Tucker’s Wand XXI:  Clockwork Revenge, Part III

by FreezAntix

Chapter 1: The Escape

Somewhere over the Atlantic

               The lavish interior of the Lear Jet only took up Tucker’s attention briefly. His uncle’s little history lesson, on the other hand, had his complete attention. Once Tucker had fully awakened he got to experience a fast and horrifying drive through the countryside, which at this point he was not too fond of any longer. It wasn’t long before he found himself at a private dirt airfield where an expensive Lear Jet awaited him along with an attractive blond dressed in a dark skirted flight attendant’s uniform. She had introduced herself as Karen. Scott introduced the blond that had sat in the back with Tucker and had pulled him from the wrecked SUV as Leslie and the blond who drove the car and was now flying the jet as Alexis. Tucker had noted that the blondes acted odd there was something about them that made them seem inhuman. “This is too unreal…” Tucker sighed, leaning back in the comfortable leather seat he was in. “Sounds like something out of movie, Uncle Scott. That little stunt you pulled to get me out; don’t get me started on that but the world domination, mind control, secret government organizations and cover ups are all themes for a movie right?”

               Scott shrugged taking a sip from a glass of wine he had, “I guess it is, never thought about it that way. It is true though, I assure you Tucker.”

               “You were a spy too?”

               “I was an intelligence officer who specialized in security, to be exact. Spies aren’t quite what you see in the movies Tucker. Is this whole thing still far fetched to believe?”

               “Oddly no… for some reason I believe you Uncle Scott, but that doesn’t mean it’s not crazy, and the fact that if I’m not mistaken about what you just told me kinda makes you a super villain and sort of freaks me out.” Tucker had only heard about some of the events that his uncle had just told him about from the news. The media had played off the whole thing as a complex kidnapping ring. While Tucker never thought any more on the matter, what his uncle was telling him now made sense to him especially since it involved Type-7 as well, something he was pretty familiar with. Even the part about using someone’s DNA who can control time to create a type of doomsday device was a plausible notion as well. It was all crazy and unbelievable, but thanks to his trusty wand (which he had no idea where it was a the moment) and his past experiences he believed everything his uncle was telling him though it still sounded insane.

               “Understandable,” Scott simply answered as Karen brought him a plate of cheese cake. “Cake?” he offered as Karen turned to Tucker smiling.

               “No thanks… kinda stressed right now. Almost died in a car accident and just found out my uncle is a wanted international criminal. One that was involved in plot to take over the world and enslave all women as sex slaves. So it’s kind of a lot to take in right now.” The only real shocking thing about the whole thing that Tucker found outrageous was that his uncle had played the role as the bad guy in all this and he seemed so comfortable about the whole thing. Which made Tucker wonder what his role was going to be with his villain of an uncle? “Why’d you bust me out anyways, besides the obvious?” He then asked looking back over at his uncle who was enjoying his cheese cake.

               “Well seeing that you are taking in a lot of information right now let me tell you about that later, don’t worry it be soon. Would you like a demonstration of the neural chips?” Scott asked, putting down his plate of half eaten cheesecake on a nearby table where his wine glass stood.

               “You still have them?” Tucker asked sitting up from his seat interested. Having always had trouble with the opposite sex Tucker found the whole part about the neural chips of his uncle’s story interesting if at the same time a bit creepy. The technology was amazing, to say the least. He wasn’t sure exactly how he felt about it the whole concept of controlling a person like that; he rather had them frozen and silent. He was curious about it though, electronically commanding a woman to do whatever you want her to do.

               “I never said I got rid of them,” Scott replied with a smile, seeing the interest in his nephew’s eyes. Tucker was too stressed out at the moment for Scott to give him the reason why he had forcefully removed Tucker from ITEA custody. The boy needed something to cool his nerves. There was more time later for Scott to explain everything in detail but for now some much needed fun was needed. There was plenty of time left to enjoy the rest of the flight. “Karen?” Scott asked.

               Tucker watched as the blond haired flight attendant stepped out from the galley of the jet located a few feet from where he and his uncle sat. She had caught his eye instantly when she welcomed him as he boarded the jet. Her dark flight attendant’s uniform included a tailored business type coat with gold buttons, a dark blue blouse underneath, matching dark skirt with the hem sitting just above her knees and sheer black pantyhose. A pair of shiny black spiked heels finished the ensemble. Her blond hair was cut short with the tips sitting just past her jaw line. Standing between Scott and Tucker she smiled, “Yes Mr. Dawson?”

               “Karen, freeze,” Scott simply commanded; standing up, he gestured Tucker to do the same. The sharply dressed flight attendant stood rigidly in place, not moving a muscle. Tucker took note of the warm smile on her lips that had not changed and her vacant pale green eyes. She stood standing straight with her hands together in front of her at her crotch. He felt a stir in his pants. “She’s completely frozen, thanks to the chip,” Scott explained as he took hold of the stiff flight attendant’s shoulders and spun her around to show Tucker. The woman remained rigid through all this and Tucker was getting warm. The young man simply nodded seeing the thumb-sized skin-colored patch clearly visible on the nape of the woman’s neck thanks in part to her short blond locks. “Karen Draskal used to work R&D for the Foundation, she’s thirty-one and I believe she had a degree in programming from MIT.” Scott explained as he moved Karen’s arms to her sides and began to unbutton her uniform jacket. “I was hiding out in Brazil after the whole Uranus Generator incident and ran into Ms. Draskal. Being a wanted man, I had to do something since she knew who I was and we had seen each other,” Scott paused as he took off her jacket and tossed it aside. “Killing people is overrated so for long story made short, I chipped her,” he concluded, sitting back down and taking a sip of his wine. “Since she’s always been easy on the eyes, as of now she’s flight attendant; nothing more. I was going to remove the rest of her snappy uniform but what kind of demonstration would this be if I had to do all the work? Karen, unfreeze and strip yourself naked.”

               “Right away Mr. Dawson,” Karen replied happily with her bright smile still on her lips as if he’d only asked for more wine. Tucker noted how she just came out of being rigidly frozen to fully mobile again in a blink of an eye like a robot. Stilling smiling, she unbuttoned her blouse and slipped it off her shoulders and down her arms.

               As she reached behind her back for her bra Scott ordered, “Recite the ABC’s and alternate between, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Chinese and an Indian accent.” Tucker couldn’t help but laugh as Karen did exactly what she was told; her Indian accent was dead on. “Flight attendants these days are multitalented,” Scott added picking up his cheese cake dish.

               Tucker looked on in awe as Karen continued her task; she was naked before she finished and proceeded to continue to strip air until she finished the alphabet. “Oh my God that was so fucking cool!” He exclaimed looking the now naked blond up and down. She looked even better with the uniform off.

               “Recite it again Ms. Draskal this time count to one-hundred in Wookie before you start your ABC’s,” Scott commanded finishing the last of his pie, “So talented…”

               Tucker burst out laughing falling back in his seat. “You programmed all this?” He asked when he finally regained his composer but had I hard time keeping it as Karen continued to count like a Wookie.

               “Yes, it was pretty easy, I just can’t program the real Karen Draskal but who would want that?”

               “Who would?” Tucker laughed causing Scott to smile.

               “Leslie?” Scott commanded over Karen’s voice as she continued her order. From the cockpit Tucker saw the blond clad in fitted black leather who had shared the backseat with him back in London stood from the co-pilot seat and stepped back into the cabin. Karen was quite attractive but this woman was gorgeous Tucker thought, looking at the tall blond. He looked over at his uncle wide-eyed. “She’s chipped too, son,” Scott replied with a grin. “Leslie, step in place and spin in a circle and speak like a monkey.”

               “Oh damn!” Tucker exclaimed followed by laughter as he watched the tall blond do as she was told. “Simply amazing Uncle Scott,” he complimented after his laughter had died off.

               “This is Leslie Schulz; she was part of the Foundation’s lead extraction team when we were conducting operations in Europe, she was a bounty hunter in Germany before she worked for the Foundation. She’s been chipped because she failed and well she knows too much about our operation,” Scott simply explained. “Leslie stop; Leslie this is my nephew Tucker Holmes, he will be your master for the duration of this flight; you will do anything he wants.”

               “Yes Mr. Dawson,” Leslie replied and turned to Tucker who was speechless with his jaw hanging. “Mr. Tucker Holmes, I am yours.”

               Tucker turned towards his uncle and tried to talk but nothing came out of his mouth. “We have work to do later Tucker and I will tell all about it soon enough, but for now enjoy,” Scott said, gesturing towards Leslie, “she’s all yours.”

               Getting up from his seat and ignoring Karen’s voice switching from languages in the background, Tucker stood in front of the blond looking her up and down. The women looked like she could kick his ass but she did nothing as he touched her breasts. He gulped, “These are nice clothes Leslie, what do you have under?”

               “Nothing, Tucker Holmes,” Leslie replied flatly causing to Tucker to look at his uncle dumbfounded.

               “There is room in back have fun son,” Scott grinned. Tucker giggled giddily and took the blond by the hand and led her towards the room.

               Once Tucker was gone Scott smiled and stopped Karen. “Karen, take over for Alexis. Alexis?” He ordered. The naked flight attendant nodded and headed towards the cockpit as Alexis Sutherland came back into the cabin. She was dressed similarly to her former charge Leslie. Scott took off his coat but not before removing the evidence bag containing the wand from his inside pocket.

               “Yes, Mr. Dawson?” Alexis asked in her natural British accent standing at attention. Scott removed a metal suitcase from under the table near him and places the evidence bag inside of it. He looked over at Alexis.

               “Alexis, freeze,” he commanded while standing up from his seat, smiling.

* * *

Oceanside, California

Docks

               With the help of Chloe’s ring the non-descriptive van easily made it past the security check points without causing any suspicion. It then drove out to the farthest pier and parked at the edge. Its occupants climbed out with the exception of Chloe who remained inside. The others stood in a line facing the ocean, all looking aimlessly ahead. Chloe continued staring for several minutes before her empty green eyes twitched sporadically for a second before they continued to stare off vacantly. She pulled out a cell from her trench coat, which covered her ninja outfit underneath. She hit the speed dial for the Empress, then a moment later Chloe emerged from the van flipping close a cell phone. She stood in front of the group and looked out into the ocean with the same mindless stare. Within ten minutes a speeding speed boat approached them with Mary Beth at the helm along with Kat and Britney who were armed with dart loaded M4s. All three were dressed in sailor outfits which included a short frilly navy skirts, white tops and matching cute caps. The red speed boat pulled up perfectly along the side of the pier and Chloe and company each hopped onto the boat and within in seconds it sped away from dry land leaving a large white wake behind it.

* * *

The Empress

               Ashley’s cargo ship was anchored just out of sight of the coast of California but still within US territorial waters. After a ten minute ride the speed boat was pulling up to the anchored cargo ship. The Empress stretched 400 feet from bow to stern, its hull was black with white trim and railings, a white super structure containing the bridge and living spaces sat aft and stood six decks above the main deck. A single crane sat at the center of the main deck and a long-range antenna stood at the bow of the ship. The main deck contained four large red container boxes located port and starboard two containers at each side. At the base of the crane another red speed boat was parked. Mary Beth expertly maneuvered the speed boat against the starboard hull of the Empress. Kat slung her M4 over her shoulder and then threw two tethered buoys over the side of the small craft to prevent it from being damaged by the hull of the larger ship. The crane came to life and moved over the top of the speed boat, Britney and Mary Beth worked as if they were seasoned dock workers and secured lines from the crane to their speed boat. A second later the speedboat was out of water and in the air and a minute later it was securely parked on deck next to the other speedboat. As Mary Beth and her crew work to secure the other boat Chloe and company hopped off.

               Marika, Tasia, Makeda and Dieter stood in a line at attention as their orders ended there. Chloe stood at attention in front of the line, “Mission’s Alpha, Bravo and Charlie accomplished, mistress,” she said in a monotone as Ashley emerged from the superstructure. Unseen by the scientist, Chloe’s fists clenched tightly before relaxing. Ashley was dressed in high heeled wicker wedges, a blue bikini top with a matching sarong around her hips. A straw beach hat over her head completed her look along with diva-sized sunglasses. Flanking her right and left were Samantha Ross and Sandra Packlin. Samantha was dressed in white very revealing bikini while Sandra was only dressed in a hot pink bikini bottoms; her naked breasts hug free as well as her shoulder length brown hair. They were having a little Decker State College faculty ‘meeting’ when Chloe had made the call. Ashley walked around the four chipped agents, looking them up and down. She traced along Makeda’s dark lips with her finger and then caressed Tasia’s cheek with the back of her hand. The dark haired woman then gave an approving nod to Dieter. He was her first chipped male and she was going to put him to good use since he was stronger than most of her other mindless slaves. Stopping at Marika, she eyed the tall blond from head to toe. “What do we have here?” She asked the unhearing blond, noticing the gorgeous diamond ring on the agent’s right hand. She lifts up Marika’s hand and removes the ring from her ring finger, slipping it on to her own finger. “You don’t need this,” Ashley grinned. She quickly looked behind her, feeling someone was watching her; Chloe remained standing at attention, staring emptily like the other chipped slaves. Shaking off the fleeting doubt, Ashley turns back and smiles at the three ITEA agents, “Welcome aboard!”

Chapter 2: Uninvited Guests

Los Angeles, California

286 Scorsese Avenue, Apartment 410

               It had been almost two days but Maggie felt as if it was only just yesterday when she came to and discovered she was only dressed in her underwear; her roommate Tucker was missing and a note had been left, saying that he’d be all right. His note stated that he had been detained by ITEA agent Tasia Spiro and was currently in London. Tucker didn’t write much else. He basically told her to stay calm and that he would be alright and not to do anything stupid; he wrote that three times so she would get the point. He added that he would get in touch with her by phone once he found out what was going on. In the PS he told her to take care of the girls just in case ITEA made another visit. Maggie’s mind was racing and she was in near panic so she needed something to calm herself. With the help of her clock she stopped time, took Haley’s spare key and moved Tatiana, Rebecca and Candice into the vacant apartment in record time.

               Once that was done she restarted time and headed back up to her apartment and made a call to Haley who was still on the road home from her modeling tour. She explained to Haley what had happened; Haley too told her to calm down and that they would figure something out when she got back. Maggie only told her to hurry. Haley said she would try and told Maggie to keep calm before hanging up. The remainder of the day Maggie spent pacing around the apartment, trying to think of something to do. She wanted to stop time, stopping time always made her happy and calmed her but she knew if she did that she would delay Haley and not really do any good for Tucker. She was about to call Madison since Tucker was in a legal situation but decided against it as it would pull Madison away from the rest of her family. Her mother would also know that something had happened and blame it all on Maggie. Madison was defiantly not a choice. She fell asleep later that night thinking about Tucker and woke up the next day thinking his disappearance was dream; to her dismay it was not.

               So far she had spent the first few hours since waking up keeping busy by cleaning the apartment, something she had never done before. She was surprised how fast it went to clean and organize everything. She even cleaned the office, Tucker’s room and her own room. Once that was all done she just sat in her living room and tried to play video games for a little bit.  After ten minutes she stopped, it reminded her too much of Tucker who she had not heard from yet. As she ate lunch she called Haley again; Tucker’s ex- told her that she would be home in the afternoon. After lunch Maggie was feeling lonelier then ever and decided to call Lisa, who was out of town for the holidays; the next to be called were Julie and Britney who both seemed to not be picking up their phones. She then got in touch with Cindy, who said she could come over and hang out; Maggie was about to agree but declined, remembering Jamie. Cindy told her to call her back if she changed her mind and reminded Maggie that she was there for her. Maggie realized that she was must have sounded depressed and perked up and told her friend she would be okay before hanging up.

               Maggie sat around reading a comic in silence for about thirty minutes before she flipped open her cell phone, deciding to take up Cindy on her offer. She was about to call but stopped remembering she had not called Jamie back. “Hey Jamie!” Maggie greeted happily after her girlfriend picked up the phone after the fifth ring. Maggie heard the festive noise in the background and cursed to herself remembering that Jamie had gone back to San Diego to visit her family for the holidays.

               “Hold on Mags,” Jamie replied. Maggie heard movement, a door opening and closing before Jamie came back on the line. “What did you do, Maggie?”

               “I didn’t do anything!” Maggie replied, frowning.

               “Something is going on; you always start a conversation overly happy when something is up,” Jamie replied flatly and then repeated with some concern: “What’s going on, Maggie?”

               Maggie was silent for a second before she replied, “It’s Tucker.”

               Jamie sighed, “It’s always about Tucker,” she replied with a hint of annoyance. “You picked him over me so it can’t that bad.”

               “Jamie…”

               “Alright what is it, Mags?” Maggie quickly told Jamie what had happened – leaving out some details of course – and how she was feeling at the moment. She was on the verge of tears when she was done.

“Calm down Mags; did you call your sister?” Jamie asked soothingly after hearing the distress in Maggie’s voice and realizing that she was dealing with a pretty serious issue. Maggie explained her reasoning of why she had not called Madison. Jamie was silent for a moment in thought and sighed, knowing she would regret it later, “Let me come back and we can come up with something.”

               “Oh Jamie you don’t have to,” Maggie began to say.

               “No Mags, I want to; I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Jamie assured trying to not sound too unenthusiastic about battling the highway during the holiday season. She and Maggie’s relationship had been on the rocks for quite some time now. She knew if she didn’t do anything they would break up. Their priorities were completely different, she was all about a deep and serious relationship where Maggie still needed time to grow up. Before she had left they had gotten into an argument about the holidays.  Maggie wanted to spend it with her friends instead of with her girlfriend. In short, the two left on bad terms, more so for Jamie because she knew Maggie didn’t feel the same way. With this little crisis she figured if she got back as quickly as she could Maggie would finally see that she would do anything for her.

               “Thanks Jamie! I love you!” Maggie squealed into the phone.

               “I love you too. I’ll see you in couple of hours.”

* * *

Scorsese Avenue

               “Target spotted madam,” Veronica Estes reported from the driver’s seat as she navigated the rented black Trailblazer down the street. The target in question was 286 Scorsese Avenue, a four-story apartment building that was located on their right. The street around them was fairly crowded as it was the middle of the day; there were both a good amount of cars and pedestrians out and about. Thanksgiving was only a day away.

               “Find us some parking, love,” Ryoshi Dawson ordered from her spot in the backseat.

               “As you wish madam,” Veronica replied, looking straight ahead. The Spanish beauty was once part of an extraction team lead by Alexis Sutherland which also included Leslie Schulz and Ryoshi. The team had not been successful in their operations and due to their extensive inside knowledge of the Foundation and physical beauty they had been chipped, all accept Ryoshi who had been sort of a Foundation safety net if said team had failed. Veronica spotted a few spots located right in front of the target building; the spots were marked as visitor parking. The former Spanish secret service agent easily guided the large SUV into the parallel parking spot in one try and without using any of the mirrors for assistance.

               “Any possible threats, Naoko?” Ryoshi then asked. Scott wanted her to mainly secure Tucker’s place and his roommate and use the roommate as a persuasion tool for later.

               “Several possible threats,” Naoko Kobayashi replied from the front passenger seat. Naoko was once employed as a luxury yacht captain but later sought employment with the Foundation. She was hired but at the same time chipped as Scott felt she would better serve his needs that way. Naoko than began to list all those that were around them.

               “Stop,” Ryoshi breathed, annoyed; she sat up and looked around.  There were quite a few people in the vicinity. The mindless woman was right that any one of the people around them could be undercover agents, waiting to pounce on and arrest her. She had a feeling someone was going to come after her. She sighed and looked back down at the cleanly shaven womanhood of her back seat companion, Izel Cortez. Izel was once a captain in the Mexican Federal Police and was recruited by the Foundation and Scott for assistance in acquiring a Mexican airfield for Foundation use. As with most of Scott’s employees she was chipped to insure secrecy and provide above and beyond service. Afterwards when everything was all over, she lost her job; even though it was proven she had been chipped by the Foundation it still did not eliminate the fact that she was corrupt enough to be corrupted by the Foundation in the first place. The loss of her job did not concern Izel that much as she was paid handsomely by the Foundation, stating that she was a victim in the whole ordeal. She was a rich woman in the few months afterwards until Scott paid a visit to her newly purchased villa. It was Ryoshi’s birthday and being a good husband as he was he knew what his wife loved.

               Izel sat to the left of Ryoshi with a blank expression, her dark brown eyes looking at nothing in particular and her lips parted slightly. Her black leather pants, along with her lacy black panties, were dropped around her ankles and thighs spread apart. Ryoshi licked her finger and then dug it into Izel’s already moist snatch thanks to Ryoshi’s tongue and lips. The Japanese woman smiled, “well I guess its time to work, ladies. Let’s secure the roommate and the apartment first – we can worry about the second target later,” Ryoshi said, licking her finger and grinning, “I love Mexican.”

* * *

               “Now I told you a hundred times you can’t be out here without a permit. Do you want to get arrested?” Patrol Officer Regina asked with her hands on her hips. She was on her normal beat, working a twelve hour so she could sleep in for Thanksgiving and enjoy the night with her roommates. Regina wanted an easy shift, police work was boring most of the time but when you want it to be boring it never was.  So far the shift had been easy and Regina wanted to keep it that way. The noodle vender who was only seventeen years old looked down at her cart sadly; she didn’t know how to speak English very well, only enough to sell her noodles. Regina sighed, “Look Mei you shouldn’t be doing this, I understand your mother can’t work but she has the permit please tell her that you can’t be out here anymore. You can be out here just for today.” With those words Mei’s round face lit up, “Just for today,” Regina warned seriously trying not to smile at Mei’s own smile.

               “I turn eighteen next week I get permit help mother out,” Mei replied smiling nodding.

               “That’s fine but until then after today I don’t want to see you out here any more,” Regina warned again and added, “Have nice day Mei and enjoy Thanksgiving.” Mei nodded and smiled and began selling her noodle dishes to pedestrians as Regina turned away.

               She was only a block away when a black SUV cruised passed her. It was a SUV she never saw before in the millions of times she had been down that block. She kept her casual pace as she watched the SUV park in a spot in front of an apartment building. Regina moved over to a parked car near her and whipped out her ticket book and acted as if she was writing a ticket all at the same time keeping an eye on the suspicious SUV, which had tinted windows. Clicking the radio handset strapped to her shoulder, “base this Rover 2-1; I need a plate check for warrants over?” She requested into the handset.

               “Copy that, go ahead for plate check Rover 2-1,” replied the static laced voice on the other end. From where she was she could read off the SUV’s tags just barely. She relayed the numbers to dispatch and after a moment the static voice came back, “Rover 2-1 no warrants on tags; vehicle listed as a rental.”

               “Roger that base; Rover 2-1 out,” Regina replied with sigh. The SUV was clean but there was something in the back of her mind telling her it was up to no good. She cursed to herself for wanting an easy shift as it never turned out that way if she wanted it. Thinking what to do next, she suddenly saw the doors of the SUV open and four very nicely dressed women emerged. Regina went back to writing her fake ticket while keeping an eye on the women at the same time. There were two Asian women while the other two looked to be Hispanic; one was light complexioned while the other darker tan, both had thick long lush black hair combed loosely, falling to the small of their backs. One of the Asian women had short spiky hair and was dressed in a tight fitting white pants suit with matching heels. The other Asian was dressed in a Chinese style purple and white with gold trimmed dress with no sleeves and a very short hem, her legs were covered in dark hosiery and she stood in a pair of slim high-heeled knee boots. Her was hair tied in an elaborate bun held together by silver chopsticks. The Hispanic girl with the dark skin tone was dressed a black pants suit with black heels, looking similar the short-haired Asian woman. Regina guessed they were bodyguards as that one and the Asian woman in white were sitting in the front of the SUV. The lighter complexioned Hispanic was dressed in a black tube top and black leather pants over a pair of tall spiked high heels. Unlike the other women, she carried a large shoulder bag with her. Regina guessed that the Asian in the pretty dress was the ringleader since she was dressed so differently from the others and also from how the others seem to be following her as they entered the building.

               Once the four ladies were out of sight, Regina briskly jogged up to the apartment and was into the lobby just as the elevator doors slid closed. As she watched the digital indicator above the elevator count up she radioed in, “Base, this is Rover 2-1; I’m investigating suspicious activity at 286 Scorsese; will report back in five, over.” Her radio chimed back a moment later confirming her report. The digits signaled that the elevator stopped on the fourth and top floor. Regina looked for the stairs and headed up. At the door of the fourth floor she gathered herself and controlled her breathing. Withdrawing her Beretta, she checked the safety and held it low at her side as she exited the staircase, closing the door quietly behind her.

* * *

               “Contact should be in the building now madam,” Veronica reported as they stepped off the elevator. She and Naoko both spotted a female police officer who was lingering too close and too long for her own good when they had exited the SUV.

               “Well that didn’t take long,” Ryoshi smiled, “Naoko, secure the hallway, Roni watch the staircase and the elevator, shoot on sight,” she ordered and then asked Izel, “Which unit?”

               “410,” the former Mexican cop replied in a cute accent.

               The fourth floor had a total of twelve units; Naoko was ordered to place electrical tape over each of the entry doors’ peepholes while also keeping an eye out for witnesses as well, she was armed with a Type-7 dart pistol in the form of a Glock. Veronica took her position at the end of hallway at the door leading to the staircase where she also had a good view of the elevator as well, with her Type-7 Glock in hand. Ryoshi and Izel proceeded to apartment 410. Before knocking, Ryoshi turned to Izel and commanded, “dart gun,” Izel accordingly reached into the bag she carried with her and handed her mistress a dart gun. Knocking on the door Ryoshi hid the dart gun behind her and smiled at the peephole.

               A moment later the door opened with a smiling cute Asian girl on the other side. Maggie Yen, Tucker Holmes’ roommate, Ryoshi presumed. The girl was really too cute for her own good; she was short but well proportioned. The young girl was dressed in a white t-shirt with green sleeves, with ‘Elmer’ printed in green text across her round bust. A pink frilly skirt with the hem sitting right at the knees covered her lower section. She stood in green flip-flops with her hair tied in a ponytail, large thick framed glassed covered half of her face adding to her already cute looks. “Can I help you?” She asked in a tiny voice fitting to her image.

               “Delivery for Maggie Yen,” Ryoshi replied with a friendly smile gesturing towards Izel who smiled.

               Maggie smiled, “Oh cool!” She remarked looking over at Izel, “She’s pretty.”

               “I know,” Ryoshi replied bringing up the dart gun. One ‘chuff’ later and Maggie was frozen into place with her gaze fixed on Izel, one hand on the doorknob while the other stilled as it headed up from her hips to her neck where the dart was now protruding from. Ryoshi smiled looking at the stiffened girl up and down and nodded in satisfaction. “Chip her,” she ordered.

               Heading down the hall, she crossed Naoko, “Break into unit 408 and clear it,” she ordered. Naoko nodded. Turning the corner at the end of the hall she grinned at the sight of a frozen LAPD policewoman, with Veronica standing next to her. “Contact subdued, mistress,” Veronica reported looking straight ahead. The policewoman stood in mid-stride with one hand just inches away from the doorknob behind her and the other holding a service Beretta.  Her dirty blond hair was in a ponytail and her blue eyes, even though empty, looked focused.

               Walking up to the suspended policewoman, Ryoshi read the woman’s nameplate, “Regina; nice to meet you Officer Regina,” she greeted to the silent and unmoving woman. Before she could finish her inspection the radio came to life.

               “Rover 2-1 what is your sit-rep over?”

               “Crap…” Ryoshi muttered and then ordered, “Izel! On me now!” Izel appeared around the corner with her bag in a jog and halted next to her mistress.

               “Yes, mistress?”

               “Controller and chip,” Ryoshi ordered with her hand out. Izel reached into the bag and handed the slim controller and chip to her mistress. Ryoshi quickly typed some commands on the touch screen of the device after placing the chip on the nape of the police officer’s neck. Regina changed her pose and stood at attention with a blank expression on her face. “Report back to base Regina,” she ordered. 

               “Yes,” Regina replied flatly with no emotions. Ryoshi keyed in a few more commands and held the device up to her lips.

               “This is Rover 2-1; sit-rep is normal, all is clear, over,” Ryoshi spoke into the controller as Regina recited the same words into her handset at the very same time, even matching Ryoshi’s tone; the only thing different was her actual voice.

               After a brief silence the radio came back to life, “Copy that 2-1; all is normal, report back to sector.”

               “Rodger that,” Ryoshi said into the handset with Regina copying her words again. “That was close,” Ryoshi breathed, handing the remote back to Izel. “Regina, Izel with me; Roni get the rest of the equipment from the truck and meet us in unit 408. Our job is not done yet, ladies.”

* * *

Malibu, California

Erika Stone’s Penthouse

               Palmira pulled down the red ITEA crime scene tape from the door of Erika’s penthouse and Colette opened the door with a key card that controlled the electronic lock placed there by Hui Lan in ITEA’s second visit to retrieve the first team. Colette pushed the door opened and stepped aside as the three rookie agents moved in with Sigs drawn at eye level. Anna Federov, a dark haired Russian, moved right as short haired Thai agent Malai Kasem moved straight ahead while redhead Nessa Kelly moved left. The three rookies were dressed similarly, in gray suits with white blouses underneath and black flats. Colette moved in after Nessa had cleared the door and followed the redhead with her own Sig drawn. The French-Canadian was dressed in a black short-sleeved blouse and gray knee-length skirt over pantyhose and black open-toed high heels. She carried a messenger bag with her. Palmira was the last one into the penthouse, holding her Sig at her side calmly. The Brazilian dressed the most casually out of the five, wearing tight fitting dark denim jeans over white high heels and flowery sleeveless silk top. “Call it!” she ordered holstering her pistol already knowing the answer.

               “Clear,” Anna replied followed by Nessa and Malai.

               “Colette?” Palmira called out, “Call it!”

               “It’s not clear yet, I’m not finished checking,” Colette replied poking her head out from a room.

               “It’s clear Colette; who else you think was here? I’m pretty sure Cesar’s team already cleared the place. There’s a freaking electronic lock on the door too – who’s gonna get in, a ghost?” Palmira asked the other agents chuckled at the later question. “How long does it take you to clear a room anyways? It’s a wonder you passed your firearms training at all.”

               “Sorry…Palmira, it’s clear,” Colette said holstering her gun.

               Palmira shook her head, “Malai, Nessa bedrooms, Anna common areas and Colette computers. I’ll report back the home office.” The other agents got to work as Palmira headed for the balcony pulling out her cell phone.

               Colette grumbled as she entered Erika’s study and plopped down behind the computer at the desk, “If it wasn’t this damn cover…” she cursed silently as she booted up the computer. As she waited for the computer to boot up, she put her messenger bag on the desk and opened it. Inside was a dart gun, an injection gun and a pair of black gloves along with her laptop. She had packed the odd items and darts with her just before leaving. Her going out in the field was a slight change in plans as she expected to do her recon for Scott at ITEA HQ. Being out in the field now with a team no less made things tricky. Colette was up for the challenge though. She had a devious plan. Ignoring the other items, she pulled out her laptop and opened it up and booted it up as well. Palmira called out and she slyly closed the messenger bag and put it on the floor. “In here,” she replied.

               “Hey I couldn’t get a fix on HQ, is there something wrong with the network?” Palmira asked entering the study.

               “Did you use your phone right?” Colette asked coldly, typing on her laptop.

               Palmira smiled and crossed her arms, “A little upset are we? Sorry about earlier, I was just joking.”

               “Well it wasn’t funny, I’m a veteran too and you berated me in front of the rookies like I was one of them. I know how to do my job!” Colette pointed out a little too loudly as Anna poked her head in the room.

               Palmira’s jaw tightened as she looked at the younger agent who looked up at her with the same intensity, she had never thought that the French-Canadian had in her. She quickly turned, ordering, “Back to work Federov and close the door!”

               “Yes, ma’am,” Federov replied and ducked back out, closing the door behind her.

               “I am your superior Landry; cool down before you say something stupid, again,” Palmira warned, keeping her voice low.

               “Superior? You’re not superior; merely higher ranking…what happened in Rio? Didn’t your whole team get captured?” Colette asked, standing up and leaning over the desk. “Did I just say something stupid? Oh wait, that’s the truth isn’t it?”

               Palmira punched the desk and stepped up face to face with Colette, who didn’t flinch but only smirked, “Wipe that little grin off your face and get to work. I want to know what’s wrong with the ITEA network and you’re the only person that can figure that out, so I’ll let this bit of insubordination pass and not bust your ass. Report when you have something useful,” Palmira ordered with clenched fists, turning around.

               “Oh thank you commander for not putting me in my place because I just barely passed my firearms training and all,” Colette said sarcastically with a pout and sat back down. Palmira stopped in her tracks; it took every ounce of her training not to turn around. As she opened the door Colette added, “If I was you Palmira, I would check the penthouse one more time… we wouldn’t want you to join Lucienne and Kioni in one of those flattering victim bags.”

               “Get to work Landry,” Palmira said through clenched teeth as she left the room closing the door behind her with Colette mock saluting.

* * *

286 Scorsese Ave

Apartment 408

               Apartment 408 belonged to pretty blond named Lisa, according to her answering machine Lisa had went back to visit her parents for the holidays. The walls were covered with high resolution photographs in all sizes. Ryoshi figured Lisa to be some sort of photographer since the pictures was all of random stuff cast in dramatic lighting. Some of the photos included Tucker and Maggie so Lisa was perhaps something more than a neighbor, in any case she wasn’t home which made Ryoshi’s job easier. Naoko had easily broken into the apartment without breaking the lock and once everything was set the door could be locked once again, insuring privacy.

               Naoko and Veronica now sat silently on Lisa’s sofa with back straight, knees together and hands resting on their laps. Their faces bore a neutral expression even though there was a lot of noise coming from the bedroom behind them. Down the hall in the single bedroom of the apartment Ryoshi was releasing some pent-up sexual tension. She and Scott had not had the opportunity to make love in days thanks to this whole situation with Ashley. Due to keeping a low profile and the lack of private airfield near the LA area, Ryoshi had to take regular flight with her ladies and could not really enjoy much of anything. Doing it in a car was never her thing either. So finally having a bed and a companion at her disposal was a Godsend to say the least.

               Breathing hard, Ryoshi rolled off of Izel who was stark naked, just like her. The Japanese woman moaned in comfort lying on her back, her hair was a mess as she they been going at it for almost an hour. “I love you Scott!” she squealed, turning on to her side looking over at Izel’s naked form. The Mexican was lying on her back with her hands under the pillow and legs spread wide. “The perfect gift,” she purred as circled one of Izel’s nipples with her finger. The woman remained still with her brown eyes gazing up at the ceiling and her lips pouting. “Okay unfreeze, that’s enough for now, get up,” Ryoshi ordered, sitting up as Izel climbed out of the bed and stood next to it awaiting her next command.

               Standing at the foot of bed posed at attention were Maggie Yen and Officer Regina. Both women stood with blank faces, Regina was nearly a full head taller than Maggie. “Let’s see…” Ryoshi said in thought, getting out the bed and walking over to the two women with her hands on her naked hips. “Izel get Regina out of her uniform,” Ryoshi then ordered as she removed Maggie’s glasses from her eyes and undid the ponytail.

               Soon both women stood in their birthday suits with hair loose and free. Izel had gotten dressed again and now waited at the bedroom door for her next set of commands. “Oh Maggie Yen, you are some piece of work,” Ryoshi observed, eying Maggie’s assets. “How does he live with you and not enjoy you?” She asked the blank faced girl, groping her full round breasts. Looking over at Regina, who was just as stunning to say the least but needed some work down south and could stand to lose a couple of pounds, Ryoshi ordered with a smile, “Lay down on the bed Regina, I think it’s time for your break.”

               “Yes…” Regina answered distantly and did as she was told. The naked police officer laid straight on the bad with legs together and arms tight at her sides.

               “Controller, Izel?” Ryoshi asked. Izel went over to her bag that was on the floor and retrieve the slim controller and handed it to Ryoshi. “I have the perfect persona for you Ms. Yen and the perfect outfit to show off that tight little body of yours,” Ryoshi said as she worked the controller with both thumbs punching in commands. Still looking at the touch screen she ordered, “Izel, head out to living room and dress Ms. Yen in outfit 21, Ms. Yen follow Izel.”

               “As you wish Mistress,” Izel acknowledged, leaving the room.

               “As you wish madam,” Maggie replied in a thick French accent, followed by a cute bow that put a smile on Ryoshi’s lips.

               Once the room was empty Ryoshi turned her attention to Regina, “I’ve got time for one more before we have to work again, might as well experience Los Angeles’ finest since I’m in LA and all.” Ryoshi smiled seductively as she crawled into the bed.

* * *

Erika Stone’s Penthouse

               “This room is as big as my house in Thailand,” Malai said in awe, looking around at the lavish bedroom as she opened and closed drawers looking for anything of use. It was mostly clothing, expensive and sexy clothing. Something she didn’t feel right digging her hands through.

               “Americans they want everything big; its useless, they never use it they just keep it around to show off,” Nessa replied from the closet, her search was a bit more involved as she was removing everything from the closet and throwing it on the ground behind her.

               Malai turned around to face her redheaded partner and her jaw dropped seeing the mess that was forming, “Nessa, what the hell are you doing? Are you going to clean this up?”

               Nessa let out a laugh, “Girly, I don’t even clean at my house and you wondering if I’m going to clean this?” She replied with a laugh. “This isn’t your place – mess it up, plus you’re doing your job and it’s fun,” The Irish woman added, “Am I going to be cleaning? HA!” The Thai agent turned back to the drawers and shrugged and began to dump them out one at a time and she couldn’t help smiling; it was fun.

               “Oh my, this is quite a mess…” Anna said as she entered the room and looked around in shock.

               “Oh my gosh it is, right, we should clean this up,” Malai said worriedly looking around at the messy room.

               Anna and Nessa who were regularly partners, let out a laugh. “Don’t be weak like that, you’ll be yelled at like blondie,” Nessa warned.

               “It is not her fault, she is Canadian,” Anna added, “But she’s in trouble right now with Senior Agent Tiago.”

               “For not clearing the room fast enough?” Nessa asked. “The girl shouldn’t be a field agent.”

               “She got angry and yelled at Tiago,” Anna replied, “I only heard some of it before Tiago told me to close the door.”

               “An agent like her, that was bound to happen soon, she won’t last,” Nessa said as she flipped the mattress over against Malai’s disapproving look.

               “I do not want to be in her shoes right now, Agent Tiago’s got a temper on her,” Anna added as she picked up a jewelry box and poured its contents out.

               “That’s enough!” Malai yelled with her hands out. “Stop it; you guys are driving me crazy, I have to clean this, and we’re just making a mess now. We’re supposed to be looking for evidence. Stop talking about agent Landry too, if you have forgotten she outranks us. She’s a senior agent too. She knows a lot more then she shows. Nessa, you worked for Scotland Yard before all this and Anna you were with Interpol with me. Landry was with CSIS as an agent, which means she was spy before this; think about it. What do spies do best, they hide who they really are, and they hide their true skills. Give her a break; she’s a lot better than us, we could learn a lot from her,” Malai explained, kneeling to pick up the contents of a drawer she just dumped out. “We should really clean this up guys; I think we could get in trouble,” Malai said, looking up at the other two agents. “Guys?”

               Nessa stood rigid, looking straight ahead to where Malai had been standing moments ago, one hand resting on her holstered gun while the other rested on her hip. Her green eyes were blank and her lips fixed in a slight grin. Anna stood with one hand resting on the dresser next to her and the other behind her back, her head was tilted forward looking at the floor; she remained motionless too. Malai’s eyes got wide as she pulled her Sig out. Getting up, she waved her hand in front of Nessa’s blank green eyes, “Shit….” she whispered, moving over to Anna, who she poked hard on the chest and the Russian agent fell over stiffly backwards, maintaining her pose. “Fuck,” Malai muttered, moving past the two frozen women and into the hall.

* * *

               The Thai agent had just cleared the doorway and she came in Colette’s sight; a micro-second later a dart was in Malai Kasem’s neck, then she too stood frozen in mid-stride with both hands wrapped around her Sig which was held up at eye level. “Thanks for the kind words, sweetie,” Colette cooed into the unhearing girl’s ear. “This isn’t personal, it’s work,” she added with kiss. “Three down, one more to go.”

               Colette moved around the penthouse silently with the dart gun in her gloved hands. She had removed her heels, leaving them in the study to better conceal her movements. There were noises towards the front of penthouse near the main entrance. She headed that way. Peering around the corner she spotted Palmira grumbling to herself as she opened and closed the many closets that were lining the hall. Colette moved closer, silently bringing her dart gun up to eye level as she crept towards the agent. Palmira had just opened the last closet closest to the main door and suddenly jumped back in surprise just as Colette emptied the remaining darts into the Brazilian agent’s well-endowed backside. Palmira immediately stiffens, then falls down like a downed display mannequin in an awkward pose. Colette lowers the dart gun slightly, walks up the closet and spots the rigid figure of a frozen maid leaning against the back wall of the closet. She looks over at the immobilized maid, pokes her once and shrugs, heading back to the study.

Chapter 3: Man Up

286 Scorsese Avenue

               “So let me get this straight: you chipped this Ashley Tisdale, who was the creator of Type-7 and your partner during your whole world domination thing? Something goes wrong with her chip and she escapes; now you believe that she is out plotting revenge on all those that wronged her which includes ITEA and Erika Stone?” Tucker summed up as they stepped off the elevator on the fourth floor of his apartment building. Scott had told him everything on the way from the airport.

               “That’s correct, but you’re also forgetting the fact that she’s probably aiming to take over the world as well,” Scott added, following Tucker. Alexis, Leslie and Karen, now dressed in black leather similar to her two mindless companions, trailed behind the two men. Leslie was carrying Scott’s metal briefcase.

               “Oh, that too and she’s collecting people for a mind-controlled army,” Tucker said, checking himself for his keys. “Oh crap…” he cursed turning to face his uncle, “ITEA still has my key and ID.”

               “That’s no problem. Alexis could get us in, just point to which unit,” Scott suggested.

               “No thank you, Uncle Scott I don’t need that. Maggie my roommate should be home,” Tucker remembered as they continued down the hall. “So is that why you freed me from ITEA, to save me from Ashley?”

               “Not really; she doesn’t know about your abilities and she’s not into men if you know what I mean. I broke you out because I need your help to stop her,” Scott explained.

               “My help?” Tucker asked confused as he knocked on his door, “Uncle Scott, really, what could I do? This sounds like some dangerous stuff here.”

               Tucker was about to ask another question but lost his train of thought as the door to his apartment opened and his jaw dropped. Maggie stood before him, dressed in the smallest French maid outfit that he had ever seen in his life. Her hair was tied into pig tails with a lacy white maid cap sitting on her crown. Her face was heavily made up with light pink eye shadow and pink lipstick. The skimpy black and white lace-trimmed maid’s outfit had short puffy sleeves that only covered the shoulders. The hem sat dangerously high as Maggie’s white thong covered crotch was nearly in view just under the frilly flared out bottom half of the dress. The sides of the dress had large slits running from the armpits to the top of the skirt of the dress. There wasn’t much of the a front to the dress as it did not have a collar and the cleavage between Maggie’s breasts was clearly visible along with her bellybutton which had a diamond stud in it. Nearly half of Maggie’s breasts were visible with only the nipples being covered and even then they were poking through the thin fabric. A tiny lacy white apron finished the look of the dress; that was the only traditional looking thing on it even by skimpy standards. Maggie’s hands were covered by white lace gloves and her legs were clad in thigh-high white sheer stockings. She stood in a pair of black spiked platform heels that elevated her height nearly a foot. She spoke in perfect French first and then in heavily French accented English: “Welcome home M'sieu 'Olmes!” She greeted cheerfully, doing a curtsy.

               “Wow…a real French Maid! Way to go, son!” Scott remarked, patting Tucker hard on the back. “I can’t believe you got her to dress like that.”

               “She’s my roommate…” Tucker mumbled, “Maggie, what the hell…” He managed to say as Maggie stepped aside to let everyone in. Scott nodded as he passed and Maggie smiled brightly nodding at each of the leather-clad blonds that followed as well. Once everyone was inside, she closed the door behind them and Tucker noted the dress didn’t have much of a back either as her spine was in plain sight down town the small of her back. Scott’s ladies moved to stand around Tucker’s living room at attention as Scott and Tucker looked over Maggie, who also seemed to be blankly awaiting orders.

               “Your roommate. I see, does she normally dress like this?” Scott asked, looking over the sexy made-over girl. He could see that Tucker was about to have a heart attack.  A little too much, Ryoshi, but great job he thought, nearly smiling.

               “No. She doesn’t usually dress like this. Maggie what is going on?” Tucker asked. Maggie replied to his question in flawless French and nodded, with a wide smile. The only thing Tucker could understand was ‘Holmes’. “She doesn’t know how to speak French, either.”

               Scott leaned closer to Tucker with a raised eye brow, “Does she know that?”

* * *

Erika Stone’s Penthouse

               “Talk about a security risk; this woman knows everything about us and this stuff isn’t even password protected!” Colette exclaimed to herself, sitting back in the chair and propping her feet up on the desk sans her heels. She had just hacked into Erika’s system; well not really hacked as everything that was needed to know about ITEA was in a folder on the desktop marked ITEA Stuff and Secrets. She did, however, hack Erika’s bank account and was scanning through her recent transactions. There were a bunch of suspicious funds transfers but one really stood out; apparently Erika just bought a cargo ship. There were numerous transactions that also pertained to the said cargo ship as well. Using the ship’s serial number and the yard it was purchased from, Colette was able to find pictures and specs of the ship, which included a blueprint as well. Problem was that she didn’t know if Ashley had altered the ship at all since purchasing it. Her luck died out after as she was not able to track down where the ship was currently berthed at. Ashley was smart enough not to register the ship so it could be anywhere. Colette’s next move was to track the ship down using satellite imagery and for that she had to get into ITEA’s network. Luckily for her, the internet network was still down back at the home office and she was able to log on via her laptop easily. She however had to cover her tracks though, but that was child play especially with no one at ITEA monitoring the network. It was like shopping at mall with everything unlocked and no one around. The covering of her tracks was pretty pointless as ITEA had no access to their own network at the moment. She just felt more comfortable covering up her hacks. The French-Canadian was now just waiting for a satellite to be in position for her use it and according to her calculations that was in another hour. So far she had spent some time looking around Erika’s computer files and downloaded some insider stock information, “Let’s delete this, you really don’t need to know this,” Colette said to herself as she deleted Erika’s ITEA folder, which had profile information on her as well.

               Looking at her laptop, she sighed, seeing that she had thirty minutes left before the satellite was in position. Leaning over that desk and running her hands through her hair, she thought about something to do to kill the time. Looking over at her messenger bag she spotted the injection gun and it reminded her that she had to OD her colleagues to insure they stayed stiff until everything was done. Tying her hair back into a tight bun she reached into the side pocket of her bag and pulled out a hair net and slipped it on. She then put on her gloves along with her heels and grabbed the injection gun. The gloves and the hairnet was to insure there was no forensic trace of her moving around afterwards as ITEA was going to be there soon after they couldn’t get in contact with Palmira’s team.

               “Hello agent Kasem, its time for your medicine,” Colette said with smile as she removed the dart from the Thai girl’s neck and placed the injection gun in its spot and pulled the trigger three times. Sticking the injection gun in her waistband, Colette then pried the Sig free from Malai’s rigid fingers and re-holstered the weapon. She then moved Malai’s taut arms to her sides and straightened out the frozen agent so she was standing straight. The Thai girl’s face had a serious frown on it with her lips neutral. Colette cleared some loose strands of her short hair from the unmoving girl’s face before wrapping her arms around her waist and moving her out of the way, leaving Malai to stand silently and rigidly on guard to one side of the door as Colette entered the bedroom.

               “Christ, rookies… it's a mess in here,” she grumbled as she lifted Anna’s stiff body back up into a standing position. She then pulled out the dart that sticking from Anna’s backside and then injected her on the neck with the gun, repeating the process with Nessa. Going back to Anne, Colette moved the frozen girl’s limbs so they were down at her sides; she then wrapped her arms around the Russian’s waist and dragged her out of the room and did the same with Nessa a moment later.

               With the three rookies taken care of, Colette headed towards the entrance of the penthouse where Palmira was still awkwardly fallen over on the floor. The Brazilian was on her side with her denim covered legs crossing one another; one arm was extended forward with fingers partly closed while the other arm was bent at the elbow with its hand in a fist. Her back was slightly arched backwards along with her head tilted at a little further angle. Colette removed the seven darts sticking out from Palmira’s ass and then injects her for good measure, even though that many darts were more than enough to OD the senior agent. Straightening out the stiff woman’s back and neck, Colette stands Palmira up; the Brazilian beauty slightly wobbled due to her heels and had to be steadied once she was up. Walking around to face Palmira, Colette broke out in laughter seeing the unmoving woman’s face. Palmira’s eyes were held wide in shock and her jaw hung wide and twisted. “Dramatic, are we?” Colette giggled as she molded the woman’s face into something a more serious and neutral, but decided to keep the woman’s eyes wide.

               Opening the closet Colette dragged out Talieya Antzas, Erika’s personal maid, from the back of closet. The young Greek was dressed in a variant blue classic French maid uniform that included fishnets. The maid stood stiffly with her hands up in protest and her brown eyes and mouth open wide in frozen surprise. “My I’ll bet you saw something,” Colette joked into the unmoving girl’s ear as she injected her with her the gun.  “You don’t say a word about it, Okay?”

* * *

Thirty minutes later…

               Colette cleaned all the spent darts up and all the other evidence of her secret treachery. Gathering the evidence along with her used gloves, hairnet, the dart and injection gun in a small trash bag, she headed to the penthouse trash chute and deposited the bag. By the time an investigation was started, the bag and the evidence would be long gone in some landfill. With some time to spare, she arranged her immobilized teammates and the lone maid into a creative scene; a tableau she would join once her mission was done. “This should do; the lead investigating team should have something intricate to ponder for a good long time,” Colette said with her hands on her hips, inspecting her work.

               Palmira stood with a wicked grin on her face, her hips shifted right with her weight resting on her right leg. Her right hand rested on her right hip while her left was held up and bent at the elbow. Her left hand held her gun with the muzzle pointing up. She stood in the middle of the spacious living room. In front of the Brazilian agent were Nessa and Anna who were posed directly in front of each other with about five feet in between. The Russian agent sat on one knee and was bent forward, her hands reaching out for nothing in particular in front of her towards the ground. Her upper body was twisted slightly towards Palmira with her face looking at the standing agent with bright smile. Nessa stood with her legs wide and was bent forward at the waist with her hands reaching for the ground; her head was turned and faced the Brazilian as well and also bore a bright smile. Standing nearby was Talieya, who stood with her surprised and shocked expression, which fit right into the scene. Malai sat on her knees directly in the Greek’s gaze with her hands on her lap and her head hanging over her chest with a sad look on her face.

               The beeping of her laptop, signaling that the satellite was in position, brought a smile to Colette’s lips. “Well ladies; time to get back to work, I shall return though,” she said as left the room.

* * *

286 Scorsese Avenue

Apartment 410

               Tucker had tried to talk to Maggie for almost twenty minutes, following her around the apartment as she did odd cleaning chores that he had no idea she could do in the first place. She cheerfully mopped the floors and cleaned the ceilings while talking to him in French and broken English at the same time. She was cute and hot all the same time but he just didn’t know why she was acting that way and that was worrying him. He was also getting a bit frustrated that Maggie wouldn’t stop and they had a communication barrier that did not exist before. Scott sat watching the whole thing, trying to talk, but Tucker was too busy trying to get Maggie’s attention. Alexis stood at the window at rigid attention with her hands behind her back while Karen did the same by the door. Leslie stood at attention at Scott’s side as he sat on one of the arms of one of Tucker’s two sofas.

               Finally Tucker stopped and turned to his uncle, “I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” he said pleadingly and defeated.  “It’s like she’s turned into a robot, or something.”

               “I think she may be chipped,” Scott said, standing up and crossing his arms. He looked at the scantily clad maid in thought while rubbing his chin.

               “What?” Tucker asked, shocked, “by who?”

               “Well remember when I said Ashley didn’t know anything about you? Well, I think I may have been mistaken,” Scott explained and then spoke some clear French. Maggie looked over and smiled and walked cutely over to the sofa and plopped down almost playfully with a giggle. She then sat humming and rocking her head left to right.

               “What the hell – you can speak French!?” Tucker asked, surprised and a little frustrated.

               “I’m Canadian and I worked for the government,” Scott answered simply as he walked over to the back of the sofa that Maggie sat on and knelt down. He sighed, “Just as I thought, she’s chipped,” He pointed out the place on her neck as Tucker joined him.

               “What the hell!? How? Better yet, why?” he asked almost in panic

               “Well like I said, I think Ashley knows about you,” Scott answered, standing back up.

               “Why would she do that and who cares if she knows about me?”

               Scott beckoned to Leslie, who brought over the metal briefcase she had been carrying and brought it up to hip level. Scott opened the briefcase and pulled out the evidence bag containing Tucker’s wand. “It’s because of this Tucker, that’s why she cares,” Scott replied seriously, holding the evidence bag in front of his nephew.

               “My wand! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God; she knows about it? She knows about it and came here looking for it and she found Maggie instead and chipped her!?” Tucker exclaimed, pacing back and forth running his hands through his hair. He stopped and turned to his uncle. “We can take the chip off of her, right?  You said you can take a chip out of a person and they’ll be normal again,” Tucker said, kneeling behind sofa.

               “Hold it, son. Ashley uses a version three chip and I use the version two chips,” Scott partially lied; there were no version three chips. This all was part of the plan to get Tucker to help him out.

               “So?” Tucker asked, eying the chip.  He was still intent on taking it off his best friend there and now.

               “So, the version three chips have a built in sensor in them; if you try to take it off the chip fries the wearer’s brains, leaving them permanently catatonic. Basically your friend will be dead as a doornail if you pull that chip off her neck. Her brain’s neurons are connected to that chip, controlled by it,” Scott explained.

               Tucker backed away in shock and horror. “What the hell!? Who the hell would do that!?”

               “Ashley is devious and evil, she expects that the first thing you would do is pull that chip off and she gets off on knowing that you would have just killed your best friend.  All because she couldn’t find your wand,” Scott replied holding up the evidence bag.

               “That’s horrible,” Tucker muttered, looking down sadly at Maggie who was still mindlessly humming and rocking her head left and right playfully. He had loved the power of the chips after his little fun with Leslie, but now he saw the evil behind them. He knew they were bad when Scott told him about them in the first place; controlling humans that way was terrible. Nevertheless he looked past that after seeing what the chips did to a gorgeous lady like Leslie or Karen. Of course they were both strangers and he didn’t know them. Seeing Maggie chipped now he was back to his original feeling about the tiny devices, they were pure evil. “Could we use my wand to stop time and then remove her chip?”

               “Of course,” Scott simply answered and Tucker perked up. “But then Maggie would still die when you restart time, the chip and she are connected, Tucker, once her brain realizes the neurons aren’t connected anymore they’ll simply shut off,” Scott lied.  He was glad Tucker wasn’t a science major or knew enough about the chips to know that they didn’t work that way. His nephew was eating it all up.

               “Fuck…” Tucker blurted, turning away from Maggie and running his hands through his hair. “What do you want me to do?” He then asked, turning to his uncle.

               Scott tossed the evidence bag to Tucker which he almost dropped, “Use your wand to help me take Ashley out, once and for all,” Scott replied.

               Tucker tossed the bag back to Scott. “It’s real easy, Uncle Scott; I could show you how to us it in five minutes,” Tucker assured. He was worried about Maggie but he wasn’t a spy and he didn’t feel like going after a crazy woman like this Ashley. He felt that his uncle and his gang of zombie blond beauties could do it with the help of his wand.

               Handing the evidence bag back to Tucker, Scott appealed, “I can probably take Ashley down without it, but I never do anything without a back up plan and Tucker – you’re my back up plan; you and your wand.”

               “Oh…I don’t…” Tucker mumbled, looking at his trusty wand.

               “Its time for you to man up son, do it for your friend; she’ll die if we don’t stop Ashley, she’s the only person that can remove these version three chips.  Unless you want Maggie to remain as she is now.”

               Maggie, upon hearing her name, perked up cutely and replied, “Oui!  Je suis Maggi…”

               Tucker took a deep breath and forced a look of determination, “Fine, I’m in.”

               Scott smiled and patted Tucker on the back as the younger man removed the wand from the evidence bag, “We just need to find her now.”

               “What!?” Tucker shot back, “You don’t even know where she is?”

               “Calm down,” Scott smiled and assured, “I told you I plan for everything, trust your uncle.”

               “Sure, trust the guy that told me a crazy woman didn’t know about me…” Tucker muttered sitting down next to his now empty-minded best friend, “sorry Mags…”

* * *

Erika Stone’s Penthouse

               “I got you, you bitch!” Colette cheered standing up and raising her arms in victory. After reviewing the satellite images and comparing them with photos of the cargo ship, Colette had determined that the ship was berthed just outside of the harbor in Oceanside. Taking a breath she plopped back down into her seat and bundled everything that she had found out into a folder and zipped it. She then attached the zipped file to her secret email and sent the information out. “My job is done…” she sighed, stretching out and yawning. Massaging the back of her neck, Colette’s free hand worked her laptop keyboard, setting the device sequence to delete and fry the hard drive, erasing her recent activities on it. “Mission accomplished,” she smiled seeing the blue screen failure appear on her laptop.

               Unclasping her holster and leaving it on the desk Colette retrieved a gel cap from the side pocket of the messenger bag. “Let’s finish that scene,” she chuckled leaving the study. In the living room Colette settled herself between the rigid Anna and Nessa, “perfect fit,” she giggled, putting herself in position. First she took off her right heel and tossed it across the room. Next she wrapped the fingers of Nessa’s right hand around her own left ankle. Taking the Irish agent’s left hand, she placed it so it was holding her left high heel as if the redhead was pulling off the sexy piece of footwear. The heel dangled off Colette’s nylon-covered toes from her left foot. She the rested her head on Anna’s lap and moved the Russian’s stiff hands about so that one hand was clutching her blond hair and, after opening up her blouse, moved Anna’s hands to be holding the blouse open as if she had ripped it open. “This is going to be interesting to unravel,” Colette laughed, finally swallowing the gel cap and resting her had back on Anne’s lap. There was enough of the Type-7 within the gel cap to OD her too.  She felt her muscles starting to stiffen; then within seconds everything faded to black.

               Colette was frozen between the two rookie agents with her head resting on Anna’s lap, her arms spread wide at her sides, one arm bent at the elbow while the other was straight out from her body. Her right leg rested on the ground with her right foot missing the heel, the shoe to be found across the room. Her left leg was held up by Nessa, who looked like she was in the process of peeling off the remaining heel. Colette’s face bore a sleepy look with her jaw hanging loose. Anna clutched her blond locks with one hand while the other held open Colette’s torn blouse. Both rookie agents looked at their superior agent with flashy smiles as Palmira looked down at them with a wicked gaze.  Off to one side, Erika’s maid was frozen at the moment of discovery.

* * *

286 Scorsese Avenue

Apartment 410

               They had been sitting in near silence for almost thirty minutes; the only sounds in the apartment were Maggie diligently cleaning while humming some kind of tune. Scott sat on one of Tucker’s two sofas, reading a comic book with Leslie massaging his shoulders while Tucker sat on the other twirling his wand between his fingers and occasionally looking over at Maggie cleaning. He noticed that it was cycle and she repeated it even though there was nothing left to be cleaned it was almost like watching a twisted movie on repeat. Alexis remained silent and still by the window and Karen stood next to the door as if both were mannequins modeling their outfits in a store display.

               A knock at the door nearly made Tucker drop his wand. On instinct he got ready to tap it before Scott stopped him, “It’s okay son; we’re expecting company,” he explained, putting the comic down and standing up.

               “Who the hell are we expecting!? We should be going out to stop a crazy bitch, not hanging around here!” Tucker was nervous and losing his patience.

               “Relax, Tucker,” Scott said calmly as he opened the door. Tucker’s eyes shot wide as a gorgeous Asian woman walked in who was dressed in a very sexy fitted, short-hemmed Chinese dress. Her black hair hung loose and fell to the middle of her back. She wrapped her arms around Scott’s neck and they kissed passionately as a light-skinned Hispanic woman dressed in tight leather pants and a matching tube top entered the room. Tucker could tell by the Hispanic woman’s vacant eyes she was chipped. The woman kissing his uncle however was not. “Tucker I like you to meet your aunt, Ryoshi, and she has some good news for us.”

               “Aunt?” Tucker asked dumbfounded, trying not to look too hard at the extremely attractive woman in front of him.

Chapter 4: The Beginning of the End

286 Scorsese Avenue

               As Ryoshi introduced herself and Izel to Tucker and Scott told the quick and abridged version of their meeting and their marriage, Veronica and Naoko were on their own little mission for their mistress. They had vacated room 408 along with Officer Regina in tow at the same time as Ryoshi and Izel and headed back towards the staircase instead of Tucker’s place. Regina was now dressed in a very revealing nearly skin-tight short-sleeved dark blue one-piece latex dress. The dress included authentic LAPD shoulder patch removed from her original uniform. The hem sat a little bit under her crotch, which was barely covered by a dark blue thong. Her gun belt –sans the ammo for her gun – was fastened around her hip, her holstered empty Beretta made the belt hang off her right hip. Her badge was securely clipped over her left breast on the costume as well as the handset for her radio attached at her left shoulder as it was on her original uniform. Regina had white gloves covering her hands and her legs were clad and dark fishnet thigh-high stockings. Finishing the outfit was pair of black knee-high platform go-go boots. The officer’s face was made up heavily, to the point where she looked like a real life doll. Her dirty blond hair was pulled back into a fancy bun and held together by silver chopsticks.

               Naoko opened the door to the stairwell and Veronica, followed by Regina, entered the stairwell. The Japanese woman then closed the door behind them and stood guard. Inside the stairwell, Regina stood at attention and extended her right hand so that it was directly in front of her with her gloved palm facing front as if stopping traffic; her left hand was extended to her left with her palm facing out towards the stairs heading down. She turned her head to the left before freezing in place. Veronica then injected the police officer with another full dose of Type-7 while pulling the chip off at the same time, effectively locking the outrageously outfitted police officer in place. Sticking the chip and the empty syringe in her pocket, Veronica knocked on the door behind and proceeded downstairs. On the other side of the door Naoko headed for the elevator.

* * *

               Once the introductions were made, Ryoshi briefed the boys on a very informative email she had just received. Ashley had acquired a cargo ship and it was berthed in Oceanside, which was an hour and a half away. They weren’t going to get there in that time though with the holiday traffic so Scott made a suggestion for Tucker to stop time and unfreeze them so they could drive up there with the world around them frozen. Tucker agreed, as if he really had a choice. Maggie owed him big when this was all over he told himself, even with his wand this was still very dangerous. He said goodbye to Maggie who replied and a very bashful and thick accented, “bye, bye Mr. Holmes – au revoir!” She continued to wave adorably as each person left the apartment. Tucker shook his head in disgust as he made sure his door was locked. He really hated the chips.

               “Why did Ashley have to make her idiot?” Tucker asked as they headed towards the elevator with the four mindless women in following.

               “She’s a simple maid; I wouldn’t call her idiot,” Scott replied, “she very obedient, if you ask me,” he added as he pressed the call button.

               “She’s not that bad… I think she looks really cute…” Ryoshi added with devious smile as they stepped into the elevator. Luckily Tucker didn’t notice her smile but she got a pinch from Scott.

               Once out on the street Tucker noticed two more chipped women: another gorgeous Hispanic woman who was introduced as Veronica and a short-haired Asian woman who was named Naoko. Both were dressed in similarly styled tight fitting pants suits; one black and the other white, respectively. The women waited by a black SUV that Tucker noticed was parked there when he had come home as Scott’s rented black Mercedes was parked right behind it. Was Ryoshi already here? He asked himself, looking at his sexy aunt as she boarded the back of the SUV along with Izel. Veronica and Naoko loaded in the front with Veronica settling behind the wheel. Scott took the shotgun seat in the Benz as Alexis was the driver. Leslie opened the back door and climbed in after Tucker and Karen were seated.

               Scott, typing on his cell phone and not looking back said, “you can do it now Tucker.”

               Looking around Tucker observed there were a fair amount of people around them, even some cars moving by them on the narrow street. “Uncle Scott, I don’t think this is a good time, too many people so when I stop time I don’t think we could get out either because of the traffic,” Tucker suggested.

               Scott looked around for a moment and went back to his typing, “noted. What do you suggest we do?” he then asked, looking back at his nephew.

               “There’s an alley a block down that cuts across over to Simpson Street, which is wider and leads out to the freeway,” Tucker replied, pointing towards said alley and added “I can stop time in the alley before we head out to Simpson.”

               Scott nodded turning back around, “you heard that, Ryoshi?”

               “Copy that Scott; alley a block down,” Ryoshi’s voice replied clearly through the speaker on Scott’s cell phone. A moment later the SUV in front of them pulled out into the street.

               “Alexis if you would,” Scott suggested, not looking up from his cell. Alexis simply nodded and then pulled the Benz out of its parking spot and trailed a car length behind the SUV. They were on the road for less than a minute before making a turn into the alleyway. The SUV stopped in the middle of the alley, out of sight from the other side, the Benz came to a halt behind it. Tucker quickly looked behind them and saw that no one was looking their way. Before he knew it time was frozen; his ability to work the wand had become nothing short of amazing, it was like muscle reflex now.

               Tucker looked over at Karen and Leslie; both blonds sat looking blankly ahead with their hands resting on their laps. They looked exactly as they did moments ago Tucker thought waving his hand in front of their pretty faces, but time did not pass for them. Looking towards the front seat, he found Scott was just as frozen as his girls in the back. The older man was looking down at his cell phone, leaning forward. Tucker read aloud what was on the small device in his uncle’s hand, “this shouldn’t take long  give him a second.” Tucker smiled as no one in the car reacted to his voice. He waved his hand in front of his uncle’s blank face and flicked Alexis on the nose before exiting the Benz.

               Outside he took in a deep breath of real fresh air, which was the result of time being stopped a result that he never missed. The dead silence around him was eerie and made him feel deaf at times but he had long gotten used to that aspect of time-stop a long ago too. Tucking his wand in his back pocket, he walked over to the tinted-window SUV; he couldn’t see into it even this close up. He tested the left side back door and found it to be locked. Luckily the driver’s door was unlocked. Opening the door he looked over the dark haired Veronica, posed as still as a waxwork diorama. She sat looking straight ahead with both hands on the steering wheel. Tucker caressed the woman’s cheek with the back of his hand and copped a feel of her ample breasts before reaching in and unlocking the back door. He looked over at Naoko, who sat motionless with the same empty eyed stare as Veronica. The woman in white sat looking straight ahead with her hands on her lap. Even frozen he could tell the women that were chipped he thought, moving to the back door.

               Izel sat behind Veronica and to no surprise the woman sat looking straight at the headrest before her with an empty expression, her hands resting on her lap as well. The bag she carried with her sat between her and Ryoshi. Tucker smiled at his sexy aunt who sat with her legs crossed at the knees; her right hand was up at her head with her fingers running through her dark hair. Her left hand rested in her lap and held a cell phone. The Japanese woman looked down at the cell phone with a grin on her lips and eyes shut. He peered at her pose a little while longer, taking in her beauty and the fact the he didn’t have to look away for fear of being awkward. The sleeveless Chinese dress fit her curves perfectly and with its short hem and the way she was sitting Tucker could see most of the woman’s dark hosiery-covered legs. Feeling his curiosity get the better of him, he quickly hauled Izel from her spot, leaving her in her seated pose and placing her gently on the pavement outside the SUV. Izel was laid out on her back as if she was still sitting in the SUV except now her eyes were looking up at the frozen sky about her. Her bag was placed on her stomach as Tucker climbed into the recently vacated seat.  Ryoshi hadn’t moved.

               Tucker looked Ryoshi up and down, licking his lips; he could feel the pressure mounting between his legs. “Not today guys…” he whispered, looking at his crotch. He wasn’t going to do that to his aunt, even though they weren’t blood she was still his aunt and his uncle’s wife. But because she wasn’t blood he wasn’t going to feel bad either if he took a little peek; he smiled to himself at the thought. He removed the cell from his aunt’s hand and looked at it; it had an empty screen, as she was still waiting for Scott’s message. Putting the phone aside, Tucker uncrossed Ryoshi’s legs and spread them as far as the dress would allow at first but then hiked the short dress a little bit more and pulled the woman’s thighs completely apart. Due to the lighting in the SUV he couldn’t see very well through the dark pantyhose. However pushing his fingers along the dark fabric he looked up at his aunt’s grinning face with a smile, “no panties…”

               Needing the space and the light to proceed with his exploration of this new member of his family, he opened Ryoshi’s door and dragged her from her seat. Outside the SUV he stood her up and re-arranged her arms so that they were at her sides. He tilted her head back so she was looking up. Working his hands over Ryoshi’s face, he gave her a wide-eyed look that he thought was hilarious and opened her mouth, pulling her tongue out past her parted lips. Tucker chuckled at the odd expression as he groped Ryoshi melon sized breasts through her dress. “Very nice… you picked a winner here, Uncle Scott,” he grinned as he traced his hands around the unmoving woman’s hips and fondling her round backside. Grabbing hold of Ryoshi’s naked shoulders, he rotated her around so her back was to him. Clearing her long silky hair from the back of the dress, he eyes the zipper that runs down to the small of her back. He pulls the zipper south and turns the woman back to face him. Tugging at the collar of the dress Tucker pulls it down and giggles, seeing that Ryoshi had no bra on and her breasts hung freely as he tugged the dress down to her ankles. He fondled the stuck woman’s breasts aggressively; they were perfect, he thought. Looking closer at them he could just barely make out surgical marks under each. “Doesn’t matter – they’re great fakes though,” he complimented looking at Ryoshi’s unblinking wide brown eyes. Kneeling down he and grabbing hold of the waistband of Ryoshi’s pantyhose, Tucker tugged them down to the tops of her slim fitting leather knee boots. “Oh my…” he gulped looking at Ryoshi’s landing strip womanhood.

               Feeling his sexual urges fighting his mind, he quickly stood and opened Naoko’s door then lugged the white pantsuit-clad woman from her seat. He stood her up quickly and jerked down her trousers along with the white thong she had on underneath, inserted his manhood in her shaven snatch and pumped her hard while leaning the blankly staring spiky-haired woman back against the fender of the SUV. He only pumped harder and moaned, looking over at Ryoshi’s basically naked body.

               Almost an hour had passed in Tucker’s time before he felt satisfied and returned everything to how it was before his little quest. He also released some tension with Izel and Alexis as well, taking both women from behind. Tucker first unfroze Scott and everyone in the Benz, including the car itself and then moved over and did the same with the SUV and its occupants. He noticed Ryoshi got an odd look on her face when he unfroze her but when he asked what was wrong she just smiled at him and said nothing. “Well this weird…” Scott said, looking around the frozen world around him as they navigated towards the freeway, weaving around cars time-stopped in the middle of the road. “You must really have some fun with that wand of yours,” he added looking back at Tucker.

               “Oh I do Uncle Scott,” Tucker replied with a smile.

* * *

286 Scorsese Avenue

Apartment 308, Real Time

               Haley Leone kicked her door open and pulled her rolling luggage in before going back into the hallway and carrying in her live-in doll Hitomi, grasping the permanently frozen girl around the waist. The Japanese Canadian was an ex-girlfriend of her ex-boyfriend Tucker Holmes. The girl was apparently a horrible greedy person who got by on her looks and lived off of others whenever she could. She had been frozen by Tucker’s wand and presented as a gift to Haley some months ago. She loved her Hitomi doll as she loved playing dolls with all the women Tucker used his wand on. They were just like life-sized dolls when they were frozen by the wand and Haley used to love with playing with small dolls when she was younger. Every time she played with Hitomi or any other frozen women she felt young and memories of her happy childhood washed over her. She had a love for Asian-featured dolls in particular when she was younger, so Hitomi was really special to her.

               Hitomi Maki was a gorgeous woman; she could have been a model if she had wanted, Haley concluded. She was a little shorter than Haley but was very proportional, even with her fake breasts. She had fair clear skin from her face to her toes; she had taken very good care of her body inside and out. Her silky black hair – when Haley had just gotten her – had blond frosted streaks in it. Haley had washed out the streaks shortly afterwards, giving the stiffened girl a more traditional look. She loved her Hitomi doll, to the point that she was spending money on a wardrobe just for the frozen girl. When Haley learned she was going on a modeling tour for Models Inc. for three weeks she decided to bring Hitomi along with her as a dress form and as added entertainment as well as to keep her company. Luckily everyone around Haley assumed Hitomi was just a very expensive life-like doll and only looked at Haley oddly for having her. No one ever suspected Hitomi was a real woman who had been magically frozen into a mannequin-like doll just because that notion alone was insane.

               After bringing Hitomi into her apartment, she closed her door with her foot and flicked on her lights. She gasped at the condition her apartment was in and for a second thought she had been robbed. There was clothing and various items of trash covering every surface of her living room. She giggled, remembering it was left that way when she flew out three weeks ago. “We’re good Hitomi,” she smiled, looking back at the living mannequin standing behind her clutching three weeks of mail in her hands that Haley had inserted after stopping at her mailbox. The girl’s black hair hung loose and she bore a friendly natural smile on her face, her nearly black eyes vacant as usual. She was dressed in a tight fitting white t-shirt with orange sleeves over form-fitting designer jeans and bright orange high heels. Haley was dressed in dark form-fitting jeans tucked into black knee-high heeled boots. She wore a long sleeved pink shirt and had a matching scarf wrapped around her neck. Kicking some scattered items around as she made her way to her bedroom, she was glad to be home even though her home was a mess.

               Pulling off her scarf and dropping it on the floor, she opened her bedroom door while turning on the light and jumped back in surprise, seeing three frozen women sitting on her bed. She immediately recognized them as the live-in dolls of her ex-boyfriend Tucker and his roommate Maggie. The redhead Rebecca was flanked by the dark-skinned Candice and the blond slender Tatiana. All three were barely dressed or completely naked. They looked through Haley with empty eyes. She smiled, “a welcome home party just for me?” she asked joyfully as she walked up to them and was about to fondle them when she remembered about Maggie’s urgent call. “Shucks…” she snapped her fingers, disappointed. Sighing, she began pulling off her shirt; she smelled terrible. With her shirt off and on the floor and her breasts covered by a purple satin bra Haley hopped on one foot towards her bathroom while taking off her boots. One shower wouldn’t be the end of the world, she thought.

* * *

Apartment 410

               Jamie tiredly stepped off the elevator, combing her red hair back with hands as she made her way down the hall towards Tucker and Maggie’s place. Not only was traffic bad but her aging Buick had decided to die on her too. After walking along the highway for almost an hour a scraggly Russian family stopped to pick her up and offered to take her to LA on their way to San Francisco. Jamie had been grateful but the family smelled like armpits and the windows in their old station wagon didn’t go down. Even though the car trip was only an hour, Jamie felt sick and she was embarrassed that she had passed out over the family’s teenage son’s lap. The stress of everything and the odor was too much for her even for an hour. The family dropped her off and she could tell they were going to have something to talk about later at her expense. She took a deep breath and cringed, the smell of hot armpit was still lodged in her nose. She shook it off as she knocked on the door. After the second knock the door open wide and Jamie’s jaw dropped. She felt her knees buckle as if she was about to pass out again.

               “Allo, madam! M’sieur ‘Olmes is not to home, but please come in!” Maggie greeted in a thick French accent and stepping aside for Jamie to come in.

               “Maggie, what on earth are you…” Jamie mumbled, looking her girlfriend up and down. She could tell it began as a maid’s outfit, but where was the rest of it? Maggie, speaking French fluently, continued and walked off into the kitchen with her satin-covered backside wagging enticingly with every step. Jamie followed, “Maggie what’s going on – why are you dressed like that and when did you learn how to speak French so well?” In the kitchen Maggie began to scrub the counter, a smile still beaming from ear to ear. She looked over at Jamie and nodded, saying something else she couldn’t understand. “Maggie I can’t speak French; what the hell are you saying? What’s going on?” Jamie asked, grabbing Maggie to face her. Maggie only smiled back and spoke rapid French while she fixed Jamie’s collar and pulled some lint from her hair. Jamie pushed Maggie’s fluttering white-gloved hands away, “Stop it; stop playing around and tell me what’s going on? You have no idea what I’ve been through to get here for you…” Maggie only smiled and giggled, then went back to cleaning the counter. “Mags…” Jamie fought back her tears and sat down at the kitchen table. “I left my family to come here for you… I’m stuck here now ‘cause my car died… this is what I get for coming back her to help you? Was this all a joke? It’s not funny Maggie, it’s not fucking funny!” Jamie cried, pounding the table with her hand. Maggie turned around, still smiling, and walked over to Jamie who looked up at her angrily with eyes watering. She couldn’t take it anymore; she was so tired. Maggie said something to her in French and patted her on the top of her head then quickly wiped the table clean where Jamie’s hand had made a mark when she had pounded it. Jamie scoffed and shook her head; she sniffed and cleared her eyes with the back of her hand. Maggie looked on, smiling, craning her head from side to side as if she was some sort of puppy, trying to understand higher mathematics. “I can’t do this, Maggie…” she began to say but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Maggie lit up like it was her birthday, clapped her hands and quickly pranced out of the kitchen. “Maggie!?” Jamie called after her, getting up.

               After opening the door wide Maggie greeted, “Allo, modam! M’sieu ‘Olmes is not to home, but please do come in!” Haley with her hair still wet and dressed in a pink hooded sweatshirt and mini denim skirt, smiled in surprise at her friend.

               “Uh okay…” Haley grinned, stepping in, “Nice outfit Mags and wow what a costume… I wouldn’t even have…” she began to say just as Jamie emerged from the kitchen. “Oh hi, Jamie!” Haley greeted with a bashful wave, “Maggie called you too?”

               “She called you?” Jamie asked, confused. “When?”

               Haley thought for a moment, “um… like yesterday I think…”

               “Yesterday!?” Jamie shot out, making Haley jump. Turning to Maggie who was now carefully dusting the bookshelf with a long feather duster, she grabbed her girlfriend and spun her around. Maggie remained smiling. “It’s over, Maggie! You obviously do not value our relationship as much as I do. I’ve had it!” Letting go of the small woman, Jamie stormed towards the door opening and slamming it behind as she left.

               Maggie smiled and waved happily, “Bye-bye – au revoir!”

               Haley couldn’t help but giggling at Maggie’s servant act but stopped when Maggie turned away from the door and continued to clean. “Mags? You’re not going to go after her?”

               “I must clean, clean, clean; this bookshelf is so dirty M’sieu ‘Olmes would be so pleased that is so clean when he gets back,” Maggie replied in French, which Haley was also fluent in, having learned the language in high school. She had always wanted to be model and knew that fashion was big in France so it was only logical she took it.

               “That’s not funny Mags,” Haley said seriously and gestured at the door, “You really hurt her Maggie,” she added. Maggie continued to dust and repeated what she had just told her.  “I must clean, clean, clean, for him…”  Maggie hadn’t heard anything she’d just said; it was like she was programmed or something.  “What in the hell…” Haley muttered, walking towards the door.

               Closing the door behind her, Haley took two steps before she saw Jamie sitting on the floor in the hallway with her knees pulled up to her chest, sobbing. She quietly sat down next to the redhead and put her arms around her. Jamie leaned into Haley, “I’m sorry I just can’t do it anymore….”

               “It’s okay…” Haley whispered as she cradled Jamie. They sat in silence for a little bit before Jamie thanked her and Haley helped her up to her feet. Haley offered to talk more about it but Jamie declined; all she wanted to do was go home and sleep. They hugged once more and Jamie sadly walked away.

               Haley pounded on the door. Once it opened she yelled, “What the hell was that, Maggie!?”

               “Allo madam! M’sieu ‘Olmes is not to home right now but please do come in!” Maggie greeted, smiling brightly and stepping aside.

               “Maggie, what the hell is wrong with you?” Haley asked worriedly. “Are you smelling glue again…”  But the petite maid had already resumed her dutiful dusting of the bookshelf.

* * *

Oceanside, California

Warrenton Yacht Club, Tucker’s Time

               “How about that one over there?” Tucker asked pointing over to a large white yacht with dark windows. According the email message that Ryoshi received, Ashley’s cargo ship was located far from port but just within US territorial waters off the coast of California. So a boat was needed to get to out there. Scott decided a motor yacht was perfect for the job and with time stopped it was the perfect opportunity to borrow one. The Benz had headed in one direction along the pier, looking for a worthy vessel while the SUV headed in another. They would have to signal the others physically once they found one since radio waves and cell phone signals were frozen along with the normal flow of time.

               “That’s too big, Tucker and it doesn’t have a zodiac or power dingy, we need one of those,” Scott explained after looking at one suggestion.

               They drove down a few more berthing spaces, finding nothing that would fit what Scott wanted; it was too big, too small or missing a zodiac or dingy. Honking from behind them stopped them. Ryoshi’s SUV pulled alongside and she lowered her window. “I think I found something; it’s all the way at the end of the pier on my end,” she gestured in the other direction.

               “Are you sure it’s not too big or small and has a zodiac?” Tucker jokingly asked.

               Ryoshi smiled, “Let’s go. I’ll lead you there.”

               “Aunt Ryoshi sure has a nice smile, Uncle Scott,” Tucker complimented as the SUV made a u-turn in front of them.

               “That she does,” Scott replied and then ordered, “Alexis, follow Ryoshi.”

* * *

               The boat in question was not even a yacht; it was some sort of private salvage boat called the Big Boy. It had a white hull with black striping and chrome railings. A single cabin structure sat aft of the bow and extended toward the middle, leaving a small deck forward of the stern. A covered bridge sat atop the cabin structure slightly set back from the actual front of the structure. Lashed securely at the bow and stern were two gray zodiac craft with outboard motors. This boat was perfect for Scott; it also came with some eye candy as well.

               After parking their cars along the pier next to the Big Boy, Scott, Tucker and Ryoshi boarded the still vessel to examine it. Since the water was also frozen, the boat felt as if it was on solid ground and remained motionless as the three moving people boarded it, looking around. As this was happening, Ryoshi’s girls were unloading equipment from their SUV while Scott’s girls cleaned both cars of any evidence or fingerprints left behind. There were four time-stopped people aboard, two males and two females. After some digging around Ryoshi and Tucker found their IDs and presented them to Scott who looked them over. One of the males was named Henry Dawkins; he was thirty-two and according the ship’s paper he owned the vessel and ran Dawkins Salvage. The other man was named Quinn Salinger; twenty-six years old. The two women were twenty-two and twenty-seven respectively. The twenty-two year old was named Ellen Morrison and the twenty-seven year old was Torre Myers. All four were Oceanside residents and looked like they worked for Mr. Dawkins.

               Dawkins, a large man with huge arms covered in tattoos, was found in the cabin at a small table looking over paper work. He was dressed in a sleeveless khaki work shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. A green cap sat crooked over his ash blond hair. He sat with his hand cupping his stubbled chin while the other held a couple of sheets of paper in front of him. His gray eyes locked on the papers, which after closer examination by Scott, was a bill of lading. Quinn was also a pretty large man though his arms were bare of any tattoos and were about two times smaller than Henry Dawkins’. Like Henry, Quinn had blond hair that was thinning over the top. He was dressed in black and white surfer shorts and was kneeling next to the forward zodiac. His hands were gripping the black safety lines that secured the small craft to the deck of the boat. A pair of sunglasses covered his eyes and his head was tilted back, looking up at the overhead sun.

               Ellen was a busty brunette with blue eyes. Her hair cut to chin length was tied back into a short ponytail. She had on a hot pink bikini top, a pair of khaki shorts and Nike cross trainers. She was frozen in mid-stride heading towards the cabin, with hand bent up back over her shoulder as if she was scratching her back and the other was at her side slightly bent at the elbow. Torre was a dark skinned girl with close-cropped hair, dressed only in a black stringy bikini, tanning oil and a pair of sunglasses. She leaning over the stern of the boat on the tip of her bare toes with a hook and was reaching for a black security line that belonged to the aft zodiac her free hand held the remaining security line to insure that she would not fall in, not that it mattered as she was dressed for getting wet if she did.

               After looking over everything and making sure he was going to use the Big Boy, Scott gathered Ryoshi and Tucker on the bridge. “Ryoshi, start programming some chips for these four I let you do as you see fit. I’ll take care of overseeing the loading the rest of the equipment. Tucker, for the time being could you move the crew into the cabin, permanent freeze them with your wand and then restart time so we can get underway?”

               “No problem… sounds easy enough… little old me moving a big man with the surfer shorts all by myself, sounds doable,” Tucker replied, sarcasm clearly masking his voice.

               Ryoshi chuckled and looked forward at the man in question, “He is sort of big, Scott,” she observed.

               “Fine; I’ll give you Leslie, will that do?” Scott then asked.

               “I guess…” Tucker shrugged.

               “Alright get to work,” Scott said as he descended the ladder to the cabin below.

* * *

The Empress

Master Cabin, Real Time

               The master’s cabin, Ashley’s private room on her floating palace, was located on deck five of the superstructure, which was directly under the bridge.  The “cabin” took up the whole deck; Ashley had removed a few walls and added new support columns to make it all possible. Port holes were sealed up due to her own paranoia. The steel walls were covered by imported rugs from Egypt. High-end Arab and Persian rugs covered the floor in an exotic puzzle of sorts. Transparent colorful lace streamers hug from the ceiling, along with the four massive lamps at each corner the room that were colorfully lit. Her large unique bed occupied the center of the room, wrapped in expensive satin and silk sheets with matching pillows. Various love seats and loungers wrapped in the same material as the bed sat in random areas of the large space. The only hard furniture in the room was a low table that sat near the bed, holding a slim controller along with dishes of fruit and glasses of fine wine.

               Ashley yawned comfortably, waking from her brief nap, and stretched. The gray-eyed doctor was stark naked and moaned in relaxation, licking her lips. Looking right, she smiled, seeing Chloe Noi fast asleep on her right naked breast. The short haired girl was naked as well her limbs wrapped limply around Ashley’s body. Looking over to her left, she eyed the sweet cute redheaded cheerleader Pamela fast asleep on her left breast, naked as well. “Life is good,” she sighed as she gently pushed both sleeping women off of her. Both girls continued to doze soundly and unmoving even after Ashley’s own movement. Looking down at Chloe, she smiled, tracing her finger around the sleeping girl’s facial features and then groping the girl’s firm round breasts. “You’re so hot… and useful,” she cooed, picking up Chloe’s limp right hand and kissing the ring.

               Turning back to Pamela, she shook the sleeper lightly. “Wake up,” she ordered. The youthful, attractive, redhead sat up straight with vacant green eyes and climbed out the bed then stood at attention nearby. “Get my robe and slippers, darling,” Ashley then commanded.

               “Yes, Ms. Tisdale,” Pamela replied distantly and walked off to do Ashley’s bidding. At the far end of the spacious room were series of oak cabinets lined up against the bulkhead, which contained Ashley’s wardrobe that was a gift from Erika Stone’s chipped self.  Erika had been very generous.

               “Chloe, its time to get to work; wake up,” Ashley commanded and then frowned, seeing that the girl only opened her eyes and had not gotten moving. “Wake up,” she commanded again and smiled seeing Chloe sit up and climb out of the bed. “Well, it seems your chip may need to be re-programmed but that can wait,” Ashley muttered to herself, looking Chloe’s naked body up and down as she stood at attention at the side of the bed. “Go put on your guard uniform and start your patrols on the decks,” she ordered.

               “Yes…mistress…” Chloe replied, pausing for a second before heading off.

               Climbing out of bed herself, Ashley was joined by Pamela who draped a royal blue silk robe on her shoulders, which Ashley then threaded her arms through and tied the silken sash around her waist to close the rob up. Pamela then knelt at Ashley’s feet and slipped on her slippers, one at a time. “Into bed you go,” Ashley ordered once the young redhead was done.

               “Yes, Ms. Tisdale,” Pamela replied, climbing into the bed once more.

               “You too, Rachel,” Ashley then ordered, looking over at Rachel who was seated on a lounger.  The blond cheerleading captain was dressed in a near-transparent pink harem outfit sans the lacy veil. Her blond tresses fell free over her shoulders.  With her blue eyes empty she got up and slowly walked over to the bed, then climbed into the center. “Pamela, remove that costume from her and make love to her; Rachel enjoy it and make love back to her,” Ashley commanded, crossing her arms, watching the scene before her unfold.

               “Yes, Ms. Tisdale,” both girls replied in unison as Pamela began removing the outfit from the blonds’ body all the while Rachel groped the redhead’s naked breasts.

               Sitting casually on a love seat at the back of the room were Professor Sandra Packlin and ITEA senior agent Tasia Spiro. The Greek was actually seated on the love seat while the older woman straddled her over the thighs with her hands cupping the Greek’s naked breasts. Tasia was only dressed in thigh-high black leather high-heeled boots with a black leather silver-studded thong covering her sexy. The professor was completely naked, aside from a pair of red spiked high heels and gold bracelets and anklets. Her brunette hair was tied back in a fancy bun that made the woman seem more naked. Both women’s lips were locked together, with Tasia’s arms wrapped around the professor. They were making out very slowly, as if in slow motion. Ashley smiled at the scene and kissed both women in the cheek before leaving the private room.

               Out in the hall outside of Ashley’s cabin stood Stephanie and Rita, one on either side of the door leading into Ashley’s private space. Both blonds were dressed in black leather cat suits that included matching heeled boots and gloves. The suits would zip up to the neck but both girls had their zippers sitting low, just above their breasts, showing a great amount of cleavage. They stood at chipped attention, holding modified Type-7 Spectre M4s in their hands. Their blond hair was pulled back from their flawless young faces and tied back in single thick braid. “Great work ladies, keep it up!” Ashley encouraged to the silent blonds as she walked off down the hall towards the stairs.

               She went down one deck level where the pale-skinned redhead Carmen was posted on guard, dressed identically to Stephanie and Rita.  Ashley gave the girl a goofy salute before opening a single door in the companionway that led to the main control room. Just like the cabin above it, the control room was clear of any walls and was bare aside for the additional support columns put in place to compensate for the lack of walls. The portholes were not sealed up however but were heavily tinted, letting little red-tinted light into the open space. At the center of the room was a computer terminal with three large flat screen monitors. Ten big servers, four at port and starboard and two at aft and forward surrounded the terminal. A single leather seat sat behind the terminal, in which Zella was seated. The tall German cheerleader was dressed in a short-sleeved black leather skin-tight micro dress, which showed off her large breasts and long athletic legs. Her blond hair was loose and free flowing. She wore the same leather heeled boots and gloves as the rest of the guards. “Stand,” Ashley simply commanded, walking up to the terminal.

               Zella did as she was told as Ashley took her seat in the chair. Zella stood behind at rigid attention, with her hands behind her back. Ashley looked over the monitors before entering on the keyboard. The left monitor contained data on her all of her chipped slaves, their current programming, location and status. The center monitor showed a satellite image of the region where they were at the present time. The final monitor had several images from different locations on and within the ship. Moving a track ball to the right of the keyboard and clicking on images on the final monitor brought the selected small image up by itself on the center monitor.

               Ashley quickly went through the exterior cameras; it was all clear around the ship, there was nothing but blue oceans and clear skies. Selecting the main deck, Ashley spotted Chloe coming out of the super structure dressed in her figure-flattering guard uniform. The short haired girl wore a similar micro dress to Zella, the head guard, sans the gloves. Chloe’s dress however seemed tighter on her curvy figure as her nipples were clearly visible along with good amount of cleavage. The hem was high, showing off Chloe’s dark fishnet-covered legs along with the bottom of her butt cheeks and shaven mound. The girl strutted on deck with knee-high Stiletto heels. Also on the deck were Brianne and Missy both dressed and outfitted in leather cat-suits similar to the other guards. Missy was posted at the stern while Brianne was at the bow. Chloe would patrol between the two positions.

               Switching images to below decks, the bow section in particular, where the main electronics lab was shown. Mary, dressed in nothing but a white lab coat and heels, was hard at work on the Time-Stopper prototype. Newly chipped Marika, dressed in a similar fashion, assisted.  Moving aft was the chipping lab, which manly consisted of a couple of computer terminals and over dozen table-sized beds. Julie Vaughn, still dressed in her light blue harem outfit, was laid out on one of the tables; a wire connected the chip at the nape of her neck to one of the computer terminals. Michelle Gim, dress in a lab coat, skin and heels, stood behind the terminal typing away. They were testing a newly loaded set program for the chips. There were nearly a thousand chips completed so far, thanks to Julie and Michelle. Aft from the chipping lab was the main cargo hold, which held four huge containerized tanks of Type-7. The drums filled the hold as each one took up about a quarter of the space. The Type-7 lab was aft of the cargo hold, where Samantha Ross and Friday, both professor and student, were dressed in lab coats and heels and were busily at work producing Type-7 compound at two different workstations.

               The two main fuel cells for the cargo ship were located aft of the Type-7 lab and down two sets of metal-treaded stairs was the engine room. Moving her trackball, Ashley looked around the large but confined spaces of the engine compartment. Mary Beth, her old friend, was there dressed in her sailor outfit of a dark frilly skirt and white top with a cute cap on her head. She sat still on a swivel chair with an empty expression on her face, patiently waiting for her next command, which would be to fire up the gas turbine engines and monitor them as they sailed off into the Pacific.

               Switching to the image of deck one of the superstructure, which was the galley and mess area, Ashley chuckled at the site of Sandy Vanholt cooking in nothing but a chef’s hat and pink apron with a big smile plastered on her face. Decks two and three were sleeping quarters and were mainly deserted, aside from the two girls Ashley has assigned to keep the area tidy. Cheerleaders Kellie and Anne were both dressed in sailor outfits similar to Mary Beth’s. Anne worked deck two Kellie worked deck three.  Since there was no tidying to do, both stood stiffly at attention in their respective companionways.  There was no camera or image of deck four since it was Ashley’s command center. Taking a peek in deck five, her private cabin, Ashley licked her lips in delight and felt her crotch moisten seeing Rachel and Pamela continuing to make hot love with the redhead on top. Switching on the audio, Ashley moaned to herself hearing Rachel scream out in joy. She watched the scene for a moment, reaching into her robe to relieve some tension before switching to the final image. Deck six was the highest deck on the ship; it was the bridge as well. Dieter, the only male on the ship, was dressed in a dark ribbed turtle neck with captain’s epaulets over his shoulders and pair of black military trousers bloused into shiny combat boots. He wore a garrison cap over his blond hair. The German sat on a big leather chair in the center of the bridge. Next to him aft ward was a chart table, where Makeda stood at attention in her sailor outfit. Stationed at the wheel was Kat and next to her at the engine and thruster controls was Britney, who had binoculars to her eyes and was looking out.

               Pressing the intercom button on her keyboard Ashley ordered, “Dieter, get underway.”

               Dieter stood, looked at the camera, and saluted stiffly. He then walked over to the control forward in the bridge and pressed a small button. Ashley heard loud clanking echo throughout the ship as the massive anchor retracted into the bow. “Set engines to 2500 revolutions and set course for San Francisco,” Ashley commanded into the intercom. She watched as Dieter relayed the orders to his crew and smiled in satisfaction. She had a few old friends she wanted to visit in the city by the bay. She sat back in her chair in comfort as the twin screws of her ship came to life and she began to feel her surroundings move.   Everything was going like clockwork.

               After moment she sat back up and typed a few commands on her keyboard before pressing the intercom button again. “Mary, Tasia, Sandra; please report to the control room,” she ordered. After seeing Pamela and Rachel’s peep show the rogue scientist was a little ‘thirsty’ to say the least.

Chapter 5: Epic Battle on the High Seas

California Coast

Big Boy Salvage Boat, Real Time

               The Big Boy was probably never designed to move at over 20 knots but that was what it was doing now. The eighty-foot salvage boat was cutting through the sea as it never had before, partly because it never had done it before. Captain and owner Henry Dawkins knew better than to put his boat through something like that but at the moment Mr. Dawkins didn’t have care in the world as he stood behind the helm of his boat. The big armed tattooed man was still dressed as he was earlier in the day but now with a little chip that was added to the back of his neck that had taken care of any of his worries or even any thoughts he might have of the situation. He stood with a neutral gaze, looking straight ahead with one hand on the wheel and the other on the throttle. Standing beside him was Scott, who was now dressed in all black with a pair of binoculars hanging off his neck. Bringing the binoculars up to his eyes, he scanned the horizon and then looked over at the navigation readout sitting next to the throttle. “Stay true on this heading!” he ordered over the wind and the sound of the engine.

               “Roger that Captain!” Henry replied, his face remaining neutral and his eyes locked on to the horizon.

               “Good man!” Scott smiled, patting the chipped man on the shoulder as he descended the ladder to the cabin below. Down below it felt a little warm, the small cabin was filled to near capacity. Alexis was seated at the table, busily working on preparing the gear and guns for the coming raid. The blond was dressed in a black jumpsuit with a turtleneck underneath. Sitting at the other end of the cabin was Karen who was also dressed in a black jumpsuit and turtleneck as a preparation for said raid. On her lap was a laptop with a firewire connected to a chip that was stuck on the neck of the crewmember Torre. The dark-skinned girl, clad only in her black stringy bikini, stood at attention with an empty expression on her face. Her co-worker Ellen, who was to be programmed next, sat next to Karen with an empty look on her face and the unnatural stillness of someone who had been dosed with Type-7. Sitting next to Ellen were Naoko and Veronica who were both dressed in black jumpsuits. Both ladies were checking their climbing gear and coiling up dark colored rope methodically and they moved as if one was a mirror to the other. Izel, also clad in black, stood next to the table where Alexis was seated; the Mexican stood at attention looking out the window. “Where’s Tucker?” Scott asked.

               Izel looked back at Scott, “He is out on the deck,” She replied simply with an accent and without any emotions.

               Moving to the back of the cabin, Scott opened the door and headed out to the rear deck, the only safe place to stand or sit outside besides the bridge when the boat was moving. Tucker sat in the aft zodiac craft, clad in life vest with Leslie sitting close beside him, both looking like they were a couple. Scott had ordered the tall blond to watch over Tucker and keep him company once they had gotten underway. “Tucker!” Scott called out over the roar of the engine as he approached his nephew. As on cue Leslie stood and got out of the way as Scott climbed into the zodiac. The blond took a seat behind Tucker as Scott took her original spot.

               “Thanks for making Leslie keep me company but, it doesn’t feel right. I’d rather have Maggie beside me at a time like this,” Tucker explained when his uncle sat. “Plus, she doesn’t feel right; like she’s not there or something,” he added.

               “That’s cause she’s not there,” Scott replied, “She’s just a shapely shell, Tucker, with a program running her mind.”

               “You know what I mean, Uncle Scott,” Tucker said.

               Scott smiled, “Yeah, I figured as much. I just wanted to tell you we should be there in another hour or so, right around sunset. You and I will be inserting at the stern, the back of the ship, while Ryoshi and her people will be inserting at the bow, the front of the ship,” Scott explained and continued after Tucker didn’t ask any questions. “Once on the ship and the deck is secured we’ll head up and take over the bridge while Ryoshi secures the lower decks. You’ll stick close to me. If anything happens to me you’ll stop time and do your thing. You should know how Ashley looks. She shouldn’t have changed that much since that photo I showed you earlier, though she may have changed her hair. Freeze everyone that didn’t come with us before restarting time.”

               “When you say something happens to you… you don’t mean like death, do you?” Tucker asked, looking at his uncle seriously.

               “Ashley isn’t a fan of deadly weapons; if anything does happen it’ll be involving Type-7 in some form. Ryoshi and I will have detox kits on our gear if it comes down to that,” Scott assured and then paused for a moment before continuing. “With any OP there is always a chance for death… though with this one it is rare, the chance is always there. In any case if Ryoshi or I are killed, I am trusting you to destroy everything.”

               Tucker gulped, “Destroy everything… how?”

               “Well not everything… I think Ashley maybe using some chipped innocent people as her slaves, so get them out first; you’ll figure a way out. You’re a smart kid. As for my girls, Ryoshi’s included, and Ashley they’ll remain on the vessel. Fill them up with Type-7 before you unfreeze time. Some C4 will be placed in your gear with instructions on where to place it and set the timers. Should be very easy; painless for them if it comes to that,” Scott assured, looking away and then back at Tucker with a confident smile. “I don’t plan on dying though, and neither does Ryoshi.”

               “Good, because I don’t plan on doing any of that you just told me,” Tucker replied, looking back out to sea and then back at his uncle. “In fact take those explosives out of my gear if you’re so confident in our success.”

               Scott stood back up, carefully balancing himself. He patted Tucker in the back, “Son, I never go into a situation without a back up plan and you’re my back up plan. Now rest up and get your mind on the plan; we have about an hour,” he added, backing off of the zodiac as Leslie moved silently back into her spot.

               Tucker looked at her for second; she was gorgeous woman as were the rest of his uncle’s girls including his aunt. He wondered if he would have the heart to blow them up? He shook the thought from his head as Leslie wrapped her arm in his and leaned on his shoulder. “Leslie freeze,” he commanded with a smile and looked back at the cabin, noting that his uncle had pulled down the blinds for the cabin widows.

               Inside the cabin, Scott ordered Izel to close the blinds before heading forward. Torre was now done being programmed and now sat where Ellen had been a minute ago. The busty brunette was now standing at attention, with a vacant gaze and a firewire attached to her implanted chip, receiving new commands. Scott moved past the frozen brunette but couldn’t help pulling down her bikini top as he did, letting the mindless beauty’s large breasts hang free in front of her. He groped them for a moment before moving on. Forward of the cabin was a faded wooden door that opened up to four steps that went below decks. There wasn’t much below. Two small storage spaces were directly under the cabin. Aft of them was a small head, or bathroom, in which the toilet and the shower shared the same small space. Another door aft of that led to the engine room. The biggest room below decks was in the bow, where there was a small sleeping space holding had a single bed, some cabinets for storage and just barely enough walking space.

               Scott knocked on the door and waited for Ryoshi’s reply before he opened it. “How are you feeling?” He asked, ignoring the naked Quinn standing at attention next to the bed. Ryoshi was barefoot and dressed in black jeans and a black tube top. She was lying on the bed with a moist towel over her forehead. The Japanese woman was not a fan of boats. A closed laptop rested on Ryoshi’s lap.

               “We’re done here. Quinn, put your pants on and head up to bridge and assist Henry with navigation until further notice,” Ryoshi mumbled, rubbing her temples and adjusting the towel on her head.

               “Yes, madam!” Quinn replied reaching down and pulling up his shorts. “Excuse me master…” he then said, taking the two steps to the door.

               Scott stepped aside and let the blond pass eying him suspiciously. Stepping into the small space and closing the door behind he asked his wife, “Was it necessary for him to be naked?”

               “Oh don’t worry Scott, I was just curious…” Ryoshi replied, smiling weakly, picking up the laptop and putting it on a small flat space above her head. “Nothing special anyways,” she added, sitting up, folding the towel and smiling slyly.

               Scott smiled warmly, sitting on the bed, taking the cool towel from Ryoshi and then softly dabbing it on her forehead. “I wouldn’t know about that anyways. How are you feeling?”

               “Like hell… I’m really going to kill that woman for making us come way out here,” Ryoshi replied, lying back down. “How much longer?” She then asked with her eyes closed.

               “An hour,” Scott replied reaching in his pocket and pulling out an amber pill bottle.

               “Great…” Ryoshi sighed looking over at her husband, “Are those my sea sickness pills?”

               “Yup,” Scott replied opening the bottle and pouring two small white pills into his palm.

               “Thanks,” Ryoshi replied taking the pills from his palm and dry swallowing them. “Any longer of this…” She began to say but stopped abruptly and did not continue. Ryoshi was leaned back on her elbows, with her legs crossed at her bare ankles. Her eyes were halfway closed with her lips frozen in the shape of an ‘o’.

               Scott looked at the pills and smiled, “Oh; must have grabbed the wrong one,” he shrugged tossing the bottle behind him. “Regardless, you’ll be feeling better now…” he said, sitting Ryoshi’s stiff form upright and then raising her arms over her head. Within minutes his wife was naked, having not worn any undergarments. “Shall we rock the boat,” Scott chuckled as he began to remove his own clothes all the while looking over Ryoshi’s naked body lying spread-eagled on the bed with her face molded into a cute grin.

* * *

Pacific Ocean

One and half hours later…

               According to his uncle missions, like this never go off without a hitch. Tucker just hoped there were no more hitches. When they had arrived at the expected location of Ashley’s ship they were surprised to find that the ship wasn’t in sight. Lucky for them it had left a large enough and lasting wake for them to track. Fifteen minutes later the Bad Boy was in visual contact with the Empress. Scott ordered Henry to weigh anchor and ten minutes later with the help of Quinn, the two zodiacs were in the water. Five minutes after that, the zodiacs were underway racing towards the large cargo ship. Ryoshi’s zodiac would take a looping route so she would end up at the front of the ship while Scott and Tucker’s zodiac would be heading straight for it. Ryoshi’s craft included Karen, Izel, Naoko, and Veronica. Only Alexis and Leslie were on Scott’s. Henry and Quinn remained on the Big Boy and would shadow the Empress from a safe distance. Ellen and Torre were both dressed in wet suits, presumably their own as Ryoshi had found them on board. Ellen was piloting Ryoshi’s zodiac while Torre, Scott’s.

               Tucker was now dressed in a black tactical vest, which to his dismay was equipped with enough explosives to take out a city block, according to Ryoshi. Except for his wand and a Type-7 detox kit he wasn’t armed with anything else. The chipped girls, aside from their tactical vests, were armed with UMP’s and Glocks loaded with special electro-static rounds. The rounds were design to knock out the chips and send the wearers into a temporary stasis at the same time. Fighting chipped people with Type-7 darts was pointless as chipped individuals were immune to the sedative drug. The special electro-static rounds were perfect in that case. In the event that Ashley was using electro-static based weapons as well, Ryoshi had outfitted their chipped personnel with an anti-static gel. The gel didn’t make their programmed warrior dolls immune to the electro shocks but it made it easier to restart them if they did get hit. If they were hit, they would just freeze and their chips would remain operational; they just needed a re-start from the main controller. There were two main controllers, Ryoshi and Scott had one each. Technically these controllers would also work on Ashley’s slaves as well but due to the steel hull and bulkheads of the old cargo ship the signal wouldn’t be able to travel that far. This rendered the controllers nearly useless as they would have to get really close to their subjects to even use them. They figured that Ashley would have receptors placed in each area of her ship that were linked to her controller, allowing her to efficiently control her slaves.

               Tucker had offered to use his wand instead of having explosives tucked into his gear. He was the only one that could carry the demolition charges as it was a really bad idea to mix electro-static ammo with heavy explosives. Scott had explained to Tucker they had to do this with time moving simply because they needed to communicate and that Ashley’s ship might rely on electronics heavily; this would mean electronically locked doors that would be a pain to unlock with time frozen. In the end Tucker was stuck with the C4 and just his wand, he was the safety net. The wand would have made this thing a lot easier he thought, if only technology was not so advanced.

               The Empress was huge ship, Tucker thought, as their zodiac got closer to the vessel. They were bouncing up and down as they were traveling the wake of the large ship. Tucker sat securely at the front of the small craft. Leslie, dressed in a black jumpsuit under her tactical vest, sat behind him making sure he didn’t bounce out every time the small craft jumped a wave. Alexis sat behind her and Scott next to her. Torre sat at the outbound engine, a pair of NVGs fixed on her eyes. Thanks to the delay in locating Ashley’s ship their raid, which had been scheduled to commence at sunset was now happening in pitch black dark. Another hitch, is what Scott had said. Tucker could hear the loud drone of the massive engines from the cargo ship ahead of him, which looked like a menacing huge shadow growing larger against the black ocean.

               “Contact, stern,” Torre’s voice came into Tucker’s ear piece. Each tactical vest had a built-in radio stitched in the back of the right shoulder, with an earpiece connected by a thin, coiled cord attached to it.

               “Alexis,” Scott’s voice came next. Alexis sat up from her spot pulling up her UMP, which had a scope attached, to her eyes.

               “Contact, seventy-five yards in closing, shot acquired,” Alexis reported in her sultry calm English accent.

               “Fire,” Scott’s voice was just as calm, a second later Tucker heard a snap.

               “Contact eliminated; proceeding as planned,” Torre’s reported.

               “Two minutes,” Scott announced, patting Tucker on the back.

* * *

               Ryoshi dizzily pulled herself up from the side of to Zodiac and wiped her mouth with the back of her gloved hand. She was glad Scott wasn’t with her. She wouldn’t hear the end of it. This was the fourth time she had to lean over the side of the small craft to vomit; she was starting to feel dizzy due to the lack of food in her stomach, along with dehydration. Reaching into her vest, she pulled pen syringe filled with an adrenaline stimulant and jabbed it into her thigh. She let out breath of relief, feeling some of her energy return to her. Looking ahead past the four women sitting ahead of her, she saw the large cargo ship coming fast. In her ear piece she could hear the progress of Scott’s team; they had just taken a contact out and were two minutes till go time. Her team was running slightly behind due to the longer course she had to take to get ahead and to her constantly leaning over the side. “Ellen, gun it!” she ordered. The chesty brunette, whose face was masked behind a pair of NVGs, only nodded before the craft jerked up hard at the bow and shot forward. Ryoshi almost lost it again but managed to swallow in time. Moments later her zodiac reached the bow of the cargo ship. Karen and Izel were aiming their UMPs up at the cargo ship’s railing, providing cover for Naoko and Veronica who readied two grappling rifles. “Go, go, go!” Scott ordered over their communication network. Both rifles fired simultaneously; the metal clack and thud followed signaled that the hooks had hit their marks.

               “Secure the lines, Karen, Izel up!” Ryoshi ordered as Ellen held the zodiac steady against the hull the cargo ship. Ryoshi pointed her own UMP up at the cargo ship as Naoko and Veronica held the lines firm for Karen and Izel to hook up. There was a tiny mobile winch attached to the tactical vest that only required the line to be pressed into the winch and the device would do all the work. Within moments Karen and Izel were being pulled up and seconds later were over the railing. The zodiac suddenly bounced over a wave and Ryoshi felt light headed, she wanted off the seas. “Naoko, cover me,” she ordered as she attached the line to her winch. Veronica did the same and was moving up alongside her master.

               “Contact,” Karen’s voice sounded over the earpiece, followed by rapid snaps coming from a UMP.

               “Fuck!” Ryoshi cursed as she looked back down; she was only halfway up the huge ship. Her team had been compromised, there was no time to waste, that meant Naoko wouldn’t be coming on board. “Detach!” She ordered. Down below, Naoko whipped out a combat knife and cut both lines free, sending Veronica and Ryoshi into hull of the cargo ship hard. Ellen quickly throttled up and turned the zodiac away, leaving Naoko looking blankly ahead as the small craft sped off to a holding position.

               Veronica quickly recovered from her meeting with the hull and continued up, undeterred as expected. Ryoshi punched the hull as she dangled nearly twenty feet from the sea below; she had just watched her UMP hit the water with a splash and sink below the ship. The impact with the hull had dazed her and smashed the hook on her vest that held the submachine gun in place. “Baka…” she muttered as she followed Veronica up.

               Ryoshi knew she was in deep shit when Veronica climbed over the railing and began firing her UMP. The Japanese woman got up and over the railing just in time to see Veronica’s UMP disintegrate in her hands. Ryoshi surveyed the scene quickly and saw the threat, a short-haired girl in an even shorter leather dress standing in heeled knee boots. Her back was turned towards Ryoshi. The girl snapped her fingers and froze Veronica in place as she went for her Glock strapped to her thigh, leaving her looking like a life-sized action figure.

               Not really sure what had just happened, Ryoshi jumped off the railing onto the short-haired girl’s back, then quickly went for the girl’s right hand, interlocking her own fingers with the girl’s and began slamming it against the steel deck plates. Ryoshi wrapped her legs tightly around the girl’s waist as she struggled like a caged animal under her. With her free hand Ryoshi was able to pull the girl’s left arm backwards until she heard a wet pop and the dislocated arm went limp. As she was doing that, her right arm pinned the girl’s hand to the deck. The girl continued to struggle even with the popped shoulder. Ryoshi punched the girl’s ribs with her left hand as she continued to struggle to get free from Ryoshi’s locked thighs. Feeling that the chip was going to end up making her fight to the death so Ryoshi would have to kill this girl, she reached behind the girl’s neck, found the bump, and tore it away with her punching hand.

               The girl continued to struggle even with the chip removed, only this time she screamed out in pain. Ryoshi pinned the girl to the deck and pushed the girl’s head down with her left hand. Unwrapping her legs, she threw her knee into the girl’s ribs. The girl gasped for air and coughed violently. “Get off of me!” she demanded between coughs.

               All of a sudden, alarms started to blare and the ship’s deck floods began to flash, “Fuck…” Ryoshi muttered, looking around her.

* * *

               The whole experience was perhaps the most horrifying experience he had ever encountered in his life. More so terrifying then the near car accident he had gotten into earlier. Though it only lasted a less than thirty seconds. One moment he was on the zodiac watching Leslie’s nice ass ascend up towards the fantail of the cargo ship over twenty feet above the ship’s wake. The next moment he was doing it, he didn’t remember any of his briefing, only not to look down and hold onto his wand as tight as he could. The next thing he remembered was being roughly pulled aboard over the rail by Leslie and then falling hard on to the deck. Upon getting back on his feet he came face to face with a brunette dressed in a black tight-fitting cat suit showing lots of cleavage. The girl was slumped against the wall with one leg bent at the knees and under her, the other one spread wide in front of her. Tucker noted the dropped his M4 next to her and figured her to be the contact they’d taken out. He knelt beside her and felt for her pulse, then breathed a sigh of relief at feeling the girl’s slow pulse.

               Leaving the comatose girl alone, he turned back to the railing in time to see Alexis being helped over by Leslie. He heard Ryoshi’s girls reporting they had made contact and then Ryoshi yelling some orders in his ear piece and then suddenly loud snaps going off nearby and knew it was the sound of the UMPs. He quickly looked around him, ducking. Alexis and Leslie pulled their weapons to eye level and quickly scanned around them. Looking over the railing, Tucker could see Scott making his way up the line towards the fantail. Tucker quickly tucked his wand into his vest to make sure it didn’t accidentally drop; he knew he would be running and ducking soon. He had a bad feeling. Another hitch was about to occur. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, the alarm started to wail and lights starting flashing like crazy.

               Tucker looked around him like a deer in headlights, “Fuck this shit!” he yelled, opening the closest door, which was a port hatch and disappearing behind it.

               “Tucker!” Scott yelled as soon as he climbed over the railing, “Cover!” he ordered, pointing at Alexis who automatically turned to cover the starboard side of the deck since Scott was on the port side. “With me Leslie,” he then ordered, heading towards the hatch that Tucker had opened. Opening it he cursed seeing steps leading down into the belly of the ship. “Ryoshi, change of plans…” he began into his throat mike but stopped seeing how the signal was being jammed.

               “Contact,” Alexis reported calmly after squeezing off three electro shots from her UMP. Scott turned from the hatch and saw a blond girl spread out on the deck who had just come from the starboard hatch, which he figured headed into the superstructure. The blond was dressed in nothing but a pink apron and chef’s hat that was now floating over the side the ship.

               “We’re going down girls, on me,” Scott ordered stepping into the port side hatch, with Leslie and Alexis following close behind.

* * *

Control Room

               The chips for Brianna, Missy, Chloe and now Sandy were all off line. Ashley was in near panic, typing on the master keyboard. Chloe – her secret weapon – was out. That could only mean one thing: Scott Dawson had come for her. “No, no, no!” she shouted as she typed. She was re-programming all of her slaves, giving them new orders. She sent Kellie and Anne forward out to the main deck and Dieter and Makeda below decks. Britney and Kat remained on the bridge with orders for full speed ahead. Zella, Stephanie, Carmen and Rita were spread out on decks two and three. Pam and Rachel were on deck four. Ashley kept Tasia, Sandra and Mary with her on deck five. She tried to look around using her cameras but they were all blank or static-filled. Checking her equipment, she found the video signal was being blocked. Checking the status of her online chips, she was relieved to see that she still have control over them. She smiled nervously and giggled, “I’m ahead of you this time Scott. Two separate frequencies! TWO! I’m not going back, no I’m not going back; you may think you can take me but you’re wrong asshole, cause you can’t take me!” Ashley chanted to herself as she activated the ship’s security system, locking all the doors around her and jamming all the radio signals.

* * *

Main Deck

               “Oh my God, oh my God…” Chloe grunted in pain clutching her hurt shoulder. She looked over at the girl she knew as Brianna. The blond cat-suit-clad girl was sprawled out on the steel deck limply, not moving. Turning back to the woman sitting beside her who had dislocated her shoulder and was now fiddling around with a remote, she demanded almost in tears of anger, “Why did you kill her!? She didn’t do anything! It was the damn computer chip making her attack you; it was the damn chip! Why did you have to kill her?!”

               Ryoshi looked over at the short-haired girl she was sitting beside. They had taken cover behind one of the two storage containers on deck when the alarms had gone off. She saw the emotion in the girl’s dark eyes. Feelings of mixed hurt and hate. “Easy.  She’s not dead,” Ryoshi replied calmly. Her adrenaline had taken over and she no longer felt seasick. But that was the only good news; the operation was falling apart. Her whole team was frozen. Veronica stood as if locked to the steel deck with one foot ahead of the other and slightly crouched. One gloved hand was out in front of her as the other was over her thigh holster. Karen stood nearby, her UMP held up at eye-level, her body in a slightly crouched stance as well. The UMP looked as if it was hundred years old in her hands as the metal was nearly falling apart. Izel stood frozen with her UMP held at chest level that she was bringing up to eye-level when she was tagged. The downed blond in the cat-suit had only been armed with a stun rifle, Ryoshi observed. Izel should be good, she thought.

               “What?” Chloe asked, sniffing and looking over at the girl, “You didn’t?”

               “No,” Ryoshi answered standing up, ignoring the pops of gunfire. “It’s a rescue operation. Sort of,” she said, grabbing Chloe’s useless arm.  Best to do this quickly…

               “Holy fuck-bitch that hurts!” Chloe cried out in protest, reaching up with her good arm to stop the woman.

               “Hold still,” Ryoshi calmly said while she jerked the short haired girl’s arm as hard as she could until hearing that liquid pop again. The girl let out a blood-curling scream and crumpled over the deck, heaving in heavy sobs. “There, there, it’ll be fine in a moment,” Ryoshi said in a motherly tone, kneeling down and patting the younger girl on the damaged shoulder. She then pulled out another remote from her gear that had a small touch screen pad. She tapped the master controller twice and one of the frozen women came to life. Ryoshi smiled. “Izel cover,” she ordered. The woman moved behind a speed boat that clamped down to the deck and aimed her UMP towards the superstructure. Ryoshi then turned back to the short-haired girl and asked, “Now did you kill the rest of my girls?”

               Chloe had nearly passed out when the crazy woman nearly broke her arm but she was feeling better now, the shoulder was sore but she could move it. “No… not exactly,” she breathed rubbing her shoulder and the back of her neck, which was wet with streaked blood. “But I’m not changing them back, either,” she added. Chloe took off the ring from her finger and tossed it across the deck. The thing was nothing but trouble. If it wasn’t for it she wouldn’t be in this mess. She wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped as well as Brit and the others.

               Ryoshi watched and listened to the girl curiously. She walked over to where the ring landed and picked it up and looked at it. “Pretty. May I have it?”

               “Go ahead, its nothing but trouble,” Chloe muttered looking around at the flashing lights around her. For the first time she noticed the alarms were blaring. “Some rescue mission…” she mumbled as the shock set in.

               Ryoshi examined the ring briefly and stuck into her gear, “Well it’s just a hitch… and since you’ve taken out most of my team, I’m gonna need your help. Before the other girl could say anything a Type-7 dart whizzed past Ryoshi’s head and she quickly took cover behind the container. “Izel!”

               “Contact,” Izel reported calmly letting off some electro rounds. A dart tagged her on the arm but she was still functionally active, thanks to her chip. “Contact down,” she calmly reported again and then spoke again, “Contact,” again she let off another set of rounds. “Contact down.”

               Chloe and Ryoshi peeked from around the container and spotted two sailor uniform clad women sprawled out on the deck with their skirts fluttering in the wind, “Kellie and Anne…” Chloe breathed and looked back at Ryoshi, “They’re not dead, right?”

               “No,” Ryoshi answered slightly annoyed, “I told you before it’s not that kind of operation. She pulled a spare magazine from her vest that had been for her lost UMP. She removed one of the .45 caliber rounds from it. Chloe noted that the bullet looked odd as it was painted white. Ryoshi tossed the round against the deck. It popped, making a loud snap. “How could we kill people if the rounds disappear on impact?” She asked and then explained, “These are electro-static bullets; they’re pretty harmless if they tag you or me.  It’d be like a weak Taser, we’d be stunned for a second at best. But when it hits anyone who’s been chipped, it’ll fry the chip and put the person into a comatose state. They’ll be out for an hour or so, but OK after.”

               “Oh I see…” Chloe said after thinking a bit and looking over at the three downed girls lying around the deck. “The chips are done with them?” She then asked, looking at the older woman for assurance. Ryoshi nodded. “What do you need me to help you with?”

               “To take out Ashley, the queen bitch in charge,” Ryoshi replied. The dark-haired girl grinned in response.

               “Chloe Noi!” She then said extending her hand.

               “Ryoshi Dawson,” Ryoshi replied excepting Chloe’s hand with a smile.

* * *

Below Decks

               Tucker had run through every compartment below decks before he came to a stop and that was only because he ran out of hatchways to run through. Resting his hands on his knees he leaned forward, breathing hard. “Where the hell am I?” he asked himself between ragged breaths, looking around. He was in a room with shelves of electronic surrounding him. Two work benches occupied the center of the room. Both benches had tools and odd incomplete devices that Tucker had never seen before. There was a closed hatch at the front of the room that was labeled ‘anchor’ and another overhead that was unreachable from where he was. The room was lit with hanging lamps holding high-powered light bulbs. It was like daylight in here.  Before he could gather his thoughts sounds of footsteps to his left distracted him. He turned around coming face to face was a tall blond woman dressed in a lab coat and nothing else, walking on high heels. “What the hell…” he muttered watching the woman who from the looks of her unfocused blue eyes he knew was chipped. The woman suddenly picked up a hot soldering probe and charged him. “Shit!” Tucker exclaimed, jumping out of the way. The woman missed him by a couple of feet. She turned his direction and lunged at him again. This time someone held Tucker from behind. The probe went right into his vest stabbing the C4. Fortunately, it was shock triggered, not by heat. His eyes shot wide and he shoved the lab-coated woman hard. She stumbled backwards and fell on her ass. He pulled his arms loose from the person holding him and pushed them away from him as well. Turing around, he screamed out in disbelieving shock, “Julie?!”

               Julie Vaughn, his girlfriend, looked at him with blank eyes. She was dressed in a blue harem outfit. Normally that kind of costume was something Tucker would admire and gawk at, but at the present moment he had other things on his mind. He quickly pulled the detonator from the explosive and tossed it aside. There was an Asian girl also in the room that was familiar to him as well, Tucker recognized her as another cheerleader and a classmate’s of Julie. He remembered her name was Michelle Gim. The girl was dressed similarly to the blond, who had picked up another probe and was walking towards him again. Michelle and Julie, both with blank stares, moved towards Tucker with their hands out front of them as if they were zombies. “Fuck…” Tucker muttered, looking around for away out. “Uncle Scott?” he spoke into his throat mike, it was dead. “Fuck…” he cursed again touching his vest.  Then he laughed hysterically at finding his wand!

* * *

               The brunette violently fell down the steps after being shot by Scott’s UMP. He slowly approached her, the submachine gun held up at eye-level Leslie was behind him and Alexis covered their backs. The brunette lay ragdolled at the bottom the steps; she was dressed in a sailor outfit, which included a cute top and frilly mini skirt. The skirt was flipped up however, showing off her white panties underneath. Her legs were spread white with one foot resting on the last step and the other on the floor. One arm was folded behind her while the other across her stomach. Her head was turned to the right.

               Reaching the bottom the step Scott knelt down and checked the woman’s vitals. She was still alive. He quickly checked her body, nothing felt broken. “You should be okay in an hour or so, can’t really say how you’ll be feeling though,” he grinned, getting back up. Pulling the UMP back up eye-level he continued. The next compartment had fuel cells for the ship and the compartment after that had a chemistry lab. Both compartments were empty.

               Entering the third compartment he found a redhead and a blond. Both were dressed in lab coats and high heels. Leslie took out the blond as she charged her with a stun baton. A Type-7 dart barely missed Scott as he rolled out the way. Alexis got hit with the dart that was fired by the brunette but she was not affected by it and returned fired. Both blond and brunette were now splayed out on the deck.

               Scott’s three-person team moved quickly past the down lab coat clad women towards the next hatch. Pulling on the handle, Scott’s heart skipped a beat to find it was locked. He tugged on it again. No luck, it was locked tight. Pounding on it he called out Tucker’s name. The bulkheads were too thick. “Dammit!” He cursed, looking around. The compartment he was in contained four large cylinders that nearly filled the compartment’s volume. The drums rose all the way up the ceiling. He didn’t have to guess their contents as he passed a lab area in the last compartment with familiar ingredients for Ashley’s special drug of choice:  Type-7. Looking up at the ceiling, he thought of another idea and came to the conclusion that he had to go topside and see if there was another way into the last two compartments where he knew Tucker was in.

               “Let’s head back up ladies, Leslie you’re on point,” Scott ordered. Leslie pulled her UMP up and started to head back the second compartment. Right as she reached the hatchway, Scott heard a loud buzz and Leslie froze in place. “Cover!” he ordered moving along the bulkhead. He pushed Leslie down as he moved to the right of the hatchway; she fell over stiffly holding her pose. Alexis moved to the left of the hatchway. Scott peeked around the bulkhead into the hatchway into the next compartment. He spotted a dark skinned woman in sailor outfit holding a stun rifle. She took a shot at him but missed. There was a man in black as well armed with a M4. The man to a shot at him and the Type-7 dart went wide. Missing ITEA agents, Scott figured. Makeda Getachew and Dieter Bran, they were both behind cover and knew where Scott and Alexis were. “Well played Ashley, well played…”

* * *

Main Deck

               Veronica and Karen both stood at attention behind the cargo container. Veronica was completely naked save for a pair of leopard printed bikini bottoms. They had taken Veronica’s gear and clothing to give Chloe something more practical to fight in. “Oh my God that feels so good…” Chloe almost moaned as she rubbed her bare feet before pulling on Veronica’s socks. “Those damn boots fucked my feet up,” she explained, putting on Veronica’s boots and gesturing at the high-heeled boots she had been wearing before. “Random fact: heels mess your toes up, that’s why I never wear them,” Chloe declared standing up and checking the clothing and gear she now had on. “Feels like I’m a soldier…” she observed.

               Ryoshi sat nearby, looking over blueprints to the ship on her cell phone while Izel covered them both. “That was a pretty random fact, but it is true; I can vouch for it. How is your arm?” She asked not looking up from her cell phone which lit her face clearly in the darkness around them. Chloe rotated her arm like a toy. The motion caught Ryoshi’s attention and she looked over, her jaw dropping, “What the hell…”

               “It’s fine,” Chloe replied and then asked, “what’s next?”

               “You’re not hurting at all? You were just crying like a stuffed pig a while ago,” Ryoshi asked.

               “Well you damn near broke my arm… that’s why,” Chloe replied. “Its just sore now but I can use it.”

               “Tough girl…well we’re heading for the superstructure, that’s where Ashley will be. Izel you’re on point. Are you ready, Chloe?” She then asked standing up and putting her cell into her pouch.

               Chloe cracked her knuckles on her good hand and replied, “Heck yeah; let me get Ashley?”

               Ryoshi thought for a second and shrugged, “I guess, she did kidnap and chip you.”

               “Shaved me too…” Chloe added in a low growl, rubbing the front of her pants between her legs.

               “How do you know?” Ryoshi asked puzzled and then realized that Chloe knew all the guards and also knew about the chips. “You remember all of it?” The girl didn’t reply she just stepped out from the cover of the cargo container and marched towards the superstructure with her fists balled up. “Chloe!” Ryoshi called after her but it was too late the younger woman had made up her mind. “Dammit, Izel cover!” She ordered, going after Chloe with Izel following.

               Reaching the superstructure Chloe tried turning the door handle and found it locked. Ryoshi caught up to her. “Slow down, Ashley locked the ship down. Hold on! I can open it, but give me a second,” Ryoshi said, searching through her many pouches. Chloe looked around the door and found a hand scanner next to it. She placed her hand over the scanner and the door clicked and she threw it open. “Damn Chloe slow down!” Ryoshi called after her quickly following her through the hatchway.

* * *

Below Decks

               Scott was able to unfreeze Leslie and got her back up thanks to the surge protectors that he and Ryoshi had installed within their chips. Both Leslie and Alexis were now covering the hatchway exchanging shots with Dieter and Makeda on the other end. It was a stalemate, Ashley’s slaves were probably programmed to only attack if there was an opening. Scott had set his girls to defend from their position. No one was going anywhere. He and his girls were stuck in their compartment while Dieter and Makeda waited for him to run out of ammo in their compartment. Scott was busy working at the far hatch trying to get it open. He had found some tools around the large Type-7 drums and was attempting to remove the hatch. He wasn’t really getting anywhere but there wasn’t much else to do. His ladies would run out of ammo soon, they were reporting on how many magazines they had left every time they reloaded. Once they ran out, Scott had to come up with a new plan.

* * *

               Julie looked stunning in the blue Harem outfit Tucker thought, looking his girlfriend up and down. The blond stood in mid-stride with her arms outstretched to reach where he had been moments ago. Her blue eyes looked directly in front of her vacantly. Stepping behind her, Tucker moved Julie’s blond tresses aside and sighs seeing a single chip at the nape of her neck. Michelle Gim stood in the same mid-stride pose as his girlfriend, only the Asian was leaning forward more, her arms outstretched in front of her, fingers frozen clawing at air. The girl had actually touched Tucker as he stopped time. Moving behind Michelle, Tucker moved her hair aside and spotted the familiar chip, “figures,” he sighed. The last woman in the room was standing furthest from him. She held the same soldering probe that had stabbed him earlier, held in an overhead stabbing motion. She stood legs wide in mid-stride with empty eyes. Tucker moved behind and checked the back her neck, confirming she too was under Ashley’s control.

               “Great now what?” Tucker groaned, hopping on to a workbench after he found that the hatch leading out of the room was locked. Time was still in motion. He had only stopped time enough for him to specifically freeze the mindless ladies around him. There was no point keeping time frozen since he was stuck and he needed Scott or Ryoshi to be able to move in order to stop Ashley and come get him. He looked down at his vest, seeing the C4 that had nearly blown them all to confetti.  He shook his head and then pulled off the vest. “I’m not using that,” he said, placing the vest gently on to the workbench and then pushed it away from him. He sighed, looking at his wand; it was the first time his trusty wand couldn’t help him.

               Hopping off the bench he paced the room thinking what to do next. He stopped in front of the frozen blond with the soldering probe and looked her up and down as he thought. He pulled the probe from her clenched fist and tossed it away. Looking at the lab coat, he began to open it. His jaw dropped once he spread the coat open and saw the blond had nothing on underneath and nearly stood naked before him. He groped her breasts for a second before going over to Michelle and opening up her coat as well, the Asian girl was also naked underneath. Looking over at Julie he grinned, gazing at the harem outfit. Just then a thought hit him. He was surprised how random it was and even more surprised on how looking at naked breasts had stimulated his mind to work that way.

               Moving back over to the workbench he opened one of the pouches on his vest and plunged his hand inside of it. He smiled, pulling out a blue covered iPhone. ITEA had taken his phone so when Scott told him to bring a cell phone along just in case he had grabbed Maggie’s. Tapping the screen on the phone he brought it to life. The battery was low on it but it had enough juice for one text, there was no signal though, thanks to the hull of the ship. Looking at the time he figured Haley should be back in town. Looking around the room he spotted the hatch that read ‘anchor’; moving over to it he turned the lever and was relieved to see it unlock.

               The room behind the hatch was a tight space; a heap of large rusted chain with links the size of his body occupied the room. There was an opening at the top of the chain that led to the tip of the ship’s bow. The opening was big enough for him to crawl out of it but the room between the chain and the bulkhead was tiny. He would be luck to make it halfway. He cringed at the thought what would happen if he was climbing on the chain and someone activated the anchor and he was stuck between it and the bulkhead. Looking at the cell he noted that it had one bar. “Awesome… this should work,” he said to himself as she quickly texted a message to Haley: Stuck on cargo ship use tracking feature from service to track me down and come help. Maggie has computer chip behind her neck do not remove it. I repeat do not touch it I WILL NOT FORGIVE YOU! Tucker sent the message just as the battery warning icon flashed. The phone did not confirm if the message was sent due to the low battery. From experience though Tucker knew it out, he left the phone in the anchor room since it was the only place there was signal.

Chapter 6: The Cavalry

286 Scorsese Avenue

Apartment 308

               Haley had no idea what the hell Maggie was doing but she was milking it as long as she could. She was currently sitting on her sofa with Hitomi next to her. The Canadian live-in was dressed in a pink baby doll t-shirt and a pair of white and pink booty shorts. Her legs up to her knees were clad in fuzzy pink tube socks. Haley ate popcorn and watched TV while Hitomi held the bowl stiffly. Maggie, in her revealing maid outfit, was at the moment mopping Haley’s floor, for the third time. Haley had persuaded Maggie to clean her apartment. She had thought Maggie was just joking around with the whole maid thing so she pushed her and see when she would break the act. That had yet to happen. Haley was beginning to think it wasn’t an act. She also thought it was odd that she had to speak French to get Maggie to do things for her. She didn’t know Maggie knew anything about France let alone the language. It was weird and she was really curious to know what was going on but she figured that could wait until Maggie was finished mopping her floors, once that was done the place would be spotless.

               A ballad of ‘History of Everything’ by the band Barenaked Ladies sounded on her cell telling her that she had a text. “I wonder who this is?” She asked looking over at Hitomi. “It says here it’s from… Maggie?” Haley read and looked over at the girl cleaning her floor happily. “What the hell?” She opened the message and read it: Stuck on… ship use tracking… from service to track me… and come help…Maggie…chip behind her neck….remove it…WILL…FORGIVE YOU! Haley read the message again not sure what to make of it. She called Maggie over first in English then in French when the she didn’t move. Maggie playfully bounded over of the sofa. Haley handed the phone to Maggie, “What do you think this means?” She asked in French. Maggie took the phone smiled and gave it back with a shrug. “Yeah I feel the same way,” Haley replied standing up.

               “Chip behind her neck…” She whispered and walked behind Maggie and saw what looked like a tiny microchip at the nape of Maggie’s neck. “Remove it!” Haley exclaimed wide eyed as if getting completely what the message meant. She peeled the chip off from Maggie’s skin. Maggie let out a groan and crumpled to the floor with a bang. “Maggie!”

* * *

Malibu, California

Erika Stone’s Penthouse

               “Colette, do you hear me?” Jelena asked worriedly, lightly patting Colette’s cheek. Colette slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the light. Jelena looked down at her friend and gave a worried smile. “Hey she’s coming to!” She exclaimed excitedly. Soon Cassandra and Suzanna’s faces appeared, both women looking down at her worriedly.

               “Take it easy Colette; you been overdosed with Type-7; we had the antidote, give your body a moment to adjust,” Suzanna said softly as she checked her vitals.

               “Where…” Colette managed to say before her head started to throb and she closed her eyes. She knew when a person overdosed on Type-7 it wasn’t really harmful to the body, aside from the fact that the person was frozen stiff for nearly an unlimited amount of time. At least until the detox was administered. At which point the Type-7 would be eliminated from the victim’s system and they would re-animate. The only real side effects were that when the detox neutralized the Type-7 it acted like a strong tranquilizer, which resulting in a person falling into a safe but deep coma. Depending on how much Type-7 a person had in their system, the recovery time could vary on how fast they came out of it. If it was a small amount, the coma would probably not even occur, or it was brief like a faint.  When the victim had gotten a light overdose the coma would only last a few minutes and the person would wake up fresh as if from a good night’s rest. A heavy overdose – such as in that gel capsule that Colette had bitten into – resulted in a much longer coma period, and an extended period for full recovery. Her memory of what had happened was a bit groggy and her head was throbbing.  Her muscles felt like wet noodles. It was all for the money, she assured herself. “Where am I?” she finally asked tiredly with her eyes shut. Moving her hand to her head, she realized she was undressed and lying in a soft place.

               She opened her eyes and looked around slowly. She was in a large bed; her naked body  was covered in a soft velvet blanket. She sat up abruptly, seeing that Palmira was lying next to her, also naked. The rapid movement caused Colette’s vision to blur for a moment.  The Brazilian agent was still out of it, asleep; her body was covered up to her neck with the blanket and her face was slack and serene. With the sudden movement however her naked chest became unmasked. Colette pulled the blanket up to her chin, covering herself, not caring that Palmira was left nearly naked for all to see, “What the hell happened!” she mumbled, not remembering if this was even the scene that she had set up.

               “Easy, easy Colette,” Jelena said softly, with her hands reaching out towards Colette. The Croatian agent was dressed in black military fatigues, decked out in combat armor and armed to the teeth. Cassandra and Suzanna were dressed similarly too. They both looked at Colette worriedly.

               “Calm down and lay back down,” Suzanna said and then explained, “We took your clothes off to search for evidence. We did the same to the others too who got frozen.”

               “We have extra clothes so don’t worry,” Cassandra assured. “We need to know what happened, Colette? The other agents don’t really remember.” The three rookie agents had come out of their immobilized Type-7 stints fairly quickly. Cassandra and the others had already questioned them, finding nothing really useful aside from the fact that they didn’t really secure the penthouse after entering.  Hui came up with a theory that someone was waiting in the penthouse and ambushed the team when they weren’t expecting it, picking them off with darts one by one.  It was surprisingly accurate, getting only the true identity of the shooter wrong. Cassandra partially blamed herself for that; some sort of goof-up was bound to happen with a team of rookies and Palmira was known to take too many chances.

               Colette laid back down tiredly, still a bit dizzy, thinking what to say. Suzanna moved over to Palmira, checking her vitals and covering her back up. “I don’t really remember… I was working on my laptop,” Colette began but stopped, feeling her head throb, letting her weakened condition help make her story convincing.

               “Go on, Agent Landry,” Cassandra pressed on.

               “Back off, give her some time,” Jelena said in tone that was more of a demand than a request.

               “Jelena, we need to know,” Cassandra said firmly. Ever since Jelena had been shot and nearly killed a year ago, had it not been for her Kevlar vest, she had developed a strong bond with Colette who had sat with her all night at the hospital till she recovered consciousness. That bond was always there to some degree since the two had gone through the academy together. However after the incident it was strengthened and Jelena often felt protective of the blond. The girl had nearly lost her composure when they had lost contact with Palmira’s team. They were already heading to Malibu as backup but Cassandra knew if they didn’t, Jelena was going to go anyway; no one was going to stop her.

               “Go pump the rookies for information, I’m pretty sure they will remember something if they think about it,” Jelena replied, looking at the ranking agent coldly. She wasn’t too fond of the rookies after hearing that they had trash-talked about Colette behind her back and went against her idea when she wanted to clear the rest of the penthouse.

               Cassandra stepped forward aggressively; Suzanna looked from one woman to the other, not sure what to do to defuse the tension. “I’m okay; I can talk,” Colette quickly said, seeing the coming battle. Suzanna let out a sigh of relief and patted Colette on the head.

               “You don’t have to do this Colette; rest a little more,” Jelena said, still staring at Cassandra coldly.

               “I rather do it now; it’s better than you getting in trouble Jelly,” Colette said with a weak smile.

               Jelena turned and smiled, “I’ll be outside,” she said as her face went back to a serious expression again.  Looking back at Cassandra, she left with Suzanna following.

               Colette sighed and looked over at Palmira’s slack face beside her. “I’m sorry for Jelly… I mean Jelena. She’s just watching out for me.”

               Cassandra sat down on the bed and smiled, “Its fine I get it, reminds me of Lucienne’s attitude back in the old days. She was just like…” She began to explain, but stopped to collect herself. It was a complicated story.  She took another deep breath and released it slowly, “So, Colette, what happened to you guys?”

               “It was Ashley Tisdale…” Colette began.

* * *

286 Scorsese Avenue

Apartment 410

               Maggie opened the door to the apartment, stalked directly over to one of the sofas and plopped down into the cushions, still wearing the maid outfit, but she had taken off the gloves. Haley followed behind her and closed the door behind her. “Sorry Mags…” she said softly, sitting down next to Maggie. Once Haley had removed the chip, Maggie had passed out for a few minutes but when she came to she was fine.  It was as if nothing had happened, except that her memory of the past days was a complete blank.  Haley gave her a quick rundown on everything that happened, including her break up with Jamie.

               “It’s not fair… why is this always happening to me… nothing good ever happens to me…” Maggie muttered sniffing and wiping her tears. “You think I could go see her?”

               “Not right now sweetie; I think Tucker really needs our help,” Haley replied and added, “You could see her afterwards though. She should be at her place, her plans fell through when she came back.”

               Maggie nodded and forced a smile, “I’ll do that, let’s go help Tucker,” she said, standing and looking down at herself. “I should change first though,” she chuckled.

               Haley eyed the revealing maid’s outfit and nodded, “Good idea.”

               “I wonder how this thing stays on though?” Maggie asked looking down at the skimpy outfit.

               “It’s fabric glue; models use it all the time. It comes off real easily,” Haley explained, reaching up and tugging at the dress’ bodice. It came off of Maggie’s shoulders, rendering her instantly topless.

               Maggie gasped in shock and covered her naked breasts, “Haley!” she whined, stomping her foot.

               “Oh relax, Maggie, its not like I haven’t seen them before, now go change,” Haley said. Maggie mumbled a brief comeback while clutching her breasts and headed back to her room.

               “Oh my God; Haley!” Maggie called out from her room a few moments later. 

               Haley quickly stood, “What is it, Maggie?!” she called, out heading toward Maggie’s room.

               “I have a belly button piercing!”

               Haley stopped in her tracks and put her hands on her hips, “I know that Mags; now hurry up and get changed!”

               “Thing is Haley… I didn’t have one before…”

               “Oh… that is weird, just change and hurry up!”

* * *

               “Seriously Maggie, that kinda took a long time and what the hell is that?” Haley asked, gesturing at the clock that was now hanging upside down from a chain off Maggie’s neck as they left the apartment. Maggie herself was now dressed in a simple pair of faded jeans with torn knees and a Flash t-shirt. Her hair was in up a simple ponytail with thick-framed glasses covering her eyes.

               “If I was wearing my contacts it would have taken longer. It’s this stupid chain! I couldn’t get it around the base of my clock,” Maggie replied, holding up the clock. With chain necklace, the clock was conveniently reachable for her but she looked ridiculous though. “Did you call the cell phone company?”

               “No I don’t have my cell phone, let’s stop by my place to get it and then you can stop time,” Haley replied as they headed down the hall towards the elevator.

               “Fine… you should have called when you were waiting for me though,” Maggie said.

               “Maggie Yen!” an agitated voice called out from behind them. Both girls stopped to and turned to see Lisa’s head poking out from her apartment. Getting Maggie’s attention, Lisa now emerged from her apartment and marched towards Maggie holding a bundle of clothes. She was dressed rather nicely in a low-cut evening dress with a short lacy hem. Her legs were covered in matching stockings and she stood on spiky matching heels. “When I gave my key to you guys, I only meant it to be used for emergencies and in emergencies only! I believe these are yours?” She asked, thrusting the heap of clothes at a confused Maggie. Haley looked on blankly, not knowing what was happening. Maggie looked at Lisa and then to Haley with a ‘what’s going on’ look too.

               “What are my clothes doing in there?” Maggie asked innocently, with a nervous grin. Haley smiled cutely and only shrugged.

               “You were having sex in my apartment and in my bed!” Lisa shouted, tossing the clothes at Maggie where they fell at her feet. “I can smell it and my sheets are all messed up. I want my key back… right now!” She demanded.

               “Lisa we’re kinda…” Haley began but stopped catching Lisa’s death-dagger stare at her. “Maggie – get her the keys.”

               Maggie looked over at Haley with a worried look, “I don’t know where Tucker keeps the keys. He hid them so I can’t sneak into her place…” Maggie explained in a whisper, which clearly didn’t work since Lisa was standing right there.

               “How the hell did you get in there, then?” Lisa insisted.  You’re not going to get away with this.

               “I wasn’t in there…” Maggie replied, looking down at the floor and grabbing hold of her clock from around her neck.

               “I don’t want to play with you Maggie. Get me my keys; I have to be somewhere,” Lisa ordered with her hands on her hips. “I…” she began but abruptly stopped as everything around her fell dead silent and still. The blond photographer stood as frozen as the air around her and the earth beneath her. Her right hand on her hips with her left hand up with her index figure pointing at Maggie accusingly. Her face in an intense frown with blue eyes aimed sternly at Maggie. The other blond in the hallway stood with her hands behind her with her body twisted to the left looking away. Her eyes were looking up at the ceiling with an awkward expression on her face.

               Maggie looked at the two silent waxwork-still blonds standing around her with a smile and kissed her clock before letting it dangle off her neck. “Apparently I’ve been cleaning like a maniac for the past few hours and now I have to run off and find Tucker,” Maggie explained to a frowning, stiff, yet gorgeous Lisa. Looking around she smiled, “but what’s the rush,” holding up her clock to Lisa’s vacant eyes, “I got time in my hands.”

* * *

               Haley blinked at the sudden silence and looked back at Maggie, who was smiling at her. The hallway was once again quiet and empty, even the pile of clothes that had been at their feet an instant before was gone. “Lisa was just here, wasn’t she pissed?” Haley asked, looking around confused, “Is time stopped?”

               “No not yet, you still have to get your phone and call the cell phone company come on let’s go,” Maggie said, grinning and grabbing hold of Haley’s wrist as she headed towards the elevator.  Something didn’t add up.

               “What’d you do with Lisa?” Haley asked, looking back at the empty hallway as Maggie pressed call button for the elevator several times, as if that would make it come quicker.

               “Oh she’s cooling down…” Maggie replied with an impish smile as the elevator arrived. The thought of the blond flashed across her mind and made her chuckle. Lisa was back in her apartment, still frozen in her bathroom. She stood in front of body length mirror, completely naked, with one hand on her right nipple and the other over her womanhood. Her head was thrown back and her face formed to have an orgasmic expression.

               Haley looked over at Maggie quizzically, “You did something; how long did you stop time and you didn’t do anything to me, did you?” Maggie only smiled in response as the doors slid shut and the elevator descended one floor.

               “Don’t worry about it… it wasn’t long and I didn’t touch you; I’ve seen everything you have before anyways,” Maggie replied with a smug look. Haley frowned, grabbed hold of Maggie’s clock and in what seemed like an instant Maggie’s jeans and panties were down around her ankles. “Hey!” Maggie whined quickly, pulling her pants back up.

               “Don’t!” Haley warned, pointing a finger at Maggie as she stepped off the elevator on her floor. “Wait for me outside, I’ll be…” she began but stopped abruptly, seeing that she stood in her hallway completely naked, her clothes bundled up in her arms. “Maggie!” she screamed as Maggie waved at her, laughing as the elevator doors slid shut.

               Haley grumbled to herself as she pulled her clothes back on quickly. Luckily there was no one about to get the free peep show. Fully dressed but slightly rumpled, she headed down to her apartment and let herself in. “I’ll be right back Hitomi,” she said to the frozen the girl on her sofa after entering her apartment, “Our ex has seemed to have gotten himself into some fresh trouble…” Haley explained to the girl who remained smiling and mannequin-like with empty eyes. She picked up her cell phone, which was on her coffee table and checked to make sure it was fully charged; it was. She then noticed the small chip that was also sitting on her coffee table. Picking it up she looked at it and looked at Hitomi and then shook her head, “nah I like you better this way,” she said, putting the chip back down.

               Stuffing the phone into her handbag, she entered her bathroom. She had not seen Tucker in a long time and she wanted to look her best. Old habits die hard, she thought, switching on the light. “Maggie!” she screamed horrifyingly as she looked into the mirror. Her face had been marked up with red lipstick, giving her thick red eyebrows and a lipstick beard. “You little bitch… ooh I am going to get you for this…” she muttered, turning on the faucet.

               It had taken her almost ten minutes to clean her face. She also decided to apply some nicer make-up and change outfits as well. When she was finally ready to go she was dressed in a cute red tube top, form-fitting dark denim jeans tucked into black soft leather high-heeled knee boots. The boots made her feel like a super-heroine, so she thought they were appropriate for the situation.

               There was a knock at her door just as she reached it, “Alright, alright I’m coming…” she said opening door expecting to see Maggie. Instead Kayla LeFer, her best friend stood there, smiling. “Oh Kayla!” Haley exclaimed as she and her best friend embraced.

               “Hey sweetie, got over as fast as I could,” Kayla said after they had unclenched. She then pushed past Haley into the apartment. “Work was a bitch but I was able to get one of the other girls to cover for me,” she explained. “So what do you want to do tonight?”

               “Tonight?” Haley asked, trying to think of what to say. She had to get help Tucker and Maggie was waiting for her and that girl got into trouble when left alone for too long.

               “Yeah tonight; you just got back I haven’t seen you in forever – we’re hanging out tonight, period – even if you just want to stay in; I’m cool with that,” Kayla replied, looking around the apartment and noticing Hitomi. “Put away that doll of yours first…she’s creepy as hell – she looks so real.”

               “Yeah…right…” Haley said, looking over at Hitomi and then back at her pushy friend. “Listen… we can’t hang out tonight; how about tomorrow night?”

               “Tomorrow? Why ever, girl? You just got back today, you can’t already have plans?” Kayla asked, disappointed. “I haven’t seen you in nearly a month and before that I barely saw you. You promised we hang out tonight.”

               “Yeah, I know Kay but I have this thing I gotta do with Tucker and Maggie now,” Haley explained, feeling a bit guilty but Tucker was in trouble.

               “Speaking of Tucker, I ran into his roommate downstairs. Talk about weird; she’s down there with ropes and hooks and all kinds of freaky shit. She also has a clock hanging off her neck,” Kayla said, shaking her head.

               “Oh… I have to go Kay; she’s waiting for me,” Haley said. Maggie was already getting into trouble – what the hell was she doing with a rope and hooks?

               Kayla grabbed Haley’s arm, “Wait a minute, you going to hang out with the weird girl with a clock around her neck and your ex-boyfriend but not me? Seriously, I don’t see how this is any-way fair. I went out of my way to make time for you tonight. Yes, don’t look at me that way and I know we sound like a lesbian couple but Haley I miss you… we haven’t just hung out like the old days in such a long time.”

               “Oh Kay… I’m sorry,” Haley said sincerely. “Tucker called me on earlier…” she began to explain, then noticed the chip on the table. “Hey Kay check this out,” she said, picking up the chip and showing her friend after quickly wiping it off.

               “What is it?” Kayla asked looking at the microchip.

               “This microchip, it’s kind of like a personal videogame; if you put it on makes you clean stuff and speak French,” Haley explained in a mystified toned that made Kayla’s eye go wide.

               “Where’d you get it?” Kayla asked, taking the chip from Haley to closer examine it.

               “Oh we did this trade show with this computer company and the CEO gave all of us one as a thank you,” Haley replied, hoping that didn’t sound too suspicious.

               “Wow…does it really work?” Kayla asked.

               “Not sure, but you want to try it out?” Haley suggested, springing her plan.

               “Only if you do it too,” Kayla said.

               “Fine; you go first though. I have to run downstairs and cancel with Maggie and Tucker,” Haley replied, to give herself an excuse.

               “Okay!” Kayla agreed with no hesitation. “Where do I put it?”

               “Back of your neck,” Haley answered, looking at her watch. She hoped this worked, if it didn’t she would have to get Maggie to do something and that would just end up wasting more time.

               Kayla stuck the chip behind her neck, wincing a little as it stung making contact. She looked like she was about to say something but then her eyes went wide, blank, and her arms dropped loosely to her sides. Her purse slipped from her shoulder and fell to the floor. She stood there silent for almost a minute, unblinking, eyes vacant and lips parted. Haley stood by, puzzled looking at her captivated friend up and down. She could feel panic start creep up on her. “Kay?”

               “Allo Modam!” Kayla suddenly greeted, resuming movement abruptly. Her voice spoke in a French accent, she smiled brightly and did a curtsey.

               Haley let out laugh, knowing that the chip had worked; Kayla had the exact same cute facial expression as Maggie and spoke in the same French accent. “Go clean the floor and the bathroom,” she then commanded in French.

               “Mai oui – as you wish modam!” Kayla replied happily in French and headed off to do what she was told.

               “Awesome… you stay here and I’ll be right back,” Haley said, opening her door.

               “Au revoir, modam!” Kayla called after her, then set off to find her duster.

* * *

Erika Stone’s Penthouse

               Colette, feeling much better, was dressed in black military fatigues now. Palmira was still out of it and sprawled out naked under sheets in the bedroom. Colette grinned at the comatose woman before turning out the lights and stepping out of the room. Erika Stone’s penthouse was packed with black-clad ITEA agents decked out in tactical gear. Backpacks and duffels littered the floor. There were assault rifles and ammo lay out on the kitchen island. “Wow, everyone is here,” Colette said amazed, looking around.

               “Yup just about; how are you feeling Colette?” Hui asked with her usual warm smile. The Chinese woman looked especially lethal in her combat gear, her hair covered by a black bandana. A mean-looking M4 carbine hung in front of her.

               “Not bad… are we ready to go?” Colette asked looking at the weapons arrayed the table and wondering which one was hers.

               “We?” Miranda said with laugh, “We’re going; you’re not. Cassandra wants you staying here with the rookies to secure the place.  Maybe you can not get turned into statues this time!”

               Colette let out sigh, “Where is Cassie now, maybe I can talk to her? I’m really feeling better; I can go.”

               “She’s in Erika’s study with JB and Cesar planning and conferring with Patty and Sophie back at the home office,” Hui explained. “We figured that Ashley has probably controlled Erika with her chips again. So we had Paddy trace Erika’s bank transactions from the last few days and we found that she recently purchased a 400-foot cargo ship. It’s not much, but it’s our only lead at the moment so we’re tracking that ship down as we speak.”

               “Is the network working now?” Colette asked, even though already knowing the answer. Paddy was a genius in his own right when it came to computers. “It wasn’t working when I was trying to use it earlier,” she added.

               “Yeah, Paddy got it all fixed though he has no idea what cause it to crash severely. He figured it was an advanced virus of some kind. He can’t really track it either, that’s how advanced it was,” Hui replied.

               “I see, well I’m going to talk to Cassie and see what’s up, I don’t want to be stuck here,” Colette said, heading towards the study.

As expected Cassandra, JB and Cesar were hard at work coordinating things with Paddy and Sophie back in London as the tech whiz was close to tracking down Ashley’s suspected cargo ship. Jelena, Marco and a few other agents were out securing a landing zone for helicopters that would take them out to sea once they found the ship. To Colette’s dismay, Cassandra flatly denied her request to come along. With Palmira still out she needed a senior agent to supervise the rookies, who were not yet ready for that sort of strike yet. Colette was going to sit this one out.

Chapter 7: End Game

The Empress

Control Room

               Ashley, clad in her silk robe, sat with her legs crossed at the knees and her arms crossed. She stared at the computer monitor before her with her jaws clinched. Almost all of her slaves were off-line. Her security systems showed that the superstructure had been breached. In addition, there was a radio signal that had been sent out. Her systems were slowly dying around her so she didn’t really know what type of signal it was. She assumed it was Scott calling in his slaves. They were coming for her. Spinning around on the leather swivel armchair that she was seated on, she looked at the five women standing at attention shoulder to shoulder with glazed over eyes. They were completely naked, save for three of them. Tasia, Sandra and Mary were nearly as naked as Pamela and Rachel. The three older women were in footwear that kept them from being completely naked. Tasia had on leather thigh-high spike-heeled boots. Sandra was in red spiked heels with bracelets and anklets and finally Mary stood in white high heels. Ashley was about to give an order when her computer started to beep.

               Quickly spinning back around, she gasped in horror to see that Stephanie, Carmen and Rita were now all out. They were posted just a few decks below. Oddly enough Zella was still functional; she was posted on the lowest deck of the superstructure along with Carmen. “What in the world?” Ashley asked herself, perplexed. “How are you still working and your team is out when they were posted on decks above you…?” she thought aloud. Her eyes went wide figuring out what had happened. Scott and Ryoshi had split up! One of them was coming for her now! Opening a prompt on one of the computer monitors in front of her, she selected Pamela and Rachel then typed an updated program persona command for them. Looking over her shoulder she ordered, “Pam, Rachel; down below now!

               The two naked cheerleaders only nodded with empty expressions and did as they were told, quickly exiting the secured room. Ashley went back to work re-programming the others that remained under her control, including the two that were still in the bridge. “You’re not going to win Scott; you think you are but I have a plan!”

* * *

Below Decks

               Alexis had run out of static rounds first but Scott was ready for that as the time was already near. As soon she had run out he ordered her to charge Makeda’s position. The chipped Brit was faster than her advisory. Scott credited that to his and Ryoshi’s programming. Makeda fired her stun rifle but missed and before she could take another shot, Alexis was on top of her. The two chipped woman then wrestled violently, rolling around the metal deck, punching and elbowing one another trying to gain something on the other. Leslie, after running out of rounds herself, charged at Dieter. The chipped ITEA agent managed to hit Leslie several times with Type-7 freeze darts but those had no effect on her. He was soon disarmed and the two then engaged in hand to hand combat. The chipped Germans seemed to be a match for one another as they countered each other like seasoned special forces operatives. Scott, seeing his opening, quickly headed towards the aft compartments to see if he could get above deck. He hoped he didn’t run into anyone, as he had no weapons. His girls had used everything up holding off Ashley’s two people.

               He reached the last hatch that would lead to the stairs. Turning the hatch lever, he cursed to himself to find that it was locked. “Well played, Ashley…” he grinned, looking around the door. Scott smiled finding an electronic key pad next to the door, “not good enough Ashley.” He pried open the pad with his fingers and examined the wires. Yanking free the wires he needed he then reached into vest and pulled a small remote out. The device was basically an electronic lock pick. Connecting the loose wires to the device, he activated it. It began to blink rapidly. He just had to wait a few minutes.

* * *

               Tucker found that keeping his mind off of the danger he was in was easier than he had originally thought. He was surrounded by three gorgeous time-stopped ladies. He reasoned that if he was about to die he was going to die happy. Tucker started with the tall blond first. He removed the only article of clothing she had on her, the lab coat. This rendered her completely naked. She was then folded over the work bench and taken from behind. Tucker then stripped Michelle Gim of her lab coat and lowered her to her knees. He then posed her hands to make it look as if she was holding a shaft. Leaning her chin back, he shaped her lips into an ‘o’ and closed her brown eyes. He grinned to himself, sliding his engorged member into her mouth. After a few pelvic thrusts he moved the girl’s hands so they held his hips and continued to pump.

               A good amount had time had passed, though Tucker was not sure how much. He was feeling a bit sleepy so he guessed it was pretty late in the night. Michelle and the tall blond were both naked; Tucker had even removed the white heels that they wore, rendering their feet bare. The two women sat on the work bench with their backs straight, their hair loose and their hands on their naked knees. Both had blank looks in their eyes with matching facial expressions. If he was going to be stuck on this ship for an unknown amount of time he wasn’t done with them yet.

               On a smaller workbench nearby, Tucker lay next to Julie. The harem outfit had been removed and scattered on the steel deck. Julie was stark naked, with her hands folded at her stomach, her legs crossed at her ankles. Her face was molded as if she was sleeping peacefully. Tucker had saved the best for last and he enjoyed her. He was taking break now and feeling about tired out. The feelings of dread and panic were beginning to creep up on him as he lay there in silence. Looking over at Julie, he sighed. He wished she was there with him. Looking up at the ceiling past the glaring lamps he suddenly noticed something. A hatch…

* * *

Superstructure

               They could hear the battle raging below them, with electro-static rounds pinging off the bulkheads like a heavy rainstorm. Entering the superstructure, Chloe and Ryoshi ran into the tall blond Zella who was armed with a stun pistol. Her partner, redheaded Carmen, had a dart loaded M4 and was easily taken out first as her back had been to Ryoshi. Ryoshi then got Izel to cover them against Zella who was behind cover as they moved up to the next level. Reaching the next level, that looked to be sleeping quarters, they ran into two more of Ashley’s guards. Chloe recognized them as being Stephanie and Rita. Using Chloe as bait, Ryoshi was able to bring down both guards with static rounds from her Glock. It took them less than five minutes to take out both chipped cheerleaders. The comatose guards now sat limply against the bulkhead with their heads leaning on one another.

               Chloe checked both girls; they were breathing normally and their faces tranquil. “We’ve got two more decks to go and then we should find Ashley. She has a room under the bridge where she controls everything,” Chloe informed, standing.

               “Okay let’s move, this deck is cleared,” Ryoshi declared, looking at her thermal sensor. Chloe nodded in agreement the two headed towards the stairs with Ryoshi leading. Ryoshi signaled to Chloe to stick close to the walls they stalked up the narrow staircase. At the top of the stairs Ryoshi checked her thermal sensor and looked back at Chloe, “it’s clear.”

               They stepped onto the deck cautiously looking around. The deck was identical to the deck below. It had a single hallway that led to the next set of stairs. Doors bordered the corridor which led to luxury cabins. Ryoshi and Chloe moved silently and slowly down the corridor. Ryoshi opened doors to cabins as they moved. As expected the cabins were clear. Getting close to the wall, the women to began to slowly stalk up the steps.

               It came fast. The freeze dart nearly nicked Ryoshi as she pushed herself closer to the wall. Fortunately for Chloe, who was a step down from Ryoshi, the dart missed her as well. Ryoshi pulled the younger woman to the wall and returned fire with her Glock. She got down low with Chloe following. They crawled up the stairs, keeping low at the same time as darts whizzed over them, hitting the bulkhead. At the top of the stairs both women ducked and Chloe moved to Ryoshi’s side. They both lay on the steps and peeked over the last step.

               Their adversaries were both stark naked and armed with M4s. One was blond while the other was a redhead. They stood at the end of the hall with their rifles held up at eye level. Ryoshi noted that they had no spare clips with them. The women did have them pinned down as Ryoshi had to nearly stand up to get a shot off. Laying low they were safe but they couldn’t do much of anything. “That’s Pamela and Rachel, they’re both cheerleaders,” Chloe noted.

               “They’re both in great position too, Ashley must know we’re close,” Ryoshi replied and added, “They got us nailed.”

               “What do we do now?” Chloe asked.

               Ryoshi thought quickly, running through her options. The logical choice was to just wait. However Ashley’s girls were slowing their rate of fire to conserve ammo and just waiting for the perfect shot. They also did not move up either, which meant they were programmed not to give chase. Ambushing them as they had with Rita and Stephanie was a no-go. Pulling out her controller, she saw that Izel was still active as well, which meant Zella was still trapped down on the first deck. They didn’t have to worry about anyone sneaking up on them as long as Izel was still active. “Follow me,” Ryoshi said, crawling backwards down the stairs. “Move quietly back down the deck below,” she ordered. “I’ll cover you, go.”

               Chloe did as she was told as Ryoshi followed her, walking backwards while keeping her sights on the stairs. They reached the other side of the passageway with no sign of the two nude sentries following them. Going back down two decks, they moved over the unconscious guards. Ryoshi handed her gun to Chloe, “Cover me,” she ordered. Chloe nodded, taking up the Glock.

               “What are you doing?” Chloe asked, while her eyes and the Glock were pointed up the staircase.

               Ryoshi leaned the comatose Stephanie limply forward and peeled the chip from the nape of her neck, smashing it chip against the deck. Reaching into her vest she withdrew an injection gun and overdosed the unconscious cat-suited blond on the neck with a large amount of Type-7. “Getting us a shield,” she replied as she stood up the now completely rigid blond, who at this stage was stiff as a slab of wood. Stephanie was the bigger of the two; Rita was shorter than Ryoshi and Chloe and was no good to hide behind. The stiffened blond now stood with her arms at her side and legs held tight together, her face still bore a serene look.

               “Wouldn’t a piece of furniture from one of the cabins be easier to use?” Chloe asked.

               “Do you want to haul around a table or mattress up those narrow stairs?” Ryoshi asked, taking back the Glock.  “Besides, this girl pretty much is a piece of furniture now!”

               “Good point,” Chloe replied and added, “I suppose I’ll be hauling her while you shoot?”

* * *

               Pamela and Rachel had been programmed to shoot whatever came up the stairs and told to hold their positions until further notice. The chipped cheerleaders stood like professional soldiers, holding their M4s up at eye level with the stocks resting tightly against their shoulders. Both girls spotted the stiffened form of Stephanie Kinloch rising up from the stairs. Had they not been chipped both would have hesitated but since they were under control, they let loose with a volley of darts towards their Type-7 overdosed teammate. Nearly every dart hit its target; ill-fated Stephanie was starting to look like a pincushion. Before the shooters could register it was a trick, due Ashley’s faulty tactical programming it was already too late. Six electro-static rounds, three each, hit their marks and both cheerleaders crumpled to the deck in a comatose heap.

* * *

               They left Stephanie woodenly leaning against the wall awkwardly and then checked on the two they had just taken down. Together, Ryoshi and Chloe moved the unconscious naked cheerleaders to the side of the corridor. They piled them atop of one another, breasts to breasts, and shared a smile before clearing the single room that occupied the deck. “Nice setup,” Ryoshi commented, opening the door to Ashley’s lavish love nest. The room was empty and it was clearly obvious that there were no hiding spots.

               “You wouldn’t think that if you know this room like I do,” Chloe commented with a frown.

               Ryoshi turned and smiled at the younger woman, “Oh honey, you don’t know me,” She smiled seductively looking Chloe up and down.

               “Ugh… not now, we have things to do,” Chloe replied with a disgusted, look turning away from the room. “You’re also not my type either,” she added. Ryoshi only smiled as she followed the younger woman out.

               As with the other decks, they climbed the staircase silently and slowly. Reaching the top, they were relieved to see a clear path down the hall to the last set of stairs that led to the bridge. Chloe pointed to the single door in the passageway, “that’s the control room.” Ryoshi looked at the door and pulled her thermal sensor from her vest. The sensor showed a massive heat signature behind it but no details to how many people were in the room. Looking over Ryoshi’s shoulder Chloe remarked, “There are a bunch of computer stuff in there, too, it’s really hot.”

               “I think you’re right,” Ryoshi sighed, putting the sensor away. She thought for a second before speaking again. “Head up to the bridge; take care of the bridge crew and stop the ship,” Ryoshi ordered, gesturing towards the stairs. She then dropped the half empty clip from the Glock and slammed in a fresh one before handing the weapon to Chloe.

               “No way… you’re not going in there by yourself,” Chloe said, gesturing towards the control room. “Ashley’s in there and she’s hella dangerous, plus you don’t know who else is in there with her.”

               “Exactly,” Ryoshi replied, “that’s why we’re splitting up.  If I buy it in there, you’ll be left and Ashley won’t be expecting you. You’re my back up Chloe. I’m counting on you.”

               “But…” Chloe muttered, looking at the closed door.

               “Chloe, don’t worry. My partner is around here someplace; you won’t be on your own. Go on go take the bridge, I trust you.”

               “Fine… you’d better not get captured,” Chloe warned as she headed towards the stairs with the Glock in hand.

               Ryoshi waited for Chloe to slowly ascend up the stairs to the bridge. Once the younger woman was gone she took a deep breath and turned the doorknob leading into the control room. It was unlocked. She slowly pushed opened the door. There was little light in the room, from what she could see of it; she could hear the sound of racked servers running on her left and right. She could see a computer terminal in the center of the room and a petite dark-haired woman sitting behind it. Ashley she thought, stepping into the room. Right as she set foot in the room an urge to drop and somersault came over her. Following her instincts, she did just that. As she rolled away she heard two bodies drop.

               Two blonds were sprawled out on the floor behind her when she turned around, one on either side of the door with their stun guns lying on the floor next to them. One had shorter blond hair while the other had long hair with dark roots. The one with the longer hair was naked.  It seemed as if both had just shot each other.  Before Ryoshi could, react she was knocked to the deck by a reverse leg sweep from shadows. On the ground she quickly regained herself and rolled away just the spiked heel of a boot came crashing down at her.

               Popping back up on her feet, she came face to face with two other women. One was Mary Hamilton the other Tasia Spiro. Both were practically naked, aside from their footwear. Tasia was in thigh-high black leather boots while Mary was in white heels. They stood with empty eyes and their fists held up. “Agent Spiro, nice seeing you again,” Ryoshi smiled, looking at the naked and chipped Greek, “love the new look.” Turing to face Mary, she quipped, “Mary nice seeing you again, funny how you can never get away from this business,” Ryoshi grinned. Looking at the woman who had her back to her sitting at the computer, Ryoshi asked, “Are you just going to sit there Ashley, why don’t you join this little reunion?”

               The seated woman at the computer who was dressed in the silk robe slowly rose from her seat and stood. Turing around, she faced Ryoshi. The Japanese woman looked on in shock at the woman who just revealed herself. “Oh my God, Chloe…” she gasped, looking up towards the bridge as the three women charged her.

* * *

Main Deck

               The tug boat looked as if it had appeared out of nowhere. It did appear out of nowhere, Scott concluded, knowing another timeless interlude had passed. One moment it wasn’t even there and the next it was right alongside the cargo ship and he was already tied up. The ropes around him were cinched tight and he couldn’t get free. How did I get into this mess? He wondered, looking around. He was sitting on deck just outside of a hatch that led to the lower decks. There was an oddly quiet feeling too, the ship wasn’t moving and the night air was still. Everything was also dead silent. The last thing he remembered was climbing through the hatch and then he was instantly tied up. Sensing someone behind him, he quickly spun around.

               “Relax, uncle Scott, let me get these off of you,” Tucker said as he undid the ropes.

               “How did you get out?” Scott asked as Tucker untied the ropes to free his uncle.

               “We got him out,” a voice called cheerfully out from behind he and Tucker. Scott turned around all the way around to the sound, having more movement now since the rope was nearly free. He spotted Maggie with clock around her neck and a captain’s cap on her head, with a gorgeous blond standing nearby. The blond pinched Maggie on the arm and knocked the cap from her head, gesturing for her to be quiet. “Ouch, Hey!” Maggie whined, rubbing her arm. If time had not been stopped via Maggie’s clock it would have taken Maggie and Haley nearly a lifetime to reach where they were at the moment.

               Once Haley had met Maggie down on the street, they called Maggie’s cell phone provider and were able to track her phone’s last known location. It was registered in the ocean off the coast of Santa Clara. After getting over their initial bewilderment, Maggie stopped time and unfroze the Lancer so they headed out that way. It was decided that Haley would drive through frozen traffic, a decision that Maggie would always regret forever into the future. They had made it there in record time even in time-stop standards. They picked the first boat they found in port, a decision that Haley would herself regret. The boat that Maggie had picked was fairly large tugboat called Winsor. Winsor was moored dockside with no one around. Haley knew it was a bad choice, seeing Maggie’s glee after they climbed aboard. The Chinese girl found a captain’s cap and proclaimed herself the boat’s new captain. Haley couldn’t argue as she didn’t know how to even run the boat. Maggie and unfroze the boat and went about getting it ready to embark, apparently something she picked up from TV. Before long they were cutting through the jelly-like substance that was the time-stopped Pacific Ocean with Maggie at the helm and Haley beside her.

               Two women out in the ocean in the middle of night, alone, with no prior experience with the sea would usually terrify them. In this case however Maggie and Haley felt no fear, with Maggie’s clock holding the world still around them. They only thing they were worried about was finding the where Tucker was, exactly. They really didn’t think about it until they were out of sight of the pier. The location of the cell phone was only an estimate, and the ocean was large.  Fortunately, the gods that smile upon fools were on their side.  Before panic set in, it was by pure luck that the pair came upon the lone cargo ship. Using the hooks that she had acquired, along with unexpected rope skills, Maggie was able to pull Winsor alongside the larger ship as Haley worked at the helm; she would never admit it but she thought it was fun. Once everything was secured, they used a ladder they found below decks on the tug, climbing aboard. Seeing the cat- and sailor-suited women laying unconscious around deck, along with couple frozen ones as well they knew they were on the right ship. They also spotted a man dressed all in black with a tac vest that Maggie and Haley had seen only in action movies. Deeming him as not being Tucker, the obvious conclusion was that he was a bad guy and they promptly tied him up.

               Spreading out, they found all the hatches locked or too heavy for them to open. It took all of Maggie’s will power and Haley’s threatening looks to keep her at bay from having her way with five suspended women around them, one of them was nearly naked save for a pair of leopard printed bikini bottoms. They took a hammer they found and tried to open the hatch leading to the superstructure by simply banging on it. The noise of their desperate attempts to enter ship resulting in them hearing a voice calling for help; getting closer they knew it was Tucker, only he and his wand could remain unfrozen. Tracking down to where his voice was coming from they moved to the bow of the ship and to their dismay found another hatch, a hatch that Maggie had tried and failed to open already. Approaching the hatch, Maggie looked up at Haley worriedly. Haley reaching down turned the hatch lever; it opened easily. They both traded stares, Haley looking at Maggie with a disapproving look and shaking her head. Maggie only looked confused and scratched her head, looking back at the other hatches she had tried to open in wonder.

               Not only did the find Tucker, but they found his girlfriend Julie as well, doubly frozen. Tucker looked at the two women happily once the hatch was flung opened and he knew who it was. Using the last of Maggie’s rope, they helped Tucker out the hatch. He gave Maggie a tight hug once he was out that only made Haley feel a bit jealous and sad. She had come to realize just how much she was now missing and questioned herself if it had been the right choice to break him up with him. Tucker than turned and gave Haley a hug that she returned, concluding that it probably had been a bad choice. After he had hugged Maggie a second time, they swapped stories. Both tales were amazing and unbelievable though they agreed Tucker’s was slightly more so as Tucker had dealt with chips, speeding boats and spies, amongst other things.

               Tucker explained everything to his uncle as helped him up and then introduced him to Maggie and Haley, then realized that he had been lied to. “Chips that would fry her brains if I took them off, huh?  What’s up with that?”

               Scott shrugged, “I had to say something to get you to come along, Tucker; everyone has someone worth fighting for,” he added, looking at Maggie, “Maggie is your someone.”  Unseen by him, Haley looked as if she’d been punched in the stomach.

               Maggie blushed at the comment and Tucker shook his head, “You’re lucky she’s all right, Uncle Scott.”

               “Okay enough chit-chat; let’s get to work!” Haley reminded, putting her hands on her hips.  “Must I remind you folks that time is still stopped and we’re hijacking a mad woman’s cargo ship?” She couldn’t help but continue to wonder if Tucker would have done the same thing for her. It was an answer she didn’t want to hear. “What do we do now, Mr. Super Spy?” she asked turning to Scott.

               Scott looked over at Tucker. Tucker grinned and shrugged, “That’s what you are, Uncle Scott.”

               “Okay,” Scott accepted before going on. “Maggie, can your clock unfreeze people individually but still keep time stopped?” Maggie nodded. “Alright, let’s go free my wife,” Scott ordered, gesturing at the hatch leading into the superstructure. At the hatch he had Maggie unfreeze the door and his electronic lock pick. Moments later the hatch was opened and they entered the superstructure.

               The first level of the superstructure was the galley. There was a cat-suited redhead sprawled out in the entry when they first entered. They then ran into Izel; the Mexican beauty was standing behind the entryway leading into the kitchen. Like everything else, she was frozen. She stood leaning in, half of her body behind the bulkhead, her UMP held low. One hand was swapping in a new clip as the old clip remained suspended in mid-air. Her empty brown eyes looked vacantly ahead. Even though her eyes were empty, the Mexican’s facial expression said ‘focused’ all of over it. Following Izel’s line of vision, they saw a tall busty blond dressed in a revealing cat-suit standing behind a stainless steel counter. The blond was in a delayed falling motion. She hung awkwardly in the air, leaning backwards, her arms out wide, her eyes closed and mouth opened in shock. A stun gun hung next to her right hand as if held by an unseen force.

               “The Matrix…” Maggie whispered taking in the scene. Haley stood behind her and only nodded in agreement.

               “I guess Izel won this one,” Tucker commented.

               “Figures… our girls are better programmed for this sort of thing. Tactics wasn’t Ashley’s strong suit. You can’t just program advanced tactics in general, you have to program it in layers and match responses to scenarios and such. With every action comes a reaction. Without any experience in ops, you only come to the table half cocked as the saying goes. General programming won’t cut it in this case,” Scott explained. “Ashley’s guards never had a chance… Let’s move on shall we?”

               They moved up to the next level, where they found another cat-suited girl sitting on the floor leaning against the bulkhead. Even time-stopped they knew she was out of it. There was nothing else of interest on the floor and they moved on. The next deck was empty so they continued. On the fourth deck they found a cat-suited girl leaning oddly against the bulkhead as if she were a ladder, with a forest of darts embedded in her body. Her body was completely stiffened and her face serene. At the end of hall two naked girls laid on top of one another, a redhead and a blond. Tucker and Maggie recognized them as Pamela Flipspatrick and Rachel Xanders from the college. Maggie tugged on Tucker’s arm, pulling herself away from the extremely hot image of the two cheerleaders. “Take me with you next time,” she said licking her lips. Haley frowned at both them.

               “There won’t be a next time,” Tucker replied, “isn’t that right, Uncle Scott?”

               “Sure, let’s continue,” Scott answered confidently while checking the single room on the deck, which was empty.

               “Hey, I don’t like that answer…” Tucker said, following Scott up the steps.

               Maggie knelt down and was about to fondle Rachel when Haley grabbed her roughly by the collar of her shirt. “Whoaaaaa…” Maggie screamed as she was dragged back on her feet by Haley and then up the steps.

               “Focus Maggie, focus,” Haley said as they headed to the next deck. Once they reached it they found Scott opening the single door that was on the deck and entering quickly with Tucker peering in cautiously. Feeling that they were missing the show, the two girls hurried to the door and poked their heads in, forcing Tucker into the room.

               They saw there were two collapsed blonds lying on the floor flanking either side of the door, with their weapons were next to them. One of them was naked, the other dressed in one of Ashley’s sailor outfits. Maggie recognized them as Kat Vaughn and Brittney Summers, the latter being the naked one. She looked at them worriedly, clutching her clock for comfort hoping that they were all right. The scene looked grimmer than what she had seen so far; she was friends with both of these girls. She and Haley exchanged looks, but Haley didn’t really know what to say as she didn’t know their fate either.

               Tucker and Scott were more focused on what was going on in the room itself rather than the two downed blonds. Ryoshi stood time-stopped in the center of the room with three still women surrounding her. Directly in front of her was Sandra Packlin, clad in a blue silken robe. The professor’s body was arched backwards with her arms were flung out wide, her chin thrown back to its full extent with toes just barely touching the deck. To her left Tasia Spiro was twisted in a corkscrew motion, with her ankles crossed, arms in coiled around her body and her red-hued tresses violently wrapped around her face. Her body was caught in forty-five degree angle in mid-air, her booted feet frozen almost a foot off the ground while her head was nearly five feet above the deck. Mary Hamilton, the third woman, was doubled over with Ryoshi’s heel inside of her gut. Ryoshi bore a furious expression on her face, her body was twisted sideways with her right leg extending out in a textbook-perfect side kick.

               “Whoa…” Maggie and Haley said in unison looking at the motionless scene.

               “My wife is in all black; Maggie, unfreeze her,” Scott said. Maggie continued to stare.

               “Mags: my aunt,” Tucker then said, with bit of pride, snapping Maggie from her train of thought that how the whole scene was just simply cool. She brought up her magic clock and did her thing.

               Ryoshi came back to life, spun around and was about to throw another kick when she stopped and looked around, seeing an instant audience appear and the world remaining still around her. She smiled at Scott. “Took you long enough,” Ryoshi said, walking over to her husband and kissing him. “Nice to see you too, Tucker,” she said while hugging the younger man. Looking around she asked, “So everything is good?”

               “Ran into another hitch, but everything worked out,” Scott replied and then introduced Haley and Maggie to Ryoshi and gave her a brief overview about the clock.

               “Interesting,” Ryoshi said with a grin, looking at clock and then at Maggie, who smiled bashfully at the older woman. “I have to say, I like you better in that maid outfit,” Ryoshi then said wryly after giving Maggie a once over. Maggie’s pert smile faded and she was about to say something when Ryoshi’s eyes grew wide, “Oh my God; Chloe!”

               “Chloe?” Everyone said together, confused, as Ryoshi rushed out of the room.

               As the others followed, Tucker stopped, seeing Brit and Kat slumped on the deck. He looked the question at his uncle, who quickly replied, “They’re alright, don’t worry.” With that they both darted after Ryoshi who swiftly had flown up the steps leading up to the bridge.

* * *

Moments before…

               Chloe quietly snuck up the steps to the bridge. She was trying to act stealthy like Ryoshi, holding the gun the same way and moving like the older woman had. It wasn’t working; she was feeling like she was doing something wrong. It was making her nervous. All this sneaking around was so hard. She just wanted to fight, a good old-fashion fist fight; that was fun and that was what she was used to. Fighting solved everything, she thought creeping up to the steps. She poked her head around the corner at the top of the steps as she had seen Ryoshi do. Problem was she had no idea what to look for. No idea what Ryoshi was looking for or thinking when she had done that just a while ago. “Damn…” Chloe muttered under her breath, looking around the dimly lit bridge. “What the fuck…” Chloe whispered, “It’s like some damn horror movie…”

               Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the bridge. Bringing up the Glock to eye level, she held it uncomfortably. She hated guns, there was nothing honorable about guns; you just point and shoot. Unless you were a crack shot like Ryoshi, then that was different she thought. She wasn’t a crack shot – she was better with her hands, feet and elbows. “Screw this…” Chloe said, lowing the weapon and moving towards the ship’s controls. “I don’t need a gun to do this.”

               She held the gun loosely in her right hand as she stood over the controls of the boat, trying to figure out what she had to do to stop it. Suddenly there was a scream and movement to her left; she quickly turned and instinctively brought up her right hand to block. A woman from the shadows came out of nowhere. A metallic skinny stick was in her hands, it swung heavily and fast at Chloe. Chloe’s hand made it just in time. The metal rod smashed into Chloe’s fingers, making her drop the gun as her hand exploded in pain. “Fuck!” she screamed, clutching her hand at the same time she threw a front kick out to push her attacker away from her, buying her some time to collect herself. “You broke my hand!” Chloe growled, feeling the bones in her hands and feeling the pain when she touched them. Her attacker doubled over slightly, still holding the stick; she was coughing and grunting. “Bitch you hear me, you broke my hand!”

               “Chloe?” the woman said, recovering from the blow and standing upright.

               “Ashley,” Chloe replied flatly, realizing who had attacked her. Ashley Tisdale stood before her, dressed in sailor suit like one of her crew, holding a metal retractable baton. “You…used me…” Chloe said, barely audible. She could feel her rage creeping up on her. “You had me kidnap people,” she said more loudly, stepping closer to Ashley. Her hands dropped to her sides and balled up in fists. The pain was gone from her right hand. Her jaw clenched and she began to breathe hard. Most fighters were horrible when they fought angry. Chloe wasn’t one of them.

               “Chloe….I can…” Ashley began to say, but was cut off as Chloe let out a scream and charged her.

* * *

               All the sudden Chloe was in Ryoshi’s arms and as before the woman had a strong hold on her. She only struggled for a little before relaxing. The battle between her and Ashley never occurred; she could feel it. Ryoshi had stopped her. “It’s all right,” Ryoshi whispered soothingly and almost motherly. “Everything is alright,” she added as her hold turned into an embrace.

               “I could take her…” Chloe said, “that bitch broke my hand and used me like weapon.”

               “It was a mistake; I should have gone up here with you. Sorry about your hand,” Ryoshi said quietly as she helped Chloe to her feet.

               “I could have taken her,” Chloe said defiantly, “I didn’t need you or that ring.”

               “Oh I know you could have taken Ashley. I also know you would have killed her too,” Ryoshi replied. “When you take a life it sticks with you, whether they were good or bad. Trust me, I know. I didn’t want you to carry that with you evermore. You don’t need to.”

               Chloe was silent; it was true that probably was going to happen. So many regrets in her life already she didn’t need anymore. “Thanks…” she said, clutching her broken hand. Ryoshi only smiled and patted her on the shoulder. Turning around, she jumped in surprise. Ashley was hanging at least four feet in mid-air as if in a photograph. Her body was folded inward, legs wide, one bent at the knees and under bent her. Her arms reached inward as if grabbing hold of someone and her face bore a shocked closed-eye expression. It was an odd and dramatic sight.

               An Asian girl with a common alarm clock suspended from her neck was squatting under Ashley, looking up in wonder. A strikingly beautiful blond girl was beside her. Two men were present in the room; one was looking over at Chloe while the younger of two was looking at Ashley with his hands on hips. “We’re you going to pile drive her or something?” the younger man asked, who she now recognized as Tucker Holmes. Her roommate Fiona had been drawn to him for some reason. There was a certain magic about him.

               “I just wanted to hurt her real bad,” Chloe answered. “I was gonna slam her on to the deck as hard as I could.” Tucker and the two girls looked at Chloe and then back at Ashley and nodded in agreement. Looking back at Ryoshi, she added, “You think I could have my ring back? I have some unfinished business.”

Chapter 8: Victorious

Empress

Maggie’s Time

               Introductions were made again before Scott and Ryoshi pieced together an escape plan. Even with time stopped they knew that their little operation had taken too long. Scott also had something figured out for Tucker and his guests as well, just so ITEA would not look into them too much. The main thing now was to get off the Empress before IT would arrive. That was not a really big issue yet, since time was stopped. It was an advantage more than anything. Keeping time stopped, Scott and company went through the ship unlocking doors, Maggie’s help was needed for that task.

               Once the doors were opened Scott then had Maggie unfreeze his girls and they revived the stunned ones. As soon as that was done he had Ryoshi’s team wipe the ship of all their fingerprints and clean up any other form of evidence while his team assisted him. Ryoshi had found the incomplete time stopper that Ashley had been working on promptly destroyed it. She then hacked Ashley’s computer system, taking and deleting data that the scientist had collected during her period of freedom. On Ryoshi’s wishes, Chloe was left alone as Scott took the others to help him with some cleaning. Chloe sat at the bow of the cargo ship, alone, staring out into the frozen ocean and world around her. The only thing she really did was to return a diamond ring Ashley took from Marika.

               Tucker had gathered Julie and Kat. He planned to take them off the ship with him. Scott had agreed since he had tricked Tucker earlier for coming on this mission with him. The twins were now sitting side by side, sans their chips, inside Winsor’s crew cabin. Julie was back in her harem outfit while Kat had on her sailor outfit. Near them, Ashley stood in the corner at attention with a goofy expression molded on her face. The victors had stripped her naked.

               Maggie and Tucker had gathered all the cheerleaders they knew and the ones that were identified by Chloe. Under Scott’s orders and assisted by Leslie and Alexis, they moved the stiff girls into Ashley’s chipping lab below decks. Scott had simply told them to just line the ladies up in the compartment, but Maggie and Tucker had another more devious idea. Alexis and Leslie left the two best friends alone afterwards to seek Scott out for their next task.

               “Jamie broke up with me,” Maggie said as she stripped off the one piece cat-suit from Zella’s frozen form, rendering the tall busty blond naked. There were three other cheerleaders already completely naked: Rachel, Michelle and Pamela. They were laid out on tables. Their bodies were straight and rigid even though they were lying on their backs; their hands were tight at their sides and their toes arched downwards as if they were divers. Their faces had been molded into a shocked expression with mouths and eyes wide, their hair was fanned out loose under their heads. Tucker’s plan was a sort of sexy mad scientist kind of deal, given how the room looked to him. He planned to have all the girls laid out in an identical fashion on each table.

               “What?” Tucker asked in surprise as he lifted up the small framed Rita onto a table. The small blond was already naked and ready to be posed. “When did that happen?”

               “When I chipped…she came over,” Maggie sighed, letting Tucker put two and two together.

               “Oh…” he replied, walking over to where Maggie was and together they lifted up Zella onto her table and arranged her accordingly. “What are you gonna do about Jaime?” He then asked, moving over to Kellie, who he began to strip.

               Maggie stood in front of Brianne and did the same and replied, “I don’t know, I’m going go see her after this; other than that, I don’t know.”

               “Are you okay?” Tucker asked seriously, stopping what he was doing and looking at his best friend.

               Maggie looked around at the cat-suited ladies around her, yet to have the pleasure of her close examination and the naked ladies already laid out on the tables before answering. She smiled, “Oddly, I feel pretty good. I mean, you’re safe and I’m not a mindless zombie maid any more. There isn’t much to complain about. I’m okay in general, I guess.”

               “Okay, let me know if you want to talk but now let’s get the rest of these cheerleaders naked on the tables and see what Scott and Haley are up to,” Tucker said, getting back to work.

               “I’m good; I’m starting notice that every time that time is stopped my mood changes for the better,” Maggie said with a shrug.

               “Doesn’t sound too healthy to me, but whatever floats your boat,” Tucker replied, not thinking too much on the matter since his friend has said she was feeling okay.

               Scott had sent Alexis and Leslie down below decks to collect the two remaining ITEA agents, Dieter and Makeda. He was on the bridge with Tasia; the naked Marika was in Ashley’s love-nest two decks below. The redhead Greek was now completely naked; Scott had removed the boots she had on. She stood naked behind the wheel of the cargo ship. Her fingers were bonded around the wooden wheel at 11 o’clock and 2 o’clock, her legs wide and bare feet were flat on the deck. She wore Maggie’s captain’s cap upon her crown and her face sported a scowl that would make pirates shiver. Scott finished the look by placing an unlit cigar he had found in the corner of her mouth. He chuckled at his work, “Agent Spiro, it seems every time we meet you’re a naked doll.”

               “What was that?” Haley asked from behind. The blond had just finished posing another blond behind the navigation table. She was told the blonds’ name was Friday. Friday stood behind the table with both hands on the edges. She was posed with her naked ankles crossed and her head leaned forward as if reading something on the table. Her face was molded into look of concentration.

               “Oh nothing... ” Scott said easily, turning around and examining the blond, “great job,” she said looking Friday over taking in her nakedness. Shifting his eyes over to second frozen blond in the room he smiled. Sandy Vanholt sat on the captain’s chair; like the other blond she was in her birthday suit as well. She sat with legs wide, showing off her shaven womanhood to all who would look at her. Her hands were behind her head and her face bore a bright beaming smile. “Good job on her too,” Scott complimented, walking over to Sandy and looking at her up and down. He noted that Friday and Sandy both had realistic facial expressions that looked as if they were not posed.

               “Thanks,” Haley replied, looking over her work in pride, “it’s pretty easy when you have your own living doll to play with at home,” she added putting her hands on her hips.

               Scott looked over her curiously and was about to ask her about that when Alexis and Leslie made their way up the bridge steps, hauling Makeda. The time-stopped Ethiopian agent was still dressed in her sailor outfit as she was stiffly carried up. Her body was positioned at attention to make carrying her easier. Leslie had her ankles while Alexis held her around the shoulders. The two blonds stopped at the top of the steps. “Put her down standing near Agent Spiro,” Scott ordered. As they did what they were told he asked Alexis, “Is Agent Bran in the love nest with his wife?”

               After Alexis had assisted Leslie in steadying the unmoving dark skinned woman she answered with a simple, “Yes.”

               “Good,” he replied and turned back to Haley. “I put a married couple in the love nest, that’s two decks below this one. “You think you could set something steamy up for me?” Scott asked.

               “Uh…sure,” Haley answered and was about to ask something as Scott turned to Leslie.

               “Go with Haley to the love nest, you’re under her control now,” he ordered; the tall chipped blond nodded and moved to stand next to Haley, who looked over at the tall woman. “Leslie will help you with anything you need,” he said, turning his attention back to Makeda.

               “Was going to ask you about that, but looks like you took care of the lot,” Haley asked and then turned to Leslie, “shall we?”

               Haley found a handsome man dressed in black and naked blond that was equally good looking standing beside him. The perfect couple, Haley thought, looking at the couple. Leslie stood silently next to her. She shrugged at her silent assistant and walked up to Dieter. Looking into his blue eyes, she felt warm. Putting her hands on his chest she could feel his pecs under his uniform sweater. “Oh boy…” she whispered. Her hands moved automatically south as she felt his manhood and gulped. Raising his stiff strong arms over his head, she felt her cheeks get red as she knew what was next.

               If she were truly alone and not afraid of people walking in on her, Haley would have had her way with Dieter immediately but instead just enjoyed positioning his naked limbs on the bed. With Leslie’s help, Haley was able to put Dieter and Marika into a passionately hot embrace that would make a very good cover for an adult film. Both blonds were on their sides with their limbs wrapped around each other. Their lips locked. Haley wiped the sweat from her brow, looking over her work. “Not bad…” she said, looking over at her programmed assistant, who was busy cleaning the cabin. She had started doing it randomly as Haley worked. “Some slave you are…” Haley muttered under her breath. Unbeknownst to her, Scott had initiated the cleaning via remote. Else where on the ship Alexis was doing the same where Tucker and Maggie were.

               Ryoshi wasn’t feeling too creative after the assault on the ship and just left the three women that Scott had given her to work with by and large alone. Mary Hamilton, Sandra Picket and Samantha Ross stood at attention in the nude in the middle of the control room with vacant expressions on their faces. Ryoshi finished her work on Ashley’s computer and wiped down the keyboard, then made sure there was no other trace of her visit left in the room. Turing around, she looked at Mary Hamilton and remembered the rocky relationship the two had when they worked together. She looked at the motionless redhead and smiled. Looking at her own reflection in Mary’s empty green eyes she said, “For some reason, I think I picked the better path since our parting.” Groping Mary’s naked breasts, she leaned in and kissed the redhead passionately before leaving the control room. The three naked women stood there silent and still as the door was closed behind them.

               Walking out back on deck, Ryoshi looked over at Chloe who still sat at the bow of the ship. She began to walk over to the younger woman. Hearing the hatch open behind her, she turned around and saw Izel and Karen coming out, carrying a sailor-suit clad woman with them. The woman was a brunette, tall with a generous bust. She was posed standing at attention. The two chipped women set her down as Ryoshi approached.

               “Clean up is completed madam,” Izel reported in a monotone but accented voice.

               “What would you like us to do with this one, madam?” Karen asked, staring ahead vacantly.

               Ryoshi looked at the tall woman. According to her notes, she was named Mary Beth; one Ashley’s friends who had obviously been betrayed by the woman since she was another chipped servant. Mary Beth was quite a looker, the Japanese woman thought, touching the stiff woman’s cheek. “Strip her and put her aboard the tug boat, I think I’ll keep her as my award for all this,” Ryoshi said. The two women both nodded and lifted Mary Beth’s stiffened body back up and headed towards the tugboat.

               As her two girls set off Veronica emerged from the superstructure; the mindless girl was still practically naked, only clad in her thong. She acted as if nothing was wrong though, as she reported that her task of cleaning was done. Ryoshi ordered her to take Mary Beth’s uniform on the tugboat, along with samples of the other uniforms as well, just in case. As Veronica walked away Ryoshi pulled out her controller and made sure her girls would stay on the tugboat once they finished their tasks as they were nearly done on the Empress.

               “How are you holding up?” Ryoshi asked, leaning on the bow railing next to Chloe. The younger woman was nursing her splinted right hand, which oddly looked as if the swelling had gone down quite a bit already. She also noticed that Chloe had put her ring back on, on her right ring finger. She smiled, “Your hand looks a lot better, too.”

               Chloe looked down at her broken hand and noticed it didn’t hurt that much anymore and that it had shrank and so looked nearly normal. “Whoa…weird,” Chloe muttered dryly. Looking over at Ryoshi, she acknowledged, “I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier when you stopped me from killing that bitch. I was not myself. I don’t usually get that pathetic. At least not in a long while anyways,” Chloe said, looking back out to the still ocean.

               Ryoshi smiled, “don’t worry about it,” she simply said not wanting to make a big deal of it. She then gestured at the ring, “That’s a pretty powerful item you have there. You could become a very influential woman if you wanted to.”

               Chloe looked down at the ring and answered truthfully, “Yeah… but that’s not me. I had that choice a long time ago to become a powerful woman like Ashley did and I didn’t take it. I’m not going to do it now, either. I don’t need any help from anyone or anything to reach my dreams.”

               Ryoshi nodded, “you’re a strong girl indeed, mentally and physically. I see you making good for yourself on your own. I feel you have taken something out of all this. You’re a better person now.”

               “Yeah, I also understand a little better about this ring and the responsibility it brings,” Chloe replied, holding up her hand with the ring. “If I hadn’t been using it so recklessly, I wouldn’t be in this mess now, and I wouldn’t be going to London to fix things after this. Honestly, this ring has caused me a lot of grief! But you’re right, too; I have picked up something from it. I feel…more in control, I guess?”

               The older woman nodded and smiled, “You’re smart and you’ll figure it out soon enough,” Ryoshi said, patting Chloe on the shoulder. “Oh and I don’t agree with the you against the worldly mindset you have. You might not think you need any help from anyone, but the truth of the matter is everyone needs help and a special someone to complete them.”

               “Who?” Chloe asked, turning around.

               “You’ll figure it out,” Ryoshi simply answered, not turning around as she walked away.

               It was nearly two hours later, Maggie’s time, when Scott ordered everyone off the ship. He warned everyone not to touch anything as everything had been cleaned of any evidence of their presence. They all piled onto the Winsor, with captain Maggie taking the helm. Scott had Maggie restart time so he could collect the rest of their team. Once time was restarted, Maggie quickly turned over the helm to someone else as Winsor was suddenly becoming difficult to handle on seas that were rougher than hard jelly.  Ryoshi had Karen take the helm and guide the tugboat to meet up with the two zodiacs and the Big Boy, anchored some distance away.

               Once the tug and salvage boat were tied together, Alexis and Leslie climbed aboard. Along with Naoko, they began to clear the salvage boat of evidence. Henry and Quinn were given high dosages of Type-7 and then stowed away below decks, as was Ellen, their chips removed. They would be discovered by ITEA since they were so close to the Empress. The cargo ship was dead in the water about one hundred yards to the stern of the Big Boy. Scott had taken a liking to Torre in his brief time with her so the wetsuit clad, dark skinned beauty was ordered onboard the tugboat before they separated.

               As soon as everyone was back on the tugboat. Tucker stopped time. He was amazed to find Chloe stayed unfrozen. The girl only shrugged in response and continued to quietly sit cross-legged at the stern as Tucker unfroze the others and the tugboat itself. Within minutes they were under way again with Maggie at the helm again. Tucker took the time to explain things to Julie and Kat. They didn’t believe it at first until Scott joined in. In the end they were thankful. Julie hung out in Tucker’s arms for the remainder of the trip. Haley looked on jealously before joining Maggie at the helm. On the way back they passed a small flotilla of Coast Guard ships frozen on the black ocean as they were heading out. Black Hawk helicopters were frozen in mid-flight above the small fleet of ships. The tugboat’s occupants all looked at each other, knowing where the little force was headed. “Just on time!” Scott yelled over the engine of the tugboat to Ryoshi, who nodded, looking at the frozen fleet as they passed it.

               At the pier once the tugboat was returned a little to close to shore, Tucker restarted time. The Winsor had beached, thanks to Maggie’s uncertain boating skills. Everyone clambered off and Scott had his girls wipe the tugboat down of fingerprints and other forensic clues. Scott then sent Leslie and Alexis off as the others hid to not cause any suspicion if anyone spotted them. It was almost twenty minutes later before the two blonds, returned driving a van each. Everyone but Maggie loaded into the vans. Maggie really wanted to talk to Jamie and declined the free trip to London; she needed to make things right with her girlfriend. Tucker wanted to stay with Maggie; she seemed to need him, but Scott said it was imperative for him to come along to keep his name cleared. He reluctantly agreed. Julie and Kat were excited being able to go to London and forgot about their recent ordeal, with the help of hypnotic suggestions that buried their experiences far from recent memory. Maggie and Tucker hugged before she parted and then he climbed into the van with Julie and Kat.

Epilogue

London, England

               Chloe was dressed in a leather trench coat that she had bought during a little shopping trip after they had landed. Scott had ushered her and others to England in record time, thanks to his Lear jet and well-compensated ground crews. Once they had arrived, Chloe said her thanks and parted ways with the others. The airport had a little mall that thankfully was open 24x7. She bought some comfortable clothing using money Ryoshi had given her before leaving the airport. Hailing a cab, she told the driver to take her to ITEA headquarters.

               Leaning against a wall on the side of the massive building, Chloe acted like she was waiting for someone. Pulling up the collar of her jacket she looked around. It was late afternoon by the time she arrived and it was the beginning of the holiday season so there were a good amount of people around her. No one paid any attention to her though. Lifting up her right hand, she looked at and tested her fingers before massaging them. Less than twenty-four hours ago that hand had been broken and swollen. Now it was just sore. She adjusted the little ring on her finger before closing her eyes. The images of Erika Stone, Lucienne Christophe, Kioni Abasi, Monica Stein, and Caitlin Trafford appeared in her mind as women Ashley had her freeze previously. She snapped her fingers. A slight grin appeared on her lips as she felt the women were now free. Looking back at the building, she got up from the wall. Stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets, she merged into the bustling crowed and walked away from the ITEA, not looking back.

               An hour later, after a phone call to her father, Chloe found herself back at the airport waiting in a private hangar for her father’s personal jet to pick her up. She sat on a cold metal folding chair, her arms crossed, in the shadow of the massive but unheated hangar. A black Land Rover with nearly blue headlights snapped her from her thoughts as it approached. She sat staring at as it came to a stop at the opening of the hangar. The (right) driver’s side and front passenger doors opened. Chloe grinned and stood, seeing the occupants. The driver was a dark-haired woman named Veronica whom Chloe had borrowed her clothing from during her rescue. The passenger was a short-haired Asian woman who Chloe knew as Naoko. Both were dressed in slim fitting business suits, Veronica in black and Naoko in white. Veronica looked around the hangar as Naoko walked to the back of the SUV and let Ryoshi out. The Japanese woman was dressed in a shimmering black evening dress under a black fur coat. Her black hair had been styled in curls and hung freely. The older woman smiled at Chloe as she met her halfway.

               “Good thing I caught you,” Ryoshi said and added, “never thought you were already a powerful woman when I said I thought you could become one.” She had just found out that Chloe was the sole heiress to Noi Industries, the leading weapons manufacturing firm in the world.

               “It’s not something I share freely, since I’m not planning on taking over the business anyways. It’s not my thing. I hate weapons. I prefer to use my hands and feet,” Chloe replied, oddly a little embarrassed. “I only use my dad’s money for emergencies. Like getting out of a foreign country,” she said, smiling.

               “I see, well I just want to give you something before you leave,” Ryoshi said. Before Chloe could decline she turned around and ordered, “Ashley.”

               Ashley Tisdale stepped out of the opposite side of the back of the Land Rover and walked around to where Chloe and Ryoshi were. She was dressed in a paint-tight white latex one piece nurse’s dress that left little to the imagination. The dress’s hem sat just under Ashley’s crotch. Her legs were clad in white stockings and she walked on red platform heels that matched the color of the cross on the front of the uniform. Her hair was tied into a tight bun and she had a small Red Cross cap atop her head. The former villain held a steel briefcase in her hands. Chloe balled up her fists at seeing the woman. Ashley only smiled brightly, oblivious to the seething hate in Chloe’s eyes.

               “Relax,” Ryoshi said calmly. “She’s chipped and harmless. Isn’t that right, Ashley?”

               Ashley replied, still smiling, “Yes madam!” and repeated the phrase in Korean.

               Chloe raised an eyebrow, “Korean?”

               Ryoshi smiled, “My way of saying she’s yours as a gift,” she simply said. “I picked up Mary Beth, who won’t go ape shit if another accident happens, and Scott has Torre now. So we can both get rid of this twisted bitch,” Ryoshi gestured towards Ashley, who remained smiling. “I know you’ll take ‘good’ care of her, after what she’s done before, you most likely won’t let her out of your sight.”

               “Ryoshi… I don’t know,” Chloe began.

               “Shush. She’s yours don’t worry about it, she’s chipped with the new anti-shock chip. So she shouldn’t get loose again,” Ryoshi explained; taking the metal case from Ashley, she handed it to Chloe. “In this case is a laptop that has the chip programming software on it along with my and Scott’s tactical program that could fit over any persona you decide to create. There’s also a remote and ten empty anti-shock chips too. I saw it in your eyes when we met during the mission. You, Chloe Noi, want to make a difference in this world. You can’t do it alone, so these should help.”

               Chloe looked at Ashley, “Come here, Ashley,” she said in Korean. Ashley immediately walked over and stood beside Chloe, who looked at her former adversary in the slutty nurse outfit once more and then back at Ryoshi who was stepping away from her. “Thanks Ryoshi, I won’t forget you!” Chloe called after her as Ryoshi climbed back into the SUV.

               Ryoshi smiled, “I know you won’t; good luck and I’ll be watching you,” she said seriously as Naoko closed the door. A moment later, the LandRover sped away from the hangar and vanished.

               Chloe looked Ashley up and down with devious smirk, “You’re mine now, bitch…” she said victoriously. Ashley continued to smile and look on blankly.

               Twenty minutes later the Noi family jet would arrive as Chloe and Ashley headed back to the states. Chloe was starting a new chapter in her life that will prove to be both fulfilling to herself and those around her.

Downtown

               Scott had rented the penthouse suite of a local five star hotel. Said suite was secretly his and Ryoshi’s London home. It was rented under the name of Ron Fisher. Thus far, the authorities or anyone else of that matter have not been the wiser without looking much into the background of Mr. Ron Fisher, who had been dead for a few years. The suite was a luxurious one, fit for a king and his royal entourage. It featured two floors and ten full-sized bedrooms. Lavish common areas occupied both floors and the place was furnished with the finest imported furniture. At the moment the place was occupied by Tucker, Haley, Scott and most of his girls. Ryoshi had taken two of her girls out, along with a prepped and programmed Ashley, to take care of some business. Scott knew his wife would return without Ashley and he was glad. Ashley had caused nothing but trouble for him in the past few days. The twins were out sight-seeing. They had never been out of the country before and seemed un-phased over what had happened to them in the past week. As soon as Scott gave them spending money they were gone. Scott and Tucker were both amazed at their energy. Tucker was a bit disappointed that Julie didn’t want to spend some more time with him. Then again, the bond of sisterhood was always stronger than their relationship was, ever.

               Tucker walked past the bathroom; he could hear the shower running and Haley singing loudly and off key. He smiled, passing the door. She had been to London once before and thought the place was boring and elected to stay at the penthouse with Tucker. She also didn’t like Julie, Tucker’s current girlfriend too much either, a fact that she would keep to herself. Walking down the hall, Tucker knocked on the door the master bedroom of the suite. He waited till her heard his uncle’s voice. Opening the door, he entered and closed it behind him. The room in question took up a quarter of the upstairs portion of suite and reminded him of a large studio apartment. His uncle sat behind a large oak desk, working on a laptop. He was dressed in a clean silk dress shirt and black slacks. Alexis stood behind, dressed in a satin purple evening gown, her blond tresses done up in a beehive like ‘do. Diamonds adorned her earlobes and slender neck. Looking up from his laptop, Scott asked, “How did it go with ITEA?”

               Sitting down in a puffy velvet armchair across from his uncle, he looked around the spacious room at the other girls. Mary Beth and Torre, the new acquisitions, stood next to the desk with wires attached to the backs of their necks leading to Scott’s laptop. Both women stood in sexy lingerie side by side at attention with vacant expressions on their faces. Torre, who had close cropped hair, was now wearing a red hair wig sporting a bob-like ‘do, its length falling just over her shoulders and curving inward. A black strapless push-up bra covered her bust while a matching black lacy garter belt sat at her hips with black thigh-high stockings covering her legs. Her sex was covered with a tiny black micro thong that left her shapely backside more or less exposed. A pair spiked black heels with silver-tipped heels completed the outfit. Mary Beth had her brunette hair done up in a fancy bun, diamonds glistened at her neck and ears. Her large bust was masked in a see-through pink bra while her sex was covered in a pink G-string. Nude thigh-high stockings and black knee-length boots finished the alluring outfit.

Sitting in a nearby parlor sofa were Izel, Leslie and Karen. All three sat with backs straight, expressions empty with hands resting on their laps. Izel was dressed in a white shimmering evening gown, with a short hem showing off her naked legs and a low cut neck showing her ample cleavage. Her black hair flowed freely past her shoulders and matching white high-heeled sandals covered her bare feet. Leslie was dressed in a low cut blue and white cocktail dress that left little to the imagination. Her legs were covered in sparkling pantyhose. Her blond hair had been styled in a fancy up-do. Karen was dressed in the most fancy dress of the three, a silver sheath that reflected everything around her and reached to the floor, yet had a low-cut neck line. The dress was backless all the way down the top of her ass. Her short blond hair sat naturally flowing but slightly styled.  The three still ladies looked like display figures in a high-class department store window.

               “All is good Uncle Scott, they bought the story,” Tucker replied. “I didn’t talk to Tasia Spiro, though. It seems all their top brass are still busy. I talked to an Agent Katsopolis; she said she’d pass everything on to Tasia and Lucienne and assured me I’m good to go home and that I should call them if I needed their help; it didn’t sound like they’d be calling me.” Tucker’s cover story was after the ambush of his motorcade he hitchhiked his way back to London and contacted Haley, who found a place for him to stay. He would have called sooner but could not get through and was too afraid to go to ITEA in person. His story checked out simply because ITEA had a network failure, thanks to Scott.

               “That’s good,” Scott nodded and then added, “You better get changed for dinner; we’re leaving as soon as your friends and Ryoshi come back.”

               “Yeah,” Tucker said, standing up and leaving. Stopping at the door he turned, “By the way, how did you know about my wand, Uncle Scott?”

               Scott smiled and looked back up at Tucker, “Funny about that… It used to be mine before it was yours.” Tucker’s eyes went wide as it all came together; he smacked his head for not realizing it before. The payments for his classes had all come from a bank in Brazil: Scott’s bank. The wand was also from Brazil. “It’s a small world Tucker and I wouldn’t have sold it to anyone else but you.” Tucker smiled and nodded as he left the room.

               Haley adjusted Tucker’s bow tie and smiled. “Just like old times,” she said. The blond was dressed in a stunning backless evening gown, with her hair pulled back in nice clean bun. Tucker was now in a James Bond style tuxedo, his hair nicely styled and spiked up.

               Tucker returned the smile, “Yeah; those times were fun.” He was about to add something else when the double doors leading into his room opened up. Haley quickly pulled away from him as Kat and Julie Vaughn sauntered in. Both twins dressed in matching strapless, sky blue cocktail dresses that showed off their athletic legs and physiques. “Hey Julie,” Tucker greeted, walking over to his girlfriend and kissing her. Haley looked away disappointed. She looked back briefly and caught Kat Vaughn giving her the evil eye. She gave it right back.

               “Come on Tucker, let’s go; Ryoshi is back,” Julie said, looking at Haley and her sister. A worried look quickly crossed her face before she smiled again and guided her boyfriend out of the room.

               “Julie…” Kat began to say, but a look from her sister told her to keep her mouth shut till later. After Tucker and her sister left she turned to Haley. “He’s my sister’s boyfriend now. Don’t get in their way. I’m only going to warn you once,” Kat threatened coldly.

               Haley smirked and walked past the remaining twin with her chin held up high, “Matching dresses…” she scoffed and chuckled. The little nineteen-year-old, as cute as she acted, didn’t scare Haley. Tucker still had feelings for her and the Vaughn twins weren’t going to stop those feelings from coming out. Kat only balled her up hands into fists and followed. It was going to be an interesting Thanksgiving dinner.

Los Angeles, California

               Maggie hated silence, especially awkward silent moments. Moments like what she was experiencing at that very moment. After her little adventure with Tucker, she returned to LA in time for Thanksgiving. After sleeping for most of the morning, she woke and ordered Chinese and made her way to Jamie’s place. Jamie had just woken up as well and from the looks of it looked like she has had a rough night. Maggie expected her to mad. Surprisingly she was not. She grinned at Maggie and invited her in. Maggie tried to explain what had happened. Jamie just smiled and told Maggie it was okay she didn’t need to explain anything. Shocked Maggie quickly checked if Jamie had been chipped as she set the table. She wasn’t.

               They sat down and ate. It was a quiet meal. Maggie didn’t know to say Jamie was acting odd. She asked if she remembered what happened the day before. Jamie nodded. She asked if Jamie broken up with her. Jamie nodded again. Maggie sighed. They continued to eat in silence till the meal was done. They then sat looking at each other; it was awkward to say the least. Finally Jamie wiped her hands and lips and sat back with sigh. “Maggie,” she began. Maggie sat up and prepared herself.

               “We had a good run Mags. We’re both to blame for how we ended up, me more so than you. I tried to change you and make you into something you’re not ready to become yet. You’re not really ready for the relationship that I wanted; that’s not entirely your fault I know. I should have been more vocal with you and talked to you more,” Jamie explained leaning on the table and sighing.

               “I’m sorry Jamie, I can explain…” Maggie began but Jamie stopped her.

               Smiling weakly Jamie went on, “You don’t need to explain, I’m tired Mags. Let’s just end it like mature adults. No yelling, no arguing. I have nothing against you. I still consider you a great friend. You’re a super person Maggie and I’m sure you’ll find another person more true to your personality. I’m no good for you and you’re no good for me. Our relationship was going no where; we were both trying really hard and it still wasn’t going anywhere. I’m tired Maggie,” Jamie sighed again, rubbing her eyes. Maggie was speechless. Looking back up Jamie grinned. “How do you feel?”

               “Shocked… a bit sad,” Maggie replied as Jamie stood and walked over to her. Guiding her by the arm, they moved over to the sofa in living room and sat. Maggie cuddled up to Jamie and she embraced Maggie. “I’m so sorry it didn’t work Jamie, we could try…”

               Jamie moved a finger to silence Maggie’s lips, “Its okay Mags. I’m happy with what we had. I’ll always treasure it deep in my heart and I hope you do the same.” Maggie nodded and rested her head Jamie’s breast.

               “I’m going to miss these…” Maggie said, closing her eyes.

               Jamie giggled, “I’m going to miss your little tight body, too.”

               “You don’t hate me, do you?” Maggie asked looking up at Jamie teary-eyed.

               Jamie pulled away and looked at Maggie, surprised. “Of course not,” she replied and smiled. “I’ll always love you,” she then said and kissed Maggie on the forehead. “Just like how you love Tucker.”

               Maggie nodded, “I’ll love you too, just like Tucker…” she sniffed and wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. They sat in silence for almost an hour before anyone spoke.

               “I have to shower and get down to the store, Maggie. You can have the day off,” Jamie said as they both sat up.

               “We’re opened today?” Maggie asked confused.

               “No, but I have to start making arrangements,” Jamie replied.

               “Arrangements?” Maggie asked.

               “I’m not going to actively run the store anymore. I’m going to promote Gloria to GM and Calista to manager. I need to put a posting out for supervisor too, to replace Calista. You would have been ideal but I know you hate that place. Before you say anything I’ll make sure that your job is safe. If they mess with you, just let me know. It’s still my store, I’m just going to run it silently from afar now,” Jamie explained.

               “Why!” Maggie demanded her eyes tearing up.

               “Maggie…” Jamie said softly, “it has to be this way. It’s the only way we’re going to get over each other. You’ll still have my number if you need anything just ask, I’ll be here for you. I need to get ready Maggie, just go home and rest. I’ll talk you later,” Jamie said, guiding Maggie to the door. Maggie was silent and confused. Jamie had said she loved her, why was she distancing herself so completely from her. Hugging Maggie she smiled, “Thanks for everything Maggie, remember my words please.”

               Maggie wiped her tears and sniffed then nodded. She kissed Jamie one last time passionately on the lips and then stepped out into the hall. Jamie closed the door behind her. Reaching into her bag, Maggie removed her clock and stopped time. She then slumped down against the wall and began to wail and sob uncontrollably. It would be nearly an hour before she re-started time and left Jamie’s apartment for the last time, looking at the closed door as she sadly walked down the hall. She knew she’d get over Jamie in time. She knew Jamie was right about everything. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt though.

               Jamie sat on the floor against her door. Tears were streaming freely from her bloodshot green eyes. That was the hardest thing she had to do in her life so far. It had taken all of her strength not to cry or to give in. She was exhausted. Everything she had said to Maggie was true. She still loved her very much, just not in the way she used to. Maggie would forever remain in a special place in her heart. She knew Maggie wasn’t going to take the whole thing well and she hoped her calmness would carry over to the younger girl. For the most part it did. The last thing she wanted was both of them sobbing like little girls. She had to take the high road and be strong for her sake and Maggie’s sake. Now that Maggie was gone she could drop her guard. She buried her face into her knees and began to cry sobbing like a little girl.

286 Scorsese Avenue

Stairwell

               Officer Regina Brennan groggily woke up. She was lying against a concrete step. She remembered herself falling a moment ago. Her neck and body was sore from the fall but other than that, she felt well rested. Looking around she remembered where she was, she was in the stairwell of the apartment building. “What the hell…” she croaked looking at her hands she noted she hands had on white gloves. He eyes bulged out as big as saucers as she looked down and saw what she was wearing. She let out blood curling scream but quickly clamped her mouth shut with her gloved hands. Looking down again she saw the one piece dark blue dress under her gear, black go-go boots and fishnets covering her legs. It wasn’t a dream, she thought. Quickly standing up, balancing herself against the wall after almost toppling over; she wasn’t used to the boots. “I have to get out of here…” she said as she carefully shuffled down the stairs carefully thinking of her next move. She wondered what her roommates were doing. It was time to ask for a really big favor.

Santa Clara, California

Docks

               The Empress was anchored in the deep-water middle of the harbor. A grow fleet of small boats from the Coast Guard, local police and Department of Homeland Security surrounded it. On its deck ITEA agents supervised evidence collections as scores of authorities went through every crevice of the cargo ship. Similar operations were also being carried out on the salvage boat Big Boy and the tug Winsor, which was only suspected because it had been beached nearby for no apparently reason. Finally, some ITEA agents supervised US Navy divers as they searched the waters where the cargo ship was recovered. At the center of all this activity was Cassandra Flick, the acting head ITEA agent in while JB and Cesar assisted her. Tasia, Dieter, Marika and Makeda were recovered and were with Suzanna coming out of their bout with Type-7 overdoses. Word from the home office had come in, saying that Lucienne and the others had roused from their mysterious immobilized conditions as well. Unlike Tasia and those recovered from the cargo ship, Lucienne and her bunch had no side effects. Lucienne, in fact, instantly demanded to know what was going on. Cassandra was scheduled to de-brief her within the hour, as soon as she learned more about the cargo ship and the two other vessels.

               With the ITEA manpower being focused on evidence collection and general security of the Empress, Cassandra ordered Colette on-site with the remaining rookie agents. They left Palmira to ‘guard’ the penthouse, since she was still more or less in dreamland. Colette was put in charge of the three rookie agents and they were charged with questioning the witnesses, who mostly seemed to all be from Decker State College. There were only three that were found on a salvage ship that had nothing to do with the college. The three on the salvage ship did state that one of their members was missing though, that was about the only thing that linked them to the incident. The local authorities and the Coast Guard were currently looking for that missing crewmember. Unknown to them, they would not find or hear from her again.

               All of the witnesses were being kept in warehouse nearly a thousand feet from where the Empress was anchored. A detachment of local police officers, led by an ITEA agent, kept the perimeter secured. From the warehouse’s large windows they could see the activity going on in the middle of the harbor. Most of the witnesses were just recovering from their intense exposure to Type-7. The majority of the group from DSC was cheerleaders they were all huddled together sitting on cots and dressed in shapeless dark blue Coast Guard overalls. Three other blond girls sat off by themselves. They were more quiet and only looked on tiredly at the cheerleaders who were chatting among themselves. Sitting nearly on the other end of the contained area were the older part of the group, two professors and three salvage divers.

               Upon arriving, Colette assigned her team. Since getting a stern lecturing from Jelena, the rookies showed Colette a bit more of respect, fearing another lecture from the Croatian. She let them handle the younger crowd while she headed over to the older group. She knew these interviews were pointless but she just went along with it, keeping her cover secured.

               The ITEA agents began interviewing the witnesses one at a time off to the side. Pamela watched nervously as Zella, Rachel and Rita went off with the agents. This whole thing had an X-Files feeling and she hated it. She just wanted to go home and put everything behind her. The memory that crazy woman was still fresh in her head. Kellie slid next to her roommate and put her arms around her cutely. The action made Pamela nearly jump out of her skin. She pushed away from Kellie and smiled at her nervously. “What’s wrong Pamie?” the blond asked with concern, moving closer to Pamela.

               Pamela moved back closer to her roommate and best friend, relaxing, “Nothing…” she replied, smiling weakly. Kellie perked up and smiled and then resumed her position with her arms around her friend. “Do you remember anything?” Pamela asked, not looking at her friend who was resting her head on her shoulder.

               Kellie let out a loud yawn, “I’m so tired Pamie; I just want to go home,” she replied. That was a good enough answer for Pamela. She didn’t remember.

               “Me too,” she simply said.

               “What do you remember?” A voice behind asked. Pamela turned and was startled to see Michelle Gim and Sandy Vanholt staring at her intently. Michelle had asked the question. She had gone over to Friday earlier to see if the girl remembered the crazy professor Tisdale, who poisoned them with something and the next thing they remembered was coming to in the warehouse, either naked or dressed in strange outfits. Friday didn’t remember anything and didn’t want to talk about but Sandy Vanholt remembered Ashley Tisdale clearly. The two girls talked, trading stories and then they overheard Pamela.

               “You remember Ashley too don’t you?” Sandy asked.

               “Talk to us Fitzpatrick,” Michelle urged.

               Looking over at her friend, the blond had drifted to sleep. She then looked back at Michelle and Sandy. “There was this lady…” she began. The girls would later try to tell the ITEA agents all this, although none of the girls who had been chipped could recall the battle for the ship, or who had overcome them. There was little ITEA could do without Ashley in custody, however.

Eastern United States

One Day Later

               They were riding home in a fairly large private jet. Tucker would guess it was nearly the size of a small commercial regional jet. They had left early the next morning after their pricy and fancy Thanksgiving feast. Alexis and Veronica were the pilots. Izel, Karen, Torre and Naoko were flight attendants. Ryoshi had taken Mary Beth to one of the back cabins to examine while Scott did the same with Leslie. Julie and Kat were just dropped off in Rhode Island, where their family had been expecting them since earlier that week. Scott gave them a cover story stating that they won a once in a lifetime paid trip to London in some cute twins contest. After a quick refueling, the jet was back in the air and heading towards LAX; after that it would refill once more and head to Brazil.

               Tucker and Haley sat next to each other in puffy leather loungers in the passenger’s cabin. Karen was dressed back in her flight attendant’s uniform; she was on her knees and at Haley’s feet giving her foot massage. Haley sat reading a magazine and sipping on a margarita. Tucker leaned back, napping, with Izel massaging his shoulders. Naoko was in the galley preparing a snack of chips and dip for the two friends.

               Putting her magazine aside, Haley turned to Tucker, “hey you remember our trip to Hawaii?”

               His eyes still closed, Tucker smiled, “Yeah… that was fun.  After the intrigue.”

               Haley giggled, “You wanna?”

               Tucker opened his eyes and turned to Haley grinning. His grin then faded, “I wish I could, Haley, but… I’m with,” he started to say.

               “I was just testing you,” Haley said quickly with a laugh and picked back up her magazine.

               Just then Torre came from the rear. The former salvage diver was dressed in a similar attendant’s uniform to Karen now and had donned a curly blond wig that contrasted sexily with her dark skin. “Mr. Dawson would like a word with you,” Torre said in a French-English accent. Tucker stood; Izel stopped what she was doing and stood by, waiting patiently for his return.

               “I’ll be back,” he said to Haley, who nodded from behind her magazine. Tucker then followed Torre back to the rear of jet. Haley looked back and then downed the whole margarita glass. She let out a disappointed sigh after Tucker had disappeared. She wanted him back.

               “One more,” Haley then prompted Izel with her glass raised.

               The back of the jet was a large bedroom with finished oak paneling and cream colored carpeting. A large king-sized bed occupied the back of the room, masked in blue sheets and pillows. A flat screen plasma screen TV was suspended on a far wall with the news playing on it. In the center of the room was a round oak table surrounded by puffy leather loungers similar to ones that Haley and Tucker were sitting on in the main cabin.

Scott sat in one of the loungers at the table. A glass of gin was in front of him along with his laptop and a velvet box. Mary Beth stood at attention in front of the bed, completely stark naked with her brown hair hanging loose. She had a blank face and empty eyes that looked dead ahead at nothing in particular. Ryoshi sat on the bed, dressed in a lacy almost see-through hot pink teddy, her legs were crossed at the knees and her feet remained bare. She was leaned back with one hand supporting her body on the bed. The other hand had a glass to her lips. It didn’t take Tucker long to figure out that his sexy aunt was frozen. The glazed look of her brown eyes said it all. Leslie stood in the corner of the room, at attention, dressed in jeans and a blue Batman baby-T. A pair of pink sneakers covered her feet; her shoulder-length blond hair was tied back in simple ponytail. The look was casual and unusual for how Tucker had seen Scott dress his party girls. Scott gestured Tucker to a seat in front of him. Torre stood idly at the door of the cabin, awaiting her next command.

               Tucker took the seat eying his aunt and then Leslie, “what’s up, Uncle Scott?”

               Catching his nephew’s looks around the room, he smiled, “Ryoshi like to be frozen from time to time and I’ll explain about Leslie in a moment,” he explained and continued. “I wanted to thank you for your help again and to apologize again for using Maggie to bait you.”

               “No problem, Uncle Scott; it all ended well and Maggie seems back to being her regular self. I probably wouldn’t have come if you hadn’t done that,” Tucker replied.

               Scott nodded then slid the velvet box over to Tucker. The younger man opened the box as Scott explained, “I know, I know you hate these things, but I thought I’ll give you two just in case you ever needed them.”

               Tucker looked at the two small chips in the box. He wanted to give them back. “Uncle Scott, I can’t…” Tucker started to say.

               His uncle put up his hand to stop him, “You never know Tucker; just take them. They’re blank command chips. They have no persona programmed into them but once you put one on someone, they’ll be your slave, absolutely obedient to your every command. Don’t use them if you don’t want to – but just have them around – because like I said, you never know.”

               “Fine,” Tucker agreed reluctantly stuffing the small box into his pocket. “I probably won’t even use them, but I get what you are saying. Always have a back-up plan. Thinking back, I could have used these a few months back,” Tucker said, recalling his little run-in with Aisha Reynolds and a missing girl named Candice Robins, who was one of his permanent live-in mannequins. Oh, how one of those chips would have made life so much easier, he thought.

               “Good; now that is settled,” Scott said and then, turning, he gestured at Leslie, “She’s yours.” Tucker’s mouth dropped and he was speechless, so Scott continued. “I have enough Type-7 in her body right now to the point she is pretty much going to be stuck like that ‘till a detox shot can be administered, or she’s chipped again. All you have to do is wave your wand over her and her fate is pretty much sealed.” Removing a stainless steel canister from under the table, Scott slid it over to Tucker before continuing. “Here’s some Type-7; take it as a precaution like the chips.” Tucker got up from his seat, walked over to Leslie and wrapped his arms around the frozen girl with a big grin on face. “Call it a gift for all those birthdays and Christmas’ I missed,” his uncle chuckled.

               “Thanks Uncle Scott,” Tucker said, smiling.

               Scott nodded and then turned to Torre, “Help Mr. Holmes with his things and then leave me alone for the remaining duration of the flight,” he commanded her.  Turning back to Tucker, he grinned, “It’s time for me to be rewarded,” he said, gesturing to Ryoshi with a wink.

               Tucker laughed, “You got it, Uncle Scott,” he said, dragging Leslie out of the room. Torre followed, carrying the Type-7 canister. “Hey Haley look what I got…” Tucker said as the door closed behind him.

               Scott smiled and turned to Mary Beth and Ryoshi, “Mary Beth, I think my wife needs to get a bit more comfortable.”

               Mary Beth blinked and smiled, “Right away Master,” she said dreamily.

London, England

ITEA HQ a few days later…

               “Ashley is gone to the winds. There is no sign of her; plus there is barely any evidence she was ever on that cargo ship. The two other boats involved are also a no go; it looks like they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The only thing we can link her to in this case are the eyewitness reports from three students along with a fourth who isn’t sure. No else remembers much, not even our own captured agents,” Cassandra explained, looking directly at Tasia when she had said ‘agents’. The Greek only looked down at her hands. They were seated in Lucienne’s office. The French woman was back in charge and she wanted to know everything that happened and why no arrests had been made.

               Lucienne looked over at Sophie, the second of the three ranking agents in the room. “Agent Katsopolis, do you have anything to add?”

               “We still don’t know what happened to our network and there is a chance we may never know, according to Paddy…I mean Paddington, the virus was unlike anything he has ever seen; it had only one purpose and that was to keep us down for twenty-four hours. After that, the net came back online like nothing happened,” Sophie explained.

               “Any idea what immobilized me and the others…you surely must have found something? I was naked in evidence for some time while the doctors poked and prodded, tell me something came out of that!” Lucienne demanded; her anger was boiling and the others in the room felt it. They were silent. “Of course we don’t have anything; all that was for nothing, all we have is a rusted up cargo ship and a bunch of cheerleaders who don’t remember anything!” Lucienne said with an exasperated sigh, leaning back in her chair. The room was silent. “How about the gentlemen we arrested?”

               “Tucker Holmes…” Cassandra said carefully. “He was found… not be involved. In fact, we might have endangered his life by transporting him. We now believe that ITEA might have been a target and, being the open, we were ambushed. Mr. Holmes luckily made it to the city and hid. It sounds unbelievable, but Sophie verified his story with several witness accounts,” Cassandra explained. Unknown to the four women, those witnesses had been paid for by Scott Dawson.

               “Whose idea was it to arrest him in the first place and whose idea was it to send an inexperienced team out to an unsecured location, better yet why wasn’t that location secured in the first place?’ Lucienne asked sternly, sitting up at her desk.

               “I’m sorry Lucienne…” Cassandra said, “There’s no excuse. I should have left a team to secure the location before sending in the other team. I should have given them more direct orders.”

               “That’s okay, Cassandra, you were reacting to a dynamic situation; though your decisions may have been flawed you have had no choice, in a sense as you were put in an unfavorable position in the first place,” Lucienne said.

Turning to Tasia, who had remained quiet throughout the meeting so far. “Ms Spiro,” she began. “As my second in command I expected you act using a sound mind and good judgment. You acted impulsively and on emotion. You put Agent Flick in a bad position and might have doomed this whole operation; of course there is no proof of that since well… we have no proof.”

               “What?!” Tasia shot out, surprising the other women in the room. “I acted that way because you were frozen like a statue and no one knew why! 

               Lucienne stood, “That’s right Ms. Spiro; that’s exactly why you acted that way. Emotion.  That’s why we don’t have anything. You should have looked at the big picture. You made an unlawful arrest on a US citizen. Tasia, this isn’t the first time you acted on emotions or intuition and I feel you judgment is not based on fact and purely based on how you feel.”

               Before Lucienne could continue, Tasia stood from her seat, “You’re calling me Ms. Spiro… you’ve decided already haven’t you? Tasia asked coldly.

               “Tasia, you rose up through the ranks too fast. I think you need some time off, and Interpol and the UN are looking for me to do something about this… fiasco. ITEA dropped the ball on this one,” Lucienne replied.

               “So, I’m the scapegoat?” Tasia asked crossing her arms. “This is pretty mature of you Lucienne; I know we were having problems at home… but this is my career!”

               “That’s enough, Tasia!” Lucienne interrupted, a bit embarrassed. “You’re suspended until further notice. You’re right, it’s your career; now grow up and pay for your mistakes!”

               “We’re done!” Tasia shot back and stormed out of the room.

The End? (Of this tale. Tucker's adventures continue...)