“Yar’s in trouble!” Adrianne yelled, surging forward.
The crowd ringing Yar parted abruptly as Adrianne approached … not to allow her access, but to avoid the very large body that came skittering across the floor toward her. Adrianne looked down in stunned surprise at Yar then up at the bull of a man that was advancing toward them. “Get up! Quick!”
Yar leapt to his feet, looking around just in time to receive the fist the bouncer threw at him. Adrianne didn’t think. Grabbing the heavy glass her drink had been served in, she heaved it at the man, catching him right between the eyes. The man staggered back a couple of steps, shook his head, and started toward her with a look in his eyes Adrianne didn’t like at all. Adrianne clutched Yar’s arm. “Don’t just stand there! Do something!”
“What?” Yar asked.
“Hit him!”
Yar swung at the man, but it was obvious even to Adrianne that Yar had never been in a fight in his life. He clipped the guy on the jaw purely by accident. Fortunately, Yar had about sixty pounds of solid meat packed into the punch and a good bit of momentum. The guy hit the floor and skidded backwards.
The crowd, which had seemed too stunned to react up until that moment, broke into a free-for-all as two men leapt out of the way, spilling their beer on the man and woman standing next to them. The two who’d been drenched in beer leapt to their feet. The woman slapped one of the ‘culprits’. The man with her punched the other guy in the face. Within seconds the bar was a heaving mass of struggling bodies, swinging fists, flying bottles and smashed chairs. Screaming women were running in every direction or throwing everything they could lay hand to.
The two federal agents burst through the front entrance just as all hell broke loose and were almost instantly absorbed into the general fray.
Seeing them, Adrianne realized they had ‘lucked’ into the perfect distraction for an escape. Grabbing Chance by the back of his shirt, she yanked on it to get his attention. The guy he’d been about to clobber seized on Chance’s distraction and jacked his jaw sideways. As Chance’s head snapped in her direction, Adrianne shouted. “We have to go now. Cut it out.”
Looking around, she discovered that Darcy was already halfway to the door.
Yar, she discovered, was on the floor again.
Grabbing a beer bottle, she cold cocked the guy standing over him. “Get up. We have to go.”
Yar scrambled to his feet, but before she could guide him to the door, he’d slugged the guy that had put him on the floor.
She’d say one thing for him. He was a fast learner.
He was grinning from ear to ear as he went for the next man.
Just like a man!
“You can beat somebody up later. I promise. Right now, we have to go. The cops’ll be here any minute to arrest everybody in the place.”
That got his attention. Grabbing her hand, he plowed the way through the bar to the entrance, belting everyone that stepped in his path on the way out.
They were racing toward the van when Chance came out the door as if he’d been pitched out, executing a belly flop in the parking lot.
“Quit screwing around, Chance!”
Shaking his head, he managed to drag himself to his feet, looked around in confusion for several moments and finally staggered toward the van.
They were almost a block away before they caught the first glimpse of flashing blue lights.
* * * *
Under the circumstances, they decided to stop by the hotel room long enough to allow Chance and Yar to clean up. Yar was upset that he’d lost his shirt in the fray and Adrianne wouldn’t allow him to go back for it. After the two men had cleaned up, they headed out once more, stopping at a discount store to buy Yar another shirt. The man was leaving with the horses when they finally arrived at the appointed spot. They had to flag him down and Adrianne’s stomach tightened another notch when she realized how closely they’d come to completely demolishing their plans. The mixed drink had helped, but that went the way of the wind when the fight had broken out and they had such a close call with the cops.
Once they’d picketed the horses, they waved the man off, promising to have the horses waiting for him when he came back for them the following evening. Adrianne hoped the horses would be waiting for him and not corralled on a federal reserve.
As soon as the man was out of sight, Adrianne and Yar mounted one horse, while Chance mounted the other. Darcy had been designated as lookout once more, to stay with the van. Adrianne had brought her backpack filled with her ‘break-in’ tools and made certain Yar had the Orgasmizer. She needn’t have worried. Yar kept a close watch on it. And who could blame him? It was the only thing he owned. She felt like a total bitch for coming up with the idea of taking it in exchange for her help.
Despite the fact that they’d covered the horses’ hooves to muffle the sound, they didn’t dare take the horses too close to the base. When they were within a half a mile of the base, they dismounted, tied the horses securely and made the remainder of the trek on foot.
It was pitch black. Only a smattering of stars could be seen overhead, most of them having been obscured by a heavy cloud covering. It was a blessing and a curse rolled into one. They could barely see, and they didn’t dare use flashlights, but at least they had the comfort of knowing they probably couldn’t be seen either.
Unless the guards were using those night vision glasses.
Adrianne shook the thought off, but she breathed a sigh of relief when they managed to reach the fence without incident. Dropping her back pack, Adrianne dug out the heavy wire cutters.
“Wait!” Chance cautioned. “It might be electrified.”
Adrianne swallowed a gulp of fear. “If it is, we’re screwed.”
“It probably isn’t, but it would be a good idea to check before we try to cut into it. You got a screwdriver with a rubber handle?”
She dug around and finally produced the screwdriver she’d bought. Chance peered at it for several moments and finally cautioned them to get back. Gingerly, he touched the tip to the wire. To everyone’s relief, nothing happened.
“Now we use the cutters.” Tossing her the screwdriver, he clipped one long line up the fence, then one across.
“You’re not going to cut it out?” Adrianne asked a little doubtfully.
“I’m hoping it won’t be noticeable if we leave it like this.”
She nodded and they slipped through the small opening one at the time, then scurried across the open area to the nearest building, flattening themselves against the side of it.
Peering around the corner of the building, Adrianne saw that two guards were stationed outside the brig, just as they had been earlier. She ducked back. “They’re standing squarely in front of the door. It was too much to hope, I guess, that they’d be walking around the building and give us a chance to sneak inside.”
“I think me and Yar could sneak up on either side of the building and take them.”
“You’d probably have a fight on your hands, in which case everybody that was anywhere around would come running.” She glanced at Yar. “How does that thing of yours work on men?”
Yar looked taken aback, then revolted. “My … tool? I cannot!”
Adrianne bit back a chuckle. “The Orgasmizer.”
He looked relieved and then uncertain. “It was designed for women. I do not know.”
Adrianne shrugged. “My guess is, pretty much the same. Anyway, we’re about to find out.
They crept around to the back side of the building, then divided up. Adrianne took the Orgasmizer and sent Yar and Chance around the other side to make sure they subdued the guard on that side while she took the other one out. When she reached the front of the building, she waited for several moments to make sure Yar and Chance had had time to get into place, then made a psst noise.
The guard stiffened and turned slowly to look behind him. As he turned, Adrianne touched his hand with the Orgasmizer. He jerked, as if he’d been electrocuted,
his eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled at her feet, jerking. Leaving him, Adrianne rushed around the front of the building. Yar and Chance each had hold of one of the other guard’s arms. Chance had his hand clamped firmly over the man’s mouth. Adrianne held out the Orgasmizer and advanced until she was within inches of him.
“I’d let go of him if I were you.”
The moment Yar and Chance released the man, Adrianne stuck the business end of the Orgasmizer to him. As the other guard had, he jerked as if a bolt of electricity had gone through him and collapsed in a writhing heap on the ground.
“She-it,” Chance exclaimed. “What is that thing, some kind of stun gun?”
“Oh, it’s stunning,” Adrianne said with a chuckle, “but it probably won’t hold them long. We need to get them tied and gagged and get moving before somebody notices the guards are missing.”
Yar and Adrianne left Chance binding the guards and moved cautiously inside. There was only one man on the inside. Adrianne caught him with the Orgasmizer as he rose from his chair. A quick search of the desk the man had been sitting at produced the keys to the cell behind him.
Serena lay sprawled on the third bunk to the right. She didn’t stir when they approached. More than half expecting it to be a trap, Adrianne approached the woman cautiously. She discovered, however, that it was no trick. Serena was conscious, barely, but her eyes were glazed. “Damn it! They’ve drugged her.”
Yar nodded. “She is a great warrior. They would not have captured her otherwise.”
“What’ll we do now?”
“I will carry her.”
Adrianne frowned, looking doubtfully at the Amazonian proportions of the woman. “Can you?”
“I must.” He sat on the edge of the bunk and pulled Serena upright. She stared at him blankly a moment before a drunken smile curled her lips. “Zat you, Yar?”
“Yes, Mistress Serena.”
She patted him on the cheek … actually it was more of a slap, though Yar didn’t flinch. “Good boy,” she murmured before her eyes rolled back in her head.
Placing his shoulder under her belly, Yar stood, shifting her until he had her balanced. Chance met them in the outer room. “God almighty! You weren’t kidding, were you?”
He whirled then and led the way out. They were still struggling to get through the cut in the fence when the alarms went off. Yar had to put Serena down and drag her through the opening. By the time Adrianne managed to get through, he’d pulled Serena across his shoulders again. Instead of running, however, he turned to help her.
“Go! You’ve got enough to worry about. I can take care of myself.”
He kept pace with her as she ran, however, and she had the feeling that he was holding back on her account, rather than because of his burden. When they reached the horses, he carefully placed Serena across the horse Chance had ridden, then grabbed her around the waist and tossed her onto the other one, climbing up behind her.
They kicked the horses into a gallop just as a search light caught them in its beam.
Adrianne was glad they had brought the van as close as they dared. It seemed doubtful they would have out run the soldiers otherwise, for they weren’t hampered with the need to be quiet. Before they had covered more than half the distance between the base and the van, the very distinct sounds of a military vehicle reached their ears.
Adrianne craned around for a look back and her heart leapt into her throat. They weren’t going to make it. The horses were willing, but they were no match for the horses under the hoods of the trucks.
The trucks were barely a quarter of a mile from them by the time the van came into view, and closing fast. “Darcy! Start the van!” Adrianne shouted.
To her consternation, nothing happened. “Darcy! For God’s sake! They’re right behind us!” she screamed.
Darcy stepped out from behind the van at just that moment, caught in the high beams of the military trucks that were right behind them. Even from a distance, Adrianne could see that Darcy’s eyes were wide with fright. What she couldn’t understand was why Darcy was just standing at the end of the van, looking frightened, instead of jumping into the driver’s seat. In the next moment, she discovered why. Two men stepped from behind the van.
It was the FEDS.
Adrianne felt sick. They had the military behind them and the FEDS in front and nothing but two tired horses.
Turning in Yar’s arms, she kissed him quickly. “Put me down and go! You and Serena might still be able to make it.”
He looked surprised for a moment, and then his jaw set. “No.”
“The horse can run faster without two people on it. Chance can help you and Serena find the way back to the pod.”
As she was struggling to slide off the horse, a blinding light caught them abruptly.
Stunned, Adrianne looked around, and then up, wondering how she could have failed to hear a helicopter.
It wasn’t a helicopter above them, however. It was a sleek, silver cigar. The military vehicles came to a screeching halt as the vessel settled near the ground and ten of the biggest women Adrianne had ever seen in her life leapt from the portal that opened near the bottom of the craft. Screaming like wild Indians, they fired light bursts from some sort of guns that disintegrated the military vehicles to dust even as men dove from the trucks in every direction like rats off a sinking ship, throwing their guns down and running back toward the base as fast as their legs could carry them.
“Serena’s sisters,” Yar said, a note of resignation in his voice.
Chapter Eight
Serena was still a little groggy, but had recovered enough to get off the horse and stand. “Sylvia?” she said a little doubtfully as the tallest of the women approached her.
Sylvia smiled wryly. “It is a good thing for you, Serena, that these Earth barbarians were stupid enough to hold you in the same place as your ship. Without the tracking chip, we could not have found you. For that matter, it is a good thing that you are the baby. Otherwise we would not have come to look for you.”
Serena grinned and threw her arms around her oldest sister, hugging her tightly.
“As always, your timing is perfect.”
Apparently oblivious of the Earth barbarians, the sisters shared a round of hugs and excited conversation for several moments, but, to Adrianne’s dismay, they had not forgotten the situation. They simply saw none of the Earth barbarians as a threat.
After they’d reacquainted themselves, they turned to study the Earthlings.
Chance was still seated on his horse, staring at the women with his mouth at half cock. Unnerved by the women, Adrianne inched a little closer to Yar. To her surprise Yar placed an arm around her protectively.
Serena didn’t miss the movement, or its implications. Her eyes narrowed for several moments. After a moment, she approached them, stopping a few feet away and placing her hands on her hips. Yar stared at her a long moment and finally released Adrianne and went down on one knee, bowing his head. “I rejoice that you are freed, Mistress Serena.”
Serena smiled thinly, patted the top of his bent head, and turned her attention to Adrianne. “You helped me to escape.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
Adrianne blushed in spite of all she could do. “I made a bargain with Yar to help free you in exchange for the Orgasmizer9000. We don’t have anything like that. It would make me rich.”
To Adrianne’s surprise, Serena looked her over with a touch of respect. She smiled faintly. “I am forever amazed at how puny Earth women are, but you have potential.”
Adrianne smiled. “I’m pretty amazed myself at the women of Barbron.”
Serena chuckled.
“These others--they helped also?”
Adrianne looked around. “Chance, over on the horse … and my friend, Darcy. The two men are Federal Agents. They came to stop us.”
Serena jerked her head in some sort of signal and her sisters moved, surrounding the two federal agents.
“You and your friends may go.”
Adrianne glanced at Yar. “What about Yar?”
“My slave?”
Adrianne’s lips tightened, but she held her temper in check. It was obvious from Serena’s reception to her previous comment that Serena was a business woman. “I will barter for him.”
Yar glanced at her sharply, but Adrianne ignored him.
A gleam of interest entered Serena’s eyes. “What?”
“Those two men over there.”
Serena threw back her head and laughed. “They are not yours to barter.”
Adrianne couldn’t help but smile back. “It was worth a try.”
“What about the machine there?”
Adrianne glanced at the van. “It’s not mine. I have a car, though … it’s back in Vegas. But you’ll have to go there anyway to get the pod Yar used,” she added hastily.
“Done!” Serena held out her hand and although Adrianne was a little surprised at the very human gesture, she shook hands with the woman.
Serena smiled. “I’ve always had a fondness for things from Earth.”
Adrianne looked around. “I’ll take us a while to get back.”
Serena shook her head. “You’ll go with us. I get the car, then you get my slave.”
“What about those two?” Adrianne said, jerking her head in the direction of the agents. “They’re not just going to let us leave.”
Serena turned, studied the two men for several moments and finally walked over to them. After studying them for several moments, she faced the black man. “I’ll take this one.”
“I think not!” he said in a deep, melodious voice and threw a punch at her. Serena was far quicker however, and apparently just as powerful. She knocked him flat, then leaned over, pulled him up and threw him over one shoulder, patting his ass. “Nice.”
The other agent made a dash for it, but was quickly subdued and one of Serena’s sisters tossed him over her shoulder and started back toward the craft.
Adrianne turned to Darcy. “I’ll see you back in Vegas.”
“You trust them?” Darcy whispered worriedly.
Yar and the Orgasmizer 9000 Page 7
