Even Cowgirls Get Black And Blue
by Autolycus, maynlinz@earthlink.net
A genetically altered woman battles contemporary female rustlers.


This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons is only a figment of
your imaginations. Let's face it, we all wish these babes were real! Anyway,
they're not, so go take a nice cold shower.

BABES IN SPYLAND IV:

EVEN COWGIRLS GET BLACK AND BLUE

(c) 1997 Autolycus

Here's the deal: This is the story of a genetically altered female who is not
only a perfect physical specimen, but also has psychic abilities. She was
created by the US government to be the ultimate espionage agent, although her
creator/father, the late Dr. Smitrovich, didn't know that at the time. She was
seized by an ultra-secret anti-terrorist government agency, the Aegis Group,
and (ultimately, but against her will) trained in martial arts and other forms
of combat, although she refuses to kill anybody, which drives the head of the
AG, General Armitage Winsome, absolutely nuts. By the way, her name is Jessica
Chance and this is her encounter with a female gang of contemporary rustlers
led by a woman named Luann "Dallas" Dawson.

She pressed against the hard flesh of the horse's neck, leaning as far forward
as she could in the saddle, and kicked her heels into the animal's ribs while
whipping the reins across its rear end. As expected, the mare produced a burst
of speed, bringing her that much closer to her fleeing prey, and driving the
horn of the saddle in between her legs; which she found not altogether
unpleasant. She then raised her arm and swung the lasso around her head in
large, lazy circles a couple of times before letting it fly.

The rope settled neatly around the neck of the calf and Jessica reined the
mare to a stop, pulling the rope taut. She then leaped from the horse, quickly
wrestled the young cow to the ground and then tied three of its legs together.

"Done!" she exclaimed, raising her arms.

"Not bad for a dudette," remarked a dark haired woman sitting on the fence of
the corral.

"Oh, lay off her already, Marquita," frowned an African-American woman sitting
next to her.

"Yeah, that was a great run, Jessi," said another woman with blonde streaks
running through her dark hair who was standing near the others.

"Thanks, Cher. What did you think, Dallas?" she inquired of a big-chested,
blue-eyed, honey blonde with a waspishly thin waistline and a generous,
pleasantly plump ass.

The blonde appraised the younger woman, gliding appreciatively over her 5'10"
frame, her sapphire eyes lingering on the perfect, conical breasts for a
moment longer before moving on to the thighs she would kill to have. She then
looked back up and into the tanned face, framed by hair the color of a Texas
sunset, and searched the piercing green eyes for some hint of duplicity, but
found only the wide-eyed innocence she could only barely recall shining in her
own eyes what now seemed an eternity ago. "First rate, honey. First rate," she
smiled.

"Does that mean I'm in?" she inquired, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Not just yet, darlin'," said Dallas, shaking her head.

"You've got one more test, dudette," Marquita sneered. "And it ain't nothin'
like you've ever done before." She laughed unsettlingly and the others nodded
their heads knowingly.

It's about time, Jessica said to herself, eager to get to the bottom of this;
and to finally mix it up for real with Marquita, who had been taunting her
ever since she arrived.

She recalled her interview with the General as if it had happened yesterday,
instead of nearly six months ago. How he summoned her to his office late one
evening and actually attempted some polite small talk, inquiring about his
'daughter,' Melanie, and even congratulating her for her success in extracting
information from Zuleika, who was now in a maximum security military prison
and would be for the rest of her life, he informed her. As was the deadly
Japanese businesswoman Koyuki Takagashi.

"Unfortunately," he added, "the Japanese authorities have had no luck tracking
down these funinjas of hers."

"Fujinjas," Jessica corrected.

"What?" he stared blankly at her.

"Fujinjas, sir. From the Japanese word for 'woman,' fujin," she explained
patiently. He continued to stare blankly. "Never mind."

Winsome sighed and pulled thoughtfully on his thick mustache. "Ms. Chance,
Jessica," he said, startling her by using her first name--And making her wish
that she was able to read his thoughts, but he was far too cagey to allow
that; he always carried a device with him which blocked her attempts by
broadcasting a specific frequency which acted as a shield against psychic
abilities by disrupting the mental energies being projected, "I know we've had
our differences in the past..."

She was tempted to list the worst of them:

Kidnapping her

Ordering the murder of her creator

Threatening the members of the Angel team

Ordering her own death

There were others, but those were the top of this particular hit parade as far
as she was concerned.

"...but I also know that while we may not care for each other personally, we
both love this country and would give our lives if necessary to protect it.
Right?" he asked, his hard, grey eyes staring into hers. She nodded. "Good
girl. And, I don't think I'm too far off base suggesting that, despite our
differences, we also respect each other's talents."

Again, she nodded, forced to admit that the General was extremely good at what
he did.

"Excellent. Now then, I'd like to ask you to do me a favor..."

He then went on to explain how some of his operatives in the southwest had
encountered rumors of something big being planned, some sort of political
coup, it was hinted, but they had been unable to get any details. The only
thing they knew for certain was that it involved the Texan oil heiress Luann
"Dallas" Dawson somehow.

Ms. Dawson had come into her fortune early in life when her parents had been
killed while flying their private jet to celebrate their 25th wedding
anniversary in Rio de Janeiro. She had expanded her holdings, purchasing
thousands of square acres when the US government was forced to sell most of
the Alaskan wilderness to private companies after the Great Recession of '01,
and ravaging the land until she found the predicted oil reserves, making
herself a full-blown, card-carrying billionaire in the process.

She then effectively dropped out of the public eye, her only recent mention in
the press being two years ago, when she started up a ranch exclusively for
women. A copy of the ad which ran in newspapers all over the country was
included in the file:

WANTED: WOMEN WITH A SENSE OF ADVENTURE WHO AREN'T AFRAID OF A CHALLENGE AND
WHO DON'T MIND A LITTLE HARD WORK

If this sounds like you send a resume and a letter explaining what skills you
could contribute to a ranch and why you want to be a modern Cowgirl to:

Dallas Dawson's Cowgirl Retreat

Marshall, Texas 75670

Jessica stared at the ad for a minute, reading it over again, until she
realized that no mention of money was made. Odd. She wondered how many replies
Ms. Dawson had received. "Seems innocent enough, General," she replied,
handing the file back to him.

He was about to tell her to keep it when he realized that she had no doubt
already memorized it, thanks to her enhanced mental abilities. "I want you to
go to Texas and infiltrate this retreat, and find out exactly what she's up
to," he informed her.

"Sir, with all due respect-" she began.

"And you're to report directly to me," he continued, ignoring her
interruption. "Not to the local law enforcement agencies, not to any other
government agencies, not even to any other members of Aegis, but only to
myself. Is that clear?"

"Sir, I think another-"

"Please, don't force me to remind you that some of your friends' continued
good health depends on your cooperation," he said coldly.

She bit her lip and nodded curtly. "When do I leave, sir?"

"As soon as you've written a letter explaining why you want to be a modern
cowgirl and been invited, of course," he snorted. "You're on your own this
time, Ms. Chance. All my power and expertise has been insufficient to gain me
access to whatever Ms. Dawson is plotting. That's why I called on you. Don't
disappoint me, Ms. Chance."

She got up and left the office without another word.

She spent the remainder of the night composing her letter, explaining that she
had recently come across the ad while surfing the internet and been intrigued
by it and hoped it was not too late to send in her own resume and at least be
granted an interview. She went on to state how she had always dreamed of being
a cowgirl and was already an excellent horsewoman. She also hinted that she
was more than a little computer savvy, and suggested that she had been engaged
in anti-government protests, without coming right and saying so. She concluded
by engaging in a little male-bashing, subtle but clear if you were looking for
it, and that she preferred the company of women, in all situations.

There has to be some reason why it's an all-woman ranch, Jessica reasoned as
she sealed the manila envelope containing the letter and her false resume--A
copy of which would be forwarded to General Winsome, so he could make sure
that when Ms. Dawson checked, everything would seem legitimate.

A few weeks later she received a reply, informing her that she had been
selected to come down and stay at the retreat, free of charge, while her
membership was being processed and she was completing the required
demonstrations of her skills, including learning any she didn't currently
possess.

Jessi frowned, wondering what exactly the phrase 'required demonstrations of
her skills' meant, but relieved that she had at least gotten her foot in the
door.

She took the next available flight to Shreveport, Louisiana, the closest city
with a large airport, and then caught a small plane to Marshall itself.

As the cab she was in approached the ranch, she started to feel a bit dizzy.
Then, looking up she saw it, and, more importantly, felt its disorienting
influence: A huge radio tower extending from one of the large buildings which
comprised the main ranch.

Does everyone know about that damn frequency? she asked herself, discounting
the possibility it could just be a coincidence; someone with as much money as
Ms. Dawson had would also have the means to learn nearly anything she wanted.
Who knows? Maybe Koyuki had sold the secret of the frequency to others in her
economic circle, Jessi reasoned.

The taxi pulled to a stop in front of the main building and she paid the
driver and then stepped out and found herself face to face with Dallas and her
modern Cowgirls.

Dallas was nearly her height, with a generously feminine build, and dressed in
a tight shirt, over which she wore a leather vest, and tight jeans, tucked
into the tops of her golden boots. A pair of pearl-handled revolvers hanging
in the holster around her large hips completed her outfit. Jessi idly wondered
if the woman had ever actually ridden a horse or knew how to use those guns as
she shook her hand warmly and looked around her with as much naivete as she
could manage.

"I'm Luann Dawson," she said with a big grin which showed off her perfect,
white teeth. "But y'all can call me Dallas, Jessi."

"Thanks, Dallas," she replied, grinning right back.

She gestured to the five other women standing around her. "And these are the
Cowgirls," she said proudly. "There's Marquita, my forewoman, in a manner of
speaking."

A tall, slender Mexican woman with dark brown hair, which hung long and
straight just below her shoulders, and deep green eyes barely nodded. She was
wearing a black gaucho, tilted slightly more forward than usual, keeping her
angular, but strikingly beautiful face in perpetual shadow, thanks to the wide
brim, a shirt of white cotton, decorated with two bands of embroidery running
down the front, and a black bolero vest. Tight, dark blue jeans, with black
leather chaps, and black cowboy boots, with silver tips and embossing,
completed her ensemble.

"Patty, our resident engineer."

An African-American woman with long black hair, with unmistakable red
highlights, which hung in tiny ringlets to the small of her back, smiled and
said, "Everyone calls me Peaches." She had large, velvet brown eyes and the
ample chest and bottom common to her ethnicity. She was wearing a T-shirt,
which had been tied in a knot just above her navel, jeans which hung loosely
around her narrow waist, and dirty white sneakers. Even with this outfit on
Jessi could see that she was well-muscled, with powerful thighs in particular.

"Cherie, who takes care of our garden."

A woman with blonde streaks running through her dark hair grinned and nodded.
She had deep blue eyes and full, pouting lips. Her bust was nearly as big as
that of Dallas, but the rest of her was more in proportion than the leader of
the Cowgirls, with a curvaceous hip line and a beautiful, round ass. She was
wearing a red and white checked shirt, unbuttoned but tied up just beneath her
melon-like breasts, and blue jeans that were cut so short they nearly
qualified as a belt.

"Alexis runs our communications."

An Asian woman--Korean, Jessi guessed, from her rounded facial features--with
long, silky, black hair, which was hanging in a single braid almost to her
shapely posterior, smirked and gave a little nod. Her eyes were hazel, with
flecks of gold and green, and her button nose had a silver stud through the
right nostril. Her lips were large and inviting, as were her breasts, which
were barely contained by her lime green tube top. Her navel was also pierced,
with a golden hoop, and the green silk jogging shorts she wore showed off her
iron calves and muscled thighs.

"And Teri, here, does whatever needs doing."

An enormous woman, easily 6 1/2 feet tall, possibly more, looked down at Jessi
and scowled. "Call me Tank," she said in a surprisingly feminine voice. She
had dark brown hair that hung around her shoulders in soft curls and bright
eyes, the right one brown and the left one blue. Her arms were huge, with her
biceps easily measuring 24" and her thighs no doubt closer to 36". But it was
her chest which caught and held Jessi's attention: It had to be 60", at the
very least. And her breasts didn't sag. Not a bit. They stood at attention,
seemingly defying gravity, without the aid of any sort of brassiere, as Jessi
could plainly see. She was wearing a red bikini top that looked like it was
made from two postage stamps on her, even though any average-sized woman would
no doubt have found it too large, and bib-overall shorts, with the shoulder
straps hanging loosely around her waist, which exposed her rippling belly and
her bulging thighs and calves.

"And this is Kendra, our computer specialist," said Dallas, indicating a
tawny-haired woman with wire-framed glasses, behind which sparkled eyes the
color of sunset, who had just exited the main building. She was of average
build, with small, but alert and well-rounded breasts, and no real noticeable
muscles on her arms or legs. Not that she was in bad shape, quite the
contrary, but she had obviously not led a particularly physically demanding
existence. She was wearing an oversized T-shirt, with "To err is human...to
really #$@& things up requires a computer" on it, and flip-flops. If she was
wearing shorts beneath her shirt, Jessi couldn't tell.

"If things work out for you, Jessi, she'll be your supervisor," Dallas added.

"Cool!" Jessi grinned.

Kendra, however, didn't appear to share Jessi's enthusiasm over the prospect,
and just nodded and smiled perfunctorily.

"Pleased to meet all of you," Jessica said with another ingratiating smile.

Marquita, Tank, and Kendra mumbled a greeting and then wandered off. After
Jessi had a chance to talk briefly to the others, Dallas grabbed her by the
arm and said, "Well, darlin', the day's a wastin'. Let's get started with the
formal application process."

She then led Jessica into the main building and down a hallway to a small
outer office. Dallas' name was in gold letters on the door to the inner, and,
Jessi assumed, much larger office. The leader of the Cowgirls picked up a
thick packet of papers and handed them to Jessica.

"All of these?" Jessi whined.

"'Fraid so, darlin'" Dallas smiled sympathetically. "You can use this room to
complete them. Just leave'em on this desk when yer done and then yer free to
look around. Dinner's at 7. Just follow the sound of the chime."

Jessi forced a smile and then walked into the small office and sat down and
opened the packet of papers and made a great show of being frustrated for the
benefit of the video camera hidden cleverly in the light fixture.

The first thing, after the application itself, on which she basically repeated
the information from her resume, with a couple of slight changes to lend an
air of authenticity, was a hundred item True-False questionnaire. Jessi
immediately recognized that the statements were designed to indicate three
things: 1) Sexual orientation; 2) Moral code, i.e., how far would the
respondent go when her personal moral code was in opposition to the laws of
the nation; and 3) Self-preservation instinct, i.e., how far would the
respondent go to preserve her life.

She understood that the responses to those statements concerned with the first
two indicators would be useful if Dallas was really planning some sort of
political coup--Which she had already begun to seriously question; take over
the government with just six women? Jessi had been expecting hundreds, if not
thousands, of Cowgirls to be here if that were the real reason for the ranch's
existence. But, with only six other women, that possibility seemed less and
less likely. Meaning that the General had lied to her, again. She shouldn't
have been surprised by this revelation, but she couldn't help but feel a bit
sad that his overtures of peace had been predicated on another in a long line
of falsehoods. And, now more than ever before, she was determined to discover
what was really going on here and why Winsome was so interested in it, and, of
course, to see that his plans were ultimately foiled--especially if the
justification for that coup was to be that the male-dominated government had
betrayed all women, but especially lesbians, and therefore deserved to be
toppled.

It was the last indicator which confused her. If the statements had sought to
determine the respondent's attitudes concerning loyalty to a cause and giving
up one's life for the greater good, she could have understood its relationship
to the other two indicators. But it didn't. Not strictly speaking. Instead, it
contained statements which Jessi interpreted as asking, in effect, "Would you
kill to stay alive?" and others which sought to determine the lengths to which
the respondent would go to preserve, not only life itself, but the quality of
that life.

Confused, Jessi nevertheless completed the survey with responses which would
tell those studying the results that she was basically an amoral lesbian who
would kill for a pair of great shoes. She then finished the rest of the
paperwork, including an essay describing the men in her life.

She didn't have many nice things to say about them, and it didn't take much
imagination to split the General into several different people and have all of
them betray and/or abuse her somehow.

When she finished, she left the papers on the outer desk and went back outside
to see just what Cowgirls do all day.

As soon as she had gone, Marquita and Dallas emerged from the inner office,
where they had been watching Jessi seemingly struggle over the paperwork for
the past three and a half hours, and quickly looked over the essay and
questionnaire in particular.

"We'll have to wait until we get the computer readout from Kendra, of course,"
said Dallas after looking over the survey for a couple of minutes, "but it
looks to me like she's got the proper psychological profile."

The Mexican frowned. "I don't know, boss," she said slowly, reading over the
essay. "I've got a bad feeling in my gut about this dudette."

"Honestly, Marquita! You and your 'feelings!' Why, if I'd listened to your
feelings, I'd have passed up on Peaches and Cherie, and they've turned out to
be marvelous additions to our little family," the older woman reminded her.

Marquita's frown deepened. "We'll see," she mumbled, handing the essay back to
her boss. "I just don't see why we need another woman. We're doing fine and,
you know as well as I do that the fewer people who know about this, the safer
it is. Despite what your fancy tests may tell you, there's no way of being
sure how a woman will react to anything, let alone what we're involved in."

Dallas just smiled and shook her head and then placed the papers in a wire
basket marked "Kendra-IN." Marquita, also shaking her head, turned and left,
intending to keep an eye on Dallas' new prospect.

Jessica, meanwhile, had completed her cursory inspection of the main
buildings' interiors, finding nothing particularly significant or alarming,
and was casually walking around the outside of the storage facility, where
they kept food stores for the few animals on the ranch, as well as cleaning
supplies, linens, and tools to keep the ranch running, when she came upon a
set of chained double doors leading to what she assumed was an underground
cellar. As there was nothing terribly unusual about that in and of itself, she
was about to continue her search to the next building when she heard noises
coming from the cellar.

Even with her highly developed sense of hearing, however, she was unable to
determine if the noises were being made by animals or people, or even if it
could have been produced by some sort of machinery.

As she was standing next to the doors, straining to make out the true nature
of the noises, she was suddenly sent sprawling face-first into the muddy grass
when she was roughly shoved from behind.

She flipped over just in time for Marquita to ram her spiked heel into her
belly.

"This building is off-limits, dudette," she hissed, leaning over and resting
an arm on her knee, pressing the heel a bit deeper into Jessi's flesh. "What
do you think you're doing?"

Forcing tears to stream from her wide-eyes, she gasped out, "Dallas said I
could look around after I finished my papers," she sniffled. "An' I finished
them and left them where she told me and was just walking around and I saw
these doors and I remembered how when I was little I used to visit my grandma
and she had a cellar like this and I was just thinking about how much I miss
her and didn't realize I wasn't supposed to be here and I'm real sorry,
Maquita, and I promise it won't happen again if you let me up. Please let me
up, you're hurting me." She began to sob, as if on the point of hysteria, and,
after once more ramming the heel into her gut, the Mexican removed her boot.

"Marrrquita," she corrected, rolling the R sensuously. "Not 'Maquita.' And
don't forget it. And stay away from this building in the future."

"I will," Jessi promised, climbing slowly to her feet, shaking like a leaf.

Suddenly, a high-pitched ringing sounded, startling Jessi so badly that she
almost fell over.

"It's only the dinner chime," sighed Marquita, obviously exasperated. "Come
on, I'll show you where the dining hall is."

"Gosh, thanks, Marrrquita," grinned Jessi, emphasizing the R by attempting to
roll it as Marquita had, but succeeding only in making a sound like a lawn
mower, which was underwater.

She followed the woman, careful not to let any of the rage she felt show on
her comely face. You'll get yours one of these days, Jessi promised silently,
rubbing her bruised tummy gingerly.

After an uneventful dinner--Steak and mashed potatoes, with a thick brown
gravy, and fresh apple pie for dessert; How cliche can you get? wondered Jessi
when she saw the meal--she retired to her room and the rest of the Cowgirls
presumably did the same. Although Jessica doubted whether the doors to their
rooms locked behind them or if their windows had bars on them.

Effectively trapped, and no doubt being video taped, even though she couldn't
find the camera without revealing that she was in fact looking for one, she
decided to turn in for the night.

* * * * *

She awoke while it was still dark out with the realization that someone had
just entered her room. She tensed, expecting the Mexican to attack her,
fearing that her cover had somehow been blown, and mentally prepared herself
to fight her way to freedom.

"Jessi?" A voice, soft and hesitant--Definitely not Marquita, Jessi thought,
relaxing somewhat.

"Yes?" she answered sleepily.

"It's me, Cherie. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind some company," she said
suggestively.

"Not at all," she replied, throwing back the covers and exposing her nearly
naked body. "Are you sure it's all right?"

"Technically, Dallas gets first dibs, but only after you're an official
Cowgirl," she explained, apparently misunderstanding the question, but
inadvertently supplying Jessica with valuable information in the process. "So,
since you're still going through the application stage, I figured you're free
game, so to speak. No offense," she added hastily, crawling beneath the covers
with Jessi.

"Don't worry," she said casually, sliding one arm beneath the blond-streaked
hair and drawing the woman's face close to her own while the other hand lazily
circled one of her erect nipples. "I've been itching to get my lips around
those beauties on Dallas, but, my second choice was definitely your own lovely
jugs." She bent over and kissed her, softly, gently, at first, as she fingered
the nipple with her other hand, rolling it between her thumb and forefinger.
Then, she crushed her lips to Cherie's, grabbing and twisting the nipple and
some of the surrounding flesh at the same time, causing the woman's mouth to
open in surprise. Jessi then quickly slipped her tongue deep into Cherie's
mouth and bent her head back by grabbing a handful of hair.

Then, it was Jessi's turn to be surprised as one of Cherie's hands suddenly
thrust itself inside her panties and between her legs while the other circled
around her waist, slipped down the panties from the rear and began stroking
her ass, grabbing handfuls of her muscled posterior and then moving her hand
in a circular motion as she released it.

As they continued the foreplay, Jessica tried to convince herself that she was
only doing this for the sake of her mission, so that she could gain this
woman's confidence and foil whatever scheme she and the other Cowgirls were
involved in, ultimately preventing the General from benefiting in the long
run. That's what she told herself over and over, even as Cherie slid down her
body, leaving a trail of saliva from her chin to her navel, which she
playfully snaked her tongue into before moving down to her sex and, after
fingering it for a bit, lowering her mouth to it and forcing her tongue into
it until she was tickling Jessi's clitoris and driving the redhead wild with
desire.

She continued to tell herself that she was just doing her duty as she slid
around and maneuvered herself so that she could get her tongue inside of
Cherie's pussy and then performed the same acts on her, but with even more
gusto, licking the other woman out with a frenzied intensity that the dark
haired woman had never experienced before.

But, when they finally lay next to each other, still in the "69" position, too
exhausted to do anything but sweetly kiss each other's asses, she at last
admitted, if only to herself, that, ever since Melanie had raped her, she had
been struggling with her feelings. When she had been in the hot tub with the
sensuously murderous robots of Koyuki Takagashi she had certainly enjoyed
herself, at least at first. And, forcing the defeated Japanese woman to
service her ass had not only served the purpose of humiliating the evil
businesswoman, but also of pleasing Jessica. She recalled caressing the
woman's large breasts as her tongue worked on Jessi's anus and the pleasurable
memory caused her to reach over and likewise fondle Cherie's larger, softer
tits.

Then, simultaneously, as if they had read each other's minds, both women
shifted position so that they were once more lying next to each other side by
side, and face to face. They kissed a bit more, but when Jessi's hands began
to get friendly, Cherie pulled away.

"I'd love to do this all night, Jessi, believe me, I would," she explained
earnestly. "But, I'll be in some trouble if the others catch me here, so I'd
better leave before I'm too exhausted to drag myself back to my room." She
smiled sweetly and then leaned over and gave a Jessi a long, sensuous kiss
that literally took her breath away, and then she was gone.

And Jessica was alone.

The next day, Jessica was fully accepted into the Cowgirls as a trainee.
Meaning she still had to complete a series of tests of the various skills
required in order to be a full-fledged Cowgirl, but, if she satisfactorily
completed those requirements, she was in.

To celebrate her acceptance, Dallas invited her to her room that night after
dinner.

When Jessi entered, the first thing she noticed was that Dallas looked good.
Not that she hadn't looked good the day before, but upon first meeting her,
Jessi had noticed the beginnings of crow's feet around her eyes and smile
lines creasing her cheeks. Now, however, she had the smooth skin of a woman
ten years her junior, with no sign of the previous day's wrinkles. And, while
her balloon-like breasts had been sagging a bit the day before, tonight, when
Dallas removed her top and beckoned Jessi into her embrace, the redhead
couldn't help but notice how alert they were, no drooping whatsoever.

But Jessica wasn't about to start complaining. Not when she was being
encouraged to put her mouth on them. As Jessi sucked happily away, caressing a
tender nipple with her tongue, Dallas backed up and then lay down on her
enormous star-shaped bed, pulling Jessi on top of her.

When Jessica paused and sat up, she was amazed to see the breasts were still
alert, standing like twin mountains on the blonde's chest.

Then, Dallas reached up and pulled her face back to her tits and Jessi forgot
all about how curious it was, and instead concentrated on how marvelous it
was.

Over the course of the next five months, Jessi was taught how to bulldog a
calf, brand an animal, ride a wild, bucking horse bareback, ride a bull the
same way, and, finally, how to rope a calf. She had also continued making love
to Cherie whenever she could, in addition to Dallas herself once each
week--Jessica figured out that Dallas had one of the Cowgirls each night of
the week, like some sort of Mid-Eastern sultan; her night was Thursday. She
had also entertained the other Cowgirls, with the exceptions of Kendra, Tank,
and, of course, Marquita, on a semi-regular basis.

Tank seemed to have a semi-monogamous relationship with Marquita, apart from
Monday night, which belonged to Dallas, which also explained why she had never
sought Jessi's favors. Kendra, on the other hand, didn't seem to sleep with
anyone but Dallas (Wednesday night), and in fact, kept pretty much to herself,
hiding away in the computer center most of the time, except when she was
required to attend one of Jessi's demonstrations or eat a meal.

For the rest of the day Jessi tried to find out anything she could about the
final test, but, apart from their concerned looks and vague words of
encouragement, her lovers would not, or could not, reveal any of the specifics
of her coming ordeal.

That evening after dinner, the Cowgirls all gathered around a large campfire
they lit in one of the fields and laughed and joked among themselves as they
drank freely from several bottles of whiskey which were passed from woman to
woman until they were empty.

Then, Dallas stood up and nodded at Marquita, who left the group and headed
toward the storage building, and spoke in a very solemn voice:

Tonight, sisters, we will conclude the testing of our newest recruit, and come
the dawn, she will either truly be one of us, or she will leave us forever.
When I started this ranch two and a half years ago, I had a dream that it
would one day achieve something wonderful for women all over the world. Thus,
I sent out ads to every newspaper in the world, in every known language,
looking for the brightest and best that our gender had to offer. I received a
great many responses, and for the first few months the Ranch was packed to the
gills with hopeful Cowgirl wannabes. But, many did not pass the initial
application process, still others failed at one or more of the required
skills, and finally, many more of them left when asked to do what Jessi will
be asked to do in a few minutes. But, those that made it, that have done the
seemingly, and formerly, unthinkable, are with me tonight, and I tip my hat to
each and every one of you.

She finished the speech by removing her hat and tipping it to each of the
Cowgirls.

Hearing a bit of a commotion, Jessi turned and saw Marquita leading eight
chained figures toward them, male figures. Men of various ages and physiques,
not to mention ethnicities. Jessi looked back at the women and saw their eyes
shining brightly in the fire's glow, in anticipation of something she dared
not even guess at.

Then, the Mexican entered the circle of firelight and Jessi saw that the men
were all naked. Marquita jerked the chain which ran through eyelets on the
steel collars each of the men was wearing, causing the last man in the chain,
a slightly overweight white man in his mid-30's, to stumble forward and into
the back of the large, skinny African-American man in front of him. The eyes
of the men were empty, hollow things which had the appearance of eyes but
lacked the fire, the intensity of living eyes, making them look like walking
corpses.

Marquita then walked back to the last man and opened the lock which fastened
the chain to his collar and then slid the chain through all of the men's
collars' eyelets and tossed it on the ground next to the fire. None of the men
attempted to overpower Marquita, or any of the women, or even run away.

"Since this is Jessi's night, she will get the first choice, of course,"
Dallas announced. She then turned to the redhead and smiled broadly. "Well,
darlin', which one will be the lucky fella?"

Confused, and slightly sickened by the sorry state the men were in, she looked
them over carefully and finally settled on a young man with long, greasy hair
who looked to be in his early 20's.

"Now what?" Jessi asked innocently.

"Now, dudette, you show the worthless piece of scum the time of his miserable
life," Marquita said, grinning savagely so that her white teeth practically
glowed in the firelight.

"But, but, I don't like men!" she whined.

"You don't have to like a piece of meat to enjoy it, darlin'," said Dallas.
"Just use him however you want for as long as you want. Then, we'll move on to
the true test."

Seeing that there was apparently no other way to become a full-fledged Cowgirl
and learn what was really happening at the ranch, Jessi led the sedate man off
beyond the glow of the fire and removed her cotton shirt and cut-offs, and
then, reluctantly, her underwear.

As she did so, she saw that the other Cowgirls had likewise chosen men but
were not quite as squeamish as Jessi, stripping down and mounting them right
where they stood. Some of them with gentle kisses and soft whispers, others
with fierce blows and harsh words. But no matter which method was used, the
men made no attempt to resist, accepting pain as readily as pleasure.

When Jessi began to remove her clothes, the man laid down on the ground, his
erect penis rising tall and straight from his filthy body.

Trying not to gag, she lowered her ass onto it, as she had no intention of
losing her virginity, in the strictest sense of the word, to this degenerate,
and was pleasantly surprised by the sensation of having a warm, throbbing
presence where only cold rubber and tongues had been beforehand. As she worked
the cock around and up and down inside her, she leaned over and placed her
mouth on the man's.

He obligingly opened his mouth and she thrust her tongue inside.

When Jessi screamed, all of the Cowgirls stopped what they were doing, looked
at one another, and then began to laugh.

The redhead ran into the circle of firelight, dragging the hapless man behind
her, and shouted, "He has no tongue!"

"Well, duh!" sneered Marquita from atop a fat Asian man. "None of them do.
You're supposed to fuck him, dudette, not make love. You should know by now
that you can only make love to another woman."

"Use him, Jessi, but save the intimacy for your sister Cowgirls," Dallas
added, her enormous breasts practically suffocating the frail African-American
beneath her. "Suck him off, beat and dominate him, or just make him please you
however you want, but remember that he's just a man, little better than an
animal, so don't expect too much from him."

"You could have warned me," she said softly as she led the man back into the
shadows.

"And miss your scream?" chuckled Marquita. "Not on your life, dudette. And, I
have to say that was one of the best screams we've ever had. Even beats out
Kendra's."

The British woman nodded and then slapped the face of the middle-aged white
man she was sitting on. "No one told you to smile, dog!" she admonished.

Sickened, Jessi thought about simply running for the main highway and taking
her story to the local sheriff, but she knew there was more going on here than
simply disfiguring men and keeping them as sexual slaves, and she was
determined to find out what it was. So, she walked back to the comforting
shadows and used the man as she had been instructed, but she couldn't stop
thinking about the sensation of her tongue in his mouth, searching for his own
tongue, and finding instead a ragged stump.

When she saw the other Cowgirls had put their clothes back on, Jessi slid up
off of her mute lover and did the same, wishing she could take a long, hot
shower first, but not being able to. She led him back over to the others and
he obediently went and stood with his fellows, who looked to be having a
difficult time keeping their glazed eyes open.

"Good girl, Jessi," smiled Dallas, putting her arm around the redhead's
shoulders and hugging her. "You're almost through this. Just hold on a couple
of more minutes and nothing will ever be the same again."

"Let's go and get this over with," Marquita announced, shoving one of the men.
"You know where you're going, scum, so get moving!"

The men shuffled listlessly back toward the storage building, and around to
the side, where the doors leading to the cellar stood open.

Jessi followed the others down the stairs and found herself in a huge room
filled with computers, laboratory equipment, some sort of machines which she
didn't recognize, and cells lining the walls.

Cells filled with teens, young adults, middle aged, and the elderly, and all
of them were male.

"Wh-what's going on here?" Jessi stammered. "Wh-where did all these men come
from?"

"From everywhere. Some were homeless, others were bought from slavers, and
still others were stolen from malls and shops, seduced in dark taverns, or
snatched from their beds through an open window," Dallas explained. "It
doesn't matter where they came from, or who they were before. The only thing
that matters is what I'm going to show you."

As Marquita herded the ones she had brought back to a cell, Dallas went over
to another cell and brought out a young boy, who couldn't have been more than
thirteen years old, and hooked him up to one of the odd machines by having him
step into a pair of rubber shorts which were connected to the machine by
several thick wires and one thin rubber tube.

"It happened quite by accident," Dallas said as she fastened his wrists and
ankles into manacles which hung from the wall near the machine. "My lover,
Janice, and I were experimenting with testidin, an alcoholic extract made from
the testes of a bull, and, just for the heck of it, wanted to see if it could
be made with the testes of a human male. So, we went and seduced a drifter at
one of the local watering holes and brought him back here and castrated him.
Then, we prepared his testes the same way we would if they had had been from a
bull to see if we couldn't produce a variation of testidin. We couldn't. But
my lover wouldn't give up on the idea, and she began to experiment with
various methods of extraction, both post- and pre-castration."

Once the child was secured, Dallas walked over to the machine and began
flipping switches, turning dials, and pulling levers, causing the electrodes
on top of it to crackle and spark into life.

"She eventually built this machine and discovered an unusual side-effect, and
unanticipated bonus, when the chemicals were extracted while the testes were
still attached," she stated, pointing to the boy.

As the child's limbs shook uncontrollably in reaction to the energy being
cycled through his tiny body, Jessi suddenly realized that he was growing. At
first, she thought he was just getting larger, but she then saw that he was,
in fact, aging, growing older before her very eyes.

"That's right, darlin'" Dallas smiled. "He's now approximately fifteen years
old and, if I continued the extraction long enough, you would actually see him
age to the point of death. But, that would be a waste, since the extract loses
its potency within hours of being produced." She gestured to a spigot which
extended from the side of the machine, out of which a purplish liquid was
dripping into a flask.

"It transfers the years stolen from him to you, or whoever drinks it," Jessi
said with sudden understanding.

"Not whoever," corrected Dallas, closing the spigot and removing the
half-filled flask. "Only to females. This is it, darlin', the last hurdle.
Will you drink it and join us, or refuse and be banished?"

Jessi knew full well that banishment was no longer an option; if she refused
she would have to be killed to insure that the Cowgirls' horrible secret
remain one. As she accepted the flask, she casually asked what had happened to
Dallas' brilliant lover.

"She died just under a year ago. Her plane crashed as it was returning from
Japan with some equipment upgrades and some new livestock," she said sadly.

Jessi sniffed the concoction experimentally and found that it reminded her of
alcohol. "So, I'm guessing that you need me to analyze this machine and
discover exactly how it works, seeing that Kendra and Peaches have been unable
to do so," she said easily.

"Clever girl! You see, Marquita, I knew she was going to work out," Dallas
beamed. "Now, drink it down, darlin', and you won't believe how quickly it
works and how much better you'll feel."

Jessi raised the flask, but, instead of drinking it, she hurled it as hard as
she could at the machine, shattering the container against the electrodes and
causing a flurry of sparks which ignited the alcoholic mixture, setting the
machine ablaze.

She then ran for the stairs, knocking over tables and smashing computers to
the floor in the process.

"I knew it, boss!" screamed Marquita, racing after the redhead.

The other Cowgirls also ran for the exit, except for Dallas.

"We've got to get of here, Dallas!" shouted Alexis, returning and grabbing the
blonde by the arm. "This whole place is going up in flames!" The Asian woman
pointed to several other fires that had started as a result of Jessi's escape.
"The others have all left!"

"But, we've got to save the extractor!" the older woman cried. "It's
irreplaceable!"

Alexis looked over at the machine which was completely engulfed in flames and
shook her head. "It's gone, Dallas! Destroyed by the fire! And we will be,
too, if we don't leave before the fire reaches the stairs!"

Dallas took one last look at her lover's legacy and then nodded and she and
Alexis just made it up the stairs before the roof fell in behind them, burying
the lab and its pathetic prisoners, who couldn't even cry out in their last
moments, even if they'd had the will to do so.

* * * * *

Jessi tore across the field, heading for the building which housed the radio
tower, realizing that her best hope lay in shutting down whatever machinery
was broadcasting the frequency that was inhibiting her psychic abilities.

"There's no place you can run where I won't find you and cut out your heart,
dudette!" Marquita screamed as she ran after her.

Realizing that she couldn't outrun the Mexican, Jessi pulled up and turned to
face her, crouching low, ready to spring.

Marquita smiled wolfishly and likewise skidded to a halt. "Foolish move,
dudette," she sneered. "You might have had a chance if you had kept running
and managed to somehow lose me in the darkness. Now, you will die."

"I've been waiting too long for this moment to run away from it, Marquita,"
the redhead replied. "You're finished. The only thing you've got to look
forward to is growing old in prison. But first, I'm gonna beat the unholy shit
out of you!"

Marquita snarled and lunged, bringing her right fist around in a sweeping arc
aimed at Jessi's head, but Jessi blocked the intended blow with her forearm.
Unfortunately, she didn't even see the Mexican's left fist and it connected
solidly with her stomach. Marquita then brought her knee up into Jessi's chin
while extending her leg and driving the steel toe of her boot up between the
redhead's legs.

Jessica retaliated by grabbing the brunette's shoulders and falling backward,
flipping her over her head in the process, and then continuing to roll until
she was seated on her foe's chest. The redhead's fists then crashed into the
side of her jaw until she was bucked off when Marquita thrust her legs beneath
her and pushed up, flipping Jessi over her head. The Mexican then tumbled
backwards until she was sitting on Jessi's chest, raining blows against the
redhead's jaw with her fists.

This time, Jessica lifted her legs up, wrapped them around the Mexican's
throat, and dragged her off of her. Tightening her head scissors, she sat up
and tore open the brunette's shirt, exposing her brassiere-encased breasts.
Continuing the punishing scissors, she dug her fingers into Marquita's tits
and twisted them savagely.

The Mexican screamed and then clamped her teeth down on Jessi's thigh, causing
the redhead to release the hold and roll away in sudden pain. Marquita leaped
to her feet and brutally kicked Jessi's side, the steel toe of her boot
catching one of her ribs and flipping her over onto her back. She then
viciously stomped down hard on the redhead's middle several times and then
reached down and grabbed a handful of hair. The Mexican lifted Jessica's face
up, while pressing down with her spiked heel, and then drew her fist back and
connected solidly with Jessi's jaw.

"Now, I trust, you see the serious mistake you made by not continuing to run,
dudette," she sneered, spitting into the face and shaking her head roughly by
the hair.

In response, Jessica grabbed the leg pressing into her gut and twisted it as
she rolled over, causing the Mexican to fall face-first to the ground. She
then bent the leg up and laid it across Marquita's ass and then grabbed the
other leg and did the same with it. She then straddled the legs and leaned
forward and grasped the Mexican's arms by the wrists and pulled back as hard
as she could, stretching the brunette's spine painfully. Then, she bent the
arms up and between her shoulder blades, holding them in place by pinning the
wrists with one hand, and grabbed a handful of dark hair with the other hand
and again leaned back.

"Did I forget to mention how much I hate being called 'dudette'?" she growled,
releasing the hair and instead encircling the Mexican's neck, pressing her
forearm tightly against her windpipe.

Marquita suddenly tore her arms free and reached up, grabbed Jessi by the back
of the neck and pulled her over her head. She then scooted up, placing her ass
directly over the redhead's face, and fiercely buried her fists into Jessi's
breasts and gut. Over and over and over until Jessica's legs once more flew up
and wrapped themselves around her head and pulled her off again.

This time, Jessica grabbed a handful of dark hair and held her face in place,
to keep her from rotating it and biting her again, and really poured on the
pressure, painfully compressing the Mexican's skull. With her free hand, Jessi
returned the treatment she had received to Marquita's breasts and belly until
she felt the woman's body going limp.

Smiling wickedly, she released the hold and stood up, hauling Marquita to her
knees by the hair in the process. After a few hard thrusts with her knee into
the Mexican's chest and gut for good measure, still retaining her hold on the
black tresses, she hauled the clearly dazed woman to her feet. The brunette
could barely stand on her own when Jessi released her hair and blood ran
freely from her slack mouth.

Still not through with the vicious woman, however, Jessica reached out and
ripped the bra free, exposing the red, raw breasts beneath it, and then
stepped back and drove her right fist into one tit and then the other,
steadying the agonized woman by holding on to her belt when she nearly fell
over. Then, still holding onto the belt, she lowered her head and thrust her
shoulder into Marquita's heaving tummy until her knees turned to jelly and
Jessi couldn't hold her up anymore.

"Oh, no, bitchita, I'm not done with you yet," she scolded, shaking her head
and reaching down and slapping the brunette sharply until her eyes fluttered
open. "That's better. You need to be awake for this in order for me to really
enjoy it."

Marquita's puffy lips mumbled a plea for mercy but Jessica ignored it and
dragged her to her feet and then clamped one arm around her head. "I think
you'll appreciate this particular finishing move," she smiled, tightening the
headlock, "seeing as how it was you that taught me how to bulldog a steer."

She ran forward a couple of steps and then threw herself to the ground,
driving the brunette's face into the dirt in the process. When Marquita
shuddered and then laid still, Jessi flipped her over and slapped her sharply
several times, but it was no use, she was out colder than a penguin's ass.

But before Jessica could get to her feet, she felt a huge hand close around
her throat and herself being lifted bodily from the ground.

She twisted her head around and saw Tank, her face a black mask of hatred as
she looked down at Marquita's battered, unconscious body.

"For your betrayal alone I would have gladly killed you," she sneered, her
fingers clawing into Jessica's windpipe painfully. "But, for what you have
done to Marquita, I will kill you more painfully than you can imagine."

She drew her fist back and, ignoring Jessica's hands tearing at her other
hand, as well as the kicks to her lower abdomen, punched the redhead in the
stomach with a dozen piston-like blows until Jessi spit up blood.

"Do you feel your insides turning to mush, traitor?" Teri asked, ceasing the
punishing assault. "Now, I will finish you off by driving my fist through your
face and ripping out your brain. Good riddance, bitch." The enormous woman,
still holding Jessi aloft by the throat, drew back her arm and then sent it
hurtling toward the redhead's blackening face.

Suddenly, there was a flash of silver and the arm was halted in mid-punch as
the chain from the prisoners' collars wrapped around the wrist and held it
fast.

Confused, Tank looked over her shoulder and saw Kendra holding the other end
of the chain, her feet digging into the soft ground with the effort of
stopping the killing blow.

"This is none of your business, Kendra," Teri stated, wrapping the chain
around her hand and yanking the blonde off her feet. "Leave now, and I may let
you live."

"No can do, Tank," Kendra said, shaking her head. "I can't let you kill that
woman. I promised someone dear to me that I'd watch out for her and I always
keep my word." She leaped up and drove her bare foot into the base of the
giantess' spine, causing Teri to cry out in unexpected pain and drop the
redhead as she nearly lost her balance.

When she leaned back in reaction to the blow, Kendra quickly looped the long
chain over her head and pulled it taut against her throat. Bellowing with
rage, Teri reached back and grabbed the chain and then whipped it around,
hurling the blonde to the ground in front of her in the process. But, Kendra
managed to hold on to the chain and quickly scrambled between the giantess'
legs and then yanked it viciously upward, driving the cold steel into Teri's
sex and jerking her head down to her full chest at the same time.

Furious, Teri reared back, dragging Kendra between her legs on her back in the
process. She then looked down and her smug expression disappeared when she saw
the blonde's legs pulled back to her chest, her feet aimed at Teri's already
hurting pussy.

"You wouldn't!" she gasped.

"I would!" Kendra replied, thrusting both feet up and into the giantess' soft
flesh until they struck bone, lifting her up in the air and knocking her to
her back.

Teri rolled back and forth, whimpering, with her hands pressed to her bruised
organ, leaving her in a sort of fetal position.

Kendra grabbed the chain and walked over and, after wrapping it around her
hand, drove her fist into Teri's exposed back, right into her kidneys. With a
grunt, Teri rolled onto her back and the blonde buried her makeshift brass
knuckles into the brunette's quivering belly. When Teri sat up, moving her
hands from her crotch to her stomach, Kendra tagged her on the jaw, snapping
her head around and laying her out on the ground, her round ass raised into
the air.

Satisfied that she was out of it for the time being, Kendra rushed over to
where Jessica was just sitting up, coughing and cradling her middle.

"Are you all right?" she asked, kneeling next to her.

"I'll live," she nodded, her whole body shaking when she coughed. "I'm a lot
tougher than your average gal."

"I know," the blonde smiled, pushing her glasses up her nose with one delicate
finger.

"Who are you?" Jessi asked.

"British Intelligence. Trevor thought you might show up and asked me to send
his regards," she added with a grin.

"How is he?" Jessi asked, recalling the beating he had taken at the hands of
Zuleika.

"Fully recovered and back to his naughty, but endearing, old self," she
assured the redhead.

"That's good to hear. We're not done here, though, so it's too early to start
celebrating just yet," she said, getting to her feet with less difficulty than
the blonde would have thought possible. "I'm going to shut down that damn
radio once and for all."

"I'll deal with Peaches, Cherie, and Dallas," Kendra stated. "I saw them
heading toward one of the smaller stables, where the riding horses are kept."

"Save some of Dallas for me," grinned Jessi wolfishly.

"Will do. Now, help me chain up Tank, just in case she wakes up before we've
finished taking care of the others," the blonde said.

The two women quickly secured the chain around Teri in such a fashion that if
she attempted to free herself, she would tighten the chain around her throat
instead. Then, to prevent the Mexican from escaping, should she wake up before
they returned, they laid Teri's enormous bulk across her body, effectively
pinning Marquita.

"Be careful, Jessica. She may not look it, but Alexis is one deadly lady, and
I'm sure you'll run into her before you reach the control room," the blonde
warned her.

"Thanks, for everything. And, don't forget to save a piece of that murdering
Cowgirl for me!" she laughed, hugging the blonde briefly and regretting that
she and Kendra had never gotten together.

* * * * *

Jessica made her way across the darkened field, her genetically enhanced
metabolism already repairing the internal damage Teri had done, toward the
main building, which housed the control center and, she hoped, the machinery
which was broadcasting the inhibiting signal.

She entered the unlit building without hesitating and headed directly for the
control room, alert for any indication that the Asian woman was present. As
she padded down the hallway which led to her destination, she heard a faint
sound and immediately dropped to the ground just as a sword blade cut through
the air her middle had occupied seconds earlier. Jessi spun around and shot
her feet out and into the belly of the startled Asian, causing the katana to
drop from her hands.

Jessica then sprang to her feet and kicked the sword down the hallway behind
her and stood facing Alexis, who was bent over and coughing. "I don't want to
fight you, Alex," she said evenly. "Please, don't make me."

"This fight became inevitable when you betrayed us," she gasped, raising her
face and staring at Jessi with obvious hurt and resentment. "When you betrayed
me. I will never forget how wonderful a lover you were, Jess, but that will
not prevent me from killing you tonight."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Alex," Jessica said sadly.

Alexis then straightened up and raised her arms defensively, bending slightly
at the knees, ready to strike with either hands or feet.

Jessica assumed a similar stance, only her arms were lower and one foot was
touching the ground only by its toes.

Suddenly, Alexis sprang into the air and kicked Jessica on the cheek, spun
around from the momentum of the blow, and caught her on the other cheek as
well. She landed lightly behind the redhead just in time for Jessi's right
foot to lash out and catch her under her chin. Staggered momentarily by the
unexpected blow, she failed to block the spinning follow-through palm strike
to her chest and was knocked to her back.

"Your qi is powerful, Jess, for a Westerner. But no match for my own," Alexis
said as she stood up and resumed her stance.

This time it was Jessica who leaped up and kicked at Alexis' face, or at least
pretended to. When the Asian moved her arms to block the expected blow, Jessi
lowered her foot and caught her full in her unprotected chest, again knocking
her to her back.

"You were saying?" she said teasingly as Alexis stood up.

This time, however, Alexis assumed a different stance. She raised her hands
level with her face, holding them before her like twin snakes, and crouched
low, bending sharply at the knees, feet placed wide apart.

Jessica responded by adjusting her own position. She stood with both feet
planted firmly on the ground, barely separated, knees slightly bent and one
arm held above her head and the other resting lightly on her waist.

When the redhead's foot shot out toward her middle, Alexis quickly blocked it
with her forearm. Likewise, when one of her hands struck cobra-like at Jessi's
chest, the redhead brought her arm down and around in a windmill-like maneuver
and blocked it.

* * * * *

As the two martial arts mistresses continued to test one another's prowess,
Kendra had meanwhile arrived at the stable just in time to see the three
unaccounted for Cowgirls leading horses out in preparation for their escape.
With a shout, she startled the horses, who broke free and ran off, leaving
three angry women advancing toward her.

"Kendra, darlin', what's the big idea?" Dallas asked, her face flushed with
anger.

"It's all over, Dallas. I'm with British Intelligence and I'm putting a stop
to your murderous rustling operation, right here and now," she stated,
adjusting her glasses with one finger.

"Oh, no, darlin', it's not over. Not by a long shot. And," she added
menacingly as all three women closed in on the agent, "the only thing stopping
tonight will be your heart. Peaches, Cherie, take care of her while I go after
the horses. But, don't kill her. I want the pleasure of doing that myself."

"No problem, Dallas," nodded Peaches, grinding her fist into her open palm.

"Just leave her to us, Dallas," Cherie added. "We'll make sure there's enough
of her left for you to enjoy."

"Happy trails, darlin'," Dallas called as she raced off into the darkness,
calling for the horses.

Kendra didn't wait for the two of them to close in on her but instead rushed
straight at Peaches, knowing she was the more dangerous of the pair, and
leveled a punch straight at her flat nose. Fortunately for Patty, she managed
to move her head enough to cause the punch to instead strike her upper cheek.
Unfortunately, she wasn't even aware of the follow-up left which came up and
tagged her just under her right breast.

As she dropped to her knees, staggered by the combination, Cherie rushed over
and was met by a spinning kick to the side of her jaw and then a forearm to
her head, catching her on the right ear. Then, as her momentum carried her to
her left, Kendra's right foot spun around and landed a devastating blow to her
left cheek, which left the dark haired woman on her knees as well.

Kendra then reached out and, grabbing a handful of each of their hair, slammed
their heads together three times in rapid succession. When she let go of their
hair, fully expecting them to collapse at her feet, they surprised her by
instead thrusting each of their right fists deep into her gut and then
following up with a double left uppercut that knocked the startled blonde to
her back.

"Now, you arrogant English bitch," snarled Patty as she and Cherie climbed to
their feet, "it's our turn."

"I'll hold her while you put those magnificent arms to good use," Cherie
grinned, hauling the downed woman to her feet by her tawny locks and then
snaking her arms up and beneath her arms and around her neck, grabbing two
fistfuls of hair to keep her face tilted upward in the process.

Patty flashed a savage smile and jabbed experimentally into Kendra's middle a
couple of times and then softly struck her in the face two or three times.

"C'mon, Peaches! Enough with the kid gloves already!" complained the dark
haired woman applying the full-nelson. "Let this bitch have what she deserves
before Dallas gets back!"

"All right, all right. Hold your horses, girl friend! I was just getting
warmed up," Peaches explained. "Now, hold her upright, and hold her tightly so
she don't slide out of it."

"I'm holding her tightly," Cherie assured her partner. "And I've got my hands
full of her hair. She's not going anywhere."

Patty smiled again, but this time when she threw her fist into Kendra's
middle, Cherie felt it, almost as if she had been hit herself. Patty landed a
half-dozen solid blows to the blonde's gut before moving up to her face,
snapping it back and forth with a series of rights and lefts. Then, with an
evil grin, she started working over the blonde's breasts, pounding them as if
they were punching bags until they actually appeared to have flattened
somewhat from the punishment.

"Go for her pussy!" Cherie encouraged, bracing herself for the coming attack.

Patty nodded and delivered a series of alternating uppercuts to Kendra's
crotch, causing the blonde's whole body to shudder in agony with every blow.

"Let me work her over, now that you've softened her up," Cherie suggested.

Patty nodded and then traded places with the brunette, re-applying the
immobilizing full-nelson and also holding her head up with handfuls of hair.

Cherie moved around in front and, planting her left foot solidly, raised the
right one up and thrust it into the pit of Kendra's heaving gut. She then
stepped back and drove her fist into first the left breast and then the right,
noticing how soft and saggy they were after the African-American's treatment.
She grabbed handfuls of both breasts and brutally twisted them, while ramming
her knee up between the blonde's legs until Kendra begged her to stop.

Surprising her partner, she did stop, and stood staring at the bruised and
bloody woman with a very dissatisfied look on her comely face.

"What's wrong, Cherie?" Peaches inquired, hoping they hadn't accidentally
killed her.

"I want her," the brunette replied.

"What?!" exclaimed Patty.

"I want her. She never let anyone but Dallas enjoy her, and now, before Dallas
comes back and finishes her off, I want her," Cherie stated matter-of-factly.
"I want my tongue up her snatch and her face under my ass. And I want her now.
Lay her down and help me take her clothes off."

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea," Peaches said slowly, lowering the
blonde to her back and holding her as Cherie stripped her.

"I am," the brunette said as she laid on top of Kendra, placing her ass
directly over her face and leaning over to bury her own face in the blonde's
sex.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Alexis and Jessica suddenly closed with each other, exchanging a
flurry of blows, most of which were harmlessly misdirected or outright
blocked, except for one palm strike which the Asian managed to get through the
redhead's defenses. The powerful qi-charged attack landed directly over
Jessi's heart and hurled her backwards over ten feet. She sat shaking her head
and rubbing the glowing spot on her chest, so dazed that she was oblivious to
Alexis' follow-up leaping kick which knocked her head over heels across the
hall.

Pressing her advantage, the Asian rushed over and grabbed Jessi by one arm and
spun her around and face-first into the wall. She then flung her backward, so
that her back crashed into the opposite wall, and leaped again, driving her
foot into the staggered woman's stomach. Alexis then took Jessi by the back of
the neck and flipped her over to land on the small of her back, jarring her
pelvic bone with the impact. She then wrapped one arm around the redhead's
throat and the other around her head and squeezed as hard as she could.

"Good night, Jess," she said softly. "I fear you will not awaken from this
sleep."

Suddenly, Jessica's foot shot up and struck the surprised Asian full in the
face. Then, her other leg did the same thing, the bony knee connecting with
the point of the brunette's chin painfully. Alexis released her deadly hold
and instead used her arms to block the furious kicks as best she could.

Jessica slid down so that her back was flush with the floor and then snaked
her legs up and around the startled Asian's head, pulling it down and over her
body to strike the hard floor. She then buried both fists deep into the tummy
of the Asian and flipped her over so that her head was still trapped between
Jessi's thighs, but her body now lay on its back. Jessi turned over onto her
side to prevent Alexis' neck from snapping and grabbed a handful of hair and,
slightly loosening her hold, forced her face up into her posterior. She then
re-tightened the hold and enjoyed the sensation of Alexis struggling to
breathe up her ass.

To insure that her foe would not escape this finishing move, she reached down
and bent one of the brunette's legs up and held it under her body. She also
grabbed one of the Asian's wrists and immobilized it by arching it backward
over her right leg.

After a few very pleasurable moments, Alexis ceased struggling and Jessica
felt her body go limp. Wary of being suckered into releasing the hold too
soon, she instead repositioned herself so that her right leg was now laying
against the Asian's windpipe and once more increased the pressure. When Alex
suddenly began to cough and renewed her struggling with increased vigor, Jessi
grinned and extended her legs, locking her ankles and squeezing the Asian's
throat until, her brownish eyes opened wide with fear, gasping for breath and
clawing at the leg with her free hand, her mouth open and her tongue extended,
she slowly stopped, her body seeming to deflate like a balloon with a small
hole in it.

Jessica twisted around and saw that her eyes were now closed, although her
mouth hung open, the long, sensuous, and very skillful, tongue lolling on her
chin. Cautiously, she unlocked her ankles and opened her legs. Alexis' head
fell to the floor with a thud. Jessica removed her belt and securely bound the
Asian's arms behind her back. She then hoisted the unconscious woman over her
shoulder and proceeded down the hall to the control room.

Inside, she ripped loose an electrical cord from one of the control panels and
used it to tie Alexis to one of the chairs.

She then examined the devices, searching for the one broadcasting the
interfering signal.

* * * * *

"I see you gals have been enjoying yourselves," laughed Dallas, leading the
three horses behind her.

Cherie grinned and stood up, placing one foot on the battered blonde's chest.
"Yeah, she was a great playmate," she giggled, bouncing her foot up and down
on the bruised boobs. "Wasn't she, Peaches?"

The African-American released her hold on Kendra's arms and stood up, placing
one of her feet directly on the barely conscious woman's windpipe. "She surely
was," she smiled, placing one arm around Cherie's shoulders.

"You didn't leave much for me, though," said Dallas with a harsh chuckle.
"Still, haul her up. I mean to get some answers before I kill her, or at least
have some fun if she won't talk." She tethered the horses to a hitching post
and then walked over to where the two Cowgirls were holding Kendra up by her
hair and her arms.

"Is Jessi with British Intelligence, too?" she asked, punctuating her question
with a fist to the agent's belly.

"Burn in hell!" Kendra gasped, spitting up blood through her puffy lips.

Dallas shook her head and slapped her sharply across the mouth. "Wrong answer,
darlin'. Who does Jessi work for?" she demanded, again driving her fist into
the pit of Kendra's gut.

The agent coughed up more blood, but offered no other response.

"Well, ladies, it looks like I'm just gonna have to kill her," Dallas said
wistfully, grabbing a handful of hair and staring into her reddish eyes,
seeing only defiance. "She'll never talk. Let her go."

The two Cowgirls released their holds on the battered woman and were surprised
to see that she somehow managed to remain on her, admittedly wobbly, legs.

Dallas drew her revolvers and aimed for Kendra's bright eyes. "I really am
sorry it had to come to this, darlin'," she said with questionable sincerity.
"Nighty night, sweetheart."

As her fingers tightened on the triggers, however, the guns suddenly exploded
in her hands, the force of the explosion knocking her onto her ass. She shook
her head and looked up and saw a figure emerging through the smoke.

"Jessi, darlin'," she smiled, getting to her feet. "I was wondering when you
would be joining the fun."

"Fun's over, Dallas," Jessica said evenly, kneeling to support Kendra who had
collapsed to her knees when the guns exploded. "Are you all right?"

"I'll live," the blonde smiled. "I'm a lot tougher than your average gal."

Jessica kissed the top of her head and then stood up, facing the three
Cowgirls with her arms folded over her chest. "My business is with Dallas,
Cherie. You and Peaches don't need to be a part of it if you don't want to,"
she said with little hope that her lover would heed her warning. "Just keep
out of it and away from Kendra and I'll do what I can to minimize your
charges."

Cherie and Peaches looked at each other and then over at Dallas.

"I'll give you each millions if you kill her," the blonde stated.

"Gee, cash versus less jail time," giggled Cherie. "Which do you prefer,
Peaches?"

"Show me the money!" exclaimed Patty, rushing the redhead.

Suddenly, the African-American experienced what felt like a huge fist ram into
her middle, lifting her off her feet and hurling her backwards, to crash into
Cherie. Both women went down in a tangle of limbs.

Patty jumped to her feet and scowled with ferocious confusion at the redhead.
"What the hell did you do to me?" she demanded.

"This," replied Jessi as another invisible fist slammed into her jaw, again
knocking her off her feet and into her startled partner.

Cherie pushed the larger woman off of her and angrily confronted her lover.
"What's with the magic, Jessi? Can't you handle us without cheating?" she
taunted. Behind her, Patty crawled groggily to her feet.

"Easily," the redhead stated. "I was trying not to hurt you any more than was
necessary for you to surrender."

"Yeah? Well, don't do me any favors, love," she snarled. "Just come at me with
your best, fair shot and I'll do the same. You owe me that much, Jessi. A fair
shot."

Jessica nodded. "Fine. On my word, no more tricks," she said. "But, I doubt
you're going to like this outcome any better, Cher."

Cherie just smiled and lowered her head and ran at Jessi.

The redhead easily side-stepped the clumsy charge and spun around and planted
a firm kick on Cherie's adorable ass as she went past, sending the brunette
sprawling.

She turned to deal with Patty and was met by a fist which connected squarely
with her mouth and dropped her to her rear.

"Sucker," sneered Patty, stomping down on her chest, knocking the redhead to
her back. She then jumped up and landed with both feet right on Jessi's
stomach, expelling the air in her body forcefully.

Cherie then crawled over and planted her ass on Jessi's face as the redhead
gasped for air. "Just like old times, love," she giggled, wiggling her rump.

"Can't you think of any new tricks, Cherie?" demanded Kendra, driving her knee
into the brunette's back and then grabbing her head and hurling it into
Patty's middle, knocking both women off of Jessica.

"Thanks, again," smiled Jessi.

"I don't know exactly how you did it, but I feel great," she explained,
helping Jessica to her feet.

"Oh, just a handy little talent I picked up a few years ago in Tibet," she
remarked casually. "Shall we finish this?"

"Definitely. Would you prefer I deal with Cherie, given-" Kendra began.

"I'll handle Cherie," Jessi said quickly. "Closure, you know."

Kendra nodded and they both advanced to where the two Cowgirls were climbing
shakily to their feet and both connected with right hooks to the sides of
their jaws, following with left jabs to their mouths, then knees to the groin.

Both Cowgirls dropped to their knees gasping for breath and spitting up blood.

Then, Jessi took a handful of Cherie's hair while Kendra took a handful of
Patty's and they slammed their heads into one another.

Hearing a horse whinny and gallop off, they looked up to see Dallas riding off
on one of the horses.

"Can you handle these two?" Jessi inquired, looking down at the two barely
conscious women.

"No sweat, this time," Kendra assured her. "Go get her, but I expect you to
save some for me!" she added as Jessica ran over to one of the remaining
horses, snagging a rope from the stable on her way, and leaped astride the
animal.

"Count on it!" the redhead called over her shoulder, digging her heels into
the horse's side and holding on tight as the mare took off after Dallas.

Kendra then dropped down onto Patty's stomach and looped her legs around the
African-American's throat. At the same time reaching over and drawing Cherie's
head under her arm, pressing her battered face next to Kendra's bruised
breasts, and squeezed both her arm and her legs together, causing both women
to moan in pain. When Cherie's hand reached up and pulled sharply on Kendra's
hair, the blonde responded by increasing the pressure, tightening her hold on
the brunette's skull, and punching her in the eye with her free hand.

The hair was immediately released. "Good girl," smiled Kendra, bouncing her
ass up and down on Patty's belly and then reaching up and drawing her head
down into her pussy before tightening the hold even more.

After a couple of minutes, both Cowgirls ceased struggling altogether and
Kendra got up and laid them down next to each other and then straddled both of
their waists, squeezing her knees together against their bodies until they
groaned painfully. She then began to punch all four of the large, round
breasts with wild abandon, pausing occasionally to tear at the luscious
tit-flesh, leaving red welts and causing tears to stream from both women's
eyes.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Jessica's horse had nearly caught up to Dallas and the redhead
leaned forward and began twirling the lasso over her head. She let it fly and
it settled over the fleeing blonde's shoulders, and Jessica pulled back and
reined her horse to a halt, tightening the rope around the melon-like breasts
and jerking Dallas clean off her horse.

She landed on her plump ass and tore the rope off angrily and then leaped up
to see Jessica dismounting and heading toward her. Smiling, she reached into
her empty holster and the redhead heard a soft click and then felt slightly
dizzy.

As Dallas approached her, she suddenly realized that she couldn't read her
mind.

The buxom blonde took advantage of Jessi's momentary disorientation and thrust
her right boot into her stomach and then banged her knee up and into the
redhead's chin. She then struck her sharply across the mouth with her left
fist and knocked her to her back with a right uppercut.

"That's right, Jessi, darlin', I've got one of those handy portable psychic
jammers. So it's just you and me, one on one," she chuckled, dropping her ass
onto Jessi's middle, pinning her arms to her sides with her knees, "woman to
woman." She removed her shirt, vest, and woefully inadequate brassiere,
revealing her magnificent breasts. "I've always dreamed of killing someone
like this," she grinned wickedly, lowering her tits onto Jessi's face,
suffocating her beneath them.

Jessi struggled, throwing her legs up in an effort to hook them around Dallas'
head, but the blonde was leaning too far forward, attempting to bite the tits
encasing her head like a flesh sack, but they were too hard and firm to get a
grip on.

"Give it up, darlin'," Dallas purred, using her hands to press her melons
tightly together, cutting off what little air might have been making it to the
redhead. "Just go to sleep and forget about everything."

Finally, while struggling vainly to free her hands, her fingers brushed
against Dallas' holster and she clawed at it, working her hand inside but
finding it empty. Panic welling up inside her as she began to lose
consciousness, she managed to work her other hand loose enough to thrust it
into the holster on the other side.

Hearing a crunch followed by static-like crackling, Dallas thought little of
it, until she was propelled up and off of the redhead by what felt like a
giant penis shooting into her pussy. She shot twenty feet into the air and
landed hard on her ass, moaning in agony and holding her ravaged vagina.

Jessi sat up, sucking air into her straining lungs and coughing violently. She
turned to the downed Cowgirl and climbed to her feet, her strength rapidly
returning.

She reached down and hauled Dallas to her feet by her blonde hair and then
held her there with psychic energy as she peppered her face and chest with
hard jabs. Even when Dallas' legs gave out, her boots dragging awkwardly on
the ground, Jessi's mind kept her suspended so that she could continue to
punish the murderous Cowgirl. She moved down to the blonde's belly and crotch,
alternating between punches and kicks until Dallas' eyes glazed over and she
passed out from the pain.

But Jessica wasn't quite finished.

She slapped her sharply across the face until the pleading blue eyes slowly
fluttered open.

"Oh, goddess, darlin', no more. Please, Jessi, no more," she gasped out.

"I suppose that's what those poor creatures would have said, if you hadn't cut
out their tongues!" Jessi shouted, punching her in the mouth. "Wasn't all your
money enough for you, Dallas? Why kill others just to live longer?"

"Not longer, Jessi, younger, prettier, healthier," the blonde elaborated,
spitting blood. "What good is all the money in the world if you're too old,
ugly, and infirm to enjoy it? Besides, they were just men. Not even worth the
effort to mourn."

Enraged, Jessi's fists pounded repeatedly into the blonde's heaving tummy.
"They were human beings, damn you! With just as much right to live as you.
More, if you ask me!" she screamed.

"You follow your convictions and I'll follow mine, darlin'," she panted, blood
running down her neck to pool in the cleft between her bruised breasts.

"I thought there might have been some good in you, something I could reason
with, or even understand," Jessi sighed, releasing her hold and allowing the
blonde to collapse at her feet. "But there isn't. You're pure evil, plain and
simple."

She walked over to where the rope was lying on the ground and picked it up,
glancing meaningfully from Dallas to a nearby tree.

"But you're not, Jessi," Dallas pointed out frantically. "You can't just kill
me, without a trial, or a chance to reform. Who knows? I might change if given
the opportunity."

"No, Dallas, you'll never change. I can see that now," she said, walking over,
making a loop with the rope as she did so.

"Please, Jessi! We've shared each other's souls! Didn't you find any love
within me?" she asked desperately, attempting to scoot away from the advancing
redhead.

"Only an unnatural love for yourself, Dallas," she stated, standing over the
woman with the loop swinging freely from her hand.

"NO! I have loved others! Janice, who died a year ago, Marquita, Alexis, and
the other Cowgirls, including you and Kendra, Jessi!" she said, nodding
vigorously. "I was even willing to risk everything for that love, and you both
betrayed me!"

"We betrayed your murderous vision, Dallas, not you," Jessi corrected. "By
shutting down your life-rustling operation, we tried to give you a chance to
save your soul, to worry about what's within you for a change, instead of your
appearance. But, you blew it."

"I never thought of it like that! Please, Jessi, at least let me live long
enough to find out if I still have a soul worth saving!" she begged, bending
over and clutching the redhead's ankles in supplication.

"Okay," Jessi grinned, looping the rope around her neck while stomping on the
small of her back at the same time. She quickly knelt down, driving the point
of her knee into Dallas' lower spine and then reached back and grabbed the
limp legs, looping a coil of rope around her ankles and pulling it tight,
causing the blonde's back to arch painfully.

Jessi then bent her arms back around and tied the wrists together and then
tied them to her ankles.

"Comfy?" the redhead grinned, coming around and kneeling in front of the
blonde.

"You never intended to hang me?" Dallas inquired, the discomfort plain on her
battered face.

"Of course not, I'm one of the good guys," she replied. "I just wanted you to
experience a bit of the helpless terror you inflicted on so many others before
bringing you back to Kendra's tender mercies. Besides, I can read your mind,
remember? I know what scares you."

"Then you're also aware of my thoughts concerning any attempted prosecution,
that you can't do anything to me. You conveniently destroyed all the evidence
linking me to the bodies which will be discovered by the investigators. You
might as well--Unnhhh!"

Jessica pulled her fist back and tenderly rubbed the knuckles which had just
struck Dallas jaw, knocking her out, and then stood up and, grabbing the rope
binding the blonde like a suitcase handle, picked her up and slung her over
the saddle of one of the horses, making sure that the horn dug into her
stomach.

She then mounted the horse and rode back toward the stable.

* * * * *

Kendra stood up, one foot on each pair of swollen, red breasts, and looked
down happily at her defeated, unconscious foes. She then stepped off and,
reaching down and grabbing handfuls of hair, dragged the Cowgirls to the
hitching post and proceeded to securely tie them to it so that they were
hanging upside down with their arms and legs bound together.

Hearing a horse trotting up, she looked around and saw Jessica, with the
leader of the Cowgirls trussed up neatly and laying in front of her. Dallas
face was a mess and she knew that she had taken a real beating at Jessi's
hands. She also knew, however, that knowledge wouldn't prevent her from giving
the blonde a beating as well.

"I see things went much better this time," Jessi grinned pushing Dallas over
and onto the ground, then using her as a step as she dismounted herself.

"I had a great time, as I can see you did," she smiled in return, flipping
Dallas over and grimacing at the awful condition of her lovely breasts in
particular. "Didn't leave me much, did you?"

"Oh, she may look a mess, but she'll be good as new in a couple of days, and
ready for your pleasure," Jessi remarked, walking over and lifting Cherie's
battered face, sadly shaking her head and wincing when she saw the woman's
breasts criss-crossed with welts and bruises. "Sorry, Cher," she whispered.
She then released the head and turned to see Kendra with a concerned on her
face. "Don't sweat it, Kendra. I would have done the same thing. And hated
myself for doing it."

"I understand. That's why I avoided the Cowgirls as much as possible, and why
Dallas is going to need a trip to hospital when I've finished with her," she
said angrily, glancing over her shoulder at the hog-tied woman.

"Which brings us to the question of what we're going to do with them, now that
we've captured them. For reasons I'll be happy to explain later...His sister?!
You're Trevor's sister!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I thought you were his..."

"Lover? Wife?" Kendra giggled. "Oh, gods, I hope that's not how I came across!
I can see you're relieved by the news. Now you can pursue him without having
to worry about my feelings."

"Him? Oh, no! No, Kendra, I'm afraid you've misunderstood. I like Trevor, I
mean, he's a great guy, and all, but, well, he is a guy. You know?" she
questioned, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Kendra's eyes widened with surprise and then she leaned forward and kissed
Jessi hard on the mouth.

"I think I do," she smiled, after finally pulling away and leaving Jessi with
a goofy smile of her own plastered on her face.

* * * * *

After saying farewell to Kendra--whom she had helped with the arrangements for
Dallas and the Cowgirls to secretly travel to England, where they would stand
trial and serve out their prison sentences ("Dallas will likely be spending
the majority of her life behind bars, while Marquita and the other Cowgirls
might be released in ten to fifteen years, depending on their behavior, and if
other charges aren't brought against them," Kendra informed her.) in one of
His Majesty's Royal Penitentiaries, safe from General Winsome and the Aegis
Group--she reported to the General later that evening.

He was not pleased.

"Ms. Dawson and her Cowgirls have disappeared, Ms. Chance," he stated, puffing
angrily on an ornately carved pipe with an ivory bowl and mouthpiece. "And,
Ms. Dawson has apparently given away the bulk of her fortune to several
charities concerned with human rights, most notably, $500,000,000 to Amnesty
International. Care to comment on that?"

"She saw the error of her ways and is trying to make up for it," Jessi
shrugged. "People change their minds every day."

"True enough. I'm just wondering what you had to do with this particular
change of heart," he inquired.

"I met her and we talked. I don't know where she is or what happened to the
other Cowgirls," Jessi replied.

"You were at her ranch for nearly six months!" pointed out the General.

"It was a long talk."

Winsome ground his teeth in frustration, biting cleanly through the ivory
mouthpiece and hurling the broken pipe across the room.

"What about the 43 bodies found in the basement of a storage building, which
was completely destroyed by a recent fire, at the deserted ranch? They were
all male, ranging in age from 14 to 87," he added.

"I have no idea."

"I sent you out there to find out what was going on and to report back to me,"
he reminded her. "And that's all you can tell me?"

"With all due respect, sir, you sent me out there to check out a suspected
political coup being planned by Ms. Dawson. After thorough investigation of
the ranch and extensive interrogation of the suspect, I am stating for the
record that I uncovered no evidence of any such plot," she said very
carefully.

"You know what I want to know, Ms. Chance," said the General with quiet
menace. "Now, either you tell me about the method Ms. Dallas employed to
regain her youth, or some of your friends are not going to wake up in the
morning. Is that clear?"

"Sir, as far as any 'regaining of youth' is concerned, the only method I
witnessed involved facial creams and various over-the-counter lotions and
pills. I would be more than happy to make a list of the products she used, if
you wish," she said without so much as a hint of a smile. "And, if any of my
friends or former colleagues meet with any untimely accidents, I will kill you
with my bare hands, General. Is that clear?"

General Winsome pulled thoughtfully on his mustache, staring into her green
eyes. He knew she was essentially bluffing, but he also knew that she could do
things short of killing him outright which might make him wish that he was
dead. He also knew that once he actually killed one of the former Angel Team
members, she would be impossible to control. And, finally, he knew that since
killing her was out of the question, so long as she was being protected by his
superiors for some reason he had yet to uncover, he had no choice but to let
her believe her bluff had succeeded.

"Bah! Get out of my sight, Ms. Chance. Until I require your services again, of
course," he sighed, spinning his chair around so that his back was facing her.

"Of course, General," smiled Jessica. "I shall be taking a short holiday in
Europe, by the way. I'll leave the number where I can be reached with your
assistant."

"Fine," he barked. "Good night, Ms. Chance."

She turned and walked out of the office, not quite smiling.

The End

(For now)

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