The Killing Queens Read online

  He kissed her again. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  She sat with him until around 0300 realizing that she needed some sleep before returning to work at 0900. Special Agent Gilbert would be waiting for her promptly at 0830 and she wanted to appear as her usual self unlike as she did in their last car ride. If it was discovered that she was hiding a man, it was an immediate death sentence to be carried out by firing squad. Not only would she lose her life, but Kelly would be tortured and sent to The Farm to work until death took him too.

  She tucked him into bed with a kiss on his cheek and a reminder that she would back tomorrow. As the secret room closed and the desk arose from the hidden staircase, Martha exited her office and went into her own much larger vast bedroom. She kept the lights off and dropped into her walk in closet where she closed the door pulled out a cell phone that was hidden in a winter coat and dialed 10 numbers. Her face glowed in the dark as she listened to the ringtones until she heard a click.

  “Yes, it’s just as I thought. He’s the perfect candidate. When can I get the tranquilizers?”

  Chapter 3: The Briefing

  Catherine was back in the Oval Office. She had changed into a tailored grey suit pant, pearls, and a matching blouse, and her long orange hair was pulled back into a tight bun from her wet pony tail and soaking wet green t-shirt and shorts that she wore just hours before on her daily 3 mile run.

  As the President,she was used to being alone in life and leadership.While she had made it to the top, it was both lonely and isolating.

  She looked out of the frosty windows on to see the twisting orange, red, and yellow leaves blowing in the morning. Beneath their long branches were protesters asking questions that they had heard throughout her administration.

  Where were the men?

  How long were they going to live on The Farm?

  Why are the borders closed?

  Senate? Congress?

  Democracy is NOT Monarchy

  She had never thought of herself as a monarchy or a queen but people were quick to compare her to the women of monarchs and great ones.

  Victoria.

  Elizabeth I.

  Elizabeth II.

  Catherine the Great.

  Nzinga, Queen of Ndongo and Matamba.

  Mary, Queen of Scots.

  Cleopatra.

  Maybe she did think of herself as a queen.

  Afterall, she did dismiss Congress, the Senate, and Supreme Court.

  KNOCK, KNOCK

  “Yes,” She said to the door where the knock came from.

  “Madame President,” A Secret Service said as she opened the door for three women to enter the Oval Office. “Nancy, Ms. Dillard, Zora.come on in. Grab a seat,” She said pointing at the long table in her desk. The table was made of glass and had 6 rolling leather chairs pushed into it and one chair at the head.

  “Where’s Priscilla and Martha?” Catherine asked.

  “Right here.” Priscilla said as she and Press Secretary Humphry rushed spilling some drops of coffee as they sat down. As they entered the room the Secret Service Agent closed the door and they sat at 2 of the remaining chairs.

  “Everyone is here,” Catherine said as she took her seat at the head of the table.

  “Where’s the ?” Martha asked her.

  “She is on her way but we can’t wait any longer,” Catherine said.

  “Alright, Madame Vice President how are the studies going regarding our education initiatives both physical and academic?”

  “Well, Madame President, we are seeing improvement since last quarter,” Priscilla Rolb said. She was the Vice President and Catherine’s second in command. Rolb was a tall and elegant woman of Filipino and Irish descent in a brown and tan suit. She clicked a button on the underside of the table and it revealed line graphs showing a decrease in obesity, increase in academic abilities over the past 3 years, and footage of students conducting mandatory martial arts training.

  “Wonderful,” Catherine commented.

  “Riva, how are our international relations?” Catherine said.

  “Well, Madame President,” Secretary Riva Dillon said as she rose to her feet. She was a petite woman with olive skin, dark brown hair, and passionate drive. Some found her intensity off putting, but Catherine appreciated her fire.

  “As you can see with the projections,” She said as she pressed a button on her watch which showed a map of the world with red and green dots on the world as she pointed her watch at the adjoining blank white wall.

  “Now that we have taken the walls down and began international relation rebuilding, we have gained allies in the eastern Pacific, throughout the continent of Africa, half of South America, and a majority of Europe.” Riva continued

  “Excellent,” the President said. “What about Canada?”

  “I’m meeting with the Prime Minister and the President of France later this month. Ideally, we will establish great repose and build stronger diplomatic relations.”

  “Very well,” Catherine replied as Riva took her seat on the couch.

  “Dr. Amani, how is research going for the food shortage? How does The Farms production schedule look,”

  “It’s moving forward. We are making daily breakthroughs,” Zora said as she stood. She was average height and had medium brown skin, brown eyes, and a full black afro crowning her head. She wore a plum jacket and suit.

  “The fast food ban met much resistance, but is slowly becoming accepted.”

  “Good. What about medical issues?” the President asked.

  “So far the nation’s health is going well. As a whole, the latest studies show that stress is down and happiness is up along with obesity dropping substantially.”

  “Good, very good,” Catherine said.

  “Nancy, please tell me how things are going with our military and conscription,” Catherine said, changing the topic of conversation.

  “Things are going according to plan, Madame President,” General Nancy Lane said. She sat at the opposite end of the table with her chair pressed against the wall. She was a 4 star Marine Corps general dressed in her Service A’s, an olive green uniform and her dark brown hair was pulled tightly into a sock bun and she wore no make up to cover the few burns on her face that streaked it from a few years earlier.

  “We have refitted all of the Army training commands, reopened—rather rebuilt—Navy Recruit Training Command Orlando and Navy Recruit Training Command San Diego, added Air Force Basic Military Training sites at at Shaw Air Force Base and Tripler Air Force Base, refitted Portsmouth, and female components at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Command San Diego to match Marine Corps Recruit Depot Command Parris Island,” Nancy said.

  “Excellent,” Catherine said.

  “We’ll begin by mandating service again. They’ll have the basic structure from the schools which have been shown to benefit us. Meeting,”

  “But Madame President,” Martha interjected.

  “ We need to talk about the image that you present,”

  “My image?” Catherine questioned.

  “Yes Madam President,” Martha responded. She then clicked a few of her own buttons and the table screens showed images of magazine and newspaper articles about the President. They all showed her doing various things in her pre presidency and during her presidency. In one of them she was charging up Pennsylvania Avenue with her pistol and Mameluke sword drawn wearing camouflage and leading hundreds of women into battle against federal troops. In another she had stood proudly in front of The White House after her inauguration. She wore a strapless white gown that showed off her very toned and tattooed arms. On her left was the Marine Corps Eagle, Globe, and Anchor and on the right was a colorful Capricorn sign. It was a grey and black goats head with a blue and green mermaid tail on the bottom: both scary and beautiful. Across her body, she wore a sash made that was similar American Flag. It had a red white and red pattern that made up the majority of the sash with white stars on a blue backgr
ound that draped her shoulder in a square. Her orange hair was carefully wrapped into a glittering tiara on her head that had seven stars on the points and her pale face looked flawless as her turquoise eyes sparkled. In another, she was shown on The Farm watching the men working. She wore a wide brimmed brown hat, white button down shirt, brown tweed pants, and black riding boots with a brown tight whip on her hip. The men looked at her with fear in their eyes and thick metal collars around their necks.

  “They see you as a Queen more than a President,” Martha commented.

  “Some of them even say you’re becoming a dictator,”

  “A dictator?!” Catherine said appalled.

  “Well we know you’re not,” Priscilla said.

  “However, perception is still reality. You chose to play Zadok the Priest at your inauguration which sends a message of monarchy” Riva said. The dark haired Secretary of Defense finally spoke out of her corner.

  “You told me to do that though,” Catherine said.

  “I didn’t say you should do that,” Riva countered.

  “I made that as a suggestion to prevent a power vacuum and it has prevented that chaos, it has caused other problems in its stead but many solutions as well.”

  “Madam President, not that that’s a bad thing but you have to remember people don’t adjust to quick changes easily,” Martha added.

  “We could remind them of the past and the alternative option,” Riva commented.

  “No!” Nancy shouted.

  “Absolutely not,” Priscilla chimed in.

  “Are you fucking insane? Like literally, have you lost your mind” Martha added.

  “Relax ladies,” Riva said.

  “I’m just saying, change can cause fear but reminders of the past can cause loyalty,”

  “Very well,” Catherine stammered out. She looked around at the appalled faces of the majority of her staff and the one of someone who knew what she knew:fear was a great motivator and perhaps one that they would have to use in the near future.

  KNOCK, KNOCK

  “Im so sorry I’m late,” A voice said from behind the door.

  With a the click of the door, a secret service agent lead in a woman whose auburn and blonde highlighted hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She was in a blue pinstripe suit and she wore navy blue pumps that clicked across the tile floor. She confidently held onto a black leather portfolio with a Department of Law Enforcement and Corrections seal on it. This was Federal Warden Sienna Crawford .

  “Madame President,” she said, “It’s good to see you,”

  “Likewise, Sienna ,” Catherine said. “Please, take a seat,” she said as she pointed to the empty blue leather seat in front of her. “So, how is The Farm?”

  “ Well to be honest ladies The Farm is quite overcrowded but productive,” Sienna said. “Dr. Amani’s idea to turn the Mississippi Delta into fertile agricultural lands is going very well. The states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are doing quite well, and the women down there are becoming more economically stable from my observations in the area.”

  “Good.” Catherine said enthusiastically.

  “But this overcrowding thing cant good, ma’am.” Martha commented

  “How so?” Catherine countered.

  “Well from a labor standpoint the rate things are going, I’m going to need more guards or C.H.I.P’s break the men down, or another idea entirely.”Sienna said.

  “I see.” Catherine then turned, rose from her chair, and walked to the windows. “If history has taught us anything, it is that history does tend to repeat itself. That’s why we have to change the present to ensure our future is changed,” she said as she turned back and faced the table of The Cabinet.“Is the C.H.I.P program working?” Catherine asked.

  “The Computerized Handling Initiation Program is doing quite well ma’am.” Sienna replied.

  “Are the men calmer? Non-violent ?” Martha inquired.

  “Yes, yes they are ma’am?” Sienna answered.

  “How so? Give me examples,” Catherine demanded.

  “Well ma’am our rabbit population has flourished outside of the gates where we house the subjects,” Sienna began.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Nancy asked.

  “Typically if any men were to try to escape, it would be to kill rabbits for food and bring it back or just take it and try to escape out past the borders,” Sienna began to explain.

  “We have had those problems in drops before but now we don’t have it at all. No more guards have to roam the lands and fire their guns or watch the men be electrocuted by the fence now that the collars are gone. They really have become quite different,” Sienna continued to explain. She pressed a button on her side of the table and it showed images of The Farm. There were men working in the fields, covered with brown dirt, lifting baskets and bags of various produce. Some looked angry and upset to be stuck there doing manual labor on The Farm while a group of a few that she had a photo of looked happier. They were still doing that same labor but with a smile on their faces.

  “These are the ones in the C.H.I.P program,” Sierra said as she pointed at the picture.

  “ They are much happier as you can see and they are doing projects that we have implanted in their minds via the C.H.I.P’s. For the group that was sampled for you all, the projects they include yoga, handicrafts, knitting, horticulture, and cooking. Just the basics but they are quite good at them,”

  “This is wonderful,” Catherine commented. Nancy, Martha, and Priscilla all nodded in agreeance. Riva however looked at Sienna twirling a pen in her right hand.

  “That’s all good,”She began.

  “But one about the one you have assigned to you,” Riva commented.

  “Umm...Jacob is his name right?”

  “Yes,” Sienna replied.

  “How has he adapted to you and living one on one?” Catherine inquired.

  “Well ma’am,” Sienna began as she prepared her answer.

  “He has adapted to it quite well. He does exactly as he is told. He cooks me a cup of steel cut oats with strawberries and blueberries every morning. He recites the national news to me as I eat daily and prepares me a mixed garden salad for lunch and a similar salad with grilled chicken for dinner. While I’m gone, he has a list of chores to do. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday he works in the house: mopping, sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, etcetera. Tuesday and Thursday, he does outdoor work such as gardening, maintenance, and pool cleaning,”

  “And the sleeping arrangements?” Riva inquired.

  “Well…most of the time he sleeps in a guest room but on the rare occasion, I will allow him to sleep with me,”

  “Sleep with you?” Priscilla commented. All the women at the table leaned in and listened very carefully.

  “Um..am I not supposed to?” Sienna asked.

  “Well I mean…” Zora began.

  “I hadn’t planned for that which just tells you what I was thinking when I created the C.H.I.P’s,”

  “Do you have sex with him?” Riva questioned.

  “Umm…,” Sienna said shakily.

  “ I,um…is that appropriate? I mean…” Sienna stammered out a slight utter as her face began to blush red.

  “You know those C.H.I.P.’s do record location and biometrics,” Catherine pointed out.“And I could always look the film from our satellites through infrared cameras,” The President added.

  “ No, no no!” Sienna said. Sienna gulped and

  “He, he, he…he’s fantastic,” She began.

  “FANTASTIC???!!!” The remaining women said at the table exclaimed.

  “You have to explain!” Priscilla shouted.

  “I want details,” Catherine said.

  “Well,” Sierra began to explain.

  “He comes to me at night when I need or rather want him most. He wears this black mask he made for himself. I don’t know how he knows that I want him in a mask but he just knows. Anyway, he comes to me, crawling on his
hands and knees, ready, and eager to please me but he knows not to invade or rush things. He’s my perfect little cuckold,”

  Catherine, Zora, Priscilla,Martha, and Nancy sat in awe of the story that Sienna told.

  “How?” Catherine asked still in shock.

  “He stops at my door.” Sienna explained.

  “It’s like a border with a mental fence that he can’t cross until he has my permission. He knocks quietly and when I answer, he is always on his knees, with a towel, and is looking at the floor. Then he’ll apologize for all the harm that came to me before from other men and he begs and pleads for me to allow him to take a piece of that pain away with his submission,”

  There was silence from the women which allowed for Sienna to continue with her story.

  “ It’s a beautiful speech and his sensuality does take away some of the pain and the memories of that dark time. He’s never rough with me. He massages my legs and will kiss up them, gently making my hairs stand on end while shivers roll down my spine. Then when he gets to the point where he knows it has the potential to be…messy, he lifts me up and slides the towel under me so the sheets won’t get wet and he slides off my underwear and then goes about pleasing me.” She concluded with a sigh of relief.

  Catherine and the others looked at her with a blank stare. Then without missing a beat, Riva broke the silence and began to clap.

  “Bravo,” She said.

  “Um...well that was quite interesting,” Prisciall said.

  “Indeed,” Nancy added.

  Zora pulled out a notebook from her briefcase and began furiously scribbling notes.

  “What happens...after...umm,” She began.

  “After he leaves?” Sienna said as she filled in the sentence.

  “He takes the towel with him and crawls back to the cellar where he sleeps. We have never gone any further than that I swear,” Sienna said with a slight bit of fear in her voice.

  Catherine took a breath and sat in her large chair on the opposite side of her desk. She breathed a deep sigh of relief and relaxed in her chair. Then without warning she broke into laughter.