* * * * *
The HALO jump had worked as anticipated. So, while dangling like a marionette, Anjiro Watanabe used the momentary lull to don his shuko claws. Following which, he unbuckled himself from the parachute pack!
Naturally, he fell straight down her throat. Alhough, not all the way. As he fell, he angled himself toward the interior side of the gill slits on the right side of her neck! Thereby allowing himself to arrest his progress...
...by digging both shukos into the flesh of those slits.
Almost instantly, Comrade Rusalka felt a strange tickling sensation in her throat. As if she had tried to talk and swallow an over-sized morsel of her favorite food at the same time. Consequently, she began to wheeze and hack and cough like a cat with a hairball in its throat!
"ULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLK!"
Yet, Watanabe was not done with her. He used the suction cups tied to his knees to doubly secure his present perch, so that he could use his right hand to wield the Golden Dagger-axe of Hsia Jie, while still clinging by his left hand. When that had been accomplished, he began using the dagger-axe to cleave at the gill slit in front of him!
Another ninja, on the exterior side, would have immediately begun to witness a series of vertical slashes appearing on the epidermis of that gill slit. As it was, Major Elkhorn (at the controls of the F-100-F Super Sabre) only knew what was happening from the way Comrade Rusalka was beginning to react. Slapping a webbed hand to the right side of her neck in obvious pain! So, the marine aviator decided it was time to initiate the second phase of the plan.
He immediately made a one hundred eighty degree turn, and began to climb. When he had ascended an additional one hundred feet, he doubled back...
...and started a power dive towards the mer-giantess.
"Time to eat Bullpups, baby!* "
Even as Major Elkhorn pressed the red button for firing those projectiles, Watanabe had finished hacking a slit through the webbing separating the mer-giantess' little finger from her ring finger. As a result, he just barely managed to squeeze his way out, when he heard the tell-tale "whoosh" of rocket-powered projectiles being fired.
"Oh, shit!!!"
Watanabe immediately dived off of Comrade Rusalka's right shoulder. Assuming the fetal position of a "cannonballer" for most of the dive. Only to unfurl himself during the last ten feet;...
...with the Hsia Jie-ji held straight above him.
SPLASH!
He hit the water just as the Bullpups hit their target; the blood-covered right hand of Comrade Rusalka. Almost instantly, there was an thunderous explosion. Followed, a moment, later by a fluorescent green cloud of some kind! The mer-giantess naturally yelped in startlement and anger, as she shook her enormous right hand as if that, alone, would be sufficient to ease the pain.
Meanwhile, the Super Sabre had already banked to its pilot's right, and made another hundred foot-descent before leveling off. Consequently, Elkhorn almost missed what happened next.
The mer-giantess had begun to shrink!
* * * * *
OVAL OFFICE OF THE WHITE HOUSE
(DECEMBER 7, 1962)
"So, let me get this straight," said John Fitzgerald Kennedy: "Those Bullpups were loaded with some of the stuff your people brought back from Cuba, two months ago?"
Bryce Paxton nodded: "Yes, Mr. President. Preliminary analysis by some of the eggheads at ARPA indicated that this solution activates fastest when absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Porous absorption taking a lot longer (as best exemplified by Agent Garcia's shrinkage). So, it was decided that Brevet Captain Watanabe..."
"Brevet Captain?" echoed the President.
"Yes, sir. As only commissioned officers can ride in a naval jet, Capt. Watanabe's rank was purely a brevet promotion for the duration of this particular mission. And, it was decided that he would have to risk being devoured in order to be in a perfect position to cut his way out of her throat. Thereby, literally, getting blood on that giantess' hands!"
"I see. And, how far down did this giantess shrink?"
"Well, let's put it this way, sir. She was treading water--like any _normal_ person--when the good captain finally resurfaced. So, he had no trouble putting her in a sleeper hold, as a result!"
"Thank God for small favors. Where is she, now?"
"For the time being? In solitary confinement, within the women's wing of the Federal penitentiary at Atlanta. After all; she _did_ try to assassinate the Sec-Def!"
"Too true. Which brings me to the other reason for this debriefing, Bryce."
"Other reason, sir?"
"Yes. After talking it over with Bob, and seeing the videotape from the Thunderflash for myself, I've decided to veto mass production of the Nike-Artemis missiles. Instead, I'm going to establish a new division within the CIA. The Miniscule Operations Command...of which _you_ will be the deputy director in charge!"
Paxton was genuinely stunned: "Me, sir?!"
JFK grinned and nodded: "Your people alerted us to this danger. So, it seems only fitting. And, as the head of Mini-Ops, you'll be answerable only to me and the oversight committee I'll form to act as my occasional proxy. Said committee to be composed of the Sec-Def, Brigadier General Phillips, Rear Admiral Buckler, and one or two others yet to be named."
Paxton did not fail to note the new ranks of the other parties mentioned. But, he kept a good poker face and said nothing...except for four little words.
"Thank you, Mr. President."
tbc
Giantess World
Chapter End Notes:
*Bullpup: obsolescent air-to-surface missile.
ARPA: Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Defense Department. Better known, today, as DARPA.
ARPA: Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Defense Department. Better known, today, as DARPA.