* * * * *
Have you ever seen one of those fancy-schmancy new computer tablets? They're basically a portable flat-screen TV roughly the same size as an old Etch-a-Sketch. And, the one I was now being shown by Colonel Barker had been e-mailed some graphic footage. It showed a middle-aged woman (late forties/mid-fifties), of Hispanic heritage, wrapped up like an Egyptian mummy...
...in what appeared to be masking tape.
Standing next to her was a much younger man wearing some kind of belt-like harness around his upper torso, with his arms bound behind him. And, every time he tried to plead for the woman's life? He got an electric shock!
"Sergeant Major Rodriguez," intoned an electronically distorted voice: "As you can see for yourself, we have your wife and son. Your former commanding officer was contacted by someone whose psychic abilities have aroused our interest. If you wish to have them returned to you, alive and unharmed, you and your ex-teammates will use the resourcefulness you demonstrated, during the Vietnam War, to bring him to us. Otherwise..."
Here, a second shrunken man came into view. How do I know he was shrunken? From the fact that a giant hand lowered him into view! But, in his case, this second guy was an African-American, about my age, with Rastafarian dread locks. And, while mummy-wrapped like the woman, his bindings were apparently made of kite string.
He was laid on the floor to the right of Ramrod's wife. Whereupon, he began screaming and begging as a shapely white leg, encased in a black go-go boot, slowly descended over him. That is; till it almost obscured him from view.
That's when it came down with all the speed of a pile driver. Crushing him to a bloody pulp!
"We trust we've made the right...impression...on you. You now have ninety days to find him. When you do so, you will contact us via this e-mail account."
"JaneDoe@theparanoidsareright.com" is what appeared on the screen. Following which, Colonel Barker deactivated the tablet.
"That was two months, ago. Ramrod contacted me, immediately afterward. And I tried to contact Armitage at the cellphone number he gave me. But, he never picked up! Big surprise, right? So, I then got in touch with Monk and the three of us have been searching for Armitage, ever since. Calling on every old friend I have in the intelligence community who still owes me a favor or two."
"But, even with their help," I deduced: "...you've still not had any luck. And, now, with only one month left till the end of the deadline, you're desperate enough to recruit me."
He nodded: "One of my old friends told me of a rumor he'd heard. Specifically; that your maternal uncle works for an ultra-top secret outfit called M.A.C.H.O. I would, therefore, like you to contact your uncle and see if he can use his connections with them on our behalf."
"On one condition," I replied: "Tell me how you guys knew I'd be at Cahuenga High, today."
Barker half-smiled: "Your Cousin Sam told us. When we paid a visit to your Aunt Connie's dojo, in Tarzana, looking for you."
"I hope you won't mind if I verify that fact with them?"
Barker handed me a field phone with built-in scrambler and satellite uplink. A minute later, I was talking to Sam. Whereupon, I gave him a concise summary of what had happened to me at the high school.
"Mom will be glad to hear that," he replied: "The Sheriff's Department is calling it a shooting spree, by disgruntled teenagers, using a remote-control model airplane as a diversion."
"Heh!" I snorted: "M.A.C.H.O. certainly didn't waste any time whipping up a cover story! Which brings me to my next question. Can you describe the trio of guys who showed up looking for me, after I left the dojo?"
He could...and did. Satisfied, I told him about Barker's request for Uncle Jiro's help.
"I'll see what I can do," my cousin replied: "But, even after five years, Meriwether is still pissed at him for occasionally leaking info to you. That man holds on to grudges like a pit-bull with a T-bone steak!"
I chuckled, appropriately, before thanking him and hanging up. Then, I turned to Colonel Barker.
"So, where do you want to start?"
tbc
Giantess World
