(Plateau de Tchigaï, Agadez Départment, Niger, Africa, 9^th October 2001)

Robert, whose arms were held firmly by two strong Tuaregs, felt a third tribesman pull on the bow on the thin cord, which fixed his skimpy loincloth in place, on his otherwise bare right thigh. Gravity then attracted the boy’s sole garment towards the ground so that the 13 year-old American’s immaculate naked form could be appreciated for the first time by the whole of the tribal family group, including the women and children.

The public revelation of Robert’s superb body in the full glory of nudity caused some stirring amongst the eagerly watching throng of about ninety Tuaregs and thirty black slaves. Many of the women and children giggled at the boy’s humiliation, which was obvious by the instant reddening of his already tearful face. However, there were also murmurs of approval from some males and, more discreetly and therefore less discernibly, females, who might have found the presence of such a pleasant form next to them in bed rather attractive.

Robert tried to resist being dragged towards the hell undoubtedly represented by the two wooden stakes, to which poor Nsikak had just been chained before his unconscious castrated form had been released and carried away. However, the young American’s resistance proved futile against the superior strength of the escorting pair of Tuareg tribesmen.

Consequently, Robert soon found himself chained in a taut spreadeagled manner between the two stakes, with his matt black steel wristlets and anklets padlocked to big staples firmly embedded at the top and bottom of the posts. The boy’s humiliation then substantially increased when his previously flaccid, tightly ringed and completely smooth genitalia, now clearly displayed for all to see, began to experience incongruous arousal, with his slender uncircumcised penis beginning to grow and rise.

Robert appreciated, from the horrors just inflicted on Nsikak, that he too was about to be severely whipped and castrated, as penance for his recent attempt to escape with his black friend. However, the white boy’s unruly penis not only shamelessly did not appear to care but also masochistically seemed excited at the prospect. The young American had experienced similar strange feelings previously in debasing circumstances but he found amazing their recurrence at this particularly very sinister moment of great physical endangerment.

Robert’s abashment was intensified even further by the sound of noisier giggling amongst the watching spectators, caused by the sight of the slow but sure formation of a young American erection. However, the boy’s ill-disciplined cock only quivered excitedly in response to the increased chortling.

Robert’s attention was subsequently distracted from the embarrassment of his public display of young American virility when the family elder appeared immediately in front of him. The Tuareg was still holding in one hand the now bloody knife that had castrated Nsikak.

Robert was then made aware of what was being held in the family elder’s other hand when the Tuareg lifted the palm in question towards the boy’s appalled blue eyes. The young American almost vomited, after seeing Nsikak’s bloody severed scrotum, still encircled by a slim ring of silvery steel.

Robert’s physical discomfort was subsequently made worse when the grinning family elder advised the boy that "Your scrotum too will soon be resting in the palm of my hand. First, though, I’m going to flail your rear!"

The still smirking family elder then nonchalantly threw his knife and Nsikak’s severed ringed scrotum onto the ground nearby before collecting his whip and taking up position behind Robert. As the Tuareg did so, the boy’s hardened and vertically angled cock erupted with a firm stream of urine, which initially ventured upwards before arching back towards the ground.

Like his penis, the petrified young American’s bladder had lost all discipline.

(Mediterranean Sea, same time)

For a ship of its advanced age, the Russian-owned merchantman, built in Japan, flying the flag of Panama, with Bulgarian officers and a Chinese crew and exporting American goods to the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, was making good progress. Port Said and the entrance to the Suez Canal would soon be reached, and a short cruise south along the Red Sea would then bring the vessel to its destination.

The secret night transfer of three particular very valuable items of cargo into a large van in the port of Jeddah would undoubtedly go undetected by the local authorities, not only because of their usual somnolence but also because of the substantial bribes some key officials had accepted. This land transport would then take the main highway northeast across the Nejd Plateau towards Riyadh before turning off along a rough desert track, which ultimately led to a remote oasis residence.

David, John and Michael were currently no longer bound, gagged and drugged. The three 13 year-olds, all similarly prettily featured with fair hair and blue eyes, in line with the tastes of the Sheikh who had commissioned their import, were instead awake and free to roam the cabin in which they were incarcerated. However, given that their accommodation only measured about 5 metres square, possessed no furnishings other than three single mattresses, a toilet and a sink, and no outlet to the outside world other than a small and firmly locked dirty glass porthole, such liberty had severe limitations.

David, John and Michael were nevertheless fed reasonably well at regular intervals and were encouraged to keep themselves clean, assisted by being given a daily change of clothes, which were obviously washed somewhere else on board. Such garments consisted of those in which the boys had originally been abducted, supplemented by others purchased by their kidnappers, who appeared to have accurately selected the relevant sizes.

David, John and Michael were also subjected every morning to a medical by the ship’s well-bribed Bulgarian doctor, who was charged with ensuring that such very valuable cargo was delivered to Jeddah in perfect condition. In fact, he actually rather feared the consequences of failing in his task, as disappointing Russian gangsters was usually not conducive to good personal health.

David, John and Michael had not complained about their plight to their abductors since the day that the boys had been woken up and released from their bondage. The Russian gangsters concerned had bluntly appraised the young threesome that they were now destined to become the sexual playthings of a rich Arab and had also demonstrated the consequences of moaning about such a fate, or otherwise causing trouble. The 13 year-olds had all experienced the paralysing agony of being assailed by the stun-guns carried by each of their kidnappers.

The close confined existence of David, John and Michael in the small cabin quickly overcame any initial bashfulness about being naked in front of each other when washing, toileting or being subjected to the daily medical. The boys’ awareness of their disturbing demeaning destiny also encouraged them to be less shy towards each other, given that they were mature enough to appreciate that mutual intimate nudity was likely to be a prominent feature of their future lives.

(Plateau de Tchigaï, Agadez Départment, Niger, Africa, same time)

The family elder, equipped at Robert’s rear with his vicious whip, was interrupted by a cough followed by a comment. "I think you’ve frightened the American brat enough and so can now stop teasing him," the Tuareg was advised from the side in fluent French by another man.

Robert quickly looked to see who was making this surprising statement. The still petrified boy then saw for the first time a bearded man who, apart from his clothing, resembled a Tuareg.

The stranger was actually wearing the exotic costume of a Bedouin Arab and Robert immediately astutely realised that his sale, about which Nsikak had warned him, must be imminent. The clever and perceptive boy also correctly assumed that his apparent unexpected reprieve from whipping and castration resulted from the fact that his new owner did not want to buy damaged goods.

Robert therefore now rightly judged that there had never really been any intention to inflict serious physical injury on him for his attempted escape. The cruel sight of seeing his friend suffer dreadful punishment and his own sadistic subjection to immense fright at the prospect of experiencing the same were obviously considered sufficient penance in view of his imminent change of ownership.

Robert was, however, realistic enough to appreciate that his beautiful body might not remain unharmed for long after he had reverted to Arab ownership. The boy’s concern appeared to be confirmed after the Bedouin merchant, who had continued into the 21^st century the long family tradition of slave trading, appeared immediately in front of him.

Although slave trading was no longer the Bedouin merchant’s main commercial activity, occasional secret dalliance in the necessarily furtive business for certain private clients nevertheless brought substantial income, especially when the goods were of American origin and as delectable as Robert appeared to be. To double-check first impressions, the Arab had now decided to inspect his still chained prospective purchase intimately, hence his appearance directly in front of the boy.

The Bedouin first slightly raised Robert’s chin to gain a better perspective of the boy’s gorgeous face. The Arab then began to wipe away some of the young American’s tears.

"Ahhh, such beauty should not yet be spoilt by tears," the Bedouin simultaneously commented in his fluent French. Robert shivered on hearing the Arab’s remark, as the boy did not like the implication behind the word ‘yet’.

Robert’s worst fears about falling into Arab hands were then apparently confirmed by the smirking Bedouin’s next comment. "Such tears should be reserved for the person to whom I shall probably resell you," the man ominously added, "as he indulges in the pleasure of regularly sexually abusing and torturing your lovely form over many days, weeks, months and even years!"

"You see, young American," the suddenly sadistically smirking Bedouin sinisterly advised, "the Sheikh, who will almost certainly buy you, both loves and hates people of your nationality, faith and appearance." The Arab then attempted to explain what he meant by this strange statement by informing "He will undoubtedly adore your body, especially when venting his animosity towards the infidel USA and Christianity by subjecting your form to great torment!"

Robert had stooped shedding tears when he had been appraised of his reprieve from imminent whipping and castration. However, the boy could not prevent some dampness returning to his sensuous blue eyes after learning of his probable appalling fate in Arab hands.

The Bedouin’s hand now released Robert’s chin and relocated to the boy’s smooth chest, in the middle of which was prominently displayed his scorpion brandmark. The Arab then ran his fingers over the burnt outline of the arachnid before moving aside to linger at the young American’s rosy left nipple.

The still smirking Bedouin subsequently played gently with Robert’s left nipple before eventually harshly pinching the small rosy protuberance, making the anguished boy both wince and squeal in pain. "You’re very sensitive, young American," the Arab then suggested, whilst continuing agonisingly to squeeze the 13 year-old’s papilla, "which is something you’ll somehow have to learn to overcome."

"You see, young American," the Bedouin continued, whilst still torturing Robert’s nipple, "the torments you’ll soon probably have to endure regularly will be far worse than this. For a start, I’m sure that your new master will entertain himself by subjecting your boyish tits to a wide variety of harsh clamps, some of which will vibrate. He’ll also undoubtedly piece and adorn them with rings, and similarly decorate your genitalia!"

"Just imagine, young American," the Bedouin suggested, "a cord tightly linking your nipple rings to one piercing your cock. Think of the triangle of pain such a relatively minor act would induce!"

"Also, young American," the Bedouin added, "imagine having electrodes attached to your rings and experiencing the subsequent flow of varying but always agonising levels of electricity into your body, perhaps boosted through other fitments, such as a stainless steel catheter and dildo rammed respectively up your penis and rectum!" As the Arab said these words, he finally released the boy’s anguished left nipple and instead gradually ran his fingers down the young American’s hairless chest and belly and over his cute navel, ultimately to reach the equally smooth groin below.

The Bedouin subsequently gently cupped Robert’s ringed genitals in his palm. The Arab’s smirk then grew broader when he saw that the boy’s penis not only had remained erect throughout the nipple torment and verbal teasing but also was now noticeably throbbing excitedly in a virtually vertical direction.

As the Bedouin cupped Robert’s scrotum, the boy’s uncut but currently engorged cockhead was also both drooling precum down the sides of the hard and visibly vibrating vertical penial shaft, to form a lengthy string venturing towards the ground below, and staring back at the Arab. The sight encouraged the sneering man to comment "Perhaps, young American, your sensitivity to embarrassment and pain might benefit you after all, as you seem to enjoy being humiliated and hurt. Perhaps you will really like your new life by acquiring great satisfaction from regular degradation and torment, unless, of course, your new master decides to curtail any personal pleasure you gain from such activities by castrating you. I believe that he is sometimes tempted to geld slaves who obtain too much fun from his tortures!"

On hearing about this last ominous possibility, Robert’s facial blush intensified and his whole body, not just his fulsome vertical erection, noticeably shook within the tight confines of his chains, as he masochistically entered orgasm. The boy’s cockhead then erupted like a fountain, with several plentiful streams of ejaculate spurting upwards as high as his face before finally submitting to gravity.

The Bedouin adroitly stopped fondling Robert’s scrotum and jumped aside at the first signs of the boy’s imminent climax. The Arab thereby managed to avoid being sprayed by the young American’s copious semen.

Some of Robert’s sperm landed instead onto his own face, chest and belly, as well as fell back onto his own genitals and the ground below. As a consequence, little pools of creamy cum formed and began to stream slowly down the boy’s cheeks and chin, as well as his torso. Droplets also dripped occasionally from his sexual organs.

The sight of Robert’s sudden entry into obviously highly pleasurable and productive orgasm, plus his subsequent shamefully soiled naked body, subsequently caused the giggling amongst the many spectators to reach an unprecedented crescendo. As the boy then recovered from his sadly too short ecstasy and heard the evidence of the enhanced mirth, he felt that his shame could not be more profound.

The family elder later retired to his tent with the Bedouin to discuss Robert’s price. The boy was left chained between the two wooden stakes to receive the verbal contempt of the rest of the Tuareg tribal group, including the women and children, whilst ejaculate still shamefully besmirched and drooled down his beautiful form.

(Eastern Nejd Plateau, central Saudi Arabia, same time)

Before the Sheikh had decided to equip his new desert residence with young Americans, he had mainly enjoyed sex with much easier-to-obtain and more compliant boys from deprived backgrounds in eastern Europe. They had ostensibly been recruited to act as juvenile house servants in his primary home near Riyadh but they also accepted the sexual element of their duties for four reasons.

Firstly, there was rarely any sado-masochism involved during sex. Secondly, in an alien society, where they lived in remote obscurity and where the Sheikh was a very powerful and influential person, there was nowhere for them to escape to or no-one to whom they could complain. Thirdly, any attempt at flight or complaint was likely to prove fatal. Fourthly, they were promised, after they eventually left their master’s domestic employment, decent reward and future well-remunerated jobs in one of his prosperous enterprises in return for services rendered and subsequent maintained silence about the full nature of their earlier duties. Such prospects were much better than they could have expected to experience in their impoverished homelands.

The Sheikh had now temporarily transferred one of the most compliant of these eastern European boys to his new residence. He wanted the pretty 13 year-old Albanian, with fair hair and blue eyes, to test some of the furnishings in the basement of his oasis abode in readiness for the arrival of the anticipated four Americans.

The boy had already resided alone in one of the accommodation cells for several days. He had been compelled to wear only his perfectly proportioned chastity belt, for their equivalent of which the expected young Americans would soon be measured. This equipment consisted of a tight-fitting genital casing of flexible but unbreakable transparent plastic, into separate sections of which both his flaccid cock and smooth scrotum fitted exactly, allowing no room for growth. Formation of an erection was also discouraged by sharp internal spikes. Urination was permitted by the presence of tiny holes at the end of the penial segment, whilst the whole contraption was held in place by padlocked leather strapping forming a sort of minimal body harness, which left the anus uncovered to allow defecation, as well as other activities.

The young Albanian’s only entertainment had been the constant playing of pornographic videos on the television screen, located on a shelf above the door, or the comprehensively illustrated books placed on the shelving next to his bed. The conspicuous subject of all these materials was blatant uncensored pederastic activity.

Like the young Americans on a certain ship, the Albanian boy was fed and watered regularly, but with his food and drink now secretly laced with a very strong viagra-like aphrodisiac. He was also encouraged to keep himself thoroughly clean and sweet-smelling, aided by the presence of a sink and shower in his cell, as well as the necessary washing commodities, including perfume and scented sprays.

Given seclusion in such circumstances, wherein the boy became increasingly bored as well as sexually stimulated and frustrated, he rather naturally developed a keen desire for a change. The young Albanian was therefore quite pleased to dance naked for the Sheikh on the low platform in the entertainment room, whilst his master practised focusing the various closed-circuit television cameras on the 13 year-old’s erotically gyrating body. The latter lovely form was now happily deprived of the chastity belt and was thereby proudly displaying a fulsome and needy erection, which he hoped might soon achieve relief on top of the bed located in the same amenity. However, his master disobliged him and took him instead to another basement facility.

The boy was naturally subsequently far less happy to be alternatively introduced to the torture chamber to test some of the equipment there. However, the young Albanian, to whose wrists and ankles unconnected manacles were now fitted, was partly reassured by the Sheikh’s promise not to hurt him too much, as harsher treatment within the sinister room was to be reserved for certain similarly-aged Americans, who were due to arrive soon. The 13 year-old’s compliant attitude was also influenced by recognition that his master was likely to overturn his undertaking and instead inflict extreme agony on him if he disobeyed the man’s wishes.

The naked boy subsequently found himself experiencing a number of different bondage positions, including on a wooden table and in an array of stocks, plus being hoisted off the ground after having his wrists chained to electric pulley mechanisms. The young Albanian most disliked being secured on top of the electric-powered rack, upon which his stretching by the Sheikh was controlled and gauged by use of knobs and dials but thankfully only to a point where his body was taut but undamaged.

The boy was also thankful that he was excused attachment to the large spiked wheel upon which people could additionally be affixed, as well as revolved. However, such a reprieve did not apply to the horse, whose apex comprised sharp metal and a vertical impaling dildo.

"Sit on it," commanded the Sheikh with loud authority, as the naked boy, now sitting astride the horse on the painfully sharp metallic apex, hesitated to impale himself on the large dildo immediately before him, "or you’ll suffer far worse for disobedience!" The young Albanian therefore reluctantly manoeuvred his lovely slim body upwards and forwards so that the tip of the replaceable smooth hard rubber dildo touched his sphincter, whilst his hands rested against the sloping sides of the contraption to hold him in place.

"Now sit on it," commanded the Sheikh, who was becoming increasingly annoyed at the boy’s apparent continued delay in impaling himself, "or I’ll replace the dildo with one that I was reserving for certain impending American guests, which is not only bigger but has sharp spikes." Given the choice, the splayed young Albanian took a deep breath and released his hands from the horse’s sloping sides to allow gravity to take him to his discomforting destiny.

The boy subsequently groaned in pain, as his sphincter immediately surrendered to the gravitational force pulling his body onto the dildo, which gradually began to invade and fill his rectum. As the young Albanian slowly descended painfully onto the brutal anal tool, he was barely comforted by the knowledge that his excruciation would have been far greater if he had still been a virgin.

The boy eventually fully impaled himself, with the dildo now completely filling his rectum whilst his agonised bumcrack and scrotum, which seemed in danger of being cut into two, rested painfully against the metal apex. Nevertheless, the young Albanian still maintained a fulsome erection, with his hard cock pointing horizontally forwards, parallel to the horse’s sharp steel linear summit..

The boy’s concern for his excruciating predicament was then heightened when the Sheikh chained the young Albanian’s hands behind his back and went to fetch a heavy weight, which was clearly capable of being attached to one of the manacles fixed to his widely splayed and dangling ankles. "Please, Sir, don’t," the young Albanian begged in response, "please don’t attach that to my foot, as you’ll split me in two!"

"Don’t be ridiculous," the Sheikh replied, "as this weight and its counterpart, which I’ll fix to your other ankle, are not sufficient enough to do such a thing. However, I’ll enjoy finding out how many kilos would really split a boy into two when I entertain some young Americans here shortly!"

Given the boy’s dreadful experience on the horse, he was actually rather relieved to be later attached to the large free-standing wooden cross on which crucifixions could be re-enacted. The young Albanian was fixed in place by the Sheikh, with both of them originally standing for the purpose on stepladders.

Even the rod protruding firmly from the vertical beam and now thrust into the boy’s rectum was preferable to the rubber dildo previously occupying his rectum whilst on the horse. The young Albanian’s more contented attitude was undoubtedly also partly attributable to the fact that he had been tied to the cross with rope and not nailed to the wood, which was the other option at the Sheikh’s disposal.

Another influence on the boy’s happier perspective was the fact that he would not have to remain where he was for many hours in order to allow his discomfort to become increasingly unbearable and eventually deadly. His master was keeping to his promise and anyway did not currently possess the patience to observe the effects of prolonged crucifixion. However, the Sheikh would probably have adopted a different stance if his victim had been American.

The boy was later grateful that his experience of the tall slim conical metal impaling spike, embedded in the ground nearby, was very limited. He just had to experience for a few minutes about five centimetres of the sharp tip thrust inside his anus, whilst he was challenged to support his weight by having to keep his toes precariously balanced on a pair of small adjustable and removable cylindrical attachments fixed to the sides. However, the naked young Albanian, hands chained behind him, appreciated the serious and certainly ultimately fatal damage that could have been inflicted on him if these props for his feet had been lowered significantly or taken away.

One of the boy’s last torments related to being chilled by being compelled to stand, until his head disappeared under the surface, in freezing water gradually fed into the narrow rectangular pit over two metres deep, built into the torture chamber. After such an experience, being subsequently forced to walk slowly under the series of operating showerheads of a longer and shallower cavity, positioned along part of one wall, and then hosed by the Sheikh proved less uncomfortable.

The thankful boy was then excused experiencing chastisement from the remaining cruel equipment in the torture chamber. These sadistic tools included the copious collections of canes, crops, straps, whips, ball-stretchers with relevant weights and solid and vibrating dildos, plus piercing rings and severe serrated clamps for nipples and other parts of the human anatomy. The very sharp pins, knives and scalpels, the electronic branding irons and the sophisticated electric-shock machinery, also evident in the sinister room, additionally remained redundant on this day.

As the Sheikh happily completed his practising of some of the amenities within his cruel torture chamber, he again grunted in approval and thought to himself ‘Now, all I want are some nice young American slaveboys to share this basement with me!’

(Plateau de Tchigaï, Agadez Départment, Niger, Africa, same time)

A price had already been agreed for Robert and, if the family elder had known that a certain Saudi Arabian Sheikh was paying $2,000,000 a head for three other American boys, he might have been seriously aggrieved at the transaction he had just concluded. However, the Tuareg was to remain forever ignorant of this fact.

The family elder was not even gaining any cash for Robert, as the nomadic Tuareg lifestyle made money transactions far less attractive than bartering. The tribesman was instead receiving goods in kind, which, although locally significant in worth, barely represented 0.1% of the price being paid for each of the other American boys.

The Bedouin would also have been aggrieved at knowing Robert’s true worth in the eyes of a certain Saudi Arabian Sheikh. However, like the family elder, he was never to learn about the amount of dollars that would be passed to the middleman with whom he was dealing.

The Bedouin merchant was to receive $15,000 for Robert, about whose unexpected availability he had heard confidentially from Tuareg contacts, who would expect a small slice of his commission for the information. Meanwhile, the middleman would be paying Russian gangsters $1,000,000 each for David, John and Michael, thereby making a similar profit himself, whilst the fourth young American would bring in a bonus surplus of about $1,975,000.

The Tuareg family elder and the Bedouin merchant were oblivious to these vast profits being gained by the middleman, as they continued to chat within the privacy of the goatskin tent. Meanwhile, the naked and soiled Robert was still being subjected to much close visual inspection and verbal abuse outside from the rest of the tribal group.

The topic of conversation within the goatskin tent eventually turned to the subject of the rings encircling Robert’s neck, wrists, ankles and genitals, as well as the brand on the boy’s chest. "I don’t know whether the new owner will want the American brat to continue to display your regalia," the Bedouin commented, "although there’s probably little he can do with the scorpion burnt onto his flesh. I know that there are now surgical procedures available to remove such marks but I doubt if he’d bother with them. He might instead try to alter the symbol to a more personal one by burning something on top." Such a painful possibility was then debated for a while before the topic changed to the adornment tightly encircling the boy’s sexual organs.

"Given the likely future growth of the American brat," the curious Bedouin asked, "would the ring tightly encasing his genitals gradually cut off the blood supply to his balls and therefore eventually castrate him?" "Possibly," the family elder nonchalantly answered, "because such a development once happened to another of my male slaves, whom I ringed when he was just a young boy. I ultimately had to sever his dead and blackened scrotum. However, the sexual organs of others appear to adapt to the presence of the constriction, albeit seemingly often at the price of subsequent restricted development."

"Most of the adult male slaves, who were ringed as children," the family elder advised, "possess genitals that are akin in size to those of younger boys." "Hmmm," sighed the Bedouin in response, "I’d therefore love to discover what eventually happens to the American brat’s sexual organs over the course of the next few years. However, I suppose that’s a pleasure reserved for his new owner, if he lets the masochistic young infidel to keep his balls for even that long!"

An abrupt increasingly loud noise from outside then disturbed conversation, simultaneous to the sudden gusting of a similarly ominously developing wind. Tornadoes were known to occur occasionally in the southern fringes of the Sahara Desert but somehow both the Tuareg family elder and Bedouin merchant realised that the alarming interruption to their chat did not emanate from natural causes. Consequently, the worried men stood up and rushed out of their tent.

The Tuareg and Bedouin were just in time to see three large helicopters land nearby, two of which were military and displayed the emblems of the Niger army, whilst the third sported different colours and logos. Within moments, the whole encampment was also successfully invaded by heavily armed black soldiers, accompanied by a few white civilians.

The Tuareg tribesmen were themselves well stocked with arms. They invariably carried daggers in scabbards, and boasted amongst their possessions now largely ceremonial swords plus rifles, which were more practical for the modern age. However, the element of surprise achieved by the Niger military meant that none of them were able to collect such weaponry from their tents before machine-guns pointing at them deterred them from wanting to undertake such a mission.

Meanwhile, Robert, still shamefully displayed naked and soiled with his own rapidly drying semen between two wooden stakes, had already recognised the logo on the civilian helicopter, as well as one of the white men now swiftly approaching him. Not long afterwards, having collected a certain souvenir of his holiday with the Tuaregs, the relieved boy, nudity covered by a blanket, was being flown back to the Niger capital of Niamey.

As the civilian helicopter flew southwest across the Plateau de Tchigaï, Robert glanced at the man whom he had recognised and had in his earlier life disliked. "Thank you, Uncle," the boy then said to his late father’s seriously misjudged brother, "but how did you find me?"

"I was never going to stop searching for you," Robert’s uncle answered bluntly, "until I found you, alive or dead. You might have previously considered me to be a selfish and mean hard-nosed businessman, the unacceptable face of capitalism. However, I do actually a heart!"

"I’m unmarried and have no children," Robert’s uncle commented, "and, in fact, you’re now my only close relative. For your sake and that of my late brother, as well as of my own soul, I had to discover your fate after the aircraft in which the dead bodies of your father and his pilot had been found. There were obvious signs that you had survived the crash and had wandered off from the scene. However, the trail you left behind most unfortunately eventually became too impossible to follow after a sandstorm. I therefore chose another tactic to try to locate you."

"What was that, Uncle?" the sincerely grateful Robert next asked. "Bribery," the man replied, "as I offered a reward of $50,000 for you, alive or dead, and I spread news of this amongst the Tuaregs in particular. Given the site of the air-crash and the reputation of the local nomadic tribes for not only being laws only unto themselves but also practitioners of slavery, I believed that there was a good chance that you might have survived, only to be subsequently enslaved. I also thought that a significant amount of money might loosen tongues. Fortunately, my suppositions were proved correct!"

"One of the elders who attended a certain recent celebration," Robert’s uncle advised a suddenly clearly abashed and blushing nephew, "appears to consider $50,000 to be more important than tribal loyalty." The boy presumed that his closest surviving relative probably now knew what was on the menu at the mentioned event, in addition to the food and drink, but was glad that the man currently displayed no indication of his embarrassing knowledge, either visually or verbally.

"How did you enlist the help of the Niger military?" Robert then asked, not only to change the subject to avoid a humiliating topic, which he did not presently want to talk about, but also out of genuine interest. "A phone call to the country’s President from the White House in Washington, which cast a threat over US aid if co-operation was not forthcoming, provided the initial momentum," the boy’s uncle answered. "The distribution," he added, "of about $1,000,000 of my personal funds amongst certain senior government officials and military officers then supplied the further stimulus needed to accomplish my aim!"

"I didn’t know that ‘Amasiaf’ owned a helicopter in Niger," Robert then commented in admiration for the aircraft in which he was flying to freedom. The acronym stood for the charity, or in French 'charité', his late mother had founded, namely ‘Americans Against Slavery In Africa’, for which she had also used her artistic talents to design the logo.

"It does now that I’ve followed your father’s example," Robert’s uncle replied in reply to his nephew’s question, "by giving up my business interests to do two other jobs." "Oh, what are they?" the boy enquired, apparently innocently, although he believed that he already knew the answer.

Robert was proved correct when his now smiling uncle responded "To run ‘Amasiaf’ and look after you, of course!" Having happily anticipated this response, the boy immediately asked "Would you like a third job?" He accompanied his enquiry with a completely disarming smile on his beautiful face, which achieved its aim of winning the man’s acceptance of his subsequent request.

Robert’s uncle later informed his 13 year-old nephew "I’ll only be running Amasiaf until you’re ready to take over." "How did you know that I’d want someday to do that?" the boy enquired in response. "Because you’re your father’s son!" the man replied.

"And you’re truly my father’s brother!" Robert happily retorted, whilst again smiling and then affectionately wrapping his arm around one of the man’s own upper limbs. Meanwhile, the uncle’s third new job was continuing to receive medical treatment in the back of the helicopter from an expert medic.

Nsikak would, after all, soon be achieving his freedom and viewing cities, including one of the greatest. The young black eunuch was going to live with Robert and his friend’s multi-millionaire uncle in New York.

(New York, USA, a few weeks later)

This Sunday morning was overcast and cold, with heavy snowfall clearly threatened. However, such bad weather had not yet reached this quiet and leafy New York suburb, as a pretty fair-haired and blue-eyed 13 year-old paperboy performed his rounds on his bicycle.

Steven was, as usual, taking a shortcut on his route, which traversed a narrow lane flanked only by commercial properties. Ahead of him, almost blocking his way, was a white van, with one of the rear doors open and a man standing at the side, reading a map.

The man hailed down the approaching boy, who would have had to slow anyway in order to pass the parked van and who thought that he had previously seen the same vehicle in the neighbourhood during recent days. The adult, pointing at his map, then politely asked in a foreign accent, which appeared to the young cyclist to belong to a Russian, for advice about directions to a local company. Steven stopped, being happy to oblige.

As Steven stood astride his bicycle and looked at the man’s map, he did not see the gun until it was too late. The boy instead felt a sharp stabbing pain inflict his right arm, as the drugged dart hit him, before blackness overwhelmed his lovely blue eyes.

A certain Sheikh had been very angered to discover that a quarter of his recent order for American imports would not be supplied on time. The middleman, with whom he was dealing, had therefore quickly made alternative supply arrangements in order to restore his client’s tranquillity and protect his own hefty commission.

The replacement for the rescued Robert would soon find himself on a Russian-owned ship, built in Japan, flying the flag of Panama, with Bulgarian officers and a Chinese crew, heading for the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

(Eastern Nejd Plateau, central Saudi Arabia, evening of the same day)

Another white van drove into the courtyard of the palatial oasis residence on the eastern Nejd Plateau at dusk and disgorged three fresh imports, which had suffered greatly, albeit mainly mentally, during the last day’s long journey.

A very frightened David, John and Michael were about to be introduced to a certain highly sadistic Sheikh, who strangely both loved and hated pretty 13 year-old fair-haired and blue-eyed American boys. The man was currently also still immensely annoyed that there would be an unexpected delay in the delivery of his fourth similar acquisition.

Nevertheless, the evil Sheikh intended to compensate himself for this frustrating delay by placating some of his annoyance through the way in which he would now introduce David, John and Michael to their new lives.

(New York, USA, 3½ years later, May 2005)

‘Land of our birth, we pledge to thee

Robert and Nsikak, now both 17 years of age, were strolling through Central Park on their way home from the elite school both attended. They chatted in English, in which the black Hausa boy was now fluent.

With the help of Robert and his uncle, the best medical care, counsellors and teachers money could buy and his own determination and inherent bravery and intelligence, Nsikak had also quickly adapted to his new life in New York, as well as to the sad fact that he was now a eunuch. He even believed that the loss of his balls was actually a price that he was happy to pay for such a transfer to an existence that was previously beyond his wildest imagination.

Nsikak had, in just 3½ years, not only adapted well to his new language and life but also made up for lost time by becoming a star pupil at the elite school he attended with Robert. From there both boys, following the American’s family tradition, were expected to move onto Harvard. However, such future achievement was not foremost in their bright minds, as they chatted whilst crossing Central Park in warm spring sunshine.

Robert and Nsikak were instead discussing the further reports that had recently appeared in the media about more punishment castrations of Tuareg male slaves. Both boys subsequently confirmed their determined pledges someday to ensure that slavery, and the barbaric practices accompanying the evil institution, did not persist in the 21^st century for too much longer.

The author of this story hopes that some readers might also adopt similar positions.

Pueros apologises to those readers who hoped to learn more in this story about how a certain Sheikh entertains certain American boys in the basement of his palatial residence on the eastern Nejd Plateau. However, the author did not want to detract too much from the serious message he was attempting to convey by writing this particular tale, namely that slavery, and associated punishment castrations, really do persist into the 21^st century and that it is about time the world community did something to end the abhorrent practices. However, if there was sufficient interest for a less principled sequel……..

(Eastern Nejd Plateau, central Saudi Arabia, May 2005)

The local time was almost midnight when the Sheikh switched off his mobile telephone. He then sighed at news of he increased cost, cursing that inflation had even struck the market for certain specialist commodities, in which he had just placed an order for four fresh imports to replace now too old and rather damaged and soiled goods.

The Sheikh would now be paying $2,500,000 for each pretty slaveboy from New York and elsewhere in the USA. However, he could still easily afford the luxury, given recent high oil prices.

The Sheikh then began happily to reminisce about the last 3½ years spent with David, John, Michael and Steven. He was aided in his recollections by the comprehensive diaries and vast photographic and video collections he had maintained to record many related events.

Perhaps sometime, if there was sufficient interest from readers, Pueros might be able to adapt the Sheikh’s interesting diaries for eunuch.org!?!

THE END

of

‘SLAVEBOY FROM NEW YORK’

by Pueros