Email: Lespion@msn.com
Domino and
Elektra
Misadventure
in Sierra Blanca
Chapter 1
The Yanara
Domino gazed down on the tree-covered landscape. She was far from sure that this was a good idea. She had made parachute jumps before, but never over a tropical rainforest. She had grave doubts that she and her companion would be able to land safely and carry out their mission. She also had doubts about her comrade. The sleek dark haired beauty seemed competent enough, but it had been difficult to get close to her and that did not bode well for a smooth working relationship.
Elektra turned her head toward her companion. She said nothing, but her misgivings showed plainly on her exquisite features. Jumping out of aircraft was a bit out of the ordinary for her. She was more used to using her talents in an urban setting. And why had she been partnered with the strange white-skinned woman with the unusual ebony marking around her eye? She much preferred working alone. But it was not her decision. She and her partner worked for Sector 12 now. The matter was out of her hands.
“Time ladies.” The pilot’s warning sounded in their ears. Putting their misgivings behind them the women jumped; Domino first and Elektra following.
“Damn,” Domino thought, “where’s the clearing?” The pilot was supposed to have dropped them over one of the few cleared areas of the rainforest, but there was nothing beneath her but an unbroken sea of green. She twisted her head. Elektra was right where she should have been. She flicked her tongue, activating the hands-free intercom. “Any openings?” she asked. “I don’t see a dammed thing.”
“Nothing,” came the terse reply. “Why did you break radio silence?”
Domino did not reply. She knew that she shouldn’t have used the radio. There was always a danger of the signal being picked up. But the situation seemed desperate. Dropping into the treetops of a rainforest was not likely to be a pleasant experience.
Elektra swore under her breath. The mission had hardly started and already her so-called partner was violating protocol. Pure panic. Domino was supposed to be a professional. If she couldn’t see an opening in the forest how could she expect that anyone else could?
The trees were rushing up now. Try as she might Domino could detect no opening. She braced herself. With any luck she wouldn’t hit any large branches. She held her breath and crashed through the treetops in a shower of trigs and leaves. Abruptly she was jerked to a halt as her parachute caught on the branches above her. Slowly she swung back and forth, the forest floor hidden in shadow below. She relaxed her breathing. She seemed to be unhurt. But what about Elektra?
A thrashing noise slightly above her and thirty meters off indicated the position of her teammate. “God damn it.” Elektra’s voice carried to her clearly.
“What is it?” Domino shouted. She might as well; Elektra was making so much noise that if they hadn’t been heard by now they were not likely to be heard.
“I’m upside down. I got flipped coming through the treetops.”
Domino could not resist a smile, but she didn’t communicate her thoughts to Elektra. She had confidence that her partner would be able to extricate herself. In the meantime she might as well get out of the trees. Twisting her body she managed to unzip the side of the pack on her back. She pulled out a rope and snapped the end of it onto her parachute harness. In a minute she was lowering herself to the forest floor.
It took Elektra a little longer and considerably more cursing before the svelte dark-haired beauty was able to untangle herself. She hadn’t been entirely truthful about her situation. Not only had she flipped upside down when she hit the tree, but a branch had gone right down the back of her jumpsuit and spearing her sports bra and leaving a nasty welt on her back. Finally rappelling to the ground she had joined her waiting partner.
“Well, what now?” Elektra asked. “I doubt that we are anywhere near where we are supposed to be.”
“Check the GPS,” Domino replied.
Elektra nodded. She pulled the device out of a pouch attached to her belt. “Looks like we missed the drop by about three klics. I thought those pilots were supposed to be good.”
“Alright, let’s go,” Domino said. “We need to get to the drop zone to start the mission.”
“Right agreed Elektra. “And perhaps we should try not making so much noise. There’s no point in alerting everyone in Sierra Blanca as to our location.”
Domino refrained from making a comment. She had not been the one who had been yelling her head off in the treetops a few minutes ago.
Elektra followed in Domino’s footsteps. The mission was not off to a good start. They had missed the drop zone and already she and her partner were carping at one another like a couple of cats. She resolved to try and keep her tongue under control.
She watched the elegant form of
her partner move off through the forest.
Although not particularly attracted to women, she had to admit that
Domino was strikingly beautiful. She was
wearing a black skin-tight outfit that outlined her splendid figure
perfectly. Elektra noted that she was a
couple of centimeters shorter than she was, and also more slender. She was peculiar in that her skin was chalk
white, resembling an albino, and it contrasted starkly with her deep blue eyes
and
“I wonder if she does that on purpose,” wondered Elektra, “or whether it is just built into her?”
Domino paused. She thought she had heard something. Holding up her hand she motioned for Elektra to halt. She looked back at her companion. In the half light of the forest Elektra’s full attractiveness could not be entirely appreciated. Her partner stood a little taller than she was and was exotically beautiful. Her dark costume hid very few of her exquisite curves. Except for her electronic gear, a razor edged hunting knife, and her pack she seemed to carry no conventional equipment. Tucked into a sash about her waist were two strange oriental weapons. They seemed oddly out of place, but she had rarely seen the dark eyed beauty without them.
“What is it?” whispered Elektra.
“I thought I heard something,” Domino answered. She unholstered her sidearm and stared off into the impenetrable green wall of the forest.
Zzzzzpph! Something flew by her ear. Instinctively she ducked and rolled into the shelter of a large tree.
“Aaahh!” Elektra cried out, more in shock than pain.
“What is it?” Domino asked.
“I’ve been hit,” Elektra answered. She spoke quite calmly as if she was discussing the weather.
“What…?” Domino started. Then she saw the tiny dart sticking out of her partner’s thigh.
“Poison,” Elektra said slowly.
It was a strange feeling. It was as if her leg was dead and yet she could still feel that it was there. And the deadness slowly spread upward to her loins and then into her midsection. From very far away she seemed to hear someone calling her name. Then she seemed to be falling.
Domino caught her companion as she toppled forward. “Elektra,” she called out again, but there was no response. Elektra’s dark eyes were wide and staring, but did not appear to see anything. She lay her on the ground. Plucking the dart from Elektra’s thigh, she tossed it aside and then pulled her into the shelter of the projecting buttress roots of the tree.
“Damn,” Domino swore under her breath. This wasn’t part of the plan. The last thing she needed was to run into the local native population.
Zzzzzpph! Another dart struck the trunk of the tree just above her head.
Domino swept the forest. Where were her assailants and how many of them were there? She was used to dealing with adversaries who shot at her, but not with poison darts.
Zzzzzpph! The next dart actually brushed her hair.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” she thought. She glanced at her companion. Was she dead or alive? Elektra’s dark blue-black eyes were fully dilated, but her face was completely expressionless. There was no sign that she was breathing. She placed her fingers against the artery in the fallen woman’s throat. Was there a pulse? She thought she could detect a faint rhythmic beat, but it was so slight she could not be sure.
“I’ll just have to take her with me,” she muttered. Still holding her gun in her right hand she grabbed the front of Elektra’s jumpsuit and pulled her into the bush. It was not a secure position, but at least the leaves and branches would deflect any darts.
Now what the hell would she do? She was under attack by assailants she couldn’t see. Her partner was down and perhaps dead; and probably her attackers were closing in on her. Dropping on to her belly she began to worm her way through the undergrowth. She would have to leave Elektra where she was temporarily until she dealt with her enemies.
She worked her way about fifty feet from her original position and then waited. It wasn’t easy keeping still. Already several creepy crawlies were investigating her body. But she ignored the busy insects that found her so interesting and lay still. The sounds of birds and insects surrounded her, but there was no other sound. She seemed to be alone in the forest. But she knew that out there somewhere was one or more assailants armed with blowguns. She had to lie still.
“Come out, senora. I know you are in there.”
Domino almost started. The voice seemed to come from just a few meters away. She lay still. She would not be tricked into giving away her position.
“Must I send my Yanara in there? I have your friend. You may as well give up.”
Domino raised her head slowly. The first thing she saw was a short brown-skinned man armed with a blowpipe. He was looking directly at her. A quick turn of her head showed another brown-skinned man to her right and then another to her left. She was completely surrounded. Slowly she rose to her feet and raised her hands.
It was most bizarre. Elektra could see, hear, and feel everything; she just could not move, not even to blink her eye. She was fully aware of Domino dragging her into the bush and laying her on the ground. She could only lie there fully conscious of everything about her but unable to react in any way. A fly crawled across her face and then across her eyeball. She could sense the movement of its tiny feet but was helpless to disturb it.
She heard the shouts of the man and witnessed Domino’s surrender. Then she was dragged from the bush and lifted by several brown-skinned almost naked people and carried face up through the forest. She was fully aware of her entrance into the Indian village and the humiliation of being searched by a man who appeared to be part Indian. His fingers crept into her most private of places, stripping her of weapons and whatever equipment and other items he could find. He even went so far as to insert one thick finger into her vagina. She vowed that if she ever recovered from her paralysis that he would be the first to die.
Domino struggled and cursed as she was searched, but there was very little she could do about it. Her captors had tied her hands and feet to two upright posts ensuring that any resistance was futile. Then her captor searched her at his leisure. Elektra noted that the stocky Mestizo had taken much more time with Domino that he had with her. He obviously preferred to search women who were able to struggle to those that acted as if they were dead.
Then it was her turn to be tied between the posts. Unlike Domino she did not protest or struggle, even though she found it just as painful and humiliating. Her condition did not allow for protest. She just hung there wondering what was going to happen to her.
Domino strained against the ropes, her frustration at being unable to escape showing plainly on her perfect features. It was hopeless; pulling with one wrist simply tightened the rope on the other wrist. She was tightly bound between two upright posts, her arms stretched out to either side and her legs spread by ropes tied to her ankles and the bottom of the posts.
Her capture had been completely humiliating. Surrounded by the Indians she now knew as the Yanara she had been forced to surrender and had been searched by the man who commanded them. He called himself Menendez and had been entirely too thorough in his search. There was hardly a part of her body he had not fondled. She didn’t know where he was right now. He had helped tie her up and then had moved off to another part of the village after searching Elektra.
She looked over toward her companion. Elektra hung limply from the two posts. She was tied identically to Domino, but did not seem to be conscious. At least she was alive. For awhile Domino had feared that her companion might be dead, but it seemed she had only been paralyzed. At least Domino hoped she was. There would be no way of telling until she woke up.
Christ, the ropes were tight. She shouldn’t have struggled so much. Her fingers were swelling up like Bavarian sausages. It was the fault of her captors. Why did they have to tie her so that she was almost hanging off the ground? She wasn’t likely to be going anywhere surrounded by Yanara.
There wasn’t much for Domino to do except survey the Indian village. There wasn’t much to it, just a circle of huts constructed of wood and thatch and Indians everywhere. It was not particularly impressive. The inhabitants were almost completely naked, except for a few ornaments. She saw to her chagrin that she and Elektra were the centre of attention. Almost every eye in the village was focused on them.
A slight movement from Elektra drew her attention. She couldn’t be sure but she thought her partner had blinked her eye. A few seconds later she saw that she was right, Elektra’s eyes were moving. A few minutes later the dark-eyed woman moved her head.
“Are you alright?” Domino asked.
Elektra swallowed. It seemed to take some effort for her to reply, but finally the answer came. “No, but there’s not much I can do about it or you either. I’m dying of thirst and I have to pee like crazy.”
“We’re prisoners of the Yanara,” Domino explained. She had a hard time keeping the resignation out of her voice. “It looks as though some drug dealer has been able to convince them to work for him. As luck would have it we landed right in the middle of their territory.”
“I know, Elektra said. “I was awake through the whole thing. That dart paralyzed my muscles but didn’t take away any of my other senses.”
“Sounds like a useful poison,” Domino observed. “I wonder if our hosts would consider giving us the formula.”
“Perhaps if we asked politely,” Elektra replied wryly. She pulled at the ropes. She found the same thing as Domino. Struggling just made the ropes tighter. Finally she gave up and just waited. She didn’t have any other choice.
Menendez left them in the middle of the village for several hours. The hot sun beat down on them for the entire time. By the time he showed up both women were in desperate need of water and also had an urgent need to attend to certain bodily functions.
Menendez wasn’t much to look at. He was heavyset, swarthy, bearded, and wore his sweat soaked shirt open to his paunch. He stood in front of them, his hands hooked in his belt and his legs slightly apart as he surveyed them. Domino shifted self-consciously as his dark eyes swept over the creamy swell of her partially exposed bosom.
“The DEA must be getting desperate,” Menendez sneered. “Now they are sending women.” He spat on the ground in front of Domino as an expression of his disgust.
Neither woman bothered to correct Menendez’ mistaken assumption as to their identity. They doubted he would believe them anyway and their mission was much more important than the mere capture of a minor drug lord. In fact Menendez' mistake might actually help them to get out of the mess they were in.
“Release us at once,” Domino ordered. “We are under the protection of the Sierra Blancan government. It will only be a matter of time before a hundred soldiers are sent out find us and when they do it will go very hard with anyone who has harmed us.”
“You don’t frighten me,” Menendez replied. “If the government could have spared a hundred soldiers it would have sent them with you. In any case I have a special reason for keeping you here.”
“Then you are a fool,” said Domino. “You will lose everything.”
“Somehow I doubt that. I think you two were sent in alone. I have no idea why the DEA would do that, but I doubt that anyone is coming for you. As a matter of fact I suspect that no one even knows where you are. You are mine to do with as I please. Last year the DEA intercepted one of my shipments and killed my partner. I vowed revenge for that insult and today I have my chance to honour my vow. As a matter of fact I have two chances.” He licked his lips suggestively as his eyes swept over the two helpless women.
Elektra shuddered. There was no misinterpreting what Menendez meant by his last statement.
Menendez stepped up to Elektra and gazed into her dark eyes. “It is going to be a pleasure to avenge my partner. A pleasure indeed.” He turned to the Indians and said something in a language that neither woman understood. Immediately a half dozen moved forward.
The Indians were quite short, the tallest only coming up to the level of Elektra’s chin. Their bodies were elaborately decorated with red and yellow paint that gave them a fierce appearance. Other than the paint they wore nothing other than a leather cord about their waists to which they tied knives and small pouches.
They took Elektra first, untying her from the posts but holding on to the cords that bound her wrists. She was led to the edge of the village where she was allowed to relieve herself. Then she was returned to the posts and retied. Then it was Domino’s turn. The Indians took greater precautions with her. There was no obvious reason for this, but Domino suspected it was on account of her snow white skin. Probably the Indians had never seen anyone as pale as she was. Then she too was returned to the posts.
In their upright position they were brought water, but no food. And then Menendez was ready for them.
He snapped an improvised whip in
front of the two women. It consisted of
a leather thong attached to a three foot length of wood. It was a crude but serviceable instrument. “First a little pain,” he said. “Which one of you is the stronger? The one with the white skin or the one who
carries such strange weapons? He
brandished one of Elektra’s
“What do you want of us?” demanded Elektra. Are you going to beat us for no reason?”
“Oh, I have a reason, senorita. The reason is pain. I am going to make you scream and then I am going to enjoy you in other ways.”
“You’re nothing but a sadistic coward,” said Domino. “Revenge is just your contemptible way of justifying your pathetic actions.”
“We will see how pathetic my actions are. And from now on you will watch in silence until it is your turn to suffer.” Taking a strip of cloth he stuffed it into Domino’s mouth and bound it in place. He grinned. “I think your friend will soon be making enough noise for the two of you.”
“Mmpphh!” Domino tried desperately to distract Menendez, but he paid no attention to her muffled cries. He was much more interested in seeing what was under Elektra’s clothing.
“You bastard,” Elektra exclaimed as Menendez ripped open the back of her jumpsuit. Two powerful tugs tore the black material from her neck to her waist, revealing the alluring curve of her smooth back.
“I see you have hurt yourself,” Menendez said, tracing his forefinger over the bloody welt the branch had inflicted on her back. “But I think I can improve on that.” He stepped back and raised the whip.
“Mmmpphh!” Domino cried.
“You basta…Ahhh!” Elektra’s insult changed to a yelp in mid sentence as Menendez brought the whip across her bare shoulders, leaving a second long red welt across her velvet skin.
“Bueno,” Menendez exclaimed. “I’ll soon have you making more noise than that.” He brought the whip down again. To his surprise this time the dark-haired beauty made no sound. He grinned. This might be more of a challenge than he thought, but he was quite prepared to spend the time to get the required results.
Crack! The lash struck the small of her back. Elektra jumped, but did not scream. Menendez raised the whip again. Grinning broadly he struck with his full weight behind the lash.
Elektra held out for a good fifteen minutes. But even her self discipline could not stand up to the repeated flogging. A sob escaped her lips. Then she screamed. And then she screamed again and did not stop.
Menendez was breathing heavily, his clothes soaked with sweat from the heavy exertion in the tropical heat. His victim’s back was covered in blood and she was gripping the ropes that bound her hands in an effort to hold herself erect. Amazingly she had not fainted; a tribute to her strength and courage. She was much tougher than he had imagined she would be. By now he had expected her to be shrieking and sobbing uncontrollably. Most women certainly would have been. He decided that she had been punished enough for now. He needed and break, and there was still the white skinned bitch to deal with.
Elektra could barely stand. She was ashamed of her breakdown under the flogging, but the pain had been excruciating. It was as if all of the skin had been removed from her back. Her throat was dry and hoarse from screaming her lungs out. A few more minutes and she would have been strongly tempted to tell Menendez whatever he asked; if he had asked anything. He didn’t. He simply wanted to brutalize and torture her. She gripped the ropes holding her wrists as tight as she could trying to fight off the pain. To her immense relief and guilt, Menendez turned his attention to Domino.
Menendez removed the gag from the white skinned beauty. She immediately made a rude reference to his mother, followed by one alluding to his father. He did not bother to gag the other woman. She could barely stand. It was very unlikely that she would make much of a fuss while he taught her partner a few manners.
“You asshole. You’ll pay for this,” Domino said as Menendez tore open her costume. Outwardly she was seething with rage, but inwardly she felt a cold chill. She hoped that she would be able to face up to the brutal beating she was about to receive as bravely as Elektra had done. She had been tortured before and the memories of that ordeal were almost as fresh in her mind as the day they had taken place. As Menendez raised the whip she had to fight hard to keep from trembling. She held her breath and then gritted her teeth as the first blow fell.
Oh God that hurt! It felt as if the lash had cut her back to the bone. Like Elektra she gripped the ropes binding her wrists. Then the second blow fell. Her body twisted in spite of her attempt to ignore the pain.
She didn’t scream until the thirtieth blow. She had outlasted Elektra. At least she thought she had. It no longer seemed quite so important. Merely surviving without begging for mercy was her main objective.
Menendez watched with satisfaction as the white-skinned woman’s back turned red. Her screams were much louder than those of the first woman in spite of her bravado. Had he not been so hot and tired he would have taken great pleasure in completely breaking her. But there was time enough for that later. Now he just wanted to rest and have a cool drink.
The flogging was over. Elektra groaned as the Indians untied her and dragged her over to one of the huts. It wasn’t much of a shelter, merely a place to keep out of the rain. They lay her on her stomach and tended her wounds. Cleaning her wounds was almost as painful as the flogging, but she lay mute throughout the painful ordeal. When the Indians were finished they raised her to a sitting position and offered her some food and water.
Elektra drank greedily and forced herself to eat. The flogging had robbed her of her appetite, but she knew that she had to eat to maintain her strength. Somehow she had to find some way to escape.
Domino wasn’t attended to until the Indians were finished with Electra. Using all of her determination and courage she managed to remain standing. When the Indians finally came for her she clamped her jaws together to keep from screaming. After her wounds were cleaned and she was given food and water she found herself next to Elektra. The Indians did not bother to tie them up and Menendez did not order that it be done. They did, however, post a guard on them. Racked with the pain of the stripes on their backs, both women quickly fell into an exhausted sleep.