Posted by Extranjero on May 18, 2007 at 13:11:35:
STORM SISTERS (Part 9)
Nikola returned to her compartment, still towelling her tangled chestnut hair. She wore a thong and nothing else; her body glistened damply. The coach was so luxurious, it even had a shower. She could get used to riding the black train.
The Commander must be pleased with their performance. Why else had it permitted them on board? The rebel troops had been wiped out. Leilani was a prisoner. Nikola looked forward to renewing her acquaintance with the bitch.
She paused before the mirror with a gleam in her blue eyes. Her sculpted features smiled coldly back. Nikola was trim and fit, her ribcage visible, which made her rounded breasts look riper still. She was proud of them, but prouder of the jewel in her navel. The stud made her an honorary Guard.
Still smiling, she looked round towards the figure on the bunk.
“That G-string makes your arse look big,” said Lena.
Nikola’s cheeks coloured, but the smile stayed on her lips. Deliberately she dried herself, complacent in her feline nudity. Lena was curled up on the compartment’s lower berth, still wearing the black tatters of her gown. Her hands were tied behind her, but her eyes were smouldering. Her bitchy spirit wasn’t broken yet.
Nikola sniffed haughtily and stepped into her Lycra riding shorts. “I’m not used to my baggage talking back to me,” she sneered. She squeezed the tight black shorts over her buttocks. “Oh, Jesus. Even bigger!” Lena said.
The Cossack leader smiled at her with gritted pearl-white teeth. “So glad that you’re enjoying the ride,” she said. “But better make the most of it. This journey [i]terminates[/i] at the next stop. Leilani’s waiting for us there. I’m going to cut her tits off while you watch.”
Lena stared at her and didn’t answer.
Nikola sat down beside her, pulling on her boots. “She killed my favourite bitch,” she went on calmly. “So someone’s going to have to take the place of poor Gail.” She fondled Lena’s naked breast. “I like a bit of spirit in my pets ...”
Lena squirmed despite herself, then gasped as her tormentor pinched her flesh. Grinning, Nikola stood up and put her waistcoat on, not bothering with a bra for her firm breasts. “We should be at the base in a few minutes. Enjoy the ride … what’s left of it,” she said.
She took her cigarette case from the narrow dressing table and lit up a cheroot on the way out. The swaying of the train felt stranger than the rolling gait of her own horse. Beyond the private quarters was a plush communal area, with wooden panelling and velvet drapes. There was a carpet underfoot and pictures on the walls. Her girls were slouched around it, getting drunk.
Sara was sprawled immodestly in an upholstered chair, her knickers showing underneath her skirt. Her smart black jacket was unbuttoned, and her breasts were bare. She stroked her tits and smiled woozily.
Natasha was sitting by the window, leafing through a book. Her pointy face was pensive, but she had a vodka glass in her free hand. Her bearskin coat had fallen off one shoulder to reveal the snow-white Wonderbra beneath. She raised her eyes as Nikola came in, but didn’t smile. She’d always been a snooty little cow.
The other two were playing cards across a polished table. They were half-undressed as well, thanks to the heat and several shots of vodka. Barbara was an elegant brunette with pinned-up hair. She wore a fur stole and a shoulder holster. The other girl was dark-haired too. She had high cheekbones and a winsome smile. Her name was Nicola, but the Captain wasn’t having that, so she was know by her initials, plain “N.T.” She was playing with her cards very close to her chest. But the chest was rather difficult to hide.
Sara grinned contentedly. “This is the way to travel.”
“Don’t get too comfortable,” said Nikola, “we’re almost there.”
She’d heard about this base where they were headed. She hoped they wouldn’t have to stay there long. Provided she had time to kill Leilani very slowly. She wasn’t happy being in the Zone.
They’d left their horses at the last way-station. Luxurious though the train might be, she almost envied them. Her eyes strayed to the doorway at the far end of the carriage. The Commander’s quarters were through there. They shared the train with something far from human. A creature that put up with them so long as they were useful, as a crocodile might tolerate the birds that picked its teeth.
* * *
Leilani had concluded that the Guards weren’t front line troops. The dozy bimbos died too easily. They might work out to keep their bodies trim and muscular, but their instincts had been blunted by routine.
She aimed her silenced pistol at another Guard’s black tee-shirt and fired twice before the girl could gasp. Two puffs of smoke erupted from the fabric, as one breast ruptured and the other burst. The Guard’s mouth formed a silent yell as both her lungs deflated. She clutched herself and crumpled to the floor.
Leilani watched her squirm and die with something like contempt. Part of her was almost piqued: these girls gave the Command Guard a bad name. Never mind that she was doing the killing. Her own platoon had never been this slack!
She and Danielle had slipped into the tunnel and found an access door some way along. A solid hunk of blast-proof steel, but no-one had secured it. The sloppiness cost two more Guards their lives. The rooms beyond were steely-bright, which came as a relief. The tunnel had been like an endless throat. There were dim lights set into the walls, receding in the darkness. They seemed to dwindle to infinity.
“Where now?” said Leilani as she stepped over the corpse. Adrenaline was surging through her veins. Danielle, by contrast, looked as cool as ever. It seemed as if a snowflake wouldn’t melt against her skin.
“This place will have an operations centre. If we take control of that, we can find out what they’re planning for your friend.”
They went on down the corridor. Their boot heels clicked against the polished floor. Leilani was aware of an oppressive background hum. Her nerves began to throb in time with it. They came to a T-junction, which was signposted with circular designs. The occult-looking seals of the Commanders. Leilani found them creepier than biohazard signs.
A door was standing open just along the corridor. WATCH ROOM said the sign beside it. Someone tittered in the room beyond. Leilani stiffened with instinctive anger. “I’ll be right back,” she said, and marched across.
The office was small but brightly-lit. There were banks of monitors around the walls. A Guard sat in the middle with her boots parked on her desk. A cigarette was smouldering in her hand. Another, younger girl was working at the nearest station, but she’d twisted round to gossip with her friend.
The smoker glanced up, frowning, as Leilani sauntered in. She had pale skin and auburn hair, and looked as brittle as a china doll. Obviously an officer – she wore a crop-top and a pencil skirt. Her blue eyes scanned the newcomer. “This area’s out of bounds,” she sniffed. “Piss off.”
Her office junior gave Leilani a superior look. She wore the standard black tee-shirt and shorts. Leilani smiled back at them, still wearing her dark glasses, then unzippered the jacket that she wore. It opened to reveal the inner arcs of her bare breasts, and more importantly, her navel stud.
The two Guards stared at it, and scrambled quickly to their feet. “Battalion Leader – sorry,” said the smoker, sounding much less haughty now. She realised she was still holding her cigarette, and dropped it. The other girl was blushing to her roots.
“I’m with the Section,” purred Leilani, smiling as she watched their faces fall. The divisional Shield Sections were a force within a force: the Commanders’ bodyguard and their security police. “I’m conducting a spot check,” she went on crisply, before they had a chance to wonder why she was parading round in panties.
“I was just explaining to my colleague …” said the officer.
“What’s your name?” Leilani barked. The prim girl paled, then coloured. “Harriet, Miss.”
“Harriet, your security is crap.” Leilani meant it. “My partner and I have come this far, and no-one’s challenged us.”
“Miss, there’s been no major breach,” the officer insisted miserably. “We can see the Cells are still secure … The Control Vault lift can’t move without us knowing.”
Leilani felt it was unfair to keep the posh bitch squirming any longer. “Harriet, let me show you just how big a breach there’s been.” She raised her silenced gun and squeezed the trigger. The first slug pierced the junior’s ample breast at point-blank range. The girl’s wide eyes grew wider as she gasped. Blood erupted from her back and speckled Harriet’s cheek. The officer just stared in whey-faced shock.
Leilani shot her once between the mounds of her firm breasts, and Harriet pulled a wretched face and slumped. The other girl had flopped into her operator’s chair, blood seeping through her bulging Lycra top. Leilani took her shades off, turned towards Danielle and shrugged. “A point of pride. Now let’s check out that lift to the Control Vault ...”
* * *
The train came hissing to a halt as Barbara spread her cards. She beamed like a smug kitten. “Royal Flush.” N.T. sat back ruefully and slapped her own cards down. She felt the Captain’s fingers stroke her hair.
Nikola looked round as the connecting door was opened. A hard-faced blonde girl came into the car. She wore Command Guard black under a fur-lined leather jacket. Her fair hair was pinned up beneath her uniform beret.
Her name was Tamzin and she had a squad of Guards on board, an escort for the sinister Commander. She eyed the lounging Cossacks with professional disdain. Her eyes were dark, her wide-lipped mouth unsmiling. Nikola met her gaze, but felt a flutter in her belly. The girl was with the Shield Section – one of the notorious Black Caps.
“We’re here,” said Tamzin flatly. “No-one leaves the train unless I give permission. The sooner we get this thing turned round, the sooner we’ll be out. In the meantime, keep on playing with your pets.”
Nikola smiled wryly at the girl’s departing back. She fondled N.T.’s shoulder. “Snotty bitch.”
Sara stretched luxuriously. “So what about Leilani?”
“We’ll wait for her,” said Nikola. “Her one-way ticket’s booked.”
* * *
The elevator plunged as if its cables had been cut. Leilani’s stomach turned a somersault. The level-markers counted down for maybe half a minute, and then the car came smoothly to a stop.
The gleaming doors slid open on an empty corridor. The two girls raised their guns and started forward. The air down here was fresh but had a sterile taste to it. The lighting was a flat, fluorescent glare.
A set of clear doors blocked their way. Forbidding seals were etched into the glass. Like ghostly moons, Leilani thought. She led the way towards them. The doors hissed open automatically.
An antechamber lay beyond. A girl was sitting at a check-in desk. She wore a silver uniform – a jacket and short skirt. She had red hair and looked extremely bored.
Leilani guessed she wasn’t going to bluff it out this time. The redhead looked up from her screen. Her glum expression flickered into life. Leilani’s pistol spurted, and the bullet hammered into the girl’s brow. Her head snapped back and sprayed the wall behind her with bright crimson. Her body spasmed and sagged into her chair.
They could have heard a pin drop in the stillness – let alone the cartridge case, which bounced and rattled on the polished floor. The girl’s head lolled onto her shoulder, streaming blood across one pale cheek. The colour clashed with her red hair. Leilani and Danielle moved past the desk.
The next room hummed with power. There were lights and readouts all around the walls. Another silver-clad technician worked at a console, her dark head turned away as they came in.
She was wearing hipster trousers and a half-jacket that looked a size too small. Sensing their approach, she glanced around. Her belly was exposed beneath a silver-grey sports bra. A gun was holstered next to her bare skin.
Leilani swung her silenced Walther up, but didn’t fire. The brunette snatched at her own gun, and froze. Her hair was bobbed and parted and she wore too much eyeliner. It gave her startled face a surly look.
“Leave it,” hissed Leilani, and the girl withdrew her fingers from the gun. The weapon was a Smith & Wesson: stainless steel to match her uniform. Leilani gestured upward with her pistol. The technician put her hands behind her head.
“What’s your name?” Leilani asked, as Danielle crossed to the computer banks. The girl moistened her pouting lips. “I’m Cheryl,” she said faintly.
“Okay, Cheryl. Listen to a piece of good advice. If you behave, we may not have to kill you.”
Cheryl nodded dumbly, but Leilani sensed a feisty spark in her. She flicked her gaze towards Danielle. The blonde girl seemed distracted by the screens. The complex readouts scrolled and flickered, but made little sense. “So what are you controlling here?” she asked.
“A prison,” said Danielle, before the other girl could answer. “A mile-deep dungeon that’s as cold as Space. The Commanders must believe that it’s escape-proof. They’ve left a bunch of teenagers in charge.”
Cheryl’s dark eyes flashed. “I’m fucking twenty!”
“Then watch your mouth,” Leilani said, “if you want to get to fucking twenty-one.”
She glanced towards Danielle again, unsettled by the things that she’d just said. “We’re here for Lena,” she said flatly, “not to strike a blow for your lost cause.”
The blonde girl smiled back at her, complacent as a cat. Leilani felt her skin begin to creep. Danielle’s black jacket was unzipped to show her lingerie, but her cool green gaze seemed almost mocking now.
Then another girl appeared from deeper in the complex. She’d stepped across the threshold before noticing the black-clad trespassers. She was wearing silver hipsters too, but had left her jacket somewhere. Her halter-necked crop top was silver-grey.
The girl’s eyes widened with surprise beneath her long blonde fringe. Danielle’s gun coughed before she could react. The bullet punctured her bare midriff and she doubled forward, grimacing from the fierce bellyache. The next shot hit her in the fringe, and blood spilled down her features. It splashed onto her bosom as she slumped against the wall and slithered down.
Instinctively, Leilani had begun to turn her gun. Cheryl made a move at once. The little minx was bolder than she looked. Her hand was on her pistol when Leilani swung back round. The girl’s breasts bulged against her bra. She held her free hand up.
Leilani squeezed the trigger and a smoking hole appeared in Cheryl’s bra. The shot ripped through her plump young breast; the brunette clenched her teeth. “I guess you don’t take good advice,” Leilani said, still firing. Cheryl squirmed and clutched her tits, then flipped against the workstation behind her.
It was pique that made Leilani keep on shooting. Then the gun locked open and she swore. She was used to her Sig-Sauer, which held a clip of fifteen rounds. The older Walther only carried eight.
A fourth technician glanced in through the doorway, then ducked back. Leilani glimpsed her bleached-blonde hair, pinned up with one strand trailing in her face. Then the girl had drawn a gun. She fired it blindly into the control room. Leilani threw herself aside as bullets fountained sparks from the consoles.
Alarms began to blare somewhere. She felt a surge of fright. They were in the bowels of the earth, and now the tomb was just about to close.
Danielle rolled across the floor to fetch up on her back. She aimed her pistol upside-down and shot the bottle-blonde beneath one armpit. The girl lurched backwards with a cry. Her gun slipped from her gasp. It clattered loudly on the floor, a gleaming Smith & Wesson Ladysmith.
The rebel’s gun clicked empty as she rolled onto all fours. She lunged towards the fallen gun. The blonde technician bleated with dismay. She wore a sleeveless silver jacket, veed to show her cleavage. Danielle scooped her pistol up and pumped a stream of slugs between her tits.
The girl jerked as if jack-hammered, her pretty face contorting. The bullets tore out through her back and struck a glass partition just behind her. It frosted over instantly, and then her body hit it. The panel shattered as she tumbled through.
Leilani scrambled over to Cheryl’s warm corpse. She pulled the dead girl’s pistol from its holster. Danielle was moving back to the control panel again. She gestured at the doorway. “Cover me!”
Leilani frowned and clambered up. The siren kept on blaring in the background. Red lights flashed around the room. Her unease was increasing by the moment.
Then she heard a footfall in the corridor outside. She scooted to the door and peered through. A dark eyed, sultry-looking girl was edging down the passage, her automatic levelled in both hands.
She fired at once. Leilani ducked. “You’re trapped down here, you bitch!” the girl called out. She wore an off the shoulder mini-dress in silver grey. Leilani guessed she was the tech in charge.
She poked her pistol round the doorframe, firing rapidly. More glass splintered, but the girl fired back. Danielle kept on punching at a keyboard. She leaned across and threw a switch. An urgent, high-pitched beeping filled the Vault.
“Stop!” the last technician shouted. “Jesus, don’t do that!” Leilani heard the panic in her voice. She dropped into a crouch at once and swung out through the doorway. The girl was rushing forward, and Leilani fired before she could react.
The girl caught the bullet in her gut and folded up around it. Her pistol skittered out of reach. Leilani didn’t pause to finish her. She was more concerned with what Danielle had started. Something in the depths below was going critical.
She gripped her pistol in both hands. “Danielle! You’d better tell me what you’re up to!” The rebel glanced around at her and smiled angelically. And then the temperature began to drop.
Leilani’s nipples felt it first. They hardened painfully. Her finger tensed against the trigger. “Leave it – or I’ll shoot you now,” she hissed.
Danielle turned and spread her hands. She left her pistol lying on the worktop. Her bosom pulsed against her bra. Her feline eyes were bright as emeralds.
“Remember what I told you at the convent? The Commanders have their enemies as well. Enemies they vanquished before history began, and locked away in chains of ice, for ever.”
Leilani glowered back at her, remembering the words. Her heart began to knock against her ribs. What if there were other angels? Bright ones to their dark? What if they had been imprisoned? What if somebody could set them free?
“We still remember them in myths,” the rebel went on calmly. “Rebellious angels in a frozen hell. The Commanders built these pits for them. It’s Absolute Zero down there. Even molecules can’t move … unless a thaw sets in.”
The temperature was plunging now, as if to contradict her. Leilani felt a growing sense of dread. Then the lights above them sputtered, and the room grew dim. She glanced up nervously and gasped. A ghostly fire was spreading on the ceiling.
The flames were bluish, like a pool of burning alcohol. They raced across the room from wall to wall. Instead of heat, they radiated cold. Leilani cringed. Danielle stuck out her breasts and basked in it.
Cheryl bucked and arched her spine, like a flatliner being shocked by paramedics. The blue flames flickered over her. She made a grunting sound. Leilani’s eyes grew dark with horror as the corpse sat upright. The blood on her bare belly was sucked back into the punctures in her breasts.
The girl opened her dark-rimmed eyes. They glowed like small blue suns. It wasn’t Cheryl anymore. Some other thing had squeezed into her skin.
“Oh my God …” a choked voice said from over by the doorway. Leilani dragged her gaze around. The technician she had shot lay in the passage. She had dragged herself this far, despite the bullet in her belly, so desperate had she been to pull the plug.
The dead blonde girl was stirring too, her own blood ebbing back into her flesh. Leilani watched in disbelief. It didn’t cross her mind to open fire. The last technician whimpered, trying to push her body up. Her long dark hair was in her face, her bosom almost bulging from her dress.
The blonde girl turned to stare at her with lifeless, glowing eyes. No recognition glimmered on her face. She raised one hand and pointed with the first and little fingers. Blue light crackled from the tips and stabbed into her colleague like forked lightning.
The dark girl screamed as lethal energy seared through her nerves. She clasped her breasts in agony and jerked like an electrocuted doll. Her body smacked against the floor. Leilani looked away. Cheryl’s eyes were watching her. She swung her pistol up instinctively.
“I wouldn’t do that,” said Danielle. “They’ve been frozen for an age, and they’re pissed off.”
She came towards Leilani with a coy look on her face, and pushed her automatic to one side. Leilani backed against the wall. She realised she was shivering with cold. From the corner of her eye, she saw the dark technician stirring. No doubt the others would be rising too.
“Oh, please …” Leilani whimpered as the rebel pressed against her. Danielle’s warm bosom rubbed against her own. The girl’s green eyes were mischievous. “Don’t worry – I’m no angel.” She kissed Leilani wetly on the mouth.
Leilani squirmed in her embrace, still gazing at the resurrected girls. Their phosphorescent eyes stared back. She had a sense of elemental dread. But Danielle seemed to revel in their presence. She broke the kiss and eased away, her smile as sweet as ever, and as sly.
“Who are you – their slave?” Leilani panted.
Danielle shrugged. “Their messenger. Or just their mercenary. They make it worth my while to fight their war.” She picked a strand of hair out of Leilani’s frightened eyes. “The Commanders are their enemies, and ours.”
The angel-things were closing in. Leilani glimpsed the redhead from the desk. Energy seeped out of her. Her wound was glowing blue, like a third eye. Spars of light were poking from the holes in Cheryl’s breasts. “Oh, God,” Leilani breathed. “They want us now.”
“Not yet they don’t. Come on.” Danielle took hold of her lapels. “I’ve set them free: my covenant’s fulfilled. But the mission isn’t over till it’s over. Because now I’m going to help you save your friend.”