CHAPTER 103
I found my sleep a little broken for a few days, as more news reports came in and people were charged. The most disturbing part wasn’t the parade of blank expressions on the faces of people who took their entertainment in perverted ways, but the images that were broadcast over the BBC television news a few days later. They had a few talking heads from the Customs people, standing next to pallets of booze that had clearly been arranged to look as imposing as possible, but they also had Sammy, talking over footage taken from inside a warehouse that had been the centre of everything. Scaffolding with planks lashed across it formed tiered ranks of seating around a large circular space surrounded by wire fencing, the space itself floored with what looked like sand or sawdust.

Cover photo by Jonatan Pie. Downloaded from Unsplash

As usual, I’m thanking Malady and KymmieLorain for their invaluable help in the writing of this story.

Chapter 22

Saturday, October 2^nd, 2021

It had been a rough week. The kids in the high school didn't know how to react to the death of two fellow students. Vic hadn't been a great friend to anyone, but Michelle had been liked. She hung with the same crowd Vic did, but people respected her ability in music.

Two days after arriving back on the outskirts of Preston, I began my journey south to Oxford and the wedding. It all began with a taxi ride from where Roxy was moored, into Preston and then two trains. The first took me to Wolverhampton and the second to Oxford. The ticket inspector on the train from Preston kindly suggested that I change trains either at Wolverhampton or Birmingham International rather than at Birmingham New St. Little tips like this make travelling a whole lot easier and for that, I was very thankful.

Ian and Brice
Chapter 3 (Ian)
Copyright 2021 by Heather Rose Brown

In this chapter Ian reaches out to an old friend, barely avoids having another flashback, then has some of his anxiety put at ease in an unexpected way. When some of Ian's stress begins to fade, he senses something from one of his caregivers he'd almost given up hope of ever experiencing again.

=-=-=

Gina’s Hotel Room, Courtyard by Marriott Washington Downtown/Convention Center:
Arnold looks at Gina as she laid in bed. He had woken up early to work on a case he brought with him. He also had a meeting at the Justice
Department. He was still amazed at what happened to the Golden Eagle Squad and how they were able to pass as normal-looking people.

CHAPTER 101
Two days later, I got the call from Rosie, and of course it came while I was up to my eyeballs. Nita had rung, and for the first time in ages it hadn’t been a social call but a new referral. I was in the van with Faye, fourteen, yet another who had been pursued on the internet after trying to build a new profile for herself. I picked her up at Nita’s office, which saved a lot of crap, Rosie’s call arriving just as I parked up there.

“You free later? With that copper?”

Chapter 38

The following morning Marcy was rudely awakened by her alarm at 6:30 am. It was still very early and a bit nerve wrecking since her parents were still home. With her elaborate morning ritual she would need the time to get ready and be at John’s door by 8 am. God the last thing she wanted was to return to that bastard, but if she wanted to keep her secret secret then she would have to. At this point it wasn’t only the being turned out as a sissy that worried her, but also the sheer perverseness of all the things she had done to keep her secret.

CHAPTER 100
So once more our Christmas arrived, and we ended up at The Usual Suspect’s, where I spent the first half of the evening watching Frank and Marlene dance around each other. It had taken a while for me to tease out what the details of their disengagement were, but in the end it was a simple story: Marlene had been crapped on by her family, and how I understood that, and Frank had been too young to see what that really involved.

Apprehensive as Lucy is about Peter becoming a hot seventeen-year-old bikini-clad babe, she never expects Peter's actual transformation or its side effects.

The fug or malaise or whatever it was that was afflicting me hadn’t disappeared the next morning. I’d lost count of the number of times I picked up my phone to call Carla and had chickened out each and every time.

My impression of being a wimp only added to my growing depression.

Ian and Brice
Chapter 2 (Brice)
Copyright 2021 by Heather Rose Brown

In this chapter, Brice worries about having made a bad first impression with Ian, then tests a suspicion about Ian possibly being transgender.

NOTE: Each chapter of this story is being told from the perspective of a different person. To help make things a little clearer, I've added a name next to each chapter number, so it'll be a little easier to know who's perspective the chapter is being seen through. If you have any questions, please feel free to post a comment at the bottom of this story, or send me a direct message. Thank you!

Feminist Kingdom 10 © Beverly Taff

For 35yrs the border between the Human Empire and Gorgonzola Empire as remained mostly peaceful. The citizens for the Human Empire of this border region are loyal to the last man, woman, and child to the Empire. It was on one of these worlds that gave birth to a legend. The world of Apollo 6 is one of the harshest worlds within the Empire. One so harsh that only it could claim to be the birth world of James J. Owens, the most feared of Death Dealers. A world that is even now poised to give birth to a new legendary warrior. One who shall be baptized in the blood of the Empire’s enemies. Robert Wolff youngest great grandchild of James Owens’ sister Cecilia Owens.