The Trap

Harry held her head in his hands and forced a kiss onto her lips as he began to experience his orgasm. He climaxed so strongly that he had difficulty breathing. He lay atop her for some time while his member lost its erection. Then he rolled over and took a nap, leaving Andrea handcuffed to the bed posts and still enjoying the restrainer. She knew better than to awake her Master and ask release. If he wanted to release her wrists from the handcuffs or remove her restrainer, he would have done so. Andrea smiled. She suffered, but she was able to arouse and satisfy her Master. A girl who could not or would not satisfy her Master was a poor slave. Andrea knew that she could easily sue for her freedom. She knew that she had rights, but enjoyed her position as a slave girl. Being able to please her Master was her greatest pleasure.

6. The Assassination

Eric drove by the convenience store the third Wednesday in a row. This time the center three parking spaces were vacant. He pulled in his van in the center stall. Barring anyone pulling out, there was a one-in-two chance that Carrie Craven would park the grocery store delivery van to the right side. Everything had to be in place. This was no tour-de-force; this was a tour-de-grace. Carrie pulled into the lot and parked to the right hand side and made her exit. Eric was just coming back with coffee. Susan and Dan positioned themselves. Dan had an injection cylinder. It was similar to the atropine or Compazine injectors used for nerve gas antidotes. A powerful spring would drive the needle through cloth or leather to inject the contents of the syringe, usually into buttocks or hips. This cylinder had a powerful tranquilizer. Carrie would be unconscious for several hours, more than enough time to carry out the mission.

Carrie had even left the engine running in her van, but she did have the presence of mind to secure the van and take a door key. Just as she passed between the two vehicles, Dan swung open the sliding door, Eric opened the right front door, partially blocking a view from the store, and Dan and Susan pulled Carrie into the back of the van. Susan jabbed Carrie in the ass with the injector, pulled the keys from her hand, grabbed the newspaper, and quickly took her security badge. In a thrice she was seated in the driver's seat of the grocery van. Both vehicles departed without detection or suspicion. Dan busily duct taped Carrie's hands and feet. It wasn't a good idea to duct tape her mouth, she might vomit and drown. This was a mission to terrorize the androids. The human beings were not the target of the neo-Luddites. And any backlash was to be avoided, even if it meant aborting the mission.

They had rehearsed the scenario several times. Timing was important. Susan drove the van to the service entrance. The service entrance was to the rear of the mansion, on a residential street. There were miscellaneous cars, trucks, pick-ups, and vans randomly parked. This was a street for deliveries and service workers. It was a place that would not detract from the magnificence of the mansion's frontal exterior and façade. Eric, with his leather jacket and proletariat demeanor would not be conspicuous in an old blue van. He parked across the street just as Susan pulled into the service entrance and beeped. She was expected precisely at that moment, and with machine regularity Sharon was waiting. There were many bags of groceries to be unloaded. Sharon did not do a bio-scan of Susan, the likeness was nearly perfect and the security badge registered. The run from the store to the VP mansion was supposed to be "non-stop." The grocery van had a carjack transducer. The doors were plated and the glass bullet resistant. What could be cause for concern? The egocentric manager at the grocery store wanted his morning tabloid from the convenience store. He had to have a little personal servitude at company expense. This would all come out later in the investigation. But for the moment everything was copasetic.

Unloading the bags, Sharon whisked them away. As the back of the van was nearly empty, Sharon stepped out of the compound to help get the last few items. At this precise moment Susan was between Sharon and the turnstile. As she gave her a shove, Dan raced across the street. Sharon was agile, nimble, and had nearly instantaneous reflexes; however, she was an upgrade to commercial android. The heavy Titanium inner armor and the additional weaponry had not been calculated for. In short, Sharon was overweight. And she fell ungracefully on the pavement. It would only have taken a second for her to right herself, but a powerful shaped charge struck her left thigh. Dan had gotten his first shot off on the run and scored. It was daring and dangerous. Had he missed, Sharon might have retaliated immediately. Now she had to reconfigure to get position. But there was no time. Dan closed in and fired a second shot to her head. The android's golden mane spit asunder and a dark fluid gushed out. It was some mixture of hydraulic fluid, oil, electric insulation fluid, and wetware. Whatever it was, it looked disgusting. Susan caught sight of the horrific scene and vomited. Eric was already pulling his blue van along side for a pick up. At any second alarms would sound. Susan rallied and hurried past Sharon and Dan to the waiting vehicle. She was supposed to pull Carrie from the van and position her in the drive way. Dan approached Sharon and fired his final round point blank into her back. The bullet hit its mark. Some noxious, toxic, lachrymatory, regurgitory, foul, ugly, smelly mixture of chemicals and fluids boiled out, steaming and fuming. Sharon was melting down. Dan tossed the piece of military ordnance to the ground and headed straight for the van. Something was wrong.

"Get the girl out of the van!" Eric barked.

"No," Susan retorted, "She's mine."

"What?" Dan exclaimed. Now time was short and already massive sirens and alarms were going off. In less than a minute the entire block would be secured. Eric had no desire to be taken prisoner. Neither did Dan. Rather than risking a confrontation with Susan, the van sped off. No one spoke for a long time. They left the freeway and took country roads, some gravel, some dirt, some not even on maps. Their destination was a safe house. In this case it was an abandoned farm house. The van would be hidden in an old barn, out of sight from the road and from the sky. Both Dan and Eric were overjoyed with the success of the mission but totally pissed-off at Susan. She had been selected mainly because she was the perfect "duplicate" or double for Carrie Craven, the delivery driver. She had the same complexion, same general features---height, weight, color eyes, color hair, etc. But Susan was a loose cannon. Just how loose was the surprise!

"How's she doing?" Eric asked, breaking the silence as he set the parking brake. They had parked inside the barn.

"She's regaining consciousness," Dan replied. Susan was stroking her face and hair. It was clear that Susan had become smitten with the hostage. It was planned to leave Carrie bound and doped so that she wouldn't be blamed. Now it might appear that this was an "inside job." Eric shrugged. When the world gives you a lemon, make lemonade.

"You will have to be the one to recruit her," Eric said to Susan. "This wasn't my call. It would be unfair to her---and to the cause---to hold her and then release her later. She would be a suspect and probably a scapegoat." Susan looked up to Eric with doe-like eyes. Eric's steel-gray eyes were merciless. Susan then realized that she had made a very significant decision.

"I can," Susan replied. She pulled off her jacket and pulled her T-shirt over her head. Turning, she showed Eric the scars on her back. "I was trained by a merciless and severe Master," Susan continued. "These are the scars that you can see. I will train this girl."

Eric shrugged. He had said all that he was about to say on the matter. He planned to get Dan back to the Free State he left and give Susan and her girl the old "heave ho." Eric knew that when forensics dusted the weapon for prints and pulled off Dan's that there would be a massive manhunt. The human supremacists had alerted the news media as soon as the blue van left the scene. The government security officials found cameras rolling and satellite link-ups in place when they arrived. The car radio announced the assassination and promised immediate action. But midnight Dan's mug shot would be on every TV on earth. He would have his fifteen minutes of fame. It would be fifteen minutes of fame plus. He would have a true "plus-up." Now the idea is to avoid letting them catch him. The longer Dan could remain at large, the weaker the AI Collective would appear. Susan and Carrie were wild cards.

Eric had some Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) and cooked over some canned fuel canisters. Dan was surprised at how efficient and professional Eric was. It was clear that Eric had learned survival and avoidance of detection skills. He never got frustrated or held a grudge. So Susan had really deviated from every norm. Did Eric lecture her? No! And when Dan made eye contact with Susan and started to say something, Eric tapped him on his ass with the toe of his boot. The mission was everything.

Carrie had come around enough to eat with the three. Eric removed the duct tape and handcuffed her wrists in front of her. Carrie was too groggy to carry on a conversation. Besides, none of the three felt like discussing the mission in front of her anyway. Susan came over and stroked Carrie's hair. The girl had a look of fright in her eyes. Susan said some comforting words to her, but they didn't seem to help very much.

Dan and Eric went outside and talked. When it started to rain, they came back inside. Eric then asked Susan if Carrie was up to conversation. Susan said that she was. The Eric addressed Carrie directly.

"We are human supremacists," Eric stated matter-of-factly. "We will not harm you. You are collateral and an unfortunate bystander. But you are here now and with us. We cannot set you free at this time. Now Susan will take charge of you. You are to do everything she says. You must do everything immediately and without hesitation, understand." Eric paused and waited to see a response from Carrie Craven. She nodded her assent.

"Good," Eric concluded. He turned to Susan with a face like gray flint and told her: "This one is yours now, Susan. I have to get Dan back. From now on out you and Susan are on your own."

"No," Susan interjected. "You can't just cut us loose."

"What would you have me do?" Eric asked. "The tunnel is tricky and she's not one of us. There are problems with taking a citizen into a free state without her permission. There are protocols, silly as they are." Then Susan suddenly realized the enormity of her moment of lustful passion. She had wanted to acquire a submissive, but wasn't nearly ready or prepared to support the venture. She turned to Dan.

"Take us with you," she pleaded. "I'm sure that the benefactor will help."

Dan looked at Eric then turned and spat. He didn't spit on Susan, but he was thinking about it. He didn't curse, but it was all he could do to avoid a vitriolic diatribe. Susan wasn't just bisexual; she was heavily lesbian and a dominant woman to boot. Dan looked at Susan and Carrie. They were sitting side by side and Susan was holding Carrie's cuffed hands. "I'll talk to Eric," Dan said.

It was late and dark. Eric cautioned about using flashlights. "This place is supposed to be deserted. Get in a sleeping bag and stay there until the sun comes up. Tomorrow will be a different day."

The sunlight pierced holes in the roof, cracks in the walls, and burst through broken window panes. Dan slid out of his sleeping bag and went over to the porch and urinated. He left the door open, filling the dusty air in the room with yellow rays of morning sunlight. Susan and Carrie were together in one sleeping bag, Dan's empty sleeping bag was there, and there was something missing. Eric was gone. He left everything except his sleeping bag. There were the car keys, maps, food, a compass, several weapons, clips of ammunition, etc. For some reason Dan wasn't surprised. There was also a small, battery-operated TV. Dan turned it on and listened to the news.

Susan and Carrie awoke to hear the news that a massive manhunt was underway. The official spin was that the assassination was an "inside job." Carrie gasped. She was also a suspect. Pictures of the destroyed android flooded the airways. They were mixed with pictures of her before the carnage. The disgusting ooze and chemical residue of her meltdown invoked emotions on some. "She may have just been a machine," the human newscaster droned on, "but she made the supreme sacrifice to defend Vice President Kelly. She was more than just a sentient domestic helper, Sharon was a soldier in the army of democracy."