Lasing Around - Part 1

She squirmed agitatedly on the hard, wooden chair in the nearly empty pantry.  Her black hair was long and straight, her brown eyes were deep and mysterious, her lips were a vivid shade of red.  She wore a low-cut dress and a shiny pair of peep-toe stilettos.  Glittering, silver earrings dangled by her cheeks. Her name was Sherlie Knights and she was an operative for a government agency whose very existence was a secret.  Yes, this is going to be that sort of story.

Sherlie sat tied to her chair with white ropes that contrasted starkly to her black clothing.  Her captors had circled, cinched, and knotted the ropes four separate times to bind her legs together.  Her forearms lay on the chair armrests, tightly tied.  Two coils of rope kept her back pressed against the chair back.  A white cloth cleave-gagging her did not keep her entirely silent, but there was no one around to hear her frantic pleas for help.

"Where is my partner?" she thought desperately.  "Doesn't Danny realize I'm trapped in here?"

She glanced anxiously at the door, thinking she heard the creaking sound of footsteps on old floorboards, but the noise subsided and no one came.  She looked to her left.  Bright red numbers shone on a display, rapidly shrinking down to zero.

"As usual, the Dastardly Intelligence Department is too late," the one-eyed leader of her captors had sneered earlier.  "You have arrived just as we have completed the moving of our operation elsewhere!  We now have no use for this abandoned farmhouse, and certainly none for little snoops!  We shall leave no trace of either behind!"

"Mpfff!"  Sherlie had tried to look defiant as she had tested the ropes binding her.

"Ah, no, you shall not wriggle loose that easily.  Perhaps you thought joining the DID would be all adventure and glamor.  I do not think you find anything very glamorous about your current situation, and my experience is that adventure is generally only entertaining in hindsight!"

He had smiled grimly at her discomfiture.  "Perhaps you played cops and robbers when you were a child and the memory of those games appealed to you.  Perhaps you even enjoyed having the boys tie you up!  Well, let me assure you, this is no game.  We are deadly earnest here.  We will deal with you most decisively!  When the timer reaches zero, there will be a controlled explosion that will destroy this house and anyone unlucky enough to be caught inside!"

Then he had left her.

"Watching the counter won't help," Sherlie told herself.  "I've got to get free of these ropes.  But, there are so many of them, and very little time left!"  She kicked her legs, but all that accomplished was to send her fashionable shoes flying across the small room.

She thought of her DID Escape Training.  The instructors always seemed to enjoy their work very much, tying her in a bewildering variety of positions.  Sometimes the solution was to search for knots her fingers could reach, but sometimes more resourceful thinking was required.

She leaned forward, raising the chair from the ground.  She steadied herself, took a deep breath through her nose, and pounded the chair back onto the hard floor.  The collision jarred her body terribly, but she closed her eyes and repeated the process.  After the fifth or sixth attempt, she fell abruptly on the floor, sprawled on a pile of wood that had once been the chair!  The armrests and back were still tied to her, but Sherlie concentrated on the ropes binding her legs.  All four were intricately tied, and the timer seemed to be moving faster than ever!  She worked quickly, grunting in frustration through the gag still between her lips.  Finally, the last knot came undone!  She raced out the house door in her stocking feet, just as a terrific explosion erupted.

The blast flung her through the air, but strong arms caught her.

"Sherlie!  I was wondering where you've been!" exclaimed Danny Winchester, settling her down gently.  He wore a black leather jacket over a white dress shirt, with the top two buttons open.  He had curly hair of medium brown, and olive eyes hidden behind stylish sunglasses.  "We rounded up the whole gang as they came out.  The Cyclops won't bother anyone again!"

"Yes, that's good news," she agreed, tossing her gag aside.  "Could you help me with the rest of these ropes, Danny?"

"Wow, were you tied up?" he asked.  "Sure, I can handle things.  There, you're all free now, thanks to my help!"

"Yes, thanks to your help," she agreed drily.  She eyed his athletic body appreciatively.  "The house is destroyed, but the barn is still standing.  I'm sure there's plenty of hay still inside…."

"You mean, you think there might be some evidence of the Cyclops's activity hidden there?  It seems rather unlikely, Sherlie, but it might be worth a look.  You can handle that by yourself, right?"

Sherlie sighed.  "Never mind, big fellow.  Let's just report in, shall we?"

………………..
Henry Barnes, PhD, gazed morosely at the rain forming small puddles in the untended garden outside his study.  He was reminded of another rainy day, many years earlier.  Now, memories are malleable things; possibly, what he recalled was in truth a mélange of separate events on different days, the characters a blend of many; perhaps his brain invented somewhat to fill gaps that had faded away.  But, to continue….

The year was 1983; actor-turned-politician Ronald Reagan sat in the White House; Generation X wanted its MTV; the movie to see was The Return of the Jedi.

The girl jauntily carried her umbrella, Barbie pink in color.  She spotted young Henry Barnes and waved excitedly, hurrying to his side and snuggling up close so the two of them would be sheltered.  Henry smiled dreamily; this was heaven to him.

"Did you fill out that worksheet for me, Henry?"

"Ye-e-e-es," he answered slowly.  "You know, I think you have an aptitude for science, but you'd learn things better if you did your own work."

"You're right, Henry," she agreed, glancing at the completed paper and tucking it into her raincoat pocket.  "But how do I find the time?   I'm so busy!   I'm determined to be president of the Booster Club in my senior year, so there's a lot of work to do now to set that up.  I have Young Republicans meetings to attend and rallies to organize, and then there's my sorority and, well, thanks for doing this Henry, really, I do appreciate it; you're a lifesaver!"

"You're welcome," was all the reply Henry could manage.

"Oh, one other thing."  The girl stopped walking.  "You know, about our plans for Friday night, well, like I was saying, I'm really busy with all these things so I'm sorry but I just can't make it, but, hey, thanks once again for the homework help, and maybe I'll see you around sometime, okay?  Bye!"

Henry watched in agonized disbelief as the girl flitted away, until her pink umbrella was swallowed up in the gray of the day.

"Girl trouble, Einstein?" asked the jock, startling Henry by suddenly coming up beside him.  "Don't worry about it.  You brainiacs are different from us regular guys; you're more happy making scientific discoveries than in real life.  Hey, maybe one day you'll discover how to get spaceships into hyperspace, so we can fly to planets and asteroids!"

"Hyperspace is something made up to get around the speed of light limitation in science fiction stories and movies," said Henry irritably.  "Also in comic books."  He instantly regretted that addition to his remarks; he didn't want it generally known how much he enjoyed them.

"You could invent a teleporter," suggested the jock.  "Or a death ray!"

"I'm very interested in lasers," admitted Henry.  "I've done some promising preliminary research; once I start taking more advanced classes and have access to the right equipment I'll be able to experiment…"

"Hey, look, Einstein," interrupted the jock, "that girl, she's coming back!"

"Where?" asked Henry eagerly.

"Right there!"  The jock pointed and knocked off Henry's glasses.  "Psych!" he shouted, laughing loudly as he darted away.

Henry fumbled in the mud for his glasses.  "I don't understand," he thought angrily.  "A university is a place people come to get educated, so why is it the ones who do that the best are the least popular?  Or could we at least feel as if we belonged?  If I were in charge, things would be different!  First, I'd ban all extracurricular activities!"  Henry frowned, for he actually belonged to a few campus organizations.  "But not the ones that matter, apparently."

"You're late, Barnes," accused the grad student as Henry stumbled into the lab, his sneakers squelching loudly.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, tossing his heavy backpack aside as he clambered onto a stool to begin his assignment.  "I was stopped by some students who had some questions about physics, and I thought it was important to answer."

"I didn't ask for your whole life story, Barnes," the grad student informed him.  "Keep quiet and do your work, yeah?"

"Right," agreed Henry weakly, running wet fingers through his drenched hair.  Despite his late arrival, he finished well before anyone else.

………………..
"This Barnes character seems to have popped up absolutely out of nowhere, Danny," said Sylvia Goodwin.  "Frankly, we're scrambling to get all the info we can on him!"

Danny Winchester fingered the necktie he had hurriedly put on before entering his supervisor's office.  "The way I see it, ma'am, all we need to know is that he's no good and that we need to stop him!"

Sylvia smiled indulgently.  "He has a certain boyish charm that gets him past my armor," she admitted to herself.  "It's a good thing too, or I'd have slung his ass out of here long ago, cute as it is.  I think he's responsible for quite a few of my gray hairs!"  She absently rustled a few papers.

"For many years, Dr. Barnes was a physics professor at a nowhere college; rather an underachiever, considering his stellar work earning his doctorate.  He rose up, though, and was eventually elected department chairman, but the next year his colleagues voted him out again…"

"They probably couldn't stand his dictatorial style!" exclaimed Danny.

"Do be quiet, Danny.  After that setback, he seemed to go into a funk; he didn't do much, but he had tenure, so they were stuck with him."

"Lazy bum," growled Danny.

"Not really," Sylvia corrected him.  "It only seemed that way, because he was actually secretly working on this laser of his that's got us all riled up now.  Once he had it perfected, he used it to bore into the vaults of a couple banks, clearing out millions of dollars, which he used to set up his headquarters on a tropical island.  He ran off without his wife, Marla.  Quite seems to have forgotten about her.  Reports are she's got the hatchet out for him over his disappearing act."

Sylvia flicked a page.  "Well, that's not relevant.  He's threatening to use that laser as a long-range weapon of destruction, and making all kinds of demands from the world governments not to, although the fact that he hasn't fired any demonstration shots tells us he probably doesn't have things working yet.  We're trying to figure out if he ever really can, of course, but we've got to take him seriously for now."

"Why not call in the Air Force, ma'am?" asked Danny.  "They can blast him to smithereens!"

"We don't know exactly how well protected his device is, and what he might do in retaliation," Sylvia explained patiently, "or how quickly he could build a replacement.  Besides, it's not our decision.  The president authorized a covert operation to destroy the laser and bring Dr. Barnes to justice, and that's what you and your partner will do!"

"Can my partner be Sherlie Knights?" Danny asked hopefully.  "After our last mission, I thought something might happen between us, romantically speaking,  if you know what I mean, only she completely missed my signals and acted all cold.  Perhaps if I had another chance to lay on the charm…"

"Ms. Knights has requested that she never partner with you again, Danny."

"Why did she do that, ma'am?  I thought we were getting along really well!"

Sylvia took a deep breath and decided not to answer the question.  "Your partner will be a recruit named Jill Friday who very recently completed her DID initiation.  She was supposed to attend this briefing with you, but apparently, her Escape Training is taking a bit longer than… ah, here she is now.  Welcome, Ms. Friday.  This is Danny Winchester, who will be leading you on the mission."

"I'm so sorry I'm late!"  Jill Friday raced through the office door, energetically rubbing her wrists.  "I'm so pleased to meet you, Danny!" she exclaimed. "I've heard so much about you; you're such a legend around here!"

"I would be delighted to show you the ropes, Jill," replied Danny, taking her hand and untying a white cord dangling from her upper arm.

"Oh, I must have missed that one!" Jill exclaimed, looking concerned.

"Not a problem," Danny assured her, flicking the errant strand into Sylvia's wastepaper basket.  "It happens to the best of operatives.  The important thing is to get free!"

"Well, you two seem to be off to a good start, I'm pleased to see."  Sylvia smiled faintly at Jill's enthusiasm, recalling her own early days in the DID.  "Quick action is called for here!  Hurry along to Techno and get your gizmos for this task; by the time you're outfitted your helicopter should be ready.  Danny can brief you on the mission as you go, Jill."

………………..
"Henry Barnes, you're under arrest!  You'll never escape these handcuffs!"

"What are you doing, Mandy?" demanded Henry.  He twisted his arms free and flung the flimsy, fuzzy handcuffs aside.  They splashed into the swimming pool and sank to the bottom.  "I don't have time for games."

"Someone's awfully grouchy today," observed Mandy Vourer, speaking playfully as she flopped onto a deckchair.  Her lemon-yellow hair was gathered into two frizzy, pompom-style pigtails.  All she wore was a bikini in cotton candy shades of blue and pink curling stripes.  "I'm going to switch your morning cup of coffee to decaf!"

"Mandy, please.  I've got a lot to think about right now, including, I'm guessing, the imminent, unwelcome arrival of the DID."

"The what?"

"The Dastardly Intelligence Department," Henry explained.  "A supposedly super-secret government agency.  After what I've done, they're the primary ones who will deal with me, I'm sure, so I've got to be ready."

"What are you going to do about them?"

"I arranged a few surprises in the labyrinth under the house for them," Henry assured her, and then studied her swimsuit.  "I thought I told you never to wear pink!"

"Well, if it bothers you, just pull a couple strings and I won't be wearing it anymore," Mandy invited, and then, seeing he didn't react, continued, "It's only partly pink, and besides, I don't see why you don't like it; I think it looks great on me.  Don't you think so, too?"

"What I think is you've been spending too much money lately.  How much did this newest extravagance set me back?"

"Well, I have to do something, dearest Henry, since I'm stuck on this boring island, and shopping online is my only entertainment.  You don't have to worry about anyone tracing my orders; they're brought here in the submarine from the drop point along with all the other deliveries, and since everything's paid for by secret bank accounts, it's all okay."

"It's not the purchasing as such that concerns me; it's the money you're making evaporate!"

Mandy nonchalantly unwrapped a piece of chewing gum.  "I don't see what all the fuss is about," she said, chewing energetically.  "You told me you got all that cash by smashing into a bunch of banks.  Well, go smash into a few more!"

"I didn't smash into them, as you so charmingly phrase it, Mandy.  Even originally, the laser was a chore to transport and now with all the elaborations I've added it can't be moved easily, although I'll have to get it up out of the basement eventually.  Also, I took a terrible risk with the banks before, and now that I'm known to the police…."  He shrugged his shoulders, letting Mandy draw her own conclusions.

Mandy stared at him in wide-eyed innocence.  She casually blew a round, pink bubble, popped it with a long fingernail painted silver, and slowly gathered the gum back into her mouth.  "You can do it if only you really try," she finally said.

"Mandy must go," Henry realized suddenly and sadly.  "It's a shame, because she's grown on me in a way none of the other girls I brought here ever did.  But her cutesy behavior I found so endearing at first is now just aggravating.  She's getting demanding, too, and I don't want a repeat of Marla."  He shuddered as he thought of his estranged wife, and wondered what she might be doing just then.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" demanded Mandy, bouncing up.  She wriggled on a pair of sandals and slithered into a tight, short t-shirt, decorated with ice cream cones spelling out, in curving letters:  I ♥ ice cream!  "You're plotting something; I can tell.  Out with it!"

"Get the spending under control," he told her brusquely.

"Or what?" she demanded.

"Or we're through."

Mandy placed a hand under his chin, lifted his face up, and bored her green eyes into his.  "Let's get one thing clear, shall we?" she intoned in a cold whisper.  "You ain't never, ever, gonna get rid of me.  Do you understand?  Hey!  Don't look away when I'm talking!  I asked you a question.  Do you understand that we're together forever, lover boy?"

Henry swallowed.  "Yes, dearest," he replied.  "The stress of getting this laser to work over long distances is getting to me, as is planning for the DID, so I'm not quite myself right today.  I didn't mean what I said."

"Well, that's a start, I suppose."  Mandy released her grip.  "Take a few minutes to get your thoughts straightened out, and when you're ready to apologize to me for reals, you'll find me inside.  Don't make me wait too long, though."

Henry watched her leave, impotent rage gnawing his insides.  "That was a mistake, alerting Mandy I was tiring of her, especially since she knows so much about my operations.  I won't be able to scoot her back home with a quick good-bye and a parting slap on the rear like I did with the others."  He stared absently at Mandy's deckchair and the small pile of boxes lying nearby, most marked with the Romantic Restraints logo.  He scratched his cheek with a finger.  "I'm going to have to do something… drastic with her."

………………..
"Danny!  Danneeeeeee!  Where are you?" Jill whispered anxiously into a slender communicator held in one hand.  "Ooh, why did the pilot drop us so far from the house, and why couldn't we stay together?  And why can't this thing, which Techno promised would work anywhere under any conditions, actually do anything?"

She had changed for the mission into a black, body-hugging, leather jumpsuit and matching boots that seemed at odds with her fresh, honest face.  Her dark brown hair hung loose down past her shoulders.  With an uneasy thought of wonder as to what else might go wrong, she closed the device, cupped her hands around her mouth and, abandoning all caution, shouted with all her might.

"DANNY!  Eek!"

A rope circled about her, pinning her arms to her sides and pulling her forward!

"Keep quiet!" Danny Winchester ordered, releasing her.  He had removed his tie, but otherwise was dressed as before.  He patted his jacket and a hidden mechanism retracted the ultra-thin rope.  "Do you want Barnes to send out a welcoming party for us?"

"I… no, I'm sorry, Danny.  Where have you been?"

"Looking around," the spy announced smugly.  "I found a secret way in!  Come on!"

They tramped through thick underbrush.  Danny led the way towards the edge of the island.  "There's a sewage pipe, I think that's what it is, that ends on the cliffs," he explained.  "It looks wide enough for us to walk inside, and it doesn't appear to be blocked.  We can lower ourselves in, no problem!"

"That's convenient," agreed Jill.  "Too convenient, it seems to me.  Danny, I don't think we should use it!"

"We are going to use it," Danny disagreed.  "There's nothing suspicious at all; it's the sort of oversight that evil geniuses make all the time that we can use to our advantage!  Hey, there it is!"

He swung himself inside eagerly, and impatiently gestured for Jill to follow.  "Nothing to worry about!" he announced.  "As I thought, there's plenty of room to walk, and it's clean and dry!"

"A clean and dry sewage pipe?" asked Jill dubiously, but she followed Danny.

"There!" he exclaimed after a few minutes.  He pointed overhead.  The pipe ended abruptly, but there was a hole above them; they could see a vague light.  "A way into the building.  I'll hoist you up!"

"I'm glad I'm not wearing a skirt," said Jill.  She reached for the sides of the hole as Danny lifted her.  She gingerly pulled herself up.

"What do you see?" called out Danny.

"It's an empty room.  It looks kind of basic, like it's not completed yet."

"I guess Barnes hasn't had time to finish building everything," decided Danny.  With a jump, he caught the lip of the hole and pulled himself up.  As Jill had stated, the room was empty.  The walls, ceiling, and floor were made of dull gray metal; there were no windows and only one small ventilation screen.  Fluorescent lights high above buzzed noisily, providing flickering illumination.  An open section of wall was the only exit… other than the way they had just come, of course.

"Forward!" ordered Danny, hurrying her out.

"Danny, I really think this is a mistake," said Jill.  They stood in a hallway much like the room they had just left.  "Let's go back!"

As if in answer, a steel panel thudded down right behind them, covering the exit!

"Barnes knows we're here!" exclaimed Jill.  "Ooh, I knew this was a trap!"

"The only thing we can do is continue moving," decided Danny.

They walked a few feet down the corridor, and then another panel slid down behind them.  Danny turned to stare at it in silent contemplation, but Jill continued walking.

"Wait for me, Jill, we need to stay together!" Danny called, hurrying forward.

He was too late, though.  Yet another panel crashed down in front of him!

"Jill, where are you?" he called out, banging his fists in frustration.  "Barnes!  You coward!  Come out and show yourself!"

It may have been his imagination, but he thought he heard the faint sound of maniacal laughter that faded away until all he could hear was the buzzing of the lights once again.  Suddenly, a panel opened to his left, revealing a new corridor.  It was another featureless hallway, with no sign of Dr. Henry Barnes, or, more importantly, he thought despairingly, of his partner….

………………..
"Feeling a bit lost, Jill Friday?"

"Dr. Barnes, if that's you, I advise you to give yourself up!" Jill shouted to the empty air.  "And how do you know my name?"

"Don't tell me the DID is so backwards that its agents are unaware of the existence of facial recognition technology?"  Henry chuckled.  He was in a much better mood, now that he felt he was firmly in control of a situation.  "And it's a simple matter for me to hack into computer databases!"

"Why don't we have a calm discussion, Henry?" suggested Jill.  "Come in here and talk to me!"

"I don't believe I'd care very much for that, Jill.  What you truly wish to do, I'm sure, is use your training to try to psychologize me into giving myself up, and I'd rather pass on the experience, thank you."

"Then what are we to do, Henry?"

"Well, Catwoman, oops, excuse my Freudian slip.  You see, it's the catsuit; I keep mentally adding a tail and pointy ears to you, Jill.  To answer your question, I would like to show you the laser that has you so hot and bothered, although it will have to be on my terms."

"And what are those terms, Henry?"

"First, I'll have to incapacitate you.  I'm a cautious man, Jill.  I'm sure you're skilled in unarmed combat, and who knows what little trinkets you've been issued?"

A hissing sound surrounded Jill.  She clawed the air frantically, suddenly aware of several nearby vents.   Henry was filling her small prison with gas!  Her movements slowly subsided as she curled up into a ball on the floor.

The pumps reversed, clearing the room.  A panel opened and Henry entered, carrying several coils of colorful ropes and a soft scarf, blue with orange diamonds.  "Mandy's toys will come in handy," he observed to the unconscious Jill.  He bound the spy's legs together, quickly and methodically, and knotted her arms behind her back.

"Ugh," coughed Jill, stirring slightly.  "What…?"

"Shh, keep quiet."  Henry formed a large, round knot in the center of the scarf.  He pushed it into Jill's mouth, tilted her head slightly, and tied the scarf ends together.  "I won't pretend to be the most athletic, but I think I can manage you for a short distance."

With a grunt, he lifted her over one shoulder and carried her from the room.

Jill's mind slowly became alert.  "Where's Danny?" she thought frantically.  "Probably wandering through a maze with no exit," she answered herself.  "And what does he" (meaning Henry) "have planned for me?"

She felt her strength returning, but Henry held her tight and the ropes held her tighter.  "Anxious, Jill?" the scientist asked.  "Yes, you should be!  You well should be indeed!"

To be continued....