by Jay Aury
Less than a minute later Alistair stepped out of the garden, his walk stiff with the military bearing the guard had borne. He marched up behind the two men, standing stiffly at attention. Neither paid him any mind as they moved slowly down the line of the helmeted men. Krauss again scratched his chin. He pointed at one. “You. Remove your helmet.”
The man unbuckled his helmet to reveal a chiselled face, hard jaw and blonde hair. His features looked curiously blank to Alistair, who was something of an expert on faces. Alistair narrowed his eyes. In fact, the man looked an awful lot like the one whose pants the agent had just stolen. Uneasiness prickled his hair as Krauss bobbed his head again, blinking blearily. “Hm. Very good.” He turned to the next man down the line. “You now. Let us see vat your are hidink.”
The man took off his helmet. Alistair stared at the man’s face, twin to the man beside him. Then the next helmet came off, revealing a triplet.
Alistair felt further tension fill him. Surreptitiously he turned and began to move away.
“Halt!”
Alistair froze.
“You zere. Turn around. Slowly.”
Alistair slowly did so. The scarred man was scrutinizing him closely, a gun trained cautiously on him. Krauss turned as well. He blinked slowly, cocked his head as he took a closer look at Alistair’s face.
“Vait a minute…”
The Villa
It was quiet within. No lights glowed down the corridors where paintings of pastoral Europe lined the walls. Audra lingered on these for a moment, curious. She recognized some. Her grandfather had often lamented on the loss of some artwork during the War when the Allies were driven from the continent. Many were quite excellent reproductions...
The sight gave Audra a faint sense of unease as she hurried through the estate. It wasn’t far now. Up a pair of stairs she found herself on the landing overlooking the main entrance of the estate. A chandelier hung over the quiet foyer, and across from her she saw a pair of men standing guard before a door, submachine guns held at ease. She was a little surprised at the sight of their identical features. Twins. Unusual. But their presence made her grin. After all, you didn’t guard a doorway for no reason…
Slipping her hand into her belt, Audra drew her pistol. She lined up the shot carefully, tensing. The pistol recoiled, the silencer quiet as the bullet hissed through the air. The first man jerked back against the door with a thump. His companion turned in surprise, only to take the next bullet in the chest. He crumpled, dead before he hit the ground.
Audra hastily rose. Weapon still in hand, she crossed the floor, stepping over the two corpses. Audra put her hand to the handle and carefully eased it open.
“Oook!”
She spun about, screamed in surprise as the massive, hairy shape of an ape rushed over the railing and slammed into her. An ape? In Brazil! Before she could make more sense of that incredulity a huge, hairy arm with muscles like basketballs wrapped around her in a bone crushing hug. She jerked back, the ape bellowing into her face, revealing yellow fangs.
“Stop!”
The ape closed its mouth. It raised its head, and Audra stared in shock. There were stitching all along its neck, and a metal plate was bolted to its skull.
“Do not eat her, Blust. Bring her here.”
Audra stiffened in horror. No. She knew that voice. The ape dragged her through the doors and into the room beyond. A chair with its back to her was turned towards monitors flickering with scenes of the jungle and the estate. Audra flinched, catching on one screen a number of men binding Alistair’s arms behind him.
“It iz of little surprise that you haf come here, mein fraulein. In fact, I expected it. And planned for it. Oh yes. Did you think you could so simply valtz into my jungle estate? Ruin my plans so simply? Oh no.”
The man in the chair stood.
“Not zis time.”
He turned and Audra sucked in a gasp. Tall and thin, his black uniform was perfectly pressed and molded to his body. His gloves creaked as his hands flexed, and his face... Even though half of it was little more than ravaged burn scars, all capped with a leather mask bolted over a socket whose lens gleamed like the monocle he once wore; even with all these ravages of fire and torment, she knew that face.
“Yes!” he cackled, half his mouth peeled back in a horrifying rictus of scar tissue. “Not zis time, mein fraulein. For zis time, you are at ze mercy of I!” he cried, pressing a hand to his chest. “I! Victor von Hammerstein!”
Dinner and Intentions
“Well, this isn’t going very well.”
Audra pouted, hunched forward, elbows on her knees and chin cupped in her hands. “No. No it isn’t.”
Her cell was a nice enough affair, considering some she’d stayed in. A simple room with cement walls and floors. Certainly a step down from the last time she stayed at von Hammerstein’s home. Of course, that time he had thought her an innocent heiress who owed him a small fortune. Now… Well, he knew better, it would seem.
Alistair looked away from the bars and back to her. “You okay?”
“I’ve been better.”
He frowned a little. The guards had not been kind when they got their hands on him. One of his eyes was badly bruised and the corner of his lip bled. Audra had been handled far better. Which wasn’t terribly reassuring in its own way considering a seven hundred pound ape had been doing it. Fortunately shortly after von Hammerstein’s declaration more human guards had come to take her from the hands of her simian captor. That had been a relief. The ape had stank!
“So he has a monkey?” Alistair said.
“Ape.”
“In Brazil?”
She shrugged. “Seems so.”
Alistair hummed. Sighed. “Any thoughts on escape?” he asked.
“Some. You?”
He shrugged. “Working on it still.”
She nodded. They dared not say more. Not with a guard but a few yards beyond the cell, his chair cocked back, his foot capped atop the table while he read an issue of Vogue, which Audra found so very wrong for so very many reasons. But she knew Alistair Smith. Knew him and trusted him, deeper than any man she had ever known, save perhaps her grandfather. They had faced death often enough together, whether aboard a black market vessel, dealing down the lunatic Capria Eisen, or the last time they faced Victor von Hammerstein and his mad ambitions.
But what was von Hammerstein up to here? When she heard the door of the prison swing open with a clank and two identical guards walk in, she had a feeling she was about to find out.
She quickly scanned the new guards. Twins, like those who had been guarding the doors when she was taken. In fact, they could have been brothers to those two. A fact which was more unnerving than the submachine gun one held primed while the other opened the cell. The guard carried a bundle and tossed it to Audra. She caught it, surprised, her fingers gliding over silky black. She unfurled it, staring at a strapless black dress with a long slit down the leg.
“What’s this for?”
“Put it on,” the guard said. “Ze Master shall see you now.”
Audra glanced at them warily. The presence of the gun daunted any idea of attempting to escape. Still. There was, perhaps, time to lay some ground work…
Grasping the zipper of her bodysuit, Audra slowly peeled it down, the black fabric parting to reveal the creamy swell of her flesh. Her full breasts pushed against the sides urging it open, bursting free as the zipper hissed down to her naval. She threw back her shoulders, shrugging the clinging black from her arms, tall, full breasts lifted, nipples coins of darker flesh peaking the pale orbs.
Now she certainly had their attention. The two who had come for her were staring intently as she pulled the bodysuit down her legs, bending down to present her firm bottom to the raptly staring men, revealing the V shape of her panties that vanished between the globes of her bum.
The man with the gun licked his lips. Audra lingered for a moment as she kicked the pants and underwear aaway, but he
didn’t seem likely to try anything yet. Unfurling the gown, she stepped into it and pulled it up. It was snug about her body, showcasing her curves to a scale even she found a little immodest. She had to hold the cups over her breasts to keep it sliding down as she stepped towards Alistair. She pressed herself against his chest, soft breasts squishing against his hard muscles. Even in the dire straits they were in, she smirked as she felt the hardness in his pants. Evidently the guards hadn’t been the only ones who’d enjoyed the show.
“Zip me up, please,” she said.
Alistair folded his arms around her, and she shivered at the sudden feeling of warmth and protection in those powerful limbs. His fingers found the zipper and he slid it up with a hiss, the dress pressing securely around her chest, lifting her already full breasts to make them seem even larger. She felt his hardness press against her front. She lifted herself to her tip toes, rubbing her furrow against the hardness in his pants. She pressed a tender kiss to his lips. “I’ll get us out of here,” she whispered.
“I know,” he said, and the trust she felt in that tone made a warm pool deep in her chest. And purpose firm her for the trials ahead.
“Hurry up!” the guard snapped, his tone sharp with envy.
Audra gave Alistair a final, tender smile before turning to face the guards. “I’m coming,” she sighed, putting on the heels that had come with the outfit. She loved high heels. Never knew when you’d need to stab a man in the foot with one. Stepping out, she followed the pair out of the prison, the cell door slamming shut behind them.
Her heels clicked down the cold stone passageway of the underground halls. Corridors branched away, and she wondered what lay down them. She recalled von Hammerstein’s castle and the fleet of rockets and poison gas the caverns under that place had held. She had the feeling that what was down here was far worse.
They climbed some stairs, and the stuccoed white walls of the compound took the place of the cold cement. Her guards forced her down a hallway filled with more fine paintings and other objet d’art no doubt plundered from across Europe, and at the end found a large pair of double doors they pushed open, admitting her into a large dining room.
Audra nearly groaned under the sheer weight of cliché. A long mahogany table had been laid out with a sumptuous feast. A blazing chandelier glowed above the table, while at the head von Hammerstein sat. Krauss was also seated, the green man swaying a little, blinking blearily while behind the scarred Nazi the gorilla sat, eating a banana.
“Mein fraulein,” von Hammerstein declared, rising and gesturing grandly to the table. “Ve are most honoured you haf come to share our meal. Please! Von’t you haf a seat?”
Audra wondered if she had a choice. Then wondered no more as the guard behind her shoved her forward with his weapon. She recovered quickly, heels clicking, hips swinging as she found her way to the only other chair. She took a seat, and her guards took positions behind her.
“Forgive ze rudeness of our meeting,” von Hammerstein said. “I am afraid Blust iz not ze most gentle of creatures.”
Audra glanced towards the gorilla, who slowed its chewing, glaring at her.
“A step up from the last bodyguard you had,” she said.
Von Hammerstein grimaced, his scars bending on themselves hideously. “Yes,” he growled. “Bludghost vas a most able assistant. It iz a great pity that he did not survive ze attack upon my estate.”
“I’m surprised you did,” Audra said. “Didn’t I shoot you?”
“You did,” von Hammerstein said, touching his ravaged face. “But I fell among a crate of ze packing peanuts, cushioning mein fall. But I did not escape our encounter unharmed, mein fraulein. Ze blast zat ruined my family’s castle nearly vas ze end of me. But no matter!” he declared, swinging his wine glass, sloshing some onto the tablecloth. “For I! Victor von Hammerstein survived. Survived, vith mine vill intact. And mein purpose only ze stronger! Yes!” he shouted, lifting a shaking gloved hand into the air. “My purpose! To fulfill ze dream of ze Third Reich!
“And you,” he said, turning his staring eye onto Audra. “You almost ruined eet all.”
“And I feel… just awful about that,” Audra said.
He smiled, a horrible thing to see with his face twisted with mottled burns. He swirled his wine glass with amusement. “Such humors vill stand you little goot in zis place, mein fraulein.” He held out his hand, glove creaking as he tightened it into a fist. “You are in my domain now. And I know qvuite vell vat you are capable of. Oh yes! I know vat needs to be done.”
“Rip off the Phantom of the Opera?”
“Yes! Rip off… Vat? Shut up!” von Hammerstein snarled, rounding on her, glassy eye gleaming. “You zink you are clever, mein fraulein? Vell you are not! Zo you did thwart me in Germany, ze experience taught me somet’ing very useful, mein fraulein. I vas attracted to you before, but now! Now I realize zat it vas not merely due to your firm body, so ripened vith Aryan beauty. But for ze bloodline vich you stand for!”
Oh, that wasn’t good. “I’m… not sure I follow,” Audra said.
“No?” He tittered, interlocking his gloved fingers before him. The light of the chandeliers gleamed off the glass lens in his eye. “It iz zo simple, I do not know how I failed to see it before. I looked back into your family line, mein fraulein. A difficult effort, I admit. But I haf friends who vere more zen happy to assist.”
Audra shivered. “ARM,” she whispered.
Von Hammerstein grinned at her hideously. “Yes! But zey had so little. Not even half of ze true story. It vas only thanks to I zat ve uncovered ze truth of your family. And then, only because of you and I’s shared lineages, tvisting around each other like varring serpents!”
Audra shuddered. “Please don’t tell me we’re related.”
Von Hammerstein tittered. “Oh no, mein fraulein. Not in such a vay. But in a vay zat iz nearly az intimate.”
Audra felt uneasy, though not sure quite why. “Do you have a point?”
Von Hammerstein laughed. “Ah! You are a skilled actor, mein fraulein. But it vill serve you not’ing here! For I know your grandfather vas ze famed adventurer Gavril Antoinette! Ze foe of ze Reich and more! Ze head of ze Society of Defence!”
Audra stared blankly. “The… the what?”
Hammerstein slammed a fist onto the table. “Do not play ze fool!” He pointed a gloved finger at her. “I know your grandfather vas ze leader of a long line in the association vich saw ze schemes of great men like me and my ancestors foiled! A society vich vent through ze ages, safeguarding man and his petty institutions since ze time of ze Medici!”
A sudden flurry of images tore through her. Recollections of her grandfather’s instructions. The large estate and his earnest training of her in all the arts that had made her the spy she now was. She pushed them away. “You’re lying,” she said, but a little more shakily than she intended.
He laughed. “It matters not vat you zink of me, mein fraulein. It matters ze line you haf come from. You see, my sveet, your genes are of ze most excellent stock indeed.” His smile grew cruel, his eyes hungry. “And vith ze superior genetic material of you and I, Victor von Hammerstein, ve are set to develop ze true master race!”
A hole seemed to open in the pit of her stomach. “You don’t mean…”
“Yes!” He swirled to face her, lens bolted to the leather gleaming. He pointed a gloved hand at her. “You and I, mein fraulein, shall breed ze next level of ze human race! Nya ha ha ha!”
Audra stared, his laughter beating on her with terrible import. “You’re insane!”
“Nein!” he cackled with a sharp, sweeping motion of his hand, knocking over his wine glass to finish soaking the tablecloth. “Nein! Mein fraulein. I, Victor von Hammerstein, am saner zen ever before! Already, mein dear Doctor Krauss, who has slept in hibernation, fleeing to zis jungle ven ze Fuhrer’s Germany fell, shall begin ze process af turning your already ample form into ze perfect receptacle to breeding our children! His sleep has left hi
s skin in a somevat ill complexion, but othervise his mind is wholly intact! And such a devious mind,” von Hammerstein tittered. “Such a brilliant one! One vich has mastered ze art of cloning. Already he grows ze armies vich shall lead ze vorld into ze future! A future vich your fertile womb shall bring to new heights!”
There was a thump. Audra looked over to see that Krauss had face planted his plate and was snoring into his mashed potatoes.
Von Hammerstein cursed. “Krauss! Vake up!”
The green skinned man started up, blinking through a beard of food. “Hm? Eh? Vat?”
Von Hammerstein ground his teeth, and the scoured flesh of his cheek showed Audra far more of that than she cared to see. “Krauss! Take her to ze labs to prepare her for her future role as brood mother to ze master race! And try not to harm our dear patient more zan iz necessary.” He said, casting an hungry look her way, stroking his chin with a gloved hand. “It vould be such a shame if somet’ing ill should befall her.”
“Hm? Oh. But, can I finish my steak first?” Krauss said.
“Nein!”
Krauss sighed heavily and rose. He groggily beckoned and the two men standing on either side of Audra’s chair. They grabbed her and forced her to her feet. Von Hammerstein’s manic laughter ringing in her ears, Audra was marched out of the dining room and back into the cool stone hallways of the estate.
She walked in a daze. Things were not good. No. That was an understatement. Things were fucking terrible. Bad enough she landed in the hands of a lunatic Nazi, again mind you, but now she would be used as breeding stock for a race of super men! It was almost absurd. Had the prospect of an endless parade of rape not been staring her in the face she might have laughed. She might anyway, but knew that would be due to hysterics, and that was the last thing she needed right then.
No. What she needed was a plan.
The Labs
Down a set of winding stairs the structure of the walls had changed dramatically. Raw stone surrounded them, vividly reminding her of von Hammerstein’s former castle. A huge steel door lay at the bottom, one which Krauss opened, yawning into his hand. Audra watched the code. 0789. Good to know. With an atmospheric hiss the door swung open, and she was ushered through into the room beyond.