Brionn's Rescue By Alpesco An industrial accident brings out the best, and worst, in people. I saw the driver lose control of his vehicle. It skidded off the edge of the road and it tipped into the drainage ditch. The handful of visitors at the exhibition glasshouse looked up in shock as it overturned, spilling thousands of gallons of orange liquid across the open space beyond. There were startled cries as they all made the same decision at once - to rush for the only exit. I noticed a striking young woman, tall and dull blonde, sprint from the far end of the long glasshouse where she had been watering seedlings. She was just another of the dozens of temporary workers we liked to employ for the basic tasks. They worked cheap and we fired them before they got to know too much about our business. What struck me most about her was her speed. Everyone was running for the exit, but even though she had farthest to run, she got there first. She stopped and turned to face the rest of them. About 6'1", she wore a white sleeveless t-shirt and black jeans. She stretched out her long arms to halt the visitors. There were eight of them, besides me - all extremely agitated. A heavy red-faced couple in their 50s stood next to a strongly built man of about 6'3" in combats. There were two other men in their 40s, a Japanese couple, and a thin man in glasses and a lightweight suit. "Don't go out there" the tall young woman said. She had a company name badge on her chest which had Brionn written on it. "We could all get killed if that stuff gets in here!" "Killed?" one of the men yelled, pointing out at the growing lake of orange liquid. "That's flammable, baby. It could go up any second, and take all of us with it!" There was renewed panic. "No." the young woman's voice rose loud enough to silence them all momentarily. "Look at those fumes out there. I think they may be toxic. If you open that door we could all be killed." "You think! What do you know?" The heavily built woman made a rush for the door. "We've got to get out, now!" But the younger woman was faster, planting an open hand on her chest and pushing her back. The older woman was fairly heavy, not much short of 200lbs, and I was surprised how easily she was sent flying back into the watching group with what looked like a fairly gentle shove. However she crashed heavily back into two of the men, who were themselves knocked a step backward by the force. "Don't treat my wife like that!" The large red-faced man pushed forward. Angrily he threw a punch, but Brionn's left arm swept up, lightning fast to deflct the meaty fist and send it skimming past her shoulder. Her eyes half-closed. I saw her right hand transform itself into a surprisingly large, square-boned fist, which drew back before speeding into the side of her attacker's head. It all happened so fast I barely took it in. I just saw the large man spin round and backward as if a small truck had hit him. He stumbled crazily back a full fifteen feet to crash into one of the steel struts which held up the glass roof. I was shocked by the unexpected force of the young woman's blow. Her shoulders were fairly broad, accentuated by her very narrow waist, visible in flashes beneath her t-shirt, but they didn't look exceptionally powerful. Her victim, however, seemed badly affected. He tried to pull himself back upright, but was able to take only two drunken steps before dropping to all fours. "Henry!" his wife screamed running back to him. The tall man in combat fatigues now grabbed Brionn by the left arm. A bad mistake - for she ducked beneath his arm, pulled away as far as he could, then shot the heel of her trainer-clad foot hard into his side. He released his hold with a moan of pain as the huge blow sent him staggering backward. But the young woman's spirit was up now and she stepped forward to land a left a right and another heavy left from her long, powerful arms hard into her startled adversary's ribs. The impact of the punches was loud and deep, her opponent groaning in pain in time with each beat. With the third blow, he too fell to his knees. I could barely believe that this pretty girl had done so much damage so quickly. The five other visitors backed off a little as she surveyed her handiwork, breathing gently. "Why won't you let us out?" The Japanese woman said. "Who are you?" "I work here," Brionn indicated the tag on her shirt. "Have you seen anyone out there since the accident?" She pointed. "No. And that's because those fumes are toxic, like I said. Some very strange chemicals are being stored here." "She could be right," the spectacled man spoke for the first time. "I work at the university, and some of the chemicals I've seen here don't fit in with crop research - which is what's supposed to be happening here." I decided that the time had come for me to intervene. I stepped forward. "This Young lady" I emphasised the last word, "is a very junior employee here, and had no authorization to act as she did. I am Adam Vance, one of the Senior Management. I think you can safely follow my directions." My speech impressed some of them, but it hadn't had the desired effect on the girl, who still looked cagey and suspicious. "The spill isn't toxic," I went on, but it might be best to go back to the storage area and wait for assistance." "Where's that?" The first man Brionn had hit was back on his feet now, although still a little unsteady. I pointed back to where the glass house ran into the rocky hillside. Two of the men were helping the tall man in combats to rise. "I think you busted a couple of my ribs!" He looked at Brionn in amazement. "How the hell do you hit so hard?" "I try to keep fit," she said. I turned away for the storage area - a large room hollowed out of the hillside. I was happier when the thick door clanged shut behind us. I didn't know what that chemical was, but I had a good idea it was very nasty. We took very few safety measures out here in the desert. Stelncor did not like wasting money. There was a sudden heavy roaring whoosh from outside, followed by the distant crackle of flame. "The oil's caught fire!" A large man screamed. "We've got to get out!" "There is no way out," I said. "We'll be quite safe if we wait here for help to arrive." "What about that door?" Brionn pointed to a metal-clad door that I'd hoped would remain unseen in its dark corner. "That doesn't lead anywhere," I said quickly. "Besides, its locked. Stay away!" Ignoring me, she made her way towards it. She turned the handle. As I'd known, it was firmly locked. "Satisfied?" I asked the soon-to-be ex-employee. "No. If this door leads nowhere, then why is it bolted from the inside?" "I..." Everyone was looking at me now. "I.. I meant it doesn't lead out.." "I think you're just full of it," the tall woman's eyes narrowed. "It's getting hot out here," a man hammered at the door. "Let us in!" "Stand back." Brionn moved forward. "I'll open it." I looked at the slim figure and laughed. "That's a steel door." "Its metal outside, but only wood inside." She rapped it with her knuckles. Then standing a yard from the door, she transferred her weight to her left leg. Raising her right in front of her, she sent it slamming into the middle of the metal door. The crash of the impact was appalling, echoing round the enclosed space like a bomb blast. And where her heel had struck the door was clearly damaged. The sheet-metal covering was dented inward slightly, the door slightly less solid looking than before. Again her foot blasted into the door, then again, and again. With her fourth blow there came an ear-splitting crack, and the formerly solid door suddenly had a gaping gash in it three feet long and inches deep. I gasped. I was getting worried now. She sent another kick crashing inward. Metal screamed and tore, the wood within the cladding reduced to a pulp. "Stop!" I ordered. But she ignored me, poising that long, firm leg again. Then she blasted the hapless door with renewed vigour, dead center. With a fearful rending and tearing of wood and metal, the thick door caved in, breaking apart and crashing inward in two separate halves. Brionn stepped gently over the wreckage into the high chamber beyond. The others followed, gasping at what they saw. Workings rose fifty feet into a darkened cavern. Tanks of water and drums of chemicals covered the floor. "What is this?" the man in combat fatigues asked. "A restricted area." I said, pointing to a railed platform against a vertical wall. "We can use that to get out." I pointed to a doorway high above. "It's not safe out there yet," Brionn objected as I led the others onto the broad open platform. "You're just sending them back into danger. We should go where he doesn't want us to, and see what he's trying to hide." "You're playing games," I said. "This is the way out." I pulled a lever and the platform began slowly to rise. Brionn made to climb on with us, when the red-faced man was suddenly in her path, pushing her back down, six full feet to the ground. "You're not getting in our way any more!" he said. "Stay there if you like - or wait for the platform to come back down." Brionn fell agilely, like a trained gymnast, rolling back to her feet in the same movement to stare up at us with burning anger. "You've lost." I said "No." She shouted, turning and looking about her. Seeing a heavy chain that hung down from the walkway fifty feet above, she ran to it, catching it with one hand. Then she flexed her long arm, pulling herself upward in a perfect one arm curl. Her left arm stretched out to clamp on to the chain three feet above the right. Again she smoothly flexed her long arm to haul herself up. She had already almost caught up with the slowly-rising platform. The long bronzed arms that had looked so lithe and sinuous now transformed as she pulled her whole bodyweight up easily arm over arm. From nowhere large muscles bunched and gathered, her biceps swelling into mini-footballs as they tensed and flexed. Worst of all, impossibly, she was overtaking the platform, her sinuously muscled arms not seeming to tire as they pulled her up and up. The platform finally shuddered to a halt fifty feey above the cavern floor. I looked across to see Brionn already on the upper gantry before us, between us and the exit door. "Cool workout," she said dangerously. "Get out of our way!" Two of the men strode forward angrily, determined to push her aside, but she braced herself on the railed walkway, and shove as they might, they could not move her back an inch. The two men must have weighed 200lb each, but the 160lb Brionn held them both, and bracing her long legs, began slowly to push them backward. The first man stumbled, tripping the other, and all at once they were in a heap on the companionway. The first got up and angrily swung a punch. Her left arm deflected it, and from nowhere her right ripped into his stomach with fierce power, doubling him up. She followed on with a powerful left and a scything right to the head that sent him crashing to the floor. The second man hardly had time to prepare before a blistering uppercut felled him in one devastating blow. The sheer speed and force of this last punch were incredible. One moment the man was standing on the walkway, the next, nearly lifted off his feet, he was out cold on the timber boarding, his jaw at an unnatural angle. "Who do you think you are?" The large man who had pushed her off the platform lumbered angrily forward. He looked from his bulk as if he would push her aside like a gnat. But as he drew closer she bent, coiling her long right arm about his legs.The other circled his waist and lifted. With only the softest grunt of effort she hoisted the 240lb man smoothly into her arms. I could barely believe it as she stood there on the walkway with this huge man borne helplessly in her arms. He began to struggle, and she raised him to chest height in her powerful arms. "You like to see people fall, do you?" she said, turning and raising him almost to vertical in her arms. "No!" he cried out, realising what was about to happen -as with a sudden heave she threw him out over the railing. He cried out in terror as he fell. His wife screamed too as he plummetted fifty feet from the high walkway, falling in a perfect arc into the middle of one of the water tanks far below. "Right," Brionn said. "Anyone else want a try?" There was no response. "Please let us through," the Japanese woman said. "We don't want to die here." Brionn shook her head. "We've got to go deeper into the caverns. There's heavy machinery down there, trucks. They didn't come in this way." We were soon back down on the cavern floor. Brionn turned, and her long powerful leg kicked out once more, smashing the platform control panel. The others assembled, the red-faced man was pulled from the water-tank, the two men who had attacked Brionn on the walkway were got back to their feet. Both bore injuries, the first broken ribs and cheekbone, the second, a badly broken jaw. They all managed to walk, however, as we followed Brionn's lead deeper into the cavern until we finally reached a huge solid metal door. "There!" I said triumphantly. "Try and kick your way through that. You've trapped us all!" "It's a combination key-code." Brionn turned to me. "You're senior enough to know all the codes here. Open it." I shook my head. Suddenly her long arms were clamped about my arms and waist. She tightened their grip, holding me motionless, then straightened her legs to hoist me two feet off the ground in a tight bear-hug. Again she had surprised me. I'm 250lbs and pretty strong, but she held me there as if I were a child. I didn't think she could do it for long though. Then, slowly, her arms began to tighten. They were strong, surprisingly strong, even after all I'd seen them do. The pressure was uncomfortable. I was being supported by my stomach, her arms linked at the base of my spine. As the pressure increased I found myself going red and it was getting harder and harder to draw breath. I looked down into her face expecting to see it straining with the effort of applying this crushing pressure, but she was smiling! "Are you going to tell me the code now?" she said, "Or do I really have to hurt you?" "You can't..." I began, but my words were cut off as her powerful arms tightened again with incredible strength. I groaned with the pain as what felt like steel bands tightened round my waist. My ribs screamed. My internal organs seemed to be being pushed right up inside of me. I was gasping for breath, and still the pressure did not slacken. Unbelievably, she squeezed even tighter, and pain began to spread along my back and side as her linked wrists ground into my backbone. "The code?" she said, her voice unbelievably soft and steady. When I didn't answer she began to tighten her grip even more. I could not believe it possible for her to apply such intense, crushing pressure with just her long long arms? So much had her grip tightened that her hands were now locked about each of her own elbows behind my back. My head was starting to spin from lack of Oxygen, my lungs were burning, my heart racing dangerously. She drew another breath, a luxury I no longer had, and then her arms tightened in one last savage grip. I screamed. Pain blazed down my back and legs. I felt two of my lower ribs crack and barely felt that pain compared to the agony in my lower spine. Mercifully she now slackened her grip a fraction. Yet there seemed a looseness in my spine that hadn't been there before, an unfamiliar setting to the bones. I was frightened, really frightened. This girl's grip was actually breaking up my body. I felt her muscles tense for another squeeze and cried out my submission. "No. No. Please stop! I'll give you the code." When the door was opened, everyone saw the storage tanks, the restricted chemicals, the whole operation we'd done so much to disguise. The full scandal was concealed of course. The defoliants and nerve gases would have made us a fortune, but that's over now - or at least transferred to a new location. I took the fall for others more powerful. They say my back will be nearly as good as new in a few months, with luck. But I must stop writing now, they'll be taking me back to my cell. But when I've finished this sentence in another few years, I'll show them all.