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		DAMSELS UNDER GLASS: THE SERIES
		Kat's Revenge: A Love Story ——————————————————————————— by Van © 2001
		Chapter 2

MIDNIGHT
TARSIS-III
(AT ANCHOR, THREE MILES OFF GONDALOO ISLAND)

---

Kat was supine on the hard, open deck of the boat, nude, and intricately, tightly bound with hundreds of single strands of fishing line from her shoulders to her toes.  Only her wrists and big toes were wrapped with multiple strands, several yards for her wrists, a single yard for her toes.  Her fingers and thumbs are tied together.  Her hair was braided around a length of leader line and tied to the port gunwale, her big toes tied to the starboard gunwale.  The single strands binding her limbs were not just wound around her body, but were carefully and skillfully hitched together such that if Kat struggled with any vigor, or even stretched in her bonds, the strands would bite like a diamond lattice of hot wire.  Her bikini was stuffed in her mouth and held there by several tight bands of duct tape, completely encircling her head, covering and compressing her lips from nose to chin.  As long as she lay on the deck, more or less still, she was reasonably comfortable.  Kat knew that not only were all the knots carefully tied beyond the reach of her bound fingers, but the fisherman's knots used to secure the thin line couldn't be untied by human fingers, regardless.

Kat relaxed in her bonds on the hard, wooden deck, gazing up at the unfamiliar Southern constellations. I really do have to take the time to learn the Southern stars, she scolded herself.  I may have to navigate by them some day.

Major Alex came on deck, stretched, and knelt beside his naked captive.  "Had enough, love?" he inquired with a grin.  Kat smiled behind her gag and shook her head in refusal.  "So you want to keep tryin' to... 'escape' 'til it's time for you to suit up for your swim?"  Kat nodded.  "You're a strange one," Alex mumbled.  "Maybe I ought to keep you," he teased, "or sell you to a Sultan I know."  Kat squirmed in her bonds.  Alex gazed into her pale, smiling eyes.  "Yeah, it wouldn't work," Alex admitted.  "You'd seduce the rich, randy bastard, escape his harem, swim back here, and kick my butt from here to Borneo."  Kat squirmed again, and Alex watched the thin line he had so carefully tied around his naked, female charter dimple her flesh.  Finally, he sighed, stepped to one of the deck lockers, and returned with a sun-bleached seat cushion.  He carefully lifted Kat's head and slid the cushion underneath.  "Bloody idiot," he groused, smiling... then turned and went back below deck.

'Bloody idiot,' Kat mused. Did he mean me... or himself?  Trust was not a gift Kat bestowed lightly.  Not for the first time, she reflected how lucky she was to have a friend... an intimate friend like "The Major;" strong, capable, and dangerous; sexy and very masculine; great in bed... yet always the gentleman, wise enough to know when to act, and when to show patience.  Again Kat stretched in her bonds, causing the fishing line to dimple her skin in a thousand places, causing herself discomfort, just at the threshold of pain... then she relaxed. A cunning predicament, Kat mused.  I'll have to remember it.

DAWN
GONDALOO ISLAND, THE MAIN RESORT

---

Jamie dropped the nylon bag containing her lunch and drinks into the Zodiac's cooler, then jumped out of the boat and headed back to the equipment alcove.  Her wetsuit was zipped open to the waist, the empty sleeves tied across her flat stomach, the TESSERACT blue one-piece swimsuit she wore under the wetsuit pulled off her shoulders and rolled down her torso, exposing her firm, freckled breasts.  She was reaching for her fins, mask, and rebreather, when she heard a sound from the boathouse door.

"Hrrumpfh!" Penny coughed.  The blonde, her loins and pert breasts properly modest behind a few square inches of string bikini, glared at her half-naked friend.  The giggling voices of their young guests could be heard approaching the boathouse, behind Penny's nearly bare back.  Jamie rolled her eyes in mock disgust; pulled up her swimsuit and shrugged and tugged it into place; undid her wetsuit's sleeves, shrugged into the neoprene suit's upper half, and pulled the zipper up to her neck.  She then smiled sweetly, and pulled it slowly down to her navel.  Blue eyes flashing, Penny started to say something, but was overtaken by events: the arrival of Jessie and Chelsea.

The coltish redhead and short, perky blonde were both dressed in hiking shorts, tank tops, and hiking boots, and had day packs slung on one shoulder.  "We wanted to say good-bye," Chelsea gushed, "before we left on our hike."

Jamie smiled.  "Have fun, you two!" she said, continuing to load her gear.  "When I'm done with my data collection I'll take you into the mountains and play naturalist tour guide."  Jamie and Chelsea smiled politely.  "Don't worry," the petite biologist said with a grin, "I'll keep it fun... the 'gee-whiz tour' I give Margo's VIP guests."  Jamie turned to Penny.  "I thought you were goin' on this trip too."

"That was the plan," Penny answered, "but now I have orders to standby for a V-call with Seattle.  Nothing hush-hush or critically important, supposedly," she added, seeing Jamie's quizzical expression, "just 'please standby for a chat with Margo'."

"We'll be okay," Jessie said.  "It can't be that hard to find 'Far Beach', and we have Eve to show us the way."  She held up a palmcom for Jamie's inspection.  It was in GPS mode, displaying a map of the island with the trail to Far Beach highlighted.

"Eve has already delivered your lunch and towels and such to your destination," Penny told Jessie and Chelsea, "and there will be a lifeguard robo-torp patrolling the shore by the time you get there.  Be sure to drink lots of water, and keep to the trails, and wait the proper interval after eating before bathing, and—"

Chelsea rolled her eyes, went up on her toes and kissed Penny on the mouth.  "We promise not to have any fun of any kind," she said gravely.  Jamie and Jessie smiled at each other, then laughed.

"Very funny, young lady," Penny groused, blushing slightly, then tousled her little sister's hair and laughed as well.

"She's just worried about what she'll tell yer folks if anything were to happen to you," Jamie explained.  "Sorry mum," she said, imitating her tall, blonde, English companion, "it was either quicksand or a shark, but whichever it was, I'm sure Little Chelsea's hideous demise was reasonably quick."

All four laughed.

"Is there really quicksand?" Chelsea asked excitedly.

"Not anywhere near where you'll be going," Penny said.  "Just stay on the trail and be careful!"

Jessie shrugged into her pack, then stepped forward and gave first Jamie, then Penny a farewell kiss.  "Compass, emergency rations, two liters of water each, first aid and survival kits... We'll be fine."

Chelsea donned her pack as well, kissed Jamie, then gave her big sister a hug and a second kiss.  "See you tonight," she said.  "Have a safe dive, Dr. Seaton."

"Jamie," the short, freckled, Director of the Marine Institute called after the girl's disappearing backs.  "Call me Jamie... and thanks."  Their young guests gone, she turned to face Penny.  "About this V-call..."

"I think Margo wants to discuss something confidential.  The instructions are to make sure the kids are out of the area and standby.  I suspect it's something about a future guest."

Jamie frowned.  "You want me to—"

"The instructions also said you were not to change your research plans," Penny interrupted.  "That makes me even more sure it's guest business.  You know how Margo always checks your research schedule before bothering you with anything."

"As if Margo could 'bother' me," Jamie said with a grin.

Penny grinned back.  "I'll know what it's about soon enough.  I'll tell you tonight... unless the discussion is of some ghastly and cruel Inner Circle plot to torture your nubile young body, of course."

Jamie smiled and stepped close to Penny, her right hand toying with the waist string of the tall blonde's bikini bottom.  "'Ghastly and cruel'... like what I did to you last night?" she teased.

Penny's right hand reached under Jamie's wetsuit, cupped the petite redhead's swimsuit covered left breast and gently squeezed.  "Last night was torture?" she asked.  "Thanks for telling me."  She then released Jamie's breast, slowly zipped the wetsuit up to the grinning redhead's neck, turned on her heel, and left, pausing at the door to blow her friend a kiss.

Jamie sighed and finished loading her equipment, unplugging her palmcom from the I/O port as the last step.  "Eve," she said, "Let's run the dive checklist followed by the data collection checklist, so I can get this show on the road."

"Yes, Freckle Fox," Eve answered.

Jamie started.  "Eve, did you just call me 'Freckle Fox'?"

"Sorry Jamie," Eve intoned.  "I experienced a fractal skip in my syntax buffer, a very rare event.  I have started a level four diagnostic of my speech pattern routines to search for any further effects."

"No worries," Jamie answered, shaking her head.

DAWN
GONDALOO ISLAND, A SECLUDED BEACH

---

This particular beach was rather small and difficult to reach from the Resort.  Little more than a few meters of sand separating ocean and jungle.  With no sweeping, picturesque vistas of crashing waves and waving palms, or any other feature able to compete with Gondaloo's many other, much finer beaches, it wasn't even named. 

(That wasn't quite true.  In TESSERACT's most tightly held Security files, the beach was designated "Infiltration Point Alpha", recognized as the most likely spot for hostile forces to attempt a covert personnel insertion.  For that reason, IP-alpha was protected by special sensors and robot defenses, in addition to the sensors and defenses guarding the entire Island.  What looked to be a possible chink in Gondaloo's armor, was, in fact, a terrible trap, unless, of course, one happened to be the TESSERACT employee ultimately in charge of said trap.)

A female figure emerged from the surf off IP-alpha.  She was clad in a thin, skintight wetsuit, in a mottled camouflage pattern of gray-green, sand, and dark rust.  A hood and dive mask obscured her features.  A pair of swim fins dangled from her right hand.  A streamlined backpack (also camouflaged) was on her back.  Moving low and fast, the figure crossed the beach and disappeared into the jungle, leaving only an indistinct, irregular set of tracks in the sand... tracks that would be gone with the next high tide.

MIDMORNING
GONDALOO ISLAND, THE INTERIOR

---

Jessie and Chelsea tramped through the rainforest, their boots making little impression in the spongy, damp litter carpeting the narrow trail.  Jessie smiled.  This place was so different from the Arizona desert she knew so well.  Here, everything was green, wet, and alive.  Sunlight filtering through the leaves of the forest giants, dappling the trail; huge, buttress roots and moss laden tree limbs twisting and tangling; strange ferns and epiphytes growing at every level, clouds of butterflies and other insects... so different.

Jessie was setting a good pace, but Chelsea was easily keeping up, despite the constant chatter streaming from the little blonde Brit.  Not that Chelsea's virtual monologue wasn't interesting.  She was describing some of her childhood misadventures, growing up in her family's ancient ancestral home, Brightman Hall... which apparently had "real dungeons and everything."  (Jessie's smile broadened.  She hadn't told Chelsea about the "real dungeons and everything" hidden beneath Copperhead Canyon Lodge, and didn't intend to.)

At the moment, Chelsea was explaining how she used to play in the estate's towers and dungeons with her friends... "There's a real torture chamber too, y'know... although everything's all tumbled to bits and nothing works... not even the rack." 

"Really?" Jessie said, hiding her smile. 

"Really," Chelsea continued.  "Once my friend Connie and I were playing down there and we found some chains attached to a wall that still worked.  They were rusty and tight and all, but then the key broke when we tried to unlock them and we were caught!   We yelled and yelled for hours 'til someone finally came.  Mother was livid."

Jessie started to say something... then paused.  Chelsea nearly ran into her.  "What is it?" the short pixie inquired.

"I'm not sure," Jessie answered, doing a slow, 360° scan of the surrounding jungle, "...something."

"Not snakes I hope," Chelsea said nervously.  "I absolutely loathe snakes."

Jessie shook her head.  "Nothin'," she said finally, and resumed walking.

Chelsea, who had been looking to the rear, missed the first few steps.  "Hang on!" she called , and hurried after the tall redhead.  "Now, where was I?" the short blonde asked, resuming her monologue.  "Oh yes... Mother was livid, and forbade us from playing in the dungeon ever again, but that still left the towers and the secret passageways.  Did I tell you about the secret passageways?"

Chelsea's voice faded rapidly.  Several seconds passed... and Kat crawled out from under a thicket of bushy ferns and stepped onto the trail.  She was dressed in a light, skintight, mottled catsuit, camouflaged with tiger stripes and leopard spots in a dozen tropical earth tones.  Her face was painted to match her suit, her hair braided in a tight, functional ponytail.  She listened for several more seconds, then gracefully turned and jogged down the trail in the direction from which the girls had come... towards the Resort.

LATE MORNING
GONDALOO ISLAND, THE MAIN RESORT

---

Penny had been waiting at her desk for the scheduled V-call from Seattle for more than an hour.  All she had been given was an approximate time frame, so she had changed into a tropical weight business suit.   She had received no instructions to change from her usual "uniform" of bikini and sarong, but it had occurred to Penny there was a possibility the unusually mysterious V-call might include outsiders, perhaps a discussion with Margo about something to do with Gondaloo, followed by a V-conference with the relevant parties.  Business attire seemed prudent.

Penny was filling the time working on the plans for decorating the Treehouse Retreat they were planning on building at a site in the Gondaloo interior in a few months.  She examined the planting plan for the epiphytes that would festoon the treehouse's bridges, balconies, and decks.  The trick will be to find species that require minimal care, she mused, plants that will thrive without taking over their venues.  We've never built anything up in the canopies before.  As she studied the screen of her desktop system, Penny became aware of a quiet buzzing sound, an insect probably—then something stung her at the nape of her neck!

"Ow!" she exclaimed, and reached for the affected area.  Her right arm moved... but her hand only made it halfway to her neck.  Her muscles were—frozen .  "Wha—?" she croaked. Her fingers trembled, as did her lips, but she was virtually paralyzed.  "E—e—ve," she hissed, "he—l—p!"  She was paralyzed.  She could shudder slightly, but otherwise was unable to move.

Kat Mayfair stepped into Penny's line of sight, dressed in a jungle camouflaged catsuit and matching face paint.  Penny watched as the grinning bodyguard extended her right hand.  What looked to be a wasp or bee landed in her gloved palm.  "I've been experimenting with adapting some of Eve's stealthier reconnaissance drones for the abduction-kidnap mission profile," Kat explained.  Penny quivered in her chair, unable to control more than her darting eyes.  Kat carefully placed the insect-like drone in question in a small case and slipped it into a pocket on her utility harness.  "The venom targets the voluntary musculature, but leaves the victim conscious and completely aware of what's happening around her... and to her... but I don't really need to explain that to you, do I?"

Penny's lips struggled to move, her tongue to function.  "H—h—aaa?"

"Don't strain yourself," Kat advised, then stepped forward, carefully returned Penny's stiff but unresisting arm to the rest of her chair.  She then slowly leaned close.  Soon, Kat's gloating green eyes were mere inches from Penny's wide, fearful, blue eyes.  "It lasts a little more than two hours," Kat purred, "but it doesn't really matter... 'cause by the time it wears off and you're able to move and speak... you won't be able to move or speak."

Just then Penny's desktop system sounded a melodic chime and the screen cleared, replaced by the TESSERACT logo and the message "INCOMING V-CALL IN 5... 4... 3..."  Kat smiled and stepped to the side, well away from the tiny camera built into the top of the desktop display.  The countdown concluded, the screen cleared again, and was replaced by the smiling, business-like image of Margo Wells.

"Good morning, Penny," Margo said, then frowned slightly.  "Penny...?"

Penny squirmed slightly.  Her lips trembled.

Margo's frown deepened.  "Are you all right?" she asked, concern furrowing her brow.  "Has something happened?"

Penny managed to move her tongue slightly.  "Uah..."

Margo studied the screen closely.  "What's that, Penny?  The Island's been invaded you say?  You're all in terrible danger?  Would you like me to send help?  ...send Kat to rescue you, maybe?"

Kat stepped into view of the camera, smiling coyly.  "It sounded to me like she was saying: 'Little Timmy's fallen down the well!'  Or was it: 'run, Scooby, run!  Go get Velma and Fred!'"

Margo laughed, then smiled at Kat.  "Hello, Ms. Mayfair," she said.  "Enjoying your vacation?"

"So far," Kat answered, idly straightening Penny's tousled hair with one gloved hand.  The paralyzed blonde's eyes darted from the screen to Kat's hand, and back.

"I like your new look," Margo told her bodyguard.  "For a moment I mistook you for one of Penny's houseplants."  Kat ignored her employer's jibe and continued straightening her victim's blonde locks.  "Well," Margo continued, focusing on Penny's twitching face, "I wanted to let you know that Kat would be visiting for a couple of days, and has Red Queen approval to torture Jamie and yourself.  She has quite elaborate plans for you both, especially Jamie, and I'm sure you'll find the experience exhilarating ... in a horribly unfair, erotically agonizing sort of way.  Any objections?"

Penny's jaw twitched.  A thin string of drool slid from the left side of her mouth and fell to her lap.

"All right then," Margo said.  "Don't worry about Jessie and your sister.  Kat is under strict orders to leave them alone.  Isn't that right, my Jungle Kat?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Kat answered with a thin smile.

"All right then," Margo repeated.  "Have fun, children... and play nice!  Seattle out."  The screen blanked and the TESSERACT logo returned.

Penny stared at the screen, literally unable to do anything else, then Kat spun her chair until they were face to face.  "Let's see now..." The camouflaged bodyguard gloated, "the kids are on the far side of the island and won't return 'til nearly sundown, Freckle Fox is playing with her finny friends and won't return for hours... so we have plenty of time to do this up right... to do you up right... don't we?"