" "Of course. Why the prohibition on Heinmann? Something new about him?" "His interest in Miss Barker is far more personal than he revealed. It has little to do with his escaping from Heinmann in Libya." "What is going on in the Cabinet Sir? They seem to be almost at daggers drawn, you need a security detail in there." "The President has told them to refresh the Junta or he will re- establish democracy." Cortez shuddered. "Where is the President?" Rodriguez realised he hadn't seen the man in the Cabinet room. "Watching and listening from a safe place. Finding the people Barker gave us must be your first priority, leave the Bunker to Ortega, oh and put that fool Constantine on something trivial, he almost answered the questions you deftly side-stepped and he's too close to Heinmann." "Yes Sir. Any prospect of your own elevation?" "Already after My job are you Rodriguez?" Cortez smiled for the first time in their conversation, his humour was bleak, however... "Well they are scraping the bottom of the barrel so I suppose I have a chance." "Good luck Sir." Rodriguez left to return to Headquarters, suddenly remembering the officious Lieutenant from the car crash. He had another knife to sharpen on that young man's hide. When he got to his office there was no-one waiting, but the duty officer confirmed that the Lieutenant was in the building. Rodriguez found him in the refectory. The look of shock on the lieutenant's face when he saw him was strangely satisfying, poised with a fork of meat midway from plate to mouth... "I don't believe I authorised lunch Lieutenant, but finish it now you've started." The unfortunate man dropped the fork and struggled to attention, knocking his chair backwards about two feet. "Reporting as ordered Sir." "Get your chair, sit down and finish your lunch. Is it good?" "Y...yes sir." Rodriguez signalled for another plateful and sat down opposite. "So Lieutenant. Three things, first, reporting as ordered would be in my office, second, jumping up to attention in a canteen gets you noticed for all the wrong reasons and third, your report failed to include your name and current rank." "Sorry sir, Lieutenant Diego Suarez sir." "Well Lt Suarez, what happened to the driver?" "Your driver or mine sir?" "The van driver." "Him! He's in a cell at the prison Sir; he decided that, since he was discharged that he wouldn't have to answer for the accident." "You arrested him?" "Yes sir." "You may have redeemed yourself son." They ate their lunch together, then went off to the prison to talk to a driver who thought he could crash into a government car. Once there, he sent a sealed note to Ortega before starting the interrogation. ***** Major Ortega had relieved Juanita in the control room so she was free to complete the work in the infirmary. Sometime later she advised Ortega to give Maria a little space as she got used to her new body shape. He was catching up with the reports on Barker's interview and listening to some of the tape, when the note from Rodriguez arrived. He quickly opened it and scanned the instructions. "Ortega, Constantine needs some command experience, send him to relieve the Captain Hernandez has securing the port. If you need someone, I'll send you d'Santos from the Prison detail. Let Barker have a little freedom but keep up the treatments and the wearing of skirts or dresses, she did give us a lot of information. Have Hernandez sift it and go after those we can catch." Ortega glanced up at the screen, where Barker's afternoon activities were being monitored. Mostly they consisted of sitting, listening to Carmelita and Rosaria as they gave her lessons in being a woman. They then went back to the gym, where Rachel did two hours of walking at a medium pace with the longer stride, but still with a definite wiggle. She could feel the muscles tightening but worked through to get back some fitness. They gave her a light supper, ham salad with yam mash, which she ate alone. Preparing for bed that evening, she confirmed in her own mind that this was her future, but acknowledged that she would have to deny it in order to maintain the treatment to achieve it. Whatever happened from here on in Rachel was in charge. She donned her nightdress and slipped into the bed with a smile on her face. ***** Rodriguez finally returned to Headquarters at one am. He had left Lt Suarez talking to Emilio Vicario, the driver of the van. Or rather encouraging Senor Vicario to talk. The officer of the day was Captain Urbina; the man Constantine had relieved. He reported that the Cabinet meeting had finished at eleven pm and that General Cortez had gone home. Rodriguez decided to follow suit. 18. Parental Consent "It's a father's duty to give his sons a fine chance." -- George Eliot, Middlemarch ***** Arriving at Police Headquarters next morning Rodriguez went straight up to his office to try and talk to Cortez about what to do with Heinmann. Unfortunately, Cortez was already in conference, with Heinmann. The privacy light was on, but flashing, the Isabella was sitting at the desk with a pair of earphones on. "Not just yet Colonel," she said as she scribbled down a transcription of what was being said in the room. Reading upside down, Rodriguez was surprised by the implied venom in some of Cortez' words. The next sentence floored him. "You know your son is here, in San Carlos. Doctor? I interviewed him the night before last on his arrival. He doesn't want to speak to you. Indeed, he wanted to view Barker's grave." "My son is misguided. I can show him the error he is making, once I have completed Barker's make-over." "You know that I have instructions to terminate Barker." "No! That order must be ignored. I have to have Barker, alive and completely feminized." "Why?" "Once it's done it will be obvious. But I cannot, will not, let you stop me General." "Not a thing to say to me Doctor. Take you hand away from your coat or I will drop you where you stand." The privacy light went out and Isabella, followed by Rodriguez, both with side-arms drawn and safeties off. They found Cortez pointing a colt .44 at Heinmann, who looked enraged. "Ah Colonel, escort Doctor Heinmann back to his hotel, make sure there is a constant guard on his door, no one is to enter or leave without my permission, including the Doctor. You might want to relieve him of the 9mm he has under his left armpit." Rodriguez removed the Luger from the holster and placed it on the desk. With a flick of his gun barrel he indicated for Heinmann to move out. "Come straight back. I have news," Cortez added as they left. Isabella covered Heinmann while Rodriguez phoned for an escort and arranged for Lieutenant d'Santos to run the guard detail. A wait of five minutes produced a full squad to escort Heinmann to his hotel, this time in the back of a troop truck instead of a staff car. Once they had departed Rodriguez returned to the General's office. He entered without knocking because he had been told to come straight back. To his surprise he found Cortez in the middle of changing his uniform. "Ah, so soon. Oh well, they made several decisions last night. I am now to be promoted to the central council, with the rank of Field Marshal. I take over from Torres; YOU will be taking over from me, if we are successful with Miss Barker. " "Thank you sir. About Miss Barker sir?" "Yes." "We've expended a lot of resources, manpower, medication, and practice with Alvarez. Are we really planning to kill her at the end of this?" "Of course not. Oh, you were listening. I had to try to shake Heinmann, hoping he would slip. Do you still have his dossiers on Barker?" "Yes sir, "Anything in there about why he is so obsessed with Barker?" "No sir, but he does have another file in his case, a very private file." "Get it!" "He won't like it, and he still has influence." "Not after I told the Vice President about Alvarez." "You told him?" "Didn't have much choice, unless we are going to kill Alvarez too. She is okay to walk now according to Dr Montoya." "That could be interesting, if Juanita Maria meets Rachel." "Yes. You kept calling Barker 'Rachel' the other night, something to do with that picture Heinmann had mocked-up?" "No, it goes deeper than that Sir, but I can't fathom it. It is linked in with Barker's past." "Oh, that's another point. Kepler is arranging a memorial service for Barker and the exploration team. He's invited the Father and Brother to the ceremony." "When for?" "March 20th." "But that's over three months away. Why?" "To give Barker's relatives time to arrange leave, His brother is still a serving officer in the British RAF and, of course, he needs the time to get the permits, and to prove that Barker is dead, or maybe not." Rodriguez looked at his commander who was smiling with a knowing look. "If he's in contact with the British Embassy and the notes you allowed Barker to write ended up there, they know that he's not dead. They are basically submitting a habeas corpus to us." "Show me the body... In this case literally." "But not quite how they expect. What are the plans currently for Barker's interrogation and training?" "I want to give it a couple of days, let Rachel get used to being treated as a woman, sort of pre-conditioned, then ask a few more questions. The programming he spoke of shouldn't work if we are talking to Rachel instead." "What kind of feminine training were you planning?" Cortez asked conspiritally "I am leaving that to Juanita Sanchez-Montoya and Carmelita." "Just suggest some very domestic things." Rodriguez grinned in collusion. ***** Heinmann arrived back at his room and slammed the door on the escort that were also to guard him. His eyes blazed with anger and his left hand was shaking. His right hand was in his coat pocket as he released the scrap of paper he had palmed when he opened the door, He saw no reason, despite his anger, to reveal all his precautions. Having locked the door behind him, he went across to the table. Opening his pilot case, he removed the second file, sat at the desk and opened the flyleaf. The top item was a 7x5 portrait picture of Alfreida Kepler-Heinmann, taken shortly before she was killed. He put the photograph to one side and leafed through the papers until he found the copy of her birth record and ID Card. Beneath that was a paper 'box' file marked with the emblem of the East German Police. He then replaced the other papers into the file, returned the file to the case and relocked it. He then went to the safe and took out the cash box. This time, when he removed the Barker jewellery, he closed up the box and returned it to the safe. Satisfied, he went into the bedroom and knelt beside the corner unit. Placing the new items on the floor he cautiously removed the white cloth. It revealed a phrenology bust in the centre, either side of this were three sets of earrings, paired in sequence. He placed the photograph resting against the bust leaning the id pass and certificate against the base of the photo. The earrings from the Barker jewellery he placed at the front edge of the table, he then covered the table over again and whispered. "Soon little one." He rose to his feet and checked his watch. Well, this little isolation tactic wouldn't last very long, then he would push ahead and finish off Barker, and fix Cortez and Rodriguez into the bargain. Small minded little policemen. ***** Reeves and Kepler were discussing the arrangements for the memorial service and whether or not it would flush out the real Ray Barker from wherever they were holding him. For several reasons he didn't want to push the date forward, not the least of which was that if they were successful with Project Gusher the political climate would enable them to release Barker anyway. So far they had effectively stopped petrol production for five months and San Carlos was having to import petrol from its neighbours currently as the refinery was out of action. The port was still exporting crude oil, so they could afford to buy the fuel, but it did make the Junta look inept in international political circles. A knock on the door heralded a note being handed to Sir Paul. "Ah, that's good news. We will have Squadron Leader Barker visiting us in the New Year, briefly, so we can hopefully arrange for him to attend the memorial as well." Another knock heralded the arrival of Martinez and Flanders, still dressed as locals. "Gentlemen. Do come in. I thought we weren't going to kill anyone directly," Reeves was chiding. "We haven't, not since the refinery anyway," Flanders replied. "Then it really was an accident that hospitalised Colonel Rodriguez, however briefly, and killed Field Marshal Torres?" "Not us at all. Is someone else bumping off the Junta then? That could get a little sticky," Martinez commented. "Anything that we can use to complete our mission and get Ray back is worthwhile," Flanders said flatly. "If my father is using his photo-hypnotic techniques he may not be in the best of conditions." "We're working on that," Flanders confirmed. "Well, let's get back to planning this little shindig for March." "March! We need him back now, in one piece." Martinez was very inpatient. The other three shook their heads and turned back to the planning list. ***** Rachel awoke to the smell of fresh coffee and bacon. She was so surprised she almost forgot to put on her slippers and dressing gown. "Come on sleepy head," Juanita's voice called. "What's going on?" Rachel asked as she entered the boudoir. "Why are you so cheery this morning?" "No policemen all day. Just the five of us." "No policemen? Five of whom?" "Word came down from Police headquarters, Rodriguez has something else to do, Heinmann is not here and apparently not due and everyone else is just making sure you don't run away." "Five?" "Five 'girls', you me, Carmelita, Rosaria and Maria." "Maria?" "Yes me," a timid voice said from the doorway. Carmelita wheeled Maria in; Rachel could just tell that it was Alvarez, although the black eyes from the rhinoplasty made the otherwise pert face look ghastly. Rosaria then entered carrying two chairs and they opened out the table so that they could all fit. Eggs, bacon, toast, marmalade and plum tomatoes. Tea, coffee and orange juice. She also noted no tablets. They all shared out what looked to be a fairly good spread and thoroughly enjoyed a British breakfast. She noticed that Maria wasn't eating very much, only the scrambled egg and some mashed tomatoes, watched over by Juanita. Obviously part of the recovery process. Once that was done they set about planning lessons and activities for the day, which, whilst including electrolysis and more catwalk practice, apparently included sewing and ironing classes. Rachel thought it unusual at first, but realised that both she and Maria had little experience of proper sewing. It would also pass the day quicker, since this was still a prison, she was still a prisoner and being shut in your cell, even velvet lined one like hers, for more than eight hours for sleeping was not fun. So they had a day of various feminine activities, although Maria and Rosaria did disappear once for forty minutes after lunch and when she came back she looked a little pained and slightly out of it. Rachel was totally caught-up in the collective activity, revelling in the company and the apparent normality. That night she found she was happy and pleasantly tired. She fell asleep quite quickly, anticipating a good night's sleep. ***** Rodriguez was called at six am and went out to the prison. The Emilio Vicario had been persuaded to talk. His information proved to be even more confusing as he pointed the finger at an aide to the Vice President. He did, however, confirm that it was Rodriguez himself, not the Field Marshall that was the target of the attack. Rodriguez controlled both his shock at being a target and his anger at perpetrator. He encouraged Vicario to provide as much information as he could and left him with a note taker. While he was at the prison he also visited the hole, where the former Captain, Castellano was being encouraged to reconsider his silence. "Morning Castellano, just to let you know we can now arrange your execution. We've connected you to an assassination attempt on me and Field Marshall Torres. So we'll haul you out of there and tidy you up for the firing squad." "No! That's not true." "Tell us your story then, it might save your life!" "Okay." Rodriguez indicated that the lid should be opened and they hauled Castellano out, much like they had hauled out Barker some five months before. He looked filthy and he had an untidy beard. They then dragged him off to the main interrogation room and Rodriguez spent the morning getting the information out of him. Castellano's information, laid alongside Vicario's outpourings matched on an important number of items. It seemed that Castellano had contacts with the aide who hired Vicario, and they all had contacts with the VP. The aide, the newly promoted Commandant Rivero, had stepped into the shoes of Commandant Espinoza, but without, as yet, the seat on the Junta. What Rodriguez now needed to find out was, why? Who benefitted from these changes and was the accidental elimination of Torres a step advanced or a set-back to the obvious plan. Rodriguez was beginning to think he had taken on far too much by gaining the promotion to Colonel. It certainly seemed it had painted an even bigger target on his back. He was just glad that Hernandez had taken over examining the intelligence that Barker had provided. That reminded him about Heinmann. After having lunch in the prison staff area he made his way to Heinmann's hotel and checked on the guard. He knocked on the locked door. "Good Morning Herr Doctor. It's Colonel Rodriguez, may I come in?" "Am I to be released?" "Not yet Herr Doctor. But I need to speak to you." "You can talk from there." "Not the best way to discuss family Herr Doctor." Rodriguez was pleased to hear the rattle of the key in the lock and then Heinmann looked out of the door. "Be quick, I am busy." "Can I come in?" "Must you?" "I think I insist Herr Doctor." Rodriguez walked past Heinmann as he opened the door and then turned to face him after he closed and re-locked the door... "I think it is about time you explained just what you want to do to Ray Barker?" "I think that is really none of your business Colonel. Despite your emotional attachment for the incomplete creation I am working on, you do don't have any rights in her future." "So again I say, you intend to fully feminize this man?" "This man, as you call her, is mine, and has been since that effeminate old woman Alvarez was lucky enough to capture her." "Lucky enough?" "Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Former Royal Engineer Captain Raymond Peter Seymour-Barker is professional enough to evade most traps that you and your ilk could formulate. Either he is suffering from a sever bout of incompetence, or your so called Colonel Alvarez was extremely lucky. Either way it has placed Barker within my sphere of influence, thus enabling me to achieve my creation and, in so doing, vindicate my father's work." "So this is an experiment." "A scientific application of known principles of psychological and emotional forces on perceived identity." "What happens if your experiment doesn't work Herr Doctor?" "It cannot fail, everything is in place, Barker's own male personality is in meltdown, the proto-female super-ego is still in embryo, this is the perfect time to subtly correct the identity." "You have to have access to achieve your aim." "I will have access. My triumph is inevitable. I will mould the fledgling woman in the image ... The image I require." "I don't think Rachel will go along with that." Heinmann was startled by the use of the feminine name. "Why did you call her that?" "She has been using it since the dinner, more or less. Something to do with that framed press cutting you gave her." "No, this should not be happening. You must make him respond as a man." "Um, mixed signals Herr Doctor. Why the change of emphasis?" "Using a feminine name implies a pre-existing feminine persona. This should not be possible. It cannot be happening." "You're the personality expert Herr Doctor." Rodriguez suppressed a smile. "I would think seriously about what you are planning, because I have a feeling that Miss Rachel Barker won't be doing what you expect." A knock at the door heralded the arrival of Heinemann's lunch, so Rodriguez used it as the perfect excuse to leave, adding to Heinemann's agitated state. As an added provocation, he ordered the guard doubled so that the exterior could also be checked. Not that he expected Heinmann to climb out of the window, but if he knew all exits were being watched... ***** Major Hernandez was combing the Capital with his troops, trying to chase down the people and contact points from Barker's interrogation. So far his searching had produced five closed businesses and ten people who had 'gone-away' from their residence. In each he had left a squad to look around. Four people he had found and arrested. He had dispatched two units to check the cities around the Capital. Questioning the four detainees proved to be almost worse than useless, as they seemed to have no knowledge of Barker or association to the dissident movement. Indeed, they appeared to be part of the informer network that Alvarez had established years before. That made him check the other names on the list, only to find that eighty percent of the list were from that network. Hernandez came to the conclusion that Barker's 'intelligence' was actually designed to undermine the grip of the security service on the population. He also concluded that someone inside the Junta had given this information to Barker, or the people who had briefed him. That left him in a quandary. Who could he possibly report this to? Alvarez was gone, effectively, and he wouldn't have given the information away, it had to be someone in the upper chain of command, Major or higher. Or someone in the monitoring group. He couldn't eliminate Rodriguez or Calavera, Cortez would have known of the group, but probably not the details. He decided to tell the General once he had checked the names from the outside towns and cities. ***** Although the meals changed each day, Rachel spent almost a whole week just in the company of the other four women. She found herself getting more and more used to the association with the group and even, in a halting fashion as it was her main 'ace' up the sleeve, talking in Spanish. She also noted that the tablets were still not reinstated. She toyed with the idea of asking Juanita about it, but decided that the nurse must know if medication is appropriate. Perhaps they were going to start returning her to being Ray? That thought gave her a moment's pause. They had explored the clothing in the walk-in wardrobe and Rachel had turned catwalk model for various outfits. As Maria had grown stronger she had also joined in more, although she was still coming to terms with her situation and assuming a more feminine attitude. What the men on the observation rota were thinking as they watched five women basically having a six-day party was not passed on to them. The other nurses had been given the week off and Juanita had been responsible for checking that Maria's cosmetic surgery had taken properly. ***** Rodriguez had been trying to find more information out about the links between Heinmann and Barker. He had confirmed that Johan Kepler was Heinmann's son, and that he was staying at the Grande, He visited several places, according to the surveillance team assigned to watch him, including the cultural section of the interior ministry. He made no attempt to find or visit his father, which pleased Rodriguez; it gave him even more ammunition to wind Heinmann up in the hope that the super- control freak would lose it enough to reveal more about his plans. Unfortunately, Cortez' restrictions meant that he was limited to surveillance only; he was allowed no contact with Johan. He did think to look into Johan's past, but found very little. It was difficult to discover what had happened since the birth of the boy, in Leipzig, apart from the fact that his mother had been allowed to leave East Germany with the children in 1969. The family had moved to Switzerland, although his father had continued to work a lot in East Berlin and, for some reason, Sarajevo in the 1970s. The next major event recorded was when, as Johan Kepler, he was reported to have joined Amnesty International, as had his older sister. They both appeared in various news items as members of protests or deliverers of petitions, but no real information. Then he thought about it. Heinmann and Barker had crossed swords in Libya. He tried to find out about Heinmann in Libya, but there didn't seem to be much Intel at all. That was as far as the newspaper archive could go. He contacted the state television news desk and asked them if they had anything from the news reports either from Libya, Britain or the US. That had been day three of the hiatus. Day five had provided little, except a report from a contact in Cuba that Heinmann had been involved in a gas explosion in Libya. Stumped and frustrated, he tried to think of a way he could get to get access to Heinmann's pilot bag of files, other than the Barker files that still sat in the conference room next to the office. He didn't quite slap his head, but he felt as though he should. Nine hours later his level of frustration with Heinmann was well past boiling point. The only thing he knew was the numbers of the files that were not in the folders. There were about seventy individual files that were missing, although some of them were sequential, but there was no easy clue to the dates, except the years. The first missing file was from 1985, roughly the time that Johan must have joined Amnesty. Barker had left the army and already been recruited by someone, it wasn't clear who in the file, and he had been working in Lebanon according to Heinmann's contacts. Rodriguez made a note of all the dates not covered in the file, and asked his Cuban contact to find out what he could about happenings in Libya in those dates. ***** Cortez wasn't back in his office for the whole week. When he did return he locked himself in with all of the reports and told Rodriguez to check on Ortega, who also hadn't been seen for a week. Major Ortega had been busy arranging affairs at his home, near the coast. Ever since his wife had died he had been devoted to his work, so there were many things that needed sorting, and it had taken a whole week of leave to do it. He had reported back a few minutes after Cortez had arrived. Rodriguez listened to his explanation, quietly trying not to smile at the simple plans of his subordinate. They both went to the Ministry and down to the bunker to see what had been happening during their absence. They bypassed the control room and went straight in. They found Rachel, Carmelita and Rosaria in the salon and Carmelita was teaching Rachel how to wash hair, with Rosaria as the guinea-pig. Rachel looked up from the sink and saw them in the doorway. "Hi, wanting a trim Colonel, Carmelita says I'm mucho Bueno barber." "Si Coronel, estrella alumno," Carmelita called over. "Star pupil." "Perhaps later? Where is Sister Sanchez?" "She's overseeing Maria's lunchtime exercise," Rachel replied. "Mar... What have you all been doing?" "Just getting on together." Both men left to find Juanita and Maria, who were in the infirmary, behind a screen. Rodriguez was about to pull the curtain aside but Ortega stopped him and whispered in his ear what was likely to be going on. Rodriguez blanched briefly and they left the infirmary, returning to the Salon, where Rachel had moved on to doing a basic styling of Rosaria's hair, using a thin round brush and the hand hair-dryer. "If I ever get out of here I can become a hairdresser," Rachel replied to the curious look on Rodriguez face. "Assuming that you are not planning to return my masculinity to me?" Rodriguez looked at her, wearing the same sort of blouse and skirt that the two native women were wearing, but with two-inch wedge shoes. Her movements were confident, self-assured and feminine, which took him a little by surprise. He had to talk to Juanita to find out what had been going on. 19. Repercussions "Always stick to the story. It was when you started backtracking that people got in trouble. Interrogation 101." -- Nicholas Sparks, The Lucky One' ***** Juanita was helping Maria walk back as Rodriguez stepped out of the salon again. Ortega went forward and took over, realising what the Colonel needed to do, leaving Juanita to talk with Rodriguez. They went to the infirmary for privacy. Juanita forestalled his building tirade with a sharp question of her own and she surprised Rodriguez by speaking in Spanish. "What was I supposed to do when you and the entire senior staff leave me in charge? I used my medical judgement to do what was best for both patients. Remember Colonel, to me they are patients, not prisoners, not informants, not experimental subjects. Patients." "What have you achieved with your... patients?" "Maria is now beginning to cope with her new gender, although she will need some considerable counselling. The shock of the reassignment, which incidentally, I counselled against but was overruled, is wearing off now. There are underlying problems with her adaption to life as a female." Rodriguez nodded as if he agreed. "As to Rachel. She seems to be coping well, I would say that she is adapting very well, in fact. It could be that 'Ray' is trying to lower our guard so that he can escape. After all we wouldn't expect him to try and escape as a woman; it wouldn't fit the profile Dr Heinmann gave us." "But?" "I am not sure; I would like to have the Professor have a conversation wit