Forced Perspective by Plato Voltaire Copyright 2010 1 The parade made its way down the main avenues of the city of New Darwin. It was the 2517 Founders Days Parade, held on the first day of the aforementioned 11-day festival. This was the 403rd annual celebration of the colonization of Outback, and this one had a bonus. One hundred years earlier the planet was saved from the maniacal machinations of Mr Big to make every Outback woman into a mammary goddess thanks to righteous and heroic members of the New Darwin Police Department and the Commonwealth Space Navy. Practically all the surviving original crew of the Stroud were in the parade along with the police officers involved, each and every one of them wearing the Hero of Outback Medal around their necks along with Medals of Valor. It was the biggest parade in the history of the city, for everyone wanted to see them with their own eyes. Even the only man on the whole planet who truly hated their guts wanted to see for himself. Gus Matlin, the only member of Mr. Big's Big Crime Cabal Incorporated to have evaded law enforcement and subsequently prison time, watched from the deck of his Victoria Tower suite. His hi-power binocs allowed him a perfect view of the parade as well as the faces of the float riders. He had to snarl when one float came into his sights. It held those most directly responsible for Big's demise. The tall exotic Nadia, unnaturally strong Amber, vivacious June, uber-technogeek Tobias, the shamanistic Dan and all their police friends. They had their spouses along as well, looking insufferably proud, and even their pets, overdeveloped vicious rats know as dachshunds. It was a gross display of unwarranted achievement, celebrating the downfall of humanity's master criminal. At the head of all of it was no other than the platinum blond murderess Lynnae, her homely-looking husband and murder-abetting Paul and grandmother Felicity. Gus wasn't entirely sure of the particulars, but he was certain Lynnae was telling the truth when she swore in a court of inquiry that Big died when she shoved him out of an airlock. Even his immortality wouldn't have protected him forever in the vacuum of space as he would eventually fall into a sun or gas giant. Looking at Lynnae's beautiful, beneficent face belied the fact that she was 142 standard years old. If there was a God of Balance out there then Gus wished the spry former cop looked like a decrepit old crone she so richly deserved. For decades Gus constructed and played out revenge fantasies in his mind, each one becoming more elaborate and Rube Goldbergian than the last. The plan had to be perfect: no evidence could every come back to him. For every perfect plan three even more perfect plans would spring up in his fertile, sick mind. Soon it became nothing more that just a thought exercise for him, working in a dusty, cobweb and mice-infested portion of his mind while doing his part to live up to Big's legacy. Then something changed fifteen years ago. A fabulous item of fabled power that was but a whisper in underground crime circles became available.Gus chased it down with a tenacity that a bloodhound would envy. A hefty percentage of wealth, time and patience had to be expended to determine the truth and even more treasure spent to secure it. Gus shifted his binocs to a float several lengths down the parade route. It was one of several police and fire floats, all crowded with self-important holier-than-thou public servants. He had considered using his new device on Lynnae, but that would've been too quick and easy. No.... she had to be tortured as Gus had been for the last century. Her friends will be thrown into torment as well for the simple reason that they, too, had played their part in foiling Mr Big's plans in the past. Having looking forward to this day for the last five years Gus wished he had just another minute to savor the impending sense of victory. But the schedule must be kept, and his trigger finger was ever-so-itchy. He left his suite and went to face his destiny. "When will this dog and pony show end?" said patrol officer Madison Wilcox as she waved to the crowd, trying to ignore the garish sun. "I wish they would allow us to wear sunnies for this." "The brass said the people wanted to see our eyes, and look far less intimidating," came the answer from Bria Parlor, fellow patrol officer and best friend. "I agree. Now they can take a gander at my ocean blue peepers!" "If they're looking at anybody then it's me," came a third voice, belonging to one Wenona Spirit Talker. She kept one hand on her pronounced, maternity uniformed belly while the other waved at the cheering crowd. The tall exotic officer to Wenona's right couldn't let that go. ""That's because you're next to me, partner. You're just getting the spillover." "Just like when you spilled out of your shirt for that school photo op, Officer Gretta Junker?" Wenona volleyed back. "You should've been a fashion model like Madison's sister Piper." "Stop that yapping, you ninnies," came a curt retort from Audrey MacRoy Carson. "The crowd expects our full attention." Bria had to get a dig in, especially to a patrol officer from the stuck-up Southeast Precinct. "Just like Derek gets your full attention? Are you two really an item?" "What's it to you, Bitter Bria?" Derek Eddings got in before Audrey could make a more heated response. "Have you run out of patrolmen to cock-tease at West?" [That's enough of that.] Madison said over the private wetware link. [You can have your little tiff once we're out of the public eye.] [Fine!] Audrey said over the link. [This isn't over, Bria.] Gretta and Wenona exchanged knowing glances. The two officers were five years into their planned 30 year career. As for the other four they were in their third year, all having graduated from the Academy in 2514. It was clear there was some bad blood between Bria and Audrey, and it had nothing to do with their height. Both of them and Madison were 153cm tall, rather short as officers went but quite capable and able to stand up for themselves even against 150kg lowlifes. Nor was it grades or physical aptitude, even though Bria had the famous basketball Parlor bust. Rumor had it Bria and Audrey were sizing up the companionship potential of the male recruits and had focused their gaze on Derek Eddings. The result was a lingering bitterness between both when Derek sided with Audrey, and it was just as well they were assigned to Southwest. Having all three in close proximity for a prolonged amount of time wouldn't be prudent. Gratefully the parade came to an end with the floats pulling away to their own individual side alleys. The float holding the six officers came to a stop to a back entrance of a storehouse. Gretta got down first and helped to steady the very pregnant Wenona as she descended. Serving as a firebreak, Madison let Audrey and Derek to proceed first. Bria came down last. Being her friend, Madison knew a cool bottle of loliwater would take the edge off of Bria's bad attitude. Once inside the storehouse the six cops went to a small office where refreshments were waiting for them. Needing it more, Bria got to the cooler first and picked up the only bottle of kiwi strawberry loliwater, her favorite. Unfortunately it was Audrey's favorite as well. With no compelling need to reignite the resentment, especially with Madison in the room, the Carson woman decided to let it slide and took a diet lime loliwater. Bria didn't see it that way, construing Audrey's choice of a diet drink as a implied comment on her weight. The two women ended up giving each other looks that unfriendly cats gave each other from across a room. Wisely ignoring the battle of wills the other four officers enjoyed their drinks. They were waiting for their families to arrive and then go off on respective dinners and eventual interviews with the press. It was Madison that was affected first, her eyelids feeling like lead weights quickly followed by her head drooping down of its own accord. In seconds she was unconscious, looking for all intents and purposes like she had fallen asleep in her chair. Audrey, Bria and Derek went down in rapid succession with Wenona only feeling a slight feeling of surprize when she, too, had succumbed to an unexpected slumber. Gretta resisted the crushing urge to sleep long enough to send out an emergency signal via her 'ware before collapsing to the floor, the loliwater bottle rolling under the table. Her eyes wanted to close, but Gretta willing with all her might to stay awake. Because of this, with blurry vision, she saw someone enter the room. Though it was only a pair of legs and shoes the tall police woman sensed it was a man, and with that she joined the slumber realm with her friends. Police Commissioner Stark had his work cut out for him, and having Mayor Underhill in his face wasn't helping matters. He was in the fifth floor command post of the Central Precinct, using the Chief's office as his own for the time being. The look Underhill was giving wasn't one of patience, and she made it clear in her voice. "It's been six hours, Commissioner. With all the security involved I find it hard to believe that no leads have been made." Stark couldn't argue with that, and telling her that all resources were being employed would just be stating the obvious. On the face of it the case was a mass abduction of officers. The big distinction was that it involved the grandchildren of Outback's most famous police heroes, and Stark would rather deal with them than with this particular mayor. "Mrs. Underhill, it's clear whoever was responsible for this crime planned it with extreme care. We've closed all the spaceports thirty minutes after they were reported missing. The security nets in the area of the storehouse didn't pick up anything, and the only piece of evidence was a printed note found in the empty room that said 'they're mine.' Interviews with workers assigned to that particular float and refreshment station are continuing." "I expected that," Underhill huffed. "You're sweating them hard because you have nothing else to work with. There better not be a relapse of stairs related accidents in this investigation." "Mayor," Stark said, "my department has made great strides in punishing and dismissing those officers that abused suspects. I vetted all those dismissals myself. I must put out, however, that there is a fine line between a professionally conducted investigation by the Police Auditor and a witch hunt." Underhill leaned forward and put her hands on the desk, deliberately getting into Stark's grill. "It's not a witch hunt. I acknowledge that there has been an upsurge of violent activity by such groups as CD 101 and the Yabbo Gang in the past few years. I assert that it shouldn't be used as an excuse by officers to 'indulge themselves' in excess violence in turn. Why are officers resorting to night sticks instead of stun guns or even sleeper gas?" Stark wasn't going to let that go. "If you payed more attention to the details, Mayor, you would've seen that many of those gang bangers had lung filter and black market stun shield implants. Our officers would practically have to hold a stunner to one's head in order for it to work. Injuries to patrol officers, mainly due to stabbings, have gone up 400 percent when attempting to subdue CD 101 members. Have you forgotten that two of my officers were killed in the line of duty this year while attempting to use stun guns instead of night sticks, less they be accused of police brutality?" Underhill maintained her pose, but gummed her lips in reflexive regret. "No need to remind me, Stark. I was at the funerals. It's just that I don't want this high-profile kidnapping case to be an excuse for police excess. I want this investigation to be above-board." "I'll impress upon my officers to observe the rights of the suspects, Mayor." "I need more of a commitment than that, Commissioner." "He gave you his word, Mayor." Both Stark and Underhill found that they weren't alone in the office, seeing that Lynnae Wilcox Jarvis had entered of her own accord. Stark knew he should've felt relief that just one of the retired officers was present, but he wondered if it was a good thing. "All the stops have been pulled and favors called in for this case. Even the mob is offering their assistance 'cause they know if one of their own was involved we'll come down on them like a ton of bricks." A veteran of New Darwin's political scene Underhill respected Lynnae but wasn't intimidated, even in such close proximity. "Accept help from the mob? What are they expecting in return? We won't enlist the aid of men of ill-repute in this the most heinous of crimes in recent memory." Lynnae glowered at the Mayor. "It all depends on your definition of recent. Why, what happened 100 years ago is like yesterday to me. If you won't take their help then you'll have to take mine and those of my friends." Stark cut in before Underhill said something she would later regret. "Mrs. Jarvis, I appreciate you concern and have the greatest respect for your police service, but you've been retired for decades. You may hire your own private investigators but if you and your fellow retirees get personally involved in the case then I will have to enforce the law when it comes to such matters." "Vigilantism?" Lynnae wagged her finger. "I'm disappointed that you would suggest such a thing, Commissioner. Clearly you've forgotten the guest lecture I gave while you were an Academy cadet. No, I'm invoking a higher power. Check your messages and you'll see one from the Commonwealth Marshals Office. Me and my friends are on the case." Underhill was incredulous, her nose wrinkling like it smelt something bad. "Is that some kind of joke?" Lynnae fixed her glowering again, making the taller woman subconsciously back up. "Recall one hundred years ago when Harold Walken, Nadia Junker's husband, deputized Blue Team as temporary Marshals so as to give additional legal powers in the event of Big's arrest. Well," she said in a tone that chilled Underhill's blood, "that temporary deputization was never officially rescinded. Harold had a nice little chat with the current chief of the Commonwealth Marshals Office here on Outback, which happens to be my daughter Marsha, and informed her that our deputy status was still in effect." "I'll be stuffed!" Underhill exclaimed. "That pure 'roo in the zoo if you think you can do that, Lynnae!" The little woman gave the Mayor a harsher glowering. "That's Mrs. Jarvis to you, Mayor. If we do something wrong and screw up, we will accept the consequences and the Marshals can fire us. I've come to live with a lot of things, but there are two things that I regret. Had I know you'll reneg on your campaign promise to give the police and firefighters their first pension raise in 20 years and instead indulge on city vanity projects, turning you into the most unpopular mayor in the history of the city, then I wouldn't have voted for you." "What's the other, Mrs. Jarvis?" Stark said while keeping his smile to himself. Still giving the Mayor a look that could melt steel Lynnae indulged Stark's question. "Her parents were tightwads when it came to money and stiffed me for three nights worth of pay when they moved to another section of town. They never accepted responsibility when Precious Peggy here stained my first officer's uniform with grape juice when I babysat her in my house that one night. My house, Peggy, and they didn't even acknowledged the bill for restoring the uniform. I regret all that time wasted on that earbashing, knockerish, up-oneself family of yours." Lynnae reached the door and spared one final look at Mayor Underhill, the tall woman looking like a 'roo caught in the headlights. "The parents are on edge and it'll only get worse before it gets better. My own Trent is having the devils keeping his wife calm. Peggy, if you screw with me and my friends, just like when you used me in your election advertising without my permission, then I will crucify you in the media, damn-all that might come of it. G'day." It was a scene fit for great drama, but Stark had to get one image out of his head first. The great Lynnae actually babysat one Peggy Underhill decades ago, he thought. God have mercy on whoever has her granddaughter, 'cause she certainly won't show any. 2 It was Madison that woke up first, finding herself along with Bria and Audrey on the floor of a posh apartment one would find next to Alberry Harbor. Getting up from the floor she felt like she was being compressed, very similar to the time she scuba-dived off the Great Red Reef in the Divided Ocean of Outback. Finding her 'ware off-line, Madison shook both of her fellow officers awake. "Get up sleepy head," Madison chided as Bria clawed her way to consciousness, "this isn't senior Christmas vacation." "I feel like I'm imploding," the dark-hair officer said, words mixed with a yawn. "What was in that loliwater?" "I don't know," said Audrey as she finally responded to Madison's shaking. "Strange that our wetware didn't neutralize whatever that stuff was." She found her legs were still wobbly, so she sat down in a sinfully plush chair in full knowledge that she wouldn't get up for at least 30 minutes. Madison went to the apartment door and tried to open it. Both the manual and electronic lock refused to yield to her efforts. There were two peepholes on the door, one of which she could reach by standing on her toes. It was dark, and without her 'ware she couldn't see what was on the other side of the door. Next she went to the glass doors that lead to the balcony. Those, too, were locked, and she found the glass was actually video screens, responding to her finger touches with blurred images until she stepped away. Both Madison and Bria searched the apartment, finding it consisting of a master bedroom, a smaller bedroom, two complete baths, a hot tub room, a small but serviceable kitchenette, living area, and dining room/breakfast nook. All the other windows, facing the harbor, were video screens as well. They all had a live feed of Alberry Harbor and the Founders Days yacht race for Bria recognized the Doxie Devil, a yacht making its first appearance in the race, not to mention it was helmed by her father. If he was still at the helm, she reminded herself, for the yacht race was on the third day of the 11-day festival. A few minutes later Madison and Bria shared what they discovered with Audrey. Smelling something and hearing an audible ping, Madison went to the kitchenette and came back a moment later. "I didn't program the food processing bench," Madison announced, walking into the living area with a tray holding three steaming cups of coffee. "Wetware is still off-line, and I found this waiting. Apparently whoever is holding us prepared this coffee remotely." Bria accepted one of the coffees and took a sip. "Blackhill Cherry, my favorite. Whoever went through all the trouble to kidnap us decided to go the extra kilometer." Availing herself to an offered cup Audrey took a long sip. "Where are the others? I hope they're okay." "You mean you hope Derek is okay," Bria said almost under her breath. Audrey made an indignant look to go with her reply. "You would go there, Bria. Forgotten that Wenona was to go on maternity leave the day after the parade? Just stop dwelling on what can't be changed and get with the program." Bria caught herself before making a juvenile retort. Like Madison and Audrey, Bria had no idea where Wenona was or in what condition she was in. If she was in the same boat, and that two days had actually past, her husband had to be sick with worry. To continue the feud with Audrey while in this situation was pointless and counterproductive. She turned to Madison. "What is the program?" The little officer replied with a face straight from a problem-solving Academy exercise. "We'll search this apartment again and take stock of what our captor or captors have provided for us. Given the nature of the furnishings I expect we'll be here for some time." Madison kicked off her shoes and removed her socks, letting the rich carpeting treat her feet to sweet comfort. "We'll be contacted in good time, and no doubt they're listening and watching us at this very moment." "That means they'll see us naked?" Bria said in disgust, with Audrey widening her eyes in revulsion. Madison took a sip of coffee from the last cup. "They're calling the shots. We'll have to do our part and figure a way to escape this posh prison." The trio was indeed being watched and listen to, as well as Wenona, Gretta and Derek. Gus Matlin smiled as he zoomed in on Madison. I knew she had the personality of command, just like her grandmother Lynnae, he thought as he adjusted the view, focusing on Madison's volleyball bust. She even has the slim, shapely physique that all Wilcox women of every generation are blessed with. Let's just see if that unassuming, laid-back attitude will last once she knows how much peril she and her friends are really in. Eight hours into the case a briefing session was held at the Officer Abduction Task Force (OATF) HQ. It was the profile of the unidentified subject the investigators had constructed, with input drawn in from Lynnae and her friends. The recipients of the profile were all the detectives, senior and junior, that the NDPD could spare without jeopardizing ongoing investigations. Detectives that had retired within the last ten years were asked to join, though detectives going back as far as seventy years had volunteered their services. It was a crowded room, and Detective-Captain Bill Blake started without preamble. "First and foremost the unsub harbors an extreme hatred of the officers' grandparents. Having taken the officers on the 100th anniversary of Mr. Big's death we believe him to be a man that is at least 150 years old and had a working relation with Big, possibly a previously unknown junior partner or one of a handful that had eluded law enforcement. The unsub believes by doing this he is avenging his fallen mentor by inflicting the maximum amount of distress and suffering on the officer's families. We believe the unsub will keep the officers alive, possibly for years until he feels that the families have suffered to his satisfaction." Stepping forward and standing next to Blake was Nadia Junker, former police commissioner and Gretta's grandmother. "This unsub had years, most likely decades to plan this. He may have originally planned to avenge himself on the members of Blue Team, of which I was a member, when they foiled Big's ultimate plan and contributed to his demise. It appears, however, that he made a relatively quick change of plans when he found out the grandchildren decided to pursue careers in law enforcement. Thus, we might have a chance to find clues to the unsub's identity, especially since the placement of the floats was decided on a totally random basis just hours before the parade started." Paul Jarvis moved out of the front row and took over. Lynnae declined to participate, unable to trust herself to remain objective. "We cannot overstate how clever and intelligent the unsub is. He may have access to technologies that Mr. Big used previously. The almost complete lack of physical evidence at the crime scene and the indicated rapidity in which he cleared the room, a period of ten minutes, means he had to have known the location of all the wetware enabled surveillance packages and microcams. He's also an electronics expert or has employed one to have installed a self-adjusting 'ware and video loop so seamlessly into the security datastream." Blake finished. "Commissioner Stark has stressed that no physical abuse of suspects will be tolerated, even given the pedigree of the missing officers." The atmosphere in the room took an air of sourness. With Civil Disturbance 101 activity on the uprise for the past two years the only thing proving effective to keep them in check was physical force. The Police Auditor took the zero-tolerance policy to an extreme, liking nothing more to drum an officer out of the department for just one offense, even in proven cases of self-defense. "On the bright side, Commissioner Stark has released the emergency fund, so be generous in paying for information," Blake said with an uptake in his voice The room empty quickly, leaving just Blake, June and Amber. The two women were going over a legal-sized datapad with some interest, which made Blake interested as well. "Found something?" He asked innocently, honored to be in the presence of two police legends. "Yes," June said, her finger tapping the pad's casing. "It says here that the driver of the loliwater van made the delivery six hours before the parade, yet despite all the open parking available at the storehouse he decided to park in a EMV-reserved spot next to the back entrance." "True, Mrs. Norbert. He made a very short stop of just five minutes." Amber looked up to Blake, her eyes hard. "Five minutes that were part of the surveillance loop the unsub engineered, Blake. Have your officers gone back to re-interview the driver in question?" Blake resisted the urge to swallow. "No, they haven't, Mrs. Carson. But he has been warned to stay in the city." June made a friendly smile. "Good. Then you won't mind if me and Amber conduct a more in-depth interview, would you?" Seeing this as nothing more that making the most of the assets given to him Blake agreed. "Go right on ahead. All in the name of cordial relations between the Marshals and the NDPD, of course." "You won't be disappointed, Captain," Amber assured him in a grandmotherly tone. Out the room and down the elevator Amber turned to her close friend, confident that their conversation wasn't being monitored due to their advanced 'ware and discreet security overrides. "You sure you want to do this, June? I'm still going to support you either way, but if you follow through you'll lose your Marshal standing for good." June's face was serene but her voice was as imposing as a glacier. "I am going through with it, Amber. There are some things in God's universe that don't deserve redemption and are forever proscribed as evil, ever deserving to be hated. He stole from my family, and he will regret it for as long he draws breath." Amber couldn't help but feel a shutter, hearing those words coming from a woman that devoted a good portion of her life to respect and uphold the law. Deep down she prayed that Lynnae wouldn't find out until it was too late to do anything about it. 3 The three officers had a good sleep despite the circumstances they found themselves in. Clad in knee-length nighshirts, Bria had the smaller bedroom while Audrey won the coin toss for the larger room. Madison, having seen to the care of her fellow officers, chose to sleep on the couch which included a folding bed. The trio took their showers, knowing in all likelihood they were being watched, had breakfast and changed back into their uniforms. The clothes processing unit had worked on them overnight, removing dirt and an undeniably funky smell that they had picked up from somewhere. Madison could've sworn it was aftershave. "What time is it?" Bria asked, polishing off the last of the coffee in her cup. Madison looked at the biolume watch she had tattooed on her left wrist. "8:00 a.m., the start of the morning roll-call. If what you saw was actually the yacht race then this is the fourth day of the Founders Festival. We were unconscious for two days. I wonder where we are?" There was an audible click, making all three officers jump up reflectively. Audrey, being closest, went to the apartment door and treated it like an explosive. Noticing that there was light coming from the lower peephole Audrey took the plunge and looked. She quickly motioned to Bria and Madison when she tried and found the door was indeed unlocked. Madison lead the way, and all three entered what appeared to be a commons area of an apartment building. There were sofas, chairs, a small wetbar with attached kitchen/dining room and various tri-dee sets scattered about along with a view of the harbor, undoubtedly another set of flat screen panels. All of that registered in the background, for not only did they see Derek and Gretta enter the room but that Wenona was already there, apparently sleeping on a full-length recliner that contoured to her pregnant physique. Gretta practically ran to get next to her partner, only to find her attempts to revive her foiled by an apparent force field surrounding the recliner. Derek touched the field himself, noticed the light blue glow that came from contact, and pulled a minicomp from a utility pouch on his belt. Audrey went to his side. "Derek, what is it?" The sole man in the room looked at Wenona and worked his minicomp with equal attention. He couldn't help but appreciate the look of serenity on the sleeping woman's face, wondering if it was just the mystical maternal glow all pregnant women had or if it was the field that was responsible. "I think its a stasis field. Once I find the harmonic frequency and disrupt it...." He held his fellow officers in suspense for a moment, then pushed a button. Gretta, having a hand resting on the field, found it falling and landing on Wenona's shoulder. The reclined woman woke up in a start. "Hiya, sleeping beauty," Madison chimed, getting down to one knee and holding Wenona's hand. "You feeling okay?" With Gretta's help Wenona sat up, her eyes taking in the room and everyone's smiling faces. "No. I feel like I'm being squeezed in a giant hand. Where am I?" "That feeling will pass shortly. We don't know where we are yet," Bria offered, taking off Wenona' shoes and socks so her feet could revel in the soft, plush carpet. "All the windows are vid-screens and there's no apparent exit." With a hand on her pronounced belly Wenona looked anxious. "How long?" "At least four days," Madison said. "You may have been in the stasis field for at least as long." "Four days? Four days?! Clyde must be bouncing off the walls like a 'roo in a pool!" "All of our families are in the same boat, hon," Audrey said while holding Derek's hand behind his back. "Don't worry too much, not when we have such famous grandparents. They'll be driving the searchers with whips if it'll help to find us faster ." Wenona was justifiably upset. If indeed four days had past then at this very moment she had expected to be at home and playing the role of a barefoot pregnant housewife with only a month left to the happy day. Indeed, this was supposed to be the day for the baby shower. She felt agitate and wanted to make sense of her surroundings. "I need something to drink, and an aspirin if one's available. My 'ware is off line." "It's the same for everybody." Madison got up. "We'll all share what we know to bring you up to speed. I feel, however, that since our captors have seen fit to let us meet each other then we can expect to hear from them real soon." The pregnant woman managed a smile. "I hope they have the decency to wait after I had something to eat. I also feel famished." "One pig in a blanket coming right up," Bria said in jest, getting rueful looks for making an obvious bad joke. Despite Mayor Underhill's apprehension in enlisting the help of New Darwin's crime families both Lynnae and Paul did just that, making discrete inquiries that were free from NDPD surveillance. As for Nadia and Harold they concentrated on the transportation records and pedestrian traffic in and near the parade route. Dan and Tobias investigated the storehouse: Tobias with his extensive repertoire of customized electronic gear and Dan with his shamanistic talents. Both sought to find an aura, whether it be from high technology or psychic residue of the person or persons that spirited the officers away. June and Amber went to re-interview the driver of the delivery truck that brought the case of loliwater to the storehouse. Chad Franklin, 51, lived in an apartment near a power substation. Because of this the rent was low, for on those occasions when the station was required to operate at full power it interfered with wireless communication and even wetware communications and data storage capabilities. Chad let the officers in after he saw their Marshal badges and had identified themselves as such. The apartment was what June expected it to be, filled with second-hand furniture and cheap paintings to brighten up an otherwise dreary living room. "So, Marshals, what can I help you with?" Chad said, sitting on a chair that was well past its prime. "Mr. Franklin," Amber said without a hint of her Outback accent, "the NDPD detectives that interviewed you the first time were a bit rushed. You were actually an hour late in your delivery. Where were you?" The clean-looking, well-shaved man answered non-nonchalantly. "I decided to take some photos of the parade floats before it started. No harm in that." "No harm, you say." June also spoke without an accent, acting as if she was recording the entire conversation. Chad was doing the same as well, but not by choice. "When you did arrive at the storehouse it was at that particular moment a surveillance loop was introduced into the security net. The only evidence that you were there at all was the pressure tag on the spot reserved for EMS vehicles." Chad looked defensive. "It was only for five minutes." "Five minutes is often the difference between life and death, Mr. Franklin. At any moment that spot could've been needed by an EMS team." "Okay, so I'll have to pay a fine. A trip to the station and 500 c-notes from me." June pulled out a minicomp from her belt pouch and brought up a series of images on the comp's built-in hologram projector. "Not that simple, Mr. Franklin. You didn't tell the detectives all of what you did earlier today. Look at these pictures. Take your time; I want you to be sure." Some sweat appeared on Chad's forehead. He had to answer. "That's me taking photos of the floats." June's voice was tinged with danger. "What kind of floats?" "The police floats, ma'am." Amber picked up on June's tone. "You were within 100 meters of Officer Bria Parlor, Mr. Franklin. You violated your probation. As you also committed a violation by parking on the EMS parking spot it's mandatory cell time." Amber pointed at Chad when he appeared ready to offer an excuse. "Save it for your parole officer, Mr. Franklin. You know what we want you to say next." Chad felt a growing pit of fear at the bottom of his stomach. "Okay, I admit I was late for the delivery because I wanted a pic of Officer Parlor. Take me in." For those that knew her real well, when June spoke in an unnaturally calm voice it meant trouble. Chad had no idea. "Amber, that power substation has been interfering with our 'ware transmissions and recording functions. Can you be a dear and go down to the car and call in a NDPD patrol car? Have them pick up Mr. Franklin and take him to Central. I'll keep him company until they arrive." "Certainly." With that Amber left without looking back. June fixed a basilisk gaze on Chad. "Do you know who I am, Mr. Franklin?" "You're one of those hero cops from a century ago." To his credit Chad kept calm, even as he noticed June placing her wedding ring and an archaic digital watch in her pocket. "Mr. Franklin, Bria Parlor is my granddaughter." Chad's lower lip began to tremble, seeing that June was now putting on a pair of leather gloves. "I didn't know that... at the time." "Of course." She stood up like a grim warrior ready to take the field after a long wait. Chad swore he heard her hands as she made them into fists. "Ten years in rehabilitation and ten more for probation. What you did to Bria rated far more than that. Just how much did her innocence cost, Mr. Franklin?" She slowly walked toward Chad in a most menacing manner. Mind racing, Chad stood up and made the connection to June's earlier comment. If it was true that her 'ware, being pure-grade police build, was being interfered by the power substation then his 'ware, implanted as part of his parole and of lower grade, was definitely useless. The hot weather was making a maximum demand for air conditioning in the city, as a sure as 'roo shit his audio/video recording subsystem, always on, again due to his parole, was down. With the other Marshal gone it was going to be his word against... June was just four steps away from Chad, and moments from what she wanted to do for the last 18 years. "Mr. Franklin, you're resisting arrest." "I'm not!" Chad said most emphatically. Another step forward brought June closer. "Not yet. Let's just see how long that last." The words were like ice, and she took another step forward.... After lunch the six officers settled in the commons room, sitting in pairs. Wenona had moved to a couch, feet in a bowl of warm water after she performed her own look-see of the two apartments and commons room. Being her partner, Gretta sat next to her. Madison and Bria sat in separate chairs to the right of the couch while Audrey and Derek sat in their own chairs to the left. After they talked a few minutes about what they remembered from the storehouse room Audrey stood up with such suddenness that it startled Derek. "Holy dooley! Why haven't we noticed this earlier?" Madison leaned forward, hands on her knees. "Noticed what?" Audry walked to the couch. "Gretta, stand up," she said with urgency. When Gretta did so it confirmed Audrey's suspicion and made the rest feel a twinge of disbelief. Save Wenona, everyone was standing, and all doubt was removed. "I be Gobsmacked!" Bria exclaimed. "We're all the same height!" Madison gave Derek an expectant look. "Is this some sort of VR program? Would that explain the compression we felt when we first woke up?" "All evidence is pointing that way," the electronics expert said firmly. "The compression feeling is common when entering a totally immersive environment, and aside for the lack of exits we can fully manipulate the environment, even enjoy eating virtual food. The program must have a default height value for avatars, however. We didn't notice it at first because you, Bria and Audrey were the same height and in the first apartment. Me and Gretta, being practically the same height, were in the second apartment while Wenona was stuck in here in that stasis field." All further talk on the subject stopped when a voice fit for a seasoned storyteller boomed from the ceiling. "I was right in regards to the mental agility of the current crop of new police officers in New Darwin. They don't know Christmas from Bourke Street." Madison looked as if she expected this to happen. Putting her hands on her hips she spoke with the tone of a student giving a smartass reply to a professor during lecture. "We're not going to bother with the usual laundry list of questions or respond to your taunts. You go on and talk to your pretty little heart's content." "It's quite presumptuous of you to assume you speak for the group, Officer Wilcox, and even more so to assume that you're in charge. By right of seniority that leadership belongs to Officer Junker, yet that is just a mere formality since I am the one in charge." Madison crossed her arms under her shirt-cladded bust. "Then by what name shall we call you? If you don't provide one, may I suggest Wuss?" The voice continued at its measured rate of inflection and emphasis. "Yet another example of the caliber of young officers employed by the NDPD. Such an attitude can lead to unfortunate results. For your convenience you can call me Gee. I imagine you're about to say that I like the sound of my own voice. From you I will take that as a compliment." "Whatever," Audrey said, sharing Madison's disdain for their captor. "Get your gob working and say your say." "Clever, clever little woman," chided the voice known as Gee. "You want me to talk so as to reveal clues about myself. I know that to be an eventuality, but such information will only serve to boost your ego and serve no practical use to aid whatever grandiose and overwrought plans you have in escaping. For this session I will talk about the background of those three officers that, while giving me less grief that the other three, nevertheless earned a spot to be here due to sins their grandparents committed against Mr. Big. "Derek Eddings, grandson of Tobias and Samantha Eddings. Tobias is a super-geek when it comes to all things electronic, and on occasion had stumbled upon some portion of Mr.Big's plans more though accident than on purpose yet nevertheless aided in foiling such plans. Tobias is an unabashed breast man and loves his pneumatic Samantha with a passion equal to ten men. This undoubtedly made your father a lover of all things busomy and this preference, as well as electronic skills, was passed on to you as well. You're an excellent sketch artist and share your work, yet you kept a very private portfolio to yourself. If only the female cadets in your Police Academy class knew that you drew them with succulently large, womanly lungs clad in very tiny bikini tops and thong bottoms. Had you not pursued a career in law enforcement you could've been a cartoonist for one of Outback's premier adult entertainment media outlets. It was the luck of the draw that you ended up on that particular float in the parade. I consider you a happy bonus." Derek didn't need to turn around, for he felt the gaze of Madison, Bria and even Audrey falling on him. In the portfolio Gee mentioned there were several sketches of the trio in various swimsuit attire and with breasts that kept getting progressively bigger with each new addition. He would deal with their inquires later, but for now he wondered how in the hell this Gee character knew about his portfolio. "Next we have Wenona Spirit Talker, granddaughter of Dan and Barbara Spirit Talker. Dan's mystical shaman powers had, in several instances, saved the lives of Lynnae and June. Wenona, you have lead a quiet, normal life in a supportive family environment. It was only through the cop stories told by Dan and his friends that convinced you to pursue a career in law enforcement. Along the way you met and fell in love with Clyde, marrying him just one year into your career as an officer. Usually female officers wait until they retire before having children but you succumbed to belly hunger rather early. It was no problem since Clyde, a cybernetwork specialist, could work at home while taking care of the baby. Madam," Gee said with a tone of regret, "it is unfortunate that you find yourself as one of my guests. My resentment towards Grandfather Dan is quite low compared to that I feel toward some others. Indeed, had you been pregnant just one month earlier you would not be enjoying my hospitality right now." Wenona wore an appropriate indignant look. "Pardon me for not appreciating your so-called hospitality, Gee." Gee didn't acknowledge Wenona's comment. "For the last one in this session we have Gretta Junker, granddaughter of Nadia and Harold Junker. Nadia, for being an exotic beauty worthy of worship, treated Big's attempts at seduction with harsh violence. As the first NDPD officer to be equipped with wetware, Nadia did her share in tripping up and inconveniencing Big whenever she had the chance. Gretta, you share your mother Lian and grandmother Nadia's ravishing good looks and learn how to defend yourself at an early age. Fueled by your grandparent's tales of heroic cop exploits, and having overdeveloped senses of righteousness and justice, you decided to become an officer. As a rookie cop, and with Wenona as your partner, you became the scourge for groups of malcontents such as Civil Disturbance 101 and the Yobbo Gang. So effective have you become in wielding a nightstick that you earned the nickname 'Blackjack' and Wenona 'Eckythump' from fellow officers and offenders alike. I would've gone out of my way to get you had you not been in the parade. Where Big failed I shall succeed. You will be mine." Despite herself Gretta shuttered. "You're a fruit loop if you think you can have me, Gee," she said once she composed herself. "Dear lady, I believe I have a better chance than Big ever did. From the way you shaked just now I believe I struck a responsive nerve." The gloating in Gee's words wasn't lost on anybody. "As Madison, descendant of that impetuous Lynnae, will still try to assert her authority I have no choice but to reinforce your edge in seniority." A strange hum filled the air and Gretta found herself being pulled to an open area of the room, then sealed off from the others by a force field. With her friends looking on Gretta went wide-eyed as her average Outback F-cup bust began to expand. After a certain point the microprocessor in the athletic bra she wore decided to release the memory clasps, thus sparing the undergarment from being utterly ruined. The shirt, being old-fashion in that it had no microcomputer, came apart in the time-honored fashion of buttons being stressed and then flying off like miniature projectiles. In less than a minute Gretta became the owner of a lap-filling beachball bust. The bra, rested on top of the breasts, now looked like a misshapen napkin than a support garment. Gretta sat on the floor in bewilderment, the weight of her new bust having come so rapidly she had no chance to find her footing. When the force field came down she was quickly joined by Bria and Audrey. Derek averted his eyes but Madison had something to say. "Be a man, Derek, and get Gretta a blanket to cover herself for now." Her tone told him that she had something to say about his Academy etchings later. "Oh God do they ache," Gretta labored. "I swear a pair of hands are glomming them like there's no tomorrow. Grandma told me how she got inflated on occasion, but I never figured in a blue that I would get an unexpected and unwanted expansion." "Don't be ungrateful, Gretta," said Gee in a pleased tone. "Now you a have built-in bull bar that can knock down CD'ers like so many duck pins. The discomfort you feel will pass in a few hours. And Derek," Gee waited until the man indicated he was listening, "you'll find an anti-gravity bra and a upsized police shirt in Gretta's bedroom, in a sealed box under the master bed." "Can we expect more such expansions?" Madison asked for Gretta's benefit, the inflated women still coming to grips with her new size. Gee sounded absolutely pleased. "But of course, Madison. As you and Bria decided to change your last names to reflect your heritage, as well as cash in on your respective grandmothers' 'branding', I shall not deny you the fringe benefits that often came with the job. I will talk about you, Bria, and Audrey after dinner. Good afternoon." "Oh, wonderful," said Audrey. "Now we have some fruiter that thinks himself as Big's avenger. Madison, do you think he'll make us pillow woman sized?" Madison couldn't help but think Audrey was right, but seeing what happened to Gretta begged a different scenario. "He's building up to something, Audrey." Her eyes drifted to Wenona's pregnant belly. "We now have two complications. I fear tonight we'll be adding a third one." 4 In a section of the OATF HQ reserved for Lynnae and her friends there were four members sitting at a small table, comparing notes. Paul went first. "There had been some noise about secret government technology appearing on the black market 15 years ago. Said technology was rumored to have been once owned by Mr. Big, and that it had been sold in a very exclusive auction. The exact technology is not known, but it was rumored to have been stolen from a very secret naval research center." "Naval research?" Amber chimed in. "If that's the case then my son David can kick in a few doors and call in some favors. He is, after all, the most famous and highly decorated officer in the Commonwealth Navy, and being a top Admiral doesn't hurt either. Only a fool would refuse a request from him." "That'll be most appreciated, Amber," Paul said thankfully. He then looked to his right. "Tobias?" "There was something funky about the electromagnetic field in that office," said the electronics geek. "I can't explain it fully, but it's as if chunks of space/time had been cut out of the very air itself and then sealed up like a wound been rapidly healed. I definitely picked up eight such space/time 'wounds', which matches the number..." Tobias stopped for a moment to compose himself. "...the number of missing officers and the office furniture." "Well done," Paul said, putting a supporting hand on Tobias' shoulder. "Dan?" Though he had prolong treatments like everyone else Dan's face looked like it belonged to a 60-year-old man instead of 40 as it should have been. "There is no doubt that the abduction was the work of one man. The malevolence I felt in that room was unlike I have ever encountered before, its hatred focused and directed. There was no other spirit, no residue that told me this man had assistance. I would know otherwise." Paul nodded somberly. "I don't doubt you, Dan. If he had help, then the possibility of leaving unintentional evidence would've gone up exponentially. Our unsub knew this and planned accordingly. Amber, anything new on Mr. Franklin?" Amber looked distracted. "What? Oh, nothing. In fact, I don't think Mr. Franklin is in the employ of our unsub. He probably counted on the suspicion of the delivery driver to draw investigative assets away from him." "Mr. Franklin?" The name came rolling off of Tobias' tongue with a hint of recognition. "Mr. Frank... Chad Franklin?" Paul gave Amber a dangerous look. "Where's June?" The short woman just stared ahead, eyes locked on the table top. "She's gone to her daughter Treasure's house. Lynnae is going to meet her there." She didn't speak further, but allowed her 'ware recordings to be accessed by Paul. "Amber," Paul said with the conviction of an Academy drill instructor, "You had a responsibility. It was dumb luck that this occurred now. The blue wall of silence will cover most of this but June and you will have to answer to Marsha. You two broke her trust, and she will want to hear why you helped June in her indulgence. I want you to go to her now and turn over your Marshals badge." Amber left without comment. Paul knew he did the right thing, but inside he felt just as guilty for he would've done what June did had the same opportunity presented itself. He threw himself back into his work, not wanting to waste another moment on something that cannot be changed. Gus took a sip of warm ginger tea, sitting in an office that by his standards was modest. He was watching the surveillance screens on the far wall, focusing on the central, large screen. All six officers had returned the commons room, again in pairs. Sitting next to the pneumatic Gretta on the main couch was Wenona, and this time it was the latter that was consoling the former. Madison and Bria were on a plush sofa they brought in from their apartment. Madison was making a cat's cradle while Bria browsed a hard-copy fashion magazine. On a sofa that faced the window-cum-video screens were Audrey and Derek. They were watching a live feed of a rainstorm drenching Alberry Harbor. Gus grinned when he recalled what happened earlier in the day. Both Madison and Bria confronted Derek about his 'naughty etchings' and asked if it was true. Derek knew better than to lie, and with Audrey giving him the eye he spilled his guts. Madison read him the riot act, and told him to destroy the prints once they were out of their predicament. Derek went into a sulk and focused on his minicomp, searching for clues in their well-equipped prison. Later Audrey joined him, and when the others weren't looking she rubbed his back and whispered into his ear. Gus, of course, heard what she said. So she does have a naughty streak in her, Gus mused. Well, I have a way for both of them to indulge their carnal desires if they so choose. The table chrono beeped, telling Gus it was 7 p.m. Okay, he thought, time for the evening session! "Good evening, officers," spoke the voice of Gee from the ceiling speakers. Everyone was startled, Gretta more so. Wenona put a comforting hand on her partner's shoulder. "That shirt compliments your new front quite well, Gretta. As your 'ware is still off-line your nanites will be working from their default programming. In two weeks your breasts will be reduced significantly in weight but not in volume. You may be able to go without an anti-grav bra in three weeks." "Why should I be concerned?" Gretta said righteously. "It'll all just a VR simulation. None of this is real." "Unless I have your real body in a suspension tank and you're growing a stupendous set of norks at this very moment," Gee said smoothly. "Just mull that over tonight as you sleep atop those pleasant mounds of yours." "We'll be mulling on how to break you up like a pretzel stick," Audrey spat out. "Whatever turns your proverbial crank, little woman." Gee said with condescension. "As it turns out, I am going to talk about you first. Audrey MacRoy Carson, granddaughter of Amber and Bert Carson . With phenomenal strength that belied her size Amber did her part to foil Mr. Big's plans. You were a 'happy accident' for your parents George and Regina, as you filled a void in their lives when your older brothers and sisters moved out of the house. You excelled in your school work as well as physical activity. When you decided to become an officer, Amber made sure that you got her badge number upon graduation. "Of the six officers here your family pedigree made the most history. Your uncle, David Carson, made his reputation forever when, as an ensign, he killed the Pirate King of Aquarius. Then, years later as an admiral he defeated a pirate fleet that threatened the lost human world of Gaia. Your cousin Estelle did her part and saved that planet from becoming a crystal-zombie infested wasteland." Audrey looked to the ceiling with a hateful visage. "Hey, you've forgotten that Amber wiped the floor with Mr. Big four times! Get your history straight!" "My dear officer," Gee said like a mother telling her child that the goldfish wasn't sleeping, "so many people have beaten up Mr. Big that it hardly rates as a bragging point. His immortality made such beatings a mere inconvenience. The only difference in regards to Amber is that the bruising she caused lasted a little bit longer than most." "Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that," Audrey huffed. Derek placed his hand on her knee and gave a consoling squeeze. As much as he wanted to put Audrey in her place then and there, Gee ignored the comment and went on. "Next we come to Bria Parlor, granddaughter of June and Greg Norbert. Just like Nadia, grandmother June refused the amorous entreaties of Mr. Big but not before lambasting him with onerous insults on his virility. She displayed a tenacity that is only equaled by her friend Lynnae in ruining Big's criminal projects. Even Big called her a foe worthy of his respect. "Bria, with unjustified self-importance, adopted her grandmother's maiden name so as to capitalize on her ancestor's 'street cred' within the NDPD. She has every intention to become a famous officer in her own right, being righteous in her enforcement of the law. However, there was also a selfish reason she became an officer. With the blue wall to back her up, Bria hopes to inflict revenge on a specific person, or at least on the group of people that person belongs to." Madison heard her friend make a sharp inhale, which also drew the attention of everyone else in the room. They wondered what Gee was talking about, but Madison knew all too well. "Bria suffered a trauma at a tender age of 9," Gee explained. "It was such a trauma that Bria rationalized her short height was a result of it, as she hoped to be 173 centimeters tall during her high school years, though she did gain her grandmother's wonderful bust. You rightfully blame the person that inflicted the trauma for not only your lack of height but also your delayed interest in boys. It was only when you turned 18 that you went out on your first date with a boy and had your first kiss. In a turn of roles, where it's a Parlor woman helping a Wilcox, Madison coached you up like a prizefighter for a full year before you took your first step into the brave, new world of dating." Gee's unseen smile got a little bigger as more signs of distress came from Bria. Madison held her friend's hand to provide her strength. "You libido was also held back for years, and once it was released you decided to make up for lost time. It all came to the fore when you set eyes on Derek Eddings in the Academy, as you found his looks enticing. Audrey didn't appreciate having your hooks digging into him, starting a feud that continues to this day. "I have something for you to see, Bria," Gee said in an abrupt change of pace. The window screens flickered, the harbor vista changing to a still shot from the parade. The Parlor woman recognized the scene as the staging area for the parade floats. "A nice photo, taken within 50 meters of the float that you shared with your fellow officers. Had you or Madison been more aware then this man, the one that took this photo, would've been spotted. He is, after after, etched into your memories. For the edification of everyone else I shall show you a security shot of the photographer." Madison winched in pain as Bria squeezed her hand. Her eyes narrowed while those of the others, save Bria, were open with question. "Mr. Chad Franklin, in the eighth year of his ten-year probation following ten years of rehabilitation. It appears grandmother June doesn't believe in rehabilitation for the likes of Mr. Franklin. Despite professing her belief in the rule of law she decided to avenge herself on Mr. Franklin the other day. The breaking of his parole rated something far less severe than what she did to him. Don't worry, dear, sweet Bria. Grandma June didn't kill Mr. Franklin, but he did come within a hair's breath of going to Hell where all pedophiles are consigned for eternity." The still unseen Gee sat back in his chair, drinking in the sight of Bria shaking and crying as memories came back in a torrent worthy of a flash flood. Madison hugged her friend tight, rubbing a hand on her back in a soothing motion. Everyone else were unsure how to feel or if they should do something to reassure Bria, for this was the first time they heard about this incident. "You bastard!" Madison exclaimed, tears both of her own creation and from Bria on her cheeks. "She was putting all of that behind her, and you picked that wound open with a bush knife!" "Funny that you should mention old wounds, Patrol Officer Madison Wilcox, granddaughter of Lynnae and Paul Jarvis." When he spoke, Gee emphasized the name Lynnae like it was a curse word. "Lynnae was Big's last and greatest foe, implacable and with enough righteousness to make one sick. Only an army of angels would explain why she didn't succumb to his charms and wiles. Along with the usual escapades of ruining his plans Lynnae had the unmitigated gall to assume she could finish Big forever, shoving him into space like a bag a garbage. I submit to you that it is Lynnae that should be construed as garbage." "Your temper is showing," Madison said, looking like an avenging angel while holding Bria's head next to her chest. "Where's that cool and metered voice that you've used so well up to now?" This time Gee did respond, and did so with some heat. "You will have pardon the outflow of feeling from me in matters that pertain to Lynnae. She removed the best criminal mind Humanity has seen and unlikely to be equaled for all eternity. That's enough I care to discuss on the subject for now. Time is running short and I have other duties to attend to." "Oh, so I don't rate the same treatment like you did to Bria?" said Madison in a condescending, hateful tone, crowding Gee verbally. "The gist of what I want to say to you I've already done for the others," Gee shot back, "but there is something I can add. You changed your last name more to honor Lynnae than to tap into her legacy for your own use in the NDPD. You have been best friends with Bria since you were 4, and developed a mental maturity that belied your age. You were there for Bria when she needed you after the 'incident.' Yes, everyone who knew what happened called it that rather than face the true nature head-on." Gee enjoyed the heat-filled face of Madison. Even the others were getting their dander up."You have an oversized sense of righteousness with moral conviction to match. An unfortunate trait you inherited from Lynnae is natural leadership. I've noticed after watching you for a long time that people defer to you when it comes time for a decision or opinion." Madison couldn't help but shutter that a man like Gee had her under observation for years. Gee continued. "The only thing that you feel embarrassment about, other than the pic that got out of yourself at a slumber party where the girls were comparing breasts, is your sister Piper. It was at the Academy Halloween party when one wistful soul decided to dress up as Piper as she appeared in the movie Totally Sized. Granted those fake sofa breasts were covered, but for the rest of the night everyone wanted to take a photo of you and your 'sister' together. This little episode continues to dog you up to now, with an occasional photo being left in your locker and a request to have it autographed." Madison stood up, and a still crying Bria was tended by Audrey. "You know an awful lot about us, but you told plenty about yourself. You're a coward for not confronting Lynnae face to face, like a man." She grinned like a hunter about to put down a particularly powerful bushbear. "Gee, calling you a man is like calling shite caviar." "You've accomplished what you sought out to do, Officer Wilcox." The strain in Gee's voice made it clear he was having difficulty in keeping his temper. "You got my goat. I am now forced to make an example of what happens because of that." A tractor beam yanked Gretta off the couch she shared with Wenona and pulled her to the far side of the room. With a force field in place she could only watch what happened next. All five of her fellow officers began to shrink like a spotlight closing up tighter and tighter. They were unable to move, paralyzed, until the process was complete. Force field down, Gretta took careful steps as she knelt down by Madison, putting a hand behind her back to help her up to a sitting position. By her eye, she believed Madison and the others were one-fourth of her height. "I must say," Derek said with effort as the compressed feeling from earlier came back to the fore. "The avatar subroutine for this VR prison sucks 'roo balls in regulating physical feedback." "And you know the taste of 'roo balls how?" Came Gee's comeback. "You're now at your new sizes for the duration. Too bad all of you had your shoes off for this. You'll just have to wait until I get new ones tomorrow." Gretta folded her arms under her cladded beachball bust. "Yes, I guess appearances and consistency have to be maintained, even for a fake environment such as this." "Very good, Officer Junker. With that I will take my leave of you all. Have fun taking baths tonight, as five of you can't reach the shower nobs now." When it was clear Gee was done talking Madison got a stare from Audrey. "You had to get up into his grill, didn't you, Madison?" Audrey said pointedly. "It was the only way to get him to reveal more about himself." Madison said in her defense. "Now we know he really has a bug up his arse when it comes to my grandmother." "Just how will that be useful? You know something?" "Possibly, if he doesn't know it already." Audrey got down from the sofa, the carpeting now feeling like a field of thick grass that came up to her knees. "Next time you decided to crowd Gee, please make sure you're the only one in the room." "Audrey, that's enough," said Wenona. "Gee doesn't need an excuse to do what he did to us. He obviously doesn't care what this feedback we're feeling is doing to my baby, otherwise I would've been spared." Biting her tongue, Audrey brought her feelings in check. She looked pensive. "Madison, I'm sorry for what I said. I'm just frustrated at what happened to us just now." Madison smiled. "Perhaps what you need is a good old hug from Derek. That's what our granthers recommend in stressful situations like this." "I'm more than happy to oblige," said Derek energetically. "You take care of Bria." "We'll need a roadtrain full of hugs before all of this is said and done," Madison observed as she clamored up the sofa to provide Bria with some much-needed reassurance. "Hopefully much sooner than later." 5 Lynnae was at the bottom of the steps that lead to Bria's old room in Treasure and Leroy's house. She stood there for ten minutes before concluding it was just delaying the inevitable. With each step up she felt her resolve growing until, at the top, she walked down the hall and opened the door without a second thought. The bedroom had been turned into a guest room, though pictures and decorations of the previous occupant were still evident. June herself was on the bed, hold a stuffed toy Bunyip, the very one she gave Bria on her ninth birthday. "June..." Lynnae began as she walked toward her friend, but was cut off abruptly. "He wasn't punished," June said softly. "He didn't get mindwipe as he deserved. It was his first offense but no penetration, those damn courties said. They're full of it if they believe rehabilitation would really work for that kind of shite." Lynnae put her hands on June's shoulders. "June, you've been my anchor for all those times I wanted vengeance over justice. Please, for this, let me be yours." Putting the toy Bunyip back to its spot on the bed the tall woman turned around. "I'm going to turn myself in and take responsibility. Bria expects no less of me." The short woman gave June a deep, long hug. "She'll be rightfully proud, just like me." The relatively quiet and sullen atmosphere of the OATF HQ was broken when Tobias ran the length of it and entered Blake's office. The Captain knew better than to give any lip to Tobias about entering without knocking. "It's hot, isn't it?" he said simply. "Yes it is, Blake," the techno-geek said quickly. "We've gotten hard traces on wetware activity on two of the officers. They're within a twenty kilometer radius centered on the Stonewash district." "Stonewash?" Blake said it to be sure. Stonewash was one of the oldest settled and developed areas of New Darwin. It was filled with houses and buildings built by the first settlers and had been continuously updated and renovated ever since. Old money also lived in Stonewash. Why would the abductors take the officers there? It was the most impractical location to make a quick getaway from if it became necessary. "I'm confident we can narrow down the location even further if we get just another brief transmission," Tobias offered. "Good man, Mr. Eddings. Just keep us informed." 'Oh, I will, Captain, I will." On the fifth day of their confinement the officers had to make some adjustments. Even in a VR environment, all the officers save Gretta found simple tasks difficult. They were indeed too small to reach the shower knobs, so they had to take baths, though in this case the bathtubs could hold three comfortably with room to spare. Cushions and boxes had to be piled up so they could reach the sink and make use of the toilets. All of them felt like toddlers, careful so they didn't fall in and giving Gee something to laugh about. Gretta had her hands full in helping the others, having to prepare and serve breakfast in the common area's dining room and assisting Wenona with her needs. Gee was good to his word and provided new police shoes, all stowed in a box left in the center of the commons room. The old shoes were as the cops left them, so Gretta stowed them were they would be out of the way. "Good morning," Gee said over the ceiling speakers. "Wouldn't you agree that being smaller means having that much more bedspace to roll around in?" Derek looked at his now-humongous plate, waiting for Gretta to cut up the sausage she cooked into much smaller portions. He then fixed his eyes upwards. "You saw fit not to have pajamas or nightshirts shrunk down to our size. We all had to sleep in the nude." "An oversight on my part, forgive me," Gee dispensed. Madison bit into a piece of scrambled egg that was but a spoonful to Gretta but the size of an large pizza to her. "I'm going to complain to the manager of this one-star fleatrap. You'll be better off burning the sheets rather than cleaning them." Gee made a tch-tch sound. "Such wit so early in the morning. Well, let me get the day started with some good news. Officer Wilcox, your sister Piper issued a 10 million credit reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the kidnappers. Looks like she'll be having far fewer parties for next year or two." "Bully for her," Madison said proudly. "She'll more than make that up when she becomes the executive producer of the film adaptation of this story." Gee guffawed. "Indeed. In other news June Norbert turned herself in for the savage beating she gave to Chad Franklin. Joining her is Amber Carson, for failing to prevent June from assaulting Mr. Franklin. You cannot believe how happy this makes me. Both of them now have criminal records, and with luck will actually serve prison time. How do you feel about those granthers now?" Bria looked up, with no hint of the distress she felt last night. "I feel proud of Grandma June. She knew what she did was wrong, and the fact that she's turning herself in shows that she still has a conscience while yours is completely absent." "Same goes for my grandma," Audrey said once she finished inhaling a hefty piece of sausage and egg. "She'll abide by whatever decision the court arrives at." Gee's dismissive tone filled his reply. "What noble sentiment. Then it won't bother you watching current news about your disappearance. All the tri-dee sets will now be able to pick up ONN and the local New Darwin stations. I'll check in after dinner to see how you're doing. To use your vernacular, G'day." "He's going out of his way to be an arsehole," Gretta said after a few moments. "He knows that we can't resist watching the tri-dee. We're bound to see pictures of our families and of newsies hounding them." "I don't know if I can handle that," said Wenona, hands on her belly. "I'm the one those news shows will focus their ghoulish attention on the most, being pregnant and all. And Clyde..." Gretta went to her friend and gave her a maternal hug, picking up and holding the relatively child-sized Wenona to her bust. It was at that moment Gee spoke unexpectedly. "What a tender scene. It reminds me of a bushbear caring for one its young. If you're not careful, however, you might accidentally crush her. Now its G'day for real, officers." "If you say so," Derek said flippantly. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out." 6 The table at OATF HQ was less crowded now, the absence of two of its number was notable and discomforting. Still the meeting had to be held, and Paul got it started. "We got more good news. Tobias was able to determine that the wetware signals had been processed by two immersive-style VR suites. He has identified the make and model types also." Dan joined in with perfect step. "We linked the manufacturing for these VR suites to the product center they were delivered to. Very shortly we will know to whom these VR suites were sold to." Nadia squeezed Harold's hand under the table. "I hope our unsub bought the other four VR suites of the same make and model. Every VR company has proprietary equipment and software for their units." "He may have bought the other four second-hand," Tobias said. "We should check all resales of the same kind of VR unit." Paul tapped his pen on the table top flat map. "Tobias, have you been able to further refine the area where the wetware signals came from?" "I got it down to 10 kilometers. That's small enough to conduct a thorough search." All eyes turned to Captain Blake. Lynnae's were the most compelling of all, silently demanding a plan of action. "Very well," he said decisively. "We'll conduct discreet searches of the Stonewash starting now. VR units are powerhogs, after all. Six active ones in any one spot won't be that hard to find." During the day Derek worked his now very mini minicomp in a renewed examination of the VR generated rooms. After multiple sweeps Derek made some discoveries. "This is very odd," he said to the group during lunch. "For this VR environment there's no need to have details past these walls, yet I've detected a forcefield that's surrounding these rooms as well air beyond that. The wall themselves register as plastisteel, yet I can't determine the virtual thickness. For Gee to have gone through all this trouble he won't leave even that trifle detail undone." "Perhaps there are more virtual rooms? Other prisoners?" Wenona said as she drank from a right-sized glass of apple-flavored loliwater. "My thoughts exactly. If I can gain access to the virtual controls of those other rooms, and then enter the network..." Audrey stood up, face beaming. "Then we'll have a fair go of it! I knew you're bonzer!" With Audrey looking on Derek went to a closet. After emptying it with Gretta's help he ran a pen along the lower portion of one wall, highlighting a seam. "My minicomp found this today. I believe it's a virtual network conduit behind this panel." Using his swizarm Derek pried the panel loose, exposing a what looked for all purposes a blue pipe. "Hmm. Larger than I expected. Doesn't really matter to me. Might as well give it a burl." Just as he placed the minicomp on the pipe an arc of electricity raced up Derek's right arm and physically sent him back a meter. The little device itself was now nothing more than a smoking and sizzling ruin. "Derek!" Audrey had Gretta's help in moving the man to the recliner. She got up onto it without assistance and examined Derek's arm, wincing at the sight of the burns. "You think his real life body sustained feedback damage?" "Possibly some nerve damage," Gretta offered, also winching from the sight of the wounds. "His nanites will be treating these virtual wounds. However, if the psychosomatic link is at full power, and we don't do additional first aid, then the nanites in his real body will create the wounds and then heal them. He'll have memories of the incident and the pain that went along with it. I'll get some bandages and burn salve from the kitchen medikit." "Thank you," Audrey said, holding Derek's good left hand to her chest. She noticed that action made Derek's eyes open. "You wogger, thinking you're figjam and all that." "Goes with the territory," he said slowly, "being a wire wizard and all." His hand lightly glommed Audrey's smallish left breast. "The compensation package is adequate, though." Before Audrey could chide Derek the voice of Gee filled the room. "This is a prerecorded event message, played in the event of Mr. Eddings trying to be clever. Young man, I thought you were more prudent, yet you fell for an obvious trap. Now your minicomp is just an expensive paperweight and most likely you have sustained an injury. If so, then I envy your condition as you're being tended to five wonderful sheilas, your own little harem. I'll be informed by my computer shortly, and shall see tonight how much progress you made on your convalescence. G'day." "Boobytrap, hell," Bria snorted, her assertiveness coming back. "He wanted this to happen from the get-go." Madison got onto the recliner and sat down next to Derek, putting her hand on his forehead. "We may be an inadvertent harem, but we're not going to put on skimpy outfits unless Gee forces us to, so don't get your hopes up, you wonderful wogger." "A man can still dream, can't he?" With that the officer closed his eyes while his wounds were being tended to by Audrey. A fleet of discreet vehicles, both manned and robotic, combed the streets and alleyways of Stonewash, questing with sophisticated sensors as well as God-given eyeballs. In one vehicle was Lynnae, using 'ware-enhanced senses as well as female intuition in her quest. As she drove she let a part of her mind admire what she saw. The first settlers on Outback made use of natural stone as well as man-made materials. Even now, four centuries later, one can tell where the new additions had been mated to the original structure, even if that original structure had been renovated half a dozen times. The old money, newly wealthy, celebrities and distinguished members of the city lived in Stonewash. Of the richest residents of the Stonewash district they had their homes next to Stonewash Creek. Said creek still existed only because water pumps ensure a steady flow of water year round, otherwise it would only fill during heavy rains. Lynnae had the pleasure of visiting one of those houses for it belonged to her granddaughter Piper. A very popular fashion model with a budding film career to go along with her own network show Piper bought a Stonewash house that went into foreclosure. Her blue-blood neighbors resented this and gave her the cold shoulder. Lynnae wondered if the pool parties and BBQ invites had something to do with it, along with the volleyballs games in the backyard. Or perhaps the neighbors just forgot that life was meant to be lived? Lynnae didn't entertain such thoughts for long, for she planned to make a short visit at Piper's house and check on her. Though they had a fifteen year age gap both Piper and Madison were very close, and Piper needed some reassurance to maintain her public face. Passing one house Lynnae brought her vehicle to a sudden, but quite, stop. It was the Underhill residence, and no less than Mayor Peggy Underhill was out and about on her front lawn, dressed like a gardener and tending to her flowers and hedges. Lynnae rolled down the tinted glass, letting Peggy see who was driving. Peggy managed a half-hearted wave of the hand. Lynnae just stared, then pointed two fingers to her eyes like she was about to poke them, then turned them around and pointed them at the Mayor like arrows. Peggy reacted by dropping the hedging tool she had in her hand. Only when the window was rolled up and the vehicle moving did Lynnae allowed to feel some Schadenfreude and smiled. 7 Speaking of Schadenfreude, one Gus Matlin was about to experience enough of it to his heart's content tonight. He reviewed the recording of Derek's misadventure, and for the first time during the officers' captivity he wished he was in Derek's place. Getting so much care and concern from those five shelias, even the preggo, tugged as this lecherous heart as if he were Mr. Big himself. He banished that thought for later savoring for there was business tonight. He did some speaking exercises for his Gee persona, sipped some warm ginger tea, and toggled the microphone. The officers, in their established pairings, were lounging in the commons room, all watching the tri-dee sets for the latest news. When the volume went mute on all the sets at the same time they knew Gee was about to speak. "Good evening, officers," said the voice they had come to disdain. "You had yourself a bit of trouble earlier today. I'm glad to see that Officer Derek Eddings is on the mend. He'll be right as rain soon enough." "You had to make the charge powerful enough to burn him," Audrey sneered, getting off the sofa and standing proud on the carpeting, looking up at the ceiling. "I hope his real body wasn't hurt." Gee sounded like a befuddled but well-meaning old man. "Oh my sweet, it is just as well you treated his wounds as if they are real... because they are." Madison also dropped down from her sofa perch with Bria following. She, too, looked at the ceiling. "So you're admitting his wounds were replicated on his real body?" "Madison, Madison my child. You're not accepting an alternate explanation because your rational mind considers it fanciful. Consider that so-called blue pipe as Derek called it. What if it's not a pipe but a wire?" "A wire?" Madison spat out. "You're playing us for fools, Gee. This is a VR simulation. The only other explanation is that you..." "Shrunk you all? Well, I have a group of Doubting Thomas' before me. I shall prove your true reality." The ceiling started to slide back over the commons area, going in the direction of the kitchen. Above them the officers saw what appeared to be a much higher ceiling with a rather large light shining down. Just then a huge shadow covered them, and when their eyes adjusted the officers were gazing up at a giant man that was looking down on them in turn like a titan of lore. Audrey was overcome by waves of raw fear. She collapsed to the carpeting, and with trembling arms she sat up and started to push herself backwards, only stopping when she hit a leg of the sofa she had just sat on a moment earlier. Derek kept his wits about him and got off the sofa, going to Audrey in her time of great distress. The others were frozen in place, frightened for a moment beyond the capacity for rational thought. "Well, it appears that Officer Carson had accepted this true reality, and is even acting the way I expect. Tell me, Carson, you never were able to totally overcome your fear of heights, have you? It all started when your grandfather Bert gave you that piggyback ride when you were four, correct?" Derek pointed his tiny bandaged hand at Gee, wishing he had a loaded gun in it. "Shut your shitegob!" Gee continued his observation. "You two were friends since middleschool, and you knew about her irrational fear of heights. She had a pretty hard time of it at the Academy during those live situation drills, didn't she? I bet you spent much of your free time to coach her so that she could finally pass the urban obstacle course. She did it on her third and last attempt. Had she not, she would've flunked out of the Academy." Gee loved the seething look on Derek's face as much as the continued fear-filled look on Audrey's. Derek wasn't finished. "Explain it then, Gee! There's at least three things wrong with this picture! If you shrunk us, then our hearts would be beating so fast and our blood pressure so high that we would be dead. Then's there's hypothermia, because our bodies would've radiated heat far more quickly than it could be maintained by our metabolism. Finally there's our voices, which should be so high that we couldn't be heard by you, much less each other." Gee leaned down for a better look. Seeing the details of that giant face only made Audrey bury her own in Derek's shoulder. "Fair, fair questions all, Mr. Eddings. For your information I have in my possession a machine that can send an object or person into a so-called side reality. A person so shrunken will be able to interact with their 'home' reality and yet not suffer from all of those nasty little problems you mentioned. I can hear you quite well, but its as if your talking from far away. As for your food and water, as well as air, it's converted to your side reality as soon you consume and breath. Your other body functions will behave as if you're normal sized. But there's a limit." Madison managed to squelched her paralysis so she could talk. "What limit?" She said in a weak voice. "After two years, give or take a month, the last application of the machine on the subject begins to fade, the side reality begins to merge with its original reality. Inanimate objects, not a big deal. Machines and electronics break down as their normal size proportions can't deal with their shrunken state." "And people?" It was Wenona, her arms and hands in a protective hold over her belly. Gee's smile would've not been frightening if it wasn't so big. "I tested, of course. Remember Penelope Brooks and her assistant?" "The abduction case seven years ago," Madison said with a stronger voice. "She's the older sister of Harriet Brooks, one of my grandmother's friends." "Correct. They weren't the first ones I've shrunken but were used to test the limits and effects of the machine. Mrs. Brooks, for having sent my friends in crime to prison or having their minds wiped, was shrunk to 3 millimeters in height in one go. It was too much stress at one time and she expired. From then on I shrink my new additions in stages as I had done previously. I still have her body, kept in stasis as a trophy. The same for the assistant. She reminds my more feisty additions on the foolishness of escaping. Even if they do get away they'll have just two years of life before they die a short but agonizing death." "That assistant had a name," Madison barked so the words got past her fearful lips. "Daria, Penelope's daughter." Boiling righteousness freed Gretta from her paralysis. "Additions? You have a collection? You've been playing god for how long?" "Sufficient to say for some years, my exotic beauty." With that Gee reached down and picked up Gretta like a toy, enjoying the feeling of her tiny yet large covered breasts against his fingers. "You are indeed a treasure, even more so at 8 centimeters." "8 centimeters?!" Gretta exclaimed. "Does that mean..." "Yes it does, my lovely Sienna Sweet. Your friends are 2 centimeters tall." For the first time Wenona felt genuine anger against her captor. She got on the carpet, looking up with both hands on her hips. "You sanctimonious pom! Do you know how this will affect my baby, being shrunk and damn-all this side-reality shite?" "Please refrain from such language, precious lady," Gee implored. "She'll be right, but continue to utter such disagreeable words and your ankle biter will be as uncouth and ill-mannered as your friends here. Oh," he snapped his fingers of his free hand right next to Gretta's head, making her flinch in his tight grip, "I just realize that you'll be needing something very important for the baby. Three weeks, is it?" "The hell you say!" Wenona said forcefully. "I'm not going have my baby born in this posh toy prison of yours." "Keep that up and you will. Let me give you what you need. Exy, come closer." The sound of metallic footfalls filled the air until the source came just within eyesight of the tiny officers. Derek recognized it. "That's a Boiler Android Trooper. Private ownership of one is illegal." "So it is, Mr. Eddings. What it has in its hands is top shelf of illegal. One genuine Aquarian Pirate BE Rifle, to be precise. Modified to shrink as well as grow both body and breast. Care to guess what I'm going to do for Mrs. Spirit Talker? Exy, initiate ST-A." The quaint-looking robot leveled and fired the short-barreled weapon, but not before both Madison and Bria leaped into the line of fire, intent to take what was meant for Wenona. However the beam was much wider than they anticipated, and all three tiny women underwent breast expansion. As with Gretta, their bras unclasped on their own while the shirts busted open, revealing watermelon breasts scaled to their size. Poor Wenona settled to the floor, as much shocked as angry at what happened to her. Both Madison and Bria were still standing despite the added weight, eyes defiant and not caring that Gee saw their naked breasts. "Ah, you two are of the same mold as Lynnae and June," Gee said, enjoying the looks he was getting. "Even down to that schoolyard heroic stunt you just pulled. You thought you could stop the beam like you would a bullet? All you did was save me the trouble of enlarging your breasts tomorrow, and for that I thank you." He put Gretta down right next to Wenona, seeing how she tended to the tinier woman like a mother to a child. "Enjoy the rest of the evening, officers, for there are just six more left." At that the top of the toy ceiling was closed and footsteps, both human and mechanical, could be heard walking away. It was until those steps couldn't be heard anymore that the officers talked. "Six more days. That means the end of the Founders Days festival," Madison said, removing the ruin that was once her shirt and tossing it aside along with the bra. Her face was flushed with pain. "Now I know how carnival taffy feels like when its pulled. As for my height, I'm smaller than the price tags for my cousin Allison's Blossoming Bodies merchandise." Bria, also in high discomfort, took off her wrecked top and flung it at the ceiling. "2 bleeding centimeters. Even if we escape we'll be easy meat for any bugs and varmints that come cross our path." Audrey had calmed down greatly, but she still trembled as she spoke. "What's going to... happen at the end of those six, six days? He got everyone but... me and Derek the way he wants." "I'm worried too, Audrey," Derek said while stroking her disheveled hair. "I don't care to think of the implications at this moment either." "I know we shouldn't pour our hope into it," Paul said from his seat at the head of the table to a select group of detectives. "But we're confident we have the location of our officers." Lynnae was sitting by his side, aching to hold his hand under the table, for she wanted to believe as well. "A follow-up scan has confirmed what was recorded on Marshal Jarvis' vehicular computer. Six distinct signatures, unique to the kind of immersive VR suites that our unsub has purchased, is in a house located in the Stonewash district. The current residents of said house have been on sabbatical off-planet for the last nine months, and had their neighbors look over the property in their absence." Paul sensed his wife's indignation boiling over that last point, so he moved on quickly. "When the house had minor basement flooding six months ago the neighbors called in a repair service. Work that should've taken two days lasted six. The follow-up scan showed an extension was added and stealthed against all but the most sophisticated scans." One detective looked at the datapad he had in his hand. "How could they moved out all that dirt without being noticed? They very well couldn't have disintegrated it in whole lots on-site." "I wish I knew," Paul admitted. "I feel our unsub had not only passed himself off as a housing maintenance engineer but also caused the basement flooding as well. Whoever the unsub is, he's clearly supremely confident about himself. It takes unmitigated gall to do what he's done." "You've forgotten to add that he also has as a twisted sense of humor," Lynnae said harshly. "Using the house right next to the Mayor's residence, how fitting. It'll make Peggy even more unpopular and onerous." 8 Day six came without so much as a peep from Gee during breakfast and lunch. Gee had left new police clothing for Bria, Madison, and Wenona to wear. It was only their collective sense of responsibility and concern over Wenona that the officers gathered in the commons room that day. Since the furniture was scaled to Gretta's 8cm height there was room on the couch for everyone except Gretta herself. As the atmosphere in the room was like that of an intervention Audrey decided to take the plunge. "I shouldn't have gone bonzers like that," she said while holding hands with Derek, sitting to her right on the couch. "It was that Grandpa Bert was so tall. I can even remember screaming my head off when he made that playful dip. I broke his heart, and we hadn't had as good a relationship between us as we should." Bria was sitting to Audrey's left, and she gave her friend an affirming squeeze on the knee. "I would've done anything to have your problem in exchange to what happened to me 18 years ago. Can you forgive me for being such a dill in regards to Derek?" Audrey gave Bria a strong hug, despite the sensation of being crushed by Bria's newly enlarged norks. "You got it, B. I just wished I was there in person to see your grandma deliver that smackdown." "Such a touching moment," came Gee's voice, unwanted and uninvited as usual. "The Wicked Midgets have made up and are the best of friends now. It is good that you two came to an understanding in these your last days." "So what's the plan?" Madison had recovered from last night and spoke in the same lackadaisical, anti-authority spirit as before. "You're going to eat us with a glass of Giebelhouse 2450 and some fava beans?" "A tempting suggestion, but not after all the trouble I went through, all those years of planning and waiting only to just eat you in the end. No, you'll become a part of my collection, preserved from the ravages of time in stasis fields. Preserved in a perfect moment of my design." "Whatever turns the crank of that shitebox you call a brain, Pee-Gee," Bria said, following Madison's lead. Having said what he planned for the group then Gee could very well take a few more insults before all was said and done. "I think I shall miss the attitude coming from all of you the most," Gee admitted. "It proves to me that you still have the will to live. G'day." "G'day, shitehead," all six officers said in unison. "Ma'am, I assure you that this operation will be conducted with the minimum of potential property damage," Captain Blake said to one understandably upset Mayor Peggy Underhill. Hastily dressed in casual clothes Peggy had to be sure she was understood. "But I gave my word to Mr. Clacker that I'll take good care of his house. I was mortified when that water leak occurred and... What's so funny, Captain." Altogether unsuccessful in suppressing a giggle Blake had to explain. "It's just that name, ma'am. It sounds fake, a joke." "I assure you it's a legitimate name, Captain. Now, how soon will your men enter the Clacker house?" "In minutes, ma'am." This time Blake managed not to giggle but he felt like choking. "You're the only one here?" "Yes." "Act and leave like you're in a hurry. If the unsub has this house under surveillance, which is likely, then it will appear your husband forgotten something and you're rushing it to him." Peggy did as Blake said, while Blake himself turned his cammo cloak back on and discreetly left the house, taking position beside a tree while SWAT waited for the word. Giving her house one final look, Peggy caught sight of Lynnae just down the block. Wearing black-tinted tactical glasses, Lynnae looked downright menacing. She also saw Peggy, and again made the 'I'm watching you' gesture. Peggy rolled up her windows so they would proved a thin shield between herself and the wrath-filled grandmother. The morning of the seventh day showed a bright sun rising over New Darwin. The video windows displayed the early sailors in Alberry Harbor making for deeper water. Four of the officers had gotten up, bathed, dressed and had breakfast. Madison, figuring what Derek and Audrey had done last night, decided now was the time to wake them up. The others heard her knock on the door of the guest bedroom in Madison and Bria's apartment, and a full three minutes past. When Madison did return it looked like she had two dolls in her arms. Upon closer inspection it was none other that Audrey and Derek, both having been shrunk sometime late last night by Gee. "I guess this is what Gee hand in mind for you two," Gretta quipped. "I hate to say it but you two look cute." Both of the really tiny officers, dressed in equally shrunken nightshirts, were placed on the table in front of their waiting and filled breakfast plates. "I figure we're both 5 millimeters tall now," Derek said as he ripped off a minuscule but bite-sized portion of sausage. "We didn't notice until a hour ago." "Just what were you two doing all night?" Bria grinned, helping to make portions of scrambled eggs easier for Audrey to handle. Like a relative that overstayed his welcome Gee spoke before Audrey could explain everything. "I shall tell you. Last night Audrey, seeking some close comfort, had a most willing Derek follow her to the bedroom. While in the grips of losing their respective virginity I had Exy slowly shrink them and their bed in a space of one hour. They confused the feeling of compression with that of unbridled passion and total love. Fortunate for them the bed had spare nightshirts in the integrated drawers, or else they would have to use hand towels to cover their modesty." "As if making me and Derek smaller would make us less of a threat to you, Gee," Audrey said after wolfing down a hunk of scrambled egg, showing just how much activity she was engaged in last night. "What are we going to be dressed in now? Children's clothing?" "Nothing so pedestrian, Officer. Both of you will be receiving fresh and right-sized officer uniforms in an hour. I suggest you replenish your energy. Three goes in one night is rare for those having the kind of intimacy you and Derek had for the first time. G'day." Bria raised an eyebrow in mock shock while looking at Audrey. "Three times in one sitting? Boy, I wish I'd had persevered in my efforts to shag Derek." The tiny woman chased the eggs down with some sausage. "I thought the geek type wasn't your bag of tea, Bria." "Are you kidding? Geeks are all about the sex, you know?" Both women laughed like sorority sisters. Derek looked up to Gretta and worshiped the sight before him. The shirt that cladded Gretta's bust was snug and left nothing to the imagination on how wonderful her beachball bust really was. He walked across the table and indicated that he wanted to be picked up. Gretta indulged, feeling that she was a giant from a fairy tale, hold a sitting Derek in the palm of her hand. Imagine her surprize when she heard him without speaking. [Hello, sweetness. Guess what also happened last night?] To her credit Gretta kept her face from reacting. [Holy dooley! Our wetware is back online?] [Well, actually mine came back on first. When I got burned, more than just the medical subroutines were activated in the nanites. My father and grandfather, not to mention myself, are electronic wizards after all. As of an hour ago I have full wetware capability, but I'm running stealth protocols.] [How am I able to talk with you?] Derek shifted his sitting position to make himself more comfortable. [Once I made skin contact my 'ware sent a pulse coded message to yours, reactivating it without drawing the attention of Gee's sensors. I also assigned a new security protocol, so he won't be able to crack it without some serious processing power.] [Is Audrey's 'ware functioning?] [Sure is, Gretta. Madison's as well. Now hand me off to Wenona so I can bring her up to speed.] [Okay, but not before I indulge is some roleplay to make Gee unsuspecting.] "Oh, this is just so ace! I'm just going to have to congratulate you on your graduation to manhood!" With that Gretta kissed Derek, covering his whole face with her relatively gigantic lips. "Hey," Audrey playfully protested. "You break him, you buy him." She winked, understanding that Gretta's 'ware was now up and running. With care Gretta handed Derek over to Wenona. "Take a good look, Winnie. He's only a little bit bigger than what your baby is going to be. Why don't you practice and hold him in your arms?" "I'll be delighted." With awaiting arms Wenona took the much smaller Derek like he was a precious vase. 9 "We've been hornswoggled, no shite about it," Blake said to Dan and Lynnae, observing the ruin that once was Mr. Clacker's house. The firefighters were done, having conquered the fire but utterly ruining what remained of the structure in the process. "CSI will still try to find something in all that mess, but with the fire burning so hot..." "He wanted us to waste our time," Dan commented, keeping his face impassionate. "We'll know the difference, but for the parents and the public at large..." Observing a commotion come towards them, Lynnae took off her sunglasses in a savage move. "Oh, hell." She moved towards the throng of officers trying to hold back one person, losing ground with each passing moment. "Amber, you shouldn't be here." The strongest officer in the history of the NDPD pushed aside two far bigger men as if they were modeling dummies. "I needed to see for myself! I'm owed that, Lyn!" With as much compassion she could muster in the circumstance Lynnae got closer, the officers still attempting to hold Amber back. "Hon, there won't be anything here. It was all a trick." From her voice one knew Amber was streaming tears down her cheeks. "Hell you say! If she's been carked I want to know now!" Summoning the strength of a demi-goddess Amber tosses aside the remaining officers like rag dolls. She rushed the line and broke the police tape like a runner winning a race. At the wrecked house she started to pull away debris with no care for her own safety. Lynnae and Dan allowed their grieving friend to continue until she was utterly exhausted, sitting on what use to be a decorative rock bench in the backyard, out of breath and tears. All the while news cameras from a brace of media outlets filmed every bit of wreckage she flung away like it was nothing. Just before lunch, with the officers gathered in the living area, the dreaded voice of Gee intruded on the tranquility. "Audrey, have your friends mentioned how cute you look now? So cute that you deserve your own fully-furnished Candy Candice dollhouse with the heated jacuzzi and wooden barbie deck?" Having been placed in a chair with Derek by a helpful Gretta, Audrey looked up at the ceiling that had gotten farther and farther way in the past few days. As much as she hated to admit it Audrey knew she looked attractive in the full dress blues she had on. Still, she had to answer Gee. "You very well know they've said that, but from them I knew it was all in good fun." "Ah. Speaking of fun, the tri-dees have that in abundance. I'll turn them all to ONN, as they have the least cluttered graphics." The tri-dee sets, having been abruptly turned off two hours ago, came back on. What the six officers saw was an aerial view of a demolished house, the word scrawl saying 'officer prison destroyed in massive explosion and fire. Mayor's house next door sustained heavy damage.' Next came shots of the gathering crowd of onlookers, CSI officers beginning the task of locating evidence, EMS teams treating the lightly wounded SWAT members while the more seriously hurt were sent to hospital, and a cluster of apparently high-ranking NDPD officers and a few Marshals. Madison and Wenona gasped involuntarily as they spied Lynnae and Dan in that cluster, looking grim. Between them was one dejected-looking Amber, face and hands covered with soot and fine flakes of debris with Dan's hand on her shoulder. "It was too easy, officers. Deep down they knew that, but they grasped at that false hope like a drowning sailor reaching a rope. They will find a smidgen of evidence, trace DNA and ashes from very expensive clones that I had grown, clothed and even equipped with wetware. Imagine the pressure from the families to have the case closed and consider you all dead, giving themselves closure. A few years from now, I'll do the whole bait and switch all over again and see who'll bite." "Damn you," Madison said softly, her and everyone else's eyes welling up with tears. Gee changed his focus, putting his face on the video windows. "A fine shame that you didn't witness your grandmother in action, Audrey. She was tearing through that wreckage like she was after the last can of Fosters on the planet. Some of the tossed debris reached as far as the police line! Such strength. Good thing she'll never get a hand on me!" "You don't know my grandmother all that well!" Audrey yelled, even though Gee could hear her with amplified audio. "She'll turn over every rock and mountain to find me and my friends!" Gee purred his sanctimony. "I know she can; how about you? Your grandmother has great strength. Your father, siblings, uncles and aunts have great strength. Even your cousin Estelle, the Gaian savior, has strength that belied her size and delicate femininity. Why is it that you don't, hmm? Perhaps it skips individuals in some generations. You had plenty of opportunities to demonstrate your great MacRoy strength, muscles of might and power of Hera. You're just as brave and righteous as a person could be, but without strength you're just a normal woman." "Don't... go there," Audrey seethed. Gee guffawed. "I will go there, for it necessary to remind you. In middle school and high school you lost every fight you had with bullies, even getting in fights that didn't concern you in the slightest. Once you're aware of an injustice you're incapable of ignoring it. Even Derek got involved, getting beaten up for this troubles so as to spare you. Yes, Audrey, there were fights he gotten into over you. He intercepted the bullies before they could get to you, and lost more often than he won. How does it feel, Audrey, having a close friend taking a beating you knew you so richly deserved? Righteousness is overrated. How much longer before Derek or another officer dies because you weren't strong enough?" Waiting a moment so he could treasure the seething look on Audrey's tiny face Gee continued his pile driving assault. "Then there's your name. Audrey is an old name that means strength. In light of what happened in your life, it is a poor choice. Perhaps Daisy, Penelope, or Lily is more appropriate. Oh, why not Posie? Yes, Posie Carson the Pushover." Audrey slid off the chair like it was carnival ride, landing in the plush carpet below. It was knee-deep for Madison, Bria and Wenona but it was a head-height for the aggrieved woman. She marched through the carpeting like it was a field of Queensland grass, pushing aside the artificial fibers with each step, heading for a section of cleared wall that separated one video window from another. Gee was amused. "I don't know what you're doing, young miss, other than wasting your time. Everything in those rooms have either been nanite-built or shrunken down. I do believe I have time to get some tea. Excuse me." With that Gee's giant head wasn't seen on the screens for three minutes, by which time Audrey had reached the wall through sheer effort and determination. She had taken off her dress jacket. Sweat rolled down her face and the white shirt clung to her like a second skin. "Hearty good show, Officer Carson. You look like you've been on a criminal-hunting safari in the tropical grasslands. I guess it goes to prove that the spirit is willing when the flesh is weak. With the emphasis on weak." No-one but Audrey heard the sound of sinewy muscle as it tighten when she a made a fist. She wanted to punch something to relieve her anger, and the wall was the perfect recipient for her fist. It was then, just as she was committed to the punch, she felt something inside herself unlock. Her fist felt like fire when it hit, but instead of pain a wave of exaltation filled her as enormous cracks radiated out from the impact point, all the way up to the tiny prison's ceiling. "Holy crap!" Derek exclaimed. "Audrey's got her grandma's strength and then some!" Smiling harshly, Audrey proceeded to pound the wall over and over and over again. Far more cracks appeared and it rained fragments. That didn't bothered her at all, her fusillade of punches not slowed in the least. She was whaling the living shite out of it. "You go, Audrey!" Bria yelled. "Make that wall your bitch!" Gee was mildly surprized. Had Audrey shown such strength before then he wouldn't have abducted her. The plastisteel wall was 2cm thick because that was the thinnest size available to buy wholesale. He did factor in such a remote possibility, and now the forcefield was going to provide another function other than blocking 'ware communications and sensors. Audrey reached the forcefield after clearing an opening through the plastisteel. She tried to give the field the bum's rush with her shoulder, only to give Gee a giggle of amusement. Then, with total focus, she put the palms of her hands on the field. She pushed, and pushed, and pushed. The field began to bow out from her superhuman exertion. Fuck me, Gee thought to himself. She's actually causing the field to overload! If she gets out, she'll wreck Exy for sure! With such strength she's uncrushable, and if she gets on my body she'll burrow her way in like a screw beetle and kill me from the inside out! She has to be stopped now! In a moment Audrey felt that victory was hers. The field was crackling like mad as the field generator, meant to keep out rodents and insects, was working at a ruinous overload. Just at the tipping point she was yanked away by a tractor beam and deposited on the carpet. Gee wasn't done, and barely a heartbeat past when Audrey finally underwent her own expansion. Her bra and shirt died the same inevitable deaths as her D-cup chest went far beyond the alphabet. In relative terms she was now the most buxom woman present even though she was the smallest in height. While feeling deep sympathy for Audrey's new state Madison was nevertheless satisfied to see some sweat roll down Gee's face. The giant man produced a cloth to clear his brow of perspiration. "I say, the kinds of bugs you find in the carpet these days are unusual. Again I thank you for advancing my schedule," he said as if nothing had happened. "Audrey, you're now at a size that would do Cloud 9 proud. I suggest you remove anything made of metal from your body you want to keep. Otherwise the nanites will scavenge them for making micropumps in your breasts to regulated blood flow and pressure. You'll find a small metal slip in the kitchen's supply closet. Let the nanites use that instead. Also, as Derek is the only one that can make use of your ampleness I suggest you take good care of him. I won't get another man if you accidentally suffocate him." Audrey was quickly tended by her friends, both concerned and angry at what Gee did to her. "Just how big is she?" Gretta said, noting on how much more breast there was than Audrey. Derek got over to Audrey's side and held her hand. "The current size of a Cloud 9 pillow woman is a bust to height ratio of 5. Our 5 millimeter tall Audrey now has a 25 millimeter bust." Madison got on her knees and held her friend's other hand, and spoke with great gentleness. "How do you feel, Hon?" "I am paralyzed with rage," Audrey said stiffly. "My boobs feel like old tyres that have been inflated past the recommended level." She collected herself and spoke more normally. "I want Derek to come with me to the bedroom. Once there I will have my womanly rant and cry with Derek hugging me. Then I will have a long soak in a bath, getting my supernorks tended to by Derek while he lavishes affection on me." "Such a tender moment," Gee said, his voice slightly overdriving the audio pickup so that it caused some feedback. "New arrangements are in order. Since Derek and Audrey are so relatively helpless it is up to Gretta to tend to their needs. Madison and Bria, you will take care of Wenona. In the meantime, you are free to browse the other networks now and see which one of them has the most ghoulish coverage over your 'deaths.' G'day." "He was scared," Bria observed. "He was going to inflate Audrey at any rate, but he didn't expect what just happened." "That might prove useful at the right time," Madison added. She gestured to Gretta. "If you will?" Like she was handling a precious egg Gretta took Audrey to her bedroom with Madison in tow, Derek being carried like a baby in her arms. The tiny couple, having a whole bed that was like a soft-surfaced parking lot to them, shared the next three hours with utmost intimacy. 10 Nadia, Harold and Tobias were like hawks, waiting outside the lab while the DNA samples were examined. When the lead technician came out it was a miracle they didn't pounce on him like a field mouse. "It's done, and it's highly irregular." "Explain," Harold said hard and simple. A grizzled veteran, the technician knew not to take such an understandable attitude personally. "While the DNA is that of the officers it's too fresh. There's no sign that it has been 'aged' at all, suggesting it came from nanite-built clone bodies. We did find a fragment of a nanite command code in the 'ware sample from Officer Eddings 'body' that's not kosher." "Show me," Tobias demanded. He was given a legal-sized datapad, and he drank in the data as he quickly scrolled through page after page. "I recognize it. The code is part of the maintenance subroutine, but it's a year out of date. I supervised my grandson's wetware upgrade last month." Nadia looked a little less anxious. "What does that mean, Toby?" "That means, for Derek at least, our unsub had access to the physical checkup samples and wetware diagnostics. He wouldn't have gone through all this trouble and then try to make us believe he burned them like untended steaks. Oh," Tobias made the face that showed he knew he made a faux pas, "sorry." Nadia cracked a smile, the first one in days. "That's perfectly fine, Toby." Derek was too small to do almost anything without assistance and that went triple for Audrey. They had their bath in the master bathroom sink of Madison's apartment with Gretta just outside the door. Gee just had to comment. "Officer Eddings, do you remember when your grandmother Samantha gave you baths when you were a toddler?" "Only vaguely, Gee," Derek admitted as he worked some shampoo into Audrey's hair. "I just remember her face and the times I splashed water over her chest, and the giggling. Don't tell me you didn't know that, given your demonstrated omnipotence." "There are some things I don't know, but not for the lack of trying, Officer," Gee said something close to a huff. "But I do know about her chest. Samantha had the privileged along with hundreds of other female naval officers of having her breasts enlarged thanks to Mr. Big. Years later, thanks to the magic Big used, her bust got even bigger due to regeneration therapy used to replace her leg." "She doesn't like to talk about that incident," Derek said pointedly. "A personal issue, no doubt regarding the shipmates she lost while fighting pirates. A noble task, for pirates deserve to be hunted down like the vermin they are." "Unlike you?" Audrey pushed her words like she did the forcefield. "Kidnapping, murder, and violations of the body make you and pirates peas in a pod." Gee made his tsch, tsch sound. "You still have some fight in you. I admire that. In four days it won't matter a damn. Gretta, when you return to your room you'll find a few bags and fresh clothing for everybody, including a dress I want you to wear on the last day." Looking at Alberry Harbor provided by the video windows in the bedroom Gretta wished not for the last time the apartment was for real. "If I refuse I suppose you're just shrink me like the rest?" "If your persist but I would do it most reluctantly. I could always make Wenona smaller. Imagine giving birth while being as tiny as Derek and Audrey." "You made your point, Gee," Gretta said past clenched teeth. "Good. Now we have an understanding." On the morning of the eight day Madison received a rude shock when the ceiling above the apartment she now shared with Bria and Wenona moved back to show the giant form of Gee. Taking a bath, the 2cm tall woman barely had time to wrap a towel around herself when Gee picked her up and carried her away in the palm of his hand. Afraid of falling Madison stayed down, kneeling like she was a child listening to her grandparents telling cop stories. When Gee placed his other hand on top Madison felt she was in a pocket following a cave-in. It was here she felt the most fearful. If he wanted, Gee could crush her and none of her friends would be the wiser. Everyone she knew would eventually remember her as a past, painful memory only invoked on the anniversary of her disappearance. Only an empty grave kept company by a headstone would provide a long-term physical anchor that she once existed. She cried, remembering that Lynnae once told her that even the brave and heroic cried on occasion as it kept them humble. "What is with the tears, Officer Wilcox?" Gee quizzed when he removed his hand. "You should wait until after I finish giving you the tour." "Tour?" Madison said with a sob in her voice. "Yes. As the other seems to keep deferring to you for guidance and leadership it's fitting that you see my dioramas and the eventual placement of yourself and your officers. You can then tell them what to expect, and what those clothes I delivered earlier are meant for." With tears wiped away Madison looked upon what Gee had on display. It was a huge room, with miniature dioramas spread throughout, reminding her of a museum. A faint, blue light covered each one, showing that an active stasis field was in place. Gee pointed to one next to him. "Over four dozen dioramas, with people collected from a dozen Commonwealth worlds. This was my first, and most daring, acquisition. Two entire female sand volleyball teams, complete with their respective vehicles and even some spectators. I've even included the obligatory teammate in a leg cast on the bench, shouting encouragement. I had to make them play five games until I had them at the perfect moment I sought." Madison saw all the volleyball-bosomed women, as well as the crowd of enthusiastic male fans, were her size and that the diorama was scaled to fit. Gee had frozen the scene in time, a player on the red bikini-clad team delivering a powerful spike that, should time's flow be restored, couldn't be stopped by an opposing green bikini player. Next was a food court diorama, a replica of the one on the fortieth floor of the massive Victoria Tower. Again scaled to Madison's size, the tiny officer noted how each woman wore a business ensemble comprised of fashion sneakers, mini-skirt, and a jacket with three big buttons. Each woman was showing off a respectful amount of cleavage from their Angelican-sized watermelon busts. There were additional, smaller dioramas that focused on just a handful of shrunken people or even just a pair. In each case Madison suspected Gee enlarged the breasts of each woman in his collection. If Gee was going to be accurate, then only 20% of the women would be endowed with a watermelon bustline. Apparently, as a self-proclaimed Big worshiper, Gee wasn't a piker when it came to wanton breast expansion. Gee walked in a spiral, going from the outer edge of the room towards the center where the last three dioramas stood. "Now you'll see the only 8 centimeter scale display in my whole collection," Gee breathed in a restrained but excited tone. Madison saw a pool surrounded by slim bathing beauties from all shades of humanity, each sharing a beachball bust. "This is where Gretta is going, Madison. She'll be wearing the same kind of No Strings Attached brand swimsuit your sister Piper wore in Totally Sized. Gretta is either going on a recliner or standing by the bar. I haven't decided yet, and as you see there's room for a few more." Next came a diorama that was comprised of several small, highly detailed rooms. "This is a section of a typical Cloud 9 space station. I have enjoyed my visits to Cloud 9, so much so that I decided to make a display. It's in 5mm scale, and each room is actually the work quarters of a pillow woman. Now that I have Audrey and Derek I'll need one more couple to complete this diorama." Looking carefully Madison saw that three of the five quarters were occupied, each one having a tiny woman with sofa-sized breasts made to scale, and in the cleavage of each of the three women was one pajama-clad male client. Something tugged at her officer and feminine intuition, telling her that she was actually looking at newlyweds, likely stolen on their honeymoons. "And now," Gee said in crescendo of triumph, "my masterpiece. This is drawn from an actual scene from your grandmother's time as a patrol officer. Lynnae, in the company of her partner June, intercepted a duo of deviants as they spied on two Angelican women breast-feeding in a New Darwin park. As you see, I have two college-age deviants and the men representing the husbands of the women in place. All that's missing is you and Bria to reprise the roles of your grandmothers, and the other Angelican woman, which will be Wenona." Oh dear God! Madison thought to herself in great anguish. He's shrunken a mother and her baby, and he's going to make Wenona have her baby early so she can be made part of his twisted circus! She buried her head in her hands, wanting to disbelieve and have the nightmare come to an end. "Don't be so down and out, Officer," Gee said in a mocking tone. "You, along with the rest of my collection, will be suspended in time, unchanging until the last of your respective grandparents have been safely dead for a year. Then I shall release and restore everyone, but you and your friends will be placed next to your grandparents graves. They'll be the first things you'll see when you wake up, and you can cry to your heart's content up to the point you're reunited with your parents. Assuming, of course, they're still alive and dare to believe in miracles." Madison raised her head. Looking into Gee's gloating face made something unlock inside her. It wasn't Audrey's superhuman strength but an upwelling of conviction, righteousness and bravery that filled her soul. She stood up and removed her towel, defiant as she glowered at Gee. "You claim you're doing this in memory of Mr. Big. If anything, you're dishonoring him. He lusted after women and craved large breasts, but he wouldn't directly harm a child like you've done to the one down there." "What do you know of Mr. Big other than what your grandmother told you or the official record?" Gee said imperiously. This tiny, naked and wet woman was just acting out, he told himself. "I was with him on several occasions. He had multiple harems at his beck and call." Madison put her hands on her hips and made her own tone imperious. "You don't know Mr. Big all that well. Did you see him with a 'harem' that had children? Children, that in a roundabout way, he considered his own?" "As you Ockers are known to say, that's pure 'roo in the zoo," Gee said dismissively. There was a trickle of doubt in Gee's voice, steeling Madison to deliver her blockbuster. "Oh, come on, Gee. You had to have known Big was cursed. He would've spoken of it in the numerous benders you had to have with him." She pressed on before Gee could offer a feeble rebuttal. "Have you ever wondered how my great-great grandmother Felicity got hooked up with Samuel Bannon, Big's personal cook, on the Heavenly Bosom? Well, Mr. Bannon wasn't what he appeared to be. Thanks to Felicity's unconditional love, a love that no lust could ever hope to hold a candle to, she released one Sylvester Drake from a curse that made him Mr. Big for centuries." Sweat rolled down Gee's forehead. "That's a lie!" "Just a handful of people knew about it, of course, including Alberto." Madison made a cheesy smile and snapped her fingers. "You know, I believe you're the one who killed Albert-cum-Alberto years ago when you sought him out for advice. I wager he told you about Sylvester and his transformation. When you heard of Samuel Bannon's death by natural causes I bet you had some major doubts about what you did with your life up to that time. Obviously you plowed on without looking back like the sick, twisted man you are." Gee's now-curled fingers formed an arching cage around Madison. "I have not wasted my life! I'm the greatest criminal this planet, no, the Commonwealth has seen since Mr. Big!" The officer kept at it. "Keep telling yourself that, fool! Big had his collections, but nothing like this! When he did tire of his current crop of shelias he always let them go, bigger in the chest and a suitcase full of money for their troubles. You caused nothing but misery for the families of those you've kidnapped. You and your miniatures. Each one of them had more of a life than you ever did!" In a flick of an eye Gee had Madison between his thumb and forefinger. At any moment he could crush her, and yet instead of abject fear the tiny Wilcox woman continued to taunt him. "C'mon, you wogger! Don't be a coward!" she said. "Just do it already, like you wanted to do with Lynnae!" A brief application of pressure, just enough for Madison to cry out in pain, was all that Gee done to his captive. He regarded the now-prostrate form in the palm of this hand. This woman stood up to her enemy, bitched-slapped him with the truth he knew was real yet never fully acknowledged, and then taunted him in the face of certain death. Madison was the latest rendition of Lynnae, Felicity, and indeed of all Wilcox women that came before her. It would be her victory if he killed Madison now, and more than anything Gee wanted it to be his. "You'll fully recover in a matter of hours, thanks to your nanites," Gee finally said. "After I have a private dinner with Gretta, three days from now, you all will be placed in the dioramas, and that will be that." Gee walked at a much faster pace and was actually impatient while the roof over the commons room opened up. He didn't even bother to set up a force field, and instead just placed Madison on the carpeting like she was a bug being dropped in a collection jar. Rightfully worried Gretta came over and was surprized when Madison hugged her left breast tightly. While her wetware downloaded all that was seen and heard into Gretta's via skin contact Madison cried in relief. Having come so close to death in her young life she needed reassurance and the comfort of friendship to still her beating heart. 11 "Thank you for coming over, Dan," June said as she handed a fresh cup of coffee to her friend. "I need some company before I go in that courtroom. Lynnae would be here, but she's chasing down a lead." "She's interviewing the medical personnel at the Academy," Dan said after taking a sip of the hot liquid. "It'll take the better part of the day." June's coffee had gone tepid, so she drank what remained in one draw. "If they knew the records were open and didn't tell our grandchildrens' superiors then there's going to be Hell to pay at the Academy." "Agreed. God help them if some technician was actually bribed, and..." Dan's pause was unexpected, like a switch had been thrown in his head. "I know that look, Dan Spirit Talker," June said with certainty. "You're seeing something." Dan blinked, shaking his head. "I saw them, June, all of them. Wenona's spirit is shining as strong as a fire in a deep night. I have to meditate and see if I can fix their location in the physical world." June gave Dan a supportive hug. "I thought being kidnapped would be enough to send out a 'distress signal.' Why is it now she's broadcasting, so to speak. Not that I'm quibbling." "I do not know, June. I'll endeavor to find out." That evening on the eighth day all the officers shared a hot tub. A memory plastic shelf had extended in the tub's interior to allow the 2cm tall women to enjoy the warm water up to their shoulders. The women, aside from Gretta, were topless and wore bikini bottoms. Derek, of course, had on swim shorts. He had the best seat in the house, reclining in the cleavage of Audrey's breasts that in turn was in the water-filled cleavage of Gretta's bust. Every now and then Gretta recharged the water level in her massive tube top, each hand ladle of water coming down on top of the micro couple like a downpour. "How I envy you, Derek," Gee announced, his voice like a miasma coming from the ceiling. "You're the only man in the whole of humanity being treated to this event. The only way to improve upon it is to have Gretta in the cleavage of a beachball-buxom woman of normal height." "Then why don't you make it so?" Derek said eagerly while rubbing Audrey's breasts like he was waxing a pair of vintage cars. "No, this is perfect the way it is. As for the rest, I remind you again to take good care of Mr. Eddings, so don't smother or inadvertently drown him in that hot tub. Good evening." [More like good riddance.] Audrey said over the closed 'ware link. In the tub everyone was in physical contact, which in this case was breast to breast or hand on knee. They played up the scene with giggles and girly stories designed to lull Gee into a sense of complacency. [He's probably gone to release some pressure.] [You're likely correct.] Madison said, still tending to her soreness. Gee had caused some hairline fractures to her ribcage but the nanites fixed that, only leaving the bruising on her breasts and abdomen to be taken care of. [Gretta, I'm afraid he's going to do something to you after his dinner.] Gretta grinned and giggled thanks to movement on Audrey's part. On the inside she was full of resolve. [I'll just have to live with whatever comes from that, Madison.] Madison, sitting next to Wenona in the hot tub, put her arm around the pregnant woman's shoulder. [I really wished this wasn't necessary, Wenona. If not tonight he'll make you give birth tomorrow or the day after that. By doing this we'll be forcing him to react instead of following his script.] Under the water Wenona squeezed both Madison and Bria's knees. [After what I've seen in your 'ware recordings I'm going to do this on my terms and not his, Maddy. Let's just put that bastard to rights. It's up to Derek and his bag of goodies to save the day.] [You said it.] Derek turned around in Audrey's cleavage and gave her a kiss on the lips. [Good thing my original shoes didn't get shrunk down any further. Thank God for making Gee overlook such a 'small' detail like that.] For that joke Derek and Audrey were inundated with another handful of water from Gretta. [Just keep it to kissing while in my breasts, you two. Do bedroom bingo by yourselves.] [We will, you marvelous brown goddess.] Derek said teasingly. Gus Matlin was sleeping soundly when an alarm went off. Seeing that it was 2:12 in the morning he voice-commanded his computer to tell him what was going on. The AI of that computer had a bit of personality, so instead of making a report it simply showed what was going on in the officer's tiny prison. "Hey, asshat, wake up," said the very diminutive Madison, clad in a nightshirt and looking at the video windows. "Wenona is having her baby now." Gus quickly assumed his Gee persona, telling the computer to enable audio only. "Is that so? Bully for her," he said in an unenthused voice. "Damn right bully for her, Gee! The medikits you provided aren't equipped to handle a woman giving birth. Without her wetware to give advanced commands to her nanites Wenona runs the chance of bleeding to death. That'll set your diorama back weeks or months while you search for a perfect replacement." Gus made a frown. "So what are you asking?" "You damn well know what I'm asking, Gee! Enable her wetware so she can have this baby with the minimum of discomfort." "Let you play with a fully functioning set of wetware just won't do, sweet Madison. Instead I will provide a medikit that will have localized nanite control patches." "That's just fine," Madison said with some disappointment she failed to disguise. This proved to Gus that the officers were a crafty bunch, hoping to take advantage on his willingness to help to provide a remote chance of escape. "Looks like it'll just be you and Bria helping Wenona in the birth. The only thing Derek, Audrey and Gretta could do is just watch." Madison made a harsh look for Gee's benefit. "That's fine with them. They'll have a front-row seat to witness the miracle of birth." What Gee did not know was that the officers were recording the whole process. Audrey was placed on a dresser with Derek on the nightstand, getting two perspective shots while Madison, Bria and Gretta had their own first-person views. The ceiling over the commons room was open just far enough for Gee to deposit the medikit, making Madison grumble something under her breath and leading Gee to believe everything was as it should be. Two nanite control patches, preprogrammed by Gee, were placed on Wenona's abdomen. What the locally controlled tiny machines couldn't do was actually turn the child head-first, and Bria, having the highest confidence in the training she received at the Academy for such an event, did this as well as cut the umbilical cord. Swaddled in medical cloth the baby girl was given to Wenona to hold. All the officers made the appropriate congratulations and commented on how the baby had her mother's looks. After a few minutes both Wenona and child were moved by Gretta to another bedroom. "You done well, Bria," Gee admitted. "Now, return the medical kit. Including the knife." Bria raised her arms in admission. "What can I say, you caught me." She fished out the cloth-covered knife from her cleavage and placed it in the kit. "Thank you, officer." The ceiling in the bedroom moved away, Gee's thumb and forefinger coming down to pick up the kit. "Hey," Madison shouted, "don't forget to replace the bed!" "The what?" Gee said, perplexed. "The bed," Madison repeated. "Wenona had her baby on that, and now it's all funky and covered in mess. The clothes processor isn't geared to bedding, and you didn't provide a proper fabric cleaning machine. Pick it up." Gee had planned to introduce a drug into Wenona's food so as to induce labor later that day. He even had pre-shrunken replacement beds on hand, but to do it now... "Pick it up, otherwise I'll have to sleep on the couch. I get cranky when I sleep on the couch." For civility sake Gee replaced the bed with a fresh one. "Thank you, Gee," Madison said. She went to join Wenona while Gretta came back for Audrey and Derek, taking them to see Wenona before they went off to bed as well. While Gee grumbled, resetting his alarm to wake him later in the morning, he missed what seemed to be an innocent scene. Derek chatted with Wenona for a few minutes, then kissed her on the cheek. That brief contact was enough for his 'ware to send new programming to the patches still attached to the woman's abdomen. Her 'ware, working at a stealth level, simply programmed the nanites to keep watch over her recovering body. The patches were needed to keep Gee thinking otherwise, and a major step in the plan to realize the officers' escape had been achieved. Gee was none the wiser. 12 There was only one more episode two days after Madison had her confrontation with Gee. With the video windows faithfully depicting a thunderstorm over the harbor, right down to the intrusive thunderclaps, Wenona woke from a raging nightmare. Madison, sharing the comparatively large bed, was at her side in a heartbeat. Down below, taking her turn watching the baby in a Gee-provided crib, Bria also awoke in a flash. "What was it, hon?" Madison said after giving the rattled woman a comforting hug. Wenona wiped away sweat as well as tears from her face. "It was terrible, Maddy. I was back home, holding the baby when we both started to shrink. I cried out for Clyde, and when he entered the room we've gotten so small that he couldn't see us or even hear me yelling anymore. Then, without knowing, he stepped on and crushed us, not even feeling a thing! Am I going to have these kind of nightmares forever?" Madison wiped a fresh tear from Wenona's face. "They'll become fewer and fewer and spread out farther and father apart until they no longer make you scared, Winnie. The same thing happened to Lynnae when her parents and grandfather were killed. I imagine I'll have my own nightmares about being crushed to death between two giant fingers. Just don't let those nightmares run roughshod over your life." "I won't," Wenona said in a composed voice. "I just want to hold my baby for awhile. Help me down." Walking down an improvised set of steps at the edge of the bed, with Madison at her side for support, Wenona gratefully took the baby from a waiting Bria. She held her child for over an hour before going back to sleep, having Bria placing the equally-sleepy child back into the crib. All the time, even with the thunder still booming, the baby not once woke up and cried in protest. "So much for that lead," Paul said, tossing the datapad onto the table. "Our Academy technician was just a victim of blackmail, and the supposed blackmailer has been dead for a little less than a year, thanks to a rock slide. We don't know if our unsub had any connection to him, and if he did, then had the blackmailer killed to cover his tracks." "Now we know for sure how the unsub got the data to make those clones and associated wetware structure." Nadia took a reluctant bite from her sub sandwich. "He may be sick enough to do this all over again in a few years, this time aging the bodies and leaving some personal effect behind." Tobias had his hands throttling his sub sandwich, the contents oozing between his fingers and wishing it was the unsub. "His wetware copying, while good, wasn't fully convincing. If he's going to try again he'll have much more time to perfect it." Lynnae, buried in reading reports from other detective teams, raised her head. "Where's Dan?" "He's following a lead," Paul offered. "He received an shamanistic insight and he's following it." "I take it Captain Blake isn't going to list that as such in his write up?" Nadia ventured. "Of course," Lynnae said with a smile. "For all he knows, Dan is following a very small lead indeed." "In any other circumstance you would be killer," Wenona said as she regarded Gretta's outfit in approval. "Here, though, it's like Gee's going to have dinner with a novelty figurine." "This already tiny dress is really tiny on my body," Gretta admitted. The dress, patterned after a nu-chinese style Piper, Madison's sister, modeled a few years ago, was red and tight, going down to mid-thigh with a triangular cut on either side so she could walk a little bit better. The top was just anti-grav cups joined to the rest of the dress with a covering of fabric. As the cups covered the bottom half of each breast Gretta had to use the included pasties to gain a smidgen of modesty. In the afternoon Madison and Bria used the Odango style for Gretta's hair, each making one pigtail bun. Only a light application of makeup was used as Gretta did indeed share her mother and grandmother's natural, exotic beauty. Another reason was that she didn't want to tart up her face for Gee's benefit, knowing that, if she failed, she and everyone else would end up in the dioramas. After a spat of giggling Gretta saw one very small Derek, clad in pajamas, emerge from her beachball-produced cleavage like a gopher coming out of his hole. "Your anti-grav pads check out, Missy. Have fun tonight," he said in a jovial manner. "It'll be fun for at least one person," Gretta amended as she gently fished Derek out. [You double and triple-checked, Derek?] Her mental voice had a twinge of worry in it. [Of course I did. All the fun I had was just a bonus!] Derek kept his tiny smile in place. [Are you okay?] [I'm scared, of course. I admit that. Grandma Nadia put it this way: 'anyone who says they're not scared is either a liar or a coward.'] After delivering a peck to Gretta's cheek Derek was placed in Audrey's welcoming pillow woman cleavage. [You're none of those, Gretta. Just bat those pretty blue eyes at him and heave those righteous breasts every so often. He won't know what hit him.] [Sames goes for me.] Audrey added while one of Gretta's fingers was still in contact with her expansive breasts. [If I had my way I would literally piss in his eye.] [I wouldn't go there myself, but I'll do my part.] Looking past the pneumatic woman, Gretta spied Madison and Bria standing up on a chair, already dressed in female summer uniforms of the NDPD, smiling and holding up their thumbs in approval. Next she walked over to Wenona's floor pillow throne, getting down ever so gently on her knees. She held out a pinkie for Wenona to make contact. [We all started out to find a way to get out of here. Now, above all else, we want you and the baby to get out of here safe.] [I'm truly moved, Gretta.] Wenona said honestly. [Would you like to hold her for a moment, partner? I've got something in my eye.] As Wenona wiped away her tears Gretta marveled at the literal tiny miracle she now had in her hand. Nothing motivated an officer more than to protect a child. Right now Gretta felt the most motivated in her entire life. Her fears couldn't compete against the peaceful face of the baby, being replaced with a purposeful resolve. The common room's ceiling opened. Gee, wearing a tuxedo, looked down with a smug look that complimented his voice. "Another tender moment, and a good reason why you should try no shenanigans tonight." Gretta handed the baby back to Wenona and stood up. "There was no need for that, Gee. For the last three days I had a very good reminder on why I shouldn't try anything tonight." Admiring the top halves of Gretta's breasts, reminding him like a pair of light chocolate candies, Gee noticed something off about the little woman's outfit. "Gretta, why are you wearing those police shoes? Those red pumps are more appropriate." "I don't like to wear pumps," Gretta stated with finality. "I hardly wear them in the scheme of things, and these police shoes are far more comfortable." "If you insist. You'll be taking them off once dinner is served anyway." Force fields down, Gee lowered his hand and had Gretta get on. With expectant faces looking up at him, Gee let go with one final barb. "You have three hours before I come back and take you all to your respective dioramas. Wenona will be last, so as to insure your good behavior, even at this late hour." Kneeling on Gee's palm, Gretta didn't see her friends' faces but she knew anyway they were giving him a raspberry as he walked away. Retrieving the St. Michael medallion from her cleavage, the same one that had managed to stay with her since graduation, Gretta silently recited the Policeman's Prayer. She also prayed that a host of angels would answer her call for backup in this the most important three hours of her life. 13 Following a path the spirits presented to him Dan found himself in northeastern New Darwin. Specifically he was outside a massive industrial storage park. With abundant energy available many of the storage buildings held completed, high-value specialty goods and equipment in stasis for years until they were needed. Consulting a mental 'ware map, Dan selected one building out of the dozens available and made for it. He felt the malevolent force responsible for the disappearance of his granddaughter and her friends residing in that building. His hand patted the holstered service gun at his side, reassured that he had it just in case. The dinner was what Gretta expected, right down to the miniaturized tableware to go along with the steak and wine. A tri-dee projector was on, showing the fireworks over Alberry Harbor to celebrate the closing of the Founders Days Festival. Gretta did spy in one corner of what obviously was Gee's office a native Outback lizard, a Green NuGoanna (Grego), in a terrarium feasting on some raw meat. She kept her discomfort hidden, noting just how large it was in comparison to herself. With small talk serving as a garnish Gretta wondered what Gee was thinking. He had to be questioning why the spiked wine wasn't working on her, making her supposedly 'ware-suppressed mind opened to suggestion. She played the part of becoming inebriated to lay low his suspicion, and, with an hour to go, she made her move. "Oh, Gee," Gretta cooed. "You have such a manly, sexy nose. I would like to caress it." Gee was agreeable to the suggestion. He started for Gretta but was stopped short. "Wait. I don't mean with my hands..." she pushed in the sides of her beachball breasts "...but with these." "You are a mindreader, Officer. I was about to ask the same thing. Now take off those clothes and park yourself on this nose of mine." Gretta giggled. "I will, you big silly. But I want some privacy while I slip into this swimsuit you so generously provided in my purse." "Yes, you do that. It'll save some time. Remember, no shoes." With that Gee got a miniature clothing partition from a drawer and placed it on top of the desk. Gretta blew him a kiss and went around it. The partition was translucent, giving a watching Gee a sexy silhouette show as Gretta put on the bikini bottom and the two No Strings Attached triangles. After a liberal application of bodyspray the tiny woman stepped into the open. This only confirmed in Gee's mind that Gretta should've been a fashion model. Without the antigrav cups Gretta had to carry her breasts in her arms as the nanites hadn't finished in reducing the load. She got into Gee's hand, and waited as the giant sat down and reclined his chair. Deposited on the giant's chest, Gretta clamored over an equally gigantic chin, lips and mustache to reach the nose. Then, steeling herself like a knight going into battle, Gretta straddled the fleshy protuberance, her bikini-clad backside facing Gee. She then parted her breasts and proceeded to rub the nose like it was the railing to a huge staircase. With Gee purring with each rub it took all of Gretta's willpower to keep the gorge from rising in her throat. With a turn she landed her breasts right where the nose intersected the brow, shaking her inflated ta-tas like BBs in a jar. With the giant preoccupied the tiny woman reached under the folds of her wonder lungs, pulling out the two modified nanite control patches that were used earlier on Wenona. In a deft move she planted those minuscule patches on Gee's brow, actually merging with his flesh to become unnoticeable. In a final climax Gretta slid down the bridge of the nose, her breasts breaking her slide at the last moment, and kissed Gee repeatedly. "An exotic act for an equally exotic lady," the giant said, his words slightly slurred. He managed to put Gretta back on the desk before lazily getting on his feet. "I say, I must clear my head of this alcohol. Diorama arrangement demands... precision." Gee looked lightheaded, and for a moment Gretta was worried that he might stagger and fall onto the desk. Derek had reprogrammed the medical pads to send new commands to Gee's nanites, making him fall into an undeniable slumber. Questing for a cabinet next to the terrarium, Gee actually fell to his knees and knocked over the Grego's home, the lid coming off in a hideous crash. Gretta only spared a moment to confirm that Gee was down for the count. She then went to the partition, once again treating her breasts to the sweet relief of the antigrav cups. Grabbing her police shoes, Gretta had her contact enabled 'ware inspect the desk and found that it had a touch responsive pad built into the top. With a hand under the fold of her right breast the officer produced another patch, this one having come from a compartment in the heel of Derek's shoes. At that moment she thanked God for making Gee forgot about collecting those shoes after having Derek and the others shrunk down to 2cm. Slapping the tiny patch on the desktop, Gretta followed its infiltration magic and whistled as Derek's programs completely took over Gee's office computer. Finding that the codes to the external communication system and the robot Exy were still locked down she devoted most of her 'ware processing ability to assist the patch in cracking them. It was then she heard the noise behind her. Turning, Gretta was confronted by the sight of the Grego clamoring onto the desktop, its tongue lancing out to taste the air, the very air laced with the sexy bodyspray Gretta used. Slowly, deliberately, the tiny officer put her shoes on and backed away, using her 'ware communications at its full capacity and hoping the codes for Exy would be broken very, very soon. Dan was startled when the standard door to the huge storage building opened of its own accord. He was waiting for an electronic warrant to be served along with the accompany right to enter the structure with reasonable force. Even the security lights came on, making Dan wonder if the unsub was baiting him. He felt otherwise, and before entering the structure he reached into the satchel he was carrying and pulled out two small forms. Moving on short and stubby legs the forms entered and then melted into the darkness of the structure's interior. Using his 'ware enhanced senses and with service gun at the ready Dan stepped inside and moved like a shadow among a host of shadows. "Alright!" Derek exclaimed while still ensconced in the cleavage of Audrey's pillow woman bust. "Gretta did it! The force field is coming down." "How about that robot?" Wenona said anxiously, holding her baby as closely as her Angelican bust would allow. "If it's not neutralized or under our control it might use that gun on us again." Madison gave the new mother a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Not if we can help it. At any moment the ceiling..." the mentioned piece of the prison moved as if on cue "...should be opening. Bria?" "I see it," said the Parlor woman from her perch atop the kitchen table. "That BAT is not moving and its arms are down." Madison looked over to Derek. "We're going to do it anyway. You're sure it'll work?" "She'll be apples, Madison. Despite the looks, it's a sophisticated piece of equipment." Madison snorted as Bria came off the table to join her. "I hardly consider a gussied-up boulder-holder as equipment. More like an appliance." "If that's an appliance for Gretta," Audrey said, giving a kiss to the back of Derek's neck, "then I'll require an industrial-grade edition." They were talking about Gretta's police-styled antigrav bra. By means of sophisticated control of the gravity system the comparatively huge undergarment could serve as a technological stand-in for a magic carpet. Lying out on the floor of the commons room, Madison got into one bra cup with Bria getting into the other. "Talk about a bra built for two," Derek mused, getting his ear pinched by Audrey for his naughty wit. "Remember, you only have one minute before the power cells are drained. With your 'ware you should be able to open the access port on its back. From there just follow the schematic. Once you reach the central processor you can override its loyalty programming with your 'ware and control the BAT directly." Madison gave the thumbs-up sign. "Take care, you three. We'll serve Gee good." She turned to Bria, sitting behind her in the other cup. "Okay. Up ship!" Down below Wenona, Derek and Audrey served as the only spectators of Outback's smallest flying antigrav bra. The baby was still asleep, content to stay snuggled up against her mother's bosom. "I know what the first thing you're going to draw once we're out of here, love," Audrey said into Derek's ear. "Me as an ultra-buxom genie on a flying carpet barely large enough..." Derek knew why Audrey stopped suddenly. [Madison, hurry!] He said over an open 'ware frequency. [Gretta's in danger!] 14 The Grego advanced slowly, tongue still darting out at intervals. Gretta's wetware informed her that Gregos are attracted by movement as well as smell, and even with incremental steps she was running out of desktop. There was nothing on the desk that could serve as refuge, and Gee's knife and fork were too large to be used as effective weapons. Going to the floor wasn't an option as the Grego would follow her down just as easily it clamored up the table. It was in this state of acute awareness of her peril that her emergency signal was answered. [What is it, Gretta?] It was Derek's 'ware voice, and he sounded concerned. [Gee's down, but I got a scaled down monster right in front of me!] Gretta said urgently. Tapping into Gretta's video feed Derek saw what she saw, and he let loose with a whistle. [Boy, you have a nasty spot of bother there, right ugly little nipper he his.] The Grego cocked its head quizzically, tongue darting out quicker. [I think he heard you, Derek.] Gretta replied. [I once had a pet Grego,] Audrey offered. [Too bad you can't rub its tummy.] Gretta stood still. [A more practical suggestion will be appreciated.] [I have a suggestion, sweetness,] Derek said hurriedly [but it's a tough one. Use your antigrav at emergency and fly towards the door. Gregos can't jump up worth a damn.] The little but menacing monster was now fixated on Gretta. [Only five minutes of that, Derek. Once I'm out of this office it's going to be the floor for me. These boob balloons aren't nearly light enough for prolonged running without an a-g bra.] [Madison and Bria will be using direct 'ware overrides once they're inside Exy,] Derek assured. [They'll come to your assistance. Now just get away from that thing!] [I don't need prompting!] Gretta's eye found an answer. She sprinted over to Gee's plate and picked up the huge tassel-topped toothpick that was in the giant man's steak. It was 3cm taller than she was, and she handled it like a spear. [You got to be kidding!] Audrey said over the link. [You think you can skewer that Grego like a kabob?] The little lizard decided it was still hungry and scampered towards Gretta. Down on one knee, and despite her boobage, Gretta felt like a pikeman about to receive a cavalry charge. Just at the last moment the Grego was stopped in its tracks by an unseen force and lifted half a meter into the air. Looking befuddled, the lizard squirmed to break free but to no avail. [What was that all about?] Derek said over the link. Gretta smiled as she stood up. [I think its obvious that I'm not the first miniaturized woman Gee had dinner with,] she said back. [There's a small tractor beam in the ceiling. I spotted the emitter earlier tonight and traced its command pathways just moments ago.] [Why would Gee need a tractor beam if his 'guests' would be trapped on the table top unless...] Audrey didn't transmit the conclusion she reached. [I believe you're right, Audrey. Good think I suggested the nose! Now to get out of here!] Running on the desktop as best she could with the load she had Gretta aimed for the door. She planted the tip of the toothpick in a groove that went around the edge of the desktop. Like a poll vaulter she clear the table's edge, and with her a-g bra at full power she was flying slow motion through the air. The door was actually a hatch, and as it slid open after receiving her 'ware command Gretta was startled to see Gee getting up like a drunken sailor. "What the hell happened?" As he brushed himself off Gee turned to look at the desk, seeing his pet Grego still suspended in mid-air and Gretta nowhere in sight. He staggered to the desk, and then realized that the hatch was open. Turning, he found Gretta still trekking like a cloud across the sky. "Damn bitch! What have you done?" His legs were like lead, but he made menacing advances. "I'll swat you down like a mega-mossie!" "Try it, you pom!" Gretta yelled. Fresh 'ware commands had the Grego released from the tractor beam and it was Gee's turn to be held in place. Even with power at maximum the beam wasn't working as well as she hoped, for Gee moved like he was walking through plasticrete. She switched tact, and now the giant felt like his head was caught in a vice, effectively immobilizing him. Gee was red with rage, voice distorted by the tractor beam. "I'll get you, Gretta! I'll shrink you so small that you'll fit in the palm of Audrey's hand!" Turning around mid-air, Gretta gave Gee both finger signs and stuck out her tongue. For her the hatch couldn't close fast enough. Turning again, Gretta braced herself as she used the toothpick to push off against the hallway wall like a Venetian gondolier. Luck was with her as she floated down the hall, and just as she was about to reduce the a-g power to fall down gently she felt fresh fear. The Grego had scuttled through the hatch at what had to have been the fastest it ever moved in its life. It was down below, tongue flicking out as it craned its head upward. [Looks like your boyfriend is persistent,] Audrey said over the link. [Tell me about it! Derek, I'm coming your way. Have Maddy and Bria get that tin can moving!] [Unfortunately you're heading the wrong way. You'll have to go to the diorama room, Gretta. You don't have the time or opportunity to turn around. If you run out of power you can hide there until those two arrive.] Gretta wiped away the sweat from her brow. [Okay. I just don't want to be that critter's late-night dinner!] Dan put his hand to the side of his head. He could've sworn his 'ware picked up coded police transmissions from within the structure. The signals were weak and intermittent. Unable to get a fix, he moved on. A quick mental note for the report, Dan noticed that the official blueprint didn't jive with what he saw so far. That was a major violation of the building and firefighting codes. Whoever fudged the books for this long was going to get prison time. Walking through a nondescript door, Dan came to a sudden halt. Before him was a vast hall, fitted out like a museum. As far as he could see displays of various kinds and sizes were present. Among this unexpected collection were ancient and modern cars, paintings, mannequins showing off rare and expensive clothing, weapons (including illegal ones), and plants. Each and every one of the displays were in stasis fields, and with so may individual fields the power consumption had to be quite high. Dan sent a burst 'ware transmission back to the OATF HQ on what he found so far, but discovered his message was being jammed. Just then something tweaked Dan's senses, something that couldn't be quantified or explained properly to anyone else that didn't share his mystic connections. He instinctively knew his granddaughter was in this building, and that she was in impending danger. At a run Dan went down the length of the hall. There was another door at the far end, and beyond that, somewhere, was Wenona. 15 "C'mon, Maddy! You drive like an old woman!" "That's because this robot was built by an old woman, Bria! Maybe even a mummy. I swear I saw genuine vacuum tubes as we crawled up inside." Bria, clinging to a strut in the 'head' of the BAT known as Exy, rolled her eyes. "Next I suppose you're going to say this thing is walking via a Rube Goldbergian mix of steam and pistons. I don't mind the shaking, just make it go faster!" Madison spared a look as her 'ware still tried to get the most out of the unaccountably odd robot. "Well, raise your hand if you want to go faster! I learned to drive trucks in my Home Guard training, Bria. Robot rustling wasn't part of the curriculum." "Just get this thing to Gee's office, chop, chop!" "Bria, you figure out how to secure that beam rifle so Gee doesn't rip it out of Exy's hand. Just let me drive!" Gretta's eyes were wide with fascination as well as fear as she entered the diorama room. Had tiny models been used instead of people then viewing the dioramas would've made for a good rainy day activity. Further wool-gathering was halted when the one-minute power warning warbled in her head. She gauged her flight path and reduced power to the a-g bra, going for a landing on one of the diorama's stasis fields like a pilot doing a dead-stick landing. Before her shoes touched the field she dropped the toothpick, making her body go limp for the inevitable fall. As expected, the surface of the stasis field was like glass, and Gretta spilled forward onto her breasts. Only a light touch of a-g made the mashing sensation less intense. Getting up, Gretta had the a-g bra go to an economy setting to make the most of the remaining power. She nearly stumbled twice as she went to fetch the toothpick and once more as she went to the edge. Sure enough she spied the Grego, still scurrying and tongue flicking out to catch her scent and catch it did. The little monster made a beeline for the diorama Gretta was on. With the same grip as a terrestrial Gecko, the 21cm long Grego climbed the side of the diorama base. Realizing she had a chance, Gretta readied her toothpick-turned-spear. Reaching the stasis field the Grego couldn't make sense why its feet couldn't grip the surface. For its trouble the little monster got the tip of Gretta's spear shoved into one nostril, making it fall to the floor like a lead weight. Gretta watched as the monster got back on its feet, shook itself like a cat, and then tried again. A second application of toothpick to nostril drew blood, and this time it landed on its head. Still unfazed, the Grego looked up and saw its prey looking back. Scuttling and turning its head, the little monster made for another diorama. Gretta's heart sunk as she realized the diorama across the way was 30cm taller than the one she was on. Worse, it had enough of a ledge for the Grego to get a good base on which to clamor onto the top. While they can't jump up worth a damn a Grego can certainly jump down, and having enough space to build up speed that monster was going to make it across. Quickly, Gretta took off her shoes and removed the heels. Inside them were the components to make an emergency stunner. She hoped she didn't have to get too close to the Grego in order to use it. There was only enough power to fire fifteen shots, or five if she used the hot-shot option. Sticking to her blood-tested spear, Gretta watched as her persistent monster made its scramble over the top on the diorama next to her's. "Oh, God, am I pissed!" Gee exclaimed as he worked the cover over the emergency release for the hatch. He suspected the cover hadn't been opened for decades, ever since he had this immense storage building built to hold his various collections. Just about to give up the cover finally gave way, Gee pumping the emergency handle to open the hatch. Once out in the hall he saw Exy walking towards him. "Where the Hell have you been? It doesn't take that long to get here, Exy. Something wrong with your receiver?" Inside the BAT both Madison and Bria were scrambling to have the robot respond correctly. Whatever the OS was it clearly screamed 'ancient,' so Madison took the plunge and selected something from an audio list called default sounds. An annoying whoop sound emerged from the robot's speaker grill, and Madison crossed her fingers. "Don't get snippy, Exy! Now follow me. I'm going to teach those micro-cops a lesson." While following the irate Gee in the still awkwardly-walking robot Bria had to say something. "Oh God, Maddy. What's he going to do? You heard over the link what he's threaten to do to Gretta." Madison gummed her lower lip. "We'll just have to get Exy's arms and beam rifle working. If we can't sucker-punch him then he'll be shrunk down to become dust mite food." "I hope Gretta will forgive us," Bria said sullenly. "She will," Madison said firmly. "We all made the pledge. Wenona and her baby come first." It was like a scene from a nature film, Gretta rationalized, where the Grego jumped in slow-motion from a branch to the ground to snag a Pill Mouse. In this instance it was Gretta that was the Pill Mouse, and the Grego made the jump between dioramas and landed like a jet on its belly. Standing her ground, the tiny officer leveled her spear as the monster sought to get its footing on the surface of the stasis field. She didn't put her shoes back on, surprisingly finding the surface of the field less slippery with her bare feet. The monster still flicked out its tongue, and it was here Gretta made her charge. In an understandable move to oblige its oncoming meal the Grego opened its maw only to have the toothpick spear shoved into it, the soft palette of the roof of its mouth pierced. Gretta wanted to push her spear deeper, but the Grego shook its head violently and closed its mouth. With the front part already weakened by steak juice the spear was subjected to more stress as the Grego put its left front foot on it. Combined with Gretta's efforts the spear broke off just in front of the monster's mouth. It was a credit to her reflexes when she thrusted the truncated weapon into the same nostril she drew blood from earlier. However, this only enraged the monster, and powered by pain it pushed Gretta backwards at a quick clip. Sensing she was heading towards the edge of the field Gretta, maintaining a grip on the spear with one hand, pulled the small stunner from her bikini waistband and fired at the Grego's head. With no apparent effect she fired a hot-shot discharge next. Now the Grego's head looking appropriately stunned, but the message didn't get passed on to the legs. Gretta barely had time to shove the stunner between the right bra cup and its associated boob when she and the monster went over the edge. A burst of a-g power greatly slowed Gretta's downward velocity but her feet still hit the floor hard. She fell backwards and skidded, her backside smarting with pain briefly until her 'ware suppressed it. The Grego, being comparatively heavier, landed harder. Even with a portion of the toothpick still stuck in its mouth the monster's tongue flicked out, proving that the impact released it from the stunner's effects early. [Where's my backup? This mystery bag monster isn't giving up!] Gretta broadcasted over the 'ware link as she got back on her feet. In reply Madison's voice came over the link, sounding like a leader but tinged with remorse. [Gee's heading for our prison. Once we're done with him...] [Understood. Just bring some tartar sauce 'cause we're going to have some late-night BBQ!] Gretta said with a shade of gallows humor. She fished the stunner out from the bra cup and fired, only to get a malfunction warning. The burst in a-g field power had screwed up the stunner's innards and it was resetting, but the Grego wasn't obliging by waiting. At full tilt Gretta ran towards another diorama. There was space between one leg and the diorama's covered support machinery just large enough for the tiny woman to squeeze into and, hopefully, keep the Grego out. But the a-g bra had to go, and with great reluctance she ditched the appreciated garment just as she reached her goal. The Grego, still a bit disorientated from lingering effects of the stun shot and fall, followed its prey but was a moment too late. Moving backwards, and having her 'ware make her breasts sweaty so they could slide easier, Gretta yelp as the Grego shoved its head into the opening and flicked its tongue, actually making contact with the breasts. Worse was in store as the green monster showed that it, too, could squeeze into the gap. With the stunner still on the fritz Gretta kept moving back, wishing that she had the broken spear with which to... A growl and bark startled Gretta as much as the Grego. A huge dark form was behind the tiny monster, and before it could do anything about it that form snatched and yanked it away. What followed was set of guttural growls, a flurry of scuffling sounds, and of metal clinking against metal. Bravely, Gretta pushed herself out of the gap for she had heard those kinds of sounds before, back at home as a child, and if she was right... With a final death-shake the miniature dachshund, his coat deep black in color, tossed the now-dead Grego aside, the body inspected by its black and tan companion. A quick 'ware signal showed that both doxies had 'ware chip implants, and she was surprized by the dogs' identities. The dark-coated dog, looking as if it belonged in the lap of a queen, was Pitch, the dog of Madison's sister Piper. For the other it was Hog, the pet of one June Parlor Norbert. Both dogs made a plaintive whine and sat down, tails wagging. "How did you two get here?" She said, finally stepping free from the gap. "Did Lynnae and June bring you?" Descendants of Smudge, both Pitch and Hog were rather intelligent as dogs went. They just made a barely audible whine and then licked Gretta across her pastie-covered breasts, making her giggle. Both dogs made soft woofs and wagged their tails faster. "Okay, okay, you cute little rats. You're the host of angels I called for. Can you take me where the others are at?" Pitch made another soft woof and got down on his front paws. Leaving the a-g bra, Gretta climbed up onto Pitch's shoulders and grasped the thin collar to serve as her handhold. She felt like a fantasy princess riding her epic mount into adventure, and with the prodding of her tiny feet she got Pitch back up. With subtle 'ware prompting she got the heroic little dog heading in the right direction with Hog closely following. If Madison and Bria hadn't already taken care of Gee then it would be up to her. With two little dogs that came from an ancestor noted for his fierce protectiveness and aggression against criminals Gretta had a justified hope for success. 16 Gee stormed into the room that held the officers' tiny prison. All the ceiling panels were drawn back, showing that only three officers were present. "Okay, you damn Ockers, where are they?" Wenona looked up, the baby in her arms still sleeping. "You're the omnipotent one. You tell us." Gee crouched down, his face menacingly close. "Where's Madison and Bria? Tell me!" Still in Audrey's cleavage, Derek moved his hands like there was an annoying mossie in front of his face. "Whoa! Brisbane baked bean breath! What's wrong with this one-star fleatrap? The ceiling opened all on its own and the force field went down. What if a bug got down in here?" "I'll squash you like a bug if you don't tell me..." Audrey yelled unexpectantly, making the earbug Gee wore squeal with feedback. "They went through the hole in the wall I made earlier, the same one you neglected to fill up with plastiseal. I imagine they rappelled down the side and reached the floor." "Pure bull, Audrey!" Gee yelled back. "There was nothing in those rooms that could be used for repelling!" "As far as you knew, Gee," Wenona picked up harshly. "While you may have taken our guns when you initially shrank us, you forgot our custom-made utility belts. What's to say we didn't splice the microwires in those belts together, sans Gretta's and mine? Perhaps this was done while Derek and a pre-mega buxom Audrey were under the bed and away from your cameras?" "You're actually a poor kidnapper," Derek observed. "You should've made us wear just nightshirts and no shoes from the beginning. You can hide an awful lot of things in shoes." He snapped his fingers. "Oh, you went totally midnight on those two medical patches. With it being so early in the morning I guess it just didn't register in that two-bit mind of yours to pick them up later. Want to know the other mistakes you made?" Audrey plowed on where Derek stopped off. "That's not even mentioning this bodgy hideout of yours. A warehouse? Really? With all the money you have, can't you have an elaborate lair underground, inside a mountain or on the ocean floor? Your imagination and style are lacking." Gee's face was heated. "I hate you Ockers! That silly, unassuming lackadaisical attitude, your ability to drop that twangy accent mid-sentence, and your precious outdoor cooking you call barbie! It's pronounced bar-be-que! Plus let's not forget those archaic Aussie slang words and terms you all so slavishly adhere to! Despite my best efforts for the past 100 years your vernacular is now second nature to me. It's like there's a 'roo loose in the top paddock, and I can't catch it! Oh, I'd be gobsmacked, there it goes again!" "Why don't you stop with all that earbashing, mate?" Derek said in a thick Ocker accent. "Have a thrown-down of amber fluid and rest those peds for awhile. The coppertops will be arriving in a pair of shakes." "That's it!" Gee bellowed. "I don't need you and Audrey! I can get another pair of lovebirds to take your place in my dioramas! I'll smash you two like a berry!" Gee raised his fist and brought it down like a warhammer, only to have it impact unexpectedly against a stasis field. He might as well have been trying to pummel God's own face. "I'll be stuffed! I've never been in so much pain!" he screamed. His right hand throbbed as if it was run over by a safari van. "I've broken bones in this hand!" The stasis field went down, and Gee was treated to cat-calls from the trio of officers. "What a nice security system you installed, Gee darling," Audrey teased. "It activated the stasis field if the building catches fire or collapses around us. Or if someone tried what you just did. Want to have another go and have a matching pair?" "All of you are more trouble than you're worth! Now your parents will only have empty graves and headstones to grieve over! Exy! Shrink them so that even God can't see them!" When the robot failed at act Gee turned about. "Well, what's the matter? Hell, I'll do it myself!" The angry man didn't get the pleasure for as he reached for the beam rifle Exy delivered a perfect punch to the gut with its left hand. "Eckythump!" Came Bria's voice from the robot, strong and proud. Gee sprawled on the floor, and as he writhed in fresh pain he felt another sensation, like he was being... compressed? Another all too familiar voice came out of the robot's speaker grill. "Now you know first hand how it feels, you shitegob," Madison said. "Thank Bria for that punch and accurate shooting. I'm still getting the hang of walking this contraption, so stay where you are or else I might step on you." "How small are you going to make me?" Gee said with terror-fueled words as the world expanded around him. Audrey spoke on behalf of the group. "Small enough, Gee. Small enough." Entering the scene was Gretta, still aside Pitch with Hog right behind her. Both dogs planted themselves in front of the robot, making small sounds while looking upward. "Oh, it's great to see you, Pitch," Madison said happily, earning a whimper from Piper's dog. "I can't let you kiss me yet. I'm so small you might eat me by accident." Bria whistled, making Hog woof in recognition. "Same goes for you, Hog. You can lick my face off once I'm big again." Looking with a surveillance camera linked to her 'ware Bria let loose with a time-honored wolf whistle. "Whoa, Gretta, you look incredibly sexy! It's like you're a barbarian princess from an ancient Frank Frazetta fantasy painting!" "Ha," Gretta offered as she dismounted from Pitch and walked over to the still shrinking form of Gee. "It's more like Doxie Riders of Pern. I'm shiny because both of these ratdogs gave me kisses." She checked her stunner and found that it was working again. "Once he's done with his fantastic journey and I stun him, what's next?" "We're going to receive official guests soon," Madison announced, "so we should all be in uniform. We'll put you and Gee in the commons room and then join you." Wenona stood up, an expectant look on her face. "Pitch and Hog couldn't have come here on their own. You think maybe..." [We'll know soon enough, Winnie,] Gretta said over the link. [We'll know.] Dan marveled at the sight before him. He was in a huge room filled with detail-rich dioramas, all covered in protective stasis fields. His instinct and mind were at odds as he wanted to believe the miniaturized people were real and not models. He stopped cold in his tracks when his eyes spied what he hoped was fake. It appeared to be a showcase piece, an 8cm representation of Daria Brooks, niece of Harriot Brooks. Harriot, a good friend of Dan as well as the rest of Blue Team, was heartbroken when Daria was abducted seven years ago along with Penelope, Harriot's older sister. Daria was dressed in the same clothes she had on when she went missing, but unlike the other miniatures her eyes were closed and she was propped up on a thin-wire frame. Next to that was an incredibly tiny figure, 3mm, and with a small adjustable viewscreen build into the diorama case Dan was able to zoom in for a closer look. Dan felt a wave of shock. He had to tell himself he was looking at a model, but one feature of the Penelope figure begged to differ. It was a crucifix, and despite being so tiny it was detailed as if it was in his own hand. There could be only two possibilities, either nanites built it or... Dan's 'ware alerted him to an all-points call for police and firefighters to converge on the storage building, and he stilled his heart when the messaged was tagged with Wenona's ID code. The call originated within 100 meters of his position, and his 'ware mapped a corridor that lead to another room just beyond the one he was in. With one final look around Dan moved at a brisk pace, hoping he wasn't too late and that it wasn't another booby-trap set by the unsub. The giant tormentor had been brought down to size, and was on the floor of the commons room. Gee awoke after receiving a savage backhand slap from Wenona. She used her left hand, and her wedding ring left a suitable cut on his left cheek. Blinking his eyes, Gee took in the sight before him. Wenona had stepped back, and she was dressed in a regular police uniform, complete with cap. Bria returned the baby, still swaddled in a police shirt, back to her mother. Eyes darting, the once all-knowing Gee registered that all the officers were back in their uniforms, even Audrey. For the life of him Gee didn't know why he had a police shirt made and shrunk down for the voluminous bust of Audrey, but there it was, and she looked threatening instead of helpless. By the scale of things he had been shrunken down to Wenona's height of 2cm. Madison and Bria elected to keep on the summer uniforms Gee gave them. Instead of being patronized they felt empowered, as if their grandmothers were present and gave their approval on how the duo made the uniforms look right. "You're in a lot of trouble, Gee," Madison said without an accent. "At the very least you're looking at mass kidnapping, theft, ownership of illegal items, murder and attempted murder. Derek's little toy finally broke the comm blackout, and Wenona sent out an all-points call for police and firefighters within a 50 kilometer radius to come to this location. In addition to the other charges I mentioned there's one more." Her smile rattled Gee to his core. "You know what is the one thing that will make an officer drop everything, even when he's half inside during lovemaking, and come running like a force a nature?" Gee wasn't anywhere near his old self. His voice was weak and unconvincing. "Care to enlighten me?" "Wanton child endangerment," Wenona said on behalf of everyone, sans accent. "What you did to me and that other woman and her child is beyond the pale. In the scheme of things, you rate the same treatment given to pedophiles." "I've done no intentional harm," Gee said like an automaton. "The reduction effects..." "You don't know," Wenona said coldly. "You violated my body along with the bodies of everyone you've shrunken. I'll be dealing with the stress of this for years to come. Me and Clyde will worry if the baby will grow up healthy, or whether she'll turn out doll-size or a 3-meter giant." Gee got up from the floor, despite the pain of compression he felt. "That little slap of yours will cost you, Missy. Police brutality." Bria stepped forward, her watermelon bust jiggling despite the athletic bra she wore. "You said it yourself, Gee. The caliber of young officers in the NDPD being substandard these days. However, such a charge will only have greater weight in a court of law if said brutality was done after the suspect was read his rights." Eyes shifting, Gee noticed Madison had stepped forward as well. He took two steps back. "Well, I'm not resisting. Arrest me and read me my rights." Madison's voice was harsh and unforgiving. "A man with such serious charges leveled against him should know better than to flee from the police." "Flee? Flee?! I only took two steps!" Audrey ventured her opinion. "That sounds like he attempting to justify why he's resisting arrest." "I'm not!" Gee stood still, even as Madison took another step closer. "Not yet," said the granddaughter of Lynnae Wilcox Jarvis, her right hand made into a fist. "Let's just see how long that last." She took another step forward... 17 Dan entered a modest room, finding what appeared to be a diorama at the far end. He spotted the BAT immediately, standing motionless next to the tabletop display, holding what appeared to be a rifle in its right hand. The dachshunds Pitch and Hog were sitting in front of the table, alert and on guard. The only acknowledgment the dogs made in response to Dan's presence was to wag their tails. Walking cautiously, Dan went to the diorama. He was expecting more of the same of what he saw earlier, but the sight that greeted him bordered on the unreal. He recognized Gretta instantly, despite that she was 8cm tall and having size-adjusted breasts one would find on a hostess on Cloud 9. Further down on the size scale were Madison and Bria, their features in clear focus as Dan's wetware enhanced his vision. The now more buxom duo smiled and waved at the man they knew as Mr. Spirit Talker. Smaller still were Derek and Audrey. It took a moment to register Audrey's face as it had to compete with her scaled-to-fit shirt-clad pillow woman bust. Then there was an unknown man, same height as Madison, tied to a tiny chair. Dan mystic senses told him this man was the unsub, responsible for not only abducting the officers but for all those miniaturized people in the dioramas. Looking closer, the unsub appeared to have been beaten savagely, his face a mass of bruises and bloody. [He was resisting arrest, Mr. Spirit Talker,] Madison said over the wetware link. [I was the one responsible for the injuries one Gus Matlin received while he was being restrained. My fellow officers will attest to that fact.] [I will mention that in my report to the Marshal's office, Miss Wilcox,] Dan replied in restrained expectation. [Is Wenona...] Entering the commons room from Gretta's apartment was Dan's most blessed granddaughter Wenona. Like the others, she was dressed in a police uniform, but not the maternity version. His eyes, already welling with tears, noticed the tiny bundle in her arms. A still shot taken by his 'ware was superimposed in his mind's eye, and it showed that bundle was actually a baby wrapped up in a police shirt. [Is that what I think it is...] he managed to say over the link. [It sure is,] Wenona said with pride, holding her baby like the precious treasure she was. [Grandpa Dan, say hello to your first great granddaughter!] "Hello there, honored child." Dan said with his actual voice as a tear rolled down his face, which he wiped away quickly. "Pardon me. It must be the dust in the air, making my old man eyes water," he said in an offhand manner. The baby stirred, and Wenona had a tear of her own going down her face. [She gladly pardons you, Grandpa.] An army of over 500 police officers and firefighters arrived at the storage building which in turn drew in an equally large army of reporters of every media outlet on the planet. The OATF moved in at record speed to manage the whole affair, and the scope of Gus Matlin's shrinking safaris came to light. 312 people had been abducted and reduced to become part of Gus' private, perverted collection. It was found the beam rifle needed four hours to 'recharge' (there was no better word for it) between uses, and the first people to be restored in height were Wenona and her baby. After them came the diorama people, for the other five officers were most adamant in that Gus' victims be resorted first as they were in captivity far longer. Even the bodies of Penelope and Daria Brooks were resorted, their families finally able to perform last rights and obtain closure in their lives. Wenona and the baby were taken to a hospital, under close guard to ward off the media, and treated to an intimate reunion with the family. Clyde missed his opportunity to blow a month's worth raspberries into Wenona's bellybutton, but giving them to the baby more than made up for that loss. They decided to name their baby girl Miracle with the middle name of Micra. Much, much later, when Miracle was old enough to appreciate what her mother and her five wonderful godparents went through, she'll be shown the video of her birth. It would be interesting to witness her reaction, especially if she had her fiance in attendance. Hopefully she wouldn't shrink or grow on the spot in understandable embarrassment! For the others they had their initial reunions as well, their families coming to them as their former tiny prison was the only facility equipped to handle their basic needs. Gretta blushed as any child would when both mother and grandmother said in front of God and everybody just how alluring she looked with her beachball bust. Even Piper Wilcox agreed, and she meant it when she offered her help if Gretta should decide to become a big-bust fashion model like herself. Separately and in private both Derek and Audrey were praised respectively by their relatives. They knew the two were an 'item' and after both of them told in indirect terms on what they did their audiences easily came to the same conclusion. While Derek was engaged in an engrossing tale of his electronic exploits with his parents and grandparents Audrey had a heartfelt talk with her own. She told them about how her fear of heights had been a handicap for her until now, and how Derek helped her in the Academy and indeed throughout the majority of her life when it came to fighting bullies. Looking up at her grandfather's face with heartfelt conviction Audrey asked, once she was back to normal height and much smaller in the chest, for the opportunity to finish that interrupted piggyback ride. Burt agreed, making it a promise by extending his pinkie for Audrey to touch, and touch she did. Burt felt a punch at the tip of his pinkie and there was actual bruising and soreness that lasted for days. Amber was rightfully prideful of her granddaughter, counting the days until she could give her a firm grandmotherly hug. Bria went into detail on what happened to her during confinement, and admonished grandmother June for beating up Chad Franklin and having her and Amber earn a two-year probation and 1,000 hours of community service from the court. Bria did admit, however, part of the reason why she became a cop was to avenge herself on Mr. Franklin should the opportunity present itself. June praised her tiny granddaughter for having the strength to concede that dark desire to the open where it would expire, unlike herself who had succumbed to the opportunity for revenge. Like Amber, June told Bria to grow back to normal so she could hug the stuffing out of her. Madison, sitting the palm of her father's hand, also regaled her family on what happened in the tiny posh prison. All felt very strongly when she describe how she confronted Gus with the truth of Mr. Big and how close she came to death. Her older sister Piper and Aunt Marsha broke down and cried, both comforted by great-great-grandmother Felicity. Lynnae had to say that it was a downright fool hearty thing to do, gambling with one's life with the likes of a psycho of Gus' caliber. However, she quickly amended that had she been in Madison's place then, she, too, would've made that gamble, praising her granddaughter for her courage and conviction in a most unusual circumstance. Getting onto Lyn's hand, Madison was raised up so she could hug her grandma's cheek, thankful at last to receive reassuring personal contact. Investigations spearhead with data from Gus Matlin's computer system finally revealed who he really was. 120 years ago Gus Matlin was a very junior book keeper for BCCI - Big Crime Cabal Incorporated. He only advanced one level in the organization for the 20 years he was in it, and even then was treated little more than just a waterboy. He made such a minimal impression on other BCCI members that they only knew him by his title of Assistant Accountant #9 and wasn't even referred to by his real name in BCCI records. Indeed, even at Big's parties and orgies he was used as a waiter and only had the sexual service of just one female server, always the smallest (volleyball) busted babe on staff, and only when the seniors went to their bedchambers and the cleanup was complete. Gus did have access to the books, and in those days following Big's 'death' and with BCCI breaking up from within and being assaulted by law enforcement from without he made himself a nice little nest egg of $500 million dollars. With deft handling of that money and those few connections the law couldn't find Gus became a shadowy figure of great wealth. He obtained the Aquarian BE rifle at considerable cost and had it modified so it could alter body size as well as breasts. For the three specialists he hired to make those modifications he had them killed in a conventional manner, bring the number of deaths that could be linked to him up to six. While the 2cm tall Gus was being held in maximum security at the Groveland Federal Prison the restoration of the abducted continued. The rifle had the size data on each person, and initially groups of ten were treated. It was decided, however, that breast size adjustment be made by nanites as the rifle could only handle one function at a time. After the 20th group the rifle began to take longer and longer to recharge. Changing the number of people to be restored from ten to six had the rifle return to its four-hour recharge, but that didn't last long. Going back briefly to restoring ten people at a go, it took twelve hours to recharge. so the group size was changed to four at four hours. That didn't last either, becoming eight hours, forcing another group adjustment. It became three at five hours, two in six hours, and one at eight hours. When it came to the five remaining officers it was decided that Gretta be restored first, followed by Audrey. It was 20 hour recharged followed by a 60 hour one. Derek was next, and after he was resized the rifle appeared to be dead. As three generations of Eddings as well as the top naval experts of BuRes worked and worried over the device, which after all had at its core a piece of alien technology not fully understood, both Madison and Bria were faced with the prospect that they may be stuck at their 2cm size for the rest of their lives. Not knowing if Gus' quib about what happens after two years was true it was suggested that the officers be placed in stasis. Both emphatically rejected the idea, for they preferred an abbreviated life than spend years, even decades, in a timeless sleep while the rest of world moved on without them. Four days after Derek's restoration the rifle suddenly reported that it was charged. Madison and Bria elected to take a chance and be resized at the same time. With family in attendance, and Derek at the controls, the latest incarnation of the buxom duo held hands, closed their eyes, and waited... Epilogue Outback Broadcast Network - We Bring The News To You. "Good morning, New Darwin. I'm Cheryll Kelly, and welcome to the Morning Edition. Today, as we celebrate this, the start of the 2518 Founders Days Festival, we mark the 1st anniversary of the most remarkable story in Outback history since the demise of Mr. Big 101 years ago. In the studio we have the six officers that were abducted and shrunk in size by the most brazen Mr. Big wannabee Gus Matlin. Now the officers will describe their ordeal publicly for the first time.We'll start with Sergeant Wenona Spirit Talker. Mrs. Spirit Talker, let me start by saying you look quite engaging in your uniform." In her full dress blues, complete with shiny brightwork and newly acquired sergeant rank lapels, Wenona looked very lovely indeed. To her left was her husband Clyde, holding their baby Miracle in his arms, looking every bit as a proud peacock and ready to crow about the virtues of his wife. "Thank you, Cheryll. Some say I'm doing the uniform justice with my build." "Indeed. Is that why you've decided to keep your Angelican bust?" "Perish the thought. I kept it to provide my child, as well as this wonderful grinning idiot next to me, enduring embraces and tender comfort. I actually feel empowered. I can see why the Angelican lifestyle is becoming more popular on Outback." "I'm sure more women will be inspired by your endorsement to take the plunge, Mrs. Spirit Talker. I see your partner only made a modest change to her bust after all was said and done." "Well, Cheryll," Sergeant Gretta Junker, sitting to Wenona's right, said impishly, "it depends on what you define as being modest. I had my nanites make my beachballs into J-cup jollies instead of my original F-cup funnies. Now I'm able to spill out of my shirt during photo ops just that much more. Isn't that right, Wenona?" "You said it, partner," Wenona confirmed. Cheryll looked at her notes briefly. "Perhaps the most controversial aspect of this affair is the impending fate of Gus Matlin. There are those argue that his rights were violated as he's stuck at 2cm in height." "I respectfully disagree," Senior Patrol Officer Derek Eddings said. "The beam rifle was on its last legs, and priority was given to restore his victims first, which, of course, included myself and my close friends here." "Of course, Officer Eddings. There is still lingering doubt about the rifle..." Derek looked harsh. "Ma'am, that rifle was the first of its kind, the prototype. No-one, not even the wizards in the Navy's BuRes, were able to account just how the alien technology did what it did. That the key component simply disappeared after being used the last time came as a complete surprize. Perhaps it was the result of the three techs that worked on it for Mr. Matlin, or some deeply buried alien program. Rest assured, BuRes is working full-bore on adjusting the remaining BE rifle to resize a whole human being." Only Derek and a handful of others knew that was a lie. Of all the characters to emerge in this episode one Captain Tyrone Harkin of the CSN was the most unexpected. Grandson of Larry 'The Lecher' Harkin, Tyrone was also a Hero of Gaia, which pretty much allowed him to write his own ticket. He elected to become a 'spook' in the Navy's ONI - Office of Naval Intelligence. Along with support from Admiral David Carson, Tyrone was able to convince the BE Rifle team to 'take their time' in their R & D effort, less they want to have their heads roll along with those that allowed the first rifle to be stolen in the first place. As for putting Matlin into a stasis field until such time a fix could be found it was declared a violation of his rights by no less than the Commonwealth Supreme Court. So in a year the universe will know if Matlin was telling the truth or not. All the smart money was placed on the former. "Hopefully such technology will be even more tightly guarded," Cheryll observed. "You've made a name for yourself with your electronic and programming skills, Senior Patrol Officer Eddings. Let me congratulate you for winning the Cytech Award for Innovative Application of Programming." "Thank you, ma'am. Much obliged." Cheryll and the camera's focus turned to Audrey. "Senior Patrol Officer Carson, of all those present you've earned the most celebrity. Tiny tattoos of you in police uniform with the words 'righteous fists' below them have been adoring the hands of police officers everywhere and Commonwealth Marines alike. You also earned a honorary pillow woman membership to Cloud 9 and to the Max Strength Weightlifting Federation. Last, but not least, an informal award was given to you by your fellow officers, the so-called Grant Page Medal of Ultimate Bad***ery." "A well deserved award at that," said Audrey proudly. "Busting down that plastisteel wall was awesome enough, but ripping open that warehouse masterdoor barehanded last month sealed the deal." "Indeed, Miss Carson. I see that you didn't go all the way back to your pre-abduction bust size." For emphasis Audrey shook her Angelican watermelon breasts, making the blue dress jacket rustle like there was a bushbear cub trying to get out for she wore a regular instead of an athletic bra. "You bet! Like Wenona I felt empowered by having such an abundant, but manageable, chest. My nanites didn't make any further changes. With my strength I hardly notice the extra weight." "Are you excited about your big day?" Together Audrey and Derek showed their engagement rings like they were part of a superhero's ensemble. "We sure are," the short woman said. "July 1st. We'll have a guard of police officers and Marines to form a sword arch. Even Uncle David and Cousin Estelle will be there. My wedding dress is all the rage on the fashion nets." With a dreamy look Audrey recalled the sketch Derek showed her while both were still small and waiting for their turn to be restored. Derek drew it while he was a cadet at the Academy. It was a complimentary and unique mix of wedding and full police dress. As it was grandpa Tobias that fetched the portfolio he saw all that Derek had drawn, giving his grandson a thumb's up of approval. Cheryll continued. "How do you feel about the recording that's making the rounds on the nets?" "The less said about that the better," Audrey said unaccented. Somewhere out there some fool, likely a medic, recorded a very intimate evening that was shared by a restored but still mega-busty Audrey and a waiting and still tiny Derek. They played a variant of the Princess and the Pea in which Derek was the Pea, looking and finding all the sensitive spots on Audrey's breasts. Behind his back Derek was called 'sweet pea' by woefully uninformed officers and other ignorants, both male and female. Such stupidity was short-lived once Audrey introduced herself and gave a 'friendly' squeeze of the hand. To reinforce her comment Audrey indicated to Cheryll that she was being watched. With wide eyes the interviewer saw Lynnae Jarvis looking back at her from behind the cameraman. She pointed two fingers in the form of a V at her eyes and then turned it around to point it at Cheryll. Having single-handedly destroyed what was left of Mayor Underhill's political career Lynnae wasn't about to let her granddaughter's friends suffer a minor fool gladly. "Very well," the reporter went on. "Now we come to the duo that seemed to have 'gained' the most from their unique adventure: Senior Patrol Officers Madison Wilcox and Bria Parlor. Officers, can you two describe how it felt in that moment just before the rifle was used?" "The anticipation was intense," Madison said, her green eyes bright. "We didn't know if the rifle would restore us together at full height, one meter or even 31 centimeters." "For that matter," Bria picked up, her ocean blue eyes sparkling, "we could've gone up to 10, 20 or even 200 meters! For some people that would've been ace! I would've been happy if we were within 3cm of our original 153cm height." Cheryll made a small smile. "As it was, both of you were enlarged to a height of 2 meters. Some say that it was a convenient height for both of you, and then have the rifle utterly fail, leaving Mr. Matlin stuck at 2cm." "For the record, Cheryll," Madison intoned, "the rifle computer was pitching fits when our enlargement was halfway done. Thankfully an emergency subroutine kicked in and decided to make us 100 times our shrunken size. I'm glad the rifle failed when it did. Gus Matlin renounced his membership to the human race when he went on his shrinking spree." Bria nodded. "If that rifle worked on Mr. Matlin and then failed, we would've had to live with the consequences. Do we really want a 20 or even a 200-meter-tall psycho on the loose, even for a short amount of time? He would've made a disgusting giant. I mean, think of the size his **nk would've been had that happened." "I'm hearing you, sister," Gretta added. "That's an unpleasant thought you put in our heads as well as that of our viewing audience," Cheryll said point-blank. Wenona looked indignant. "Well, you wanted the dirt, Cheryll, and we're giving it. We can get up and take our business to the ONN people instead if you so desire." Cheryll saw her producer waving frantically from the control booth. "Ah, that won't be necessary. Officers Wilcox and Parlor, how has the adjustment been to your new height, an almost one-third increase?" Madison looked energized. "Absolutely ace! All the children love us when we're on foot patrol, and petty crime on our beat is down 60%. These long legs can cover a lot more ground in fewer strides." "All the punks would rather look at us than commit crimes," Bria testified. "Our skill in persuasion has been enhanced by our new size." "Oh, are you just referring to your height, Officer Parlor?" "Well..." Bria said in a tease as she planted a hand on the side of her covered breasts. "As Grandma June said, 'you're two meters high with two meters of pride.' These Angelican endowments are wonderful." Madison placed a hand on her suit-cladded ta-tas as well. "You said it, Bria. I could've made them smaller, but they look and feel so good being this big, and the nanites have really done their job and lessen the load. I haven't been able to pay for my own lunches ever since we got back on patrol. Hey, you want to see photos of me and Bria in some of my sister Piper's bikinis? You'll get a 20 point spike in ratings." "Perhaps later in the interview. Madison, has your friendship with Bria been strengthened because of this adventure?" Audrey jumped in like a jackalope, cutting off Madison. "We six officers are all great friends. After all, we got to see each other naked." For that naughty bit Audrey had her ear playfully pinched by Derek. Gretta snapped her fingers. "Now I remember you, Cheryll. You're the one who gave that city council candidate a hard time two years ago. You said she used her Angelican bust as a bull bar to win her campaign. That was Audrey's older sister to let you know." "That's right, Gretta," Derek joined in. "Wasn't your grandmother a member of the Flat Chest Society, Cheryll?" An all-too-visible twinge appeared on Cheryll's brow. "Is there anything else you want to say before the commercial break?" Madison took on an innocent air of a girl telling her friends about her first kiss with a boy. "Well, there were these three handsome, virile, and young firefighters that went out of their way to ensure our needs were addressed while we were tiny. They were shy, and didn't talk all that much. However, I got the distinct impression that they wanted to ask me, Bria and Gretta to go out on a date. Well, now we're calling them out. You three contact us, and we know who you are, and we'll gladly go on a date. But you'll have to shave your mustaches. They remind us of Gee." "Believe me," Gretta said in an alluring feminine voice, "after seeing Gee's mustache up close and personal it'll be years before I can get use to them." In the break room of Ladder 59 three young firefighters, blushing profusely, were getting patted on the back and slaped on the butt for being mentioned on tri-dee by the very women that, just a year ago, could together sit in the palm of each of their huge, strong hands. With the producer pulling his hair as the interview spun out of control Cheryll made an executive decision. "After the break we'll have more exclusive revelations of the officers during their shrunken adventure." When the camera light went dark Cheryll and the producer wondered how they'll be able to pull this disaster out of the toilet. Lynnae looked at her treasured granddaughter and nodded in approval. Sitting in his office and watching the interview with three precinct chiefs attending was Police Commissioner Stark. He, too, nodded in approval. "I like them," he said. "Yes, they're brash, not as tactful as they should be, and like all youth think they're invincible. Yet they have a perseverance and indomitable spirit that's been lacking in the NDPD lately. They have what people back on Earth in the 1900's call the Moxie. Like their grandparents, they work the best when they're all together." Stark looked at the three chiefs. "As the West Precinct continues to have the highest crime rate in the city I will have Officers Junker, Spirit Talker, Eddings and Carson reassigned there, joining Officers Wilcox and Parlor. Together, and with a legacy to back them up, I see them becoming great officers of the law. Perhaps they'll even become another Blue Team. We have heroes, chiefs, so lets make the most of this gift God gave us. Welcome to the second age of the great crime-busters of New Darwin!"
END All pics commissioned from Litch. | 45