Chapter 10 -- Sonora and "Slavery"
Stephanie took the plane for Mexico. She did this after exchanging emails with Professor Walzer and learning that Alamos was a low crime area in Sonora. As far as he could tell, becoming a victim of a crime perpetrated by strangers was about the last thing she should worry about.
There are high crime areas in Nevada, but I don't avoid the whole state, Stephanie thought. For that matter, Reno is one of the higher crime areas of the state.
She wrote everything she knew about the Club and Trimalchio's hacienda on paper, put it in a sealed envelope, and gave it to Roberta. Stephanie told Roberta, "If I don't contact you in a week, go to the police." Stephanie did not think this would save her if she was sold to some sort of serious criminals but at least it would break up the Sportman's Club as a lure for victims.
Roberta thought Stephanie was crazy to go someplace where writing such a document was thinkable. Roberta knew, though, there was nothing to tell Stephanie that would make her change her mind.
Sarah, Naomi and Stephanie were all going on the same plane Friday morning, January 12, along with Rolf Spielmann and Charlotte Stein, but Stephanie did not get in touch with Naomi or Sarah in advance. Stephanie just didn't want to talk to Naomi although she hot stopped being mad at Naomi and sent her an email to that effect. Naomi had responded with something that could be read as an apology and promised to be more discrete in the future. It was enough for Stephanie to forgive her but not to forget that Naomi had not been a very good friend.
Why couldn't I have ever found a friend with Roberta's honesty, fidelity, discretion and common sense who was as exciting as Naomi? Stephanie thought that maybe Roberta's virtues just aren't consistent with excitement. Roberta doesn't even go on a walk without plenty of water, checking the weather, and making sure we both wear the perfect clothing and won't get lost. I doubt Roberta has had a salacious thought in her life.
She's not a 32-year old virgin but that is undoubtedly because she has decided that it would be unseemly to be too chaste in the 21st Century and that occasional sex is a necessary part of a proper education and exercise regimen.
Stephanie sat on the plane next to Viktoria ( aka "the Baroness") who was going down a couple days earlier than was necessary for her. She found Viktoria's English had improved. She did not know whether it was because Viktoria had been speaking mainly English for a month or because she'd decided that pretending to be Pepe Le Pew wasn't getting her anywhere. Anyway, Stephanie thought, I should not be snotty about imperfections in Viktoria's English as she can speak at least three languages and I often have trouble speaking up for myself in one.
On the flight down, Viktoria explained her financial situation and mentioned that Spielmann had proposed a side bet for her. As it was, for playing at Level Four, she'd get $40,000. This would be enough to hold her Chateau a while but not cover other debts. She did not want to think about it, but if she lost at Level Four, she'd probably lose most of her property as well as her freedom. "I might as well then just be a fuck toy the rest of my life," Viktoria said.
Stephanie wasn't sure she understood the distinction. Can a slave own real estate? Isn't a slave a slave? No, I know.
What Spielmann had offered as a side bet added greatly to the risks and potential gains. If Viktoria came in the bottom half of the game, not one of the five women with the highest number of strikes when the first woman got 21 strikes, he'd pay off all her debts. However, if she came in with the second, third, fourth or fifth most strikes, she'd be a slave to Spielmann for ten years and he would donate her services as a slave to the Club for ten years. He'd acquire her properties for himself and let her live in them as a sex slave as he directed. "My condos and chateau become the brothels in which I give myself to Club members, I guess, and after that I out on street," she said sadly. "Spielmann say he never touch me, but he give me to Club for constant use while he fuck other women."
Stephanie pointed out that with all the possibilities for Spielmann to add strikes to her total under the Level Four rules, Viktoria had much less than an even chance of coming out whole. She should make clear what happened in the case of ties. "I know that," Viktoria said. "That why I not agreed. Maybe I can make better deal. Two days to see if Spielmann become more nice. Otherwise, I just play Level Four without side bet and whole pile of shit come again in a month."
Stephanie was not sure whether she should suggest that Viktoria just walk away from her properties, get a job, and quit gambling. She knew it would sound really hypocritical coming from a woman who was risking becoming a slave to the Club with the only incentive that would appeal to a rational woman being $40,000. Also, Stephanie thought that what Charlotte had said at the party was right, that Viktoria was as much a submissive, masochistic, sex-deranged woman as the rest of them playing at Level Four. Viktoria's incentives were fundamentally not much different from Stephanie's. She was willing to play at Level Four because part of her wanted to become a sex slave to the Club.
Stephanie was relieved that she was not immediately gagged and sold at auction when she got off the plane at Alamos Airport. This was not really a surprise. Walzer and others had been right that the Club wasn't some brutal white slavery operation. Also, Stephanie thought, both the woman who called herself Shameless Slut and Viktoria had said they had played at Level Four and got back from Sonora so there was no chance I'd just be handed over to a drug cartel. Still, the fact I flew here while believing that was a possibility tells me that I need my head examined by a doctor much smarter than Naomi.
A big van was waiting at the airport for Sarah, Naomi, Viktoria and Stephanie and others to take them to the hacienda. Stephanie sat in the front of the van with Charlotte Stein who discretely inquired if Stephanie had patched up her relationship with Naomie. "More or less," Stephanie answered. "I was only really upset about her saying that I made shark loans and took relish in foreclosing on people. I never, never do anything of the sort. I know it sounds funny, but I feel very strongly about being ethical in all my business dealings and I lose sleep when the bank makes loans to people I fear won't be able to make the payments. I do everything I can to prevent foreclosures. I almost couldn't go to college because of the Great Recession of 2008 and it put me off a term."
"But that wasn't the only reason for you delaying college, was it, Steffi?"
"Oh look, it seems we're here," Stephanie replied.
At the hacienda, Stephanie found that Sabrina, Hollie, Alsha, Brigitta and Lenka were already there. Priya and Katie arrived shortly afterward.
The arriving contestants were immediately taken to a small clinic where they took the usual full battery of medical tests. There was one thing added to the tests though. Each woman was asked what form of birth control they were using.
After going through the check up with the other women, Viktoria said she was going to find Spielmann for the beginning of some tough negotiations. Stephanie was intrigued and wished Viktoria luck. She had a few hours for sightseeing or other activities.
Stephanie, Hollie and Sabrina walked back into and around the beautiful old town. It was sunny and 22 C (71 F) weather in January. Stephanie could see why some people retired there. If there were drug cartel mobsters or pirates around, they were well hidden. Sabrina and Hollie agreed that if one was going to be a slave somewhere in the winter and spring, it would be much nicer in Alamos than in rainy Britain or Germany.
People in the town looked at the three curvaceous beauties and nodded to each other as though to say they had seen such women before and thought them immoral, stupid or hilarious or all of the above. Stephanie thought that if the natives think she's an idiot, she couldn't really disagree. But you can't have much fun playing it safe all the time.
THE FIRST LEVEL FOUR GAME
The first night they had in Alamos was also the first of the three Level Four games to be played that three-day weekend. Friday night, January 13, 2023, and the rest of my life may come to this, Stephanie thought.
The ten women who would be risking sex slavery in the Club were directed to a fairly large hall in the hacienda. Stephanie thought the hall normally was probably a banquet hall but also a place for viewing sporting events. There were televisions all around. Tonight, though, the televisions were all showing the center of the hall from various angles.
The audience was already there. There were about 100 men dressed business casual and ten women who were dressed like dominatrices wearing black or red leather. There were also more than a dozen women who were kneeling and wearing nothing but collars, piercings, and tattoos. A few nude women had no piercings or tattoos at all. "Slaves au naturel," Stephanie thought. I guess the Club has different plans for different women who become slaves.
Stephanie recognized Charlotte and several of the women who were called slaves at the parties at the Spielmann mountain mansion parties. Most importantly, though, Stephanie saw Shameless Slut kneeling in the middle of the room next to a Sybian. She wore nothing except a black leather choker from which nipple clamps were hanging loose like pendants and ready to use on sensitive areola. There were ten backless bar stools around Shameless to which she motioned for the contestants to be seated. As in Europe, the crowd was seated around the contestants on all sides in dimly lit areas.
Shameless gave a hurried introduction. "There is a fair amount to get out of the way before we can start this degenerate game of perverts and libertines. First, my apologies to any contestants who were hoping to be whisked away to be sold to slavers who would make your life short and painful. The Club is just not into kidnapping, rape or murder."
Stephanie thought of how the Club had deliberately created a mystery about Level Four perhaps as part of their weeding out process or maybe just to tease. It's sickening how much thought these assholes put into their games.
Shameless continued, "Level Four, while in Sonora and subject to a lot of special rules because of the permanent changes that can result from becoming the center at Level Four, continues the Club policy of strict consent. Anyone can quit the Club and all further Club activity any time they wish. However, due to humanity's regrettable inability to travel back in time, we cannot undo the effects of past decisions. Tattoos and brands once applied cannot be removed easily and children born cannot be unborn.
