"Super glue? Really?" I chuckled as I focused my field glasses on the bonded band of mutually masturbating men crab-walking westward."Your punishment is diabolical," I shook my head in puzzled amazement. 

"Intruders were killed in the past for less, so why the sudden mercy?" 

"Not compassion. Karma. What goes around, comes around." Sheila trained her spyglass on the retreating men."They might make town by sundown. If they're lucky." 

"Karma?" I inquired. 

"Yeah, Karma. We can run, but we can't hide. Karma gets us in the end, and we receive what we deserve." Sheila lowered her binoculars and returned them to the case hanging from her hip. 

"Nice one." l glanced at the hard-leather case. "High-quality military grade optics like that Steiner is priceless. We're not going to see its match in our lifetimes." 

"Exactly. Being able to see further with more clarity than the other guy is a big plus in the game of survival," the Commander snapped the lid of the case closed. 

Karma, if we are to believe such nonsense, is the universe's way of keeping balance. As we sow, so shall we reap, an old and new testament theology with a Hindu flavor. 

"Maybe. Maybe not," I dropped my glasses and reached for a smoke. 

"If you go through like hating folks who share their genitals with lovers of the same sex, you're a jerk. If you get off violating a couple of bisexual women, you earn the right to retribution. His mind must have been a mess; his homophobic hand glued to the prick of his gay-bashing buddy. Poetic justice in a daisy chain of mutual involuntary masturbation," she laughed. She played with words like a cat with a mouse before breaking into a modified off-key rendition of the old classic by the Police."Every move you make, every step you take, he'll be wanking you. I would love to be a fly on the wall when they return home and try to explain how they came to be as they are," Sheila mused without joy. 

"Crap like that makes me embarrassed to be a man, they're traitors to their sex," I said. 

"They were more true to their chromosomes than you are to yours," Sheila hugged my shoulder. 

"Since our mothers swung down from the trees, we've lived in a world where the male spreads his seed at will. 'No' was never an option for the females of our species. At least not until we evolved. As a race, mankind has been firing on half of its cylinders for most of our existence when one gender or another is ignored at the cost of the other. We are one people. We evolve together, whether we like it or not. " 

" You evolved. They haven't," Sheila pointed to the clump of men as they vanished from sight over the distant hill at the far end of the granite ridge. 

"Those boys never got the memo." 

"I sent 'em a message with my method. Perhaps they'll learn. Likely they won't. But I'm sure they'll think double before fucking with us again." 

"And if they don't?" I asked. 

"Then we need to return home and put our house into order. We'll be on our way in fifteen minutes." 

"Speaking of together, I gotta see Darlene and Seraina. I've been worried sick about them," I said before the leader held me back. 

"Tread lightly. They don't want to be touched by anyone. Especially a man. Give them space and love, Sky. They'll come around." 

=^.^= 

Since the liberated horses set the pace for our homeward journey, Belinda and I changed our tactics from leapfrog to hurry-and-catch-up. We rode from one objective to another and didn't move until our comrades were in view. 

An afternoon rain shower had left the mid-summer sky in chaos as the cool air of the passing cold front collided with a warm surging air-mass from the Gulf of Mexico. Clouds of every type raced the wind across the verdant indigo-blue sky arching above us like the cathedral of creation. Wispy white cirrus clouds painted the gates of heaven with swirls of mist, while fast forming and quickly vanishing stratus clouds danced between the summits and the valleys below. 

"My God! Have you ever seen anything like this?" Belinda whispered as she bent her head and leaned slightly backward as we gazed upward at the sun-lit top of a billowing tower of clouds a few miles to the south of us. 

With more nooks and crannies than an English muffin, the face of the misty giant glowed brightly against the pastel blue-gray shadow canyons carved into the contours of the thunderhead. 

"Only in the movies. It is stunning." I lifted my eyes skyward in reverent appreciation and gratitude."It's good to be alive, specifically after this morning's meet-and-greet." I hunched down with my hand shielding the tip of my cigarette and sparked my lighter into life."Let's take a break, my back is killing me, and my butt hurts." 

I used the brim of my fedora to sweep the sand and gravel from a small patch of ground and sat down. I groaned with relief as I leaned back against a sofa-sized chunk of weathered stone and draped my rifle across my knees with the muzzle facing away from my partner. 

"Got an extra?" Belinda asked as she sat next to me and pointed to her mouth and pretended to smoke. 

"Bad for your health, how about some weed for a change?" 

I stubbed out my cigarette and passed her my torch along with one of my pre-rolled cannabis cigars. I needed to relax, and nicotine wasn't cutting it. Belinda eyed the blunt with suspicion, and I thought she would decline my invitation. Instead, she peeped down the trail for any signs of the sisterhood, smiled and said,"What the hell. Why not?" before she touched the flame to the end and took a toke that would make Willie Nelson proud. 

"Ya know something? Back there, you did okay for an old man, Sky." Frosty stroked my back as she handed me the glowing cigar. 

"Thanks, you're too kind, but I don't think so," I said as I shook my head in disbelief."Waiting for them to clear the crest, I was so scared I thought I would piss myself." I shuddered at my memory of fear. 

"You did good enough to get the job done, and that is what we needed when you distracted them long enough for us the get the drop on them," she said as she smiled and took the smoldering joint from my fingers. 

"Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that." 

I returned her smile with a hug. I hadn't been brave in my deeds. I had simply forgotten to be afraid. 

"My pleasure. We work well together," Belinda grinned. 

For the next several minutes we silently shared the mega-joint. Sometimes more is said when nothing is spoken. 

=^.^= 

"Where do I sit?" I asked Sheila as I leaned against the door frame at the entrance to the meeting hall and surveyed the room. 

"What do you mean? Why do you ask?" The commander gave me a perplexed look. 

"At the last meeting, you told me I was to be reassigned and would no longer be your assistant, what is my status?" I studied Sheila's face and tried to read her thoughts. 

"You're in the Society. Do what needs to be done," my boss replied. 

"A less than useful answer, don't you think?" I hate riddles," just tell me what it is YOU want me to do, I'll take it from there," I tapped a cigarette from my pack and lit-up. Halfway in and part way out of the meeting room, no one was nearby to give me grief over secondhand smoke. 

"Ditch the smoke, sit with the council and take minutes, they're expecting you," she carefully took the cigarette from between my lips and took a quick drag before stubbing it out against the heel of her boot. 

"Waste not," she frowned with a strange grin as she slipped the unsmoked remainder into my back pocket and smacked my ass. "Want not," she casually looked into my eyes several heartbeats longer than necessary and smiled. 

"They are?" I peeped over Sheila's shoulder at the members of the council gathering at the oak table to the right of the Leader's podium. 

"You take the minutes at every meeting, and you've been doing it since the day you became a member of the Society. Nobody asked you to stop," she looked at Martha and Belinda in conversation with Jennifer, you knack with words is appreciated. We need a historian; it might as be you," she patted my head and walked to the stage. I had an uneasy feeling in my gut as I followed my mistress of mixed messages. Until I knew the lay of the land, I would make my way gingerly through the shifting moods of the Sisterhood. The twin SkyFire events had everyone anxious and uneasy. The confrontation with the Sheriff and his posse was a troubling first introduction to the new world beyond our walls. 

Like the minds of soldiers finishing basic training on the evening of war, the frame of mind of the Society was transitioning from theory to practice. It was exhilarating and terrifying; a high wire act without a net. No matter how amazing was our grace or beautiful our style, it was still the same distance to the ground if we missed the wire. 

"With the hour being," Sheila held her gavel at the ready and stared at the silent grandfather clock at the front wall of the amphitheater. Unwound, the dormant timepiece had ticked its last tock at two-twenty-two on the afternoon or morning of some previous day. 

"Oh, bother," she grumbled as she checked her watch. 

"Ah hum, the time being twenty-one hundred hours, more or less, I declare this meeting of the leadership council to be in session, Sheila Carson presiding. Today's agenda is in three parts. Firstly, the council will direct a hearing into the circumstances leading to the detention and subsequent liberation of Darlene and Seraina," the Commander said as she held up a single finger. 

"Secondly," she extended another digit, "we will examine the conduct of our rescue party during our, er, rather sticky encounter with the Sheriff's Department. Today's actions may have significant implications for our future relationships with local law enforcement." 

"Finally, we have unfinished business from our last meeting," Sheila turned to face me," Mister Wolf's performance review and duty assignment. We'll deal with that after dinner recess." 

"But, enough of that. Before we begin, let's all welcome home our sisters, Darlene and Seraina," the chief said as she embraced each of the women. 

I scanned the hall as I rose to my feet and became one with the assembly as we flooded the hall with a defiant wave of joyful applause. We had met the enemy and prevailed, at least for the moment. 

With a gentle tap of the hammer, Sheila returned the hall to silence as she pointed to the returned women and beckoned them to rise."Speak truthfully so that we may better know your mind. We know that your return was delayed by red tape, something to do with missing paperwork. What happened after we left that caused you to become prisoners?" 

"We were closing on the two Hybrid-Electric Ford F-250 trucks and about ready to complete the transaction when we the manager noticed an error in the title. The VIN was wrong, and the registry was closed," Darlene explained as she walked across the platform and stood before Martha and the other councilors. 

"We decided to rent a couple of rooms for the night and finish the mission when we got the titles sorted out," Seraina joined her companion as her voice trailed off into a whisper, and her body tensed like she was standing on the edge of an abyss. 

"What happened next?" Sheila bridged the silence with a soothing voice of inquiry. 

"All hell broke loose an hour after we settled in,' Darlene said as she inhaled for a moment before continuing. 

"I opened our door to investigate, and a terrified girl ran into our room," Seraina said as she gave Darlene's hand an additional squeeze of strength and affection. 

"The poor sister was a naked, bloody mess, two black eyes, split-lip, blood was running down the inside of her legs, she was scared shitless. Literally,” Seraina wrinkled her nose and continued.

“She told us said she had a gig to entertain a work crew. Open bar, too much booze, the men started fighting. One guy tried to rape her, others intervened, she was in the middle of a brawl, took off running, couple of men gave chase, she saw our door open, and the rest is history," Seraina said with a shudder as she squeezed Darlene's shoulder. 

"Next thing, cops are everywhere, someone pulled the fire alarm, it was bedlam. Then someone was pounding on our door. It was the cops; a witness told them a nude girl had been seen running into our room," Darlene returned her partner's grip. 

"Anyway, a crowd of cops shoves their way into our room, and when they do, one of the police sergeants spots our open satchel. It was filled with cash. Then he sees our "Shopping List" for explosives, weapons, and ammunition: along with your name, Sheila Carson, and all the codes we need for wire transfers, that and assorted financial information." Darlene gave Sheila a 'shit-happens' shrug of apology. 

"The cops got uber excited like they had just busted a terrorist cell or a drug cartel. Since we had broken no laws, they ended up taking us into custody as material witnesses. We were in a holding cell talking to the Sheriff when the shit hit the fan The poor man keeled over dead. It was horrible. He's dead on the floor, and outside the cell, it looked like the Goddamn world was ending," Seraina said with a shiver. 

"Turns out his pacemaker got zapped," Seraina held her hands together in an attitude of prayer and respect and paused for a second before proceeding. 

"His deputies took his body away and left us in the dark for two days before we were introduced to his replacement. Mister Fitzwater managed to have himself appointed Acting Sheriff. He saw the incident report and our 'To-Do' list with your name on it. It was all he needed to link us to Liberty Mountain. Then he..." Her voice faded into silence as Darlene completed the sentence." 

"Then he raped us," she said in a monotone voice devoid of emotion. 

"Because he could," our eyes met as she turned to face the assembly. It was if I was looking into the center of a hurricane: deceptively calm in a sea of pain. I nodded, 'I love you.' 

Sheila moved to take the arm of each of them and pulled them against her body. “Can you tell us what happened?” the commander inquired in a whisper, almost too soft to hear.

Darlene and Seraina exchanged glances, nodded before Darlene spoke, “Fitzwater’s deputies stripped me and held me while he put his fingers in me. Searching for contraband, he told me.”

“They did the same to me, and they took our clothes and left us in the cell: no blanket, no privacy, no nothing. He and his men took turns watching us like we was in a zoo. Naked until this morning. He ordered to get dressed and lead the way to Liberty Mountain. And you rescued us,” Seraina said.

Together she and her comrade scanned the faces of everyone in the room, slowly and deliberately they exchanged gazes with each of us, in an "Eye of the Tiger" moment. My two friends and lovers sent scrambled singles of affection and distance; smiles invited me to come closer while troubled eyes warned me to keep away. 

"Thank you," Seraina bowed to the sisterhood as she placed her right hand over her breast, to show that she was speaking from the heart. "We are family. Thank you, my dear sisters. And brother" she added as an afterthought. 

"Thank you for being our family," Darlene clasped her hands and intertwined her fingers in a sign of unity as she repeated her partner's bow. 

"Do you need a break?" Sheila, ever the protective mother, stood between the grateful pair and her arms, like a shroud of angel wings, wrapped around each as she held them to her bosom. 

"Fear not my darlings, you are safe at home," the leader’s eyes misted as she kissed a tear on Seraina's cheek. 

"Your sisters will shield you," the commander took a moment to look about the room and gather the ladies together with a smile. 

"And your brother will protect you," Sheila nodded in my direction and stared into my eyes, her thin lips an unreadable line. I tried not to flinch as I returned her laser stare with an uneasy and neutral smile. My abdomen tightened. 

The teardrops in the leader's eyes sparkled as she blinked and she parted her lips and grinned the easy smile of the kindred. 

All eyes were upon her as, with the grace of a ballerina and the passion of a preacher, her musical voice rose in joyful strength. She turned on her toes and raised her arms wide to embrace the room, "We are our sister's and brother's keepers," she looked directly at me as she sang, "We are one family." 

I remembered to breathe.

=^.^=

"Hey! Give me one of those," Sheila reached over my shoulder and slipped the pack of cigarettes from my breast pocket.

"Be my guest," I sighed after the fact as I reached for my lighter. The commander had nothing but the habit. Instead of carrying all the accessories of addiction, like any self-respecting addict, she pretended to be 'tobacco-free' except for an occasional smoke, "just for old times sake."

"That makes ten today," I held the flame of my Bic aloft as she cupped her hands to keep out the wind. The ember at the end was glowing nicely after a quick puff.

"You look like you just ran a marathon," I extended my hand and offered her the second chair at the small cafe' style table. We had a grand view of the western horizon. The sky was a black blend of the blazing Milky Way which merged with distant lightning flashes to the north and west of our location. The unsettled atmosphere of the day had become a dark-sky festival of stars dancing to distant thunder.

"Today's been a hike-and-a-half for everyone. The debriefing was hard, their testimony was awful to tell and difficult to hear, but necessary," the commander's smile was grim as she turned and looked westward into the void.

"We all need to recall what they can never forget," the commander's jaws tightened as she gripped the railing.

I shook my head and wrinkled my eyebrows. Her words were without meaning.

"A person can not forget or erase the memory of rape or sexual assault. It's burned into the brain like no other memory or trauma. We can forget lovers and nights of passion, but we can never un-remember being violated. It will be in our heads until the day we die," she smiled sadly and blew a smoke ring to the applause of an unseen army of crickets.

"I know," she closed her eyes and whispered.

I got it and nodded with understanding. My memories of sexual abuse were forever at the edge of my mind.

"It's weird, but the lack of light seems to have brightened the night," I mused as I stood next to her and tried to shift the subject as I leaned against one of the porch's support beams. One of the women had crafted the hand-hewn log-pillar to appear as if was growing from the railing. Art supported the steel roof overhang and the railing of the wrap-around farmers' porch. Carved into the face of each beam were countless whimsical lizards, spiders and other creatures of the forest.

"I'm not following you," Sheila said with a look of puzzled concern. 

"SkyFire has swept light pollution from the heavens. Humanity's mindless mist of stray protons no longer corrodes the night. I've never seen so many stars. The sky is brilliant," I polished the lenses of my eye-glasses and looked through at the sky beyond, "Absolutely unforgettable."

=^.^=

"Thank you, Martha. Dinner was delicious," The leader said as she tapped her gavel and called the meeting of the sisterhood to order. 

This will be a short session, a few items of old business, and one thing of new. First up are Sky Wolf's six-month review, performance evaluation, and duty assignment. As you recall, I was in the process of relieving him as my administrative assistant when the lights went out. We got cut short and never voted my recommendation. Until we do, he's technically unemployed," Sheila said with an awkward smile as she adjusted her pencil to align with the top of the notepad on the podium. 

"What do you suggest?" Martha invited the commander to elaborate.

"The world has fundamentally changed. This much we know," Sheila stepped away from the speaker's stand and walked to center stage. 

"We see it in the black sky of night and the clear skies of the day, no aircraft or contrails since the first event. Radio communications remain smothered in static. All we got is fragments, shortwave mostly. Cities are in turmoil, countries are in confusion, and chaos rules the land," the commander's arms moved with her voice. Some folks talk with their hands. The boss's entire body danced to the music of ideas.

"For the last decade, we've been prepping for disaster with secrecy as our primary shield," she said as she brushed a few stray strands of hair from her eyes.

"This morning we learned we've been compromised. Tthe shield is shattered. Our Society is in the system. We and our location are known to the authorities," Sheila pause for a moment and took a deep breath.

"If we are going to stay alive, we gotta be smart, clever, and careful," the chief interlocked the digits of her hands and placed two index fingers against her lips in a thoughtful moment of reflection. 

"Especially careful. Caution counts," she closed her eyes in a long slow blink. 

"We, and by that I mean I, me," she opened her eyes and pressed the palms of her hands to her chest before spreading her arms to wide, "you, and I, and all of us must evolve if we are to survive," the commander took her time as she slowly surveyed the silent faces within the hall.

After several moments of cricket chatter, I cleared my throat as I stood to speak.

"Charles Darwin said it best. It ain't the strongest of the species that live, nor the smartest, but the guys most responsive to change. Right?" I resisted a smile as Sheila's eyes widened and she gave me a sharp stare before her features relaxed.

"Exactly," she said with an amused look of surprise. I gave her a slight nod and soundlessly moved my lips 'I trust you,' as I returned to my seat. I had just spent my last brownie point. Can't hurt, might help.

"We're no longer prepping," the leader said as she surveyed the assembly. Save for the occasional rustle of fabric; the room was whisper quiet and fully engaged. The ladies of Liberty Mountain leaned forward in their seats and listened intently to Sheil's thoughts.

"We are operational and tactical. This is the real deal, and we're gonna need to modify our procedures. We need to stop depending upon my leadership to see our way clear. If we are to survive, we need to work and think as a team. There are too many moving parts and unknown variables for me to do this alone.

I need a twenty-four-seven situation team to analyze, plan, and manage our response to this crisis. I can't do it alone. Therefore I propose the council becomes that team, and to that end, I've reassigned Mister Wolf as committee staff. Sky's role is to provide continuity. He will attend all department and unit meeting, take notes, keep us apprised, and offer whatever thoughts and suggestions he thinks appropriate. We are under no compulsion to follow his advice, only to listen," the commander concluded and stood in the easy posture of parade rest, he hands clasped behind her back and her face pleasantly relaxed as she waited.

"What is the pleasure of the assembly?" she asked with an innocent grin of anticipation.

TO BE CONTINUED