The Liberators, Part 2
By Littlesilverstar, silverstar222b@yahoo.com
The girls make their preparations for the mission

MOSCOW

Paul awoke with a terrible headache.  The first thought that came to his
mind as he regained consciousness was, "Not again." In the past two years
this was the second time he had been kidnapped, the second time he had
been knocked out, and the third time he had been taken hostage.

He groggily tried to remember what had happened.  The drive...the ambush
...Samantha getting killed by that woman...and the ugly bald guy knocking
him out.

Paul looked around and saw that he was locked in a dark, musty cell about
eight feet square.  There was no window, and a barred door was the only
exit.  There was a cot (which was what he was lying on when he woke up),
and a sink and toilet in the corner.

Suddenly, footsteps approached.  There was the sound of a key turning in
the lock and the cell door swung open.  A woman stood there...the same
woman who had murdered Samantha.

"Ah, so you're awake," she said in a sexy accent. "I'm sorry we haven't
gotten the chance to become acquainted yet.  I'm Marina."

Paul said nothing.

"Now now, where are your manners, Paul?" she snickered.  She held up his
wallet. "Luckily, I already know who you are."

"You murdered Samantha! How could you?!" He finally spoke up.

"Oh, was that her name? She was resisting.  I had to 'take care' of her.
We would have preferred two hostages but you'll do well enough.  We've 
already asked your boss for $10 million."

Paul's glance traveled past Marina and towards the open door.  She 
noticed and laughed.

"You're thinking about escape, aren't you?" She smiled evilly. "Well, go
on and try it.  Try and get past me."

Paul shook his head and turned his body as if he was going to sit down on
the cot, then suddenly charged her, hoping to take the vixen by surprise.
She was too fast for him, however, and stopped his charge abruptly by
kicking him in the face.  His hands flew to his injured jaw.  Glaring at
her, he rushed her again.  This time, she pivoted and knocked him back 
with a swift but powerful side kick to his chest.  Paul, growling, was
about to charge her a third time when she suddenly whipped out a gun from
under her coat.  He recognized it as the same one she had used to kill
Samantha.

"All right, playtime's over.  I have some business to take care of.  You
be a good boy now." Marina exited the cell and locked the door behind 
her.

Paul sat back down on the cot and rubbed his sore jaw.  He wondered if
Christina knew yet.  He began to sob.  He didn't want to die without
seeing her again.

* * *

SEATTLE-TACOMA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 

Christina and Danica sat on a bench in the baggage claim area, waiting 
for Angela's flight to come in.  Abby and Natalie, whose flight had
arrived earlier, were sitting on another bench across from them.  When
Danica had pointed the two new girls out, Christina had been shocked at
how young they were.  The skinny girl, Natalie, had rather irritably
responded that "Abby and I are 21 now and we don't even have to use our
fake IDs anymore to buy beer." Christina sighed with uncertainty.  Did
she really want to go through with this? Associating with assassins and
personally going on a mission that would involve cold-blooded killing?
She tried to steel her resolve. "I have to do this for Paul."

Abby and Natalie whispered to each other as they sat on their bench. "I
don't like this," said Natalie.  She nodded at Christina. "Why is that
blonde do-gooder here? I know her type.  The proud legitimate 
businesswoman.  It's not SOP for the client to come out here like this."

"And why did Danica want to bring in another assassin? Does she think
we can't handle this ourselves?" wondered Abby.

"All right, stuff a sock in it, you two," said Danica. "Abby, I have the
utmost confidence in your and Natalie's abilities.  That's why I chose
you for this job.  But this operation is too big for just two people."

"When are you going to tell us the details of this operation?" Abby 
asked.

"When we're all together back at headquarters.  No need to go over 
everything twice."

Christina stood up, pointing at the TV screen labeled 'Arrivals.' "Look,
Angela's flight just landed."

* * *

THE WASHINGTON COUNTRYSIDE

The black, unmarked SUV sped over the dark roads.  It was a black and
moonless night.  Danica, tight-lipped and silent, was at the wheel.
Christina sat in the front passenger seat, a million thoughts racing 
through her head.  She couldn't believe she was actually doing this.  

Abby, Natalie, and Angela were in the back seat.  Christina had watched
the assassins size each other up when they had first met at the airport.
She had been relieved to see that Angela, at least, was close to her age.

"Hey, that sign said Fort Lewis was the other way," Angela piped up from
the back seat.

"We're not going to Fort Lewis," said Danica. "We're going somewhere more
...private."

* * *

SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

After traveling on a succession of roads that got narrower and bumpier,
the black SUV came to a stop in front of a gate.  A barbed-wire fence
stretched off to the left and right.  From the illumination of the
headlights, signs on the fence were visible that read PRIVATE PROPERTY.
KEEP OUT.  TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT. and EXTREME DANGER. 10,000 VOLTS.

Danica got out of the vehicle and punched in a code at a control pad next
to the gate.  The gate silently swung open.  The Army colonel got back in
the car and drove into the secret base.  Christina gulped as the gate
swung shut behind them.

After a few more minutes of driving, they came to a small tin shack.  
Inside, there was nothing but a set of stairs leading down.  At the 
bottom of the stairs, Danica flipped on a light switch, revealing that 
they were in an enormous basement.  For the first time, the five women
were together in a private, well-lit place.  They looked at each other
carefully, sizing each other up.

Danica, as the leader of the expedition, was fittingly the oldest woman
in the room, nearing forty (although she still looked youthful and sexy).
At 5'8" and 132 pounds, she was also the tallest.  She had shiny,
shoulder-length brown hair that was pulled back in a neat bun.

Angela was thirty years old and a sexy Southern beauty.  She was 5'7" and
135 pounds, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a deep tan.

Abby and Natalie were both 21 and the youngsters of the group.  Abby was
5'6" and 130 pounds, with long dark brown hair that went down to the 
middle of her back.  Natalie was slightly smaller at 5'5" and 120 pounds.
Her shoulder-length hair was exactly the same color as Abby's.

All four women had very well-toned, muscular, and feminine bodies.  
Although her body was as muscular, well-toned, and feminine as the 
others', Christina was still a little intimidated.  She was 29 years old, 
but her youthful face and long blonde hair made her look younger.  At 5'3"
and 120 pounds, she was also the shortest woman in the group. In addition,
for the others, killing was their profession, whether legitimately or
illegitimately.  She was just a businesswoman.

"All right," said Danica. "We don't have a lot of time, so let's get 
right to business.  We've all been introduced.  Christina here is our
client.  Her boyfriend, Paul, has been kidnapped by the Russian mob while
he was on a business trip to Moscow.  They demanded $10 million in ransom
and threatened to kill him if they didn't get the money within 72 hours.
Since that was about (she looked at her watch) six hours ago, we have 66
hours left.  Christina and I both believe there is a good chance that 
Paul will be killed anyway even if the ransom is delivered on time.  
Therefore, we've decided on a rescue mission.  I called the rest of you
here because if I tried to get the Army to rescue him, by the time we got
through all the red tape the deadline would have long passed.  Angela,
Natalie, Abby, I've read all your files..."

"Wait a minute," interrupted Abby. "We have *files*?!"

"Yes.  But that's not important right now," answered Danica. "What's 
important is that I've read your files and I know you're the best people 
for the job.  The five of us will be going in..."

"Wait," interrupted Natalie. "Five? Since when does the client go on the
mission? We can't carry passengers."

"Excuse me, but I won't be a passenger," said Christina. "I know as much
about weapons and hand-to-hand combat as anyone else in this room.  I can
take care of myself.  I'm not going to just sit here while my boyfriend 
is in danger."

"What-evah," said Natalie.  Danica scowled at her, not liking that
attitude.

"Now as I was saying before I was interrupted, *repeatedly* I might add,"
continued the colonel, "we'll be leaving tomorrow evening.  It's getting 
pretty late and we all need a good night's sleep.  Once we get to Russia, 
we'll have to work fast to beat the deadline and we may not have much 
time for sleeping.  We'll make preparations tomorrow.  There are bedrooms 
off the hall to the right."

The five women headed off to bed, Christina full of apprehension, Danica
still intensely focused, Angela cool and expressionless, Abby eager but
calm, and Natalie eager and excited.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast in a makeshift dining room, 
they got down to business.  Danica had already contacted her sources in
Russia about possible places the mobsters might be keeping Paul. "We've
narrowed it down to these three locations as the most likely.  They're 
known hideouts for the Russian mob, and they're all isolated places that
would be ideal for holding a prisoner.  I have blueprints of each of the
locations here." The colonel put some documents on the table. "When we
arrive, we'll split up to do reconnaissance on each of these places. Abby
and Natalie, you'll take this one here.  Angela and Christina, you'll do
this one.  I'll take this one alone, since it's the smallest."

Danica then pulled out a map of Moscow and marked each of the mobster 
hideouts on it. "I have a map for each team.  If you discover that Paul
is being held at your location, call the others and we'll be there as 
soon as we can.  If our reconnaissance fails to reveal the hostage's
location, we'll have to raid all three locations." She paused. "Are there
any questions?"

"What if we raid all three places and the hostage isn't at any of them?"
asked Angela.

"We'll cross that bridge when and if we come to it," Danica answered.
She continued, "Go over your blueprints with your partner.  Decide on a
game plan for recon and get it drilled into your heads good.  Then we'll
all get together and make plans of attack for raiding each location.  I
want each of you to know all of these places like you know your own house.
After that, we can start getting our supplies and weapons ready.  Decide
what weapons each of you wants to take.  There's an outdoor firing range
at this facility, so we can get some practice in before we leave.  We all
need to be very sharp.  A cargo plane will be landing at 6:00 this evening
to take us to Russia.  We need to be ready to drive to the base's airstrip
at 5:45.  We have a lot to do.  Let's get to it."

Christina stepped forward. "I...I just want to thank you all for doing
this.  I love Paul and I don't want to think about life without him." She
pulled out the envelope that Worth had given her. "Here's the money for 
the mission.  Split this four ways, or divide it however you usually do
these things.  I'm sorry that it's not more, but my boss and I had to grab
whatever cash we could on short notice.  No one else knows about this
mission.  Of course, no one would have had a problem with him using $10
million of company money to pay off the mobsters, but he uses less than
that to pay for a rescue...then the sensitive and whiny would be offended
if they found out.  Go figure." Angela nodded in understanding and 
agreement at that remark.

"This is my boss's and my own money," Christina continued, thinking that
the assassins were primarily motivated by money and looking for more 
reasons to justify the amount in the envelope. "We couldn't take the risk
risk of accounting finding that money's disappeared for a mysterious
purpose.  Anyway, we're both disgusted by embezzlers." At that remark Abby
and Natalie both nodded in understanding and agreement, remembering the
embezzler they had recently bumped off.

"It's not really about the money for me," said Natalie. "It's about the
thrill and the excitement."

"For me, it's about being the best at what we do, and being able to prove
it by utterly defeating our opponents," put in Abby.

"I'm motivated by the desire to take revenge against those who are truly
evil," said Angela. "Especially sexual predators."

Christina felt a small smile come to her attractive face.  She was very
different from these women, but there were similarities too.  In any case,
she hoped they could get along, work well together, kick some major
gangster ass, and rescue poor Paul.

The women then got to studying their blueprints.  Angela leaned over close
to Christina and touched her arm. "I know what you're going through," she
whispered. "My husband was murdered and I couldn't have any peace in my
dreams until I took revenge on the assholes who killed him.  That's how I
became an assassin in the first place." She paused. "I would have gone on
this mission for free."

Christina smiled at the other blonde and squeezed her hand. "Thank you," 
she whispered back.  She was especially glad to hear that from Angela 
because they would be working together.  She also wondered whether she
might have ended up like Angela if it had been Paul who had been murdered.
She would have certainly wanted vengeance, and could easily have been
driven to violent acts herself.  In fact, if the Russian mobsters killed
Paul, she might become...

"No," she thought. "I'm not going to think about that.  Not as long as 
Paul's still alive." She turned her attention back to the blueprints.

After they had finished their tactical planning, the five sexy women 
headed out to the shooting range.  Natalie gave Christina a small smile.
"Okay, Ms. Businesswoman, now's your chance to show us that you're as good
at shooting as those of us who are in the...different kind of business."

Christina smiled back.  She selected a .357 magnum revolver from the big
box of weapons and ammunition they had brought along.  She expertly loaded
the weapon, then positioned a target at thirty yards.  Taking careful aim,
she fired six shots in rapid succession.

When she was done, they all looked at the target. "Four in the ten zone,
two in the nine zone," said Natalie. "Impressive...for a civilian."

"Thanks," said Christina, not sure if it was a compliment but figuring 
that that was about as close to one as she'd get from someone like 
Natalie. "Let's see what *you* can do," she continued, confidence flowing 
through her now that she had proven herself to be a good shot.

Natalie smiled and held out her hand.  She loaded the revolver with the
same expertise that Christina had shown and positioned a new target at the
same distance.  She emptied the weapon into it, seemingly unbothered by 
the recoil despite her slender wrists.

Again the girls crowded around the target. "Five in the ten zone, one in
the nine zone," grinned Natalie, pumping her fist.  Turning serious, she
went on, "But you are pretty damn good too, Christina."

"Yeah," added Abby. "You're a better shot than about 99% of cops."
Christina blushed and thanked both girls.

The ladies had a fun time shooting various handguns, assault rifles, and
shotguns.  They made a bit of a friendly but intense competition out of
it.  Danica was revealed to be the best with handguns, but Abby was the
best markswoman with rifle and shotgun.

After they were done shooting, playful boasting about athletic prowess 
led to a tumbling contest, seeing who could do the most back handsprings
in a row.  Danica, at a disadvantage, being the oldest and tallest of the
women, still managed nine handsprings.  Abby did twelve and Natalie
thirteen.  Christina impressed them all by managing fourteen handsprings
in a row.  However, it was Angela, the ex-cheerleader, who won the
competition with an impressive sixteen.

The physical activities had helped the women bond and they shared jokes
and work stories over lunch.  After the meal was over, Danica went over
some common Russian words and phrases.

The sun slowly moved lower in the sky as the girls continued with their
preparations.  Christina took a break to talk to Danica.

"Thanks for organizing all this," she said to the colonel. "This means so
much to me."

"No problem," Danica replied. "I can only imagine how I'd feel if my
husband or my daughter was kidnapped." She paused and looked around, 
seeing that the others were busy. "I'm glad to see everyone's getting 
along decently enough," she said in a low voice. "I was worried about 
bringing so many clashing personalities together.  I'm an Army officer 
and not a referee.  Even in my capacity as a mom.  My daughter's an only 
child, so I've never even had to deal with squabbling siblings.  But even
though we may be different, I think we have enough in common that we can
work together very well.  I really think this mission is going to work."

As the afternoon shadows got longer, the ladies changed into their combat
clothes, each packed a small bag for their personal things, and readied
their weapons and ammo.  Danica called her husband and daughter to say
that she was going on a secret and dangerous mission. (Abby, Natalie, and
Angela were all comfortably single). At 5:45, the women, armed, beautiful, 
and dangerous, headed out of the building for the ride to the airstrip.

Danica was dressed in camoflauge pants and top and military boots, though
she wore no rank or other insignia.  Not for this mission.  Her brown hair
was tied back in its ubiquitous bun.  She carried an M-16 assault rifle 
and a 9mm pistol.

Christina wore dark jeans and a black T-shirt that was tight enough to 
make the shape of even her small breasts stand out distinctly.  Her long
blonde hair was in a bun like Danica's.  She was armed with a 12-gauge
shotgun and the .357 revolver that she had fired earlier.

Angela wore tight black shorts that showed off her amazing cheerleader's
legs, and a black top that had the sleeves rolled up to show her muscular
forearms.  Her shoulder-length blonde hair was in a ponytail.  She had an
AK-47 assault rifle, along with her elegant knife (the one she had used to
kill the serial rapist).

Abby and Natalie both wore tight black pants and black tank tops that 
displayed their well-toned biceps.  Abby's long brown hair was ponytailed,
while Natalie's shoulder-length brown hair was left free.  Abby was armed
with a semi-automatic sniper rifle and a combat knife, not as elegant as
Angela's but just as deadly.  Natalie had an Uzi submachine gun and a
crossbow.  In response to Christina's inquiring looks at the unorthodox
weapon, she had said, "This baby shoots poisoned arrows.  Hit someone in
the big toe and they're dead in two seconds." Abby wore ordinary black
sneakers, but Natalie had on a pair of knee-high black Sarah Palin style
boots.

Soon, the cargo plane landed.  The girls climbed aboard and the plane
quickly turned around and took off again.  Danica alone spoke briefly with
the pilot and co-pilot.  It was clear that this was a 'talk as little as
possible to others' type of mission.  As the aircraft headed off into the 
darkening sky, each woman felt a surge of excitement run through her.  
They were all eager to kick some ass.

TO BE CONTINUED...