Panopticon

"The fleet? You're shitting me. If anyone gets killed over this I'll be seriously pissed."

"Don't worry, it's gonna be a clean op. We've got two destroyers running interference on the other side of the system and their navy moved to intercept. The rest of the fleet will jump in shortly and cover our retreat."

The lock opened and I felt a lot lighter as the heavy collar and chain clattered to the ground. Now there was just one thing left to do. I placed my hand on the wall to the left.

"Owen, my friend, I gotta go. Hang in there and best of luck with whatever's next for you."

"Thank you, Cassie. It was short, but sweet. And now run, girl, and don't you ever come back. Safe travels."

"Bye, everyone! Tell my girls I'm sorry for leaving without saying goodbye."

Terras carried me over the glass shards of the busted wall and we made it to the ship without any issues. Fortunately, none of the guards had tried to be a hero.

I strapped myself into the third cockpit seat and Martinez pulled back the thrust lever, making the ship roar as it climbed at maximum speed.

"Gods," I said, "I hope you planned this through. I could have stayed there, four years in that place is nothing."

"Relax, we got a good plan," said Terras, completely calm like always. "Raptor One to Control, we got the package."

"Copy, Raptor One, well done. Proceed to jump coordinates. Battle Group Alpha has arrived and is deploying fighters."

I looked over to him. "The package, huh."

"Unwrapped, but in pretty good condition," he said and stroked a strand of hair out of my face. "Don't worry, we brought clothes for you."

"For the record," said Martinez, "I suggested 'cupcake' as your code name, boss."

"Because I'm sweet or because I'm short?" I asked and wiggled my breasts. "Think about what you're gonna say next, my friend."

He coughed. "Excuse me, I should really focus on flying this thing."

The ship kept climbing and I watched how a number of green symbols appeared on the tactical display. It looked like George's cruiser, flanked by some destroyers and corvettes. The smaller dots were three fighter squadrons.

I had no doubt that they would be able to handle the handful republican navy ships, should any of them have suicidal tendencies. What worried me more was the large number of red dots on our flight path.

"Guys, I know I'm just the package, but you're aware that we're flying right into the defense grid? Just saying."

"You mean the MK-4 gun batteries?" asked Martinez. "Now that you mention it, aren't that the ones that can make confetti out of a corvette?"

*Yeah, those. Exactly those."

Terras shrugged. "I have a good feeling about this. We got our shields up, we'll be fine."

"Our shields?! That'll help precisely nothi- ... you're messing with me, right?"

"Yes."

I took a deep breath. No backseat driving, Cassidy. Let them do their job.

Nothing happened, they didn't even track us with their sensors. We passed the perimeter close enough to see one of the batteries from the window -- a massive gun, much larger than our ship.

"That's really the worst possible moment to take their guns offline for maintenance," said Martinez.

"Indeed," said Terras. "Someone should lose their job over this."

What a bunch of comedians, I thought and leaned back onto my seat.

"Raptor One to Control, we have passed the grid, jump drive is ready to go."

"Copy, Raptor One. Control to all task force elements, mission accomplished, proceed to rendezvous points."

"See," said Terras, "all good. Nobody got hurt and not a single shot fired. I believe last time I picked you up from prison you cooked me dinner."

"And afterwards we almost didn't make it to the bedroom," I said as the ship was entering hyperspace. "Gods, I lived like a nun in that place. How about we ask the guys to clear a bunk and I'll cook another time?"

Epilogue

Two months had passed since my escape from prison and I had another couple of months of free time until my next assignment. It hadn't been a bad experience, but George insisted that I take some downtime and I wasn't going to refuse.

Sure enough, George's boat on Helios was the perfect place to reunite with some friends. Spa treatments, relaxing on the quarterdeck, two suns in the sky and a spectacular view of the waterfalls -- life couldn't get much better.

"Someone should probably go and unlock Lisa," said Loreena. "If she wants to spend her nights chained up in a cell that's one thing, but missing this view would be unforgivable."

"I asked one of the guys to get her," I said. "She should be here any minute. Apparently she talked one of the security staff into giving her a spanking."

And indeed, there she was, wearing a dreamy smile, a skimpy bikini, and numerous red welts on her butt and back thighs.

"Bernard sure knows what to do with a belt," she sighed. "I think I'm in love."

"Girl, we're on a private yacht," said Vicky while spreading sunscreen on Loreena's newly enhanced breasts. "I'll say nothing about the welts, but do you really wanna come home from Helios with tan lines?"

"Alright, alright," said Lisa and stripped off her bikini. "By the way, that bio mod turned out great, Lori. Your new boobs are amazing."

"Yes. I'm super happy with them. Did I tell you that I've got a lifelong warranty against sagging? I won't even need a bra. Thank you so much, Cassie!"

"My pleasure," I said. "If anyone needs anything, the doc's still here. I already had myself tightened, I'm basically back to being a virgin in both places."

Loreena laughed. "I wonder how long that'll last."

"Well, I'm making up for lost time. But what about you, Vicks?"

"No way," she said, lying back in her deck chair. "I stretched my ass for months, I'm not going back to zero. But thank you so much for inviting us, being here is like a dream."

"I'm glad you came," I said and raised my glass. "To making friends in strange places."