Kat came over to me while the other girls checked the doors, then they all gathered around me. I was sweating, and scared. “We have to get out of here!,” I yelled, “I, I am scared, terrified, we have to leave in the morning, we are going, not staying any longer!” “But Steve,” said Kat, “you know there is no way for us to leave right now.” “Call Baldwin and…” I began, then looking at Kat my mouth moved, but nothing came out and I just stared. “What is wrong Steve?”, asked Jenny.

I turned to her and continued yelling, “we can call Baldwin, he will send helicopters and get us out!” “But Steve, remember our phones do not work because of the interference,” said Kat trying to calm me. “Yes, yes we can, Baldwin gave me a gadget, something new,” I began, “we just plug our phone charger cord into it and…” Then I looked at Kat again and could not talk, I just stared.

“You better take Steve back to bed,” Galyna said to Kat, “we can talk about this in the morning,” she added to me. “Yes, good idea, we will go in the morning,” I said, somewhat quieter now. Kat led me back to the bedroom. “You go too Muffin, lie on Steve and purr for him to calm him,” said Galyna. Meow,meow!=Yep, me do that good! Then off she ran.

“What was that all about?”, asked Carine, “Steve was not himself.” “No, he sure was not,” said Jennifer. “I noticed when he looked at Kat each time, it was like he was unable to talk,” said Sigurbjorn. “Yes, I noticed too,” said Carine. “It seemed to me like he was hypnotized,” said Galyna, “but how that could happen I do not know.” “We are all trained to resist hypnosis,” said Jenny, “it does not seem like Steve would give in to it.”

“Very true,” said Galyna, “it is quite a puzzle. Well, better get back to bed, long time till morning yet. I would like to keep MC with me for a bit if that is okay with you Carine?” “Sure, just send him back to bed later,” she said with a smile. Galyna and MC sat there for a while longer. “What do you think my furry friend?”, she asked MC. Meow.=Not know what to think, it not Steve, he not act like that, he like different human. Maybe take too many pills.

“Now, you just might have something there,” she said. Then she went to locate all my medication and found the new one that Chung had given me 2 weeks ago. “I wonder what this is for?”, she asked herself. Then she checked through my backpack and found a gadget she had not seen before. She indeed could plug the phone charger cord into it and then she plugged it into our scrambler device. She had a clear signal! Then she called Baldwin.

“What is going on up there?”, he asked, half asleep. “Something bad,” she said and explained the situation to him. “That certainly does not sound like Steve at all,” he said, “wait a minute, Chung is here with me, I will wake him up.” “Hello,” he said, also half asleep. “Sorry to wake you Chung,” said Galyna, “but I need to ask about this new medication you gave Steve.” “I did not give him anything new,” he said, “only his regular medicine.” Then Galyna gave him the name of the medication.

“Oh my, stop giving that to him right away,” he said quite excitedly, “that is bad medicine, it will play with his mind, make it easy to hypnotize him, that is what it is for. But I never gave him that!” “Who else had access to this medication before Kat picked it up?”, she asked. “No one,” he said, “I put it together myself and gave it directly to Kat.” Galyna remembered Kat saying she made no stops on the way home. Baldwin came back onto the phone again.

“This is not looking good,” he said, “but I am sending Mriya, Rossana, Rock and Benson up there in the morning. They will be dropped in by helicopter. You need to stay and find out what is happening. And, I hate to say this, keep an eye on Kat. I will fill the others in on what is going on. Do not tell anyone else, Mriya will give the information from Chung about stopping that medication. And do not let anyone know that you called just now.”

“Okay, only MC knows that I have called and I am sure he will keep quiet,” she said. She then quickly hung up but did not put the gadget back. She thought it would be better to keep that just part of my nightmare experience. “You were able to phone out?”, asked Sigurbjorn. Poor Galyna almost screamed. Then she told Sigurbjorn about the phone call. “Do not worry,” said Sigurbjorn, “I will not say anything. I was just worried about Steve not acting rational.” Meow!=Look!

To Be Continued.

©2022 Steve McLeod.