Chapter 4

Matt continued to pet Kathy's foot on the Living room couch after the symphony ended, lost in thought. "Really great sound system," Kathy said after a while. "If you close your eyes, it sounds just like a live performance."

"Yeah. You wouldn't guess it with the 45-foot high ceiling, but it's true. The creature was a damn good audio technician. Another one of its many talents..." Matt said idly. It had been a week of Earth time since the Porto event. Kathy and Matt had dropped into a habit of jumping home for 64 seconds at the dawn of each day, and relaxing there for three days of play and combat practice. They were scheduled to return in 9 hours of local time, or 8 seconds of Earth time. They were about to head off to bed.

"The people tracking me have really stepped up their activity," said Kathy. "This week's news has really rattled Eternal Jihad. The outcome of their bomb wasn't at all what they wanted. They're super eager to get the spotlight off Porto. My guess is they'll make their move tomorrow. Friday is the holy day. It'll be their best chance..."

"Agreed. Perfect for us too, my day off. I'll be portal tracking you the whole time. Remember, any use of drugs to knock you out, I jump in immediately and we both go on offensive ops. No exceptions. I can barely accept using you as bait as it is..."

"It's worth the risk, Matthew. Having a young American female whom they'll probably threaten to behead is just what they think they need to grab back the world's attention. They're eager to let the world know they reject the message of Porto. We've got a good chance of me meeting someone in the senior leadership. We have to do this."

"Humph. They're not the only ones rejecting the message. Everyone I've talked to in Aramex thinks it's a CIA plot, even though there are two Muslim doctors in Porto swearing it's true. Everyone here thinks it's a Hollywood style fake. Actually, in some sense, I guess they're right. God didn't do this, we did! I wonder what the divine penalty is for impersonating God?"

"Well, we didn't sign God's name. We just gave a message that we both feel is God's true message. Regarding our salvation, I think we're still okay," Kathy said with a smile. "Israel has reacted positively. Their peace rally was more active than it has been in years. Not too much movement with their government, though. The control of the special interests of the settlers is still too strong. And as for the Pals, what a sad hopeless case. No movement for reconciliation at all. Hamas has that society sewed up tight. Anyone not for continuing the war of liberation is branded a Zionist collaborator, and we all know what comes next after that..."

Late next morning, just before noon, Kathy was coming out of a grocery market when the attack occurred. As she walked to cross the street with her bags, a car with dark tinted windows braked to a halt in front of her, and the rear door flew open. Someone behind her pushed her hard into the car, where two pair of muscular arms yanked her in. Kathy noticed that the few passersby were too stunned to help her. The attacker still outside climbed into the front seat and the car drove off.

Kathy was held face down on the rear floor of the car, a booted foot pushing into the back of her neck while a gag was forced into her mouth and tied around her head. A hood was then placed over her head. Kathy was in total darkness, and she felt her arms yanked roughly behind her back and secured with steel handcuffs. She was held in this uncomfortable position on the floor for several minutes, as hands roughly and completely frisked her body. She was then yanked up by her neck and thrown into a sitting position between two of her attackers.

"One sound from you, just one, and I'll slit your throat. Behave, and you'll be okay."

"Oh, I bet you tell that to all the girls you pick up, Mr. Muscles," Kathy thought, as she nodded her head to signal understanding. Kathy sensed the attacker sigh in satisfaction at her compliance, and he began to relax a little. "Actually," she thought, "you guys were pretty smooth. You must practice this an awful lot."

"Status report?" chirped Matt, a brief burst of gravitons from a tracking portal. "5 by 5" Kathy chirped back with gravitons, a code that meant the mission was proceeding within acceptable parameters. The attackers could sense nothing.

The car trip lasted for hours. Matt would ping Kathy occasionally to let her know he was still with her. Kathy was actually beginning to get a bit bored, in spite of it being stuffy to breathe under the hood, when the man on her left started to grope her breasts.

"Oh, nuts," thought Kathy in resignation. Kathy heard a weird chirp from Matt, which she decided to interpret as a growl. She smiled, and chirped back a signal for him to take it easy.

"What are you doing?" came a voice from the front of the car.

"Just testing the female American dog again for weapons," came the reply on her left.

"Let me help!" said a voice on her right. Hands from Kathy's right joined in, and soon both of her nipples were being pulled. Kathy bore it in silence.

"Ha!" laughed the voice on her left, "the dog's body is stiff with fear."

"?" chirped Matt.

"5 by 5" Kathy chirped back, as she tried to puzzle out the man's comment. Her nipples had not swollen under the cruel treatment. She finally decided that the man had misinterpreted her body carriage. Kathy's muscles were toned to inhuman quality. If her attacker had bothered to take her pulse as he was pushing his fingers into her breasts, he would have realized her heart was beating at a calm 56 beats a minute. But he never bothered.

"Operations control is the other way," came a voice from the front.

"I've been cleared by operations," said the driver. "Our leaders want to inspire our followers. We're going straight to video production with our demands. Al Jezeera will already be there when we arrive. The Americans and their Zionist masters will learn what big mistakes they are making. This interrogation is going to show our fury. The Accountant himself will personally oversee all of this."

"!" chirped Matt. "!!!"

"Calm down!" Kathy chirped back, but she felt a rush of excitement too, one which she was very, very careful to hide. This was a development beyond their wildest hopes.

"Do you forgive me, cross believer, for checking you for weapons again?" came the laughing voice on her left, as her nipple was pinched again. A deadly soft voice whispered in her ear, "Will you turn the other breast for me?"