'Protect the Lady'

The two guys chuckled.

They were driven to the far corner of the compound where a black-painted modified Army surplus Land Rover was parked.

"The killer can't miss that it's us with that wording in bold red paints states John W Safaris."

"I hope not," Archie said. "I'll put your two bags in that shed. Please leave all your city clothes and unnecessary baggage there and change into khaki shorts and a khaki double-pocket shirt and wear the white Akubra (Aussie Stetson) so you look like a typical American safaris traveller."

"Omigod."

"And pack the three other identical changes of shorts and shirts."

"Oh, aren't you coming in to help me change and pack?"

"No, I don't find you attractive enough to wish to do that."

Sharon smiled at him beautifully and walked off.

She returned and he said, "Give me your passport, money and valuables and I'll put them with mine just in case this vehicle is set on fire or is blown up if we are out walking somewhere or swimming."

"Swimming?"

"Yes, babe. This decoy journey won't be confined to waiting to become a likely target. This baby will get us up and over sandhills to a few of Australia's most remotely isolated and exotic beaches and we'll dine at a few eateries noted for their fine cooking of local produce."

"Omigod, I had anticipated this journey will have been mostly sweat and flies in a bumpy journey and all pain and no gain and crapping myself as the first bullets come my way.

They drove out of the security gate that was opened for them and headed inland.

"Put your hand into that deep pocket in your door lining and pull out what you find."

"Omigod, a Glock 17."

"Good, you know about guns."

"Yes, I was a member of a gun club for several years."

"Well keep that close to you. Your rifle is attached to the roof lining above you."

Sharon looked up and marvelled that it fitted in to the roof lining to appear almost part of it.

"Why the short barrel? I must say you are now sounding professional instead of the somewhat smart-ass."

"Well, since you drove through those gates, I became totally responsible for your safety and well-being."

"Right."

"Thanks for keeping it simple, Sharon. The shorter barrel is easier to carry and manoeuvre. The thing is, the assassins coming to Australia will be in unfamiliar territory and probably without their accustomed weapons due to Customs regulations."

"That's in our favour. They could attempt to knife us or even shoot us with a handgun with silencer in a crowed space, such as a supermarket, and although possible, I think it is unlikely. They could buy sniper weapons here in Australia but that would require getting a licence and there is always the black market of course, at a price."

That leaves the most likely scenario as a close-range stealth attack at night, which I think is the most likely."

"Anything could happen of course, even a vehicle ram raid, but I'll remain most focused on a night stealth attack. We will be sleeping under a canvas roll-out awning on camper beds and every night I will have rigged up hard-to-detect perimeter electronic beams to give us early-warning alarms."

"Of course, the beams could be set off by inquisitive kangaroos, cattle, or nomad native Aboriginals. What matters most, if any killer with intent sneaks up on us, we'll have a few seconds warning."

"That's scary, it sounds like we'll have too little time."

"It's better than nothing, Sharon. Any questions?"

"I have enough to digest for the moment thanks."

The backroads they travelled on were graded dirt with potholes, which meaning driving fairly slowly to soften the bumps.

By 3.00 and stopping for lunch at a café as a small settlement they had travelled 193 miles and they stopped well off the road and set up camp.

"What's the best thing to do if we become under sudden attack?"

"Don't run. Either slide under the vehicle that has fairly high ground clearance or take your pistol and rifle into the cabin behind the front two seats and reach up and arm and push up the open windows higher to allow you to take a shot if you see a target. The walls of the cabin are lightly armoured and will stop standard light calibre bullets."

"If it's heavier calibre, what should I do."

"Pray."

"Omigod."

"I'll be out there doing my best to protect you."

"You said don't run, to seek shelter under the vehicle or in the cabin."

"Yes, that's for you. I've been trained in anti-guerrilla tactics and can potentially do more damage being out there and sneaking up on them."

"If they confirm they've eliminated me, they may offer to negotiate your freedom. I suggest you don't fall for that. Back into a corner of the cabin, keep low down and shoot any bastard that attempts to enter."

"Archie, this is over-whelming and scaring me. What if I survive and you don't?"

He said later that afternoon he would show Sharon how to enter the ignition code to start the motor and how to operated the GPS system and the emergency radio.

Meanwhile, just think about what we have been talking about and get used to it. You have been trained in unarmed combat and can shoot and, yes, you are a big girl and certainly no pussy."

"Okay, un how can we have sex on a single camp bed. Oh fuck, I only mean to think that."

Archie laughed easily and said he'd known that she would get used to him in time.

"You can fuck me when we are in the sea, on the beach or place a blanket on the ground at the campsite."

"Oh yeah. Um do you wish to kiss now?"

"No."

"Fucking arrogant prick."

"Pardon me, but I have to top up fuel from one of the 10 large containers of diesel we are have as cargo."

"Oh Archie, I apologize. Please forgive me."

"No damage done, Sharon. Just be yourself instead of thinking you have to be at war with me."

Alas for Sharon, she didn't get to seduce Archie that evening. He returned in darkness from washing their camping-quality pressed metal dinner dishes and utensils to find her asleep under a sheet on one of the camp beds.

Well, it had been a tiring long and hot journey on a stiffly sprung rugged ex-military vehicle. He thought of lifting the sheet to find if she was completely nude but then dropped that salacious intent, thinking a girl has a right to her privacy.

Archie set up the perimeter infra-red intruder warning beams and scared away a wandering Brahman bull with his powerful military-style torch set to staccato flashing mode.

He awoke at dawn to find Sharon breathing hotly into his ear.

"What?"

"Are you ready for me to attend to your morning erection. I've set up a blanket on the ground."

In shock, he rolled off the narrow bed and on to her before she could get completely clear.

"Get off me, you big heap," she yelled. 'You've really hurt me."

He attempted to pacify her and assess her injuries, if any. But she told him to piss off and not speak to her.

"Oh, cook me two fried eggs, tomatoes and wedges for breakfast and then get me out of her to a beach so I can have a fantastic recuperation and plenty of time in the water."

"There may be sharks."

"Well shoot them. The last words my father said to you were, 'Protect the lady', meaning me."

He muttered 'Conniving bitch' and she called that she'd heard that.

They spent 24 hours at the idyllic and remote beach, requiring a 90-minute drive back to the inland road.

Sharon marvelled at the splendid coastal scene, crystal clear waters and windless conditions.

"Swim now as we should keep out of the sun from 11.00 to 3.00 to avoid sun-burn and the start of serious skin damage."

"Do you mind if I only wear a bikini bottom."

"Nope."

"Promise not to attempt to hump me."

"There's no need to promises. I can't think of any other woman I'd be less unlike to hump."

Sharon stalked off in a huff to change.

She appeared in just her bikini bottom and display great breast sculpture and uplift.

Archie was in his swim briefs and she sucked in breath at the sight of his magnificent tan and physic.

"Omigod, you look as well-toned as the top Aussie professional surfers. Oh god, that scar down your chest. It must have narrowly missed your heart."

"My heart is on the other side. I took a bullet, probably a stray, when in the Middle East."

"Oh, where were you?"

"Here and there."

"Oh, Special Forces guys are instructed not to give details about engagements."

"Correct and it involved guys and gals; female military personnel were attached to our unit too. This is the 21st Century. Show me were you had the growth, or rather birth-mark removed."

Sharon opened her legs and rolled her knees outwards.

"Ah, great job. The skin grafts have taken well."

"Yes, but I wish I had taken the other option and had a tattoo to cover the skin defect."

"What, the words Enter Here plus an arrow."

"God you are disgusting," she giggled.

While Sharon swam, keeping close to the shore, Archie stood knee deep in the water with his rifle at the ready for sharks even though sharks attacking swimmers was extremely low.

He didn't mind standing there as it was useful from maintaining his tan and most of the time Sharon kept chatting to him. When she asked what did he think of her breasts, he looked beyond her and raised his rifle a little.

"What?" she asked, looking at the crystal-clear waters behind her.

"It's nothing, I think it was a small cloud shadow."

"Think? I'm getting out," she said, wading past him.

After lunch they slept on the sand under their green canvas awning that rolled out from the roofline on the side of their vehicle where its housing was attached.

During the night, just after 2.00 am the alarm sounded from their security beam. They had rehearsed for this moment.

Archie picked up his rifle and released the safety lock and checked that the slim flashlight was attached securely. By then Sharon was inside the cabin and read the perimeter lighting control screen and whispered, "Seafront Boundary."

"Ah, probably a seal."

He used his ordinary flashlight and immediately picked up a seal on the beach, head high looking when the intrusion of the light was coming from. She had a young seal beside her.

"Emergency over," he yawned and switching on the soft downward shinning overhead outside light, yawned and asked, "Green tea."

"Yes, please and followed by really long and juicy sex with kissing?"

"Yes please."

He went into the rear cabin to make tea and to reset the beams on the perimeter fencing as the two seals had retreated closer to the water, feeling his anticipation grow and hoping that this wasn't the world's biggest tease.

She was already sitting on a blanket on the ground.

Incredibly they sat and sipped slowly, making no attempt to touch or even talk.

She placed her empty cup between them. He quickly drained his cup and stood in a fluid motion and placed the two cups on the outside table and dropped down beside her to find her massaging her twin cute mounds with both hands.

Archie gently pushed her hands away with one hand and began massaging the far breasts.

She groaned lightly and raised her head, pushing her partly open full lips upwards.

His lips pressed against them.

"Glorious."

"Agreed," she murmured and pushed a hand down inside the front of his underpants.

"I'm ready," she whispered and he felt her legs moving. "More than damp already."

The stiffening of his erection appeared to announce her need was well received.

Slowly, they went at it.

More than an hour later, they lay back in a loose embrace.

"That was dream sex. I had expected it to become near-brutal."

He didn't speak. If she could have seen his almost radiant smile, she would have had his answer.

Finally, he said it had come close to his best sexual engagement ever and she said, give them time and they'd rise progressively to new heights.

"I'm so glad you've come into my life, her practically purred."

"I'm so glad that dad indirectly found you," she chuckled lightly. "Wow, you really know how to treat a lady."

"Years of military practice."

"I bet, and with some away from camp with some of the slickest prostitutes in the world today."

"I wouldn't know. I was just there for the fucking."

She giggled and said that reminded her. When he could tell she was really into he should remove the condom and blast over her body as it seemed so obscene and yet so ritually fulfilling.

"Is it now?"

"Yes," she said, rolling on top of him and kissing him erotically and then her hips began moving suggestively against him, indicating that rest time was ending.

Chapter 3

As Archie and Sharon headed back later in the morning to the less-used route north further inland, where Archie figured they would have the best chance of countering attacks by the assassins if they were found, he repeated his earlier tribute, "That was up there with some of the best sex I've ever had."

"Likewise."

"Truly?"

"Yes, absolutely and to my surprise I feel I'm ready to attempt to conjoin with you physically and emotionally."

"Um, please don't try to fuse with me, or anyone for that matter; just be yourself, at your best. I like you with a bit of hit-back fire, because that's how you are. You have spent 30 years developing your natural self. Of course, self-improvement should always be switched on but one should not go overboard on it."

"Anyway, I can't imagine you being around me without me not pissing you off at times and occasionally I need sometime to give me stick at times to avoid becoming complacent or overly arrogant."

Sharon looked at him a little wide-eyed.

"Christ, Archie, sensitivity was not something I expected to experience from you."

He looked confused, if unsure whether to react pleased or horrified.

She laughed and said they should change the topic.

"Be a sweetie and have us camping back at a beach late this afternoon."

"Oh yeah, sex on pure white and soft san

She touched her breast and said that would depend on how adroit he was at seduction.

Three days later when they were having lunch, facing inwards under shade, looking at the distant hills, Archie froze despite the heat.

"What?"

"Keep acting naturally. Rub a tit?"

"What?"

"We are under-observation," Archie said, picking up his bottle of beer and sipping. Then he looked up to the sky and pointed out an imaginary bird while his companion squeezed her right boob.

"That's enough."

"What do I do now?" she asked.

"Wave to the watchers," he said sarcastically."

She moved to do that, and was stopped when he yelled don't"

"Blow your nose."

"That's not necessary."

He groaned.

She presented to blow her nose on the tea-towel.

"Resume eating," he sighed.

Ten minutes later when they were packing up, ready to leave, Archie said, "Now listen carefully, here's the plan.

A few minutes later, Sharon, who days earlier had had driving instruction and shooting practice on two days, drove off in the lumbering-laden vehicle.

She was alone.

Minutes earlier, Archie had gone over to lie in a depression, with the vehicle between him and the observers. After laying prone for ten minutes, he intended to gather up his rifle and water bottle and then begin climbing the slope to get closer so he could use his binoculars at a closer distance to count the observers and gather any other useful information.

He assumed by the intensity of the glint he'd spotted earlier, that the observers were using a telescope, probably to count the hairs on his chest and to examine Sharon's tits, or something like that. The width of the glint from that long distance, possible 1200 yards, looked too large to be the scope on a hunter's rifle.

He also figures the observers would stay where they were for a while, because it was a high point of the hills and they could keep an eye on the Land Rover while eating lunch leisurely.

When in position, he confirmed through his binoculars they were still there, but only spotted one, a skinny guy with long hair but couldn't see his face under the wide-brimmed Akubra he was wearing. He could see just the roof line of probably a Toyota 4WD Land Cruiser Prado. The guy's companion or companions would be inside with the air-conditioning cooling them.

Archie swore because it was too risky getting closer to ID the vehicle.

He crept away bent low to minimize the change of being sighted until he came across a gully and rested under a rocky outcrop in the shade for another 1½ before he went back to where they were parked earlier. The GPS reading in the Land Rover would bring Sharon back to the spot. She had been requested to stay away for three hours.

She arrived back, jumped out and kissed him.

"Well?"

"I could only see one person, a slim guy."

"Perhaps there is only one assassin."

"Possibly, but with him probably being American, one would think he would engage at least a driver/guide."

"Are you tired?"

"What, too tired for sex when the day cools? No way. I climbed slowly to conserve energy.

Sharon giggled and went into the cabin to get two cold beers which they consumed slowly, sitting on the top step.

"I had plenty of thinking time while on the recce (reconnaissance). You should drive all the time now and I'll sit with my rifle. They may feel they need to shoot me to get at you, so the quicker I can react, the better for us."

"Agreed but that's only one scenario."

"Yeah, the main assassin could even be an accomplished knife thrower or prefer to blow us up with a rocket. My thinking is that they will probably prefer a frontal attack, delivered by surprise."

"Oh, that means goodbye nurse."

"Possibly but two things are in our favour. If it's a frontal attack we have a chance of seeing it coming at us. Also, if its gunfire there's a splendid chance of the first shot or the first volley being a little wide of the target. That's why it's vital that we shoot back fast and accurately. We must practice more on that, from the vehicle, from the camping spot and from on the beach which reminds me, I'll place a second lot of intruder warning beams farther out when we camp or when we are on the beach."

"Do the beams work in daylight?"

Archie laughed softly and said the software used is not so sophisticated that it is programmed to tell the difference between night and day."

"Sharon, I'm hoping that we were lucky enough to spot the assassins the first time they close in on us. They won't yet be aware that we divert to a beach each late afternoon and that will complicate their attempts to relocate us. My thinking remains that they may use drones to search for our vehicle, which is why I chose a decommissioned Army Land Rover which is very distinctive."

"You mean to make us more easily to identify?"

"Yes, because to some extent that means we control opportunities for them to attack and if they realize it will be in more remote locations, they may become a little complacent. On the other hand, camping at remote beaches makes us more vulnerable and that's where we really need to be at the top of our defensive game."

"Then shouldn't you go out at our next sighting of them and kill them in cold blood."

"What, and be charge following complaints of murder, with you also being culpable?"

"Yes, but we will say they were professional assassins and we will be asked to prove that claim."

"Oh, fuck."

"Yes, indeed."

A couple of hours later of driving, Archie stopped the vehicle.

"Is this a comfort stop?"

"Yeah, we both should pee after that beer. The GSP indicates there a small mining settlement somewhere amid those lower hills toward the coast. Their communications tower is likely to be up in these higher hills," Archie said, pulling out his phone.

"Yes, I have a strong signal. You phone your dad and then I'll phone HQ and report on my confirmed sighting that we are under observation and say they will now be aware that your father is not with us. Don't say anything about that to your father or that I'll be requesting that his security be beefed up."