Capture Team PT 3 Round-up: CHANGE OF COMMAND
It was early in the grey light of the morning, in front of a Second floor accessory apartment in a frame house in River Bend near the University. The wooden frame house was our first stop on the round-up of my capture team in this college town.
My mission this morning was leading a simple operation repossessing the person of defaulting debtors. Next to me, Colette, the landlady, a 40 year old woman, yawned. Behnd me were tall brawny blond headed, Cliff and Logan.
Still in her bathrobe, reddish brown hair undone, Collette, at my nod, tapped on the door.. "Melanie, I need to talk to you," the landlady, as she knocked, emphasized the word 'please' when she requested, "Melanie, please come to the door."
In the college town of River Bend, the landscape around the University was doted with frame houses with accessory apartments, whose income allowed homeowners mostly women like Miss Collette to hang-on. Toughened by the struggle to stay afloat where an economic inversion ended the reign of liberal bankruptcy and easy credit, landladies like Collette were the Institute's greatest asset in locating debtors who had secured a loan with a personal indenture requiring of young women, seven years of service. Men had to offer 10 years.
Inside the apartment, I heard shuffling of feet; the smack of a hurried kiss. When no one answered, Landlady Colette handed me the key. I nodded to the Landlady to return to her rooms on the first floor.
Chances are Miss Collette's indenture was also in default. Hopefully, the tip the Institute paid Collette would bring her current or at least out of jeopardy of being taken by a capture team like mine.
Entering with tall Cliff and Logan whose blue police uniforms contrasted well with their blond hairs, I ordered Melanie Rucker to freeze. "Good Morning, Melanie, I am Special Agent Tina, a repossession specialist, employed by the Institute. The Institute has purchased your Indenture and now enforces its rights to your person and property," I smirked as I looked around the room, wobbly wooden table and chair, "such as it is."
Melanie blithered that with more robots in use after raising the minimum wage, she found herself out of a job in the student cafeteria at River Bend University. "If I only had a little more time," Melanie cried.
"The notice of delinquency, default, and levy gave you 15 days to pay or to surrender at the Institute," I reminded Melanie. "When the 15 days expired you became subject to levy."
"Subject to Levy," those words cut like ice. When Institute was required to resort to levy, the indenture lost three more years. Oh, well, even I had to give an Indenture, a voluntary one, to get my job. Why should anyone else be special?
This was a routine mission. I knew to let the subject of the repo try to explain. The subject usually went easier if someone listened to their all too familiar tale of woe.
As the subject yammered, my mind drifted back to the beginning of this mission. I had been dressed in a formal blue Institute Security uniform, with white gloves, a neatly starched blouse, skirt and stockings on my way to the Institute for my promotion to Lieutenant when I was diverted to a routine round up at the temporary detention center hidden in an eerier, isolated Victoria house in River Bend. I bristled with indignation at the potential loss of pay and seniority and the pomp of having The Institute Director himself pin my yellow bars on.
Before I could explode at Sergeant freckle -- faced Jenny as I reported in her office in `The Dungeon,' the basement of the old Victorian structure, I was startled when Sergeant Jenny shooting me a warm smile, rose and took my hand, "Oh," she chuckled, "I see you still prefer the skirt to the trousers." Detecting my chagrin, Jenny apologized for dragging me away from a promotion ceremony officiated over by Dr Crenshaw, The Institute Director himself, "I'm going to have to get used to standing for you, holding the door open and saluting you, Lieutenant. Before we can celebrate let me cue you in on the mission."
I learned that the routine mission concealed an important operation I would take charge of. Jenny, seated behind an old wooden desk, apologized for dragging me away from my promotion ceremony in order to assist with "what seems to be," her tone was emphatic, "a routine round up -- mostly of young women -- none of whom are expected to put up a fight-- some of whom may be pregnant."
"I've done such operations dozen of times," Annoyance filled my voice when I assured Sergeant Jenny of my familiarity with such mundane matters.
"Let me introduce you to the real mission in River Bend," Jenny drew out of her top desk draw a picture of a full-frontal picture of a six-foot-tall young man, curly black hair coated his naked body. The legend on a placard to the left of his left foot read LT BERNIE. "He absconded from the previous team which operated here some months ago. He may be soliciting or recruiting Indenturees. He is regarded as a traitor."
With Melanie blathering away in front of me in that drafty apartment, my ears were open for any information about the person the Institute sought.
Melanie claimed she had gotten a line on a job that promised to give her the money needed to repay her debt. Her information was not particular enough, no names, no places, no particulars as to the type of work. I sighed Melanie would have to go with us.
Positioning themselves to either side of Melanie, Cliff and Logan hands on their belt stood ready with a taser to deal with the first sign of resistance.
Noticing two coffee cups on the kitchen table, I asked, "Are you living with anyone?
"I was," Melanie was choking on her words, "He ran off."
I swaggered as I advanced to the table. Lifting each cup and feeling that they were still warm, I noted, "The `He's' usually do run off, darlin` Melanie. Not very long ago. Is he still here?" I nodded to Cliff to check out the other room.
I was hoping Cliff would find no one hiding in the closet or clinging to the roof. Males were a great deal of trouble. They often put up fights. To calm men I felt might try to fight, I'd remind them, "Testosterone poisoning has a cure most men don't welcome."
On arrival at the spooky old Victorian capped by eerie spires, I became aware that extraordinary circumstances surrounded this mission as soon as I pulled my car into the concrete sunken parking lot hidden behind high overgrown hedges.