I'm sorry about the short last chapter, but this story doesn't always break into constant-size chunks. This one is longer than most - I hope that makes up for it. And thank you for your continuing feedback, positive and otherwise. You are all reading my story, which I very much appreciate.
A new beginning?
I approached the Goddess. "Goddess, I need to talk to you."
"You can't call me Goddess" she replied "I have failed. I can't protect my ladies."
I repeated: "Goddess, I need to talk to you."
"Call me Chris" she said.
"Goddess, I must talk to you."
She looked at me curiously "what do you want?"
I told her I wanted to help. I asked her what she had in mind, and she replied that she was out of ideas. She had used up her energies and most of the enormous amount of money the ladies had in buying the island and fitting it out. She couldn't go back; she was too concerned about the risks of exposing her remaining charges to those who had kidnapped me (the second time, she told me with a humourless smile). She had nowhere to go. She had failed to protect those who had trusted her.
"
We
can provide for all these ladies." I told her. "Come with me to Australia, and I promise you we can all make a life there."
"And start afresh from nothing?" she said, still with that bleak smile.
"Well, not exactly nothing." I replied. "I have some assets and we can make a start with that."
"We kidnap you. We rape you repeatedly. We break your arm and kidnap you again and rape you again and then make you walk naked across the wilds of Russia bleeding and carrying a bedhead..." she broke off into nervous laughter.
I put my hands - well, one hand and one cast - on either side of her head and made her look at me. "I love you, Goddess. I want to make my life with you."
She gave me a thousand-yard stare and went off to talk to Maria. That's a sign of failure with women, I thought - I tell her that I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her, and she just walks off without a word.
The engines stopped, and The Goddess returned with Maria. She called the others around. She told them we were drifting in the middle of the lake, safe from the rebel ladies here, and safe from drifting into shallows or rocks. For a few minutes. She told them that she could no longer provide them with a life safe from the harsh treatment of Russians including, now, half of their own Brigade. She told them that I had an idea about how I might be able to provide what she could not, and asked them to listen to me.
"This will sound like a silly idea..." I started. Someone said in a stage whisper, "We're the experts on silly ideas.", and there were a few laughs.
I went on "You have tried everything possible to make a home in Russia, among Russians. I think, however, that you would find Australian attitudes more fair-minded. I have a few houses and a little money, and I think we could make a new start there. I love you and your Goddess and I am immensely proud to have been associated with what she and you have been doing beside Lake Baikal.
"I want her to be my wife. I want to live with her in Australia, and I want you all to come with us and make your lives in Australia. I don't know what careers you had apart from sports, but I think we can find worthwhile jobs for many - perhaps most - of you in Australia. I can tell you that many country towns in Australia are desperate for doctors, and those of you with medical qualifications would be very welcome. I am confident we could find a place for all of you.
"I suggest that we find somewhere to regroup, stay there for a while and make contact with the Australian government to try and seek residency for you all there. The Goddess could come as my wife if she could bring herself to agree. What do you think?"
Silence. More silence. Then one hand went up. "Can we stay together?" Tina asked.
I looked at the Goddess, who nodded. Suddenly they all came forward and we had one enormous group hug. Every one of them was crying. The Goddess was crying. I wasn't crying: I winced in pain...until I started crying too.
I looked at the Goddess and asked if we could speak privately.
"This is private - just my family." she replied.
So I told her I was serious. "I love you and I want you to be my wife".
"Do you want twenty wives?" she replied. I told her that I wanted her to be my wife. If that meant we lived alone that was what I wanted. If that meant I had twenty wives then that was what I wanted. If it meant we had twenty children then that was what I wanted.
She looked at me through her tears and said, "Yes, yes, I love you, yes", and leapt forwards and hugged me again. And again, all the others hugged us both.
"So - how will our family look?" I asked. My Goddess told me she wasn't sure, but she wasn't brave enough to tell her ladies, or at least those who were still part of the group, that they were going to miss out on sex with me and she didn't think I was either. We left it at that for now.
Then Maria told us we had practical things to do, and returned to the helm. She restarted the engine and off we went. For the moment I knew not where and cared not where. I was just about falling over with fatigue and pain, and I just lay down and went to sleep.
I didn't need any of Dr Yulia's potions to help me sleep. I found out later that I had just lain down in the middle of the floor and started snoring. My ladies had put a pillow under my head, some blankets over me and made sure they walked around my little speed hump in the middle of the cabin floor.
When I awoke it was half-light. I wasn't sure if it was early morning or evening, but I was comfortable on the thick carpet and still very tired, so I continued dozing, eyes closed but half-aware of what was happening around me. The movement of the water seemed less, and I could vaguely hear sounds of waves on rocks, so I presumed we were tied up somewhere. There seemed little activity on the boat and no sense of urgency, so I just stayed where I was and drifted off to sleep again.