Fury Saga              by: Darkside

 

The Fury Directive

BOOK Ib. The Opening.

 

"Cathline wake up will you? Come on girl, fight it!" Tina called out to Cathline.

Cathline stirred and stared back at Tina. The bleeding around her eyeless socket had eased but the look of fury and anger had not. Tina could almost feel the anger emanating from Cathline, as if it could reach out and strike down those who’d wronged her. Cathline managed to say to Tina "I don’t want or need your fucking platitudes, don’t call me girl! And I assure you I have every intention of fighting it to my last breath."

"Hey sorry, I was only trying to help," Tina said back.

Cathline regained some strength and managed to stand upright once more. "I just want you to know that you cannot replace Kat. She treated me with dignity and respect. You treat me as though I’m some poor innocent crime victim who you need to protect. Besides when Kat gets back she’ll rescue us."

Tina looked on in pity. The pain and stress had driven Cathline to the point of delirium. Tina looked away and said nothing in return.

"What’s up cop? Cat got your tongue? You are the most irritating woman I’ve ever met. You treat no one with respect, the only job you think worth doing is your own. Who the hell got in your craw to make you like this?"

"That’s my own business. I just want to say you still look beautiful. With a patch you’d look mighty sexy too," Tina tried to calm Cathline down.

"Tina, shut the fuck up. The sooner they come to fuck me the better, at least I’ll have something else to think about."

"Cathline, getting bitter and angry about it won’t help. If we’re to get out of this we’ll need to team up. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you in some way but you’ll have to take me as I am. Since you’ve been honest to me I’ll be frank with you. I think you’re a stuck up bitch who’s holier than thou attitude really pisses me off. I know I’m not your beloved Kat but if she were here she’d tear so many strips off you, you could use them in Vegas. Dr Bexley has to be stopped and brought to justice but standing there just getting angry isn’t going to help. When you first awoke here you gave me some good advice. Wait and we’ll see what turns up. We’ve still got Scott and Marcel to find, they’ll either need our help or help us out. Look why don’t we call a truce?"

"You know what?" Cathline managed to say.

"Tell me?"

Cathline managed a wry smile "You sounded just like Kat just then—maybe you’re not so bad after all."

"For a stuck up bitch you’re not so bad either," Tina smiled back.

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps.

Both women froze as the bulky figure of Osman walked down the steps.

"I’m glad to see you ladies are getting on so well. Cathline I’ve got a present for you," Osman said reaching into his pocket.

Cathline looked on as Osman pulled out an ornate eye-patch. He walked over and with his large, rough hand held Cathline’s head still. With the other hand he put the eye-patch on so that it covered over Cathline’s ruined eye. Osman took a step back and took a look at Cathline and said "Much better, Now I have some entertainment for you."

o - o - o -

Senator Jameson eyed the ball and relaxed his shoulders. Concentrating hard, he swung his 5 iron in a smooth practised motion. He kept his eyes on the ball as it sailed into the air and landed in the middle of a large patch of trees. "Fuck," he swore.

President Andrews laughed and said, "Come on now Walter, you don’t have to let the president win."

Senator Jameson glared back and said, "Help me look will you?"

"Sure." President Jameson said and motioned to the secret service agents to assist as well. The agents sprinted into the wooded area to help while Senator Jameson and the president strolled towards the woods.

"Say Walter, what really went on between your secretary and you the other week?"

"I told you, I’ll be willing to show you the numbers tomorrow. Say, I think the ball went into that thick patch of bushes over there," Senator Jameson said.

"Are you sure? I didn’t think you hit it that hard. Oh well it won’t hurt to look," the president replied.

A single member of the secret service detail stayed with the president as the rest of them went to ensure the woods were clear .A short while later Senator Jameson and the president ventured inside the small copse of bushes. Senator Jameson concentrated hard and felt a small talon grow from his finger. He pointed down to the ground and called "Hey bob, I think it’s here."

The president stopped looking where he was and walked over to where Senator Jameson stood. "I don’t see anything," he said.

In a motion too quick for the eye to follow Senator Jameson had stabbed the president in the neck with his talon. The president stared in horror before collapsing onto the floor. Senator Jameson stripped off his clothes, and as he did so his body started to melt and reform. He only had a few seconds to do this before the secret service arrived. Quickly stripping the president’s body of it’s clothing he felt the last of his changes complete. Now looking like an identical copy of the fallen president he turned his attention to the body on the floor. It started to change, legs changing, flesh rippling and face changing. Within a few seconds the body on the floor resembled that of Senator Jameson. Quickly dressing the body in his cast off clothing he took one last look around, checking all was set. The secret service agent who had followed them into the bushes gave a single fingered salute to the new ‘president’ before rushing off to find help. The new president cleared his throat and shouted, "Quick, Help I think the Senators had a heart attack."

o - o - o -

Salah touched down at a small airstrip just outside Phoenix, Arizona. Walking down the ramp of his Lear jet he was met by a gleaming white Cadillac limo. Collecting his bags, he got into the rear seat and closed the door behind him. The driver turned to Salah and said "Welcome my master, where do you want to go today?"

"Take me to Osman. I need to see him urgently," Salah replied.

"I obey. How goes our cause?" the driver asked.

"Our cause goes well. Nearly twenty percent of the Guild follows me now. That fool Hassan will only destroy us. He should have stepped down because of his failure to procure the DNA system."

The driver started the engine and drove smoothly away. Turning on the intercom the driver said, "Then we move soon?"

"Not yet. The time is not yet right, we still have much to plan and more allies to gain. My agents in Australia will make moves to recruit Dr Bexley. She would be a powerful ally."

"But she is loyal to Hassan. She will not turn, she owes him too much."

"We will see. I think Hassan’s hold on her is less than he thinks. She is like a Cobra inside a basket. Hassan thinks he has the lid on firmly. It is my job to ensure that it comes off and releases the Cobra when he least expects it."

"I see," the driver said.

Salah sat back and relaxed, it would be a long drive to the Guilds US headquarters. He reflected on the words he’d just spoken to the driver. He just hoped Dr Bexley would in fact turn on Hassan, the whole scheme relied on it.

o - o - o -

Cathline was released from the chains and given a purple silk outfit. She bent down and put it on, looking for all intents and purposes like some kind of belly dancer. Tina too was released and thrown a blue silk outfit of the same design. She was about to resist but a glance from Cathline warned her otherwise. Two guards joined Osman and they escorted Cathline and Tina up the steps and into a long corridor. Cathline was still exhausted from having to fight the pain but Tina helped her along. Osman walked behind them, and Cathline could feel the lust for her burning within him as he walked behind. Cathline shivered in fear, knowing only too well what was going to happen next.

A hundred meters along, they stopped outside a viewing gallery. Osman bade them sit down on the row of chairs in front of a plate glass window Peering thru the glass they saw two surgical beds with two large TV screens in front of them. Tina gasped in horror as she noticed Scott and Marcel strapped firmly in. Several tubes ran from their arms and into IV’s mounted on stands along one side of the bed. Looking closely Tina could see that Scott and Marcel were unconscious.

Osman stood along side them and said "Don’t they look peaceful. This is a new game for me but my esteemed colleague Dr Bexley assures me this will work and be very entertaining as well. Your friends down there have had changeling organs grown inside them. However they are a special kind of organ. They will work only once before deactivating themselves. Of course they will continue to manufacture the drug required, keeping the body in that shape. No getting around this type of fixer, or so Dr Bexley tells me."

Tina strained her head and thought she detected a small movement from Scott.

"Yes my dear they will awake soon. Dr Bexley tells me that the changeling organ works by thought and whatever the changeling thinks of then the organ will make them become it. This is an experiment. I will play several of your pornographic movies to them. As they become aroused by these movies it will stimulate the changeling organs inside them. Dr Bexley also informs me that part of lust is the desire to possess the object you lust after. Unfortunately for your friends down there their lust will cause them to change into the item they are lusting after."

Tina gasped "No, you can’t do that. That’s horrible!"

Osman ran his finger down Tina’s face and Tina flinched away. Osman paused for a moment and then said "I’m not going to do anything to them. They are going to do it to themselves. Don’t worry, they won’t transform all at once it’ll take at least three days. Dr Bexley wants to get meaningful data from them."

"You bastard!" spat Cathline.

"Yes I am actually. I was abandoned by my parents and left in the street to die. I stole for food until a member of the Guild found me and brought me up. BUT enough of this, look they are about to wake up?"

Tina shouted out "Scott don’t look at the screens," but the glass was too thick for him to hear.

Scott awoke feeling as though he’d gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson.

His limbs ached, his arms ached and his stomach felt as weird as hell.

He managed to turn his head to see Marcel lying on a nearby bed.

"Hey Marcel you ok?" Scott managed to say.

Marcel tried to turn his head towards Scott but said nothing.

"What’s with the big TV screens?" Scott called out.

Marcel, now more awake turned to look at the large screen in front of his bed.

Up on the viewing gallery Osman looked at the waking men below. Turning to Cathline he said, "Good they are awake. Now the fun begins."

o - o - o -

The guard let Elizabeth back into her lab with the minimum amount of fuss. Closing the door behind her, Elizabeth looked into the brightly-lit room. Her tank was still in the corner, the water now dirty and gray looking. Being a mermaid wasn’t so bad when she could enjoy the ocean but here it was torture. Being unable to escape from her watery prison, it had nearly driven her mad. She walked over to the bed where she’d examined Kat. Elizabeth thought back to the struggle Kat had put up until she had, finally accepted her fate.

Elizabeth pressed a button on a console and two doors slid back, revealing a secondary room. She looked up and to her horror saw that her DNA system had been removed. Swearing to herself, she walked into the space where the DNA system used to be. Panic rising up inside her, she rushed to a nearby cabinet and opened it. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw a small bottle with a yellowish liquid inside. Taking it she stuffed it into her pocket and continued to investigate.

"Where did I put it?" she said to herself as she rummaged thru a set of draws. At last she pulled out a passport and drivers license in the name of "Jane Stephens" and put them in her pocket as well.

Elizabeth heard a sound behind her and whirled around. "Hassan what you doing here?" she demanded.

"I might ask the same thing. There is nothing here for you Dr Bexley. Show me what you have just taken," Hassan demanded, a look of suspicion, doubt and being betrayed on his face.

"In a moment. What the Fuck have you done with MY DNA system?"

Elizabeth demanded.

"SHOW ME," Hassan snarled back.

Not wishing to anger Hassan any further Elizabeth reached into her pockets and pulled out the Passport and bottle of liquid."

"What are those?" Hassan asked.

Elizabeth looked as though she’d been wrongly accused of something and said, "I’m taking these to help in my darling Matthew’s conversion. He still loves Kat, even though she is dead. To fully turn him we need to break him of that. When he is the middle of our drug-induced stupor I will appear to him as Kat and make him think that his love of Kat was only some perverse illusion. The drivers licence is proof if he demands it and the liquid is some of Kat’s cells in suspension. As you know to make an exact copy requires a copy of the DNA. When I turn into a facsimile of a person I’m only superficially them, inside I’m still me. That’s why a changeling prefers to use a talon of some description before switching. The talon enables the DNA to be copied via blood transfer. Kat is gone so I can’t use that method and Matthew would spot a poor copy a mile off."

Hassan thought for a moment and then looked satisfied. He turned and went to walk out. A thought struck him and he turned to face Elizabeth once more.

"Dr Bexley, your attitude is changing towards me. Once you were subservient to me, now you treat me as an equal. I am not your equal! I am your master. Once you joined the Guild you joined for life. You are the first woman to ever be allowed to do so. This isn’t some American club you subscribe to and then leave at the nearest whim. IF you leave it is because I wish it. I would suggest you think on our capabilities and your attitude. There are many among us who see you as a danger to us. I am not yet among them, pray I never join them." Hassan turned and left.

Elizabeth put the license and bottle back in her pocket and taking a last look around left the laboratory.

o - o - o -

"Your paper Prime Minister," Inspector Jones said, handing today’s copy of the Times to the Prime Minister.

"Thank you Inspector. That’ll be all," the Prime Minister replied.

Inspector Jones nodded and left the room.

The Prime Minister sat down and started to read the foreign office briefings. A few reports gave him cause for concern. Firstly the Israeli’s were getting jumpy again. Apparently they’d moved two whole armored divisions to the Egyptian border. The diplomatic language said they were on exercise but as everyone knew they were warning Egypt about something. Of course in response Egypt had sent eight of its armored and infantry divisions on similar exercises and tensions in the region had once again been raised.

Looking down to another column he saw that Senator Walter Jameson had had a heart attack. The president was going to have a full state funeral with full honors for his friend.

Picking up his copy of ‘The Times’ he noticed that it contained most of what he’d just read in his briefings. He smiled to himself as he thought that all the foreign office did was paraphrase what was in the newspapers and on the TV. He knew the American State Department did, or rather President Andrews told him they did. I guess the media did rule the world after all.

Scanning down the page he noticed that Rachel Martin, her agent, Matthew Stephens, and two police officers from the NYPD had gone missing. Some kind of commando style kidnap. No demands had been made as yet and only the untimely death of the senator had removed the story from the front pages of the American press. He noted that even the Times had resorted to speculation on her fate. Their correspondent reckoned that Dr Bexley had made a comeback and that this was her revenge. None of that bothered the Prime Minister as he put the paper down and continued with his paperwork.

Several hours later the Cabinet Secretary, Sir James Hacker came in and informed the Prime Minister that it was time to leave for his constituency. Placing all the documents inside his ministerial red box. He left 10 Downing street and got into a government black Jaguar along side two other special branch officers.

Inspector David Jones sat down in the drivers seat and closed the door. Unlike the American way of providing a full motorcade to protect it’s VIP’s the British have decided on a more discrete form of protection. Usually two or three unmarked police vehicles head and tail the Prime Ministers car. It’s their job to ensure that no car gets alongside or passes them. Should trouble arise then special branch can be at the site within minutes.

At 2am the traffic was very light and it took scarcely half an hour to get out of London and onto the freeway, the black Jaguar and its Rover escorts mixing in with the rest of the traffic. The Prime Minister’s car and escorts had just passed Cambridge when the police car behind him shot alongside to prevent another car from overtaking. The Prime Minister looked behind him and said to inspector Jones "Everything Ok?"

"Of course. Just a precautionary measure, just relax sir," one of the other protection officers said.

The car that had tried to overtake dropped back and the police car pulled back behind the Prime Minister’s car. Suddenly there was a loud explosion from the trailing police car and it erupted into flame. The Prime minister was shocked to find that instead of speeding away the car was slowing down. Inspector what the hell is going on?" the Prime Minster demanded

"Sorry sir. We must have got a puncture."

"But these tyres are.."

The PM’s sentence was cut off by another loud explosion from the police car in front. Instinctively he ducked down as bullets impacted the armored glass. Inspector Jones slammed on the brakes and put the car into a sideways slide and stopped.

The car that had been following stopped also, as did a small Renault in front. Within seconds four men from each car had leaped out and surrounded the Prime Ministers car. Before they had reached it the other special branch officers inside the car had jumped out and were returning fire at the approaching men killing two of them instantly. One of the special branch officers noticed that the bodies seemed to melt and dissolve away, however the sound of bullets impacting the armored door of the Jaguar dragged him away from his analysis.

"Stay here, I’ll take the PM," Inspector Jones said to the others. They nodded their agreement and set up a defensive ring around the car. The PM lay flat on the carpeted floor of his Jaguar with Inspector Jones on top. A small talon grew out from Inspector Jones finger and the PM cried out as it jabbed into his neck, and then he went quiet. The firing ceased and a masked face appeared at the door. It gave a single fingered salute and then stood on guard by the car.

Closing the door of the Jaguar Inspector Jones proceeded to strip the unconscious body of the PM, while his own body started to change. Looking back a few seconds later he saw with some satisfaction that the PM had started to change into a duplicate of the late inspector. A minute or so later the new PM had switched clothes with the body on the floor. The new PM gave a signal to his comrade and they both dragged the unconscious body of the PM out of the car. One of the masked men stood some distance away before putting a bullet thru the late Prime Ministers head. The whole ambush, switch and gunning down of the escort had taken a total of four minutes.

A minute later multiple police cars with armed officers on board were rushing to the scene. The six gunmen who were left adopted a defensive position around each of their cars and proceeded to open fire at the incoming police.

It was a one sided battle however and the heavily outnumbered the gunmen surrendered. However as soon as the police closed in each gunman collapsed and started to dissolve into a red liquid on the floor. A very shaken PM was soon surrounded by police officers and explained that Inspector Jones was a hero. He’d used himself as a shield in order to protect the PM and had been shot just as the police arrived.

In a matter of moments the Prime Minster was hustled inside another police Rover and driven away from harm. A red fluid trickled under the wheels of the bullet riddled Jaguar, the only remains of the masked men who had attempted to assassinate the British Prime Minster.

o - o - o -

Hassan sat at his desk and read the reports of the latest set of changeling infiltration’s. He was especially proud of the British switch. It had cost the lives of eight of his elite assassins but it was well worth the effort. Now the British would increase security around their Prime Minister and thus give additional security to the changeling impostor. No trace of the bodies of his forces would be found, only a thick red organic residue. He knew that it would be identical in nature to the effects of his DNA warhead but that was part of the plan also. Britain would link the two events together and thus be even more likely to take sides against the enemy.

He thought back to his conversation with Dr Bexley. She seemed very guilty when questioned about the equipment she’d taken from her lab. Her explanation was a good one however, and may even have been true. The doctor overseeing Matthews’s conversion would confirm her story of course. If it proved to be a lie, then the good doctor would find herself in Osman’s capable hands.

A buzzer sounded on the videophone and Hassan Keyed in the required encryption key. A young face, with unkempt brown hair and glasses was on screen. "Yes!" Hassan demanded.

"Master Hassan. We need to replicate the Guild database from this site to the others around the world. I need you to enter your personal encryption code to allow the data transfer to continue."

Hassan sighed, "Do you have to do it now. I need all the network capacity I can get at the moment."

"Sorry master but yes. Your policy of information backup in case of disaster requires it. We haven’t updated our records since the new network went on line. The transfer will be done piece by piece, data packet by data packet. We’ll slip it into the global communications network. Nobody will notice small amounts of data from seemingly random sources. Even if they did the 128 bit encryption we obtained from out American friends will prevent it from being viewed."

"Go ahead. How long?"

"Around six hours."

"Proceed! Hassan out."

Hassan leaned back in his chair and pondered. Things were much simpler when his father was in charge. Now the Guild was as much about technology as it was about it’s other work. Still giving each ‘root’ as Dr Bexley called it a stand-alone capability was a valuable tool. Each root now had it’s own copy of the complete Guild archives and could function as though it was the main headquarters. Contingency for the plan required such methods. Should the Americans, British, French, Russian or Chinese find out what had happened, the Guild would need its roots to survive. Of course the ‘incident’ would divert world attention away from the Guild and towards its more benign neighbor. Hassan checked his watch. Dr Bexley should have landed in Australia by now. How she behaved with Matthew would determine if she lived or died.

o - o - o -

The TV screens in front of Scott and Marcel burst into life. Scott stared at the screen wondering what they were going to show, some kind of brainwashing program, Seinfeld, or something more insidious. Instead the screen showed a busty, blonde woman walking into her bedroom. She took her skirt off to reveal her long shapely legs. She walked over to the bed and pulled the sheets back only to find another equally busty woman with long black hair, the woman was wearing a black Basque and garters.

Scott almost laughed out loud. They were showing him cheap porn movies. What the hell did they expect to get out of him by showing him those? Still it helped pass the time and they were particularly bad movies.

The blonde woman on screen started to unbutton her blouse. She slowly removed it to reveal her large, perfectly formed breasts. She carefully took off her bra and dropped it on the floor. The woman in the bed got up and kissed her fully on the lips. In response the blonde woman pulled her close and ran her fingers down the other woman’s back. The camera zoomed into the blonde woman’s legs until they filled the screen

Subconsciously Scott became aroused at the sight of the blonde woman’s legs. He saw how their shape curved from thigh to ankle and how her knee formed a perfect join between her calf and thigh. He felt his cock starting to swell and his own legs start to ache.

His attention was distracted away from the movie showing on screen by the strange sensations in his legs. He managed to look down and see that the flesh was reforming and rippling. He tried to stop it but nothing worked. He noticed that his skin was smoother on his legs and that all the hair had fallen out. His thighs changed shape and became much more curved and less muscular. He couldn’t see all the way down to his ankles but his feet were smaller.

In horror he turned away and stared at Marcel. The skin on Marcel’s arms was rippling and his arms were becoming much less muscular and more dainty. Marcel was staring at his hands as the nails on them grew and his fingers lengthened. Marcel now had very female arms.

Scott turned away and stared at his new legs. As far as he could tell they too were very feminine and very seductive, just like the ones on screen a few moments before. A thought struck him and he let out a loud scream.

From the viewing gallery Tina and Cathline had watched the whole thing in horror. Osman stood over them watching the proceedings with interest. Tina couldn’t help but notice the bulge in Osman’s trousers as the change had progressed. Tina turned away and shuddered.

Osman turned to Cathline and said, "See! Dr Bexley was right. I must say his choice in legs is very fine. I’ll give them a chance to recover before progressing onwards. It’s best to take your time, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Now Ladies if you’ll follow me. it’s your turn to give me some fun."

o - o - o -

"How are we today, Dr Bexley?" the doctor asked.

"I’m fine. When do I get out here?" Matthew said. Although deep down he KNEW he wasn’t really Dr Bexley it seemed best at the moment to make out as if he was.

"When you’re better. You know I’m not convinced that you fully remember your identity. I think you’re shamming in order to stop the electro-shock therapy," the doctor said sternly.

Matthew put on a hurt face "Oh no doctor. I’m really Dr Bexley I know that now."

"Hmm You are a poor liar Dr Bexley," the doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out his remote.

"No doctor. I’m better, I really am," Matthew started to panic.

"We shall see," the doctor said and walked out, placing the remote on a nearby bedside table.

Matthew waited alone in the darkness. It was a dangerous game he was playing, he could see that. Part of him was starting to think that maybe he really was Dr Bexley and that the doctor was right. However he clung to Kat’s memory and the good times they’d had together. Kat had kept him going. He allowed himself to drift off into the hazy daydream state that had been creeping up on him for the past few hours.

On the other side of the wall the doctor watched the sleeping figure of Matthew. He turned and saw a woman with black hair and bright green eyes walking towards him. The woman didn’t so much walk as slink and her nurse’s uniform showed off her shapely body. The doctor estimated that she was around 5’7 and in her late twenties. The woman walked closer to him and said "Hello Doctor. My name is Dr Elizabeth Bexley. How’s my twin sister?"

The doctor looked startled for a moment and then replied "He’s doing fine. He’s telling us what he thinks we want to hear, although he doesn’t yet believe it himself. I thought he was supposed to look like you?"

"I know him very well. In fact I’ve loved him for years. He’s clinging onto the memory of his dead wife. That’s what’s keeping him going. Once we break that he will be much easier to condition. His dead wife Kat is the single domino. When we push it over his whole psyche will follow. The body I’m wearing is in the form of his wife. I trust he’s drugged enough for me to do my work?"

"Yes he is. A masterly plan if I might say so," the doctor said, full of admiration.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said and went inside the room.

Matthew was awake and on seeing Elizabeth, as ‘Kat’ walk into the room shouted out "Kat, You’re alive. I knew they hadn’t really killed you!"

‘Kat’ walked over to the bed and in Matthew’s confused state just seemed to drift there. ‘Kat’ turned to him and said "Who’s Kat?. My name is Louise. I was the nurse who gave you first aid at your wedding?"

Matthew shook his head "No you’re Kat, My wife. What have they done to you? I missed you so much, every day I wanted to feel your touch, to hear your voice, to see you laugh Oh! Kat how much I’ve missed you!"

"The doctor said that you are sometimes delusional. Dr Bexley what you’re experiencing is classic transference. Because I helped you, you now think that I’m a close friend or even lover. This is the first time I’ve met you since you woke up."

Matthew was confused. What was Kat playing at? "Kat, please listen to me. It’s me, Matthew."

‘Kat’ walked over to the remote, still lying on a bedside table. Picking it up she said, "The doctor said you could still be shamming. This will make sure."

"No Kat please. I love you," Matthew screamed.

‘Kat’ pressed the button and saw Matthews body arc in pain. Matthew cried out "Kat stop it," but the pain continued.

"Dr Bexley, Who is Kat?"

"Kat is my wife. She’s, you’re standing in front of me"

"Wrong answer," ‘Kat’ said and pressed the button once more. Under her breath ‘Kat’ whispered "I’m so sorry my love. Soon it’ll be over, don’t fight it."

Matthew cried out as the pain shot thru his very being.

"WHO IS KAT?"

"Kat is the only woman I have ever loved."

"Dr Bexley why do you keep deluding yourself. Kat doesn’t exist. My name is Louise Webb," ‘Kat’ replied, pressing the button once more.

A howling scream came from Matthew’s lips and once the pain had subsided Matthew managed to say, "I love her, I love Kat."

"Dr Bexley, you love Matthew Stephens. Kat is someone you made up.

WHO IS KAT?" ‘Kat’ pressed the button once more.

Tears ran down Matthew’s face as every nerve in his body felt as though it was on fire. His head swam with the effects of the drugs and conditioning "I.. Love. Kat," he managed to say.

"Dr Bexley, if I press this button a few more times then you could be killed. Now Is KAT real?" ‘Kat’ said, pressing the button hard.

Another scream "yes," Matthew shouted.

"IS KAT REAL?"

A louder scream "YES!"

"IS KAT REAL?"

The scream erupted from Matthew’s mouth and stopped as Matthew’s larynx dried up.

"IS KAT REAL?" ‘Kat’ demanded.

Matthew shook his head softly and whispered "No. I made her up. I love Matthew Stephens."

"See Dr Bexley, that wasn’t so bad after all. Now let me see if the doctor will allow you some water." ‘Kat’ said softly, and she began to stroke his hair with her hands.

Matthew’s whole body ached, his head throbbed and his throat was parched. Deep down he knew Kat was real or at least he thought she might be real. It didn’t matter anyway. He imagined himself in bed with Kat, as she used to be when he first met her. She was stroking his hair and whispering sweet nothings into his ear. Matthew relaxed and drifted away again. A single word seemed to be repeated over and over. ‘Failsafe’ this and ‘Failsafe’ that. Now Matthew was drifting in a sea of contentment and he felt himself get lighter and lighter. He imagined his body floating off the bed and then slowly sinking back down again, but this time into some one else’s body. The name of that person was Dr Elizabeth Anne Bexley. It seemed so homely there that Matthew decided to stay a while.

o - o - o -

Two Guild guards led a shocked Tina and Cathline away from the gallery. Cathline was looking more distressed with every step. Her face showing every bit of the pain she must be feeling. Tina was just stunned. She had always felt as though the events in Fury were an exaggeration, that she could have done better. She realised that she was just as helpless as Cathline, and it pissed her off. She tried not to think about what was being done to Scott and Marcel. What the hell would Rebecca say when Scott came back as a woman? Osman’s evil made her shudder; it made the mailman look like a rank amateur.

They were taken to their dungeon and chained back onto the wall. The guards left the room, leaving Tina and Cathline alone.

"Cathline you ok?" Tina whispered

"If you ask if I’m ok anymore I’ll punch you," Cathline spat.

"What’s up with you?"

"Sorry, just that this brings it all back up again. I mean poor Marcel, your partner too. Funny thing is that this doesn’t look like Liz’s work. I mean she’s evil, cunning beyond words and probably the most dangerous woman on the planet but this isn’t her style. I’m surprised that we haven’t seen her yet. Oh my God! Matthew, what the fuck is she doing to him?"

"I’ve no idea. All I know is that my partner’s down there, slowly turning into a woman, and I’m helpless to stop it!"

"There’s nothing you can do. You’ve just got to hope that he’s strong enough to resist."

o - o - o -

Scott stared down at the shapely legs he now possessed. How the fuck was this happening he thought. Of course that damned Bexley woman. But who was the man at the viewing window and what was he going to do with Rachel Martin and Tina. Before he could get his answer the TV screens flicked on and a woman was slowly and sensuously undressing. Her black, silk teddy was tight against her firm body. Scott could see every muscle in her toned body and her shape was heavenly.

The woman reached down to her crotch and undid the teddy. Suddenly pain shot thru Scott and he passed out.

Marcel stared at the screen both in dread and fascination. The woman undid her garter belt and stretched out her long limbs. The muscle tone on her legs and thighs was perfect and their shape was emphasised by the black garters she wore. Sensation shot thru Marcel and his legs started to shake and quiver. He cried out in anguish. He knew exactly what was going to happen next.

o - o - o -

The white limo drew up to the gates of a large ranch. On seeing the car the armed guards at the gate opened them and the car drove inside. A mile further on the car drew up to the house and waited. A few moments later Osman opened the door and waited for Salah to get out of the car.

"It’s good to see you again my brother," Osman said, giving him a large hug.

"It’s good to be here. This is quite an operation we have here. I don’t recall being here for a while, most impressive."

"Thank you. Why has Hassan sent you here? He said something about needing some help?"

"He wanted me to prepare things here in case things went offline in Libya. All hell will break loose after the ‘incident’ and he wants to be prepared for all eventualities."

"I see. What has he told you of his plans?"

"Not much, only that he plans to use genetic warheads on an unknown target. After that Hassan has his secrets."

"Good. It’s important we know what are out goals are. Come, let me show me my latest additions."

"Yes, I’ve heard you have collected Rachel Martin. The American news is going crazy over it."

"I see you know about her. Good! I’ll let you be the first man to have her. My present to you."

"Osman, You needn’t. I’m sure Hassan would prefer it if she wasn’t soiled."

"Thank you for your concern but Rachel Martin is my property now. I can do with her as I wish. I will take it as a great insult and see it as evidence that your loyalties are not all for us if you do not take this gift."

Salah sighed and went inside.

A few minutes later Osman paused outside of a viewing gallery and pointed downwards. "Look, see how my experiment is going."

Salah looked down and saw two strange looking figures strapped down onto two beds. A large TV was playing some erotic movie and the figures faces were transfixed to the screens. Both figures were male but one had a woman’s body and legs, the other had very shapely legs and dainty arms.

Salah thought for a moment and then whispered something into Osman ear.

Osman chuckled and said "Oh yes my friend. I like it. I like it a great deal," slapping Salah on the back he led him down to the dungeon.

Salah walked down the stairs into a dimly lit room, two figures were chained to the wall. The tall beautiful one’s head hung low and she was clearly still in pain. The smaller one glared at him in anger.

"The smaller one, has a lot of spirit. She’ll soon learn otherwise unless she wants to follow her companion’s fate." Osman said.

"Which is?"

Osman walked over to Cathline and pulled her head upright. Salah recoiled at the sight of the eye-patch over her once perfect face. "You didn’t?" he asked.

"My justice is for life. Now I’ll leave you alone for a while to enjoy your gift. I will know if you have enjoyed her." Osman said and walked out of the room.

Salah looked around and spotted the camera and microphone mounted on the wall above. He then went over to the sullen Cathline. Cathline looked up at Salah and when he was in range spat in his face. Salah just wiped it away and moved closer to the chained Cathline.

"Hey! Fuck me instead you bastard, leave her alone," Tina shouted at Salah.

Salah ignored her and grabbing Cathline’s face kissed her on the lips. His tongue forced it’s way into her mouth. While his hand reached down and touched her HERE and THERE. Cathline’s eyes went wide and then she responded by opening her legs wide.

Salah whispered to Cathline "When the time is right I’ll get you out.

Trust me. Not a word or even a thought to anyone though. SHHH!"

"Cathline what the fuck are you doing?" Tina shouted.

Salah pulled away for a moment and Cathline stared back. She stood upright and motioned for Salah to continue. Salah gently stroked Cathline’s erect nipple and over onto her warm, firm breasts. Cathline let out a moan of pleasure as Salah caressed her clitoris and she could feel herself moisten and become wet.

Salah then undid his pants revealing his erect cock. Cathline’s face was flushed with pleasure "More, More "she whispered. Salah drew close pushing his dick into her moist pussy. He let out a sigh as he felt her pussy close around it. He stared into the once perfect but now flawed face, it was looking back at him in lust. He placed one arm around her naked back and ran his had down her spine.

Cathline shivered in pleasure and she went to try and kiss him back but the chains held her tight. Salah pushed Cathline against the wall and began to kiss her perfect breasts. Cathline’s arousal grew until she was on fire for him. She felt her sex grow ever more moist and warm and her body felt a wave of pleasure wash over her.

Cathline spread her legs wide, offering herself to Salah. Salah undid his pants and pulled out his erect cock. Grabbing Cathline he pulled her close and pushed his dick into Cathline’s waiting pussy.

Cathline moaned and grabbed Salah’s back, pulling him further into her. Salah kissed Cathline’s neck and thrust himself deeper into her. Cathline responded with a loud moan and started to move Salah even deeper into herself. After a seemingly endless series of thrusts, each more pleasurable and erotic than the last Cathline felt a warm wet feeling inside her. Salah relaxed and gave Cathline an affectionate kiss on the check, "Later," he whispered.

After he had come Salah did up his pants, gave a single fingered salute to Cathline and went upstairs.

Cathline lay back. Glowing after her session with Salah. She looked at Tina and smiled.

"Hey what the hell was that all about? You looked as though you were enjoying yourself. I know you told me that we had to look as though we were enjoying it but that was taking things a little too far. After that kiss you wanted him to fuck you," Tina screamed, outraged at Cathline’s attitude.

"I know and yes I’d let him fuck me again. When they treat you gently and with love it’s not so bad," Cathline said nodding towards the camera on the wall.

"How so? It’s still rape."

"Not if you want the person to screw you it’s not."

Tina’s face grew angry "You’ve changed your tune. SLUT!"

"For him I’d be a slut anytime."

"You really are strange, Cathline Richards. One minute you’re hating every moment and in agony. The next you’re waiting for your new boyfriend."

"I don’t have to explain myself or my motives to you. All I’ll say is that you’ll soon be as glad to see him again as I will."

o - o - o -

The monitor beeped on Hassan’s console and Hassan answered it.

"Hassan here."

"Hello Hassan, Dr Bexley here. I just want to thank you for giving me Matthew. Do you have any further use for me for the next few weeks? I’d like to get married as soon as I can."

"No, I think we need to test the changeling organs further but we don’t need you to assist in this. Providing Matthew Stephens, or should I say ‘Dr Bexley’ for you was my pleasure. You’ve served me very well, enjoy your wedding."

"Thank you, Hassan. Now at last I can get back to a version of the life I should have had," Elizabeth said smiling.

"I will see you in three weeks, Hassan out," Hassan said switching off the connection.

o - o - o -

"I am not a slut! I knew exactly what I wanted," Cathline swore at Tina. The argument had been going on for sometime now and Cathline’s temper was in full flow.

"Yes you are. What’ll all your fans think of the clean cut Rachel Martin now?" Tina taunted.

"You’re only jealous, because he didn’t choose you."

"Give it a rest Cathline. When it comes to my turn I fight it. My body is my own."

Pointing to her eyepatch Cathline spat "In that case you’ll end up like me."

"Shut up! Someone’s coming," Tina whispered.

The blood froze in Cathline’s body as she recognised the shape walking down the stairs, Osman. He was accompanied by a smaller, thinly built man. Osman turned to Cathline and said, "I’m glad you enjoyed Salah. He speaks highly of you."

"Piss off Osman," Tina spat back.

Cathline glared at Tina to shut it and Tina fell silent.

Osman gestured to the man cowering behind him and said "Let me introduce Omar to you. Omar has a special talent and I’ve used him on a number of occasions to get what I want. Don’t worry Omar, they won’t bite."

Omar emerged from behind Osman and looked at Tina, "She’s a feisty one. She may be a problem, the other one too, now I look at her."

"I’m sure you’ll cope. You’ve dealt with more stubborn cases before.

Let me know when it’s done," Osman said and started to walk away.

"You’re sure they cannot escape?" Omar asked Osman.

"Quite sure. Now I must go I have other duties to attend to," Osman replied and walked up the stairs, leaving Tina and Cathline alone with Omar.

"So Omar, which one of us are you going to fuck first?" Tina asked.

"None of you. Osman has asked me to prepare you for a little job he wants you do to for him. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt and will only last an hour or so," Omar replied, brushing his hair back from his face.

"This is all getting a little dull. Last time he was so much more inventive," Cathline taunted.

"He hasn’t lost his touch, I assure you. Now just look into my eyes," Omar said softly.

Cathline tried to look away but found herself unable to pull away from the dark brown pools that were Omar’s eyes. She felt so tired, so weary. If she could just rest a while than all would be just fine and dandy.

"Fight it Cathline," Tina shouted but to her horror saw Cathline’s body go limp and flaccid. Cathline’s one good eye was open but had taken on a glazed, vacant look.

"She was so easy. Now it’s your turn," Omar said, turning to Tina.

Ever since the mailman had hypnotised her into shooting Scott, Tina had, had a fear of it happening again. She closed her eyes and turned her head away in a desperate attempt to avoid his eyes.

She struggled as she felt a hand grab her head, forcing to look right ahead. Rough fingers grabbed her nose and she was unable to breathe. Instinctively she opened her eyes and found her gaze fixed upon two deep brown eyes.

She felt herself becoming drowsy and fought against it. She tried to perform arithmetic in her mind, recall memories and anything else she could think of to avoid the sleepiness she now felt. She felt her legs go numb as the tiredness crept up her body. Now her arms were numb and sleep beckoned. In the end she could hold out no longer and the sleep was just so inviting.

o - o - o -

Scott awoke and found to his horror that his body had reshaped itself into that of the woman’s on screen. His chest was smooth and hairless and rather than his usually muscular shoulders his new shoulders were rounded and very feminine in shape. He turned his head away, almost feeling sick with anguish. A sudden light came on at the far end of the room and he saw two figures walk into the room. One was tall and the other was smaller, and by their curves both were female.

"Hello," he called out.

The figures walked closer and Scott called out joyfully, "Tina, Rachel.

Thank God. Get us outta here."

Tina put her finger to her lips and walked closer, while Rachel Martin moved seductively towards Marcel.

Marcel called something out in French and Rachel replied. Scott stared at Tina as she undid her top and let it fall to the floor, exposing her ample breasts. Tina moved over to Scott and kissed him on the lips. Scott tried to struggle away but his arms and legs were tied too tight.

Tina bent over and brushed her breasts over Scott’s body, she kissed over and over again on the chest, neck and with her hands grabbed hold of Scott’s now erect dick. She gently stroked it and placed her mouth over it. She was surprised when it began to shrink back into Scott’s body. When Scott’s new pussy had formed she started to kiss and caress his face. With her other hand she started to gently stroke Scott’s new clitoris. Scott gave a moan of pleasure and tried to respond. She felt Scott’s face start to reform and she took a moment to see how Cathline was doing. Tina noticed with satisfaction that Cathline was doing a good job too, just as she was supposed to. Even as she turned her attention back to Scott she felt Scott respond and she allowed herself to be swept away by the waves of pleasure sweeping her body.

o - o - o -

"I can’t believe I did that! To Scott, to Rebecca and to me," Tina sobbed.

"I know but we weren’t ourselves. We weren’t responsible, Osman was. He’s the one that thought it up. If it weren’t us it’d be someone else. If we find Elizabeth’s machine maybe we can turn them back. Until then we have to wait for our opportunity," Cathline said.

Tina stopped crying for a moment and said, "You’re right. Poor Rebecca, how will she feel if we can’t."

"If she loves him she will cope, just as Kat did with Matthew. Anyway we are going to get out of here and turn him back, Marcel too."

"Shh! Someone’s coming," Tina hissed.

They waited as a shadowy figure walked into their cell. Cathline turned away in horror as Osman walked in.

"I just wanted to thank you ladies for all the help you gave today, most enjoyable. I thought I’d just let you know that I’m sending off my latest additions to Libya as a gift to Hassan. I could never have done it without you," Osman said.

"You bastard," Tina spat.

"Correct! Besides, Hassan gave me you two so it’s only fair. Anyway it wasn’t my idea it was Salah’s. A most promising young man I might say. By the way if I wasn’t so busy I’d enjoy you myself but you’ll keep," Osman said and walked out.

Cathline looked dumbstruck at this revelation. "I was sure.," she started.

"So much for your new boyfriend. Hope you’re happy now," Tina snapped.

"I don’t understand. I was so sure. Fuck I feel dirty," Cathline started to cry.

"Understand what?" Tina asked.

"I thought Salah was going to rescue us. How could I have been so stupid?" Cathline sobbed.

Tina just glared back in return.

o - o - o -

A soft, sharp knock at the door woke Elizabeth from the best night’s sleep she’d had in a while.

"Who is it?" she called, covering herself up with the bed sheets.

"Message for you," the voice whispered.

"Oh umm bring it in," Elizabeth said, switching on her light.

A smallish, swarthy looking man walked in holding a sealed envelope. Handing it to Elizabeth he said, "My instructions are to wait for a reply."

"Fine," Elizabeth said and opened the letter.

She scanned down the text and paused before saying "Tell him this. Word for word. ‘Agreed, Checkmate in two weeks. We will deal with the changelings after the event’. We are on time to prevent the incident from happening."

"It shall be done, Dr Bexley," the man nodded and walked out.

Elizabeth turned off the light and thought for a while. This was the first time in several months she’d had direct contact with Salah and what she’d read disturbed her. Agents loyal to Hassan made conspiracies difficult to maintain but by now Salah had built up a large following too. Sure the pieces were dropping into place but the stakes had just been raised a thousand fold. She was amazed that the Guild would even try to pull such a stunt. Deep down she knew that the Guild was planning to use the changeling and DNA technology, but she’d thought too small. Now hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives depended on her actions and plans over the next couple of weeks. The weight of that responsibility pressed on her mind so sleep was now impossible. To take her mind off things to come Elizabeth turned her mind to the treat she’d prepared for herself. Her one big self-indulgence, and she didn’t care what it cost, she’d waited so long for it! Her ultimate revenge and her ultimate satisfaction! She had a wedding to go to tomorrow!"

o - o - o -

"Mr president I must object," the chief of staff said.

"Why Bob?" the president replied.

"The course of action you’re recommending is much too dangerous. If Egypt has broken the rules on DNA systems they must be persuaded otherwise. The Israelis are going ape over it."

"Look, all Mossad gave us is a single photograph of something that LOOKS like a Bexley DNA system. I will not commit the lives of our men and women to the results of a single photograph. I need more proof. As you well know Egypt has denied all knowledge of such a device. They let us look at the site where this device was and we found zip."

"Easily moved. Look they’re playing the same game with us and the Israeli’s as Iraq has. We catch them with their pants down, they make a fuss and create a few diplomatic incidents while shifting the stuff somewhere else. Your predecessor created the Fury Directive to prevent DNA weapons from being developed. This flies in the face of that and the UN resolutions that were passed," the Chief of staff said.

"I know it’s difficult but I’ve spoken to the Brits on this one, hell even the Russians agree with me. Until we get more info we’ll watch and advise," the president stated.

"Ok. At least let me move the Nimitz into the Med and schedule a couple of satellite sweeps. What about giving Israel some help?"

"Ok move the Nimitz and do the sweeps. As for the help what do you suggest? Until we have proof they’ll just have to wait. They know that if they piss us off they’ll lose that billion dollar aid package I promised them."

The chief of staff sighed, since the death of his friend, the president seemed colder and more ruthless. BUT he did have a point "Yes Mr president."

"Glad to have you aboard Bob. Look, as soon as we have proof we’ll move. Now if you’ll excuse me SECDEF needs to see me."

o - o - o -

The changeling who resembled Dr Bexley’s father took hold of Matthew’s arm and slowly led him up the aisle. The organist played ‘Entrance of the queen of Sheba’ and Matthew just wafted up the row of people. His white wedding dress fitted him perfectly and thru the white gauze of his veil he could see his beloved ‘Matthew’ waiting for him.

Elizabeth turned to face her bride now walking towards her. Of course she had to wear Matthew’s old body but that was a small price to pay for finally getting as close as she’d ever get to what she’d wanted for all these years. She had been tempted to jilt Matthew and thus make him endure all she had, had to endure but that wasn’t how it was supposed to be. It was supposed to go just like this.

By now Matthew had reached Elizabeth’s side and he now looked at her with love in his eyes. Elizabeth’s heart soared! It was going to happen, it really was going to happen. Her attention was drawn back into events as she heard the priest start to speak "Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Elizabeth Anne Bexley to Matthew James Stephens."

A short while later Matthew turned to Elizabeth and said "I do," and Elizabeth almost jumped for joy. It was going to work! It really was going to work!

As the wedding continued a knot grew inside Elizabeth’s stomach and she felt her heartbeat increase as the priest said those fatal words, words that rang the death knoll of her life so long ago. The priest knew none of this of course and he asked, "Does anyone here know of any legal reason why these two cannot be married? Speak now or forever hold your peace."

To Elizabeth the silence was unbearable. She could feel her heart pounding against her ribcage and time seemed to have stopped. An eternity later the priest turned back to Matthew and Elizabeth and said "With the power invested in me by the state of South Australia I now pronounce you Man and Wife. What God has joined let no man break apart. You may now kiss the bride."

Elizabeth pulled Matthew close and kissed him, it had been far too long since the last time she’d kissed him. She thought she’d feel triumphant at this moment. That her whole life would suddenly come into focus and the pain of the years gone by would fall away. Instead she felt empty inside, just as she’d felt when she was a child and had suddenly found the Malibu-Jane she’d wanted so desperately was nothing but plastic and cloth. The weight of what she faced in the weeks ahead wouldn’t go away and haunted her thoughts. Still at least they had three weeks together.

o - o - o -

Scott opened his eyes and saw only darkness. His head hurt like hell and his nostrils were assaulted by the smell of a sweet, exotic perfume. The room was silent apart from the sound of his breathing. A few seconds after waking he knew something was wrong, something was missing. It took a few more moments for his head to clear. He cast his mind back to the last thing he remembered. Marcel was there. They were strapped into something, but what? A thought hit him like a hammer blow and at first he didn’t believe it. No, it wasn’t possible. He reached out with his hand and was instantly aware of a weight on his chest. His hand diverted from its course downwards and clutched at his chest. He felt a warm firm mound where there once was hair and muscle. He was so shocked it took a few seconds to register that he was feeling a breast. He gave the breast an experimental squeeze and then found the strength to scream a high pitched womanly scream, as the realisation hit him that it was his.

Marcel woke up on hearing Scott’s scream. He sat bolt upright and then regretted it as he felt something bounce on his chest. His scream joined with Scott’s as he looked down and saw a pair of not inconsiderable tits thrusting their way from his chest.

Scott took control of himself. Years of police training had drilled into him to remain calm. He took a few deep breaths and felt his ‘breast’ again. It was, certainly a breast, actually it was breasts as his hand had brushed the other one on the way over. It was also remarkably sensitive especially around the nipple. Reason took over and Scott moved his hand downward, over a smooth, flat stomach towards where his dick should be. Scott stifled another scream as his hand found only the warm slit of a vagina.

It was now difficult to remain calm. He was a woman. There could be no doubt about it. Parties unknown, actually that Bexley female, were certainly involved. They had kidnapped him, and Marcel and turned them into women. Now he. Yes he. Scott still thought of himself as ‘he’ in spite of the evidence to the opposite. By now Scott’s eyes had adjusted to the dark and he saw that he was in a large room covered in ornate curtains. He noticed for the first time that his new body was dressed in a skimpy outfit that showed off his new cleavage to the full. Where the hell was he? He heard a soft whimper from his right and saw the shape of a young woman. She was dressed similarly to how he was and she was about 5’4. Her face was in her hands and she was sobbing softly. Scott deduced this must now be Marcel.

Marcel tried to wipe away the tears in his eyes. He felt violated and dirty. Yes he’d worked with beautiful women before, Rachel Martin being the most notable, but this was very different. He felt so vulnerable and afraid, how would he cope? Marcel looked down at the legs he now possessed and marvelled at their shape, the way they tapered up into his thigh, how his thigh curved gracefully into his wide hips and then the smooth curve upwards to his large, pert breasts. He was aware that someone was staring at him and saw another woman looking at him.

She was, he estimated, about 25 with what looked to be long blonde hair. She was also quite tall at around 5’8 and had the firm, well muscled tone of an athlete. Thru the dim light of the room Marcel could see that the woman looked stunning and that she was looking right at him, almost as if she was eyeing him up. Marcel managed to say, "Scott?" Marcel cut the sentence short; his voice was somehow different. It still had a French accent but was very cute indeed. His attention was brought back to reality when the woman opposite replied, "Marcel?"

Marcel nodded and noted his hair swished around on the back of his neck. Although the room was dim, Marcel’s eyes soon adjusted, and ignoring the jiggling feeling of his breasts, he moved over towards Scott, "What’s going on? Why are we like this?" Marcel’s delicate but seductive voice asked.

The woman that was Scott Harris shook her head and answered, "I’ve no idea. All I remember is being strapped into a bed and shown these porn films. As they turned me on parts of my body began to change. Then Tina and Rachel Martin walked in and fucked us. I, I couldn’t help it I just HAD to screw them. I remember the swelling feelings as THESE grew," Scott gestured towards his breasts.

"At least yours seem a normal size, These are HUGE. Scott, what if we can’t turn back?" Marcel asked, fear in his voice.

"We must be able to. Oh no Rebecca! What will Rebecca do? Oh shit my marriage is over," tears began to form in Scott’s eyes.

Marcel sighed, "We’ll face this if it comes to it. Do you know where we are?"

Another female, American voice answered, "I can answer that."

Scott whirled around. His arms ready to ward off any attack. He stopped short of striking out and said, "Who the hell are you?"

The woman looked furtively around, as if afraid to tell some secret, "I’m Senator Walter Jameson."

"Who?. Oh yes I remember, you ran off with your secretary," Scott said.

Senator Jameson gestured to his female body and sighed, "Now I AM my secretary. I’ve been here for around 4 weeks, I think it could be longer though. Who are you?"

Scott stared at the woman in front of him, she was he estimated around thirty-three. Her black hair had been tied back into a ponytail, and she was dressed in a similar outfit to his own. Scott answered gingerly, still not used to the sound of his new voice, "I’m Detective Scott Harris and this is Marcel."

The senator paused for a few moments, "Then.."

"Yeah some bastards turned me into my own wet dream," Scott complained.

"I’ve been like this for nearly a month, I had my first period last week—it was hell. I was kinda hoping that this wasn’t real but as soon as I felt the stomach cramps I knew it was," the senator gestured to his female body.

"Oh fuck, periods. You get periods? " Scott swore.

"If the same people who got me, got you then yeah. You’re all woman now. I found it hard to cope at first. Part of me wanted to touch my self up and the other part wanted it to go away. If I wasn’t in this place I would have done it more, but don’t let me stop you. Touch away."

Inside Scott was desperate to feel himself down there once more, desperate to run his smooth hands over his taut, curved body but it was the thought of stroking his breasts that tempted him the most. He was about to reach up and cup them in his hand when he stopped himself and asked, "Where are we then?"

The Senator thought for a moment and replied, "As far as I can tell we’re in Libya. There’s this guy called Hassan and he’s the leader of this ancient order of Assassins. We’re in his Harem."

Marcel’s eyes widened in horror, "No!"

"It’s ok they give you six weeks to settle in and then you have to do as Hassan says or else, Thiick," the Senator made a throat slitting gesture.

"I’d rather be dead than like this," Marcel said forcefully, pointing at his ample bosom.

"So, we’ve got six weeks until what? We become his slaves?" Scott asked.

The Senator nodded, "I guess so. I’ve not managed to speak to many of the girls here."

Scott asked the Senator, "So how did you get here?"

The senator shuffled and made himself comfortable and thought for a few moments. Scott and Marcel waited patiently until the senator started to speak, "The President sent me away for a weekend to work on some budget idea’s I’d had. I’ve this nice little cabin in Montana, my retreat if you like. Anyway, I needed somebody to take notes, type reports etc, and so I took my secretary, Anne with me. She was unusually quiet and she said she’d had some kinda bust up with her boyfriend. That was fine by me—all I wanted to do was work."

Scott interrupted, "Yeah I heard about that. That was legit? We all thought you’d gone off for some inappropriate extra-marital relief."

The senator nodded, "All lies, she’d stayed in a nearby hotel, but yeah it was legit. I’d proposed some pretty radical budget cuts and I felt that I should work in secret until they were ready for release. The media frenzy around my being there was unavoidable and the president understood when I explained it to him. Back to the story, We’d nearly finished our work and we were all packed to go, when Anne said she’d lost her room key. Well, we all helped look for them. I sent some of my security detail off into the woods to look for them around the house which, on reflection was the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. Anne told me that she thought they could be upstairs and asked me to go help her look there."

"You sent your security detail away?" Scott’s incredulous face said it all.

"Yeah I know but this was MY place. I knew everyone around and who the hell was going to get me? It was like a second home for me and I trusted everyone on my staff. Anyway I was bending down under her bed, trying to reach towards a dark corner when I felt a prick on my back. A few seconds later it all went black."

"What happened?" Marcel asked.

"I’ve no idea. I awoke in Anne’s hotel room. I remember waking up slowly and then realising something was very wrong with me. As soon as I saw my breasts I let out an almighty scream. My fears were confirmed when I managed to stand up and walk towards the mirror on the wardrobe. Someone had turned me into a copy of Anne.

Before I could explore further these two Arab guys burst in and I was hustled into a waiting car. I knew they were armed so I didn’t try anything. I guess I could have screamed or something but I was still in shock and not thinking straight. They drugged me and I woke up in here some 4 weeks ago. How about yourself?"

Scott retold the story of how him and Marcel had got here. The senator thought for a while and said, "Dr Bexley huh. Figures nobody else could have turned us into women like that. But what the hell are we doing here and why go to all the bother of transforming us?"

Scott shrugged, "No idea, but she took out my partner and me single handed. I shot her, I fucking well shot her and she just smiled at me and the wound healed its self up. I’m telling you that shot would have laid out anybody but she just took it and within seconds she was as good as new."

The Senator rubbed his smooth, hairless chin and thought for a few moments. "Yeah that fits. We’ve long suspected that Dr Bexley was developing changeling technology. Rachel Martin’s, Matthew Stephens and Kat’s intelligence debrief raised the possibility but she’s obviously perfected it. The CIA reports I read, stated that with changeling technology you could repair most near fatal wounds as well as become anyone you wished. Oh shit!"

Scott saw where the senator was leading, "Anne, she must have been a changeling too. You’ve been turned into her so she can take your place. Oh my God."

"But why me? There’s much more senior government figures than myself," Senator Jameson fell silent for a while, his face showing that he was deep in thought.

"It’s obvious why we’re here. They needed somewhere to put us after they did this to us," Scott gestured once more at his comely form.

Marcel noticed the senator’s face turn pale, "What’s up?"

Senator Jameson fingered his ponytail with his hand and then stopped suddenly, "Sorry bad habit. I know why they chose me, I can’t believe they’d even try it. The audacity of it is mind blowing."

"What?" Scott and Marcel said in unison.

The senator reached for his ponytail once more and then whipped his hand away as he realised what he was about to do, "The president, Bob and I go way back. We graduated West Point together, did a tour in Nam. I was the only one who he’d let get close to him. Hell I was almost a brother to him. If they switched with me then it’d be a helluva lot easier to get to him and if they switched with the president then we’re all in deep, deep shit."

 

"Can I open my eyes now?" Matthew asked.

"Not yet," Elizabeth said.

Elizabeth had blindfolded Matthew since the leaving the wedding party some three hours before. Matthew had behaved impeccably in his new role as Dr Elizabeth Anne Stephens, and had a great time showing off his wedding ring to the guests and swooning over her new husband. Elizabeth had to admit the Guild had done a first class job of providing enough familiar looking faces to fool Matthew and the venue was perfect, just as she’d imagined her wedding reception to be all those years ago.

Now she was on her way to the large mansion that was built on top of the Guild’s Australian bunker. It was a strange sight. A huge white limestone building complete with whitewashed walls and impeccable gardens stuck slap bang in the middle of the outback. Hassan had been quite insistent that she had to take her honeymoon here. He’d spoken as though it was a gift to her, but she knew that the threat was just below the surface, in fact a little like this mansion. She’d told Matthew that this was an exclusive hotel in Arizona for those who wanted a discrete hideaway. She smiled as she remembered Matthew’s face light up when she told them they’d have the entire place to themselves.

Elizabeth let out a contented sigh as the large, ornate wrought iron gates swung open as her car approached. It was going SO well, everything was to plan and all in all this was her idea of a perfect wedding day. The sun shone down fiercely, making the white limestone of the mansion shine like a polished mirror. Architecture had never been one of her strong points but even Elizabeth could see the Arabic influence in the design of the mansion. Criss-cross shutters covered every window and she knew from her previous visits that the white marble floors would be polished to perfection.

Matthew detected that the car was slowing and asked "Hey come on honey, let me take this off now."

Elizabeth smiled and simply replied, "Not yet. When I’ve parked."

"Ok. Some hotel, no valet parking."

Elizabeth smiled to herself and pulled into the near vacant car lot. Switching off the engine she got out of the car and helped Matthew get out from the rear seat. Matthew moved to take off his blindfold but Elizabeth held him back and whispered, "Not yet."

Elizabeth grabbed Matthew’s hand and led him around to the front of the Mansion. She stopped at the large and ornate wooden doors and was about to knock when the doors swung open. A Guild agent in traditional butler garb was standing in the hallway. He bowed gently and said, "Welcome to our humble home Mr and Mrs Stephens."

Elizabeth released Matthew’s hand and said, "Go on take it off."

Matthew was only too glad to comply, he’d protested against the blindfold game but had eventually weakened. A bit of fun he’d been assured. He reached up and pulled the blindfold off. He was dazzled for a few moments by the bright light but seconds later his eyes adjusted and his jaw dropped at the beautiful sight that met his eyes. The hall was immense, the painted ceiling was reflected in the polished floor. A large central stairway went up the centre of the room and split into two. Around the walls were exquisite works of art, Monet and Picasso rubbed shoulders with Lowry and Dali. Matthew decided that it made his parent’s house look decidedly average. Suddenly he felt two strong arms lifting him up and he felt himself move forward and into the room. The arms put him down and whirled him round so that he was facing Elizabeth.

Never in her wildest dreams had Elizabeth imagined that she’d be the one to do the carrying over the threshold but still she’d done it. The penultimate tradition in the marriage ceremony was complete. She pulled Matthew close, felt his breasts press on her muscular chest and kissed him. Matthew responded and she felt her self start to drift away on a sea of passion. She pulled away, not wanting it to end but they had to unpack first.

A Guild agent ‘butler’ carried their suitcases up the long staircase and along a long corridor. Departing with a regimented nod the Guild agent placed the suitcase outside the door.

Elizabeth put her strong arm across Matthew’s shoulders and squeezed him gently, then turned him toward her and bent to give him a deep kiss. Before leaving the wedding, Matthew had changed from his bridal gown to a simple beige silk suit with a long, loose jacket and tight short skirt. He’d wanted to look pretty for his new husband and a little sexy too, but now the jacket material bunched under Elizabeth’s grip.

"Let’s get naked," Elizabeth hissed, then pressed her lips on Matthew’s and began to crush him to her. He felt her beard stubble rub on his smooth cheek and kissed her back, feeling a knot of rising excitement in his belly. Was it eager anticipation? Tinged with a bit of fear? His tongue lightly licked Elizabeth’s lips, and then he leaned back in her arms, looked up at her, and smiled to cover his uncertainty.

"Let’s get to our room, honey. I’m a little shy about showing all this affection in a public lobby. Even though there doesn’t seem to be anyone here." It felt odd calling his new husband "Honey"—Matthew couldn’t remember what endearment he’d called her before that moment. An odd intimation struck him. There were lots of things happening now that had never happened to him before. It felt peculiar. Well, that must be because he’d never been married before. He’d never been half of—what had the butler called them, "Mr. and Mrs Stephens"—before. Or had he? It seemed somehow familiar. But still, strange. Like lots of things.

This place for one. The butler for another. Why was he a butler and not a porter or a bell captain?

Elizabeth beamed affectionately at her new bride and wrapped his arm in hers, and together they started up the broad marble stairs.

"Honey, may I ask you a teensy question?" Matthew asked in a small voice?

"Of course," Elizabeth rumbled gently, gripping Matthew’s arm even tighter. Was his forced conditioning coming undone already? She’d wanted him to believe he was her, Elizabeth, and obviously, he did. But she’d wanted him remade as an affectionate bimbo, something she could never be, passive, compliant, loving, passionate on cue. She’d wanted to find in Matthew her perfect mate, a devoted spouse sensitive to her needs and eager to provide for them, unconcerned with his own ‘teensy’ questions or large ones either. She expected from him now the love she’d hoped for when he became her husband. Instead, he’d deserted her. Well, now he wouldn’t. She knew that now she was now the center of Matthew’s world, the subject of his every fond desire, with no thoughts for himself.

"Certainly, lover," she repeated. "What’s troubling your teensy mind?"

That feels so good, Matthew thought, hearing Elizabeth assert in a single phrase her rightful—if condescending—intellectual superiority over him. I feel so protected by this strong, handsome man who is now my husband!

"What place is this?" Matthew asked, wide-eyed. "Why is that porter dressed like a butler? And where are the rest of the hotel staff?"

Elizabeth smiled, partly at Matthew and partly to herself. "That’s three questions, Liz dear. It’s better for you not to worry your pretty little head about anything. This isn’t a hotel. It’s a mansion that belongs to a friend who’s away who’s lending it to us. The whole place is ours. So there’s no need to feel shy. We can make love anywhere. And we will. Just follow whatever your natural inclinations."

Maybe I should have asked for them to make him a little less demure and a little more lustfully aggressive, Elizabeth was thinking. This shy violet I’ve married will never want to spread his legs for me in some of the places I have in mind. Well, if he feels embarrassed or humiliated, or if I have to rape him, so much the better. Do unto Matthew what he refused to do unto me, but in spades!

As they entered their lavish bedroom, hung with peach-colored tapestries, their bed high on a platform and draped in peach velvet, Matthew suffered a momentary extreme disorientation. He suddenly realized that though he loved this man, this Matthew, and had married him as the fulfilment of his most ardent desires he was a little unsure what those desires were! He wanted to be a complete woman to his husband. He wanted to share his life and his body with him.

But how? He knew how men and women make love. He’d seen drawings in books, or maybe it was movies. But Matthew suddenly realized that he’d never slept with a man. He was a virgin!

Elizabeth grasped Matthew gently under the chin, lifted his face, and touched his full, red lips with her mouth. "Liz dear, don’t you want to slip into something more comfortable, and make yourself pretty for me?" Elizabeth asked him.

This was more familiar ground. Matthew had been planning for a long time which of the special negligees in his trousseau he would wear to make himself ravishingly beautiful on his honeymoon night. Even as a teenage girl he’d experimented with different kinds of make-up that would stay fresh, and not smear or otherwise mar his perfect night of passionate fulfilment. Or so he seemed to remember. He pecked back at Elizabeth.

"Don’t go away, husband of mine," Matthew said, glorying in his possession of the man of his dreams. A wicked gleam came into his eye. "I’ll be back in less time than you can imagine!"

Elizabeth could imagine it, of course. She’d supplied the program that constituted Matt’s memory of their relationship and had effaced his prior identity. She’d also supplied Matt’s negligee and make-up from her own trousseau, so lovingly prepared before that son of a bitch had abandoned her. A streak of anger flashed through her vitals, and she felt a stirring, then a tight pressure of her pants against her groin. What? Of course! Her cock was filling out, growing erect! She loosened her belt and unzipped her fly and dropped her pants, then her boxer shorts, and stepped out of them. Her cock was now fully erect, and waved as if a willow in the wind as she sat down in a nearby chair to await her ‘wife’s’ return. She knew what she was going to do with him now! A menacing expression came over her face, as she reached out and stroked her prick to keep it erect. What was it they said? Men called their penises "tools," she’d heard that often enough. She had a different name for hers—it was a weapon of vengeance.

"How do I look?"

Innocent as an eight-year-old in her birthday dress, Matt swirled himself in the doorway, hands draped delicately in the air, ruffled chiffon and satin falling gracefully across his every curve. He smiled at Elizabeth, then noticed that she was moodily pulling on her dick. It puzzled him. His last- moment sex education had been saturation screenings of pornographic films, were cocks were handled only by girls.

"Shouldn’t I be doing that?" he asked

Elizabeth looked up through narrow eyes and replied gruffly, "Come here and kneel down, Liz. Let’s see what you’re good for!"

A bit bewildered, Matthew did as asked.

"Now wet it down. I’m gonna shove it into that cute ass of yours."

The fact is; Matthew’s body had filled out from its original skeletally lean angularity. Originally an exact copy of Elizabeth’s figure when she’d first converted him after her own months of sleepless laboratory work and neurasthenic brooding, Matthew had dined comfortably with Kat during their marriage, and then he’d consoled himself in vain after her death by nibbling on junk food and ice cream. His waistline was still slim, but below it, his hips and buttocks had rounded curvaceously into a near-parody of a seductive sex-goddess’s, plump and tempting even to his own eye. He’d wondered if there was a touch of lesbianism in him, but decided it was only narcissism. Not a bad thing in itself, he’d thought, as he’d prepared himself that very evening for his lover.

Matthew obediently bent over and took Elizabeth’s prick into his mouth, licking it carefully as he passed it between his lips, "If I feel one tooth, I’ll really bust your ass! So be careful!"

Matthew’s pursed mouth became nearly rigid as he slipped Elizabeth’s member in and out, coating it with saliva. Men are very demanding when it comes to sex, he thought to himself. I wonder if they’re as cruel as they claim.

A moment later, he found out. On his hands and knees "like a dog" as instructed, he felt Elizabeth settle her body behind and around him, then suddenly felt a fierce and fiery pressure in his anus. It was unbearable, and he shrieked helplessly from the pain!

"Good!" Elizabeth said. "Now you know how I felt when you walked out on me. A little of how I felt. I’ve just stuck it to you the way you stuck it to me, all at once, no warning! Now wiggle, bitch! Pleasure me!"

Tears streaming down his cheeks, Matthew wiggled his bottom as best he could, feeling Liz’s huge log crammed immovably inside. Little by little it began to slip around inside him, and a few minutes later Matthew was concentrating intently, head down, while his hips and rear gyrated wildly and Elizabeth pumped herself furiously into him. She felt an unaccustomed yearning gather itself in her groin, then concentrate in her cock. She pushed harder and faster, breathing faster and deeper while the pleasure grew more intense, then suddenly and frighteningly she lost control! Her whole body went rigid! She couldn’t move! But ecstatic? Then the tension relieved itself suddenly, her cock throbbing, squirting she sensed deep into Matthew’s bowels! And then it was over. She pulled herself out of Matthew’s rump and paused to catch her breath.

"There!" she said. "I wanted your first sex as a woman to be sex the way a man has sex! A faggot man! For you to take it up the ass, you buggered bastard! Why did you leave me?!"

Matthew had been bewildered by her ferocity, and hurt by her relentless plunging in at him, but at this he broke down altogether. Tears and sobs began, and then a wail, and he collapsed on the cold floor shrieking.

"I didn’t! I didn’t! I don’t understand! I’m here! I want us to be happy!

I thought you loved me! Why are you doing this to me? Why?"

And the most heart-rending lamentation imaginable poured from his throat as he buried his face in his arms and his shoulders spasmed uncontrollably!

"Oooohhh! Ohhhh God! Oooohhhhh, why!" over and over.

The sight of herself grovelling on the floor, just as she’d grovelled inconsolably years before when Matthew had left her, brought Elizabeth back to her senses. I shouldn’t do this, she said to herself. There’s enough misery in the world, and a lot more about to happen. This is a self-indulgence I can’t afford!

Where a savage lust had swollen her viscera and then emptied itself into Matthew’s soft rump, remorse now began to seep in and accumulate. She stroked Matthew’s shaking shoulders and made soothing noises, all the while thinking, "This is supposed to be the honeymoon I never had, not the revenge I’ve always wanted. And gotten. Gotten repeatedly, over and over. There are other more important things at stake now. I need Matthew fit and willing to help me. Not like this.

"I’m sorry, sweetheart," she said, still stroking him. "I didn’t mean it! I love you! Lift your head! You’ll see!"

Gradually the sobbing subsided. Now sniffling, Matt raised his head and looked fearfully yet hopefully over his shoulder at his new husband.

"It hurt me, Matthew." He swallowed, and took a few more deep breaths. Then he added, more curious than grieved, "Matt honey. Should it have hurt?"

"Take hold of my thing now, Liz," Liz advised him. "Feel it. Squeeze it.

What do you think?"

"I think it’s soft and silky. A little bumpy, too. Is that the way they should be?"

"Yes. Now turn and sit up and let’s get on the bed and be nice to each other, and really make love, shall we? You’ll see. You’ll love it!"

Matt sat up and Liz hugged him, now genuinely sorry she’d allowed petty feelings to interfere with her pleasure. This was HER Matt, after all, and he genuinely believed he was married to her. Even though literally, they were married to each other. With Matthew a ‘widow’ she’d been free to marry him and thus in the eyes of the law this marriage was legal and kosher.

Elizabeth’s mind boggled at this last, and still amused, she followed Matt up the platform and onto the huge, peach velvet-hung bed. Matt lay on his back carefully—his asshole still hurt, and it was still leaking Liz’s cum onto the bed’s silken sheets. He arranged his gown so it seemed to flow loosely from his waist, and then looked up hopefully at Elizabeth as she sat on their bed and bent over him. His eyes were still bright from his tears of a moment ago, and his mascara was just a bit smudged, but he still looked sweetly trusting despite being nastily betrayed only a few moments ago. Liz now felt genuinely protective of such naivete, such vulnerability. She took Matt’s head in both her hands and kissed him. Matt looked back into her eyes so very gratefully that Liz melted.

"Let’s get naked," she said again, this time gently, with a certain urgency of her own. "I mean altogether."

They did. Then as Liz felt her pecker stiffen she willed it just a bit longer and thicker for Matthew’s sake, and then slowly, sweetly, gently, she mounted and entered her wife’s body. They lay still for a moment. But when Liz felt Matt’s arms tighten around her neck and felt his soft lips kissing her face and forehead repeatedly, and Matt’s pelvis begin to twist and thrust toward her, she decided it was time. She pulled herself almost all the way out of Matt and was rewarded with a languishing groan of disappointment. Then pushed in, and heard a moan of satisfaction.

An hour later Matt was hoarse from his non-stop groaning and moaning, joyous screaming and crying out loud, and Elizabeth was exhausted. She had cum three more times. Matt was so entranced by his first penetrative sex orgasms ever, and the others that followed, that he begged Liz not to withdraw when even her changeling organ augmented penis had thrust and spurted its last and begun to soften. Half unconscious, dazed, he refused to let go of his dearest, darling husband’s neck, and kept kissing Liz’s face over and over, despite its rough beard growth.

"We need to sleep now, Matt. A guy needs his rest after all," she said.

"Let’s both just sleep now a little."

Then she realized what she had just said. Rather than correct herself, she decided to see if Matt noticed. Her slip of the tongue told her that she was at last feeling comfortably familiar with her once-hated near-husband.

Matt noticed that she’d said "Matt," but just assumed that his wonderful lover was only talking to himself, advising himself to get some rest before their renewed lovemaking the following day.

And it did renew. By the third day Matthew was deliriously in love with his lover Elizabeth, his desire for her all the more intense because she was so unpredictable—sometimes breathlessly ardent, sometimes mildly affectionate, sometimes overbearing, even contemptuous. She was all things to him, though never again as meanly punishing as that first time. By the end of the week he gladly allowed her to tie him up for their lovemaking, granting her even that measure of absolute control, eagerly trusting her with his comfort and his life. She in turn teased and toyed with him, but always left him satisfied finally.

He took it as only one more of Elizabeth’s oddities that his mouth often serviced her prick, balls, and anus, while Elizabeth’s mouth never licked or kissed him below his breasts. It was enough! When she suckled him he was in paradise, cradling her head gently in his arms. He never wanted her to leave off. Except of course, to make those long, languorous penetrations of his pussy, his most private slit, that always brought him to repeated paroxysms of delight.

By the end of the second week they were bonded together as one. Or so Matt believed. Actually, Elizabeth’s purposes had been served, and her mind turned increasingly back to reality, the reality Hassan was creating that only she could circumvent. The last night of their tryst Matt crawled all over her and pleaded for her attention, but Elizabeth just lay still, cradling the back of her head on her arms, her eyes open, thinking. When Matt asked what about, she’d only glanced at him and said "You wouldn’t understand, honey." Nothing Matt could do could harden her penis that last night, not even the warm moisture of his mouth and throat blowing over her cockhead. Their honeymoon was over, now the work begins.

 

Hassan sat back in his chair and stroked the collar of his faithful tiger. He closed his eyes, and mentally checked off the items that had to be done before he could give the go-ahead. Let’s see, he thought to himself.

Dr Bexley:	Married to Matthew and in Australia.
Status:	Contained.
DNA Warheads:	Completed and loaded.
Tankers:	In place and ready.
Changelings:	In place and ready.
Dr Bexley’s ‘friends’:	Contained.
Salah:	In America, under Osman’s ‘care’ Terminate in 4 weeks.
Salah’s Conspiracy:	Unaware of the revised timescales and will collapse when the incident is complete.
Osman:	Let him keep Rachel Martin as a plaything.
Diversions:.	In place.
Guild Backup Network:	In place and fully operational.
Changeling Organs:	Work in Progress.
Other Threats:	Intelligence reports indicate none.
The Guild Alternative Status:	Ready
Flight to Australia Status:	Ready.

 

His checklist completed Hassan pressed a key on this keyboard and the video screen on Hassan’s desk chimed. Hassan moved over to it and keyed in his encryption key. Hassan keyed in another code and turned to the solemn looking face and said, "Go."

Sitting back in his chair, he called for one his assistants, he had to get away from here. In a little over a day the Middle East would become the setting for the largest conflict since the second world war.

o - o - o -

Cathline and Tina froze as the larger than life shadow of Osman walked down the stairs. Osman, accompanied by his bodyguards greeted them with a wave "Ah Ladies, please follow me. In about half an hour the Guild’s rise to glory will start, and I want you to share in it."

Tina was about to protest when a glare from Cathline put her down. One of the bodyguards unlocked their chains and gestured for them to follow. The other guards covered every move they made with their Uzi’s. Cathline and Tina had no choice but to follow and obey.

They were led upstairs into a room containing just a sofa and a TV. One of the guards shoved Tina onto the sofa, and as she rose to strike him she noticed that the other guards were training their guns on her. She sat down and waited. Cathline just sat down next to her.

Osman walked in front of them, and was about to speak when Cathline spat "What’s this, you gonna turn us into men or something. I just wish you’d stop fucking around with us and get on with it."

Osman smiled and said, "I am," and turned the TV on.

"Hey CNN", Tina said.

Osman whispered to one of the guards, who then moved to the corner of the room and covered Cathline and Tina with his Uzi. Osman and the other guard left the room.

o - o - o -

The sun had just risen in Tel-Aviv. The air was still, and the heat of the day had yet to peak. Much of the population was out on this Friday morning. The day before the Sabbath was always busy and the shops and marketplaces were full of people. The roads were full of parents taking their children to school, people commuting to work and others just enjoying the day. Nobody noticed the unusually high number of oil, gas, sewage and food tankers working their way into all parts of the city.

One such tanker did attract attention. It was parked outside of a small side road, and was nearly blocking off the entrance to that street. "Hey, you can’t leave that there?" an irate man told the tanker driver.

"I’m sorry. I seem to be having trouble with my engine. Do you know anything about engines?"

"A little, let me have a look," the man said and moved around to the front of the tanker.

The tanker driver opened the hood and let the man peer inside. The driver drew a small slender bladed knife and moved behind the irate man.

"Here’s the problem," the driver said and, in a movement too quick to follow slit the man’s throat. He dragged the man into his cab and closed the door.

Checking his watch waited for a few moments before he started the engine and let the body of the tanker start to raise.

At strategic points around the city sixty four more tankers started to lift their deadly payloads.

A few minutes before 9am the driver removed a hypodermic from the glovebox and injected a yellow liquid into himself. This was his protection against the payload in the tanker. He walked around the trailer and made sure the anchors were in place. After detaching the cab he got inside it and drove away. After parking in a nearby street he waited for the allotted time.

At 9:23am the driver pressed a button concealed in the steering wheel and the tanker body continued to rise. It took a further five minutes for the body to reach its optimum angle. The driver waited, and took a last look around at the people milling around, going about their own petty existences. In a matter of moments it would soon be over, the Guild would start it’s long, glorious path back from obscurity. The driver checked his watch, and tuned his radio into a local radio station and listened to the news. Five minutes into the broadcast the newsreader said, "The hunt for Rachel Martin continues. In New Yok today. I’m sorry, New York today the police.."

The driver smiled, the signal had just been given and he pushed the button in his steering wheel once more.

Back at his trailer the radio signal was received by a small receiver mounted under the tank. The hydraulic rams pushed the anchors deeper into the road surface and stopped only when the correct pressure was obtained. A few seconds later, the back fell off the tank to reveal a basic rocket motor just like the one used in the attack on that small, obscure village in Libya.

Passers by looked on amazed, and a couple of men walked over to investigate. Before they could get too close the rocket motors fired and the trailer strained under the thrust. Then the clamps holding the container fell away, and freed from its bounds the container shot into the air. The men who’d gone to investigate looked on in amazement as the tank flew into the air. It rose to about 2,000 feet and seemed to hang there for a moment. There was little sign of an explosion, but the tank burst apart and a red mist floated down over the city.

Sixty four more times this scene was repeated, all over the city of Tel-Aviv, the wind conditions were perfect and a fine red mist blanketed the city. Working it’s way into offices, buildings and cars. Back in his cab the driver noticed that the passers by were starting to scratch themselves before falling to the floor in pain. Seconds after collapsing each victim would start to dissolve as the DNA Warhead’s payload started to have the desired effect.

o - o - o -

Cathline and Tina had been watching CNN for nearly an hour now and were bored. What was it that Osman wanted them to see? The newsreader was saying, "The US Aircraft carrier Nimitz, and its battle group has now arrived in the Mediterranean. This is in direct response to tensions growing in the Middle East over Israel’s allegations that Egypt has produced a Bexley DNA system. The state department has stated that the Nimitz is there only as an observer and that no US troops will be despatched to the area unless a UN mandate is given."

"How much more of this crap?" Tina moaned.

The newsreader continued "Israel has already sent several armored divisions to the Egyptian borders and re-iterated it’s intent to retaliate in the strongest way possible for any attack using DNA weaponry." The newsreaders face suddenly went serious and she put her hand to her ear "Wait a second, we have reports coming in of a massive terrorist attack on Tel-Aviv. My God it can’t be."

"Fuck, what going on? Cathline exclaimed.

Still shaken, the newsreader continued. "Ladies and gentlemen we have reports of an attack on the Israeli capital of Tel-Aviv. Details are scarce at the moment but it appears that genetic warheads were used over the entire city. Details are few at the moment and we will bring you more information as soon as we have it."

Tina turned to talk to Cathline and saw that Cathline’s face had gone pale. "Cathline?" she queried.

"SHE did it, That ‘hell bitch’ Liz did it. She fucking gave them the technology didn’t she! My god genetic weapons, I knew she was mad but this is inhuman. She built it and the Guild used it."

"Hey we don’t know that. All they said was it was genetic warheads.

What about Egypt?" Tina started.

"Yes we do. Osman knew about this in advance and was boasting about it to us. Oh fuck, we’re really fucked now. Fuck, Fuck FUCK," Cathline swore.

"What. Oh I see.. Shit!" Tina shook her head in horror.

"Yep, the Fury Directive. Israel will demand that the Fury Directive is invoked, it depends on what was in those warheads but I imagine it’s not anything nice. It’s easy if you think about it. The Guild set’s up Egypt as the culprit of this attack. Israel will demand the Fury Directive be used against Egypt in retaliation for the attack on Tel-Aviv," Cathline said horrified.

"I suspect we’ll know for certain in a few minutes. Besides, we’ve been out of it for over a week now. All the information we picked up was from that broadcast. You could be wrong," Tina said.

Cathline grimaced, "I hope so. Otherwise the shit will really hit the fan. I’m no expert on the Middle East but even I know that Israel will strike back twice as hard."

"Yeah, as I remember the allies had a hell of job keeping them out of the Gulf war and that was just a few scud missiles, this is a whole fucking city."

Their attention was brought back by the CNN newsreader saying "We’ve not been able to contact our reporters in Tel-Aviv but we have on the phone Jason Carter, live from Jerusalem. Jason what can you tell us?"

A deep, serious voice crackled over the speakers "Not very much I’m afraid. The city of Tel-Aviv is under a cloud of fine red mist, and has been for the past hour. Any rescue teams sent in have not returned and all attempts to contact the population of the city have failed. There have been reports of rivers of red liquid running out from all parts of the city but these have not yet been confirmed. It also appears that whole areas of the city are on fire and with no rescue teams able to respond it seems as though much of Tel-Aviv will be raised to the ground."

The newsreader asked, "Have you any idea as to what actually happened?"

There was a pause before Jason said "Sorry, no. There has been speculation that multiple genetic warheads were used against the city—but this attack seems without motive and without purpose. The method of delivery is also unknown at this moment in time."

"The Israeli government, the Knesset is seated in Tel-Aviv. Do we know of their fate?"

"Nobody has heard anything from the City of Tel-Aviv for over an hour. We can only assume that whatever fate befell the city also happened to them."

The newsreader, dreading the reply asked, "There are over half a million people in Tel-Aviv. Are you saying that they have all been affected by this?"

"At the moment we have no idea. At this moment in time it seems that none or very few of the half-million inhabitants of Tel-Aviv have survived."

The newsreader let that sink in for a few seconds before saying "Thank you Jason, we will catch you in an hour or so or when you can give us more information. In case you have missed this breaking story. The city of Tel-Aviv has come under attack, by persons unknown. It seems that multiple genetic warheads were used over the city and all if not most of the cities half million population has been affected. As soon as more details arrive we will let you know."

Cathline turned in horror to Tina "My God, She’s gone too far. It was bad enough killing 20 innocent people but now she’s gone too far."

"You mean Dr Bexley? You’re assuming she knew about this. Before we were taken she said that the Guild were planning something big but she didn’t know what. She also said to trust her," Tina said.

"Yeah right. She knew all right. Tina, you are talking about a woman who’s just killed half a million people."

"Look I know it looks that way but one of the things they taught me in police academy was to review all the evidence and don’t make assumptions."

"I don’t need all the facts I KNOW. Who made you Dr Bexley’s champion anyway? I’ll be glad when I’m outta here and I don’t have to listen to your inane chattering anymore," Cathline snapped.

"The feelings mutual. Look, we know Dr Bexley is responsible for us being here and if I ever get near her I’ll make sure she never walks again , but until then we cool it, OK? We know that she gave the Guild DNA technology, she had to if she was to cure herself of being a mermaid. We know the Guild killed your best friend, Kat, and we know they launched this attack on Tel-Aviv BUT there’s only a circumstantial link between Dr Bexley’s DNA technology and the attack. Look, I hate her nearly has much as you do but don’t get blinded by your quest for revenge on her. You’ve got to keep a cool head—otherwise you’ll end up losing it. First things first, get outta here and then let the professionals go after Dr Bexley. If you go storming around being GI Jane you’ll end up killing us both," Tina lectured.

Cathline thought for a moment and said, "Sorry, you’re right. But I KNOW she’s involved."

"So now what do we do? Sit around here watching TV until we find out more?" Tina whispered.

A gleam appeared in Cathline’s eyes, "There’s only one guard and I’m the most beautiful woman in the world. This could be our only chance."

o - o - o -

Elizabeth lay in bed, slowly stroking Matthew’s long auburn hair. They’d decided on an early night as they were both keen to get on with their honeymoon activities. The Guild’s Asian control centre wasn’t her first choice of honeymoon destinations but Hassan had demanded she stay there. She had argued she’d warranted a little freedom but Hassan had stubbornly refused.

Matthew had rolled over towards her and ran his fine, feminine hand down her chest, his eyes full of desire. Elizabeth smiled, Matthew really was insatiable these days. She moved towards him, and they kissed. Elizabeth was about to run her hand down Matthew’s heaving left breast when there was an urgent knock at the door.

"Go away," Elizabeth called out.

"Who is it?" Matthew asked.

"Nobody, now where were we?"

"Hmm about here," Matthew said, placing Elizabeth’s hand on his breast.

Another knock sounded, even more urgent than the last time. With a groan Elizabeth got out of bed and turning to Matthew said, "I’ll see who it is, probably some jerk who’s lost."

Grabbing her dressing gown Elizabeth walked out of the bedroom and towards the door. She was about to open the door when another knock sounded. "Hey I’m coming," she said and opened the door.

A Guild agent stood at the door, a look of urgent desperation in his face. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Elizabeth took it and was about the close the door when the agent said, "I was told to wait for your instructions."

Elizabeth gave a sigh and took the piece of paper. She closed the door behind her and went inside. She sat down on the nearby sofa and started to read.

‘Dr Bexley.

Grim news. We have failed to stop Hassan using genetic weapons. They must have moved forward the timescales without us knowing. I’ve no idea how they did it as I thought I was privy to all their plans. Hassan must have moved it at the last second. No matter, it’s too late now. News reports state that very few of Tel-Aviv’s population has survived and that Israel is crying out for blood.

The only thing we can hope for now is to take down Hassan before the Fury Directive can be implemented. I hope to God we can do this, otherwise the attack on Tel-Aviv is nothing compared to what Israel will do in return. We could be looking at a third world war. When I agreed to this I never knew so many would die, so much pain would be caused to those I loved and so much would be asked of me. I knew people would be hurt, that was the horrible, inevitable logic of your plan. Some must fall if all are to be saved. Simple words but the most terrible burden I have ever had to carry.

I went along with your plan because it was the ONLY way to stop Hassan. I don’t blame you for this as we tried our best, apparently our best wasn’t good enough this time. I’d have liked more time to recruit more supporters but we have no more time. It’ll be touch and go as it is.

Hassan is reportedly in your neck of the woods. I’d have liked to have taken him down myself, but that is no longer possible. My forces in America, Libya and Australia are ready all it needs is your signal to indicate that the pawns are all in place.

Salah.’

Elizabeth just sat there stunned at the news she’d just read. She’d been sure there was no way that Hassan could bring forward the timescales. Once she’d found out the nature and scale of the attack she was doubly sure it couldn’t be accelerated. Obviously not, and now half a million people were dead because of her fuck up. There was no time to dwell on the past, Salah was right they had to move now, or else all was lost. Slowly Elizabeth got up and walked to the door. She opened it, faced the waiting Guild agent and said, "Checkmate at dawn," only when the Guild agent had left did Elizabeth allow herself to cry for those innocents lost.

Matthew heard a gentle sobbing coming from the other room, and got up. He saw Elizabeth sitting on the sofa, head in her hands. He moved over towards her and sat down beside her.

Putting an arm around her he said "Darling, what’s up? Can I help?"

Elizabeth turned a tear stained face towards him and asked, "What do you remember, just before you woke up in hospital?"

"Nothing much. I seem to remember someone called Kat but it’s so vague. I think I’m making it up. Oh, She’s dead I think. Why?"

"What else?"

"That’s about it. When I try think about it I can’t remember and just the word ‘failsafe’ comes to mind."

"Ok. Wait here a second," Elizabeth said.

"Sure, but you haven’t told me what’s up?" Matthew said, his voice showing concern.

"Back in a second," Elizabeth said and went into the bedroom. She returned a few seconds later with two of her ties. She bent down and started to tie Matthew’s shapely legs together.

"Hey, what’re you doing. I thought we did that last time," Matthew complained.

"Hold your hands out," Elizabeth demanded and Matthew obeyed.

After she had finishing securing Matthew’s bonds Elizabeth sat down on the other side of the room.

"Now what. Matthew what’s going on," Matthew demanded.

"I’ve tied you up for my benefit, and yours too probably. I promise you this won’t hurt much. I have to do this, I promised a friend. Failsafe Restore"

Matthew’s body suddenly convulsed and he let out a high pitched scream. He felt as though his head was about to explode and strange images flashed thru his mind. A man walking away from a bride in tears, of a beautiful woman with black hair and green eyes, the oppression of a terrible curse and a single word, Bexley.

While Matthew was convulsing, Elizabeth stood up and concentrated.

She grew taller and thinner. Her legs thinned out and hips widened. Breasts formed on her manly chest and her whole body reformed and rippled into a classic hourglass figure. Finally her face changed, long blonde hair grew and within a few seconds Rachel Martin was looking down at a still twitching Matthew. Elizabeth hoped that the conditioning she’d installed in him when he was held captive by the Guild would work. Otherwise Matthew’s mind would be well and truly screwed. She also mentally crossed her fingers that the implanted memories of a much tamer last few days would kick in, ones in which she hadn’t screwed Matthew to an inch of his life, but where she’d slept on the floor and in separate rooms.

Matthew strained and looked upward at a concerned looking Elizabeth.

He uttered one word, "YOU," before more convulsions struck him.

The images came thick and fast, the funeral of a loved one, A yacht on a turquoise sea, a hospital room, and a wedding. The convulsions stopped and Matthew’s head no longer swam, all was clear. "You BITCH! I killed you!" he swore at Elizabeth. Matthew struggled to free himself of his bonds but couldn’t.

Elizabeth sighed, a great sigh of relief and said "Thank God that worked. I didn’t know how deep they could go. He’d have killed me if this didn’t work."

Matthew spat "Explain now, bitch."

"Ok. Very quickly, and I’ll fill in more later on. Anyway, after you were taken on the boat, good shot by the way. I had to make Hassan believe I was on his side and that I was still obsessed with you. By doing this I lured him into thinking I was contained and not a threat. You remember being in hospital right?"

"Of course. I saw Kat there, she was torturing me. Wait a sec you were Kat?"

"Yeah. We need to move very soon so I’ll be brief. Before you were ‘conditioned’ I implanted a failsafe code that would, in effect preserve who you were and what you knew. A backup if you like. Those ‘failsafes’ you remembered were the borders of that backup. By issuing that failsafe restore codeword I programmed into you—the real you was returned. It’s handy that I had such a deep grip on your subconscious from so long ago, otherwise it might not have worked."

"So you kidnap me, torture me and then when you’ve had your fun with me put me back," Matthew sneered.

"Mat, I need you. Here I’ll read this to you, and after that I have a proposition for you," Elizabeth said and read the note she’d been given to him.

Matthew’s face slowly turned pale as the full impact of the letter hit home, "My God. Half a million people. This Salah thinks you were trying to stop it, and that you were going to help him take over the Guild."

Elizabeth nodded soberly, "I fucked up though. Matthew, there was no way in hell they could have produced that many warheads so quickly. We had at least another six months. I don’t understand how they. Oh Fuck."

Matthew intrigued, decided to hear Elizabeth out before escaping. He was puzzled at Elizabeth’s reaction to this news. She was almost back to how she had been when they’d first met. The cold, calculating, and vicious Elizabeth had gone and now a new Elizabeth had emerged. A brilliant, beautiful woman with a hint of vulnerability, and an extra large helping of remorse. Still, Elizabeth had always known how to play him and this could all be just an act. Matthew just looked at Elizabeth and said, "Fuck, What?"

Fresh tears formed on Elizabeth’s face "I just realised how they did it. I fucked up again. To make a DNA warhead you don’t need specific DNA or even control over what the target DNA will be. Anything will do, in fact anything is better. I said that I installed corruption routines into the original DNA system, routines that would produce random gene sequences. I did this to stop the system being misused BUT in fact what I did was to give the Guild a method of producing genetic warheads," Elizabeth paused and seeing Matthew’s puzzled face continued.

"They used the corrupting versions of my system to start warhead production EARLY, before they took me. They didn’t need me to fix the DNA system so they could START warhead production, it was already well underway."

"So why did they need you?" Matthew answered.

"Oh shit, for the changeling organs of course. I’ve played right into their hands. I thought I was being so clever, but in effect I was responsible for killing half a million people. Matthew I’m so sorry," new tears formed on Elizabeth’s perfect face.

Matthew couldn’t help but be moved by the tearful woman sitting opposite him. "You’ve never failed at anything have you? I remember when we were together you never understood how I could get things wrong. To you, errors were something other people did and that you had to sort out."

Elizabeth glared at Matthew, signs of the old fury returned on her face and she snapped, "I’ve failed before, REMEMBER."

"No you didn’t. Sure we never got married but that wasn’t a failure cus we never did it. As to what went on a couple of years ago that was hardly a failure was it? I’m still you, Kat’s dead and you’re as free as a bird," Matthew said bitterly.

"I’m going to fix all that, promise," Elizabeth said.

"Yeah right," Matthew said sarcastically.

Elizabeth thought for a few moments and then said, "Pushkin said it better than I ever can

I loved you; even now I may confess, Some embers of my love their fire retain;

But do not let it cause you more distress, I do not want to sadden you again.

Hopeless and tongue-tied, yet I loved you dearly With pangs the jealous and the timid know;

So tenderly I loved you, so sincerely,

I pray God grant another love you so."

In spite of himself Matthew almost believed her.

o - o - o -

The Israeli ambassador slammed his fist onto the table "Nearly three years ago we passed a resolution that was to be known as the Fury Directive. We demand we be allowed to use it to its full extent. Half a million people are dead because of the evil of one Nation. We have no quarrel with other countries and no desire to enter into conflict with them, only that we be allowed to strike back at those who have killed so many."

The Egyptian ambassador glared back at him and said in a strained voice "You have NO proof! We categorically deny that we would do such a thing, and my government voices its outrage at the monsters that did this. This, this photograph you have it’s no proof at all, a forgery designed to destroy us."

"I agree," the Austrian representative said.

Israeli ambassador’s face was still flushed from anger. "We demand the council’s approval for the invocation of the Fury Directive. We refuse to act without it, as we are a law-abiding nation. Be assured however, that we will defend ourselves against any attack on our land or people. Our intelligence services have provided proof to our friends, the Americans and British that Egypt was responsible."

The British ambassador cleared his throat "We have carried out an analysis on the fluid left over from the attempted assassination of our Prime Minister, and the fluid that has been found in Tel-Aviv. Our scientists have informed my government that the agent used in both cases was identical. Whoever was behind the attack on our Prime Minister was also behind the attack on Tel-Aviv. MI6 have also analysed the photograph provided by the Israeli’s and have concluded that it is not a fake and that the machine so clearly shown is a Bexley DNA System."

"That is outrageous. Now you accuse Egypt of attempting to kill your leader," the Syrian Ambassador shouted.

A call to order was shouted above the rising tide of outrage and the president of the security council managed to restore some sense of calm.

The American Ambassador started to speak, "The CIA also confirm that the photograph is genuine. The machine shown there matches the design of a Bexley DNA system, although we cannot rule out foul play it seems to us that Egypt is in possession of such a device. However that does not mean that it used it against Tel-Aviv. I propose we take an adjournment to discuss this further with our governments."

"Seconded. I will hand over copies of our proof to any government that wishes to take it," the Israeli ambassador stated.

The president of the UN breathed a sigh of relief. This had been going round in circles all day. "Motion carried. We adjourn for 1 day."

o - o - o -

Salah sat in his chair, just watching some TV. A knot formed in his stomach and his body started to tense. This was IT, the cumulation of over a year’s worth of planning and development. His thoughts turned to all those who’d been killed by Hassan’s vicious attack on Tel-Aviv. In some ways, it was Elizabeth’s fault, it was her plan to try and stop all this after all. Inside he felt no bitterness towards her. It was going to be a hard, difficult struggle after all. They’d known that when they started all this—you don’t take on a thousand years worth of experience and organization without some kind of setback. At least the conspiracy of freedom had lived up to this point and the next few hours would tell if it were to succeed or fail.

It would be mighty close Salah knew that. It was fortunate that Hassan was away from his Libya stronghold, it made Libya more vulnerable. Still they had the element of surprise and their ‘ace in the hole’ as Elizabeth called it.

Salah’s attention was drawn to the TV once more; it was a news update on the crisis meeting at the UN. A young attractive newsreader was saying, "The Crisis meeting of the United Nations ended in deadlock today. The provisional government of Israel is still demanding that the Fury Directive be invoked against Egypt. Tensions in the regions have been raised by the arrival of the Nimitz carrier group and tonight the world stands on the edge of a long feared conflict between Arab and Israeli."

Salah sighed. This was bad, very bad indeed. Now they not only had to stop the Guild but somehow prevent Israel from striking back. As though the newsreader read his thoughts she said, "We have heard that Israel is pushing for a nuclear response to the Tel-Aviv attack. Use of such weapons of mass destruction in retaliation for a genetic attack is authorized by the Fury Directive, and we now hand over to James Morris outside of the UN building."

The scene cut to a middle aged man, in a raincoat standing outside the United Nations building. One could almost sense the media presence there and the forces of destiny that had been meeting inside. James turned to the camera and spoke into his microphone; "Israel’s threat of nuclear retaliation was voiced today as part of its request to invoke the Fury Directive. As you may be aware, Israel is thought to have a substantial nuclear arsenal, capable of destroying the entire Middle East, and indeed is of the members of the ‘nuclear club’ are probably the country most likely to use it."

The reporter paused, letting the words sink in, "We are standing at the precipice and are starting down into the abyss. We are at a crossroads, the actions taken here over the next few days will determine if this ends in peace or in the flames of nuclear fire."

Salah flicked the TV off. The news was too depressing. There were over thirteen million people in Cairo alone and the time to act had to be now. The questions that puzzled him was what the Guild hoped to get out of it and what use was all those changeling organs being put to?

Once the Guild takeover was complete they’d have access to that information and more. If they acted quickly enough they should be able to prevent Israel from killing millions of innocent people. This was no longer a matter of the Guild’s future, the stakes had just grown exponentially.

Salah checked his watch; the first phase would be starting just about now.

o - o - o -

Ata lifted his hand in a single fingered salute at the approaching figure. After a few more steps Ata saw that it was his friend, Abu. Guard duty was boring at the best of times, and even a quick visit from a friend provided welcome relief. Ata smiled and called out, "Hello Abu. What brings you out this time of day?"

Abu smiled, "I have some special orders from Salah to carry out. I can’t stay too long."

Ata glanced around before saying softly, "I see, can you tell me what they are or is Salah just as secretive as Hassan these days? I’d heard that Salah had fallen from Hassan’s favor."

"I’ve heard that’s all about to change. I must go, or I’ll be late," Abu said.

Ata nodded and watched his friend walk past him. A few seconds later Ata thought he heard a sound behind him, but before he could react he felt a burning stinging pain in his neck and all went black. Abu stood over the body of his ex-comrade and wiped Ata’s blood off his small slender knife. Carefully lifting Ata’s body he dragged it into a nearby corner and returned to his post. Salah had asked that this corridor be secured no matter the cost. Abu smiled to himself so far it had gone without a hitch.

Similar scenes were repeated all around Hassan’s Libya stronghold.

Quickly and without fuss Salah’s forces were moving into position.

o - o - o -

The guard outside the door where Cathline and Tina were being held was bored. There’d not been a sound, except from the TV inside. Osman had told him to expect trouble but so far there’d been none. The room was sealed and the only way out was from the inside. The guard yawned but then stifled it as he heard footsteps from around the corner. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was only another Guild agent. The agent walked up to him and said, "Osman’s orders. I am to relieve you of your post."

"I’ve heard no such thing. I will contact Osman just to be sure."

"Look, Osman’s asleep you can go and find him later. All I’ve been told is to relieve you. You can wake him if you like but I wouldn’t if I were you."

Fumbling around in his pocket the guard fished out a key and handed it to the agent, "Ok then, but I’ll check as soon as I get back,"

The agent nodded in agreement, "You do that."

Inside the room Cathline was trying for the nth time to vamp up to the only guard in the room. She’d given him her most stunning smile, a smile that had been said made Helen of Troy’s look dowdy but the guard hadn’t flinched. He just looked right at her, correction right thru her.

"It’s no use, I didn’t think there was a mortal man that could resist Rachel Martin," Cathline complained.

"Must be your age. Look we have to think of something to distract him, " Tina whispered.

"I’ve an idea," Cathline said and pulled Tina close to her and kissed a long lingering kiss.

"Aghh," Tina spat and pulled away.

"Look, most men want to see two women make out so let’s give it a go," Cathline suggested.

"He’s laughing at us," Tina noted at the smirk on the guard’s face.

"It’s no use. I guess we just stay here and wait," Cathline said in frustration.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door and the sound of a key being turned in the lock. A dark Arabic face appeared around the door and called out to the impassive guard.

"What’d he say?" Tina whispered to Cathline.

"Something about his relief," Cathline replied.

The guard glared at Cathline and walked out of the room. Seconds later there were the sounds of a scuffle and a muted scream. Tina looked on in surprise as the guard’s body was pushed thru the door and fell onto the ground. The guard outside closed the door behind him and dragged the body into a corner. Tina noted that the throat had been slit and that the guard’s killer was in a hurry.

The killer turned to Cathline and spoke something that Tina didn’t understand. Cathline smiled, nodded and asked something back. The guard smiled a white toothed smile and replied and went back outside. A few seconds later two black catsuits were thrown into the room and the door shut quickly behind them.

"What the hell was that all about?" Tina asked.

Cathline’s eyes glinted with joy "He said Salah sent him, and that we are to wait here. I knew he wouldn’t let me down. He wants us to put the catsuits on."

"And the smile," Tina said anxious to hear everything.

"Oh I asked him why the guard didn’t respond to me. He said that the guard had been conditioned to think women repulsive. The more beautiful the woman the more repulsive she was. I guess Osman thought of everything."

"So now what?" Tina asked.

"We wait here as instructed. I KNEW he wouldn’t let me down," Cathline repeated. Cathline bent down and threw Tina the smaller of the two catsuits.

o - o - o -

Matthew turned to Elizabeth and repeated, "You’ve never failed, failed have you. When did you ever come second at anything? But this time you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. You planned to stop the Guild from using genetic weapons and fucked up. You would have to screw up something big wouldn’t you."

Elizabeth lifted a tear stained face at Matthew and nodded, "I, I remember trying to treat a small girl who’d fallen from a cliff. It was just after you’d left me. There was nothing I could do for her and she just died in my arms. Matthew, I saw the life drain away from her and I was helpless to stop it. I’d lost patients before but this one mattered. This little girl was my link normality. I knew I could save her but still I failed. Now I have the blood of tens of thousands of little girls on my hands. When it matters, when it REALLY matters I fail. When I try and do good it fails. Matthew, I know what it’s like to fail and the only thing I have been good at is evil."

Matthew’s heart sank. There was the real Dr Elizabeth Bexley in front of him. A vulnerable, heart broken woman who’d lashed out in the only way she knew how, all she’d wanted was his love in return, and he’d snatched it away in the most brutal and humiliating way possible. He felt his heart beat beneath his breasts and he looked down at the woman’s body he’d never called home. In spite of himself, he felt his hate start to melt away. Some part of him did still love Elizabeth, he wasn’t sure if it was something left over from the conditioning, but it didn’t feel like it.

Fresh tears were on Elizabeth’s face, her eyes puffed red from all the tears, "Talk to me Matthew, What are you thinking?"

Tears formed in Matthew’s eyes too, but he blinked them back, "I was feeling sorry for you. Nothing can excuse what you did to us, but I can forgive. Say this body isn’t so bad, sure the periods are pretty crappy but on the whole it’s not so bad. If only Kat were here."

Elizabeth smiled "24^th of the month right? Matthew, it means so much to hear you say that. I know we can never be together, as man and wife. It’s not because I lack the ability to do it; it’s that we’re just not right for each other. When we were ‘husband and wife’ a few days ago I saw and felt something that came as a shock."

Matthew smiled, "24^th is right by the way. What was that?"

"I thought, no I KNEW we were right for each other. But I realise now that I was in love with the idea of being in love. Sure I loved you, deep down I guess I always will, but in my heart of hearts I know it wasn’t meant to be. I saw you with Kat, and I know I could never hope to compete. If one person doesn’t love the other how can a marriage ever hope to last?"

Matthew was stunned for words. Elizabeth had all but admitted he was right after all. He felt his heart soar and the pain of the years started to fade away. Matthew looked Elizabeth in the eyes and said, "I realise that I was wrong too. Maybe I should have said goodbye, maybe I should have known earlier and said something. I never meant to hurt you, I really didn’t. All I wanted was to prevent your pain later on. I wasn’t intentionally vicious to you just naive."

Elizabeth sighed, "You just said what it took me nearly five years to realise. You screwed up Matthew. IF you’d have said something earlier then maybe we could have prevented a lot of pain and suffering. But what I did was my fault and mine alone. We both must take responsibility for the consequences of our actions."

Matthew had to admit Elizabeth was right, he did screw up. Before he’d assumed that Elizabeth was fully to blame, now the revelation struck him that he’d played a part in what had happened after all. He was about to speak when Elizabeth interrupted.

"You know, I can see that now, you were so right. We’re not meant to be together. Maybe somewhere out there is a ‘Kat’ for me. I hope so because I need to be loved and to love so much. Now my parents have gone there’s only me. Matthew I’m so alone, a freak in a world of normality. Even if we do escape this how in hell am I going to live? Changing forms doesn’t help I still have the blood of thousands of little girls on my hands. Matthew I can’t live with ME and yet it’s all I have. You know what’s worse? More people will have to die today. Even now the pile of my victims grows ever larger, when will it stop Matthew? Oh, how I want it to stop," Elizabeth put her head in her hands and started to cry once more.

Matthew said, "Come here," and tried to open his hands.

Elizabeth smiled and walked over to where Matthew sat. She undid his legs and hands and felt herself being drawn into Matthews’s arms. Matthew felt her head rest on his breast and felt a warm wetness spread thru his nightdress as her tears soaked into it. Elizabeth’s body began to shake gentle sobs and she whispered, "I sorry, so sorry, Matthew I’m so, so sorry," over and over and over again.

It seemed like hours before Elizabeth lifted her head away from Matthew’s shoulder she was about to speak when Matthew asked, "Is Kat alive? Elizabeth, I need to know."

Elizabeth looked Matthew in the eyes and said, "At this moment in time, I’ve no idea."

Matthew’s eyes lit up, "So she COULD be?"

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, she could be."

Matthew thought for a few moments and took a breath, "So Kat wasn’t killed in the desert?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, that wasn’t Kat, I saved her for you Matthew, I saved her. Hassan wanted her killed or worse but I saved her."

Matthew pulled Elizabeth close again and wept tears of joy, "Thank you Elizabeth, Thank you."

The reconciliation was interrupted by a loud staccato sound, which reverberated around the room. Elizabeth extricated herself and said, "That’s gunfire! It’s started. Lets get going."

o - o - o -

Scott was adjusting his dress when the sound of automatic weapons echoed from outside. Instinctively, he threw himself down on the ground and rolled to one side. Years of police training had taught him to firstly secure your position, locate the threat and then neutralize it. He looked up, and flicked his blonde hair away from his eyes, "Damn hair," he swore. Now he knew why Tina cut hers short or tied it back. He looked around, eyes quickly scanning for the attacker and a few moments later deduced that all was clear. He picked himself up and walked nervously into the rest area where the senator and Marcel were still asleep. They’d been in here for who knows how long, days or weeks probably. Time had merged into one linear stream of waiting and more waiting.

Scott reached out and shook the Senator’s curved, sleeping form. The senator made a very feminine "hmmm" noise.

Scott shook the senator once more, "Senator wake up. Somebody’s shooting outside."

The senator stirred awake "What!"

Scott whispered, "Wake Marcel. I’ve no idea what’s going on but we can use it to get outta here."

There was a loud crash and the room shuddered with the shockwave of an explosion. Small fragments of plaster drifted down and the sound of gunfire increased.

"That was no grenade, that was artillery," the senator said.

By now Marcel was awake along with most of the girls in the room. Marcel swung his shapely legs from the bed and slowly walked over to where Scott and the Senator were standing. "What’s going on?" his soft, voice said.

"No idea. It seems as though the Guild is under attack. We’ve heard automatic weapons and the odd artillery shell. We can escape in all this confusion," the Senator suggested.

"You two may be trained in all this, but I’m not. I’ll be killed!" Marcel complained.

"I know, I’ve had 15 years as a cop and the Senator here was in ‘Nam but that helps us. If you stick close we’ll make it, Besides, how big can this place be?"

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud bang and all three of them threw themselves on the ground. The other girls around them screamed and ran off to the far corner of the room. A black, hooded figure armed with a heavy submachine gun appeared thru the remains of the door. His face scanned the room and he then called out in broken English, "I am looking for the ones called Scott, Marcel and Senator Jameson."

The hooded figure walked further into the room and looked around. From his prostrate position Scott saw that the man was heavily armed with an assortment of grenades, knives and small arms. Over the top of black catsuit he wore a red armband and the bulges beneath it indicated a heavy flak jacket.

Scott, Marcel and the Senator remained still, unsure if to volunteer or not. The figure looked around once more and said "Scott, Tina says hi and that she’s all right. Marcel, Rachel Martin is safe and they asked me to ask you to follow me."

"What do we do?" Marcel whispered to Scott.

"Dunno, he knew about Rachel and Tina. Why would this be a trap we’re prisoners anyway? I’m going to take a chance," Scott stood up and called out, "My name is Scott. What do you want?"

The hooded man nodded, "Good. You can either help us destroy the evil of Hassan or you can go free. The choice is yours. The same goes for your friends. Your chances of escape are greatly enhanced if you help us."

"I say fight," Scott said firmly. His sense of justice demanded it.

"If it’s our only way out, I’m in," offered Senator Jameson.

"In that case I’m with you," Marcel nodded his agreement.

The Guild agent gave a nod of satisfaction and said, "My instructions are to have you wait here until we call for you. The enemy will not expect three such as you to fight back. You are to be our ‘shock troops’ if you like. When we call for you I want you to take the explosives we give you and plant them in the room we show you. For now you are to wait here. Clear?"

Marcel, Scott and the senator nodded. The Guild agent stood to attention and gave a single fingered salute.

Scott thought for a moment and said "We wait I guess," and he sat down.

A few minutes later the sound of gunfire started again and to Marcel’s untrained ear it seemed as though a full scale war was going on outside.

Marcel was in fact nearly correct. Salah’s forces had got the early advantage by means of surprise and position and were slowly closing in on the fortified positions of Hassan’s troops. As in all Guild strongholds, the fighting was bloody and bitter. When they ran out of bullets they used knives, when their knives were broken they used bare hands. Never in a thousand years has Guild fought Guild with such ferocity. Salah’s forces were, however getting low on ammunition and inexorably Hassan’s forces, with access to more firepower were starting to push back. Salah’s great ‘conspiracy of freedom’ was starting to lose momentum and as Senator Jameson would have testified, in battle momentum is everything.

o - o - o -

Elizabeth and Matthew emerged from their room and were met by a Guild agent. Matthew noted the red armband he wore on his sleeve. Elizabeth gave a single fingered salute and asked, "How goes it?"

The man single fingered saluted in reply and then said in heavily accented English "It is as we hoped, our attack caught them completely by surprise. We managed to secure strategic points before launching our main attack. Hassan’s forces have been driven back but are holding out around his stronghold. We have suffered heavy losses, as have they. In the end we will prevail."

Elizabeth grimaced. This was tougher going than she thought. She hid all of this and asked "What about the communications room and data centres?"

"All under Hassan’s control. As expected he is rallying his forces around the world. I will confess that it will be touch and go here. I suspect it will be the same elsewhere. Never before has Guild risen against Guild."

Elizabeth’s face hardened, "Then I guess we need to take out Hassan and Osman as soon as we can, collapse their leadership and send them into disarray. Have we destroyed the network links to Hassan’s stronghold?"

The agent nodded in agreement, "Yes, as you instructed, only his link to the communications room and the link from the communications room to the outside world is active. Please, follow me."

Matthew looked around in confusion. He grabbed hold of Elizabeth’s arm and said, "This isn’t any hotel!"

Elizabeth just nodded her agreement and said, "I’ll explain later. Now come on we need to keep up with that guy."

Elizabeth and Matthew followed the agent thru debris-strewn corridors. The smell of cordite was everywhere and the air was misty with smoke, bodies littered the ground, some wearing red armbands but more often than not they weren’t. Matthew thought that the agent hadn’t lied when he said the fighting was fierce. The sound of gunfire was everywhere and the loud sound of a grenade exploding was sometimes heard. The sound grew louder has they approached the front line. A long wall of furniture and sandbags had been laid across a wide, ornate hallway. Behind them around 20 Guild agents were shooting at an unseen enemy.

A loud burst of gunfire made Matthew dive to the floor, "Elizabeth, get down," he shouted.

"Doesn’t matter," was her reply as bullets whistled around her.

"Elizabeth, get down, you gotta a death wish?" Matthew hissed.

Elizabeth suddenly snapped out of her state of inaction and knelt down beside Matthew, "Sorry," she said, still distracted by her thoughts.

"So you’re bullet proof then? What the fuck was that all about?" Matthew hissed. Did Elizabeth really wish to die? Matthew was starting to suspect that she was slipping into insanity once more. The catalyst this time wasn’t being jilted or hurt. The pain that was causing it was deep within her, the pain of failure and the pain of so of many deaths. In spite of all what had gone on before Matthew decided to stick with her, she was after all his last best chance of getting out of this hell hole alive.

Elizabeth turned to Matthew and said, "I just got a little distracted that’s all, and yes I am bullet resistant," Elizabeth called over to the man who’d escorted them here. Under a hail of bullets he crawled over to them. "We’re pinned down and reinforcements are too far away. If we don’t break the deadlock soon then we’ll have to regroup further back and that would be disastrous," he said.

Elizabeth nodded, "Look, I’ve got an idea. We MUST get into the communications room. If we don’t the whole effort will collapse very quickly. Tell your men to cease-fire and pass me that Uzi will you. Oh, and get me one of your guys catsuits please"

The man turned to go, "Oh, and one more thing pass me the plans for this place."

"Of course," the agent said and passed Elizabeth the small bag.

Elizabeth pulled out a set of plans and laid them on the floor,

"I need to get to here," Elizabeth pointed to a small room about 200 metres away from their position.

Matthew nodded, "Ok then what?"

"Then I take down Hassan, once and for all. Hassan’s stronghold is here. It’ll be a nightmare to get to but I think I know a way. I’m not sure I’m up to it and it’s one hell of a change but it’s possible, theoretically, maybe."

Matthew stared at the location on the map, only one way in and bound to be heavily guarded, "That’s suicide! You’ll never make it. Why don’t we let the rest of Salah’s forces do it?"

"Maybe later but first we need to get past these guys," Elizabeth was interrupted by the Guild agent tapping her on the shoulder. Elizabeth turned and whispered something in his ear and he went off towards his troops.

"What are we doing and where the hell are we?" Matthew asked.

"Using my advantage. In a Guild stronghold in Australia. Now lay down and play dead."

"What! Australia! Elizabeth what the hell is going on?"

"Shhh, Go on do it! We haven’t much time. Wait here, I’ll be back in a few moments," Elizabeth hissed and squirmed back away from the front line.

Omar ducked as another volley of bullets flew over his head. Those traitorous dogs would soon learn not to trifle with Hassan. He grudgingly admitted that they fought well and died bravely but his squad had position, more ammunition and time was on their side. Hassan would soon call for reinforcements and this petty rebellion led by Salah would soon be crushed.

He heard a burst of machine gun fire, coming from the enemy’s line. Screams wailed out and all was quiet. Nervously he lifted his head above his line of sandbags and saw a tall figure, dressed in black and holding a smoking Uzi.

In the dim, smoky light of the corridor he peered at the figure and called out "Who are you?"

The figure called back, its deep masculine voice boomed back, "Well done, we’ve cleared this nest of vipers out. I’ve called for more help and decided to lead my troops to victory."

Omar called back nervously, "Hassan, is that you?"

"Of course. The Bexley female is dead, I slit her throat and her freak husband is on his way to my harem. You can have him if you want."

Omar, still a little suspicious called back, "Come closer my master so that I can see you. The last I heard you were safely in your shelter and directing the battle from there."

Hassan stepped over the barricade and walked towards Omar’s position. Omar stood up but indicated to his men to be careful. The Bexley female was reputed to be full of tricks and he was taking no chances. As the figure walked closer Omar saw the telltale moustache and the strong, imposing physique. It WAS Hassan, only Hassan walked like that, only Hassan had that air of sophisticated command. Omar stuttered "Hassan it IS you."

Hassan nodded. "I couldn’t just sit there and let my friends risk their lives to help me. I had to do something so I used secret passages to get behind those dogs and gunned them down."

Omar was satisfied. That was a typical Hassan deception. He felt his pride swell, Hassan wanted to be with his troops in their hour of need. He stood to attention and gave a single fingered salute, "What next my master?"

"Go and clear out all the bodies we’ve left, see if there are any wounded. I need to know how many we are facing and who has betrayed me. I am on my way to the communications room. I need to broadcast our victory here to the other places."

Omar called to his men and a loud cheer erupted from them. They stood up and gingerly stepped over their fortifications. Hassan waited for a few moments and then called out "NOW."

Omar looked on in disbelief as the dead bodies in front of him came to life, raised their machine guns and opened fire. He dived to the ground but was struck in the arm by a bullet. He looked over to where Hassan was standing and saw Hassan’s body start to change. Within a few seconds the very manly figure of Hassan had changed into the very female figure of Rachel Martin. Omar swore. He was about to lift his Uzi up to fire at her when he saw her raise her arm at him, he felt a stinging pain in his shoulder and all went black.

Elizabeth relaxed as the changes ceased. She stared at her hand as the poison dart firing tube retracted back inside it. The man she hit wasn’t killed just paralysed for a few hours. He’d be picked up later on. She hadn’t wanted to use up valuable energy pulling this kind of stunt, and in some ways it seemed a very cowardly thing to do but war rewards the cunning. She turned and saw the agents loyal to Salah picking their way thru the bodies. After checking each one they ran past her and took point.

Matthew followed a few seconds later and looked at the carnage around him," Fucking hell Elizabeth, you’re vicious. I never stood a chance."

Elizabeth sighed sadly, "It was the only way to be sure. I had to do it or we’d have been here all day and more people would have died. Now we’ve got to get moving."

They walked a few metres up the corridor and ran into the agent who’d let them out of the room. By his role in all this Matthew deduced he must be some kind of commander for the Guild forces loyal to Salah. Elizabeth walked up to him and he turned to face her.

"You have the cunning of Satan, Dr Bexley. I’d heard you could change bodies but that was nothing like I’ve ever seen." the Guild commander remarked, the admiration evident in his voice.

"It was the only way. Now back to work, how far’s the communications room?"

"It’s only about a hundred metres away. My scouts have reported no enemies that far forward. They have all fallen back to Hassan’s stronghold. If we attack the communications room the agents inside will destroy all the equipment. Besides the door is heavily armored and we cannot destroy it or cut thru it easily."

Elizabeth nodded, "Then its time we used some of my devil cunning again isn’t it. Besides, it allows us to take the people inside alive rather than slaughter them. Tell your people to secure the area, I’ll handle this alone."

Elizabeth and Matthew followed the commander around several corners and were shown a heavy armor plated door. The commander gestured to the door, indicating its strength. The commander then pointed out camera’s pointing both ways down the corridor any approach to the door would be spotted. Elizabeth thought for a moment and then ran back towards the fallen Guild front line. She hunted around the bodies until she came upon Omar’s fallen form. She concentrated for a few seconds on her hand and a small talon grew from between her thumb and finger. She jabbed the talon into Omar’s neck and ran back towards the waiting Matthew and troops. Once she was there she turned to the commander and said, "I’ve taken a blood sample of the man who led the stronghold here, do you know his name?"

The commander thought for a few moments and said, "Yes his name is Omar. He is one of Hassan’s commanders."

Elizabeth gave a quick nod of satisfaction, "Good. My changeling organ is already sequencing his DNA. In a few moments we’ll be ready. I want you to clear out the corridor and then throw in a grenade when I give the signal. Ok, Matthew you’re with me."

The commander barked an order and his troops fell back. Matthew, still a little dazed from being plunged into the middle of a civil war followed Elizabeth. The commander stared at Elizabeth in amazement as he saw her body melt and reform. Her body took on a more muscular tone and she shifted form before his eyes. Within seconds a double of Omar stood before him. He shook his head in amazement, what a weapon this changeling organ was. ‘Omar’ gave the signal and the commander pulled a grenade from his belt. Taking a last look around he pulled the pin and rolled it into the deserted corridor. Four seconds later there was a loud boom and debris showered the prostrate forms of ‘Omar’ and the commander.

Inside the communications room Mohammed Ashraf heard a loud explosion. He was safe in here he knew and Hassan himself had entrusted the security of the computer and communications equipment in here to him. Besides, he was behind 10 inches of reinforced armor plate and concrete. Hassan had also ordered him to download the Guild database onto DVD-RAM in case of evacuation. Mohammed liked the fact that Hassan appreciated the importance of technology in any kind of operation. Hassan had also specified that the network links were to be left in place—so that he could broadcast news of his victory to the rest of the Guild. The progress bar on screen showed that the copy of the database was about 90% complete. In the unlikely event of this place’s capture it wouldn’t do them any good. The information was heavily encrypted and it would take several super computers years to decrypt the information stored there. As in all things Hassan never took chances, was always through and was completely ruthless when required. He adjusted his spectacles and continued with the download of the Guild database.

The intercom crackled, "This is Omar, repeat this is Omar. Area is secure. We have prevailed. Hassan is on his way to you. Prepare to open up."

Mohammed wasn’t sure and moved over to the TV monitor. In front of the door was Omar, his clothes ripped and he was showing signs of exhaustion. Mohammed could see the look of triumph on his face and he emitted a loud cheer. It’d been a long day and the stress of guarding this place alone had weighed heavily on him. Of course it hadn’t started out like that but his comrades had been called away to help with the battle. Exalting inside he pressed the door release.

The door slowly swung open and he turned to face Omar. His eye detected a blur, faster than he could make out and he suddenly felt his arm being pinned from behind. He felt a prick on his neck, and saw that a blade was being pressed against his neck. He managed to whisper, "Omar?" but the voice behind him whispered, "No Bexley."

Mohammed just stood there as several men wearing red armbands poured into the room. A young woman with Auburn hair and blue/gray eyes followed them in. Mohammed looked down to see if he could prise the knife away from his throat, and saw to his horror that there was no knife. The knife was a hand that had been fashioned into a blade, however it was just as lethal so Mohammed stood still.

When the area was secure Mohammed felt the grip on him relax and the mysterious blade-handed person called Bexley moved away, and he saw it for the first time.

The Bexley’s body seemed to melt, become smaller and less muscular. The blade-hand reformed into fingers and Mohammed looked on in stunned shock as his identical twin formed in front of him. Unable to move or protest he let the Bexley move towards him. His own face smiled at him and removed his glasses and put them on. Mohammed saw the Bexley’s hand move towards him and felt a prick in his neck and all went black.

"Right, now for the hard part," Elizabeth said turning to the commander.

The commander had never seen anything like it before. This woman had just taken out a heavily protected installation single-handed. Sure she’d relied on guile but even still. The commander had to admit the American doctor impressed him, Hassan was right to fear her and Salah was right to insist she be recruited. He was too proud to admit any of this so he turned to her and said, "What next?"

"Take your forces towards Hassan’s stronghold. We’ll wait here for him to call. I suspect that he’ll soon know all is lost here and want to evacuate. We’ll need his encryption key if we are to prove that we have him, and to operate the Guild broadcast system. Matthew you’re with me, Oh and get out of that nightdress for God’s sake. You’re walking around as if to say, hey I’m a civilian shoot me. Here use that geeks catsuit."

The Guild commander left the room and left a small skeleton guard outside. Inside Elizabeth collapsed onto the chair, breathing heavily.

Matthew walked over to the unconscious Mohammed and pulled off his catsuit. He looked at Elizabeth self-consciously and tried to find a discrete corner to change in.

"Look, I’ve seen everything you’ve got so don’t worry. Besides I’m surprised any of those soldiers managed to shoot straight with you waltzing around half naked," Elizabeth quipped.

Matthew removed his nightdress and started to put on the catsuit. A thought occurred to him and he said to Elizabeth, "You really enjoy all this secret agent stuff don’t you?"

Elizabeth looked a little guilty, "I guess so, but only because it’ll save lives in the end. If the Guild were still to prevail after all this bloodshed it’d be the biggest tragedy of my life. I’m still thought of as a monster and wanted around the world for my crimes. I need to prove that I’m no longer any of that, and to do that I need to save more lives than I have taken."

Matthew was about to reply when a console beeped near to Elizabeth. Elizabeth gestured to Matthew to get out of the way and checked that all was clear. A few seconds later Hassan’s face appeared on a nearby monitor.

"Hassan, what is happening? I have heard gunfire all around. So far this place is secure," Elizabeth said nervously.

Hassan stared into the monitor, his face was streaked with blood and his composure had been shattered, "The enemy took us by surprise. Soon we will be overrun. My computer system here has been knocked out. We must rally our forces for one last offensive. If we can perform this all it once we will be able to smash that viper Salah’s mutiny."

"Agreed, you can re-route thru here, but I will need your code," Elizabeth asked.

"Ok. I also want to order Dr Bexley’s assassination. I am told that she was in league with Salah all along. How has it come to this, taken in by a mere woman," Hassan complained.

"She is no woman or so I have heard. I have heard she sold her soul to Satan. It shall be done. I’m ready for the code," Elizabeth replied coldly. She was very tempted to add some snide remark but this was the critical part.

Elizabeth saw Hassan reach over and type in a sequence of numbers and letters. A green OK icon appeared on the screen and Elizabeth had to force down a smile. She’d got it, she’d just blown the entire Guild network and database wide open. There were some geeks back at Harvard who’d have killed to pull this kind of stunt. All Elizabeth said was, "You’re online. GO!"

Hassan nodded is satisfaction and started to speak, his voice slow and saddened. "Friends, we have been betrayed, betrayed by those who we once called brothers. I call on those still loyal to the ideal of the Guild to rise up and take back what is ours. To those fighting against us, I say to you lay down your weapons and you will be spared. You have also been betrayed. I give you my word that only the traitor Salah and his evil whore Dr Bexley will be punished."

Hassan paused for a few seconds, letting his words sink in, "Why should we fight each other. Together we are stronger. We are on the verge of restoring ourselves to our rightful place. To those fighting against us, you have 10 minutes to comply otherwise you will share Salah’s and Dr Bexley’s fate. Hassan out."

Elizabeth stared at the screen, waiting for Hassan’s instructions. Hassan then ordered, "Transmit this right away. I must go now, I am on emergency power and I need that to co-ordinate the battle."

The screen went blank and when she was sure it was clear Elizabeth punched the air, "Matthew, we did it. The Guild is finished!"

"How so? You’ve still got Hassan and Osman to go? Plus all those chapters and agents that are left. You can’t kill it. Yes you’ve damaged it, and yes your buddy Salah will be in charge but you haven’t stopped it."

"I will have. If all goes to plan, and now Hassan is powerless to stop it.

Now watch," Elizabeth’s fingers danced over the keyboard.

Matthew watched for half and hour, trying to figure out what Elizabeth was doing, he tried several times to speak but each time Elizabeth told him ‘Hush, I’m concentrating.’

At long last Elizabeth took a pause, "What’re you doing?" Matthew queried.

"I’m dumping the entire Guild database onto the net. I’m also mailing copies of all the Guild membership records, plans, finances etc to all security services in the world. In around six hours the whole lot will be public to a hundred million people. References to it will be on every newsgroup and search engines will find it right away. The Guild’s gone global. By exposing the whole network I ensure that it will not survive. I might not have the time or resources to shut the Guild down but the combined forces of the world’s intelligence services will. Even if a high ranking Guild member in one country manages to cover it up, other countries will have the same information. I told you the only way to stop the Guild was to do it all once."

Matthew was amazed at Elizabeth’s brilliance. Time and time again he had admired her ability to think around a problem, predict what others would do, and then use it for her advantage. He thought they’d managed to outthink her during the fury he now saw that it was only a lucky break that had finally stopped her. Matthew was about to congratulate her when Elizabeth swore.

"What’s up?" Matthew asked.

"I’m trying to find the files relating to changelings and the use of the genetic warheads. I think I’ve found them but Hassan’s encrypted them with another key. There’s no way in hell I’m going to be able to decipher them. Matthew, we have to get this disk to the government, maybe one of their systems will be able to do it. FUCK!"

Matthew thought for a moment and then the horror of the situation dawned on him too, "You mean you don’t know why they launched the attack on Tel-Aviv, and what they’re planning to do with all those changeling organs?"

Elizabeth sighed, "Yep. We’ve killed the scorpion but the poison still remains. If we don’t find a way to prove the link between the Guild and the attack on Tel-Aviv then we’ll still have failed! Israel will still strike back and kill millions. Fuck, there’s no way we can get Hassan to give us the key now.

"So now what?"

"We carry on and remove Hassan and the rest of the Guild. We HAVE to get this to the government before Israel’s given the go ahead to invoke the Fury Directive. Fuck, Hassan’s good. I won’t underestimate him again."

Matthew peered at a screen, "Elizabeth, the database copy has finished."

Elizabeth walked over to the DVD-RAM system and removed six disks. She gave them to Matthew and said firmly, "No matter what happens you MUST give these to the government. You’ve not done much yet, but now it’s your hour Matthew. When you get out, and if I don’t make it, go to your apartment in New York. Salah will be there and ask him to take you to my Lab in Libya you can turn yourself back from there."

Matthew said, "You sound as though you might not live thru this."

Elizabeth said softly, "With what I have planned next I might not. The only thing that can kill me is myself."

o - o - o -

Outside of the harem the gunfire stopped abruptly. It was almost as if there was a pause, a waiting for something to pass. Marcel’s fear rose when the door opened and a black glad figure walked in. To his relief Marcel spotted a red armband, it was one of the ‘good guys’.

The man walked over to where Marcel, Scott and the senator were sitting and he crouched down beside them. The man reached into a side pocket and pulled out a small piece of white putty and a black device that looked like a pager. The man checked both devices before saying, "If you go down the corridor for a hundred metres and then take a right you will see a heavy wooden door. This is Semtex, it’s a very powerful explosive," he showed the putty to Scott, "Put this on the door hinges and then, when you are far enough way press this," and he indicated a small button on the pager.

Scott thought for a few moments before saying, "This door is bound to be heavily defended, we’ll be killed trying to get to it. What’s behind the door anyway?"

The man nodded, acknowledging the questions and replied, "You are women, they will not expect women to be against them. Besides, I am going to create panic in here. The enemy will be swamped with screaming women. They will not shoot and they will not suspect. As to what’s behind the door, that is Hassan’s personal office. When we destroy it we send a powerful signal to the enemy which will strike fear into their hearts. It will ensure our victory."

The Senator thought for a moment before gesturing to the man to give him the explosives. The man handed over the white putty to the senator who then rolled it in his hands and tucked it into his cleavage, "These are useful for something," he commented.

Pointing to the pager Scott said, "I’ll take that."

Marcel looked a little disappointed. He wanted to blow something up. Scott detected Marcel’s look and offered, "You, my friend are our diversion. We need you to scream and make as much fuss as you can. You need to give us time to plant this and get away."

Satisfied that the plan was understood the Guild agent stood up and pointed his Uzi into the air. He shouted something that Scott couldn’t understand and then fired several rounds into the air. The other harem girls screamed in terror and fled out of the room. In all the confusion Scott, Marcel and the senator followed them out and into the corridor. The harem girls spurred on and ‘herded’ by regular bursts of gunfire above their heads, ran screaming and wailing down the corridor towards Hassan’s office.

It wasn’t until they had gone about 80 metres down the smoke filled and body strewn corridor that Scott, Marcel and the Senator ran into Hassan’s forces. Hassan’s forces were entrenched behind several sandbags and were clearly unsure of what to do. Their guns were raised and ready to fire—a fact which caused the fleeing Harem girls more anxiety and only added to the general mayhem. Marcel gathered up his skirt and jumped, screaming over the sandbags, to the amazement of the troops behind it. Scott and the senator followed suit, wailing as if possessed.

Unsure of what to do Hassan’s forces decided that women, especially Hassan’s women were no threat and steeled themselves for the assault to come. By now the other Harem girls had ran past and an air of quiet serenity descended on the fortifications. Two Guild agents were suspicious of the three women who’d vaulted past, and went off to investigate.

A little further on Marcel, Scott and the Senator reached an ornate wooden door. Scott looked around and said, "This must be it, go on plant the explosives and let’s get out of here. Marcel you keep watch."

Marcel nodded and walked a few metres down the corridor.

The senator nodded his agreement and pulled the Semtex from his cleavage and pressed it into the hinges of the door. Satisfied the Senator said, "Let’s go."

Suddenly Marcel came sprinting back down the corridor, "Guild coming this way. Quick."

"If we leave they’ll discover it and remove it," the senator was clearly worried about their discovery.

"Then we have to deal with them," Scott stated.

Marcel gestured with his fist, "Got it!"

"What?" Scott asked.

"Just follow my lead," Marcel replied.

A few seconds later the two Guild agents came running around the corner. As soon as Marcel saw them he let out a loud scream and ran towards them. The Guild agents stopped and pointed their guns at Marcel.

Marcel promptly stopped screaming and gesticulated down the corridor, as if to tell them that the people they were after went that way. The Guild agents looked at each other for a few moments and then one of them ran off in the direction Marcel has been pointing while the other, ignoring Marcel’s pleas pushed past him and walked towards Scott and the Senator.

Scott was now worried that Marcel’s scheme was falling apart, started pointing also. The senator followed suit but this too failed to distract the Guild agent, and he continued his advance towards the door. The Guild agent stopped dead when he saw the Semtex lining the door hinges and he raised his Uzi, pointing it at Marcel to indicate that he should move back towards the door. Marcel obeyed, moved back to where Scott and the Senator were standing. For Marcel time seemed to slow down, each heartbeat taking an hour to complete. He saw the Guild agent aim his Uzi at the senator and an eternity later saw him start to squeeze the trigger. In an instant Marcel threw himself in front of the gun just as the Uzi went off. Bullets ripped into Marcel’s body and he collapsed to the floor.

Scott was the first to react, years of police training and experience sprung into action and he leapt at the Guild agent. The Guild agent tried to block a bone shattering move from Scott but Scott was too quick, he brought his knee upwards and into the Guild agents groin. The Guild agent went down, dropped his gun and started to groan. The Senator took the opportunity and picked the Uzi up and promptly struck the Guild agent around the head.

Scott had knelt down beside Marcel’s bloodied body, checked for a pulse but he already knew there would be none. The senator gave Scott a glance as if to say ‘is he?’ Scott gave a sad nod and stood up.

"We’d better go, his buddies will wonder where he’s got to," Scott said gesturing to the fallen Guild agent.

The senator nodded his agreement, "Yeah. We’ll mourn Marcel later. I didn’t think he’d have it in him, but he saved our lives. Let’s not make his sacrifice an empty one."

Leaving Marcel’s body behind Scott and the senator ran off down the corridor until they were a safe distance away. Scott fished out the detonator and pressed the button. Instantly there was a loud explosion and then a deafening silence fell around them.

Scott and the Senator held position for a few minutes until the Guild agent who’d rescued them ran towards them. He gave a ‘thumbs up’ sign and called out, "Well done, go back to your room we’ll take it from here."

Scott walked slowly back to the room where they’d been held only a few minutes ago. What was Marcel thinking? Why did he have to die? Scott was reminded of the time a few years back when he’d lost his partner to a drunk driver. He’d complained about her replacement, Tina who was just a rookie at the time but eventually he came to trust her insight. This train of thought brought Scott’s thoughts back to Tina. Where was she and was she ok? The thoughts of Tina brought forward thoughts of home. Rebecca, how he missed Rebecca and the happy 15 years they’d had together. The sensation of his breasts pushing against the dress he now wore finally brought him back to reality. If he got out of here what the hell would Rebecca say and do? Suddenly he felt an arm grab his, and he was pulled towards the harem again. The senator had spotted more enemy Guild agents, closing fast and had started to pull him towards safety. Scott got the hint and ran inside.

o - o - o -

Elizabeth concentrated hard. Matthew looked on as he saw Elizabeth’s skin turn gray all over. He saw flesh ripple inside her, and he knew her organs were being re-arranged. Elizabeth seemed to grow taller by the second until she stood nearly eight feet tall. Her body fleshed out and muscles grew taut and strong. She stretched out her arms, and Matthew looked on in amazement as the skin became scaly and armored. Fingers grew points until each finger was a sharp blade of bone. From her wrists, forearm and elbow more blades grew and small outcrops of bone pushed their way thru the already armor plated skin.

Elizabeth took a breather for a moment and managed to say "Not done yet."

Her whole skin took on scales until heavy looking armor encased her entire body. Her breasts retracted in and her crotch was encased in heavy bone, leaving only her curved shape as evidence that she was still female. Her legs and torso rippled as muscles and joints reformed to more efficient configurations. From her chest and back burst a series of small spines, and Matthew recognised them as the same type that contained the same deadly poison as she’d used on the fish so long ago.

Breathing hard and looking strained Elizabeth sat down for a few minutes. After recovering she stood up and closed her eyes. A ‘bud’ appeared each side of Elizabeth’s torso and just under her arms. These buds grew until two additional arms formed, each looking exactly like the two she already had.

Matthew couldn’t help but smile at the ridiculous sight of Rachel Martin’s head atop a four-armed killing machine body. Elizabeth turned and said, "This is all your fault for making me watch too much Sci-fi."

Rachel Martins head began to ripple and reform and it grew bonier. The neck vanished under bone and armored skin and the hair receded into the skull. Elizabeth’s jaw swelled outwards, making her cheeks puff outwards. The bone that now encased her skull grew down making an almost medieval helmet shape over her face. She turned to Matthew, opened her mouth and Matthew jumped back in shock as a second fanged jaw shot out from inside her mouth. She hissed at Matthew and continued to concentrate.

A few minutes later Elizabeth walked out into the corridor. They heard the sounds of gunfire in the distance and with Matthew taking up the rear they picked their way thru shattered walls and smoke filled rooms. Elizabeth was unperturbed by the carnage around her, as if she felt she was impervious to all the Guild could throw at her. Matthew for his part didn’t share in her confidence. He noticed the bodies grew ever more frequent the closer they came to the battle. This time more of the bodies wore red armbands than not and Matthew deduced that the battle was not going as well as Elizabeth had hoped. Suddenly the noise grew much louder, and the floor rumbled with the vibrations of grenades and heavy machine gun fire.

Matthew ducked down behind a wall and looked on at the pitched battle going on outside. Apparently Salah’s forces had rallied as on one side Salah’s forces were slowly gaining ground but it was a close run thing.

Suddenly, Elizabeth spotted something and sprinted off, oblivious to the small arms fire that was being directed at her. Matthew lay flat on the ground, and watched in awe as he saw that Elizabeth was running towards a set of closing heavy doors. Suddenly a Guild agent leapt out from nowhere and tried to plunge his knife into Elizabeth’s armored chest. Before he could get anywhere near Elizabeth’s lower right arm slashed out and almost decapitated him. The agent went down as though he’d been pole-axed and Elizabeth continued unaffected and unstoppable.

"Cover me," Elizabeth called out.

Salah’s forces set up a heavy suppressing fire, which, had the desired effect of stopping much of the gunfire directed at Elizabeth. Matthew could have sworn that he saw bullets strike the running Elizabeth, as occasionally she would pause, as if concentrating before continuing onwards.

In a matter of seconds Elizabeth reached the Guild stronghold and was surrounded by Guild agents. Matthew looked on in awe, as Elizabeth’s movements became a blur. The Guild agents set upon her as a lion does to a wounded zebra. The glint of their knives making deadly sparkles in the pale glow of the emergency lights. Suddenly one of the Guild agents was lifted up off the ground as Matthew saw a large arm size blade rip thru the agents sternum. Another blade-arm entered the man and with a swift, bloody movement the agent was torn in two.

Matthew turned away in horror as blood covered the walls. The Guild agents who had been so cavalier in attacking Elizabeth backed off and Matthew got his first glimpse of Elizabeth since she’d ran off. Her body had several bleeding holes where bullets had struck and that had not been sealed yet and her armored skin was slashed in several places. Blood poured from multiple gashes where her throat should be and Matthew could see the strain her body was under.

For their part the Guild agents backed off and circled her, wary of the killing blades two of her arms had become. Salah’s forces watched, transfixed by the sight before them. One of the Guild agents roared at challenge at Elizabeth, and stepped forward, brandishing his curved knife.

Elizabeth cocked her head to one side, and took a single step towards her challenger. Her challenger was about to rush Elizabeth when, in a movement too fast for the eye to see Elizabeth had raised an arm at the man. The man fell as though struck by a heavy weight and started to writhe in pain on the floor. His comrades annoyed and disheartened rushed Elizabeth once more, but Salah’s forces starting to fire once more halted their advance.

This distraction was all that Elizabeth needed and all of a sudden she was a blur of slashing limbs and spines. She moved between the Guild’s forces as if on a different plane of existence. It was almost as if Elizabeth was toying with them, letting them have their best shot before swatting them aside, and in a matter of seconds she was surrounded by the dismembered bodies of her attackers, blood, entrails and body parts were everywhere.

Salah’s forces looked at Elizabeth in awe, but Matthew noticed how Elizabeth was starting to slouch and her breathing was heavy. In spite of her impressive performance that last assault had taken a lot of energy from her, clearly she had little reserves left.

One of Salah’s men crouched up against the door and attached a small lump of plastic explosive to the door. He reached into his bag and placed in on the door and gestured for them to run back down the corridor. This they did and a few seconds later there was a loud explosion and the ground shook. Elizabeth was first up and she ran down the corridor and into Hassan’s stronghold. Matthew, in a moment of rashness followed her in time to see Hassan’s Tiger emit a blood curdling roar, and leap at Elizabeth’s throat.

Elizabeth jumped backwards, one of her hands reforming into a blade as she did so. Just as the tiger was about to land on her she thrust her blade-hand upwards and buried it into the tiger’s throat. The tiger collapsed, twitched for a few moments and then was still. Elizabeth turned towards Hassan who was sitting at his desk and gave a blood curdling hiss.

Hassan stood up and backed against the wall. Looking in awe at the killing machine Liz had become. "Wait, Dr Bexley, you could have it all. You wanted someone to love and be loved. I am that person. You want to know why I kept you safe? Protected you? Well, it’s because I more than admire you. I love you. You are the only woman I have ever loved, come be with me."

Breathing hard Elizabeth said, "I know. I did all this for you Hassan. How else could I prove myself worthy of you, but to beat you at your own game."

Hassan smiled, "I knew we were kindred spirits from when I first saw you. What’s mine is yours, come to me Dr Bexley, be my queen."

Elizabeth moved closer to Hassan and moved to kiss him. Hassan looked on as the killing machine that was Elizabeth changed form until an exhausted looking Rachel Martin stood in its place. Her hair was wet with sweat and her body was showing signs of great stress, such was the effort of such rapid series of radical changes. Elizabeth put her hands up to show she had no weapon and embraced Hassan.

Matthew recoiled as he saw their lips meet and they shared a passionate kiss. Suddenly, Hassan jumped and a plume of blood spurted out from the top of his head. Matthew stared on as he saw Elizabeth’s secondary jaws rip thru the top of Hassan’s skull. It quickly retracted its self and Elizabeth let go. Hassan crumpled into a bloodied heap on the floor. Elizabeth turned around and Matthew gasped as he saw the jaws start to shrink back into Elizabeth’s mouth. Hassan’s blood covered Elizabeth face and mouth and she wiped it away with her hand. By now the second jaw had gone and Elizabeth turned to Hassan’s limp, blood covered body and spat "Liar."

Seconds later Elizabeth collapsed. Her breathing was slow and labored. Matthew ran over to her and tried to give CPR, his hands frantically pushing down on her chest. His efforts were in vain and a few seconds later her breathing ceased and her body went limp. He checked for a pulse and rechecked again, there was none. Matthew lifted Elizabeth’s limp body in his arms and started to cry.

o - o - o -

Cathline could hear the gunfire from outside and Tina was getting a little bored. "Why aren’t we out there doing our bit?" she complained.

Cathline too was getting a little bored of sitting around. But she didn’t particularly want to join in the battle outside, she wanted out. Better sense prevailed however and she reminded herself that if they went charging about outside they would end up dead. They didn’t know whose side was whose, where the front line was and what they could use as a weapon. She reminded Tina of this and Tina had to agree.

They waited in silence, listening to the sounds of battle around them.

The fighting seemed to die out, like a forest fire that has run its course.

A loud cheer could be heard reverberating around outside.

"Somebody’s won," Tina commented.

Cathline nodded, "I just hope it’s the good guys. Shall we go outside?"

Tina was about to reply when the door started open. They quickly hid behind it, ready to pounce on whoever came thru. A tall muscular figure walked in, his catsuit was torn and blood seeped from a cut in his arm. Tina was about to strike when Cathline called out, "Tina wait, it’s Salah."

Salah nodded, "Come quickly. The police will be here soon and we need to go. Here take this," Salah reached into his belt and produced a slender bladed Guild assassins knife. He gave it to Cathline who tucked it into her belt.

Cathline looked at Salah, as if in thought and then said "What’s going on? Can we help?"

Salah shook his head. "I have taken control of the Guild. Reports from Australia say that Hassan is dead and that his forces are surrendering as we speak. The best help you can be is to get out and be ready to testify for me when the FBI come."

Cathline looked at Salah in amazement, "You’re in charge now, Hassan’s dead!"

Salah nodded, "Yes the Guild is now back under control. I just hope that Dr Bexley managed to obtain the proof we need to stop the Fury Directive. We could never have succeeded without her."

Cathline was stunned. What was going on? "Dr Bexley helped you?"

Salah’s face became serious "There’s no time to explain—all will be explained when Dr Bexley and Matthew Stephens get back here."

Cathline breathed a sigh of relief and her sprits soared, "Matthew’s ok? I thought."

Tina interrupted," What about Scott and Marcel?"

Salah’s face dropped, as if some carefully arranged plan had gone tragically wrong, "That I do not know. One of them has been killed. I know no more than that, I’m sorry. Now, please we must go."

Salah, Tina, and Cathline made their way thru rubble strewn corridors and the bodies of several Guild agents. Guild agents wearing red armbands were moving the bodies into lines. They snapped to attention as Salah walked by and Salah took the time to congratulate each one. He paused and gave a long series of instructions to one Guild member. Eventually they came to the entrance hall and they were about to walk towards the door when there was a gunshot and Salah fell to the floor.

Osman stood, blocking the entrance hall, holding a still smoking pistol. His elaborate robes were torn and bloodied but the grim smile over his face showed triumph. "Alas poor Salah, the shortest Guild reign in history."

Cathline bent down and saw blood seeping from a bullet hole in Salah’s chest, "Noo," she cried out and lifted Salah’s limp body to her chest.

Osman smiled and gestured for them to turn around and go back inside. Cathline refused and still held onto Salah’s body. Osman turned to Tina and pointed the pistol at her head, "Inside please ladies," he demanded.

Cathline placed Salah’s body on the floor and stood up. "Come on Tina, let’s go."

Tina was about to rush Osman when Osman detected her plan and said, "I don’t think so. I may be large but I’m not slow and not stupid. During my life I’ve killed fifty thousand of people like you, what’s two more? Now GO."

Tina and Cathline started to walk back out of the entrance hall and back into the Guild stronghold and incarceration.

They had only gone a few paces when suddenly Osman let out a cry. Cathline whirled around to see, to her amazement Salah pinning Osman’s arms behind his back. Salah called out to them "I have him. It’s over."

Cathline walked back to the struggling Osman and said to Salah, "How? I saw you shot..," she paused for a few moments and then voiced a thought out loud, "The only way you could repair that was if."

Salah managed to nod and finished Cathline’s sentence "I had a changeling organ. Correct. It’s nowhere near as sophisticated as Dr Bexley’s was and I’ve no idea what repairing the damage done by Osman here has cost me but it was worth it just to nail this bastard. Now what shall we do with him?"

Osman struggled but he was powerless to resist. Cathline walked closer and looked him up and down.

"Not so tough now are you. You bastard," she spat.

"Go on then, kill me," Osman replied unconvincingly.

Tina saw the fear in Osman’s eyes and said "Go on Cathline you hate him. Look what he’s done to you, done to me, done to Scott and Marcel. He’s nothing but a bully, just look at the fear in his eyes."

Cathline drew the short slender blade of the Guild’s assassin’s knife.

"I’ve never killed anyone before, Osman. I valued life above all things. You treat it with contempt. Life was cruel to you so you are cruel to life. Thanks to my best friend, Kat, I learnt that revenge is no match for forgiveness. Salah tie him up we’ll let the cops deal with him," Cathline turned and walked away.

Osman saw his chance and managed to pull free from Salah. He reached into his tunic and pulled out a long curved knife. Tina screamed "Cath." And Cathline turned in time to see Osman lunge towards her. She dived to one side and screamed as the blade plunged into her shoulder. Osman let out a cry and fell on top of her. With all the pain and shock Cathline passed out.

Cathline awoke some time later and saw her wound had been bandaged and that the bleeding had stopped. She saw the unmoving body of Osman, still lying where it fell. A short slender blade was sticking out from the base of his neck. Salah saw she was awake and walked over and knelt down.

"Cathline, I’m sorry I had to kill him, there was no other way. I too have never taken a life until today. I’ve sure felt like it sometimes especially that of that ‘hell bitch’ Liz."

Cathline turned to Salah and said "Kat? I knew."

Salah put a finger to his lips, nodded and said "Shh, later."

Cathline already weak from blood loss and physical exhaustion fainted in shock. Kat gently lowered Cathline’s limp body to the floor, pressed her finger to Cathline’s lips and stood up to inspect the carnage around her.

o - o - o -

 

TO BE CONTINUED....

 

© 1999
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