Alejandra Carillo tightly gripped Rosa’s wrist with a long-sleeved black glove and cradled a ball of tightly wound wad of money, roughly pulling her forward with her under the bright afternoon sun, heading towards the complex of fortified buildings shimmering in the desert heat.  Kenji followed a few steps behind them, trying to keep up.  Rosa and Kenji looked at each other anxiously, glancing at the woman between them and her oddly smooth, toe-less bare feet appearing under the hem of her ankle-length slitted dress.  Alejandra’s severe face never flinched as she stepped on the hot, rocky sand, while Rosa and Kenji stumbled in their sandals every few steps.
 
“Keep up!” she barked at them, “Your surprise visit, indeed your unwelcome visit, has put me behind schedule today.  Time is money, and my clients pay to wait for me.”  She gave each of them a stern look with her flashing green eyes, the sun glinting off her shiny, tightly pulled back black hair.
 
Rosa pulled her wrist free from Alejandra’s grip and stopped walking, burying her hands into the sleeves of the sleeves of the yukata she was wearing, making the print of the crane on the yukata appear to be crossing its wings in front of itself in defiance.  “Hold on!  Are you going to help us or not?” Rosa demanded, “Because if you aren’t, we might as well return to the plane and leave!”
 
Alejandra stopped her brisk march and turned to return Rosa’s glare.  She balanced the wad of bills on her hip and touched her pearl necklace with her free hand.  The black-gloved fingers moved curiously over the pearls like tiny snakes, coiling and uncoiling over the shiny white balls.  Her demeanour did not change, saying coolly, “I don’t think you have a say in the matter.  Now, you call yourself the ‘Golden Queen’ and we can use the rest of our walk to the resort finding out what you have to offer me.”  She stopped caressing her pearl necklace and stretched out her hand to Rosa, her hand opening and her fingers unrolling in their unsettling way.  Rosa took her hand, and saw Kenji nodding his permission to her as they continued walking to the walled complex before them.
 
“I don’t know how much to trust you, but as you say, I am not in control.  As a matter of fact, I don’t really know how I fit into all this,” Rosa said hesitantly.
 
“Don’t waste my time,” Alejandra said, “who are you and why are you here?”
 
“I-, um, I need to get to Ojai in California… via Ventura-,” Rosa started to say.
 
“You’re going the wrong way,” Alejandra interrupted, “You should be going North, the opposite direction.”
 
“I know, but, we need to get there over the ocean, we need to get there undetected,” Rosa said quickly.

“And the ‘Golden Queen’ title has something to do with you needing to get back to Ojai and your need for discretion?” Alejandra mused.
 
“Yes.  I only just learned of this title, but I am the heiress to a fortune in gold left to me by my father,” Rosa answered, sounding unsure of herself.
 
“It’s true,” Kenji added, “I knew her father, Jesus Jardine.  He died in the SEA War.”
 
“Then I will require pre-payment for your stay here at Diamantes Brillantes,” Ms. Carillo said, “Are you prepared to do that?”
 
“Yes, we have some gold in the airplane we arrived in,” Kenji said, “We will exchange it for your assistance.”
 
“That is acceptable.  You will give me the gold when we return to the aircraft you arrived in with food and water for your friends,” Alejandra said, “The measure of my assistance will depend on the amount of gold you pay.”
 
The three of them continued to walk closer to the resort in silence, the fortress-like walls surrounding it looming larger before them.  Rosa started to speak, but stopped herself, as if not sure how to say it.  Alejandra looked at her from the corner of her eye, and said what Rosa wanted to say, “You want to ask about my feet?”  Rosa nodded, and Kenji pulled closer to hear the conversation better.
 
“I surgically removed my toes and replaced the soles of my feet with artificial soles,” she said stopping to lift up a foot to show the black strip of treaded rubber embedded into the bottom of her foot.  “So much more practical.  No more pinched toes in fashionable shoes and the artificial soles allow me to stand for hours in comfort.”  Seeing that Rosa was having trouble asking her next question, her mouth slightly agape.  Alejandra continued explaining, “I’m a surgeon, you see.  I might be called a plastic surgeon, but I do far more than face lifts and tummy tucks.  I enhance functionality, not just appearance, of the human body.”  She let go of Rosa’s hand and pulled off the black glove covering her forearm and hand.
 
Rosa gasped, looking at Alejandra’s fingers wriggling in front of her in unnatural directions, “I added knuckles to my fingers from the toes I removed to allow them to rotate and improve the fine movements I need to do very delicate surgery.  I am also able to replace the fingernails with scalpel blades and other surgical instruments.”
 
Kenji found his voice as they stopped in front of barricade leading to the entrance into the resort complex, and he noted the armed guards and barbed wire surrounding it and lining the top of the wall.  “What is this place?” he asked, his throat tight with anxiety.
 
Alejandra pulled the glove over her hand again, and waved the guards aside to open the re-enforced double door before them.  The doors swung open to reveal a sumptuous courtyard filled with bubbling fountains and lush gardens. “This is Diamantes Brillantes, where the aged are made young again, and the young are made better!”
 
*** This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ***