Money Business

Janet looked out of the windshield as the Cessna 172 approached the airstrip carved out of the jungle that covered most of the tropical island. She could see the buildings that housed the world-famous Simian Institute and felt a combination of exhilaration and fear. Exhilaration that she, a lowly junior pre-veterinary student, had been selected as a student intern, and fear that she wouldn't be up to the task.

The plane landed smoothly on the gravel airstrip and taxied to a stop in front of a 'terminal' that was only a corrugated steel roof covering a wooden bench. Janet climbed out of the plane and the hot, humid air made her glad that she was wearing shorts and a sleeveless blouse. She heard a chorus of quiet whistles and saw three soldiers standing in the shadow cast by the terminal roof. All of the men were dressed in jungle camouflage and had M16 rifles slung over their shoulders, and they weren't concealing their admiration of her voluptuous figure. Janet was used to this kind of attention, and it made her feel more at ease. Men were all the same, no matter where they lived.

The pilot had retrieved Janet's suitcase from the back seat of the Cessna and carried it up a path that led to a large concrete building, roofed with the ubiquitous corrugated steel. Janet followed him and her fear returned. She was going to be interviewed by the Institute's director, and she could still be rejected.

The interior of the building was air conditioned and mercifully cool. Janet approached a young woman seated at a desk. "Hi, I'm Janet Cermak. I'm here to see the director."

"Hello, we've been expecting you. My name is Lourdes. Dr. Hanson will see you now, just enter through that door."

Janet knocked and entered. Dr. Hanson stood up and greeted her. "You must be Ms. Cermak. Welcome to the Simian Institute. Please sit down."

Janet sat in a chair near the desk and studied Dr. Hanson. She had never seen him before and was surprised by his youthful appearance. She knew that he must be over sixty, but he was lean and fit and had a full head of dark hair. "Please call me Janet. It is a real honor to meet you and to be selected to intern at the Institute."

"You aren't quite selected yet. Before you sign the contract there are a few things that we have to discuss. Do you know what we do here?"

"Yes, sir. You study all kinds of monkeys and apes. I've read some of your papers and I was especially impressed with the way you were able to discover that some apes have a large vocabulary and can communicate abstract concepts."

"Discover isn't exactly correct. Actually, for many years the Institute has selectively bred apes to increase their intelligence, and we created the smart apes that could talk. We hope to supply them to do some tasks that only humans can do now, such as acting as assistants to disabled persons. Do you have a problem with this? It's not pure research, and some students don't want to be tainted by anything that might have a commercial application. Also, do you have any religious objection to this work? Some people say that we're trying to play God."

"No sir, none of this is problem for me."

"Good. I must warn you of something else before you decide to work here. Did you see the soldiers outside?" Janet nodded. "They're here because six months ago two young women on our staff disappeared. The government thinks they were kidnapped by pirates, and they've assigned an army platoon to guard us. I'm not so sure that's what happened, because there haven't been any of the usual ransom demands, but we have to go along with what the army wants. That means that you will have to agree to some restrictions on your movements, such as never leaving the compound alone and staying in your room after lights out. Is this acceptable?"

"Yes, sir. I'll accept the risk. It's worth facing some danger to be allowed to work here."

"Then welcome to the staff. Lourdes will take care of the paperwork and show you around. I'll see you at dinner and introduce you to everybody else then."

Janet left the office and said to Lourdes, "I've been hired! Dr. Hanson said you would show me around."

"Congratulations. Before I give you the tour let's get the paperwork out of the way. Here's the employment contract and this is the security agreement."

Janet took the papers and quickly skimmed through them. The employment contract looked like the usual boilerplate, including an agreement not to reveal or publish anything she learned without Dr. Hanson's approval, and she signed it without hesitation. She asked, "What's the purpose of this security agreement?"

"You must sign it to show that you were informed of and agree to follow the security regulations that were imposed after Barbara and Gloria disappeared. This part is out of our hands, because the army sets the regulations and enforces them. Technically, if you violate the regulations you could be arrested, but the army officer in charge here is very easygoing and he just scolds any offenders."

Janet didn't see anything outrageous in the security agreement and she signed it, too. Lourdes put the papers in a file cabinet. "Now let's take the tour. This building contains the offices and the laboratories." As they toured the building Janet thought it looked so much like any university facility that it could be interchanged without anybody noticing. There were some people working in the labs and offices, but Lourdes didn't bother them. She explained that Dr. Hanson would introduce everyone later.

The next building they visited contained the staff quarters. They entered a large room containing two long tables surrounded by chairs. Lourdes said, "This is the staff dining room. The meal schedule is posted on that wall, and Dr. Hanson expects that everyone will be here for dinner."

They left the dining room and entered a hallway that reminded Janet of the dorm at college. Lourdes led Janet to a room and opened the door. "This is your room. Everyone has a single room like this. The bathroom facilities are at the end of the hall."

The dorm motif was stronger here. The room contained a narrow iron bedstead, a chest of drawers, and a desk with a straight chair. Janet's suitcase was next to the desk. She noticed something under the bed. "What's that, Lourdes?"

"A chamber pot. Use it if you have to go during the night. The generator is shut down at midnight and it gets very dark in here. Also, everyone but the security patrols have to stay inside their rooms then."

Lourdes led the way outside and along a path that led towards the jungle. The undergrowth had been cleared and gravel paths built, but most of the trees remained and their canopy created deep shade interrupted by patches of bright sunshine. They took the path that led to a group of wire-mesh cages. They were cubical, about a meter on a side, and stacked two high. Most of them contained monkeys of various types. Lourdes explained, "This is where we keep the monkeys we use in our research. Dr. Hanson believes that it is healthier for them if they can stay outside."

They moved along the path and stopped where four apes were being kept. Each was chained by the neck to a steel cable. The cables were three meters above the ground and fastened between two large trees about twenty five meters apart. Each ape had its own cable, and the chain could move freely along it. Lourdes said, "These are the male apes. They need a place to run, so they're not kept in cages. The pregnant females are kept inside."

"These apes don't look like any I've seen before. What kind are they?"

"They're actually a hybrid that the Institute developed from chimpanzees, monkeys, and human genetic material. They're smaller than chimps, but a whole lot smarter. Dr. Hanson will explain all the technical details of how the were created."

Janet noticed movement in the jungle at the edge of the cleared space. "Look!" she exclaimed. "That's an ape over there!"

Lourdes calmly replied, "Yes, there are quite a few wild apes and monkeys. This island has more than 20,000 hectares of untouched jungle. The Institute bought it over eighty years ago and has kept it pristine, except for these buildings and the airstrip. Years ago some of the hybrid apes managed to escape and we're certain they've produced a stable colony."

"Don't you know for sure?"

"No, the policy of the Institute is to leave the jungle strictly alone. Even hiking in it is prohibited." Lourdes looked at her watch. "Let's go back. It's almost time for dinner, and being late is a no-no."

Before dinner Dr. Hanson waited until everyone was seated and then said, "I want to introduce our new intern, Janet Cermak. Will each of you please state your name and job? Let's start with you, Lourdes." One by one the scientists, assistants, and administrative staff stood and introduced himself or herself. All were dressed as casually as Janet, in shorts and open shirts. The one exception was the man seated next to Janet, who was dressed in an immaculate khaki uniform. He introduced himself as Captain Marcos, garrison commander.

After the introductions were over Janet turned to the captain. "Hi, I'm glad to meet you. Please call me Janet."

"I'm glad to meet you, too. Please call me Captain."

"How long have you been on the island, Captain?"

"Almost six months. My men and I arrived just after the second woman disappeared. The Institute brings a lot of prestige to our country, and the government wants to be sure that nothing harms it."

"Does anyone know what happened to the women?"

"Not really. The official line is they were kidnapped by pirates, but I would expect that some news of them would have reached us by now. Even if the pirates killed them someone would have talked. We have some good sources in criminal circles, but they've heard nothing."

"Maybe they went into the jungle and a leopard ate them, or they fell in quicksand. Is this possible? Was the jungle searched?"

"We didn't comb the jungle, but skilled trackers looked all along the edge of the jungle where it meets the clearing around the Institute. They didn't find any human footprints. Anyway, there aren't any large predators on the island, so it's not possible that something from the jungle got them. Personally, I think Gloria and Barbara were abducted by a flying saucer."

"You do?"

"Actually, no. But until we do know what happened I'm not going to take any chances. Make sure that you follow the security regulations. I don't want to have to scold you, and I certainly don't want you to disappear." He completed the thought to himself, 'It would be very bad for my career'.

After dinner Dr.Hanson gave Janet some technical literature, and she took it to her room to read. She became so absorbed in the material that she lost track of the time and was startled when the lights suddenly went out at midnight. She groped in near-total darkness until she was able to retrieve her toothbrush from her suitcase, and then fumbled her way out the door and down the hall to the toilet facilities. She hesitated outside for a while because she couldn't remember which was the women's side, but then decided it didn't matter. She picked one at random and used the toilet, washed, and brushed her teeth.

Janet was about half way back to her room when she was blinded by a flashlight beam. She stopped and used her arm to shield her eyes. A voice she recognized as Captain Marcos' said, "Janet! Why are you out of your room? You're violating a security regulation."

"I'm sorry, Captain. I was reading until the lights went out and I forgot about the regulation."

"Well, you're lucky this time because I'm the one who found you. A soldier might have thought you were an intruder and shot you." He gripped Janet's arm. "I'll escort you back to your room."

When they entered Janet's room the Captain put the flashlight on the desk and took handcuffs out of his pocket. He locked one cuff on Janet's right wrist and the other cuff to the steel tube that formed the headboard of the bed. "This will prevent any more nighttime excursions. I'll release you in the morning. Good night."

Janet was so shocked that she didn't say anything until Captain Marcos had left the room and then it was too late to protest. He had taken the flashlight with him and she was in the dark again. She got onto the bed and tried to get comfortable. If this was the Captain's idea of a scolding she certainly didn't want it to happen again. She didn't get much sleep that night, and by morning she had resolved to scrupulously obey all of the regulations in the future.

When Captain Marcos returned the next morning he apologized, "I'm sorry that I had to be so harsh with you, but we take these regulations very seriously. My men have been ordered to arrest anyone violating them. I hope you will be more observant in the future." He unlocked the handcuffs.

Janet rubbed her wrist. "This was a very unpleasant experience, Captain. I'll do all I can to keep it from happening again."

"Good. Perhaps you will allow me to escort you to breakfast."

* * *

For the next few weeks Janet worked diligently at her assigned task, which was transcribing and annotating the often cryptic notes of the scientists. She enjoyed the work. It gave her an insight into the research and it was genuinely useful, not just a make-work project to keep the intern busy.

One day Janet had finished all of the available work by midmorning. She was looking for something to do when she realized that she had been on a tropical island for weeks and had never been to the beach. She slipped out of the office and went to her room and changed into her bikini. She felt a little guilty about skipping work in the middle of the day, so she ran to the beach and around a point of land covered with trees. Now she was concealed from the Institute buildings, in a paradise of white sand, green vegetation, and turquoise blue water. No sign of human occupation was visible, and she could imagine that she was alone in the world. She waded into the water and swam out beyond the surf.

Janet swam back to shore and was on the beach before she noticed two soldiers standing just beyond the wet sand. She was disappointed that someone had intruded into her private paradise. She nodded to the soldiers and started back towards the Institute. One of them said something to her, but he was speaking the local dialect and Janet couldn't understand him. She kept walking until he grabbed her arm and jerked her to a halt.

Janet had so much experience with being groped that she reacted without thinking. She shouted, "Let go of me!" and slapped the soldier's face. He responded by throwing her to the ground and sitting on her back. Her face was in the sand and Janet had to struggle to breathe. One of the soldiers pulled Janet's arms across her back and held them while the other tied her forearms together with thin rope so that her forearms were parallel, with each hand near the opposite elbow. Then she was hauled to her feet and more rope was tightly wrapped around her arms and body, with one band above her breasts and the other below them. When the bands were cinched together her arms were welded to her body.

When Janet managed to spit the sand out of her mouth she started shouting demands for her release. A soldier ripped off her bikini top and stuffed it in her mouth. To hold it in place he wrapped more rope around her head and thorough her mouth. By now Janet's anger had disappeared and been replaced with a fear that intensified when the soldiers took turns fondling her naked breasts. She struggled and protested through her gag, and then blushed when she realized that the fondling was causing her nipples to harden.

One of the soldiers took a coin out of his pocket and flipped it. The other called out while it was in the air and then shook his head when he lost the toss. The winning soldier tied a long piece of rope around Janet's waist, knotting it in back. He pulled it between her legs and up under the loop around her waist, and carefully adjusted it so it was buried in her slit. Janet squirmed as his fingers probed her, and then gasped as he yanked on the end of the rope.

The soldier used the crotch rope as a leash and led Janet along the beach, past the Institute, and on to the army barracks. He tethered her to a porch railing and went inside the building. In no time a crowd of soldiers gathered around Janet, laughing and making what she guessed were lewd comments in their native language. She blushed and writhed with humiliation for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally Captain Marcos and the soldier emerged from the building.

Captain Marcos shook his head. "Janet, you've really stepped in it this time. Not only have you ignored the security regulations but you also assaulted a soldier. This is very serious, and if you weren't so young and innocent I'd arrest you and let the military court handle it. But Dr. Hanson wouldn't like me to do that, and you certainly wouldn't like it." He gestured to the soldier and moved towards the Institute. The soldier untied the leash from the railing, gave it a yank, and followed the captain. Janet stumbled along after them.

Janet was surprised when she was led to the area where the monkeys were kept instead of to the office building. Captain Marcos stopped by an empty cage and the soldier forced her inside and latched the door. Captain Marcos said, "I'm going to have a word with Dr. Hanson. I'll see to you later."

Janet looked up when she felt liquid hitting her back. Her cage was on the lower tier, and the monkey in the cage above her was pissing on her through the wire mesh floor! He was doing it on purpose too, because when she moved he redirected his stream to keep it wetting her. This final humiliation was too much, and Janet broke down and sobbed.

She was crying when Captain Marcos returned over an hour later, but now it was caused by the pain in her arms and shoulders. The soldier took her out of the cage and used the crotch rope to drag her next to a small tree. Captain Marcos had a chain, and he padlocked one end around her neck and the other around the tree. He cut off all the ropes and took out the gag, and then waited until the pain of the returning circulation had eased enough to let Janet pay attention to what he was saying.

"Janet, it appears that you don't know what's required by the security regulations, so you're going to stay chained to this tree until you have memorized them." He handed her a sheaf of papers. "I'll test you once a day, and you will have to be letter-perfect before I'll release you. Lourdes will check on you occasionally, but Dr. Hanson has instructed everyone else to ignore you." He turned and walked away.

Janet begged, "Please don't leave me here, Captain. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do anything wrong. Please, let me loose." She repeated her pleas until he was out of sight.

A few minutes later Lourdes appeared. Janet was relieved; this had to be the end of this farce. The captain had really scared her, but they couldn't possibly intend to keep her chained up like an animal. "Lourdes! Am I glad to see you! Unchain me so I can shower. I'm covered with monkey piss."

"I'm sorry Janet, but I can't do that. You have to stay here until Captain Marcos releases you."

"You're not serious! He can't do this to me."

"Yes he can, and you should be grateful that he is willing to do so."

"What do you mean? Why should I be grateful for this abuse?"

"Janet, this area is under martial law. The Captain could have arrested you if he had wanted to. You would have been tried by a military court that never acquits anybody arrested by an army officer. You could expect to be sentenced to three or four years of hard labor in some jungle prison camp. You're a pretty girl. Most of your labor would be done on your back"