After arranging for one of his team to replace them on the roof, Gaz led Kayla down to the floor beneath Tensall’s office. She called for Ray to join her, and they waited patiently while the breaching team cut through the steel supports in the ceiling.

Eventually, they were able to rip away the ventilation ducts, revealing a small hole that opened into a dark space.

“Hello?” A voice cried. “Who’s there? I can’t see anything in here.”

Kayla almost laughed, but stifled it while one of the team shoved chemlights through the gap.

“Sir?” he yelled. “Can you identify the opening?”

There was a scrabbling noise, and Tensall’s voice became louder as he pressed his face against the vent.

“Thank God you got here. I thought I was losing my mind—there’s no power in here at all.”

“Sir, please listen to me—” the Marine began patiently.

“And what the hell took you so long? I’ve been banging the walls and screaming. Didn’t my secretary call you? I don’t mind telling you I will be conducting a full investigation—”

“Sir, I want to get you out of there, but I need you to listen.”

“Yes, obviously,” Tensall snapped, but fell quiet.

“The floor is too thick for us to cut through—it would take hours. We need to use explosives to widen this hole enough for you to pass through.”

“Really? But that will make a mess of my office.”

Kayla exchanged a look with Gaz, who was grinning and shaking his head. The patience of the breacher was impressive. She would probably have started hurling insults already.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have a choice,” said the Marine. “While we set this up, I want you to make a barricade with whatever furniture you can in the far corner.”

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Tensall grumbled. “Perhaps it would be better to go with the slow option.”

“Director, this is security chief Slake,” Gaz said in a neutral tone. “We are in an emergency situation. There has been a terrorist attack on Rackeye and we must extract you immediately.”

“Good god, and do you think they’ll try to come here?”

“Our information is that there may be armed elements on the way as we speak.”

Tensall squealed with self-righteousness. “I demand that you immediately contact—”

“Sir,” the breacher interrupted loudly. “We have to act now. Please start preparing yourself for the blast.”

Ray mimed strangling herself, while Kayla clamped a hand over her mouth. The other men exchanged smiles, then quickly passed explosives to the breacher.

Everybody retreated to the safety of nearby rooms, and, when Tensall announced that he was ready, the charge was blown. Kayla felt the mild thump of the pressure wave as dust billowed across the floor. She stepped forward towards the office threshold, when Gaz put a hand on her arm. He waggled his eyebrows and held a finger up to his lips. Kayla nodded, and she and Ray stayed back, out of sight.

“Sir?” the breacher called as he strode out towards the opening. “Are you okay?”

“Yes!” a shaken voice squeaked.

A great deal of scuffling and cursing followed as the men struggled to lower Tensall through the new opening, which was apparently only just wide enough for him to squeeze through.

“Director,” Gaz said eventually, “It’s good to see you again, and in one piece.”

“Yes, yes,” Tensall muttered. “Well, perhaps this little operation could have gone better, but at least it’s over with. So, what’s the plan now? Where’s Divine?”

“She’s already at the secure facility, sir. We are preparing to move there now.”

“Hmm… well, there are perhaps some things I should take… Would one of you mind hopping back up there?”

“Of course, Director,” Gaz said smoothly. “Krenn?”

A short silence passed during which, Kayla suspected, several expressions were discreetly passed back and forth contrasting the absurdity of such a task against its necessity as part of the roleplay.

“Yessir, happy to,” the unlucky Krenn said eventually, with what sounded like exaggerated cheerfulness.

“Very good of you, very good of you,” Tensall went on. “And uh… how about my young friend?”

“Sir?” Gaz asked in a confused tone.

“Well, you know…” Tensall said in a hesitant voice. “My special guest?”

“You remember Chief,” the breacher said confidently. “Melissa, something?”

“Oh, wait” Gaz said, “do you mean Mandy?”

“Milani,” Tensall snapped. “I must keep her close, she means absolutely everything to me.”

Stolen story; please report.

A velcro strap opened. “This is her in the picture, isn’t it?” Gaz asked.

“Yes, obviously,” Tensall said, with increasing irritation. “Why don’t you get a move on and—”

A smack interrupted his voice, followed by the loud thump of something heavy hitting the floor.

“Holy shit,” the breacher said with relief. “I’ve been waiting to do that since we cut through.”

Kayla leaned her head out of the room to see the man nursing his knuckles while an unconscious Tensall was laid out on the floor.

“You guys are very good,” she said happily, and was rewarded with a collection of embarrassed smiles. “What’s next?”

A camera was set up in one of the conference rooms and Tensall was tied into a chair with his hands handcuffed behind him and a cloth bag over his head. He soon came to, and began squirming and wailing while Kayla watched placidly from the corner. A thought struck her, and she dashed downstairs to the prisoner room to grab Weslan.

He complained and made demands, but a decent amount of duct tape from her pack put a stop to that. Then she frog-marched him up to the conference room, shoved him into a chair, and secured his wrists behind the back of it with flexicuffs.

Gaz gave her a questioning look.

“It’s about time he grows up,” she said.

Weslan watched in mute rage as Gaz activated his camera, then pulled the hood off Tensall’s head.

The furious director stared at his captor. “Who the hell are you and what—”

Gaz pulled his sidearm out of his holster and placed it gently on the desk. Tensall’s eyes grew wide as they fixated on the weapon.

“I am Gareth Slake, a private investigator with Eagle Rescue Services. This recording is made for the VennZech corporation, so, Director Tensall, you are speaking to your employees. Will you state your name and title, for their benefit?

“Why should I do anything that you say?” Tensall said in a weak voice.

“Because if you don’t then I will kill you, and the employees we hold captive downstairs.”

Weslan groaned against the tape over his mouth. Standing near the conference room door, Ray made eye contact with Kayla and raised an eyebrow.

Kayla shrugged. They needed answers, and a little intimidation wouldn’t hurt.

“If I do this sick video,” Tensall said “you will let us all go?”

Gaz nodded.

“Are you terrorists? What do you want?”

“State your name and title, please.”

Tensall paused for a moment, then did so. Gaz pulled the photo of Milani out of his pouch, held it up to the camera, then showed it to Tensall.

“Who is the individual in the photograph?” Gaz demanded.

“I have no idea,” said Tensall.

Gaz gave a kurt nod, and Krenn, who had been standing off to one side, stepped forward. His arm blurred, and Tensall doubled over with a shriek of pain.

“When we extracted you from your office, you positively identified the individual in the photo. If you try to lie to me one more time, I will kill a hostage.”

For the first time, Tensall seemed to notice Weslan. He blinked as he struggled to recognize the young agent.

“Genny? Is that you? God, I’m sorry you got caught up in this. You mustn’t believe anything they make me say.”

Weslan nodded slowly.

“One more time, Mr Tensall,” Gaz said. “Who is the individual in the photograph?”

“Milani Mayosi.”

“Who is she?”

“She works for the VennZech corporation.”

Gaz grabbed his gun and aimed it at Weslan’s head.

“No, no,” Tensall said frantically. “You don’t understand. She’s on file as my assistant and draws a monthly salary. It’s the truth, I swear!”

“How old is Miss Mayosi?” Gaz continued as he replaced the gun on the desk.

There was a long pause.

“Don’t make me repeat myself, or I will hurt you again.”

“Fifteen,” Tensall muttered in a broken voice.

“Louder,” Gaz snapped.

“Fifteen,” came the louder, and angrier reply. “And what’s wrong with that? Some girls just mature faster than others, you know?”

Gaz’s questions continued, and Kayla felt her hair stand on end. His tone was getting sharper, and whenever he got an answer he didn’t like, he reached for the gun, or had Krenn punch Tensall in the gut again. It wasn’t that she felt sorry for the disgusting man, but she was starting to lose confidence in Gaz’s self-control. There was something more behind the questions than the extraction of information.

She exchanged another look with Ray, and got a more anxious expression. However, Tensall’s story was awful to the point that she soon found her own fingers dancing on the grip of her sidearm.

A VennZech-employed groomer had convinced Milani and some friends to go to a party. There, Tensall had singled her out, bought her drinks, and offered her a visit to his private yacht. He had given her drugs, but sworn that nothing had happened between them. That was his technique—he liked to build trust with his ‘young friends’ as he called them, meeting them several times before moving to the next step.

Eventually, there was a vacation to Ambrosia, paid for by him, and showering Milani with all the staggering luxury a high-level corporate salary could afford. That was the first time they had had sex, and the first time she hadn’t been allowed to return home. Apparently, she hadn’t complained.

Kayla suspected it was the truth. The other girls had been charmed in a similar way, then kidnapped and sold to cheap-paying customers. But Milani was different. As the lover of a powerful executive, she was made to feel like his princess. All the wealth and fun of elite society was hers to enjoy. Until she got older, Tensall admitted. Then she would have a good salary, whatever job she wanted, and the right to ask him for favors, whether personal or business.

“It’s all accepted,” Tensall said. His voice had soothed from the frightful pitch, into a bitter, rambling and self-congratulatory lecture. “Everybody knows how it works. The whole galaxy does the same. And you still can’t tell me what’s wrong with it, can you?” Tensall sat forward in his chair, now confident in his pronouncements. “Don’t you see that I’m helping them? So many people are crushed by the machine, but shouldn’t such divine beauty have its chance to rise up?”

“Milani’s mother didn’t understand,” Gaz said. “She is living a nightmare.”

His anger had also diminished, leaving his voice cold, and bored. His eyes were flat as he stared at Tensall, with an expression almost of serenity.

“Well, can anyone help that? Her daughter is happy, if it makes any difference.”

Kayla stepped forward. “Milani’s mother wants to see her daughter, and we will happily kill anyone who tries to get in the way. Where is she?”

Tensall stared at her, then shifted his gaze to the desk. “I don’t know—No!” he said, as Krenn stepped forward. “I mean, I know that Divine will have moved her. I don’t know the destination.”

“How is that possible?” Gaz asked. “You’re the second most senior executive on Caldera.”

“But she was so secretive,” Tensall insisted. “She didn’t tell us anything. We only knew that there was a new site…” his voice lowered. “Extra-terrestrial, she claimed. I had to bring my princess— couldn’t leave her behind for the terrorists. And such wonders to share with her.”

“Okay scumbag,” Kayla snapped as her pistol left its holster. “You have five seconds to figure out what we need to know.”

She moved around the table and shoved her weapon into his groin. “The first bullet won’t kill you,” she hissed into his ear. “But you know what? I’ve got a whole magazine to play with.”

Gaz jumped to his feet. “Wait just a second,” he said, but his voice was unusually pleading, and Kayla knew he was following the script.

“I guess all you men can sit around and discuss a girl’s life like she’s a piece of meat,” she went on, her voice finding a ready supply of venom. “As for me, frankly I’m not even sure we need to let you live once this is over.”

She pushed harder, and Tensall squealed while his muscles shook. A sharp aroma filled the room as his bladder voided.

“Stop,” Gaz cried, then reached over and shut off the camera. “What are you doing?”

“Please, please!” Tensall cried, and wept. “Please, I can help you, I can find out, I promise.”

Kayla tilted her head. “Maybe. You don’t need your balls to think with though, do you?”