D2-670A
Part 16
Rufus had wanted to steal into the building and out again without any bloodshed.
But from the instant he entered the private foyer and found himself confronted
with the sight of armed guards securing bound women, he had known there was no
chance of that. One of the guards had drawn his weapon and fired almost
immediately. Daphne had thrown herself down, arms over hear head, while Rufus
had calmly blasted the man with his MP-432.
From there, the situation had degenerated into an all out gunfight. Rufus knew
he was lucky to be alive and unscathed because the remaining three guards should
have had him the moment after he killed their comrade. Panic, however, had cast
its pall over the men, and Rufus had been able to shoot his way back toward the
relative safety of the lift. By the time he reached the already open doors,
three of the four guards were dead, and the fourth was squirming in the corner,
most of his right arm blown away.
Another guard burst through the double doors at the end of the room, pushing a
naked woman down to the ground in front of him. It took Rufus a moment to
recognise Kitara and by that time, the newly arrived guard had opened fire at
him. He returned the favour once - boring a hole through the man - and dodged
inside the elevator. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man aiming a gun at
him. Rufus kicked it from the man's hand and lowered his own weapon to point at
his head. With no time to waste, he began to squeeze the trigger.
Kitara's scream stopped him cold. She pushed herself to her feet and charged
across the foyer at him, hands outstretched and pleading. Suddenly, a single
shot rang out. Kalana buckled and missed her next step. She crumpled almost
gracefully to lay unmoving on the cold, hard floor.
At first Rufus thought another guard had arrived and shot her, but then his eyes
darted left to see a dead man in the doorway, pulling Daphne to her feet to use
as a human shield, his other arm holding a projectile weapon outstretched.
The barrel may as well have been smoking.
Edric offered him a satisfied smile.
Rufus was just beginning to turn and raise his MP-432, when, with a roar, the
man at his feet leapt to his feet and burst past him. Edric appeared less than
amused. He simply aimed and fired a second time, punching the man from his feet
to land beside Kitara, blood pumping from a head wound.
Both Edric and Rufus sighted their weapons upon one another.
"You know I'll kill you if I fire, Edric" said Rufus with a calm that belied the
rage churning inside him.
"And risk killing your new little slave?" queried Edric. 'I think not." He drew
Daphne against him more tightly, causing the young woman to utter a small
scream. "No, what we have here is a stand-off. And I'm going to get what I want,
or this slave, and every other slave in this room is going to die. Do you
understand, Rufus?"
"Kill her and you're dead one heart-beat later."
"Well let's not test each other then." Edric began dragging Daphne toward the
next person closest to him - a naked, bound and hooded woman who had been
cowering on the floor since the shooting began.
Rufus watched helplessly as Edric moved. He would not shoot until Daphne was out
of harm's way. She had already saved his life and was also his link to getting
out of this dimension...
*****
Veronica watched the unfolding stand-off as if it were some kind of horrible
dream where she could see what was happening around her, but was powerless to
act. She broke free of this spell when the man named Edric began moving toward
the helpless Lois.
She glanced around, looking for support. The newly arrived guard was evidently
dead, his chest little more than a smoking crater. Worse, his gun - and all the
other guards' weapons - were out of close reach. She thought she had seen
Heather and Rene seek cover behind the guards' front desk in the midst of the
gunfight. But she couldn't be sure. Either way she was evidently on her own.
Meaning that if she was going to save Lois, she would have to do it herself.
From the moment that Heather and Rene had released her form her bondage,
Veronica had known exactly what she needed to do. Play along with the escaped
women until such time as she could ensure they were recaptured, free Lois, and
thereby prove her worth to the CEO of Davidson Global. From there, Lois would
welcome her back into her role as Personal Adviser, and Veronica envisioned that
it would only be a short amount of time before she was again able to take her
rightful role in their D&s relationship.
True, she had made a mistake by going after Daphne against Lois' explicit
orders. But it was not a mistake that she planned on replicating - something she
hoped that Lois would see when she free of this disaster.
Veronica waited until Edric was almost alongside Lois, some eight feet in front
of her. His attention was fully on the huge man who had stepped out of the
elevator and was slowly advancing toward them. Behind him, the elevator doors
chimed and closed.
"Here's what you're going to do, Rufus. So listen carefully. Firstly, I want you
to throw the D-keys you have on your person over to me. Then I want you to back
up, get back in the elevator and ride it to the very top floor." Edric jammed
the gun against the side of Daphne's head. "Otherwise, this bitch gets it!"
Rufus considered Edric's words for a few moments. She saw his eyes flick to the
side to take in a glance at the lobby reception desk. Then he slowly nodded.
"Alright, Edric. You win. This time." As he spoke the huge man slipped his free
hand into his pants pocket and pulled out three small keys. He then very slowly
bent and slid them across the floor toward Edric. They stopped in front of him,
out of Veronica's line of sight.
"Very good, Rufus. Very good. Now if you'll be so kind as to back up and call
the elevator back down here ..."
Veronica watched as Rufus did as he was bid. She decided she would go for Edric
when he bent to grab the keys. She slid her booted feet under her and tensed,
waiting for just the right moment.
The doors slid open behind Rufus. He stepped inside, small gun still trained on
the locked together pairing of Edric and Daphne. "This isn't over, Edric. I'll
be coming for you," he said. "Count on it." The doors closed in front of him.
Edric did not move until he was sure Rufus was gone. Then he threw Daphne to the
side so that she slammed into one of the reinforced glass window panes alongside
the main lobby entry. The breath knocked from her, Daphne slid slowly to the
ground. Edric bent over, hand outstretched for the things he had called D-Keys.
Veronica pounced. She slammed into his back - or would have had he not easily
sidestepped, sending her sprawling face first. She quickly flipped herself over,
unable to believe the wounded man had moved so fast.
And found herself nose to barrel with his gun.
"Silly slave. I can tell you're going to be a tough one to train." Edric's eyes
narrowed and his finger tightened on the trigger. "Consider this your first
lesson in obedience. Hand me those keys from beside you."
There was no mistaking the malice in his tone. If she failed to act, Veronica
knew she would be dead. So moving slowly, she did as ordered, before sinking
back to the ground. Above her, Edric straightened with the odd-looking keys in
hand. He pocketed two and thumbed a button on the other. Veronica gasped aloud
as a small red sphere appeared above her, and watched in amazement as it rapidly
grew in size and shrunk in shape to form a perfectly flat oval.
The next thing she knew she was being pulled to her feet. "Get up and step
through," Edric barked at her. He shoved the gun into the small of her back for
added emphasis.
Not knowing what to expect, Veronica took three tentative steps forward which
brought her right to the edge of the oval. It seemed to pulsate with a kind of
inner light. She had the feeling of staring down a long tunnel. Then a rough
hand shoved her forward and she suddenly was hurtling through bright lights.
*****
Rufus alighted from the elevator on the second floor, and looked around wildly.
He quickly made out a sign reading "STAIRS" and charged in the indicated
direction.
*****
Beyond simply being naked, bound, gagged and hooded, Lois Davenport was dazed,
disorientated and terrified for her life. The last thing she remembered with any
clarity was tormenting Heather Landcom in her own private dungeon. Then, she had
abruptly awoken to find her arms bound impossibly tight behind her back, and her
legs hobbled with a short length of rope. Something that felt like a ball-gag
filled her entire mouth, while the attached webbing of straps gripped her face
like a vice. The hood that had been tied over her head, blinding her and adding
to her confusion, did not help the feeling of claustrophobia.
She had been marched on a seemingly endless walk before a brief moment of
freedom had seemed to beckon. She heard Veronica's voice ordering the guards to
arrest the impostors attempting to kidnap her. But then gunshots had been fired
and she had thrown herself to the ground, hoping against hope that no stray
bullet would find her.
All had been quiet for awhile after that and she had heard muted voices in
conversation. Now she was being pulled to her feet, and all but dragged forward
by her arm.
"You have quite the body for an older slave," whispered a malicious voice in her
ear. "I'm going to enjoy taking it as my own very soon."
Lois wanted to scream that she was not a slave! That she was one of the most
powerful women in the world! That she was someone who owned slaves. But the gag
in her mouth rendered her muffled cries unintelligible ...
She heard the masculine voice laugh horribly before she was thrown forward. She
did not immediately land on her face, however. Instead, to her surprise, she
found herself falling very quickly, rolling over and over, losing all sense of
direction. She screamed and screamed into her gag, but was powerless to stop her
endless tumbling ...
*****
