Alien Mine Ch. 15

***

Yaneta and Nikita walked into the room where Nelya was being kept. She was already on her knees, chest out, but dressed in heels and stockings and an old-fashioned corset that laced up the back. The corset was cut low, lifting her breasts but exposing them to the crop or whip. The marks crisscrossing them were evidence of a recent whipping. Yaneta walked over to Nelya, Grasped her chin, lifting it to look into her eyes. They could see the look of satisfaction in her expression as she looked at her husband's daughter. "Nikita has been training you well, I see, but I think you need a woman's touch," she said softly, her voice cold and cruel.

They could see the fear in Nelya's eyes, as could Yaneta. "Yes, she said, you should be scared; Nikita has been much too easy on you. I thought about bringing your cuffs, other things to restrain you with, but I think they will be unnecessary," she said, showing her the hand with the several vials. "I have divided up your little addiction. If you do not get your entire dose, well, let's just say it will not be a pleasant 24 hours for you as you scream your lungs out in pain," she said, enjoying the look of terror in Nelya's eyes, "you remember, don't you," she said cruelly.

They could see Nelya's face showing her fear and horror as Yaneta held the drug she so obviously craved close to her face.

So you will have to do things, lots of things you don't like, but you will do them willingly. If not, well, I will break one of these each time you refuse an order. If I break one, you will hurt until tomorrow, and if I break two, you will be screaming by this time tomorrow. And if I break three, well, you get the picture.

Rhys could see the terror in her eyes, the hopelessness and shame of what she would do for the drugs.

"Now, let's get started," Yaneta said, stepping out of her dress and panties and picking up a whip.

Amancia stopped the recording. "Rhys, we have to do something."

He thought for a minute, then said, "can we get her out of the house?"

"Yes," Amancia/Leslie said, nodding their heads together. "Just like we did, Leslie. We can go into the window and take her up to the shuttle."

It was odd hearing Leslie's mouth refer to herself, but the girls were interlacing their thoughts now whenever there was any stress, but he still found it odd speaking to the two of them as if they were one person. "Ok, it's the middle of the night; let's go now. We will have a few hours with Nelya, but we have to make sure she can't remember any of it," he said.

What about Yaneta? When do we deal with her? Sandy asked coldly.

"We need her alone; when is Dmitri going to be out of town?"

"Not for a week, the binaries echoed."

"Fuck, Rhys, we need to stop this," Kiania said.

"I will; find a time when we can get Yaneta alone; otherwise, it has to wait."

"To what end, Rhys, are we just going to kill her, or do we still recruit her?" Sandy asked.

"Recruit her, but I won't be asking or making it easy on her. You two," he said, gesturing at Amancia/Leslie, "one of you has experience terrorizing prisoners. I am sure you can think of something we can use to scare Yaneta enough, something to keep her quiet and in line until her symbiote matures. We also need to step up our plans for Dmitri. Offer him some kind of technology, so we have an excuse to be there and do business with him. His associates need to know about Miranda; we can't just suddenly show up and take over."

"We have a plan," they said together with a smile that did not bode well for Yaneta.

***

The Major wasn't as unhappy as he had been despite being buried in an alien base somewhere on earth. At least he got the beer; he sighed, putting down his glass, and then watched with a whimsical smile as a bot jumped out of the wall and refilled it.

"Takes a little getting used to," Sarge told him, but wait until you get into the new armor, man, you haven't seen anything like this. The Major was only half-listening; instead, he was trying to take in everything he had seen and heard and wondering if there was anybody he could trust. He knew 'Sarge' and had served with him a few times when they operated close to the marine company stationed nearby. "What about Rhys," he interrupted Sarge's seeming love affair with the new armor, "Do you trust him?"

Oh, yeah, he's as straight as they come. Ex-Army, you know, and we worked some contract jobs together after he got out. Ask any of us," he said, gesturing at the rest of his team.

"What about the women, though, especially Sandy. The way her hair moves like it's alive."

"I know, freaky isn't it. But I have seen a lot of shit over the last four months, and the hair is the least of it. That fucking thing we killed outside Maryland, that was weird. It erased any doubts I had or any of us, and the rest of the women, well, let's just say you haven't seen anything yet. Wait until you practice against the double Ds', or Deadly Duo as we call them. Actually, it's their bust size, too, we think, and when you do, you had best park your ego beforehand cause it's going to take a beating, isn't that right, Isaac. "

Isaac grimaced. He's right about that; the two together are taking on all five of us and winning every time now. Two on two is just embarrassing for us," he laughed.

The Major just shook his head and looked over to see what the Captain thought, but she just shrugged. She didn't say much and had kept any thoughts or doubts to herself. She would have to talk more if they were going to develop any kind of command relationship. They had a week before the first squad arrived and were going to be busy getting up to speed. Rhys hadn't said exactly what they would be doing, but he could guess.

Amanda hadn't said much, but she was thinking furiously. Like the Major, she was utterly stunned at what they had seen today, but unlike him, she guessed why she had been chosen. Drones. She had fallen in love with them in Nigeria, flying high overhead, then dropping down and hitting the button to fire a missile, and seeing the result. She didn't get much actual flying time, she had commanded the small unit, but the implications of the alien technology and what they had already done with it gave her lots of ideas. The tiger drones, how cool was that, and that woman Thea, the engineer, was really hot. Well, all the girls were. She couldn't wait to get some drone time.

***

An opportunity to visit Nelya came sooner than Leslie expected. Dmitri and Yaneta were attending a political function for the President, and Nikita took the chance to see a girlfriend. Leslie and Kiania dropped out of the sky on a line from the shuttle hovering soundlessly unseen just above the building. They went in quietly through Yaneta's window and were prepared to stun her, but Nelya was mostly incoherent. Everyone was aghast at what they saw when Amancia had removed her clothes.

"Jesus," Rhys said, looking at the young woman lying on the bed. She was covered in bruises and whip marks. It looked like they had burned her with cigarettes or a cigar in some places. Yet, she was beautiful even with the marks on her body.

"Can we put her in the med unit at least," Mei whispered in a horrified voice.

"No, healing her like that would raise too many questions. Even Nikita would suspect something," Leslie said with a heartfelt sigh.

"Don't worry, we will make it up to her, and those responsible will pay," Sandy said in a cold voice, looking at Leslie and Kiania.

"Indeed, I will see to it that Nikita dies slowly," Kiania said, her voice full of menace.

The girls took turns feeding Rhys' cum to Nelya. She swallowed obediently, mumbling but never really waking. Yaneta had done a thorough job on her; Rhys hoped they were not too late.

"When can we get to Yaneta?" Thea asked. I can't stand the thought of her going through that every day.

"Next week," Sandy said, her hair extending all around her where it appeared to meld with the walls of the circular control room configuration. "He has taken the bait. Dmitri has agreed to a meeting with representatives of a Norwegian company who have developed a new drilling and oil field recovery technique that promises to increase production of existing fields by thirty percent. You will be doing the presentation, Mei will be with you, and Sarge and his team will be providing security. Come up with something interesting; the meeting will be in St. Petersburg, Yaneta will be in Moscow. Have you thought about how you are going to control her without a symbiont?" she asked Leslie.

Yes, blackmail, pain, and threats of immediate death."

"The drug, do we know if it is being used more widely," asked Sandy, "other than Nelya, of course?"

"We have not been able to trace it yet, but there must have been tests, don't worry, we will find it," said Leslie.

"I want all of them dead," said Rhys looking off in the distance, "everyone who has been involved, and I want it done in a way that they know why they died. If they don't stop, I will kill all of them, right up to the president."

It was a command they all agreed on. The trip back was somber, and Rhys slept badly that night

***

Rhys was eating breakfast the following day with Mei and Boa. He was just sipping a second cup of coffee when they were interrupted. "Mika is in trouble!" Leslie/Amancia said. "Terrorist attack, she has been taken hostage."

Information flooded into Rhys and the others. He recognized the danger immediately, EVERYONE to the shuttle, let's go, 45 seconds until take off," he said.

I am getting reports of the hostage problem. Apparently, she was in a meeting in Jerusalem when several people claiming to belong to a Lebanese Shia Islamist splinter group seized the meeting room, killed four guards, and took everyone hostage. Leslie began feeding information over the link to everyone from whatever source she could get. "Shit! they executed one of the hostages already." Leslie said, springing for the shuttle.

As Rhys moved, he realized the Major and the Captain were with them but getting left behind. "Follow us; we will wait for you in the shuttle," he said, turning on the speed and quickly leaving them behind. He and Kiania reached the shuttle and climbed into their armor. The Major, Captain, and the three scientists arrived at the ship at about the same time. Sandy, Leslie, and Amancia had beaten them by five seconds.

Fifteen minutes, Sandy said as they lifted off, pushing acceleration to the maximum. Gridnet was up, but there were no targets yet as Sandy took them at high speed out of the underground hangar and into the air above west Texas. The Shuttle moved on a ballistic course, up above the atmosphere and down, decelerating quickly at an insane velocity. Cloaking shields in place, they were already over the Mediterranean. "No sign of Trangrods so far; I think this is human driven," Leslie said out loud so the newcomers could hear.

"Ok, standard weapons, though, in case we missed something. Rhys checked his own weapons, then everyone else's. Rifle, two pistols, at least one knife, and a new blade weapon. Sandy, Thea, Mei, and Bao were already at stations in the shuttle. Kiania had acquired building plans for the surrounding area, looking for their best options if they had to rescue Mika.

Slowing over the city, they could see rush hour in Jerusalem, with everyone trying to return home from work. There were crowds in the vicinity despite the heavy police presence, but the building and surrounding area were locked down, and the adjacent building was evacuated.

"Our intel is weak," said Leslie, trying to plug into the local coms now. Tacgrid began propagating, friendlies showing up in force as to be expected. The police are reporting nine bad guys," she said, "but no one is sure. There are no visuals for now, but they are trying to snake in a camera through the ventilation system. "

"Kiania," Rhys said, "let's get some of your little drones in there if possible; if not, at least we can look through the window perhaps."

Sandy had them orbiting the building when Kiania deployed the drones, one kilometer out, staying out of the way of all the local traffic. On the ground, police and swat teams were gathering as well.

Mika let out an exasperated sigh as she listened to the bickering back and forth. Seriously, did they want to address every real and perceived injury over the last fifty years or so? A lot of effort had gone into having this meeting; getting representatives from the Palestinians to sit down in the same room had been a significant accomplishment. However, today she just wanted a small win. Anything to make a little progress. This wasn't peace talks or anything that grand, but it was necessary. Economic development made lives better, and happier people tended to take less extreme positions. This was supposed to be one small step in that direction, but unfortunately, she wasn't convinced that it would happen today. A small win for both sides meant progress, another meeting, and another small success until the small ones became big ones. Now, however, it looked like nothing would be accomplished as disagreements broke down any progress.

Stretching her neck to relieve the tension, she looked around the room. Six members from various factions among the Palestinians representing the more moderate groups. It had taken a year to get this far, to convince them it was worth the effort to negotiate over simple things like small business development, decreasing barriers to commerce, and increasing investment. The numbers being offered were small, but it had to start out that way. Trust had to be developed, and both sides needed to see positive results.

To relax her mind, her thoughts drifted to the new romance instead of the idiotic posturing of some of her colleagues. Rhys, now there was something to get her in a better mood. Thinking about him made her feel like a teenager again, one with too many hormones, and then there was Sandy, OMG she was so beautiful, and even Kiania. Sandy had the same bold sexuality as Rhys, and that incredible tattoo on her abdomen and the clit ring. She had never seen anything so life-like, and it was so erotic. Mika wondered how she would look with something like that.

Her friends and acquaintances would be scandalized if they knew what had gone on in her apartment and Rhys' suite. She even let Rhys feed her bacon with her hands tied behind her; it had been so hot, she thought with a small laugh. Oops, she must have laughed out loud from the looks she was getting.

Mika was about to break up a disagreement that had gone on far too long when the door burst open, and shots were fired. She dove to the ground as she had been trained, but then there were more shots, and she saw one of the guards fall to the ground in front of her, half his head missing. Mika and others screamed, but more gunfire brought everyone to silence. Then, before she could even think, one of the Palestinians, a man she had known for years, was grabbed by others. Several guns pointed at them, and they were herded to one side.

Their captors were efficient, the doors and windows barricaded, a camera set up, and contact made with local, new stations and live streaming. Mika stayed silent; she would be a prime target if they knew who she was. Only about ten minutes had passed since the first shot, but they seemed ready, and the man they had first grabbed screamed as he was dragged in front of the camera and a pistol placed against his head. "You first, traitor," said one of the men holding him. Mika watched, then screamed with horror as the gun fired, blowing away most of his head.

***

"They never negotiate with terrorists," said Leslie, "they will delay until in position and then storm the building when the police get enough intel or until the terrorists start killing more hostages."

Rhys acknowledged, realizing that this could become a massacre if things went badly. They got a vision feed from the drones, dragonfly-sized machines that buzzed around the building. Watching several video feeds was confusing as the drones sought a way in.

"No go," said Kiania, "I can't get one inside; they have the hostage area locked down pretty tight. Looks as though the police might be able to snake in a camera along a wiring conduit, but we can't get one of the dragonflies in."

Then finally, they had a steady picture, looking through a window. Most of the windows were covered to keep snipers from shooting into the rooms, but there were cracks the drone could see through. Tacgrid started to resolve the room, a hologram of the three-dimensional space and a more extensive visual projection that the major and Captain could see as well. The camera bobbed and panned, but tacgrid smoothed everything out, resolution of half a millimeter at least, even in the back reaches of the room.

"Damn it," Rhys said, "I count nine with weapons, but we can't see into the other rooms."

"Looks like explosives as well," said Leslie/Amancia, both of them pointing out vests that the drones sensed. Then someone walked into visual range, holding something in their hand.

"A woman," said Leslie in surprise. "Shit, that's a trigger she is holding; she can blow the place up and all the hostages."

"We need to take her out first," said Kiania. "Can you hack the electronics?"

"Piece of cake, '' Leslie/Amancia replied. "Uh Oh, they are threatening to kill another hostage," they added in a calm voice while monitoring the outside broadcasts at the same time as the drones.

A man with a pistol walked over to one of the hostages and put a gun to his head. He grabbed the man and walked him to the front of the room, where it looked like they had a camera mounted. Shit, shit, shit, said Kiania, they are going to kill another one. They watched helplessly as two of the terrorists made the hostage kneel, then one of them pulled the trigger, killing him instantly.

Rhys calculated for a minute running through options while everyone looked at him, waiting for instructions. They were killing the hostages too quickly. Either they were armatures and terrified themselves, or they were doing it deliberately, knowing they would die soon. Rhys guessed the latter; there would be no lengthy deliberations; this would be over in an hour one way or another.

"Sandy, drop us on the building next to them. We will go down to the 14^th floor, then jump across through the windows. The explosives will be unpleasant but won't kill us. We will attack just before the Israelis do, or when the woman is in a position, we can get to her.

Sandy brought them down, careful to stay out of the way of the helicopters flying overhead. Time to test out the capabilities of the new armor, Rhys thought as they jumped the short distance to the roof of the building. Thea's new improvement, active camouflage, their armor shifted color to match the background. They were not invisible, but everyone's attention was focused on the hostages.

Sandy could not get them any closer than 20 meters due to various structures and antennae on the roof, but the twenty-meter drop was doable for their bodies, their biopolymer legs absorbing the shock. Kiania took point and ripped the locked roof access off its hinges. Then, pausing to let the small drones infiltrate the building, she led them down to the 14^th floor. She kicked in the door to an office directly opposite the room where the hostages were held. "Thirteen point three meters," she said, looking across the street. "Easy."

"We will have to go through both windows; we can't break these out without someone noticing," Rhys said.

Leslie was monitoring the police communications, their encryption child's play for her now. "They have snaked the camera in, and the police have visual now. They want to wait for thirty minutes for reinforcements but are in position and will assault if they kill another hostage, whichever comes first."