" Count Tellan, back to you." The brigadier sat down.Count Tellan stood up. "Plots are complicated things. It takes time to sound out possible adheren...s, and then to make sure all is in order before you strike. Combine that with what we perceive to have been the extreme fragility of the God-King's regime after the war, and it must have been very difficult."Still, we knew they were rounding up and sending us trouble makers, instead of executing them. At the time we weren't sure what that was. . story.") We slaves are are taken from the display area. to be prepared for auction. I am washed and looked at to make sure that all my body hair has been shaved off. I noticed that there were a few guards with rifles guarding us. That made me feel good. I felt that they thought we were valuable and did not want anyone to steal us. We were lined up and then ordered to walk through a tunnel to the auction arena. To enter the area we had to crawl through an opening. There were a ring of seats. ‘I’ll have the cherry pie and a Coke and… what’ll you have, Cindy?’ ‘I didn’t bring any money. Can I have a glass of water?’ She shyly looked at the waitress. ‘Order something, I’ve got it. We can let my worthless husband pay for it.’ ‘Uh, thanks, umm, then can I have a burger and fries, strawberry malt, please, with whipped cream?’ ‘Make that a lot of whipped cream, please. Nothing’s too good for my Cindy girl. As a matter of fact, make it two orders.’ After the waitress left, Cindy started. Anything and everything had gone wrong that day. She should have called in sick when she woke up with that headache. Her head ended up being the least of her problems as the day progressed. She sat for a few minutes, letting the day wash over her. She closed her eyes for, what she told herself, was just a few minutes. She breathed deep and the tears slowly began to flow. She let the tears come. Slow drops, one by one, trailed down her cheeks. She felt the car door open and strong gentle fingers.