Collar Girls - Erotic Capture Ch. 02.2

Collar Girls - Erotic Capture

Part 2 - Chapter 2

(Author's note: This chapter belongs to an ongoing story in a larger series. It may be confusing if you haven't read the previous chapters.)

As she walked along the gravel trail Sandra's backpack was a comforting weight pressing down on her shoulders. She took a deep breath of the clean back-country air. It smelled like wildflowers and damp earth. There wasn't a trace of the mechanical odours from the town behind her. It was good to finally be out in the wilderness again.

The terrain around her was lightly wooded, with mature hardwood trees creating a broken canopy, green with summer leaves. Long yellow grass, sticking up between the trees, swayed in a light breeze. Patches of random color interspersed the grass. They were summer flowers, spread in natural drifts where the wind took the seeds. There were purple blossoms mixed in with blues and reds. Bees and other insects buzzed around the flowers. A warning call sounded from a bird in the trees as a large sabre hound bounded through the grass.

The hound's name was Hammerfall. She was a long-haired dog, with a mottled gray coat. Her coloring wasn't even enough to be called spotted, but she wasn't a single shade either. Her tongue lolled out between serrated teeth as she careened through the grass, happily investigating new smells along the trail. Hammerfall kept coming back to Sandra so that she could have her ears ruffle or to receive a scratch under the chin. Her long wagging tail showed that she was a happy dog, enjoying life. A collar around her neck matched the wristband on Sandra's arm. Hammerfall was a collar pet, and she belonged to Sandra. With a canine grin she trotted up the trail to sniff at her fellow hound.

The second hound was light brown in color, with black saddle markings and a black muzzle. Her name was Cerberus. The red line of a leash led from Cerberus' collar to Liam's wrist. He was keeping her close, rather than letting her run like Sandra was allowing with Hammerfall.

Liam was a big guy. He filled out his pants and tight T-shirt quite nicely from Sandra's point of view. He had shoulder length hair and a smooth face, without any stubble. Hiking boots and a wide brimmed hat rounded out his clothing. He glanced over at her and flashed a smile. Damn, he was a pretty man. He wouldn't normally be her type, but he'd won her over.

Liam was wearing two large pouches on his belt, similar to her own. They were trainer pouches, the characteristic gear of a licensed trainer. The truth was that he wasn't just a collar pet trainer. In one of his pouches, there was a purple metal device that matched her hair. It was a capture device that was chosen just for her. She was a part-time collar girl now, and while she was wearing the collar, he was her master.

"Okay, what did you leave out?" Liam asked.

"What?" she asked, failing to understand the question.

"Back at the temple yesterday, when we were talking to priestess Josephine about retrieving Brandon Zimmerman's body. You left something out. What was it?" he asked.

"What makes you think..." she started.

"No offence, but you don't have a good poker face. What didn't you tell her?" he interrupted.

"Damn, that's annoying," she replied, "Okay, tradition is that a trainer's possessions are brought back during a retrieval. We don't take from the dead."

"Yeah, that's just common decency."

"There's one exception," Sandra explained, "A trainer's collar pets become the property of the trainer who retrieves the body."

"That's... why?" he asked.

"It's an encouragement to retrieve dead trainers, and otherwise the pets might go to someone who isn't a trainer. You know, like the next of kin. That would be awkward from a legal standpoint if the next of kin wasn't licensed."

"Okay... so Zimmerman had a good collar pet?" Liam asked.

"A razor lynx," Sandra replied. Liam whistled in appreciation.

"Those are rare. Why keep it a secret from the priestess?"

"I don't trust her," she replied, "Priestesses scheme, its part of their religion."

A breeze gusted through the foliage. Ripples of color flashed as the flowers twisted and swayed. The gravel trail turned off to the East, following the edge of the rolling hills. As a group, they left the main trail, following a half-overgrown dirt track instead. The track led into the hills in the direction of a mountain. There was nobody else in sight. Sandra took another deep breath, reveling in the untamed beauty of the landscape.

"It's really peaceful out here," Liam commented.

His words tweaked her memory. A lesson from an instructor, years ago. She reached down to the holster on her thigh and pulled out her plasma pistol.

"Woah! What are you doing?" Liam asked taking a step away from her.

"Oh relax," she replied, "When it's peaceful and quiet is when you should prepare, because there's no time during a fight."

"Ummm, okay?"

"This is a Bernadette mark four nitrogen plasma pistol," Sandra explained. Liam shrugged with a confused expression on his face.

"Bernadettes have a user id feature. You need to be registered on the gun before you can use it, " she explained. He continued to look confused.

"I want to register you now, so that if you need it in an emergency then you can use it," she finished.

"Oh, okay," he replied, finally understanding her intent, "But I don't know much about guns."

Sandra pressed a series of small buttons on the top of the weapon. It beeped, telling her it was ready. Stepping over to Liam, she carefully pressed his hand into the pistol grip. It took several seconds, but it eventually beeped a second time, confirming he was registered on the weapon. He held the pistol loosely, aimed downward. With a gentle hand she redirected the point of aim away from his feet.

"Okay, here's a quick run down," she explained, "The pistol uses a radio-frequency torch in order to excite nitrogen gas into a plasma. The magnetic bottle forms the plasma into a toroid and projects it directly away from the torch. This model has a twenty-millisecond delay between pulling the trigger and projection, so stay on target until you feel the backblast."

The expression of confusion made a return on his face. She wasn't sure where she lost him, so she pressed on with her explanation.

"The battery is here," she said, showing where it was inside the grip, "It's only good for nine shots. The nitrogen canister is in the back, overhanging your wrist. It will be good for around twenty shots, give or take."

"Ummm, those numbers don't match up," he commented.

"Which is why Bernadettes aren't overly popular weapons," she replied, "One of the few advantages is that the nitrogen canister can be refilled using a portable compressor. I'll be able to keep recharging my canisters and batteries indefinitely. Over the long term, I have infinite ammunition."

There was a large boulder near the side of the trail. It was several tonnes of stone and had likely been there since the last ice age. With a hand on Liam's shoulder, she turned him so that he was facing towards it. She adjusted how he was standing until it was a close approximation of a shooting stance. The boulder was about twenty meters away.

"The toroid is only good for about fifty meters," she said, "Beyond that, you're hitting the target with a warm breeze."

"What's a toroid?" he asked, trying to line up the sights with one eye closed.

"It's like a smoke ring, a donut shape. The first-generation plasma weapons shot toroids of plasma. In the newer weapons the magnetic bottle forms a teardrop shape, but the name stuck, so we still call a shot from a plasma weapon a toroid," she explained.

The distinctive sound of a capacitor discharging rang out as a blindingly bright teardrop of bluish-violet color whipped out of the plasma pistol in the direction of the boulder. It missed high, fading and dispersing in the distance. She stood patiently and let him try again. His second shot grazed the top of the boulder, leaving a streak of blackened rock.

"We better not need you to do any shooting," she said with a grin.

"Yeah, you think you can do better?" he asked, offering her the pistol.

Noticeably, he managed to keep the business end of the weapon aimed at the rock as he passed it over. It was surprisingly correct form for a beginner. Between the grin on his face, and the tone of his voice, it was obvious that he knew she could outshoot him.

Taking the pistol, she aimed it at the boulder. The familiar backblast of hot air made her hair dance as she put a shot dead center into the oversized rock. She pressed the trigger twice more, hitting roughly the same spot with each of her shots. A blackened hole the size of her fist dripped a molten mixture of liquid minerals.

"Damn," Liam said.

"Yeah, I've had a bit of practice," she replied.

"I guess those marksmanship trophies in your apartment aren't for show," he said with a wink.

"You saw those?" she asked.

"I did. You should be proud of yourself. You have skill," he replied.

"Ummm, thank you," she said, turning away with a blush. An uncomfortable silence descended. She never knew what to say in response to compliments.

"What do you think that would do to a person?" he asked, his voice sounded like he was just trying to fill the silence, "I mean, the holodramas I watch all seem to disagree. Some people just fall down, others catch fire, some even explode. There was a..."

His question caught her off guard. She couldn't help thinking about the day she learned the answer. In her mind's eye, she could still see it. Opening the door and finding Eddie, bits of his head scattered around the room. A fine misting of red where boiled blood congealed on the wall behind him. A burned and broken stump where his head should have been. She realized that Liam had stopped talking. He was looking at her with a concerned expression on his face. She pushed down the memory and mentally retreated into the science.

"A person is around sixty percent water," she explained, "and water boils at a hundred degrees Celsius. Nitrogen plasma is somewhere north of ten-thousand degrees."

"So...," he said, pushing her to finish the explanation.

"When water boils it expands by a factor of two thousand," she said.

"So kaboom?"

"More like pop, but yeah, my understanding is that explode is the correct answer," she replied carefully avoiding the mental image that wanted to return.

She kept her hands busy by reloading the battery and putting her pistol back in its holster. With a shrug of her shoulders, she hitched her backpack higher and went back to walking down the trail. Thankfully, Liam took the hint and stopped asking questions.

They kept going for a little while in silence. Aurelia, the solar system's yellow star, was slowly disappearing beyond the horizon. It painted the sky in the reds and oranges of sunset which faded to yellow higher in the sky. Above them, the blue sky darkened in the direction away from the star, giving the first hints of the coming darkness. A buzzing sound heralded a drone going by at low altitude. Sandra tracked its progress, but it ignored them and kept going.

"According to my tablet, we've done forty kilometers. It's getting late. I think it's probably a good time to stop for the night," Liam said.

"Yeah, okay," Sandra replied. She could feel the deep ache of a long hike in her feet. He was right. It was time to stop.

It didn't take them long to find a good spot to set up camp, settling on an open area with clear lines of sight. Sandra shrugged off her backpack. Her shoulders hurt from the release of the weight. Pulling out a large canister from the top of her pack, she pulled the pin and tossed it on the ground. Liam passed her a bundle of posts so that she could tie down the tent once it was inflated.

As she worked on the tent, he began setting up the infrared panel for recharging their gear. Sandra was surprised to see that they worked well together, instinctively splitting off the tasks of establishing their site. Wilderness training was one of the courses they took in the trainer program, but it was a nice surprise.

"I've got chicken-gumbo and a sausage-potato fry. Do you have a preference?" Liam asked, pulling out two sealed packages of food and a heater.

"Those aren't collar girl friendly," Sandra said.

"It's been a while since either of us were in storage. Our guts should be fine. Plus, they were cheaper," he replied.

His words made her pause for a second. She'd never even considered the price of food before they left. It was a reminder that Liam didn't have her father's finances to back him up. In the future, if they continued together, she would need to start paying for their supplies. It was either that or get used to eating sub-standard food.

They decided on the gumbo. It was only after she sat down to eat that she realized how tired she was. Forty kilometers in one day was a long hike, even if it was over flat terrain along a well marked trail. The meal passed in companionable silence, with a little bit of cuddling at the end.

"Hammerfall and I can take first watch," Sandra offered.

"That works for me," Liam replied.

The tent was big enough that they could have slept separately, but he put his sleeping bag right next to hers. She didn't object. They would be able to cuddle throughout the night without needing to share the same bedding.

"Hammerfall, follow," she ordered. The red light of her hound's leash sprang to life, connecting her wrist to her hound's collar.

She would be keeping her hound on a short leash, posted outside the tent for half the night. Liam and Cerberus would take the other half. They'd be able to doze while their hounds kept watch. It was the difference between camping for fun and sleeping in the real wilderness. There were threats out there that could be deadly to a pair of trainers sleeping in a tent. That's why they had the hounds. They weren't just pets. The animals were companions who could fight and keep their owners safe.

*****

Sandra startled awake. She was disoriented and it took her a moment to figure out what was going on. She was in the tent with Liam and there was a sabre hound barking nearby. Liam pushed past her, exiting the tent with his shock wand in hand. He was half naked, wearing nothing but his pants. It was his hound Cerberus who was barking. There was a threat outside the tent.

Sliding out of her sleeping bag, Sandra grabbed for her plasma pistol. She was wearing her sleeping bra and a pair of panties. It would have to be good enough. She followed Liam out into the cold morning air. Outside the tent, chaos reigned. Cerberus was barking while mechanical objects zipped and darted through the air.

One of the objects, nearly the same size as her head, buzzed passed. The sabre hound made a valiant lunge, but it was barely out of the reach of Cerberus' jaws. Multiple cameras were mounted on the object, aiming independently. It was a drone. The familiar buzz of a gravitic drive made Sandra duck as a second drone skimmed past her. This one was a smaller model, mounting only a single camera. There were at least three more of the things circling the camp site.

"Sandra, look over here!" a voice called out from the first drone.

"What in the gods?" Liam remarked as he stepped closer to the tent. The sight of his bare well-muscled chest drew the lenses of the cameras.

"Mister Smyth, are you aware that you're traveling with a murderer?" a voice yelled from one of the drones.

"Were you involved in the death of Eddie Solarflare?" a second one asked him.

"Sandra, over here!" a third voice called out. It was pandemonium.

Sandra lowered her weapon. It was the paparazzi and their allies in the network press. They were freelance photographers working with bottom tier reporters, remote piloting drones from their network offices. The two groups would do anything for a story. They had no higher calling than the relentless pressure to sell advertising space. The only thing worse were the pathetic fools who believed everything they reported.

"Miss Slater, did the confederate ambassador say anything to you?" a network reporter called out.

"What is General Slaughter going to do next?" a second one asked as his drone drifted low enough for Liam's hound to try to take a bite out of it. The drone barely avoided becoming a chew toy.

"What the hell is going on?" Liam asked her.

"My father has done something newsworthy. They want me to comment on it," she replied to him.

"Do you need to talk to them?" he asked.

"Fuck no!" she replied.

"Mister Smyth, what's it like to sleep with a murderer?" One of the paparazzi asked.

"What is wrong with you? She isn't a murderer," Liam replied in disgust.

From his reaction, he was angry and confused. He wasn't handling this right. The drones moved towards him. Damn! She forgot that he didn't know how to deal with the press. This was probably his first time.

"What has she told you?" A paparazzi demanded through their drone.

"Are you in danger?" a second one asked.

"I'm not..." he started, but Sandra put her hand over his mouth.

"Back in the tent now!" she ordered him. He backed up, climbing into the tent. Behind them the paparazzi and network reporters bombarded them with dozens of nonsense questions. Once they were both inside the tent, Sandra closed the flap.

"This is very important," she said to him, "We do not talk to the press. Don't answer any questions about me or my father."

"Yeah, okay, but they were calling you a murderer. You can't expect me to..." he started.

"This is a hard-line Liam. If you want this to continue, this relationship we've started, then you need to promise me. You can talk to them about yourself or anything else, that's fine, but my father and I are off limits. Do you understand?" she demanded.

"Okay, yes, I agree," he replied.

"Thank you," she said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

"How do we get them to go away?" he asked.

"There's a process," Sandra explained, "They can't badger us indefinitely. They have to give us some peace, or we can have them charged with criminal harassment. I need you to stay in the tent. I'll deal with this."

"What? No. You shouldn't have to..." he started.

"Liam, there are rules to this. If you do it wrong, then they can keep harassing us," she explained, "Let me do this."

He didn't look happy, but he nodded in agreement. She gave his hand one more squeeze and then took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. He squeezed back, supporting her without words. That helped more than the deep breath did. She let go of his hand and climbed out of the tent.

Outside, it was still chaotic. Cerberus was biting and snapping at the drones which were buzzing around like insects. They turned and focused on her, with one of them taking an opportunity to buzz low over Liam's hound, intentionally harassing the animal.

"Recall your hound," Sandra said into the tent.

With a press of a button on his wristband, and a verbal command to confirm it, Liam recalled Cerberus. The mote of command raced down her leash, striking her collar. She seemed to glow for a moment before bursting into embers. The collar flew through the air to Liam's waiting hand. He pulled his arm back into the tent.

"Miss Slater, are you helping your father with the negotiations?" one of the network reporters asked.

"Has General Slaughter met your new boyfriend?" a paparazzi yelled. Sandra pulled out her tablet and started reading out loud.

"Members of the press. I have no statements for you, and I will not be answering any questions. Your presence is non-consensual. Your actions constitute harassment under the privacy rights terms of the Nova Atlantica constitution, section twenty-one dash three. I am ordering you to disperse."

They kept yelling questions at her, but she knew better than to give any answers. She ignored them and climbed back into the tent, closing the tent flap behind her.

"Ummm, so this is going to take a while," Sandra said, "We have to avoid answering any questions or doing anything newsworthy for two hours."

"What do we do in the meantime?" Liam asked.

"I guess we could chat. Is there anything you want to talk about?" she replied.

"With them outside? Wouldn't our conversation just become a part of their next story?" he asked.

"No, the tent is semi-sound proofed. As long as we keep our voices down, they can't really hear us. It works both ways. They need to yell in order for us to hear them," she explained.

"That's kind of impressive," Liam commented.

"Thank you," she replied, "It's projectile resistant and infrared dispersive as well. Now, what do you want to talk about?"

"They mentioned a guy named Eddie. Who's that?" Liam asked.

"Eddie Solarflare," Sandra replied. She should have known he would ask about that. Liam lifted his hands up in a shrug. He didn't recognise the name.

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Who is he? An actor?" he asked.

"No, he was a singer," she replied. A sigh escaped her lips.

"I know you aren't a murderer," he said, "If you don't want to talk about it then I can look him up, but I'd prefer to hear it from you."

He was serious. Even though the reporters were asking him if he had anything to do with Eddie's death, he still wasn't demanding answers. She had to tell him. He had a right to know.

"Eddie was my ex-boyfriend," she explained, "We were off and on. Constantly breaking up and getting back together again. We were really toxic together. He committed suicide. His fans blame me for his death. Either I drove him to suicide or I murdered him, it's a conspiracy theory so it doesn't matter if its self-contradictory. The network media use it for headlines during slow news days. I was cleared in a police investigation. I wasn't involved, but they still won't leave me alone."

"Were the two of you dating when he died?" Liam asked.

"No, not really," she explained, "Eddie was a controlling son of a bitch. He tried to poison all of my relationships, constantly tearing me away from my family and friends. He couldn't handle it whenever I broke up with him. He called me to meet up at his place. He had some lame excuse for why we should talk in person. I thought we were going to argue. You know, say awful things to each other, and then have angry sex. It was our thing. We were so abusive to each other, but sex was an outlet. It was why we kept getting back together. When I got there, to his apartment, I found his body. He shot himself in the head."

In her mind's eye she could still see the mess. The plasma pistol was hanging from his lifeless hand. Liam reached for her, but she shrugged him off, pulling out her tablet instead. She brought up a news article. The link was saved in the tablet's memory. She turned the screen so that he could see it.

The headline was 'Solarflare Burns Out' and there was a picture of her and Eddie, from when they were together. She was in full makeup, with black eyeliner, fake eyelashes, and black lipstick. She even had black highlights in her lavender hair. She looked like an angry Rorschach test.

"Now I understand the eye makeup," Liam said.

"Yeah, it's the only part of the look that I kept," Sandra replied.

"Is that Sofia behind you?" Liam asked, pointing at a figure in the background.

"Yes," she replied.

"I thought you said that he tried to break you away from your friends."

"He did, but Sofia is special. He tried to gaslight me into believing she hated me. She stopped him cold by having sex with him. I guess a threesome outweighed isolating me," Sandra explained. Liam made a choking sound. He had a stunned expression on his face.

"Don't look surprised, you aren't the first boyfriend I've shared with Sofia," Sandra commented.

"Well, I'm not just your boyfriend," he said, gesturing to his trainer pouches.

He was talking about the capture device in his pouch. It was reserved specifically for her. They had a contract. He was her master when she wanted him to be. She belonged to him, and if anyone else captured her then she would be considered stolen property.

"Ummm, that's new for me," she admitted.

"It's new for me as well," he replied.

"I guess we'll figure it out together," she said.

"Look, its okay," Liam said, "You don't have to let me capture you. I know that the entire part-time collar girl thing was just to get back at your father for missing your graduation."

He moved closer to her and took her hand in his, trying to comfort her again. She didn't pull away this time.

"Yeah, it was," she admitted, "But there are definite side benefits."

She leaned in and kissed him. It was a soothing kiss at first. Helping her to calm down after the encounter with the paparazzi and talking about Eddie. His lips lingered on hers. They were warm and soft, tasting her. She started tasting him back, kissing with more urgency. A tingling warmth spread from her lips, making her feel better, much better. Her mouth opened and her tongue came out to play. He pulled away.

"Not with the paparazzi outside. We aren't supposed to do anything newsworthy, remember?" he said.

"I said that the tent is infrared dispersive, remember? They can't see much, even with thermal cameras," she said.

"Really?"

"Yup," she replied, leaning into him.

Their mouths met again. Sandra found herself leaning back as they made out, until she was lying on her back. Liam followed her down. He was still shirtless. Her hands explored his bare skin while his mouth explored hers. He lifted her up on her elbows for a moment in order to pull her bra off over her head. His mouth wandered down her neck, trailing a line of kisses to her bare breasts. Her nipple disappeared into his mouth. It started aching in a pleasurable way as he sucked on it. There was a growing warmth throughout her body, but it was focused between her legs. She needed him now.

Her panties came off next. It was a struggle to get them off while he was still kissing her breasts. With a mutual laugh, Liam moved his lips away from her nipples, allowing her to untangle her legs. The moment the panties were gone, his mouth returned to hers and they were kissing again. Their chests pressed together, bare skin feeling feverishly hot to the touch. His hand slipped between her legs. Gentle fingers spread her open, circling. She lay down on her back and he followed, his body to her side. His finger found her clitoris, making her twitch with sensation. Her hand found his hardness. He was big in her hand. It kept surprising her how big he was.

He was hard and she was wet. Her legs opened as if of their own volition. With a slow and sensual move, he shifted so that he was on top of her. His legs were between hers, and his weight was supported on his arms. She looked up at him as he leaned down and kissed her again. Her tight nipples rubbed against his chest. His knees were touching the inside of her legs, holding her open. He reached down and she felt his manhood touching her entrance.

It felt like he was too big at first. There was no way his dick was going to fit, no matter how hard he pressed against her inner lips. She could feel every millimeter as her body slowly surrendered. She twitched as the head of his penis rubbed her clit, sliding inside of her. Her vaginal muscles tried to clamp down on the intruder, but he was too big. They spasmed in pleasure while he stretched her open. Her mouth found his as he finished pressing his way inside of her.

The first stroke was shallow, opening her up. That didn't last. He slowly nudged himself deeper and deeper with each thrust. She tried to kiss him, to trail kisses around his mouth, but the spasms of pleasure left her gasping for air. His hand came up, stroking her chest, and his weight came down on her pelvis. He maintained the rhythm, leaving her moaning with pleasure.

A shift of his hips, at the depth of his stroke, and she felt it. The tip of his penis bottomed out inside her, filling her completely. He knocked gently on her door, but then he pulled back, and his next thrust didn't go far enough.

"Go deeper," she moaned pulling at his hips.

"I don't want to hurt you," he replied, his voice throaty with lust.

"Silly boy! That doesn't hurt," she said.

His next thrust filled her completely, tapping gently at that spot deep inside of her. She moaned in response. He took that as encouragement, thrusting harder. This time the knocking on her door was more forceful, and more pleasurable. She pulled on his hips, encouraging him to do it again.

It didn't take long. She could feel the pressure growing and it became more urgent every time he thrust. Her back arced and she grabbed at his hips as her body tensed. He didn't stop thrusting. Her internal muscles tried to clamp down as the pleasure peaked, but he pushed through, causing them to twitch and spasm. Her toes curled and she found herself gasping for breath.

As her body stopped twitching, she felt Liam tense up. The tight fit between their bodies made it so that she could feel the tip of his penis swell within her. She hugged him to her, maximising the skin contact as he climaxed. He grunted in pleasure and the full sensation inside of her changed just a little, his cum spilling deep inside of her. With a final twitch, he finished, and they panted for breath together.

He didn't pull out right away. She could feel his penis slowly softening. He was propped up on his elbows, to either side of her chest, his weight on her pelvis. Her legs were wrapped around his hips. They were incredibly close together, intertwined so that she could feel his every breath. It felt good.

"That's our first time without one of us wearing a collar," he said, his lips centimeters from hers.

"It was damn good," she replied, "Why did we wait so long?"

His reply came in the form of a kiss. She kissed him back, letting his tongue play with hers. This was new for her, having a boyfriend that she actually liked.

"Bear! There's a bear," a voice yelled from outside.

Liam sprang up, going for his trainer pouches. Sandra lunged for her plasma pistol. Pulling it towards her. She slipped her bra on and then started squirming into her panties.

"Cerberus Go!" Liam yelled, opening the tent flap and tossing his sabre hound's collar into the morning air. The matching wristband clamped down on his arm as the hound materialised outside. He grabbed for his pants while Sandra crawled out of the tent, her plasma pistol in hand, ready to fire.

A pair of drones swiveled to aim their cameras at her as she popped up into a shooting stance. She ignored them and scanned the surrounding terrain, looking for the bear. Cerberus was barking furiously at the drones. More importantly, the hound wasn't alerting to any other threats. Cerberus was focused on the hovering cameras. The hound should have been able to smell a bear and treated it as the dominant threat.

"Where is it? Where's the bear?" Sandra demanded, scanning the terrain with her pistol held low.

"What bear? Is that the plasma pistol you used to kill Eddie Solarflare?" One of the paparazzi asked.

"Mister Smyth are you in a sexual relationship with Sandra Slaughter?" Another one yelled, aiming the question at Liam as he crawled shirtless out of the tent.

"You said that there's a bear. Where is it?" Sandra demanded. She was beginning to doubt there was actually a bear outside the tent.

"That wasn't me," one of the reporters said through his drone, "It must have been someone else. Is General Slaughter going to declare war on the confederation?"

There was no sign of a bear, and Cerberus wasn't reacting as if there was a bear nearby. The hound was snapping at the drones, but her behaviour didn't indicate that there were any other threats. The paparazzi lied, intentionally trying to panic them, and get pictures of their response.

"You have thirty minutes left and then you have to leave me alone," she growled.

"That's not true," one of them replied, "We have two hours from any newsworthy event. The two of you scrambling out of a tent half naked is a newsworthy event."

"I only did that because you told me there was a bear out here," Sandra replied.

"No, we didn't," one of the paparazzi replied.

"What bear?" another one asked in a mocking tone, "Are you seeing things? How long have you been hallucinating?"

The capacitor discharged and a blinding toroid of plasma hit the drone. The plastic parts vaporized instantly, bits of broken and half melted metal sprinkled on the ground. Sandra shifted her aim, taking a lead on a second drone. Her hair blew backwards as the familiar blast of hot air accompanied the second discharge. Her third toroid was in the air before the pieces of the second drone hit the ground. This one burned brightly, its battery objecting to the sudden ten-thousand-degree temperature change.

In seconds, there were only two drones left. They were hovering over a hundred meters above the tent. It was out of range for her pistol, but not out of range for their cameras. Sandra lowered the pistol and stuck her middle finger up in the direction of the drones.

There was a coughing sound from behind her. She looked back to see Liam. He was trying extremely hard not to laugh.

"Is this part of your process for dealing with the press?" he asked with a grin. She laughed. She couldn't help it.

"Author's note: I'll admit that there isn't much in the way of mind control in this chapter. I didn't want to change the category for this chapter because then it would be the only chapter that wasn't in the mind control category. As for the plasma pistol, I wanted to give a clear science based explanation for how it works because it will be important later in the story. Liam and Sandra have just started their first adventure. I'd love to hear what you think? All comments are welcome. What do you think really happened to Eddie Solarflare?