Masters' mission nears its conclusion as she penetrates the security surrounding Room 497. But Sato has a final surprise up her sleeve. Who lives and who dies...?

CHAPTER THREE: continued

As we walked the corridor towards the restricted area, Mary confirmed to me that the ampoules in my belt pouch contained the colloidal nanoliquid that allowed access to the forbidden zone. "Each dose lasts 24 hours," she said.

"You better be right about this," I replied, injecting myself in the neck. "You're going to be right with me so it's slice and dice for the both of us if you're playing games." She nodded, her face pale but set.

Soon, we were at the entrance to the restricted area. "How many will be in the control room?" I asked in a low voice. Mary shrugged. "Three, four technical staff at most. No guards usually." I nodded, drawing my gun. I peered into the red lit corridor with the door at the end leading into the control area. Where everything had come unravelled.

I indicated to Mary that she should go ahead of me and we entered the corridor. At the door, she showed her eye to the retinal scanner and it opened up.

Inside, the room looked very different. It was brightly lit and a lot of the clutter seemed to have been cleared away since the first time I'd been in here. There were several geeks in the room and they looked up and gawped at me but soon went back to their work when they saw Mary. I sat down at a console away from the others and motioned for her to sit down next to me.

Opening a text editor window, I typed, "I DON'T WANT TO KILL THESE MEN. WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN HERE?" Mary leaned over and typed in reply, "PROBABLY PLAYING SECOND LIFE OR SOMETHING. I'LL GET RID OF THEM IF YOU WANT." I looked at her quizzically as she keyed some commands into the terminal. Over on the other side of the room, I heard a pager bleep. One of the technicians got up, looking at his PDA. He said something quietly to his nearest colleague and they both left the room. I leaned over, blocking her from the keyboard. "THEY'D BETTER NOT BE GETTING HELP OR YOU'RE DEAD!!" I actually typed two exclamation marks.

Mary shrugged. "THEY'RE NOT," she typed, issuing another set of commands. This time, the pager command got rid of the remaining three techs.

I quickly got up and looked round the corner to make sure they were gone, then went back to Mary. "Do you want to be tied up or shall I stun you?" I asked. She shrugged again, her eyes blank. I couldn't read her at all. She had either given up or she was up to something. I found some lengths of networking cable and quickly and securely tied her to one of the chairs, gagging her with a piece of her clothing stuffed in her mouth.

Then I quickly stripped off the guard uniform and helmet, untying my hair. Underneath, I was wearing a very brief white Gucci bikini with gold chain links that looked sensational against my deep tan. I rummaged in the beach bag I had retrieved from my room and got a pair of gold wedge mules and slipped them on. Very quickly, I freshened and tarted up my make-up. If all went to plan, Jewel was going to be walking out of here very much alive along the winding beach path. As I liberally applied gloss to my plump lips, I caught Mary's eyes on me and looked away quickly.

When I was happy with my appearance, I sat down at the terminal and got to work. First of all, I called up the video netstation server and opened up several security camera feeds as windows on my screen. One for the corridor outside this room, one more for the three banks of lift doors on this floor. I was also curious about Sato so I managed to locate a feed from outside her office on the schematic. Finally, the front entrance of the building so I could monitor arrivals and departures. I lined the camera windows up on the top half of the screen so I could scan them quickly every now and then.

I had decided while formulating this plan (which was going to the letter so far) that I could not afford to spend a long time rooting around the network this time round. The most important thing was that Vauxhall got access to some data to analyse. What I did was this. I knew the layout of the security firewall around the Fist's core systems pretty well from my previous visits. It was actually quite simple to add a small range of machines in Vauxhall to the inside of the Red Fist firewall. It was actually eight PCs in my cryptology lab back there. Once that was done, I popped a short encrypted message onto one of my colleagues' desktops back in Vauxhall and closed the session. The message read, "I've left the window open. Don't forget to shut it when you leave."

My deputy, Needham, would pick up this message and, having traced it back to here, suddenly realize that the whole Red Fist network was available to them at the highest security level. I hoped that this would give them enough information to start to bring this organisation down. If they closed the hole quickly enough, no one would even know that the breach had occurred. I could picture Needham now, coffee in hand, cigarette in mouth, looking gobsmacked at what I'd done. Mind you, he'd be pretty surprised by how I looked as well...

I hoped he would realise that my message also meant that the MI6 network was wide open to Red Fist as well. The only difference was that the Fist didn't know it. It was a calculated risk but Needham was a good man. Thorough. He'd know what was going on. Once he'd taken a snapshot of the data, he'd close the loophole.

I got up and walked over to the connecting door to the corridor that led to Room 497. I remembered the sense of foreboding I'd felt before and my heart started to pound. Steeling myself, I looked through. The corridor was brightly lit. At the end, the door to room 497. The room itself was in darkness. No repeat of the eerie blue light spilling through the window. I realised I was holding my breath. I exhaled.

I went back to the console to check the CCTV feeds. My mouth dropped at what I saw. The spiky hair and tall frame was unmistakable. As was the trademark black suit and the shades pushed on top of the hair. My heart began to pound with a chaotic mixture of fear and excitement. My gangster was walking down the corridor towards this room, carrying a large black suitcase in his hand.

I had a split second to decide what to do. Quickly, I opened the door of a storage cupboard in the far wall and untied Mary, bundling her into it. I followed, easing the door shut behind me, making sure that she could see my gun clearly, just in case she decided to try anything. Through slats in the door, we could both see what was going on in the room outside.

A few seconds passed, then the gangster entered the room. He looked around, then locked the door behind him. My heart fluttered with excitement on seeing him, but I tried to stay calm, collecting myself by breathing evenly. Behind me, I felt Mary shift and I turned my head to shoot her a warning glare. Then I turned back.

Fortunately, the gangster had put his case down away from the console I'd been using. I couldn't remember if I'd shut things down properly. What was he up to? He had opened the case up and was rummaging in it. Then he began to undress, hanging his suit neatly on a hanger that he got out of the suitcase. He then unbuttoned his black silk shirt, removed his sunglasses from his head, and finally removed his socks and boxers, fully revealing his beautiful, toned butt. Turn around... I thought to myself, becoming aroused despite myself, that familiar, lovely warm feeling coursing through my groin and breasts at the thought of that luscious cock between my velvety lips. I squirmed, trying to put the thoughts out of my head.

He folded all his clothes neatly and then sat down. I got a good glimpse of his cock from the side then, and smiled.

Now I could see not that the inside of the lid of the case was a mirror, with lights around it. Like a make-up mirror. And he was starting to put foundation on his face, with deft, practised strokes. What the...?

Then I started to notice other strange things. How hairless his legs were. And not just his legs - the armpits too and the rest of his muscular, lean body. He had no body hair at all, except above his semi-erect penis. And that was neatly shaved into a small, feminine triangle. And his toenails were painted a bright red. I was standing there mouth agape and almost let the door to my hiding place creak open, I was utterly stunned. He was a transvestite.

Like me, I thought, ruefully as I watched him finish applying his foundation. He then reached into the suitcase and got out a pair of flesh coloured breastforms, which he glued onto his chest and held there for several seconds. He then started to blend some thick-looking make-up around the edges of the breasts and over his upper torso and neck, blending the tone in with the foundation on his face. Soon, there was very little to show that the breasts were not part of his natural anatomy. He admired them in the mirror, striking glamour girl poses. Jesus, he was really getting off on this. His cock was now fully erect. I was getting pretty hot too, watching him, as he got a beautiful black, boned silk bustier out of his case and slipped himself sensuously into it. The wired lace cups pushed the false breasts up and together, giving him a spectacular cleavage. He looked in total ecstasy as he adjusted the cups and fondled himself. My God. This reverse striptease was turning me on totally. I felt like I was going to burst!

The bustier had six suspender straps hanging down, and next he got a pair of sheer, black, seamed stockings out of the case and rolled them up his lovely, smooth, toned legs till they were encased in black gossamer, fastening the clips deftly. He then set to applying the rest of his makeup. First the eyes, dusky, black and dramatic, in stark contrast to the porcelain paleness of his flawless skin. Just a hint of blusher on the cheeks, then the lips, full, red and glossy, set in a familiar, loathed permanent half-smile...

Oh, now I know you...

As he set to gluing the long, clear false nails on his hand and painting them a matching red, I felt a tremendous mixture of desire, anger, confusion and anxiety well up inside me. This beguiling creature with the spiky, punky hair and the angelic face set on the long, athletic body had ensnared me, tortured me, seduced and enslaved me. First as a woman, then as a man. Finally as this half man, half woman chimera.

Sato stood and stretched, luxuriating in his divine, his devilish beauty.

"Turn around," I said in a shaky, small voice, gun raised, emerging from my closet.

Sato raised his head, then turned slowly, letting his long, black wig drop >from his hands. "Well, well," he purred in his low, male gangster's voice. I shuddered, hearing that voice come from those luscious red lips. "If it isn't Little Red Riding Hood..." The cruel smile was there again after the momentary surprise that had crossed his face. He had now slipped on a pair of spike-heeled black leather ankle boots and had a black leather catsuit in his hands as he advanced towards me.

"S-stay there," I said, unable to keep my hands from shaking on the barrel of the gun, or my eyes from wandering down to that erect cock nestling shockingly amidst all the alluring female signs of his costume.

"What's the matter, my little Jewel?" he went on. "Not so keen on another man muscling in on your territory? You're not the only one who can play girls' games." But he stayed still, keeping one eye on my gun. I was careful to keep my distance. "How about one for old times?" he whispered, nodding down at his cock. "Come on, Jewel-chan. Daddy wants some pleasure..." The words sounded obscene coming from his pretty red lips.

"Shut up." I said, cocking the gun, which emitted its beep and whine. Indicators lit up along the barrel indicating it was fully primed. "I ought to kill you now."

"Yes," said Sato, sneering as he slipped into the black bodysuit, which squeaked and stretched tofit his form perfectly, except for that incongruous bump in his groin. "You ought to. But you've become a weak woman, Commander Pierce. Look at you, in your little white fuck me swimsuit and your fuck me sandals with your fuck me tan and your fuck me blonde bimbo curls. All you're good for is sucking cock and being punished. I'm a survivor. Don't forget that. I survive and escape, just like I escaped from the Aum-Shinri-Kyo dressed as a girl when the police raided us fifteen years ago. A survivor. Not like you, you little victim. I bet Bond likes having you around as his doormat. Does he tell you that you're good? He says that to all his bitches. But they never stick around somehow. Tomorrow, when he finds out about your death, you'll be just another notch in that Aston Martin gearstick. Used, discarded, forgotten. A pathetic shemale whore impaled on His Majesty's S-"

"SHUT UP!!" I said again. In a red mist, I began to squeeze the trigger.

Suddenly, I noticed movement behind me. Mary had emerged from the closet and was leaning over a computer console stabbing commands into the keyboard. I whirled the gun and she looked up. She still had her gag in her mouth. For a moment her eyes locked on mine, wide in mute fear, then in resignation.

I pulled the trigger.

There was a hissing report as a payload of flechettes left the barrel, then Mary's head exploded, projecting its own red, sticky payload over the wall and computer console. I watched as her headless body crumpled, ever so slowly, and collapsed to the floor.

I heard Sato's voice say, "Oh well done," right behind me and I turned instinctively to block his fist with my wrist. My gun went clattering off somewhere behind. Sato pressed his attack, fists flying. His karate style was Shotokan, pure - deadly but possible to predict - if you were fast enough. I blocked and blocked but could gain no advantage and was soon pressed back against the row of consoles. Sato leapt gracefully up above me onto the bank of desks and brought his right foot up in a high, straight-leg kick, the arms wide in the winter crane form. I anticipated and let my body go soft as the kick connected with my chin, using the momentum to flip myself back and up to join Sato on the desking.

For a second, we faced each other. Then I noticed him lose focus slightly and realised he was looking to the connecting door. At that moment I attacked, pushing him back with a fierce series of punches and kicks until he was teetering on the edge of the table, blocking me whist maintaining balance with the soles of his spike heels, which projected over the edge. Incredible strength and balance.

Finally, a side-foot trip overbalanced him and he fell, cursing, to the floor, a lithe creature of leather and spikes brought down. Without waiting, I leapt sideways over the bank of computers to where my gun had fallen, landing and scooping the weapon up, snapping it up and about only to see Sato disappearing down the corridor that led to room 497. Gasping with rage and excitement, I gave chase, wrenching the door open and launching a volley of shots after him. He dropped to the floor, phenomenal reactions, and they detonated noisily on the door to room 497. Suddenly I felt a wrench in my head and saw that the blue light was back, pulsing quietly in the window.

Sato scrambled to his feet and reached the door, opening it by punching a command sequence on the security panel. He went through and the door started to close. With a yell, I sprinted down the corridor, dropping the gun as I scrambled through the dwindling gap.

I smelt the zing of ozone and was enveloped in the tranquil pulse of the blue light.

"AH, MISS JANE!" boomed a voice that seemed to resonate from all about me, "WE WERE WONDERING WHEN THE NEXT LESSON WOULD BE." I looked up and around. I was in room 497. And I knew then that the world was insane and it was beyond saving.

The end of CHAPTER THREE
Jane Masters will return in CHAPTER FOUR