The Dangers

The Dangers of Daring Officer Dolly

Chapter 6. Perils of the Deep Pit

by Skytower

Merry McCormick sat in a comfortable chair with popcorn within easy reach of her long arms. She was wearing a pair of baggy sweat pants and sweatshirt and her long blond hair was kept in place with a sweatband. Merry loved popcorn.

"You can have some popcorn if you want." Tremont said. From the other side of the table he gazed at her with a frankness that Merry had at long last become used to. Tremont wasn’t staring at her; he was looking at her and picturing her in the nude. Tremont Coach was a short young man with slick black hair and piercing blue eyes that occupied a face full of angles and shadows. He wore a bright red shirt with a pair of lurid green eyes on the chest and a pair of tight red pants.

Merry thought for a moment before she moved. Was it a suggestion, an offer or an order? Were they testing her? Merry spared a glance at Molly Dolemont. Molly was the same size as Tremont, but with dirty blonde hair, a wider body and softer gray eyes. Those eyes gazed from a deceptively innocent round face. She was looking down at a data pad and seemed not to hear the words. As usual she wore a lab coat over a white T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

Merry reached for the popcorn and couldn’t help but gasp as her hand passed through the bowl. She waved her hand through the hologram a few times feeling a chill as she did so. The image never wavered. She could see it but it simply wasn’t there.

"I knew it would pass the test." Tremont said cheerfully. He pressed a button and the image of the bowl vanished.

Merry sighed. Using her as a test subject was something they did and she had gotten used to it. Still there had to be more to their summons than this. Merry had been jogging, half way through her daily five mile run when The Group had summoned her to the Pennytorch estate. It was a grand estate and Merry had been there many times. But every time she went through the gates Merry felt fear grip her heart. She was The Group’s best operative and The Group never summoned her for social visits.

"Don’t feel too bad Officer Dolly." Deborah said walking into the room.

"He fooled us as well." Delilah said walking in behind her.

Merry shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Deborah and Delilah Pennytorch were twins. Tall, slim and frightening. They each had long blond hair worn straight down beyond their shoulders. They were each wearing gold jumpsuits with blue belts. The zippers on the jumpsuits were open to the belts revealing their slight cleavage.

The four of them made up: ‘The Group’. Merry had started calling them that after her first few months of servitude and they had liked the name. It had been over a year since they had first captured Merry. Captured her and altered her body so that-at their command-she could be shrunk to whatever size they wished. They could also see whatever she saw and hear whatever she heard.

Merry had become their agent. Under their orders and at their guidance she had gone on many missions, using her size to their advantage. And somewhere along the way, Merry didn’t really know when, she had stopped doing it only because she was afraid of them. Perhaps it was because she wanted desperately to believe in them, in what they could do. Merry had always needed the world to make sense and the world had constantly let her down. But The Group’s goal was to change the world, to rule it. As a cop Merry had served the law, only to see it fail time and time again. Merry needed to believe that something better could work, and that The Group knew what that something was. Her believe in them had led to a high level of devotion in Merry. She had actually killed when she had felt one of them was in danger. But her uncertainty as to why she felt such devotion often kept her up at nights. Her thoughts always twisted themselves into pretzel-like knots when she tried to justify what she did for them.

"This next mission for you is different from the last." Deborah said.

"From any of them really." Delilah added.

"Thanks to our combined efforts we now effectively rule this part of the state." Tremont said. "That is twelve cities, dozens of town councils, four congressmen, three editors, two reporters and one senator."

"And one senator’s mistress." Deborah added.

Merry squirmed uncomfortably in her chair remembering the senator’s mistress. That mission had hurt her in too many ways.

"And through her one prostitution ring." Delilah said.

"This has given us access to information that before we only suspected." Delilah said. If she noticed Merry’s reaction she ignored it. "And I for one resent that."

"You resent it?" Merry asked.

"For the government to keep secrets from the great unwashed is one thing." Delilah said. "To keep secrets from us is intolerable."

"Oh."

"This is one of those secrets." Deborah said. She pushed a control on the tabletop and a scale hologram of a small military base appeared. "This is known as Camp Fenster." The view changed and the military base rose and as it rose a huge complex, Merry guessed an underground complex, was revealed. "This is known as the: "Deep Pit".

"This is where every bit of supervillain or alien technology ends up after it is confiscated." Tremont said.

"I thought it was all destroyed." Merry said.

"According to the Limitation Act of 1980 and the United Nations treaty on Advanced Technology it should be." Molly said. "But wouldn’t you know it the US government just hates to throw toys away."

"The list of what they keep there is stunning even to us." Delilah said.

"And now that we know about it we really can’t just leave it alone." Deborah said.

Merry felt her stomach drop and her heart stop for a moment. If her clothes weren’t already soaked from her workout they would have stained quickly.

"You want me to go in there and steal something?" Try as she might Merry was not able to keep the fear out of her voice.

"Of course not." Tremont said. "There is no practical way you could steal something and get it away from there without being followed."

"This is the main reason for that." Delilah said.

The view changed and above the base a large pyramid appeared.

"The Pyramid of Captain Pharoh!" Merry said recognizing the landmark.

"Headquarters for Force Group J." Delilah said and her tone had none of the reverence of Merry’s recognition of the landmark. "A fantastic piece of alien technology eons old. In permanent orbit directly above Camp Trenster."

"And now we know why." Deborah added. "The perfect guard post."

"At least one member of the F.G.J. is in that pyramid at all times." Tremont said. "And any one member of that group could turn you into hamburger."

"No offence Dolly." Deborah said.

"No, I agree." Merry said stuttering slightly. "Back when I was in LA I was on duty once when Red Menace attacked Parker Center. We shot everything we had at him… it! He didn’t even notice. The Goddess of Justice and Mr. Hell dropped a supertanker onto him."

"We haven’t established any plans for Force Group J just yet." Tremont said.

"Sooner or later we will have to deal with them." Delilah said. "But you should never pick a fight you can’t win and their track record is full of supervillains who jumped the gun."

"What do you want me to do?" Merry asked.

"They study the technology and store it on the base computer." Tremont said. "The computer is air gapped. No way to hack it. But, each week a copy of the research is made and delivered to the pyramid."

"But to do that copy" Molly said adjusting the hologram so that it showed a floor plan of one of the buildings "all the data is routed to a computer located in this room. It’s condensed, transferred to a DVD and delivered by hand."

Tremont held up a small black computer chip.

"This looks like a standard part. In fact it pretty much is a standard part." He adjusted the control and again the view changed. This time a wiring diagram appeared with a small part blinking on and off. "It is this chip here. This is the component that accepts all the information and converts it to the impulses that drive the lasers that imprint the information onto the DVD."

"Our chip will do that too." Molly said.

"But it will also copy and send that information too us." Deborah said.

Once again the view showed the base and the underground complex.

"Before it was a hideout for advanced technology Camp Trenster was Fort Trenster, a P.O.W. camp for German’s during world war 2." Trent said. "The old prisoner barracks are still there, it’s part of the camps cover as a forgotten out of the way place."

"No one notices that the pyramid is always over it?" Merry asked.

"Did you?" Delilah laughed the question.

"I’ve had my suspicions for years." Tremont said. "Back when I was trying to find a safe way to spy on Goddess of Justice. I found out where the pyramid was and got curious about Trenster. I thought there might be some sort of living quarters for her there."

"You never did get to spy on her did you?" Deborah asked.

"Not yet." Tremont admitted.

He would, Merry was sure of that. Everyone of The Group had a peculiar quirk. Molly liked to be hypnotically age regressed to early childhood to play, Tremont was a voyeur. The twins had so far hidden their fetish from Merry, and Merry hoped they would continue to do so.

"I found a letter written by a German officer." Tremont said. "It was to his wife just after the end of the war. It tells, a little sadly, that he and his men were just a week or so away from completing their escape tunnel. They ran into a water pipe and had to detour, that stalled the project a few extra weeks. That water pipe is your way in."

"Didn’t someone try this already?" Merry asked.

"Devil Imp." Delilah said. "He tried to get in from the reservoir ten miles away where the base gets its water. But the reservoir was too well guarded and he was caught."

"Since then security has actually been increased." Deborah said. "But not enough to keep us out."

"Or more specifically you." Tremont said. He adjusted a control and the hologram changed to a highly detailed shot of the outside of the base. The resolution was so high Merry might have been looking at a set of models. Her view was of old wooden structures behind two fences, the fences separated by twenty feet and topped with barbed wire. One of the buildings was highlighted with a blue glow.

"This was building 9." Tremont said. "The tunnel started here in the shower and continued on to here." As he talked a green dotted line appeared on the ground. He touched a control and the ground faded into a transparency. The green dots took an abrupt corner at the edge of a large metal pipe. "And this is where they had to change course. They were afraid of breaking the pipe or of someone noticing the noise of their work as it was transmitted through the pipe. They almost made it." The green dots led away from the pipe and stopped just under the second fence. Beyond the fence was a gully that stretched out along that side of the camp. "They were about five feet away on the day that Hitler shot himself."

"After that there didn’t seem to be much point in finishing it." Molly said. "But no one ever found it either."

"No one ever found it?" Merry asked. "Even when they dug the underground complex?"

"Amazing isn’t it." Deborah said. "But then the escape tunnel is only three feet wide by two feet high and well away from the main complex."

"For the last two months we have had Mike, Jessie and Lizzie digging a tunnel into the escape tunnel." Tremont said.

"Oh." Merry said. Mike, Jessie and Lizzie were three teens who had run afoul of Merry and The Group. They had raped Merry and as justice The Group had altered them as they had altered Merry.

"Yes; ‘Oh.’" Delilah laughed. "Once we trained them properly they became good little workers. Young, strong enough to work eighteen hour days… just not too bright."

"They broke in a few days ago." Tremont said. "And I, working through them, installed an air lock into the water pipe."

Again the view changed, it showed a map of the base with black lines geometrically going from building to building, all of them leading from one thick line. A green box glowed over a spot where the tunnel was.

"This pipe feeds water to the entire base." Tremont said. "You will enter it here, at the air lock. From there you will swim through the pipe and come out here in the coolant building of the bases nuclear reactor."

"You want me to swim into a nuclear reactor!" Merry shouted. Four pairs of eyes looked at her and Merry’s heart stopped. Her mind froze, torn between the twin dangers of angering them and swimming into a radioactive bath.

"Officer Dolly." Delilah said and the tone of her voice might have frozen the air. "Are you questioning us?"

"N… No… No… No, I’m not, not really." Merry said and her tone mixed pleading with terror. "But a nuclear reactor? Those… those things are dangerous… aren’t they?"

"You know I think we might forgive her this one." Deborah said. "She has been taught to fear nuclear power after all, just like most of them out there."

"Yes." Delilah said. "I think you are right." She turned to Merry. "Understand this Officer Dolly, to us nuclear power is about as complicated as lighting a candle."

Merry nodded and let out a sigh and tried not to show it.

"The reactor building" Tremont continued as the hologram shifted to an architectural diagram, "is a main distribution point for the base water supply. You will swim through the auxiliary coolant pipe; this pipe does not go through the reactor. It travels along the outside of the reactor core, gaining a radioactive level as it does so. This is because of Ms. Inferno."

"The alien member of Force Group J?" Merry asked.

"Yes." Tremont said. "Because she needs to eat a fish native to her home planet, and because those fish can only live in radioactive water, there is a tank of them at the base."

"Don’t worry about the fish, they are harmless." Delilah said. "And the radiation will not be a danger too you."

"Once you are out of the tank you walk across the tank room to this room."

A green line led from the tank to a bathroom across from it.

"A bathroom?"

"Yes." Tremont said. There are scanners in every corridor, we could shrink you to the size of an ant and you would still be spotted. You will enter the toilet, travel along the waste pipe until you get here." The dots followed a pipe under the floor and across the building to another bathroom. "Getting out of the toilet here you will enter the wall by pulling up a tile behind this wastebasket and digging through the plaster. After punching your way through the plaster behind that tile you will move through the wall into the next room, the room where the DVD’s are made. There is an unused telephone jack in the wall that you can open. Once there you will, under my direction, replace the chip and then leave the same way you came in. The chip will beam the information straight down to where, in about five months or so, Mike, Jessie and Lizzie will have tunneled and installed a relay set. The information will then be sent to us."

"Oh." Merry said again, and this time there was no tone at all in her voice.

"You will succeed Merry." Delilah said.

"Of course she will." Deborah said. "Our Officer Dolly has never failed us."

"Not once." Molly chimed in.

"Not ever." Tremont added.

"Can I ask a question?"

"Yes, I think you can." Deborah said.

"If the relay won’t be there for a few months why do you want me to go in before its ready?"

"Because the best chance for you to succeed in this is if the base is nearly deserted." Deborah said. "And Force Group J is busy elsewhere. That will happen in two days."

"In two days," Delilah said seeing the question on Merry’s face "the Wrangor will attack."

"Oh god!"

To Merry’s surprise they all laughed at her exclamation.

"Why is everyone scared of them?" Tremont mused.

"They destroy cities!" Merry protested.

"Not important ones." Molly said.

"Officer Dolly the Wrangor are the most pathetically incompetent alien race that has ever tried to invade this planet." Delilah said. "In nine tries they have only managed to destroy a few cities. Force Group J will stop them as usual, and maybe this time Prince Wrangor will finally make General Order mad enough to kill him."

"Like that’ll ever happen." Deborah said. "It doesn’t seem to matter how much damage Wrangor does, General Order just will not kill him."

"That is the price of having a paladin as a superhero." Molly said. "I heard that he doesn’t even litter."

"At any rate," Deborah went on "the pyramid will be busy dealing with Wrangor’s attack cruiser, the base will go onto a war footing, which means no back up, which means you should have all the time you need."

"I… I guess I’ll need a wet suit?" Merry asked barely keeping the tremor out of her voice.

"You’ll need more than that." Deborah said. "Come with me, I’ll explain."

Merry got up and followed her.

The bathroom Deborah led Merry too was one that she had never been in before. It was on the second floor and was the most luxurious one Merry had ever seen. It was large, big enough to hold a solid gold tub, a shower and a sink. The floor and the walls were pure black stone. The ceiling was brilliant white. Across from the tub was a wall-sized plasma screen TV.

"Ok, get your clothes off." Deborah said. She pressed the wall and part of it folded away revealing a mirror and various toiletries.

Merry pulled off her sweatband and jogging shirt, pulling off her jog bra at the same time. Then she kicked off her sneakers.

"Well hello Ms. Hardbody!" Deborah whistled as she turned around and saw Merry’s body.

"I’ve been keeping fit." Merry said blushing.

"Keeping fit nothing!" Deborah said. Motioning Merry to keep still she bent down and pulled Merry’s sweatpants down. She helped Merry step out of them and then stood back.

"You’ve seen me naked before." Merry protested not able to look at Deborah’s face.

"Not for a while." Deborah said. She slapped Merry’s stomach. "I could bounce quarters off of this."

Merry blushed at the examination. Merry had always kept herself in good shape, but lately she had pushed herself to be in perfect shape. Her body reflected that. Her toned muscles stood out sharply against tight skin. Since she had reached the age of maturity Merry had been beautiful. Long legs, large breasts and full hips had been hers. But now she had burned away almost all the fat on her body with exercise. The result was incredible. Merry knew it, but was sure that The Group had seen her in front of the mirror in her house.

"I guess this is what working out four hours a day will do." Deborah said.

"You need me in top shape." Merry said.

"Top shape yes, ridiculous shape no." Deborah said. "Keep this up you’ll look like an Image Comics girl." She pressed another part of the wall and a door slid open to reveal a back-less Roman style chair. "It hasn’t escape our notice Dolly that you’re becoming obsessed with keeping fit. I was actually surprised a few weeks ago when you got your period."

"You know when I get my period?"

"Of course we do. Sit down."

Merry sat down.

"We’ve also noticed that socially you’ve become as dead as a zombie since the Margarita incident."

"I… I have to be ready in case you need me." Merry said as Deborah picked up a comb and a pair of scissors.

"Your life has devolved into work, working out, home, the comic book store and the dvd place." Deborah said. "You have no friends."

"What if I am with them and you need me?" Merry said.

"We are not the ones responsible for your lack of a social life." Deborah said. Taking the scissors she started to cut Merry’s hair. Merry’s mouth dropped open as her long hair was cut short. Her hands trembled and she clasped them together at her waist. Not noticing her reaction Deborah kept talking. "Now we know you are devoted to us, and we think that’s sweet, but you need a social outlet to maintain your sanity. It will do us no good if you suffer a mental breakdown. Aside from some of the missions you have had no sexual encounters since we altered you and you haven’t even masturbated. That vibrator in your bottom drawer is useless gathering dust you know."

"I…"

Deborah finished the haircut and put the scissors back.

"Bath time." She said.

Merry stood up and looked at her own stunned reflection in the mirror. Her hair had been cut from past shoulder length to a bob-cut just above her neck.

"Don’t worry it will grow back." Deborah said. She tugged Merry over to the tub and tapped a few commands on a small keypad built into the base. A blue liquid started to fill the tub.

"Why…?"

"Long hair would get in the way of what you have to wear." Deborah said. "Get in."

Somewhat numbly Merry climbed into the tub. The liquid was cool, but it stung a bit and Merry gasped.

"Sorry but it’s necessary." Deborah said. "We are going to put you into a suit for this, but it is a very special suit and you can’t use it if you have any hair on your body."

"Any hair?" Merry stopped getting into the water and stood up. Between her legs was a strip of blonde hair that Merry had sworn never to shave again.

"Be grateful you are not going into this with a bald head." Deborah said. "Now sit down, it may sting a bit but it’s better than me having to shave your entire body."

Swallowing her pain Merry sank into the liquid. Deborah reached over and pushed Merry into it up to her chin.

"It will grow back won’t it?"

"Of course it will." Deborah said. "Now tell me; why no sex?"

"S-sex? Me? I… I… Well… I can never be sure… I mean…"

"You can’t be sure if we are watching?" Deborha asked and Merry nodded. "Well we are always watching Dolly, either us or the computer. Surely after all that we’ve done to your body, after all we’ve seen you do on your missions you can’t harbor a pretense at modesty?"

Merry tried to speak and failed and ended up just shrugging her shoulders.

"Well modesty or not your stress levels are simply too high. Sex is a good way to relieve them. Either you solve them or we’ll solve them. Understand?"

"Yes." Merry nodded.

"Good." Deborah pushed a few buttons on the keypad and the liquid drained away as clean water was pumped into the tub. After a few minutes that drained away and Merry looked down at herself.

The solution had indeed removed every follicle of hair from her body. The hairless effect combined with Merry’s pale white skin made her look almost like a statue.

"You also need to get some tanning time in." Deborah said. She took a remote control out of her pocket. "Brace yourself."

Merry had been bracing herself from the moment she saw the remote. It was with that remote and others like it that The Group controlled her size. Merry felt the despised but familiar reality-wrench and when she blinked her eyes back into focus Merry was at the bottom of the tub. She sat on a wide gold field that glistened from one horizon to the next. The next moment she was gathered up in a gigantic hand and carried away. Merry guessed that she was no more than six inches tall now. She shivered despite the warmth of Deborah’s hand.

The lab Deborah carried Merry into was a different one from any of the others Merry had seen. Pennytorch mansion was filled with rooms and passages and most of them had been converted to specialized laboratories. Deborah entered with Merry and placed her on a table. Merry looked around. It was the usual lab set up, un-identifiable machinery with status lights blinking on and off in so many colors the effect was almost hypnotic. There were also tables that were full of gadgets that were probably illegal and impossible at the same time.

"What happened to her?" Delilah asked looking at Merry.

"Gosh." Molly echoed.

"Nice." Tremont said.

"All the work out time has paid off." Deborah said. She reached over and eased Merry gently but firmly onto her back. Merry didn’t resist and lay there. Deborah grasped both of Merry’s wrist with her fingers, holding Merry’s arms over her head.

"I’ll say it has." Molly said. She reached over and traced the muscles on Merry’s stomach. "You could bounce nickels off of her."

"I thought quarters." Deborah said.

"Either will do." Delilah said. She rolled Merry onto her stomach. "Absolutely solid." She said running her fingers along Merry’s back and over her butte. "You don’t have to flex Officer Dolly."

"Very firm though." Deborah said as her fingers followed her sisters.

Merry tried to relax. She hadn’t been flexing her muscles but the examination had made her cringe. She was grateful that Tremont only looked and did not touch.

"Well enough fun." Delilah said.

Merry rolled over and sat up as the fingers withdrew. Molly reached over to another table and took a tray from it. She placed it next to Merry. Merry looked in and saw a gray helmet, a pair of boots and a pair of gloves.

"This is the suit?" Merry asked picking up the helmet. It was cylindrical, made of a strong transparent material and had a wide collar and shoulder pads. The shoulder pads had lights in them. It reminded Merry of the protective fireproof helmets that firefighters sometimes wore. The boots were like socks with toes.

"Not quite." Tremont said. "Those are the accessories."

"To explain." Deborah said as Merry’s befuddled look drew a laugh from Tremont. "The suit you are going to use is not so much a suit as it is an artificial skin. It will be applied in three coats. The first will bond with your true skin; this is the interface layer. The second layer will be the nutrient and recycle layer. It will contain enough oxygen and food to keep you alive for at least two days. The oxygen and nutrients will be absorbed through the interface layer and injected directly into your body. It will also absorb any bodily waste. The third layer is the containment layer. The boots, gloves and helmet are needed because we haven’t solved some of the flexibility problems yet. That is why I didn’t shave your head, but the rest of you had to be shaved."

"Wow." Merry whispered. "I won’t need to eat or…"

"Or anything." Deborah said. "You won’t even need to breathe really, but you can do so if you want. The interface layer will bond with the helmet and keep air circulating in there."

Not for the first time Merry was reminded that size was not the only thing The Group dwarfed her on. Their brilliance awed her.

"Put them on." Delilah ordered.

Merry put on the boots first. They were gray and ran half way up her legs. Her toes fit into the extensions provided for them. The material was smooth and cool to the touch. It wasn’t cloth or metal or plastic. For a moment it was a little too big but then Merry felt it shrink snugly to her skin. The gloves felt the same way. Merry could feel through them as if she weren’t wearing gloves at all. She put the helmet on and looked around. There was no visual distortion, no internal reflection. It didn’t fog up as she breathed. There wasn’t even the leather or plastic smell that often came with helmets.

"How is the rest put on?" Merry asked.

"This way."

Deborah picked Merry up and placed her on a platform on another table. The surface beneath her hummed and Merry found herself lifted into the air.

"Spread your arms and legs out as far as you can." Deborah said. She put a transparent dome over the platform.

Merry obeyed and as soon as she had stretched out as far as she could go the hum changed and she found her limbs locked into that position. Even though she was a floating naked X and helpless Merry wasn’t worried. She was going on a mission. That meant she was valuable to them. Too valuable to hurt.

Seconds after she was secured into place four rods rose out of the platform. On each rod was a small nozzle.

{The layers will be sprayed on.} The voice appeared in Merry’s mind. {Brace yourself, this may sting.}

Merry had a split second to prepare and then the nozzles started to spray her. They rotated around the platform as they sprayed and at the same time oscillating for maximum coverage. Merry couldn’t keep from screaming as the ice-cold liquid hit every part of her exposed body seemingly at once. It was like being sprayed with a garden hose on a bitterly cold winter night. Worse it didn’t fall away from her like ice water would have. Where the liquid hit it stayed and spread. She could even feel it seep a little bit inside of her. Soon every part of her was covered. Inside the helmet Merry couldn’t keep her teeth from chattering.

{Close your eyes tight. We’re going to use a laser to cure this layer.}

Merry shut her eyes as tight as she could and mouthed a silent prayer. The warmth from the laser drove away the cold and for a moment she was ok, but then the laser burned and she screamed again. Once the laser was done the nozzles started to spray once more. Again Merry felt as if her body was being dipped into ice water. After that the laser once again seemed to roast her. Twice more it happened and by the end Merry hung limply in mid air.

{First layer set. Stand by for second layer. Second layer now.}

The second layer was anti-climatic. Merry felt the liquid hit her body but only the way a heavy rain would feel if she wear wearing a raincoat. This layer took longer to apply and Merry had a chance to recover. When they used the laser to cure it Merry was ready for the shock.

{Take a deep breath and hold it as long as you can Dolly. Third layer start now.}

Merry took the breath and held it as the last layer was put on. It seemed to take forever and her lungs started to scream for air.

{Ok, you can breath now.}

Merry let the breath out and took deep breaths in. The air was pure and cool with a hint of pine. Suddenly the force that held her released her and Merry fell to the platform. She looked up as Deborah lifted the dome off of it.

"Perfect." Deborah said.

Merry looked down at her body and couldn’t help being stunned. It was as if someone had spray painted a dull gray finish onto her skin. Even the outline of her nipples and the slit between her legs could easily be seen. If Merry had not known better she would have sworn she was naked. The material moved as she moved and she couldn’t feel it.

"Feel ok?" Deborah asked.

"Yes. Fine." Merry said. Then she realized that her voice moved through the helmet without echo.

"Perfect." Delilah said.

"Oh yes." Molly said.

"Definitely." Tremont added.

"How… How does this come off?" Merry asked.

"We have a solvent if needed." Tremont said. "But once the second layer is exhausted the material will crumble away into dust. But that should take two days."

"Come on." Delilah said. She reached down and scooped Merry up. "We have a mission to get on with."

Merry gasped again as she felt Delilah’s hand through the material. It was like there was no material at all. She hit her shoulder against Delilah’s hand and one of the lights came on. Merry reached up and quickly tapped it off.

"You don’t have to worry about that." Deborah said noticing the action. "They aren’t powered by batteries, but from your own body heat."

"So long as you stay alive they’ll work." Delilah added dryly.

They all laughed at the joke and Merry tried harder to stay steady as she was carried.

Merry took a deep breath and held it.

Nothing happened.

Her lungs didn’t strain, her head didn’t pound and in fact she didn’t feel like she was holding her breath at all.

"Unbelievable." She said letting the breath out.

This is why I serve them, Merry thought. They’re so far above the rest of us it’s not even funny.

Merry leaned back in her seat and looked at the three view screens. The left one showed a map of where she was, with the shuttlecraft’s position noted by a green marker. The right one showed the outside as it was. The one in the center was showing the Star Trek episode: "Gaileio 7". It was the third episode of Star Trek Merry had seen during the trip and she was surprised to find herself relaxing. Merry was sure that part of that were her fangirl instincts. Instincts that had continued to emerge as she served The Group. Not only was she flying in a Star Trek shuttlecraft, but also flying next to her was a working replica of ThunderBird 2.

"They know what they are doing." Merry said softly but aloud.

The first part of the trip had been in a private jet. Delilah had piloted and Tremont had shown Merry the tools she was going to use and had led her step by step through what she was going to do. Merry frowned at the memory. As he was doing that Deborah had hypnotized Molly into childhood and played with her. Even with the faith Merry had in them all; to see one of them act like a six-year-old, and know that she enjoyed it, was unnerving. Molly had capered and squealed with delight as Deborah had read to her from the Chronicles of Narnia. Tremont and Delilah had joined in, each voicing a different part.

Merry pushed the image out of her mind and settled further into her seat. The back of the jet had been a small hanger and she had been stunned to see Thunderbird 2 from ThunderBirds Are Go! Merry had expected the Galielo, but not Thunderbird 2. The green aircraft was three times the size of the shuttle craft. Merry had seen it on tv hundreds of times. A large thick body, at the moment without a cargo pod, wings angled toward the front of the snub-nosed craft. Two engines in the tail an two under the wings would power it in flight.

"Oh my god!" Merry had blurted out. "That’s Thunderbird 2!"

"We use TB2 to fly in equipment and workers." Deborah said.

"I get to fly it?" Merry started toward the craft.

"Maybe after this mission." Deborah said picking Merry up and carrying her to the shuttle." Merry could see that Deborah was trying not to laugh. "When you land it will take them away, but the shuttle will be there in case you need a quick escape."

"I won’t fail." Merry said getting control of herself again.

"Probably not but we won’t take chances."

Being in the shuttle craft was a little disconcerting. Merry had last flown in it when she was a little over twelve inches tall, and it had been built to that scale. Now she was barely six inches tall and everything was just a little too large for her. She felt like a child taking a studio tour. She could understand why they used it, if anything went wrong and it was found no one would suspect it was anything more than a toy.

And the same could be said for TB2, Merry thought. And me. Maybe I should ask them to put Star Fleet uniform insignias on this suit when I get a chance. Kirk would have loved this outfit.

The episode abruptly ended and Merry felt the shuttle craft start to descend.

{The crew will be waiting for you.}

Mike, Lizzie and Jessie were waiting for her, but none of them looked happy. Merry shouldered her pack and stepped out of the shuttle craft as the door opened. The desert looked like a moonscape, worse a moonscape crafted for giants. Merry was used to back yards and parking lots. The endless expanse of moonlit sand and rocks reminded her again of how vulnerable she could be. Snakes, birds, even a prairie dog would find her a very easy meal. Even though The Group had set up a barrier to protect against desert predators Merry shivered at the thought. The light of the moon showed her to be at the bottom of the gully. About five feet away was a structure that looked like a Quonset hut. It was actually the cargo pod that fit into Thunderbird 2. Merry held her breath as the larger craft landed on large hydraulic pylons and then slowly settled over the cargo pod. It was a scene she had seen many times on tv, but to see it in person, even if the scale was reduced, awakened all of Merry’s fangirl instincts. At that moment she forgot the danger and the mission and lived the fantasy.

"Bitch!"

Merry looked away from Thunderbird 2, her fantasy shattered and watched as Mike walked over to her. Months of enslavement and work hadn’t changed him that much. He was still a handsome, wiry young man with scraggily blonde hair. He was wearing a simple pair of worn overalls and boots.

"Bitch." He said again. There was a dark scowl on his face and his body was tensed as if to attack her.

Merry laughed.

"Still haven’t learned have you." Merry said.

Even in the moonlight she could tell his face was going dark with hatred. Anyone looking at them would have been amazed at Merry’s calm tone. Mike, Lizzie and Jessie each were a little over 12 inches tall and Merry was barely 6 inches. But Merry knew that The Group was watching.

"You said the law was what we had to watch out for." Jessie said walking to stand next to Mike. "What kind’a law turns us into dolls."

"The kind you crossed." Merry said. "You’re looking in the wrong place for sympathy."

"How about we just…" Mike started forward and then stopped dead.

"You want to make them mad go right ahead." Merry said. She could tell that The Group was talking to him as they did to her. Mike paled and then walked away toward thunderbird 2.

"Someday…" Jessie promised and started to walk past Merry. Merry stepped in front of her.

"Uh-uh." Merry said. "No ‘Someday’, Understand this; you were punk kids who caught and tortured an innocent shrunken girl, then raped me. Now you’ve been shrunk and you’ve been played with. Now you know how it feels. You don’t get any right to threaten me with vengeance. None of you do."

Merry stepped aside and walked away, not bothering to wait for an argument or a reaction. She stopped and looked at Lizzie, Jessie’s older sister. Lizzie and Jessie were both alike in that they had dark brown hair and thin bodies. Like Mike they wore only overalls.

"Well?" Merry asked.

"It’s up there." Lizzie said gesturing toward a point half way up the sloping side of the gully. Her tone was calm and Merry sensed none of the anger she had felt from the other two. "There’s a plastic cover over it but you can see it if you’re this high."

"Good." Merry said. "Anything else?"

"I…" Lizzie hesitated. "No."

"Get going then." Merry said. "They’ll probably let you clean up a bit before you have to come back."

Lizzie nodded and started to walk away. Merry reached out and stopped her.

"Friendly advice. If Mike doesn’t loose the attitude stay away from him. Tell your sister to do the same. If you think you’ve seen them mad you’re wrong."

Lizzie nodded and walked over to Thunderbird 2. Merry stood and watched as it took off and headed away into the night.

{You posture nicely with them.}

"It wasn’t posturing." Merry said. "I was giving them the best advice I could to keep them safe."

{Yet with them you act as if you are in charge.}

Merry stopped at the entrance to the newly dug tunnel. She was The Group’s best agent; didn’t that give her some rank?

"You drafted me partly because I’m a cop. I know Mike’s type, you have to be a cop with him or he’ll turn on you."

{You can’t be saying that we are not strict enough.}

"I’m saying that Mike at least needs to be on a short leash."

{Literally? Perhaps with a hood and blinders as well?}

There was an edge to the sarcasm. Though the thoughts that appeared in Merry’s mind were toneless she had long ago learned to catch nuances behind them. Suddenly she realized that she didn’t have any rank.

"I’m sorry if I overstepped, but their only kids… Kids going wrong, I guess I…"

{You acted as if you were a cop and you had caught them shoplifting. They are not kids Officer Dolly. They are useful drones, good for manual work. We do not believe that they will ever grow mentally or emotionally from where they are now. You can not ‘save’ them."

"They’re only…"

{Mike was old enough to rape you. We have made a very thorough study of humanity Merry, Mike, Jessie and Lizzie are peasants. Useful, but limited.}

"Like me?" Merry asked the question and immediately regretted it.

{No. Not at all. You are a loyal warrior and a superb agent. You never fail us. But even if you are a warrior and, admittedly, more to us than they will ever be that does not mean that you can in any way usurp our roles as masters. As you said, you overstepped.}

"I’m sorry." Merry said. "I just wanted to help them. I guess I just want to keep helping people. You were right, I did treat them like I was still in uniform."

{Understandable. Apology accepted. Get moving.}

Merry eased aside the plastic and stepped into the tunnel. It wasn’t tall or wide, barely ten inches by four inches for the first foot or so. Dim moonlight filtered through the plastic. There were no other lights so Merry switched on her shoulder lights. Before her was a roughly circular tunnel. The walls were made up of thick white plastic bars and black gardener’s cloth.

Merry moved down the corridor cautiously at first and then more casually. It took her a few minutes to see the light at the end that showed the exit. As she walked further into it Merry noticed that the tunnels construction became more and more haphazard. Dirt and sand had fallen through gaps in the cloth and fewer and fewer bars held the place up. Merry was tempted to say something but after the rebuke decided not too. It wasn’t as if she would need the tunnel for long and she doubted The Group would tolerate anything less than good craftsmanship from its workers.

When Merry was close to the other tunnel the light was enough for her to see by. She reached up to shut off her own lights when her ankle seemed to catch on something. Merry tugged at it automatically, too late realizing what a mistake that was. Whatever was holding onto her ankle gave way and so did the walls and roof of the tunnel. Conditioned by instructions and experience to remain silent on most her missions Merry didn’t make a sound as she was buried alive.

Merry woke up to total blackness. Her body was pressed from all sides and moving seemed to be impossible.

"Hello?" She called out.

{Welcome back.}

"Where am I?"

{You are not hurt, just trapped. Part of the tunnel caved in. We have turned TB2 around, but you will be stuck for a while."

"How long?" Merry asked feeling her body. She was stuck, but at least her right hand was free to move. And there was some give in the dirt around her legs. She was lying down, with one arm in front and one arm underneath her body.

{A few hours to get back, at least a day to dig you out of there.}

"Oh." Merry flexed her body and found there was a bit of movement. Not much, but at least she would be able to shift a little bit. Suddenly she realized something. "But that means I won’t be able to install the chip for you."

{Don’t worry Dolly, the failure is not yours.}

"Failure?"

{The tunnel was not constructed as we instructed.}

"Failure?" Merry repeated the word and it echoed in her ears. Rage started to build in her. Merry started to flex and strain her body.

{There is a first time for everything Officer Dolly. You can not succeed in this mission. The suit will crumble into dust within two days and it will take at least that long to dig you out of there.}

"I won’t fail you."

{You are buried. As we said the failure is not yours.}

"I won’t fail you." Merry insisted.

{We hate to repeat ourselves Officer Dolly, but you are buried.}

"I’ve never failed you!" Merry snarled. "And I won’t now!"

Her right arm was free to move just beyond the elbow and Merry concentrated on that. She wrenched it back and forth and after a short time found the dirt to be loosening. Merry stressed and thrust every part of her body until her arm was free. Then she started to dig toward her body. She moved the arm in and out, dragging as much dirt as she could with each stroke. It was almost as if she were swimming with one arm. It took a while but she managed to uncover the top of the helmet. After that Merry managed to dig away enough of the dirt to free her other arm. A frantic, almost hysterical anger drove her on and The Group stayed silent. She dug both arms into the dirt in front of her and pulled.

"I haven’t failed!" Merry snarled though a clenched mouth. "I don’t fail you! I don’t fail you EVER!"

With a great heave and yell Merry pulled her body out of the dirt and fell against the side of the tunnel. She lay there with her body trembling and her heart racing.

{Impressive. And to think we were against your workout time.}

"I don’t think I could have done it at full size." Merry gasped out the words in a desperate and near hysterical tone of voice. "But at this size… I guess I was like an ant. I… I didn’t want to fail you."

{And you didn’t. Unlike our tunnel builders. Dumb as they are we thought they would be able to handle something as simple as moving dirt.}

"Oh they handled it alright." Merry said tightly. Reaching down she grabbed the cord that was still wrapped around her ankle. It was a thin piece of copper wire shaped into a lasso. Merry dug into the dirt again, following the wire. It led to one of the plastic bars. She picked up the bar and looked at it. "They handled just fine."

One end of the plastic was thinner than the other end, dug out from behind so that the bar was nearly hollow. The wire was tied to the other end.

{Pull the cord, part of the wall falls followed by part of the roof.}

"Their mistake was that it was too close to the exit." Merry said. "Any further in and I wouldn’t have been able to dig myself out."

{Not only have they tried to kill you they have worked against us. Tried to thwart our plans.}

"One of them at least." Merry said. Her spirit chilled as she acknowledged the fury behind the statement. "It might not have been all of them."

{They dug as a group.}

"It only took one person to do this." Merry protested, fear swamping her own anger.

{They tried to kill you.}

"One of them did. Not all of them."

{They will all be punished.}

"Just one of them!" Merry pleaded remembering the punishments The Group had inflicted on her. Punishments she wouldn’t wish on anyone. "Not all of them. Find out who… investigate first. Please."

{Continue the mission.}

Merry fell silent. After a few minutes spent digging out her pack she shouldered it and moved on.

Merry moved through the old escape tunnel carefully. She wasn’t taking anything for granted anymore. The German prisoners had built their tunnel from wood slats from beds, bits of wall and roofing, fruit packing crates and whatever else they could find. The tunnel was no more than three feet wide by two feet high and lit with small old fashioned light bulbs. At various intervals German writings were carved or burned into the wood. Merry marveled at the work. The German’s had been in a strange country, a hostile country with thousands of miles separating them from their home, yet still they nearly killed themselves to escape.

I wonder if I’d do the same, Merry thought as she found the water pipe. The pipe was two feet wide, rusty and encrusted with dirt. But attached to it was a black box with a door in it. Merry opened the door and stepped in. Inside there was a small chamber, another door and a set of controls. Merry closed the outer door and a red light came on above her. Merry pushed the buttons she needed to push and the chamber started to fill with water.

Often in the past year Merry had wondered about her sanity and motives. She wondered about them now. She had clawed her way out of the dirt to finish the mission. The word: ‘failure’ had made her blood boil. But only a few minutes later the thought of Mike, Jessie and Lizzie being subjected to the type of punishments The Group was capable of had frozen the anger out of her. She had defended the ones who had tried to kill her.

I’m too much of a cop, Merry thought. I need evidence before punishment. Evidence! Merry laughed at herself. They tried to kill me and I need evidence?

The light changed from red to green as the chamber filled completely. Merry sighed and opened the door that led to the inside of the water pipe.

I guess I need The Group, she thought. I need them to… Do I need them to tell me what justice is? But look at what they can do… Margarita is so happy with that life they gave her. Mike would’ve gotten a year tops for raping me, Jessie and Lizzie less than that. But only one of them may have set that trap, one or two, or maybe all three? Damn! How can I let someone who may not be guilty be punished? Hell how can I stop it? I don’t have any rank. But they won’t punish them all, will they? The Group sees everything I see, all they have to do is look back and see who set up that bar.

A wave of giddy relief flooded through Merry’s mind as she realized that The Group wouldn’t punish out of hand, that they would be just. After a moment it passed and Merry steadied herself.

"Here we go." She said. Merry stepped into the current and let it take her down the pipe. She saw streak of rust and various slime and molds on the walls of the pipe.

"I just thought of something." Merry said. "How am I going to get back out?"

{The tunnel will be re-dug. Correctly this time. This time we will watch closely and they will know that we watch closely.}

"Do you know who…"

{That is not your concern Officer Dolly. You will trust our justice.}

"I will." Merry agreed.

Merry’s trip through the water pipe was more or less un-eventful. It twisted and turned sharply in some places and in others she swam through half opened valves. Merry couldn’t help but notice the rust and encrusted mold in many places and she vowed that when she got home she’d put filters on all of her faucets. The sounds of the pipe were confusing at times. Merry thought she heard someone singing until she realized it was a valve being opened. In another section someone was hammering on the pipe and it was like being on the inside of a gigantic bell. The current shifted from being dead to carrying her along at dizzying speed. Merry was beginning to wonder if she would ever make it too the tank but at last she turned a corner and saw light at the end of the pipe. A few minutes late she was swimming into an open tank. The fish that swam around her were flat and ugly. Grey in color their skin was covered with what looked like small black rocks and each rock had a small hair. Their eyes were lifeless gray pads that protruded slightly from the flat body. Merry couldn’t understand anyone wanting to look at them, let alone eat them. None of the fish paid any attention to her and she surfaced slowly. The tank took up most of the wall. A fluorescent fixture dimly lighted the rest of the room and no one was there. Despite her fear of the radiation Merry forced herself to wait a few minutes, making sure there were no unexpected guard or cameras. It was a kitchen. Merry could see a stove, a fridge and a counter top. When she was satisfied the room was empty Merry pulled herself out of the water. Taking a rope from her pack Merry hooked it onto the edge of the tank and climbed down. A snap of her arm shook the hook loose when she was done and she coiled it back up. Sticking to the edges of the room Merry moved cautiously. In Merry’s experience there were no more dangerous rooms for a shrunken woman than a bathroom and a kitchen. Both rooms held implements that could be used for torture and both of them were rooms where people had a habit of unexpectedly walking into. Still nothing happened and she made it into the bathroom. The toilet was set against the far wall. For once grateful that someone had left the seat up Merry leapt up and then hoisted herself onto the edge. The toilet bowl lay beneath her and for the first time Merry realized what she was going to have to do. It had been one thing to hear Tremont tell her, with so much else to deal with Merry hadn’t really thought about it. But now the reality faced her.

Well at least the last person flushed, Merry thought as she slid down the bowl. Grabbing onto the edge of the bottom Merry dragged herself under the water. She moved through the tube, swimming through the S shaped porcelain tunnel and surfaced on the other side. Once there she stood in waist deep water and looked up at the connecting pipe. It wasn’t high and she leapt up and grabbed it. Then she pulled herself up. Merry stood on the edge of the pipe and looked around. An iron-willed grip on her stomach kept her from throwing up and Merry was grateful that she couldn’t smell anything. Bellow her was the main sewer pipe, across from her was the pipe that led to the toilet in the room she need to get too. It was a jump of six inches that Merry took great care to do perfectly. Once she was safely across Merry walked. The pipe sloped upward and the going was slippery, but Merry kept her head. There was no ignoring where she was, but the suit was her armor and; like an ancient warrior who kept faith in his smithy’s workmanship, Merry kept faith in The Group’s. The pipe became thinner as she went and soon Merry was crawling on her hands and knees. At last she came to the end of it and looked up. Above her was a ledge. Merry climbed up by bracing her hands and feet against the side of the pipe. On the other side of the ledge was a small pool of water. Gratefully Merry jumped in and a few seconds later she was climbing out of the toilet bowl. Again she was glad someone had left the seat up. Merry leaped down to the floor and looked around. It was a standard rest room, tiled floor, a sink and a mirror. Decorative tiles had been placed along the bottom of the walls. In the corner was a wastebasket. Merry walked behind it and took a tool out of her pack. The tile came loose easily and she used the same tool to chip away at the sheet rock behind it. A half an hour later Merry broke through and climbed into the between wall space.

Merry’s lights shown on a dusty thin corridor. Metal studs were spaced evenly and she could see where blue and white plastic mollys had been driven into the sheetrock. Desiccated bug corpses lay all around her but Merry ignored them. She moved to a plastic plate that had no wires coming from it. This was the unused phone jack that Tremont had told her about. It was four inches high by two inches wide and held in place by two screws. If Merry had been on the other side of the wall she could have used a screwdriver to get them loose. But since she was on this side Merry had to use her hands. She took hold of the bottom screw and gripped as tightly into the thread as she could and turned. Slowly she unscrewed the bottom screw first and then the top one. Easing the plate down to the floor Merry looked into the room.

The sight that greeted Merry was anti-climatic. It was an ordinary office room. On the far wall was a dry marker black board. On a desk sat a MacIntosh G4 computer and monitor. The room was dark except for the lights from Merry’s shoulders. She stepped in and pressed the phone jack back into place. Then she walked over and used the computers power cord to climb up to the top of the desk. Silently Merry walked to the back of the computer and climbed, using the peripheral cables as hand and foot holds. Once she got to the top Merry walked to the center of the machine. The G4’s designers had wanted installation of memory and upgrades to be easy. They had designed the machine so that one side would open if a handle were pulled. Merry reached down and tied a gray rope around the handle and then tossed it down the side of the computer. Then she wrapped a black rope around the handle and tossed it down on the other side of the computer. Merry climbed down to the desk and froze when she heard a sound. But the sound was not repeated and she couldn’t have even said what she thought she heard.

Another feature of the G4 computer case was the fact that it rested on two plastic handles. Merry was able to reach bellow the computer and take hold of the black rope.

Here is the tricky part, Merry thought. Taking hold of both ropes she started to back up, slowly pulling the gray rope and opening the latch. There was a click and the side of the G4 started to open. Merry dropped the gray rope and took hold of the black one with both hands. The weight of the side of the computer pulled her forward despite her efforts and she was dragged under the side of the computer as it was slowly coming down. When it was close enough Merry dropped the black rope and thrust both her hands up to catch the falling side. It was heavy but she stood the weight and slowly lowered it.

{Bravo.}

"Thanks." Merry said, catching her breath. "I’m glad the hinge on this didn’t squeak." She picked up the pack and looked at the inside of the computer. It was a construct of green copper and metal with black blocks everywhere. The inside walls were dull aluminum.

{Go forward to the lower left of the main circuit board.}

Merry went forward and kept her eyes down.

{There. That chip.}

It was a small chip, even at Merry’s reduced size. No bigger than a pie plate. Merry took out the cutting tool and started to cut through the solder leads that held it to the circuit board. As she touched the tool to the shiny metal of the solder it vibrated and a thin line appeared on the metal. Merry felt her teeth vibrate slightly as the tool worked. Slowly she moved around the square and when she was done with the last lead she put the cutting tool away and took hold of the chip. It came away easily. Merry set it aside and took the new chip out of the pack.

"They aren’t the same." Merry said looking at the new chip. "The numbers are different."

{That I expected.} Merry guessed Tremont was speaking. {Manufactures often use different numbers. But the part is the right one. But good work on spotting that.}

"Right, Ok." Merry put the chip into place and took out the second tool. This one took longer. It didn’t cut through the solder with a sonic vibration but heated it up with a burst of heat. But it took time to heat the metal and sometimes Merry had to do it more than once to avoid a cold solder joint. Merry was getting more and more tired and by the time the last lead was in place her hands were shaking.

Putting the tools and the old chip into the pack Merry walked out of the computer and took hold of the ropes and the side. With a heave she lifted the side of the computer over her head and then held tight to the black rope. Using the rope to hold it in place Merry edged herself further under the side of the G4 and lifted it higher. Again and again she did that until he side of the computer was almost closed. Then she spent time pulling first on the black rope and then on the gray rope until the latch snapped back into position. When she heard the latch snap shut Merry let the ropes drop and then sat down.

{The chip is working fine.}

"That’s good." Merry said. She stood up and started to climb the back of the computer again. "How can you tell though, I thought you had to build a relay station?"

{Telemetry is being relayed through you.}

"Oh."

{You have many uses for us Officer Dolly.}

"I guess." Merry made a last check to make sure she was leaving no trace and then climbed down off of the desk.

Merry moved past the ugly fish and into the water pipe. It was harder in this direction since there was a slight current pushing against her. But Merry didn’t mind. She was actually looking forward to a rest in the escape tunnel while the other tunnel was dug out again. She was swimming along when the entire pipe suddenly shook. Merry was caught off guard but kept swimming. In the back of her mind she hoped that something had just hit the pipe by accident. Again the pipe shook, and this time it shook harder. Merry did her best to keep swimming but the current suddenly surged against her. Fighting it all the way Merry was carried through the pipe and dumped into a room. Merry hit hard against the floor but managed to keep herself ready. That proved to be fortunate because she barely escaped being flattened by a large boot. The boot did flatten her pack.

Merry rolled out of the way and looked up. It only took her a moment to realize that she hadn’t been discovered, but dragged into a battle. Like some mortal watching the Titan’s battle the Olympian gods Merry could only stand and gape.

The woman stood over seven feet tall. She was a dressed in a silver sleeveless chain mail tunic that reached down nearly to her knees. The tunic was belted at the waist with a shining gold belt. The boot that had nearly crushed Merry was fine black leather with gold laces and it ran up to her knees. Silver gauntlets covered her hands and ran half way up her arms. Her long blonde hair crackled around her head like it was alive. Her face, distorted for now in the heat of battle, was a combination of an aquiline nose, strong jaw and arched eyebrows. Her oversized body had large breasts, large hips and seemed perfectly muscled.

{Goddess of Justice.}

A true superhero, Merry thought. One of the founding members of Force Group J!

And yet she was fighting, but there was nothing to fight. Merry watched as blow after blow was thrown and seemed to connect, but there was nothing there.

With a roar Goddess of Justice grabbed something and tore it away. There was a shower of sparks and then a form shimmered into existence. It was six feet tall, covered with black fur and its tail whipped about angrily.

"Did you really think invisibility would fool our sensors?" The heroine demanded tossing the sparking round disk aside. "Are even were-wolves that stupid?"

It was a were-wolf, or at least as close as Merry ever hoped to come to one. Though the features were wolf-like the eyes were that of a man and the form was that of a man. Now that its invisibility was gone the creature stood revealed. It wore a multi-pocketed vest and black briefs.

{Move!}

Merry obeyed the order just as the battle between the two was joined again. For the rest of it she did her best to stay alive. It wasn’t easy. Bits of wall and ceiling, furniture and machinery were tossed about in a maelstrom of destruction. It was like being a pedestrian in the midst of a demolition derby. The strength of the two of them awed Merry. Goddess of Justice ripped out half of a concrete wall and threw it at the were-wolf; he tore up chunks of the floor to keep her off balance. Energy beams flared from her eyes and scorched a foot wide track in the ceiling. The were-wolf’s teeth bit through the water pipe and tore the rest of it out of the wall.

Somehow Merry kept alive, dodging madly but never able to get out of the room. When the battle ended Merry stood with her back to the wall. Goddess of Justice stood over a fallen wear-wolf.

"The rest of Force Group J is coming." She said.

"They will find us gone." The Wolf gasped out the words. He tried to rise on one arm but his other hand reached for a pocket of the vest. Merry would have cried out a warning but there was no time. A small ball rolled under Goddess of Justice’s legs and pure sonic fury filled the room.

Merry screamed and fell to her knees. The sound was so intense that it seemed as if the air itself was being rent asunder. Goddess of Justice fell to her knees as well. The air around her form shimmered and she seemed to shrink. Before Merry’s eyes the seven-foot tall woman faded away and in her place was a small woman wearing a short blue skirt and blouse. The woman fell to the floor and writhed in pain as the wolf climbed to his feet.

Merry started forward. She waited for The Group to say something but there was no word from them. She stumbled over to the sonic grenade and looked at it. Or tried to. This close the sound cut through her head. It felt like someone was holding hair dryers against her ears and blasting searing air into her brain. Her eyes filled with tears and refused to focus. Desperate to stop the pain she grabbed the grenade and pressed the buttons on either side of it.

Just like that the sound stopped. Merry fell to the floor and breathed. Her mind would not focus on anything. She saw the woman who had been Goddess of Justice start to rise, only to be caught by the were-wolf. He pressed a pad against her face and her struggles soon stopped. Then he saw Merry. What was left of Merry’s mind collapsed into darkness as he reached for her.

…To be continued…

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