This story is custom written to Eric's specifications as a prize for my
fourth story contest.
Spy Game
By Morpheus
I was sitting at a small table outside of a Paris coffee shop, eating a
cruller and sipping on a glass of wine. The whole experience might be
enjoyable, and even a little romantic, if it wasn't for the fact that I
was there for business rather than pleasure.
My name is Nick Bennet, and I am 25, 6 foot 4 and heavily muscled,
though trying my best not to stick out in my nicely tailored suit. I
always thought it was ironic since I was large enough that people
usually couldn't help but noticing me, which was the exact opposite of
most in my profession. I was an agent for a secret organization with
ties to the CIA and NSA, and was usually only sent when muscle was
required more than subtlety.
At the moment, I was quietly watching my target, Hans Schneider, a
middle aged German who was a well known courier. My resources indicated
that he was working with a Professor Trumacher, a brilliant physicist,
and attempting to transfer an extremely dangerous device of Trumacher's
invention to a psychotic warlord called Dr. Chung.
Dr. Chung was a brilliant and ambitious man who used to work with
Chinese intelligence. However, several years ago he had had cut his
ties with them rather brutally and in such a fashion as to put him at
the top of their hit list, in order to go into business for himself. It
seemed that working for a communist nation was less appealing to him
than creating a nation of his own, with himself as the totalitarian
leader. There are also reports that his ambitious are even greater than
that, with the term 'world conquest' appearing rather prominently.
"Damn modern day Fu Manchu," I muttered to myself, thinking about how
much better the world would be if I could only get a clear shot with
one of my high powered rifles. Of course, it would be much more
satisfying personally if I could just walk up next to him and use my
44. Magnum. Unfortunately, Dr. Chung was even more difficult to locate
than that bastard Osama.
With a grimace, I knew that this was one mission I couldn't fail with.
I would have to recover that device, because if Schneider managed to
deliver it to Dr. Chung, then the world itself would be in danger. I'd
seen evidence of what the device could do first hand, and there was no
way I wanted to put that kind of power into the hands of a madman.
I took a sip of my wine, carefully keeping an eye on Schneider without
appearing to be doing so. Since I'd already made a thorough search of
his hotel room for the device, I was sure that he must have it on him.
My suspicion was that it was in the bag he kept beside him, clutching
it possessively even as he ate lunch at the next cafe.
Just then, I noticed the beautiful woman on the other side of the
street. She was 30, with long, dark hair that was wrapped in a scarf,
and wearing a pair of dark sunglasses. She looked quite sexy and
sophisticated as she stood there, smoking her cigarette and chatting on
a cell phone, just like any normal passerby. However, I knew different.
The woman's name was Emma Parish, though she went by the code name of
Nightshade. She was a British citizen and a top agent of a rival
agency, one with ties to MI-5. And since she was obviously interested
in Schneider and the device, my whole mission had just become a lot
more complicated. She had beaten me to a snatch and grab a month ago
and my agency had been forced to trade some sensitive information to
get a copy of what she'd stolen. I didn't dare let her beat me again.
Parish saw that I'd made her so she gave me a smile and a cheerful wave
while continuing to 'chat' on the cell phone. I grimaced, becoming even
more determined not to let her interfere in my mission. As important as
that last one had been, this was even more critical.
When Schneider got up to leave, I waited a few seconds them followed
behind him. And though I didn't look directly at Parish, I knew that
she was coming too. The very thought of her being so close made me want
to jump the target right there, but it was a public location and I
wanted to keep this quiet. I could tell that Parish wanted the same
thing or she would have finished him off and swiped the bag before
anyone knew what was going on.
I followed Schneider for a few minutes, frowning when he kept glancing
at his watch. He was concerned with the time, which meant that he had
an appointment to keep. I was guessing that he meant to hand the device
off to one of Dr. Chung's agents.
Schneider disappeared through a door and I reached for my gun. I used
to carry a 44. Magnum, but those are a little old fashioned. Instead, I
now carry a custom firearm that still has the same firepower, but with
a little less recoil and higher accuracy at a distance. Unfortunately,
if this truly was the hand-off, I might be a little under armed.
Once I went through the next door, I saw that I was definitely in the
right place. Schneider looked as though he was just about to hand the
bag over to a tall Chinese man in his 30's, whom I recognized as being
Xian Chung, Dr. Chung's right hand man and son. Finding Xian Chung was
a stroke of great luck, but unfortunately, he was accompanied by five
armed guards.
My first impulse was to shoot Xian Chung, taking care of two problems
at once. However, one of his guards saw me and was already aiming his
gun at me. I took care of him first, firing a single shot and watching
his head vanish in a spray of red. Then I turned my attention to the
others, who were now more than a little aware of me. I had to dive to
the side, firing several more shots but only hitting one of the guards
in the chest.
One of the guards jumped in front of Xian Chung and started to spray
the room with machine gun fire. However, before he could get me, a
throwing knife suddenly appeared in one of his eyes, immediately
killing him. I turned to see Parish coming through the door, throwing
several more of the throwing knives that she was notorious for using.
"Nightshade," I greeted her, firing several shots at Xian Chung, though
he was hiding behind his guards.
"A pleasure to meet you again Razorback," Parish nodded to me, using my
code name. "A pity it wasn't under better circumstances."
Xian screamed some profanities at me in Chinese or at least I assume
they were profanities since I couldn't understand a word he was saying.
Still, no matter what language you're using, profanities do tend to
sound much the same. Then he turned and ran out the back door as fast
as he could, leaving Schneider and his bag behind.
I fired several shots after Xian, but he was already out of my sight.
And before I could even think to go after him, one of his guards
charged me from the side, causing me to drop my gun. I immediately
slammed the man in the face with my elbow, feeling a satisfying crunch.
Then I turned around and drove my fist deep into his gut, followed by
punching his throat and crushing it. The man collapsed to the ground in
a helpless heap.
When I looked around, I saw one of the guards running out the door
after Xian, though I knew he wouldn't get very far since he had one of
Parish's throwing blades sticking out of his leg. She was known as
Nightshade for a reason, and that reason being her tendency to use
poison on her throwing blades. That way, if even if she missed anything
vital, she would still kill you.
The last guard was focused entirely on Parish and I didn't bother to
help her since I knew she could take care of herself. Instead, I calmly
picked up my gun and walked over to Schneider, who was cowering on the
floor with a look of terror on his face. Without a word, I picked up
the bag that he'd brought to the meeting.
"That should take care of that," Parish commented as she finished off
the last of the guards with a blade through his throat.
"Go ahead," I pointed my gun at Schneider, warning him not to move,
"make my day." Then I reached into the bag, pulling out a black metal
sphere the size of a softball. It had several lines running through it,
glowing as though there were a small green neon light deep inside. "And
here it is."
I felt a chill of excitement and relief run through me as I stared at
the device in my hands. This thing could be extremely dangerous in the
wrong hands since it was actually capable to causing two people to
trade bodies. I couldn't claim to understand the science behind it, but
somehow Professor Trumacher had acquired a small amount of a completely
unknown metal that may have originated from another planet and
discovered that it had some rather unique properties. With that and 11
years of research, he was able to create the device.
A device that makes people switch bodies sounds like something out of a
science fiction novel and I wouldn't have believed it myself if I
hadn't actually seen the evidence. When I'd gone after Professor
Trumacher, I'd found video recordings of one of his experiments in
switching people. Unfortunately, by the time I arrived, he'd already
given the device to Schneider and then vanished in a new body of his
own. I had no idea of what the Professor even looked like now, so my
only chance was to follow the device itself.
"Let's see," I pointed my gun straight at Schneider, "Why don't you
tell me where Trumacher is?"
"I... I don't know," Schneider stammered, staring up at me in terror.
"Please... Please don't kill me..."
"Where is Chung hiding?" I demanded. Finding Dr. Chung wasn't my
primary goal, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to find out what I could
when I had the opportunity.
"I don't know," Schneider cringed, giving me the pitiful, begging look
that I'd seen on the faces of so many of my enemies. "I was just
supposed to meet these guys here."
"How much does Chung know about the device?" I glared at him.
"Not much," Schneider whimpered, "I didn't get a chance to tell them
what it did before you came in."
I stared at Schneider for a moment, tempted just to beat the answers
out of him. However, I didn't have the time for something like that at
the moment. I had to turn the device over to my agency and I could hand
him over at the same time. There were other people who specialized in
getting that kind of information out of people like him.
"Why don't you let me hold onto that while you interrogate him," Parish
suggested, giving me a sexy look.
"So you can run off with it the moment my back is turned?" I snorted.
"Sorry, but I'm not stupid."
Parish frowned slightly, but looked as though she hadn't expected it to
work. She just felt obliged to try. I could see the wheels turning
inside of her pretty little head. She was obviously considering the
thought of attacking me, snatching the device and running off with it
back to her own agency. I suspected that the only things that held her
back was the knowledge that this would bring an outright war between
our two agencies and the doubt that she might not be able to take me.
While I was briefly distracted by Parish, Schneider decided to make his
move. He pulled a small gun out of a hidden ankle holster started to
point it at me. I reacted immediately, firing a single shot through his
chest. The size of the hole was all I needed to know that he was dead.
"Sloppy," Parish commented with a smug tone, "You didn't disarm him,
then you killed a potential source of information. I would have
expected better from you."
"Well I've got the device and that's all my mission required," I
grumbled. As much as I hated it, I had to agree that this was rather
sloppy. I'd been so distracted by the device and Parish that I'd made a
couple of rookie mistakes. Of course, I certainly wasn't about to admit
that to her. "Besides," I smirked down at her, "There's nothing left
for you to do here so you might as well go on home."
Parish glared at me for a moment, which only made her look more sexy.
Then she gave me the sultry smile that I expected from her, "Oh, I
think I'll hang around for awhile if you don't mind. After all, I
wouldn't want you to make another mistake and let that fall into the
wrong hands."
I snorted at that, knowing good and well that her motive wasn't to
protect the device but to take it for herself if she saw the
opportunity. I could try getting rid of her, but it wouldn't be easy.
In fact, I doubted that anything short of violence would do the trick.
And like her, I didn't want to start a war between our agencies either,
especially when I'd already won. I just had to make sure that she
didn't get the opportunity to take it away from me.
"So where are we going... partner?" Parish asked with a deceptively
pleasant smile.
I sighed, knowing that it wouldn't do any good to lie or try to get
away from her. "London."
"Of course," Parish grinned, her eyes gleaming at the prospect of
returning to her home turf. "We have that little social event between
our two agencies. It will be quite stimulating, I am sure."
"Whatever," I grumbled, slipping my gun back into my shoulder holster.
At the moment, I had a lot more to be concerned about than some fancy
party. With a scowl, I slipped the device back into Schneider's bag and
walked out of the building with it clutched firmly in hand. Parish
followed close behind.
---
I sat in the corner of a small London pub, cradling a pint of beer in
my hands as I slowly scanned the room with my eyes. I might be having a
beer, but I couldn't truly relax until I delivered my package.
Unfortunately, I couldn't do that until the right people arrived in
London some time tomorrow, just ahead of the big social event.
My eyes darted from the door to my beautiful companion, who was sipping
on a beer of her own. Parish had been true to her word and had stuck
close to me since we left Paris. So far, she'd only made two attempts
to get the device from me and those were both halfhearted, more as if
she were testing me than actually trying to get it. I knew that I
couldn't let my guard down with her present.
There were times, I was realizing, when I really wished that Parish
were not a member of a friendly and cooperative agency. That severely
limited my options when dealing with her. If she'd been a straight out
enemy, things would have been so much easier. I would have known
exactly how to get her off my tail. As it was, I was stuck with her
until tomorrow.
When we had arrived in London a few hours ago, Parish had pointed out
that she had a flat here in the city and suggested I stay in her spare
room. That way I save the expense of a hotel, be more comfortable and
give her a better means of keeping an eye on me. I had reluctantly
agreed to accept her hospitality, reminding myself that I would only
have to stay even more on guard.
I snorted as I thought about the briefing I would be giving after the
hand-off. My supervisors were still completely unaware of what the
device did. Once I'd found out, I had decided to keep that information
from them until I could offer them complete and unarguable proof, which
meant handing them the device. Without that kind of solid evidence, I
might come off looking like I'd snapped.
My eyes turned back to Parish, who was just as aware of the rest of the
room as I was but perhaps even better at hiding it. She just sweetly
and everyone forgot just about everything except for how beautiful she
was. That had to be an incredible asset for an agent and one that I
knew she used well. She had earned quite a reputation and for a lot
more than just her looks.
"You know," Parish nearly purred, giving me a sexy look that could make
any man melt under her gaze, "Why don't the two of us go back to my
flat and enjoy our time together. I'm sure we come think of something
VERY pleasant to do."
"Sorry," I responded, using every bit of my willpower to ignore that
look and my own hormones, "But I don't fancy the idea of waking up in
the morning with both you and the device gone."
Parish pouted a little, then shrugged, "It was worth a try."
"You swiped that disk out from under me last month," I told her with a
forced smile, "I'm not about to let you do that to me again."
"But remember how you beat me to a target a few months ago," she
pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "I was supposed to bring the target
in for questioning, but you shot him while he was in my custody. Do you
have any idea how foolish that made me look?"
"I think I do," I responded with an honest grin, knowing that she'd
made me look like a fool more than once as well. I was just determined
not to let this be another example of that. "My orders were to make
sure he was dead. Period."
"Well it still wasn't very sporting," Parish frowned, "You used a
sniper rifle so I never even had a chance to see you."
I shrugged, "Just business. Just like when you beat me to that chip in
Vegas. Although, I admit I was pretty pissed when you convinced casino
security that I was a cheat and set them on me."
"It was just a distraction," Parish smirked.
"Just like when I had the cops in Atlanta pick you up for
prostitution," I grinned back, earning a dark glare.
"Razorback," she mused, saying my code name with forced sweetness,
"Isn't that just a pig? How appropriate."
"Isn't nightshade just a weed?" I countered. Then we sat there in
silence for more than a minute before I finally asked, "Do you even
know what it does?"
Parish stared at me for a moment, obviously trying to determine just
how much I already knew. Finally, she decided that she wouldn't give
anything away and nodded. "Yes. Professor Trumacher explained it to me
when I found him."
"You know where Trumacher is?" I blinked in surprise. With his new
body, I wouldn't have thought that anyone could find him. He must have
made some major slip-ups.
"I did," Parish scowled, "His new body wasn't quite as healthy as he
thought and possessed severe nut allergies. He died before I could
bring him in."
I nodded, suddenly understanding why Parish was so determined to
acquire the device. Trumacher had died in her hands, along with any
chance of having him build them a new device, so retrieving the
prototype was the only way she could make up for it.
"Well, I'll be turning it over to my people tomorrow," I told her, "And
once they reverse engineer it, they'll probably eventually end up
sharing the technology with yours."
"Imagine," she mused, "having agents who can infiltrate anywhere. All
you have to do is trade bodies with someone who's already established."
I nodded at that, being able to imagine it very well. At the same time,
I could also imagine what someone like Dr. Chung could do. It would be
easy to have someone trade places with important and well-placed
individuals, replacing world leaders and the like. Dr. Chung could take
over the world without anyone even realizing it.
Suddenly, I blinked and looked around, feeling a surge of suspicion and
paranoia. These were positive and even necessary job traits in our
professions. "I suggest we continue this conversation somewhere a
little more private." I gestured to the patrons of the pub, none of
which was near us, "This place is too open."
Parish agreed with me and we quickly left the pub. Once we had taken
the lift to the top and entered her flat, she pulled out a small
scanner and checked for bugs. I watched silently as she neutralized
them, going through exactly the same procedure every time I returned to
my own home. You never know when someone from your own agency will be
keeping an eye on you, much less someone more hostile.
Once Parish had made sure we were clean, she offered me a drink then
went to pouring one for each of us. I watched her carefully, making
sure that she wasn't going to slip me a mickey. She'd previously given
her word that there would be no funny business inside her flat, but you
couldn't be too careful.
"You know, I've been considering how we might solve our little
dilemma," Parish said after a few minutes. "I believe I might have a
solution."
I raised my eyebrow at that, "So, you're gonna stop following me
around?"
She gave a light laugh, "Sorry, but I don't give up so easily."
"Neither do I," I pointed out.
"As you pointed out previously," Parish told me, "our agencies might be
rivals but they do have a strong history of cooperation. Regardless of
who returns with the device, the other's agency will surely gain access
to it before long. So what we are truly after in this matter is
professional pride."
"I can't disagree," I admitted.
"As professionals," she continued with a smile, "I don't think that
either of us would be comfortable handing over a device that we haven't
seen working for ourselves. For all we know, Herr Schneider may have
been delivering a decoy or it might possibly have been damaged in the
fight."
"Your point?" I asked, already having a vague suspicion of what she had
in mind.
Parish took a sip from her drink before responding, "I am suggesting
that we pit our professional skills against each other and test
Professor Trumacher's device at the same time."
"You want us to test the device on ourselves," I stated without
emotion.
"Precisely," she nodded, giving me a sexy smile, "I propose that
tomorrow, we attempt to trade bodies. If it works, we've proven the
value of the device, but if not, then possession of it is irrelevant."
I frowned, "Why do I have a feeling that there's more to your
proposal?"
"Perhaps because you know me," Parish smiled, "If the switch is
successful, we go to our agency social as each other and test our
skills of impersonation to see who can best pass as the other. When the
night is over, we return to our own bodies."
"With the winner of this little contest keeping the device?" I frowned.
"Of course," Parish smiled.
"Why in the world would I agree to something like that?" I chuckled, "I
already have the device and see no reason to risk losing it."
Parish just leaned back and smiled, giving me her best sexy look, which
had quite an impact. "Why to test your skills of course. Every man
relishes a good challenge."
I snorted, realizing what she was attempting immediately. She was
pushing my buttons, trying to make me defensive about my pride and
manhood. However, I knew what she was up to and wasn't about to play
along.
"I also prefer a sure thing to a risk," I smiled back.
"Oh, I see," she responded with a frown, "You're afraid of being in a
woman's body where you'd be weak and completely helpless. I'd thought
you were more professional than that, but..."
"I am never helpless," I glared at her, "I am quite capable of taking
care of myself, regardless."
"Of course you are," Parish told me with a patronizing tone.
I wasn't completely sure how, but the conversation quickly began
spinning out of my control. Before I'd even realized it, I was arguing
that I was more than man enough to handle being a woman for a few
hours. And the next thing I knew, I was actually agreeing to her wager.
"Good," Parish smirked, "Now don't you forget that we have a deal."
I just groaned, wondering how in the world I had let myself be talked
into something like that, especially when I knew better. But if nothing
else, it served as a very clear reminder that she was a very dangerous
agent and should never be underestimated.
Of course, I told myself, trying to rationalize the deal, this would be
a great opportunity to get close to some of the other agents in her
agency. If I played my cards right, I could probably pick up some very
useful information. But from the look on her face, I had a feeling that
she was thinking something very similar.
Then with a sigh, I muttered, "Let the game begin."
---
I awoke with a grimace and a groan, almost immediately mumbling, "I
hate mornings." I'd never been a morning person and never understood
those who were. Fortunately, I had enough discipline to force myself
out of bed, even when my natural inclination was to stay there until
lunch.
As soon as I sat up, I realized that the device was missing. I'd gone
to sleep with it between my legs, a place where I thought it would be
safe and secure. Since I was under the covers, I'd thought that any
attempt to reach it would have immediately woken me. Obviously, I'd
been wrong.
"Damn her," I grimaced, reaching for my gun and discovering that it was
missing as well.
I immediately jumped to my feet and rushed out of the room, ready to
grab Parish by the neck and strangle her. She'd promised she wouldn't
try stealing the device from me in her flat and she'd broken it. I was
pissed at myself for believing her. After all, she was a professional
liar. How could I possibly have trusted her?
But the moment I burst out of the bedroom, I was forced to stop flat.
Parish was standing in her kitchen, wearing nothing but a crimson silk
robe that looked incredibly sexy on her. But more than that, the device
was sitting on the counter in clear view, along with my gun.
"Good morning," Parish nodded towards me, immediately going back to
chopping something on the counter. "I trust you slept well. Do all
American men snore that loudly?"
"Morning," I responded cautiously, slowly making my way towards the
counter and my gun, trying to do so with no sudden moves.
"I could have turned that into my supervisors by now if that was my
intent," Parish told me with a smile, "I just wanted to prove a point."
"What point is that?" I asked grimly.
Parish shrugged, "Do you really need to ask?"
I stared at her for a moment, then said, "You're honoring the agreement
out of choice, not out of necessity."
"Precisely," Parish smiled. "Would you like peppers in your omelet?"
With a sigh, I turned my attention away from the device and my gun,
deciding that this could wait until after breakfast. After all, now
that I thought about it, I was getting hungry and an omelet sounded
pretty good.
Once we had finished eating and cleaned up the kitchen, I decided that
it was time to get down to business. "I would suggest that we try out
the device soon," I told her. "That way, if it works, we will have most
of the day to familiarize ourselves with each other's bodies." I
frowned slightly as I suggested this. I was certainly in no hurry to
trade bodies with Parish, but if I was going to do this I wanted to be
professional about it.
Parish hesitated, looking nervous for the first time since we had
hooked up in Paris. I was a little startled by this reaction, but she
quickly covered it up and agreed to my suggestion. A few minutes later,
we were sitting in her living room with the device in hand, staring at
it intently.
"To be honest," Parish told me, staring at the device and then me with
a look of discomfort. "I am not exactly thrilled with the prospect of
being in your hairy male body."
"I know what you mean," I told her with a sigh. "Well Parish, are you
ready to begin?"
"Considering the circumstances," she smiled faintly, "I think we should
be on a first name basis. You may call me Emma."
"Nick," I told her unnecessarily since she already knew my name, just
as I knew hers.
"Of course," she mused, "If this does work, we'll be using each other's
names."
I nodded and began to activate the device, remembering how I'd seen it
done on the video journal and repeating the process. I twisted two
sides of the sphere until they clicked and a glowing green circle
appeared. I placed my thumb into the center of the circle and a tiny
red LED came on beside it. Then I handed the device to Parish... to
Emma who did the exact same thing, causing a second LED to activate.
Suddenly, the device began to hum and it actually lifted out of her
hands and hovered there in the air in front of her. A moment later, a
dozen long glowing green threads shot out of the device, half of them
going straight to my forehead and the other half going to hers. They
hit my forehead and made contact, feeling like drops of ice water
hitting me. A moment later, everything went black.
When my senses returned, it wasn't a sudden snapping of reality coming
back into place, but more a gradual awakening. My senses were first,
sight and touch, followed by a gradual awareness of myself and the area
around me. I remained frozen where I was for an unknown amount of time,
just letting myself return to the physical world.
Sometime during this process of awakening, I noticed the green threads
being pulled away from my forehead and back into the device. Around
this same time, I became aware of the fact that I was no longer sitting
where I had been, and that the person sitting across from me was most
definitely not a sexy woman. In fact, I was sitting across from a very
large man who looked eerily familiar.
"I... I think it worked," the large man commented with a weak voice.
I nodded, feeling extremely odd. I moved for the first time, noticing
just how strange my entire body felt. "I think you're right," I
responded slowly. My voice sounded strange even to my own ears.
For the next minute, I just stared at Emma, stunned by the strange
experience of looking at my own body from the outside. It was enough to
give me a whole different perspective. I couldn't believe just how big
my real body seemed in comparison from my current one. Normally, I was
the one looking down on just about everyone, but I had to look up a
little to meet Emma's eyes and we were both still sitting down.
"Well Emma," I started.
"Nick," she corrected with a weak smile. "Since we're in each other's
bodies..."
"Nick," I nodded with a forced smile, "It looks like we really are
going to the party undercover."
I forced myself to remain calm and detached as I looked down at myself,
thanking all of the training I had in building self-discipline. If I'd
been another man or hadn't known that this was easily reversible, I
might have freaked out a bit. As it was, I just felt... weird. Of
course, that wasn't surprising considering the circumstances.
Emma was a gorgeous, sexy woman and I loved to admire her body.
However, it was quite a different experience to do so from the inside.
The features which all made her so appealing to look at also made me
feel even more out of sort and uncomfortable. I mean, my chest seemed
too big and stuck out way too far, though I knew she only had C cups.
"This feels exceedingly strange," Emma exclaimed from my body. She
stood up and slowly walked around the living room, frowning as she did
so. "Everything seems smaller and I feel so clumsy."
"That's just because you're in a new body," I told her, slowly standing
up and taking a few hesitant steps of my own. My entire center of
gravity was off, so I felt rather clumsy myself.
The two of us just walked around Emma's flat for a few minutes, getting
a little more familiar with our borrowed bodies and just how they
moved. It was strange, almost like learning to walk all over again.
Fortunately, the more I moved around the easier it became to do so.
"It's a good thing that we chose to switch early," Emma mused, "We'll
need the time to get familiar with these bodies."
I agreed completely, knowing that this body would definitely take some
time to get familiar with. Still, I could hardly wait until I could get
back into my own body. I felt small, weak and vulnerable in Emma's.
Those feelings were especially bad when I stood next to her and saw how
small I was in comparison. I'd gone from being 6 foot 4 to being only 5
foot 9. Sure, that was a little taller than average for a woman, but it
was still pretty damn short compared to what I was used to.
Eventually, the inevitable happened and mother nature made a call. I
felt the familiar pressure in my bladder and paled slightly as I
thought about what relieving it would entail. But I was a professional
and acted nonchalant, as though there were nothing unusual about this
in the least. Emma looked a little uncomfortable, though she didn't say
anything, obviously realizing that she would have to deal with these
biological necessities in my body as well.
"Ha," I chuckled as I went into the bathroom and closed the door behind
me, "Just an hour in my body and she's already cracking up. I've got
this bet in the bag."
Once I was alone in the bathroom, I turned my attention to her rather
large bathroom mirror. It was strange seeing Emma's reflection instead
of my own. She was so beautiful, so sexy. She had long dark hair, those
sultry dark eyes and lips that just made you ache to kiss them.
Unfortunately, this was my reflection for the moment and it would be
until after our little party.
I just stood there and admired my reflection for a minute, thinking
about what a killer body Emma possessed. She definitely worked at
keeping it in top shape too. And then there were her perfect breasts,
which showed quite prominently. The red silk robe of hers that I was
still wearing left very little to the imagination, and oddly enough, it
felt extremely nice sliding against my skin.
"No wonder women like silk," I mused, finally turning my attention to
the business at hand.
I sat down and did my business, relieved that this was a natural act
that the body knew how to do automatically. Still, it was a bit odd for
me to be tinkling that way rather than just standing up and letting it
go. It was even more difficult with Emma standing outside the door and
reminding me to wipe, then actually giving me step by step
instructions, as though it were brain surgery or something.
When I was done in the bathroom, I returned to the living room to find
Emma sitting back and smoking a cigarette. However, she was doing it in
a very feminine manner, making my body look gay. I was immediately
caught in the dilemma of correcting her behavior and pointing out that
she was making me look bad or keeping quiet so as not to help her
impersonate me more effectively for our contest. In the end, my
professional pride won out over my personal and I kept quiet.
Emma's behavior did get me to thinking though. If I was going to win
this contest that I'd foolishly agreed to and keep the device, I would
have to get more serious. With that in mind, I intentionally made my
own body language more feminine, carefully mimicking the way Emma
normally moved. She quickly realized what I was doing and started to
mimic my own mannerisms as well.
A short while later, Emma wanted to get my body showered and cleaned
up, so I smiled faintly as she went into the bathroom with an
embarrassed look. And when she wanted to shave, I decided to have a
little more fun with her by giving her a normal razor rather than my
electric one. When she came out of the bathroom with a bunch of toilet
paper stuck to the cuts on her face, I couldn't resist laughing.
"Just be thankful that I had permanent hair removal," she glared at me,
probably imagining how amusing it would be to watch me shave my legs.
Fortunately, that wasn't going to be an issue. And since she'd taken a
shower before I ever woke up, I didn't have to deal with that either,
though come to think of it, that could have been rather interesting.
Eventually, we both we decided to start getting ready for the party. We
started a lot earlier than either of us would normally, but this was
not a normal situation and we both knew that we'd need all the time we
could get to make things perfect. Emma was dressed up in my tux and
ready in a relatively short time, looking fairly decent. She was quite
pleased at just how fast and easy it was getting prepared for the party
in my body. However, things were a little more difficult for me.
Fortunately for me, Emma's personal pride overcame her professional
need to beat me enough for her to help me out.
"I will NOT allow you to ruin my reputation by coming to the social
while looking like a slob," Emma told me with a firm expression as she
began setting out my clothes.
"Of course not," I responded, carefully keeping any form of smirk off
my face. I didn't particularly like being treated like some kind of
doll and being dressed up, but I was professional enough to take the
help I could get when it was offered, even when that help came from my
opponent. "I certainly wouldn't want you to ruin my reputation either."
Emma glared at me with a look of determination but helped me get ready.
Before long, I was dressed in a very slinky looking black dress that
was sexy yet somehow sophisticated. My hair was done up and I was even
wearing all the proper jewelry, such as an expensive ladies watch,
delicate necklace and dangling diamond earrings. I felt quite awkward
being dressed like this, though I was careful not to show it. I wasn't
about to give Emma the satisfaction of seeing me acting squeamish over
something as simple as getting dressed for a party.
Only once everything else was taken care of did Emma turn her attention
to the makeup. She had me sit perfectly still while she applied it. I
was pretty uncomfortable with this as my male pride rebelled at the
thought of wearing makeup, though I showed no sign of what I was really
feeling. Instead, I tried to think of this as applying war paint and
camouflage, which helped a good deal.
"Remember the device," I muttered to myself under my breath, wondering
yet again why I had ever let myself be talked into such a bet.
Once everything else was done, I slipped on the pair of stiletto-heeled
shoes that Emma provided and stood up, almost immediately losing my
balance. I might have fallen flat on my face if I hadn't been able to
catch the side of the desk.
"This shall be amusing," Emma laughed, "I suppose that it only proves
that you can not make a silk purse from a sow's ear."
"Whatever," I grumbled as I carefully let go of the desk and took my
first few cautious steps. I could walk in the heels, but it wasn't
nearly as sexy and graceful as Emma normally managed.
Emma shook her head, looking as though she were caught between
annoyance and amusement, "You shall never manage to impersonate a
proper lady."
"I'm not trying to impersonate a lady," I glared at her, "I'm only
trying to impersonate you." Emma glared at me in response but didn't
say anything. However, she did stop offering advice on how to walk in
high heels, so after a few minutes, I was almost beginning to regret my
comment. Almost.
I carefully walked around Emma's flat for half an hour, trying to get
used to maneuvering in high heels. It wasn't nearly easy as she made it
look, but I was beginning to get the hang of it to a degree. I was also
developing some respect for women who could walk around in those things
all day.
"We're going to need to secure the device before we leave," I told
Emma, realizing that we couldn't bring it along with us. It would
immediately be found by the door security and could likely be mistaken
for a bomb. And even if it wasn't mistaken for something dangerous, it
would certainly create a lot of questions that neither of us wanted to
deal with until after our contest was over and we were back in our own
bodies.
"I have a secure place for it," Emma told me, going to her wall and
opening a concealed panel, revealing a safe that had been hidden behind
it.
I stared at the safe for a moment before nodding my head, "Very
impressive. I have a similar model in my own place."
"It requires both a biometric scan and a sixteen digit code to be
opened," Emma explained unnecessarily. "Since my biometrics and DNA are
the only ones it accepts, and you currently possess those, it will
require both of us to open. I believe that this will be satisfactory."
"That should do it," I agreed, putting my hand against the scanner.
While my hand was still against the scanner, Emma entered in the access
code, positioning herself so that I couldn't see what numbers and
letters she was using. And even after the safe clicked to indicate it
was open, she continued to push the keys. It took me a moment to
realize that she was ensuring my fingerprints were on every single key
so that the actual code could not be figured out just by checking which
keys she'd pushed.
After the device was safely locked away, we prepared to leave. Emma
took my custom gun and slipped it into her shoulder holster, while I
was left with a small gun that could fit into the garter belt I was
wearing. Our weapons would be taken from us when we entered the party,
but in our profession, it paid to be armed whenever possible.
"I suppose that now I shall have to start using vulgar American slang,"
Emma mused, then added, "Don't forget my purse." She handed me a small
black purse, smirking as she was obviously amused by the idea of me
carrying around a purse. I accepted it with a forced smile, then walked
out the front door with as much dignity as I could muster.
Arrival at the party was what I expected, and once we had gone through
the security check and surrendered our weapons, we were allowed inside.
We looked at each other for just a minute, each of us confident that we
would be the ones to win our bet, then we separated to go mingle with
our apparent coworkers.
I approached several of Emma's colleagues whom I recognized. They were
clustered around talking and paused to look at me when I came closer.
"Are you all right?" one man asked with a look of faint concern, "You
look rather wobbly."
I smiled at him, silently wishing that I'd had more time to practice
walking in high heels. "I pulled a calf muscle rather badly while on my
mission," I explained as smoothly as I could. "It makes it difficult to
walk properly."
"And you're still wearing high heels?" the other man gasped in
surprise.
"Why of course," I responded, giving him a look of mock surprise, "A
lady must look her best at all times, regardless of small
inconveniences."
"That's our Emma all right," one of them chuckled.
I felt rather smug as I carried on a conversation with them for several
minutes, then excused myself to mingle with some of Emma's other
colleagues. I soon found myself with a distinguished looking old man
whom I knew to be George Smyth, one of Emma's supervisors.
"Well my dear," Smythe asked me in a quiet tone, "How is your recent
assignment coming?"
"I'm making progress," I told Smyth, gesturing to some people from my
own agency before adding, "But suggest not talking about this here
where we might be overheard."
"Ah, very good," Smythe nodded, "It is no wonder that you are one of
our top agents."
After this, I started being 'introduced' to people from my own agency.
It was difficult to be polite yet distant, pretending that we'd never
met. This was especially difficult when I was 'introduced' to a guy
that I really didn't like, only to have him start flirting with me. But
I was polite, kept a smile on my face and did my best to act how I
thought Emma might.
Then one of my own colleagues whom I'd just been 'introduced' to,
gestured to Emma and said, "I'd like you to meet Agent Bennet."
Emma and I just stood there for a moment with fake smiles plastered to
our faces before I finally said, "We've met before."
"Several times," Emma added.
"Oh yes," Smythe nodded, "I do remember that from the reports."
I nodded to Emma and the two of us made polite small talk, neither of
us saying anything important or even relevant since there were people
standing close by and being involved in the conversation. Still, it was
interesting to be playing the role and continuing to impersonate her
even while the two of us were talking to each other.
For the rest of the party, I played the role of Emma Parish, sexy and
sophisticated lady spy the best that I could. I mingled, I talked to
her colleagues as though they were old acquaintances and I sipped
champagne. When someone offered me a cigarette and a light, I
gracefully accepted them and stayed in character.
The party seemed to last forever and I let out a long sigh of relief
once it was over and we all departed for home. On the trip back to
Emma's flat, the two of us discussed the party, then argued over which
of us won our bet.
"Please," I rolled my eyes at Emma, "You made so many mistakes as me
that it wasn't funny. When Jack brought up the subject of football, you
started talking about soccer."
"Is it my fault that you American's can't understand the concept of
proper football?" Emma snorted in disdain. "And what about Amylia...
You treated her as though she were a close friend, when everyone at my
agency knows that the two of us haven't spoken a word to each other in
months."
"Everyone just assumed I was up to something sneaky and underhanded
with her," I glared at Emma, "That says something when your own people
assume that of you..."
"I still say that I won our wager," Emma told me with a smug tone, "You
made far more mistakes than I."
"Nobody suspected a thing," I pointed out, "I impersonated you
perfectly. But you on the other hand..."
Emma and I continued arguing all the way to her flat, becoming more and
more intense about it as we did so. However, the moment we reached her
front door we both stopped cold and stared in surprise. The front door
was gone, having been torn right off it's hinges. This was even more
amazing since the whole door and frame were much sturdier than any
normal door. In fact, the door itself had a thin sheet of metal in it
to make it bulletproof.
"What the bloody hell?" Emma gasped, immediately pulling out my gun and
rushing inside.
"Damn," I grimaced, pulling out the smaller gun that Emma had given me
and glaring at it as I followed.
A quick search revealed that whoever had broken into Emma's flat, they
were long gone. However, they had left quite a mess. The bookshelves
were all torn down; the couch was upended and cut open. Her computer
was shattered and on the floor and several plants had been torn out of
their pots and casually tossed aside.
"They were looking for something," Emma grimaced, looking at me.
"One guess what," I scowled back.
Then as one, we rushed to her safe, only to find that the concealed
panel had been torn from the wall. The front of the safe severely
damaged, with a huge whole that looked as though it had been melted
into it. I stared at it in surprise since the metal was one of the
toughest you could get for this kind of thing. But even worse was the
realization that the safe had been emptied out, including the device.
"It's gone," Emma spat out furiously, "Chung's men must have come for
it."
"Shit," I grimaced, looking down at myself in horror as I suddenly
realized what this meant. Without the device, we couldn't switch back
to our own bodies. We were stuck as each other. "Fuck no!"
Emma stared at me in horror, realizing the same thing. "If you would
have just given me the device, this never would have happened."
"ME?" I gasped, "It's your fault you bitch. If you hadn't insisted on
testing the device like this..."
"DON'T YOU DARE BLAME ME," she bellowed my voice, coming towards me and
suddenly looking quite intimidating. I'd never realized just how scary
I could look when angry until that very moment when I was on the
receiving end of it.
I took a deep breath and ordered her, "Calm down. This isn't going to
do either of us any good. We've got to get that damn thing back."
Emma paused and slowly nodded, realizing that I was right. "My security
system says it was cut off over two hours ago. They could be anywhere
by now."
"I'll tell my people what happened," I said reluctantly, "They'll put
everything into finding this."
"NO!" Emma snapped, "We can't tell anyone about this." At my blank
look, she quickly explained, "We'll both be in serious trouble if they
find out that we had something like this and didn't hand it in
immediately. At best, they'll think we're completely incompetent and at
worst, they'll think we're working with Chung."
"And neither would do us any good," I finished her line of thinking
with a deepening scowl. "We'd be put on the hit list unless we could
bring in the device."
"If we told them," Emma added slowly, "We'd still be stuck in each
other's bodies and we'd probably have our own people after us as well.
We have to retrieve it ourselves."
Emma and I discussed our situation and tried to make plans for the next
several hours, but there was one problem that we both kept coming back
to. Our two agencies might be friendly, but normally, the two of us
would never work together, especially when we weren't specifically
ordered to. If we were seen working together, there would be questions
that neither of us was prepared to answer.
"We need a cover story to explain why we are together," Emma mused, "It
must be good."
"I have an idea," I responded slowly, having been thinking of this for
awhile. "At the party, once it was pointed out that we've encountered
each other on multiple occasions, several people made comments that
suggested they thought we were having an affair."
"Ridiculous," Emma immediately snapped.
"Maybe," I scowled, "but if they think so, we might as well use it."
Emma stared at me for a moment, then asked, "What do you have in mind?"
"Simple," I told her, "We let everyone think we've been having an
affair and that after this party, we eloped and got married."
"WHAT?" Emma gasped, staring at me as though I'd grown a second head.
"It's just for cover," I quickly pointed out, "And we can get it
annulled as soon as we're back to our own bodies."
For several minutes, Emma just sat there and thought about my
suggestion. It was obvious that she wasn't any happier about it than I
was, but she nodded, "Very well. This seems to be our best option."
I just nodded at that, then said, "Then let's get back to the rest of
this. Hopefully, we can get the device back before Chung gets his hands
on it. We've got a lot of work to do..."
---
The next morning, Emma and I bought a pair of wedding rings then went
to find a place to get married. If you know the right people and are
ready to spend a little cash, you can get it done fast and without
question. It certainly wasn't romantic, but it was legal. We were now
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.
"I always dreamed of a nice wedding," Emma told me right after the
ceremony, "I always imagined wearing a long white gown and walking down
a path of rose petals. I never thought I'd be getting married in a
ceremony where I was the groom."
"I'm not exactly too thrilled with this either," I told her with a
scowl, staring down at the diamond ring which now adorned my finger, "I
never thought that I'd be Mrs. Bennet."
"Since you took my wedding away from me," Emma glared at me as though
this were all my fault, "the least you could have done was wear a nice
dress and make my body look nice."
"We don't have time for this," I reminded her impatiently, "We have
work to do."
Emma gave me a smug look as she responded, "I've already made contact
with a few of my personal resources. They should give us a good idea of
where to start."
Once we were back to the hotel we'd moved into, Emma pulled out her
laptop and went to work. Her resources had gotten back to her and from
the look on her face, they'd given her good news.
"Xian Chung was spotted in London last night," Emma told me with a
faint smile, "And it appears that he left for Rome early this morning."
"So we go to Rome," I nodded. "I have a supplier there were we can pick
up some equipment, but there's a chance he might feed some information
back to my agency."
"Then I'd prefer avoiding him if possible," Emma said. "Besides, it's
easy enough bringing our own supplies." With that, she pulled a case
out from under the bed and opened it, revealing several handguns, a
broken down sniper rifle, at least a dozen throwing knives and several
bottles of what I assumed was poison.
"Nice kit," I nodded my appreciation, "My long range stuff is in
storage. We can pick it up before we leave."
"Sounds good," Emma agreed.
"Well then," I gave her a forced smile, "It looks like we're going to
Rome for our honeymoon."
Emma and I quickly packed up what we were taking and rushed out the
door. We made a couple of stops on the way, but within just a few hours
of our wedding, we were on a flight to Italy. To all appearances, we
were just a newlywed couple on their honeymoon. I just hoped it looked
that way to my agency as well. It was better to be thought impulsive
and irresponsible at the moment than it was to be considered up to
something suspicious.
As soon as we arrived in Rome, we checked into a hotel and set up our
base of operations. Since neither of us could use our agencies
resources at the moment, we were forced to rely on our on personal
contacts and abilities, which meant it might take longer than either of
us would prefer. Still, we had a lot of motivation to succeed and
little other choice.
We spent the rest of our day in Rome communicating with contacts and
searching the city for any sign of Xian. By the time we were done, the
only thing we'd accomplished was to verify that he was still there,
though we couldn't find exactly where. For the moment, we could do
little more than watch and wait.
I awoke early the next morning and looked over to Emma, who was snoring
rather loudly from the other bed in our hotel room. I winced slightly,
wondering if I'd ever snored that bad, then remembering a few
complaints from people saying I had. Then I frowned, a little startled
by the fact that I was up well before her. I had never been a morning
person, but there I was, wide awake and ready to go.
"A side effect of having this body," I quietly mused as I looked down
at myself.
After a minute, I climbed out of bed, still amazed at just how light
and flexible I felt. It was so different from my own body, which was
built to be big and powerful, not light and graceful like I currently
was. I didn't know if I could ever get used to this and hoped that I
wouldn't be there long enough to make that an issue.
Since Emma was still asleep, I decided that this would be the perfect
time to get cleaned up. I'd been so busy all day yesterday that I
hadn't had a chance to shower or anything and I was pretty sure that I
needed one. Considering just how personal this was, I thought that this
was the perfect time to take care of that issue. With Emma still being
sound asleep, I would actually have some much needed privacy.
I quietly slipped into the bathroom and relieved myself, wishing that I
could just stand up to piss like normal. Sitting down to take a leak
felt wrong, but it wasn't like I had a choice. I no longer had the
equipment for anything else, so there was no use dwelling too much
about it.
When I was finished, I stood up and looked into the bathroom mirror,
having a hard time believing that this was actually me. The reflection
was that of a gorgeous woman, one whom I'd competed against on numerous
occasions. Even after two days, it still seemed impossible to see that
face in the mirror.
"Imagine old Razorback as a sexy babe," I shook my head, "I bet the
other guys would be laughing their asses off if they knew."
I stared at my reflection, then down at myself. As much as I disliked
being stuck in this body, I had to admit that it was definitely a nice
one. It was soft and sexy, yet hard and firm underneath at the same
time. Emma kept it in perfect condition, which wasn't at all surprising
considering her occupation.
"It doesn't feel too bad either," I was forced to admit.
My hands slowly wandered over my smooth skin, admiring just how nice it
felt. Of course, it would have felt a hell of a lot better if Emma had
been the one inside of it. Still, I couldn't quite keep my hands off
myself. I ran them over nearly every inch of my skin, cupping my
breasts and savoring the unusually sensitive sensations.
After I finished feeling myself up and examining my body in close
detail, I finally turned my attention to what I had come in here for in
the first place. I started to reach for the shower knob, then changed
my mind and turned on the bath water instead. I'd heard stories about
how women really liked baths so I couldn't resist finding out what they
thought was so special about them now that I had the opportunity.
The hot water felt nice when I settled into it, and even better once
I'd relaxed and soaked for a few minutes. In fact, it was beginning to
feel fantastic. A slow smile formed on my face, almost of it's own
volition.
"I could almost get used to this," I sighed in momentary contentment.
But as much as I was enjoying the hot bath, I couldn't stay in there
forever. I took my time washing up, slowly exploring every bit of my
body, then I soaked for just a little longer. Finally though, it was
time for me to get out. I did so with reluctance.
Once I was finishing drying off, I put my hair up in a towel like I'd
seen a number of women do. Then I slipped on Emma's silk robe and sat
back to wait for her to wake up. However, I wasn't one to waste time so
I quickly found something to do while I was waiting.
I cleaned my gun and made sure that it was in working order, then I
went to work on Emma's. It wasn't until I was just finishing up with
Emma's second gun and about to turn my attention to her blades that she
finally woke up.
"About time," I muttered, feeling a bit impatient after having been up
for nearly two hours. "Lazy bastard." Of course, I knew that this
wasn't fair since that was my body and I was normally the one who had
trouble with mornings, but I was feeling impatient enough to blame her
rather than my body.
"What time is it?" Emma asked as she sat up.
"Late enough that we should get going soon," I told her, setting her
gun down and going for the laptop. "You go ahead and get showered. I'll
check to see if my contacts reported anything." Emma nodded and
staggered towards the bathroom, muttering, "I can't believe I feel like
this after a full night sleep..."
"Hopefully, you won't have to get too used to it," I told her with a
sigh.
As soon as I was finished with the computer, I turned my attention to
getting dressed. I slipped on a pair of Emma's sexy lingerie, which
seemed about the only kind she had, then her bra, thankful that at
least this time she wasn't watching me with a smirk. That had been one
of the worst parts of getting dressed in her body two days before.
"Hard to believe we've been like this for so long already," I muttered
grimly.
One of the most difficult things about getting dressed as Emma was the
several hidden harnesses to hold weapons. Once I was fully dressed,
none of them were visible, but I felt like an arsenal with three times
the weaponry that I normally carried. I had two small guns on me as
well as nearly a dozen throwing blades.
As soon as Emma was done with her shower and dressed, she helped me do
my hair and makeup. I paid close attention to what she did, hoping that
I'd never need to worry about doing it myself, but wanting to be
prepared just in case. Before long, we were both presentable and ready
to go.
Thanks to one of my sources, we finally had a lead on finding Xian. It
seems that Dr. Chung has indirect ownership of a building just outside
of Rome. That would seem to be the perfect place for his son to go and
the perfect place for us to retrieve the device.
Dr. Chung's property turned out to be a large villa, surrounded by
hidden guards. The fact that nearly all the guards were Asian was proof
that we had the right place. Dr. Chung always employed Asians whenever
possible, due to some belief that they were superior to other races.
Emma and I kept our distance from the villa but monitored it through a
high powered scope for nearly an hour. I saw at least a dozen different
people inside, mostly guards, but no sign of Xian himself. This was
frustrating since we wanted confirmation of his presence, but there was
little we could do about that at the moment.
"I could always start removing guards," I suggested to Emma, patting my
sniper rifle. "We might flush that bastard out."
"No," Emma responded after a moment of consideration. "That would give
away the advantage of surprise and give him a chance to run. We need to
get inside and see if we can find the sphere."
Emma and I quietly crept towards the villa, careful not to be seen. We
easily slipped over the fence and past security, entering the house
itself without being noticed. Emma was annoyed at the extra weight and
lack of agility that my body presented and kept glaring at me as though
it were my fault. I could understand her feelings though as I was
equally frustrated at being stuck in a body that had less than a
quarter of my accustomed strength.
It wasn't until we were actually inside the villa that we encountered
our first real obstacle, an armed guard who was standing in the way.
Fortunately, his back was turned to us so I quickly crept up behind
him, throwing one hand over his mouth and then driving a dagger
straight into the base of his skull. He collapsed to the floor with
barely a sound.
We carefully moved from room to room, avoiding any further encounters
with people. Before long, we located a room that had at least a half
ton of various drugs stored in it and another that was loaded with
weapons, some of which I didn't even recognize. That alone was quite a
feat, but not surprising considering Dr. Chung had some top weapons
designers in his employ.
After we were done with the quick once-over, we had enough evidence of
illegal activities that a court of law could have put the villa's owner
away for a very long time. Unfortunately, we didn't find what we were
looking for. There was no sign of Xian having ever been there or of
Trumacher's device.
Ironically, it wasn't until we were on our way out that the guards
finally noticed our presence. One of the guards saw us and opened fire.
Emma and I both dove to the ground and fired back, though she was the
one to actually hit the guard, blowing a large whole straight through
him.
"Impressive," she stared at my gun with a look of delight. "Such
firepower."
"You can admire it later," I snapped, "We've got to get out of here."
My warning was punctuated with a loud shot fired from another guard.
More guards were quickly arriving, while we jumped behind a heavy desk
for cover and fired back. Several of them went down but more kept
showing up.
"Did you notice that they're all men?" Emma commented as she fired
several shots, "Why is it that warlords are always sexist pigs?"
"File a discrimination suit," I grimaced, firing several shots of my
own. "Besides, you remember that femnazi bitch in Brazil a few years
ago? She was trying to put together an army of all women..."
"Oh yes, the one who thought women should rule the world," Emma
responded, "Whatever happened to her?"
"I heard one of her own people shot her after she ordered that all male
children were to be executed, including their own."
"That would do it," Emma agreed.
Just then, one of the guards came out with a strange looking rifle. A
single burst of red energy shot out of it, hitting the table we were
using as cover and melting a hole right through it. I stared at the
hole in shock, wondering what kind of weapon could do such a thing.
"I believe we've found how they breached my safe," Emma scowled in
annoyance.
Emma and I jumped out from behind our cover at the same time, opening
fire with everything we had. She hit one of the guards and I hit two of
them. The guard with the energy weapon fired another shot at us,
closely missing Emma and causing her to drop her gun as she rolled out
of the way. I immediately took advantage of the opportunity to put a
bullet between the shooter's eyes.
I fired several more shots before running out of ammo and quickly
snatched up my own gun from where Emma had dropped it. Unfortunately,
it wasn't until I tried squeezing the trigger that I remembered it had
a safety feature built in so that it could never be used against it. It
would only work with my handgrip, which I no longer had. It would take
me nearly five minutes to disable that, which is time I didn't have.
"Damn," I spat, spotting another guard rushing through the door beside
me.
Since I didn't have a gun I could use, I quickly struck his hands and
knocked his away, then tried to overpower him. Unfortunately, I quickly
realized just how much I'd overestimated my strength and underestimated
his. The guard was much stronger than me and almost immediately turned
the tables. Before I realized w