Some careful investigation

Dear Dr. Johnson,

Four days have passed since my last addition to this disturbing missive and I have been quietly looking into the information Miss Alice disclosed while we were dancing. I visited the local library and found a charming librarian with gold-rimmed spectacles and tightly coifed hair. . After a brief conversation detailing my interests, I was led by Miss Monroe down to the micro-fiche room and shown how to operate the aether-lamp projector so I could review newspaper reports from the past three years. As I sat on the comfortable leather seat behind the controller, Miss Monroe scurried about collecting the micro-fiche plates for the dates following the River Pirate raids. I found myself admiring Evelyn's (I discovered her Christian name as we chatted) trim figure as she moved purposefully about the dimly lit room, especially the silk-covered calves that lifted prettily as she stretched to reach the plates on the top shelf. Like myself, this woman was acutely aware of the dangers that these raiders posed. She explained helpfully as the stack of plates grew on the table next to the projector.

"I've read these articles myself, Doctor," Miss Monroe spoke in the hushed tone common to most librarians, "several times over in fact. The things that those awful men did to the women that fell into their hands..." Her soft voice trailed off as her hand came to rest on her chest, unintentionally drawing my attention to her bosom. Your Lordship, although this woman is probably ten years older than myself, I found her to be impossible to ignore. The top she wore was buttoned modestly to the collar, but all the same I could clearly see the swell of her breasts pressing against the fabric of the white blouse. I took a moment Sir Williard to take in her outfit; she wore a full skirt that fell lower than most on this planet. Although she wore no jewelry, Miss Monroe had a charming ribbon of blue silk tied around the collar of her blouse in a tidy bow that softened the otherwise sever look of her starched blouse and plain skirt. As for her concerns about the River Pirate raids, I did my best to assure her that she had nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, Sir Williard, I was interrupted before I could even begin.

"That's just it, Sir," the pretty librarian leaned so close that I could smell the lavender of her perfume, "I live alone in a small apartment, if the pirates burst into my rooms, they could do anything...just anything." Perhaps Evelyn realised just how the proximity of her slender form had affected me for she pulled slightly away but she stayed close enough to place one plate after another in the projector and adjusted the focusing dials so I could read the details of the raids.

The pirates targeted warehouses of the East Orion Company with each raid, making off with hundreds of pounds of Soma bricks at a time, but Miss Monroe was, perhaps rightly, more interested in the veiled illusions to the fates of the women who were taken by the raiders. The news articles were far too proper to discuss the intimate details, but Evelyn filled in many of these omissions with what she had gleaned from local gossip. According to her, in each raid dozens of women are dragged from their homes and passed from one man to another without any chance to protest. No amount of care on the part of the targets seems to be sufficient; the River Pirates are able to bypass the security of the estates and oftentimes the women are taken in their very bedchambers. The pirates would then separate the prettiest of the captured victims from their husbands, fathers and brothers who would be led away bound and blindfolded. According to Miss Monroe, the wives and daughters of even the wealthiest families would then be most brutally violated in every manner known to history.

I must admit Sir Williard, I was so caught up considering how the elite gentlemen of the city might to use this modus operandi to take part in the 'raids' and what happened to the hundreds of pounds of stolen soma that I missed the now familiar signs that the Blush was beginning to play havoc with our sensibilities.