Russian Power
by The Captain



"Russian Power" - A Roger Johnson story by The Captain

My editor had come up with a wonderful new idea for a story. All that I really
remembered was that it had something to do with genetics and that he wanted me
to interview some Russian athlete named Victor. As long as it paid the bills I
didn't mind, but I reminded my editor that I was better suited for high-tech
stuff than covering the sports beat. That's when he told me that Victor had
developed some kind of new exercise gadget.

Four hours later found me knocking on a hotel door that looked like something
out of "Sky Captain". After a moment Victor opened the door, smiled a somewhat
gap-toothed smile and welcomed me into his room. He had to step back to give
me some room. Victor was a giant who looked like he had muscles on his
muscles. He was very happy to see me and started to sprint through his story
as if he was on a hard deadline. Turns out that the new exercise gizmo had
been developed by an older brother Sergi and didn't give consistent results.
Some people showed impressive strength gains while other saw little.

Victor explained that his brother's device directly stimulated the
bio-chemical makeup of muscles instead of just making them jerk with an
electric current as prior devices had. This grabbed my attention and I
wondered if he had tried it out on women. Just then the door to the bathroom
opened and a slim stone-faced teenage girl walked out. She was about my height
and looked mildly athletic, more like a swimmer than a weight lifter, and wore
some kind of one-piece green and blue circus uniform that showed off her arms
and legs. They talked in Russian for a moment and she walked over to the table
and opened a small case. Inside was a foot-long chrome bar that looked like it
was heavily decorated. If this was the device then they were well beyond the
prototype stage, this looked like a finished product.

"This is a little sister Varnya," he explained, "she just turned eighteen last
month and begged us to come along. She has been working with device for few
weeks but as you see there is no major improvement." He glanced at his watch,
"I apologize, but I must meet with man from university. This will only take an
hour or two. If I might impose on you, I had promised our mother that I would
not leave Varnya alone. She speaks very little English and tends to be ... as
you say ... a little distracted."

Since I had nothing to do for the rest of the day, and not a lot of material
to write my story, I said "Sure Victor, would she be able to demonstrate how
the device works? That would help me write my story." I didn't mention that I
was very interested in being alone with a girl who was using an experimental
strength- boosting machine.

This seemed to be exactly the answer Victor was looking for. He grabbed a fist
full of fifties and said, "If I am delayed, please take her to hotel
restaurant. She may have anything she wants, but not so much desert! It may
not look like it, but she has gained almost twenty pounds in just the last
month! I go now and thank you greatly." With that the man-mountain named
Victor stormed out of the room, leaving me his sister.

For some reason this relaxed Varnya and she actually smiled at me. "Would like
demonstration?" she asked as she held up the device. I smiled back and nodded
yes. Varnya walked over to the bed and laid down. Holding the bar in both
hands she twisted a moving ring and looked up at me, "Never do this level,
brother chicken. He afraid Varnya get too strong! You like strong girl?"

"Yes I do," I said softly. Something in her eyes told me this was what she had
hoped. I heard the ring click two more times as she turned the intensity up to
maximum. Before I could say anything Varnya pushed a hidden control and the
machine activated. I began to hear a soft electronic whine, like the sound of
a flash unit charging up. Varnya had closed her eyes and had an odd smile. I
began to see small tremors in her flesh as her small muscles began to flex.
After a moment I could clearly follow the ripples of muscle up and down her
body as the machine continued to pump power into her. It looked like she was
having a seizure but one where her muscles were getting bigger. After a few
minutes the machine stopped and Varnya opened her eyes.

She slid off the bed and stood up in front of me. After carefully placing the
device back into it's storage case she turned to me, "Varnya feel strong now!
Too bad can only do once a week. Try to cheat but machine knows. Victor always
watches make sure I never do more than level one. He say level ten only for
big man athlete. Please no tell Victor, I hide strength. If he know how strong
machine make me he stop me from using it." She held up her right arm and
flexed her biceps, it grew to an impressive size, perhaps thirteen or fourteen
inches, but she didn't have the look of a hard-core weight-lifter. "Please
feel, muscle not big or hard like man. Machine make muscle strong not big and
hard. Varnya like!"

I reached out and grabbed her biceps, trying to hide my growing excitement.
She wouldn't be winning any body-building contests, but her muscle was a
little harder than I expected if she really was the swimmer she looked like.
"I will keep your secret Varnya if you'll keep mine. I really do like seeing
women get strong."

That brought a wide smile to her face, and I noticed that Varnya was getting
better dental care than her older brother. "OK, Mr. Johnson, deal we have!
Now, before brother return, let me show you how strong Varnya become!" She
looked around the room, "Nothing here is too heavy! I could lift all of this
when I was but little girl. What can I do?"

Just then the phone rang and Varnya answered it. The fact she spoke in Russian
told me it must be Victor. After she hung up the phone she turned to me and
said, "My brother it seems must travel to another city. He will not return
until after midnight. He asks you to wait until his return from his urgent
business. We have many hours to indulge ourselves, yes?"

I thought for a moment. Taking her down to the hotel's exercise room, dressed
as she was, would attract more attention than either of us wanted. Wrestling
with her would be fun, but over too quickly if she was as strong as she
hinted. I walked over to the bed-side table and pulled out a New York phone
book. This monster looked like it was over four inches thick, and a year
out-of-date. "Here Varnya, old circus performers would tear phone books in
half to show how strong they were."

She took the book from me and smiled, "I like you Mr. Johnson, this excellent
test for strong Varnya!"

"Wait one moment Varnya. Would you mind if I took a couple of pictures of you
doing this?" I asked as I help up my trusty digital camera. It had cost me
nearly a month's salary when I first bought it, and sometimes I actually used
it on work assignments. Even if my articles never had any pictures, having
reference material always helped my writing. Of course, having a decent camera
for times like this was, as they say, priceless.

Varnya thought for a moment and said, "Some men want see Varnya if Varnya
strong?" I nodded yes. "Idea strange to me, but so is machine that make Varnya
strong. OK, take pictures, I give you show!"

She must have seen at least one body-building contest, or perhaps in Russia
they have much different types of classes in their high schools than here.
Varnya went through a slow routine that must have been practiced. I couldn't
think of any pose she had missed, and the longer she worked her body the more
her muscles were pumped. She allowed me to help her pose, and feel her flexed
muscles. From time to time she would mutter something in Russian, look at me
and smile. The grand finale was Varnya slowly tearing the phone book in half.
Though her arms were fully pumped and looked amazing muscular, they were still
slim. She was amazingly strong for some one her size.

Varnya watched me put away my camera and said, "Now something for your eyes
only!" With little ceremony she striped off her suit and walked up to me,
"Brother not back for many hours, he not here to protect you from younger
sister. You see my muscle, now return favor." Her dark green eyes bored into
mine as she started to slowly undress me. Soon I would find out if the device
enhanced even those muscles.

The next few hours were a blur, not only was Varnya much stronger than she
looked, but her endurance was nearly super-human. Several times she had to
stop and let me rest for a few minutes. It felt as if I were having sex with
an entire team of muscular gymnasts. Eventually she seemed to become satisfied
with my performance and carried me into the bathroom to take a well-deserved
shower. She left me there to recover as she washed up and went back into the
main room to find something to wear for dinner.

I was washing my hair for the second time when the phone rang. Again I heard
Varnya speaking in Russian, only this time she seemed to be getting upset
about something. The phone crashed down and she yells a few short words in
Russian that I was certain would not translate well. As I stepped out of the
shower to dry myself Varnya came in and asked, "Do you have a car Mr. Johnson?
My dumb older brother is in trouble. He tell me to run away, but he is family,
yes? You are smart, I am strong. Copy of address is on paper there on table.
Shall we go?"

I got dressed and looked at the paper. The address wasn't in the best part of
town, and sadly only muggers could legally carry weapons. But since I had just
had wild sex with his sister for the last several hours, I couldn't tell her
no. Besides, he told me he was meeting some guy from a university, what kind
of trouble could the big Russian get into? I mean, the guy had biceps bigger
than a small child's head. However, before we left the room I had Varnya hide
the muscle device and replace it in the case with the bar from a twenty- pound
dumb-bell Victor had bought for Varnya. Yeah, this guy had no clue how strong
his sister really was.

The cross-town traffic was crazy, even at this time of night. Our first big
break was finding a parking space. Though I loved the freedom having a car in
New York gave me, everything about this town made it a gigantic pain to own
one. It seemed I spent more money on a parking space than for the rent for my
microscopic apartment. But I was from California and having a car is part of
being an adult there. The building the address led us to was one of those
combined shop and warehouse things that were popular back in the sixties,
complete with an ugly wooden sign that read "AMCORP RESEARCH LLC".

"Well, this don't match my picture of a place run by a university. Did your
brother say anything about these people?" I asked Varnya as we walked around
the building looking for an unlocked entrance.

"Victor told me he was meeting some people who would help him market the
device. He was sure that we would soon be rich. I too feel this place is not
right. Look! There is an open window!"

Looking down I spotted an open basement window, made just the right size for
both of us to slip through. The thick steel bars would be a problem, even if
Varnya was strong as ten girls her size. She reached down and grabbed two
bars, but instead of trying to bend them like I thought she would, she simply
pulled the entire frame and bar assembly out of the wall. The grinding sound
the bolts made as they pulled free from the bricks was soft enough to be
drowned by the sound of traffic. Moments later we were in.

While the only light came from the window, I could clearly see the tall stacks
of crates that lined the walls of this small room. Varnya found an open one
and handed me a AK-47, "These do not look like exercise equipment, do they Mr.
Johnson?" I shook my head no and wondered what university class these would be
for? By my quick count there were over two hundred rifles and a couple
thousands rounds of ammo.

I was just about to suggest we leave and call the police when we heard Victor
scream on the other side of the room. Before I could say anything Varnya
smashed through the locked door. While the door was just cheap plywood, her
entrance must have been impressive. I was too busy trying to load one of the
rifles to enjoy the view. By the time I got out to the larger room Varnya had
downed two burly men. Unfortunately the last man had managed to pull a
extremely large revolver and looked like he was going to use it on both Varnya
and Victor.

"I don't think so, drop the gun buddy or we'll find out if I really can miss
at this distance," I shouted in my best tough-guy voice. It must have worked
because thug number three actually dropped his gun and put his hands up in the
air. Varnya ran up to him, hog-tied him with some rope, and threw him in the
corner next to his sleeping friends. For a moment I could see a brief flicker
of muscle under the pink sweater she wore. I walked over to Victor, these guys
had done a number on him. I guess even muscles like the Hulk's smaller brother
are no match for butt-ugly pistols. The chains they thugs had used to tie him
up were secured with combination locks. Sadly, thug number three informed me
that only the thug boss knew the combination. I didn't want to wait for him to
return.

"OK Victor, why don't you just bust free of those chains. They shouldn't be a
problem for a guy as strong as you," I said. He looked at me and shook his
head, "I tell you machine not consistent. My muscles get big but I still
strong as before. It work that way with all men we try, some get bigger, some
just a little big. No one get stronger." I pointed to Varnya, "Is she the only
woman who has tried the device?"

"Yes Mr. Johnson," he answered, "Who would want woman with big muscles like
man?"

I laughed, "Well, I don't think you have to worry about that Victor, because
your brothers machine doesn't give women gigantic muscles, it makes them
stronger. Let's see if Varnya can get you free!"

Brother and sister looked at each other for a moment. Varnya smiled and
grabbed one of the chains. With one incredible effort, she went all out to rip
the chains out of the wall. Her trick worked a second time as several massive
bolts pulled free from the brick wall. The extra slack allowed Victor to slip
free. As he stood there dusting himself off I asked him for his copy of the
address he had used to get here.

I smiled and walked over to thug number three. When I showed him the address
he bust out laughing, "Mister, just take these two with you and forget what
you saw, OK? If you want the rifle it'll cost you two hundred bucks. Buy the
gun, it'll make you a client and the boss will see the humor of this
situation. Oh yeah, could you untie me before that lady goes crazy again? What
is she, some kind of Russian cop?"

I leaned close to him, "You've seen her before? She's one of those gymnasts
they give steroids to so they can jump higher. Just look at the size of her
trainer, I bet he chugs gallons of the stuff." Thug number three looked at the
two Russians, "Yeah, now that you mention it, she does look kinda familiar. I
heard they make those girls exercise ten hours a day or the parents go to some
gulag or something. Hey mister, you just kept us from doing some kind of
internal incense or something, I guess. Let me take care of my fellow
businessmen while you get these two out of here. And thanks for the save, we
owe you one!"

After I had completed my purchase, which would quickly end up in a near-by
river, I led the two confused Russians up the stairs and out the front door.
"Victor, do you understand the difference between north and south?" I asked.
"Of course I do! I receive training while serving time in Red Army," he
answered. As we got into my car, Victor taking up the entire back seat, I
explained, "This address that you really want is in the north side of town, we
are in the south. Hopefully the guy you were meeting hasn't given up. Do you
have his phone number?" Victor fished out another scrape of paper. I pulled
off the road, not wanting to explain to the police why I had a fully-loaded
AK-47 on the floor, and dialed the number.

The man who answered sounded more than a little upset that Victor had blown
the meeting. After I explained who I was and what had happened, leaving out
the part about the gun-runners, the man, who introduced himself as Dr.
Henderson, agreed to meet Victor at a near-by restaurant. As I dropped off the
large Russian he turned to me and said, "Mr. Johnson I am in your debt. How
can I repay you?"

I glanced at his sister, smiled and said "Just send me a free sample when you
start production."

Thirty minutes later, after a side-trip to a local bridge, Varnya and I
finally reached the hotel restaurant. She must have built up an appetite
beating up thugs because she ordered the biggest steak on the menu. "We return
to Russia in two days, Mr. Johnson. I believe Victor was be very busy. Perhaps
he will allow you to show me more of this city. Though I must admit what
little I have seen was enjoyable." I reached my arm around her and felt her
muscles flex hard under the fluffy pink sweater she was wearing. "You know,
Varnya, you told me that you tried to cheat with the machine. Did Victor say
why you shouldn't use it more than once a week?"

She put down her drink and answered, "He said that the machine could only push
a person up to a certain level, then no more. My older brother Sergi said it
wouldn't be good if the machine did everything in one night. He figured some
people would buy the machine, use it, and then bring it back the next day. By
making it only work for a few minutes once a week he said it would take months
to complete the process. By then you couldn't return it!"

"Well, that's marketing for you. How does it know who's using it or if a week
has gone by?" I asked. "I don't understand, even Victor don't know. Sergi
tried to explain to me once, something with this DNA, but I feel like simple
farm girl with no brain. Knowing the week is easy, has built in calendar
clock!" she answered. I put down my fork and looked her in the eye, "Did you
ever try to simply change the clock?" Her blank stare was the answer I was
looking for. We rushed through our dinner, though I was hungry, and went back
to their room. Varnya retrieved the device from it's hiding spot and began to
fumble with the controls. Throwing herself onto the bed, she set the device
for level-ten and activated it.

Once again I heard the electronic whine as the power of the machine built up.
The ripples of muscles were larger and more violent this time. Varnya moaned a
little and muttered something in Russian. After a few minutes the machine
stopped. She looked up at me and smiled, "Now we must find new test! Varnya
feel strong like bull but still look like woman, yes?" She stood up and flexed
for me again. While her arms might have gained an inch, I could tell that they
were much harder than before. As Varnya went to put the machine back into it's
case she ended up with the dumb-ball bar. For a moment she just looked at it
and then said, "Do you still have your camera, Mr. Johnson? Varnya think it
time for second show!"