Chapter 8: Jefe

Tina had to fight her way back to consciousness.

Her body resisted. It was so comfortable. Why should she wake up? It was warm and peaceful just laying there. Nothing bad could happen here.

She struggled to resist that thought.

Her ears were ringing pleasantly. A beautiful sound echoed within her brain trying to lull her back into that pleasant rest. There was no reason to get up anyway. Everything was calm and serene. There was no need to be alarmed. The sound eased her body.

Her mind rebelled.

“Awaken.”

Tina's eyes snapped open in immediate obedience. She had never heard that voice before. She would have remembered such a glorious tenor. It seemed to flow through the air, caressing her ears. There were promises in the voice beyond the strict definition of the word it so gently used. It wasn't even a command it voiced, it was more like a soft suggestion.

Still feeling groggy, wanting to slow down the awakening process – there was no hurry after all, the sound told her so – she forced herself to lift her head.

For a moment, she was confused. She was laid out on the stairs, her body spread out along the steps with the edges of them digging into her shoulder, her chest, her groin, and her legs. The feeling of it was strange because the analytical part of her brain knew it was painful but the part of her that was listening to that sweet voice insisted that it might as well be a feather bed. The contrast was disorienting.

As she lifted her body up, she first looked down into the small hall that led to the cabins. Joe, Warren, Kai, and Ilia were all laying on the floor, leaning against the walls, sleeping deeply. They had fallen asleep in awkward positions that she knew would result in soreness and kinked muscles.

Even as she straightened, the muscles in her neck protested slightly but the pain was quickly softened by the voice that continued to echo in her head. It didn't seem to be saying anything she understood but it was definitely a voice.

The others were only stirring. They didn't wake up, their bodies just started adjusting into more natural, more comfortable positions but so slowly that they might not have been moving at all.

Reaching up to rub her neck, Tina turned to look up the stairs and found herself eye to eye with a surprised Crispin.

“You're up?” he asked, startled.

Tina nodded. She tried to shake her head, to clear the voice. It was far too tempting to let it lure her back into sleeping which was exactly why she ignored it.

“You weren't supposed to wake up that quickly.” he signed. He checked the others but they were still asleep. It was more natural though than the induced sleep they had been in just a few moments before.

“What happened?” Tina forced herself to stand up. She was glad she did. The moment she forced herself to her feet, the foggy feeling in her head started to fade. As it withdrew from her mind, it left her feeling rested and energetic. The pain from laying against the stairs started making itself known though but she relished in it. That was real. That was sure. Unlike that sweet voice.

“The other boat...?” Tina looked up past Crispin. The sky was starting to brighten with the sunrise. How long had she been asleep?

“I've dealt with it.” he promised.

“Tell me.” she ordered as she pushed past him and walked up on deck. She looked around but the other boat was gone. They were floating alone on the ocean as the sunrise cast a warming glow over everything. Dallas was laid out on the deck, sleeping just as peacefully as the others.

It didn't take a great stretch of the imagination to know that Crispin had ordered everyone to sleep. She felt pissed at herself for falling into his thrall so easily. She had really hoped she would have put up more of a fight than that. She barely remembered hearing his command, she knew she didn't fight him when she heard it. She hadn't even thought to.

However, what happened after that was a mystery.

She turned back to Crispin, waiting for his explanation.

“I questioned the men on the other boat.” he signed. “They know that a sub does stop in this port every now and again but there's no set schedule. Also, I had to get this from them.”

He paused and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a slip of paper and passed it to her.

Tina opened it up. It was written in Spanish, signed sloppily, and was headed with the words 'Pase Puerto'.

“A port pass?” she asked.

Crispin nodded. “We wouldn't have been able to stop in town without one. Only those invited are allowed to stay in town. Luckily for us, the townspeople don't know who's invited and who's not. Just that guard boat does. I told them that we were invited and had him sign that to give us access.”

“Great work.” Tina said without enthusiasm. She was happy things were going so smoothly but...

“You had all of us fall asleep?” she asked him, changing the subject suddenly.

Crispin looked apologetic. “I can't control who my voice affects and who it doesn't. I'm afraid I had to put you all to sleep.”

“Don't feel bad.” Tina told him unhappily. “You did everything right.”

“Then why are you angry?” he asked.

Tina sighed softly. “I guess I just kind of hoped that I would have been able to put up more of a resistance than that. That's all.”

Crispin looked thoughtful. “I don't know if this helps, but you really shouldn't be awake right now.”

Tina turned her head curiously. “You ordered me to wake up, didn't you?”

Crispin shook his head. “I said 'awaken'. I meant for you all to wake up slowly. I didn't want to shock your brains by waking you up suddenly. You snapped right awake though.”

Tina thought over his words. She had already been trying to wake up by the time she heard his voice. She had been trying to overthrow his influence on her by herself. His order to 'awaken' had been all she needed to break through the first command completely.

Of course, she might not have been able to wake up from his ordered sleep without the order to awaken. That was annoying. She thought she was stronger than that.

She shook her head again. “It doesn't matter. You did what had to be done. I'm not angry. Thank you, Crispin.”

He bowed his head slightly in acceptance of the gratitude but he signed nothing.

He didn't think she knew what it meant that she had so quickly awakened. She had to have already been fighting against his order. None of the others, when they would woke up, would remember hearing his order to sleep much less have been able to fight against it. Her will was stronger than he thought it would have been. It wasn't even that it was weaker than his. More than likely, it was just about even.

Just knowing that gave Crispin a great deal more hope than he had before. If her will was equal to his, that meant she was dancing on a razor's edge between being weaker and stronger than him. If she was weaker, he could use his voice to bring her to heights of pleasure she had never experienced before but he would never be able to speak to her normally. If she was stronger, he would be able to speak to her but she would never be able to reap the benefits of his voice. He would be as an ordinary man for her. Normally, that would be the best option.

However, if she was balanced perfectly between those two points, she could have both. He would have to speak softly, never infuse much authority in his voice, never, ever sing, but she would be able to chose whether or not to obey him. He could give her ecstasy with a whisper and converse with her normally if they chose. It would require a bit of teamwork between them, but it could be done.

Just as long as he never exerted the full power of his voice, they could stand just at the edge of surrender and defiance and gain nothing but pleasure from it.

He smiled at her, feeling uplifted. “You are very welcome, Tina.”

Tina's eye narrowed at that simple statement. It had seemed far more meaningful than the strictest definition of the words. However, there had been nothing suggestive about it, nothing she could call him out on, so she had to let it go.

“How long until the others wake up?” she asked instead.

Crispin shrugged. “It's different for everyone.”

“Then we'll have to leave them there.” she decided, folding up the port pass and giving it back to Crispin. “We'll have to drive the boat ourselves. Can you?”

Crispin nodded. “I can't pull into the dock but I can drive it in a straight line to get there. Dallas or Kai should be up by that time anyway.”

“Then get to steering.” she ordered. “I want to get there quickly. Did those men know the last time the sub stopped here?”

“About six months ago.” Crispin answered. “They don't expect it back any time soon either. It's probably as Ilia says, the sub makes port at many different towns.”

Tina couldn't say she was surprised so she just nodded. They were still stopping in town. It wasn't just about tracking down the sub. If they could, Tina wanted to be able to dig up more information on Ozera. The more they knew, the easier it would be to catch him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Just as Crispin predicted, by the time they sighted the town, Dallas was stirring from his position on the deck. He stood up and stretched with a small smile on his face.

“You're up.” Tina said by way of greeting as she walked towards him from the prow of the boat.

“I haven't slept that well...ever, actually now that I think about it.” he laughed as he rotated his shoulders. “It's too bad I don't have insomnia, that's an excellent cure for it.”

Tina couldn't disagree so she didn't respond to that. Instead, she said, “Crispin can't pull into dock, you'll have to get up there and do it.”

“Gladly.” he practically skipped away. Crispin's induced sleep was far more restful than a standard night's sleep.

As he was climbing the ladder, Ilia was poking her head up from the compartment.

“Morning already?” she said, beaming at the sky. “Man, I knew Crispin was powerful but I thought I would at least have a chance to fight him off. I don't even remember him saying anything.”

Tina didn't respond to that either. She returned to the prow of the boat and kept her eyes on the approaching town.

As Ilia promised, it was a decent sized place. It didn't remind her of the towns back home where everything was neatly laid out and made of clean stone or wood. This was more of a third world kind of place. Everything had an almost dingy look about it. Almost everyone walked around barefooted with a weary look on their faces. There were no power lines, no smoothly paved roads, no modern technology anywhere.

Despite that, the people there looked happy. If they knew that their town was financed by a mass murderer, they didn't care. They were well off in the world, they weren't starving or diseased. They could be a lot worse off than they were.

A few moments later, Crispin, now relieved of duty, joined her at the prow.

“I'm just taking you and Dallas ashore.” she told him before he signed anything. “The others will stay here and guard the boat and be ready to leave in case something goes wrong.”

“Do you expect trouble?” he asked.

“My nose itches.” she said as way of an answer.

Crispin sent her an unreadable look, then asked, “Is that anything like Jack grinding his teeth?”

Tina couldn't help but smile a little bit. Jack and Tina were alike in many ways. One of those ways was their instinct in predicting trouble. For Jack, it was when he felt the urge to grind his teeth. For Tina, her nose became itchy. They were eerily accurate premonitions. Despite that, she never let that deter her from doing something. Her nose itched any time there was danger coming. If she let it stop her every time, she would never get anything done.

“I'm going to go put on some more clothes.” she said, turning and disappearing into the boat.

It took another fifteen minutes for Dallas to navigate the boat into the dock. Almost immediately, just as Warren was tying the boat off, a man come towards them from town asking for their port pass in Spanish.

Tina let Dallas deal with him as she told the others that they were to stay on the ship and be prepared just in case.

Once the welcoming committee had their port pass, he smiled and welcomed them warmly. Dallas spoke to him in fluent Spanish while Tina and Crispin jumped onto the dock.

The man said something back then turned and left.

“He says that we're welcome here,” Dallas translated, “and that friends of El Jefe can make themselves at home. Everyone will treat us like family.”

“El Jefe?” Tina repeated sarcastically. “Good to see that Ozera's not totally full of himself.”

“It's a sign of respect in these parts.” Dallas shrugged. “They probably don't even know his real name.”

“Let's go then.” Tina said. “I guess it will be impossible to blend in though so just act cool.”

Dallas led the way. Crispin and Tina stayed behind him, casting their eyes around and taking in the town.

They got a few glances from the townspeople but nothing hostile. A few mothers did grab their children to prevent them from approaching but none of them acted truly afraid. Most of them didn't even glance their way because they were so engrossed in their work. In this part of the world, working wasn't done for a paycheck, it was done for survival. If that man didn't finish that net, he wouldn't catch fish and his family wouldn't eat. If that women didn't mend those clothes, her family would have nothing to wear and they would be cold and exposed.

This was life at its most basic. Here, people did what they needed to in order to live to see another day. There was no rush for the newest technology, they had only one ancient TV in the center of town that was watched communally. It only felt like things ran slower here. In fact, there was an urgency here that wasn't matched in cities.

“Try not to stare so much, Tina.” Dallas whispered back to her. “We have to look like we're above this place. If we're too friendly, they could get suspicious.”

Tina turned from the people and looked over at Crispin who just shrugged as if to say 'what are you going to do?'.

“I just like small towns like this.” she said up to Dallas. “I enjoy them much better than developed cities. There's a charm here places like Paradise Falls lacks.”

“I bet these people would trade in a heartbeat.” Dallas said without much humor.

They walked through town, no one really approached them. They were El Jefe's guests, they were above such people as them. Dallas led them through the dirt packed streets to what was clearly a bar of some kind. At least, there were people drinking something that smelled strongly of alcohol there.

Dallas walked up to the bartender to order while Tina and Crispin hung back. Just standing there, people began to leave the bar. Not out of fear, really. More like they were just used to being shooed from the room when El Jefe's friends appeared, it was a calm acceptance of how things were.

Dallas returned to them with three of the drinks and passed them out.

“To El Jefe.” he raised his glass.

“And his immanent demise.” Tina muttered under her breath so that only the two of them heard her.

“Salud.” Dallas laughed as took a drink.

“If Ozera is so well known around here,” Tina started after taking a sip of the burning drink, “I don't think we can start asking questions and just pass under the radar.”

“It would be odd for his friends to start asking about him.” Dallas agreed. “And since the sub isn't due to make port here anytime soon, I'm thinking this was a bit of a waste.”

Crispin shook his head. “Perhaps not. I might be able to talk one of the locals into being a bit of a spy for us.”

Tina looked unsure. “That sounds a bit dangerous. I don't want anyone but Ozera hurt. If he was discovered...”

“It would have to be someone without a family.” Dallas said thoughtfully. He was too much of a soldier to not at least consider the possibility. “Someone who, preferably, was already a little eccentric. And we'd have to give them some way to contact us.”

“To what purpose though?” Tina asked. “Even if we had someone here to tell us if the sub arrived, it would do us no good if we weren't close enough to get here before it set sail again.”

“True.” Dallas nodded. “Maybe we could destroy the village.”

“Dallas!” Tina looked at him shocked while Crispin merely raised an eyebrow at the suggestion.

“I'm not saying we should.” Dallas rolled his eyes. “I'm just saying that if we could, one-by-one, destroy all the places that Ozera makes port at, eventually he would end up with only one place left to stop at.”

“Assuming he doesn't just start making new ports.” Crispin signed.

“I'm not in a hurry.” Tina assured Dallas. “I'm more than prepared for this campaign of mine to take a year or more. I'm patient.”

“You're willing to just wait in town for him to come?” Dallas asked disbelievingly. “Just buy a home here in the middle of nowhere and settle down for however many months it takes for him to come back just for one chance to get aboard a heavily guarded sub?”

“Well, not here.” Tina tried not to think of how obsessive he sounded when the words were said out loud. Especially when she was actually prepared to do all of that and more if she needed to. “Preferably somewhere where, if I stay too long, it wont be noticed that I'm not one of El Jefe's friends. Somewhere I can blend in better.”

“In a place that big, It would be harder to tell when the sub makes port.” Dallas pointed out.

Tina shrugged. “As I said, I'm patient. I'm willing to wait it out. Don't tell me that you're starting to chicken out on me, Dallas?”

“Not at all.” he assured her. “I have a great deal more patience than you. I just want to make sure you know what it is you're signing up for here.”

“If I was in anyway unsure, I wouldn't be out here in the middle of a nameless town hunting down a submarine.” she took another sip of whatever unregulated, alcoholic fire that was in her cup. The burn was bracing and she took strength from that.

“Not to change the subject, but I think we have a problem.” Crispin signed swiftly. His hands moved so fast and subtly that Tina almost missed the message.

“Why?” she asked but Dallas had already caught on to what Crispin had seen.

After another moment, she saw them too. Five big men walked into the bar. She wondered how she could have missed them. What few regulars the place had immediately fled, leaving half empty cups behind.

Tina knew immediately that they weren't part of the regular populace. They were far too healthy looking. The large muscles on their bones didn't come from a life of eating fish and toiling in the sun. The hard glint in their eyes wasn't a product of a hard life. They had the same covering of dust and dirt that everyone here had but it was somehow fresher. These men hadn't been here nearly as long as the others.