The Liberators, Part 1
By Littlesilverstar, silverstar222b@yahoo.com
Women from different backgrounds team up to rescue a hostage

Note: This is something a little different, bringing characters from 
several of my previous stories together for an adventure.  Characters 
in this story include Christina, Danica, Angela, and Abby and Natalie.  
This story will explore what's happened to Angela, Abby, and Natalie 
after the somewhat ambiguous endings to their original stories.  If 
you haven't read the earlier stories yet, I strongly encourage you to 
do so!

* * *

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Christina hugged her boyfriend, Paul, as they stood in front of their
apartment. "My man, going on his first business trip," she smiled.
"You're moving on up in the world."

Paul blushed. "Aw, this is really big shot Senior VP Samantha's trip,"
he replied. "She's the one who's going to make or break this deal with
the Russian company.  I'm just along to report on the condition of 
their labs." Paul and Christina both worked for a chemical company 
called Worth Chemicals.  Christina was the company's head of security,
and Paul was a chemist.  They had been dating for almost two years.

"Don't sell yourself short," said Christina. "Sam needs you, and the
company needs you.  Remember, out of all the chemists Mr. Worth chose
you to be the one to go." She kissed Paul on the lips.

A car horn was heard, indicating the arrival of the company vehicle
that would take Paul to the airport.  He reluctantly disengaged 
himself from his hot blonde girlfriend's lips.

"Have a good trip, and travel safe," Christina called. "Love you."

"Love you too," Paul called back.

The driver opened the trunk and put Paul's bags in.  Paul climbed into
the back seat next to Samantha.

On the way to the airport, Samantha filled him in on the details of 
the trip. "Mr. Worth thinks that if we can make a deal with these
Russian guys, we can have a supplier at a much lower price than our
competitors.  However, he's worried about quality.  That's where you
come in.  I need you to do a careful inspection of the Russian 
company's facilities while I'm handling the business end of things.
Make sure everything's up to our standards."

Paul nodded and leaned back in his seat, excited to be on his first
real business trip.  He had no idea how exciting - and dangerous -
things were going to get.

* * *

FORT LEWIS, WASHINGTON

Colonel Danica Cooper sighed with guilt.  She really hadn't wanted it
to come to this.  But her husband had lost his job, and they had a
teenage daughter to support, and in a few years the girl's college to
pay for.  Selling Army weapons and ammunition on the black market was
providing the family with precious income.  Danica made sure to check
out each one of her potential customers personally.  If she didn't 
like them, it would be no sale.

* * *

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

Angela plunged her favorite knife into the serial rapist's throat and
twisted it viciously, then yanked it out. "You fucker," she snarled at
her dying opponent. "You'll never rape another woman, ever again."

She wiped the blood off her knife on the dead man's shirt, then placed
the blade into its sheath and took out her cell phone. "It's done," 
she said.

On the other end of the line, the rich woman who had been a victim of 
the rapist smiled. "Thank you so much.  I'll wire the money to your
account."

After her husband had been murdered, Angela had sought vengeance 
against the murderers and discovered that she had a natural talent for
killing.  She had made a new career for herself as something of a
noble assassin - she would only kill evil people.

* * *

DENVER, COLORADO

"No! Please!" begged the man, on his hands and knees, looking up with
fear at Abby and Natalie, who both had pistols pointed right at his
head. "I'll give you anything! All the money I took! Just please, don't
shoot me!"

"Okay," said Natalie, a sadistic look appearing on her face.  With 
that, she kicked him in the neck with all her strength, the force of 
her kick breaking his neck.  She stood over him and laughed.

"Nat, sometimes I think you enjoy this a little too much," said Abby.

"Oh, come on," said Natalie, prodding the dead man with her black boot.
"You get as much a thrill from killing as I do.  Anyway, this asshole
had it coming.  Embezzling money from a children's hospital.  That's
just wrong."

Abby shrugged, not really able to disagree on that count, then took out 
her cell phone and dialed the prearranged number. "It's done," she 
said.

On the other end of the line, the young couple whose sick child was
being treated by the hospital reacted with joy. "Thank you so much," 
said the young father. "I'll wire the money to your account."

Natalie and Abby were former college students who, like Angela, had
discovered that they had a talent for killing.  Like her, they had also
become assassins.

* * *

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Paul and Samantha were met at the airport by a driver from the Russian
company.  As they drove along the streets of Moscow, none of them 
noticed the black Mercedes that was following them.

Inside the Mercedes, the driver, a big, ugly, curly-haired man, nodded
to his comrade in the passenger seat. "Call Marina and tell her we have
a fish and we're in pursuit."

The second goon, as big and ugly as his companion but bald, nodded and
took out his cell phone.  The two men were thugs working for the Russian
mob.  They were in the business of kidnapping rich people and holding
them for ransom.

"We got something, Marina," said the bald man into his phone. "Looks 
like a couple of rich American business travelers, one man and one 
woman.  They have a local driver."

"Location?" said the cold, feminine voice on the other end.

The bald man told her. "We've got it under control.  I'll call you when
we've got them.  Over and out."

The vehicles entered a deserted stretch of road. "Let's do it," said the
bald man.

The curly-haired man snickered evilly and accelerated, ramming the back 
of the company car.  There was a loud clash of metal.  He rammed the car
again, forcing the company vehicle off the road.  It crashed into a tree
and came to a stop.  The Mercedes braked to a stop behind it and both
goons jumped out, carrying pistols.

Paul and Samantha looked at each other in fear.  They had been enjoying 
a nice ride when they had suddenly been rammed and forced off the road.
A moment later, two men with guns appeared.

The curly-haired man cold-bloodedly executed the driver with a shot to
the head.  Paul and Samantha both gasped in shock.  The killer pointed
his gun at Samantha. "Get out, now!" On the other side of the car, the
bald man, pointing his gun at Paul, motioned for him to do the same.

"Follow my lead," Samantha whispered to Paul, before getting out of the
car.  She approached the curly-haired man with her hands up, looking the
very picture of a frightened businesswoman out of her element.  She saw
him relax as his brain told him he was dealing with no more than a
frightened woman.

She struck with lightning speed, kicking the gun out of his hands and
drawing a hidden stiletto from underneath her skirt.  She plunged the
weapon into his throat, twisting it hard, then yanked it out.  The curly-
haired man collapsed to the ground.  Blood bubbled out of the dying man's
throat.

Paul had been watching Samantha closely.  When she attacked, the bald man
began aiming his gun at her.  Paul did the only thing he could do.  He
jumped on the bald man, trying to wrestle the gun away.  Paul was much
smaller and weaker than his opponent, however, and the big goon soon 
gained the upper hand.

Samantha dove for the curly-haired man's gun, which was lying on the 
grass a few feet away.  Just before she could get to it, however, a shot
rang out.  Samantha looked down in surprise and saw that she had a large
hole in her chest.  A second later, she slumped dead to the ground.

"NOOOOO!" shouted Paul, who saw what happened from his position pinned
under the bald man.  Who could have shot her? He was still keeping the
bald man busy.

He got his answer a moment later, as a tall, slender brunette woman
appeared, a shiny, still-smoking .45 caliber pistol in her right hand.
She had the stunning beauty of a model, but he could see the evil in her
eyes.

The bald man whacked Paul in the head with the butt of his pistol,
knocking him out.  He then looked up at the woman.

"Marina!" he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your incompetent ass, apparently," she answered. "You idiots 
can't even do a simple kidnapping right.  It's a good thing I decided to
come here myself.  I had a gut feeling that something would go wrong."

"Hey," said the bald man defensively. "I got my man.  And at least I
wasn't the one who got beat by a girl."

"You just may be getting a beating from a girl, if you keep giving me
attitude," she snapped.  

The bald man stood up straight. "Sorry, ma'am," he said in a frightened
voice.

Marina pointed at Paul's unconscious form. "Now put him in the trunk and
let's get the hell out of here."

* * *

SEATTLE

Christina sat in her office, going over the weekly security report.  She
plucked out the last two French fries from the carton and ate them, even
though they were cold, and tossed the empty carton and a crumpled burger 
wrapper into the trash can across the room.

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. "Come in," she said.

Mr. Worth, President and CEO of the company, entered, an extremely 
worried and alarmed look on his face.  Christina stood up and stared. 
"What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," said Worth. "You'd better sit down.  
It's about Paul and Samantha.  They were...attacked by the Russian mob 
on the road from the airport.  The mobsters were targeting Westerners 
for kidnapping.  They killed the driver...and the fuckers killed 
Samantha too.  They said she was resisting.  Paul's been kidnapped.  The
kidnappers are demanding that the company pay them $10 million within 72
hours, or they'll...they'll kill him."

"Oh God," said Christina, her hand flying to her mouth.

"I'm already working on getting the money together," said Worth. "We
should be able to..."

Christina jumped up. "Wait a minute.  How do we know the fuckers won't 
kill Paul even if we do give them the money?"

The CEO sighed. "We don't.  But I'm not going to give them an excuse to
kill him.  And we can't expect any help from the Russian police.  Bunch
of corrupt, incompetent boobs."

She began pacing. "I can't stand by and let this happen without doing 
anything."

"I know he's your boyfriend..."

"He's more than that!" Christina interrupted.  She reached into her 
pocket and showed Worth a ring.  Her voice softened. "I was going to ask
him to marry me.  I was going to surprise him when he got back from his
trip." She felt the tears start to flow.  She hadn't cried since she was
13.

Worth stared at her. "I didn't know you two were that close," he said 
softly. 

"Er...I know how you are and I know how you operate," he continued. "I
kind of figured you might react the way you did.  I have a...connection 
who may be able to help you." He pressed a business card and an envelope
into her hand.

"If you need to take some time off in the next few days, it's granted,"
he said.  As the CEO exited, he called out, "Good luck."

Christina wiped the tears from her face and looked at the business card
she held in her hand.  It read:

'Colonel Danica Cooper
Fort Lewis, Washington'

Beneath those lines were an address and telephone number.  

She opened the envelope and saw that it was filled with hundred dollar 
bills.  There was a note on top of the money that read, "You'll know 
what this is for."

A grim smile appeared on Christina's attractive face as she reached for 
the phone and began dialing.  Those mobsters were going to get a swift, 
sharp, and brutal lesson in pain very soon.

* * *

FORT LEWIS

Danica met Christina at the entrance of the base.  Christina had driven
there as soon as she finished her call, stopping only at the bank to
withdraw as much cash as she could on short notice to add to the stash
in the envelope.  The two women shook hands, then Danica led Christina 
into her office and closed the door.

"I'm so sorry about your boyfriend," said Danica, squeezing the other
woman's hand. "Unfortunately, we have very little time. You told me the
deadline was 72 hours and the kidnappers were Russian mobsters.  I'm
familiar with them and it pains me to say it, but they do have a 
tendency to kill kidnap victims even if ransom is paid.  We're going to
have to move fast if we're going to rescue him."

"Which unit will be performing the rescue?" asked Christina.

"Unit?" said Danica, staring. "Honey, that rescue ain't going to be
performed by any Army unit.  Do you have any idea how much red tape
there is in this organization? By the time we got everything together,
the deadline would have long passed." She tilted her head and tossed 
her brunette ponytail. "Are all blondes this naive?"

Christina rolled her eyes. "And so just who will be executing this 
mission, then?"

"I'll be leading a team of...hmm, how shall I put it...I'll just say
assassins."

"ASSASSINS?!" Christina jumped up from the comfortable chair she had 
been sitting in. "Aren't you an Army officer? What are you doing 
dealing with a..."

Danica explained her financial troubles and how it had led to her 
weapons dealing, making sure to assure the blonde that she never sold
weapons to anyone she thought dangerous to innocents. "In my dealings 
I've gotten to know some good assassins.  I've already called the ones 
I think would be the best and brightest for this job.  They're on their 
way right now.  Two of them, Abigail and Natalie, are coming in from
Denver.  They should be here in a couple of hours.  The other one, 
Angela, is coming in from Tennessee, so she'll need a little longer."

Christina stared in surprise. "All girls?"

"Like I said, I picked the best and brightest.  Funny how that worked 
out!"

Christina smiled.  She was starting to like this woman.

Danica smiled back. "I promise you, us four girls will be a lethal and
unstoppable team."

"I'm sure you will be.  However, five girls will make an even more 
lethal and unstoppable team.  I'm coming with you."

The colonel opened her mouth, but Christina continued speaking. "I 
assure you, I do not make this statement lightly.  I'm experienced with 
firearms and well-trained in hand-to-hand combat.  I'm not just an
ordinary businesswoman."

"I don't doubt your talents, but this is a mission that will require
killing people in cold blood," said Danica. "Are you sure you're up for
that?"

"Those fuckers killed Samantha, my friend, and kidnapped Paul, my lover.
Trust me, I'll have no problem killing them." Christina's voice was 
grim.

Danica nodded slowly. "Then it's settled.  The five of us against the
Russian mob."

"Thank you, Colonel," said the blonde.

"Please, call me Danica," she replied. "Now we'd better get to the 
airport.  The rest of our team will be arriving soon."

TO BE CONTINUED...