Laura awoke, feeling refreshed and strong.  She hopped out of the bed and stretched.  She knew she had been drugged and that someone had placed her in bed.  She yawned, stretched, and headed to the bathroom to do her morning routine.

She washed up and applied the cream to the rash between her thighs as the doctor had instructed.  She left the bathroom, cleaning it a bit, and looked at the dressing table.  The bra and robe were still there, but a fresh pair of panties had been delivered while she slept.  She headed over to the window and looked out at a lovely garden.  Evidently, she was at the back of the house.  If this was her new prison, so be it.  She decided to enjoy it.

Someone had placed a small hamper alongside the dressing table, or maybe it had been there before and Laura did not notice it.  She changed her panties, put on the bra and adjusted it, and looked at herself in the mirror.  This basic white military issue had to go.  She would speak to her jailer about getting something nice.  She put her robe on, went to the door and tried to open it.  The door was locked.

There was a blue button right beside the door.  Laura pushed it and it lit up.  After a few seconds, there was a loud buzz and the door popped open.  Laura stepped into the hallway and was greeted by one of the smiling nurses.  The nurse said simply, "Follow me, please," and led the way.

Laura followed the nurse, her trained eyes and mind observing and noticing everything.  The house was richly furnished, but not to the point of being overdone.  Whoever had assembled the home had done so with taste and style.  The tone was subdued, but relaxing and not boring.  The nurse led Laura into a large sunroom, and the Drop Ship commander got a very real shock.

Standing with her back to the center of the room, dressed in an identical white robe like Laura's, was a petite raven-haired girl.  Her hair fell almost to her bottom, and was pulled into a ponytail.  The girl was gazing out an open window at the garden.

"Lisa?" said Laura softly, approaching the girl.

The girl turned, her eyes grew wide, and she rushed at Laura and hugged her very tightly.  Laura was certain the girl had bruised a few of her ribs.

"Commander Hansen!  Oh, God!  It is so good to see you!  I thought you were dead!  Oh, my!  Oh, my!   What happened to us?  Were you in prison?  Why was I put in prison?  I did nothing wrong! Oh!  Oh!  Oh!"

Laura had not noticed the third person in the room, sitting at a small desk and observing.  Vice Chancellor Gallieni had arranged this little meeting, and was very pleased with himself at the way it was going.  The distinguished gentleman stood up and walked, smiling, toward the two girls.  He was the perfect picture of a statesman, dressed in a plain blue suit, shirt, and tie.  "Come, ladies," he said, "let us eat and talk.  We have much to discuss, and Commander Holmes will be here in a few minutes."

The three moved to a small table for four that had been set up in the center of the room.  Two servants entered, pushing carts with pots of steaming tea an coffee, juices, fruits, cooked vegetables, and small burners for cooking eggs to order.  They began to serve just as Wing Commander Holmes entered the room.  He smiled, greeted everyone, and took a seat, ordering a hearty breakfast for himself.

The two men sat quietly eating, watching the women and smiling.  Laura and Lisa chattered away like two magpies.  Lisa informed Laura that she had been here for a week, the place was great, and that something big was about to happen.  She had the enthusiasm of a twenty-one year old; prison had not broken her.  She rambled on, telling Laura that the Vice Chancellor and Commander Holmes were, somehow, going to get their records cleaned up and the conviction overturned.  The women also went into girl talk, Lisa telling Laura that she could order some better lingerie, and stop wearing this "old woman" stuff.  Gallieni interrupted to inform Laura that he would have the same privileges as Lisa, which included use of the pool, the gymnasium, and the garden.  But they must stay in the house and out of site.  According to official records, they were still at their original prison.  Things had to be handled with great care.

The four finished their meal and headed outside to the garden.  The temperature was about seventy-four degrees; this part of the planet rarely got warmer than that in summer, and had very cold winters.  Still, it was a pleasant summer's day for all to enjoy.  They took seats, and a servant brought out a tray with fruit drinks, water, and alcohol.  Gallieni had his usual whiskey, the girl's settled in with water, and Holmes had a beer and lit one of his cigars.  

"Now," said Gallieni, speaking firmly and seriously, "I need to know what happened on that first expedition, in detail."

"It's all in our reports," said Laura.

"There may be something that was overlooked," responded Gallieni.  "I want to hear it from you two.  Then, and only then, will I tell you what I have in mind."

The two women looked at each other, conferred softly for a moment, and Laura began.

"Well," she said, "we were the third drop ship down.  You know, Chancellor, that it takes two days to make a drop.  One day down, unload, and one day back.  We unloaded our cargo.  The military arm had built a pretty secure camp area, and the next day the construction crews would come down and start to build.  It was all pretty boring stuff."

"Your areas of expertise, please," demanded Gallieni.  All flight crewmembers were required to be experts in two areas.  A drop ship usually had a crew of three: a pilot, a copilot, and a cadet.

"I," said Laura, "am certified in pilot and defense weapons.  Lisa is computers and communications."

"Continue," commanded the Vice Chancellor.

"Well," said Laura, after a sip of water, "everything appeared to be going well.  We did three more drops, the military exploring and the construction team building huts for the scientific crew.  The second galleon (a galleon was a large ship that could hold up to fifty other ships of varying size; it was used for massed transport of material and goods through space) had just taken up its orbit and everything seemed to be going smoothly.  We made our drop and hit the landing zone right on schedule.  It was then that we noticed there had been a fight of some sort."

"You see," said Lisa, "no one met us when we landed, which is not procedure.  We unloaded, got issued weapons, and began to investigate.  The small, temporary tower that we communicated with had been destroyed, as well as some of the living quarters, and what security we found had been killed.  As for the construction crews, there was no sign."

Lance put out his cigar, wrinkled his brow, and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.  He did not want to miss a word.  The Vice Chancellor leaned back, taking in everything that the women were saying.  He had a brilliant mind, could remember spoken conversation verbatim after three weeks, and analyze the conversation in his brain as if he were reading it from paper or a computer terminal.

"Lisa tried to communicate with the galleon, but something was jamming the system," Laura continued.  "The five who had dropped with us were engineers and not trained in combat, but we gave them weapons anyhow.  We continued with our exploration of the base, finding dead bodies and signs of an attack.  But the majority of the military and construction crew had simply disappeared."

"The mistake you made was when you left the base and went into the jungle," said Lance.  "You should have stayed at the camp."

"I know," said Laura.  "But the engineers insisted.  So we followed a trail that had been widened by the military.  I did not want the engineers wandering off alone.  We had gotten a short distance into the jungle when the apes attacked.  They had obviously prepared the site as an ambush point.  The engineers were killed instantly.  Cadet Lisa and I managed to fight our way free and make it back to the camp.  We set up a defense point at the tower, and waited for the next drop ship."

Gallieni took a sip of his whiskey and stared at the sky for a moment before speaking.  "You have left something out."

"No," said Lisa, "that's everything."

Commander Holmes had brought a small briefcase to the garden for the meeting.  He opened it up, withdrew some papers, began to read, and frowned.

"That is bullshit," he announced.  "If you remember correctly, Laura, I was in command of the galleon, and when communications failed I made the drop personally the next day with a heavy military team.  The two of you were found naked in the ground floor of the tower.  Both of you were, psychologically speaking, a mess.  I put that in my official report.  You two did not put it into yours.  It was not included in the official version.  I was led to believe that the deletion would help your case in event negligence charges were brought.  It's lucky I kept a copy of my original report locked away in a secure file on my home computer.  Instead, that missing information was turned and used against you.  Now, what really happened at that ambush?"

Laura shivered, closed her legs tightly, gathered her arms around her chest, and looked at the ground.  Lisa, the cadet, looked at the two men and began to speak.

"I am not trained in military, but it seemed to me that the apes were expecting us.  That's why they had the ambush set up."

"Apes?" asked the Vice Chancellor, acquiring another whiskey.

"Yes," said Lisa.  "Ape-like creatures between three and four feet high, with black or brown fur.  The fought with primitive weapons, but it appeared as though their attack was organized and coordinated.  They took out the engineering team fairly quickly.  Laura and I were able to kill a few, but it appeared that they wanted us alive."

"I know this is difficult," said the Vice Chancellor, his voice low and compassion showing on his face, "but tomorrow you learn why we must find out exactly what happened.  You see, there have been two other Triskellion expeditions since the two of you were imprisoned.  I must learn what we are up against."

At this announcement, Laura looked up, bit her lip, and said, "You tell it, Lisa."

Lisa took another sip of water and continued.

"We were overpowered.  There must have been twenty or thirty of these little apes.  They drug us a short distance from the ambush site and into a clearing.  There was some sort of altar in the clearing.  We were stripped naked, and I was tied to a tree."

"Commander Hansen was strapped, naked, to the altar.  The apes," and here the cadet gulped, "played with her, I guess, is the best expression to use, and then began to have sex with her.  I think she must have taken about ten of them.  She was crying and shaking as the apes used her over and over.  When they had finished, she was taken from the altar and tied to a tree.  All the while they were raping her, I was being probed and explored.  The apes tied me to the altar and used me as well.  I really don't remember how many times I was taken, both vaginally and anally.  I lost count after five.  They had large penises for their short stature, and they used them liberally.  I really don't remember how long we were in that clearing.  I remember that when the finished, they guided us to the edge of the camp, naked, and left us.  That's what we left out of the report."

Commander Holmes' face was impassive.  In his years in the service, he had seen a lot of strange and unusual things on various planets.  The Vice Chancellor, while listening, had studied the two women carefully.  He was an excellent judge of facial expressions and body language.  He gulped his whiskey and chose his words carefully, wanting to make the two women allies and not enemies.

"You, Commander Hansen," he said, somberly, "felt abused and violated.  What those creatures did to you revolted you.  And yet, you did not lose self-esteem.  That is what kept you alive in that prison.  You will never go back there, no matter what happens, as long as I am alive."

Laura simply looked up, smiled through her tears, and mouthed a "Thank you."

"You, Cadet Simoni," continued Gallieni, "enjoyed it.  The apes need not have tied you.  You need not feel shame.  There are literally thousands of sexual practices that we have documented in the explored portions of the galaxy.  So do not feel cheap or base.  It is a strength, which we may use.  Now, the reason I needed this information is simple.  As I have said, there have been two other expeditions to the Triskellion system.  You women are the only two who have returned alive, let alone seen some of the native population.  We need you, and need you badly.  Understood?"

Both women nodded.  Gallieni had no way of knowing, but Lisa had become wet as she told the story.

"This is enough for today," stated Gallieni.  "Tomorrow, the details of the previous two expeditions will be made available.  You women will study them.  For now, relax in my home and compose yourselves.  Commander Holmes, follow me to my study.  We have some things to discuss."

The two men got up, nodded to the girls, and left the garden.  Lisa and Laura embraced.  It was Laura who spoke first.

"Lisa, did you really enjoy it?"

"I", said Lisa, taking a short pause, and then giggling, "loved it!"
