Kahanoff, grief-stricken, was approaching, in a stupor, the charred, smoking remains of the alien giantess, near where a despairing Mark Wilson was kneeling, surrounded by some airmen. He felt deeply ashamed on behalf of the people of Earth for this brutal, senseless act, which had cut down the life of an innocent, blameless woman from another planet. She had not hurt anyone, her only sin was thumbing her nose to powerful, spiteful men and refusing to be treated like an object.

“We did not deserve her” Muttered Kahanoff, to no one in particular. The fire engines had almost extinguished the blaze, but Kahanoff did not want to look at what was left of the lovely giant woman. Fury mixed with a fathomless sadness bubbled inside of him, as he had no doubt that motherfucker Chilton was at the head of this heinous deed. Chilton and his fascist connections in the pentagon. Kahanoff was sure he had covered his tracks well and proving Chilton’s involvement was not going to be easy… the bastard had won.

Kahanoff saw Mark pull himself dejectedly to his feet, and was about to address him, when the giantess beguiling voice thundered:

“Mark? Are you OK?”

To everyone’s astonishment, the giantess suddenly sat up, rubbing her face and eyes to clear the soot and the remaining suds of the fire-retardant foam sprayed on her by the fire engines. She then kneeled and looked around, confused, but not as confused as the little people around her. When she saw Mark near her, her arm shot out at blinding speed and she delicately plucked her man up to her face.

Kahanoff could see that she was almost completely naked, only a few, blackened shreds of her dress remaining stuck to her in places. Her skin and hair were intact, only blackened by the remains of the incendiary gel that had splashed and burned on her from her now disappeared restraints.

Zava then stood up and retreated from the gathering throng of people, holding Mark in front of her face, running her fingers all over his body, pressing softly all over his tiny frame to check he was uninjured, bright eyes intent. Kahanoff could see she was visibly trembling. She seemed reassured that her fiancée was ok. Mark and Zava exchanged some words, inaudible to the rest of the people there and then the giant woman turned briskly to face the crowd. Some of them gave an involuntary step backwards.

Zava was stark naked, her gigantic, uncovered breasts heaving in evident stress. She was standing very straight, with her feet slightly spread, displaying her powerful legs; Kahanoff could not help but notice that her crotch was also fully exposed, but she did not seem to care. Mark was being held protectively with her right hand against her right breast, her left hand was to her side, clenched in a fist. Her face was terrible to behold, one side blackened by the fire, but smooth and unharmed, her expression stern, looking down to the crowd and the cameras. The contrast of the soot in her face with the whites of her eyes made them gleam. She looked like the goddess of war, ready to dispense punishment to the puny mortals around her. She looked around her once, but fearless, looking for more threats, but none came. Then, seemingly just now realizing she was naked, she unclenched her fist and covered her crotch with her left hand; she moved the arm he was holding Mark with to cover her breasts, but she did not change her stance.

She then broke the awkward silence in a voice trembling with barely contained emotion, betrayed by her heavy foreign accent:

“Does anyone care to explain to me what just happened?”

Kahanoff saw McAllister, who had been talking on his mobile phone, look back to see his assistant bring him the loudspeaker he had dropped. He also saw Belinda Patel and her entourage approaching the scene. The colonel took the offered loudspeaker and spoke:

“A few minutes ago, in the middle of the Secretary’s speech, we detected the restraints you had on had been hacked by an external source and were ready to explode on command. We now know they had been hacked since last night, but the perpetrators were likely waiting for the right moment to set them off. And that is not all. We also, minutes ago, managed to stop the hacking of the armed walking drones that had similar murderous intent. In case I was not clear enough, this incident was no accident. It was done on purpose, with malign, terrorist and homicidal intent and it was done by someone inside the military, as it is impossible a foreign power could so easily circumvent our digital firewalls and security protocols this accurately and quickly”.

“But… why nothing happened to me?” Said Zava, puzzled “I was only knocked out for a while… was it all a fake bomb, designed only to give me a scare?”

“I’m afraid not”, answered a serious McAllister. “Those bracelets were packed with napalm (an incendiary gel) and enough explosives to break a tank into pieces. I was there when they were printed into your restraints and they were no joke. They were designed to maim, stop and kill by severing your limbs from your body and covering you with fire to prevent further attacks if they were forthcoming even after that. The explosions and the fire were very real. You should be dead, burnt to a husk and torn to pieces, and from inhaling smoke and superheated air, but you are not. I have absolutely no idea why”.

A long silence followed McAllister words. Everyone (Zava included) seemed to be trying to think what could it mean that Zava had survived, apparently completely unscathed, what should have been a deadly attack. Zava broke the silence:

“C-can it happen again? Will they try to kill me again?”

“Over my dead body” Said McAllister. Even now, 200 heavily armed airmen are making a perimeter around us and 800 more are coming from Quonset Point Naval Air Station to protect you”. Only heavily armed men, no automatons, drones or anything remotely ‘hackable’. And be assured, we’ll get to the bottom of this. The hackers and their instigators will be caught. I swear to God they will”.

Zava then turned to the cameras and said, icily.

“I know they are watching us right now. I have a message for the assassin, you know who you are, I know who you are: Be thankful nothing happened to my Mark. I do not care what happens to me and I was not really harmed by this cowardly attack, as I am now only inconvenienced and VERY annoyed. I’m willing to let this go and let American justice deal with you. But if ANYTHING happened to Mark, NOTHING would stop me from finding you and doing justice on my own way. Keep that in mind in case you are thinking of trying again. Go back to the slimy rock you crawled out from under and stay there”.

Belinda Patel took the megaphone from McAllister and said:

“On behalf of the people of the United States and this administration, I want to offer you my heartfelt apologies for this dreadful incident. We will take all necessary measures to keep you safe and bring the authors of this terrorist attack to justice”. Zava nodded.

After this, Zava started to pace, but stopped herself, as she realized that she did not have three hands to cover her bosom, crotch and ass crack from the cameras and the little people around her. She decided to sit down, crossing her legs. From within her fist, Mark said:

“Colonel, may I ask you a favor”

“Anything, Wilson”.

“I think Zava will need help cleaning herself from the sludge that is covering her now. We do not have enough soap in the hangar to remove this sticky stuff from her skin and hair. I was wondering if you could ask a few of your airwomen to help her clean herself with the aid, perhaps, of one of the airport’s fire engines, inside our place?”

“Of course. I’ll ask around for some volunteers. I will ask Dr. Poole to examine her as well for any possible injuries”.

“Please be quick, I beg you”, said Mark, anxious to direct Zava’s mind to things other than the attempt on her life. She even now was trembling, though less than before. “After all, we do not want her to miss her flight”.

“Flight?” Said Zava, perking up. “What flight?”