Introduction: In a sense there is a connection to this story and several other non-magic stories I’ve written. Two characters from Mike and Ashley show up briefly. They would be Mike and Ashley. This story, Like “Mike and Ashley”, “Discovery”, and “Cynthia and the Queen of Knight” takes its storyline from the work of someone else. In this case, a production by an Italian fellow named Joseph Green. The story is 16 chapters in length plus an epilogue. I’ve done as much tweaking as I can. Any errors are mine and I will gladly accept constructive criticism; as long as you’re nice.

Anita takes two days to travel to Virginia. She needs some time to herself to think about what went right and what went wrong. She makes it to Charleston, West Virginia after a long drive and after a nice dinner, she finds peaceful sleep.-->
 

After the movers left her apartment, Anita went down the road to a motel in on the outskirts of Clarksville. She’d call Janice and said goodbye. Janice was still on duty, and didn’t have much to say other than she would miss Anita, and wished her a safe journey. Next Anita called her father to say she would be leaving in the morning. She was going to go north and east rather than take the Interstate. It was a bit longer and considerably more mountainous. Plus, it would give Anita a little time to contemplate the direction her life was taking. There had been times that she thought she would be a “lifer”. She knew she would have no trouble making O-5 and even O-6. There was a good chance after the incidents in Africa that she might even make Major early; however, that was all past now. All it took was that one little slip up at that party to help her make up her mind that there were better places to go and better things to do than kill people for a losing cause.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Anita Okoye,”

Anita recognized the voice instantly. It was Jonathon Drake, now Major Jonathon Drake. She’d run into him at the Post Exchange. He was cordial, but it was only a façade over a cold interior. He hadn’t been stationed at Fort Campbell when they had been in Special Forces training, but he was there now. It must be nice she thought to have friends in high places; especially a daddy who was now a three star. He was now the commander of a communications squadron. He was far removed from the battle field.

“That must have been quite a battle. Congratulations on the recognition.”

“Thank you, Major. I appreciate your comment.”

“Now, Anita, that’s Jonathon. Let’s not something like rank get in the way of old friends.”

“Certainly, Jonathon, it’s good to see you again.” Anita turned down the aisle to continue shopping.

They would run into each other infrequently, and Anita got the feeling that Jonathon was trying to hit on her. He knew she was gay, and his sometimes overt friendliness bothered her.

She had returned from her last nearly yearlong deployment to the area in the Horn of Africa, and immediately renewed her relationship with Janice. She had spent two of the last three years in Africa, and she was physically and emotionally tired. Janice had managed a few visits while Anita was in Africa. The visits were ‘official’, but they did manage to get together several times. Now, they could look forward to at least a year together in their pleasant apartment in Clarksville.

A lieutenant she knew had told her about a party being held that weekend at a place occupied by several officers. They were supposed to be pretty cool, and their parties, if she remembered correctly were supposed to be pretty sedate affairs. Yes there would be some drinking and music, but they were mostly just a time to let their hair down a bit, if they had any. After spending six months in a war zone, being able to veg out and not having to look over your shoulder every minute was very enjoyable. The bad dreams and the night sweats were bad enough as it was. She was going to have to learn how to relax, even if it was going to be only for a year, if that. That was her big mistake.

It turned out the party was being held in the clubhouse facility at the apartment complex. It adjoined a rather nice swimming pool and pavilion. The enclosed recreation room was air conditioned and it was very pleasant to get out of the humidity. Obviously, the word had gotten out as there were not parking places close by. She’d had to walk the equivalent of about two blocks from where she’d parked to the party area. There was a good representation of the base population. The mix of gay and straight was probably at the same proportion as that on base. At least they didn’t have to hide that any more, not that it made much difference to the troops. With a few exceptions it seldom had.

“What would you like, Anita?” a very familiar voice asked.

“Hi, Jonathon. Got any Pilsner Urquell?”

“Coming right up. I remembered that was your favorite.” He popped the cap off the ice cold bottle and handed it to her.

“Thanks,” she said as she took a deep swig.

Anita looked around and saw many familiar faces, including some members of the LGBTQ group that met off post. She attended their meetings infrequently. She had no problems with coming out as she never tried to hide who she was. When she did attend, she was there to lend support to the unsure. Janice attended a bit more often as she spent most of her time at Fort Campbell, other than the few short TDYs she’d had to Africa. Janice was currently working swing shift, but had promised to come to the affair as soon as she was off.

The music was good, if not a bit loud. The pool looked inviting, but Anita was not prepared to go swimming. That hadn’t been on her agenda that night. She wasn’t ashamed of her body. On the contrary, she was very proud of her fitness and how she looked in a bikini. And, Janice didn’t have any complaints, either.

She realized that her bottle of Pilsner Urquell was empty and she looked towards the bar while raising her bottle.

“Coming right up.”

A captain Anita vaguely knew brought her the freshly opened bottle. It was cold and the cold pilsner went down easily. She had nearly finished the bottle when she started feeling light headed and a bit out of it. She looked for an unoccupied chair and stumbled slightly. She braced herself on the edge of a table.

“Come on Anita, I think you need some fresh air.” Her unfocussed eyes tried to make out the shape of whom was talking to her. She realized it was Jonathon and the bartender was standing next to him. She knew what had happened, but it was too late. They led her out the door and to the parking lot where they were met by a third person she couldn’t recognize. She was bundled into the back of a minivan and driven to who knows where.

“Where’s Anita?” Janice asked the girl who was currently passing out the last of the iced beer. “Didn’t she show up? She was supposed to.” The party had slowed down a bit, if the empty cans and bottles, and filled ash trays were any indication. A couple was slow dancing over in a darker corner, and there was more than a little bit of PDA going on.

“Who’s Anita?”

“She’s my girlfriend.”

“What’s she look like?”

“She’s black, very tall, and very pretty.”

“Oh yeah, she was here a couple of hours ago, but she left with a couple of guys. I think they were going somewhere to have some fun. I think she had a lot to drink. She wasn’t feelin’ any pain.”

“Shit, call the police. Never mind, I’ll do it myself. She would never go anywhere with any man to have fun.”

The police were there within five minutes. They went through some standard questioning that included asking if anyone had seen her leave.

“Yeah, she left with the Major and some lieutenant.”

“When was that?”

“Two, three hours ago.”

“You said Major. Was he in uniform?”

“Naw.”

“How did you know he was a major?”

“He’s Major Drake, the commander of the comm outfit at Fort Campbell. I had to fix their AC last week. I’m a refer. I work with CE. He invited me and a couple of the other guy to this shindig because we fixed it so fast.”

“You’re a what?”

“Refrigeration specialist. We were fixing his air so the comm gear wouldn’t overheat.”

The officer turned to Janice. “Do you know who this Major Drake is?”

“Yeah, I’ve met him. He and Anita were in Special Forces training. He was asked to leave. Anita was one of the top graduates. She doesn’t think much of him.”

“Why would she leave with him if she didn’t like him?”

“It doesn’t take much of a stretch. I imagine they drugged her.”

“Couldn’t she just gone off with them to have a good time?”

“Not a chance, in case you haven’t figured it out yet, Anita’s gay and I’m her girlfriend. Anita’s not bi. She’d never go anywhere with guy to have sex. They drugged her.”

“Did she drive here? Where’s her car? She may have just driven off after getting some fresh air.”

“We can find that out pretty quickly. Follow me.”

“Sure, Miss.”

“Her car wasn’t out front, so she had to have parked down either side of the circle. Listen carefully.”

Janice held up a key fob. “This is her spare key. I carry it because I sometimes use her car. When she’s out of country I take care of it and keep it in running shape.” She held the fob up and pressed the ‘lock’ button twice. They both heard the faint honk of a horn.

“It’s down there,” she said pointing up the circle drive that ran to the left.

They walked about a hundred yards before Janice pushed the button twice more. The horn was louder, but still no car. The third time they saw the blink of lights. They weren’t prepared for what they found.

Anita was sprawled across the back seat. She was moaning and moving a bit. Her clothes were piled on the floor of the rear of the car. She was naked, there was blood on her thighs, and her lip was split. She would have a black eye by morning. Her hair, face, and pubic hair were matted with dried semen. Janice cradled her as best she could. She couldn’t control her sobbing.

They let her ride with Anita in the ambulance to the hospital. They didn’t take her to Fort Campbell. Under the circumstances, they took her to the closest hospital in Clarksville. While they treated her in the ER, they were careful to take semen samples from her hair, body, vagina, and rectum. She needed a couple of stitches.

Modern science being what it is, the DNA analysis came back rather quickly. It seems most everyone in the military has donated a DNA sample for the records. They quickly matched three of the donors of the DNA. The donors were Major Jonathon Drake, Lieutenant Anson Biderly, Captain Joel McMaster; all stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. A fourth contributor of the DNA could not be immediately identified. The fourth person was identified when Captain McMaster and Lieutenant Biderly confessed. They got 20 years. The civilian was tried in Tennessee. He got 30 years.

Anita took it easy, but it was a long drive to Charleston, and she pulled into her motel a bit after 6:00 PM. After taking a relaxing shower, she asked the desk clerk where there might be a nice Italian restaurant. It turned out there wasn’t one too far away; so she decided to give it a try. The chicken Marsala was excellent, the calamari was hot with a very nice batter. The two glasses of pinot noir, just chilled enough, were perfect.

When she returned to her room, she called Janice to let her know she was doing okay. She left a message.

“Hi Daddy, I’m in Charleston.”

“How was the drive?”

“Not bad. It was a bit long, but traffic wasn’t too bad. Had a couple of brief showers, but other than that it was smooth sailing.”

“Well, be careful. Your bedroom is ready for you, and I have an apartment agent looking for something for you.

“The folks at Langley are very eager to get you started. You knocked them dead with that interview. They know you want to take some time off, but Jake told me your desk is ready. They had to knock down two stalls in the ladies’ room to fit it in.”

“I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you, too, Sweetheart. Drive carefully.”

“I will. See you tomorrow.”

Anita found herself falling asleep during the evening news. She turned off the light and turned to her left side. The gentle humming of the air conditioning unit was almost like a lullaby. She slept better than she had for a long time.

Anita arrives in Virginia to find out her father has a secret. She is going to have a brother. Then she gets down to learning about her new job. Her first mission is going to be a doozy.