<They’re saying something about Crossbar infiltrators—which we kinda are,> Laylani said, her voice carrying no small amount of concern. <I can’t reach the colonel, either. There’s no Link up on the mountain where they’re skiing.>
Vampy had no idea what they should do…the mission had gone to hell in a handbasket with just one indiscretion. <Do you think you can hold them off, Laylani?>
<For a bit, they only have pulse rifles. But if they bring out the plasma torches, I’m taking off.>
<Understood.>
<Wait! Vampy,> Porty jumped into the conversation. <I found out where they have the device they stole from Crossbar!>
<Really? Where?> she demanded.
<That mining town you’re in? They don’t actually mine anything. The device is deep underground, and the mine’s just a cover. They call it a CMD, or something. From what I can tell, it’s small enough that the two of you could carry it.>
<Great,> she replied. <Just one thing…how did you figure out where it is?>
<Uhh…well…I might have been searching their dark web for the best gambling sites, and stumbled across a few things.>
<Porty!> Kitty exclaimed. <How could you do that and not let me in on it?>
<Uh…sorry?>
<We need to stop talking,> Laylani interrupted. <They’re going to pinpoint you two if you keep it up.>
Vampy killed the connection, a smile growing on her lips. “Well, kitty cat…we’ve got a mission.”
CHANGE OF…EVERYTHING
STELLAR DATE: 04.06.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Some Ski Resort
REGION: Allaran, Crossbar System, Alkaid Void
Cindy came to a stop at the bottom of the slope next to Gemma, whose face bore a broad grin, her breath steaming in the cold night air.
“OK, not many people can keep up with me, Cindy. You’ve got a lot more stamina than I’d’ve thought.”
“I like to keep in tip-top shape,” she said with a small shrug. “And it’s a lot more fun to get my exercise here than on the ship.”
“I bet,” Gemma nodded, then she looked at the ski lift and shook her head. “Looks like our husbands are going up for another run. Glad we introduced them,” she gave Cindy a conspiratorial wink. “Gives us girls a bit more time together.”
Cindy smiled, unable to hide the enjoyment she was getting from spending time with her new friend, though she worried what Gemma might suggest they do next.
It was more than apparent from the casual touches and continual close proximity that Gemma had only one thing on her mind when it came to winding down—but thanks to Cindy’s unrelentingly possessive clothing, that was the one thing she couldn’t do.
Think, Cindy, think. Lashes was our infiltrator girl for a decade, and she never had sex with a mark. What would she do?
The two women took their skis off and walked back to the rental shop. Once they’d returned their equipment, Gemma took Cindy’s hand and led her back toward the resort’s lodge.
Fifteen meters from the building, Cindy managed to get Link signal, and reached out to the ship. <Vampy, are you there? I need help!>
<Vampy’s out on a mission,> Laylani replied. <She had to go dark. Don’t want a signal giving her and Kitty away.>
<Whoa, wait just one tick-tock, Laylani. We’re on the mission. The colonel and I. Those two were supposed to keep their shiny black tushies on the ship!>
<Well…they got bored, so they went into town,> Laylani replied, her mental tone decidedly guilty.
<Town?> Cindy asked.
<There’s a mining town nearby. They got into some trouble there, but Porty figured out where the stolen energy device is, so they went after it.>
“Fiddlesticks!” Cindy whispered aloud.
“What is it?” Gemma asked, glancing at Cindy as she held the door open to the lodge.
“Uh…oh, nothing to worry your pretty red head about. I just realized I never thought to get the room tokens from my husband. Now he’s up on the slope, and I can’t reach him on the Link.”
“Don’t worry.” Gemma waved her hand. “Pell will give you the tokens. He knows me, of course, and he saw you come in with your husband.”
<Laylani,> Cindy spoke in a rush while Gemma answered. <We’ve been hired by the icky bad guys! Crossbar broke their special power doo-hicky, so they stole Allaran’s, but then Allaran stole it back. Without it, Crossbar’s cities will freeze like popsicles! Allaran needs theirs too, or they’ll have a forever winter. What are we going to do?>
<You’re asking me? I asked you!> Cindy squeaked as she followed Gemma to the front desk. <I’m about to be happity bappitied by the president’s wife, but I don’t have the bits to be bappitied with!>
<Does that mean sex?> Laylani asked. < ’Happity bappity’ is a new one on me.>
<Oh, farfignuffen! Yes, it means that word I can’t say.>
Laylani made a humming sound before she replied. <Well, I’m no expert on this stuff, but from what Vampy has told me, she always just made the other person so…uh…happy that they didn’t have the energy to reciprocate.>
Oh, this is just wonderful, Cindy thought. I’m taking bappitying advice from an AI.
“Cindy?” Gemma asked, pulling her back to the present. She hadn’t even realized that Gemma had led them to the front desk where Pell waited—a look of manufactured patience on his face. “Pell just needs you to connect so he can pass you the tokens.”
“Oh, sorry.” Cindy gave a sheepish smile. “Just got lost in my thoughts for a moment.” I guess that’s one benefit of everyone thinking I’m an idiot, it’s not out of character when I actually am one.
While wrestling with that thought, she connected to Pell’s front desk system, and he passed her the tokens.
“I hope you have an entertaining evening, ma’am,” Pell said, giving Cindy a suggestive look before glancing at Gemma.
“Pell, hush,” Gemma swatted a hand at the man before taking Cindy by the arm. “Now that you know you’ll be able to get back into your room later, why don’t you come to the bar and have a drink with me?”
“OK,” Cindy smiled brightly. “I could use a hot chocolate. I beat you to the bottom on our first run, so I think you’re buying.”
Gemma laughed and slapped Cindy on the ass. “I’ll beat your bottom, if you think hot cocoa is really on the menu.”
Cindy squeaked and felt her cheeks flush. She wasn’t sure if she could even drink alcohol, but getting Gemma drunk would help a lot in controlling the evening’s events.
Which, if Laylani was right, may involve a kidnapping and ransom at some point.
Golly, forget alcohol, can I even do that sort of thing anymore?
There were only a dozen people in the lodge’s bar, and Gemma led Cindy to a table in the back where they were almost entirely out of sight.
Cindy slid onto the bench, and Gemma sat beside her, trapping her next to the wall.
“I have to tell you, Cindy, the little innocent act you put on is positively intoxicating,” Gemma whispered in her ear while sliding a hand up her thigh. “All I can think about is getting you out of this pretty white skinsuit, and having my way with you.”
“Umm…what about your husband?” Cindy asked, feeling like her cheeks were going to light on fire from the flush burning in them.
“My husband likes to talk politics. Lots and lots of politics. Just about everyone here works for him, they’re waiting for him to return from the slopes so they can bombard him with whatever’s oh-so-important right now.”
“They work for him?” Cindy asked, trying to peer up over the seats to see if they were being watched.
“Yeah, but I pay them off to make sure they keep quiet. Not that my husband rea
lly cares—other than about keeping up appearances, of course.”
<Cindy, an alert has gone out for you and the colonel. They know where you are, too.>
She heard loud voices from the far side of the bar, and knew that Gemma’s watchers must be coming.
Without saying a word, she pushed Gemma off the seat, clamped a hand around the woman’s mouth, and rushed her out the rear door and into a hallway that ran toward the kitchen.
“Mphhhh,” Gemma grunted, trying to get free, but to no avail.
Cindy held on tight, searching for a place to hide. Then she spotted a staircase, and ducked around behind it, pushing Gemma to the ground and sitting on her.
The woman kept struggling, and suddenly Cindy’s catsuit turned back into the poofy dress, fluffing out around them.
“Oh, sniffling schnauzers, just what I need,” Cindy grumbled in frustration.
She felt a very strange tingling come over her body, and looked down to see her dress spreading out across Gemma’s body, covering the president’s wife until she was cocooned. Then the dress began to flow up over Cindy, encasing her in layers of cloth. She tried to push it down, but there was no stopping it.
Cindy drew in a deep breath as the folds came up over her head, and her entire body felt like it was being electrified. Then the cloth receded, and she let out a surprised gasp.
Beside her, laying on the ground in a matching white dress, was…her!
Cindy stood and realized that she was wearing Gemma’s red skiing outfit. She grabbed her hair and pulled it into view to see that it was red as well.
“Well, I’ll be fluffernutted,” she whispered in Gemma’s voice.
“What the hell!” shouted Gemma—who now looked exactly like CinderellaNot-TM. “What did you do to me?”
As Gemma-now-Cindy struggled to her feet, the poofy dress shrank back down to its white, skintight version. Cindy-now-Gemma was relieved to see that the other woman’s feet were not wearing the glass slippers.
The feeling gave her a moment’s surprise, but she knew deep down that she had really come to love being Cindy—even if it meant she was struggling to understand who she was half the time.
She wiggled her toes to be sure, and felt the firm embrace of the glass slippers.
“I’m still CinderellaNOT-™,” she said aloud, still feeling strange at hearing such a sultry voice coming from her lips. “I guess the magic wouldn’t let me get captur—”
“Gemma! Are you alright?” a voice called out on her right, and Cindy-now-Gemma turned to see one of the men from the bar striding down the hall. “I found her!” he called out, and then grabbed her arm.
“Ow!” Cindy-now-Gemma squeaked. “Careful.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” the man said, putting himself between her and Gemma-now-Cindy. “We have reason to believe that this woman and her compatriots are Crossbar spies sent to retrieve the CMD.”
“Oh my,” Cindy-now-Gemma placed a hand on her chest. “How horrid.”
The man glanced back at her. “Are you OK, ma’am?”
“Uh, yeah,” Cindy-now-Gemma forced her voice to remain low, fighting a rise in pitch. “Just shaken up.”
Another man and a woman approached, and the woman called to Cindy-now-Gemma.
“Come with me, Gemma. The guys will take her into custody.”
“What are you talking about, you miserable fucks?” Gemma-now-Cindy shrieked, stomping a foot. “Arrest her! She’s the Crossbar spy. She did something to me. I’m Gemma.”
“Yeah, sure,” one of the men said as he pushed her against the wall while the other cuffed her. “You’re going to spend a long time in a cold hole, vampire bitch.”
“Vampire? Ben, are you insane? It’s me!”
Cindy-now-Gemma felt a little bad for Gemma-now-Cindy as the men led her away. She’d been fun to hang out with, but not so fun that their time together was worth being imprisoned.
The woman escorting Cindy-now-Gemma shook her head. “Damn…that was close. No official schedules listed you and your husband as being here. I don’t know how Crossbar figured it out. The boys are on their way to your husband. Don’t worry, they’ll get that other guy as well; Colonel Ramsey, the lodge’s registry said.”
“What would I do without you?” Cindy-now-Gemma asked with a smile.
A moment later, she realized that not only did she have Gemma’s face and clothes, she also had all of the woman’s access tokens, and was connected to an official data network. An indicator popped up telling her that the woman at her side was named Reah.
“Well, without me, apparently you’d get abducted by Crossbar.” Reah chuckled and gave her a wink.
“Kinda seems like it. Thanks again,” she replied while struggling to keep her panic at bay. OK, you crazy outfit that can turn me into other people, what do I do now?
SEARCH AND SEIZURE
STELLAR DATE: 04.06.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Aboard the Van
REGION: Allaran, Crossbar System, Alkaid Void
“OK…that’s a torch,” Porty said from atop the stool he had in the airlock. It just barely elevated him enough to see through the window, and Laylani found herself wondering why he just didn’t use the external feeds.
And where did he find that stool?
The AI’s moment of musing was too much a delay for the dwarf, and he turned to the optical pickups, brows raised. “Well? They’re gonna cut their way in.”
<I still can’t raise the colonel…and no one can get back here in time. I’m gonna take off. We’ll have to figure out how to do a pickup later.>
“OK!” Porty hopped off the stool and waddled through the ship as fast as his stubby legs could carry him. “Let’s do it. I don’t want to end up in some frozen prison on an ice planet.”
<I doubt the prisons are frozen.>
“You have a lot of experience with prisons?” he demanded.
<I might have killed a man once and done hard time for it,> Laylani said, adding a note of warning to her response.
Porty threw his hands in the air as he stomped through the rec room—leaving dirt on the carpet, no less.
<You didn’t wipe your boots!> the AI exclaimed. <Now I’ll have to wash the carpet again.>
The dwarf looked back at the muddy tracks. “Dammit! I swear, I did! I haven’t been off the ship at all!”
Laylani fell to muttering about dwarves in her mind as he resumed his trek to the bridge while she summoned the cleaning bots. If they were to get boarded by angry port security, she at least wanted them to find a tidy ship.
Porty climbed up into a seat as Laylani finished the preflight and began a liftoff sequence. The docking cradle’s clamps tried to hold her back, but the Van was equipped to deal with that, so she disconnected the latch points, letting the cradle’s grasping arms hold onto bits of her while she rose into the air.
And then abruptly stopped.
What the—?!
“Grav readings are going haywire!” Porty shouted.
<My pickups are sensitive enough, no need to yell,> she retorted, panic setting in as the ship struggled against a grav beam holding it down.
“Sorry…our boosters should get us free, though,” he said. “Pour it on.”
She gave it a moment’s serious consideration, but the fusion boosters would certainly kill a few of the humans down below, and while she recognized that sometimes the team’s work ended in deaths, it wasn’t something she liked to be the direct cause of.
<I can’t.>
She killed the grav drive, and the ship settled back onto the cradle. They sat a little crooked, with the arms still locked onto disconnected mounts, but they were on the ground nonetheless.
“Shit, fuck, stinking fuckin’—”
<Porty! Watch your language.>
“Easy for you to say, you’re not going to end up in the aforementioned icy prison.”
<Given that it’s below freezing at the spaceport, I could argue that I’m already in one.>
�
��Semantics.”
<I’m going to have to play dumb, you realize that, right?>
He nodded while sliding off the seat. “Yeah, I get it. Sorry I got so angry. I assume you’re letting them in?”
<Airlock’s open. No reason for them to cut it apart. I could misdirect with the cleaning bots while you hide.>
“They’re not going to believe that a non-sentient AI initiated takeoff. They have to find an organic.”
<Shoot…yeah. I guess so. I’m in contact with Cindy, she’s going to escape with the colonel. I’m sure they’ll figure something out.>
“Cindy? Are you kidding? Maybe BAMF could have done something, but now….”
<She’s still the same person. Getting sexy curves didn’t shrink her brain.>
Porty shook his head as he walked into the rec room to find a trio of spaceport guards with their weapons drawn. <Well, I hope not. Either way, you’d all better figure something out fast. I feel that icy cell already.>
<That’s because the airlock’s open, you dolt,> Laylani retorted, wishing she could reach out and slap the dwarf as he surrendered to the guards.
THIEFING IN THE NIGHT
STELLAR DATE: 04.06.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Random Mining Town
REGION: Allaran, Crossbar System, Alkaid Void
“This is great,” The CatWoman™ whispered as she slipped through the streets with Vampy a step behind. “This is totally what The CatWoman™ is meant to do. Skulk about and steal things from the bad guys.”
“You sure about that?” Vampy asked. “I think The CatWoman™ was a villain. She stole from everyone.”
The CatWoman™ waved her hand at Vampy. “No, no. That was in the early days. But then I fell in love with The ManBat™, and we had little Kitty-Bat babies.”
Vampy snorted. “That’s both ridiculous and disturbing at the same time. I never followed GDC stories that much, though. I was more of a Marvelous girl.”
“Right, which is why you picked the lamest superhero of all time when the Fairly Goodmothers offered you the choice,” The CatWoman™ snorted as she peered around a corner, checking to see that the coast was clear.