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			DAMSELS UNDER GLASS: THE SERIES
			A Bug's Tale (Charlie's Story) ———————————————— by Van & Courier  ©2000
			Chapter 3

Charlie frowned at Teri's slightly hunched shoulders.  "I wish you'd stop acting like you're walking The Last Mile or something," she teased.  "I'm going to tie you to the tree, not hang you from it.  Don't be such a sore loser!"

Teri looked back over her shoulder at her diminutive friend and sighed dramatically.  "Sorry," she said with a sheepish grin.  "It's just that I've never been tied up before, is all."

"Never?" Charlie asked with an incredulous gasp.  "You never played Cowboys-and-Indians as a kid?  Cops-and-Robbers?  Xena-and-Callisto?  None of those fiendish burros ever turned the tables on you?"

"Now there's a disturbing mental image," Teri said with a nervous giggle.  "No, never.  I guess I'm just not the 'tie her up' type," she said.

"As if!" Charlie responded in a sarcastic whisper.

Teri looked back again.  "Huh?"

"I said, Until now?" Charlie offered.

"I guess," Teri mused.

"Then how do you know you wouldn't like it?" Charlie pressed.

"Charlie!" Teri complained, blushing prettily.  "It's not like it's brussel sprouts or something!"

"I happen to like brussel sprouts," Charlie opined, with a coy grin.

Teri gave her diminutive friend a dirty look and proceeded down the trail. They continued towards the stream, and the waiting tree on the low bluff above.  "Uh, do we really have to do this?" Teri asked quietly.

"We?" Charlie queried. "Don't you mean, 'Gosh, my wise and wonderful amigo, do I really have to keep my end of the bargain'?"

Teri planted her hands on her hips and stuck out her tongue at her petite pal.

Charlie ignored the archeologist's glare. "Maybe we could make a new bargain, like... all you have do is swear that hence forth and forever more, whenever I ask the question 'Who's a chicken?' you'll cluck like a prize hen for one full minute."

"That's not gonna happen, Little Bit," Teri laughed.

"Well, looks like you're getting tied up, then," Charlie said sweetly.

Much to Teri's displeasure, they had arrived at the tree.  Teri regarded it nervously, and the coils of thin rope lying next to it.  That sure is a lot of rope, she mused, swallowing nervously.  She then glanced around, at the cliffs washed in the indirect, waning light of early evening; swallows swooping close to the waters of the stream; a filigree of cirrus clouds far, far overhead; Charlie waiting patiently, an affectionate grin on her smug, dimpled face.  Teri sighed, and stepped to the tree.  "Look, why don't we just forget the whole thing?" Teri tried again. "We can go back to camp... I've got a bag of M&M's stashed in my stuff... And..."

Charlie looked at her nervous friend.  "Teri?" she began. "I'm your friend, right?"

The question caught Teri unawares.  "Uh, yeah," she responded.

Charlie grinned.  "Your best friend?" she pressed.

"Yeah, I guess," Teri said shyly.

"So you trust me, right?" Charlie asked, smiling sweetly.

"Well, I don't see how..."

"Do... you... trust... me?" Charlie demanded.

Teri looked down at her friend.  Charlie was smiling up at her intently with the innocent charm only Charlie manage.  Teri grinned, sighed, and put her back to the tree.

"Is it okay if I just stand?" she asked.  "Since I just washed these shorts I don't want to..."

"I prefer you standing," Charlie interrupted, "but don't worry about the shorts or the rest of your clothes.  I'll make sure they don't get dirty."

"Oh, okay," Teri said.  "Thanks."  She turned and put her back to the tree, placed her hands behind the trunk... and noticed Charlie standing with her hands on her hips, shaking her head.  "What?..." Teri asked.  "What?"

"Skin," Charlie demanded with an evil grin.  "Let's see some skin."

"Ohhh no!" Teri protested.  "Just because you were naked, that doesn't mean I have to be naked."

Charlie slid her hands up to her armpits, and began slowly flapping her arms.  "Bwooock... bwock bwock bwock... bwooock," she teased, scratching the sandy soil with her right boot.

"Enough!" Teri laughed.  "Enough with the chicken already."

"Bwooock–It's only fair," Charlie said, continuing the flapping and scratching.  "Bwock bwock–tit for tat– Bwooock–or should I say tits for twat?"

"Very funny, Miss Potty Mouth," Teri laughed, then reached down and began unlacing her boots.  "You're right, of course," she sighed.  "This story won't have as much... punch, otherwise."

Charlie grinned in delight.  Even after all they'd been through together, Teri still managed to surprise her.  "And who exactly do you plan on telling this story to? " Charlie asked.

"No one," Teri said quickly, unzipping her shorts and letting them drop.  She then pulled her tank top over her head, and stepped out of her panties.  "...but you never know," she added as she neatly folded her clothes and stacked them atop her boots.  "If there's gonna be a story, it might as well be a good one."

"Might as well," Charlie agreed.  "Dear Penthouse, I'm a freshman at a small, midwestern college..." They both caught the giggles.

"I Was a Hacker's Love Slave! " Teri offered.

"Helpless Damsel in the Desert! " Charlie added.

"How about, er, 'Bound Bimbo... in Bondage '?" Teri snickered.

Charlie tilted her head and gave Teri a skeptical look.

"Okay, I choked," Teri giggled, leaning back against the tree.  "Well... we might as well–oh!"

Unnoticed, Charlie had stepped behind the tree, dropped a loop of rope around Teri's crossed wrists, and pulled it taut.  "Prepare to learn, neophyte.  The trick to getting out of a crossed wrist tie," she lectured, "is to pull the slack out of any loop you can reach and transfer it to the next—"  Charlie continued tying her friend.  "—pull it taut, transfer the slack to the next loop, etc., etc., 'til you get enough slack to slip a loop over your hand.  Eventually..." Charlie gave the rope a strong tug, and Teri winced, "you start getting enough slack that the whole thing falls apart."  Fingers flying, Charlie pulled the rope through itself and continued the binding, working rapidly.  "The way to defeat such an escape," Charlie explained, "is to tie periodic hitches and square knots as you go.  That way, the slack can't be transferred.  Also..." Charlie stepped to the front of the tree, leaned close, and pulled the two free ends of rope from either side, "you make sure the final key knots are impossible to reach.  Breath in for me, will ya?"

"Huh?" Teri asked.

Charlie playfully poked Teri in the belly button.  "Suck in your gut."

"Stop it," Teri giggled, but pulled in her tummy as ordered.

Charlie took the opportunity to tie a tight double square knot directly over Teri's navel.  "There!" she said.

Teri relaxed her stomach, and found the knotted rope very taut, pressing into her abdomen.  She twisted her bound wrists, and watched the knot and rope slide fractionally from side to side.  Meanwhile, Charlie had knelt at her feet and was quickly, efficiently binding her ankles.  Rope went around Teri's ankles, between her ankles, around her ankles and the tree, and between her ankles and the tree.  "Why do I get the feeling you've done this before?" Teri said nervously.

"You know that new line of VR-games TESSERACT just released?" Charlie asked.

"Those campy melodramas that are causing such a stir?"  Teri responded.

"The Perils of Persephone series," Charlie confirmed proudly.  "I was on the development team for the core algorithms."

"And this has what to do with tying people up?" Teri asked.

"We used data from actual tied up volunteers to fine tune some of the design.  We trimmed more than a  third from the feedback bandwidth by session-linking proprioceptive routines and..."  Charlie looked up at Teri's confused frown.  "Never mind," Charlie said with a grin.  "It's all proprietary anyway.  Suffice it to say I got a lot of experience tying and being tied."

"Oh," Teri said, a hint of skepticism in her expression.  "Well, I guess it is kind of fun..."

Charlie grinned up at her captive and tied Teri's knees together and to the tree in the same fashion as she had tied her ankles.  She smiled as she worked.  Everything she'd said about the Persephone project was true, but, of course, it was nothing compared to her Inner Circle activities.  Charlie reached into her back pocket and pulled out two bandanas, folded square.  She popped one in her mouth, shook out the other, folded it point to point into a narrow bandage, and draped it over her neck.  She then took the first bandana from her mouth, shook it out, crumpled it into a loose wad, then looked up at Teri and smiled sweetly.

Teri had watched the preparations with quiet trepidation, twisting in her bonds nervously.  "Uh... I suppose you want to gag me, huh?"

"I was thinkin' about it Ter," Charlie said. "It does sorta complete the image."

"I don't know," Teri looked at Charlie nervously.

"Tell you what, not that you can stop me or anything—In fact, I could pretty much do any unspeakable thing I want to you right now—but you are my best pal, so I'll make you a deal.  You let me gag you and I'll come back later and feed you half a handful of those M&M's." Charlie gave Teri her best puppy dog eyes.

"Only half?" Teri asked.  "You've got a small hand."

"Okay, a full handful," Charlie said with a giggle, "but I get to choose the colors."

Teri replied with her best, long suffering sigh.  "Oh, the things I do for friendship... and chocolate!  Okay, Little Bit, I am your willing–m'mmpfh!"

Charlie had crammed the wad into her friend's mouth and was busy tamping it past Teri's teeth.  She then gently pinched Teri's lips closed around the cloth with her fingers.  "Hold that for me, would you please?" she asked happily.  Teri rolled her eyes and bit down on the bandana.  "Thanks," Charlie said with a grin, then took the folded bandana from around her neck and tied a tight overhand knot in its center.  "I'll spare you the lecture on gagging techniques," she said pleasantly, "this time," then centered the knot between Teri's lips and over the wad, pulled the ends of the bandana to either side behind her prisoner's neck, and tied a tight hitch.  Teri's eyes bulged and she urked through the cloth in her mouth.  "I've got a little roll of duct tape in my repair kit," Charlie said, "but not enough to waste on recreation."  She tightened the bandana with a fierce tug, completed a double square knot... and took a step back.

Teri tossed her head, shaking her brown, tousled locks from her face, then pulled on her wrist bonds and twisted in place.  She locked eyes with Charlie and blinked.

"Inescapably bound," Charlie noted, "naked as the proverbial jay bird, cruelly gagged, miles and miles from any possible hope of rescue..."  Charlie picked up one of the several remaining long, neat, coils of rope and smiled, evilly.  "It's a start."

Teri's eyes widened and she mewled through her gag.

Teri glanced up at the sky.  The canyon was already in near darkness, but the last rays of the sun were still illuminating a few clouds far overhead.  Even as she watched, they faded from orange, to vermilion, to deep purple.  The first star twinkled into view.  As if on cue, a small, brown bat swooped overhead.  Sheltered by the canyon walls, the valley was still pleasantly warm and mild to Teri's exposed skin. Apart from the ropes and gag, it was a lovely evening to be in the wilderness, one of those times that Teri cherished while in the field... or had cherished until she'd made the mistake of inviting a certain mischievous college roommate along on a dig.

Teri sighed through her gag and twisted in her bonds.  Her fingers could just brush a few of the bindings on her wrists, but could gain no purchase.  With effort, she could touch the ends of rope that were tied together across her stomach, but simply fingering the taut rope did no good.

Before "abandoning her to her fate", as Charlie had put it, her petite captor had used just about her entire inventory of thin rope to "enhance" Teri's predicament.  The naked archeologist was now lashed to the tree by tight, multiple strands across her shoulders; above, below, between, and across her breasts; her abdomen; upper and lower thighs; above and below her knees; and across her shins and calves.  The ropes weren't just tied around her, they were hitched and cinched to one another, making everything tight and very snug.  Teri knew she wasn't going anywhere... until Charlie decided she could.  Strangely, Teri found there was a sort of comfort and security to her predicament.  She knew she was safe and after her initial attack of nerves, had relaxed into the situation, exploring the unfamiliar sensations of helplessness and vulnerability.  Ordinarily Teri was not comfortable with being defenseless or exposed.  Years on remote digs had reinforced her independent nature.  She had reacted badly to Charlie's "game" at first, but then had reminded herself that Charlie was her closest friend, and that "Little Bit" would never do anything that would result in her closest friend being hurt.  (Of course, knowledge of this deep and genuine trust did not prevent her from trying to formulate an elaborate revenge on her cherubic pal.)

Teri returned to her hopeless struggles. The best she had managed by way of escape was to cause one of the strands crossing her breasts to slip just enough so that every time she squirmed it slid and tickled her nipples in a most distracting manner. This was not a helpful development!

Despite her best efforts, Teri's gag was still tightly in place.  The bandana wad was now more or less soaked in her saliva.  It had compacted a little since Charlie had first tied it in place, but it was still more than enough to ensure her continued silence.  It was obvious Charlie knew a thing or two about rope and bandanas and the ways to use them to keep someone a prisoner. What have you been up to, Little Bit? Teri mused.  What happened to that outwardly perky but inwardly shy little geek I knew so well?

Just then, Teri noticed the "little geek" in question approaching up the path from the stream through the gathering gloom.  She had something in her hands, and was preceded by the delicious odor of fresh coffee!  Charlie had availed herself of one of the few indulgences Teri allowed herself in the field: her little French press coffee maker.  The plunger was still up on the small lexan pot, its foil and neoprene jacket zipped closed to keep the steeping brew piping hot.  Charlie sat down on a nearby log and slowly pushed the plunger, sending the coffee grounds to the bottom.  She then poured some coffee into one of the two wire handled, double walled, steel cups she had brought with her, blew on the steaming surface, took a careful sip, and sighed contentedly.  Charlie then sat back, gazed at her prisoner, and smiled.  "You hid your candy stash too well, I'm afraid," she said, "so we'll have to do the M&M's next time."

Teri twisted in her bonds.  'Next time'?

Charlie set down her cup and stepped behind the tree.  Teri felt fingers working at her wrist bonds, and in a surprisingly short time, the tight loops and coils melted and fell away.  Several seconds later, the rope strands pinning her lower arms to the tree were removed... then the ropes binding her elbows... then the ropes around her upper arms and breasts.  Teri shivered as the coils slid down across her chest, momentarily catching on her embarrassingly erect nipples.  Soon, she was free from the waist up, save for a set of criss-crossing ropes that pinned her shoulders back to the trunk.  Charlie stepped to the front of the tree, reached up, loosened her friend's gag and pulled it down, then plucked the bandana wad from the brunette's mouth and stepped back.  She set the wet, crumpled ball of cloth on the log, poured the second cup of coffee, and returned to the tree.

Teri was working her jaws, licking her lips, and rubbing her wrists.  Charlie smiled and handed her friend the cup.  "Thanks," Teri croaked, and took a careful sip.   She hadn't realized how thirsty she'd become.

Charlie sat back down on her log, retrieved her cup, and took a sip of her own.

For a few minutes the two friends sipped their coffee in silence.  The shadows that had crept into the canyon long hours before were finally deepening into true night, but there was still enough light for Teri to make out the bemused contemplation on Charlie's face.

"Well?" the restrained archeologist asked.

"What?" her captor replied, looking up.

"What are you thinking?" Teri asked with a coy smile.

Charlie stood and stretched. She set her cup down next to the drained pot. "I'm thinking that ought to be my line," she said lightly, then walked over and took the now empty cup from Teri.  She then smiled and continued in a more serious manner.  "I'm also thinking that this has been a really fun trip... and that I've really missed hanging out with you."

Teri watched her friend set the cup down on the log next to the first.  She ties me up in the middle of nowhere with the skills of a professional dominatrix, or whatever you call those people, and all she's thinking is how much she's missed me?!?  Well, that's Charlie to a tee.  "Hey, Little Bit," Teri called quietly.  Charlie looked back over her shoulder.  "Come here," Teri ordered.

Charlie walked back to her still partially restrained friend and stood shyly. Teri looked down at her short captor and rescuer for a long moment, then reached out and pulled her close in a fierce hug.  Charlie, barely coming up to Teri's chin, nestled her head onto her friend's chest and slid her arms around the archeologist's body as far as the tree and remaining bondage would allow.

Teri considered releasing the hug, but Charlie's cheek and hair against her bosom felt so soft, so nice, that she couldn't bring herself to do it.  She felt comfortable and closer to her friend, to anyone, than she had in years.  It was a feeling she was in no hurry to give up.

Finally, Charlie broke the silence.  "It's getting really dark," she murmured.  "We should head back to camp."

"Yeah," Teri mused, squeezing Charlie's shoulders. "We should.  I'm pretty tired for someone who's just been standing around for most of the evening," she said with smirk, then released the hug.

Charlie grinned and stepped back.  "Yeah!  I mean, I did all the real work!" she added, easily dodging the playful swat Teri offered by way of response. "Hey! No slapping your rescuer!"

Teri couldn't help grinning. "So hurry up with the rescuing already, slow poke!"

"Everyone's a critic!" Charlie complained.  "I should have left in your gag," she mumbled, and went to work on the remaining knots.

In no time Teri was free and stretching, while Charlie gathered up the piles of loose ropes.  Teri rubbed her wrists and inspected herself for rope marks.  There were plenty, making elaborate patterns on her nude body, but they were fading quickly.  Tomorrow they would be completely gone... Tomorrow...

"Charlie," Teri said with a gentle smile, "We need to talk about all this in the morning, right?"

Charlie turned and grinned.  "Absolutely!  But for now, let's get some sleep.  It's been a really long day."

Teri put her arm around her petite friend and they started back on the darkening trail towards camp.  "I wish you'd brought my clothes back with you," she groused.  "Ow!  ...or at least my boots."

"Oh, that was deliberate," Charlie explained.  "Naked and barefoot you can't chase me if I have to make a run for it."  She pointed at the ground.  "Careful Ter, there's all sorts of nasty pine cones around here and—Eee!   Stop it!  Stooop! " she giggled.

Teri had grabbed her friend and was tickling her ribs.  Charlie broke free and scampered away towards the camp.  "Just you wait," Teri whispered, following the fleeing pixie at a slow, careful pace.

Charlie yawned as she stumbled up the trail towards the ruin site.  It was after midnight, but the clear desert sky provided a surprising amount of light for dark-adapted eyes.  It was a trick Charlie had learned from Kat (one of Kitty-Kat's few lessons not involving hours of restrained contortion).  There's very little you can't do by starlight if you take your time, remember where you are, and...  Charlie nearly tripped over a smooth, small boulder, jutting across the minimal trail.  She stopped, stretched, yawned even bigger, scratched her scalp, then straightened her straight, dark mop of hair with her fingers. Okay, now we're awake, she decided.

Charlie shivered slightly.  Not wanting to wake Teri, she'd decided not to get dressed, but had just grabbed her boots and snuck out of camp.  Panties, tank top, socks, and boots were scant protection from the evening chill, but Charlie knew it was mostly in her mind.  The micro-climate of the valley tended to be significantly milder and less variable than the surrounding table-lands, 'Probably one of the reasons such sites were originally chosen by the Ancient Ones,' Teri had explained.  I'll be fine if I keep moving, Charlie thought.

This trip to check on the SAARI equipment was probably not strictly necessary, but on the highly off chance something had gone wrong, they would have lost most of a day's data collection.  It was worth losing a little sleep to prevent that.  Charlie yawned again, then turned and looked back towards the center of the valley.  The moon was up, but not visible in the restricted sky of the pocket valley.  The far rim of the canyon was glowing with its silver light, and the scattered, reflected rays bathed the entire valley.  Charlie found she could practically read by the pale glow.  She hugged her arms and smiled.  Beautiful, she mused, eerie... but beautiful.

Charlie sighed, turned, and continued up the trail.   The start of the wire ladder up to the ruins loomed before her.  She stretched again, then started the climb, concentrating on hand and foot placement.  The ladder swayed as she climbed, tapping and pinging against the rock as it swung beneath her.  Soon, Charlie was over the lip and into the ruins themselves.

Here, things were significantly darker, and even more eerie.  The pitch black entrances to the dwellings loomed like gaping mouths.  Luckily, Charlie was not the type to let her imagination get the best of her... usually.  The silver-white sensor web glowed in the weak light, like a fantastic web of some huge spider stretched across the shadowed forecourt of the nearest building.  Somewhere down the valley, an owl hooted.  Charlie shivered, then shook her head and walked towards the SAARI equipment.  Get a grip, Kiddo, she admonished herself.  It's not like something's gonna reach out and grab you.

Charlie popped open the cover of the control unit, and blinked in the sudden light of the awakened display.  After several seconds, she was able to read the slowly scrolling stream of characters.  She tapped the panel, and a summary window opened.  All was well.  The scan was on schedule and data transfer to the storage rod was proceeding without a glitch.  Even the uplink to the R&D mainframes at Seattle was happening at infrequent intervals, whenever a satellite happened to swing across the relative sliver of sky visible from inside the valley.  Charlie had left her phone card plugged into the unit, and noted that she had a few routine e-mail messages in the queue; however, she didn't want to interrupt the tasking routine by reading them, not in the middle of a field test, so she simply closed the summary window and snapped the cover closed.  Was this trip really necessary? she asked herself, yawning.  No!

In the sudden absence of the glowing screen, things were really dark.  It was best to wait until her eyes re-adapted to the dark before climbing down.  Charlie carefully walked to the rim of the cliff opening and sat on the cool stone, her bare legs and boots dangling over the edge above the valley below.  Charlie looked up.  So many stars! she mused, then lay back on the rock with her hands behind her head.  As her eyes adapted, there seemed to be even more stars  The elevated horizon of the far rim of the valley seemed to glow.

Charlie watched something on the far rim, a couple of low bushes or something, bobbing and swaying in the wind, silhouetted against the stars.  Suddenly, the hair on the back of Charlie's neck stood up.  What wind?   There was no wind in the valley, and nothing else that she could see above the canyon was moving.  Charlie sat up and peered through the darkness.  Two things... two people ... were dropping... no, rappelling into the valley from above.  Her eyes once again fully dark adapted, Charlie could just make out the dangling ropes and the darkly clad, female figures.  Lithe and strong, they moved down the rock face with grace and obvious experience.  They landed on the sandy bluff above the far side of the stream, detached themselves from their ropes, and began moving stealthily towards the camp... towards Teri!   Charlie could see they were wearing small backpacks, and one of them had a pistol holster.  Could it be... Kat? ...Margo?  No, she decided.  Inner Circle games never included outsiders.

Charlie was about to call out, to try and warn Teri, when she realized it was too late.  The figures had arrived at the camp.  Charlie couldn't tell exactly what was happening, but decided she better do something... but what?  If she could call for help, and remain hidden 'til it arrived...

She started towards the SAARI equipment, then stopped and turned to the wire ladder instead.  Working as quickly and silently as she could, she pulled the ladder up, silently cursing every time the ladder rattled and pinged against the rock.  She looked towards the camp, but could see nothing happening.  The ladder finally piled atop the cliff, Charlie ran to the SAARI equipment and opened the control unit.  She opened an e-mail session and tapped out a quick message.

From:	charlotte_paretsky@tesseract.com
To:	security@tesseract.com
Subject:	119-k
Priority:	Low    Normal    High    Highest
Encrypt:	Y           Password:  *******
————————————————————————————
kat. 119-k. 2 women. help.

Best keep it short, she thought. Besides, Security's kidnap code phrase ought to get more than enough attention .  She hit the send button, unplugged her phone card from the port in which it had been nestled, and snapped the SAARI control unit's cover closed.  She fumbled with the phone card until its tiny antenna was extended, then carefully stepped to the rim of the cliff and looked around.  Over to one side there was a shallow depression in the rock, well away from the area they had chosen for the first deployment of the sensor grid.  Charlie looked up.  There was as much sky "visible" to the antenna as she was going to find.  She set the card in the depression, lay a flat stone across the card, and sprinkled a few pine needles around the antenna.  When the next satellite passed overhead, her call for help would be on its way.

Now all she had to do was wait.  Wait for help from TESSERACT?  Wait for Janet?  What else can I do?  I don't really even know what's happening!  Charlie cautiously peered over the rim towards the camp.  It looked still and quiet in the pale light.  Had she imagined the whole thing?  Had she been dreaming when she saw the mysterious figures approach the camp?

Charlie decided maybe she better prepare for the worst.  If the valley had been invaded, they'd be looking for her next, and if nothing else, an Anasazi site was certainly defensible... if you have something to defend it with , Charlie sighed. Sticks and stones!   She couldn't remember seeing any usable sticks, but there were certainly enough rocks strew about the ruins.  Charlie turned her back to the valley and started thinking about making a few strategic piles.  If someone starts climbing up to get me, she reflected, I can drop a few boulders on their—"M'mmpfh!"

A strong hand was over her mouth, an arm clamped around her throat.  "That cliff is hardly a technical challenge for a real climber," a husky, female voice whispered in her ear.

Charlie struggled.  Air!  Can't... breath!

"Shh, go to sleep, Little One," the husky voice crooned.

Charlie heard a buzzing in her ears... the stars began to whirl... and everything went... black.