Chapter 24: The chase is on

Joshua drove back towards his home. His heart was beating faster than it ever had before. Pulling up to a red light, he looked down on his catch and smiled evilly.

"I think I will keep you for awhile, you have been such a game to catch, but now you are mine."

Reaching down, he squeezed her breast. Frustrated by her shirt, he started pulling it up. For some reason, it refused to yield to his grabbing. The light changed, and he pulled through the intersection and into a dark parking lot.

Turning, he looked down at Tina and saw she was wearing a pullover sweater. Reaching down again, he started tugging, and he heard something snap and then went flying. Looking at the object, he realized it was a button.

"What the fuck?"

Reaching down, he started searching Tina's unconscious body and found what he thought was a cell phone attached to her belt.

"I will take this, we cannot have you waking up and calling for help."

Pulling it, he watched as the girl who was his target shimmered and faded into another girl who was just as beautiful. He realized the cell phone was actually some kind of holographic emitter.

"What the fuck?"

Looking down at the girl, he wondered who she was.

"Now who are you and where is my Tina?" Taking the dart gun, he loaded it up again and put another dart into the girl's chest.

"We will find out who you are later, but for now I think I will take you to my other place instead of my playpen."

Joshua put the van in gear and drove onto highway 80, heading towards California.

Driving past Boomtown, he left the freeway and headed up into the hills. He drove up to a road with a chain across it. He jumped out, ran over to the chain, and removed the lock. Dropping the chain on the ground, he climbed back into the van. Leaving the door open, he drove over the chain and stopped on the other side. Getting out, he pulled the chain tight and fastened the lock back on. Running down the embankment, he grabbed a lever and pulled it. Going back to the road, he could barely see the spikes in the ground.

With an evil grin, he said, "That will stop anyone who is following me."

Climbing back into the van, he checked his prize and noticed she was starting to come around.

"What the fuck are you?"

Taking the dart gun, he put a fourth dart into her body.

"I don't know who you are, but you sure can metabolize my drugs."

Shifting the van into gear, he drove down the road. He went over a small bridge and pulled up beside a side of a cliff. Pulling a small box out of his case, he pressed the remote. A set of doors opened in the cliff, and he pulled into the underground garage that was revealed.

Parking the van, he climbed out, went around to the side door, and opened it. He grabbed the woman's arms, and lifted her up onto his shoulder and carried her down the hallway.

Pressing his hand against a hand scanner, unlocked what looked like a steel door. He stepped into the room and went through several open doors and down another hallway. Stepping into the last room, he set the girl down on the table and stripped her of her clothes. Tossing them into a corner, he searched her body for transmitters.

Not finding any, he carried her into another room, and lowered some chains from the ceiling. Attaching a chain to each of her wrists, he lifted her until she was barely touching the floor with her toes. Taking a second set of chains, he stretched her so she was doing the splits in midair, then he attached a metal band to each wrist. Standing there, he looked at her for a minute.

Then he grabbed her clothes, took them out of the room, and started examining them. In her pocket, he found a small pistol. Setting it aside with the holographic device, he got up and went over to the table where his computer sat. He grabbed his digital camera off of the table and walked back into the room where he had secured the girl. He turned on some floodlights and took several pictures of the girl. After the pictures, he went to a glass cabinet full of bottles. He moved them around and found the one he wanted. It had a bluish tinted liquid in it. Drawing 25 CCs of the fluid into a syringe, he walked in to see the girl coming around.

Jenny slowly started waking up. Her chest hurt in several areas. She realized she was hanging from her wrists and that her legs were pulled apart. Her shoulders were on fire from her body's weight. She opened her eyes to a bright light. The light hurt her eyes, so she closed them. As she hung there, she heard a voice speaking.

"I see you are waking up, human. Now, who are you?"

Opening her eyes again, she saw her nightmare looking at her; he was holding a large syringe in his hands. She also realized she was naked.

"Where are my clothes? Where am I? What are you doing to me?"

Severe pain shot through Jenny's body, as if someone had just shoved a thousand needles into the soles of her feet.

Joshua pressed what looked like a key lock for a car and the girl shuddered with another shock of unbelievable pain.

"I ask the questions here, slut. Now, who are you? Who do you work for? Where did you get the holographic device you were wearing?"

He waited for his answers, as he slowly rubbed the side of the transducer with his thumb.

Jenny caught her breath as the pain faded away and she looked back at the man.

"Go to hell you bastard I won't tell you anAIYYYY!"

Pain shot through Jenny's body, as if needles were being stuck into every part of her.

"Look little girl, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You tell me what I want to know and I do not torture you. On the other hand, I can inject you with this." Holding up the syringe, he continued, "This liquid will force you to tell me everything I want to know, but the bad news is that it will also destroy your brain. It will literally drain you of all your memories. It is quite painful to humans, but I will use it if I have to. The choice is yours. You have five minutes to decide."

Reaching up he scratched his head.

"Damned human hair makes me itch."

Setting his hand on his head, he twisted and pulled the hair, and with a pop, it came off in his hand, he looked at it for a second and tossed it in the corner. He felt some blood running down his head, so pulling his shirt off, he wiped the blood up and tossed the shirt on top of the hair. With a grin, he looked at the girl, turned, and walked into the other room.

Jenny wrapped her fingers around the chains and tried to pull them free. When they did not budge, she called Ken on the communications chip. 'Ken can you hear me?' she waited for an answer and tried again. 'Ken, Ted, Tammy, anyone can you hear me.' Suddenly she heard a voice she did not expect to hear.

'Jenny is that you?'

'Amy? I need help. The Brander has me. I cannot raise anyone else. I do not think he i... ' Suddenly a fist hit her jaw and Jenny's head snapped back. She cried out from the blow to her jaw, and then she jerked in pain, as more needles were applied to her body.

Joshua stood there shaking his hand after the punch. He was livid! His computer had detected some kind of transmission from her. Grabbing her jaw in his fingers, he yelled in her face.

"Tell me who you are talking to? Where is the communications device?" He turned the transducer from low to mild pain and watched the girl shrieked, as she felt razor thin wires slice her body and more pain shot through her as if every hair on her body was being pulled out individually.

"Tell me or it will get worse. I will use the chemicals."

Standing there, he turned it up a quarter notch and watched the girl writher in pain, her skin crawling from the intensity of it. Suddenly she went stiff and then lost control of her bodily functions, as she passed out.

Joshua looked at the girl as she swung there on the chains for a second and then pulled another band out of his pocket and forced it onto her head. Looking at her hanging there, he went back into the other room. Glancing back at the girl, he walked over to his computer on the north wall. Sitting down, he pulled the keyboard out, and started typing some commands. Around him, the base sealed itself and the defenses went active. After a few more commands, the wall right above the computer opened and he reached up for a device that looked like a blood glucose meter.

Walking back into the room he ran it around the girl's head and found something that shocked the hell out of him. Quickly he ran the scan over her whole body and was staggered by the readings.

"How is this possible?"

He knew it was impossible because humans did not have nanotechnology at this time, but her body was full of them. Therefore, it must be an off-world influence, which would mess up the slave trade if it got out. Looking closer at the scan, he did not recognize the type of nanobots in her system. It was almost as if they were bonded to her body.

"How did they find me? I was careful to replace each person taken with a clone of flesh." Completing his scan, he walked back into the computer room and went into the lab. Setting up one of the tanks for the girl, he filled the other with a flesh colored liquid. As the tank filled, he walked back to his computer and sat down. Looking at the screen, he reached up and grabbed the microphone. He typed a few commands on the keyboard and heard a hum.

"This is Joshua calling main base."

"Main base, here. You're early, Josh, have you a new shipment of specimens for us?"

"Negative, I believe I have been discovered by off-world influence. Has there been any undue activity?"

"A Tralcan fighter was seen attacking a human vehicle. The vehicle damaged the fighter with what looked like a dual pair of defensive lasers. The fighter was last seen heading out system several days ago. The track of the fighter was lost around the ninth planet. The track of the human vehicle was lost in your area. Do you wish to abandon your base of operations?"

"And you didn't notify me? Damn it, your negligence could endanger the whole mission."

"The decision has not been handed down yet whether to notify you. I repeat do you wish to abandon your base?"

"Yes, I had better," Joshua snapped back at the com unit. "I have captured a modified human girl. Should I bring her with me or destroy her?"

A pause came from the speaker as the message was digested on the other end. "How do you mean modified?

"Her body has been infested with nanobots. I am not sure what they do but they do seem to make her resistant to our drugs. She also seems to have some type of communicator planted inside her brain. The headband is blocking it for now, but for how long I do not know. At the time of capture, she had a small laser pistol on her, and a holographic emitter. What are my orders?"

A different voice came over the speaker.

"Prepare the slave for transport to the station. We will find out more when it is here."

Joshua sat up straighter in his chair when he recognized the voice of the base commander.

"As you command, my lord. I will lift off in one hour. It will take that long to strip the base."

"Negative on stripping the base. Set the self destruct if you must, but get her up here, now."

"At your command, Sire."

"Very well then, we will see you ... here ... in less than one hour!"

Ken lay there on the street, where The Brander's van had knocked him, stunned for a second. Then he tried to climb to his feet. Pain shot through his leg. He looked down and saw the bone sticking out. With a gasp of pain, he examined the fracture.

"Son of a bitch! I broke my leg! And, I think, some ribs."

Hearing a screech, he looked up as the SUV pulled up. Ted jumped out and checked on him.

"Damn it, you've got a broken leg and who knows what else. What the fuck were you thinking about when you jumped in front of that van? Besides rescuing Jen that is ... but you should know better than that, Ken."

Lifting Ken up in his arms, he slid him into the back seat next to Tina.

"Amy, we need a med-evac to the ship. Ken has a broken leg and The Brander has kidnapped Jen. I have lost him for now. I'm heading for Idlewild Park. Dispatch the cargo shuttle for an emergency pick up." Grabbing a towel from the back, he handed it to Tina.

"Tina I need you to hold this against the cut on his leg. We have to minimize the bleeding."

Tina took the towel and folded it up. Holding it to Ken's broken leg, her stomach turned at the sight of the blood.

"Ok Ted, but just so you know this is really gross."

"Right away commander, the shuttle is lifting off now. Your parents are onboard and the shuttle is heading for the park now," said Amy over the com system.

Ted whipped the SUV around, and asked, "How is he doing Tina?"

Tina sat in the back seat, her hand held the towel over Ken's bloody leg while her stomach tried to hurl her dinner up. Up front, Tammy was typing on a computer keyboard that had folded out from the dash.

"Ted, I can't stop the bleeding. He needs a doctor ... now! I think I am going to be sick from all the blood, also I think he has passed out from the pain. His breathing is not so good either."

"Hold on, Tina, it won't be long now," Ted said as he flew through a red light.

Tammy continued to type on the computer screen. "I have him. He is heading north on Highway 80. Jenny's life signs are strong, but she seems to be unconscious. Her system seems to be fighting off a powerful drug that is unknown to the computer or the bots."

Ted jerked the wheel, sending the SUV into the park.

"Keep tracking the son of a bitch," he said as he guided the big four by four around a tree.

In the back seat, Ken groaned in pain as he was bounced around on the seat. Tina tried to hold him in one spot, but the momentum from the vehicle hurled her on top of Ken.

"Take it easy, Ted! You could cause him more damage," Tina screamed at Ted.

"Sorry, Tina, I had to get over the sidewalk and into the park."

Ted slammed on the brakes and came to a stop.