Copyright 2004 by the Author. This story contains scenes of bondage, extreme peril, and some torture. The good guys win in the end, of course, but if this type of content disturbs you than DO NOT READ!
This was the part that Aspen liked least, the waiting. She had arrived via limo at the Hifong International Financial Center in Taiwan some seven hours earlier, stylishly dressed in a black silk pants suit and dark sunglasses flanked by well-dressed assassins that passed on casual inspection as expensive bodyguards. Once inside a private locker room, however, she had been stripped and bound, and her two assistants pretty little Asian whores named Tiko and Mia had bathed, groomed, and dressed her in preparation for the evenings challenge. It had been a detailed and time-consuming process as usual, but Tiko and Mia did their work inconspicuously, leaving the young INTERPOL agent with nothing to do but ponder her upcoming trial. At times she felt like an ice skater or a prima ballerina, waiting in the wings for her cue to take the stage. But in this case there was one grisly difference: the audience had paid good money to watch her die.
Hold still please, Tiko said almost meekly as she reached up toward Aspens right eye and dabbed it with purple shadow. The heavy theatrical cosmetics almost perfectly concealed the nasty blue-black bruises that still marred Aspens face from her previous challenge, which had pitted her against four military robots in an industrial complex north of Tokyo. She too had been given a suit of cyber armor, but it had consisted only of a metal bikini with hydraulic braces for her knees and elbows and a sci-fi helmet with night vision and laser range finder. It had provided precious little protection against the drills, vice claws, and welding torches of her remotely-operated opponents and she had suffered multiple serious injuries in her narrow victory. Even Tikos great skill with cosmetics had been put to the test concealing the patchwork of ugly bruises, punctures, and freshly healed lacerations that still marred her body.
In the weeks since her capture by the Asian crime syndicate known as Cobra Fang, Aspen Silverlake better know to the criminal underworld by her code name Raven -- had been forced to apply her well-honed fighting talents in a new vocation: human combat. Her first impromptu bout had been with a Fang enforcer, shortly after her capture. The combat was supposed to have been her death sentence, but when the slim spy was miraculously victorious over her hulking male opponent her captor, Dark Master Li, saw a golden opportunity to both punish Raven for her intrusion and make a handsome profit in the process. Two days later she found herself in her first professional bout.
Your footwear for the evening, Mia said submissively, holding up a donut ring of glossy black rubber, terminating in a two-toed rubber slipper like the boot of a ninja. If it pleases my mistress.
Yes, of course, Aspen smiled wearily, amused by the girls fawning subservience. From her seated position on the make-up chair Aspen extended her leg, allowing Mia to slide the well-oiled slipper over her nylon-clad foot, and then roll the condom-like legging up to her lower thigh. The elements of her costume often gave Raven some insight into the nature of the trial that lay ahead. Master Lis choice of the ballet-like slippers instead of the usual high heels clearly indicated that she would be needing her sense of balance. Given that the twin towers of the financial center were over 130 stories tall that suggested some disturbing possibilities.
There! Tiko said warmly as she brushed lip pigment liberally on Aspens lush lips. My mistress will be so beautiful tonight that she will certainly prevail!
Aspen glanced protectively from side to the side, and Tiko hung her head blushing in shame. She had put all three of them in sudden danger. Ravens dressing room consisted of a portable cage, surrounded on all sides by black-suited assassins, each with a machine pistol loaded and leveled on the three women inside. Every aspect of Ravens preparation from her sponge bath to her final primping -- Mia and Tiko conducted within the cramped environs of the cage. If any of them tried to so much as even inspect the lock, the guards had strict instructions to shoot. Any words of compassion or friendship between them would certainly be reported to Master Li, and would likely result in them being turned over to the Cobra Fangs slave trainers for discipline. Or worse.
I mean, Tiko added hurriedly, If it pleases Master Li.
He will be pleased, Raven said in Chinese so that the guards could overhear. Your work will loosen the pockets of the Quang-Lo and the Shintei and drive them to wager more for my defeat, as the Master wishes.
Glancing in the mirror, Aspen had to admit the grim truth of her words. Her bright, flashy make-up and exotic fetish costume did have the undeniable dramatic appeal craved by men in the Orient. Her uniform for the evening consisted of a halter top body suit, elbow-length rubber opera gloves, and rubber ninja-footed leggings, all of glossy black rubber. The body suit included a high turtle neck collar that extended all the way to the base of her jaw line, and was French cut at the thighs with a thong back that left little of her nylon-sheathed buttocks to the imagination. Her firm breasts were further supported by a discrete half-cup brassiere of ribbed black rubber, and a golden symbol of a rearing cobra blazed over her left breast. Her deliciously narrow waist was tied off with a silk sash that could be readily repositioned to expose the invisible but well-publicized zipper that ran through her crotch. Her tights too sported a hidden seam through the crotch -- Master Li delighted in the fact that her sex could be readily exposed if she were careless enough to fall into her opponents hands alive.
Her hair and makeup completed the illusion of a modern-day hentai superheroine. The heavy black lining around her eyes surrounded by fields of a metallic violet and green made her already expressive green eyes seem huge and oriental. The pale white base made her youthful features seem delicate and fragile, her ruby red lips straining to be kissed. Golden glitter twinkled in her mane of raven-dark hair as it tumbled over her shoulders. She was a pretty, wide-eyed, angel in a skin-tight rubber uniform precisely the sexy, vulnerable image Master Li wanted her to project for his high-stakes games.
But Ravens bouts had not always been fought in such exotic costumes and in such exclusive locales. Her first outings had been crude, brutal affairs thrust into a leather bikini and hurled out into the rough gaming pits of the oriental underworld. These contests were little more than intermission between the stakes matches, with Raven pitted against obese masked women and wild dogs for base entertainment. Yet despite her disorientation, sleep deprivation, and aching body from long nights of abuse at the hands of Master Li, she had managed to dispel each of her opponents with stunning ease, earning the wild cheers of the drunken mob. Master Li found to his delight that the sexy spy was more than a match for any of the women in the arena, and could dispatch most men with equal ease. Within weeks Master Li had promoted her to wagering matches against skilled male combatants. Her youth, beauty, and deceptive power led the bookmakers to cover long odds against her, and this meant that Master Li had little to lose and much to gain from each contest. Victory after shocking victory had netted Master Li a handsome profit, prompting the crime lord to keep her alive, at least until the next bout. It had become like a nightmarish retelling of 1001 Arabian Nights, where each battle was like a gripping tale on which Aspens very life depended.
But as the book makers caught onto Master Lis game, they stopped offering the handsome odds favoring Ravens opponents, so the wily overlord simply elevated his prisoner from the dockside fighting pens to the more elite clubs, and went to even greater lengths to ensure the odds remained heavily against her. He pitted Raven against multiple opponents, allowed the use of weapons and props, and even granted her opponents free reign to rape, torture or kill her in the course of the bout. Yet despite these extreme measures, Aspens fighting prowess, cunning, and astounding force of will proved just as effective against elite gladiators as wharf-side thugs. Her beauty, courage, and almost superhuman ability to cheat death finally drew the attention of Asias elite high-stakes gamblers and Master Li was only too happy to accommodate their requests, committing Raven to participate in a series of semi-private death matches that would put her skills to the ultimate test. If was grueling, inhuman and had netted the Cobra Fang an illicit fortune in gambling kickbacks.
One of the guards cell phones buzzed insistently. He briefly lowered his machine pistol to answer it. He said a few terse words then hung up.
Master Li is coming. Prepare her.
Mistress, the time is near for you to leave the cage, Mia broke Raven from her reverie and motioned to a black box resting on the floor under her makeup table. It contained her custom-fitted transit restraints.
Yes, Aspen sighed, standing up and savoring her last few moments of relative freedom. We mustnt keep the Master waiting.
Mia opened the box to reveal three sets of steel cuffs connected with chains of varying lengths, a steel slave collar, a black rubber ball gag, silk blindfold and a long steel chain with small silver padlocks. Despite Aspens many nights in strict bondage, her heart still fluttered at the site of the uncomfortable, humiliating, and inescapable restraints. But for her slaves sake, she had to maintain her sense of calm, lest the young girls show too much compassion for her.
Shall I turn around? Raven said turning around and placing her hands voluntarily behind her back. The first set of cuffs were actually welded tightly together and locked firmly around her wrists. The second set was secured just above her elbows, pulling her elbows close together and forcing her breasts forward. Mia secured the third set with its longer chain around her ankles, giving her enough range of motion to move forward in shuffling steps. The collar clicked into place like a skeletal fist wrapping firmly around her rubber-clad throat.
Raven absently tested her bondage while Tiko uncoiled the steel chain and Mina unbuckled the straps of the ball gag. The sexy agents teeth and jaws ached from the wide variety of gags she had been forced to wear since becoming Master Lis prisoner, but when Mia offered the chlorine-soaked ball she obediently opened her mouth.
Make it tight, ladies, Raven whispered to the slave girl behind her. The Master has instructed that I be disciplined at all times for my invasion of his home.
Yes mistress. They whispered through unmoving lips. Mina forced the gag between Aspens freshly brushed teeth and secured the straps tightly behind her head and under her chin. Then Tiko secured the chain to a steel eye bolt on the outer surface of the rubber ball, threaded the chain down between Ravens legs, and up through her wrist manacles. Raven bowed her head in forced Oriental humility, but this did not stop Tiko from continuing to tighten the chain until it bit deeply into her sex. The young spy grimaced in pain and Tiko pulled the chain as tight as she could before finally securing it in place with a steel padlock.
As a final touch, the slave girls draped a flowing cape of black rubber over Aspens shoulders, and clasped it at her throat with golden broach of a coiled snake, the symbol of the Cobra Fang. They had just arranged Ravens luxurious black hair so that it spilled regally down her back when the door burst open. The two slaves dropped to the floor, heads lowered.
Master Li swept into the room, accompanied by two female bodyguards in the black silk guis of elite ninja-trained assassins. Master Li himself preferred double-breasted Italian suits of great cost and exquisite tailoring. He wore a thin mustache on his impish, almost boyish face, and his dark hair hung in a braid almost to his waist. Given his youth and careless smile it was difficult to imagine just what Li was a master of. But Aspen had learned one of his talents the hard way -- making underhanded business deals. INTERPOLs contacts in Indochina had been thoroughly compromised long before Aspen and her support team parachuted into Cambodia to collect intelligence on an elite gathering of Asian mobsters. Her team had been captured immediately and Aspen herself had been led on a desperate treasure hunt through Lis palace in a hopeless attempt to save her fellow agents. The sadistic sport was enjoyed by all and culminated in the banquet chamber where an exhausted and emotionally devastated Aspen Silverlake had been stripped and forced to fight in a tournament to the death. At times, Aspen wished she had simply allowed the assassin to kill her and get it over with.
The hour is at hand, Master Li said with a cruel grin. Is Raven prepared for her latest challenge?
She has not attempted to escape from her cage, said captain of the guard said simply. He dared not presume to assess Aspens readiness in the presence of his Master.
Hmmm, Li walked slowly over to Aspen, who was still standing in the middle of the cage. His eyes twinkled with pleasure. I trust that she is well rested. I stand to make over 450 million Yen this night.
The beauty of Master Lis strategy was that the odds were never lower that 30 to 1 against Ravens survival, setting him up to profit handsomely from her amazing combat instincts while losing relatively little when she inevitably died. After four astounding private victories Master Lis clients were still willing to cover his long odds, but insisted on steadily more lethal environments with ever more elaborate safeguards to ensure that Raven would not survive the challenge. Whenever she demonstrated a new survival strategy or physical capability in winning a contest, her opponents took great care to insure it would be neutralized in the next battle. Fate would no doubt soon catch up to the beautiful spy, but her death too would serve its purpose. As far a Master Li was concerned Aspen Silverlake was dead already.
Yes, Master. She slept for 48 hours prior to our arrival. Master Li only allowed Aspen to sleep under sedation so that her rest would be deep and dreamless, allowing her no conscious memory of any release from her enslavement.
Good, Master Li leaned close to the bars and drew in the heavy aroma of Ravens perfume, admiring the swell of her breasts beneath the skin tight costume. The Lords of Malaysia are not patient men. They have agreed to extend the odds to 50:1 in exchange for additional concessions.
Even with her head forced downward Master Li could still see Raven catch her breath in surprise. The crime lord of Asia did not part with their money easily even in her battle against the industrial robots the odds against her were only 36 to one. Master Lis clients were clearly supremely confident that she would not survive her next challenge.
I must say, Master Li reached out his key the only key -- to unlock the cage, they are quite intent on your death. I look forward to considering just what additional concessions they have in mind. His tone was ominous.
Then he turned to his Captain. Blindfold her. Then bring her to the roof.
Ravens heart thundered in the chest as Master Li swept out of the room. Tiko and Mia immediately sprang to their feet to comply with Master Lis orders, producing two rubber pads and a black silk scarf. The pads Tiko inserted snuggly into each eye socket, then held them in place while Mia deftly concealed them beneath the layers of slippery silk leaving Aspen completely blind.
Good luck, mistress. Tiko whispered. May you ride on the wind.
Despite all her weeks of captivity, Raven still loathed the sensation of being led gagged, hobbled, and blindfolded toward some unknown destination. The bondage held her in humiliating submission and her guards took great pleasuring in pushing and jostling her causing her crotch chain to grind painfully against her most sensitive flesh. They moved quickly and made no accommodation for her blindness, steering her roughly through the maze of corridors, doorways, and elevators and pulling her to her feet by her hair whenever she lost her balance. It was almost a relief when the swirling of cold air finally signaled that they had arrived on the roof.
Gravel crunched beneath the boots of her guards as the entourage walked toward the edge of the building, the tang of the sea almost overpowered by the strong smell of roofing asphalt. Finally Raven was forced to a halt, over a thousand feet above the streets of Hifong. She could feel the magnetic presence of Master Li somewhere to her right as her cape fluttered in the wind behind her. Finally, the blindfold and gag were removed, allowing the slim spy her first view of her latest deadly ordeal.
The sight fulfilled her deepest anxieties. She was, indeed, standing on the edge of the roof of Tower # 1 of the Hifong Financial Center, facing its identical twin some 30 meters away. Between the two structures were strung a series of steel cables as thick as her thumb, spaced at three-foot intervals. The cables themselves were interconnected by a series of perpendicular steel cross-lines anchored at either end to the outermost tightropes, creating a grid of three-foot squares, with a thousand feet of open air beneath them. An outward leaning electrified fence ran along the outer ledge of either building to discourage vandals or jumpers. It was deactivated for the moment, but once armed it would ensure that no one on the web could seek the refuge of either rooftop without permission. And Aspen could guess at least one person that would fit that description.
I brought my web, Li. A man boomed from the far rooftop. Lord Kwong, master of the Quang-Lo drug syndicate. Did you bring my fly?
I did, Li nodded confidently. though I think you might find her more difficult to snare than you imagine!
We shall see. That is why I brought so many spiders!
Aspen could see them eight in all, four stationed on either rooftop. They were thin, sinewy-looking oriental men in red silk guis, doubtless trained acrobats or circus performers. Each was armed with a long pudgel -- a balanced fighting staff with either end tipped by tapering steel forks that could only be electrified prods. Each man wore a heavy belt with a steel safety line that could be secured to the web by a locking O-ring, a safety measure that Raven certainly wouldnt enjoy. In the harsh glare of the neon outlining the building she could see that each man wore the symbol of a black spider on his back.
And is my fly to mount the web unarmed? Li bellowed at the line of men on the far building, men who had wagered huge sums for the excitement of watching the event.
Of course not! What would be the sport in that?
One of the spiders stationed on Master Lis roof offered up a second pudgel stick, a practice unit padded on either end. The man on the far roof continued.
All she needs do is knock my spiders off the web to neutralize them, the man smiled. Surely this weapon will do for that purpose. With wide eyes Aspen glanced at the gleaming high-voltage prods wielded by each of her opponents. Outnumbered 8 to 1 against highly trained aerialists she was surely about to become very familiar with their sting.
Master Li stared at his opponent for along moment. Very well. Raven against your eight spiders, 50 to one odds against Raven.
Im afraid I must beg to differ, the man on the far roof bellowed. The current contest is 38:1 at best. But I noticed that your fly did not bring her own safety harness, so Ive brought her one of my own.
One of the Spiders produced a metal transit case and held it up before Master Li before opening the lid, like a courier showing his client that his cargo had arrived undisturbed. Nestled in foam rubber on one side were five steel cuffs for her wrists, ankles, and throat, each lined with several steel hoops making her easy to capture and bind. But the other side was even more disconcerting. It contained a pelvic harness consisting of a heavy rubber bondage belt, contoured crotch strap, and secondary thigh straps. The belt was lined with a dozen canisters slightly larger than shotgun shells, and the buckle included a heavy locking mechanism as well and two electrical plugs. The crotch strap itself was lined with steel sockets, each wired to the belt buckle with heavy inlaid circuitry. And it wasnt hard to guess what the sockets would be used for immediately beneath the belt protected in beds of foam rubber were two rubber dildoes lined with highly conductive golden knobs. At the base of the largest dildo was a third device consisting of an array of pointed electrodes situation in the midst of a small black suction cup. Shivers ran through Aspens body at the sight of the sexual torture devices.
An interesting device, Master Li looked up after a moment, drawing out the drama. Im certain that you have Raven tingling with anticipation at your offer.
Your offer of unrestricted access to her body during the contest is most generous. But under the circumstances, he motioned to the net, Im sure you can appreciate why special accommodations must be made.
Mixing sexual and physical torture was Master Lis area of special interest, and Aspen had suffered cruelly at his hands over the previous six weeks. But this was the first time a sponsor had brashly requested that she be stimulated in battle. Master Li was now well familiar with Ravens amazing sensitivity to sexual stimulation this type of device would put her at a considerable additional disadvantage.
How does the device work?
Its quite simple. The belt draws electrical charge from the wearers body and applies it to the probes. The ambient field generated by the human body is actually quite small really just a tickle so Ive included a series of batteries to store any transient charge and deliver it to the electrodes in a prolonged fashion. At the moment the batteries are discharged, but each touch of the fighting staff she will feel in a most intimate way.
Master Li glanced over at his sexy prisoner, her lips parted slightly and her eyes bright with alarm. His first inclination was to turn down Lord Kwongs offer to raise the stakes. Despite the outlandish forces marshaled against her, he still had confidence in Ravens ability to outsmart Kwongs circus monkeys on the steel web. But Master Li was quite familiar with Aspens vulnerability to sexual torture. He had already used it himself to shatter her stubborn yoga-trance she had been using to isolate her conscious mind from her body during interrogation, then seized the opportunity to powerfully enhance her sense of sexual vulnerability through many nights of sado-erotic conditioning. In these sessions, Aspen had been subjected to an array of lethal torture devices that could only be held at bay by constant self-induced sexual stimulation. Danger and arousal were now strongly linked in her subconscious, ensuring that any future sexual stimulation would instantly shatter and attempts at resistive meditation. But it would also almost certainly paralyze her on the web, and Master Li could see by the look in her eyes that even Raven too doubted her ability to withstand such an onslaught. It seemed better to settle on a 36:1 wager that he had some chance of winning then gambling at 50:1 on certain death.
But it was precisely the young spys unconcealed fear that drove Master Li to abruptly change his mind. Despite his current profitable enterprise, his true purpose was to make an example of the INTERPOL agent, documenting her ordeals and sending them back to Interpol to discourage any further meddling in his affairs. In the last six weeks he had made millions by challenging the young spy to attempt the impossible. Suddenly it seemed pointless to think of her safety now.
An interesting toy. What is the maximum charge the belt can sustain?
Kwong smiled behind his thick pop-bottle glasses. Under normal circumstances 15 volts at 12,000 cycles per second would be considered the limit to avoid permanent injury. However, I would not want to insult your champions courage so Ive multiplied its maximum sustained output to 200 volts. Quite lethal Im afraid.
Of course, Raven thought grimly. The very sight of the thick electrified dildoes made her pussy wet and her skin tingle. The chances of surviving the triple peril of the steel web, master assassins, and electro-torture belt were laughably small. Little wonder the men were willing to offer 50 to 1 odds against her the true odds were more like a thousand to one. Surely even Master Li wouldnt agree to
Done! Master Li bellowed with a broad smile as if Kwong had just agreed to a swindle. 50:1 odds it is. Your men may have their way with her for now.
Aspen could barely believe her ears. Master Li knew better than anybody her newly implanted sensitivity to erotic stimulation. Yet Master Li turned away as the Spiders approached her and prepared the belt for use, removing it from the transit case, locking the state-of-the-art vibrator dildoes in place, and coating each with conductive lubricating fluid. When the men completed their work she had no choice but to submit herself to their will, placing her hands on her head and spreading her legs slightly.
The collar came first, a two-inch steel band lined with rubber to insulate the three solid O rings from the electrical effects of the belt. Then came her wrist and ankle cuffs, each similarly insulated and locked into place. If she were overcome even for an instant it would be a simple matter for her eight opponents to bind her in any way they chose.
But Ravens eyes were locked on the chastity belt, three inches wide and designed to settle low on her hips, held tightly in place by rubber straps around either thigh. With a dry chuckle one of the spiders settled the rubberized belt around her flaring hips, then pulled the ends tight until the buckle locked with the solid clack of a high-security lock. Heavy black straps made a low V across her hips and buttocks as the thigh straps were tightly secured, and the cold wind licked at her neatly-trimmed pussy as a spider drew down her crotch zipper to secure the crotch strap. The man chuckled as he opened the seam in her tights to reveal her perfumed sex, already moist with dread anticipation.
I see, the Spider hissed as he secured the crotch strap solidly to the rear of Aspens belt, that the lubricant is hardly necessary. He pulled the crotch strap up between her legs and nestled the cold head of the vaginal dildo against her nether lips. But if you are expecting any pleasure I can assure you, it will be repaid a hundred fold in pain.
Raven felt both horror and unwanted arousal as the Spider slid the longer of the two dildoes into her pussy, well oiled by Tiko for just such an occasion. Then came the shorter but thicker anal dildo, flooding the petite spys mind with sensations of erotic vulnerability that only comes from deep double penetration. She threw her head back and gasped as the Spider drove the two vibrators home deep inside her, and shuddered as he secured the front of the crotch strap to the corresponding buckles of her bondage belt with a final clack. Immediately, the green LEDs on her belt came to life indicating that the sadistic device was active, and the sudden force of a rubber suction cup drawing tight against her clit forcing the doomed spy to gasp anew. It took several moments before she managed to straighten her back and reached out her gloved hand to the Spider.
You forgot one thing. My pudgel stick.
Of course, the man bowed mockingly. How could I forget?
Like a squire handing a knight his sword, the Spider offered over the padded pudgel stick to his petite adversary. Aspen accepted the practice weapon and for a moment considered bopping the man off the roof with the padded surface. But such a stunt would almost certainly invite reprisals from the dozen guards overlooking the event. Instead, she forced a smile.
Thank you.
Master Li grinned with wolfish delight as Aspen walked gingerly past, the crowd of men parting to offer her ready access to the web of death. The dildos jostled painfully as she mounted the cold electric fence and dropped down on to the narrow ledge beyond. Immediately before her was nothing but chilly open air, and the full horror of her situation closed in around her like a vise. The steel web seemed impossibly thin and insubstantial as she shifted her feet in preparation to venture out on the web.
The fly will have 45 seconds to prepare herself, then activate the fence and release the Spiders.
_ In that order I hope_, Aspen thought grimly as she surveyed the ground far below. Through the misty sky, she could still see the taxis driving by, and even tiny insects that could only be people, people running errands, going out on dates, leading normal lives. Most of them were doubtlessly average people leading average lives, but at that moment she bitterly envied their freedom, and their mediocrity. Even as they hurried home to their wives and strolled leisurely along with their lovers, she would be facing electrocution, torture, and almost certain death on the icy web. If only she could make it to the street she would have hope, a fighting chance of eluding Master Li long enough to report to INTERPOL of her desperate situation. But with a chill she realized that a trip to the pavement was exactly what Kwong had in mind for her eventually. In fact, it would require all of her courage, wit and resolve to avoid it.
With a deep sigh, the young agent finally steeled her courage and took her first tenuous steps out on the web. Though the steel cable was thinner than she would have liked, her boots provided good traction and the pudgel stick served as an effective balancing pole. When she reached the first cross-cable she was allowed to place her feet perpendicular to each other, making the balancing pole less necessary. Unfortunately, the sway and shuddering of the web was even worse than she had anticipated, and her rubber costume provided precious little protection against the biting wind. Still, she managed to reach the center of the web before her head start had expired.
Thats enough! Kwong bellowed over the whipping wind. Spiders you may mount the web!
Even as Aspen had made her way tenuously out on the swaying web, the Spiders had scaled the electrified boundary fence and secured themselves to the web by their steel safety lines, forming four-man rows on either building top like chess pieces. Raven would have found one of their harnesses infinitely preferable to her own, but she noted that the long cables could also serve as impediments, if she could find some way to exploit them. In addition to their long dual-tipped prods each man now carried several coils of strong bondage chain equipped with quick-latch mechanisms ideally suited to the steel rings on her manacles and collar. Clearly, her opponents were not instructed to kill her immediately but instead to disable and snare her so that she could be tortured at some length before at last being hurled to the ground far below. Oddly, this thought provided some sense of comfort since anything that might secure her to the web would be in some ways preferable to her current sensation of free-standing vulnerability.
At the sound of their Masters command, all eight of the spiders slipped out onto the web in unison, moving as confidently as if they were strolling across a broad walkway rather than a flimsy steel web. At a sign from Kwong, the electric fence buzzed back to life, and the Spiders themselves activated their own high-voltage pudgel sticks as they began closing in on their prey. Aspens gaze darted quickly from side to side as her opponents closed on in her from all sides, casually spinning their electrified staffs until the twin prongs were nothing but a circular blur. The sexy spys mind raced for some strategy, some trick that would give her an edge, but the fear bit deeper than the blustery wind and it took all her resolve to just retain her footing on the web of death. Desperately, she fumbled at the buckle of the torture belt, hoping beyond hope that Kwong had equipped the device with some sort of hidden release mechanism. But, of course, her hopes were groundless -- the buckle was smooth and cold under her fingers, with no apparent release mechanism of any kind.
As Aspens mind reeled, she realized that action of any kind would at least help her fight off the smothering fear. Without any real hope of success, she seized the initiative, leaping from the center of the web toward one corner to engage a spider as he was transferring his safety line, hoping to fling him off the web before his allies could come to his aid. But her tactic caught no one by surprise. The master acrobat easily straightened himself and knocked aside her series of weak blows, then responded with a sequence of his own -- fast, powerful, and the deadly accuracy. Aspen was easily as fast as her attacker, but the combination of precarious balance and her smaller size made each parry difficult. The twin tines of the Spiders electrified prod swept closer and closer to her body with each clash until finally she was forced to drop her guard altogether to use her staff to retain her balance. The Spider seized the opportunity to deliver a nasty shock to her midsection.
Ahhh! the sexy spy hissed as she reeled backward on the web. The shock of the staff was painful, but the response of her torture belt to the charge was even more sinister, vibrating powerfully to life and flooding her abdomen with waves of unwanted pleasure. The effect was almost paralyzing as she raised her staff in a weak defensive position confronting two additional Spiders who had rapidly closed in during her brief offensive. Desperately she parried one stab aimed squarely at her face, then knocked aside a second blow targeted for her chest, following up with a lightening swing of her own that caught one Spider full in the chest. But any hope of evening the odds were quickly dissipated -- the man simply shrugged off the blow from her padded staff and retaliated with an overhead swing intended to spit her head open. She just managed to block the overhead smash with the shaft of her staff but the maneuver left her locked up with the larger man looming above her. The Spider took advantage of the compromising situation to bear down on Raven with all his weight, locking the slim spy in a battle of strength, driving the tips of his prod slowly, slowly downward and forcing his opponent into an ever-deepening back bend. Violet sparks dancing between the electrodes illuminated Aspens beautiful face as the circles of assassins closed all around her, their electrified staffs forming a tight circle from which there was no escape. But they made no immediate move to exploit their overwhelming advantage and Aspens arms soon quivered from the intense effort required to counter the Spiders surprising strength. Then she heard the twin heard the SNIKs to either side and her captors true purpose was revealed they had secured chains to her wrists and throat. Her arms were suddenly yanked wide, her pudgel stick flying out of her hand and spinning onto open space. The blow to her face, however, never landed. The wiry spider retracted his staff the instant that her arms were pulled aside.
Surprised little fly? the man noted her look of surprise at being spared the kiss of his staff. Dont be. With a viscous spin of his staff he brought the secondary prod up hard between her legs.
AHHHH. The insulated rubber crotch strap prevented the sharp tines from rending flesh, but the flash of current so close to her sex was explosive. Raven staggered, and would have slipped from the web altogether, except that a firm pull to her right arm corrected her balance and then drew her slowly with mincing steps along the narrow cable where she was delivered another punishing high voltage blow. The force of the impact blew Aspen backward as if she had been shot, but again the Spiders skillfully forced the stunned spy upright until she managed to regain her own shaky balance. Then she was drawn slowly but firmly toward another waiting Spider.
Flash after flash of violet lightening accompanied the sadistic game of tug of war, and each shock brought fresh agony as Aspen was drawn randomly across the web giving each Spider shot after shot at her defenseless body. Her pelvis shuddered and bucked with mounting urgency as the power output of her torture belt steadily increased, stimulating her clit with wet kisses even as the dildoes delivered agonizing high voltage shocks as they vibrated madly deep within her. Yet whenever it seemed as if she might finally fall, her balance would be savagely corrected with a tug on her chains or the sharpened tines of a fighting staff. As the diodes on the belt climbed from green to yellow it was clear that even the viscous jolt of the modified cattle prods was minor compared to the storm of pleasure-pain being generated by the torture belt. Her face was a continuous mask of suffering as she was drawn ceaselessly across the web, her fading efforts now focused almost exclusively on reaching her hands toward her crotch in a vain attempt to remove the electrodes from her sex. It was almost a mercy when Raven finally lost her footing completely and slipped free of the web.
So it seems the fly has finally lost her way, Quaong chided. Let us give her one last chance to redeem herself. Haul her back up!
Raven hung semi-conscious just beneath the web from her wrist manacles, her pelvis still thrusting and bucking as if she were being raped from front and rear by unseen assailants. The diodes on her belt had peaked above the green indicating maximum safe activation and were now flashing a yellow of warning. Lost in a haze of private torture she was powerless to resist as she was drawn back to the top of the web. She looked at her attackers with dazed, helpless eyes as her wrists were drawn behind her back and secured into place. The spiders plans of securing her wrists to a crotch chain running between her legs and up to an attachment point on her belt was aborted as the men received nasty shocks every time they brought the chain in contact with Ravens crotch. They settled for securing coil after coil of chain around each of her ankles to weigh her down. As the electrostim belt reluctantly receded back into the green, Aspens eyes cleared and her mind slowly regained focus. Still, it was difficult to grapple with the fact that she was now in even worse trouble than before.
Playtime is over, little fly, a voice whispered very close to her. The only chain securing you to the web this time is around your dainty little throat. And weve added some weight to your legs to make sure your neck snaps clean.
A sea of violet-blue electrified staffs surrounded the slim spy. Of course, the moment of your death is up to you, and were here to give you all the fun you want until your big break. Raven shook her head in disbelief as the man held up a blindfold, black rubber in keeping with her costume. Now for the fun part, hold still.
Raven tried to shake her head from side to side as she was fitted with the tight blindfold, but of course her resistance was futile. As long as you keep moving, well keep our stingers to ourselves except to hurry you along and change your direction. If you stop or try to resist then we all have at you, understand? Quongs paid good money to watch you die slowly, so lets put on a good show, shall we?
Suddenly Raven was pushed away to stagger and weave unassisted on the steel web. Her heart thundered in her chest and her throat was tight with mortal fear. The heavy chains and utter blindness would have made it extremely difficult to maintain her balance on the web, even without the onslaught of the torture belt. But her clit was rock hard within the tight confines of the suction cup, and 50 tiny tongues of fire were licking her into a perpetual state of intense arousal as the dildoes vibrated and crackled deep within her. Yet Raven forced herself to take a wobbly step, and then another. The deadly game of blind mans bluff was underway.
I thought dominating the great Raven would be a bit more challenging, Master Quong chided Li from the far building. Shall we end this now and settle our score.
From the relative safety of the rooftop Master Li had to admit the situation looked quite hopeless. Beyond the electrified fence, his rubber-clad champion was blindfolded tightly chained, and surrounded by leering Spiders. Each step clearly took tremendous effort and the uncontrollable gyrations of her pelvis attested the sexual torture that only Raven herself could fully appreciate. The Spiders couldnt help but give her quick shocks from their electrified staffs illuminating their shapely prey in a strobe light of harsh blue. Surely even the great Ravens stamina could not hold out for much longer, whatever Lis response. She had already endured 10 minutes on the web and had been shocked no less than 40 times. There was little point in investing much more in the exercise yet it was always when things seemed at their worst that Raven would suddenly turn the tables. He had no reason to expect this would be any different.
I am glad you are feeling so comfortable with your wager. Shall we, then, make it 60 to 1?
For a moment Quong recoiled as if he had been slapped, so great was Master Lis apparent confidence. But then his surprise turned to smoldering rage, focused squarely on the smug face of Master Li. If you are such a fool DONE! Spiders, kill the Raven! Kill her immediately!
Out on the steel web the Spiders had fallen into a pattern of frequent but mild electric shocks, forcing their sexy victim through a complex series of twists and turns that left her completely disorientated while at the same time keeping her toward the center of the web where the sway was the greatest and her neck chain would have the most devastating effect when she ultimately fell. The endless series of small jolts had recharged the stimulation belt until its power output had once again crept into the yellow and even the hardened acrobats had to admire their diminutive victims courage and stamina in the face of such hellish torment. It was almost a mercy when Master Quong finally ordered them to put Raven out of her misery.
The men diverted their attention only for a moment in order to adjust the output of their staffs to maximum power, but that was all it took. One Spider suddenly cried out in surprise as his staff was whipped out of his hand, but a moment later his yelp became a chorus as each spider was dealt a full-power shock that blew him cleanly off the web and into open space. In the course of a few heartbeats almost their entire party had been unexpectedly defeated.
Most but not all. Two still remained, positioned on either side of the still blindfolded woman who only moments ago had been their helpless prisoner. Yet the moment of distraction, Raven had managed to jump through her wrist manacles so that her arms were in front of her, then grasp the staff from the closest spider by homing in on the sound of his charging dynamo. Then she had swung the electrified staff now at full power in a full circle around her position making contact with six of the eight Spiders. Still, with her arms still chained together and her eyed blindfolded, her peril was far from over.
A clever tactic, western bitch! one of the men hissed as he closed in on her. But you only got a few of us. He had no intention of telling her exactly how effective her tactic had been once it was obvious that her weakened fumblings at the blindfold were fruitless. The rubber device was pulled inescapably tight and the straps were held firmly in place with a small titanium padlock. Gentlemen, have at her!
Raven turned her head from side to side as if trying to gauge the number and position of her opponents with some sort of mystical radar. But the young spy seemed oblivious to her enemies true positions as they closed in to finish her off from both sides simultaneously. But again, the joke was on them.
Both Spiders jumped and danced as the web itself came alive with crackling electricity. A quick glance at their opponent revealed to their horror that Raven had slipped the tines of her staff into the crook of the web, and then slipped from corner to corner, electrifying all the cables converging on her position in rapid sequence. Both Spiders skipped and danced until they too fell from the web, defeated.
Master Li carefully concealed his surge of glee at the sudden defeat of Quongs Spiders in the elaborate deathtrap. For his part, Quong stared in disbelief, not comprehending what had just happened. Even Raven still turned slowly about on the web, wary for more attacks. Her staff, though, had long since burned out.
Perhaps you should shut off the electrified fence, Master Li could not suppress a grin. Now that the challenge is over. Your men look quite uncomfortable.
Then Master Li turned to his champion. Raven, the challenge is over. Please come to the sound of my voice.
At first Raven thought it was some sort of trick and stayed on her guard, but gradually she began to look hopeful, despite the veil of the rubber blindfold concealing her more expressive features. She managed to just make it over the edge of the roof before losing consciousness, draping her exhausted body against the cold electrified wire of the protective fence.
Fortunately, Master Quong had consented to turn the fence off.
For the first time in over a week Aspen dreamed, but even in slumber she could not get far from the Cobra Fang. She found herself sitting once again in the jump seat of the insertion helicopter as it weaved and banked its way at tree top level deeper and deeper into the Indochinese jungle. She was dressed in a nylon jump suit with light body armor, black combat boots and black shooting gloves, with a black equipment belt around her waist and her visored jump helmet on her lap. Her uniform bore the symbol of a subdued yellow rook on a red background on the left shoulder, the insignia of the INTERPOL Special Operations and Tactics Unit, and on her shoulders she wore First Lieutenants bars she was the officer in charge of the 4-man team. All in all it was an odd way for a collegiate gymnast to be spending her free time away from her team, but Aspen Silverlake loved challenges and the CIA had offered her a position she simply couldnt refuse. She had set the bar on many of the CIA entrance exams and after two years of training had found herself frequently called upon to complete daring covert missions. Yesterday, she had won a silver medal in the all-around and today she was parachuting into hostile territory in an attempt to scout out the location of a secret meeting of crime lords. It was a wonderful life.
The jump light over the door suddenly went from red to yellow it was almost time to go. The familiar butterflies flitted through her stomach as she strapped on her helmet and checked her weapon an air pistol loaded with 12 tranquilizer darts. Her men still favored the standard issue machine pistols, but Aspen had come to rely on the lighter, non-lethal weapon for its quiet stopping power and its persistent reminder if they were captured there would be no chance of fighting their way out. For similar reasons, Aspen always made a point of wearing feminine lingerie beneath her combat uniform. It served as a discrete reminder that, as a beautiful woman in a dangerous profession, she could look forward to special treatment if she were to fall into the hands of their enemies. It encouraged her to be extremely careful.
The yellow light started flashing and as one the 4-man team stood up, donned their helmets, and secured their jump cords to the steel bar above the door. This would be a quick drop from minimal altitude, a dangerous procedure under the best of circumstances with only seconds between full deployment of their parachutes and impact with the ground. Fortunately, their local operatives had well marked the landing zone with infrared beacons, minimizing the danger of colliding with invisible objects on the ground. Still, Aspens palms tingled beneath her shooting gloves as the light over the door went from yellow to red. As the leader, she opened the door without a moments hesitation leapt from the plane.
The wind blasted her, warm and heavy with moisture. The earthy slightly rotted smell of the jungle was everywhere. Beneath her the scene was absolutely black, as if she were jumping into a bottomless chasm. The horizon was a violet ring leading to a mist, starless sky. She scanned her surroundings quickly and efficiently, intent on orienting herself before the shock of parachute deployment jerked her painfully back skyward. Except that her chute never deployed! Instinctively, she pulled her manual ripcord but this too failed to deploy the lightweight tactical chute on her back. Then the scant few moments afforded to her in a low-level insertion to get her chute deployed slipped away and with a jolt she realized that she was about to die. Still responding on instinct she assumed a landing position if she were lucky enough to land in some depth of water then she just might be able to survive the free fall with broken legs and minor internal damage. And if she hit solid ground, at least her death would be quick. In her profession that was often the best outcome one could hope for.
Aspen desperately scanned the murky black beneath her legs for her first and only glimpse of the ground before it rushed up to greet her. But the seconds ticked by without the crushing impact only the rushing of the hot, swampy air as it rushed by her at terminal velocity, causing even the smallest gatherings of nylon fabric on her jumpsuit to flutter like streamers. Stunned at the unexpected duration of fall she lighted her head skyward, hoping to get a glimpse of her three other comrades or the retreating insertion help. Nothing. Only the misty violet sky greeted her, empty even of stars or moon, just a strange unnatural glow of eternal twilight. With a sudden pang of unexpected horror she was struck with the inexplicable realization that she was suddenly completely and utterly alone in her long fall toward the unseen ground.
Temporarily rejecting this outrageous notion she turned on her belt radio and activated the head set in the helmet.
Blackbird to Hornet, come in Hornet, she called out to her next in command. Hornet can you hear me? Code word is everwood. Nothing but static greeted her on radio. Hornet, this is Blackbird, chute failed, and I still seem to be falling. Almost 35 seconds now Jesus. To fall that long she would have to have bailed at over 20,000 feet. It just didnt make any sense. Blackbird to hornet, Blackbird to
She trailed off, as far below her she saw the glimmer of a small light. It grew brighter and larger as she fell, given Aspen her first since of perspective and proportion in over 2 minutes. But even as she fell she could tell exactly what it was, a tower bedroom, all four windows open but for mosquito nets to the night air. At its center of the room a young woman was sleeping fitfully in the midst of a solid four-poster bed, her head resting on satin pillows and her slim body lightly covered lightly with silk sheets. Torches sputtered in the corners of the room and in the flickering light Aspen could see that the dark-haired womans unnatural spread eagle sleeping position was a necessity of the delicate silver chains securing her wrists and ankles loosely to the four solid alabaster posters of the bed. The heavy door was secured from the outside and from her overheard vantage Aspen could see that two armed men casually patrolled the open-air catwalk surrounding the tower bedroom. Horror and panic closed around Aspen Silverlake like a vice.
No! Aspen heard herself yelling, her voice all but lost in the whistling wind. I wont go back! The tears were suddenly hot in the corners of her eyes as she fiddled with her parachute, trying to open it manually. The room rushed closer and closer as she screeched in frustration and anguish. Images and impressions flitted through her mind like waking nightmares, the interrogations, the torture sessions, humiliating slave training, fighting for her life before cheering fans -- it closed in around her from all sides and hurled toward the tower room, the guard, the chains, the bed. Her bed.
Aspens eyes shot open with a gasp of surprise. Her brief moment of freedom was suddenly over, to be replaced with the reality of her captivity. Her reward for her latest victory was a nights sleep in real bed, free of the heavy sedation that normally gave her rest without the freedom of dreams. Her chains were lighter then normal and she had been washed and perfumed for the evening. The breeze whispered pleasantly through the darkened room and a mild muscle relaxant eased the aches and pains that still accompanied her from her battle on the steel web.
But despite the pleasant illusion, the signs of her captivity were everywhere. The graceful ebony posts of the bed were reinforced with steel and equipped with a myriad of O-rings and mounting points for bondage far more devious than the simple loose spread eagle she found herself in. The heavy door was of teak wood banded with iron, locked from the outside, and the windows were equipped with bars just beyond the delicate netting. The mirrors in the room had the dull sheen of one-way glass -- she was likely being watched every minute. And even beyond the trap of the room, the pleasant pagoda tower in which she slept was situated on a tiny island at the center Master Lis maximum security training compound where all of the guards, assassins, and terrorists of the Cobra Fang learned their art. She was every bit as secure as if she were bound naked and gagged in the sensory deprivation cell where she had spent most of her nights since arriving in Thailand.
The thought of her own nakedness caused her to lift her head and shrug her shoulders to coax the silken sheets down from her body. Just as she had suspected, she was not nude but instead was clad in a revealing one-piece body suit of translucent red nylon, plunging V-like across the front and back of her body before merging just below her navel. A red rubberized band around her waist pulled the glossy fabric snug up around her pelvis and breasts, with similar non-slip bands loosely gathering the fabric at her shoulders. Ornamental red rubber bands also adorned her upper left thigh, left bicep, and choker-like around her throat. Her forearms were sheathed in slips of red nylon that tapered across the back of her hand held in place by elastic loops around her forefingers. The outfit was one of the special uniforms selected by Master Li to designate prisoners of special interest. To the Cobra Fang, anyone dressed in the red silks was to be considered a dead woman whose passing had merely been prolonged at their masters pleasure. She was never to be acknowledged or spoken to and, if discovered unescorted, was to be executed immediately. Aspen knew from weeks of experience that the rank and file of the Cobra Fang took their job very seriously.
Laying her head back on the pillow, she tried for a moment to reconstruct the days since her narrowest of victories on the steel web. She vaguely remembered being plucked off the fence even as waves of nausea washed through her from the mind-shattering stimulation of the belt. She remembered being strapped to a medical gurney and sedated, and awakened occasionally in a stylish private hospital room where she was being treated for her injuries. She felt refreshed but sore as she left the hospital, clad in a black silk camisole, leather pants, high heels, and a leather jacket. But after leaving in style in a long black limousine she was taken to a warehouse front controlled by the Cobra Fang and introduced to Master Lis latest transport module a coffin-like transit case of steel-reinforced black plastic lined with black foam rubber contoured to her body and equipped with 24-hour oxygen supply. Her stylish public wardrobe was replaced by a skin tight rubber catsuit with coordinated bondage restraints and a tight vinyl punishment hood and Master Li passed an amusing hour securing her cruelly in the stifling coffin before finally turning on a trickle of drug-tainted oxygen and securing her inside for the long trip home. For many hours Aspen hallucinated about nightmare creatures wrapping her ever tighter and tighter in their poisonous tentacles until oblivion finally claimed her. Her next conscious thought was in the tower bedroom where she was awarded for her victories.
The night belonged to her, but Aspen knew that in the morning she belonged to Master Li. He would celebrate her victory by having her brought to his private playroom for a prolonged session of rape and erotic torment. Though Master Li was the only man who ever actually violated her, his attentions were always interspersed with sessions of intricate bondage, physical torture, and maddening lesbian love play at the hands of his two skilled assistants. Sexual torture had been the key to breaking her during her weeks of interrogation, and she had proven so responsive to Lis intense chemical and physical conditioning that he had decided to continue her treatments for his own amusement. Each session yawned before her like an abyss of horror and dark pleasure, a nightmare where climax, pain and utter helplessness merged seamlessly in a nightmare from which there was no awaking, broken only by the utter darkness of her cell, and the moments of fathomless drug-induced sleep. Her bouts in the arena, despite their cruelties, were in many respects far kinder than the treatment she received in Master Lis training compound. Aspens dream of freedom, however fleeting, filled her with a sense of hope and purpose for the first time in many weeks. Her previous life, which had been driven so infinitely far away by Lis torments, was suddenly once again clear in her mind. If she could just somehow get free of the Fangs clutching grasp
The steel cuffs had a great deal of slack as they traveled up and down Ravens nylon-clad wrists, but the ankle chains would not be so easy. She couldnt even see them beneath the white satin sheets and once she slipped free of her bonds she might have only seconds to inspect them. She perhaps had only one slim advantage the overhead view of the pagoda from her dream. Not that she placed much stock in mysticism, but the dream was so startlingly clear that she had to give it some credit. It showed that the man sitting behind the mirror was asleep and the second man walking sentry around the narrow catwalk had just started his round. He would presumably peek in through the door with each circuit of the pagoda. So if she timed it right, she might have perhaps 60 seconds to get free before the guards were upon her.
Closing her huge green eyes, she focused her thoughts on the mental image of the tower, judging the unseen guards leisurely gait. She counted down the seconds even as she slowly tightened her body against the cuffs, pulling the chain taught. Then when she reached the point where she thought the guard would have just passed the front door, she PULLED!
It took several long seconds of fierce effort, but by carefully collapsing her palm along the line of her wrist Raven was able to pull free of the loosened cuffs and whip the sheet off her legs. Her heart leapt when she saw that her ankle manacles were equipped with a simple latching mechanism. With the push of a button they sprang open and the shapely spy was free. At least for the moment.
The silky fabric of her uniform glistened in the moonlight as she made her way across the room and took up a position beside the door. Her heart raced as she waited a moment for someone to burst through the door, but when that didnt happen she thanked her luck and moved to the mirror. The smell of her own perfume Master Lis favorite -- was almost hypnotic as she wrapping the satin sheet around her fist then closed her eyes, trying to picture precisely where the snoozing guard had been situated behind the one-way glass. Then she punched through the glass with fierce power that belied her small stature. The glass shattered all around her as her knuckles made solid contact with the skull beyond. The man fell backward off his tiny chair, but Aspen managed to land a second blow even as he dropped that ensured he was unconscious before he even hit the floor.
Aspen heard the sound of fast moving boots outside as she slipped through the frame of the shattered mirror and quickly patted the man down. He had a small radio and a rubber truncheon, but no keys and no other weapon. She wanted to search him for some kind of ID or authorization badge, but she rapidly ran out of time. The door to her room opened with a loud crash. Instead of confronting the guard, she took the easier way out, through the small door leading out of the observation booth. She paused only long enough to activate the large red button on the console before the now-oblivious guard, the button that she knew controlled the sleeping gas jets beneath the bed.
The night was warm and muggy as the young agent emerged from the small door to find herself standing on the exposed walkway around the perimeter of the pagoda. Beyond the pond at the base of the tower was a network of neatly manicured oriental gardens separating a wheel of practicing grounds for the Cobra Fang. Each practice ground fostered development of a different skill the hand, the blade, the bow, the gun, and the embrace, the lethal death holds from which the syndicate drew its amphibian name. The three floors of Master Lis estate surrounded the courtyard on all sides, with 5-story watchtowers at each corner like a medieval fortress. She could see the outline of armed men in each tower against the night sky. Even as she watched, they activated searchlights and began steering them toward the pagoda to pinpoint the source of the sudden commotion.
Aspen had no choice but to jump. Before one of the spotlights could alight on her she sprang from the railing and out in to open space, then braced herself for what she hoped would be an impact with water deep enough to break her fall. A moment later she was gratified by a sudden splash of surprisingly warm water. The bottom came quickly but not so soon that it caused damage to an experienced parachutist, and Aspen kicked off through the depths, hoping to put as much distance as possible between her and the impact point before breaking the surface. She managed to reach the cover of the narrow bridge spanning the distance between the pagoda island and the shore before breaking the surface of the water and taking a long breath. She waited for almost a minute until the sound of boots thudded overhead, guards running across the bridge to investigate the strange noises at the pagoda. As soon as they were past, Aspen slipped from the water and dashed into one of the oriental gardens that comprised the boarders between the practice areas.
The low hedges, trimmed yew trees, and flowering bushes of the garden provided little cover, but keeping low to the ground and moving from shadow to shadow Aspen made her way from the central pond to the open walkway near the outer wall without hearing the sound of the gongs that would indicate her escape had been discovered. From her hiding place beneath and trickling fountain she could see a pair of heavy wooden doors, all but lost in the shadows of an archway. To either side of the door was a shallow alcove for a sentry, but at the moment the door was unattended perhaps these were the guards that had passed over her head on their way to the island. Squinting her eyes, she could just discern the vague outline of a control panel in one of the alcoves. If she could find a way to activate it, she just might be able to slip out of the inner courtyard undetected. Only the 20-foot graveled walkway stood between Aspen and the relative safety of the shadowy alcove to the left of the door. She looked carefully around for any signs of pursuit then took a deep breath and sprang forward like a gymnast dashing for the vaulting horse.
But the young agent suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, as if she had run headlong into some sort of invisible barrier. Looking down at her body, she was suddenly bathed in the bright red light of a dozen laser sights. Tracing the shafts of red light back to their origins, she could see that she was surrounded by a cluster of Cobra Fang assassins, all dressed in deepest black and standing perfectly still, their silenced pistols all leveled on her. So great was their skill and so great was her haste that Aspen had walked right into the midst of her enemies without even noticing. Unbidden, she raised her hands in submission.
What is this? the man spoke in excellent English. An escaped prisoner wearing the silks of Master Li, asking quarter?
Aspen dared say nothing. She knew full well that they were well within their rights to kill her on sight, but surely they would not be so kind as to kill her in a hail of bullets. A man stepped from the crowd and holstered his pistol, leaving only 11 red dots on her body.
So you are Master Lis latest pet the Black Raven. You have no idea how glad we are to finally meet you. After so many nights of listening to your moans and cries, its helpful to put a face to the name.
The man approached and stood behind her, speaking into her ear as she snapped manacles on her upraised wrists. Our master has taken quite an interest in you.. He pulled Aspens arms behind her back and secured each wrist to the opposite elbow with an oversized steel cuff. Hes even issued us specialized hardware to restrain you in the event of your escape, along with strict instructions that you be returned to him alive. He snapped a steel collar around her throat.
Aspens pussy and nipples tingled as the unseen master assassin told her of her fate, an unwanted side effect of her extensive sexual conditioning. But there was something strange in the mans voice, something other than a sense of glee at finally getting a chance to torment his Masters favorite sex slave. She could tell by the tone in his voice he had something far worse in store for her than what Master Li had in mind.
That would be best, wouldnt it? Have our way with you and return you to Master Li. The man attached another set of manacles to her graceful ankles securing her feet tightly together. After all, the requirement that you simply be returned alive does leave some room for discretion, does it not?
But our Master has become most intrigued with your secret games, one might even say obsessed. You have become a distraction to Master Li and an irritant to the other Great Lords. He pulled another strap tight around Aspens knees, leaving her able to stand but nothing more. Finally his assistants produced a rubber ball gag of the type to which she had become well familiar, while their master against drew his pistol and chambered a round. Im afraid its time to silence you forever.
Then why go to all this trouble? Aspen asked. Why bother placing me in Master Lis toys only to kill me?
Shoot you?! That would be a bit difficult to explain would it not, given my orders? But if somehow you were able to penetrate into the compound itself, then you might by chance find yourself in one of the many traps Master Li has set for unwanted visitors. Most are quite lethal -- he has spared no expense to ensure that any would-be assassins die in great agony.
Aspen struggled hopelessly against her bondage as the master assassins plan became apparent. They would escort her through the maze of lesser snares to the very threshold of Master Lis personal domain. There she should be released only long enough to be thrust into one of their masters most lethal deathtraps. It would seem for all purposes that she had come seeking revenge for her harsh treatment and had finally met her doom on Master Lis very doorstep. Knowing Master Li, her final moments would not be pleasant but all in all, it still had some advantages over being returned to captivity.
Who was standing guard in the courtyard door this night? In response, two masked assassins stepped forward, a lean lanky man dressed in that loose-fitting uniform of a master assassin and a sleek teenage girl in a black rubber body suit and fishnet body stocking. At the slightest indication from his captain, the lanky ninja sized his partners head and head and snapped her neck, killing her instantly with little more than a gasp of surprise escaping her lips.
Take the prisoner to the hot room and beat her thoroughly let it seem as if our comrade made a good account of herself before falling in battle. Then dress the lovely Black Raven in our fallen guards uniform and bind her tightly. He ran his fingers almost lovingly through Ravens lush mane of dark hair. Ill be along presently to escort her to the Dragons Lair.
Aspens arms hurt only slightly more than the rest of her body as she was dragged through the dark quite halls of Master Lis jungle lair. She was virtually incapable of walking under her own power instead the petite spy was held aloft by means of a bamboo cane forced between the crooks of her elbows and the small of her back, her wrists secured to her hips by coil after coil of thick nylon rope. Her knees and ankles were tightly bound with similar rope bondage and a knotted crotch rope pulled the crotch of her new black rubber uniform deeply into her pussy. Her mouth was filled with silk held in place by a cleave gag. Her eyes were concealed behind a black silk blindfold.
Master Lis minions had taken great care in preparing her for final ordeal, subjecting her to over an hour of punishment in their infamous hot room, the padded combat arena situated directly over the boiler room that powered the entire facility. It was over 125 degrees in the squat, dimly-lit chamber, and the hot air was suffocating as Aspen was stripped, oiled, and rebound for the sparring session her wrists cuffed and secured to a steel chain belt locked tightly about her waist. The assassins themselves stripped down the brief black trunks and thongs to better endure the heat, adding a highly erotic atmosphere to the room as Aspen was collared, blindfolded and dragged struggling to the center of the padded chamber. The sexy spy was already drenched with sweat long before the first blow was ever delivered.
Despite being limited to a foot or so of play in her wrists restraints, Raven had managed to put on a good showing for the first several minutes, sensing attacks with almost superhuman instincts and leaping, rolling, or kicking off each attacker. But the heat, exertion, and disorientation of the ordeal soon took their toll, and as the sweat poured from her body so too did her strength and uncanny speed. Finally a flying spin kick caught her cleanly on the side of the head, snapping her head back with a spray of sweat and sending her spinning to the padded floor. Even as she struggled to her knees a second kick caught her full in the stomach, lifting her briefly into the air before allowing her to settle hard back onto the ground gasping. Then a foot was on her throat and when she attempted to kick at her attacker from the ground, her ankles were seized and her legs spread wide. Sparks danced before her eyes as blow after blow landed on her exposed pussy, and from there her world degenerated into a nightmare of stifling heat, violent disorienting movement, and exquisite pain. The next moments of time that she could vaguely recall were when they finally removed her blindfold so that they could better appreciate her beauty, and again when they removed her bondage so that she could be subjected to the full spectrum of their relentless attacks. By the time the master assassin arrived with their fallen comrades uniform, Aspen could only rise to her feet when held aloft by two assassins. It was all she could do to meet the gaze of the Ninja Lord through bleary eyes while he examined his minions handiwork. True to his orders, despite the hour of punishment she showed the external signs of a few hard blows to the face, consistent with single combat. After an icy shower she had been dressed in the uniform of the slain guard and rebound for transport to the Dragons Lair.
The Dragons Lair. Aspen had vaguely remembered it from her Interpol intelligence briefing shortly before she boarded the plane in Bangkok. It was the ornate main entrance into Master Lis audience chamber and known to be rigged with multiple tiers of security. They had been instructed to scale the building from the outside, a risky maneuver at night, but infinitely preferable than navigating any of Master Lis lethal mazes. Now it seemed that she would be forced to brave the Lair after all, or die in the attempt. Most likely the latter.
Her reverie was suddenly shattered as her escorts dropped her hard on the marble floor. Her leg bondage was cut and she was lifted gasping to her feet as her gag and blindfold were removed. She and her party stood at the mouth of a concealed door with a spy hole overlooking a broad hallway lined with columns holding aloft a graceful arched ceiling. The majestic hall was dark and still.
This spy hole overlooks the Trophy Room, The ninja master explained as he produced the recently-slain assassins mask and prepared to slide it over Aspens face. The entry point to Master Lis audience chamber. This is the only unmonitored entry point into the room, and its some 15 feet above the floor. Your fall should trigger the motion detectors immediately.
The assassin pulled the mask over her face until the black nylon fabric covered her lower head up to the bridge of her nose. Then Aspens wrists were cut free and waist ropes removed, to be replaced by the dead assassins belt, shoulder strap and scabbard. The sword, of course, was missing. The master assassin held it in his hand.
You will go first. Then I will throw down your sword, if you choose to wait for it. It will not help you.
Raven rubbed her wrists to speed the return of the circulation. She was unsteady on her feet, but at least she could stand. Though close-fitting, her costume bunched and gathered on her sleek frame, making her appear a bit like a teenager playing Ninja dress-up. She noted with some satisfaction that the pouches on her belt were heavy with equipment, though at the moment she dare not check it out.
Her joints screamed as she was pushed forcefully toward the grating at the end of the passageway. She turned to face her captors to find their ruby laser tracers again targeted on her body.
You have five seconds to jump, the master said. Or I am certain the impact of several bullets will accomplish a similar purpose.
Wary that her captors might just shoot her in the back, Aspen turned to the grate and gave it a push with her gloved hands. It swung open easily giving her a much better view of the room into which she was being cast. It was actually smaller and more modern than she had first thought, with track lighting in the ceiling, dimly-lit display cases between the pillars, and multi-panel skylights lining the arched ceiling. The floor was of black granite tiles framed with golden wire that would certainly be pressure sensitive. To the left, a pair of massive hammered copper doors blocked access to the outside world. To the right the room ended at a smaller arched doorway with a raised portcullis. Suits of ancient Siamese armor stood on either side of the archway, her only apparent route of escape.
But she had no more time to survey her destination, as she could feel the lasers sites of the Cobra Fang assassins burning into her back. If only she could avoid setting off the motion detectors and the pressure sensors in the floor, she might just have a moment to get her bearings, figure her best chance for survival. Placing her hands on either edge of the hatchway like a downhill skier at the starting gates, she braced herself for a maximum-effort leap, hoping to reach the hood of the stone cobra whose coils formed the core of the nearest pillar. The head of the great snake was some eight feet away and at nearly the same level as the secret observation hatch. One two three.
Despite the beating she had just endured, Aspen leapt with grace and astounding power, and her effort was just enough to bring her outstretched fingers into contact with the hood of the snake. She wriggled from side to side to better establish her grip, feet dangling some 8 feet above the floor, praying that her movements would not set off the intrusion system. For several seconds Aspen held her breath, trying her best to still the swinging of her body. Nothing broke the midnight silence of the trophy room. But then she caught motion out of the corner of her eye and turned to find the master assassin standing in the narrow hatchway. He was smiling as her held her sword outstretched over empty space.
Noooo! Aspen whispered despite herself as her tormentor released the sword. It seemed to fall forever before hitting the ground with a tremendous clatter. An alarm immediately sounded and the interior of the room was flooded with blood red light from active infrared sensors. Even as Aspen dangled precariously on the head of the snake column, steel shutters slid closed over the crystal clear skylights and the heavy portcullis descended toward the ground to break off her most likely route of escape. She could just make out the evil grin of her captor as he pulled the metal grill closed and locked it firmly in place, leaving Aspen Silverlake to endure her final trials alone.
And it didnt take long for her to learn of the nature of her intended demise fore even as the door slammed shut a dense cloud of vapor descended from the ceiling, a chocking yellowish mist with the smell of rubbing alcohol. Every exposed surface of her body began tingling and the sensation spread rapidly, clear proof that she was being exposed to a possibly lethal dose of an industrial neurotoxin.
Aspen had no choice but to let go if she remained on the snake she was as good as dead. She allowed her gloved hands to slip free of the column and braced for the impact that, if not taken just right, would likely shatter her legs. She outraced the settling cloud of nerve gas then met the ground with a sudden unyielding shock that she managed to dissipate by throwing herself into a roll as if it were a horizontal continuation of the fall. The drop and roll allowed her to reach the floor relatively unhurt, but it also had the unintended consequence of throwing off the computer targeted dart guns apparently concealed in the corners of the room. The darts struck like angry bees immediately behind her as she rolled, blunting their needlepoints on the hard granite just inches away from her soft unprotected body. Instinctively realizing quickly that she was being targeted she continued her roll toward the closest objects offering any hope of protection against the double threats of high-velocity darts and lethal gas the suits of samurai armor. She arrive just a fraction of a second ahead of the whizzing darts, sliding between the legs of the steel armor and standing up in the precise outline of its shadow. She could hear the solid plinks of projectiles striking the front of the armor, but mercifully, nothing got through. A collection of small metal cylinders collected at her feet, complete with mini stabilizer fins and needle-like tips. Whatever chemical was contained in the gyro darts, Aspen was confident the end result would be quite lethal.
But she was far from safe, for even as sporadic impact of gyro darts ceased, the yellowing cloud of mist finally reached the floor, plunging the chamber into a toxic twilight of swirling shadows punctuated by roving blood-red stabs of light. But the only exit from the room had long since closed and the young spy doubted that the gyro dart targeting system would be thrown off by its own secondary subjugation system, so her options were rapidly running out. Her only hope was the suit of armor itself.
Fortunately, the suit of armor was self-standing with a significant aperture between the legging beneath the chain mail skirt. For a large samurai warrior it was just wide enough to allow for mobility in combat while also simplifying the challenge of relieving himself when dressed for battle. However, for the petite flexible spy it was just wide enough for her to force her entire body up and inside.
Aspen gasped from exhaustion, pain, and choking fear as she struggled to master her emotions and peek out through the slats of the visored helm to survey her would-be tomb. The alarm had gone mercifully silent though the eye beams continued scanning restlessly through the room, in an attempt to require its target. Aspen noted with some relief that the effects from her brief exposure to the nerve agent were growing no worse -- the aerosol agent was apparently dependant on skin contact to achieve its effect. For the moment she was safe.
And her hopes were further bolstered by the sudden disappearance of the eye beams and retraction of the steel shutters covering the skylights. The glass itself then slid open and powerful fans flushed the cloud of poisonous gas out into the night. After her long captivity, the site of the open sky overhead filled her with a sudden rush of euphoria, but with no means of reaching the ceiling some 30 feet overhead, Aspen could only watch with her heart in her throat until the panes finally slid closed once more. Her attention was only fully drawn away from the beauty of the sky by the grating of the raising portcullis close at hand. She could get through! Slipping nimbly out through the crotch of the suit, Aspen made a neat cat leap from the low pedestal supporting her haven to the hallway beyond the steel gate.
Hopeful for the first time in many weeks, Aspen hurried down the short hallway, heart pounding in her chest at the thought that she might actually manage to penetrate into the heart of Master Lis organization. Despite the fact that she was still in the heart of the enemys compound, she had proved time and time again that, once free from captivity, she could be an elusive target indeed. And over the previous months she had grown quite familiar with Master Lis private quarters, even the key sequences he used to open the combination locks. Aspen was confident that, if she could only reach to door to his private rooms, she could sneak into his bedroom and put an end to his sadistic games once and for all. It might well cost her life, but it was a small price to pay to rid the world of his villainy. Hoping to end their Masters unhealthy obsession with Raven, they well have inadvertently signed his death certificate.
Her heart beat even faster as she emerged from the short hallway into the domed octagonal room she recognized as the Chamber of Dragons Master Lis personal audience room. She had spent many hours there naked, hooded and chained at his feet while he mediated the disputes of his followers. Once she had even been stripped and tightly bound within the narrow confines of an aquarium filled with cobras a living, writhing centerpiece for one of the dark lords special dinner parties. The chamber itself was classically Chinese, with red wallpaper, ornate golden trim and each face of the octagon featuring a 6-foot golden statue of a Chinese dragon. On the far wall she knew was a secret door, a panel that led to Master Lis private quarters. She was that close.
But even as her high heels clicked slowly across the polished marble floor, Aspens heart leapt as all the dragons surrounding her seemed to come to life, their eyes burning with white hot fire and smoke billowing form their open, snarling mouths. She dashed for the rear exit, but she turned just in time to watch a solid granite panel slide down from the roof to seal the room closed. When she reached the wall a moment later she ran her fingers lightly along the cold wall but could find no sign of seam or release mechanism. It was as if the entryway had never existed. She had to fight down the tears as she realized that, rather than escape, she had stumbled upon yet another trap this one doubtlessly even more lethal than the one she had just escaped. Recklessly Aspen dashed across to the segment of wall that she knew to conceal Master Lis secret escape, only to find it just as solid and seamless as her entry route. In fact, the entire octagon featured no apparent exits she was alone with the 8 dragon statues leering at her from every angle.
Thats why they let me free from the gas trap, she cursed her foolishness. to lead me here, where theres no escape.
The two dragons to either side of her suddenly erupted in gouts of blistering flame. Raven just managed to jump back in time to avoid being singed, but even at a distance the heat was blistering. Yet even as she retreated, the dragons behind her suddenly erupted in blinding flame. The intense heat drove her back again toward the center of the room, as 15-foot gouts of flame erupted from every point of the compass, bathing the rubber-clad spy in bright light that was only paralleled by the withering heat that forced her toward the very center of the room. Yet even as she stood staggering the center of the room, shielding her eyes with her forearm, the floor itself seemed to liquefy under her, drawing her boots deeper and deeper into a sucking plastic ooze.
God nooo. Aspen moaned as she lifted her right leg with intense effort, in the process forcing her left leg deeper into the sticky plastic. The process of trying to free her left leg returned her right into a slightly deeper depth than if she had done nothing at all. Though sealed in the chamber for less than a minute, Aspens body was already slick with sweat and she noted bleakly that even the mirrored ceiling served the purpose of focusing the heat of the dragons breath on the center of the room like a parabolic dish. The floor was rapidly liquefying beneath her feet but the thought of using her vanishing mobility to move any closer to one of the dragons was unthinkable. As the plastic rose to her knees and her head swam from the onset of heat stroke, Aspen had to admit, Master Li designed his deathtraps well.
Aspen felt almost chilly as she sank up to her waist in the pit, her strength rapidly drained away, her struggles reduced to anguished rolls of her head. Only the firm pressure of the plastic held her vertical as she began to shiver, the distant part of her conscious mind realizing that that she was sinker deeper and deeper into heat stroke. She had sunk up to her breasts before the sound of a voice drew her back from her dying hallucinations.
So the infamous Raven has met her match at last. It was the cultured but heavily accented voice of Dark Master Li. Its a fitting end, entombed in plastic and sealed inside one of my eight dragons, forced to defend my lair for all time.
Aspen turned toward her captor but her eyes were distant and unfocused her skin bright red as her blood surged toward the surface of her body in a vain attempt to cool her core body temperature. She could vaguely make out the outline of Master Li, flanked by two bodyguards.
I suppose I should be offended that you would choose to sacrifice your brief moment of freedom to murder me in my sleep. After all weve endured together, I would have expected a bit more gratitude.
Then Im glad glad to disappoint you.
Ahhh, you still have some fight I see. Thats good to hear, because as fate would have it, I was just contacted by the lords of the Mei Song Triad. Theyve thought of an excellent final trial for you a timed event paying 500,000 yen per minute. The only restriction is that you be given no opportunity to survive the challenge, only to prolong the game. I was tempted to turn them down, but after tonight I find myself persuaded.
Ahhhhh, Aspen moaned as the hot plastic continued inching its way up her body.
Still, after your roasting tonight you might even find the challenge they have in mind quite refreshing.
Then he turned to his guards. Extract her from the pool before it ruins her hair, then escort Raven to the infirmary. Shes been spared the worst of it, but she will still be in need of a good deal of burn ointment. For the next 4 days I want her on full rest and rations, with 6 hours each day devoted to strength and endurance training. In the evening she will dine with me. The Black Raven must be on the top of her game, for her final performance.
The Taipei Aquatics Center was one of the most advanced facilities in the world devoted to the study of marine science. The complex included over 100 pools, tanks, and aquariums that served as home to almost every form of oceanic life known to man. But the Institutes claim to fame was its walkthrough aquarium, a huge pool with the look and feel of a natural lagoon veined with arched walkways of crystal clear Acrylic and centered around a cocktail lounge beneath a Plexiglas dome. Visitors to the institute were offered the unprecedented opportunity to stroll through the normally inhospitable world of the continental shelf and, as the Centers premier attraction, the lagoon was populated by the most dangerous creatures in the Centers extensive menagerie. The stunning exhibit was known as Terrors of the Deep, and included the worlds most deadly plant the Costa Rican strangleweed -- the most lethal coral -- Australian Fire coral -- and, of course, the worlds most dangerous carnivores -- the Great White Shark. Though the great hunters of each species lived in relatively peaceful balance within the confines of the tank, it was generally perceived as one of the most deadly environments imaginable for anything remotely resembling live prey.
So naturally, this was Aspens next destination.
The sexy spy was led, as usual, cuffed, gagged, and blindfolded, out of the bamboo cabana that housed the private dressing rooms and down a neatly-groomed asphalt path toward the Walkthrough Aquarium at the center of the park. Her uniform for the evening consisted of a skintight wetsuit of silver high-stretch rubber, complete with integrated gloves, stubby fins, and a hood with an open scalp allowing her mane of dark hair to flow down to the middle of her back. A liberal coating of perfumed oil drew the suit tightly up against her skin, ensuring that the glossy rubber followed every contour of her athletic body. A sleek, high-tech weight belt rode low on her hips and, as usual, discrete zippers provided easy access to her erogenous regions, though within the confines of lagoon any amorous assaults seemed unlikely.
The fresh tropical scent of Ravens body oil blended enticingly with the odors of the lotus and orange blossoms lining the walkway as the sexy agent was led briskly toward her destination. Though blindfolded, Aspen could picture in her minds eye the luxurious photo-perfect landscaping of the renowned park, the neatly groomed hedges, artistic rock gardens, and careful trimmed banzai trees. But the rustle of the wind through the yew trees soon gave way the lapping of water, and the fresh scent of flowers was replaced by the stronger smells of, salt water, seaweed, and decaying sealift. As the young spy was drawn to a stop and turned abruptly, she could hear the lapping of the pool almost at her feet. But the lap of the water was soon downed out by the moan of an electric motor far overhead and the clinking of heavy chains. As the clanking drew nearer Aspen began to shiver despite the warm muggy evening.
Ahhh, my dear Raven, came the voice of Master Li, somewhere close by. You are, as always, a picture of courage under duress. But allow me to make things a bit more uncomfortable.
A hard fist suddenly slammed into Aspens midsection, a sucker punch that sent the young agent to her knees struggling to cough through the gag. But even as she wretched her captors took advantage of her incapacitation to force her legs together and wrap her shins in coil after coil of heavy chain. Losing her balance she fell into the arms of other waiting men, who skillfully removed her wrist bondage only long enough to lift her hands over her head and chain her arms together in a similar manner. Only when the 40 pounds of chains securing both her hands and feet were sealed with padlocks and her arms lifted high overhead and slipped into some kind of hook was her gag and blindfold finally removed, allowing her to survey her situation. Despite steeling herself for hours, she still couldnt suppress a gasp at the sight that greeted her.
She was indeed standing on the concrete lip of the Walkthrough Aquarium notoriously known as the Horrors of the Deep. She was bound by heavy chains, her wrists secured to the hook of an overhead crane that would, at the command of Master Lis investors, carry her far out over the very heart of the deadly lagoon. Within the confines of the tank she counted no fewer than 10 huge sharks, and the floor of the tank waved with eel infested strangle grass and long ridges of deadly fire coral. Her dive suit was vacuum tight and deliciously slippery, cupping and lifting her breasts even as it stretched tight across her muscular abdomen and deeply invaded her buttocks. Even the titanium diving belt around her waist was shimmery and highly reflective. On land Raven looked liked like a well endowed, wideeyed girl dipped in quick silver, but she knew exactly what she would look like in the water: a sleek succulent fish.
How thoughtful, she tried to remain calm. It appears Im going for a little swim.
Indeed, Master Li greeted her as he raped her with his eyes. And unfortunately you will represent the first feeding in the Lagoon in over five days. Ive sure youll attract a great deal of attention.
You know me, I always like making a splash.
And so you shall. But we wouldnt want you leaving your new friends as soon as you slip free of your chains. So I brought you this. He held up a broad collar of silver latex matching her suit, but lined with shiny metal bands connected to two slim CO2 canisters. He slipped the device around her delicate throat as he spoke. Once activated, the air pressure in this collar will be inversely proportional to water depth. As long as you remain below 20 feet, the collar will remain deflated, just as it is now, but for every foot less than twenty feet, 2 pounds of air pressure will be forced into the rubber bladder. Master Li secured the steel bands one by one, pulling the torture device snuggly but not painfully tight. As the bladder pressurizes, Im afraid you will find the steel bands quite unyielding. Should you ascend above 20 feet, your throat will be progressively constricted until at the surface you will be unable to breathe at all. Your gasp before plummeting into the lagoon will be your final breath of fresh air on this earth.
Master Li savored the look of fear on her beautiful face as he secured the final bands around her throat. Despite all that she had been through in the last six weeks, Raven was still a 21-year-old college senior and could not suppress the sheer sense of vulnerability she felt in her rubber body suit or the sense of mortal terror as she was secured in the asphyxiation collar.
But you dont stand to gain much if I drown too quickly.
Indeed. He held up a small rubber mouthpiece with two small cylinders horizontally mounted on the central spindle. Several of these microbreathers have already been placed within the lagoon in the belly of each shark. Each kill earns you 12 more minutes of oxygen. But if youre a nature lover and averse to killing, you can also find supplemental oxygen within each of the three challenge cages near the main observation lounge.
Aspen could only assume that each of challenge cages would be at least as perilous as combat with her great white opponents, with the added bonus that her ordeal would occur very close to the cocktail lounge and its inevitable crowd of spectators. With a chill she realized that she would likely be the only thinking, feeling combatant in the evenings competition. Her opponents were all literally mindless, cold-blooded, killing machines. As Master Li secured the final bands of the collar and backed away, each gulp of oxygen seemed suddenly precious staring at the blue-green depths of the pools that was to be her tomb.
Magnificent, arent they? Mater Li preened as his servants produced a sleek bubble mask to give Aspen an unimpeded view of her surroundings once submerged. I must say I fear for your safety.
Youre such dear, Aspen mocked as she dipped her head to allow the men to secure the goggle over her eyes. Perhaps we should go skinny dipping together.
Im afraid that in this case I must insist that ladies go first. But I dont want you to go away empty handed, so I brought you this.
Master Li produce an 8-inch black diving knife with a rubberized handle, complete with calf sheath, and drew out the blade. He stepped ominously toward Aspen, extending the blade as if to give her a closer look.
Its a carbon steel blade, one side smooth the other side serrated. Just the thing to keep the terrors away, dont you think? He leaned forward to kiss his prisoner for the first time in Aspens long captivity. But even as their lips touched, Aspens eyes eyed in sudden pain as Li slipped the knife neatly into her thigh. The sexy agent looked down in disbelief as Master Li stepped back and wiped off the blade.
Merely a love tap to remember me by. But the taint of your blood will be quite enticing to your new playmates.
Grimly, Aspen realized that Li was right. The wound was deep but far from her internal organs or major arteries. She wouldnt die, but she would bleed liberally, and that would undoubtedly draw the undivided attention of every shark in the lagoon.
Li handed the knife to one of his servants, who strapped it to Aspens left calf. Master Li produced a key on a chain and put it around the young agents neck.
This key will release the locks securing your hands and feet. Master Li explained. You will then be completely free, except, of course, for your collar which will be activated by first contact with water. As long as you stay deeply submerged, you should have total freedom of movement.
Delightful, Aspen managed to smile as blood seeped from the wound at her hip, down her rubber-clad thigh, to pool at her feet. I must say these chains are already starting to chaff.
Very well, Master Li stepped back. Then perhaps wed best introduce you to your new friends. Im sure they will be quite eager to meet you. Gentlemen, swing her out low and give her a taste of whats in store for her.
Immediately the crane whined to life, shooting its feather-light load laterally out over the pool with Aspens legs skimming across the surface of the water. The crane lurched to a stop when the rubber-clad spy reached the very center of the pool, directly over the underwater lounge, which she could now see was filled to capacity with high-stakes Oriental gamblers. But her attention was diverted almost immediately from the lounge to the pack of circling sharks rapidly closing in on her from all directions. Her heart leapt into her throat as it became clear that Master Li had no intention of raising her out of harms way and it took all her strength to pike her chain-wrapped feet out of the water to avoid the first pass of the most adventurous monster. The commotion and the scent of blood soon drew the other hunger-crazed sharks, forcing the doomed spy to lift her legs from the water again and again -- first tuck, then extension -- until she really began to resemble a shapely mermaid struggling on the end of a hook. Only when Maser Li was sure Aspen had their full attention did he begin raising her slowly from the tank. But the sharks would not easily be denied their shapely snack! One by one they leapt up at her with open jaws, forcing Aspen to twist and swing to avoid snap after snap of the horrifying 8-foot jaws. The spotlights played across her rippling body as the sadistic game of shark bait stretched on and on, Aspen suspended just low enough to place her within the sharks leaping range but just high enough to give her a sporting chance to twist out of their way. Aspens heartless torment was captured in intimate detail and displayed in high definition on large monitors at the center of the submarine lounge, the guests wagering significant sums of money on whether their featured performer would even survive the pre-game entertainment. But after 25 minutes Aspen had perfected a system where she would swing her boot-clad feet just enough to plant herself on the snout of the leaping sharks, their upward momentum temporarily relieving the tension of the heavy chains until it seemed like the clever spy might actually be able to slip free of the hook. It wasnt clear just what harm Raven would be capable of inflicting while clinging to arm of the giant crane, but Master Li was taking no chances. At his signal the hook was released, sending Aspen on her final plunge into the terrifying depths of the lagoon.
So tight was the circle of hungry sharks that she struck one full on the snout as she impacted the water, stunning the monster before rapidly descending to the lagoon floor. The cold shock of the water restored the tortured agent to some semblance of awareness, but the long ordeal had made it impossible to time her breathing and even as she settled on the bottom she was already starving for oxygen. A hundred oriental faces leered at her from only feet away as she groped for the key around her neck to finally unlock the restraints, even as the sharks closed in on their silvery prey from all sides. She only had time to spring her legs chains before the first monster was upon her, emerging from a ridge of fire coral to take a quick bite. Unable to fend off the attack, Aspen offered the beast her arm chains instead, breaking off a dozen of the sharks teeth on the hard carbon steel. A moment later and she had sprung the second lock, dropping the final heavy coil and allowing her at last to spring up from the lagoon floor.
But even as she ascended, Aspen immediately found herself surrounded by three sharks, all mad with blood lust and irresistibly drawn by the light dancing off her dive suit. One she managed to poke in the deep black eye, sending it scurrying off in surprise, while the second she managed to avoid with a last ditch arch like a high bar jumper clearing maximum height. The sweep of the massive tail as it swam by sent the petite woman spinning in the vortex, and she just managed to get her hands on the snout of another monster as it slammed into her chest. For a moment it pushed her through the water like a trained seal balancing a ball on its nose, its jaws snapping as it tried to draw her legs in with the force of the current. Aspen kicked desperately at its lower jaw, seeking any footing to prevent herself from being bitten in half. Finally she managed to pike herself up and vault over the nose of the fish, skimming down the length of its 18-foot body and spinning wildly in its wake. But still her enemies were everywhere.
For several tense moments Raven hung suspended over the crowd of wealthy gangsters, hair waving slowly in the dark water as the swarm of giant sharks darted and surged all around her. Her lungs burned from lack of oxygen but even as she slowly ascended she could feel the collar painfully tightening around her throat like a steel vise. She dug at the steel bands with desperate strength but found the device completely unyielding and inescapable. She drew her knife but knew with grim certainty that she wouldnt survive another coordinated attack without oxygen, her only hope was to seek the protection of one of Master Lis three challenge cages, suspended symmetrically around the lounge. But as she briefly glanced at each, it didnt seem as if she had any good options.
Each cage was approximately three by three square and some seven feet tall with a spring-activated bottom that served as the only entrance, like a live animal trap. Though the frame of each cage was comprised of stout steel bars, the lattice of bars was thin far too thin to endure the attack of the sharks -- and each cage was wrapped with several heavy elastic bands to put the entire frame under tremendous inward pressure. If damaged by a powerful shark bite the cages would almost certainly implode on her. Worse yet, each cage was strategically positioned over the most treacherous parts of the tank one over a dense stand of strangle grass, one over a glistening ridge of fire coral, and the third over the grotto of the institutes famous and highly poisonous giant blue ringed octopus. Each cage was held suspended by three small gas bags, but if in their zeal the sharks were to release or destroy the bags, the cage would be slowly lowered to the perilous lagoon floor with Raven still trapped inside.
All this Aspen took in with a quick scan around the lagoon, but the burning in her lungs and the savagery of her opponents gave her no opportunity to select her destiny. She swam directly for the nearest cage, perched precariously over the grotto of the blue ringed octopus. She managed to slip up into the cage just moments ahead of two open- mouthed pursuers and the cage spun crazily from the impact even as the floor snapped shut beneath her. She may well have just sealed her own fate but the moment is hardly mattered. Aspen only had eyes for the slim silver breather waiting for her near the top of the cage.
The initial flow of pure oxygen in to Aspens mouth was like the very breath of God, restoring strength to her limbs and dispelling the gathering cobwebs from her mind. For the moment the cage afforded some refuge as the sexy agent watched her 12 hungry opponents retreat in caution. This also gave her a moment to study her REAL enemies watching with rapt attention as her ordeal played out for their entertainment, a large red display counting to the hundredths of a second the duration of the contest, and the odds established for various durations of her survival in worlds most inhospitable environment. The display currently read 2 minutes and 39 seconds the total time she had survived in the tank -- the odds against her surviving the next minute 15:1. This cold statistical display was flanked by two giant video screen showing the much more human side of the drama playing out within the lagoon. Each showed Aspen in her silver suit and clear bubble visor, her dark hair streaming out from the back of her rubber hood, her waist neatly encircled with a stylish silver weight belt, the sleek knife sheathed at her calf. Her head was, of course, was staring downward as she took in her own image on the displays -- a moment of self-voyeurism that flushed the young spy with an inexplicable sense of heightened vulnerability and dark arousal. The asphyxiation collar with its 4 steel bands looked every bit as constricting as it was and the sharks circled with a savage menace that could only be fully appreciate from outside their cordon; the challenge cage pathetically flimsy compared to their great jaws.
But the moment of dramatic reflection passed quickly as the first shark slammed in the cage, followed by another. The cage groaned with each impact as Aspen was hurled violently against the bowing walls, but each time the cage bounced off the nose of the shark and slipped free to twist and turn in open space balanced between the upward lift of the air bags and the downward force of the anchor chain holding the cage over the deadly grotto. Emboldened by the thrashings of their shapely prey, the sharks came in harder, mouths open wide in an attempt to bite down on the entire cage. Aspen lashed out from the cage with her knife, hoping to push the cage away from their terrifying maws and perhaps draw enough blood to draw attention away from herself. Unfortunately her efforts were fruitless against such monstrous eating machines, and her efforts ended in horror as the massive jaws of one of her largest opponents closed in on her and locked around the cage.
CREEEEAK!
The cage buckled and shuddered all around her as the monster clamped down, the individual bars twanging like guitar strings under the extreme pressure of the industrial elastic bands that actually aided the shark in its efforts of to crush the cage around her. Fortunately, Aspens refuge didnt collapse all at once but instead constricted all around her as the triple rows of razor-sharp teeth closed in on her from above and below. The young spy was all but knocked unconscious by the force of the attack, but managed to retain both her breather and knife as death closed in. Acting on pure instinct she reached through the uneven ribbons of the disintegrating cage and began digging deep trenches in the roof of the sharks mouth with her knife. The narrow confines of the beasts jaw were suddenly engulfed in a bright red cloud of blood, and the shark released the cage, wrenching Aspens knife from her grasp in the process. The cage was a shredded ruin as it emerged from the bloody cloud, and the elastic bands held the tangle of steel tight around Aspens body and the air bags were destroyed. It was some consolation that the sharks were fighting lustily among themselves, taking great bites out of their injured comrade. But any sense of victory was overwhelmed by terror as Aspen sank slowly into the grotto of the giant blue ringed octopus, a shadowy cave equally as deadly as the belly of a shark.
The blue ringed octopus was highly poisonous species with a stinger at the end of each of its 8 arms. Similar to a sea wasp, the venom contained a deadly neurotoxin that would slowly render the victim alive but immobile, the action of the venom actually aided up by struggles of the unfortunate captive in the crushing embrace of the powerful tentacles. After its prey was paralyzed, the octopus would force its stomach out through is mouth to envelope its meal, slowly digesting it over the course of several days. It was a grisly fate, but fortunately, the blue ring octopus in the wild never reached a size of over 2 feet and its diet consisted almost exclusively of small fish. Unfortunately, genetic tampering and years of overfeeding and had allowed the Institutes octopus to reach over 15 feet long, easily large enough to prey upon a helpless 5 foot 6 human diver. The muscles danced beneath the skin-tight fabric of Aspens dive suit as she struggled desperately to extract herself from the coffin-like safety cage before it was too late. The darkness below her seemed to twist and boil as the freakish monstrosity eagerly prepared to receive its overdue meal.
CREAAKK!
Her break came at the last moment, as the top of the cage ruptured and the heavy rubber band shot off like a slingshot. The rest of the bars parted like a banana peel allowing the petite spy to slip from the trap into open water, still clenching onto her precious breather, though its capacity was already nearly half spent. But there was still hope, because the other sharks had just about finished dining on their injured fellow, and as Master Li had indicated, each shark held a fresh breather in its stomach. It was possible that another shark could have swallowed the second breather in its zeal to feed, but the devices were deceivingly heavy. It was very possibly that the breather could have dropped free in the melee, if she could just
WHAP! Aspens progress was suddenly checked dead in the water, and if felt as if her ankle had been caught in some sort of snare. Her momentary feelings of hope were turned suddenly to despair as she turned to see the blue ringed octopus, now partially emerged from its lair, had seized her foot with one of its amazingly long tentacles. The monster apparently would not be denied its snack so easily. Instinctively, Aspen turned and kicked for all she was worth, hoping to overpower the single arm holding her ankle. But her progress was miniscule and when a second tentacle wrapped itself around her calf, she was halted altogether. She grabbed at her knife scabbard to cut herself free but of course it was empty. Then her moment of initiative was over -- the tentacles tightened with great force and she was flung laterally, slamming hard up against the wall of the submerged lounge.
Stars danced before Aspens eyes as she was drug inexorably down the side of the lounge, her audience now crowded around the wall less than a foot away. Glancing at the men she could see them staring at her with unconcealed lust, and that Li had assigned to many of his top investors pleasure slaves clad in costumes nearly identical to hers. They would certainly bear untold erotic ecstasies and agonies as the men worked off the sexual electricity that had built to fever pitch over the course of Ravens final death match. She would not be the only victim of this nights evil entertainment.
Then the slim spy was pulled free of the dome, only to be thrown violently once again up against the unyielding surface. Now partially stunned, Aspen could only struggle weakly as the octopus improved its grip on the legs, then whipped her out into a long arc that ended with another hard impact against the dome. She only vaguely remembered being drawn away from the wall again, and the next violent impact plunged her into semi-darkness.
Once stunned, Raven was forcefully wrenched onto her back where her free left leg was wrapped by a tentacle followed by a fourth just above her knee. The tentacles were elastic and slimy, but the thousands of suction cups lining the mucus colored limbs stuck fast, and as Aspen struggled to shake off the cobwebs she could see the long stingers at the end of each limb stabbing and contracting in the beasts excitement. The doomed agent desperately grasped hold of a nearby rock and momentarily managed to halt her progress toward the grotto. But her victory was short-lived, as the octopus tightened its grip until the pressure on Aspen, desperate as she was, was simply overwhelming.
The moment she slipped free of the outcropping, the beast immediately seized the opportunity to improve its grip again, securing both ankles tightly together even as it slid two tentacles to mid thigh. Unspeakable horror arose it the beautiful spy was as she was dragged struggling toward the cave opening. Distantly she could hear the shouts and jeers of the men in the lounge as she clutched desperately at the tentacles in a vain attempt to pull them free. Even the sharks overhead kept their distance they knew better than to step between the blue ringed octopus and her prey.
With tremendous effort Aspen found that she could just manage to peel a single tentacle from her body, but the other three held her easily in check while the octopus simply whipped the tentacle free and then reestablished its grip on her body further up. When the slim agent was within the fifteen feet of the grotto, the octopus brought its other two legs into action to further subdue its determined prey, pulling her knees wishbone-wide even as her ankles were wrapped tightly together, and exploring her pelvis and crotch in a show of impromptu eroticism that was sure to please the viewers safe in the lounge. The touch of the tentacles was slimy and unbelievably foreign as the monster instinctively explored the best way to envelope her for slow digestion, one encircling her waist in half a dozen coils, another emerging from between her legs to wrap itself time-after-time around her abdomen, a third encircling her from breasts to jaw as thousands of tiny moths sucked and kissed at Aspens body. Then a tentacle reared before her like a scorpions tail, and Aspen just managed to catch hold of it before it delivered the first sting of nerve toxin. The tentacle whipped free of her grasped and stabbed again, but again Raven managed to deflect the attack with her forearm. The cocoon around her grew steadily tighter as the battle drew on, Aspen fighting for her life against the stinging attacks of one then two arms, managing to kick her legs briefly free until they too were secured mummy-like in the coils of the octopus. Aspen had fought bravely to another stalemate, but she knew it was only a matter of time before she stung and then squeezed mercilessly to force her to struggle, speeding the poison through her system. Then she would be pulled into the depths of the grotto where no force on earth could save her as she was slowly enveloped by the monsters stomach, her lips still locked around the breather, her metabolism reduced to the point where she might survive another hour of hellish half-life, a boon to the long-odds gamblers who had rashly bet on a prolonged ordeal. As she caught the thrusting arm again she briefly resolved to spit out the breather the moment she was stung, perhaps sparing herself the worst of the suffering. Even as the tentacle whipped away from her grasp she instinctively took the opportunity to clutch as the cold, slimy members writhing across her body, and her hands rubbed up against something cold and hard.
It was her knife!
Unable to believe her luck, Raven snatched up the 7-inch blade and began slashing madly at the octopuss arms. The octopus let out eerie, high-pitched squeals of pain as the young spy chopped away one arm after another, the severed stumps withering back into the main body as if they had been singed away. Inky blood enveloped Raven in a billowing cloud as the shapely spy finished chopping herself free and staggered away from the grotto, mentally and physically exhausted but miraculously still alive.
Finally reaching the wall of the lounge, Raven slumped against the smooth acrylic surface to catch her breath and appraise her situation. The 10 remaining sharks were already dipping lower and lower toward the bottom of the pool, drawn by the smell of the octopuss blood. Soon they would be upon her once more. Her breather was certainly almost empty, its life having been rapidly depleted during her exhausting struggles. The remaining two cages hung tranquilly within 30 yards of her, but the dual threats of strangle grass and fire coral made each device at least as deadly as trap she had just narrowly escaped. Some 35 feet overhead, the surface of the lagoon twinkled invitingly, an easy and minimally protected escape route, but as long as she wore the asphyxiation collar any attempt to leave the water would be suicidal. Immediately at her back were 200 of the most notorious members of the Asian underworld, along with their escorts and bodyguards, all safely protected behind 5 inches of clear Lucite. It was easy enough to score the surface of the dome with the edge of her carbon steel diving knife, but it would take a day to scratch her way completely through. It would require a sizable explosive charge, or the force of a locomotive. Or
Aspen glanced up at the circling monsters and knew at once what she had to do. With a glimmer of desperate hope, she turned toward the dome and traced an arms-width circle with her knife in the Lucite. Then she repeated the circle again and again, each time pressing harder and digging the edge of her blade deeper into the clear plastic. A jeering crowd gathered inside the dome to watch her feverish work even as a similar crowd of equally interested sharks closed in from outside. But Aspen focused on the work at hand, pressing the blade in as deeply as she could, arms quivering from the intense effort. When she could press no more, she kicked a short distance away to collect one of the aluminum tubes that had comprised the frame of the flimsy shark cage and used one of the industrial bands to secure her knife spear-like to one end. She immediately put the makeshift weapon to good use fending off the first half-hearted charge by one her monstrous pursuers, but then returned her attention to the dome. The crowd mocked her meager attempts to penetrate the sphere as Aspen painstakingly bored the ersatz spear into the heavy plastic at the very center of the circle she had just inscribed. But Raven ignored their antics and even as her breather failed continued digging until she obtained her desired result a hole just deep enough to hold the aluminum pole protruding at a right angle from the surface of the dome.
Now for the hard part she had to allow herself to be eaten.
Completely out of air and tightly hemmed in by circling sharks, Aspen turned and pressed her back against the dome to confront her attackers. Rather than trying to escape however, the sexy spy instead laid her head back in an almost erotic posture and began gyrating and thrusting her body as if she were having some sort of seizure. At first the spectators in the dome were amused, then a bit perplexed there were no odds for the possibility that Raven would have a stroke or seizure prior to being consumed by one of the lagoons deadly denizens. But based on the almost instantaneous reactions of her tank mates, the young spys true purpose soon become starkly apparent: she was inciting the sharks to attack.
And her efforts were quickly rewarded, as the largest of the sharks suddenly broke free from the pack and surged straight toward her, its huge mouth open wide to swallow her whole. Though the sharks eye site was good enough to detect that struggles of its silvery prey, its vision was not so keen as to discern the clear surface of the dome or the jagged 8-foot steel pole pointed directly at it. The shark made an instinctive course correction as Raven curled herself up near the base of the aluminum shaft and then accelerated to full speed, directly toward the dome!
Maser Li and his guests didnt fully perceive their peril even as it hurled directly toward them. The grossly overfed shark weighted some 2 tons and it rocketed toward them at over 40 knots. It would strike the dome with the force of a freight train, impaling itself on the long pole even as it delivered a cannon blow directly on the small area where the pole met the plastic dome. The clear plastic was three times thicker than it needed to be to hold back the force of the water, but not the crushing pinpoint blow that Aspen had in mind. And she had even carved out the precise fault line where she intended for the Lucite to fail, a technique common to field agents for breaching glass barriers. Of course there was still a chance that the shark would strike at an oblique angle and snap the shaft before it could transfer the full force of the impact to the dome, but any clear-thinking gambler could see that the odds of the dome failing were good, and if breached, that the entire structure would flood in minutes, drowning everyone inside even as they surged toward the exits. But so transfixed were the gangers on the life-and-death drama unfolding before them that no one even considered their own peril until it was far too late. The shark made a perfect strike perpendicular to the dome, its mouth centered on its prey and the pole she was curled around.
The force of the impact was crushing, and no one felt it quite as acutely as Aspen Silverlake. The jaws of the shark enveloped her like the mouth of a pitch black cave, and the pole vibrated like a guitar string as it was compressed and forced simultaneously deep into the brain of the shark and deep into the wall of the dome. Aspens eardrums ruptured with a painful dual pop as the water pressure around her multiplied in the fractions of a second, then came the sensation of flying, a fist closing around her throat, and threatening darkness.
As Aspen slowly regained consciousness, she found that she was indeed inside the dome, near the small center stage, having been shot some 30 feet by the force of the water jet streaming through the breach in the dome. The collar around her throat was clenched tight due to the sudden change in pressure, despite the water streaming in from the breach. The shark had been too large to fit through the initial hole in the dome, and for a moment it had actually plugged the rift with its massive body. But even as Master Lis patrons had scattered in panic, secondary fault lines had spread out from around the original impact point until chilly water began shooting into the room as if streaming from a dozen fire hoses. When gouts of water began shooting directly from the bloody jaws of the eviscerated shark, the panic began in earnest. Aspen herself was all but forgotten amongst the pandemonium as she rose unsteadily to her knees in the center of the lounge, her hands clutching at the collar around her throat.
A corpse floated by -- the body of a burly bodyguard who clearly couldnt swim -- and Raven seized the opportunity to pluck his gun from its shoulder holster and press it close alongside her throat. Two quick blasts ruptured both the C02 canisters powering her collar and the sudden release of the device allowed her to draw her first breath of unregulated air in over 20 minutes. The world was all but silent to Aspens ruptured ears, but she could see the expressions of terror on the faces around her as the water level climbed and the effects of alcohol, shock, and improper swimming attire took their toll on their attempts to stay afloat. But of course, she had no pangs of compassion whatsoever for the vile monsters who had put her through so much suffering and denigration and it was an unclean pleasure to watch them fail one by one and slip under the water. She held her gun at the ready in case any of her oppressors should show any signs of overcoming the creeping waters, but as the dome continued to fill, Aspen soon found herself alone with five other rubber-clad women still clinging to tables or effortlessly treading water as Aspen was herself.
The pressure is nearly equalized, Aspen finally told them in Japanese, a little too loud. The change in water level is slowing. We should be able to swim through the breach.
They adamantly shook their heads after some 20 minutes of taut drama they were well aware of waited for them out in the lagoon but Aspen persisted. The water its too cold. The oxygen down here will soon be gone. We need to get out. Dont be afraid I will protect you.
Even Aspen was surprised at how quickly and naturally she slipped back into the role of INTERPOL agent, defender of free society. Soothed by her calm authority, the women one by one left their flotation devices and paddled over toward their new leader, resolved to follow her even out into the dangerous lagoon. As she led them back toward the breach she realized that this was her first field command in many weeks, a team of frightened prostitutes all just hoping to survive the evening. But ironically she had already accomplished far more than the objectives originally established by INTERPOL for her mission into Thailand. Not only had she confirmed the existence of an alliance of elite crime bosses, but she had single-handedly wiped them out in a single stroke. It would be decades before such a criminal alliances could menace the Pacific Rim. And Aspen herself would ensure that Master Lis secret training compound was bombed into charred ruins.
But unfortunately, Aspen saw no sign of Master Li himself. It was possible that he drowned with the others, but it might well never be confirmed through intelligence channels. Secretly, though, Aspen was confident that her nemesis had escaped the deluge, and that they would one day meet again. For she of all people finally knew what Li was a master of being in the right place at the right time.
FINIS