“Good Afternoon. Welcome to the Sapphire Hotel. How may I help you?” The young woman seated behind the counter said in British accented English. She smiled friendlily, looking up. Standing on the other side across from her were four young black women. They were dressed in matching uniforms: sky-blue jackets, matching knee-length skirts, dark hose and smart black heels. Each wore a small cloth cap with a silver winged badge pinned to the front with the logo for the regional airline they worked for.

The lead flight stewardess was a tall, athletic woman named Aisha. Her dark hair was cut short, just barely peeking out of her cap. She stepped forward and spoke up. “Yes we have a room reserved for the next three days.” She slid a sheet of paper with their reservation information across the counter.

“Of course. One moment please.” The receptionist looked over the paper work. She turned to her computer and began entering some of the information. As she typed, the young woman said casually, “Are you here for the big conference?” The four women nodded. There was a major industry conference being held here in Mombasa, aimed at airlines operating in Africa. The small company they worked for had paid for them to come to the conference and attend a training seminar for flight stewardesses there. Afterwards, they would use what they had learned to help train the other stewardesses working at the company.

“There.” The receptionist said. “I have you checked in starting now until eleven o’clock Monday morning.” She set two small keycards on the counter. “Here are your room keys. You will be staying in Room 312. Do you require any assistance with your luggage?” Each of the stewardesses had, in addition to their carry-on bags, a large rolling suitcase with changes of clothes and a spare uniform. The four knew they would be representing their company and intended to look their best the next couple of days. That wouldn’t be too hard though; part of the reason they had been picked was because they were easily the four prettiest stewardesses working for the company.

Aisha smiled, shaking her head. “Not as long as your lift is working.” She replied. The women had a small daily stipend for food and other expenses, but not so much that saving a tip for a bellhop wouldn’t help.

The other woman nodded. “It’s down the hall, that way.” She pointed.

With a word of thanks, Aisha led her coworkers to the lifts. They got in and hit the button for the third floor. Room 12 was a ways down the hall. Opening the door they found a small, comfortable room with two large beds, a couch and a television. There were two doors on either side of the entrance. One opened into a small closet, empty. The other led into the room’s modest bathroom.

“If you three want to get settled in, I’ll run over to the convention hall and check us in for the conference.” Ashia said. “Then later on, we can see about getting something to eat.” The others agreed. Ashia dropped her bags in the corner of the room and walked back towards the lifts. She waited for one to arrive and took it back down to the ground floor.

Down in the hallway from the lifts, the receptionist was checking in a family from Europe here on vacation. Sitting on a chair nearby, reading a magazine was a tall black woman wearing a red jacket. She peered over the top of the magazine, watching as Ashia walked across the lobby towards the front doors.

Outside the hotel there were several taxis waiting to pick up guests. Ashia flagged one down and got in. She gave the driver the address for the convention hall where the conference was going to be held. Twenty minutes later, he dropped her off in front of the large, modern building. There was a small crowd, just inside the doors. Men and women wearing flight uniforms were lined up in front of a number of tables with signs hanging over them announcing: “2014 Mombasa Aviation Industry Conference-Registration.” Past the tables, more men and women with bags were checking into their rooms. Aisha would have liked to stay at the hotel attached to the convention center, but it had been too expensive for the company, so instead the four of them had to settle on a cheaper hotel a short ride away by taxi.

Aisha got in line and slowly worked her way towards the front. The woman sitting behind the table at the end of the file looked over the list of reservations and found the one for Aisha’s company. Picking up a pen, she checked it off the list. “Here are your passes to get into the convention hall tomorrow.” She said, setting four plastic badges on the floor. “Make sure you wear them when you arrive or you won’t be let in the doors. And here’s a copy of the convention schedule.” She dropped a small paper booklet down beside the badges.

Aisha scooped them up, thanking the woman. Leaving the convention hall, she flagged another taxi down and took it back to the hotel. The family checking in was gone. The woman sitting in the lobby was not. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the stewardess walked towards the lifts and got in. She waited a moment before she got up and walked to the lifts as well…

Back in the room, Aisha handed the badges out to her coworkers. She sat down on one of the beds with one of her coworkers, a short, cute woman named Makena, and started leafing through the booklet. “It looks like the first session of the seminar begins tomorrow, at 11:00 in the…Ruby Ballroom.” She pointed to a large room on the third floor of the building.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. “Room Service.” A woman outside the door said.

Ashia glanced up from the booklet and turned to her coworkers. “Did you order room service while I was out?” She asked. The other three shook their heads. With a sigh, Ashia set the booklet down on the bed beside her and stood up. “They must have the wrong room.” She said, walking over to the door.

“I’m sorry, but we didn’t order anything…” Ashia began to say as she opened the door. Her eyes widened in shock as the door was suddenly forced all the way open, pushing her back suddenly. Four people rushed into the room. One of them, a tall, athletic black woman, grabbed Aisha and pointed a gun at her head. The stewardess went pale with fright.

Behind her, in the hotel room, her three coworkers cried out in fright as the other intruders rushed towards them, brandishing pistols as well. “All of you shut up!” Another woman, dark skinned, with long curly hair, ordered in a sharp, authoritative voice. “Keep quiet, don’t resist and you won’t be hurt. Play around with us, though, and you bitches will regret it!” The four stewardesses whimpered in fear, thoroughly cowed by this unexpected attack. “Now, all of you get up against that wall!” The gunwoman told them, gesturing with the barrel of her revolver.

“You too.” The woman holding Aisha said. She pushed her captive in the direction of the other three who stood, facing the wall, sobbing quietly. As she hurried to join them, stumbling over the suitcases piled nearby, Aisha got a good look at their captors. Besides the one who had grabbed her and their leader, the one giving the orders, there were two more, both young black women like the others. One was a short, thin girl, the other was of average height, with closely cropped hair. All four were dressed in plain street clothes of good quality.

“Place your hands on your heads, keep quiet and don’t move!” the leader of the intruders said, keeping the four frightened women covered with her pistol. As she hurried to obey. Aisha glanced over at Makena, seeing the frightened look in her coworker’s eyes. She knew her face showed just as much fear. “What’s going to happen to us?” She wondered to herself.

“Now, there’s something we need from you ladies…” the leader said, giving them a grin. “Your clothes.” The stewardesses looked at her, in confusion and shock. “Come on, girls!” she said, a little sharper. “Start stripping! Everything off!” Her companions nodded, raising their guns.

“We’d better do what they say.” Ashia said in a trembling voice. She put action to word, slowly unbuttoning her uniform jacket. As she slid the garment off her body, the other stewardesses reluctantly began taking their clothes off as well. Ashia dropped the blue coat to the ground and did the same with her blouse. Underneath, the young woman was wearing a white cotton bra which stood out against her dark skin. She unzipped her skirt and slid it down her long legs. Finally, she kicked off her heels. Beside her, the other three slowly stripped down to their underwear.

The leader shook her head. “You’re not done yet, ladies.” she said. “Keep going. Everything off!” She waved her gun to stop any protests. The four captives whimpered, but did as she ordered, slowly peeling off their hose, panties and bra. Within moments, they stood completely naked, trying their best to cover them bodies with their hands, which wasn’t good enough. Ashia shrank back as she saw the four intruders leering at her and the other stewardesses. Three of them stepped forward and quickly collected their captive’s discarded clothing while the leader kept them covered with her gun. One of her partners walked over and handed the convention badges to her.

“Thank you very much, ladies. We’re almost finished here.” She said, glancing at the plastic badges quickly. “One more thing we need to do, though. Turn around and place your hands behind your backs, palm to palm!”

As Ashia hurried to obey, she heard a ripping sounds from behind her. A moment later, one of the attackers grabbed her wrists and lifted them up. She felt the other woman begin wrapping a roll of duct tape around her wrists, lashing them together securely. When she finished that, Aisha’s captor began wrapping the tape around the helpless stewardess’ chest, pinning her arms to her back. Aisha listened to her coworkers’ helpless pleas as they had their hands taped together as well.

The intruders didn’t stop there. When they’d finished binding the stewardesses’ arms, they forced their captives to the ground. The frightened women’s legs were taped together at the ankles and knees. More tape was wound around their legs and bodies, folding them into compact, squirming balls.

One of the intruders grabbed the discarded panties from the pile of clothes. Returning to the helpless prisoners, she stuffed a pair into each frightened girl’s mouth, sealing them in with tape. More tape was pressed over their eyes, blindfolding them.

The four stewardesses, now reduced to naked, mute packages by the tape. The young women struggled feebly as they were picked up, one by one. They could only sob into the tape silencing them as they were placed into the now empty rolling suitcases and zipped up inside. Their frightened cries were muffled to barely more than a whisper by the tight gags and thick fabric of the cases they were imprisoned inside. In total darkness, they felt as they were wheeled out of the hotel room and down the hallway by their kidnappers. No one in the hotel gave the four intruders a second glance as they wheeled the suitcases and their hidden occupants to the elevator and out a side entrance.

A large moving truck was waiting, parked outside the hotel. Two more young black women were waiting, one seated at the wheel, the other standing at the back. The second turned and opened the back of the van as she saw the four coming out of the building. They lifted their suitcases up, tossing them, captives and all, into the back of the vehicle. When the last suitcase was loaded, the woman closed up the back of the van. She got into the passenger’s seat and nodded to her partner who started the truck and slowly drove away carrying her captive cargo with her.

Watching the truck disappear around the corner, the leader of the kidnappers pulled out a cellphone. Dialing a number, she raised the phone up. “Party Crash is now complete. We will proceed with Blindside tomorrow on schedule…”