Storiesonline.net
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                                Kimberly
                                by Morgan

© 2003, 2005, 2112 by Morgan.  All Rights Reserved


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Description: The third and last of the "Kathy Carlson" stories. It begins with a woman who feels she's ugly as sin with all the curves of a straight stick. Read what happens.

Codes: MF FF cons het
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Copyright© 2003, 2005 by Morgan. All Rights Reserved

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Chapter 1



Candy Kane was fretting as she awakened that morning in early October. She was scheduled to meet downtown with a couple of attorneys representing her employer, Aerospace Technologies, Inc., along with a mediator. This was the result of the sexual harassment suit she had filed against them. The fact was there was nothing to the suit; the reality was that the "sexual harassment" had been in the form of the lack of same. Candy thought she had just been ignored.

And the reality was that she had been. On the other hand, she was honest enough with herself to admit — privately — that ignoring her was the best possible behavior on the part of her coworkers: She was as prickly as a porcupine. This, in turn, largely resulted from the fact that she hated herself and for as long as she could remember had felt she was ugly as sin. The reality was that — probably as a result of an accident when she was quite young — her mouth and jaw were horribly misshapen with her teeth having grown in at odd angles. She even had two pairs of teeth with one behind the other. At a time when schools were featuring self-esteem, Candy's was in very large negative numbers.

Furthermore, she considered herself to be flat as a board. The reality was that she had a gorgeous figure, albeit with a pair of small breasts. Although they were small — sort of a B-minus cup — they were perfectly shaped with lovely little nipples that sat on areolae scarcely larger than the nipples themselves. Because she never wore a bra — never feeling the need for one — she had always totally misinterpreted the looks in her direction. She thought the men were laughing at her when in fact they were admiring her lovely body with its gorgeous little ass. At five feet nine, she was a tall girl with much of her height in a pair of perfect long legs. But Candy never realized that.

Then there was her name itself. She always thought it was the perfect name for a stripper — Candy Kane — and had even thought about stripping. Two things stopped her cold: her face, distorted by her misshapen jaw, and a figure with all the curves — she thought — of a straight stick. Nonetheless, she had investigated the possibility of silicone implants, and had actually gone to see a plastic surgeon who did such work. She was immediately turned off, though, when his receptionist — one of his earlier patients — proudly stripped off her blouse to reveal a pair of size double-D melons that, in Candy's opinion, looked utterly ridiculous on her slender frame. While reaching that conclusion, it never occurred to Candy that her figure was far better than the girl's. Her shoulders were broader, her buns were far nicer, and her legs were utterly magnificent. The receptionist's legs were okay, but most of her height — five feet three — was in her torso; proportionately, her legs were quite short.

The other thing that affected Candy was the fact that she was a mechanical engineer and a very good one. In her more objective moments she realized that it was only her engineering talent that kept her employed. I would have fired my ass within the first thirty days,  she admitted to herself.

Finally, there was her relationship with her parents who were now both dead. It started, she realized, with her name: She hated it and always had. Candace Kane wasn't so bad, she admitted, but from the very beginning she had been Candy, and she hated it. Perhaps because of her strained relations with her parents things were worse than they needed to be; she was an only child born to her parents late in their lives: her mother had been 48 and her father had been 56 when she was born. It was over parental objections that she had decided to become an engineer. Moreover, she realized that the reason for her becoming an engineer was probably because they objected. At any rate, she had gone to Cal Tech where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as completing all the course work for her doctorate. In fact, she had recently submitted her just-completed dissertation based on her own machine design work.

Now at age 27 she was at a bit of a loss. In spite of its name, Aerospace Technologies wasn't an aerospace company at all. Located in Huntington Beach on the coast south of Los Angeles, it was a machine tool company. The company had been founded by a couple of engineers from McDonnell-Douglas who had developed some computer-controlled machine tools with aerospace applications. When McDonnell-Douglas wasn't interested in pursuing their ideas, they left and founded their own company. In the intervening years, it had grown and prospered, but Candy felt it could have and should have been doing far better than it was.

Although she had never taken any business or economics courses, Candy was a brilliant young woman. She had always been bothered by the fact that accountants would report profits to the penny, but totally ignored what might have been. The reality was that Aerospace Technologies (AT) had maintained a very nice rate of growth, but in her opinion it was only a minor fraction of what the company could have done. Moreover, she intuitively understood that the competitive advantage from superior products was at its greatest when their machines were new designs. Failure to quickly exploit their product superiority only provided more time for competitors to catch up. But that's the way it was.

Then there was AT's reaction when she initiated her sexual harassment suit. Privately she admitted that the lawsuit was really initiated at the behest of Katherine McCarthy, her attorney. The woman had contacted her, met with her several times, and finally convinced her that she was being victimized. Moreover, Katherine had clippings reporting eight prior harassment court victories, each of which carried settlements of at least six figures, while one had crossed into seven digits. But when the lawsuit was filed, even McCarthy was amazed at what happened next: The company had put her on a paid leave of absence. Candy was drawing full pay even though she hadn't been near the office in more than a month. Furthermore, it had been made clear to her that the situation would continue until the issues had been resolved or until she asked to return to work. Already she had been out for six weeks, but the paychecks continued to arrive in her bank account with pleasing regularity.

Finally, she got out of bed and went into the bathroom. There was a full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door, and Candy examined the reflection of her body in it. For no reason she could explain to herself, let alone to anyone else, she had been plucking her pubic hair until now she had a hairless groin except for a dense and very neat patch of curly hair above her slit. Looking upward, she grimaced as she studied her breasts for the umpteenth time. She glared at her reflection when she noticed that — as usual — her nipples were as hard as pencil erasers and fully extended. Candy didn't know why this happened, but having erect nipples seemed to be her normal condition.

After showering and washing her hair, she towel-dried it and then followed with the electric dryer. Her hair was brown, but it had the usual collection of sun streaks through it. The streaks were in every color from brown through gold, and almost to platinum. Since she wore her hair in an urchin cut, the overall effect was breathtaking. Unfortunately, the whole effect was lost because of her misshapen mouth. Beyond that, though, had her teeth and jaw been normal, Candy would still have dismissed her physical appearance out of hand.

Finally, Candy ran a towel slowly between her legs. Although she never masturbated, she loved the feeling of the terrycloth chafing her clit, which came out from its hood to welcome its daily visitor. Although it had not been a part of her thinking at the time, the wonderful sensation had been heightened since she had plucked her pubic hair. Again she felt that wonderful sensation in her cunt as it responded to the momentary stimulation. I wonder what a man's cock would feel like? she wondered. Or a penis? But I guess it's called a cock when it's erect. As if the sight of my body could ever give a man an erection! she concluded sardonically. As she returned to her bedroom, she totally ignored the magnificent appearance of her deeply-tanned body. Another result of her leave of absence had been the fact that she could — and did — spend a lot of time at her health club. There she worked out, swam, and spent time in the tanning machine. Now she was golden all over.

Candy's initial thought had been to dress for her meeting, but she changed her mind. She decided that, for shock effect, she would wear only well-worn Levi's and a ragged old work shirt. The meeting was scheduled for eleven o'clock at the offices of Clifford & Jamison, the attorneys for AT. Although she had expected Katherine McCarthy to be with her, she was surprised to learn that she would be by herself. Katherine had explained that she didn't want to be there and possibly tip off her trial tactics by saying the wrong thing. Therefore, her meeting was with Sandra Harris and the mediator, Iris Kaplan.

Leaving her garden apartment, Candy went to her car. As a mechanical engineer, she kept her car in good mechanical condition, although she admitted to herself that it was on its last legs. It was so old, it was a Datsun; when it was built, that was the name Nissan was still using for its cars sold in the United States. Moreover, because of its age and diminutive size, it was not air-conditioned. In the Los Angeles heat this was something Candy missed, although she had been driving the car for so long she had become used to it.

When she arrived at the Clifford & Jamison office building, she let out a soft whistle. Clearly this was not Los Angeles's low-rent district. Furthermore, she was grateful for the detailed instructions she had received complete with an invitation to park in space number 15 in the building's basement garage. Locating the space, she realized that there were a number of other numbered spaces that were vacant. The puzzling factor, though, was that there were also five spaces designated for Clifford & Jamison visitors. Why am I not in one of those? she wondered.

Arriving at the 38th floor, Candy just stopped and gaped. The entry to the Clifford & Jamison offices was utterly spectacular. The doorway was highly polished cherry with the firm name in brass letters above it, along with the very dignified qualifier, Attorneys at Law, in smaller letters below the name. Candy straightened her shoulders and marched in, feeling her nipples moving against the worn fabric of her shirt as she did.

Seeing the receptionist, Candy's first reaction was to flee. The girl sitting behind the desk was the most beautiful blue-eyed blonde she had ever seen. I wonder what I would look like with blue eyes like hers? Candy wondered. All I have are yucky gray. Again, though, Candy's self-appraisal was wrong. Her eyes were large with small eyebrows and very long lashes. The effect was singularly striking, but like everything else regarding her appearance, if it was good, it was downplayed or totally ignored.

"Good morning," she said to the receptionist. "Candace Kane to see Ms. Harris. I have an appointment."

"Welcome, Miss Kane!" the girl responded enthusiastically. "The others are already here and are waiting for you in the conference room. If you will come with me... ?"

Judy Jeffries led the way to a small conference room. Opening the door, she ushered the girl in, then returned to her desk.

There were three women in the room. There was an older woman — probably in her late forties, Candy guessed — sitting on one side of the table. The mediator, Iris Kaplan,  Candy thought. Sitting at the end of the table on the side closest to the door were two of the most beautiful young women Candy had ever seen.

Kathy Carlson and Sandy Harris had arisen when Judy showed Candy into the room. Sandy extended her hand and said, "Welcome, Miss Kane. I'm Sandy Harris and this is one of my partners, Kathy Carlson." With a warm grin she added, "As you might guess from her tropic tan, Kathy has just returned from her honeymoon in Hawaii."

Looking at Kathy Carlson, Candy realized she was just gaping. Never in her life had she encountered such beauty.

Kathy looked down her body and then at Sandy. "Partner, am I all together? Did I forget something important this morning?"

Ignoring Kathy's comment, Sandy just took Candy's hand in a firm grip and said, "Kathy refuses to believe how incredibly beautiful she is." Then, while looking directly into Candy's gray eyes she added, "She's exactly like you in that respect."

Candy was just stunned by the comment. When she awakened to the fact that her hand was being gripped firmly, she returned it the same way and smiled. Only then did she realize that Katherine McCarthy had essentially no grip at all; she merely touched hands saying that a firm grip was strictly a white European male construct with which she refused to go along. Nonetheless, Sandy's firm grip felt good.

When she shook hands with Kathy Carlson, she found her grip even firmer than Sandy's. "You are the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth," Candy breathed. Looking deeply into Kathy's brown eyes she realized that much of her beauty was within. It was a new and deeply disturbing thought.

The meeting began with Iris Kaplan explaining that her rôle was to prevent Candy from being browbeaten by the attorneys and to try to work out some common ground if possible.

As they began to chat — and Candy realized that was exactly what was happening — she noted for the first time that neither of the lawyers had so much as a piece of paper with her. The only paper was a pad in front of Ms. Kaplan.

"Ms. Harris—"

"It's 'miss'," Sandy interrupted. "I haven't hogtied Jack Benson yet, and the way I'm going, it doesn't look like I ever will."

"I beg your pardon?" Candy responded. "I don't understand."

"Kathy does," Sandy said. "Are you familiar with the line, 'Why buy the cow if the milk is free'?"

Candy slowly nodded her head.

"Well," Sandy continued with a lovely grin, "not only is my 'milk' free, I even help pay for it by splitting expenses. Jack has complete access to my body at all times." Then with a lovely smile she added, "And, I'm delighted to say, he's constantly taking advantage of his opportunities, too. To my incredible joy!" Then with a grin she turned to Kathy and said, "By the way, partner, you may not have noticed, but I can actually get my thighs back together again. In spite of my advancing years, I'm still in great shape for fucking."

"Advancing years!" Candy yelped. "What are you talking about? You can't be over 25!"

"We've got to keep her, Kath," Sandy responded. "I can't remember when I've ever been so flattered." To Candy she said, "Add ten years plus and you're closer." Then she looked thoughtful as she murmured, "I wonder where Harriet Dobbs is, anyway? That bitch damn near ruined my life permanently."

While speaking, Sandy had been studying Candy closely. Then she turned to Ms. Kaplan and asked for a blank sheet of paper. The woman tore one from her pad and gave it to Sandy with a puzzled expression on her face. This meeting was like no other of its type that Iris had ever seen or heard of, and she had been mediating for years. Sandy took the paper, folded it lengthwise, then lengthwise again. The folded paper, removed from a legal-size pad, was now a bit more than two inches wide by 14 inches long.

Moving closer to where Candy was sitting, she held the paper across the girl's mouth. "What do you think, partner?" she asked. Being held the way it was, the paper masked Candy's mouth and jaw while revealing everything else.

"Wow! is what I think," Kathy replied. "This girl is unbelievably beautiful." Then to Candy she said, "Wouldn't you like to have your teeth fixed? What Sandy just did shows how gorgeous you can be with nice teeth. What do you think?"

"I guess I wouldn't be as ugly as I am," Candy replied. "But there are two problems..."

"Which are... ?" Kathy prompted.

"First, the lowest price ever quoted to me was in thousands of dollars ... And the dentist quoting that price wasn't very good. Second, there's still the matter of my figure ... or lack of one. Mrs. Carlson, I have all the curves of a straight stick!"

"Oh?" Kathy asked quizzically. To Iris Kaplan she said, "I don't think it would offend anyone too much if Miss Kane stripped, do you?"

Iris just slowly shook her head. The meeting was continuing as the strangest one of its type she had ever heard of let alone participated in.

"Would you strip, please?" Kathy asked.

"Only if you and Miss Harris do, too," Candy retorted.

"That's easy enough to do," Kathy responded. In moments, both she and Sandy were bare.

Feeling panicked, Candy's brain had stopped working. When she was functioning again she realized that the two women's bodies were utterly exquisite. Moving like a zombie, she stripped off her shirt and then shed her Levi's and bikini at the same time. Since she was only wearing moccasins, she stepped out of them and then out of her pants now sitting in a little pile on the floor. With her eyes wide, she slowly straightened up. Seeing the perfect posture of the two women standing opposite, she pulled her shoulders back, too, and stood up straight. "See what I mean? A stick."

Taking the girl's comment as an invitation, Kathy Carlson accepted it. Very slowly she walked around Candy, studying her body as she did. Gently, she moved her away from the table so she could get a good look from all angles. Finally, she pronounced, "Lady, you are utterly fantastic!" Then shaking her head in feigned sadness she added, "If my husband, Ken, were here, he wouldn't even see me. All he could see would be you!"

Although she had initially been petrified, by now Candy had relaxed enough to function again. "Get serious!" she exclaimed. "Mrs. Carlson, you are the most beautiful creature God ever created." Having spoken, she looked more closely at Kathy and added, "But as beautiful as you are on the outside, that's just a minor fraction of the total, isn't it? Your beauty within just shines from your eyes and floods out the place!"

"See, partner?" Sandy Harris exclaimed. "We've been telling you that for months, but you just don't listen ... No! That's wrong. You do listen. You just refuse to believe. Well, partner, you've just heard it again from a young woman who has just met you for the first time. She doesn't know anything about you, but she does know what she sees. And what she sees is incredible beauty."

"Enough of this," Kathy declared. Turning to Iris Kaplan she said, "Iris, you're the professional mediator. What do you think of Miss Kane's body? It's clear that my partner and I think she's incredible. Miss Kane thinks she's a stick. As the mediator, what do you think?"

Improbably, Iris showed a very youthful grin and replied, "Miss Kane, I have very bad news for you. As a mediator, I normally find myself trying to split the difference between opposing parties. But I'm afraid I'll have to make an exception in this case and side with opposing counsel. Candace Kane, your body is stunningly beautiful, and if your teeth could be fixed you would be one of the world's great beauties."

Candy was so stunned by the comment, she was speechless.

"Okay, that's settled," Kathy said. Still naked — and apparently totally unaware of the fact — she padded over to the corner where a telephone sat and proceeded to make a series of calls.

As she did, Sandy just shook her head at Kathy while she dressed and indicated to Candy that she could, too. With Kathy still on the phone, Sandy picked up Kathy's clothes from the floor and deposited them in a heap on top of the telephone.

Without a break in her conversation, Kathy proceeded to dress. Finally, hanging up the instrument she said to Candy, "You have an appointment with Dr. Donald Matthews at three-thirty this afternoon. Does that fit with your schedule?"

Candy was stunned. In her research regarding her teeth, she had encountered Dr. Matthews' name. He was the finest oral surgeon in California and one of the very finest in the world at jaw reconstruction. Unfortunately, she had also learned that his fee for a single tooth rivaled her annual gross income. When she said as much, Kathy merely said that it was all taken care of.

"Taken care of?" she exclaimed. "What on earth does that mean?"

"It means it's taken care of," Kathy repeated. Then she said, "Since it's almost noon, and Dr. Matthews is downtown, I hope you'll join us for lunch." Then with a grimace she added, "I'm cooking, unfortunately."

"We eat!" Sandy nearly shouted. To Candy she added, "Kathy Carlson is the finest cook west of the Mississippi, anyway, and possibly the finest cook in the nation. Miss Kane, you really lucked out."

When she extended the invitation to Iris Kaplan, the woman begged off, having a prior engagement.

The three adjourned into the firm's large conference room. Kathy proceeded to open up a wall revealing a fully equipped restaurant-scaled kitchen. Minutes later, others began to appear. Candy was introduced first to Ginger Jamison Conrad, then to Judy Morris, and finally to Joan Frederick. When Joan looked like she was about to cry, Ginger said, "Okay, Joan, I give up. You can wear your uniform while you take drink orders."

The lovely girl grinned and a moment later had stripped bare. Taking a tiny lace apron from the closet, she carefully put it on — it didn't come close to reaching her bare crotch — and began to take drink orders. When Kathy announced they were having the classic French meal, steak frites, Joan stopped and just served a lovely dry sherry to everyone, explaining that wine would be served with lunch.

At that point Ali Clifford came into the room. Looking at her, Candy was utterly stunned. Never in her life had she seen such a beautiful woman. Her misshapen jaw was still hanging open when Ali came up to her. "Wouldn't you feel better with your mouth closed?" Ali asked with a warm grin.

"What is this place?" asked the utterly bewildered Candy. "Never in my life have I encountered a group of such unbelievably gorgeous women. What is this? A law firm or the training ground for Miss America candidates?"

At her comment, Ali just cutely giggled. "Don't hold us against us, please, Miss Kane."

The two women chatted and then took seats at the large table in the center of the room. Candy found herself still talking to Ali, and, to her utter amazement, found herself telling the woman her life story.

"You are going to be utterly beautiful, Candy Kane," Ali said finally. "Now let's eat. We really don't want Kathy's food to get cold."

Joan Frederick continued with her serving, and when everyone was served began to pour the wine, a chateau-bottled Bordeaux from a superb year. Candy recognized it as costing hundreds of dollars a bottle.

The lunch was utterly superb. When they were finished, she went with Kathy Carlson to her office where the two women just chatted. Finally Kathy said, "The teeth aren't your only problem, are they?"

"No," Candy conceded, "there's my name, too." Then she proceeded to tell Kathy how she had always hated it and repeated her line that Candy Kane would be a fine name for a stripper, but that was about it.

Kathy looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "So why don't you just change it? Do you have a problem with Dacey or Dace?"

"Dacey Kane," Candy mused. Then with a shake of her head she said, "Oh what the hell ... It's not great but it's a helluva lot better than Candy." With a grin she concluded, "Okay. Now I'm Dacey."

Kathy grinned back and changed the subject. "Now that that's out of the way, we can handle some paperwork." With that she passed over some forms each of which had small tabs indicating where Dacey was to sign. With that concluded, Kathy slipped a couple of the papers into a leather folder and passed it to Dacey along with two sets of car keys.

"What on earth are these?" the girl exclaimed. She had just noticed that the keys were two sets for a BMW.

Kathy reddened slightly and explained, "I'm awfully sorry, Miss Kane, but I guess our address gets to us sometimes. The fact is we can be awful snobs. Anyway, Ali got a call from the building manager about an old Datsun parked in our space #15. He had had it towed away, since he knew no client of Clifford & Jamison would be seen dead in a piece of junk like that." With a sad shake of her head, Kathy continued, "It was too late for Ali to save it. So anyway, Clifford & Jamison owes you a car. Those keys are for a BMW M-6. I hope you can make do."

"An... M-6?" she gasped.

Kathy just nodded.

"My God! The total value of that piece of junk I drove down in wouldn't pay for one of its ashtrays! What are you all doing to me?"

With a warm smile Kathy replied, "Well, I guess what you're saying is that the trade is acceptable to you? You won't sue us for mental anguish or something like that?"

"I wasn't going to," Dacey conceded with her eyes now dancing, "but I think I will. For openers, I'll have to camp in the lobby until about three in the morning when traffic will be light enough for me to dare take it out on the street. Then there's its power..." She snapped her fingers and said, "No, that might not be a problem after all. I just won't ever shift out of first gear. I'm certain that its top speed in first gear with its five-speed gearbox is greater than my old car's top speed in fourth going downhill." With a determined nod she repeated, "That's it. I'll just keep it in first all the time."

At this point Dacey was bubbling over with excitement. The fact of the matter was that she had been looking at used BMWs with the thought of buying one. But the idea of a new one — let alone an M-series, least of all the top-of-the-line M-6 — had never crossed her mind.

With a shake of her head she returned to the present and asked, "But why? What are the folks at Aerospace Tech thinking about? Why?" she repeated.

"As far as the folks at AT are concerned, I don't have the first foggy clue. The car — as I just explained — was to make up for our own actions."

Hearing that, Dace just rolled her eyes and murmured, "Yeah, sure..."

"As for the rest, it has nothing to do with AT, either. We're also the attorneys for the William Harrison Clifford Foundation, and the Foundation has been looking at some new things to do with its money. One of them involves making physical repairs on people whose appearance holds them back. So, Dace," Kathy concluded, "you're our first experiment in that direction."

When Dacey heard the name she mentally started to make connections. "William H. Clifford ... Isn't he one of the richest men in the world?"

Kathy just nodded once.

"And a few months ago ... I saw a tiny squib in the legal notices: William H. Clifford had married Ali McGrath." Her eyes widened as the pieces came together. "That gorgeous young blonde is Allison McGrath Clifford, isn't she? She's Bill Clifford's wife!"

"And executive director of the Foundation," Kathy added. "Anyway, it's all approved and fully funded."

With that it was time to head over to Dr. Matthews' office.



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Chapter 2



It was four months later — early February — and the work on her teeth had been completed. Dacey looked at herself in the mirror and conceded that her appearance was exactly the way Dr. Matthews' computer had shown it would be.

That had been a truly remarkable experience. Electronic pictures had been taken of her face and jaw and input into the computer. The doctor had played with the controls changing the size and position of teeth in tiny increments until the three of them found an image that fit the bill. Now for the first time in living memory, Dacey had beautiful brilliantly white teeth and a simply lovely smile.

However, over the intervening months, Dacey had been keeping herself busy; she was not the sort of person who could just veg out in front of the tube for hours at a time. She had used the time to go over the blueprints for all of Aerospace Technologies' products ... and had been appalled.

In the first place, from a mechanical engineering point of view, they were a collection of Rube Goldberg machines. Somehow they got their respective jobs done, but in the clunkiest way possible. The result was that each contained two to three times more moving parts than were needed. This, in turn, resulted in the need for extensive maintenance and substantial downtime due to machine failure. Moreover, with the cost of the excess parts plus the additional time to assemble them all, the cost of the machines was far higher than it needed to be.

Initially, she couldn't understand how such a thing could ever have happened. But then the answer came to her: It was the aerospace world at work. Although AT had intended to sell its machines to manufacturers of all kinds, the people all came from the aerospace world, a world of ones and twos; almost never were high-volume production runs achieved. As a result, the focus was on making something work essentially without regard to how the job got done.

Machine compatibility was another problem. Although many of the machines were designed to be used in series, there seemed to be utterly no rhyme or reason to the various production rates. When Dacey set up a hypothetical production line using just six AT machines, the lowest common denominator, which would match the output of each of the sites to the input needs of the machines following, produced a mind-boggling number.

Putting the two elements together, Dace went to her computer, brought up CAD software and began to work. It took months of effort, but so did her jaw reconstruction. As it turned out, the two projects were completed at about the same time.

The results she had achieved even amazed Dacey herself. Overall, she had taken out more than 50 percent of the total number of parts and estimated that assembly time had been reduced by about two-thirds. Furthermore, machine input and output rates were now all multiples of 10. Almost regardless of a company's needs, the new machines could be set up with no bottlenecks and almost no excess capacity either. Finally, to even her surprise, the precision of the machines was increased by a factor of about ten!

Having examined her appearance in the mirror as much as she could, Dace decided to take the bull by the horns. She would drive in to see George Morrison and Bill Miller, the two founders of Aerospace Technologies. Although it was February, the weather was quite warm so she wore a white sleeveless dress, frowning at her nothing chest as she did so. The comments made at her initial Clifford & Jamison meeting had never really registered and had certainly not been believed.

Getting into her BMW, she started it up and listened to the wonderful sound of its enormously powerful engine. To Dacey it was an almost sensual sensation. As she drove to the plant, she realized that her AT parking sticker had gone with her old Datsun so she had to park in a visitors space.

Marching up to the main entrance, she announced herself to the receptionist and asked to see Mr. Morrison and Mr. Miller, or either of them.

"Who shall I say is calling?" the receptionist asked, looking up at Dace with a smile.

"I'm Candace Kane," Dacey replied with a warm smile of her own, "and I work here. Or I did, anyway."

The brilliance of her smile coupled with her beauty almost knocked the poor girl flat. With a hard shake of her head, she regained control and made a call. "You may go right in," she said. "They're both in Mr. Morrison's office."

Both men rose as she entered the office and greeted her warmly. When she responded with another warm smile, the two executives were almost knocked flat.

Morrison, the chairman, was the first to recover. "Miss Kane, you are without question the most beautiful mechanical engineer in the world! Now what can we do for you?"

Dacey went to the coffee table sitting in front of a sofa and set up her laptop computer on it. As she did so, she noted that when she had entered the room, neither of the two executives seemed at all happy. Now with the two executives sitting side by side — Bill Miller was the president — she went through her findings and her full design presentation.

When it was finished the two men were utterly stunned. Miller was the first to regain his voice this time. "Miss Kane—"

"Dacey or Dace, please, Mr. Miller. One thing that's changed is that I'm no longer Candy; I've never been able to stand the name."

"And my name is Bill, and this is George, as you well know, Dace. Now tell us, what's the cost implication of this?"

"Between savings on parts and labor, our costs should drop 60 to 70 percent," she replied. "I don't have enough information to refine the numbers, sir, but I'm quite certain we could cut our prices by 50% and substantially increase our margins at the same time."

Miller sagged back on the sofa, threw his arms out and sighed, "Hallelujah! Candace Kane, you may have just saved the company for us." He went on to explain that the reason he and George had been together was to assess the present company situation which was not good. They were facing heavy competitive pricing pressure and had just finished a review of the company's cost position to find that they could not even break even if they met competitors' prices, let alone make any money. "But what you've just shown us changes everything! We could be the low-cost producer in the industry."

Miller leaned back against the sofa and added, "How in hell did this ever happen, anyway?"

"I've been thinking about that, and the answer is simple," Dace replied. "When you and George were starting out, you wanted designs that would work. You didn't have the time or money to refine the engineering. Then later, when there was the time, the people had become used to the Rube Goldberg engineering. If a new engineer joined the company — like me, for example — she might think the engineering was a bit odd, but as the new kid on the block, who would listen? And by the time she had enough time in the company to be listened to, the existing arrangement looked okay to her, too."

She grinned and added, "You have lots of company, though."

"Oh?" Miller commented.

"Oh, sure," Dacey replied. "It's sort of a classic story in the history of machine design. The first copier Xerox produced was the 914. Early on, the Japanese were interested in producing copiers, too, so they got a bunch of them to reverse engineer. The fact is that beyond the selenium drum, the damned thing was a mechanical monster. The result of this was that the 914 design delayed Japanese competition by two years or more. They spent all that time trying to make sense of the Xerox mechanical layout. Their engineers couldn't believe that anyone would produce such a mechanical kludge without a reason. But that's exactly what had happened."

Miller and Morrison just shook their heads.

At that point Dace swallowed hard and decided to go for it all. "There's one more thing..."

"And what's that?" Morrison asked.

"It's our production line arrangement," she replied. Then with her head up straight she announced, "It sucks!"

"How do we fix it?" Miller asked.

"Well, here's one way," Dace replied. She took a grid-lined pad from her attaché case and began to sketch. First she did a drawing of the existing layout and then one of her proposed new one. It occupied less than half the space while lending itself to far more efficient materials flow. "How's this?" she asked when she finished.

"It looks like we might as well go home, George," Bill Miller said. "Dacey has just solved the company's two most pressing problems." Looking at her thoughtfully he asked, "Dacey, how long have you been working for us?"

"A little over three years, sir," she replied.

He looked over at George Morrison. Their eyes locked and then George just meaningfully nodded his head. Dacey caught the exchange of looks, but didn't have the first foggy clue as to what it meant.

Turning back to her, Miller said, "Dacey, I don't know what we've had you doing here since you joined. You could have been counting paperclips for all I know. But what I will say is that if you had never done a single thing for the company since you went on the payroll, you more than earned all your money this morning. And then some! What you've just shown us is utterly brilliant and vitally important to the company's future. I just thought you should know."

With a grin he changed the subject completely. "This gives me the chance to catch up on my sleep and prepare for the company picnic ... which we'll now be able to have after all..." His voice tailed off and he looked up at the ceiling, then continued, "Are you busy tomorrow, Dace?"

"Hah!" she replied with a sardonic laugh. "If you mean socially, I'm never busy."

"How about coming out to our company picnic, then?" he asked. "I can't recall ever having seen you at one. We normally have them a couple of times a year. Did you ever attend?"

"Mr. Miller, with my normally obnoxious behavior, I would have been as welcome at one of those picnics as a skunk!"

"I can't comment on that," he responded, "but today you've been utterly charming. You have the warmest, nicest smile I've ever seen, as well as being utterly gorgeous. But at any rate, will you come? Please consider this to be a personal invitation from the chairman and the president."

"In that case, sir, I guess I must say yes," Dacey said with a lovely smile. "So yes!"

Then he named the state park at which it was to be held. Then he asked, "How did you get along with our attorneys last fall? They've never said a word to us about it or about you."

"They're the nicest group of women on the face of the earth," Dace replied. "It was through them that my teeth have been fixed. Do you like them, by the way?"

"Like?" George Morrison asked. "Miss Kane, as Bill said before, you are now an outstanding beauty. It looks wonderful, and I'm very happy for you."

"As am I," Bill Miller chimed in. "We're counting on seeing you tomorrow."

Dacey slowly nodded her head.



-------

Chapter 3



On Saturday morning, Dacey Kane awakened very early, long before her alarm was set to go off. Instead of trying to go back to sleep, though, she arose and began her preparations. After taking a shower and washing her hair, she very carefully shaved her legs and underarms. Then using a magnifying mirror in conjunction with a full-length mirror on a door, she examined her crotch for even the smallest stray hair. A couple were found and ruthlessly plucked.

She didn't stop there. Using mirrors in combination, she carefully examined her small remaining pubic patch to be sure that its four edges were all straight and sharply defined. Finally satisfied, she spent the next fifteen minutes searching for the perfect underwear for the day, settling on a luscious white thong that set off her all-over golden tan perfectly. After fluffing the top of her pubic hair over the upper edge of the thong, she even used small manicure scissors to trim a few hairs to what she thought to be the exactly right length.

With her back to the mirror, she turned her head to inspect her rear view. With the white line of material in the crack of her ass, her golden buns really looked pretty good. This was an all-time first for Candace Kane: The first time in her entire life she ever thought any element of her physical appearance was even marginally acceptable, let alone good. I've heard thongs called 'butt floss',  she thought. No wonder!

She thought for a moment about rouging her nipples and even the edges of her labia, but rejected the idea. In the first place, her nipples were a rosy red to begin with; the rouge likely wouldn't even show. Moreover, it might rub off on the inside of her shirt, which would be terminally tacky.

Having completed the time-consuming elements of her personal preparation, she slipped on a pair of short-short Levi's cut-offs and then a work shirt with the sleeves torn off at the shoulders. She tied the shirttails together under her breasts. Or where my breasts would be if I had any,  she thought.

After having her breakfast, she polished her lovely new teeth and even put on some lipstick. With preparations complete, she left her apartment and went to her car.

She had loved her M-6 from the very first instant. She kept in the garage beneath her apartment and kept it gleaming. Polishing it — detailing it, really — was for her a labor of love. Easing it out, she headed for the park.

At the park entrance, she asked a ranger for directions to the Aerospace Technologies picnic. She not only provided the directions, she gave Dace a park booklet with a map inside. It also had pictures of a number of the park's features. One that caught her eye was a waterfall dropping into a very small lake. Dacey noted that it wasn't very far from where the AT activities were centered.

After parking her car, she strode over to the area where the AT people were gathering. At the entrance to the area a card table had been set up staffed by three women. As she drew closer, the eldest of the three matrons rose from her chair and came around the table toward Dace with both of her hands extended. Dacey didn't know what else to do, so she extended her hands which the woman immediately took in her own.

"Welcome, Candace Kane!" the woman exclaimed. "You're exactly like George described you ... and he hasn't spoken of anything else since he got home from work last night."

"How do you do?" Dacey responded. "Mrs. Morrison... ?"

"Oh, dear!" the woman exclaimed. "I'm really losing it. I'm Trudy Morrison." Then she looked deeply into Dacey's eyes while slowly shaking her head. "But George doesn't know the half of it, does he? As stunningly beautiful as you are, it's only a small fraction of your beauty within. Young lady, you are simply exquisite!" She paused, then lowered her voice to barely above a whisper and asked, "Are you as good in bed with a man as you appear to be?"

"I ... I don't know," Dace blushed. "I've never been in bed with a man."

Trudy Morrison's eyes widened as she slowly shook her head. "Oh, dear! Some man is going to be the luckiest male on the planet. Candace Kane, you are the female find of the century!"

Then she changed the subject entirely. "Do you know how our day is organized?" she asked.

Dacey's eyes widened. "I don't have a clue," she admitted.

"Well," Trudy Morrison began, "it's sort of modeled after the church suppers from the 19th century. At that time, single women would prepare a picnic basket and the single men would bid on the baskets. In addition to the food, the winner got to eat with the woman who prepared it.

"We don't have the women cooking — I'm really not sure how many could, for that matter — so instead of auctioning off baskets, we auction off the single women. The winning bidder has that girl as his teammate in the competitions today and his partner at dinner. And, of course," Trudy added, rolling her eyes, "the winners of the competitions get simply scrumptious prizes!"

The woman's expression changed; now her eyes were boring deeply into Dacey's. "Are you willing?" She saw the girl's eyes widen, and then she swallowed hard.

"I guess so," Dace replied. "But what are the events?"

"There's a three-legged race, then a rotation with horseshoe pitching, golf on the 9-hole course here — that's a scramble, by the way — and tennis." Trudy smiled and said, "You're really pretty athletic, aren't you, Miss Kane?"

"With my nothing figure, I had to do something. So, no, I don't trip over my own feet too often."

"Okay, then," Trudy concluded, "here's your number." She gave Dacey a small paper disk with the #1 showing.

It was all Candace Kane could do to leave the table without her knees noticeably knocking. In fact she was certain they would have been knocking had she been standing still and not walking away.

After checking back at her parked car to ensure that her tennis racket and golf clubs were in the trunk, she made her way past the table and into the park. She gave Trudy Morrison a weak smile as she passed.

"That girl is all right!" Morrison whispered to her companion, Connie Miller, Bill Miller's wife.

"As usual, dear friend, you're absolutely correct," Connie replied.



-------

Chapter 4



Brad Kramer — William Bradley Kramer, Jr. — had taken a position to the side of the platform and as far back as he thought would be reasonable. He wanted to be in a position close enough to the platform for his bids to register, but at the same time — for no good reason — he wanted to be out of the sight line of the people on the stage, the girls being auctioned off, and one girl in particular.

Brad was 29 years old. He had his MBA from University of California in marketing, and had been with Aerospace Technologies for three years. Prior to his graduate work at Cal, he had been a lieutenant in the Army Rangers. From his very first day at AT, he had been its top salesman. (His leading position resulted from having made a sale on his very first sales call.) At six feet three with sandy hair and brilliant blue eyes, he was very attractive to women and knew it. The result had been his ability to date virtually any female who took his fancy. He had exercised this ability frequently with countless young women over the years.

Today was shaping up to be different, though. Beginning in the afternoon the day before, there had been an increasing buzz around the company about the most gorgeous female creature on two legs, Candace Kane, along with the information that, not only did she work for AT, she was single and would be attending the company picnic. Brad was determined that he was going to buy in that girl.

Using his B-school background, he researched the way the auction was going to work, as well as the auction's history from prior picnics. He learned that the all-time record was a bid of $125; most winning bids were less than $50. Notwithstanding, given the buzz around the plant, he was confident that Candace Kane was about to set a new record, and from the eager looks on the faces of the young men who were beginning to gather in anticipation of the auction, the old record stood not just to be broken but to be shattered.

So far, his expectations were being realized.

Finally, the girls were assembled at the back of the stage. It was an all-purpose platform that served variously as a bandstand, a dance floor, and for whatever else groups renting the facility might use a level wood floor. The master of ceremonies came forward and wasted no time in getting the program underway.

"As most of you already know," he began, "all the money raised today goes into the company's recreation fund. Personally, I'm looking forward to a helluva Christmas party, so I hope you guys brought lots of money with you." He paused and then continued, "That reminds me ... There are really only two ground rules in this auction: First, it is strictly cash: no credit cards, and particularly, no checks. Second, any guy making a winning bid who is unable to come up with the cash is fined 20 percent of his bid, and the young lovely goes to the next highest remaining bidder."

Again he paused and looked over the large group of single men crowding around the front edge of the stage. Arrayed around them was an even larger group of husbands and wives and dating couples assembled to watch the proceedings. "Okay," he said, "does anyone have any questions about the way this auction is going to work?" He looked all around, but only saw the eager looks of the guys waiting for him to begin.

"Will the young lady with disk #1 come forward, please?" he asked, turning back toward the girls.

Dacey swallowed hard and came forward. She murmured her name to the auctioneer who announced, "The first girl to be auctioned is Candace Kane. Although Dacey has been with the company for several years, it's my understanding that this is her very first company picnic, so I hope you'll all be nice to her."

Dacey instantly had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She was almost certain that she was being set up. But set up for what? In the first place, she remembered that Trudy Morrison had given her disk #1. Moreover, she had the number in her hand; she hadn't drawn it from a box or anything. Second, how did the auctioneer know that she was now calling herself Dacey? And how did he know how long she had been with the company or that this was her first picnic? All she had told him was her name, Candace Kane. Something was going on, but what?

It's a good thing,  she thought, that I'm moving. Otherwise, she was certain that everyone would see her knees knocking. Standing beside the auctioneer, she got her first good look at the crowd. There, immediately in front of the stage, was the eager, leering Si Goodman. Oh, Lord! she thought. Not him!

Goodman was about five feet eight — shorter than Dacey — but must have weighed north of 250 pounds. Moreover, just from looking at him with a beer bottle in his hand, it was clear to her that it was certainly not his first of the day. Already he appeared to be three sheets to the wind, and it was still not even eleven o'clock.

"Well, guys," the auctioneer began, "this is our first young lovely of the day. And isn't she beautiful? Good grief!" He paused for a moment and then mused, "Wonder if I could get a decent trade-in on my wife and get into the bidding myself?" He chuckled and then continued, "Our first girl is Candace Kane, Dacey to her friends. Her face and figure? Well, you can see that for yourself. What you can't see, though, is that in that gorgeous head is possibly the most powerful brain in the whole company. Dacey is a mechanical engineer, and possibly the best machine designer and engineer in the world! So listen up, guys! The guy who gets her had better be very nice to her. The whole future of the company is on her lovely shoulders!"

Dacey didn't know what was expected, but she stood up straight and said, "I know I'm not much to look at—"

She was immediately interrupted by a chorus of boos and raucous laughter. One guy shouted, "You'll do unless Bo Derek puts in an appearance!"

Truly, she was stunned by the reaction. What's wrong with these people? she wondered. They have eyes. They can see what a nothing I am.

But trying to ignore the interruption she continued, "—but I'm in pretty good shape for a girl. I mean ... I work out and all. And ... and ... and I even have my own golf clubs and tennis racket so you'll save money by not having to rent equipment for me. And ... and ... I'll really try to be a good date for the winner today."

The auctioneer took a deep breath and said, "Okay ... Now you all heard from Dacey. Who's going to make the first bid?"

The bidding began with bids coming from all around. In no time, with the bid increments of five and ten dollars, bidding was north of $250. At that point things slowed down, but Si Goodman was still very much in the game.

Brad Kramer had selected his position well, although he really didn't know why he did. But for some reason, he didn't want Dacey to be able to see him. For that purpose, his position was perfect. He was standing to the auctioneer's right side, with Dacey to his left. The auctioneer's position prevented her from seeing him.

As the bidding climbed, Brad smiled to himself. What was happening was what he had expected to happen based on what he had learned at the office the previous afternoon. Si Goodman, braggart that he was, had been telling anyone who would listen that he was going to have Dacey Kane as his date, regardless. He even brandished around a roll of $100 bills, claiming that he was going to get her if it took $1,500. For that reason Brad had $2,200 in cash with him, far more than he ever carried. Dream on, Si,  he thought.

Brad's most recent bid was the one for $250. There was silence, and then the auctioneer declared, "The bid is $250. Do I hear more? Going once ... Going twice..."

"Five-hundred dollars!" exclaimed Goodman.

"Six hundred," Brad immediately responded.

"One-thousand dollars!" Goodman shouted, although he was only a few feet away from the auctioneer.

"Eleven hundred," responded Brad with a wave of his hand.

At that point Goodman realized he was in trouble. Although Dacey couldn't see Brad, Goodman certainly could. Moreover, knowing that Brad Kramer was a bachelor and the highest-earning salesman in the company, he realized that Kramer had a lot more money to spare than he did. At that point he changed his tactics. Giving up on his ambition to escort Dacey — and fuck her if he possibly could — he decided that he would just run the bidding up to make it as expensive for Kramer as he could.

"Thirteen hundred!" Goodman exclaimed.

"Fifteen hundred," Brad immediately responded.

"Seventeen hundred!" Goodman immediately reacted.

At that point Brad was on the horns of a dilemma. He was sure that $1,700 was more money than Goodman had, but was he that sure? He decided to take a chance and remained silent.

"I hear seventeen-hundred dollars," the auctioneer said, getting back into the action. "Do I hear more? The bid is seventeen-hundred dollars from Simon Goodman. More? Going once ... Going twice..." With a thump of his gavel on the rostrum, he declared, "Sold to Simon Goodman for seventeen-hundred dollars."

At that point Dacey felt ill. She was doomed to spend the rest of the day with this drunken slob!

From his vantage point to the side, Brad called out, "It's not over until the bid is paid ... in cash. Can we see Si's money?"

What Brad had noticed with a feeling of triumph was the sick look on Si's face just before the gavel came down. His information was correct and he had won his gamble: It was more money than Simon had.

"He's right, Si," the auctioneer said. "Now let's see your cash."

At this point Si's general obnoxiousness did him in. He tried to borrow $200 from the others, but was greeted by stony silence. One woman summarized the feelings of the group succinctly: "If you think I'm going to lend you money so you can inflict yourself on this utterly gorgeous girl, you're crazy as hell. No way! In fact, no fucking way!"

Her remarks had been made with no effort to keep her voice down. Her response was greeted by cheers from the people standing around.

"Time's up, Si," the auctioneer declared. "Pay up."

"I ... I can't," Si admitted. Then he blurted, "I was just trying to get more money out of Brad Kramer."

"You know the rules, Si," the auctioneer said. "If you can't cover your bid, you're penalized $340. Let's have it, and thank you from the Recreation Committee. Your contribution is cheerfully accepted."

Goodman paid up and then slunk away from the stage.

"Okay, folks," the auctioneer said, returning to his job. "The seventeen-hundred dollar bid couldn't be covered. The prior bid was fifteen-hundred from Brad Kramer. Brad?"

Brad easily moved through the crowd whose members parted to give him room to get to the stage. As he did, he pulled the roll of cash from his pocket and began to count out fifteen of his hundred-dollar bills.

Going to the edge of the stage, he fanned out fifteen bills and passed them to the auctioneer. He quickly verified the count and then said, "Brad, you've got yourself a date. And she's the loveliest thing I've seen in years."

Dacey was in a daze. She was in such a state of shock, she never even noticed who it was who had bid her in. She only knew that his name was Brad Kramer, but she had no idea what a Brad Kramer was. Not realizing that the only stairs up to the stage were at its rear, she just moved blindly forward to the edge of the stage. When she reached it, Brad reached up, put his hands around her slender waist, effortlessly lifted her off the stage and gently deposited her on the ground.

"Hi, Dacey," he said. "I'm Brad Kramer."

She looked up at his handsome face and then just reached out to hug him. "Thank you so much," she murmured, "for saving me from that creep."

"How about some coffee?" he asked. "The auction will be going for a while yet."

Coffee was being served in the food area. While walking toward it, Dacey found her hand in Brad's. Just being held in his hand felt so good! The two got cups and then sat on a picnic bench with their backs to the table of which the bench was a part.

"What now?" Dacey asked. "Do you know what the schedule is?"

Brad snapped his fingers and then went off to the registration table. While he was picking up a schedule, Trudy Morrison said softly, "Congratulations, Brad. Connie and I were hoping it would be you. Candace Kane is utterly gorgeous and a real class act. I think you two are going to have a really great time together."

Returning to Dacey, he mused at the comment. It appeared as if the whole damned company was out to get Dacey and him together. Well, I'm in favor of that, too,  he thought.

The schedule proved to be quite elaborate. The pairings were done in a combination of names and numbers. The names were those of married couples and those with dates; the numbers were those of the girls being auctioned off. They learned that their sequence was the three-legged race followed by nine holes of golf, then horseshoes and finally tennis.

"Do we ever get to eat?" Dacey asked with a grin. "I'm so damned scrawny already, I don't have any spare pounds to give away."

"Scrawny? Hah!" Brad commented. "But on the other hand, you're sure not carrying any extra weight, either. Dacey Kane, you have the most beautiful body I've ever seen."

She ignored the comment. What was strange to her was that after finishing their coffee, the two had shifted on the bench so they were somewhat facing each other. Again they were holding hands, but this time both hands, yet neither was aware of it. For some unknown reason, each told the other his or her life story.

"I served with the Rangers in Vietnam," Brad finally blurted.

"I'm sorry it ended the way it did," Dacey said sympathetically. "You guys did everything ever asked of you, but we bailed out anyway."

"What did you say?" Brad responded incredulously. Every girl he had met previously had recoiled in horror at the idea that he had fought in Vietnam.

"Look," Dacey explained, "when all the ruckus was going on on campus, I was usually in an engineering lab. But I wasn't dead. You were absolutely right. At the time I thought we were doing the right thing. After seeing what happened afterward in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, it should be obvious to everyone we were doing the right thing." She looked into Brad's blue eyes and felt her heart roll over as she added, "The mission of the army is to kill people and break things. I hope you did a good job of it."

"I came out of it with a little hardware," Brad admitted.

"Like what?" she persisted.

"The DSC, Silver Star and Purple Heart," he murmured.

"Distinguished Service Cross?" she asked.

He just nodded his head.

"My God!" she murmured, "I have a date with a certified hero!" Then with her eyes wide she added, "Bradley Kramer, I'm so damned proud of you right now, I can't stand it!" With that she moved across the few inches separating them and kissed him gently full on the lips.

It was just a quick little kiss, but it rocked her to her shoes. And it did the same to Brad.

Not knowing what to do about it, they did nothing. Instead they slowly strolled hand in hand to retrieve their sports equipment from their respective cars. He insisted on carrying both golf bags while she giggled and carried the two tennis rackets, making a big thing of the weight she was carrying.

Neither noticed that they continued to hold hands as they went toward the site of the three-legged race. "I guess that's one advantage we might have," she commented. "A lot of my height is in my legs, so maybe I'll be able to keep up with you okay."

"And a truly lovely pair of legs they are, too," he responded.

A short time later, the first group of racers assembled. It turned out that there was a little more to it than the schedule had indicated. They were in the first flight, but there were fourteen flights. What the schedule didn't show was that the winner of each flight met later in the day in a head-to-head final race.

In the event, it was no contest. Although Brad's legs were longer, the difference between them wasn't very great. With her right leg tied to his left with bandanas at the thigh and ankle, they just strode off leaving the competition behind.

Moving on to the golf course, they found that it was set for a shotgun start. Two couples were positioned at each of the nine tees and everyone started together. The format was a scramble in which both players hit every shot. However, after each shot — including putts — they selected the best-positioned ball and both played their next shot from that position. For Brad and Dacey, it couldn't have been better. He was much longer, but she was more accurate. As a result, they found themselves always playing from his tee shot, and occasionally his second, but playing off her shots close in. It turned out that she had an incredible putting eye. This,  she thought, resulted from playing almost all of my rounds on a par-3 course close to the apartment.

Brad realized that Dacey's touch was near-perfect close in, so he always took the first putt. To Dace's cheers, he even sank one long one. Far more often, though, she would be crouched low well behind his ball as he took their first putt. Regardless of the length, in every case except one she made the necessary correction when she took her turn and sank hers.

For his part, Brad found he loved to watch Dacey swing a golf club. She said her body was scrawny, but it was anything but. She was a slender girl, and yet he realized that she had astonishing muscle development. Her golf swing was straight from an instructional video: very smooth, very controlled, and very powerful. Her power was concentrated at the point of her club's impact with the ball. His applause for her shot was always returned with a quick but very happy grin.

The result was an 8-under-par 28 for their nine holes. Brad felt that they had iced the golf competition.

After the golf, they found a spot of shade and just lay down to continue the process of getting to know one another. They learned that they both were Los Angeles Rams and Dodger fans. Brad was astonished to learn that Dace routinely spent her Sunday afternoons during football season watching the Rams. He had met girls in the past who professed to watch pro football, but Dacey was the first girl who really did. He knew she really did when he discovered her encyclopedic knowledge of Rams players, both present and past, along with their relevant statistics.

When they moved over to the horseshoe pits he realized how muscular this girl really was. Wearing only her short shorts and with her shirt tied under her breasts, most of her body was bare. The first time she pitched a horseshoe, the muscles in her legs, back shoulders and arms were revealed. It was all he could do to keep from whistling his appreciation. It turned out that this was her very first experience with a horseshoe in her hand, but it took only a few pitches for her to get the range.

Dacey adored the sound a ringer made as the metal horseshoe hooked around the steel post and spun down into the pit. Whenever she made one — and they came with increasing frequency as the matches went on — she would jump, clap her hands and give him a grin that made her look like a beautiful 10-year-old. She was just having a wonderful time.

But that couldn't be said of their opponents. In match after match, they were shut out. In one instance an opponent pitched two ringers, but Dacey proceeded to put two more on top of his, negating his score. She was unbeatable, but at the same time was so happy, no one took offense. Clearly she was just a very happy girl having fun and her joy proved to be infectious. Opponents found it difficult to get mad at her performance and impossible to stay angry at her.

Although the schedule said their next event was tennis, it was delayed for the running of the finals of the three-legged race. That proved to be no contest at all. Brad and Dacey combined long legs with an almost instinctive working together to such a degree that they almost literally ran away with the victory. Of the fourteen couples who started, only nine finished. Two of the couples, in trying to keep up, tripped and took down three other couples with them.

At the finish line — they were nearly 10 yards in front of the second-place finishers in a 100 yard race — Brad gave Dace's shoulders a squeeze and kissed her lightly on the lips. Even that brief — almost instantaneous — contact was enough for Dacey to feel her knees turn to water. She hugged him back, but to keep from falling more than anything else.

Their final event — or so they thought — was tennis. This played very differently from the earlier competitions. The format was eight teams playing a single set with tie-breakers if necessary. Although Dacey had not played much tennis, she had played a lot of racquet ball at her health club, and easily adjusted to the full swing of tennis rather than the more wristy game of racquet ball.

Again, their teamwork worked for them as they quickly polished off their first two opponents and moved into the finals. It turned out that she was devastating at the net, with cat-quick reflexes and an amazing judgment of ball trajectories. Several times when opponents tried to lob to get them away from the net, she just glanced and called that it was going out, and the ball did.

The final match was very different, though. They found themselves playing a young husband-and-wife team who were both very good and very experienced in mixed doubles. While their earlier opponents had been unable to hit effective lobs to drive Brad and Dacey back from the net, this couple could and did. This time it was Dacey's speed and quickness that saved them time after time, but both of them were being run ragged.

The result was an interminable tie-breaker, with neither couple able to get the necessary two-point advantage to win. Dacey thought that the tie-breaker alone was so long it was the equivalent of at least a full set of tennis by itself.

Finally, after Brad had smashed a return right into Carol Christian's feet giving them a one-point advantage, it was Dacey's turn to serve. For the entire match she had been spinning in serves and Carol was playing for one this time. By this time Dacey's scraps of clothing were wringing wet with sweat, and she could feel that her energy level was approaching empty. Focusing all her remaining energy, she cannoned her serve. Carol, playing forward of the end line awaiting a spin serve, could only watch as the ball raised a puff of chalk as it hit in the corner of the service box and then caromed off the back screen.

The two couples just collapsed on the court and then met at the net to shake hands. Neither had nearly enough energy left to try to jump it.

"That was the best match we've played in years," Bill Christian declared. "How long have you two been playing together, anyway?"

"Since about an hour ago," Dacey replied with a tired grin.

"Bill and I would love to play with you two again, soon," Carol declared. "Quite honestly, you're the best mixed-doubles team we've ever seen in Southern California. Bill and I play a lot, but frankly, it's been pretty tough for us to find good competition. You two are simply outstanding!" Then with a very warm smile she added, "We were playing our very best tennis, but you two were just better." She shook her head. "Dacey, I really don't know how you do it. Time after time, I thought we had a winner but somehow you were always back to return it. Lady, never have I seen a person with reflexes as quick as yours. You're just plain great!"

Then to Brad she said, "And as for you ... Do you have an arm or a cannon? And the way you two play together ... It's as if you share a single brain."

The two just grinned wearily and went off the court with Brad heading for the drink cooler. He took out a beer for himself and turned to ask Dacey what she wanted, but she wasn't there. Standing up straight, he looked around. Because he was six feet three and Dacey was five nine with that distinctive urchin hair styling, a fast scan of the area revealed that she just wasn't anywhere around.

Army Rangers are, among other things, reconnaissance troops. Using his map of the area, Brad noticed the little pond and waterfall. Remembering how sweat-soaked Dacey had been, he headed toward it.

It was a lovely little spot, shielded from the surrounding area by a dense grove of trees. The clearing was large enough that the pond and the surrounding shore were all bathed in full sunlight. Perhaps it was his training — he didn't intend to sneak up on Dace — but he penetrated the grove of trees without making a sound. As he was about to emerge into the sunlight, he saw Candace. She was naked, standing in water over her knees, rinsing out her clothing. Then very carefully she laid the articles out on a large flat sun-drenched rock to dry.

Satisfying herself that the items were best positioned for drying, she dove into the water and stroked toward the waterfall. The fall was much higher than Brad expected; the water was falling in quantity from more than 30 feet up. With the stone facing falling away below the lip of the falls, the bulk of the falling water was coming down a full 10 feet into the pool.

In spite of the erosion of the falling water, the pool was quite shallow where it landed. Dacey stood up straight and let the water cascade over her body, shivering as she did. Wherever the water came from, it was apparently cold. Even from across the pond, Brad could see goose bumps forming on her lovely body, but she didn't move from under the falling water. Instead, after first washing her hair, she used her hands to rinse the sweat from her body.

It took only an instant for Brad to decide that she had a good idea. Stripping quickly, he rinsed out his jockey shorts and his golf shirt and laid them beside Dacey's in the same manner she had. Then he dove in and smoothly stroked across the pond.

Dacey reminded him of a little girl playing in the bathtub. Standing under the waterfall, she had her head back and was catching the falling water in her mouth while her hands were gently massaging her tits. All the while, her back was to him.

Rising up a few feet behind her he said softly, "Hi!"

Dacey almost jumped a foot straight up in the air. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"The same thing you're doing: trying to get rid of some sweat." He paused and then added, "Candace Kane, you are utterly gorgeous."

She looked at him strangely then dove into the water and began stroking back toward where her clothing was drying. Brad then did the same thing she had done: He took a shower under the fall, then swam back to her.

The flat rock on which their clothes were drying was plenty large enough for the two young people as well as their clothes. After he sprawled out beside her, she turned and asked, "Could I use your thigh for a pillow? Please?"

"Of course!" He stretched out on the rock and she rested her head on his thigh. At the same time he could see that, although she was trying desperately to control it, her body was shaking with fright.

"You have gorgeous tits, Dacey," he commented.

At that she jerked upright and spun around. "Bradley Kramer, have you utterly lost it? I thought blindness was a disqualifying defect for Rangers. And, Kramer, you are blind!"

"Gorgeous tits," he repeated while nodding his head.

"Good lord, man! I don't have tits. They're mosquito bites, for heaven's sake!"

"Lovely tits."

"You think they're so damned good? Well you can have them!" she nearly shouted.

"Thank you, Dacey, for the lovely gift. I've never had a pair of tits of my very own before."

Dacey was so upset she was speechless. Finally she uttered, "Men... !" in the most disdainful tone she could manage. Having nothing further to say, she again rested her head on Brad's muscular thigh.

"What a lovely pussy you have," he commented. "Can I feel it?"

By now her eyes were closed but she murmured, "Feel away."

Brad ran his fingers lightly over her belly and abdomen, then he moved it to her small pubic patch. There he ruffled her curly hair and marveled at the fact that, like the hair on her head, it too was sun streaked. Fluffing it to get out the last bit of moisture, he moved his fingers lightly to her slit and the skin around it. He was amazed to find that it was as soft and smooth as a baby's bottom.

"How in hell do you avoid stubble when you shave down here?" he asked. "My God! I can't ever shave my face this close."

"It's easy," she murmured. "It's not shaved, it's plucked."

"Plucked?"

"Plucked," she repeated. "I pull the hairs out by the root, one by one."

"But why?"

"So it will feel nice and smooth if a guy ever touches me down there, I guess." She paused and then added, "And I guess it worked."

"It's beautiful, Dace. Do guys go down on you?"

"No."

"No?" he nearly screamed. "Why in hell not?"

"Because until this minute no one — and I mean no one — has ever seen me bare."

"But when you sleep with a guy..."

"I never have," she admitted softly. Then she laughed bitterly, sat up and turned to face him. "Isn't that the funniest thing you've ever heard? Here's a girl — woman — 27 years old and still a virgin. Can you possibly imagine anything dumber?"

Effortlessly he lifted her up from the rock and set her down across his lap. He could feel his cock, already semi-hard and getting harder, probing her backside. She ignored it and so did he. He just put his arms around her and held her tightly. As soon as he did, Dacey turned her face into his shoulder and began to cry her eyes out.

Very gently he turned her body on his lap so she was facing him. Then he pulled her close crushing her tits against is chest. Remarkably he could feel her turgid nipples moving against the hair on his chest. The feeling was simply wonderful. Moving his head slightly, he began lightly to nibble her earlobe, feeling her whole body shudder when he did. He kissed her face all over while whispering endearments. In the meantime, Dace's arms had gone around him and she responded by hugging him tightly.

Both thought the feelings were spectacular. Brad was caressing her satin-smooth skin all over while she reveled in his maleness. He was heavily muscled all over and it was wonderful. She realized he was so strong he could break her in half, but at the same time his strong fingers moved with such wondrous lightness all over her body. She couldn't believe that a man as strong as Brad so obviously was could be so tender at the same time.

She moved her face against the hair of his chest and just sighed with happiness.

"I think it's time to go," Brad murmured in her ear. "There's one more event..."

"Uh, oh. Why is it that I'm almost sure I'm not going to like what's coming. Just what is the last event?"

"It's the Miss Aerospace Tech contest," he replied blandly. "I'm sure you're going to just love it, too."

"Bradley Kramer, what aren't you telling me?" she demanded. "I know damned well there's something more."

Ducking her question he replied, "You'll do great, Dacey. You'll just knock 'em dead."

"And how on earth am I going to do that? With my nothing body?"

"Well ... There is just one little thing..." he replied, stretching out the words.

"One little thing?"

"Yeah. All you can wear are a bra and panties." The last sentence came from his mouth so fast it was almost a single word.

"But ... but ... but I don't even own a bra!" Dacey sputtered.

"That's easy to fix," he replied, "you just don't wear one."

"But what will I wear?"

"That lovely ... It's called a thong, isn't it?"

"And what else? And that thong only covers my slit; my buns are completely bare."

"And they're utterly gorgeous! With your all-over tan and the white line of the thong in your crack ... Gorgeous!"

By this time the two had risen to their feet with Dace standing close just looking up at him. "And on top?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"But—"

"I would like the guys to see the beautiful tits I now own. Okay?" With that he reached down and very gently cupped her breasts in his hands. Moving them slowly and gently over her lovely mounds he could feel her nipples becoming even harder as they scored his palms.

Dacey reached out and put her arms around his neck. She made no movement either toward him or away. Her eyes closed and she just gasped in pleasure while softly saying, "Please stop ... Please..."

"Tell me you don't like it and I'll stop."

"I can't."

"Why can't you?" he insisted.

"Because it feels so good," she admitted. Forcing her eyes open she looked deep into his blue ones looking for some sign of teasing. There was none. All there was was ... tenderness.

"Are you sure, Brad?"

"I'm sure."

"On one condition, then," she continued.

"What's that?"

"That you'll be close. Please don't get lost in the crowd and leave me alone. If you're close to me I'll be able to do it."

"It's a deal," he replied, pulling her close. This time she fitted her naked body to his and reveled in the feeling while he gently kissed her forehead, her nose and her dainty little ears. Significantly, he didn't kiss her lips.

"Can I help?" he asked, moving back half a step.

"Help with what?"

"Getting you dressed."

"Dressed!" she nearly screamed. "All I'm wearing is that dumb thong!"

"I know," he said softly with a warm grin.

She stooped down and picked up the scrap of material from the flat rock. Since the stone had been warm and there was nothing to the thong, it was now both completely dry and actually warm to the touch. Wordlessly, she held it out to him.

It took Brad a few moments to sort out the scraps of fabric. Then he held it open for her and, holding on to his arms for balance, she slipped one foot and then the other into the appropriate openings.

Slowly he worked it up her lovely legs, taking full advantage of the opportunity to caress both legs as he did. "So smooth... !" he murmured as he went higher. Reaching her crotch, he smoothed the material over her slit and felt her shudder as his finger passed over the site of her clit. Although still concealed by her labia, it had extended upward to be almost peering out from between them. Then he turned her around and carefully placed the material in the crack of her ass, then adjusted the strings so they were even on both hips. Finally he turned her around again and very carefully flipped the top of her pubic hair over the scrap of material.

"I guess you noticed," Dacey commented. "And you did it pretty well, too."

Then she looked up at him again and with her eyes wide repeated, "Brad, are you really sure you want me to do this?"

He nodded once.

"Honest?"

Again he nodded.

"Okay," she said resignedly, "but if I'm arrested for indecent exposure, you'll have to bail me out."

"That's okay," he replied with a warm grin. "I still have $700 in cash left over from money I brought to bid you in.

"Seven hundred dollars!" she exclaimed. "You were prepared to go to $2,200... for me?"

"A lot higher than that," he said quietly, "but I didn't think it would be necessary." He paused and then added, "And you know what else? Candace Kane, as much as I expected from today, you've far surpassed it. You're a simply incredible woman."

At that point, Dace picked up her purse. Finding a still area in the pond by the shore, she used it as a mirror to fix her hair. After carefully applying lipstick, she turned to Brad and asked, "Should I put some on my nipples, too?"

"They're simply gorgeous the way they are."

Her preparations were complete.

He picked up her shirt and held it for her. She slipped it on, but only buttoned a single button between her breasts. It surprised her that the shirttails reached the top of her thighs. Since she always wore it the same way — with the tails tied beneath her tits — she had forgotten that the tails were as long as they were.

He carried her sneakers and held out an arm to her. She took it and padded barefoot back toward the picnic area.



-------

Chapter 5



As they walked, Brad realized that something was different. Then he realized that it was Dacey's height: she was taller than she had been. Looking down, he found that she was walking on the balls of her feet with her heels always at least two inches off the ground.

"Whatever are you doing?" he asked.

"Huh? I'm not doing anything."

"Yes, you are. You're walking on the balls of your feet. Why?" He paused and then added, "And how?"

"Oh..." She gave him a wry grin and said, "It started in grad school. I realized that I would be looking for a job in a company where the women were expected to dress ... or at least that's what I thought. Little did I know that the standard attire is Levi's. But anyway, I had never worn heels in my life and was scared to death I'd fall on my face. So I got the idea of practicing by walking on the balls of my feet, keeping my heels at least two inches in the air. I guess I got to be pretty good at it, too. Anyway, when I finally did wear a real pair of heels, it didn't feel strange at all."

She stopped and looked up at him. "Does it look okay?" she asked with the concern obvious in her face. "At the beauty pageants the girls are always wearing heels. It's supposed to make the legs look better ... I think. But what do you think?" she repeated.

"Dace, you're utterly incredible, is what I think," he replied. "You're really going to knock 'em dead." He paused and then added, "Sweetie, I'll be standing right at the stairs. I'll hold your shirt and have it for you to slip back on as soon as you're done. Okay?"

"I'll be counting on it." Then with a shy little smile she added, "And don't forget: You promised. I'm counting on you to bail me out after I'm arrested for indecent exposure, too."

The young couple took position by the steps at the back of the platform. The same man who had served as the auctioneer in the morning was apparently going to serve as the master of ceremonies for the beauty contest as well. Looking around, they saw ten girls who were preparing for the pageant. All but one of them were wearing heels. The exception was a girl wearing a sports bra and matching pants. She was still wearing her sneakers. Alone among the other girls, she seemed to be in good physical condition. Moreover, whenever she moved in a way that caused a bra strap to move, she exposed white skin that contrasted starkly with her tan. Dacey thought she would be the strongest competition, although she had a long torso with relatively short legs, and her shoulders appeared to be narrower than her hips. That's a function of bone structure and genetics,  Dacey thought. There's nothing she can do about it.

Two of the other girls were wearing lacy bras and panties. She was surprised to find that neither of them were even bikinis. Studying them more closely, she concluded that the reason was they were more akin to foundation garments than briefs. They were engineered to flatten the abdomen, although the result was an unavoidable roll of fat immediately above the garment's top edge.

"You're not going to have any trouble," Brad whispered in her ear. "Candace Kane, you're the runaway beauty in this group."

"That's only because the really beautiful women like Carol Christian aren't competing, or can't," she replied.

"We're all set," the emcee announced. "This morning, when we auctioned the girls off, we started with #1. This afternoon, we're reversing the process." He looked down in his hand where he held a list of the contestants' numbers. "Number 27," he called out.

Twenty-seven was the girl wearing the sports bra. She put a warm smile on her face, climbed the stairs, went to the emcee at the front of the stage, then walked slowly to her right, turned slowly with her arms raised, then walked back across to the left corner of the stage, ensuring that everyone was able to get a good look. Returning to the emcee, she made a curtsy to the crowd and then threw out her arms.

Scoring was being handled by an applause meter borrowed from somewhere. The needle moved to about the halfway mark, hovered there and then sagged back. The girl smiled warmly and took a position at the back of the stage near the steps.

One after the other, the next eight girls repeated essentially what the first girl had done. It was clear that each was watching the others to pick up any tips that might result in a higher rating. Their scores, however, were in the lower third of the scale, significantly below the girl in the sports bra.

Because of her height, Dace could see across the stage to the spectators beyond. She noticed that most of the girls had groups of supporters in the crowd. In every case but the first, applause for a girl was concentrated in a single location.

Finally it was her turn. "Number 1," the emcee called out.

Dacey unbuttoned the single button and let Brad take her shirt away. She was trembling in fear, and she knew he knew it. What's wrong with me? she asked herself. I'm with a genuine war hero, a guy who put his life on the line. All I'm doing is risking a little embarrassment! With that she put her shoulders back which lifted her breasts and erect nipples.

Even climbing the steps she was on the balls of her feet, still maintaining the two-inch space between her heels and the steps. As soon as she was on the platform, her near-nudity became apparent to everyone. She was wearing only a tiny scrap of material over her pubic area, and even that had formed to her slit. The reaction of the audience was an audible collective intake of breath. Indeed, her revealed beauty was simply breathtaking.

She walked up to the emcee, then turned to the right and went slowly to the right corner. There she extended her arms and slowly turned in a full circle allowing time for everyone to see her body from every angle. Her buns were tight and highlighted by the tiny scrap of white material in the crack of her ass.

Back across the stage she went. Several times she slowly spun around to give more people a good look at her. Reaching the left corner of the stage, she repeated what she had done before. Finally she made her way back to the emcee who was standing at his microphone open-mouthed. With her back ramrod straight, she executed a perfect curtsy, then jumped to her feet with her arms out and up at 45 degree angles.

Dacey was shocked. Her performance was greeted with total silence. Suddenly it was as if the PA system had been plugged in and turned to its maximum volume. There was pandemonium. The applause meter jumped to its stop at the far right of the dial and just stuck there. She threw kisses to the crowd and then retreated down the steps and into Brad's arms. He held her tightly, while at the same time easing her into her tattered shirt.

"You were incredible, darling," he whispered. "I was so damned proud of you!"

Now with her shirt on, although unbuttoned, Dacey slowly controlled her trembling. "Thank you, Brad," she whispered. "But please just hold me tight. Please?"

He did just that. "You were just great!" He pulled back just enough to look into her eyes and asked, "But how did you do it?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"I sure do!"

"I just thought of you, your medals, and what you had to do to earn them. Compared to what you did, what's the big deal about letting the folks look at my scrawny body?"

"Look, Dace, knock that off right now!" he demanded. "You're utterly magnificent, and everyone now knows it. Okay?"

"Yes, sir," she whispered, sticking out the tip of her pink tongue.

"Candace, please come back here," the emcee called out.

Brad noticed that even now with the competition over, Dacey still was walking on the balls of her feet. Reaching the man, she extended her hand.

"Will you give the folks another good look?" he asked.

She grimaced, but slipped off her shirt. Holding it in her left hand, she moved to the left front of the stage and very slowly moved her way across to the right, turning slowly in complete circles as she did ensuring that anyone who wished had a perfect view. As soon as she started her slow movement across the stage, the applause began. It just increased steadily in volume as she did until it crescendoed when she reached the far corner and just stood there looking out. Her back was still up straight, her breasts were upthrust. She was gorgeous.

"Thank you all so very much," she said. The instant she began to speak, the audience became silent. "Thank you for this honor," she repeated, "even though other girls here deserve it far more than I."

"No!"

"Absolutely not!"

The cries echoed around the area. Hearing sounds behind her, she turned and saw that the negatives were being led by the nine other contestants who were arrayed in a line along the back edge of the stage.

After again slipping on her shirt, she went back to them and thanked each one. The last girl in line was the one wearing the sports bra. The girl slowly shook her head and said softly, "Miss Kane, not only are you the most beautiful thing on two feet, you're all class. The most beautiful — and the most charming — girl won. Congratulations!"

Dacey didn't know what to say, so she said nothing.

Meanwhile, George Harrison had come up on the stage and took the mike from the emcee. He held up his hands for silence, and the crowd instantly quieted.

"Folks, this has been a truly remarkable day. And you know something else? For reasons I'll give you in a few moments, it's only right that the big winner today should be Candace Kane. Why is that? Because, had it not been for Dacey, there would have been no picnic today.

"Yesterday morning, Bill Miller and I were in my office, and quite honestly we were despondent. You see, we were going over a layoff list that would have been posted yesterday afternoon." He paused and one could feel the tension build in the audience. He continued, "Fully 40 percent of the company's employees were on that list." The shocked gasps were clearly audible. "Under the circumstances, it didn't make much sense to follow the layoff of 40 percent of our workforce with a picnic. We were about to cancel it when Dacey walked in.

"What did she do? Not a helluva lot. All she had done — entirely on her own time and on her own computer, by the way — was to redesign every single machine tool we make. There were two things her work accomplished: First, it stripped out about 70 percent of the total cost. Second, it increased the level of precision by an order of magnitude. For you non-mathematicians, that means by a factor of 10. Now, for the first time in living memory, Aerospace Tech will be able to compete on price, and with superior products to boot!

"What does this mean? It means no layoffs. It means, in fact, that we'll probably be hiring additional staff in the very near future.

"And who's responsible? It's entirely the work of Candace Kane, without question our company's most valuable employee. And I'm most particularly including Bill Miller and myself when I say that."

Turning toward the rear he called out, "Brad Kramer and Candace Kane, get your tails over here." To the crowd he said, "Speaking of tails, have you ever in your lives seen a more lovely pair of buns than Dacey's?" The crowd instantly screamed out their agreement.

It turned out that for each of the four earlier athletic competitions the prize for winning was a gift certificate for dinner for two at a top restaurant. Two restaurants — both in Los Angeles — were included, Maxim's and The Palm. Both Dacey and Brad received four certificates each, and then Dacey squealed when she learned that, for winning the Miss Aerospace Technologies competition, she had won five more.

After making the awards, George Harrison looked up as he performed some mental calculations. He nodded his head decisively and said, "You know what, folks? If Brad Kramer plays his cards right and gets Dacey to select him as her escort, not only will he get his $1,500 back, I think he'll actually come out ahead." He grinned and added, "That's assuming he can get Dacey to order something more than a cup of coffee, that is."

Dacey giggled and Brad laughed at the crack.

"I've made no secret of how scrawny I am," Dacey called out. "Maybe this is a chance to develop a curve or two."

"Well, if you don't, it's your own fault," Harrison retorted. "But as for your comment about curves, woman, you are simply exquisite! A curve or two, indeed!" Returning to his topic he said, "There's something about these certificates that's a little different. Usually, they're for a set dollar amount or for a prix fixe meal. That's not the case with these. Each one covers a full dinner for two, from cocktails to cognac; whatever is ordered is what we pay for. And at the prices these places charge, it's not hard to run thirteen dinners for two above $1,500. Way above $1,500!"

He turned and shook hands with Dacey and Brad. Then he returned to Dacey, took both her hands in his and looked straight into her eyes. At six feet tall, and with Dace still on the balls of her feet, they were almost exactly the same height. "Candace, all we can say is thank you for saving our company." Then he tipped her head and kissed her full on the lips.

Her eyes flared in surprise, but then she realized that something was different. Harrison's kiss was warm and loving, but there was no electricity nor any bells. Now she actually had another man's kiss to compare Brad's to and it was so very different. How odd! she thought.

As she was about to return to Brad, George gently grabbed her arm and said, "Not quite so fast. There's one more little thing, so come back here."

The two returned to the rostrum and Morrison announced, "There's one more thing. I told you how Candace saved the company the way a doctor sometimes saves his patient. Well, she's a doctor, too ... or soon will be. Late yesterday we received a communication from California Polytechnic Institute in Pasadena. It seems that Miss Candace Kane's dissertation has been accepted, so she will be awarded the degree of Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the commencement to be held this June."

Turning to her he said, "Dacey, Bill and I really don't know what to say. So while we're still thinking about it, here are five more dinner certificates for your collection." Turning back to the crowd he said, "I'll tell you one thing for damned sure: Candace Kane is the most beautiful doctor of mechanical engineering in history! And there are no words to describe how happy for her we are nor how proud we are. Congratulations!"

Again there was an explosion of sound as Dacey fled from the stand and down the steps into Brad's arms.

"Congratulations, sweetie," he whispered as he held her tightly and kissed her lightly on the forehead. Her reaction amazed him. He could feel her trembling increasing in intensity as he held her, but far from making any attempt to move away, she was hugging him tightly around the waist. "Would you like a beer?" he whispered.

Even with her face on his shoulder, she still managed to vigorously nod her head.

Brad eased away while Dace went over toward the picnic tables to wait for him. No sooner had she sat down on the bench when Carol Christian came striding over.

"Thanks a hell of a lot, Dacey!" she grumbled.

"What did I do this time?"

"Oh ... nothing. You just displayed the most gorgeous female form anyone has seen around here in years. That's all." Glaring at Dacey she continued, "And I hope you're happy. Because of you, I'll have to spend most of the next few days on my back with my feet up in the air and my legs spread wide..."

"Why would you do that?" Dacey asked innocently, but with her eyes dancing.

"Just to remind Bill that he has a great piece of ass already sharing his bed, and he doesn't need any more." Then she grinned and asked, "Did you ever hear the story of the blonde with her brunette friend? They were walking down the street when the brunette sees her boyfriend in a flower shop buying a bouquet of flowers. The brunette exclaims, 'Oh, shit! Here's where I spend the next few days flat on my back with my legs up in the air and spread wide. Those flowers he's buying are for me.' The blonde looked puzzled for a few moments and then asked, 'What's the matter? Don't you have a vase?'"

"Well, don't you?" Dacey giggled.

"Dacey—" Carol began

"Yuck!" Dacey interrupted.

"Candace—"

"Double yuck!"

"Am I getting the idea that you don't like your name?" Carol asked.

"Well ... I guess I would have to say I detest it. And I say that only because I don't have a thesaurus handy to find a stronger word. I despise my name and have for as long as I can remember. 'Dacey' is better than 'Candy', but on a zero to ten scale, it's like going from a zero all the way up to ... a two!"

"So change it," Carol said blithely.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong? Are you a retard or something?" Then she snapped her fingers and said, "Of course! It's all my fault. I keep forgetting that you're an engineer, and I didn't communicate with an equation or something..."

Drumming her fingers on the tabletop, Dacey glared at Carol and said, "Christian, if you would like to keep your head attached to the rest of your body..."

"You mean... ?" Carol asked making a slitting motion across her throat.

"I mean!"

Instead of responding, Carol just looked off into space. Then she said, "How about Kimberly? I think Kimberly Kane — or Kimberly Kramer — sounds pretty neat. And you could be Kim or Kimmie..."

"I love it! In fact, it's a really neat name ... but where did that 'Kimberly Kramer' come from? But how... ?"

"It's a lead-pipe cinch," Carol replied. Then she grinned and added, "In this state it's easy as hell to change your name. It's what comes after that's a real pain in the ass..."

"Like what?"

"Like changing your driver's license, car registration, voter registration, passport ... And on and on and on." She paused and then said, "To show you what a neat guy I am, I'll even handle the name change." Then she grinned and added, "You get the fun stuff: all the notifications."

"What do you do for a living, anyway, Carol?"

"I'm a prostitute," she replied impassively.

"You're a what?" Candy-now-Kimberly almost screamed.

"You know," Carol said calmly, "a hooker, a whore, a slut ... All those good things."

"But you're married!"

"Oh, that's just a tax deal," the girl responded blithely.

"And the loudest, most foul-mouthed fuck in the Western world," Bill Christian added as he and Brad came up to the table carrying bottles of beer.

"You can't say that!" Carol protested. "You haven't fucked every woman in the Western world, so you can't know I'm the loudest." Her face fell as she added, "I'll have to concede I'm probably the most foul-mouthed, though."

Turning to Kim she said, "It's really awful. When Bill's fucking me, I'm screaming my lungs out with every obscenity you've ever heard, and usually I create a few new ones. I'm really bad." Then she punched Bill lightly on the arm and said, "And it really puts a crimp in my business, too."

Kim slowly shook her head and then said, "Okay, you're a prostitute. But what's that have to do with getting my name changed?" Then to Brad she said, "Effective immediately, there is no more Candace Kane. I'm now Kimberly, and I answer to Kim or Kimmie or ... Oh, hell, Brad. I answer to almost anything that has a 'K' in front. What do you think?"

"Hmm ... Kimberly Kramer ... I like it. It has real class." Then to Carol he said, "But what about the rest of it?"

"Oh, yeah..." Carol responded looking embarrassed. "I'm also ... a lawyer."

"Oh, dear! You poor thing!" Kim replied with her eyes dancing. "No wonder you'd rather be thought of as a member of an honest profession — a prostitute — rather than..."

"Yeah," Carol said glumly. "And you know what the problem is, don't you? It's only 99 percent of the lawyers that give the rest of us a bad name."

Brad and Kimmie couldn't control themselves. They burst out laughing. Carol Christian was a girl who Kim had already come to love. Like Kimmie, she was five feet nine, but was a blonde — although a bit of it came from a bottle — with gorgeous blue eyes. Like Kimmie, she was both tanned and very athletic.

"There's only one law firm in Southern California that's worth a shit," she said. "What a stinking shame I'm not in it."

"Which one is that?" Kimberly asked.

"One I'm sure you've never heard of," the girl replied. "It's not even a year old, but it's already known as the finest law firm in the state."

"And its name... ?"

"Clifford & Jamison," Carol replied. "And I guess it's all women."

"So why don't you join?" Kim asked.

"No fucking way," Carol replied glumly. "Before Bill and I were married, maybe ... But now? No fucking way!"

"Why not?" Kim persisted.

"It serves me right for letting a damned accountant talk me into a tax deal. That's all our marriage is, after all. But on the record, it looks like it's real, so I'm stuck with it..."

"Stuck with what?"

"Bill's war record," Carol said softly. "Not only did he not run away to Canada, he actually served in Vietnam ... and as an officer, yet. And ... and ... he even hurt people — killed, even — and ... and ... he's not even sorry." Then she raised her head and sat up with her back straight and said, "And I'm not, either. In fact, I couldn't be more proud of him. I think of it every time he soaks his lovely cock in my dripping cunt, too. So there." Her face became impassive and she continued, "We'll leave you two alone now."

"Why?" Kim asked.

"Why?" Carol nearly screamed. "Because he fought in Vietnam ... and he killed people ... and we're not even sorry..."

Kimmie rose to her feet, went to Bill Christian, and gently kissed him full on the lips. "I'm not sorry, either," she said softly. "Brad did, too. He came away with the DSC, the Silver Star and a Purple Heart. I think he might have killed a guy or two, too. And I'm so damned proud of him, I can hardly stand it." Again, Kim noted that Bill's kiss was full of warmth and love, but didn't have the bells or electricity the kiss she shared with Brad did.

"You did?" Bill exclaimed, looking at Brad. "What unit?"

"Alpha Company, 1st Ranger Battalion. I was executive officer of Carlson's Rangers," Brad said softly.

"Platoon leader, second platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Ranger Battalion," Christian responded. The two men gripped hands and embraced. "I only have a DSC and a Bronze Star," Bill Christian said softly. "Hardly worth mentioning."

Kimberly Kane was glowing with pride. To Carol she said, "Are you really sure you have to be going?"

The girl was stunned. She had collapsed on the bench and was just slowly shaking her head from side to side in utter amazement.

"As for Clifford & Jamison, if you would like," Kim continued, "I could set up an interview on Monday for you. For your information, Allison McGrath Clifford cratered her film career by spending so much time over there. More than one young soldier literally died in her arms. She would strip off all her clothes and get in bed with a dying GI. She couldn't save them, but every one died with the happiest smile on his face. He had Ali McGrath naked in his bed.

"Carol, I assure you Bill's service in Vietnam won't hurt you."

"My God!" Bill Christian whispered. "Ali McGrath? There are no words to put against her name. All I can say is that there are thousands of guys still alive who would be dead if it hadn't been for her. Talk about inspiring the troops! One time — just after I joined Carlson's — we went 30 miles through the jungle because the word was out that Ali would be at a forward outpost.

"When we got there it was pouring rain. We were sure there would be no show because of it. And there wasn't. All there was was Ali. She came out alone and barefoot, just wearing a pair of short shorts and a T-shirt. In just an instant she was as soaked as the rest of us. But she spent the next two or three hours just talking to the guys. One thing I'll never forget: She said that it was her only chance ever to win a wet T-shirt contest ... principally because she was the only female there. But, God, did she care!"

"Amen to that," Brad observed. "I was there, too, and it was exactly the way Bill described it. Those men would have gone to hell for Ali McGrath and would have thanked her for allowing them to keep her company. She is truly one of the great ones."

"Then there's Ginger Conrad ... or Ginger Jamison Conrad," Kim interjected. "Her husband, Charley, was a Marine pilot over there. Those idiots didn't fly over the paddies, they flew through them. It was said you could always tell a Marine aircraft: it had rice growing in its air intake. Then Judy Morris is engaged to Mike Morris, a Marine major ... and Medal of Honor winner."

She grinned and added, "Oh, yeah ... There's one other girl, Kathy Carlson." Turning to the guys she asked, "Have you ever heard of Kathy-grams?"

Brad Kramer was stunned. "You mean... ?"

"That she's Kathy?" Kim asked with her eyes wide. "Yep. And please note the last name. It used to be Katherine Hughes. Now it's Katherine Hughes Carlson. She's sort of attached to a guy named Kenneth Carlson. You guys ever hear of him?"

The two men just sank slowly down on the bench and just sat there. Then Brad murmured, "You mean ... Ken actually ... survived... ? He's still alive?"

"Maybe it's all a figment of her imagination," Kim said, "but every morning Kathy comes stumbling in to her office with the most glorious look of fulfillment on her face." She paused, then nodded decisively and concluded, "Yep. Ken Carlson is definitely still alive." To Carol she said, "Oh, and she's a partner in the firm, too. I understand it took special permission and an action by the courts to permit a non-lawyer to be a partner in a law firm. But she is." Kim grinned and added, "And you know something else? Bill's war record won't bother Kathy Carlson the least little bit."

"But ... But ... But ... How do you know all this, Kimmie?" Carol asked in bewilderment.

"They're the ones who had my teeth fixed, supplied me with my car ... They're just the neatest group of women on the face of the earth is all." Then she asked, "Do you know where their offices are?"

"Every lawyer in the state — particularly every female lawyer — knows where Clifford & Jamison is located. It's probably the most prestigious address in Southern California." Carol replied.

"You have an appointment with Ali Clifford for 10 o'clock Monday morning," Kim continued. "Can you make it?"

"But that's impossible," Carol protested. "We only mentioned the firm a few minutes ago..." Her voice tailed off.

"It's not only possible," Kimmie insisted, "it's a done deal." She smiled warmly and continued, "How do I know? Because Ali is Ali. Nothing is ever too much trouble for a friend. I have no idea why it is, but she claims to be my friend, so you have the appointment. Okay?"

"Come here, slut!" Bill called out.

Carol looked at him and her eyes widened. "No, Bill, please! You promised..."

"I did like hell! I said I would think about it. And I did. And it's a shitty idea."

Carol turned to Kim for support. "Isn't thinking about it the same as saying yes? It is, isn't it?"

By this time Kimmie was giggling so hard she couldn't say anything. All she did was wave her hands trying to indicate, "Keep me out of this!"

"Come here, slut," Bill repeated.

Slowly Carol got to her feet and moved toward him. "Please don't make me, Bill," she pleaded. "Please ... No."

Carol had her hands over her bottom and looked to Kim like a five-year-old. She was unbelievably cute.

With her hands still covering her ass, she raised her head and tipped it. Very gently Bill lowered his until their lips merged. The kiss was loving and tender, but almost immediately her arms came up and wrapped around his neck as she moved her mouth on his and their tongues began their dance of love.

Kim could see the electricity and hear the bells. Her eyes widened as she realized it was exactly what she had felt in Brad's kiss.

Slowly the two eased apart to catch their breath, but then Carol took the initiative in kissing Bill with all of her love and power.

When the two eased apart, with his eyes dancing Bill asked, "What was that action? You just kissed me. And what are you doing hugging me?"

"I am not hugging you!" Carol pouted. "My arms are around you to keep from falling flat on my face is all. And as for the kiss, my cunt is already running rivers, my shorts are sopping wet, so what difference does it make now, anyway?" She lightly kissed him again and added, "And just for that, you and Brad can go and bring back the food for Kimmie and me. Meanwhile, she'll keep me company feeling sorry for my soaking-wet crotch."

With the guys off after food, Kim asked, "You said something about being foul-mouthed has put a crimp in your business. What did you mean by that?"

"Oh, that's a function of where we live. Although we're not exactly sure, I think our closest neighbors are about a mile and a half away ... and that's upwind, too. So living where we do I can scream my lungs out — and be as foul-mouthed as I care to be — without disturbing anyone." She grinned and added, "And you know something else? I love screaming obscenities at Bill while he's fucking my brains out."

The girls continued to chat until the guys returned. There were steaks, salads and everything else on four heaping plates. Bill sat down with the girls while Brad went off for four more beers.

"What was that bit with you and Carol?" Kim asked, not really certain she wanted to hear the answer.

"Oh, that's simple," he replied. "It's so much easier at home. We're almost always naked, so there I just point to the ground, and Carol prepares for another fucking." He grinned and added, "In her case the preparation consists of spreading her legs. She's always soaking wet."

"And he's really nice, too," Carol chimed in. "He lets me chose the position I'm going to be fucked in. Isn't he thoughtful?"

Brad rejoined them and the four companionably ate their dinner. The steaks were remarkably good and very well prepared, too. Quite a surprise for a large picnic like that one.

Bill went off for their desserts, and Carol invited Brad and Kimmie to come out to see them the following Saturday. "You'll see what I've been talking about. We're on the edge of the desert, on the far side of nowhere. No wonder I can't build a business! Even when I advertise, the johns can't find me."

By this time Brad had returned with pie for everyone.

Kim was slowly shaking her head, but Brad ignored it and said, "We would love to come out."

They continued to chat but then noticed that there were only a few other people still there. The few remaining, in fact, were engaged in cleaning things up and packing supplies away. The two couples walked slowly back toward the parking lot with Carol and Bill in the lead. Kim noticed that the couple were holding hands, yet neither seemed to be aware of the fact. With a start she realized that she and Brad were, too, and like the other couple, were unaware of it.

They waved goodbye to the Christians and then reached Kim's car.

Turning to Brad she said softly, "Thank you for a simply wonderful day, Brad. It's one I'll never forget."

Gently he wrapped his left arm around her and with his right hand lifted her chin and tilted her head. He lowered his lips to hers and the two kissed. In an instant, Kim had her arms around his neck and began to move her lips on his. Then she felt his tongue probing her mouth so she opened it a bit. His tongue moved into her mouth and began to chase her own. When the two tongues met, she was almost deafened by the ringing of bells and felt the electric shock to the tips of her toes. Meanwhile she was slowly moving her body against his while loving the feeling of being crushed against his powerful one.

When the two eased apart, Kim just rested her head on his shoulder while her ragged breathing returned toward normal.

"I love you so very much, Kimberly Kane."

Kim didn't know if she actually heard those words or if she imagined them. They were so soft, they came as a whispering breeze.

She gave his body a squeeze, lifted her head and quickly kissed him full on the lips. Jumping into her car, she had it going and rolling out of the lot an instant later. In her rear-view mirror, she could see Brad just standing there with his fingers on his lips.

As she headed toward the highway, she realized that the crotch of her shorts was soaking wet. For Kimberly, it was a unique experience.



-------

Chapter 6



When she returned to her apartment, Kim didn't know what to do. Moving almost in a daze, she stripped off her clothes, entered her bathroom and took a cold shower. With her head somewhat cleared, she warmed the water but then had a different idea. Running hot water into the bathtub — it was as hot as she thought she could stand — she went to her medicine cabinet and opened a bottle that had been sitting there for months. It was a bottle of musk oil that had never been opened.

Pouring half the bottle into the hot bath water, she climbed into the tub gasping from the heat of the water when she did. She lay back in the tub and idly gathered the oil on the water's surface and began to massage it into her skin. What on earth am I doing this for? she asked herself. I'm going to bed; I'm not going to be fucked!

When she used up all the musk oil she had been able to find, the bath water was cooling off. Climbing out of the tub, she blotted her body dry, but then put more musk oil on her tits and in her slit and cunt. Then, even though she had carefully examined her body just a few hours earlier, she repeated the process, again finding a couple of stray hairs to pluck from her crotch.

Finishing her toilet, Kim went to her linen closet and opened a brand-new set of sheets. They were candy-striped red and white. After changing the double bed, she ran the back of her hand lightly over the crisp percale, loving the feeling. What in the world am I thinking about? she wondered. Why in hell am I doing such a dumb thing now? Did I blow out my mind at that stupid picnic?

Slipping on a white terry robe, she let it hang open and went out to her living room. Already it was 10:30, but for some reason she didn't head for bed. Instead she just sat on the sofa with her head back and concentrated her mind on the memory of her kiss with Brad. Oh, God! I love him so! she admitted to herself. What a stinking shame that I have all the curves of a straight stick. The events of the afternoon and the cheering of her colleagues had simply not registered.

Then she heard the door buzzer. People in the apartment complex were always locking themselves out. Over the months they had learned who was usually at home, and that meant Kimberly. Rising from the sofa, without bothering to find out who was there, she pressed the door-release button and then returned to her sofa to continue her daydream.

Barely had she settled down again with her eyes closed when there was a knock at her door. Closing her robe and belting it, she opened the door. She almost fainted when she saw Brad standing there with two suitcases beside him.

"What on earth are you doing here?" she asked, utterly astonished at his appearance.

"It's time for bed," he replied reasonably, "so I'm going to bed."

"But you're here!"

"And so are my tits," he replied. "I've never had a pair of tits of my very own to sleep with before, so I'm taking advantage of it now." With his eyes bright he added, "Now let me see them."

Blushing furiously, Kim slipped off her robe and just stood there proudly erect.

"Mmm ... Kimberly Kane, you're really, truly, as beautiful as I remembered." Then he grinned and added, "Come on! It's time for bed."

"But ... but..."

"Bed."

"I hate you, Bradley Kramer."

He leaned over and lightly kissed her full on the lips. Although he intended it to be a quick little kiss, that's not the way it worked out.

When his lips met hers, Kim threw her arms around his neck and melted her lips to his. This time, she was the first to open her mouth and use her tongue to probe. When his mouth opened, she searched it for his tongue, found it, and reveled in the electricity she knew would be released.

While she was doing this, Brad's hands were moving gently all over her body. To get away? To get even closer? She moved her body against his and could feel her turgid nipples against his shirt. She noticed that his hair was still a bit damp. Evidently he had taken a shower, too, before coming over.

After sharply squeezing her buns and provoking a muffled yelp, he eased away.

"I hate you, Bradley Kramer," she repeated.

"And I heard you very clearly the first time," he responded. Extending his right hand he continued, "We've never been formally introduced. Miss Kane, I am William Bradley Kramer, Jr."

With her eyes dancing she took his hand in hers and replied, "How do you do, Mr. Kramer? I am Kimberly Ann Kane. I would like to say that it's a pleasure to meet you, but I'm afraid I really can't. Because it's not."

"Come on, little girl. It's off to bed," he said, ignoring her final remark.

Leaving his suitcases where they were in the hall, he took her hand and led her back to where he figured the bedroom had to be. He smiled to himself when he saw the lovely crisp sheets turned down on both sides of the bed. Looking down at Kim, he saw that she was blushing as red as a beet.

"Damn! Forgot something," he said, dropping her hand and returning for a suitcase. Opening it, he took out his toilet kit, returned to the bedroom and went straight into the bathroom off it. Again he was surprised, but not very much. Everything was utterly spotless. Opening his kit, he took out his gear and brushed his teeth. Returning to the bedroom, he found Kim on the left side with the covers up to her chin. With both her hands holding the edge of the sheet and blanket up to her chin, she reminded him of Kilroy, the World War II character, who was found almost everywhere with the caption, "Kilroy was here." The fearful look in her eyes was priceless.

Brad decided to play the scene for all it was worth. Slowly he took off his clothes and carefully hung them on empty hangers in the closet. As he did, he noticed that the right half of the closet was empty except for unused hangers. How neat! he thought. I'm desperately in love with this woman,  he admitted to himself, and it looks like she cares for me, too. How could I possibly be so lucky?

Now stripped down to his jockeys, he turned toward the bed before easing them off. Although he could tell that Kimmie was trying not to watch, her eyes were wide and locked on his crotch. When his prick was uncovered, it was semi-erect and popped out. He saw her eyes flare when it did.

Good grief! she thought. He's gigantic! If he tried to put that monster inside me, it would rip me apart.

Okay, dummy. If that's the case, why is your cunt running rivers? her mind asked. Face it: You're 27 years old and his is the first prick you've ever even seen. You want it inside you so bad you can't see straight, but like a true engineer, you try to persuade yourself that it won't fit. It will fit, stupid! And it will make short work of your last line of defense, your hymen, too.

"Do you like it?" he asked softly.

"You're beautiful," she murmured without thinking.

Brad eased into bed beside her and put his right arm over her shoulder and then cupped her right tit in his hand.

This is utterly ridiculous,  she thought as she turned slightly toward him on the bed. There's no way in hell I'll ever be able to get to sleep tonight... 



-------

Chapter 7



Sunlight was streaming in the windows when Kim opened her eyes. Good grief! What happened? she wondered. She found her cheek against Brad's shoulder and her body molded to his. The lights on the night tables were out, and she hadn't done it. Brad was sleeping soundly with his arm still around her and his hand still covering her breast.

Without moving, she tried to reconstruct the end of the evening, but could not. She didn't think she had lost her virginity but couldn't be certain. Of one thing she was certain, though: It had been the best night's sleep of her entire life.

Being as careful as she could, she eased out of his arms and out of the bed. She relieved herself in the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and turned on the shower. Scarcely had she gotten under it than the shower curtain slid over and Brad joined her.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Can't you see I'm taking a shower?"

"Sure can," he replied airily. "I decided to join you. I've never had a chance to shower with a pair of tits, either."

"Brad!"

"What?"

"Can't ... Can't I ever have any privacy?"

He cocked his head, looked up toward the ceiling and then said laconically, "Nope."

While he had been looking upward, Kim had been looking at him. Although she had seen him when he emerged from the bathroom the night before, this was her first opportunity to really look closely at a naked man. She saw that his penis was full and very large, although from what she had heard, it wasn't nearly at full erection.

Having responded to her question, Brad took a bar of soap and used it to run his hands over her body.

This jerked Kimberly from her reverie. "Now what are you doing?" she demanded.

"I'm washing your body," he replied innocently. "We're in the shower. Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing?"

"But that's my body you're washing!" she complained. The fact was, though, that the feeling of his hands caressing her body was simply marvelous. The reality was Kim would have been terribly disappointed if Brad had stopped.

Instead of stopping, though, he shifted from her hips up to her breasts and said, "It may be your body, but they're my tits."

The feel of his hands moving against her distended nipples caused things to go gray for Kim; she almost fainted. Feeling her nipples extend even more in response to his touch, she involuntarily sighed with pleasure while her hands were waving futilely in the air. With an effort of will she regained control and declared, "It's just not fair!"

"And what's not fair?" he inquired.

"You have something of mine, but I don't have anything of yours."

"That's easy to fix," Brad replied. "What do you want?"

"I want ... I want ... your ... your..." Kim couldn't bring herself to say "penis" or any synonym. Instead she just pointed at his groin.

"You want my prick?" he asked.

Kim couldn't even speak. Instead she just nodded vigorously and pointed again.

"And my balls?"

"Y ... yes," she managed to stammer.

"Okay," he replied with a grin. "They're yours." Then he grinned and teased, "I didn't realize you had a speech impediment."

"What!" she squawked.

"Well..." he began and paused. "You seem to have a great deal of difficulty with simple Anglo-Saxon words."

"It's ... It's—"

"There you go again," he interrupted.

"Now you listen to me, Bradley Kramer!" she nearly screamed. "Those are words I've never even thought of, let alone used, until today. It's what happens when one's parents are elderly, and the father thinks she's incompetent and the mother is hyper-protective of an ugly girl with a nothing figure."

While Kim was speaking, Brad continued gently to stroke her body concentrating on her lovely tits. Although she thought they were small to the point of being nonexistent, he thought they were utterly perfect.

She now looked puzzled. "Wh ... what do I do with it... ? Them?" she stammered.

"Well, you could touch them now that they're yours."

Reaching out her slender hand she carefully touched and then stroked his prick. Quickly she snatched it away when it began to harden and increase in size. "Wh ... what's it doing?" she asked, looking up at his face.

Scarcely able to control his grin he replied, "It's rising to salute your beauty, Kim."

Again she reached out and stroked the still-engorging cock with her fingers. Screwing up her courage, she reached with her other hand and cradled his balls. Or she tried to. She found that they were larger than she could hold in only one hand.

"It's beautiful," she murmured.

When she reached for the soap, Brad grinned and said, "Here, use mine. Your soap is lovely for you, but I've never cared to have a perfumed cock." With that he passed her a bar of soap from his toilet kit.

Kim replied with a sheepish grin and then gently began to soap his cock, balls and pubic area. As she did, she was amazed to find his cock continuing to grow. Now it was huge.

"Good grief!" she murmured. "It's huge! How do you ever get it into a woman? Or are your women really big?"

"Big where?" he asked innocently.

"H ... here," she replied in a voice barely above a whisper as she moved one of her hands to her vulva. When she did, she found to her dismay that she was soaking wet down there and it wasn't from the shower.

"It's supposed to fit," Brad replied.

"What do you mean, 'supposed to'?" she demanded. "You know if it fits or not!"

"How?"

"By sticking it in her ... her..."

"Cunt?" he offered.

"Is that what the women you bed call it?" she asked with her eyes wide.

"Nope," he replied without further elaboration.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means they don't call it anything because there have never been any."

"What!" she screamed, utterly incredulous. "You're a man, and men fuck women."

"And you're a woman," he replied. "What do you call it when a man is fucking you?"

Now Kim was standing up straight. She had withdrawn her hand from his cock and now stood up straight with her hands on her hips. Now she was angry. "Fuck me?" she exclaimed, incredulous. "Bradley Kramer, no man has ever fucked me. And until yesterday, no man has ever touched me. They never had the guts to.

"I'm ugly as sin is what it means." Now tears were forming in her eyes but she continued, "That's not true. That was before my teeth and jaw were fixed. Now I'm just plain with the figure of a straight stick."

At that instant, Brad had a revelation. Until this point he had discounted Kim's constant belittling of her beauty as being a form of modest understatement. Suddenly he realized it was nothing of the sort. She actually thought she was ugly.

"Well, what was that award you won yesterday, then?" he asked.

"That was the 'Be Nice to the Ugly Little Engineer Who Just Had Her Teeth Fixed' award. What else could it have been?"

"How about the recognition of your extraordinary beauty?" he suggested. "Do you remember what happened when you finished parading in front of the audience yesterday?"

She looked puzzled and slowly shook her head, no.

"Kim, there was total silence for a moment or two, and then pandemonium. Do you remember?"

Kim just continued slowly shaking her head.

"That's exactly what did happen, though. And do you know why?"

Her head continued slowly to shake.

"Because they were so utterly stunned by your incredible beauty. Everything about you is unbelievably lovely."

Her head continued to shake as she murmured, "No. No, it can't be. No one could be that blind—"

"Blind!" he nearly screamed. "Lady, if there's someone around who's blind, it's you." Then he changed the subject. "For that matter, how could a girl who's never been with a man parade totally naked in front of a bunch of strangers?"

"I wasn't naked," she protested. "I was wearing my thong."

"And it was wedged between your buns in the back and in your slit in front. Kimberly Kane, you were naked. But why?"

"Because..." she whispered with the word tailing off into silence.

"Because what?" he insisted.

"Just because!" she repeated emphatically. Again her back was up straight, and now her head was back as she looked at him defiantly.

"Kimberly!" he repeated. "Because of what?"

Now her tears really started to flow as she murmured in a voice scarcely above a whisper, "Because of you."

"What?"

"Because of you," she repeated. "I reminded myself that you were a real hero who risked your life for all of us. If you could do that, I thought, I could go up there bare." Now she was glaring at him as she continued, "Besides, there's nothing for them to see. If they got a cheap thrill from looking at my nothing body, so be it."

This time Brad just reached out, pulled her tightly to his body and hugged her. Lifting her chin with his hand and overcoming substantial resistance as he did so, he kissed her softly and then with mounting urgency. He could feel her trying to keep her mouth tightly closed, but it was no use. He felt it open slightly, then all the way. At the same instant he could feel her tongue in his mouth, probing, searching.

When the two tongues came in contact, again he felt that incredible electricity flow between them and again heard those lovely bells. As he hugged her even tighter, he could feel her sinuously moving her body slowly against his own. At the same time he was caressing her back and buns, marveling again at the satin perfection of her skin, while feeling the muscles beneath them.

When they eased apart, Kim was breathing hard. Finally she said, "Brad, please leave as soon as we're out of here."

"Why?" he asked, feeling really hurt by her statement.

"Because you'll be leaving me soon enough, regardless," she replied softly, "and the longer you're here, the worse it's going to be for me." She looked up into his eyes and added, "As it is, it's going to be like ripping my beating heart right out of my body."

He thought for a few moments and then said, "Kim, I swear I will never leave you until you throw me out. Honest. I swear it. Officer and a gentleman."

He studied her face and watched as a kaleidoscope of emotions passed over it. His response had shaken her down to her toes and Kim had no idea what to do. She had been certain he was teasing her or toying with her, but now she wasn't so sure. She looked deeply into his lovely blue eyes and saw only ... love. But that can't be,  she told herself. He can't possibly care for me. Can he?

It seemed like minutes had passed before she finally spoke. "You're serious? Honest to God, Brad, you won't leave me until I throw you out?"

"Honest to God," he replied. "I swear it." Then with a small grin he added, "Can we get out of here now? I'm getting waterlogged."

Kim returned his grin with a lovely smile of her own. Then with both hands she pretended to shove him out of the shower. "Out of here, you ... you tank! I have to do my hair."

Brad grinned, got out of the shower and proceeded to shave while Kim did her hair.

When they finished in the bathroom, Kim started to dress but he stopped her. "Please don't," he said softly. "I want to study the new pair of tits I own."

"You had one in your hand all night long," she replied with a giggle. "What more do you want?"

With his nose up he sniffed and said haughtily, "That was feeling. I want to look at them."

"But you're dressed," she noted. "And it's not fair for you to be dressed while I'm naked. Besides," she sniffed, "I want to study my cock and balls, too."

"I'm dressed because I have to go get the rest of my stuff from my apartment."

"What for?"

"Because I'm moving in with you," he responded reasonably. "Your apartment is much nicer than mine and far cleaner." He grinned and added, "You're a very good housekeeper, too. I'll have to remember to add that to your list of talents."

With that Kim very cutely stuck out her tongue but padded into her kitchen still naked. She remembered she had purchased a couple of small sirloin strips that were on sale for her dinner, but she decided to prepare them for breakfast instead.

Brad sat at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee and watching her work. Everything she did, Kim did with grace and economy of motion. He decided he could just watch her body move by the hour. When she put his plate down in front of him, he was truly astonished. Although he had been watching her cook, he hadn't paid any attention to what she was preparing. What he found were steak and eggs with home-fried potatoes. Slicing into his steak he found it a perfect medium rare. Although he had intended to chat, he was preoccupied with the delicious food. When Kim was going to get up for more coffee, he motioned for her to remain seated while he retrieved the coffee pot.

Pouring himself another cup, he sipped it — and it was excellent, too — and slowly shook his head. "Kimberly Kane, is there anything you don't do like an expert? That was the finest breakfast I've ever eaten in my entire life. Simply marvelous!"

Kim looked up from her now nearly-clean plate and looked into his eyes. Remarkably — from her perspective, at least — there didn't appear to be even the slightest hint of teasing in either his voice or his eyes. "Do you really mean that?" she asked softly. "I try, but I really don't think I'm very good."

"Sweetie, that was utterly perfect," he declared. "That's all I can say: perfect!"

Deciding he really was serious, she said, "Thank you very much."

"My God!" he muttered. "Do you realize, Kim, that that was the first compliment from me that you've ever accepted?" He thought for a moment and added, "Whenever I compliment you on something — particularly something to do with your appearance — you act like either I'm teasing you, am blind, or lying. Can't you get it through your head that you are a truly remarkable woman?"

Kim sat up straight in her chair, looked him straight in the eye and replied, "No, I can't."

Brad just shook his head in frustration.

Finishing breakfast, he helped with the dishes and then the two went out to the living room. As she moved ahead of him, he couldn't help himself. He put his large hand over her right asscheek and gently squeezed.

Turning her head toward him she asked, "Why did you do that?"

"Because you have the loveliest pair of buns ever put on a woman is why. I can't keep my hands off them."

"Well ... I guess it's all right as long as you keep your hands off the grass."

"You don't have much grass to keep off of," he commented with a grin. "But, for that matter, you did an incredibly good job of shaving. I only wish I could shave my face as close as you shaved your crotch." He snapped his fingers and said, "Oh, yeah ... you plucked it, didn't you?"

"It took awhile, but yes. And see?" she asked with a little smile. "It worked. You really like the way it looks, and there isn't any stubble, so it was worth it."

"But why?"

"Look, Brad, the answer to that should be obvious to you. At the very best, I'm plain, and have an absolutely nothing figure. The result is that I have to try to do the best with what little — what very little — I've got. But I guess I really am glad that you like my bare ... pussy... ? cunt... ? What do you call it, anyway?"

"What do you like?" he replied, answering her question with one of his own.

"I really don't care," she responded. Changing the subject, she asked, "Please? Can't I get dressed now?"

He merely shook his head, although there was a little smile on his face.

"Damn you anyway, Bradley Kramer," she declared, stalking off toward the bathroom.

A few moments later she returned and he noticed what appeared to be a small string hanging from her vagina. "What's that?" he asked.

"That, turkey, is the end of a tampon. When I'm naked around you, my cunt runs rivers. And since I just shampooed the carpet a few days ago, I'll be damned if I'm in any big rush to have to do it again. Thus the tampon."

Brad just grinned and shook his head.

Looking around the living room, he saw Kim's computer. But nearby he saw two telephone jacks that were not in service. Seeing that she had a telephone plugged into a jack near her computer, he asked what the jacks were for. She told him that the guy who had the apartment before her used it as an office, so he had lines brought in for a fax machine and his business telephone line.

"Terrific!" Brad exclaimed. "Now I'm in business. I'll have my telephone line transferred here, and I can use the other line for computer communications.

"Computer communications?"

"Sure. I have a Bell 212A modem to link my computer with the world. And it's fast, too: 9,600 bps."

"Bps?"

"Sure. Bits per second. It's a measure of its communications speed, and that's pretty good these days. And I can even send faxes from my computer, too. It's great for call reports, expense accounts and all that good stuff."

Kim just shook her head.

Brad then really surprised her. Not only did he help with the breakfast dishes, but he helped her make the bed and actually ran the vacuum while she dusted and fussed. Truly, she was impressed.

When he set off for his apartment — with his sporty car he thought it would take at least three round trips — she started to think about dinner. First, she checked the balance in her bank account and was amazed that it was as large as it was. Then she realized that for months she had done virtually nothing besides working on her machinery designs and seeing the oral surgeon. After checking her freezer, she realized that her food supply was down to virtually nothing. Only then did she remember that she had been counting on having the steaks they had eaten for breakfast as her dinner for Sunday and Monday. At that point she remembered a specialty meat market in a small nearby strip mall. She remembered overhearing a couple of her neighbors speaking about it. Their prices were a little high, but their meat was the very best.

Going to the small butcher shop, she bought a lovely two-rib roast of beef. It was Angus beef, perfectly trimmed with a very large rib eye. Then she even loaded up with more steaks, chops, pork and chicken. As she wrote out a check for the very pleased butcher, she realized it was more than she had ever spent on food at one time in her entire life.

While she worked in the kitchen, Brad was shuttling back and forth between the two apartments. In the event, it took five round trips to bring over everything he wanted. Fortunately, he was fully occupied with his moving so he didn't bother her in the kitchen except to remind her that she wasn't supposed to be dressed in the apartment. Kim stuck out the tip of her tongue, but stripped off the Levi's and shirt she was wearing.

When he was finally settled in, she pleaded with him to allow her to dress but to no avail. She did take another shower, though, and used most of the rest of her precious musk oil on her slit, between her breasts, and behind her ears.

Calling him to the dinner table, she had the rib roast sitting in front of his place, along with Yorkshire pudding and peas with pearl onions. Although her meat thermometer said the internal temperature was perfect, she had her fingers crossed and mentally said a little prayer that she hadn't ruined it, while she waited for Brad to carve.

It proved to be simply perfect.

"Darling," Brad rhapsodized, "this meal is unreal! It's the very finest I've ever eaten." Then pretending to glare at her he demanded, "Am I supposed to get used to food like this? Whatever will I do when you throw me out?"

"Well ... Golly..." she began slowly, "Maybe you should work hard so I don't?" She was utterly overjoyed by his praise. And even against her own extraordinarily high standards she conceded to herself that the meal was very good.

At that moment, Brad leaned over toward her intending to give her a light kiss. But he was finding that light kisses really were not in their repertoire. Their lips met, then merged. Both pairs opened, and each one's tongue sought out the other's. When they met, again there was that marvelous flash of electricity and those wonderful bells.

As soon as they had eased apart, Kim bounced up from her chair and headed out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Brad asked, bewildered.

"To get a new tampon, turkey!" she replied with a grimace. "Your kiss just flooded out the last one."

"Can I watch?" he asked.

"Don't be ridiculous! Of course not."

Nonetheless, she returned a few moments later with a new tampon. Putting her foot up on her chair, she arranged herself to give Brad the best view of her cunt as she eased the new one into position. When she was satisfied she asked, "Happy now?" while sticking out the tip of her tongue again.

After serving apple pie and coffee, they went into the living room. There Brad watched an old war movie while Kim napped in his arms. The noisy climax awakened her, so she watched the last few minutes, still held in his arms. Sitting to his right, his right hand had been on her right tit the whole time, gently chafing against her rigid nipple.

"Did you like it?" he asked as the final credits rolled.

"Best movie I've ever seen," she replied with a grin.



-------

Chapter 8



After a much larger breakfast than he was used to eating, Brad was off to the office. Kim waited till a few minutes after eight, then called Clifford & Jamison. Judy Jeffries answered the phone sleepily, and Kim teased her about it. Then she asked if Kathy Carlson was in yet.

"Hi, Candace!" Kathy greeted her cheerfully if somewhat sleepily.

"Hi, Kathy," Kim responded, "but it's Kimberly now; Candace is dead." She paused and then asked, "What do you think?"

"I think it's neat," Kathy replied. "It's as classy as you are. But that's not the reason for the call, is it?"

"No, it's not." Kim paused to screw up her courage. She realized she had absolutely no business intruding on Clifford & Jamison's professional matters. But she pushed on anyway. "Are ... are ... are you people hiring? Or at least interested in talking to a candidate?"

"Hiring? Us? Don't be ridiculous. We all love working 27-hour days." She paused and then added, "What do you want for the name of a candidate? One of my legs? An arm? Both arms? What?"

"I ... I ... took the liberty of making an appointment for you with a girl for ten o'clock today. Is that possible?"

"What aren't you telling me about her?" Kathy asked, sensing that Kim was holding something back.

"It's her husband," Kim blurted out. "He was in the army. And he may have injured people, too. Some unit beginning with an "R", I think."

"A ranger?" Kathy asked in a very soft voice.

"That's it! He was a ranger. Could you still be interested?"

"We'll try to squeeze her in at ten," Kathy replied. Then she added, "Oh ... One more thing: Tell her to park in space number 15 in our garage. Okay?"

Kim agreed, hung up, and then called Carol Christian. When there was no answer, Kim realized it was already 8:20; Carol was undoubtedly on her way to work if she wasn't already there. Her problem was that she had no idea what firm Carol worked for. She still had Carol's card in her hand, and idly turned it over. There she found that Carol had written her beeper number. Instantly she called it and left an electronic message for Carol to call her.

-------

Carol Christian was in her old Toyota on the freeway close to her exit when her beeper went off. She was in no place to do anything about it, so she silenced the unit while retaining its message. Arriving at her office, she went to her cubicle before looking at it. Immediately she recognized Kimberly's telephone number.

Carol instantly had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. The ground had just dropped away beneath her. In spite of — or perhaps because of — working for an old-line law firm, Carol took great delight in regularly scandalizing her colleagues and the firm's partners by wearing Levi's, shorts, and anything else she could think of that was dramatically different from approved firm attire. But at the same time she received the silent cheers and approval from the firm's support staff who were required to "dress appropriately." Of course Carol was too, but she just ignored the rule.

As it was, she had been very quietly teased by the receptionist when she came in that morning wearing her very best professional clothing. As she dialed Kim's number, she just knew that it was all for nothing. There would be no interview.

"Hi. It's Carol," she said in a flat tone of voice when Kim answered.

"Great! I'm glad I was able to reach you—"

"No interview, right?" Carol interrupted.

"Oh, no!" Kim protested. "It's all set for ten. The reason I called, though, was I was asked to tell you to park in space number 15 in the building's garage. It's one of Clifford & Jamison's private spaces."

"Huh?" Carol responded, utterly stunned. "That's it? That's the whole message?"

"How much more do you want?" Kim asked. "What were you expecting? Me to offer you a job?"

Carol thanked her for the information and hung up the phone, moving like a zombie. She was utterly stunned. Although everyone drove in LA, this was the very first interview for which she had been given a designated parking space.

At a few moments before ten, she got off the elevator at the 38th floor and looked at the entry to Clifford & Jamison's offices. It was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen. It made her firm's offices look tawdry. Entering, she was greeted by the most beautiful blonde she had ever seen.

"Good morning, and welcome to Clifford & Jamison," Judy said with her warmest smile. "How may we help you?"

Carol's eyes widened at the very warm greeting, but she said, "I'm Carol Christian. I ... I'm supposed to have an interview this morning..." Carol's voice ran down at the end.

Rising, Judy came out from behind her desk with her hand outstretched. "Welcome, Mrs. Christian. I'm Judy Jeffries, and I'm utterly delighted to meet you. If you'll come with me, Ali is waiting for you in her office."

"My God!" Carol thought. With a greeter like this, any prospective client would just roll over like a puppy with its paws in the air. She is the warmest, friendliest person on the face of the earth!"

Judy led the way to the most magnificent corner office Carol had ever seen or could even imagine. With glass walls on two sides, there was a view all the way out to the Pacific, and north to the mountains. It was simply gorgeous. But then there were the furnishings: all leather and the finest woods. Comparatively, her own senior partner was housed in quarters that wouldn't rate as this office's doghouse.

Introductions were made. Ali Clifford was there along with Kathy Carlson.

After exchanging pleasantries, Kathy said, "Kimberly Kane..." She interrupted herself to tell Ali that Candace was now Kimberly. Then she continued, "She tells me that you might be interested in joining our firm. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?"

Carol told the two that she had graduated from U.S.C. Law School three years before and had joined her present firm upon graduation.

"Why might you be interested in making a change?" Ali asked.

Swallowing hard, Carol replied, "Because Clifford & Jamison wasn't in business when I graduated. Everything I've heard about this place tells me it's the place I really should be."

"Your class standing in law school?" Kathy asked.

"I graduated number two."

"Okay," Ali said. "However, Kim tells us there may be a problem because of your husband. She says he was an Army Ranger in Vietnam. Is that true?"

Forgetting what she had learned about the firm on Saturday, Carol drew herself up straight in her chair and declared, "Yes, it's true. He was a lieutenant and platoon leader in Alpha Company, First Ranger Battalion—"

"Second Lieutenant William Baker Christian," Kathy breathed softly.

"But how could you know that?" Carol exclaimed.

"Because my husband is Kenneth Carlson," she replied. "He commanded Alpha Company."

It suddenly all came back to Carol. "Well then, you probably know Brad Kramer, too."

Kathy was silent for a moment and then spoke in a voice just above a whisper, "First Lieutenant William Bradley Kramer, Jr."

"But how could you know that?" Carol asked.

"Because he saved my husband's life is how I know. Ken has told me that story so many times I could almost recite it in my sleep."

"What story is that, Kath?" Ali asked.

"Ali, you've heard many times how Ken was wounded and Sam Duncan carried him back to our lines?"

Ali just nodded while Carol was enthralled.

"Well," Kathy continued, "he wouldn't have been alive to be carried back if it hadn't been for Brad Kramer. It seems they were moving out on a raid, and Ken was on point. (Don't even think of asking why the company commander had taken the point. I've never forgiven him for that one.) Anyway, they had been in a small firefight a little earlier, and Ken had expended a lot of ammunition, but the turkey didn't realize it ... until he came under fire again. At that time he was well out in front, and started returning fire. Brad Kramer is smart as hell. As soon as he heard the gunfire, he knew what was happening. Checking his own ammunition supply, he realized he was short, so Ken had to be almost out.

"He grabbed several bandoliers loaded with ammo and fought his way to Ken's position. Now with the two together and with plenty of ammunition, it was all over. All Ken ever told me beyond that was that he and Brad made a helluva mess. However, Carol, it never could have happened had it not been for a new young officer named Bill Christian. Brad left him in command of the company while he went to rescue Ken.

"Then, when he was hit, it was Brad who took command and fought their way to where Ken had been hit. They killed a bunch and drove off the rest, permitting Sam Duncan to do his thing by carrying Ken back to safety."

"My God!" Ali exclaimed softly. "Ken owes his life to Brad Kramer ... and to Bill Christian."

"You got it," Kathy replied.

Turning to Carol Ali said, "Are you sure you want to join this merry band? We really haven't talked at all about the practice of law..."

"Yes, I certainly do, Mrs. Clifford—"

"Kathy, get our Firm training aid, at once!" Ali interrupted.

Barely able to suppress her giggle, Kathy darted from the room and was back a few moments later with the coiled and well-oiled bullwhip. Without a word she gave it to Ali.

"Mrs. Christian," Ali began with her voice dripping with sarcasm, "this is the firm's training aid. It is applied to the back, buns, thighs and tits of any employee who has the temerity to call me Mrs. Clifford, or Ginger, Mrs. Conrad." With her eyes wide she asked guilelessly, "Now would you care to start again, or... ?"

"Yes, Ali, I would be delighted to join your firm," Carol replied. Then she looked thoughtful and added, "I wonder ... I may have to try that sometime..."

"Try what?" Ali asked, baffled by Carol's remark.

"Go home some evening with my body striped with bleeding welts from that luscious whip. And if you really worked on my buns, and then Bill took me in the ass, I'll bet I would go off like a rocket. It would be so incredibly neat..."

"Oh, shit," Ali murmured. Then to Kathy she said, "Damn it! I just knew it: It was only a matter of time before we encountered a full-bore masochist. Carlson, you're in charge of administration. Now what are we going to do?"

"Beat the shit out of her and see what happens?" Kathy replied with her eyes wide.

Both women howled with laughter at Kathy's remark.

"Okay," Ali said shaking her head sadly. Then to Carol she asked, "How much are you making, and how much do you want to start?"

Before Carol could respond — she didn't know what to say — Judy Jeffries entered the room, dropped a packet of papers and a couple of sets of keys on Ali's desk and remarked in her most disgusted tone of voice, "They did it to us again." Then turning to Carol she asked, "Was that Toyota of yours used as a pickup truck? The guys in the garage said it was loaded with dirt."

"Well," Carol admitted, "we had to use something, and it was older than Bill's car."

"Huh?" Kathy murmured.

"We built our own house," Carol explained, "and we didn't have a pickup then, so we moved the dirt in my car. Since I handled all the earthmoving and the rough carpentry, I guess it was only fair."

"What did Bill do?" Ali asked, not at all sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Oh, he did the skill jobs: plumbing, electrical, mechanical, drywall taping ... that sort of stuff. He let me handle the 'strong back, weak mind' stuff." She smiled and added, "That's why I'm in fairly decent shape."

"We'll get to your physical condition later," Ali said, "but in the meantime, we were talking about money. How much?"

"I'm making $45,000 a year now," Carol said, "but I've been there for three years. Could ... could you handle... $30,000... ?"

Ali just looked at her impassively.

"$25,000... ?" Carol offered. Then swallowing hard she was close to tears as she said, "Ali, I really can't afford to work for less than $17,500..."

"Okay," Ali said, "how would it be if we start you at $125,000, with a review at year end?"

Carol was speechless.

Ali continued, "Since we only elect partners at the end of the year, you won't be a partner until then. You'll get a big jump in pay at that time. But in the meantime, do you think you could get by?"

"Clothes, Ali," Kathy reminded her.

"Oh, shit! I forgot again," Ali murmured as she went to her desk, pulled out a firm checkbook, scrawled out a check, and passed it to Carol. It was made out to her for $25,000.

When she looked at the amount, Carol's eyes bugged. "What, in the name of God, is this?"

"Oh, that's your initial clothing allowance," Ali said blithely. "We tried to get away with $20,000, but that proved to be inadequate. Do you think you can make do?"

Carol was utterly baffled and said so.

"It's really very simple," Ali began. "We found that a really nice professional wardrobe carries a ridiculously high price tag. And since we pride ourselves on the appearance of our staff, this is what we do."

"Student loans?" Kathy prompted.

Ali grinned at Kathy, winked, and then turned to Carol. "Now you see why Kathy runs administration. Aside from being the finest real estate and corporate attorney on the face of the earth, she keeps track of all the details that I would routinely forget about ... as I just did. Carol, do you have any student loans outstanding?"

"Yes, I do, Ali," Carol admitted. "That's where the $17,500 number came from. It would cover my loan payments and commuting, along with what I'm pretty sure I could borrow from Bill..." With that she gently ran her finger over her slit.

"And what's that action?" Ali asked with a grin.

"That's thinking about what I would have to do to borrow money from Bill," she replied. Then she added, "Never marry an accountant. They always want their pound of flesh."

"And the rubbing?" Kathy prompted.

"That's where he takes his pound," Carol replied with a lovely little giggle.

"Back to student loans," Ali interjected. "How much do you owe?"

"It's still almost $120,000," she replied. "I haven't even made a small dent in the principal; about all I'm paying is the interest."

Again Ali wrote out a check and passed it over. "You'll have to pay off your own damned loans. I did it for Joan Frederick, and it took me days to find some of those dumb little banks. Never again!"

Seeing the size of the check, again Carol's jaw dropped. "But ... but..." she sputtered.

"Look," Ali said softly, "how can you focus on your work when you're always worried about the next loan payment? And it's not a loan. Clear?"

Carol was in a state of complete shock. Never had she expected anything like what she had just experienced. While still sitting frozen to her seat, Ali passed over the packet of papers Judy had brought in, and had her sign forms in a number of places. She did it, although she was moving like a zombie.

"On behalf of Clifford & Jamison, I apologize, Carol," Ali began. "You heard Judy's comment, but you probably didn't get the significance. It's your car..."

"My car?"

Ali made a compacting motion with her hands, as if she was crushing something. "Your car."

Carol could only shake her head.

"It's our own damned fault," Ali explained, "coupled with our snooty image. The guys in the garage saw that old, dirty Toyota and had it hauled away to the car crusher." She snapped her fingers and added, "Oh, yeah ... Some personal stuff that was in it is now in a shopping bag at Judy's desk."

"But getting home... ?"

"That's your new car," Ali explained. "It's a BMW 735i in white. Can you live with that?"

Carol's irrepressible humor reasserted itself. "Now wait a stinking minute! I happen to know that when this happened to Kim, she got an M-6..."

"That's true," Ali conceded, "but there are two major differences: First, she's with a client organization so we had to be extra nice. But second, it's only a two-door, and since you'll need to use the car with clients, it had to have four doors. Can you imagine some of our clients trying to clamber into the back seat?" She shook her head while trying to look sad, but giggled instead. "Good grief!"

There followed Carol's pre-employment "physical" with the rest of the Clifford & Jamison girls. While she was stripped bare in the conference room, the others walked around her slowly commenting on the bruises on her body, particularly on her tits and thighs.

Ginger reached down and slipped a finger into Carol's vagina. An instant later, she had found Carol's G-spot and brought her to orgasm. Licking off her fingers, she announced to the group, "This girl really has a high-mileage cunt! On the other hand, she's still as sweet as sugar." Looking around she innocently asked, "Anyone want a taste?"

The morning ended with Kathy preparing a gourmet lunch for everyone. Toasts were offered to the new associate and partner-to-be. Finally, though, Ginger appeared with the most gorgeous gray suit Carol had ever seen. It seemed to have been hand-tailored for her — it had been — and was the finest she had ever seen.

"When you go back to your office, Carol," Sandy Harris said, "we want you to look like a real Clifford & Jamison professional as you tell them you're resigning." Carol just grinned and giggled.

The final thing at Clifford & Jamison, though, had been Kathy Carlson's invitation to have dinner with them at their home on Saturday night.

"I would love to, Kathy," Carol responded, "but we can't. We've invited Kim and her boyfriend to spend the weekend with us."

"Boyfriend?" Kathy inquired.

"Brad Kramer," Carol said. Shaking her head sadly she added, "It's such a stinking shame! That girl is so damned innocent, she doesn't know what it means when Brad kisses her and the electricity generated could power Southern California for six months! And then there's the ringing of the bells... ! But the poor girl thinks that's just what happens when a guy kisses a girl."

She went on to tell Kathy about the events of Saturday, including Kim's parading in front of all the Aerospace Technology people practically naked.

"Why on earth did she do that?" Kathy asked.

"Because Brad asked her to. The poor kid! She's desperately in love, but doesn't even know it."

"Maybe we can do something about that..." Kathy murmured thoughtfully.

The two women agreed that they would have dinner with the Carlsons on Saturday evening.

-------

The managing partner at Carol's firm was stunned when she appeared in his office wearing her lovely new suit, informing him as she did that she had approached Clifford & Jamison in order to head off any possible accusation of employee pirating.

He was stunned to learn that she would be earning $125,000 a year, and almost dropped when he learned that she was essentially guaranteed a partnership by year end. Finally, he agreed that she could leave the firm at the end of the week.

On her way back to her office, though, she was teased unmercifully by the young female staff members about her lovely suit. Doing her best yuppie lawyer imitation, she haughtily announced that it was expected of senior associates at Clifford & Jamison.

That stopped the teasing cold. By the time she left the firm on Friday afternoon, she had the cards and/or names and addresses of virtually the entire female staff. They desperately wanted to join her at C&J. The young women on the support staff, particularly, were almost overwhelmed to learn that the whole firm operated as a cross between a family and a sorority, and the support staff there was most particularly included.



-------

Chapter 9



For Kimberly it was a week like no other in her life. She felt like a married woman — a newlywed at that — and found she loved it. The first couple of evenings, she was dressed when Brad returned home, but that only lasted a few minutes each time. On Wednesday, she was nude when she greeted him at the door. In fact, she was now so accustomed to her nudity that she kept a terrycloth robe in the hall closet so she could slip it on when anyone — other than Brad, of course — came to the door.

She was so stunned when he presented her with a bouquet of spring flowers, she started to cry.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Brad asked, the concern audible in his voice.

Kimberly was crying so hard all she could do was to shake her head while she tried desperately to smile. Finally she regained enough self-control to be able to gasp out, "They're absolutely gorgeous! And they're the first flowers I've ever received." With that she threw her naked body into his arms and finally managed to kiss him, in spite of the tears flowing down her cheeks. Their shared kiss was the finest yet.

But it wasn't over. After changing from his suit to just a pair of shorts, he went out to the kitchen and found Kim on her back with her knees up to her shoulders. In her now-gaping cunt, a single daffodil stood.

"Sweetie," she said while shaking her head, "I don't think this is going to work too well..."

"What on earth are you doing?" Brad asked while trying desperately to control his laughter.

"I couldn't find a vase, so..."

Kimberly had remembered the joke Carol had told and had acted it out. Brad almost rolled on the floor with laughter. Regaining control, he very gently moved the flower up and down in her cunt.

"You'd better be careful with that," she warned. "I don't want to lose my virginity to a damned flower stem!"

Brad gently removed the flower, then took her in his arms and kissed her again. When the electricity and bells subsided, he whispered, "Only Kimberly! You're too damned much."

"Is that like having a great personality?" she asked with an eyebrow cocked. "Kind of the nicest thing you can say to a pig?" Then with her eyes wide she asked, "Is that what I am, Brad? A real oinker?"

"You're incredible, is what you are," he replied. "As well as being the most beautiful girl in the world, of course."

"And you, sir, need to have your eyes checked," she retorted.

Brad left her alone in the kitchen. As he left he wondered what he could do to get Kimberly to change her opinion of herself. So far, nothing he had tried had worked, although it was clear that she truly loved the flowers. At least one thing had gone right.

Later, while she was fussing in the kitchen, she heard sounds coming from the spare bedroom where she had an exercise machine set up. (Kim had taken the apartment shortly after there had been a big layoff at the McDonnell-Douglas plant in Huntington Beach. The result was that she had been able to rent a two-bedroom apartment at a rent scarcely more than she would have paid for an efficiency just a few months earlier.) Going back to the room, she found Brad on her machine with the ultra-violet lights turned on. He was exercising naked.

The machine was set up so that the user's back was to the door. Kimberly just stood at the doorway watching while feeling her heart roll over and feeling that lovely wet sensation in her pussy caused by seeing the very prominent muscles in his body bulge. He's simply gorgeous! she thought as she just watched.

When he reached the end of his routine, he just sat on the machine taking deep breaths. Padding into the room, she put her hands on his sweat-slickened shoulders and just felt his muscles. It was wonderful. At the same time, she felt the warmth of the UV lights on her body.

"And just what are you doing, may I ask?" she said softly in his ear.

"Trying to protect myself," he gasped.

"You're what?" she exclaimed.

"Trying to protect myself," he repeated.

"And what does that mean?"

Turning in the seat, he pulled her head down and melted his lips to hers. Again, it was intended to be a quick kiss, but that wasn't the way it worked out. Again, there were the bells and the electricity between them. "You're exquisite!" he murmured.

"And you're pretty neat yourself," she responded, "but what are you doing? And why are you doing it?" While she was speaking, she checked the machine's weight loadings and her eyes widened. They were about 30 percent above her own, and she knew that — according to the machine's instructions — her loadings were for a well-conditioned 175-pound man. At the same time she very lightly ran her fingertips over his heavily-muscled shoulders and upper arms. It was all she could do to keep from audibly sighing.

"I'm trying to stay alive," he responded in a flat tone of voice.

"Stay alive?" she exclaimed. "And what does that mean?"

"It means that you are the most perfectly conditioned female on the face of the earth, is what it means." He grinned up at her and added, "And that's in addition to being the most beautiful female, too, Kimberly Ann Kramer."

"Kane!" she responded instantly. "The name is Kimberly Ann Kane." She frowned and added, "And what are you doing to me, anyway? What's this 'Kramer' stuff all about?"

"Oh, that? That's just to start you getting accustomed to the name," he replied with no further explanation. "And what in God's name are you doing now?" he gasped.

Kim had reached down and lightly stroked his prick and fondled his balls, bringing him to an almost-instant full erection.

"Oh ... Nothing," she replied with her eyes wide with innocence.

"Nothing?"

"Well ... I mean..." Then she stood up straight and said, "They're my prick and balls, after all. And ... and ... I think they'll really look neat when they're as tanned as the rest of you." She paused for a moment and then added, "Just look! Isn't it just gorgeous standing up there so straight and tall?"

Brad had been utterly amazed at how fast his cock had hardened in response to just a few moments' light stroking. He was tempted to do something, but was afraid anything he might do would result in an immediate ejaculation.

"Honey..." she began. That was another thing. Both were increasingly addressing the other with terms of endearment, and yet neither was aware of it. To both the speaker and the person addressed, it just seemed the natural thing to do.

"Honey, what?" he asked.

"I'm..." she began and as quickly stopped. She was going to ask if she could go down on him, but decided she would wait until they were in bed later that night and just do it. Instead of continuing, though, she changed tack and said, "Darling, when you finish your shower, could you bring a tampon for me out to the kitchen?" Then she giggled and said, "Kramer, I hate you!"

"And why do you hate me now?"

"Because you're wrecking my budget is why," she pouted.

"Your budget?"

"Yeah. For tampons. Usually a big box will last me most of a year. Now with you around I'm going through them at the rate of almost a box a week!"

"What a stinking shame!" he responded with his eyes wide while barely being able to control his grin.

After showering, he returned to the kitchen still naked with the tampon in his hand.

"Do you want to put it in, sweetie?" she asked. Kim knew that Brad took advantage of any opportunity to touch her, the more intimately the better.

In response, he just grinned.

Kim put her foot up on a kitchen chair and instructed him in the way the applicator worked.

Very gently he pulled on the string to pull out the tampon already there and then eased the new one gently into her vagina. When he decided it was correctly placed, he gently kissed her, obtaining the usual results. Then he amazed her by bringing the used — and now soaking wet — tampon up to his nose and sniffing.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed.

Brad just slowly shook his head. "Darling, you are utterly unbelievable! Everything about you is sweetness and beauty. Your cunt has such a marvelous fragrance."

"Men!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

The fact was, though, that in only a few days their relationship had developed. First, each found to his or her amazement that the other was a neatnik. Moreover, they found that in the tiniest matters — the matters that are often a source of endless irritation among married couples — they behaved the same. To their mutual amusement, they found that they even used the same brand of toothpaste, and even squeezed the tube the same way.

Furthermore, Brad did everything around the apartment, particularly including cleaning the bathroom and waxing the kitchen floor. And as picky as Kim knew herself to be, he was at least as thorough as she was herself.

But there was more: Beginning on Monday, Brad would call in the afternoon to find out what she was serving that evening, and would return home with a bottle of wine most appropriate to her dinner. Clearly, he knew wines, because in every case the wine was the perfect accompaniment to her dinner. Moreover, she realized that he was spending far more on their wine than she was spending on the meal itself.

All in all, though, it was a pleasant and increasingly warm relationship.

That evening, she was serving veal scallopini Marsala along with linguine. Kim's eyes widened as she saw Brad put a bottle of very fine Chardonnay in the refrigerator. Rather than eating in the kitchen, she had actually been setting the table in the dining area using bone china and sterling silver flatware she had inherited from her parents. She served the dinner by candlelight, sitting next to Brad rather than across the table from him. Kim had even continued her practice of walking barefoot on the balls of her feet, and Brad carefully held her chair for her. Curiously, the fact that they were both naked didn't disturb either of them ... very much.

Her new butcher had outdone himself with the quality of the veal, and her dinner was superb. "It could not have been any better, darling," Brad pronounced.

It was 8:30 by the time the kitchen was cleaned up. Normally, they would have watched TV or a movie or played a game. But not tonight. Taking Brad by the hand, Kim led him into the bedroom where the bed was already turned down on both sides. Without letting go of his hand, she lay him on his back on the bed and then her head descended to his prick, now in a semi-erect state.

What he didn't know was that Kim had been practicing. As an engineer, she realized that his cock was much longer than her mouth was deep, so she concluded that the only way to take him completely inside would be to have it down her throat. In just the intervening couple of days, she had been practicing, using a long banana. Although the banana was curved while his cock was long and straight, she figured that if she could handle the curved object, a straight one would be even easier. It had taken some practice — and some near-choking — but she had finally mastered her gag reflex.

Lowering her head to his crotch, she took his cockhead into her mouth and laved it with her tongue.

"What are you doing?" Brad exclaimed.

Instead of responding, Kim had felt his cock harden, so she eased it down her throat. In moments, it was in to its full length. After quickly withdrawing it, she looked at him innocently and replied, "I'm going down on you ... I think. That is what it's called, isn't it?"

"Or a blow job, or..." Brad could no longer speak as the incredible sensations Kim was creating in his cock overwhelmed him. It had been a long time since he had last cum and he could feel that he was about to shoot. "I'm going to cum!" he nearly screamed as he tried to remove his cock from her mouth.

But to no avail. She could feel his pulsations begin, so she eased the head of his cock up to her mouth with one hand while with her other she began gently to squeeze his balls and sac. He exploded. The only change in Kim, though, was that she was gulping down his semen while sucking on his cock for all she was worth. There was a second spurt, a third, and a fourth. Brad thought that he was being completely drained, and that was exactly what Kim was trying to do.

When she was certain that his shooting had stopped, she eased the tip of his prick from her mouth and studied it, while at the same time she weighed his sac in her other hand. "I didn't do it right, did I?" she asked with a woebegone expression on her face.

"What's ... that ... mean?" Brad managed to stammer. He had just survived the most incredible sexual experience of his life.

"There's so much more still there," she complained. Then with her eyes wide and innocent she asked, "What did I do wrong, Brad?" Then she really began to cry. "I tried so hard..."

Using his strength, Brad pulled her up so she was lying above him. Then he forced her mouth to his and kissed her with all his power unleashed. When he tried to force his tongue into her mouth, Kim resisted, but he prevailed. With his tongue now probing her mouth, he tasted his own cum in it. He decided it really wasn't half bad.

When he finally eased away, he could see tears streaming from her eyes. "Darling," he said, "if that had been any better, I would be dead. I couldn't imagine a more incredible experience." Then he looked into her teary eyes and asked, "But why? Why did you do that?"

"Because I thought you might like it," she replied softly. Looking skeptical she added, "You didn't really like it at all, did you?"

"Darling, you were magnificent!" he exclaimed.

Slipping out from under her, he rolled her on her back and moved between her legs, spreading them wide to make room.

"Now what are you doing?" she asked, startled by his action. Kim couldn't conceive what he could be doing. Maybe this is the beginning of a fucking,  she finally concluded.

But instead of putting his cock in her vagina, he raised her hips in his arms and began kissing her hairless pussy.

"What are you doing?" she repeated. Now she was truly alarmed. She had no clue what was going on.

Instead of responding, though, Brad just slowly ran his tongue up her slit. It was obvious to him from her cuntal juices that while giving him a blowjob, Kim had been stimulated, too. His tongue moved under one lip, up to the top and down the other side.

"What are you doing to me?" she gasped. "My God, Brad, I've never felt anything like this before!"

Rather than responding, he continued moving his tongue in her slit, flicking her now-throbbing clit from time to time. Each time he did, she gasped. Then, shaping his tongue into a point, he drove it as deep as he could into her vagina, provoking another gasp.

He just kept at it. While his tongue was occupied with her slit and clit, he slid a finger into her vagina, hooking it to search for her G-spot. A gasp coupled with a bucking of her hips told him he had found it.

For Kim, it was the most amazing and thrilling experience of her life. It was as if she was climbing a series of hills. Arrival at a crest triggered another orgasm, but before she could come down from it, she reached another, and another. Her cuming was becoming both more frequent and more violent. Because of her extraordinary physical condition, Brad found he had to use his greater strength to keep from being bucked off the bed and onto the floor.

With her whole body now in spasm, Kim found it increasingly difficult to breathe. Even her diaphragm was convulsing, and finally, when Brad lightly bit her clitoris, she fainted.

Recovering consciousness, she found herself nestled against his side with her head resting on his shoulder. Slowly she took a physical inventory to check to see that her principal parts were still attached. Finally, in a very soft voice she asked, "What did you do to me, Brad?"

"Well, it's called cunt-licking or muff-diving. But since you don't have a muff down there, I guess it's just cunt licking. Did you like it?"

Without responding directly she asked softly, "Is fucking better than that?"

"That's what I've heard."

"Oh, dear..."

"Oh, dear, what?" he asked.

"I'm afraid you'll never be able to fuck me then," she replied.

"Why not?"

At that point she stiffened in his arms and sat up as much as she could while waving her arms in a "stop" signal. "Stop! Forget it! Strike my last remarks from the record."

"And what in hell does that mean?" Brad asked.

"Bradley Kramer, what's certain in this world?"

"Huh?" he responded, utterly baffled by her question.

"There are two things: death and taxes, right?"

"I suppose so," he replied, still baffled at the direction she was taking.

"Well, the government has a monopoly on taxes, so that leaves death, right?"

"I suppose so," he repeated.

"Well," she said gaily, "since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well go out happy." Her face fell as she thought for a moment and then continued, "Of course, unless you're into necrophilia, you'll only get one chance at me. But just think... ! They'll find me dead in your bed, but with the happiest smile they're ever going to see on my face. It will drive them absolutely nuts! Now let's do it."

Brad thought for a minute and then slowly shook his head. "Naah, I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I can't find a replacement for you, is why not," he replied. Then he grinned and added, "Incidentally, young lady, your pussy is as sweet as sugar. And you know what?"

"What?"

"The more you came, the sweeter your syrup was. Kimberley Kramer, you are the sweetest thing on two feet!"

"It's not Kramer, it's Kane! What are you doing to me?"

"Just trying to get you used to your new name," he replied without further elaboration.

"Bradley Kramer, I hate you," she murmured softly as she was overtaken by sleep.

Moments later, Brad was asleep too.



-------

Chapter 10



Early Saturday morning, the young couple got into Kim's car for the drive down to the Christians. Because the directions to reach their place were very complex, once they exited the freeway Kim gave Brad the job of navigating. By this time, Brad realized they were about 30 miles southeast of LA, but in the valley, not on the coast. Although it was supposed to be farming country, the land looked parched.

Then Brad remembered something he had read awhile back. There had been water problems affecting the area: The supply of irrigation water had been sharply curtailed and many farms had had to be abandoned.

Leaving the paved farm road, they made a right turn onto a gravel road and followed it for more than a mile. At that point, the road made a sharp right turn around a large outcropping of rock. Kim had been driving slowly on the gravel track, and suddenly stopped the car. They both gasped at what they saw before them.

There, nestled in a very shallow valley, was an oasis of green. There was a very large home built in Spanish hacienda style at the center of a large emerald-green lawn. There were a number of young trees growing — and apparently thriving — in the green expanse. Eventually they would shade the house. In addition, there was a tennis court, a very large swimming pool, and a number of outbuildings.

"My God!" Kim squeaked. "What is this?"

"It looks like Carol and Bill have a little bit of Heaven of their very own, sweetie."

Kimberly put the M-6 in gear again and they drove on down, coming to a wide circular drive that took them to the front door. Before they could even open the car doors, the front door of the house swung open and Bill and Carol Christian came running out to greet them.

Raising an eyebrow, Kim looked at Carol and exclaimed, "What have you two done? I thought this was a do-it-yourself effort. But we never expected to find a palace out here."

Carol just cutely giggled while Bill invited the couple in.

What they saw was utterly amazing. The home was furnished in true Spanish Colonial fashion with relatively sparse furniture but with a very high degree of comfort. The house was delightfully cool. In just the very brief time they had spent between their car and the house, they realized how hot it was outdoors. The temperature outside was easily in the high 90s, while the house was about 70 degrees.

Carol led the way to the kitchen where the four sat around the kitchen table while Carol proceeded to serve coffee. From the table they had a view out the back of the house to the swimming pool and the tennis court.

"So what's the story?" Brad asked.

Bill chuckled and said, "We stole it."

"You what?" Kim squawked.

"We stole it," Bill repeated.

"And what, exactly, does that mean?"

He shrugged and with an completely bland expression on his face repeated, "It means we stole it."

"William Christian!" Kim exclaimed as she began to drum her fingers on the table, "you're trying our patience!"

"Did you ever hear about the water problem we had out here a few years ago?" Carol asked.

Brad and Kim both nodded their heads.

"Well, we have about 500 acres here. It used to be a farm. However, the supply of irrigation water to the area was cut sharply, and the former owners were low men on the totem pole. They took the biggest hit."

"But there's obviously plenty of water," Brad protested. "My gosh, you've got a little oasis here, and it sure doesn't look parched!"

"Yes, but we're only using about 10 acres," Bill responded, "not 500. Furthermore, most of the farms around here — most particularly including this one — grow crops that require a great deal of water. Our allotment was cut by 90%. But that's still about twice as much water per acre as they used to use," he concluded with a grin.

At this point Carol began to giggle.

"What's so damned funny?" Kim demanded.

"It's part of our theft," Carol replied. "Do you know how irrigation water is priced?"

"Not a clue," Kim replied.

"It's by the acre/foot. That's one foot of water over an acre of ground, or 44,000 cubic feet. Do you know how much we pay for it?"

Kim just shook her head.

"Let me put it this way," Carol said with another lovely little giggle, "in the East with municipal or private water suppliers they pay about as much for one cubic foot as we pay for an acre/foot — 44,000 times as much water. We steal it," she concluded with a shrug.

Finishing their coffee they were taken on a tour of the property. First of all, Kim and Brad were impressed by the gorgeous finish carpentry they saw. They learned that it was all Carol's work.

"I thought you just did the strong-back, weak-mind stuff around here?" Kim commented.

"So I can use a hammer and a saw. Big fucking deal," Carol responded dismissively.

Brad had been very thoughtful as they toured. Finally he said, "Water's obviously cheap as hell, but your electric power consumption must be outrageous."

"I guess we use a fair amount," Bill conceded.

"But the cost... ?"

"Next to nothing," Bill chuckled.

"And what's that mean?"

"It means I tied up with a smart john is what it means," Carol said.

Kim just raised an eyebrow.

"Come on. I'll show you," Carol said.

The foursome were walking toward the largest of the outbuildings. As they drew closer, Kim became aware of a low humming sound that became more noticeable the closer they came. Taking out a key, Bill opened a steel door that seemed quite heavy. The instant the door was opened, the noise was much louder.

Leading the way inside, he just stood aside without saying a word.

"Good grief!" Kim exclaimed. "You have not one but two gas turbines. They're both generators, aren't they? And they're big!"

Now both Carol and Bill were laughing. "Yes, they are big," Carol conceded. "Either one can provide about double our total power requirements. We have two so one can be shut down for maintenance and all that good stuff."

"But the fuel... ?" Kim asked.

"That's my smart john," Carol responded. "But he uses it to cheat me. Instead of paying me for my sexual services in cash, he pays with fuel for the generators."

"And the fuel?" Kim persisted.

"Natural gas," Carol answered. "What else would you fire a gas turbine with?"

"From where?"

"Down there," Carol said, pointing downward. Then she giggled and added, "You both certainly know about all the oil that's been pumped out from this area over the years?"

Kim and Brad both nodded.

"Well, surprise, surprise! Wherever there's oil, there's natural gas. Bill just put down an itty-bitty well and we have natural gas." She paused for a moment and then continued, "Not very much, of course. Hell, we could exhaust this supply in as few as 500 years. Of course, that estimate assumes an increase in usage of about 10 percent per year over that period..."

Brad had been listening thoughtfully. Slowly shaking his head he finally said, "So you have essentially unlimited electric power, free."

"Not so!" Carol exclaimed. "Why, hell ... I'll bet we must use at least $30 worth of lubricating oil every year keeping these generators humming, don't we, sweetie?"

"That's about right, hon," Bill replied.

"William Christian!" Carol exclaimed as she glared at him and started tapping her foot on the floor.

Bill thought back to what he had said that might have set off his wife. Then he grinned and said, "That's about right, slut."

"That's better," she conceded, somewhat mollified. "Just remember, William Christian, I am not your honey and I sure as hell am not your wife. Right?"

"You're absolutely right, whore."

Brad and Kim just slowly shook their heads in amusement.

After completing the tour of the Christians' magnificent house, the two couples decided to play tennis before it became even hotter. After changing into their tennis things with Brad and Kimmie being given an unused bedroom and bath for their use, they met again at the court.

After softly whistling, Kim remarked, "You two certainly don't skimp, do you? This court is Hartru, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess it is," Carol replied nonchalantly. "It's a nice playing surface, even when playing barefoot. It doesn't fry your feet the way a hard surface will."

"Can we?" Kim asked.

"We could, I suppose," Carol replied, "but it's an awful pain in the ass getting the footprints out of it afterwards." She paused and added, "The damned thing takes enough of our time as it is. Hell, there's scarcely any time left to play after maintaining the dumb thing!"

Their match started off as a replay of the one at the company picnic. The two couples were very evenly matched. After completing the first set, which the Christians won after an exhausting tie-breaker, all four were soaking wet with sweat. At that point Carol grinned and took off her top baring her luscious full tits. Turning to Bill she said, "This should speed up the next set, sweetie. Now Brad will have something to watch bouncing beside the tennis ball."

"That's no fair!" Kim exclaimed. "I don't have any boobs, let alone boobs that bounce." She thought for a moment, then stripped off both the shirt and shorts, taking down her bikini with them, leaving her naked except for her shoes and socks.

"That's an unfair escalation!" Carol declared. "All I did was take off my top."

"That's true," Kim countered, "but my shorts were sopping, too." With her nose in the air she sniffed, "With my dainty pussy, I don't want it to be all raw and chafed." She paused for a moment and added, "It's not like your high-mileage hooker's cunt."

Carol was about to roar with laughter but managed to control it. Then she sniffed, looked at Bill and complained, "That's another thing, Bill Christian, and it's all your fault: Because we're stuck way out here on the far side of nowhere, I don't have nearly as many miles on it as I should. I mean ... Good grief! I'm running a serious risk of being drummed out of the union if I can't develop more customers."

Bill just grinned and shook his head.

For her part, Carol slid off her shorts and bikini, too, revealing a pussy that was as bare as Kim's with just a tuft of sun-bleached pubic hair shaped to a V pointing down at her slit.

The four resumed their game. The two men were both heavily muscled and very athletic. Their concession to the increasing temperature had been to shed their shirts revealing the prominent muscles on their chests, arms and shoulders. The two women were both very muscular, too, but their muscles only became prominent as they played; at rest, both women appeared soft and smooth. In tennis skills the two women were about equal, but Kim was both faster and quicker than Carol. Kim and Brad edged the Christians in a tie-breaker in the second set, and finally pulled away to win the third set 6-4. By that time, all four were approaching exhaustion.

"I think it's time for something to eat," Carol said. "We were planning a barbecue."

"In this heat?" Kim said skeptically. "We'll melt out here! And cooking... !"

"Don't be ridiculous," Carol retorted. "Let's go inside."

"But the barbecue... ?" Kim asked, utterly baffled.

Carol didn't reply but just led the way back inside, entering using a sliding door into the kitchen. "We'll just do it in here where it's nice and cool."

Only then did Brad and Kim notice a built-in gas grill. In just moments it was going and Bill began grilling hot dogs and hamburgers while Carol took salads already made from the refrigerator.

In just a few minutes the now-famished foursome were eating.

Kim looked around and finally shook her head. "Nope," she said softly as if she were talking to herself, "it's not a real picnic."

"What's wrong? Why not?" Carol asked, feeling hurt. She thought the whole thing was delightful. And Bill had done his usual fine job cooking, while the salads, she thought, were lovely.

"Where are the flies? The ants? All the other creepy-crawly things... ? Nope. It's not a real picnic," Kim announced.

Finally realizing that Kim had been jerking her chain, Carol just sadly shook her head and stuck out her tongue.

After lunch they went out to the pool. The girls were still nude, so their preparations consisted of taking off their tennis shoes and socks. In moments the men had stripped and all four were pounding up and down the length of the pool. To an onlooker — there wasn't one — the two men were pounding up and down while the two women were smoothly gliding. After a number of laps in the 50-meter pool, one after another they got out and just stretched out on mats beside the pool, soaking up the sun.

Lying beside Carol, Kim said, "You two really have it all out here, don't you? You have a bit of Heaven here on earth."

"Mmm," Carol replied. Her eyes were closed and she was already more than half asleep.

At four o'clock, the foursome went back into the house to shower and change. Following Carol's instructions, the men dressed in jackets and ties while the women just wore casual clothing. While the reason for the difference in attire was not clear to any of them, those were the instructions Carol had received from Kathy Carlson.

Leaving the house, Bill Christian stopped suddenly. "Uh, oh..."

"What's the trouble?" Carol asked.

"Transportation is the trouble. Driving up to LA with four of us in a two-door BMW sport coupe is not my idea of great fun."

"Oh, that's okay," she responded blithely. "We'll just use my car."

"Say you're kidding, slut. Please say you're just kidding," Bill complained. "We can't all fit in my pickup, but—"

"Mine has four doors," Carol interrupted. "We'll fit."

"But that's not a car, it's an earthmover, for heaven's sake!"

Meantime, Carol had gone toward the garage door and activated its electric opener while Bill was still sputtering. The door opened smoothly revealing her new BMW.

"What on earth is that?" he gasped. "And where did it come from?"

"It's a car, Bill," she replied blithely. "What did you think it was?"

"But where... ?"

"It's my company car," she replied, answering his unasked question.

"But your firm doesn't have any! You told me years ago they didn't believe in them."

"That was ... Oh, dear!" Carol said sounding like a little girl. "You mean ... I forgot to mention Clifford & Jamison?"

"We talked about it at the picnic last week," he replied. "Don't you remember? And we're going for dinner with the Carlsons, too. Where and when did that invitation happen, by the way?"

"When I joined the Firm."

"When you what?" he nearly screamed.

"When I joined the Firm," she repeated.

While this conversation was going on, the four had gotten into the car and Carol smoothly headed out the way Brad and Kim had come in a few hours earlier. Bill was sitting in the front passenger seat beside Carol.

"Okay, slut. Now out with it!" Bill demanded.

"Well, I talked to them on Monday — they're really very nice, by the way — and they made me that famous offer that couldn't be refused. So I joined. I start work on Monday."

"How big a money hit are you taking to join?"

"Oh ... It's not too bad," Carol replied vaguely.

"'Not too bad'? How bad is that?"

"One-twenty-five a year," she responded in a voice barely above a whisper.

Bill almost choked. "One-twenty-five?" he gasped. "My God! That's almost triple what you were making."

"But it's only temporary—"

"Temporary?"

"Until year end," she said calmly. "That's when I'll be a partner and able to make some serious money. Then there are the fringes..." she added, with her voice tailing off.

"Fringes?" By this time Bill Christian was nearly apoplectic. He was only able to squeak the question.

"The education loans and the clothing allowance."

"The what?"

"The education loans and clothing allowance," she repeated blithely.

"And they are... ?" he prompted.

"The loans are paid off and I got a few bucks to buy some new work clothes."

"The loans are ... paid off?" he nearly screamed. "My God, woman, you owe nearly $120,000! And that's almost your gross pay for a year."

"Ali Clifford doesn't like her people to be worrying about money," she sniffed. "But she's not fair!"

"Not fair?"

"No, she's not fair. She paid off Joan Frederick's loans for her, but I had to do it all by myself! And it took almost two full days, too."

"And the work clothes?"

"Oh, they're picky about what we wear. Worse than my old place, in fact. But they at least give us a couple of bucks to help defray the cost.

"A couple of bucks... ?" Bill asked suspiciously.

"Twenty-five thousand," she replied casually.

"Twenty-five thousand!" he nearly screamed.

"Women's business clothing is expensive these days, dear. What's the big deal?"

Bill was lost for a response. A few moments later, though, he announced sadly, "Carol, it's all over between us. We'll just end this marriage charade thing and—"

"What do you mean?" Carol almost screamed. It was all she could do to retain control of the car.

"Look, it's pretty simple," Bill explained. "This whole lawyer thing was just a cover for your real occupation. Why you couldn't have chosen an honest profession like exotic dancer or something is another question, but that's beside the point. But now ... I mean ... That kind of money and those allowances are beyond being a cover story — way beyond. So it's all over. I mean ... acting like I'm married to a ... a... lawyer? My God! I would never live it down."

By now Carol realized that Bill was just jerking her chain. "All right for you, Bill Christian. But just remember that Ali McGrath Clifford is a lawyer, and so is Kathy Carlson. So there!"

By this time they were off the freeway and wending their way through the streets. Finding the entrance to the PHA development, Carol drove in, found the Carlson's town house, and pulled into their drive.

As the four emerged from the car, the front door flew open and Kathy came running down the steps to greet them. She hugged Carol and then took Kim in her arms. After giving her a kiss loaded with love, she stepped back while still holding Kim's upper arms. "Kimberley Kane, you are outrageously beautiful! And so in love... !"

Kim was stunned by Kathy's second comment; the first she took as routine hyperbole.

Carol introduced Kathy to her husband. "Bill, I would like you to meet Kathy Carlson. I know you know her husband, Ken. Kathy, just so you know ... Our marriage is just a tax deal. Actually, he's my john; I'm a whore, you know. Being a lawyer is just a cover. You know how prossies state their occupation as model, or seamstress or something like that? Well, I decided to be different, so I claim to be a lawyer." Her eyes widened as she continued, "It was just one of those ideas I had, but it proved to be a real pain in the ass. I mean ... law school, the bar exam and all that shit just so I'd have something different to fill in when the form asks for 'occupation'." She shook her head sadly and concluded, "I should have just bagged it and called myself an actress."

It was all Kathy could do to control her laughter. Finally she managed to say with an almost-straight face, "You would have been a great one, too!"

Then to Bill she said softly, "I owe my husband's life to you, William Baker Christian. If you hadn't been there to take command of the company..." She just shook her head, then pulled Bill's head down. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she gave him the most intense and loving kiss he had ever experienced in his life. Although initially he had just stood there, he wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her close feeling her mash her perfect body to his when he did.

Finally easing apart he managed to speak. "Lady, enough! I'm a happily married man—"

"William Christian!" Carol nearly screamed.

"Sorry, slut," he said with a grin. "I lost my head."

Kathy just giggled and shook her head with amusement. Then she turned to Brad and in the softest voice the others had ever heard said, "And thank you, William Bradley Kramer, Jr., for saving Ken's life. Because of what you did, you enabled me to be the happiest woman on the face of the earth!"

Then she kissed him. Kim could see Brad growing weak from the power of Kathy's kiss. Suddenly she felt ... jealous! It was an utterly unique feeling for the girl. Then she watched as Brad seemed to pull himself together and began to return Kathy's kiss with his own full power.

Finally they eased apart and Kathy said something that truly startled Kim. "You're no fun!" she pouted. "Kim's immunized you. With any other guy, that kiss of mine would have put him flat on his back if it didn't kill him outright. But not with you. Damn!"

Although they had just arrived, Kim had already been rocked to her heels.

When they entered the Carlson townhouse, there was another surprise. Marie and Celeste Trang were waiting just inside the door to greet them wearing their usual service costume: naked except for the bows in their hair. But to minimize confusion, Marie's hair bow was white while Celeste's was black.

As soon as they saw Bill and Brad, the girls' eyes widened and they dropped to their knees. Carol and Kim were astonished as they watched the two small girls kiss the men's feet and then return to a kneeling position with their backs up straight and their weight on their heels. Both pairs of thighs were spread wide revealing beautiful bare pussies.

"Thank you, Lt. Kramer and Lt. Christian for saving our lives. We will never forget what you did for us that day," the two Vietnamese girls said in unison.

Then rising to their feet, they greeted Carol and Kim and led them upstairs. The two women were puzzled, but from Kathy's behavior, whatever was coming had been prearranged.

The two girls led them into the master bedroom where their clothes were stripped. Then they were taken into the bathroom and into a bathtub that was more like a small swimming pool. As they entered, Kim could see oil floating on the surface of the water. When she was immersed, she realized that it was musk oil.

Kim and Carol were floating side by side in the pool while the two girls very gently worked the expensive musk oil into their bodies. Feeling herself about to fall asleep, Kim asked the girls how they had met Bill and Brad. Speaking for the two girls, Marie quickly told them the story of the terrible day when their parents had been shot dead and their schoolmates were raped and killed before their eyes.

"We were tied to a scaffold and whipped," Marie said, turning around so the women could see her still-scarred back. "They were about to cut off our breasts when Carlson's Rangers appeared." Marie cradled her tits in her hands and added, "Even now, I don't think that both of our breasts would have added up to a good appetizer. We're so different from you, Lady Kimberly—"

"Lady what?" Kim almost screamed.

"Well, we serve Lady Kathy and Sir Ken," Marie explained. "And since your husbands—"

"I have no husband!" Kim interrupted. "Brad Kramer is ... is ... just a good friend."

It was all Carol could do to contain what would have been raucous laughter.

"You may not be married," Marie insisted, "but he's your man. You love him and he loves you. Now when are you getting married?"

"What are you saying?" Kim exclaimed. "We're just friends..."

"Sure you are," Celeste chimed in. "That's why you almost attacked Lady Kathy when she kissed Sir Bradley."

"What?" Kim nearly screamed. "What did you say? And how do you know, anyway?"

"Because we were watching you is how we know," Celeste explained blithely. "Now it's time to get this show on the road..."

The two small girls helped Kim and Carol from the pool and laid them on massage tables. Then they began working on the two women with all of their very considerable skill. With the massages complete, they helped the women, who could scarcely walk by that time, back into the bedroom. After working on their hair, they carefully rouged their nipples and labia, then slipped white gowns over their heads.

Finally alert, Kim looked down and almost died. "But there's nothing to these gowns!" she protested.

"Sure there is," Celeste replied. "There's just enough to tantalize. Both of you have utterly exquisite bodies. And your breasts... ? Simply gorgeous!"

"Breasts? Me?" Kim reacted incredulously. "With Carol, I agree with you, but me? Ha! I don't have tits, I have mosquito bites!"

"Oh?" Celeste replied. "If that's so, why is that even using both of my hands together, I can't get fully around one?" Suiting her actions to her words, that's exactly what she did. And she was correct; even using both hands some of Kim's beautifully tanned breast was still exposed.

Although she tried to hide her reaction, Celeste's words and actions truly rocked Kimberly. Brad had been telling her the same thing, but now she was hearing it from a girl she had just met for the first time.

The gowns the girls were wearing — and that's all they were wearing — were diaphanous. They were not even allowed to wear shoes. Marie assured them that the carpet was both soft and very clean; they wouldn't miss them.

Taking them by the hands, Marie led Kim while Celeste led Carol down the stairs and into the living room where the others were waiting. Ken Carlson and the other men rose to greet them.

Drinks were served and then the two Vietnamese girls appeared, each with a tray and several tiny plates.

"This is a dish we can only serve to our closest friends," Kathy explained. "It's caviar served on a virgin's nipple. And since human virgins over the age of 10 are on the Endangered Species List, we have to be very careful! God only knows what would happen if the Federal Fish & Wildlife people ever got wind of what we're doing."

Marie then knelt before Kathy and spread caviar on one of her nipples, then offered Kathy the tray of condiments. Kathy added a few and then gently bit it off the girl's turgid nipple.

When Celeste came over to where Kim and Brad were sitting, Kim sniffed and said, "He can damned well eat from his own virgin's nipple!" With that, she untied the tie at the back of her neck, dropping her garment into her lap, exposing her perfectly shaped breasts.

With increasing merriment, the six slowly went through the caviar while sipping Dom Pérignon.

Finally, they went into the dining room for dinner. The table was utterly magnificent and both Kim and Carol gasped when they saw it. The dinner itself, which Kathy had prepared, was marvelous. After the main course, the six were sipping their wine while the girls cleared the table.

At that point, Kim raised her glass and said, "I would like to offer a toast, and I think it would be most appropriate if Marie and Celeste joined us."

Kathy looked quizzical, not knowing what was coming, but she nodded to the girls who got glasses for themselves.

"I would like to offer a toast," Kim repeated. "To Carlson's Rangers: Uncommon valor was a common virtue!"

With that she rose to her feet and the other women did, too. The five raised their glasses and drank.

Kim took her seat and added, "That line was spoken originally about the men who went ashore at Iwo Jima. And with us today we have two beautiful young women who are living testimony to the valor of the men of Carlson's Rangers."

Later that evening as they again drove south to the Christian's, Kim just snuggled in the back seat in Brad's arms. The visit to the Carlson's had been an emotional experience for her in many ways. The most important was the series of shocks she had had with respect to her own appearance.



-------

Chapter 11



On Monday morning, Brad left on a sales trip and Kim felt lost. In no time flat, she had cleaned the apartment but then had nothing to do except to feel lonely. Brad wasn't due back until Friday, but he had warned her that he might not even be back for the weekend. His trip would take him to northern California and into Oregon. As she sat nursing a cup of coffee, Kim's feeling of loss quickly morphed into a feeling of misery. Then the phone rang.

It was George Harrison, chairman of Aerospace Technologies. "Kim," he began, "I'm not supposed to do this. We said months ago that you would only come back to work when you asked to come back—"

"Consider me to be asking!" Kim interrupted. "Brad just went off on a sales trip and I'm miserable. Now where do I report and what do you want me to do?"

"Well..." he began, "the word around is that you have a new car. Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"And it's really a road car, right? High-speed grand touring?"

"Yes, sir."

"Look, Kimberly, why don't you come into the office — we're not that far away — and Bill and I will explain what we have in mind." He paused and then added, "And don't bother to dress. Whatever you're wearing right now would be fine."

"But what if I'm not dressed at all?" she asked with a giggle.

"Better yet!" he replied with a aural leer.

Kim was at the office less than fifteen minutes later and was told by the receptionist that George Harrison and Bill Miller were waiting for her in George's office. The two explained that they were reacting to a suggestion from an employee — unnamed — regarding sales.

"Look," George explained, "we're a machine-tool company, but our salesmen aren't engineers. The suggestion — made by a senior salesperson, by the way — is for us to use team selling: a salesman and a technical support person. Kim, since what we're now selling is what you designed yourself, there's no one in the entire company better qualified for that technical position than you."

Then the two men explained that she was to meet a salesman at a hotel in Los Angeles. He had their itinerary and had arranged sales appointments. All she would need would be her car — the salesman had a rental car that he was returning — and mostly work clothes. "Oh, yes!" Miller added, "And this." With that he presented her with a brand new AT hardhat which Kim accepted with a grin.

Racing back to her apartment, Kim quickly packed, put her gear in the car and was off. As she drove she realized that this was her first opportunity to use her car for anything other than around-town driving. She loved the idea of being able to get it out on the open road.

Although it wasn't quite spring yet, the day was warm and the car's air conditioning system fortunately worked very well. She grinned to herself when she drove up to the designated hotel and saw the car jockeys falling over each other in a rush to get behind the wheel of such a magnificent machine.

The doorman brought her overnight bag into the hotel and she went to the front desk, not at all sure what to do next. Only then did she realize that the salesman she was to meet had never been identified.

"Hi, sweetie!" Brad whispered in her ear.

Spinning around, she found herself in his arms. It felt wonderful. And although they were standing at the front desk, they kissed.

This is utterly ridiculous! Kim tried to tell herself. We were together all night; it's not like I haven't seen Brad in weeks...  Notwithstanding, her subconscious mind wasn't buying what her conscious mind was trying to sell. Admit it, turkey! You're madly in love with this guy!

Finally they eased apart after both heard those lovely bells. It was only the sound of arriving guests clearing their throats that finally got them to move.

"You're all checked in, hon," Brad informed her. "Let's go."

Arriving at their room — what Kim initially thought was her room — she found it was a suite and they were together in it.

Well,  she thought, no need to worry about whose room we're sleeping in tonight. Then to Brad she asked, "But what about our expense accounts? What will people say?"

"'People' I don't know about; George and Bill will only ask if we had fun."

"Did they know you were going to get a suite for us?" she asked wide-eyed.

"Sure. And it's actually cheaper than two rooms. The company is saving money."

After washing up, they went down to eat. The hotel's main restaurant turned out to be the unit of a national chain of white-tablecloth units of which California had scores from all of them. They had a quiet drink and an excellent dinner. It turned out to be very enjoyable for both of them. Each thought they were acting like a married couple and were even talking as if they were, although neither said a word to the other about their thoughts. Their conversation was extraordinarily wide-ranging; even though they had been living together for weeks, there was no shortage of things to talk about.

In bed together that night after Kim had gone down on Brad and he had spent nearly an hour feasting on her gushing pussy with her in orgasm for almost the entire time, she found her head resting on his shoulder while she was lying on her side facing him and molding her slender body to his.

"Mmm ... Thank you, Brad. You were wonderful," she said softly. Then after a pause she asked, "When are you going to fuck me? A couple of times tonight I thought you were about to. Why didn't you?"

"It's not time yet."

"What's that mean?"

"It means it's not time yet," he repeated.

"But... ?"

"When are you going to marry me?" he asked.

Kim was about to squawk, but thought better of it. "What do you mean, marry you? Bradley Kramer, get real! You can't be serious. A guy as handsome as you are can have any girl he wants. There's no way you would be willing to settle for a plain girl with a nothing body!"

"You're absolutely right about that," he agreed. Then he kissed her soundly and went to sleep.

Being left hanging like that, Kim was certain she wouldn't sleep a wink that night.

The next thing she knew, the phone was ringing with their wake-up call.

Over breakfast in the coffee shop, Brad filled her in on their first sales call. They were visiting a medium-sized manufacturing company of precision parts. The company, Johnson Manufacturing, was interested in possibly replacing an old Aerospace Technologies machine tool. It was one of the very first units AT had ever made and had served the company well. Thus their interest in buying a replacement from AT.

Kim was concerned about wearing Levi's and a work shirt, but Brad assured her she was fine. Nonetheless, she felt odd driving up to the company in Levi's while Brad was wearing a business suit with a tie.

Arriving at Johnson, she grabbed her hardhat and followed Brad to the reception area. A secretary soon appeared to take Brad to his appointment and a few minutes later a man appeared to greet Kim. He introduced himself as Sam Baxter, the plant manager, and led the way back to the plant floor.

As soon as they reached the floor, Kim was glad she was wearing what she was. It was already hot and, since it was still early in the day, it was going to get hotter. If the production area was air-conditioned, it wasn't having much effect.

Sam took her to an AT machine and introduced her to its operator, Mary. Kim noted privately the fact that at Johnson, like so many other companies these days, people didn't seem to have last names. Baxter introduced Kim as the technical expert from AT, and Kim found herself greeted with a frown.

The machine was a small stamping press. Mary took a small sheet of steel from a stack, carefully positioned it in the press, then activated it. After the machine cycled, she removed a formed and punched object, the nearly-finished product. To Baxter's surprise, Kim wanted to continue to watch the operation, and did. After it had stamped out six objects, Kim took all six and carefully examined them.

Then she pointed out to Baxter in Mary's hearing that the objects were not identical. "I don't know what your customer's tolerances are, but I would have to rate these as pretty marginal," she said.

"I did it exactly the way I was supposed to!" Mary exclaimed defensively.

"I know you did," Kim agreed. "I was watching very carefully. You positioned every blank in exactly the correct spot." Turning to Baxter, she said, "I'm afraid this machine is shot."

Mary glared at Baxter who reddened. Finally he admitted, "Okay, Mary, I was wrong and you were right. You'll get your production bonus for the last quarter. I'm sorry you'll get it a little late, though."

"If it wouldn't upset things too much, could you give Mary an unscheduled extra break right now? I would like to shut down this unit and look it over carefully," Kim said.

Baxter nodded and Mary marched off triumphantly to the plant cafeteria for coffee. With the machine shut down and secured, Kim began to open access ports to look at its innards. When she saw the oil in the oil sump she softly whistled. After pointing it out to Baxter, he called over his maintenance chief, Harvey.

Kim asked him what oil was being used and Harvey proudly replied, "It's oil we get through a consortium led by Chester Klem. He's the maintenance guru for all the metal-benders out here. We've only been in it for a short time, but we've already saved almost $300!"

Kim rolled her eyes. "Harvey, this oil is not up to the required spec. And if you read the warning plate, you'll see that failure to use the required grade of oil and/or change filters appropriately voids the machine warranty." She smiled to try to take away some of the sting. "Of course, this machine is long since out of warranty, so it doesn't matter much. But it could matter a great deal on newer machines, and it's absolutely vital on the newest equipment we're shipping now."

"But Chester says that lube oil is lube oil so we might as well buy the cheapest," Harvey protested.

"Chester Klem may know machine tools, but he doesn't know much about lube oil," Kim explained. "Our new equipment specifies a fully-synthetic motor oil. The reason is we're guaranteeing precision ten times greater than this machine could deliver when it was brand new. The only way we can get that is with synthetic oil. It can and does maintain its film strength at a thickness that's only a very small fraction of what oil like this can do without breaking down. If you tried to use this oil, parts would not be properly lubricated — the oil couldn't thin down enough to operate in the machine's very tight clearances. You would have direct metal-to-metal contact, and the machine would be totally fried in a matter of a few weeks.

"I would strongly urge you to change now."

"Are you sure?" Sam Baxter asked.

"Indeed I am!" Kim assured him.

To Harvey, Baxter said, "Do it. Now!"

"But boss, we won't be getting a new lube oil order for months. And we've still got most of a barrel of this stuff..."

"Give it to the guys and gals to take home," Sam said. Then to Kim he asked, "But what do we do about getting new oil?"

"That's easy," Kim said with a grin. "Send someone out to a service station or auto supply store and buy a case. We use standard top-grade synthetic motor oil. It's easy to find."

To Harvey, Baxter said, "You heard the lady. Do it. And to make sure it happens in a hurry, call an immediate work break. Shut down all the machines and don't start them up again until their oil has been changed. And make sure the filters are replaced at the same time. All of them!"

With that out of the way, Kim and Baxter continued their tour of the plant floor. With all of the people now on break, it was easier to both see and to move around. What Kim saw, she didn't like very much. What Kim didn't fully appreciate herself was the fact that, in the course of designing AT's new line, she had researched the competition's offerings. The result was that she carried encyclopedic knowledge of the machine tool industry in her head. What she saw was that Johnson had the same problems that AT itself had: There were gross mismatches all over the factory floor in the production rates of the various machines. Furthermore, the situation was further aggravated by the plant's seniority rules.

Choice of machine assignments was seniority-based. As a result, with few exceptions, the most senior people took the highest-output machines with the result that they and a few others were hardly working, while everyone else was working very hard. These differences did not go unnoticed by the workers, either. This resulted in hard feelings and poor plant morale.

With this knowledge, Kim wanted to have a long talk with Baxter. "Could we take an early lunch?" she asked. "I'm buying." Although there had been no mention of an expense account, Kim decided she could afford a lunch.

Sam quickly accepted and they went out to Kim's car.

Seeing it, he whistled softly and asked reverently, "Is this yours?"

"Yes, it is," Kim replied, scarcely able to keep the note of pride from her voice.

"Wow!" Baxter exclaimed, "tech reps are paid far more than I would have thought."

"That's not really my job," Kim replied with no further amplification.

"What is your job?" he asked.

"I'm a machine-tool designer," she replied. "I design the machines we were talking about this morning."

"But..." Sam began, but then his voice just tailed off.

"But I'm a girl," Kim said with a grin. Then she snapped her fingers and said, "Oh, damn!"

"What was that all about?"

"I forgot. I'm sorry."

"Sorry about what?"

"I'm a girl," Kim replied. "I'm supposed to do everything with a bobby pin. But with this mop on my head, I don't use them, so..."

"And that reminds me," Baxter said. "You're the most beautiful thing on two feet I've ever seen. You're hardly anyone's image of a machine-tool designer."

"Thank you, kind sir," she retorted with a grin. "Now where are we eating? You choose, because this is the first time in my life I've ever been in this part of the state."

Baxter selected another chain restaurant. Like so many others in California, it had valet parking, and the car jocks were falling all over each other to see who would get to drive the sports coupe.

When they were seated, Kim ordered a glass of white wine, while Baxter ordered a martini. After an exchange of pleasantries in which Kim admitted to having her Ph.D. from Cal Tech, they got to the purpose of the lunch.

"How important is high precision to Johnson Manufacturing?" she asked.

"Very!" Baxter replied, shaking his head in disgust.

"What's that mean?" she asked. "Why the disgust?"

"It means we are marginal in quality and too high in cost is what it means," he admitted.

"How would you like to have the highest quality in the industry, with the lowest costs?" she asked. "Oh, yeah ... And as a bonus, the operators' workloads would be evened out, too. Right now most of your people are killing themselves, while some senior people are effectively loafing on the job. And it's not their fault; it's a reflection of grossly different production rates on your various machines." Kim then astounded him by reciting the production rates of the various machines Johnson had in use.

She went on to describe AT's new machinery line and the fact that the machines were balanced for output so they could be lined up in ways that allowed all of them to be operated at their optimum rates. Furthermore, AT was guaranteeing precision 10 times greater than Johnson's existing units.

"But there's bad news, too, though," she added. "The only way you can get that precision and get our precision guarantee is if all your machines are from our new line. It means replacing everything you have, and that looks like it would be about 50 new units." She paused and then added, "Of course, for that many we could give you a price break and I'm pretty sure we could line up affordable financing, too. What do you think?"

"I think you may have saved our company, is what I think," Baxter replied.

Finishing lunch, they returned to the plant but went to Baxter's office rather than to the plant floor. Kim was delighted since her shirt had only just dried out after being sweat-soaked for most of the morning.

In his office, Kim then proceeded to impress Baxter even more. Using a grid pad, she sketched out the existing machine layout and then her suggestion for a new one.

Baxter was amazed. "You really do know your stuff, Kim! Wow! I'm truly impressed." Then he added, "You know, the world just isn't fair. Why should one of the world's most beautiful women also be one of the smartest?"

"Beautiful? Hah!" Kim retorted. "Sam, have you had your eyes checked recently? I'm plain and have all the curves of a straight stick."

"How about having yours checked, Kim?" Baxter retorted. "It's clear to me and everyone else in the plant that you're not wearing a bra. And with you sweating as much as you were this morning, it's a damned good thing that your shirt has two breast pockets. That additional thickness of material is the only thing that prevented a riot on the plant floor!"

Baxter noted that his comments had really shaken Kimberly up. But they had other things to do.

Sam Baxter picked up his phone and called Chet Johnson, the founder and chairman of Johnson Manufacturing. He was free, so Sam and Kim went down to the executive conference room. There they met Brad and Gil Bates, the director of purchasing. Moments later Johnson joined them along with the chief financial officer, Si Anders.

Baxter quickly brought the others up to speed on what he and Kim had been doing during the morning. When Brad realized they were talking about an order for about 50 Aerospace Technology units, he rolled his eyes and surreptitiously made a thumbs-up sign to Kim.

But before anyone else could speak, Anders, the CFO, did. "Sam, have you lost your ever-loving mind?" he almost screamed. "This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life! Except for one or two, those machines have years of useful life. What in hell are you doing?"

Baxter retained his cool. "Si, have you heard of technological obsolescence? You certainly should have. You have administration, too, so you certainly should be aware of what's happening with PCs, these days. They seem to be advancing a full generation every year. Yet the old ones continue to do what they were built to do, although not nearly as fast nor as well as the new machines.

"That's what we're looking at. From what marketing tells me, we're already losing business because of our price, our quality, or a combination of both. Furthermore — and this is in your bailiwick — I understand that the magnitude of our sales allowances is increasing alarmingly. The reason for that is that our delivered quality — to be brutally frank — is a long way from great."

Instead of addressing Baxter's points, Anders retorted, "Where in hell did this cockamamie idea come from, anyway? This airhead you brought to the meeting with you? She can't know anything about machine tools. She's just a pretty face, for God's sake."

"Wait a minute!" Brad interjected. "While I agree that Miss Kane has a lovely face, it happens to be in front of the most powerful brain I've ever encountered. 'Can't know anything about machine tools' I think you said? Well, I have a surprise for you: Miss Kane happens to have her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Cal Tech. Her dissertation deals with machine-tool design. Moreover, even as we speak, a major university press is racing to get that dissertation into print. It seems a number of universities — including both Cal Tech and MIT — want to use it as a text this fall.

"I think an apology from you is in order!" Brad concluded.

"And I agree," Chet Johnson said, speaking for the first time. Ignoring Anders he asked Brad, "But how are we going to pay for these tools? We never thought about having to replace all our tooling at one time."

"We have a finance whiz in our company, Bill Christian," Brad replied. "I'm confident he can work something out."

"But we can't!" Anders wailed. "We don't have the money."

"If we can, we will," Johnson replied. "Sam Baxter had it exactly right: We have no choice in the matter. We either immediately upgrade — and get a jump on the industry — or we slowly go out of business. To me, that's no choice at all."

Then turning to Kim he said, "I have to agree with Si Anders on one point: You are certainly beautiful! For the rest, it's just not fair that one girl should have absolutely everything." Then he looked at Brad and then back at Kimberly. "But that's not all, is it? When are you two getting married? I can't recall ever seeing two people as much in love as you and Brad Kramer are."

Kim was so embarrassed she couldn't think of a thing to say.

With the price quote and the billing terms, coupled with Bill Christian's creative financing, the deal was done. Fifty-one units were ordered, with the first unit scheduled for shipment the following week.

Over dinner that night, Kim asked how Brad had known about the publication of her dissertation. "You really should read your mail sometime," he replied with a grin. Then he added, "Oh, by the way ... Cal Tech offered you a full professorship in mechanical engineering, with full tenure. I politely rejected their offer in your name, of course."

"But—"

"Sweetie, between having children and designing machinery for AT, you just won't have the time," he interrupted with his eyes wide.

"Children?" Kim nearly screamed. "Whose children?"

"Mine, of course."



-------

Chapter 12



In the subsequent two weeks, the Johnson Manufacturing experience just repeated itself. And it didn't matter whether the call was in response to interest in a single machine or a cold call, the results were the same: They replaced all the company's machine tools with brand-new ones from the Kimberly Kane line.

Finally back at Kim's apartment after a very exhausting week, they found a message on her answering machine to call George Harrison as soon as they returned home. He provided both his home number and his new cellular phone number.

Kim didn't want to make the call so she turned the phone over to Brad. Even though it was almost nine o'clock on Friday evening, Brad did. There was no answer at the home phone so he dialed the cellphone number. George answered almost immediately, and Brad could hear raucous sounds in the background. George explained that he and Bill were with their wives at a country club dance. He then amazed both Kim and Brad by asking if they could get together at his house in one hour.

Although it had been a very full day with another big sale, Brad and Kim looked at each other and both shrugged. Brad agreed to the meeting and obtained driving directions to George's home. When Kim suggested she should change first, Brad merely reported that George had said to come as they were, but come right now. Kim just shrugged again and went back out to the car.

They found the Harrison home without any problems and went up to the door. George was holding it open waiting to greet them before they even reached it. To her embarrassment, Kimmie noted he was wearing a dinner jacket while she still wore her Levi's and work shirt. They were ushered into the living room and warmly greeted by Trudy Harrison and Connie Miller. Bill Miller was also wearing a dinner jacket.

"You two look simply gorgeous!" Kim gushed at the two women. Both were very well-dressed and were quite tanned. Moreover, it was apparent that both women had lost significant weight since the picnic, although it had only been a few weeks earlier.

"Thank you," Trudy said, responding for both of them. "And it's all you, Kimberly Kane!"

"Me?" Kim squeaked. "I haven't done a damn thing."

"Oh, yes you did," Trudy insisted. "You did two things, actually. First, you demonstrate how good a woman can look if she gets her body in shape. We'll never be nearly as good as you are, but we can be a lot better than we are now. Second, you told us what equipment to get, and it really works."

George took drink orders. Brad and Kim both elected to have Cokes on the basis that in their tired condition anything stronger would put them out.

Finally, all six were seated and George began. "Why do you two hate us so much?" he asked. "Kimberly I can understand. But what's your excuse, Kramer?"

Kim and Brad were utterly stunned. They were speechless. Kim's eyes widened, while all Brad could do was to slowly shake his head. "I just don't understand, George," he was finally able to say. "Kimberly has been killing herself the last two weeks for AT, and you're saying we hate you? What's going on?"

"Let's take it from the top," Bill Miller said. "First of all, of course, there's Kim's court case against us." He smiled weakly and continued, "Just a few weeks ago, if she won, George and I would have just signed over the company to her. It really wasn't worth much. But then what happened? Kimberly happened," he said, answering his own question. "She presents us with the best-designed machine tools the world has ever seen! But there's more: You two may not even realize it, but because of the integrated computer controls, a product changeover can be managed in a matter of minutes rather than the hours it used to take.

"So what? you're thinking. So it opens enormous new markets to us: companies that specialize in small orders. Believe me, they're drooling. We can hardly keep track of all the firm orders coming over the transom. These companies can now produce to the same or higher quality standards than those with long production runs.

"So what's it mean? It means that while you two are out touring the countryside, us poor slobs at home are being buried under an avalanche of orders.

"Now what do you have to say for yourselves?"

Brad and Kim just looked at each other and shook their heads at the same moment.

George Harrison came back into the discussion. "Since you don't have anything to say, I'll tell you what Bill and I are going to do: First of all, William Bradley Kramer, Jr., effective at the close of business today, you're the new vice president–sales & marketing."

Brad just sat there with his jaw hanging down. It was as if he had taken a blow to his solar plexus.

"And you, Kimberly Ann Kane Kramer, are our new vice president–manufacturing & design.

"Now how do you like them apples? Huh? Huh?" George concluded. Then he and Bill could no longer control themselves. Both broke out into wide grins.

But Brad was still in a state of shock. "But ... but ... what about Homer?" Homer Jenkins was vice president–sales and marketing.

"Look, Brad," George began, "when you stake your career on being right, but you turn out to be wrong...

"You should know better than anyone what Homer's attitude was toward your proposal to have tech people accompany salesmen in the field: He fought it tooth and nail. He said it could never work, not in a million years. Why he said it, or on what basis, I didn't know when he said it, and I don't know now.

"But what I do know is that in the last two weeks, you two have sold more machines than the company sold all last year. And that's not even counting the over-the-transom stuff."

Miller picked up where George left off. "Your results? Unbelievable! Brad, you happen to be very organized. Moreover, you very thoughtfully wrote down exactly what you're doing and what you expect to do. Well, we looked at your plans for the last two weeks. You had ten calls scheduled. Four of them were responding to customer inquiries regarding a single machine each. The other six were cold calls.

"You two sold an average of 40 machines to every stinking one of them! That's more than 400 units in ten days. Unheard of!"

"It wasn't me, it was Kim," Brad protested. "This woman is unreal! Without a single exception, we left a customer with their top people flat on their backs like puppies waiting to have their tummies rubbed."

"Enough of this," George said. "It's getting late. The final thing is that we're giving you each 10 percent of the company's stock and electing you to the Board of Directors. Oh, yeah ... compensation. Your salaries have been adjusted reflecting the fact that you're now co-number threes in the company. Okay?"

When Kim tried to protest, he held up his hands. "I know, Kim, it's not nearly enough. But hell ... We had to start somewhere. And we had to leave room for compensation and bonus action at year end."

Kimberly just sank back into the sofa like a punctured balloon. Then she said, "Well, I guess I'll do one thing to help you out," she said. "We had to cancel Monday's appointment because I'm scheduled to be in court that day."

"My God!" Bill breathed. "Maybe we'll be able to even take a deep breath!"



-------

Chapter 13



On Monday morning at 9:30 Kim appeared at the Orange County courthouse accompanied by Brad. She was puzzled because she had been unable to communicate with Katherine McCarthy, her attorney. For weeks she had been trying to reach her to tell her she was ending her lawsuit but to no avail. So there she was.

Entering the courtroom, she took a seat at the counsels' table to the right as she faced the judge's bench. To her interest and surprise, at the defendants' table to the left she saw Sandy Harris and Carol Christian. Apparently, Carol was going to be trying the case for Aerospace Technologies under Sandy's supervision.

But there was still no Katherine McCarthy. The court reporter appeared and then the bailiff, obviously preparatory to announcing the judge. Just then McCarthy came rushing up to the table and just a moment later the bailiff announced, "All rise!"

The judge came striding in from her chambers. Kim was amazed to see it was Iris Kaplan, the mediator from the meeting the previous fall. So much has happened since then! Kim reflected.

After Judge Kaplan asked if both sides were ready to proceed and was answered in the affirmative, Kim rose to her feet. "Your Honor, I am the plaintiff, Kimberly Kane. May I please address the court?"

"You may," the judge replied, but then her brow furrowed and she asked, "But didn't you used to be Candace?"

"Yes, Your Honor," Kim replied with a small grin, "but I got tired of being a piece of candy. While I admit to having a body with all the curves of a candy cane, I still don't like the name. It's Kimberly now, or Kim, which I prefer, Your Honor."

"All right, Kim," Judge Kaplan continued. "What can we do for you?"

"Your Honor, I would like to withdraw my complaint and apologize to the court for wasting its time this way—"

"You can't do that!" McCarthy screamed. "This case must continue to trial," she insisted. "It's far too important to be dropped. Your Honor, please disregard my client's statement. She doesn't know what she's saying."

One of Judge Kaplan's eyebrows rose at McCarthy's words. "And why, counselor, may your client not withdraw her complaint? She is the plaintiff; you are not. You merely represent her."

"She cannot because of the contract we have with her," McCarthy replied smugly. She didn't realize it, but at that moment she had just buried herself.

"May I see this contract?" the judge asked.

"And may we see it, too, Your Honor," Carol Christian asked.

Since McCarthy only had her original, the court reporter went off and made copies. Returning to the courtroom she gave a copy to the judge and to Carol while returning the original to McCarthy. At that point the judge recessed the proceedings for fifteen minutes to provide an opportunity for herself and the defendant's attorneys to review the document.

When the court was called back to order, Judge Kaplan said, "Ms. McCarthy, you were saying that as a matter of contract, Miss Kane cannot withdraw her complaint. Is that correct?"

"It most certainly is," McCarthy declared proudly.

"It most certainly is not!" the judge declared harshly. "This contract is illegal and unenforceable. Ms. McCarthy, this contract convicts you and the foundation you're fronting for of both champerty and barratry. Although very rarely invoked, both are crimes in this and every other state I'm aware of.

"For the benefit of the observers in the courtroom, both of these offenses are very rare; you might not even find the words in a dictionary. Champerty is the sharing in the proceeds of a lawsuit by an outside party — in this case, Ms. McCarthy's sponsoring foundation — who has promoted the litigation. Barratry is the offense of persistently instigating lawsuits, typically groundless ones.

"I'm sure many of you have seen advertisements placed by trial lawyers looking for plaintiffs. It might be asbestos, or breast implants, or cigarette smokers; it doesn't matter. Those attorneys are looking for a horse to ride in hopes of a jackpot judgment. But not in this courtroom!" she said, slamming down her gavel.

As she was about to dismiss the case with prejudice, Carol Christian rose. "Your Honor, may I have your permission to address the court?"

"You may, Mrs. Christian," Judge Kaplan replied. Then with a warm smile she added, "I see you're appearing this morning on behalf of a new firm."

"Yes, Your Honor, that is true. Just a couple of weeks ago, I joined the firm of Clifford & Jamison in Los Angeles. I don't know if you've met previously, Your Honor, but my colleague here at the table is the firm's senior litigation partner, Sandra Harris."

"I met Miss Harris at your firm's offices last fall," Kaplan said. "And for the benefit of the onlookers, I should add that Sandra Harris enjoys the very finest reputation in California's trial bar. Most important to me is the fact that her ethics and personal honor are utterly impeccable." Then to Sandy, Kaplan said, "Judge Helen Carter sends her warmest regards and very best wishes, Miss Harris. She considers what you did in the case of Clifford v. Clifford to be exemplary, reflecting the very highest standards in the practice of law. She speaks of your courage often."

With a lump in her throat, Sandy managed to thank the judge.

"But you were saying, Mrs. Christian?"

"Your Honor, I believe you were about to dismiss this case. But before you do, I think there are some things you should know. Sitting in the back of the courtroom today are six of Ms. McCarthy's previous clients. All were winners in the courtroom. Most received six-figure judgments, while one received one of over one-million dollars. The reason they're here this morning is that none of these young women ever received a penny.

"You see, like the contract with Kimberly Kane we saw this morning, in each of their cases, Ms. McCarthy and her foundation — she's a trustee of it, by the way — got it all. Every penny!

"The girls? The girl awarded the most has been selling her body parts to live! Can you believe it? It's true. Jenny Clark sold a kidney, one of her lungs, all the eggs in her ovaries — and emerged from that procedure sterile, by the way — just to get enough money to eat!

"Why? Because they are seen as sexual-harassment suits waiting to happen. No one will employ them ... in any capacity."

Judge Kaplan called the young women up and proceeded to question them closely. She also extended to McCarthy the right of cross-examination. As they told their stories, one after the other, it just got worse. When Jenny Clark finished testifying, there wasn't a dry eye in the courtroom, particularly including the Judge's.

After more than two hours, it came to an end. "Ms. McCarthy," the judge asked, "do you have anything you would like to say to the court?"

"No, Your Honor."

"In that case, it is the order of this court that all of your assets and those of the foundation that has been backing you be frozen in place, pending further judicial action. The least I see is millions in judgments going to these young women whose lives you have destroyed. Worse yet, you destroyed their lives while pretending to help them.

"Ms. McCarthy, a few hours ago I extended greetings to Miss Harris from Judge Helen Carter. In the course of serving her client's interest, Miss Harris put her career and her very freedom in jeopardy. She acted in the very highest standards of the legal profession and made us all proud. Her client's interest was paramount, regardless of the cost to herself.

"You, Ms. McCarthy, are the polar opposite. You disgust me! You are a disgrace to the profession and your behavior demonstrates perfectly all the things that have brought the legal profession into such ill repute with the general public. Instead of working in your clients' interest, you worked strictly in your own. To you, a client was nothing more than a cat's-paw. She served your interest; you certainly never served hers!

"You and the foundation you represent claim to be working on behalf of all women. But I find it both alarming and disconcerting that you're willing to destroy the lives of the women who are your clients in the name of some group of generic women.

"Well, Ms. McCarthy, you will pay! It's very small recompense for the tortures these young women have lived through, but it's something.

"Oh, yes. One more thing: The court awards to the plaintiff, Miss Kimberly Kane, the sum of one million dollars. This sum is to be paid as a joint and several liability of you, Ms. McCarthy, and your foundation. Am I making myself clear?"

McCarthy just nodded; she found herself unable to speak.

"Further," Judge Kaplan said, "I am awarding attorneys' fees on the same basis as before to the firm of Clifford & Jamison. Ladies, you have the court's thanks for bringing this matter to our attention.

"Finally, the case of Kane v. Aerospace Technologies, Inc. is dismissed with prejudice," Judge Kaplan concluded.

There was a small celebration following the conclusion of the case. Brad Kramer, acting in his new rôle as vice president–sales & marketing, immediately hired all the girls to handle the incoming orders and to act as production schedulers.

The last caused Kim to raise an eyebrow, although she had trouble keeping a straight face. "Production scheduling is a manufacturing function," she told Brad with her eyes dancing. "But if you're really nice to me tonight, I'll let you get away with it."

The girls — there were a total of six of them — were utterly ecstatic. They immediately christened themselves the Leper Colony, but began performing brilliantly from the very first day.

Brad and Kimberly spent the night just cuddling in bed. It was warm and wonderful.



-------

Chapter 14



Two more weeks had passed, and they were nothing more than repeats of the first two. In every case except one, the customer company agreed to replace all its production machine tools with the latest models from Aerospace Technologies. The one exception was a company that wanted to consult with its directors and shareholders — it was closely held — with respect to financing its purchase. But they promised they would be replacing all their machine tools very soon.

In fact, it became quite funny. To the amazement and amusement of the new girls in the Leper Colony, the phone began to ring off the hook. It seemed that the word of AT's remarkable new machine-tool line had started to spread. As a result, all the competing companies wanted the new higher-precision tooling as soon as possible to avoid being left behind. The problem was scheduling sales visits to determine their needs and write the orders.

Kim and Brad faced a conundrum: On the one hand, customers were jumping up and down wanting to see an AT salesperson. On the other hand, they were the only two people in the company who knew enough about the new machines to provide the customer with the right ones. And it was impossible both to make a sales call and train the sales staff and the new technical support people who were to be paired with them. The result was they spent the two weeks traveling, but the week following — at least — was reserved for home-office training.

There was one last call to make, and it was the company Kim least wanted to visit: That was Precision Manufacturing, Inc. It was the home of Chester Klem, the erstwhile maintenance guru. To make matters worse, Precision had the full line of year-old AT machines, and the purpose of the call was warranty service. The company claimed that the AT machines were no longer producing to specification, and Kim was 99 percent certain she knew why.

It was 9:30 when they arrived at the company's plant in East Los Angeles. As usual, Brad was to meet with the purchasing manager, while a man who introduced himself as Mark Hopkins was to escort Kim.

"What's your position here, Mark?" Kim asked as he led the way out to the plant floor.

"Well, I was manager of plant operations until this morning," he replied.

"Until this morning? What are you doing now?"

"I guess I'm unemployed."

Kim did a startled double-take. "What on earth are you doing with me, then? Why aren't you working on a résumé ... or something?"

Hopkins grinned, seeming to be not at all upset, and replied, "Because I'm the only one who knows what's what on the plant floor ... besides Chester Klem, that is."

Kimberly just shook her head. In a few moments they reached the machine that Precision Manufacturing wanted repaired or replaced on AT's nickel. It was still in operation, so Kim asked Mark to give the operator a break so that she could inspect it. He did, and then watched as Kim expertly opened the inspection ports.

It took only a moment for her to confirm her earlier suspicion. Carefully she dipped her finger into the hot machine oil and then looked at it. "I'm sorry, Mark," she said, "This machine has been abused in terms of the warranty. Good grief! I can see bits of metal in just this tiny bit of oil. This unit has been grinding itself to pieces because of improper lubrication."

Amazingly, all Mark did was to roll his eyes and grin. Then he surprised her by saying, "That's nice. That's exactly what I've been trying to tell The Powers for months. But after all, Chester Klem is the ultimate maintenance guru in Southern California anyway, so what do I know? Just a kid out of school."

Kim stood up straight, returned his grin and extended her hand. "As one kid just out of school to another, will you shake on that?"

Suddenly Hopkins' eyes widened. Almost under his breath he murmured, "Kimberly Kane..." Then, sounding excited, he added in his normal voice, "You just received your Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Cal Tech, didn't you?"

Then he laughed out loud. "Kim, this is really going to be funny. Are you aware of the fact that Cal Tech is selling your dissertation at a hundred bucks a copy? Because they are. No wonder the university-press people are falling all over themselves to get the book out on the streets. They'll have the second printing going before the initial printing is even off the presses."

Then with another laugh he added, "This is going to be fun. What's next?"

"'What's next' is I would like to get Chester Klem, the plant manager, and the vice president of manufacturing down here right away."

Again Mark laughed. "Klem will be here in a few moments after he's called. As for the other two, I'm not even sure they can even find the plant floor. But here goes..." With that he picked up a phone and made several calls.

A few moments later, there was a page for Chester Klem to call an extension number. After just a few more moments, the phone rang. Mark told Chester he was wanted. Klem appeared shortly after and was introduced to Kimberly, but only in her capacity as a tech service technician from Aerospace Technologies.

The three engaged in small talk for a few minutes and then two executive types came puffing up. It was all Kim could do to contain her grin as she saw one of them trying to adjust his hardhat to fit. Obviously, it had never been on his head before, and since hardhats were required on the plant floor, it spoke volumes in support of Hopkins' quip that they might not be able to find the plant floor. Clearly, that hardhat had never previously been on its owner's head, although it did have his name carefully printed on its front.

"What's this all about?" the senior of the two executives asked.

"This is about machine abuse," Kimberly replied "and it's why Aerospace Technologies will not honor this machine's warranty. The abuse on this machine has voided it."

"What!" he squawked. "That's impossible. All our machines are impeccably maintained."

"Oh? Then why is the oil in this machine's sump not the grade required to maintain warranty protection? And why are there metal particles throughout? I haven't checked, but it appears the oil filter was clogged quite some time ago. And that's another warranty breach."

"Look, young lady, Chester Klem has forgotten more about industrial machine tools than you will ever know! And he says everything is just fine."

"Okay," Kim responded. Then turning to Klem she gave him a small stack of metal plates to run through the machine.

Klem looked puzzled, but did as she said. First, though, he carefully repositioned and locked all the inspection plates and then started up the machine in the precisely correct manner. Carefully he positioned each sheet precisely on its marks and cycled the machine. He repeated the process until all of the steel had been run.

Kim had been collecting the finished units as they ejected from the machine. When the test was concluded, she looked at the ten and just shook her head. "I certainly don't need a micrometer to check these out. No two are even close to being the same product." Turning to the executives she asked, "Would you like to see for yourselves?"

The two executives merely glanced at the semi-finished product and shook their heads. Again it was the senior who spoke. "Of course you're right," he said, "but it's a machine failure, not an operator failure. You could see that Chester operated it exactly by the book."

"Both of those statements are true," Kim agreed, "but the machine failure was caused by abuse. Specifically, failure to use the required grade of lubricating oil, aggravated by the failure to change filters in a timely manner."

Then to the group she said, "This is a bit noisy. Can we go somewhere quieter to continue this discussion? And I think it's probably time to get Mr. Canfield involved." Kim was referring to John Canfield, the founder, chairman and CEO of Precision Manufacturing.

Before the others could do or say anything, Mark was on the phone. A moment later he rejoined the group and reported, "Mr. Canfield would like to meet with all of us right now in his private conference room."

The two executives who obviously were about to object to involving Canfield, merely reddened and said nothing. Off they trouped.

Again Kimberly felt somewhat embarrassed. She was again wearing Levi's and a work shirt, and again it was sweat-soaked from the heat of the factory floor. But,  she thought, I guess the sweat stains come with the job.

Once in the conference room, Kim stood at an easel pad and made a presentation on machine lubrication. She stressed the fact that newer precision machine tools required a synthetic oil because of its ability to make and hold extremely thin lubricating films, far thinner than conventional oils could. Because of this, using a conventional oil in such a machine would result in the film breaking down, permitting direct metal-to-metal contact. At that point, the machine began literally to grind itself to bits. And that's exactly what had happened to the machine in question.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in my life!" Klem exploded. "It's just a cheap stunt in cahoots with an oil company to force us to use its overpriced product. Why, Mr. Canfield," he added proudly, "I've already saved nearly $1,000 this calendar year, and the year's not half over yet. What this girl has just said is ridiculous! And what can she know anyway? She's just a pretty face."

At that point, Mark Hopkins spoke before Brad had a chance to. "Jack..." he grinned and interjected, "Since I'm no longer on the payroll, I guess I can call you Jack..." Then he continued, "Miss Kane most assuredly has a pretty face, although to be honest, she's just plain outrageously beautiful. But she's something else."

Turning to Klem he said, "Chester, I really think you should address Miss Kane by her more appropriate title. She's Dr. Kane. More specifically, Dr. Kimberly Ann Kane, BE, ME, Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. Her dissertation is now being published and is scheduled for use in graduate courses in machine-tool design and engineering at both Cal Tech and MIT, although I'm certain it will be used wherever such courses might be offered.

"You see, gentlemen, Dr. Kane is considered the world's foremost authority in the field. And a new line of machine tools solely designed by her are sweeping the entire industry. Single-handedly, she has virtually obsoleted every machine tool around."

Brad was sitting beside Kim and whispered in her ear, "But are you still a really great fuck?"

Kim's eyes flared, but then she just vigorously nodded her head and grinned.

The manufacturing executives were in a state of shock, but Jack Canfield was thoughtful.

Before he could say anything, though, Brad spoke up. "Full disclosure compels me to inform you gentlemen that, in addition to being an outstanding machine-tool designer, Dr. Kane is now also vice president–manufacturing & design of Aerospace Technologies. So if you're thinking about appealing her decision at AT, I have to tell you there's no one to appeal to. On the technical side, she's it."

Suddenly, Chester Klem began to cry and his crying just increased in volume. Finally he murmured, "My God! What have I done?" and went off in another paroxysm of tears.

Kim jumped from her chair, went to Klem and knelt beside him to comfort him. What she had seen was one of the most tragic things in business: A man wakes up one day to find that due to some dramatic change in the market or in technology, 25 or more years of experience suddenly became obsolete. Joseph Schumpeter called it "creative destruction" and it's vital for an economy but it doesn't happen without causing substantial pain to affected individuals.

Moreover, in Klem's case it was even worse. He had been so proud of the savings he had achieved for the company, but now he realized the savings came at the cost of millions of dollars in destroyed or damaged machine tools.

Jack Canfield turned to Mark and said, "Could you escort our guests into my office, please, Mark? I'll join you in a few minutes, but I need to speak to these gentlemen first."

They entered the chairman's office through a side door that connected directly with his conference room. There they found a beautiful young woman seated in a chair reading a magazine while waiting. When she saw Mark Hopkins, she beamed and jumped to her feet. The instant she did, it was apparent to both Kim and Brad that she was very pregnant.

When the two merged in each other's arms, it was clear to Kim and Brad that the two kissed in exactly the same way they did. Their bodies were molded together and they could hear the bells, too, and feel the electricity flowing between them. One thing they did differed from Kim and Brad, though. The woman was rubbing her distended belly against Mark's cock. The difference in their heights allowed it to work.

Finally they eased apart and Mark said, "This is my wife, Pam." To her he said, "Honey, this is Kimberly Kane and Brad Kramer. They're visiting us from Aerospace Technologies."

"Kimberly Kane?" Pam Hopkins said in a hushed tone. "Doctor Kimberly Kane?"

Kim frowned but nodded. "That's me, but how did you know?"

"My God, woman!" Pam nearly exploded, "After that article in The Los Angeles Times, what are you doing here associating with mere mortals? Good grief! You're famous!"

"Article?" Kim nearly screamed. "What article?"

The girl rummaged around in a tote she was carrying and produced a copy of The Los Angeles Times. After flipping through the paper, she found what she was looking for and announced proudly, "This article!"

Kim took the paper and rapidly scanned the story. It was remarkably comprehensive, reporting her degree, her dissertation, her new machine-tool line, and the tremendous acceptance it was enjoying. Looking at Brad, she saw that he was looking embarrassed. "Did you know about this?" she asked accusingly.

"Yeah, sweetie, I did," he admitted. "But I only learned about it an hour ago. While you were on the plant floor, I was checking to see what was going on back at the ranch, and I learned about the story. It was Jane."

"Jane?" Kim responded, now even more puzzled. "Who's Jane?"

"Jane Chalmers," Brad replied. "She's one of the girls in the Leper Colony. It seems she was a top PR woman before her court case. Anyway, she thought it might cut down on the calls if we could get a paper to run a story on our new line. I agreed, and she did." He frowned and continued, "It seems she was very good and had lots of top press connections who were more than happy to welcome her back by helping her out. She got the story placed, but it hasn't cut down on the calls, quite the opposite. They've added phone lines, but they're still ringing off the hook." Then his face reddened. "It seems Jane succeeded too well. LA's story was picked up by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Now Business Week, Forbes and Fortune all want to do stories.

"But it gets worse. CNN wants an interview, and so does People. Sweetie, you're famous."

"Oh, shit!" Kim exclaimed. "What do we do now?"

"We finish up here and get out of Dodge, I guess."

At that point, Jack Canfield joined them. "Whew! That was tough. Then to Mark he asked, "What are you doing now?" Then he saw the girl, smiled warmly and said, "Hi, sweetie! What brings you here?" Only then did he realize Pam was pregnant.

"And what's going on? he asks stupidly," Jack said with a wry grin. "Pamela Canfield, who is the father? It looks like you're about to deliver any minute."

"Not till next week, Dad," she replied insouciantly. "And the father is my husband. Who else would it be?" Then with a look that was as phony as a three-dollar bill she added, "Oops! Maybe I forgot to tell you that I'm now Mrs. Mark Hopkins? And have been for quite a few months now ... almost a year, in fact."

Jack took his daughter into his arms and kissed her lovingly. Then he took Mark's hand in a congratulatory grip.

Trying to change the subject, Pam said, "You asked Mark what he's doing now, Dad. The answer is he's looking for a job. And I came in to talk to you about severance arrangements, particularly medical coverage since I'll be delivering in about a week or less."

"Severance?" Jack asked, baffled. This was news to him.

"Mark was fired first thing this morning," Pam replied.

"What happened?" Jack asked Mark.

"I got too insistent about maintenance. I told Jay Joslin I was going to see you about it, so he fired me."

"Okay," Jack replied, "now you're even. I just fired Jay." Then he shook his head and added, "The guy I really feel sorry for is Chester Klem. He was a top worker here for a lot of years, and he really cared about the company. He cost us a ton of money, but he was really only trying to help." Again he shook his head sadly and added, "You know, it's so typical of Chester, too. His last act was to send out an emergency message to all of his maintenance colleagues warning them all to ensure that the lubricants they're using in their machines meet the manufacturers' specifications, and if not, to immediately change and change the filters, too. The poor guy is crushed."

Then he said, "Anyway, we need a new vice president–manufacturing, Mark, and since you're looking for a new job anyway ... I thought maybe you might be interested."

Mark slowly shook his head. "As Jay and Chester were both fond of pointing out, Jack—"

"How about 'Dad'?" Jack interrupted. "After all, you and Pam are about to make me a grandfather..."

"—Dad!" Mark substituted with a warm grin, "I'm a kid just out of school and don't know anything about precision machining."

"Yeah," Jack agreed, "just like Miss Kane — Dr. Kane! — here. All she's done has been to revolutionize the industry and put the States back in the forefront of the machine-tool industry." He grinned and added, "You were saying... ?"

"Dad, are you really sure?"

"Yes, damn it, I'm sure." Then he smiled warmly and added, "And unlike your predecessor, you know where the factory floor is. Now do you want the job?"

"Hell, yes!" Mark exclaimed. Then Pam rushed back into his arms and the two hugged and kissed.

To Brad, Kim whispered, "Wow! This is like a live soap opera!"

Although she didn't know it, her words were prescient.

Just then the office door banged open and a beautiful woman on the sunny side of 40 came barging in. "John Canfield, what do you think you're doing! You can't fire Jay Joslin!"

"Why not?" he asked calmly.

"Because I won't let you!" she replied smugly. "You don't have the votes to do it, for one thing!" she exclaimed.

Then she became aware of the others in the office. "Pamela Canfield, what are you doing?"

"I'm having a baby, Mother. What does it look like I'm doing?" Then to Kim and Brad she said, "And this is so typical of my mother, too. To everyone else, I'm Pam, but to her, I'm Pamela. To her, 'Pam' sounds so common." The girl laughed bitterly and added, "And it's such a joke, too, since she was a slut at the age of 10!"

"But you can't be pregnant!" the woman nearly screamed. "You're not married."

"You're wrong twice ... No! Make that three times," Pam responded. "First, I'm married to Mark Hopkins and have been for almost a year. Second, not being married never slowed you down. After all, dear mother, you had me at the age of 12! And Dad has all the votes he needs to fire Jay or anyone else," she continued with a bitter smile. "And that was you, too. Don't you remember a few years ago when the company was in financial trouble? You gave up your share of the company's stock — to me, thank-you-very-much — and published a legal notice that you were not responsible for any debts incurred by either Dad or the company. Remember?"

"Married?" the woman exclaimed. "But how can you be? You're living at home."

"How would you know where I'm living?" Pam retorted. "You're never there. You're full time as the mistress to the managing partner of your law firm. And by the way, Mom, do you have any other duties in that firm other than fucking him and acting as his arm candy?" the girl said bitterly. "Good grief! I think I may know more law than you do. And heaven knows, that's not very much."

Just then there was a knock on the door and a young woman entered the office. Seeing the two Canfield women glaring at each other, she gulped and said, "Excuse me. I'll come back another time."

"Don't go, Betsy. You know everything that goes on in this place. What do you need?"

"Miss Canfield—"

"I beg your pardon!" Pam interrupted.

"Damn it, Pammy, you're not being fair," the younger girl, Betsy, protested.

"Betsy Smith, after all I've taught you... ?"

The girl blushed a bright red and exclaimed, "Pammy, you promised! You said you'd never say a thing."

"And I haven't, so what's your problem?" Pam retorted. "But you still haven't answered my question. What brings you in here?" Then to Kim and Brad, she said, "As you've probably gathered, this is Betsy Smith, Dad's secretary. Oh, yeah, that reminds me..." she added. "This ... thing ... who just came barging in is my mother, Diana Canfield. Although," she added, "her surname wasn't Canfield when I was either conceived or born. Her maiden name is Chambers, and I wish to hell she would go back to it. Why she and Dad are still married is a puzzle to me."

Kim looked at the three other women with growing amazement. All were about five feet eight with wavy brown hair and green eyes. Aside from Pam's pregnancy, the only differences were that Diana appeared much softer than the other two — they appeared to be as muscular as Kim herself — and the fact that Betsy Smith did not appear to have yet filled out. Kim wondered how old the girl was.

"I ... I have the information you asked me to get," the younger girl explained. "And since you came into the office today..." Her voice just trailed off.

It was clear to the onlookers that Pam was about to defer whatever the girl had, but then seemed to think better of it. "What did you learn?" she asked.

Betsy swallowed hard and said, "About what you feared: Joslin has been stealing the company blind ... but he claims it all went to Mrs. Canfield." The girl paused and then continued, "I talked to him while I was checking him out of the company a few minutes ago. He says it was some deal so your parents wouldn't have to pay so much in taxes. At least that's what he claims to believe." The girl's eyes became penetrating as she looked into Pam's. "And you know what? I believe him."

Both girls glared at Diana but said nothing.

"I needed the money," the woman whined. "I had to redecorate the apartment, but Bruce wouldn't increase my allowance. And then the cost of help these days ... Absolutely ridiculous!"

"Redecorate?" Pam exclaimed. "What in hell for? It was redone just last year, wasn't it?"

"But darling, that was last year's decor! I mean ... Good grief!"

"So Dad and I paid to redecorate your lover's apartment. Thanks a helluva lot." Then Pam smiled humorlessly and added, "Dear mother, that's grand theft. I hope you enjoy the next 20 years or so in Tehachapi."

Then Pam snapped her fingers and exclaimed, "Of course!" Then to Kim she said, "Weren't you involved in a court case a week or so ago? You lost but you won, is the way I read it."

Kim just nodded her head.

"Wonderful!" Pam exclaimed. "And guess what, Mother? Your troubles have just begun. Maybe you haven't been keeping up — I doubt if it's appeared on the society pages yet — but that wonderful feminist foundation on whose board of directors you so proudly sit has been indicted for fraud, grand theft, and a host of other offenses. And they'll probably go after the directors, too... Jointly and severally!

"And it's all you! Remember that 'not responsible for debts' business? Well, its effect is reciprocal. You're not responsible for his debts, but he's not responsible for yours, either. Mother, you're toast! And it couldn't happen to a nicer person, either."

Pam paused, seeming to gather her thoughts. Then she continued, "I really should thank you for one thing, though: That's teaching me how to be a good wife. You see, Mother, what I've done with Mark has been to take everything you've ever done for or to Dad and reverse it. It's working out beautifully, too." As she finished she gently rubbed her bulging belly.

Kim could no longer contain herself. "Have you three bothered ever to look at yourselves in a mirror and then look at each other? You're close to triplets!"

Kim's comment seemed to explode in the room like a grenade. The three women looked at each other and then simultaneously gasped.

Pam was the first to speak. "Betsy, how old are you?" she asked.

"I ... I'm 22," the girl replied, but the note of defensiveness in her voice was obvious to everyone.

"Bullshit!" Pam exclaimed. "Remember, Betsy Smith, I've seen you bare. You're still filling out — very nicely, I hasten to add — but you're not there yet. Now how old are you really?" Then she snapped her fingers and added, "Incidentally, the age of consent in California is 16 for women. I'm pretty sure that Dad's in the clear."

"I'm almost 17," the girl replied in a voice barely above a whisper.

"What's the age of consent have to do with anything?" Diana asked.

Looking at her mother as if she was feeble-minded, Pam replied, "Because she's Dad's mistress, dummy!" Then she snapped her fingers again and exclaimed, "That's it!"

"What's 'it'?" Betsy exclaimed, utterly baffled.

"It's about time my mother learned how to be a wife. She's going to be the cook and housekeeper for you and Dad. You'll move in with him. Mother will prepare you to receive Dad — that's by going down on Betsy and eating her pussy, by the way — and then lap up all the accumulated fluids when he gets done." To her mother she added, "You'll sleep on the floor beside the bed."

But then Kim's earlier comment registered fully. "Good grief! I just realized ... I was about six at the time, I think. Mother and Dad had been married a couple of years by then, but I remember Mom going off for months. Then she reappeared without a word being said about where she had gone or what she had done. Except she had gone back East." Looking at Diana she said, "You had another baby, didn't you? And probably by Brucie, again, too. Right?"

At that, Diana completely broke up. She began to cry her eyes out, but at the same time she was slowly nodding her head.

The two younger women just looked at each other. Then Betsy said softly, "No wonder we feel toward each other the way we do. I'm your kid sister!" Then she giggled and added, "I was dumped on the steps of a children's home in Philadelphia with nothing at all. What's funny is that I later learned that they almost named me Pamela. Can you believe it? Two sisters with the same name?"

"And Mother will regularly be preparing her younger daughter to be fucked by her husband!" Pam exclaimed. "How utterly wonderful!"

Then to her mother she said, "Okay, Mom. Strip! Everything goes. From now on you are no longer allowed to wear clothes ... anywhere! Am I clear? Or would you rather visit Tehachapi?"

"But how will I get home?" Diana cried.

"In the car, naked," Pam blithely replied. "And you're such a slut, why would you care? You regularly show everything you've got at those society functions Bruce takes you to. What difference does it make?"

When Diana just stood there, Pam took out a tiny Swiss Army knife and began cutting away her mother's clothing. When she was stark naked, she was revealed to be a beautiful woman. Her skin was unblemished and pale; obviously unlike her daughters, she avoided the sun. Her breasts were small but perfectly formed. Pam reached out and pulled first one nipple and then the other, letting each rebound like a rubber band. Then she found a roll of Mylar tape and taped Diana's wrists together and led her out the door. Betsy and Jack Canfield just followed, leaving Kim and Brad alone.

"My God!" Kim exclaimed. "Can you believe this day? It's been like a living soap opera! That about does it for excitement for me for this year." Then she shook her head slowly and asked, "What did you think of Diana Canfield?"

Brad just slowly shook his head.

"You know something, sweetie? I don't think Diana minds either what happened or what's going to happen one little bit. I felt a sense of relief. I think Diana relishes what's in prospect. It will be a form of purification for her, I think."

Then she smiled wanly at Brad and asked, "Since we're in LA already, how about using one of our dinner chits at Maxim's? We could keep the suite for another night..."

They agreed and went out to the car. They returned to their hotel where they showered and changed. Brad had called Maxim's and they had reservations for seven. Kim was wearing a white silk dress that was completely plain; as a result it displayed her perfect figure.

Leaving their hotel she said, "Now, for a nice quiet evening out..."

Little did they know.



-------

Chapter 15



The couple had just finished an utterly magnificent dinner and were enjoying cognac with cigars and coffee. So far the evening had gone exactly according to plan: They were both relaxed and had unwound from the day's excitement.

What they didn't know was a woman was sitting at the bar and had been studying them carefully, concentrating on Kimberly. Because she was sitting at Kim's 8 o'clock, she had not been noticed by either of them. Kim and Brad were seated side by side on the banquette. Seeing that the young couple were preparing to leave, the woman made her move.

Striding up to the table she said, "My name is Donna Douglas. May I join you for a few minutes?"

The two were stunned. Standing beside their table was a magnificent blue-eyed blonde about five feet seven inches tall. Her figure was utterly perfect. Beyond that, though, both recognized the name. Donna Douglas was the hottest thing in films — in more than one sense of the word — and had been for several years.

Before either Kim or Brad could say anything, a waiter brought up another chair and set it opposite Kim. Donna ordered coffee, and the waiter quickly departed.

"I ... I don't know what to say," Kim stuttered. "To what do we owe this honor? Miss Douglas, you're famous. What are you doing here with us?"

"First of all, as I just said, I'm Donna Douglas. And you are... ?" Donna extended her hand across the table.

Kim gripped the extended hand and said, "I'm Kimberly Kane, but what... ?" Her voice just tailed off.

"Miss Kane, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life," Donna Douglas began. Then, in an apparently total change of direction, she continued, "Have you ever wanted to be in films?"

"Of course, Miss Douglas," Kim replied with a little grin. "Every seven-year-old girl wants to be a movie star. Of course, in my case, since I'm as plain as a grocery bag and have all the curves of a straight stick, there's a certain handicap..." Then she snapped her fingers and added, "I wonder ... Maybe there's help for me in the Americans With Disabilities Act! Or might be, if they ever get around to passing it."

Douglas had been studying Kim carefully as she spoke and realized that Kim was serious. "It's perfect!" she declared. "You're the perfect illustration of the biblical line, 'They have eyes but they do not see.' Kimberly, I say again: You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. But you just refuse to believe it, don't you?"

Donna's words affected Kim as if she had been hit over the head with a two-by-four. She was utterly stunned. But then it got worse.

"Would you folks mind sticking around for a while longer? Or do you have plans... ?"

"It's been a very rough week and an even worse day," Kim replied. "Our only plans involve being horizontal in bed."

"Please?" Donna begged. "Could you wait just a few more minutes? I really need to make a phone call."

Although they really did want to get to bed, being in the presence of a genuine movie star clinched the deal. They agreed to stay for a while. Donna motioned to a waiter who brought a phone to the table and plugged it in.

Douglas punched in a number and waited. When the phone was answered, she had a short conversation which the others couldn't hear. But they did hear the final words, "Great! Then you'll be down here in about 20 minutes."

To Kim and Brad she said, "That was my ex, Dan Douglas. He's a producer and director. For a while now, he's had the film rights to a story that he thinks needs to be told ... And I think it does, too. The problem is the person who controls the rights also has cast approval. And Dan has been totally unable to come close to getting it ... with anyone."

Then reaching over the table, she gripped Kim's biceps and squeezed, gently at first and then harder. "They're real, aren't they?" she commented. "Kimberly Kane, you have to be the most perfectly conditioned female on the face of the earth." Then she looked puzzled and added, "But why don't you use your husband's name?"

"Huh?" Kim muttered, utterly shocked.

"Use your husband's name?" Donna repeated.

"Primarily because I don't have one!"

"But ... Brad... ? You two are married, aren't you?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Kim exclaimed, now at least partially recovered from the earlier shock.

"Well, that can be fixed easy enough," Donna continued blithely. "After all, it will just be a matter of lining up the paperwork to conform to the reality."

"To the what?" Kim nearly screamed.

"To the reality of your marriage to Brad. Lady, you really should see yourselves. I've been watching you two for over an hour now. You know what? Both of you have a deep-seated need to be in physical contact with each other. And you know what else? On both of your parts, it's an unconscious act. Then I see you, Kim, in Brad's presence. You're like a flower opening in the sunshine. And your beauty becomes utterly overwhelming!"

Then she looked at Brad and studied him closely. Finally she nodded her head firmly and said, "Yep. It's utterly perfect. I can see it now, 'Kelly' starring Kim and Brad Kramer. It will be a smash.

Before either could respond, a tall good-looking man in his mid-30s came up to the table. Seemingly embarrassed, Donna slowly rose to her feet and extended her hand. The man ignored it and took her in his arms and kissed her. Kim could see momentary resistance on Donna's part, but then there was complete surrender as she melted into his embrace and kissed him with all of her power. Again, as with the Carlsons and the Christians, she could see the electricity and hear the bells. Finally the pair eased apart.

"It's been a long time, Donna," the man said. "Too damned long!"

Donna Douglas was slowly shaking her head while tears streamed from her eyes. "Why, Dan? How could you bear to kiss a slut like me? I'm a piece of dog shit, Dan Douglas, and we both know it. What I've been doing the last months has been an utter disgrace to the human race. Why, Dan?" she repeated.

"Because I love you, honey," he said softly. "And you know what? I think you still care for me, too. There's the same magic in your kiss there always was. But you know what the clincher is?"

Donna just slowly shook her head looking like a little girl as she did so.

"Our divorce has never been made final. Although there were several court dates set, you broke them all on one excuse or another. And that's because you never wanted it in the first place, did you?"

Instead of responding, Donna pulled herself together and changed the subject. "Dan, I think I've found Kelly for you. Her hair and eyes don't match Kelly's, but she said that wasn't important. What's important to her is to find an actress who can do the things she did. And I think this girl is it." Then she grinned and added, "And it's a two-fer! Her husband is a perfect Mike, too."

Then she said, "Dan Douglas, I would like you to meet Kimberly and Brad Kramer. I think they're perfect! Now why don't you tell them what it's all about."

While greetings were being exchanged, the waiter brought up a fourth chair and set it across from Brad. When they were all seated again, Dan began to tell his story.

"First of all, the film is being done at Alliance Studios. Just a few months ago no studio would have touched this story, but then Ali McGrath — now Ali Clifford — acquired Alliance in an out-of-court settlement, and things changed.

"You see, 'Kelly' — that's the working title of the film — is the story of a truly remarkable woman. Not only does she hold two Medals of Honor, she also is the only winner of the Cross of Liberty. That little-known award was created especially for her. Subsequently, the legislation creating it was repealed on the basis that for over 120 years, the Medal of Honor was our highest award for valor, and now it is again. However, she still holds the Cross of Liberty, and with it a particular distinction. You see, by the law creating it, holders of the Cross are senior to anyone else in any service holding the same rank. And since Kelly is now a four-star general, she's the senior officer in the entire U.S. Armed Forces. Her only superior is the President in his capacity as commander in chief.

"At any rate, aside from everything else, she's also the only female winner of the Medal of Honor. It seems there was one awarded during the Civil War to a woman who was a contract surgeon. I guess it's funny, really: She was awarded it as a consolation prize of sorts. They wanted to commission her as an officer but couldn't do that because she was female, so they settled for the Medal of Honor. Can you imagine? The Medal of Honor as a consolation prize? But subsequently, the award was rescinded. 

"Anyway, that's Kelly Jackson." Dan Douglas shook his head and added, "Her story got a bit of a play at the time, but quickly faded from view. It seems that the mass media rapidly lost interest when it was learned that during her career, Kelly had harmed people! Even killed some, if you can believe such a thing."

With a warm smile he continued, "And it would have stayed that way had Ali Clifford not acquired Alliance. You may remember 'Ali McGrath movies'." He grinned and added, "And like George Lucas, she didn't make 'films', she made movies. They never cost much to make but they all just coined money. But what do the hoi polloi know about films? I mean ... Really! And the fact that they all made money just further convinced the Hollywood powers that they were correct. After all, it's a known fact that a good film can't make money.

"Anyway, it's fair to say that Ali Clifford has a warm spot in her heart for the U.S. Armed Forces." He shook his head and added, "And she knowingly sacrificed her career for them."

While he had been speaking, Dan's attention had shifted from Kim to Brad. Finally, he interrupted himself by asking, "Brad, did you ever serve?"

"Yes he did, and he's a real hero!" Kim responded, taking Brad's hand in hers. "He holds the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star and the Purple Heart."

"Well, you're the guy to play the rôle of Mike Callahan, Kelly's husband," Dan said. "That's for damned sure!" He shook his head and added, "It's going to be funny with a husband and wife team playing a husband and wife team."

"But we're not married!" Kim protested.

"But you soon will be!" Donna Douglas insisted.

"It really wouldn't be the dumbest idea in the world," Dan said thoughtfully. Then he looked Kim straight in the eye and added, "There's on-screen nudity ... and on-screen lovemaking, too. Can you handle it? Would you care to?"

Kim looked at Brad and said, "It's up to you, darling. What do you think?"

"Is it a necessary part of the picture?" Brad asked rather than replying directly.

"That's one thing that's going to make this movie different from almost any other. Every single element in the film will be a recreation of actual events. The movie will open with Kelly naked, although it will be a night scene. She'll have to run naked across an open field at night, too. Then there's lovemaking with Mike, and there's even a nude scene in a dungeon where Kelly was whipped."

Kim visibly winced at Dan's last comment but asked,"How many strokes with a whip?"

Dan was amazed. "What difference does it make? We're not going to really do it."

"Why aren't you?" Kim asked. "Didn't it really happen?"

"Yes, it really happened," he explained. "That's the reason for Kelly's first Purple Heart, but—"

"No 'buts'," Kim interrupted. "How many strokes?"

Dan and Donna exchanged looks and Dan said softly, "Three."

Kim relaxed. "I can handle three."

"But ... But why?"

"Look, I thought this was going to be a re-creation? I don't know if she's been explicit with you two or not, but it's pretty clear to me that the reason Kelly wants casting approval and has rejected everyone you've submitted is that she figured they couldn't do the things that she did. I don't know if I can either, but there's a good chance I can."

At that point Brad quickly filled the others in on Kim's workout program, and most particularly the weights she worked with every day. His report was greeted with low whistles from the Douglases.

"Well, I guess the next thing is for you two to plan on getting the redeye to Dulles leaving tomorrow night. You can meet with Kelly on Monday morning and we'll take it from there," Dan concluded.

Kim and Brad exchanged looks and Kim said, "Whoops! That's a problem. A very big problem, in fact. We have to be at work Monday morning."

"So a desk is uncovered for a couple of days. Big deal," Donna responded. "It won't be the end of the world."

"No, not the end of the world, but it's not that simple," Kim responded.

"Why not?"

"Because of our jobs is 'why not'," Kim said.

"Which are... ?"

"I'm vice president–manufacturing & design, and Brad's vice president–sales & marketing is why not. We're both with Aerospace Technologies."

Donna's eyes widened as she digested what Kim had just said. Then she exclaimed, "My God! You're ... you're ... that machine-tool designer, aren't you?"

"I design machine tools," Kim admitted, "but I don't know about being 'that designer'. What designer is that?"

"The one that's been featured in all the papers for the last couple of weeks," Donna replied. Then she added, "You're Dr. Kimberly Kane, aren't you?"

"I guess," Kim admitted.

"Oh, dear! Dan, this is getting better and better! You know how Kelly is always bragging about only receiving a high-school diploma on an honorary basis? She is going to freak when she learns that the girl playing her in the film has an honest-to-God earned doctorate!"

While this exchange had been taking place, Dan had been thoughtful. Finally he changed the subject and asked, "Brad, what did you get your medals for? Where did you serve? What unit?"

Brad was puzzled by the line of questioning but replied, "Vietnam. Alpha Company, First Ranger Battalion."

"Carlson's Rangers?" Dan said in a hushed tone.

"Some people called us that, I guess," Brad admitted.

Donna's eyes had flared, too. To Dan she asked, "How's Lisa?"

"She's fine, sweetie," Dan replied, but blushed as he did so.

"Look," Dan said, "we've gone as far as we can tonight. Why don't you two come out to our place and spend the night? Then tomorrow you can check with your company and we can check with Kelly? But we really do want you to come home with us. It's very important."

"But everything's at our hotel—" Kim started to protest.

"We have everything you could possibly need at home," Dan interrupted. "Please? It really is very important to us. And it's less than a mile, so there's really no driving involved, either."

Kim and Brad exchanged looks and then agreed.

Their bill was being taken care of by AT, but Kim's eyes flared when she saw Dan Douglas leave a fifty-dollar bill for their two cups of coffee. Dan's car was already out front, and Donna was riding with him. Kim's car was quickly brought around and they followed the Douglases into Beverly Hills to a fenced and gated estate.

The gate, electrically operated, swung open smoothly and the two cars went up the drive to a circle in front of the house. There Dan and Donna got out, so Kim set the brake and she and Brad alighted, too.

Before they could even get to the door, it opened and a young woman came hurtling from the house into Donna's arms. "Mommy!" she screamed. "You're home!"

Kim and Brad watched as the two embraced and kissed. The kiss they exchanged was anything but a standard mother-daughter peck on the cheek. Then Kim was puzzled. Only then did it register that Donna was only in her mid to late 20s, yet the girl appeared to be in her late teens, at least. The ages just didn't fit.

The two finally separated, but continued to hold the other with a hand around the waist. Donna said, "Sweetie, I would like you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Kramer. We hope they'll be starring in 'Kelly'."

Lisa Douglas was exquisite. She was five feet eight with tawny golden hair and the largest, brightest emerald-green eyes the couple had ever seen. Two things were notable: First, she bore no physical resemblance to either of the Douglases, but second, there were Asian overtones to her appearance.

The girl looked at Brad and gasped, "Bradley Kramer?"

When Brad nodded, the girl's behavior astounded them. She dropped to her knees and kissed Brad's shoes. Then still on her knees she looked up reverently and said, "Sir Bradley, do you remember? A starving little whore in Saigon?"

"Lisa?" Brad exclaimed. "Oh, my God! You are Lisa!" Then he extended his hands and helped her back on her feet.

Suddenly things began to make sense to Kimberly. Clearly, the Douglases had suspected what turned out to be the fact: Brad had known their daughter, Lisa, in Vietnam. They wanted the two to meet again in the worst possible way.

The five went into the library. Kim and Brad took seats on a leather sofa, while Donna and Dan sat in lounge chairs. Lisa just sat on the floor with her left arm around Brad's leg, just hugging him.

"Sir Bradley, do you remember?" she asked softly. "That leave you and Sir Ken had in Saigon? I'll never forget it as long as I live. I was only 11 years old, but already a confirmed prostitute ... or trying to be one, anyway. I was the strange one there: tall, gawky and always starving. You and Sir Ken saw me that day. I guess it was your first day off the line and on leave."

She looked up worshipfully and continued, "I was so lucky! Carlson's Rangers were never off the line. Except that was one of those 'send 'em a message' periods and I guess you guys were considered to be much too ... violent." She looked up at him with her eyes wide and asked innocently, "Sir Bradley, I don't think I've ever asked you before: Did you ever... hurt ... anybody?"

Brad reached down and stroked her beautiful wavy hair. "I cannot tell a lie, Lisa. I did." But then his eyes widened and he added, "But Sir Ken did, too."

"Oh, my..." the girl said in a stage whisper, "men of violence. Whatever could I have been thinking of?"

Then to Kim she said, "Since you're his wife, Mrs. Kramer—"

"It's not Mrs. Kramer!" Kim insisted for about the tenth time that day. "It's Miss Kane, if you want to be formal."

Utterly ignoring Kim's words, Lisa continued as if she had not said a word. " ... you should really know more about what your husband did before you were married. Can you believe it? He and Sir Ken spent an extended leave — and I mean extended! It was more than 45 days in one bite — in bed. With a young girl! Can you imagine such a thing? But it really happened.

"I think the other kids were close to killing me that time. Maybe they would have, too. But these two giants came along and took me away with them to their hotel. Then things really got funny. You know how big your husband is, but do you know Sir Ken?"

"I've met Ken Carlson," Kim replied.

"Then you know he's possibly even larger than Sir Brad. Certainly no smaller. Anyway, here are these two giants with one scrawny little girl. And what do they do? They give me a bath. If it wasn't the first bath I ever had in my life, it was certainly the first one I ever remembered. And when Sir Brad put me in the water, I was terrified! I was certain he was going to drown me."

She giggled at the memory. "It was one of those old-fashioned bathtubs on feet, and this one was set away from the wall. As a result, the two giants could work on me together, one on each side. They washed and scrubbed and washed. I can't remember how many times they washed my hair. I do remember that I was terrified. You see, by that time my hair was almost as black as that of the Vietnamese girls. I thought I was finally going to fit in. But they had to go and wreck it! It came out like this, and it's been this way ever since. Isn't it awful? Whatever am I going to do?"

Instead of replying, Kim slid off the sofa and knelt beside the girl. Taking her in her arms, she proceeded to kiss her with all her power. Initially, she could feel Lisa start to struggle, but then she wrapped her arms around Kim and returned the kiss with all her considerable emotion in it.

Finally they eased apart. But instead of getting back on the sofa, Kim moved and knelt behind the girl and just hugged her to her chest. Then she answered the question Lisa had asked. "You'll just have to learn to live with it, I'm afraid."

"You know, that whole thing was not only far beyond my experience, it was far beyond my imagination. The fact is that Vietnam has been overrun repeatedly: by the French, by the Japanese, by the North Vietnamese ... The people were used to being used and abused by a series of conquerors. And then came the Americans ... men like Sir Ken and Sir Brad. They never took a thing, they only gave. When I had gained a little weight and wanted to thank them with my body, they wouldn't take me.

"But I'm getting ahead of my story. I think they must have drained the tub at least three times before they allowed me to get out. The first time when they went to pull the plug, it looked like an open sewer, the water was so filthy. Finally, after about three changes of water, they got around to my pussy. That was really funny! They knew what it was, but that was the limit of their knowledge. And at the time, my own knowledge of my body where it came to washing was rather limited, too. But they fussed and fumed and finally were satisfied. They let me get out of the tub.

"They dried me off, and then it really got funny. The guys — my knights — weren't going to allow me to even get near what I had been wearing. One of the guys — I think it was Sir Brad — got a broom and a shovel and swept my rags into the shovel and threw them out. And I mean clean out of the hotel! But then what was I going to wear? What they didn't know — or pretended not to know — was that no one would have even looked twice if they led me down the street stark naked. It happened to child prostitutes all the time. But not my saviors. I still don't know whose it was, but they got a dress shirt and put me in it. They're so big and I was so thin, it must have been a riot! I know that the shirttails came almost to my ankles.

"But what about shoes? That proved to be a non-problem. Sir Bradley just carried me in his arms. And then ... Heaven! They took me to a McDonald's! And I learned my very first words in English: Big Mac." Lisa frowned and then corrected herself. "Sorry. Those were my third and fourth words. The first two were fuck and suck.

"Can you believe it? Here's a starving little girl eating not one, but two Big Macs. And fries! And a shake! And my two knights? They ate, too, but mostly they just watched me." She twisted around to be able to look into Kim's face and said, "You know what? I think Brad almost got off just watching me eat. Honest! But they were so nice! I was wondering what I was going to have to do for them to pay them back. Finally I decided that anything they wanted to do to me would be just fine. In fact, I would have agreed to anything short of a snuff party with me as the guest of honor." She paused and thought for a moment, then said, "I take that back. I would have agreed to that, too, if I thought my saviors would really want to see me cut up."

Lisa looked up at the ceiling, recalling the events of that day years past. "Then, with my tummy bulging for the first time in memory, we set out for a shoe store with Sir Brad still carrying me. They didn't buy me a pair of shoes. They bought two! I had a pair of ballet slippers to wear with dresses and a pair of genuine Nike's. I was in Heaven and I hadn't even died!

"Then they took me to a beauty salon. Fortunately, I still smelled clean from my bath. It was one of those places that catered only to the very top end of Saigon society: the heroin dealers' mistresses and the mistresses of the general officers. But I was clean enough ... and there were Sir Kenneth and Sir Bradley. You know what? It seems that most people — those of sound mind, that is — really don't seem to want to tangle with either Sir Ken or Sir Brad. And together? Forget-about-it! Anyway, with my two guys watching every step, I was given the whole treatment, soup to nuts. I remember that my one disappointment was their insistence on clear nail polish rather than something in a nice fuck-me red. Oh, well ... A girl can't have everything.

"From there we went and bought dresses, then to the American PX for — would you believe? — genuine made-in-USA Levi's. On the Saigon black market, those Levi's were worth a small fortune. And they were for me." Then Lisa frowned and added, "Of course, they also insisted on buying some blouses with little bunny rabbits on them, but what the hell..."

At that she just looked up at Brad and waited, while saying nothing. He leaned forward and kissed her. The power of their kiss just built. She reached up to be able to wrap her arms around him, while he hugged her tightly. Brad felt the same love in her kiss that he always had in Kim's, but without the bells or electricity. As he released her, he realized what an incredibly beautiful young woman Lisa had become.

"By that time it was getting late. We returned to the hotel — I was certain I was going to be fucked — but the guys changed for dinner instead. They took me to one of the finest restaurants in Saigon that night. I don't think you can even imagine the way I felt. That morning I was literally fighting for my life. That evening, I was in the lap of such luxury I couldn't even dream about." She grinned, and twisted around to again be able to look at Kim. "Want to guess what the guys did with me at dinner?"

Kim just smiled warmly but shook her head.

"They started to teach me English. Can you believe it? Here we're at Saigon's finest restaurant, and I knew all the English I needed, after all: fuck and suck. But they weren't even interested.

"Oh, I nearly forgot. The guys had bought me two pairs of pajamas that day, too; I never ever wore them. When we finally returned to the hotel, they were wiped. So what did they do? They put this skinny naked girl between them — I flat out refused to wear the dumb pajamas — and went to sleep. There I was between two of the biggest, most virile men I had ever seen ... and they go to sleep. And that's the way it went for their entire leave.

"There's one thing more, though: I really spent most of my time with Sir Bradley here. It seemed that Sir Ken spent most of his time reading and rereading letters from home. They all looked the same: blue ink on blue notepaper, and written in lovely feminine handwriting. I quickly learned that those were Kathy-grams. They came from Lady Kathy, at least four a week, every week. I don't know if Sir Ken ever wrote, but she certainly did."

Turning to Brad she asked, "Did ... Did Sir Ken finally marry Lady Kathy?"

"He certainly did," Brad replied. "In fact, Kim and I had dinner with them just a few weeks ago." He snapped his fingers and added, "With them were two gorgeous Vietnamese girls, the Trang sisters. I think we ran into them after we met you, Lisa. They're identical twins. They watched as first their father and then their mother were shot dead. Then their schoolmates — they went to a small Catholic girls' school — were raped and murdered. Then the Vietnamese turned their attention to the girls. They were hung from a scaffold by their wrists and were whipped unmercifully as they just spun in the air. When the enemy got tired of that, they were preparing to cut off their breasts and brand them so they could tell them apart. They wanted to bet on which one would live the longest.

"That's when we appeared. First we made the survivors prepare graves in the churchyard for their victims. We wanted them to be buried in consecrated ground instead of just being left lying on the ground where they had died."

At that point Brad's voice became almost distant as he continued, "We convened a military tribunal and tried the survivors for murder and rape. They were convicted, their appeals were denied, and they were executed by hanging from the same scaffold they had built for the girls."

Turning to Lisa he said, "I'm sorry, sweetie. I did hurt a few people that day."

"I remember reading about it in a paper," Lisa said. "I think it was when I was in Hong Kong, in fact. It reported the massacre, but didn't identify the Allied units involved. There's one thing I do remember, though," Lisa continued, "I guess it was more than a week after the event before any other troops arrived. The bodies were still hanging from the scaffold when they did. Apparently the surviving townspeople were in no rush to bury them."

Again Lisa leaned toward Brad, raised her head and cocked it. Gently he kissed her, but that was not what she had in mind. Kim could see the girl's passion just flowing through her lips. Then she eased away and said, "My knights errant, righting wrongs and saving damsels in distress. Sir Brad, you and Sir Ken should have been in shining armor ... Although I guess it wouldn't have been shining very long; that climate will rust anything!"

She eased back against Kris and wriggled her body as she did. Then she turned her head to kiss Kim with the same passion she had used on Brad. Then with a soft sigh, she just relaxed and picked up her tale.

"So what did we do for 45 days, you wonder? As I said, Sir Ken spent most of his time with his Kathy-grams, leaving me to Sir Bradley. So what did he do? I wanted him to fuck me in the worst way, but did he? Hell, no! He taught me English, and taught me to read. Can you believe it? A nice young whore who after a couple of weeks was more than skin and bones playing with her pussy and her clit right in front of him ... And he's teaching me to read! Boy! How to really make a girl feel good about herself! Not only wouldn't he pay me — not that I would have ever taken a dime from either of them — but he wouldn't even have me as a gift.

"But I did learn English, and I did learn to read.

"As their leave was drawing to a close, they made arrangements with a buddy at the American consulate in Hong Kong. They knew that there were a lot of American couples that visited Hong Kong, many of whom were looking to adopt a child. They felt sure their friend could handle it. I was in Hong Kong for only three days when he told me there was a lovely and loving couple interested in adopting a young girl." Now tears began to flow from the girl's eyes as she continued, "They were the Douglases. And here I am."

By this time tears were flowing down Kim's cheeks in rivers. Finally she was able to speak. Looking up at Brad she said, "Darling, will you marry me?"

Brad was utterly stunned. He had just heard something he never expected to hear in his life. "What did you say?"

"I asked you to marry me," Kim repeated with love in her eyes.

"What caused the change, may I ask?"

"Lisa's story. My darling, you are truly the answer to a maiden's prayer. That two of the toughest guys in the combat forces would do what you two did says it all. William Bradley Kramer, Jr., I would be very proud to be your wife. Forever and ever!"

"Come on, folks," Lisa announced. "It's late — it's almost 3:00 — let's get to bed. Oops!"

"What's the 'oops' about?" Donna asked.

"I ... I better move my things out of your room first."

"Lisa! What have you been doing?"

"Keeping your bed warm, Mommy," the girl replied. "I mean ... you were out fucking everything in pants, and Dad was so miserable..." She paused and then added blithely, "Besides, I was just keeping it in the family."

Then to Kim and Brad she repeated, "Let's go."

"But where are you going?" Kim asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" the girl replied insouciantly. "I'm sleeping with you two while Dad fucks Mom's brains out."



-------

Chapter 16



To the utter amazement of Kim and Brad, Lisa proceeded to give them lessons in lovemaking. She worked with Brad to dramatically improve his cunt-eating ability and with Kim on her cocksucking. She decided that both had the basics down pretty well, but they needed help on the advanced techniques.

Finally, Kim, being aware of the longing in Lisa's eyes, just nodded. At the time, Brad was lying on his back, so Lisa straddled his groin and gently lowered her vagina onto his raging erection.

"So big... !" she moaned as she felt herself stretched to her very limits.

Meanwhile, Kim had straddled Brad's shoulders and gently lowered her pussy to his lips. Then she leaned forward and took Lisa in her arms. The two women hugged and kissed while Lisa was being penetrated to the very limits, and Brad was practicing his new techniques on Kim's pussy.

"You're so utterly beautiful!" Lisa whispered to Kim between kisses and between gasps as Brad's cock drove to her limit. Reaching out, she cupped Kim's breasts and then kissed and nibbled first one and then the other.

Remarkably, Kim felt no sense of jealousy. She realized that Lisa was doing what she had wanted to do almost from the very first day: thanking Brad with her body. And what a body she has now! Kim thought admiringly.

Finally, Kim and Brad either fell asleep or lost consciousness. They were never sure which it was.

When she awakened, Kim felt strange. She just lay there on the bed motionless, trying to figure out what was different. Instead of sleeping with her body half on Brad's, she found that she had molded her back to his body while his right hand was cupping her right breast. But she found that her arms were around Lisa, hugging the girl's body tightly to hers.

Her slightest motion awakened both her bed companions. She found that Lisa awakened the same way she and Brad did: all at once. There was no fuzziness nor any wondering where she was or who she was with. Instead, since Kim was already holding her in her arms she kissed her with all her passion unleashed. At the same time she sinuously moved her body against the older girl's.

"Mmm ... That really feels good," Kim murmured.

Then Kim realized that Lisa's green eyes were locked on her own. The girl asked, "Why, Kim?"

"Why, what?"

"You know damn well 'why, what'! Why did you allow me to fuck Brad?"

"Honest answer?"

The girl just nodded her head vigorously.

"Because, darling Lisa, as you told your story last night, I could truly feel your disappointment at never being able to fuck Brad or Ken. But particularly Brad, I guess. Ken was sort of attached, but Brad wasn't. You wanted to thank him in the most loving way you could for all he had done for you." Now it was Kim's turn to look into Lisa's eyes with a piercing gaze.

"Of course you're right," Lisa said softly. "But that doesn't make what you did any easier." The girl slowly shook her head — or shook it as much as resting it on a pillow permitted — and said, "You two are utterly perfect for each other! You share the same spirit of giving, and that's regardless of the cost to yourself. Kimberly, you're just perfect!"

Then Lisa snapped her fingers and said, "I have a neat idea. My wedding gift to you two will be your honeymoon." Her eyes were dancing as she added, "Of course, I'll be coming with you."

"But... !"

"But, nothing!" Lisa continued. "Let's face it: We scarcely got started on your education last night..."

"Lisa, you know something else?" Kim asked.

"What's that?"

"There was another reason I let Brad fuck you last night ... Although that's not what he did. He made love to you so beautifully. But the other reason was that until last night, both of us were virgins; I still am, as I'm sure you know. But anyway, I sort of thought it would be nice if one of us knew something about what was supposed to happen."

At that Lisa popped out of bed and declared, "Come on, troops. It's getting late. It's almost 6:30 and there's lots to do..."

"Like what?" Kim asked.

"Your workout, swimming, a shower and then breakfast," Lisa replied. "And feeling your muscles, Kimberly, I know damned well your workout takes more than five minutes!"

Kim was surprised — but not very — to see that the Douglas gym had all the same units hers did. She and Brad felt right at home. Lisa ran through a similar workout, but with not nearly the number of reps nor the weights that Kim used. She decided that her bedmate was the most perfectly conditioned woman she had ever seen.

They moved to the swimming pool that was a 25-meter lap pool. It had only four lanes, but was about seven feet deep for its entire length. The three moved up and down together, with Lisa finally quitting after 400 meters. She then sat on the side and watched the other two continue to move back and forth. Brad appeared to have tremendous power, while Kim seemed to almost flow effortlessly through the water. It was clear to her that Kim could have pulled away in an instant if she had wanted to.

Finally they finished and Lisa led the way back to the room they had shared. The shower was easily large enough for three, so they all shared and had a wonderful time both washing and tickling each other. For as long as she could remember, she had loved Brad Kramer. Now she found that she loved Kimberly just as much.

Since all Kim had to wear was her good dress from the night before, Lisa produced terrycloth robes for the three of them. They padded down to the kitchen barefoot.

There they were greeted with another surprise. A beautiful young woman came padding in from the pool stark naked. She was about Kim's age. With seeming total unconcern, she dried herself off and then wrapped the towel around her waist leaving her tanned breasts bare.

Glaring at Lisa she said to the others, "Good morning. My name is Maria. I'm the Douglas's cook. What would you like for breakfast this morning?"

"Maria is a fantastic cook," Lisa said. "She can fix anything, but what I would really recommend would be huevos rancheros with a steak. After that workout, I think you both deserve it."

Kim and Brad both nodded, so Lisa held up three fingers. Just then another girl entered the kitchen from the pool area. She appeared to be about 14 and had light brown hair and eyes that were the same brilliant green as Lisa's. She was also naked, and proceeded to do exactly what Maria had done: She dried herself off and wrapped the towel around her waist leaving her perfectly formed, but still-budding breasts exposed. The only difference between Maria and her was that she spent more time on her slit. In fact, she seemed to spend a little time teasing her clit in front of the others.

"Chita, squeeze the oranges for our guests." Then to Brad and Kim she said, "This is my daughter, Conchita. As you may have gathered, I often call her Chita."

"But..." Kim stammered. She could say no more.

"It's what happens when you're raped at 11 and give birth at 12. And that's the reason for the difference in our coloring. My rapist was an Anglo, I'm pretty sure." Maria had dark hair and brown eyes along with an utterly incredible figure. She was about five feet six, while her daughter was taller by an inch or more.

Brad checked his watch and found it was almost 8:00. He excused himself to make a phone call while their breakfast was being prepared. He rejoined the group just as the food was being served.

The small steaks were flavorful and so tender they could be cut with a fork. The huevos rancheros were utterly superb.

As they were finishing, Donna came into the kitchen. She was bowlegged and moving stiffly as she more fell than sat on a chair. "Coffee, por favor, " she mumbled in Maria's direction.

Then she turned to Lisa and glared, "It's all your fault, you little bitch!"

"What did I do, Mommy?" the girl replied. Her response sounded phony and was.

"Two things," Donna replied with a sigh and then a moan. "First, you nasty girl, I clearly heard you tell our new friends that Dad was going to fuck my brains out. And that's exactly what he did." Then glaring at Lisa she asked, "What have you been doing with your father in my absence? Never in our lives has he taken me in the ways he did last night."

"Gee, Mommy, all I did was give him a few pointers for him to use when you came back. Oh, yeah ... I may have told him that you really ejaculate. He didn't know that."

"Thanks a helluva lot!" Donna replied. "So that's why he just had to see how far I could spurt. That bum! He was treating me like a windup toy! And if he could get the spring just a little tighter ... Shit! It was awful!"

"How far did you go?"

"One was almost five feet," Donna replied, scarcely able to control the prideful sound in her voice. Then to Conchita she said, "Chita, you've got your work cut out for you today. We made a helluva mess all over the place."

By this time Donna had had her first cup of coffee and was starting to rejoin the ranks of the living. Focusing on Lisa she said, "For that matter, what did you do last night? Young lady, you have the look that said you were magnificently fucked yourself last night. What happened?"

"Oh, Mom, it was so incredibly great! Sir Bradley fucked my brains out, too."

"Lisa!" Kim exclaimed.

The girl blushed but then said, "That's not correct, Mommy. Sir Bradley made passionate love to me with Lady Kimberly assisting. Can you imagine? Here I'm impaled as deep as I could take him while Lady Kim is alternating between eating my tits and nipples and kissing me all over. Oh, yeah ... the bitch! She would also flick my clit from time to time just to see me go off again ... and again ... and again."

"How was he with Kim?" Donna asked.

"She got the cunt-eating of her life," the girl replied, "but that was all."

"No... ?"

"Nope. She's still an unpenetrated virgin."

"But why... ?"

Lisa giggled and then replied, "Because she thought that at least one of them should have some idea of what to do before they get married. And since both of them were virgins until last night..."

"No wonder you look so marvelous!" Donna exclaimed. "You got to take the virginity of your savior. Your dad and I have known for years that the one major disappointment of your life was that neither Ken nor Brad ever made love to you when you were with them in Saigon. That's true, isn't it?"

"It sure is..." Lisa agreed but then added, "You know, now I'm glad they didn't take me then. I was just a child and it couldn't have been very good for them. Furthermore, I can't even take Sir Brad all the way inside me now. Heaven only knows what it would have been like when I was much smaller."

"Is it my turn, yet?" Maria inquired.

"What's that mean?" Donna asked.

"It means, thank God you're home, Donna, is what it means!" the woman exclaimed.

"And why are you thanking God that I'm home?" Donna asked. "It's pretty clear that I'm thanking Him, but why are you?"

"Just look at me!" the woman nearly screamed. "Isn't the answer obvious?"

"Well..." Donna replied thoughtfully, "it looks like you lost about 30 pounds..."

"Thirty-five!" Maria exclaimed. "And just look at me! I'm a mamacita, but look!"

"I am looking. What's the problem?"

"Just look!" the woman wailed, dropping the towel to the floor. "Look at my tits! I mean ... My God!"

"What's wrong with them? They look lovely to me."

"What's wrong? What's wrong? My God, woman, just look! A mamacita's tits are supposed to bounce around like two bowls of Jell-O! But look at mine!" With that she bounced her breasts in her hands, but they barely moved at all. They were perfectly shaped with lovely nipples and small areolae. Her nipples were as hard as little pebbles and were vibrating in arousal.

"And look at this!" she exclaimed, turning her back to the people. "Look at my poor emaciated buns. Do you think they could possibly provide any cushioning when a guy is fucking my ass off? I mean ... Really!"

"Maria Sanchez, you are an utter dream!" Donna declared. "Now come here so I can taste one of those luscious nipples I've missed so much."

Maria looked fearful but did as Donna asked. Moving slowly she came over to the table and stood beside Donna's seat.

Turning toward her, the woman licked her distended nipple and then made a face. "Yuck! Chlorine! I can't stand that taste." Looking at Maria she said, "You know what to do."

"No, Donna ... Please, no..." the woman protested, but didn't move away.

Ignoring her pleas, Donna said, "I think I would like raspberry first..."

On the table were two small dishes. One had raspberry preserves while the other had strawberry. Carefully, Maria lowered her torso and then dipped her right nipple into the raspberry preserves. Standing again, she turned toward Donna. The others could see that her body was shaking, but she didn't move.

Carefully Donna licked the sweet substance off Maria's nipple, then kissed it and lightly bit it. Maria's body shook in a small orgasm when she did.

"And now the strawberry on the other one," Donna declared.

The process was repeated with the other nipple, to the same effect.

Conchita had been laughing at her mother's predicament while it was all going on. But when Donna finished she turned to the young girl and said, "Hmm ... You've really grown, haven't you, Chita? And your tits are just lovely. It's time for you to give me a taste."

"Oh, no! Please no!" the girl protested.

"Conchita!" her mother warned. "You heard our mistress. Do it!"

The girl dipped her small nipple into the raspberry first and then the strawberry. When her body shook in orgasm, Donna carefully inserted a finger into her vagina while using her thumb to tease the girl's clit. At that point, Conchita came so hard, her mother had to hold her under her arms to keep her from collapsing on the floor.

When the girl recovered enough to stand on her own, Donna looked at Maria and said, "Now you! And you can show your daughter how to cum while standing up without falling on her face."

Maria didn't waste her breath protesting the inevitable. Instead she again moved close to Donna, spread her legs and stood there. While Donna used her right hand to probe her vagina and her thumb to tease the woman's clit, her left hand was roaming all over the woman's body. She could feel for herself how muscular Maria had become.

"That's a result of those infernal machines Lisa insists we use!" Maria complained, knowing what Donna was thinking about.

"Mmm..." Donna sighed. "And since you're no longer a virgin, I can even reach your G-spot. This is going to be fun... !"

"No! Please, no!"

"Oh, yes! And it is such fun, too," Donna insisted. "But you're so tight! How come?"

"Because there's been nothing in there since you left is why I'm so tight," Maria croaked.

Then she screamed as Donna brought her to a G-spot orgasm. At the same time, the woman kissed and bit Maria's nipples. Maria exploded. Syrup gushed from her pussy, flooding Donna's hand and then the floor. Remarkably, even though she was only semiconscious at the time, Maria still managed to remain on her feet.

Finally it was over. Donna turned to Conchita and said, "More work for you, dear. You'd better clean up your mother and then the floor."

"Darn!" the girl exclaimed. "It's like this every weekend, only it just gets worse."

"What's that mean?" Donna asked.

"It means that every time she comes home from a date with Jim Garçia, she's a basket case, is what it means. You know mother will never use a contraceptive, and she's not yet ready to start on a second family, so I have to spend an hour or so getting her off and then calming her down so she can sleep."

Conchita smiled to herself and then added, "But it's not really so bad. Mom's syrup is always as sweet as sugar, and she cums in quarts ... as you just saw. And when we're finally ready for sleep, I'm being held tightly in her arms and feel her lovely nipples moving against mine ... Yum!"

While Conchita lapped up her mother's syrup and then cleaned the floor, Donna said, "A new country heard from: Who's Jim Garçia?"

"Officially, he's Jaime Garçia," Maria explained, Conchita's mouth then being occupied with her mother's delectable pussy. "He's Alfredo Garçia's grandson."

"And who's Alfredo Garçia?" Donna persisted.

"He controls the entire Chicano community in Southern California, anyway, if not in a much larger territory than that. When Alfredo Garçia tells a Chicano to jump, the only possible response is, 'How high do you wish me to jump, Don Alfredo?' Anyway, that's who he is."

"And how did you get involved?"

"I was representing a group of gardeners," Maria replied. "Jim set up a meeting with him."

"And how did that go?"

Maria pulled herself up straight and put her shoulders back, thrusting out her perfect breasts. "He's coming here at ten o'clock this morning," she said.

By this time, Dan Douglas had joined the group. He kissed Donna passionately, but then just sat down with a cup of coffee to listen.

"Jim and his grandfather will be coming over..." Maria hesitated, then continued, "to ask for my hand in marriage."

"How utterly wonderful!" Donna exclaimed. "Tell me all about it."

"Jim is very successful," Maria said. "He owns about a dozen car dealerships all over the area. If a Chicano buys a car — whether new or used — the probability is about two chances in three he bought it from a Jim Garçia dealership." She paused and then continued, "But it could never work. He graduated from U.S.C., and has his MBA from Cal-Berkeley. I'm just an ignorant campesina," she concluded.

"Mother!" screamed Conchita.

"Maria!" screamed Lisa simultaneously.

Looking defiant, Maria responded, "That shouldn't even count. I didn't even graduate from high school, for Heaven's sake."

"No, you didn't," Lisa agreed. "You didn't even finish grammar school. But you got your GED, and then went to the local community college." Looking at her mother, she asked, "Care to guess what's going to happen in June, Mom?

"She will be graduating, summa cum laude, from UCLA. You probably know that if a student does well at a community college, they can go into the Cal State system as juniors. And if they do really, really well, a few — a very few — are admitted into the University of California system. Now guess how well Maria did?"

Donna held her arms open and Maria rushed into them. She sat the younger woman on her lap and kissed her with all her power. Finally they eased apart.

"But it's not right, Donna," Maria protested. "The Garçias shouldn't even be coming here. I'm just the cook and housekeeper, for Heaven's sake."

"Maria?" Donna protested.

"What utter bullshit, Mother," Conchita exclaimed. "From the very first days when I was six years old and you were only 18, we've been a part of this family. You had been smuggled in to work in a brothel and I almost certainly would have been snuffed. But somehow you escaped and made it by selling your ass on the street. Then Carlos, the Douglas's chief gardener found you and brought you here.

"What's happened since? We've had the very finest of everything from that very first day: food, housing, medical care ... Everything. You're now an American citizen, and so am I. 'Just the cook'? Hah!"

"But they'll expect a dowry," Maria wailed. "And ... and ... there needs to be a family member or close friend to handle the negotiations. They must be conducted in Spanish, too, and who could do that?"

"I can," Lisa replied.

"I can, too," Kimberly added.

Maria addressed Kim in rapid-fire Spanish. Kim noted that Maria's Spanish was the highly cultured Spanish of Madrid but without the Castilian lisp. It was anything but the uncultured, nearly illiterate Spanish of the typical campesina.

To the utter astonishment of everyone — particularly including Brad — Kim replied in the same language and with the identical accent.

"Madre de Dios!" Lisa exclaimed. "She really can!" Then to Maria she said, "That makes two of us. It's your choice."

"You're family, Lisa," Maria replied. "I think a disinterested third party would be better for this. But what can she negotiate with?" the woman wailed.

Dan and Donna exchanged looks. When Dan nodded emphatically, Donna said, "How does a dowry of one million dollars sound? Is that sufficient to evoke the necessary interest, or should we sweeten it some more? We will, you know."

Maria gasped. "What ... What are you doing? This is utterly ridiculous!"

"You're right, it is." To Kim she said, "Maria's right. It is. So you are authorized to negotiate a marriage contract on whatever terms you can manage. We'll cover the dowry, regardless of what it ends up to be. Clear?"

"But—" Maria began.

"But nothing!" Donna interrupted. "Do you think for one instant we've paid you anything near what you're worth for the eight years you've been here? Remember me? The 18-year-old beauty queen who didn't know her ass from her elbow? Everything I know, Maria, I've learned from you. Damn it, you are a member of this family and you always have been. And Conchita is, too.

"Now let's get with it! I will not allow you to greet guests in this house dressed like that."



-------

Chapter 17



Promptly at ten o'clock a Rolls limousine rolled up the drive. By that time, Dan Douglas's car had been garaged, and Kim had pulled hers off to the side to clear the circle. She went to the door to welcome their guests.

The chauffeur had jumped out of the car and was holding the rear door as an elderly gentleman alighted followed by a much younger man. The younger appeared to be under 30 while the older appeared to be in his 70s. In spite of his age, the older man stood up very straight. He approached using a gold-handled walking stick.

When he reached Kim, she greeted him in her perfect Madrid Spanish. The gentleman's eyes were brown and as piercing as those of a hawk. When she spoke, he fixed her very briefly with a stare, then shifted his stick from his right hand to his left. Taking her extended hand in his right, he brought it to his lips and kissed her fingertips in a most gallant fashion.

In his finest classical Spanish, he greeted Kim and added, "It is little wonder that Maria speaks my language as fluently as she does. With friends like you with whom she can converse, how could she speak otherwise?" Then he added in an undertone, "Such stunning beauty, too! How utterly marvelous."

Kim was introduced to Jaime, and then escorted the two men into the living room where Donna and Maria were seated, waiting side by side on the sofa. Señor Garçia looked at the two and smiled. "Maria, you never cease to amaze me. No other woman would dare sit beside the fabulous Donna Douglas for fear that beside Donna's beauty, she would just disappear. But in your case, my dear, it merely confirms how incredibly beautiful you are."

Maria was embarrassed by his remarks, while Donna just smiled with pleasure.

"Now," the grandfather said, "it's time to talk business. With whom should I be speaking?"

"I am representing the family in this matter," Kim said in her perfect Spanish.

The grandfather was a very cosmopolitan and cultured gentleman. He looked from one woman to the next until he had carefully examined all three. Then he just shook his head and announced, "This is just not fair."

"What is not fair, sir?" Kim inquired.

"It's not fair that my grandson and I are not only outnumbered, but we are in the presence of three of the most beautiful women in the world." To Kim he said, "And you, madame, are the most beautiful negotiator in the world. It's just not fair," he repeated.

"Surely you can't mean me," Kim protested.

But before she could continue, Donna said, "Knock it off, Kimberly. We settled that matter last night. Let's not resurrect it."

Before they could get going, though, Maria spoke up. "Really, sir, this has gone too far already. I am not the woman your grandson should marry."

"And why not?" he asked.

"Here's one reason why not: my daughter, Conchita."

Hearing her name, Chita entered the room. Like her mother, she was wearing a plain white dress that set off the youthful perfection of her body. Going before the grandfather, she made a perfect curtsy and then sat in a straight-backed chair. Her posture was perfect.

Maria performed the introductions and then said, "I'm sure it's now obvious to you that I gave birth to my daughter when I was only 12 years old. I managed to escape from some white slavers and then peddled my body on the streets for six years to try to feed my baby. Then I was taken in by Mrs. Douglas eight years ago." With her eyes blazing she emphasized, "I was a prostitute for six years!"

"And now?" the grandfather said mildly. "Are you an American citizen?"

"Yes, sir."

"So you consider yourself a Mexican-American?"

"No, sir. I consider myself to be an American! Where else could a girl with a baby out of wedlock rise so far in such a short time? Unfortunately, not in Mexico nor anywhere else to my knowledge."

"Let's not talk about who you were, Miss Sanchez," Don Alfredo said. "Let's talk about who you are. First, my grandson tells me that you will be graduating from UCLA in June, summa cum laude. Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"And in spite of your undeniable youth and beauty, you are the most respected person in the entire Chicano community. You have done more things of value for more people — either alone or in groups — than anyone else alive. You are respected for what you are, what you do, and the way you act."

He glared at Maria, then turned to Kim and said, "Enough of this. Let us begin the negotiations."

"Don Alfredo, Miss Sanchez's family is prepared to offer a dowry to the young man who takes her hand in marriage in the amount of one million dollars."

Jim Garçia's eyes popped, but his grandfather merely shook his head. "That is utterly preposterous!"

"But it's only an opening number—"

"Preposterous!" the older man repeated. "It's preposterous to offer any monetary dowry with Miss Sanchez's hand. Her beauty, her brains and her charity are far more than enough. Now, when can the marriage take place?"

"Do I understand, sir, that you're rejecting any cash dowry for Miss Sanchez?" Kim asked. Although her Spanish was perfect, she was afraid there might have been some cultural nuance she missed.

"I will not insult the Sanchez family nor disgrace my own by even considering accepting a dowry with this incredible young woman!"

Then Don Alfredo turned to Maria and asked, "Are you interested ... Do you want ... any more ... children?"

"As many as the good Lord blesses me with," she replied softly. "But why do you ask?"

"With all due modesty," Don Alfredo began, "the Garçias count for something around here. And yet, at the present time, we are reduced in numbers to only the two of us. There are no others." Then he smiled warmly at Conchita and said, "Of course, as an unexpected bonus, I will already have one of the most beautiful young women alive as my great-granddaughter." Looking hopefully at Maria he asked, "I sincerely hope you will allow Jaime to adopt her as his daughter. Would you? Could you?"

Maria smiled warmly but said, "Since Conchita is already 14 years old, Don Alfredo, I really think you should ask her that question."

He did.

Conchita's eyes widened. Then she yelped, "Good grief! For the first time in my entire life, I'll have ... a daddy!" Jumping from her chair, she hurled herself on Jim Garçia and proceeded to smother him in kisses. She ended by hugging him tightly and kissing him full on the lips with all of her considerable power.

When she eased away from her father-designate, Don Alfredo smiled warmly and then to Maria he said, "May I interpret Conchita's actions to be an affirmative response?"

Maria just grinned broadly and rapidly nodded her head. She was so choked up at that point she couldn't utter a word.

"Now to the details," Don Alfredo continued. "When will the wedding take place?"

This was a question they had not even considered. The four women just exchanged looks. Finally, Donna said, "How about early December? Between Thanksgiving and Christmas?"

To the women's surprise, Don Alfredo breathed a sigh of relief. "That's perfect!" he announced.

When the women looked puzzled he explained, "It's the house: It's taking far longer to renovate than we had originally expected. But December? And then after the honeymoon, it will be January. That will be no problem at all."

"House? What house?" Maria asked.

"Surely you've heard the sounds of construction next door, haven't you? Heaven knows, they make enough noise."

Next door was an estate even larger than the Douglas's. All Maria could do was point and say, "You mean... ?"

"I mean!" Don Alfredo emphasized. "Of course it will have a 50-meter Olympic pool along with a tennis court, sauna ... All the usual stuff. It will have ten bedroom suites in addition to the master suite. I hope that will hold you for a while, anyway."

Since everything had been decided, Kim nodded to Conchita who disappeared. She reappeared with a silver tea and coffee service along with beautiful miniature Danish pastry. Maria very elegantly poured.

While they were sipping their beverages, Maria had a thought. "Oh, dear! Your food! This house! What will you... ?" Then she snapped her fingers and said, "I'm sure we could put a gate in the fence between our two places so I could come over and cook..."

"I think that's taken care of, too," Don Alfredo said. Then he nodded to Jaime.

Jim Garçia took one of the new cellphones from his pocket and punched two keys. His call was immediately answered. He spoke very softly, but only a couple of words. Then he put the phone away.

Ten minutes later, there was a call from the front gate. Jim buzzed them in, then went to the front door to wait. A few minutes later he returned with a young woman of about 16 who had a beautiful blue-eyed, golden blonde 4-year-old with her. "This is Marta and her daughter, Angelica. She is to be your new cook and housekeeper. Of course, she will need more than a little training, so it's a good thing there are months before the wedding."

Conchita led them back to the kitchen while the Garçias took their leave.

When they left, the women took the mother and daughter into the master bath and began to scrub. They quickly learned that, while Angelica was as clean as bathing in a sink would permit, her mother was not.

Lisa joined them, and it reminded her of her first bath in Saigon. When they finally got the dirt off, Marta was revealed to have a beautiful if undernourished body and lovely features. Furthermore, her hair that had appeared to be black was revealed to be a golden brown which was lovely with her emerald-green eyes.

When they finished, they had lunch and then Kim said to Brad, "Darling, let's get out of here! Do you realize what's happened in just the last 24 hours? Let's get out before the sky falls in!"

With Kim dragging Brad out the door, Dan Douglas called out, "But what about Monday?"

"We're going!" was all Brad was able to say.



-------

Chapter 18



"What was that all about?" Kim asked when they were finally on the San Diego Freeway headed south. "What about the training we're supposed to be doing?"

"Remember Jenny Clark?" Brad asked.

Kim slowly shook her head. "No. Should I?"

"She's the girl who sold her body parts. Remember?"

Kim looked sick. "Now I do! Ugh! But what about Jenny Clark?"

"Surprise, surprise! It turns out that Jenny's an engineer, too. Furthermore, she says that your notes and documentation on the new tooling are exemplary. She now knows everything she needs to know about all your new designs, and knows where to go for any answers she doesn't already have.

"Coupled with the flood of orders still coming in, she's training three of the girls in the Leper Colony to handle it all on the phone." He grinned and added, "By the way, George Harrison wonders for how long we can get lost and stay lost. With us out of state, he says, there's at least some chance of getting out of the huge hole we put them in. So yes, you can do the film if you want to. Do you, sweetie?"

"I don't have to answer that now, do I? After all, Kelly Jackson has shot down every other candidate she's seen."

"But not you!"

On Sunday morning Brad talked with Dan Douglas again. First, Kelly was looking forward to their visit. But second, she had invited Lisa to come out, too. Lisa had never even been east of the Rockies and was looking forward to seeing Washington. Moreover, Camille Franklin, Kelly's doctor and nurse, was going to take Lisa to New York where they would be staying with Kelly's parents, the Jacksons. Her parents utterly adored Camille and were looking forward to the visit.

They had first-class tickets on a redeye to Dulles leaving later that night.

When they boarded their plane, they found that they were in luck. It was a Pan Am 747 configured for international service essentially being ferried from LAX to Dulles for a morning international flight. As a result, they had true sleeper seats in first class.

Having finally accepted the idea that Brad really loved her, she got a blanket from the overhead bin, took off her top and laid on Brad, covering them both with the blanket. All in all, it was a very pleasant trip for both of them. Periodically one or the other would partially waken, hug or caress the other and then go back to sleep. The result was they were rested if rather bedraggled when they left the aircraft at Dulles.

Exiting the terminal, they saw a beautiful young woman wearing the uniform of an Army captain. Seeing them, she came over and introduced herself as Katrina Murphy. She explained that she was the aide to General Callahan. "By the way," she added, "to clarify matters, on duty Mike is General Callahan, while Kelly is still General Jackson." Then she grinned and said, "Of course, if it ever came to having to make a choice, Kelly would dump 'General Jackson' and be 'Mrs. Callahan' in a heartbeat."

Introductions were completed and she led the way to an army staff car parked at the curb. As they headed toward Ft. Meade, Kim, seated with Brad in the back seat, said, "I'm curious about something: Katrina, I know that you're the daughter of President Solov of Russia, but Katrina has never sounded like a Russian name..."

"You're right. It's not," Katrina replied. "My mother was German. She was a dancer ... a very good one, I hear. She danced with both the Kirov and the Bolshoi Ballets. My mother died shortly after I was born, and since she had always liked the name, Katrina..."

"I'm so sorry," Kim sympathized. Then she spoke softly to the woman in Russian.

Katrina did a double-take, listened, and then started to howl with laughter. But instead of responding to Kim in Russian, she switched to German. Kim instantly made the language switch, too.

After several exchanges, Katrina was laughing even harder.

"What's so funny?" Kim asked, utterly bewildered.

"Kelly is going to be so pissed, she won't be able to see straight!" the girl laughed.

"Why? I don't understand."

"First of all, you've got the rôle iced. Absolutely no doubt about that. Your Russian and German are both flawless. But your accent... !"

"Yeah," Kim conceded, "it's pretty school-girlish, isn't it?"

"Not hardly!" Katrina retorted. "Kelly's Russian and German are perfect, too, but..."

"But what?" Kim prompted.

"Kelly speaks Russian like a Muscovite and German like a Frankfurter..."

"So... ?"

Katrina was really laughing by this time. Whatever it was, it was apparent the girl thought it was the funniest thing in the world. "So... ? Kimberly, in Russia, the ultimate — the perfect — accent is that of St. Petersburg, while in German, the ultimate is to speak like a Berliner. You do, and you do both perfectly! Talking to you in Russian or German is going to make Kelly feel like a bumpkin. She'll turn green! I can hardly wait to see it."

By this time they were being waved through the gates at Ft. Meade and drove up to a lovely home that housed the president of the War College. After parking in the driveway, Katrina led the way to the front door which was opened before they reached it. Standing there was a tall drop-dead gorgeous golden blonde with piercing blue eyes. She was holding a baby in her arms.

Shifting the child to her left arm, she extended her right to greet Kim, Lisa and Brad. Kelly Jackson was surprised when Katrina performed the introductions in Russian. When Kim responded in the same language, Kelly's eyes widened as she heard Russian spoken with a classic St. Petersburg accent.

With her eyes sparkling with merriment, she shook her head and said, "We've only just met, Kimberly Kramer, but I hate you already! Sheesh. You certainly know how to ruin a girl's day." Then she shifted to German and got the same result.

To Katrina she said, "I guess I'll just have to whip her to within an inch of her life and then shoot her. Good grief! I was wondering if I could get her to learn a few words of German — as for Russian, forget-about-it — and what do I find? I find this ... this ... creature... ! could get a job as a staff announcer today in Berlin or Moscow."

Kim decided she really liked Kelly very much already.

Entering the house, Kelly introduced the newcomers to Horace and Selma Franklin, and their daughter, Camille.

Selma held Kimberly's hands in hers and just looked deeply into her eyes. Selma was an incredible beauty almost six feet tall with the poise and grace of a queen. As she looked into Kim's eyes, her own eyes seemed to glaze over. Then she began to speak in an almost disembodied voice. "You are going to be so incredibly happy." Then her voice changed to her natural one and her eyes cleared. Very gently she ran her fingertips over Kim's belly and said, "This is soon going to be almost permanently stretched. I hope you and Mr. Kramer want lots of children, because..."

"You mean... ?" Kim asked with her eyes wide.

"I mean!" Selma replied with her eyes dancing. Then she took the baby from Kelly's arms and gave him to Kim.

The baby, Mikhail, was almost a year old. Kim held him while he gurgled happily and reached up for her. She raised him higher and kissed and snuggled with him. If anything, the baby was just happier. He had brilliant blue eyes and dark hair, exactly like his father's.

"He's utterly perfect!" Kim said softly as she just enjoyed the feeling of holding the baby in her arms and smelling the characteristic fragrance of a baby who had been recently bathed and powdered.

Mike Callahan was introduced, and he and Brad hit it off immediately. The group sat down to a monster breakfast that Selma had waiting for them. When they finished, Brad and Mike went off together leaving the women alone. They were shown their rooms and Kim took a shower and changed. Emerging from the shower, she found a set of Battle Dress Utilities (BDUs) along with combat boots. When she asked, she was told they were Kelly's; she had lots. It came as no surprise to find that everything fit her perfectly.

She found Kelly in the library on the phone. She was speaking to Fred Johnson, CEO of Smith & Wesson. "Fred, I have a favor to ask. It's important to me," Kelly said. "Could you ask Tony Labruzio and his people to do two more weapons? What I want are two with a military finish, not ones for presentation. You know what I mean: all parts dulled so they won't reflect light ... That sort of thing. But I want the same slick-as-butter action, okay?"

There was a brief exchange and then Kelly said, "By the way, Fred, you may not know it, but I really am a rich bitch. And, sir, this is not to be a gift! Clear? And since I want them as fast as you can do it, I expect to pay a premium for fast service. Now, how soon?"

Johnson thought they would be ready to ship by FedEx the next day or the day after.

Kelly was also wearing BDUs. The only difference was that hers showed four stars. "Okay, lady," she announced, "now we see what you can do. Mike is off with Brad doing the same things we're going to be doing."

Over her aide, Kevin Murphy's, objections she told him that he and Katrina had the day off and why didn't they play with their baby son, Sergei. "I'm perfectly capable of driving myself, Captain Murphy," Kelly declared, "in spite of rumors to the contrary. And I'm even old enough to have a license of my own, too." With that she stuck out the tip of her tongue.

Kim had no idea what was in prospect, but Kelly drove down to the Marine base at Quantico.

What followed over the next four days was as much a revelation to Kim as it was to Kelly. First, the two women were very close in age. Their figures were identical. The only difference was the color of their hair and eyes, with Kim's hair being a sun-streaked brown while Kelly's was the color of yellow gold. Kim's eyes were gray while Kelly's were a brilliant blue.

But the real surprise was Kim's physical performance. Although she didn't know it, Kelly was running her through the entire training routine that she had gone through, setting personal records at the time that were still in place. Kelly was astonished at Kim's ability. The girl actually bested Kelly in three events and Kelly had to extend her own records in four others to win. In each case, Kim had broken Kelly's previous mark.

As promised by Fred Johnson, early on the third day the special 9mm automatics Kelly had ordered were delivered. One went to Brad while Kelly gave the other to Kim. On the pistol range, Kelly shot a "possible" but only tied Kim; Kim shot the same score. On the terrorist course, Kim was as deadly as Kelly; she was even nearly as good using automatic weapons.

What really shook up Kelly was what Kim did firing her brand-new automatic on the terrorist course. With Kim, every target received a "double tap" — two very fast shots. When scoring her targets they got to the one with the terrorist's arm around the neck of a woman holding a baby. There was a bullet hole neatly centered between the terrorist's two eyes. But she had fired a double tap, and there was no sign of the second round. They carefully studied it, then used a magnifying glass. Using magnification, they realized that the bullet hole was almost a millimeter wider than it was high. Kim had done to the target what Kelly had done to the War College professor who was on the KGB payroll: She had put two bullets into a single hole.

By Thursday evening it was all over. Kim was tired — more physically tired than she could ever remember being. She said as much to Kelly who just laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"You are! Kimberly Kramer, do you know what you just did?"

Kim just shook her head.

"Lady, I set records on that course when I went through it years ago. As of Monday, they all still stood. You, bitch, now hold three records that used to be mine, and I had to set four new ones to beat you in some others." Then she giggled and added, "You say you're tired? Lady, when I went through the course I finished each day unable even to move. But you? You just kept on going — running me into the ground in the process — and now you say you're tired? My God, woman, you are the most perfectly conditioned female I've ever met!"

Camille Franklin and Lisa Douglas were with them. They had finished their Washington sightseeing and were leaving for New York the following day. With her eyes dancing, Cami said, "There's just one more thing, Kelly dear..."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Well..." Camille began, stretching out the word, "you tell everyone that your high-school diploma is really honorary, as is your degree from West Point. Have you talked to Kim about her academic background?"

"No, why? She's an actress is all I know," Kelly replied.

"Hah!"

Kelly looked at her dear friend strangely and asked, "And what, exactly, does that 'hah' mean?"

"Well, let's review," Camille began, barely able to control her giggles. "Her accents, whether speaking German or Russian, are superior to yours. She actually beat you in three events at Quantico which is exactly three more than you've ever lost before ... But she's only an actress. Not!"

"And what exactly does that mean, Dr. Franklin?"

"It means that you should get your nose out of those books on strategy once in a while and see what's going on in the world. For example, I found a simply fascinating article in yesterday's New York Times...  But of course it was in the business section, so you never would have found it." Looking at Kelly with her eyes gleaming but with an inquisitive look on her face she added, "Kel, do you even know there is a business section?"

Kelly's response was to stick out her tongue and wiggle it.

"Oh, well ... I guess that's the way it is with the uneducated: they're quickly reduced to nonverbal communication.

"But you really should have seen that article. Utterly fascinating. It seems that there's a new book coming out that's taking the business world — particularly the manufacturing world — by storm. It's not on the presses yet, but the publisher has already increased the size of the first printing three times."

"And what, dear Dr. Franklin, does a new book have to do with anything?" Kelly inquired.

"It's the content," Camille replied. "It seems the author, a Ph.D. mechanical engineer from Cal Tech, has come up with totally new designs for machine tools. Far faster, and with precision ten times greater than what came before. But the best part is that they're less expensive than the machines they're replacing. It seems that they're restoring the United States to preeminence in machine tools."

"And... ?" Kelly prompted.

"The author — the Ph.D. from Cal Tech — is named Kimberly Ann Kane."

At that Kelly's jaw dropped. Looking at Kim she asked, "You?"

Kim just nodded.

"The world just is not fair!" Kelly exclaimed. "Beauty, athleticism ... and brains, too? Unreal. But she's an actress... !"

"As the lawyers would say, Kelly," Kim interjected, "that's arguing a fact not in evidence. I doubt if I can act my way out of a paper bag!"

Lisa entered the conversation. "General, when you were in Germany, were you acting?"

"Huh?" Kelly muttered.

"Were you acting?" Lisa repeated.

"Of course not!" Kelly replied. "Mostly I was trying to keep Mike alive and keep my head down. And I didn't do a very good job of that, either."

"Well, if you weren't acting, why does Kim have to? All she has to do is the same things you did, and it appears she can."

"Good grief!" Kelly exclaimed. "Of course, you're right. Furthermore, the action at the Weser bridge was before I went through the training at Quantico. She's in better shape than I am now, and ten times better than I was then." She thought for a few moments and then said, "By God, it's going to work!" But then her face fell as she asked, "But what about the lovemaking?"

"That's what I'm here for," Lisa replied with a grin. "They're still fighting it, but I'm going to be with Sir Bradley and Lady Kimberly on their honeymoon. And I'm a pretty good coach, too. Kelly, you know my mom is Donna Douglas. Well, Dad, using some of the techniques I taught him, absolutely fucked her brains out last week when she came home. What the audience is going to see is passion that's guaranteed to ignite the celluloid!"

Although Kelly knew Lisa was Dan and Donna's daughter, that's all she knew. Lisa then told the story of being rescued from the streets of Saigon by Ken Carlson and Brad Kramer, and the aftermath. When she concluded her story, neither Kelly nor Camille were able to contain their tears.

That night, Kelly called Dan Douglas to give him the go-ahead on the film. He told her that plans were all set and they could be set up to start shooting in three weeks or as soon thereafter as the necessary permissions could be obtained. Kelly offered to take care of that detail herself.

The next morning, the wheels began to turn. First, Kelly called the Chancellor of Germany to tell him about the film and to request permission to shoot using the actual sites. Since the German government and its people considered Kelly to be solely responsible for their reunification, in addition to holding the Golden Order of the Knights Cross, the highest German award for bravery, she had a virtual blank check on the German government. Permission was immediately granted and confirmed by fax minutes later.

Then she called the President of Russia, Mikhail Solov. Before he had even hung up his phone, wheels had begun to turn in Russia. One-hundred car trains of flatcars began to be assembled, to be loaded with tanks, trucks and artillery pieces. These were the same trains that had positioned Soviet forces for their attack into Germany that Kelly had foiled. With a chuckle he added that there was so much military hardware, most still showing the red star markings of the Soviet Union, that assembling an armored division's arms set was no problem. Only a few had been repainted to show the white, blue and red flag of Russia. All the equipment being sent west would carry the Red Army's red star. In addition, a full armored division's worth of troops would be readied and would be transported west in about three weeks to play their roles.

Finally finishing her phone calls, Kelly remarked, "Gee ... That wasn't so hard." Then she grinned and added, "There's just one detail left: a wedding."



-------

Chapter 19



Returning to the Coast — a flight Lisa loved because it was in daylight and she could actually see something from the window — Kim quickly learned that the wedding arrangements had been taken out of her hands: Donna Douglas was running the whole thing. As a great concession, she allowed Kim to pick her own bridesmaids. Carol Christian was her matron of honor, and her bridesmaids included Kathy Carlson and — surprisingly — Kelly Callahan. As they were leaving Washington, Kelly had made it known that she would be honored to be in Kim's wedding party. Brad asked Ken Carlson to be his best man, while Bill Christian had agreed to serve as an usher.

On Sunday night, Kim and Brad were in bed early. It had been a very tiring few weeks they had been through, and they were exhausted. Moreover, things were about to get very busy again, and in unknown ways. Starring in a movie sounded fascinating, but, although neither had spoken of it, both were apprehensive. Neither had made an acting appearance since their respective kindergarten pageants.

Cuddling in bed after their lovemaking, Brad said softly, "Sweetie, are you sure you don't mind me taking Lisa?"

"No, I really don't. And I wasn't kidding, either, when I said that one of us should have some idea what to do next Saturday night." Then Kim giggled warmly and added, "By the way, it was pretty neat for me, too. You gave me the best cunt eating of my life while Lisa was kissing me and caressing me in ways that not even you can do. Her fingers are like mine — long and thin — and can reach some very interesting places."

The next morning, in recognition of her new status as a corporate vice president, Kimberly even dressed for work for the first time in her business career. Although only late March, it was shaping up to be a very hot day, so she wore a gray cord suit whose thin gray stripes nearly matched the color of her eyes. Then she pulled out all stops: She put on some lipstick.

Since they were now formally engaged and would be married in less than two weeks, they even decided to save money by taking only one car. With giggles from Kim and chuckles from Brad, they mutually agreed that no one would be too terribly scandalized by their riding together.

Arriving at the plant, they headed for their offices but were intercepted by Jim Dempsey, the facility's maintenance manager. "Uh ... Mr. Kramer, could I speak to you for a moment?"

They stopped and listened.

"Sir, it's ... it's those new girls you hired..." Dempsey stammered. Whatever it was, Jim obviously found it embarrassing.

"What about the new girls?" Kim prompted.

"Well ... ma'am, it's the cleaning people: They haven't been able to clean that office in weeks!"

"Why not?" Brad asked, now interested.

"Because the girls are always there is why not," Dempsey replied. "Good grief! They're always here for hours after the cleaning people have finished and gone home." He paused and then added, "There's no problem with dirt or anything — the girls do their own cleaning, although Heaven only knows when — but it's really not fair to the girls, and the cleaning people feel badly because they think they're not doing their job. Anyway, what should we do?"

Although she didn't know why, an alarm had started to ring in Kim's brain. "Brad, I think we had better look into this and get back to Jim. Okay?"

Brad felt exactly the same way. Something was very wrong, but what?

It was Kim's idea to check with security and Brad instantly agreed. Going to the security desk at the main entrance, Kim asked about the after-hours sign-out sheet. It turned out that the last six weeks were still at the desk on the clipboard. The two started to go backward in time and were utterly stunned. They found that the Leper Colony girls were typically signing in at about 4:30 in the morning and were never out before 10 PM.

"My God!" Kim breathed. "Do they ever sleep?"

To their shock, they found that it ran right though the weekends, although they didn't sign in until 8:00 and once they were out as early as 8:00 that night. But only once.

Then they went to Personnel to check on time sheets. There was a single sheet for the unit and every one read exactly the same: The girls signed in at 8:00 and out at 5:00 with an hour for lunch, Monday through Friday. There was not so much as 10 minutes overtime showing for the unit over their entire period of employment.

"What's the company's overtime policy?" Kim casually asked the girl who had produced the time records.

"Oh, it's very strict!" the girl replied with her eyes wide. Only then did Kim realize that the girl was in a state verging on shock as a result of speaking to two corporate vice presidents at the same time. "It requires the advance approval of ... a vice president ... like you or Mr. Kramer. That's the only way."

Kim and Brad exchanged looks. Then Brad casually asked, "How long has that policy been in effect?"

"Oh, a very long time, sir. Since before I came."

"And how long have you been working here?" Kim asked.

"It's nearly two years now, ma'am."

They thanked the girl and left. Once outside of the office and out of anyone else's hearing, Brad quietly exploded. "Can you believe it? Those girls have been working..." He paused and did some fast mental arithmetic. "Holy shit! They've been working about 110 hours a week, for God's sake. And being paid for 40!"

Kimberly just shook her head. "And it's at least partially our fault, too. We weren't around for them to ask, and it never would have occurred to them to ask either Bill or George, so..."

"So Greg Campbell or Ben Brewster!" Brad exclaimed. "Shit! Fat chance either of those turkeys would approve any overtime."

Campbell was vice president–finance and Brewster was vice president–administration.

"Shall we see what other damage has been done?" Kim asked with a quirky smile. Before moving, Brad took her in his arms and kissed her. Rather than being embarrassed — they were standing in the main corridor — Kim just melted her lips to his and molded her body tightly to his, too.

When they eased apart, Kim giggled. She had just realized that more than a dozen people had had to get by them while they embraced, but since they were both vice presidents ... She thought it was a riot. "Sweetie," she whispered, "we've got to do this more often. It will really wake up the joint." Then she paused, looked thoughtful and then asked, "But isn't there some higher-traffic location we could use?"

Brad just laughed and said, "I love you so very much, Kimberly Ann Kane."

"That's nice," she replied blandly, but then couldn't control her giggle. "I love you so very much, William Bradley Kramer, Jr." Then she kissed him again.

They entered the Leper Colony's office just in time to see a girl topple off her chair and just lie still on the floor. More alarming was the reaction of the other girls. They saw what had happened and moved to help her, but it was as if they were moving in slow motion.

"It's Chris," one said in a half-dead tone of voice. "What should we do?"

"Try to get her on a cot," said Jenny Clark, the girl they recognized as having sold her body organs to live.

"You will like hell!" Brad announced. "Jenny, call security and have them order an ambulance out here right away." Then he looked around at the condition of the other four girls and added, "Make it ambulances for five! Now!"

As the woman was weaving on her feet, Kim grabbed her and sat her down, then called security herself. She was told that ambulances would be on their way.

"Okay, ladies," Brad demanded, "what's been going on here?"

"It's all my fault, Mr. Kramer," Jenny said. As she spoke, she slipped off her chair and ended up on her back at his feet. But she just ignored it and continued, "I made the girls do it—"

She was interrupted by the vehement objections of the three who were still conscious. And then one of them toppled over.

Moments later the first EMTs arrived. Each of the pair started examining an unconscious woman. Then the senior of the two spoke into a two-way radio, then started to examine Jenny Clark. From the way his eyes widened, he didn't like what he had found at all. His partner went to one of the other two who was still conscious. After running a quick check, he gently laid the girl out flat on the floor, too. This was repeated with the last girl.

At that point other EMTs appeared with Gurneys and, starting with the unconscious women, began to take them out.

Then another woman appeared, Jane Chalmers. Alone among the girls in the Leper Colony, she appeared to be fine. Right on her heels were George Harrison and Bill Miller. They had been attracted by the wail of sirens coming into the plant. In a few more minutes all the girls had been taken out.

As the senior EMT was leaving, Brad asked, "What's your assessment?"

"Complete physical exhaustion. A couple of those women are very close to death, and the others aren't far behind. Now I have to dash." With that he was gone.

"Let's go back to our office and hear more about this," George said.

"No, boss. I think we should stay right here at the scene of the crime," Brad said. Then turning to Jane he said, "How about you? How is it you look pretty good?"

"It's because she — Jenny — threw me out of the office at 6:00 Friday evening and said she would shoot me dead if I appeared before 9:00 this morning." Then her face fell as she added, "She said she would sign me in at 8:00, but that's not necessary—"

"It's necessary as hell!" Brad interrupted. Then he explained to George and Bill about being stopped by the maintenance chief when they came in and told about the cleaners not being able to clean the office. Then he told how he and Kim had checked the security records and learned the girls had been working about 110 hours a week, but only charging 40. "And believe it or not, all five of them signed in this morning between 4:30 and 4:35!" Turning to Jane he asked, "Why?"

"That was another of Jenny's ideas," she said. "This way we're ready to start calling the East Coast at 5:00 — 8:00, their time — and then move west across the country." She paused and then added, "With the growing delivery backlog, it's become a real bitch. How many ways are there to try to calm down an irate customer?"

"Why are they irate?" George asked quietly.

"Well, sir, wouldn't you be pissed if you wanted machine tools that represent a make-or-break difference in your business and be told you couldn't get them for 12 to 15 months?"

She then demonstrated a stunning computer capability no one else knew the company had. It showed the order backlog for every production machine on the floor, complete with available detailed specs for every order that was waiting.

"Where in hell did this come from?" Bill Miller asked.

"It's something Jenny did in her spare time—"

"What spare time?" Brad interrupted. "For God's sake she's here all but about six hours a day."

"But not on weekends, sir," Jane replied. "We don't even have to be in until 8:00 on Saturdays and Sundays, and often we're through as early as 8:00, too. Jenny uses her extra time for things like this." She paused and then added, "Jenny really loves you, sir, and this company. You and Aerospace Technologies really saved her life and she's very grateful."

"So grateful she damned near killed herself," Kim commented.

She had been looking at the screen and noticed machine designators. "Something's wrong here," she murmured. "This can't be right. This machine is one of our old ones..." Then she scrolled down the list with her eyes widening as she did. Finally she exclaimed, "My God! They all are! What in hell is going on? None of these production units are my new designs. Every one is a machine that's been in service for at least a year."

"I think it's about time to have a little chat with Ben Brewster and Greg Campbell," George Harrison said. Then to Jane he said, "Those look like comfortable cots. Jenny again?" There were two cots set up in the room. Based on what they had seen, they were for girls who collapsed from exhaustion during the day.

"Yes, sir. Of course," Jane replied. But then she hastened to add, "But she bought them with her own money, sir. They didn't cost the company a dime!"

George and Bill just looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

George made a call before they left, so Brewster and Campbell were waiting in the executive conference room when they arrived.

George wasted no time. "Greg, why haven't our machine tools been replaced? They should have been off the production floor more than a month ago."

"We can't, sir," Campbell said. "No money."

"What do you mean, no money?" Bill Miller exploded. "We're rolling in money!"

"No we're not at all. We're barely holding to our budget," Campbell said. "Why ... Just look at our raw materials cost! It's out of sight! I can't tell you how many ways we've had to cut back to cover that added cost."

"Oh!" Brad said scathingly, "so we're over on our raw materials budget. How's the revenue side look? Are we making budget there?"

"Well, that's worrisome, too," Campbell said. "Our order backlog is looking good, but our sales aren't keeping pace..."

"What's that mean?" Kim asked.

"Well, we only book a sale when the order ships. How can we be sure we'll even be paid when it does?"

Brad was utterly furious. "I happen to know that at least two-thirds of those orders are either prepaid or have an irrevocable letter of credit with them. Now please tell me where the risk is on those?"

Before Campbell could address that question, Harrison asked, "Why was my order for new tooling canceled?"

"For two reasons, sir," Campbell replied. "First, as I told you, we don't have the money in the budget. But beyond that, the machines we're using are almost new. They aren't scheduled for replacement for about four years."

Kim was beside herself. "You're out of your mind!" she nearly screamed. "Haven't you ever heard of technological obsolescence? If you haven't gotten the hot scoop, our new designs have just obsoleted our old equipment! It's worth its weight as scrap steel right now."

"That's just not true!" Campbell angrily protested. "Those machines are just as good today as the day they were built!"

"But they don't perform!" She did scream that time.

"How about plant expansion?" Bill Miller asked, changing the subject.

"Out of the question," both Campbell and Brewster replied in unison.

"Okay, enough of this," Harrison said, figuratively throwing up his hands. Then to Brad and Kim he said, "Could you wait in my office next door, please? This will only take a few minutes."

In Harrison's office, Kim wasted no time. She called the plant manager and told him to start shutting down all existing production machine tools and replacing them immediately with the new models. Furthermore, he was ordered to get a construction company in immediately to start doubling the size of the plant. She promised to have the new layout to him by the afternoon.

"But boss," the manager protested, "I don't have the authority to do that."

"But I do, so do it!" Kim ordered.

When she hung up, Brad grinned and added, "So there!"

At that point Harrison and Miller entered the office.

"Well, we need a new vice president–finance," Harrison said.

"That's easy to fill," Brad said. "Promote Bill Christian. Not only does he know more finance than ten Campbells do, he needs the money."

"What's that mean?" Bill Miller asked.

"It means that his wife is about to become a partner in the most prestigious — and most profitable — law firm on the West Coast, Clifford & Jamison, and is already making $125,000 a year while waiting for her promotion to partner to be official, is what it means."

"How about administration?" George asked.

"That's pretty simple, too," Kim replied. "I hate to lose her, but Jenny Clark would be perfect. Did you really get a good look at how she's organized that office? Utterly incredible! And she's an engineer, too. She really knows and understands what this company does."

"What are we going to do about that office?"

"I have a couple of ideas about that," Kim replied. "First, I've just ordered all machine tools be replaced with our new models, immediately. Second, I've ordered the size of the plant to be doubled." She shook her head sadly and continued, "Those utter idiots! Do you realize they almost killed the company? The worst possible strategic position for a company to be in is to demonstrate the existence of a monster new market — which we just did — and simultaneously demonstrate its own inability to supply it. And that's what Campbell almost did to us!

"And as for using old tooling ... Just a couple of years ago, it happened to Xerox. They introduced a dedicated word processor, the 860, that was really doing a number on Wang's business; Wang was the industry leader at the time. I'm certain Xerox would have done far better except there were major-league software problems with their new units. Their sales force is awfully good — one of the very best — but their customers were getting restless. The customers were assured that the new software revision — maybe it was 3.0, I really don't remember — would solve all the problems.

"Well, that revision came out, and the problems were even worse. Customers were furious! The Xerox development people insisted that it worked perfectly without a glitch. But Xerox field technicians, using the customer's equipment, saw the problems for themselves. 'But that can't happen!' the development techies insisted. 'Don't tell me what it can't do!' the field tech screamed. 'I'm at the unit and it's doing it!'

"What happened? Let's face it, Xerox has some very bright people. Well, they finally figured it out. Know what happened?"

Brad knew the story, but George and Bill just shook their heads.

"Xerox had gotten greedy. The 860 was so successful every production unit was being shipped to a waiting customer. So what were the software development people using? Pre-production prototypes. They weren't the same as the production units the customers were receiving. Their software people were correct: The new software did run perfectly ... on pre-production prototypes.

"The point is, we were setting ourselves up for the same thing! We need to be ahead of our customers' usage, not behind it. If there's a machine failure, I want it to happen to one of our machines first, not on a customer's unit. Okay?"

Bill Miller grinned and turned to Harrison. "George, have I told you lately how brilliant you are? But on the other hand, when you insisted on hiring that female mechanical engineer, I knew there would be trouble, and just look... ! She's turning the whole damned company upside down."

George just grinned. With the others still present, he called Bill Christian into his office and told him of his promotion. Then he explained why Campbell was no longer with the company.

"It's just as well, I guess, George," Bill finally said. "Because if he hadn't been gone, I would have been. That guy was living in the Middle Ages ... or somewhere."

"How about the girls?" Kim asked.

"Have any ideas?" Harrison replied.

"Yes, I do," Kim began. "First of all, there's all that overtime. I think we should pay them double-time for all the hours they worked — we can reconstruct them pretty well from the security logs. I think Jane Chalmers can hold down the fort here for the next two weeks ... working 8 to 5, thank-you-very-much, while the other girls spend this week in the hospital and leave Friday night or Saturday for a week in Hawaii on the company. How's that sound?"

"It sounds like the way to go, is what it sounds like," George said. Then he picked up the phone, called the hospital, and asked if Jenny Clark could have visitors. When he identified himself, he was told she could, but only for a very brief period of time.

The four drove over to the hospital where they met Trudy Harrison and Connie Miller and then went to Jenny's room. When they entered, they found her awake and crying. From the looks of things, she had been crying steadily. Not only did she appear physically whipped, she seemed emotionally dead.

"Hi, Jenny," George said softly.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Harrison," Jenny began. "You don't have to fire me; I'll have my resignation on your desk as soon as I can get something to write with."

"You're resigning from the order tracking unit?" George asked. "The Leper Colony?"

There was the faintest smile on her face as she nodded.

"It's really not necessary, Jenny, to resign your old position," George said with a warm smile, "just because you've been promoted. But I suppose it does neaten things up a bit.

"Jenny, there's been a meeting of the company's board of directors. You have been unanimously elected vice president–administration. And I want to be the first to congratulate you."

The girl was so utterly stunned she fainted dead away. Kim went to her bedside and gently stroked her face. When her eyes blinked and then opened, Kim unloaded a very powerful kiss.

That did get Jenny's attention. Slowly she pulled herself together and then started slowly to shake her head. "Sir, you can't be serious. This is a joke, isn't it? Please tell me it's a joke."

"It's no joke, Jenny," George responded. "Let's put aside the 110-hour weeks you've been working since the day you started. We looked at the systems you designed and put in place, and were astounded. You have systems to track everything anyone would ever need to know, perfectly! The software you wrote to achieve those things represents an incredible achievement by itself.

"But is that all? Hell, no! With your leadership, you got those girls to voluntarily kill themselves!" He paused and then came close to the bed. Bending over, he kissed her lips and gently ran his fingers over her breast. He could feel her nipple harden under his fingertip. "Then, of course, there's the new sexual harassment suit you can now file..."

"Sir... ?"

"What's that, Jenny?"

"Could you harass me a bit more, please? And lower down, this time? That first harassment was simply luscious!" Jenny grinned for the very first time anyone could remember.

George looked at Trudy who just grinned and quickly nodded her head. His hand went lower down to her pussy. Two fingers began to explore her vagina while his thumb teased her clit.

"Right... there!" Jenny screamed as he continued to work on her. "You'll ... Aah! be hearing... Eek!...  from my... Yes!...  lawyer ... any... Argh!...  year now." The girl collapsed back on the bed. Her back had been bowed above it for most of the time.

"And what exactly was that action?" Connie Miller asked.

"Oh, that... ?" Kim replied with her eyes wide. "That was just Jenny's pre-promotion physical. All the women get them."

"They do, huh?" Trudy growled, but with her eyes dancing.

Finally Jenny's eyes opened and she said, "Mr. Morrison... ?"

"Yes?"

"Sir, just this morning I was only a clerk and now I'm a vice president. Couldn't we sort of creep up on it a little slower? Like starting as an assistant supervisor, maybe?"

"Miss Clark, are you suggesting you ... enjoy ... that pre-promotion physical?"

"Oh, no, ma'am! How could I possibly?" Jenny asked with her eyes wide while vigorously nodding her head.

Then Connie asked, "Are you planning on competing in the Miss Aerospace Technologies competition next time, Jenny? After all, Kim won't be able to defend her title."

"Well ... Yes I was, and so were the other girls," Jenny replied with a frown. "There's only one thing, though..."

"And what's that?" Connie asked, walking right into it.

"It's Kimberly," Jenny replied. "She wore so many clothes. Do we have to wear so much?"

"But she only wore a thong, for Heaven's sake," Trudy exclaimed.

"I know that," Jenny replied, "but the girls feel that makes them hide their most attractive asset."

"You would be up there, totally bare?" Trudy responded unbelievingly.

"Of course not!" Jenny exclaimed, sounding insulted. "I thought I would have a nice flower behind my ear. And one of the other girls who still has some pubic hair thought a small flower woven through it would look nice, too."

The visitors were utterly delighted at Jenny's attitude. Clearly, this girl was a real winner. But at the same time, it was apparent she was fading fast.

Then they told her about the trip to Hawaii with the other girls.

George grinned and concluded, "By the way, Miss Clark, I really only like to harass tanned bodies, so..."

"A nice tropic tan?" she asked with her eyes bright.

"Sounds good to me."

"Mmm..." Jenny replied as she drifted off to sleep.



-------

Chapter 20



The wedding went off without a hitch. As Kimberly paced up the aisle on Dan Douglas's arm, Brad thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Not only was her beauty so vibrant that morning, but there was a look of utter joy on her face that he had never seen before.

There were a couple of surprises at the reception, though. First, while the receiving line was forming, Kelly presented gifts to Kim and Brad. They were unwrapped; both were identical rosewood boxes. Opening the lids, they found the Smith & Wesson automatics that Kelly had had made for them, along with something else. Kim took hers out and examined it. It was a laminated identification card with her photo and signature on it. The card stated that she was a special U.S. marshal working for the Department of Justice.

Kelly just shrugged and explained, "It's just sort of an odd concealed-carry permit. It means you can take the weapon with you anywhere in the States without being hassled."

But there was more. After checking to see that no guests had yet arrived, Kelly asked Kim to raise her right hand. Then she proceeded to swear her in.

Kim was utterly bewildered, but nevertheless said the correct things at the right times. When it was over, she was slowly shaking her head and asked, "What was that all about?"

"Welcome to the U.S. Army, Captain Kimberly Kane Kramer, U.S. Army Reserve. You're now a captain in Special Forces." With that, Kelly presented her with a green beret. "I'd put it on your head, but I don't know how well it would work with your bridal veil," she said with a grin.

At the same time all this was going on, Lisa Douglas had been greeting Ken and Kathy Carlson. As with Brad, she began by kissing Ken's feet. By that time, both Ken and Kathy knew of Lisa, but neither had seen her.

Lisa looked at Kathy and asked, "Would you kiss your husband, please?"

That was one request that Kathy didn't need to think about. She went into Ken's arms and kissed him with all her love and passion unleashed. Ken returned as good as he got.

When the couple eased apart, they looked at Lisa. "Well... ?" Kathy asked.

The girl just sighed. "That was so beautiful!" Then she explained to Kathy how Ken had spent almost all his time when he and Brad were on leave in Saigon reading and rereading her Kathy-grams. Finally, she said, "I can't tell you how frustrating it was for me to spend every night in bed between two giants, neither of whom would even touch me! Can you believe it, Mrs. Carlson? During the day, I would be sitting on the sofa, stark naked, playing with myself, and you know what the guys were doing?"

Kathy just shook her head, but her eyes were dancing. "What were they doing?"

"Sir Ken was reading your dumb letters ... for the God-only-knows how many times. And Sir Brad? He was teaching me English! Can you believe it? Here's a girl playing with herself while she's stark naked and he's teaching her English. Men!"

"Golly, Lisa, I just don't understand," Kathy said while trying to appear perplexed but having a very difficult time controlling her giggles. "What would you want them to do?"

"Want them to do?" Lisa replied. "The same thing Sir Ken does to you for hours every day!"

"'Hours every day'..." Kathy mused. "Oh... ! You mean eating!"

"You're right," Lisa replied with a grin. "But not food; eating your pussy!"

At that Kathy punched Ken hard in the arm. "That reminds me ... You haven't eaten me in weeks!"

"Yesterday morning at about six o'clock," Ken corrected her.

Kathy hit him again exclaiming, "Men! They're always so damned technical."

At that point they all laughed. Kathy and Ken melted into another kiss, while Lisa went off to make sure everything was set for the honeymoon.

The other surprise was the appearance at the reception of Jenny Clark and the girls from the Leper Colony. It seemed that Jane Chalmers had met her friends at LAX and driven them straight down to the reception. Jane was leaving the next day for her own week in Hawaii.

Jenny led them through the receiving line. When she reached Kimberly, the girl just took both of Jenny's hands in her own and looked at her. "I just do not believe this!" she exclaimed. "Jenny Clark, talk about a new woman! Girl, you've never looked half this good before in your entire life!"

Not only was Jenny tanned and fit, she was more relaxed than anyone had ever seen her. She just basked in Kim's praise. It was just a repeat with the other four girls.

Then Jenny said, "My first act as VP–Administration is going to be to open up a company fitness center. We got started on it out in Hawaii, but there's still a long way to go. But I happen to know that Trudy Morrison and Connie Miller have the specs for all the equipment we'll need, so..."

At that point the Harrisons and the Millers came up to the girls and basically repeated what Kim had said.

With her eyes wide but glistening with mirth, Jenny asked George, "Sir, don't you think you'll want to give me another pre-promotion physical? I mean ... I've been away and haven't started my new job yet ... And you never know what might have happened out there..."

"Hmm..." George said, pretending to twirl a nonexistent mustache. "I think that will have to wait until Monday at the office. It will be a bit more private and we'll have more time..."

Everyone laughed at that one.

Later, Kim, Brad and Lisa were taken in a limo to LAX. As they were driving, Kim asked, "Miss Douglas, if you don't mind me being nosy ... Just what are the plans for my honeymoon?"

"We have a United flight, nonstop to Maui," Lisa replied. "Oh, yeah ... I guess I'm saving a little money, too..."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kim inquired.

"Oh..." Lisa replied vaguely. "There seems to be a bit of an ownership issue..."

"And what's that mean?"

"Well, PHA Properties may still own it..."

"Or... ?"

"Or Bill Clifford does."

"And... ?"

"Oh, it really doesn't make any difference," Lisa replied brightly. "Neither of them will let me pay ... And, oh yeah..."

"'Oh yeah, what?"

"You're getting pretty much the same treatment Kathy and Ken Carlson received when they came out on their honeymoon."

"Pretty much?"

"Yeah. The Trang sisters lived in their room full time while they were out here. You'll have to make do with only me." But again Lisa brightened and continued, "But they did get a brand-new bed for you, and there won't be anyone in any of the rooms on either side, above or below."

Kim and Brad just shook their heads.

The United flight out of LAX was on time, both departing and arriving. Neither Kim nor Brad knew exactly what was going on, except that they were going to the same place where Ken and Kathy went on their honeymoon. Although neither said a word to the other, both were silently praying that their marriage would be as happy as the Carlsons so obviously was.

Arriving at Maui, they collected their luggage at the baggage claim area — remarkably, theirs were the first pieces off and they were all together (it never registered on them exactly what VIP treatment really meant) — and found a uniformed driver waiting. He was holding a sign that said, "Mr. & Mrs. Kramer."

Kim grinned and whispered to Brad, "Hey! 'Mrs. Kramer'! That's me now!"

"And don't you ever forget it!" Brad whispered back, evoking a grin coupled with wide eyes as Kim slowly shook her head from side to side.

In spite of being an island, Maui is not small. Moreover, with the volcanic mountains, the roads tend only to run around the perimeter, so going from Kahului Airport to Kapalua, the choice is going about 25 miles around the north coast or about 35 around the south coast and through Lahaina. They were a bit surprised to see all the hotels along the coast at Lahaina. Kim commented that it looked like Miami Beach with grass. But they continued north into pineapple plantations and finally reached the Kapalua resort.

Evidently the driver had alerted the hotel by radio because the general manager, Hank Wellington, was waiting out front to greet them.

He shook hands with Brad and grinned. "I just don't know about you people..."

"We haven't done anything," Kim protested. "We've barely arrived."

With a warm smile he said, "It's not you, Mrs. Kramer, it's your husband..."

"But he didn't do anything, either!"

"Oh, yes he did!" Wellington insisted. "He was Ken Carlson's executive officer in Alpha Company, 1st Ranger Battalion." Then he chuckled and added, "When I told him, Jerry freaked."

"Who's Jerry and why did he freak?" Brad asked.

"Jerry is Gerald Smith, senior vice president of the Bank of Hawaii," Wellington replied. "He's also the leader of The Swing Band that most people out here think is the finest group of musicians in the islands." He paused and then continued, "It seems that Jerry had an encounter with Carlson's Rangers. Ken Carlson blew away a guy an instant before he would have rammed his bayonet through Jerry's belly. Anyway, when I told him we now have Ken's executive officer out here on his honeymoon ... Mmm, mm... ! There's going to be some very nice music at Kapalua for the next few days."

Wellington smiled and added, "I hope you folks aren't too tired. I took the liberty of calling Jerry the instant I heard you were coming, and the band will be here starting tonight."

Kim and Brad exchanged looks. Although it was only 4:00 local time, it was 7:00, Los Angeles time. But fortunately, they had slept most of the way out. Wellington's statement caused a change in plans. Clearly, both he and Jerry Smith would be disappointed if they didn't appear for dinner that night.

When they entered the dining room that evening, Brad felt like a million bucks ... at least! Kim had her hand lightly on his left elbow and looked utterly devastating in a flowing white gown that set off her golden tan and her multi-colored streaked hair. Following half a pace behind was Lisa wearing a nearly identical gown. With her tawny hair and emerald-green eyes, she was drop-dead gorgeous. Moreover, from her attitude and position, it was clear to any onlooker that she belonged to Brad, too. The one thing both girls — or maybe just Kim had done for both — was to subtly apply eye makeup. Although there was no trace of anything visible from even very close up, Brad knew she must have done something since their eyes appeared so much larger and more vivid than they usually did.

The gasps from the other guests — particularly the other women — were clearly audible as they were shown to their table which was directly across the dance floor from the band leader.

Jerry Smith recognized the group in an instant and immediately swung into The Swing Band's — and Glen Miller's — signature number, "Moonlight Serenade." The band performed it brilliantly. And as they were playing, a small army of servers deployed throughout the dining room placing champagne flutes at every table and pouring Dom Pérignon. The band and the servers finished at the same time.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Jerry announced, "and welcome to the Kapalua Resort. The reason champagne has just been poured for everyone — it's free to you, by the way — is that it's in honor of the couple who have just been seated across from me.

"Folks, this morning Brad Kramer and Kimberly Ann Kane were married. They're out here on their honeymoon. Now I must admit that honeymooning couples are neither new nor different out here, so why the fuss? The answer to that is who they are.

"Some of you may have heard the story of how Ken Carlson saved my life in Vietnam. I was an instant away from being skewered on the end of a bayonet when the guy was literally blown away by three bullets from Ken Carlson's automatic. Ken commanded Alpha Company, 1st Ranger Battalion, U.S. Army. So while Ken was saving my ass, what was his company doing? They were rolling over a North Vietnamese regiment that had been rolling up my unit. At that moment, they were under the command of 1st Lt. Brad Kramer, the company executive officer. The unit was better known as Carlson's Rangers, the most decorated outfit in the army. Brad personally holds the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest award for valor, and the Silver Star, the third highest. In other words, he's an honest-to-God hero who helped save my life.

"Then there's his wife, Dr. Kimberly Ann Kane. The "doctor" represents her Ph.D. in ... mechanical engineering! Can you believe it? A woman as beautiful as she is with an engineering Ph.D.? It's true. But is that all? Hell, no! She is also the sole designer of the highest-precision full line of machine tools in the world. Oh, yeah ... she's also vice president–manufacturing & design of Aerospace Technologies. Brad is vice president–sales & marketing.

"That's all there is to it, right? Wrong! Would you believe these two — Kim and Brad Kramer — are co-starring in a new film that goes into production next month. Its title is 'Kelly', and it traces the early career of General Kelly Jackson, the most decorated person in the armed forces. They couldn't get going before because Kelly — who has cast approval — wouldn't approve any actress to play her ... until Kim appeared. Kelly ran Kim through a course at Quantico, Virginia, that's used to train Special Forces troops and certain civilians to operate behind enemy lines. At the time she took Kim through it, Kelly held every personal record they maintain.

"Well, guess what? Kim Kramer now holds three of those records ... and Kelly had to break four of her previous records to hold onto those titles; Kim had exceeded her previous scores in all of them.

"Now I ask you? Is there anything possible to want in a woman that Kim Kramer doesn't have? But is it really fair for one woman to have it all?"

Then he grinned and said, "Would you all please rise and join me in a toast to the bride and groom. May they always be as happy as they are tonight!"

Everyone drank. It was followed by applause and cries of "Speech! Speech!"

Brad rose to respond for both of them. "Thank you all so very much." Then he paused and continued, seeming to be thinking out loud. "I wonder ... Maybe you folks could help..." Then he snapped his fingers and in a normal voice continued, "Yeah! I'll try it. Folks, I share Jerry Smith's opinion of Kim: I think she's the most beautiful woman in the world. But Kim, on the other hand, considers herself to be as plain as a grocery bag with all the physical appeal of a straight stick. What do you all think?"

There was a near-equal mix of cheers, boos ... and guffaws! Clearly a lot of people present thought the idea of considering Kim to be plain to be truly ludicrous. Thus the laughter.

Brad sat down again in time to see Kim stick out the tip of her small pink tongue at him. "What do they know, anyway?" she commented. "They're just being nice 'cause I'm a new bride."

"Sure ... they are," Lisa remarked, stretching out the first word, but with no further elaboration.

While they were enjoying their dinner, The Swing Band was playing quiet dinner music. But when the people were finishing their desserts, it swung into its normal dance rhythms. With some trepidation, Brad asked Kim for a dance.

If Brad was nervous, Kimberly was scared. She had never danced a step in her entire life. On the other hand, it was her wedding day and she loved Brad desperately, so she agreed without a further thought. Please, God,  she mentally prayed, "don't let me trip over my own feet and fall on my face!"

Fortunately, when they went out on the floor, the band was playing a slow number. When Kim flowed into Brad's arms, she had just exhausted her knowledge of dancing. But then he moved and she just followed.

For Brad, it was heavenly. It was only as they moved onto the floor that he realized he had never ever danced with his wife before. As they started to move, he realized he had a feather in his arms. Kim just moved effortlessly in time with the music and followed his leads perfectly.

Both found they loved the feeling. Then the band swung into "String of Pearls". Kim's eyes widened as Brad moved her out and away in a jitterbug routine. She watched his feet moving and copied his steps without a moment's thought. To her utter amazement and his delight, she was wonderful.

The fact was that Brad Kramer was an excellent dancer. And while he had had many dates, he had tried dancing with all of them at one time or another and found that whenever he tried to get a bit fancy, he would lose his partner totally. Dancing with Kim was unique in his experience. Somehow he knew that she had not danced much before — he didn't realize it was her very first time on a dance floor — but she followed perfectly. She's such a perfectly-conditioned athlete,  he thought. I guess it carries over to dancing, too.

Quickly he escalated up in his repertoire with Kim following perfectly. Soon he found himself using every step he knew, but Kim just followed. Then his eyes widened as he realized that when they had opened out and were apart, Kim was doing things with her feet he had never seen before. She's utterly spectacular! he thought.

Glancing around for the first time Brad realized that no one else was dancing. The couples on the floor had formed a semicircle around them with its open side toward the bandstand. Jerry Smith and his band were responding to Kim's dancing as well. One after another, the band sections broke out in their own improvisations.

Kim found she loved it! Moreover, although it hadn't shown previously, the gown she was wearing was slit up both sides to her hip. Dancing the way she was put her perfect legs on display. Incredibly, she found she could move without even having to think about what she was doing. She had broken out in a beautiful smile and was cheering the band members on. Kim and Brad on the one hand, and the musicians on the other, were feeding on each other. By the time they finished, the couple had reminded the onlookers of watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on "The Late Show".

Finally, the piece came to an end and the band was taking a break. But before they did, Jerry Smith announced, "I give up! Beauty, brains ... and dancing talent like I've never seen before! Kimberly Kramer, you are utterly spectacular. When did you start dancing, anyway? When you were two?"

"Tonight, Mr. Smith, was the very first time," Kim replied in a voice that carried.

Jerry just rolled his eyes.

Then Kim surprised herself and Brad by reaching for Jerry's mike and jumping up on the bandstand. "Folks," she announced, "that was more fun than I've had in years. Now could we really hear it for a truly outstanding group of musicians?"

The crowd's applause was thunderous.

"Now," Kim continued, "as Mr. Smith announced earlier, I'm sort of new to this marriage business." She paused trying to look thoughtful and then continued, "On the other hand, I'm an academic, so in preparation for marriage I've read a lot of books. One that was particularly helpful should have been entitled, 'Marriage for Dummies'. That wasn't the title, but I've forgotten what the title really was. But it wasn't very helpful. You know why?" she asked rhetorically. "Well, I'll tell you why: It was subtitled 'Everything you wanted to know about marriage but were afraid to ask'. Me? Well, I'll tell you where I am. I didn't even understand the questions, let alone the answers. But fortunately, there was a glossary of terms in the back.

"And you know what else? I didn't understand what they were talking about, even after studying the glossary."

She paused as if gathering her thoughts. "One of the most interesting parts was toward the end. It talked about 'consummating the marriage'. There weren't any directions for doing this 'consummating' thing, but the author assured his readers that the husband will know what to do.

Again she paused and slowly shook her head. "I just don't know, though ... You see, Brad is almost as inexperienced as I am. And in case you're wondering about that, my experience is zero ... Zilch... ! Nada... !" She frowned and added, "I'm one of the freaks the book talked about: 'an unpenetrated virgin'."

Again Kim appeared to look around the room collecting her thoughts. Again she slowly shook her head and continued, "Obviously I don't know very much about this stuff, but the author did make a comment that I remember: She implied that female virgins over the age of 10 are being considered for inclusion on the Endangered Species list.

"Oh, well..." she continued thoughtfully, "I'm sure it will all work out. There's just one thing ... As I said a moment ago, Brad doesn't know much more about women than I know about men. I'm not sure he knows that women have two holes down there, not just one." Again she paused and then said hopefully, "I sure hope he finds the right one..."

The whole room cracked up with laughter.

For her part, Kim took Brad's hand and led him off the floor and out of the dining room. Lisa, still giggling at Kim's remarks, followed.

Back at their suite, Lisa made use of its two bathrooms. She put Kim in the larger master bath with its sunken tub and put Brad in the shower in the other one. Then she moved back and forth between them, now as naked as they were.

In the master bath, she put Kim in the tub and had her soak with musk oil floating on the surface. Then she joined Brad in the shower, scrubbed him, then put him on the massage table where she soon put him to sleep with a sensuous massage. After covering his body with a light blanket, she raced back to Kim and proceeded to work the musk oil into her body.

Finally satisfied, she put Kimberly on a massage table and did to her almost the same thing as she had done for Brad. The difference was that while she had Kim fully relaxed, Lisa didn't put her to sleep. Instead she helped her off the table and into the bed that had already been prepared for the night. As soon as Kim's head touched the pillow, she was asleep.

Returning to the other bath, she began to massage Brad's penis and balls. By the time she had his cock as hard as a steel rod, he was awake. Then leading him by his cock, she led him back into the bedroom. "Your bride awaits, Sir Brad," she said softly. "She's so utterly perfect! Please make her happy."



-------

Chapter 21



Lying on the bed, Brad kissed Kimberly's lips. Instantly she was awake and returning his kiss with mounting passion. It was like no kiss they had ever exchanged before.

"I love you, Kimberly Kramer," he whispered.

"So that's the answer..." she replied with a loving smile.

"What answer?"

"Why you've been referring to me as Kimberly Kramer for so many months. You were just wearing me down, weren't you?"

Instead of answering, Brad kissed her again. It was even better than the one before. Then he moved his lips from hers to her eyes and then to her ears. He nibbled, then moved to her neck.

In no time Kim was writhing on the bed with passion. "Fuck me, my darling!" she whispered. "For God's sake, please fuck your bride!"

"Nope," he replied with Jimmy Stewart taciturnity.

Kim's eyes widened in utter amazement at his response.

"But I will make love to my wife, if she asks nicely..."

Kim's eyes widened. "Love me, husband!" she whispered. "Please make me your wife!"

"Okay," he replied, "now get up on your knees with your back to me."

"What for?"

"Because I've been reading: It says it's much less painful for a virgin the first time to take her from the rear."

Kim just shook her head while spreading her thighs wide and lifting her pelvis up from the bed.

"What are you doing?" Brad asked, surprised by her actions.

"I'm waiting for you to put that luscious cock in my dripping pussy!" she replied vehemently.

"But..."

"But, nothing! Just do it."

"But Kim, it will really hurt this way..."

"Do you really think I care?" she responded. "I want to take you this way so I can see your huge weapon driving into me ... So I can hold you and kiss you ... So that I will really feel it. Now go!"

Brad shook his head but did what she asked. She took the tip of his cock and positioned it. Then when he moved down, she lunged her pelvis upward. With their combined movements, he was deep inside her and had ruptured her hymen almost instantly. All it evoked from Kim was a small gasp, but she did hold him for a few moments while she recovered from the shock and began to accustom herself to his size.

Then she wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him deeper while murmuring, "So good ... Oh, God, it feels so good. My darling, you're stretching my insides so beautifully." Then she almost glared at him and demanded, "Now drive it in to its root!"

"But sweetie, I'm not sure you can take it. Even Lisa with all her experience couldn't take it all in!"

"She's not married to you; I am! I don't care if you tear me apart, but do it!"

As she pulled him deeper, Brad shoved. He could feel the walls of her vagina stretching to accommodate both his length and his girth. The feeling was like nothing he ever imagined. Then he realized what it was. He was home! This was the way he hoped to spend the rest of his life, embedded in Kim's incredible pussy!

Kim reached out for him with both arms. Taking the hint, he bent down so she could wrap her arms around his neck and pulled his face close. The kiss they shared was also one of a kind. With his cock moving slowly inside her — out a little, then in deeper — and their tongues dueling with each other, it was utterly perfect.

Then Kim felt his groin tight against hers. "It's in!" she quietly screamed. "It's all the way in! I did it!" The smile on her face said it all: Kim was in Heaven. "Oh, my darling, I can feel every lovely inch of my cock all the way inside me. Now cum in me," she asked.

One of the things that had happened over their months together was that Brad had developed the ability to control his cuming to a significant degree. Responding to her entreaty, he released some cum deep inside her.

Instantly, she felt it and came herself.

Brad then began really to work on her. He would let her come down a bit from her crest, then ejaculate again driving her higher than the time before. It amounted to a sort of "three up, one down" arrangement with Kim being driven ever higher. By then she was screaming at the top of her lungs for him to finish her off, but he just continued what he had been doing. Higher and higher she went. Brad expected her to lose consciousness from sensory overload, but it didn't happen. Her screams became incoherent and then wordless, but still he continued.

Finally she was able to scream a single coherent phrase, "Fuck me!"

That did it. This time Brad really unloaded flooding her vagina that by then had been stretched to the limit in both dimensions. When he did, in spite of the gigantic plug in her pussy, his semen and her syrup — both stained with her virginal blood — were forced past the plug to flow down her thighs onto the bed.

When he unloaded, Brad almost blacked out. As it was, everything went gray for a moment but he retained consciousness. Remarkably, Kim did too.

Lying on top of her, Brad held her tightly and rolled on his right side, rolling Kim on her left at the same time. They just cuddled while they slowly regained their breath.

After taking a deep breath Kim declared, "Well, my virginity is gone for good."

"No, it's not," Brad responded without elaboration.

"What's that mean?"

"It means that you're still a virgin until I finish consummating our marriage. And I'm not finished yet."

"But... !" Her word ended in a yelp. It was only then that Kim realized that Brad was still deep inside her ... and still as hard as a rock. "You can't do this!" she complained.

"What can't I do?"

"You've been fucking me for hours, and cuming in me like a firehose. You can't still be hard!"

"Oh ... Okay. Just consider me to be soft then, if it makes you feel better. But in the meantime..." With that Brad began moving easily and slowly in and out of Kim's throbbing vagina. From the tension he could feel on his cock, it felt like she was stretched internally to her extreme limits and maybe beyond.

As if she could read his mind, Kim mused, "How does a vagina rupture? Does it snap like a broken rubber band or does it just slowly tear apart?"

"I'd better stop, then—"

"Don't you dare!" she screamed.

"But if you're about to rupture..."

"If I rupture, your cum will have someplace to go besides on my thighs and all over the bed!" she insisted. Then in a complete change of tone she added, "Darling, you feel utterly exquisite in me. And because you're so big and stretching me so much I can feel every bit of your cock... My cock!" she instantly corrected herself.

In their new position, Brad repeated what he had done earlier, but in a much more relaxed and loving fashion. Since they were lying face to face, he could much more easily kiss her, nibble on her earlobe, squeeze her lovely tit and in general, savor the sensations.

Then he again started to give her cum injections. And as before, each one triggered an orgasm in her. Kim was climbing a mountain. When she reached the crest and Brad came in her, she went down a bit only to be taken up a still higher one. She was being overwhelmed by the sensations. Finally, she could take no more and just collapsed; all of her nerves seemed to short out from an overload. Nevertheless, she didn't lose consciousness although she was unable to move anything. Instead she just savored the sensation of Brad again cuming like a firehose in her depths.

When he was again functional, Brad held Kim's body tightly to his and managed to roll over on his back with Kim lying on his stomach. At that point, exhaustion caught up with them and they both slept. It was a short nap, though and Kim was the first to awaken. It was caused by a lovely fully-stuffed sensation in her pussy. Only when she tried to move did she realize she was still impaled on Brad's cock and it was as hard as it ever was.

"You can't do this, Bradley Kramer!" she declared.

Opening one eye, Brad replied, "What can't I do?"

"You can't possibly still be hard!"

"Okay. I'm not."

"But you are! You're still stretching my insides!" she insisted.

"Honey, I'm afraid we're going to have a problem."

"What problem?" she asked.

"You insisted that I can't still be hard, and I agreed with you. Then you complained that I still am. Now through what quirk of female logic can I be not hard and hard at the same time?"

"But it's impossible!" she insisted.

"Okay, it's impossible," he agreed. "Just go to sleep and you'll forget all about it."

"I can't!" she grumped. "And you couldn't either if you had a huge piece of steel pipe shoved up your insides. Bradley Kramer, I swear I can almost taste you in the back of my throat, you're so big."

Then her attitude suddenly changed again. With her cheek resting on Brad's chest, she looked at Lisa who was beside them on the bed, but who hadn't said a word. "Lisa, what do you think? You're experienced. How many times has a guy been able to stay hard inside you after cuming 42 times?"

"Kimberly Kramer, you are funny!" Lisa exclaimed. "Cuming 42 times? You have to be joking. I've never had a guy good for two let alone forty-two! I think I took one guy in my life who came inside me three times. But that was an all-nighter, and I had to really work on him with my mouth to get him hard enough to penetrate me the third time."

She grinned, but then shook her head trying to look sad. Lisa failed miserably. "It's such a stinking shame, too, Kim..." Her voice just tailed off.

"You'll never know the true joy of being a woman," she added while valiantly trying to look sad.

"And that is... ?"

"Being able to say to hubby, 'Is it in yet?' Not you, Kimberly Kramer. Never you!"

"But don't all guys stretch a girl's insides?" Kim asked with her eyes wide.

"Now I really see the problem with your coming to your marriage bed a virgin. You have no idea how lucky you are! Brad is probably twice as big in both dimensions — length and girth — as the average guy. And then there's his staying ability..." With that Lisa just slowly shook her head.

"And what's that mean?"

"That means he's in a class by himself, is what that means. He is un-fucking-believable!"

"Sweetie," Brad asked, "are you just going to sit there, or might you think about doing something?"

"Like what?"

"Ooh ... Like fucking yourself!" Brad replied brightly. "Yep! That's a truly fine idea, if I do say so. It's about time you did some work."

"Does it work this way, too?" she asked.

"I thought you read a lot of books?"

"I did," Kim admitted, "but I thought they were lying most of the time. I can really do this to myself?"

"Just try."

Slowly she raised herself up on his cock and then eased back down. Having the freedom of movement that came from being on top made all the difference. As she moved up and down, she began to wriggle her hips and shift forward and back to change the angle of his cock to her sheath.

"This is just so neat!" she exclaimed. Then she glanced at a clock and murmured, "Oh, shit... !"

"What was that about?" he asked.

Kim strained toward the bedside telephone, but it was out of her reach. "Damn!" she muttered.

"Wife, what are you doing?"

"Well, it's already two o'clock here, and LA is three hours ahead of us. I was trying to call Dan and tell him we can't do his movie."

Knowing he was being teased, Brad played along anyway. "And why can't we do his movie?"

"Because there's fucking in it, silly!" Kim replied as if that was a perfectly obvious reason.

"And you don't want to fuck on camera?"

"Don't be ridiculous! Of course I do. Brad Kramer, if you haven't gotten the hot scoop yet, I would cheerfully strip naked and fuck you on the steps of city hall. But only you."

"Then why?" Brad repeated. "I'm lost."

Kim sighed and shook her head. She acted like she was trying to explain to a two-year-old that the stove was hot. "Because the film has a running time of only about 120 minutes, is why!"

"And... ?"

"And? And you've been fucking me for over 150 minutes and you're not through yet. And I'm pretty sure there are other scenes in the film besides us fucking. So how can we possibly do it? Furthermore, while I love it, I'm sure the patrons will get a bit bored after the first 30 minutes or so..." While still moving up and down on his raging cock she tried to look thoughtful. Then she added, "Of course, if we were more experienced, maybe there are some interesting variations I could use to try to maintain interest..."

Then Kim turned to Lisa and said, "I'm afraid I've been monopolizing the only man here, Lise. How about taking your turn now?"

"Only you, Kimberly Kane Kramer!" Lisa said warmly. "You have to be the only woman alive who would offer to share her husband on her wedding night!" She smiled warmly but shook her head. "Besides, I just can't. The only way Mother would allow me to come out here with you was to swear that I would not fuck Brad."

"That's all?" Kim inquired.

"Isn't that enough?"

"How about me?"

"What about you?"

"Did you promise your mother anything about me?"

Lisa just slowly shook her head.

"But you promised not to fuck Brad, right?"

Lisa just nodded.

"Then off your ass and do something!" Kim exclaimed. "For openers, why don't you straddle Brad's face so he can taste that wonderfully youthful teenage cum cream? And while he's doing that, I can fuck myself while kissing you and playing with your gorgeous tits."

"You're kidding!"

"I am like hell!" Kim insisted. "What's wrong with it?"

Instead of answering, Lisa moved into position straddling Brad's face while facing Kim. Because of his experience with Kim, Brad had become very proficient at eating pussy. By the time all three of them collapsed, both women had had screaming orgasms in each other's arms. Finally, Brad exhausted his cum and fell asleep or lost consciousness; he wasn't sure which it was either then or at any time later.

One thing Brad did do as a result of Kim's mention of the time they were taking to fuck. He began to work on Kimberly and in only a couple of weeks was able to get her to cum on demand.

That proved to be a great deal of fun for both of them. It seemed that Kim really did have an exhibitionist streak, and she adored the feeling cuming gave her. By the time the honeymoon was over, she had cum in the coffee shop while they were eating breakfast, any number of times over dinner, and even a couple of times on the dance floor. They loved it.



-------

Chapter 22



At 10:30 the next morning the trio appeared at the golf pro shop. There they met a very youthful-looking Jim Conroy, his wife, Hank, and their daughter, Sam. Kim and Brad were delighted to meet the Conroys — Hank Wellington had explained their relationship to the Carlsons and Carlson's Rangers — and particularly pleased to see the way Lisa and Samantha took to one another. They were there to play golf, but it was apparent that Lisa was not planning on playing nor was Sam.

"Lise, you have your license, don't you?" Kim asked.

The girl just nodded her head.

"How about if we get a car for you, and you and Sam go down to Lahaina? I seem to recall seeing some shops down there."

It was arranged immediately. There was a car waiting for them by the time they got back to the hotel.

"Thank you so much!" Hank Conroy said fervently.

"For what?"

"Sam is fourteen years old," Hank replied, "and we're stuck out here in the far corner of nowhere. She's in her freshman year in high school and has friends there, but because of our location, she almost never sees them outside of school. When you introduced her to Lisa, I could see her eyes light up. You see, Lisa is just a few years older than Sam. But she knows what the high-school kids are doing and talking about. So anyway, thank you!" Suddenly Hank's face fell and she murmured, "Oh, shit..."

"What's that mean?" Kim asked.

"That means Sam has no money is what 'oh, shit' means. And how can she go shopping with no money?"

"Hank, that's not a problem," Kim replied. "You talked about how happy Sam was. Well, while you were watching your daughter, I was watching Lisa. That girl lit up like a Christmas tree! Furthermore, she has a background in Vietnam, too, that involves Ken Carlson and my darling. They'll be fine."

Before going out to play, Jim Conroy checked their golf equipment. Then he looked Brad and Kimberly over carefully. Taking a few clubs from the rack, he led them out to the nearby practice tee. As he had done with Kathy Carlson, the first thing he did was to correct their club grips. They both took a few shots, and Jim shook his head in amusement. It was the Carlsons all over again: Both were far too strong for the club shafts they were using.

Conroy made the substitution to clubs with titanium shafts and told them to really let out their swings. The couple continued to hit practice shots which carried further and further.

Finally, they were ready to play. The Conroys played against the Kramers, but with full handicaps. That proved to be disastrous for the Conroys. Both Kim and Brad had handicaps, but they had been established using their old clubs. The improvement in their games with the new ones was both immediate and dramatic.

Playing the Bay Course, the Conroys both shook their heads when they got to the over-water 6th hole. In exactly the same way Kathy Carlson had done it, Kim hit a perfect tee shot with her 8-iron and watched as the ball hit the green just beyond the flag and then walked backward to drop for a hole-in-one. They were delighted seeing Kim's girlish enthusiasm when her ball dropped. She looked like a gorgeous five-year-old.

Finishing their round, Kim invited the Conroys to join them for lunch, but Hank begged off. A neighbor was watching their youngest and she had to get back. So instead, the Kramers joined them for lunch at their place.

There they met 6-year-old Kenneth Carlson Conroy and 3-year-old Kathy Carlson Conroy. The two were gorgeous little dolls. Kenny had a working excavator that never left his hands, while Kathy had a lovely white stuffed animal in her arms. Hank explained that they had been Christmas presents from the Taylors. "Never in my life have I encountered two more perfect gifts," Hank said. "The kids haven't let go of them since the day they got them."

Kim realized that the two youngest were six and three. Looking at Hank, she put her hand flat against her own abdomen and looked at Hank with a question in her eyes.

Hank tried to look disgusted as she just rolled her eyes. Then she just shrugged and nodded her head.

"When?" Kim asked.

"Probably next week," Hank replied, obviously bored with the whole idea.

Then Kim did what she had wanted to do from the first instant she saw Hank: She took her into her arms and kissed her with all her power unleashed. Then she moved away far enough to be able to focus her eyes on Hank's. She shook her head slowly and murmured, "Unbelievable!"

"What's unbelievable?" Hank asked.

"You are so loaded with pure love and goodness, Hank Conroy, it ought to be illegal." Then she shook her head again and added, "I've met three of your children, and they're utterly perfect! And I know why, too. It's because they're raised in an environment of love spilling constantly all over everything. What a perfect mother!"

"Perfect? Not hardly!" Hank retorted. "I can't cook to save my life."

"Yes, I can see that," Kim said. "It's easy to see how undernourished your children are."

But Kim prepared lunch and continued the cooking lessons that Kathy Carlson had begun the previous year.

By the time they had finished lunch, the two girls had returned from Lahaina. Samantha was bubbling over with excitement as she started to show her mother what she had bought.

"Before you get going on that, sweetie," her mother interrupted, "we're all going down to the nude beach." Then she cocked her head while looking at her daughter and said, "Of course, I know how modest you are and how much you hate to expose your body..."

"But..." Lisa said, "I don't understand. I saw Sam while she was trying on things, and she's tanned all over."

"Oh, that's just the Hawaiian sun," Hank retorted airily. "Sam always wears a long-sleeved shirt with the collar buttoned and pants that cover her ankles. But the sun out here is really strong, so it penetrates."

"Sure ... it does!" Lisa replied while trying to stifle her giggles.

The Kramers and Lisa drove back to the hotel to return the car and to change. Changing consisted of stripping bare and putting on the white robes the hotel provided for its guests.

Grabbing towels — they were intrigued to find that the hotel even provided beach towels — they made their way to the nude beach. The Conroys were waiting for them. Instantly, the two girls were off for the water.

"What an incredible beauty!" Hank remarked as she admired Lisa's figure as the girl ran for the water.

At that point Kim proceeded to tell Hank about Lisa's background as a child prostitute in Saigon and how Ken and Brad had saved her.

"So she's another one," Jim Conroy mused. "Another wonderful life saved by some truly wonderful guys." Looking at Brad he said simply, "Thank you."

-------

The two-week honeymoon was idyllic. First, the love Brad and Kimberly shared seemed to deepen by the day. Their relationship with Lisa also developed and blossomed in strange ways. At times she was Kim's younger sister, at other times her lover and at all times ready and anxious to do absolutely anything with or for Brad.

The couple had heard that there were a number of fine restaurants in the area and they had intended to try them, but that's not the way it worked out. After the first night, it became clear to both Hank Wellington and Jerry Smith that the Kramers had become an attraction themselves. This was confirmed the next evening when servers reported being asked if "the newlyweds" would be performing that night. Moreover, somehow the word had spread; the maître d' reported calls from outside the hotel asking the same question.

Kim took the news with a grin. "After all, darling," she said to Brad, "people have been singing for their supper for years. The only difference is that we're dancing for ours."

The only apparent problem was quickly solved. That was the fact that Kim had only brought a single long dress out to the Islands with her. However, a call from Wellington to Ali Clifford, then to Andy Taylor, then to Nita Lucas and finally FedEx took care of that. A series of magnificent gowns appeared from Bergdorf Goodman. All Kim wore after the first night was the gown and heels. She didn't wear a thong, let alone a bikini. All of the gowns were slit up the side to her hips anyway.

For Brad's part, he had never had so much fun. A naturally skilled dancer, he quickly learned that Kim was at least as good as he was. Not only did the two love to dance together, but their love for each other was palpable to everyone around them. The results were incredible.

The Swing Band had originally been scheduled to play for five days. But the band members were having so much fun, they extended their stay to conform with the Kramers. Given the composition of the band, though, that required more than a few surgical operations to be rescheduled and a number of important business meetings of all kinds to be postponed.

But Brad didn't only dance with Kim, he also danced with Lisa. The girl was also a natural talent. For some reason, though, the effect of his dancing with her was quite different from his dancing with Kimberly. But it was dramatic, too, although in a different way. With Lisa he danced more to rock tunes while with Kim it was more traditional.

The effect on the patrons was electrifying. Many of the younger ones had never seen ballroom dancing. They loved it, particularly the very romantic tangos Kim and Brad did. But the wildest applause was reserved for their jitterbugging. It was a dance that the older patrons remembered but which the younger guests had never seen.

That dance truly featured Kim's grace and athleticism. Moreover, Brad noted, since the wedding, Kim had truly blossomed. She had said she was a bit of an exhibitionist and it proved to be true. The guests often gasped at the things she did, the moves she made and the incredible beauty of her body that was so often revealed.

Working with The Swing Band, the couple found that they and the band members seemed to feed on each other the way they had started to do the first night. It just got better. The band members found themselves truly opening up in ways they hadn't done in years, and as they worked together, in ways they had never done before. By Tuesday of the first week, they found they were playing to a packed house every night. By Thursday, Hank Wellington had initiated a $25-per-person cover charge. It served to keep the crowd from overrunning the place and also offset at least partially any loss of business due to the fact that the tables didn't turn over.

On Monday night at 11:00, Kim took Jerry's mike and said, "Folks, my husband, Brad, and I are having a wonderful time, and thank you for coming. But we are out here on our honeymoon, after all. And you know what? I'm really getting into this 'consummating the marriage' stuff. And so is Brad. And you know what else? That last tango has made me so horny... ! I can't stand it, so we bid you goodnight."

The other very humorous thing was their response when inquisitive people came up to their table to ask what Lisa was doing. With a completely straight face Kim answered, "She's our coach. She tells us what to do in bed." The trio howled with merriment themselves in the privacy of their suite. They knew that Kim's answer was true, but they also knew it would never be believed. And it wasn't.

As they were nearing the end of their stay, they were again on the nude beach with the Conroys and their younger children. Kim had been playing with little Kathy and having a wonderful time when the little girl looked deep into her gray eyes and asked, "Would you be my Aunt Kimberly?"

Kim was stunned. She looked deep into the child's brilliant blue eyes and almost drowned in the goodness she saw in them. "Why, honey?" she finally asked.

"It's because ... A year ago we didn't have any relatives at all. But now I have an Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ken, and Aunt Andy and Uncle Jack. Isn't that neat? But Aunt Kim, I look into your eyes and know that you're at least as good as Aunt Kathy or Aunt Andy. And they're the goodest people in the world, too. So please... ?"

Hank Conroy had been listening to the exchange. She cocked her head and then nodded her head decisively. "She's absolutely right! And I could really use another sister, too. So hi, Sis."

Kim didn't know what to do. So she went to Hank and the two kissed. There was a flow of electricity between them that was similar to kissing Brad, but very different. Then Kim did something she had been wanting to do again. Reaching down, she gently placed a hand on Hank's lower belly. When she did she could feel movement there.

"Feels sort of funny, doesn't it?" Hank commented with a loving smile. "And it's neat, too. You and Brad can be the child's godparents. And it's a good thing you came along, too. Otherwise Jim and I would have had to recycle slightly-used ones."

So that's the way it was. The Conroys were their guests for dinner at the hotel that night to celebrate their new relationship. Samantha absolutely went wild when she saw the Kramers dancing and then Brad dancing with Lisa. She announced that the Kramers were the coolest couple in the whole world and that their screen debut just had to be a smash.

On their last night at the hotel, Brad told Kim to cum three times as they did their last tango. He was astounded. Each time she came it looked like a particularly passionate element of their dance. He confirmed to himself what he had thought all along: Kimberly Ann Kane Kramer was his perfect wife.



-------

Chapter 23



Finally they were back in their apartment in Huntington Beach. It was only then that Brad told Kim that he was having a house built for them next to the Christians. He had one piece of "bad" news for her, though. Their gas well was a full 40 feet away from where their generators were to be housed. On the other hand, it was between the generator building and the house, so it wasn't all bad. He explained it had to be there to avoid tapping into the same head of gas the Christians were using, and that would never do. After all, using the same head would cause them to run out in only about 250 years, and they certainly couldn't have that.

They only had a week in the States before they were leaving for Germany. When they were picked up at the airport by the Douglases, Dan could hardly contain himself. He told them that he had heard from the German government the previous week. An official wanted to know if he was planning on blowing the new Kelly Jackson Bridge. It was no problem, of course, it was just that they wanted to have heavy equipment standing by to clear the rubble from the river. The government official pointed out that the Weser, like so many other rivers in Western Europe, had a great deal of barge traffic and a bridge lying across the river would represent a certain impediment to navigation. Moreover, it could act as a bit of a dam, and that could be troublesome, too. Dan had quickly assured him that the bridge would be left intact. In fact, he told Brad and Kim, the special effects work of "blowing the bridge" was already in the can.

On Monday morning the two went into the plant together. They expected they would be seeing George Harrison and Bill Miller, but they wanted to have a chance to look around first so they arrived early. They found their new offices side by side and adjacent to George and Bill's. They also found brand new hardhats — they were in management white — with the AT logo and neatly lettered K KRAMER and B KRAMER.

"Now we're really married!" Kim said giving Brad a warm kiss. As usual, it was intended to be a quick peck but also, as usual, that's not the way it ended up. She just melted into his arms and realized as she did that it was truly where she wanted to spend the rest of her life. But she continued, "Just think! His and Her hardhats! How incredibly romantic."

Then she changed her tone and said, "Darling, know what?"

"What?"

"I never gave you anything for a wedding present, so..."

"So?"

"You've owned my meager tits for months, so now I'm giving you my pussy and my asshole. They're yours, my darling, to use anyway you want." She paused and then added, "William Bradley Kramer, Jr., I adore you!"

"And I have the loveliest, most loving wife on the face of the earth! Kim, you're perfect."

The two made their way down to the factory floor. As they were descending the steel ladder, they saw another white hardhat. Because it was so early — earlier than executives were normally in, let alone on the plant floor — they stopped on the stairway to watch.

It came as absolutely no surprise when they recognized Jenny Clark. She went up to a young female machine operator and started to speak to her. After just a few words, the girl began to cry. Jenny motioned and a relief operator came over to replace the girl. Putting her arm over the girl's shoulder, Jenny led her to the plant cafeteria.

Brad and Kim instantly decided to follow. Entering the cafeteria, they were amazed. In just their short absence, it had been completely redone. First, it was wonderfully quiet — when the door closed there was no longer a sound coming from the plant floor — and had been completely redecorated. It had been divided into areas using planters as dividers which broke up the expanse and had the effect of creating a number of smaller dining areas. They watched as Jenny bought coffee for the girl and then took her to a table away from everyone else.

Brad and Kim got coffee, too. They found a table hidden by one of the planters from Jenny and the girl but separated from them only by vegetation. Quickly they learned what the problem was: The girl had found that she was pregnant and her boyfriend didn't want to marry her. He wanted her to have an abortion instead, but she really didn't want to. Jenny told the girl that she had organized a little support group for unwed expectant mothers. There were three other girls in it, as well as several others who had been in that position in the past. After asking the girl about her baby's father, Jenny told her that a very good adoption would be easy to arrange. The girl's eyes widened as Jenny told her of thousands of couples who desperately wanted to adopt a child.

Kim just slowly shook her head as she watched the change in the girl. It was like a very heavy load was being lifted from her shoulders. When they finished their talk, the girl expressed her eagerness to meet the other girls and see how the support group worked. Jenny promised that she would arrange a meeting as soon as possible, either at lunch or immediately after work that day. As they headed back toward the plant floor, the girl was almost bouncing with happiness. Jenny had opened up a new vista for her.

"What a woman!" Kim said softly. "Have you ever seen a more caring person in your life?"

"Yep," Brad replied blandly. "You."

With that they returned to their tour of the plant — all the machines in service were the new ones — and it was clear that the new plant expansion would be operational in just a few more weeks. Returning to the offices, they found George and Bill in Kim's office waiting for them.

Quickly Kim described what they had observed earlier. Bill Miller just shook his head. "That woman is utterly unreal! She's only been in the job for a few weeks but already she is one of the company's most valuable assets. Employee morale has never been higher. I don't know how she does it, but if anyone — and I mean anyone — in the plant is having a problem, Jenny knows it and is there with a solution."

Then he grinned and added, "By the way, you two of course know that personnel is very much a part of administration. Care to guess how many people are in the unit now?"

"Fifteen?" Kim suggested. She didn't know how many people were in it when Ben Brewster ran administration, but thought the number was 25 or more.

"There are now three, plus Jenny," Miller replied with a grin. "When she took over, there were 28. Can you believe that woman? Now there's a girl who handles benefits, one who handles payroll, a secretary and Jenny. Jenny personally does everything else, most particularly all the interviewing.

"Our managers and supervisors report that since she's taken over, the quality of our hires has soared. As one foreman said, he didn't realize there were that many good workers in all of Southern California. But that's not all. Every single candidate comes out of Jenny's office with a marvelous smile on his or her face. And that's regardless of whether she made the person an offer or not. It seems that if Jenny doesn't think the person will fit in here, she almost always gives them the name of another company that's looking for a person like him or her. Can you believe it?" He just shook his head.

Then George came into the discussion. "You both know that from the first day Jenny's girls referred to themselves as the Leper Colony." He chuckled, shook his head and continued, "Well, about ten days ago one of the girls made a little sign that said 'Leper Colony' and hung it beside their door. Let's see what's going on now."

With that he rose and led the way down the hall to the girls' office. Brad and Kim were puzzled, but clearly George and Bill were amused by the whole thing. When they got close, they could see a large white board about two feet by three feet hanging on the wall beside the door.

George stopped to fill them in. "Well, shortly after the girl put up the sign, it was replaced with a larger one, lettered in red, that said 'The Beauty Queens'. It's been going on ever since at the rate of a change or two a day. Yesterday's Beauty Queens sign was done on a steel panel that was painted and then treated with a very expensive material that sheds everything. And I mean everything! Nothing will stick to it and it can't be marked with anything." He grinned and added, "Let's see today's installment."

When they reached the sign, three of the girls from the Leper Colony were staring and fuming just as Jenny approached from the other direction. Then one of them, June Henderson, read a small note on Post-It note hanging just above it. "Those bastards!" she breathed.

"What's the trouble?" Jenny asked as she joined the group.

"This!" June exclaimed pointing to the board and the note above it.

This time the sign was headed 'The Beauty Queens'. Centered below was a picture of Jenny with the five other girls' pictures arrayed in a line below hers. Jenny then read the note above it, then stepped back to get another look at the pictures. Every one of the girls looked utterly gorgeous. All were wearing white bikinis.

Jenny just shook her head slowly and said, "It's time to give it up, kids. We lost. I guess this one stays and whether we like it or not, we're the Beauty Queens."

"What happened?" Kim asked. She hadn't been close enough to read the small note herself.

"'What happened' is that some SOB took pictures of the six of us working out in our new gym. And as you've probably guessed, we do it nude. What they did was to take the best picture of each of us, airbrush in a bikini, and here they are." She tried unsuccessfully to control her grin as she added, "The note says that the next one — if there has to be a next one — will be the same pictures without the retouching."

Kim was finally close enough to see both the photos and the note. She looked at the pictures, then looked at the girls. Finally she said, "They're good. And you girls are simply gorgeous. Personally, I think that christening you 'The Beauty Queens' is pretty accurate."

Pretending to glare at her, Jenny said, "Et tu Brute?"

Kim couldn't control a giggle. With her eyes dancing she replied, "'Fraid so." Then to George she asked,"When's the next company picnic, by the way? I can see another record set in auctioning off women."

"You'll have to ask our VP–Administration. She's the one who's handling it now."

"I'm not sure there will even be another," Jenny replied haughtily. Then to George she said, "And it's all your fault, too, George Harrison. I've been waiting patiently for my final promotion physical, but you've been stalling. No physical, no promotion; and no promotion, no picnic. Clear?"

George rolled his eyes and murmured, "Yuck!" But then in a normal tone he added, "Trudy will be by after lunch. We'll do it then."

"Mmm..." Jenny sighed. "She will, huh? How would it be if I give her one while you're checking me out?" To Kim she said, "You should see her now! Trudy Harrison is a living, breathing doll! And so's Connie Miller. And, Kim Kramer, they both blame it entirely on you. I hope you're satisfied." Turning toward Harrison and Miller she continued, "Can you believe these two? It's not even ten o'clock on a working day and neither of them can even keep their eyes open." To the men she asked, "Now what's the story?"

"Since you ask, Vice President Clark, it's all your fault!"

"My fault? How can it be my fault?"

"Did you or did you not tell our wives to continue to get plenty of exercise?"

Jenny just nodded.

"Well, turkey, that's your answer!" George said triumphantly.

"What answer?" Jenny asked.

"Good grief, woman, you're thick!" he exclaimed. "She wants her exercise when I want to sleep. And she told me only last night that you're the one who's been coaching them on how to get a guy in shape so she can take him for the fourth or fifth time! Jenny Clark, you're heartless!"

"As a certified victim of sexual harassment, you didn't expect me to behave any other way, did you?" Jenny retorted, barely able to control her grin.

Returning to the executive offices, George glared at Jenny and asked, "Is there anything your girls can't do?"

To Brad and Kim he explained, "You know that Jenny here is an engineer. Well, guess what? June Henderson is, too. And you know what she just did?"

Kim just slowly shook her head.

"You probably know that Department of Defense controls the exports of all sorts of things that might impair our national security. Well, they've decided that the precision we routinely attain with your new designs is very much a national security issue. Any export application is handled on a case-by-case basis. There are some companies in Canada we can ship to, and some in the UK, but not that many. So guess what happened?"

Again Kim just shook her head.

"June re-engineered the line to take its level of precision back toward the old levels. Now they're only five times as precise as others instead of 10 times. And in the process, she was able to reduce the parts count in each unit significantly. So now we're being killed with export business, too." Turning to Jenny he said, "And I hope you're happy, bitch!"

"Very happy, thank you," Jenny replied with a grin while sticking out the tip of her tongue.

Then to Kim Jenny said, "I have a big favor to ask."

"What's that?"

"Bill Christian has told me about the gorgeous house you're building next to his," Jenny said. "I know you're planning on having a large family, Kim, but you're needed here, too." The girl paused and then blurted, "Could I live with you? Please? I can pay, and I can cook," the girl rushed on. "And I could help with the babies..." When she said that, Jenny began to cry.

"What's wrong, honey?" Kim asked, taking the crying woman into her arms.

"You know I can never have children," Jenny cried, "so it would be so incredibly great if I could help care for yours. I just know that your children with Brad are going to be the very best. Please? I'll accept any conditions you two lay down." She paused and then emphasized, "Any conditions!"

Kim glanced at Brad who just nodded once. "Okay, but there is one very important condition," Kim said.

"Anything!" Jenny breathed.

"You have to agree to be the kids' Aunt Jenny." Then Kim continued, "Jenny Clark, you may be the warmest, most loving human on the face of the earth! That our children could have you helping to look after them is a truly overwhelming prospect."

The two just fell into each other's arms, hugged and then kissed. There was a two-way flow of mutual love.

Bill Miller had the last word. "We'll get even with you yet, Jenny Clark. Just wait until you see your year-end bonus!"



-------

Chapter 24



The Lufthansa trans-polar flight from Los Angeles to Frankfurt was on time. Kim was awakened in first class with an announcement made loudly over the plane's PA system, "It is now 0600 hours, local time. We will be landing in about one hour. It is time for morning exercise!"

Kim looked at Brad who just shook his head. "Yes, darling," she said, "we're flying Lufthansa. 'Unt ve know vats best for you!'"

Brad just grinned.

Going through Customs & Immigration in Frankfurt, they hit their first surprise. The immigration officer took one look at Brad, then at his passport. He motioned to a supervisor who immediately came over and checked Brad's passport and then Kim's. Their luggage was on two baggage carts with which all European airports seem to be equipped, while few in the States are. Moreover, in Europe the use of the carts is typically free. The supervisor asked the couple to bring their luggage off to the side and politely asked them to wait.

A few moments later he was back with a uniformed officer — a captain — in the German army. The captain, speaking excellent English, introduced himself as Hans Müller. With a broad smile he said, "Welcome to Germany, Captains Kramer!" Two enlisted men had followed the captain. They immediately took charge of the luggage.

Politely, Captain Müller asked if either Kim or Brad had been to Germany before. When they replied in the negative, he explained that they had a choice: They could fly to Hanover and drive the rest of the way or drive about 400 kilometers from Frankfurt. The Kramers decided that the weather was nice so they would prefer to drive.

At that point the captain began giving orders to the enlisted men regarding the luggage. Although it wasn't voluminous, it was more than would fit comfortably in the trunk of a car.

Kim spoke up in her perfect German. She asked that two particular items go in the car with them, and showed the men which ones they were. The three Germans' jaws dropped in unison.

"But, Frau Kramer," Captain Müller protested, "I thought you said you've never been here to Germany before? You must have lived here for quite some time."

"Why is that, Captain?" she asked with a warm smile.

"Wait a moment," he replied without answering her question. Then to the two enlisted men he asked what they thought of Frau Kramer's German.

The more senior of the two immediately replied, "What do I think of it? I think she could have a job as a staff announcer on Radio Berlin this afternoon! But she has never lived in Germany?" he asked, expressing amazement similar to the captain's.

While this exchange was taking place, the other enlisted men was looking over the luggage. One item was a bag that Kim seldom used. For its baggage tag it still had one of her Aerospace Technologies business cards that had been laminated in plastic with an attachment strap added. It still showed her maiden name. When the man saw the juxtaposition of her name with the company, his eyes widened, and he pointed out his discovery to his captain. The three were all in an engineer unit that had been assigned to the film company to handle collateral damage. Because, although they were not going to blow the bridge itself, they were going to blow some tanks, fuel trucks, and particularly a couple of ammunition trucks, the collateral damage could be significant, not that it mattered to the German government.

And in civilian life the man was a mechanical engineer, as was the captain.

Captain Müller's read the tag and his eyes widened. To Kim he said in a tone of reverence, "You are Fräulein Professor Doctor Kane! You are, aren't you? The designer of the world's finest machine tools!"

Kim just shrugged. "It was a way to pass time while my jaw was being rebuilt," she said.

Then Müller began to laugh. And his laughter just grew in volume. Finally, he controlled himself and said, "This is so incredibly funny! We came to meet a screen actress. Instead we meet one of the world's foremost mechanical engineers — your book is even now being translated for immediate publication in German — and a woman who speaks our language better than we do!" Then with his eyes sparkling he feigned a frown and asked, "What other surprises do you have in store for us?"

Kim just shrugged again and shook her head.

To Brad, Müller asked, "What about you, Captain Kramer? Do you speak any German?"

"Oh, sure," Brad replied airily. "Enough to get by over here."

"And that is... ?" Müller prompted.

"Ein bier, bitte!" Brad replied with a grin.

"But that's just ordering a single beer," Müller protested. "You aren't even specifying a brand."

"And in Germany, does it really matter? You have something like two-thirds of the world's operating breweries, and almost all of their beers are good. Besides," he added, "this way I might well get a beer I've never heard of that I would like better than one I might have ordered."

By this time they were at the curb. There was a Mercedes 600 limousine waiting at the curb for them and a light army truck behind. When Kim realized that the enlisted mechanical engineer would be driving, she asked to ride in the front while the captain could talk to Brad in English.

Off they went toward Langenhagen. By the time they arrived, Kim and the driver, Johann, had become good friends. At the hotel the film company had taken over, he said that it was the most enjoyable day he had ever spent. Furthermore, he couldn't wait to see the movie, "Kelly", when it opened in Germany.

As they entered the hotel, Kim was glad she had taken out their two overnight bags. For obvious reasons, the big Mercedes made far better time than did the truck with the rest of their luggage.

There in the lobby they found Kelly and Mike Callahan in a discussion with a very large man. Seeing them enter, Kelly popped up and came over to them. Bringing them back, the large man rose to greet them.

"Uncle Mischa," Kelly said, "I would like to introduce Kimberly and Bradley Kramer. They're playing Mike and me in the film." To the Kramers she said, "This is Mikhail Solov, President of the Russian Republics. Formerly, he was a field marshal in the Red Army and commanded all Warsaw Pact forces here in the West." Then with a grin she added, "And he's also the father of Mike's aide, Katrina, and the grandfather of their darling little boy, Sergei."

Solov began greeting them in his excellent English, but Kim interrupted him to greet him in Russian. He listened to her for a few moments, then shifted into excellent German. They conversed in that language for a few minutes and then reverted to Russian. At that point Solov began to roar with laughter.

Turning to Kelly, he said, "They really found someone to play you, didn't they? But was it essential to find a gorgeous young woman who was also fluent in German ... and Russian!" He shook his head and added, "She may be the only one alive in the world today who is."

Kelly just frowned and growled. "Uncle Mischa, the truth is, she's a bitch! No matter what we're doing, she just has to upstage me."

"Upstage you, my golden-haired daughter? That has to rate as one of the world's toughest assignments. After all, beyond your incredible beauty, there are your undeniable military skills."

"Yeah, right..." Kelly replied disdainfully. "Military skills? You know what this bitch did to me at Quantico? I owned every record down there. Now this ... this thing ... has three of them! And I had to beat my old record on four other events; she broke my old ones on those. Finally, there's shooting. You know I'm a pretty fair shot—"

Solov interrupted by pointing a finger at his head and simulating a shot. "The 'Kelly Jackson trademark'," he said. "I know it well. What about your shooting?"

Pretending to be furious, Kelly said, "What about my shooting? I had to shoot a Possible to tie this dumb bitch! And she's a showoff, too! You're familiar with our targets on the terrorist course. There's the famous one with a woman holding a baby while a terrorist has his arm around her throat. What does Bitch here, do? Could she just put a bullet neatly between his eyes? Hell, no! She fires 'double-taps' exclusively. They sound like B-Bam — almost like a single shot. One of her bullets is right between the target's eyes. The other? A fraction of a millimeter to the right." Glaring at Kim, she repeated, "Bitch!"

"Gee, Kelly," Kim declared with her voice dripping with innocence, "I like you..."

Then the two friends broke out laughing and embraced warmly.

In a complete change of attitude, Kelly said, "Uncle Mischa, what I'm saying is she's good! She's very, very good."

The five ordered beers and sat down to chat. Mike and Brad were engaged in conversation while the two women talked with Solov. During that conversation, Kelly mentioned that Kim was an engineer who designed machine tools.

At that, Solov's jaw dropped. "Kimberly Kane?" he asked in a hushed voice.

Kim just nodded.

Solov just shook his head. Then he said, "This may be a profitable trip for you, Mrs. Kramer. I will be visiting you in about six months to place an order for machine tools. The reasons for the delay are two: First, we need to line up financing, but that's a minor problem. The big problem is negotiating with your Defense Department for permission to buy at least a few of your highest-precision units." He paused and then continued, "Your units sell for about $100,000 each, do they not?"

Kim shrugged. "My husband runs sales and marketing, but that sounds about right. Why?"

"Because we're going to buy 10,000 of them," Solov replied with a smile. "That's about a billion-dollar order." Then with a broad grin he added, "And for an order that size, you two are going to have to buy me my dinner tonight."

Turning to Brad, Kim said, "Sweetie, do think your expense account could handle the price of a dinner tonight for President Solov? He's only talking about a billion-dollar order, though."

"Sure it can," Brad replied. "Assuming we don't eat anyplace too good and he doesn't order dessert, that is."

Solov howled with laughter. "No wonder you Americans own the world! You're cheap."

"Waste not, want not, Mr. President," Brad responded with a grin.

That set Solov off again.

Turning to Kelly he said, "I really never had a chance to tell you how truly thrilled I am — and my countrymen are — that this film is going to be made of some of your exploits."

To Kim he said, "It's impossible to overstate the position this woman holds in Russia today. She is considered a living saint. Even now work is in progress on a nine-foot statue of a tortured Kelly which will be placed on the site of Lenin's tomb. The square has already been renamed Kelly Jackson Square."

Then he shook his head and continued, "Your husband holds the Distinguished Service Cross, I understand. Is that correct?"

"Yes it is, Mr. President," Kim responded formally. Then she told him he won it, along with the Silver Star and Purple Heart while serving in the Rangers. She told him it was Alpha Company, 1st Ranger Battalion.

"Carlson's Rangers?" Solov asked in a hushed tone.

"Yes, sir," Kim replied. "He was the company executive officer under Ken Carlson."

"My God!" Solov breathed. "That unit is spoken of in hushed and reverent tones wherever fighting men gather, and regardless of for whom they may be fighting. A company the size of a heavy platoon with the power of a battalion."

He shook his head and continued, "You four are perfect illustrations of why the United States cannot be defeated. There is just no end to your talent or your bravery." Then he smiled warmly at Kim and said, "You see that Kelly calls me Uncle Mischa. Could you bring yourself to call me Mischa, too? This 'Mr. President' stuff gets awfully tiresome, awfully fast."

"I would be honored," Kim replied. "Never did I dream of being able to address a head of state by his first name, let alone a nickname." Extending her hand she added, "Hi, Mischa."

"And hello to you, Kimberly Kramer," Solov replied. "I think this is going to be a very interesting few days."

-------

After breakfast the next morning, the couples split up. Mike and Brad were going with Captain Müller to survey the site of Mike's original camp. Müller assured them that it was essentially unchanged from when Mike used it during the war. Curiously, the most difficult element would be Mike's effort to reconstruct the arrangement of materièl in what had been their supply tent. All he remembered was the sniper rifle was at the bottom of one stack and their battery supply was toward the bottom of a stack of supplies in the rear. The German and Russian governments were not the only ones cooperating in the filming. The American government had made available a full assortment of military hardware, particularly including a Blackhawk helicopter with its crew.

While the men were doing this, Kelly and Kim were going to visit the school at which the opening scenes would be shot. An open question was whether or not to show Kim-as-Kelly sliding down the drain to escape from the school or to open with her knifing the guard.

Since the school was located close by their hotel, the two women walked. As they drew closer, Kelly again felt a chill as she had when she returned to the school to receive her diploma. The memories of the tortures she had suffered there were still vivid in her memory.

The door was opened by Miss Handy, the headmistress. Kelly was surprised. The woman had changed dramatically in appearance: She was utterly beautiful. When she extended her hand and greeted her as Miss Handy, the woman smiled and said, "It's Mrs. Cox now, Kelly. Welcome!"

The surprises mounted. As soon as they were inside — it was the headmistress's home — Janet Cox shed the wrapper she was wearing. It was the only clothing she was wearing as it turned out.

Seeing Kelly's surprise, Janet seated the pair on a sofa and explained, "Kelly, since you were here last, there have been a lot of changes. First, as you now know, I'm married. My husband, Brian, will be joining us shortly." Then she looked down at her milk-heavy and very large breasts. "These are to feed our twins, Joe and Jim." Then she gently rubbed her swelling abdomen and added, "And this is where their sisters are now." She grinned wryly and said, "Another pair of twins."

Janet then explained what had happened. Some had occurred prior to Kelly's earlier return to the school, but most had happened afterward. "First," she explained, "Brian was a platoon sergeant in the 82nd Airborne. It was his unit that liberated this place. The KGB wasn't in a big rush to evacuate — thanks to you, Kelly, they didn't realize the full extent of our breakthrough — so they were still torturing us on the day we were freed. Brian and his men took all of them out as they belatedly tried to flee and then found us — me and three other staff — chained and freshly beaten. They freed us and then they took us."

She smiled warmly as she remembered. "It was so totally different from anything I had ever experienced. On my part there was gratitude ... and then love. Anyway, Brian and his men moved out chasing after the Soviets, but then a couple of months later — just after you were here, in fact — four of them returned. The war was over by that time. It seemed that Brian and his three friends — all sergeants — had been due for 20-year retirement just about the time the war began. Of course they were retained in the service. But when it was all over, they took their retirements in Germany and came back here.

"I became Brian's mistress, and the other three — Joan, Cammy and Lois — enslaved themselves to the others." She paused and then continued slowly, "I guess the Russians changed us permanently. You see, we're now all more than a bit masochistic." Rising from her chair, she turned and showed the girls recent whip marks on her back and buns. "This is the way we're forced to complete our assigned exercises."

Then Janet Cox changed the subject slightly. She pressed a button and a moment later a girl of about 15 appeared. She, too, was naked and very obviously pregnant. "Chris," she said to the girl, "please check to ensure that the gym is ready for our exercise period."

"Yes, mistress," the girl replied and then left.

"That's the other major change," Janet explained. "Although we didn't make much noise about it, many of the girls who were with us before the war — including you, Kelly — were sent here because of our severe discipline. This place has always looked like a prison, and given the way we operated, that wasn't far from the truth. However, when the war was over, we were in trouble. Most of the girls who had been enslaved here returned home." With a wry grin she added, "The Soviet's discipline was far more effective than our own: None of those girls has been in any kind of trouble since. But where did that leave us? Not in very good shape, I'm afraid. First of all, this is a very small school. Second, there never has been an endowment to amount to anything; we operate on our tuition income, but with the repatriation of almost all our girls, we took a big hit. What were we to do?

"I don't know whose idea it was. It might have been Brian's. At any rate, as a result of the sexual revolution, girls are becoming sexually active at ages far younger than ever before. And even with the Pill, the number of teenage pregnancies has been skyrocketing. For most people, that's a situation they have to deal with in some form or fashion, but for the wealthy, it's a different story. Those who don't want to have an abortion — and believe me, that's a very large number — face the prospect of carrying their child while still in school with all their friends. It seems that more than a few of these parents would like an arrangement where the girl goes off somewhere without anyone knowing that she's pregnant

"So that's now us. This is'somewhere'. It's funny, really," Janet said with a small smile. "What has happened now is that most of the girls are selling their babies and using the money to cover their tuition and expenses here. Some — a very few — are planning on keeping their babies. But it seems that there is a surprisingly large market for babies of socially-prominent girls among professional couples, many of whose biological clocks have run down.

"Anyway, it has saved the school."

Then rising to her feet she said, "It's time for exercise. Ugh!" With that she rolled her eyes and made a face.

Still naked and seemingly unaware of the fact, Janet Cox led them to the gym. In spite of her advanced pregnancy and her very heavy breasts, Kelly had never seen her look so beautiful. Her body and her carriage were perfect. In the gym was the usual assortment of exercise machines, all but one of which were familiar to Kelly and Kim.

"What's this?" Kim asked, indicating the one strange-looking machine.

"I'll show you," Janet replied. "With my tits the way they are — and the way they will be for quite a while yet — it's one I particularly need." With that she wound the unit up close to its highest setting then got into the saddle. "I have to do 100 reps," she said. "I just hope it doesn't take too much encouragement for me to reach that today. I'm still pretty sore from yesterday."

"But what is it?" Kelly repeated.

"It's a machine one of the other guys modified after a lot of study," Janet replied. "It's been developed to strengthen the muscles that support the breasts. As you've probably guessed, we're not allowed to wear bras. We don't even own any, anymore. My tits are now about double-D, and are always heavy with milk. My muscles supporting them really get a workout."

She began to work the machine as the girls watched. As the large LED counter passed 75, she was visibly slowing. At that point a man entered the room. He was about six feet two and very well built. Janet gasped out an introduction: "This is my husband, Brian."

"Come on, sweetie," Brian encouraged, "you're slowing down."

Then he took a riding crop and lashed her back. Instantly, Janet was back to her earlier rapid pace.

As the counter passed 95 she gasped, "This is where I really need encouragement..."

Again the crop came down, this time across her heavy breasts. When it did, milk sprayed across the room from Janet's nipples. Kim and Kelly just gaped as the girl, Chris, casually wiped it up with a sponge apparently totally unconcerned. Janet reached 100 and then collapsed.

"Now the treadmill, honey," Brian said.

Janet staggered away from the machine and got on the treadmill. She began to walk, then jog, then run. It was clear that Brian controlled the machine's speed. Soon, Janet was running at full speed and barely keeping up with the machine. There were two indicators on this one, her running speed expressed as minutes per mile, and an odometer showing distance traveled.

The girl, Chris, had left the room and then returned with two babies in her arms. The infants were about 9 months old.

Only then did the two girls realize the way it worked. Chris was standing past the end of the machine with the babies. They were hungry, and it was obvious from the swollen state of Janet's breasts that she was painfully full of milk. The object was for her to exceed the machine's speed so she could reach the end of the mill. Then she would have the babies to relieve her discomfort.

"Faster, sweetie!" Brian encouraged.

"Not ... enough..." she gasped. "Help me, darling!"

With that Brian began to apply the crop to her flanks. That's what it took. But by that time, her breasts were so full that even the blows on her flanks were enough to cause her milk to spurt from her tits. But she made it.

Collapsing on the floor, she took a baby in each arm and put it to her nipple. Meantime, Chris had sat down with her back to Janet's to provide a backrest for her while she nursed. Softly, Janet said, "You've experienced this, I know, Kelly. Isn't it the most marvelous feeling in the world?" Then to Kim she asked, "What about you?"

"I've only been married for less than a month," the girl replied, "but we're working on it."

Finally, it was over. Chris again took the babies while the Coxes, Kelly and Kim returned to the Cox apartment. Janet put on the wrap she had worn when she opened the door, and the four went outside and around to where the downspout was.

"Well, what do you think?" Kelly asked Kim.

"I think it's a good thing I'm wearing Levi's is what I think," Kim replied. Then she took off her running shoes and socks and went over to the vertical pipe. In an instant she was moving quickly up it using her hands on the spout and her toes on the rough stone façade. In no time, she had reached the third-floor window of what had been the commandant's apartment and was now again the headmistress's bedroom. Then she lowered herself down the pipe to the ground and then repeated it.

"I hate you, Kimberly Kramer," Kelly said in the flattest possible tone of voice.

"Golly, Kelly, I like you," Kim repeated with a grin the same words she had used with Kelly the day before.

At that, Kelly lost control and giggled in a lovely girlish fashion. "You're no fun, Kim. You're making me look bad, too."

There was then a discussion of the commandant's knife. "How do I get that down?" Kim asked.

"That should be easy," Brian Cox offered. "Just drop it. There's grass here so it shouldn't make any noise or be damaged."

That's the way they left it.



-------

Chapter 25



Arrangements for the filming were now complete. In another break with normal practice, the film was going to be shot sequentially from beginning to end. Moreover, with the exception of blowing the bridge — and that special-effects footage was already in the can — every scene would be shot on location. There would be no studio shooting at all. 

The first scene would be the initial firefight involving Ben Johnson and Mike Callahan. While it was in progress, a camera would film Kelly/Kim's escape down the drainpipe. She would be naked in her very first appearance on film.

Remarkably, it was turning out to be a very close recreation. The actual events had taken place beginning just a few days prior to April 15th. Filming would begin on June 13th.

Early on the 13th, Kim went to the trailer where hairdressing and makeup were handled. As usual for this motion picture, the facility was far smaller than usual since the film was operating with an effective cast of just two. There she encountered Henry Hall, the Academy-Award winning hair stylist. She had first heard of him from Carol Christian who had told her that Henry's personal attention was an unanticipated fringe benefit of her employment at Clifford & Jamison.

Because she had become used to being nude and because she would be so often in the film, all she was wearing was a robe and slippers. Kim shed the robe after introducing herself to Henry, but before getting into the styling chair. He covered her with a stylist's sheet and began to work.

"You're exactly like Kathy Carlson," he said. "You have the same very full head of hair that naturally streaks in the most beautiful ways." He then proceeded to give her a full workout, but the effect of it was merely to very slightly shorten her hair.

When he was finished and turned the chair to permit Kim to see herself in the mirror, her eyes widened and she murmured, "But it looks the same as it was..."

"You're right, it does. And it should," Hall replied. Then he left her for a moment to bring in Penny Watts, the makeup director.

Penny came into the room and just looked at Kim sitting patiently in the chair. After a few moments, she pulled the sheet aside baring Kim's body. Finally, in an utterly flat tone of voice she stated, "I hate you, Kimberly Kramer."

Kim was stunned. Although Kelly had been teasing her mercilessly from the very beginning, Kim had always known it was teasing. But in this case, she was hearing the words from a woman she was just meeting for the first time.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you're trying to cost me my job, is why!" the woman exclaimed. "It's nothing personal, you understand. It's just self-preservation. I hate you," she repeated.

Kim was truly baffled. "I don't understand..."

Penny moved beside the chair and began running her fingertips lightly over Kim's body. Shaking her head she muttered, "It just gets worse..."

"I'm really confused," Kim complained.

"Lady, you are utterly perfect! Your face and your body are both utterly exquisite. I'm supposed to make you look beautiful — I'm the makeup director, by the way — but..." Her voice just trailed off.

"But what?"

"But God beat me to it, is 'what'! There is absolutely nothing I can do for you, lady, and that's truly an all-time first in my experience." To Henry she exclaimed, "Thanks a helluva lot, Henry Hall. Thanks for nothing!" Turning back to Kim she said, "Do me a favor, please? Stand up and turn around slowly."

Kim did as she had been asked. After making a slow full circle, she stopped and just looked at Penny.

"Oh, Henry! This woman is too damned much. Have you ever seen a more perfect figure in your life? And her bearing! She carries herself like a queen and moves like a dancer. I said it before, and I'll say it again: This woman is utterly perfect." Then Penny raised an eyebrow and asked, "How's your love life?"

"Pretty good, I think."

"What do you mean, 'you think'?"

"I've only been married for a little over a month," Kim replied, "and Brad's the only man I've ever been with."

"Are you trying to tell me you were a virgin until just a few weeks ago?"

Kim just slowly nodded her head while looking sheepish.

"How long were you making love last night?" Penny pursued.

"A couple of hours, I guess."

"And did you achieve orgasm?"

Kim just nodded.

"More than one?"

Again Kim nodded.

"How many?"

"Fewer than usual," Kim replied softly. "It was only a few over 30. And Brad only came in me four times."

"Oh. My. God!" Penny almost screamed. "You two are in a class by yourselves and in a world all your own." Then she said sarcastically, "And I suppose you can cum on command?"

"It's something Brad and I have been practicing," Kim admitted. "Initially, I would cum when he asked me to, but then we realized that wouldn't be too good in the movie, so now I can also cum when he just squeezes my thigh in a certain way."

Then Kim changed the subject. "You really think I look okay?"

"Look, little girl," Penny responded, "this whole thing started when Donna Douglas called me and said you were the most beautiful woman in the world. Well, I do all of Donna's makeup, and all of Ali Clifford's, too. I knew she was exaggerating and I thought she was jerking my chain. Now I know better. It was the simple truth." Suddenly Penny snapped her fingers and said, "My God! There's going to be on-camera lovemaking in this film. And your husband is going to really cum inside you and you'll achieve orgasm at the same time, won't you?"

"Our practices have been pretty good," Kim replied, "so I hope so."

"Un-fucking-believable!" Penny exclaimed. "This is going to utterly blow the industry apart. Because I'm certain of one thing: There's not a couple alive who are capable of doing what you two do. Wow!"

Finally, as a concession to "doing something", Penny gave Kim a manicure and changed the color of her lipstick. She left the trailer muttering to herself.

-------

Kim was nude and sitting beside a nursing Janet Cox on her sofa. Again Janet had a twin on each nipple. The student, Chris, was gently rubbing oil into Janet's swelling abdomen and then did the same thing to her own. Kim was a bit surprised when Janet removed one of her babies and gave him to the young girl. Chris smiled warmly and then leaned back against the sofa — she was sitting naked on the floor — and put the infant to one of her own swollen tits. Immediately, the baby began to nurse while Chris cuddled it lovingly.

"Chris is getting close to term," Janet explained. "And she's doing so well, too! Have you noticed how perfectly she carries? Her back is always erect with her shoulders back and her lovely tits out-thrust. She plans on giving it up for adoption, but wants to nurse it first. I don't know how wise that is, but that's what she intends to do.

"Chris is a victim of women's lib. Since the courts have ruled that it's the woman's right to choose, she made the decision to carry to term, so the baby is solely her responsibility. Thus saith the baby's father." Janet shook her head sadly and said, "I detest his position, but I really can't fault his logic."

"Janet, won't my cue upset the babies?" Kim asked. Her cue was to be the firing of AK-47s.

"Ha!" Janet retorted, giggling merrily. "As long as these kids are attached to a nipple, the roof could come down on their heads, but if the milk keeps flowing, they couldn't care less.

"Are you all set?" she asked.

Kim just nodded. She had a dagger which was an exact duplicate of the one the former commandant had. In fact, President Solov had provided three identical ones, just in case. It was just as well because Kim had been practicing dropping one from the window. After a few tries she was able to embed the blade in the ground every time.

Then they all heard the shots. They were automatic weapons with the characteristic chatter of the AK-47. Kim swallowed hard and said, "I'm on."

With that she dropped a knife from the window and began her descent down the drainpipe.

-------

The cast — both of them — were gathered with the director and others to look at the dailies from the first night's shooting. Donna Douglas was there along with Dan, as were both Henry Hall and Penny Watts. The latter two had been invited because between them they had more experience in films than the rest of the crew combined. Although they were technicians of a sort, they were also real pros.

The first scene showed a naked Kim dropping the knife from the third-floor window and then sliding down the drainpipe.

"Perfect!" breathed Dan Douglas. "Kim, you could not have done it better."

Then she padded around the corner and found a KGB enlisted man about to put Mike/Brad away. The man actually was a Russian soldier, but not KGB. Kim grabbed him around the throat with her right hand and apparently ran the dagger through his heart with her left. The knife actually passed on his left side, but to the camera it looked perfect. The young soldier played his part perfectly, collapsing to the concrete.

Mikhail Solov was also at the screening. His assistance had been invaluable. First, he had personally handled the recruiting of Russians who would have rôles to play. It seemed that they all wanted to do it; it was a tribute, after all, to Kelly Jackson, the savior of Russia. Of course, he had been responsible for all the Soviet materièl they were using and for the full combat-ready armored division's personnel who had also come west to play their parts.

His last major contribution was really quite esoteric. They had rehearsed the scene in which Kimberly, disguised as a Soviet private, crossed the Weser bridge for the first time carrying 30 pounds of explosives on her back. Speaking to the guard on the bridge, she told him that she was carrying "special supplies for Major Vishinsky."

"This will never do!" Solov announced after the run through.

"What did I do wrong?" Kim asked.

Solov smiled warmly and said, "My love, you did nothing wrong. It's your accent."

"What's wrong with it?"

"If you were playing a senior staff officer, it would be perfect. Kimberly, your accent is that of a highly-educated — and socially well-placed — woman from St. Petersburg ... or Leningrad, as it was known at that time. That's scarcely the way an army private would talk. Now let me show you..."

Solov then showed her what he meant and then sent for several young Russian privates. They then said Kim's words, and as she listened to them, she nodded her understanding. Because she was a gifted mimic, in only a few minutes she was able to say her lines as if she were, in fact, a private in the Red Army recently drafted from the collective farm where she had been born and still worked.

The next scene they saw was their getaway from Langenhagen. Since this involved filming in a Volkswagen, it normally would have been shot in a studio. But not this time. Instead, there were three originally identical Bugs. One of them had had its left side removed so Brad and Kim could be filmed while seated side by side. Because Kim was naked for this scene, too, Brad's body hid hers except for her lovely breasts. The second Volkswagen had had its back end cut off so the camera could film from behind, while the third was fully operational.

When the escape scene ended, Dan was in raptures. "My God!" he exclaimed, "Kimberly Kramer, you are the finest natural talent it has ever been my pleasure to work with." Then turning to Hall and Watts he said, "You two have really been around this track! What do you think?"

"The very best!" Penny breathed.

"Incredible!" was Henry's verdict.

Next came Kim's run across the minefield toward the camp. As the bullets started to zing around her — and they were real — she bounded across the field zigzagging like a jackrabbit. "Unbelievable!" Dan Douglas breathed. "This absolutely couldn't be any better."

Then came the scene with Brad running after her. He did it perfectly, too, almost falling when he was "hit" by one of the bullets in his leg. But he managed to hop and hobble the rest of the way to safety.

To Donna, Dan said in a stage whisper, "Darling, have we been conned? This has got to be at least the 20th film these two have appeared in together. It can't possibly be their first. No one is as good as these two the first time out of the box!"

"You have a problem?" Donna retorted. "Hah! What about me? I'm the one who's supposed to be an actress." Then she looked thoughtful as she mused, "There must be something I can do..."

"How about being a mother?" Dan asked.

"Mmm..." Donna mused. Then she grinned and added, "That sounds like a plan!"

The next scene showed Kim "operating" on Brad's leg to remove the embedded bullet. Here the camera work was utterly perfect, as was Kim's performance. It only showed the tops of her hands, but not what her hands were doing. But it caught her concentration and even her sweating from the tension. It even caught the tiniest trembling in her hands as she operated and removed first the bullet and then the embedded uniform material driven into the wound ahead of the bullet.

The last scene was their lovemaking early the next morning. Again, the reality — Mike had been on his back because of his leg wound, and Kelly had been on top — helped in the filming. Kim was completely naked for this scene. She and Brad had just awakened in his sleeping bag. He had been feverish during the night, first, hot with fever, and then shaking with chills. Kim had stripped and climbed into the bag with him to warm his body with hers and had fallen asleep.

Initially Kelly/Kim had resisted when Mike/Brad wanted to make love, but then when she decided he did want to make love with her, she consented. Again the camera focused on Kim's torso. A shot of Brad's fully-erect cock would have blown the R rating to a full X. Kim positioned Brad's cock while the camera focused on the intent and loving look on her face. When she had him seated, she began to move on him with a look of rapture on her face. Then she moved faster and when Brad came inside her, she climaxed, too. Then she just collapsed on top of him while he kissed her and stroked the sweat that by then coated her body.

"Unbelievable!" Dan Douglas exclaimed.

"Could you roll that last scene one more time, please?" Penny Watts asked.

Dan nodded to the projectionist and the scene rolled again.

When it concluded for the second time, Penny just shook her head. "I do not believe what I've just seen. Do you folks realize you can see the blush above her breasts, rising up her neck to her face? And do you know that's one element of a woman's orgasm that absolutely cannot be faked." To Kim she said, "You really had an orgasm, didn't you?"

"Wasn't I supposed to?" Kim asked. "I thought I was. Kelly told me she came with Mike the first time."

"But, my God, woman! She didn't have a full film crew standing around watching! But you did, and you came anyway. How in hell did you do it?"

"Penny, I think it might have been on our wedding night. I told Brad that I would make love with him anytime, anywhere. If he wanted to take me on the steps of city hall, that would be fine." She paused and then added, "There are no words for me to describe how much I love this man."

"Lady, that is your Academy Award scene. At least it is unless the film ignites running through the projector. That is the hottest scene I've ever seen." Then she said, "I apologize, Kim. It's just that I've spent my entire career dealing with phony emotions. I've worked with film stars past counting who are in love with love but don't have the first foggy idea of what it is. Even when they're getting married in church, their emotions are phony. But you, lady, are going to revolutionize the industry. God only knows what's going to happen when faking isn't good enough. Quite frankly, there are some very big names who I don't believe have ever had an honest emotion of any kind in their lives." She paused and shook her head. "But you? Wow!"

-------

The next day the sniper scene was shot, along with communicating with headquarters, and hiking to the Weser River bridge. When they were setting up for the sniper scene, at Kim's insistence the setup was recreated using targets and measurements that Mike had used in setting up the range at Quantico. Then with the Callahans watching, Kim repeated exactly what Kelly had done on that fateful day. Like Kelly at the time, she had never seen the sniper rifle, let alone had one in her hand. Nonetheless, she opened the box, assembled the rifle and like Kelly at the time only wearing a BDU jacket, she put spare clips in a jacket pocket and adjusted the sling.

Mike was watching and just shaking his head. Kim's performance was a duplicate of Kelly's. For her part, Kelly just feigned a disgusted look. Firing from the prone position, Kim proceeded to put a single bullet in the middle of each target's head. When she finished and the targets were brought back for scoring, Kelly did it. Taking all ten, she put them together and growled, "Bitch!"

"What did I do this time?" Kim asked innocently.

To Mike Callahan, Kelly said, "Remember when I did this at Quantico? The rangemaster said that a single bullet could have nearly made all the holes? Look at what this bitch has just done!"

As Kelly had done, Mike put all the targets together. In Kim's case, except for the fact that the centers of some holes were a millimeter off in one direction or another, there really was a single hole through all of them. Mike just softly whistled then said, "Sweetie, you wanted a woman who could do the same things you really did. Kim can. What's the problem?"

"Damn it, Mike Callahan, I never thought they could actually find a girl who could do them, though. I was hoping to get someone sort of close." Then she stuck out the tip of her tongue toward Kim and muttered, "Bitch!"

When the scene was finally shot, Kim fired blanks, although the sound track was taken from when she was firing at targets. Although the rifle was partially silenced, a weapon makes a distinctly different sound when blanks are fired compared to the sound of firing real bullets.

Then it was time for the critical bridge scene. This one had no rehearsal. And there was a single change made from the reality: Kim set the timers on the explosive charges to detonate when the vehicles were close to the crest of the hill beyond the river. In the real event, they had blown when they were beyond its crest. However, what Mike had not known at the time was that there was a small village just over the crest of the hill. It had been devastated by exploding ordnance and burning fuel. Moreover, blowing the vehicles on the river side of the crest was much more visually dramatic.

This was one scene for which there really could be no retakes either. They were blowing a fuel truck and two heavy tanks. In order to do it, five vehicles — the three targets plus the truck ahead of the fuel truck and a heavy tank following behind the two targets — were set for remote control. The remainder of the convoy was manned by Russian volunteers. The explosive charges that Kim would plant — identical to the ones Kelly had actually used — were quite small, but the target truck had a full load of diesel fuel, and the tanks were carrying their full warloads of ordnance.

The scene unfolded exactly as it had years earlier. Kim had set the timers on the charges, then slapped one against the side of the fuel tanker. Moving behind the moving vehicle, she dropped flat as the lead heavy tank in a group of four and flying a command pennant rolled over her. She slapped another charge on the tank's belly and waited. Repeating it with the next tank, she rolled off the road just ahead of the oncoming treads of the following tank. It had worked perfectly.

Returning to the crest of the hill where Brad/Mike was waiting, she told him what she had done and they watched. Their fingers were crossed, although the camera couldn't see that. They watched as the target fuel truck neared the crest of the hill across the river. There was a small explosion and then a much larger one as the cargo of fuel exploded. They then saw a small explosion under the following tank, followed by a much larger one as the tank's ammunition load started to explode. A moment later, the tank's turret blew straight up in the air like a jack-in-the-box.

While that set of explosions was still in progress, the second tank blew up. It was a repeat of the first.

Meanwhile, the entire column had come to a grinding halt. The Russian volunteers were bailing out of their vehicles as fast as they could and scrambling to get off the roadway that was now covered with flaming fuel flowing downhill toward the bridge. About 50 meters from the far end of the bridge, there was a cut in the hillside for the roadway. Stopped in the cut was an ammunition truck. The flowing fuel first cooked off the truck's fuel and then its cargo exploded. Munitions were flying everywhere. The explosion blew away parts of the cut on both sides tumbling rocks and dirt over the road. It was effectively sealed.

"Wow!" Kim exclaimed, her eyes dancing. "That was pretty good, wasn't it, sweetie?"

All the cameras were focused on the devastation across the river. They were not being filmed any longer.

"Kimberly Kramer, you continually amaze me," Brad said softly. "That was as good as anyone could do."

Everything had worked perfectly. Remarkably, no one had been hurt in spite of all the burning fuel and flying ordnance.

They took a break for a meal and then immediately set up for the setting of the charges to blow the bridge. They had decided that the scene had to be shot with the correct actual timing of the real event. It was essential to still have fires burning as they were on the original night.

Again, Kim performed perfectly.

When they were looking at the dailies for that set of scenes, Mikhail Solov was present as were the Callahans. Incredibly, it was even more impressive on film than it had been in real life. Even Solov was impressed.

Kelly's comment was a repeat of her earlier ones. She stuck out the tip of her tongue and hissed, "Bitch!"

Solov just shook his head. "No wonder!" he said. "Kelly, that was as perfect a way to stop an assault armored division in its tracks as could possibly be devised." Then to Kim he said, "And my multi-hued daughter was utterly superb." He smiled warmly and said, "I am now 'Uncle Mischa', hear? And now I have an incredibly beautiful and talented daughter with multi-hued hair to go with my silver-haired daughter and my golden-haired one." With that he easily lifted Kim out of her chair, set her across his lap and kissed her soundly.

Kim returned his loving kiss and just snuggled in his arms. "Did you really like it, Uncle Mischa?" she asked.

"Kimberly Kramer, this film is shaping up to be like no other ever made. Who ever heard of real lovemaking on camera? And in this instance, reflecting the very deepest love. Who ever heard of an actress appearing in every scene? No doubles, and no stunt girls. Everything is you. Incidentally, what you did and what Kelly did is theoretically impossible. The convoy you filmed was moving at exactly the same speed as the original, and the vehicle spacing was identical. It's supposed to be impossible to roll off the road without being run over by the treads of the following tank, yet Kelly did it, and you did, too. Both of my daughters are incredible!"

This last was news to Kim. Kelly and Mike knew it, of course, but hadn't mentioned it to Kim. All Kelly had told her was to get clear as fast as she could, and Kelly admitted to herself — and later to Kim — that Kim had cleared with a far greater margin than she had originally done herself.

The film crew was given ten days off before setting up for the other scene that really could not be re-shot: Kim in the torture chamber. Moreover, because of the nature of the scene and its aftermath, the motion picture was essentially going to be finished in a rush.

-------

Kim and Brad took advantage of the time off to do some sightseeing and also to spend time at the school with Janet Cox and the girls. One of the things Kim had learned from Janet is that many of the girls became pregnant as a reflection of very low self-esteem. A friendship had developed between the two women, and Kim had told Janet about her own background, stressing that until just a few weeks earlier, she had considered herself to be as plain as a grocery bag with a figure like a stick.

The result of this was that Janet asked her to address the entire school. "Look," she said, "if you could do it, they can, too. Just look at yourself, Kimberly Kramer. You have a Ph.D. in engineering, yet. You have a husband who is any woman's dream. You're starring in a major motion picture, and you're the designer of the world's most advanced machine tools! How many things can a girl be expected to do?" Janet grinned and added, "And, in spite of the way she talks to you, you're possibly Kelly Callahan's most favorite person ... after Mike, of course."

So Kim gave her talk. She started off by saying she wasn't going to give a speech. Rather, she told the girls about her background and her opinion of herself, then just took questions. The questions started slowly, but then came in a flood as the girls became more comfortable with her and with the setting.

Both Janet and Brian Cox rated the session a smashing success. Brian had been in the back of the auditorium and could both see and feel a change in attitude on the part of the girls. The girls left feeling much better about themselves and much more hopeful about their futures.

The other thing that Kim did at the school was to study the device that had been cobbled together to exercise the muscles supporting a woman's breasts. Although it had been modified from another machine, it ended up far different from its machine of origin. After studying it for a while, Kim realized that its design reminded her of the old line of Aerospace Technology machine tools: They got the job done, but were mechanical kludges. Kim also took advantage of the fact that it was a girls' school, and between the staff and the students, there was virtually every female size and body type present.

One of the first things she had noticed was that the machine had really been designed for Janet herself; it fit her size and physique perfectly, but it was significantly less than perfect for a number of the other females. While it was adjustable, its range of adjustment was really very limited. Kim began to take a series of careful measurements to determine a more appropriate range. Only then did she realize what she was doing. Although a far cry from a machine tool, she began to see the possibility of a real market for a redesigned unit.

Baby-boomers were hitting their 40s by then. And many of the women of that generation had been in the burn-the-bra brigades of the 60s and 70s and hadn't worn bras in years. But now age and gravity were beginning to take their toll. It was either go to bras after so many years — which was what a great many had been forced to do — or live with breasts sagging down toward their navels. A machine like this one could offer another option.

That idea really fired Kimberly up. The design solution proved to be quite simple. Again, she recognized that a great many of the machine's parts were present to accomplish a relatively simple movement, but had to be used in the absence of a custom design. But with her own machine tools, a custom part was the easy solution. With that in mind, Kim did her design work and sent it back to Huntington Beach for fabrication.

Finally, they were ready to resume filming. One thing they had learned was that the building housing the KGB headquarters where Kelly and Mike had been taken for questioning had, in fact, been a Gestapo headquarters back in the Nazi days. And it was as soundproofed as Kelly had suspected at the time.

-------

Again, the group was assembled to see the dailies. This group of films included virtually the balance of the movie, beginning with the town checkpoint and then their encounter with Lt. Krepkin, their arrest, and the torture in the dungeon. Then there was their escape from the headquarters, hike to the field, lovemaking, and finally their pickup by a Blackhawk helicopter.

Both Captain Müller and Mikhail Solov were present for the screening. One thing that Kim had remembered from Solov's earlier comment about accents was the fact that her highly-educated Berlin German wouldn't work coming from a girl who was supposed to be a peasant. Müller had found several people in the area who were delighted to work with her, and again using her talent for mimicry, her German was perfect for the rôle and the region.

Moreover, Kim kept it up in the torture chamber. While she was being whipped, she was screaming at Brad/Mike to tell them everything, but maintaining the same local accent as she did. The man wielding the whip was perfect. He had been practicing, and the first two strokes cut into Kim's back. She screamed after the first and louder after the second. On the third, she managed to cut off her own scream perfectly and slump against the whipping post, apparently unconscious.

"Unbelievable!" Müller murmured. "Mrs. Kramer, how do you feel?"

Kim's back was taped, but she said, "I wouldn't care to do it for a living, but it wasn't so bad..."

"But how could you do what you did?" he persisted. "You were really being tortured, but you handled it perfectly! How were you able to cut off your scream like that?"

"It's what Kelly did at the time — when it was for real — so I had to do it. No big deal."

Müller just shook his head.

In spite of the fact that the scene had never been fully rehearsed, there had been a number of walk-throughs. In the event, it filmed perfectly. When Kim was cut down from the post, she was right on top of her discarded clothing where her pistol was hidden in a waistband holster. While "Krepkin" and his people were preoccupied with Brad, Kim drew her weapon and opened fire. Again, during the filming she was firing blanks but the soundtrack was made when she fired at targets set up in the correct locations in the dungeon.

Kim fired three double-taps and then three more shots aimed at the brute holding the whip. At the walk-through when the target shots had been fired, Kelly inspected the targets and said disdainfully, "Showoff!" All nine bullets were centered on the heads.

Dan Douglas was in raptures. "Kim, that was utterly perfect!" he exclaimed. "My God! When you were stripped, whipped and then dressed again, the camera picked up your body in exactly the way we wanted. Your breast was exposed a few times, but nothing that would cause an X rating. Kim, you're perfect!" he repeated.

When they left the dungeon, it was Solov who went into raptures. While demanding passes to leave the town, Kim spoke in her normal highly-educated St. Petersburg Russian. "Kimberly," Solov declared, "that was utterly perfect! My Lord, you could have walked right into the Kremlin with that attitude. There was not a KGB operative below the rank of full colonel who would have dared challenge you when you're speaking that way." Then he shook his head and added, "It's sad, really. It's utterly perfect, but so few people will know how perfect your performance really is."

At this point Dan Douglas came back into the conversation. "Kim, would you like to earn a few more dollars?"

"Sure," she replied insouciantly. "How?"

"A question, first. How's your French?"

"I can answer that," Donna responded. "It's utterly perfect Parisian French. Why?"

Dan grinned and said, "Because we're going to use a narrator to explain some of the action. And who better than the star of the film to do it? We've heard her Spanish — it's perfect — and you vouch for her French. President Solov certifies her Russian to be the very best, and Captain Müller says the same thing about her German." He paused, grinned and added, "And she can even get by in English, too. Hell, she speaks it almost like a native."

The next scene was the lovemaking in the field while they were waiting for their helicopter pickup. Again, Kim was on top and again she came to orgasm.

This time it was Penny Watts who interrupted the screening. Kim was moving violently up and down on Brad's raging shaft and her body was coated with perspiration. The camera angle was about 45 degrees to Kim's left. As she moved on Brad, a trickle of blood flowed from her back to the swell of her breast and then down to her belly.

"Unbelievable!" Penny exclaimed. "This is truly a first. Not only is she making love on camera, but that's her blood streaming down her side!" She shook her head and added, "If there's a way to simulate that, I have no idea what it might be. This is utterly unreal."

"Oh, shit!" Kim exclaimed, "You mean we have to re-shoot?"

"Don't be ridiculous! That scene utterly ices your Academy Award," Penny responded.

The final scene showed the helicopter landing and Brad hobbling while Kim walked toward it. Again she was wearing the peasant blouse, but three bloody stripes on her back visibly increased in size as her blood soaked through the material.

"Utterly perfect!" Dan Douglas pronounced. "I think we're there."



-------

Chapter 26



It was mid-July when Kim and Brad returned to Los Angeles. Their new house wasn't yet ready, so they went to Kim's apartment. On Monday morning they put in an appearance at the plant for the first time in weeks.

Brad and Kim went to their adjoining offices. Kim had no sooner put her things down on her desk when Jenny Clark walked in. "Welcome back, bitch!" she snapped.

"Huh?" Kim exclaimed. Then with a wry grin she added, "That's Kelly's pet name for me, but what's your problem?"

"Look, bitch, I thought you were supposed to be making a movie and staying out of trouble and out of our hair... ?"

"And... ?"

"You couldn't just leave it like that, could you? Kimberly Kane Kramer? Of course not." Jenny paused and then continued, "Here we are, busting our tails trying to get back-ordered shipments out the door, and what does she do... ?"

"What did I do?"

"Get your hardhat and come with me," was Jenny's reply. Jenny was already wearing hers.

As they were going down the ladder to the factory floor Jenny said, "I want you to pay particular attention to the women here."

The first thing that Kim noted was the sheer number of people. Although male workers still outnumbered the women by about two to one, there appeared to be more female workers than there had been total employees just a few months earlier.

When Kim mentioned that to Jenny, the girl said, "Yeah ... And thanks for that, too. Now we have to eat in shifts for Heaven's sake."

They made a complete tour of the plant, now doubled in area from its former size. As Jenny had asked, Kim paid particular attention to the women. Without exception, they all seemed to be happy. Very happy, in fact. How odd,  she thought.

Completing their tour, Jenny led the way into the cafeteria. The two got coffee and Jenny led the way to an isolated table where they could talk privately. Finally seated, she asked, "Well, what did you see?"

"I saw a lot of happy-looking women," Kim replied, still puzzled.

"How about bras?"

"Huh?"

"Bras," Jenny repeated. "You know ... Those things that some women use to hold up their tits?"

Kim just slowly shook her head, completely bewildered.

"There are very few," Jenny reported, "and fewer every day. The only ones still wearing them are the most well-endowed women, and even they'll be shedding them in a few weeks."

"Huh?" Kim could never remember feeling as stupid as she felt that morning.

"Look, Kramer, do you realize what you've done? Less than six short months ago, this was a nice sleepy little company. Everybody knew everybody else. No one had to kill himself. Of course, the company was slowly — or not so slowly — going down the drain, but what the hell ... California has a good unemployment insurance program.

"But is Miss Fix-It satisfied? Hell, no! She has to stand the whole damned place on its collective ear. But now you really had to go and do it..."

"Do what?" Kim almost screamed. "Jenny Clark, I haven't understood a single thing you've said all morning ... And I still don't!"

"Come with me," Jenny said with no further elaboration.

Again they went out to the factory floor, but then moved into the brand-new addition that Kim had never seen before. There in a corner of the new facility, she saw workers fabricating a unit she had never seen before.

"Recognize it?" Jenny asked.

"No ... Yes!" Kim exclaimed. "Is that the exercise machine I designed?"

"Well what do you know?" Jenny replied sarcastically. "She can actually recognize one of her own designs."

They stopped at the end of the assembly area and Kim took a just-assembled unit to be able to examine it more closely.

"Why don't you try it? It really is pretty good," Jenny said, her voice now losing its former harshness.

The first thing that Kim noted was that the assembled unit folded up. Her original design had not. She commented on the fact to Jenny.

"That was June and Matt Turkel," Jenny reported.

"Who's Matt Turkel?" Kim asked. "That's a new name to me."

"Matt runs the shipping room," Jenny replied. "At least the portion of it that's handling these units. He played with the design so it wouldn't occupy so damned much space. Now he can get four times as many in a truckload."

Meanwhile, Kim had opened out the unit and got into the saddle. She quickly found that her design was amazingly effective. Although she couldn't tell for sure, her objective had been to design it to work for women with a wide variety of builds. She knew that she was strong — something she had only recently been willing to admit even to herself — but she found that she was really getting a workout and she could feel the muscles that supported her breasts being worked appropriately.

"It seems pretty good to me," Kim said as she got off the unit, folded it, and returned it to its place at the end of the line.

"Hah!" was Jenny's only comment. Then she led the way over to the shipping room.

"You mean to say we're actually shipping this thing?" Kim asked, astonished.

Jenny didn't reply. Instead she introduced Kim to Matt Turkel. "Are we shipping this thing, the lady asked. Just a few. Like three trailer-loads a day."

Matt just shook his head and held up his hand with all five fingers spread.

"Five loads a day?" Jenny reacted. Clearly the number surprised her, too. Then to Kim she said, "UPS backs an empty trailer up to our shipping dock, we load it with palletized units. The trailer is hauled off to the UPS sorting center and off they go." To Matt she said, "That's what? About 1,500 units a day now?"

"Yes, ma'am," Matt replied, "but we're still falling behind on the orders. That damned backlog keeps growing no matter how many of the damned things we ship."

"That's enough for here, Kim," Jenny said. "Let's go back to the office ... No! Let's stop by the Beauty Queens first."

When they opened the door they found one of the units in the corner where formerly the cots had been. Jane Chalmers was on it, stripped down to just a thong. When she saw them the girl grinned and stopped her exercise.

"What do you think, boss?" she asked Jenny. "Can you believe it? For the very first time in my entire life, I'm becoming proud of my tits." She grinned and added, "And they're utterly perfect, too. They look and feel so natural because they are. And they shake just enough to make things interesting. It's so much better than those implants, too."

"Okay," Kim said shaking her head, "I give up. What in hell has been going on?"

"Well..." Jenny began, stretching out the word, "part of the problem is Miss Fix-It on the machine. We got your design work and June Henderson and I made the production drawings and wrote the machine-tool software. We were going to make a couple to see if they worked.

"Was that good enough for little Janey, here?" Jenny asked rhetorically. "Hell, no! She had to start spreading the word in chatrooms. Not only that, but the dumb broad has to use our real e-mail address, too."

"How much is it, by the way?" Kim asked.

"We're selling it for $199.95, plus shipping and handling," Jenny replied.

"Our cost?"

"Nearly 40 bucks."

"Do you mean to tell me that we're grossing $160 a unit?" Kim asked, astonished.

"Not really," Jenny replied. "There are $30 in royalties that have to be added."

"Who gets the royalty?"

"You get $20 and the school gets $10," Jenny replied. "Which reminds me ... What's the legal name of the school, anyway?"

"It's The American School for Girls," Kim replied, "in Langenhagen, Germany."

"Okay," Jenny commented, "now we can get their first check out to them. And it's going to be a beaut."

Then she grinned and added, "By the way, you missed a Board meeting. We're setting up a subsidiary, Female Fitness, Inc. And guess what?"

"What?" Kim asked. She was still in a state verging on shock from what she had already learned that morning.

"You own 40 percent of it, June Henderson owns 20 percent and Aerospace Tech owns the rest. But since you own 20 percent of that, you get another bite."

"Now wait a stinking minute!" Kim exclaimed. "Brad and I together own 20 percent..." Her voice ran down as she saw Jenny grinning while slowly shaking her head.

"No, dear," Jenny corrected her. "You now each own 20 percent. Now how do you like them apples?"

At that point Kim just collapsed into the nearest chair. Then she said, "You're telling me we have a subsidiary, Female Fitness, Inc.?"

Jenny just nodded.

"What else do we make, if anything?"

At that point June Henderson came into the room. "Well, speak of the Devil..." Jenny said. Then to Kim she continued, "The short answer right now is nothing. However ... June has been researching women's fitness. Busy little girl the last few days. Anyway, she found that the three biggest problems women have — in no particular order — are heavy thighs, a big ass, and a bulging belly. Moreover, she's also worked out which muscles work on which areas."

At that point, Kim left the room with June trailing and returned to her office. There the two women sketched out designs for three new units. It was only then that Kim realized something: The machine the company was making was at least as strong as commercial units used in fitness centers and gyms. She recognized that it was a result of the company's focus on industrial machine tools; designing and building equipment strong enough to last in production applications was a way of life.

By Wednesday afternoon, the design work had been completed and this time it was Kim who wrote the software to build the first prototypes. Moreover, the finished designs were remarkably attractive. The two women realized that for the most part, even the commercial exercise units were designed to produce certain motions at a set resistance level, but not much attention had been devoted to minimizing the parts count nor to making the units attractive. Their designs had been. Moreover, even though they were more solidly built than even the best commercial units, they were far less expensive to build in terms of both parts and assembly labor.

By then, Female Fitness was up and running with Kim as its president and CEO. Not only was it up and running, a new plant was under construction adjacent to Aerospace Tech's facility. While the prototypes were being built, Jane Chalmers had a promotional brainstorm. She came to Kim and June with the idea of producing an infomercial video using a couple of young women as the models. The idea was to follow the pair from a starting out-of-shape condition through the routine on all four machines.

Kim immediately agreed, and Jenny came into the act to identify and recruit two likely candidates. The first to appear was a girl named Tammy who had just returned to the company from maternity leave. The second was a new hire in the marketing department, Laura.

Kim and Jane interviewed the girls one at a time. What Kim was primarily interested in was the girls basic build; if there was a problem such as having broad hips and narrow shoulders, a girl's appearance could be improved, but the skeletal facts of life would remain.

Tammy was the first to be interviewed. She had dark hair, a medium complexion, and was nursing her infant. She was five feet four. When Jane asked her to strip bare, her milk-laden breasts dropped to her chest. Moreover, the girl's posture could stand improvement, but her bone structure was perfect. Her present condition was perfect for the rôle. She was fat with heavy thighs and a big ass. She told them her current weight was pushing 175. When her pregnancy began she was heavy at 145 and added 30 pounds to it while expecting. They explained what they wanted and told her that she would be appearing wearing only a thong. It was essential for the rest of her body to be bare. When she was told how much the pay would be and was offered one of the positions, she accepted at once.

Laura had blue eyes, golden hair, and was almost five feet eight. Her bone structure was perfect, but she was quite heavy, admitting to weighing 160 pounds. Her breasts sagged although she was only 24, and she had a lot of weight in her belly, ass and thighs. However, in addition to a perfect bone structure, Jane realized that she had beautiful features, as did Tammy, for that matter. Laura was delighted to accept the offer; the extra money would go to pay down a mountain of education loans she was carrying.

By the time the girls were ready to go, the new machines were, too. Jane had set up a baby gym with very neutral-colored walls to minimize the chances of anything distracting the viewer from the two women. She had also obtained two flesh-colored masks that covered the women's eyes. The masks were sufficient, though, to prevent either woman from being easily recognized.

The first day Jane concentrated on getting a fitness baseline established as well as getting the girls as comfortable as possible with being on camera. It was mid-August when the program began; June and Kim had estimated that the girls could reach their potential in as little as 90 days.

The transformation of the two young women was breathtaking.

By late September, even though Tammy was still nursing, her breasts were now high and self-supporting. The woman felt wonderful and was down to 118. Her figure was by then spectacular. So much so that she told the women that she was again pregnant, although nursing is supposed to prevent that. She told them that her husband, a construction worker, was utterly enthralled. So much so, that he wanted her to quit and devote full time to mothering, something Tammy was only too willing to do. Furthermore, she said, where formerly her husband would stop at a local tavern for a few beers with his buddies every day, now he raced home to be with her as much as possible. And "being with her" most particularly included spending a lot of time with her in bed. Their sex life, she related, had never been better.

Laura became a raving beauty. Kim had assisted the process with both women by arranging a day for them with Henry Hall and Penny Watts. When the two appeared at the office the following day, neither could have been happier. Both were utterly stunning. Laura ended the program at a beautifully slender 125 and claimed never to have felt better in her life. Both women were by then carrying themselves very erectly and proudly.

Jane bought time for the finished infomercial beginning with local cable channels. Immediately, the switchboard started to light up as orders began to pour in. Because each of the three newest designs were simpler than the original, they were priced at $149.95 each, but there was a special package price of all four units for $595. To Kim's amazement — but not to Jane's — the four-machine package quickly became the best seller by a wide margin.

But it wasn't just women who were calling. Soon they were hearing from major retailers and sporting-goods chains beating down their doors to be able to carry the Female Fitness line. This worked out perfectly, and with their new plant opened, they began shipping machine sets by the trailer-load.

The final amusement was provided by Bill Christian. He announced at a Board meeting of AT that the company's 40 percent of Female Fitness was producing more profit dollars to the company than its 100 percent of its machine-tool business. That was a reflection of the fact that the margins on the fitness machines were far higher proportionately than on the tools.



-------

Chapter 27



It was June and the Christians and the Kramers were driving back to Orange County after a party in Los Angeles. The occasion was the formal church wedding and subsequent reception for Ali and Bill Clifford.

Bill Christian was driving Carol's car with Brad sitting beside him. The two were taking advantage of the opportunity to discuss some financing elements important to marketing. In the meantime, the two wives were in the back seat giggling like schoolgirls. As the volume of their giggling rose, it got Brad's attention.

Turning in his seat he grumbled, "What's so damned funny?"

"It was Kathy," Kim responded with a giggle. "She's so damned cute ... And so funny, too."

At the reception, Ken Carlson had used Kathy as a demonstration vehicle in a Show & Tell. The guests were howling with laughter as Ken told of their early married days. How Kathy had breasts like marshmallows "but not that firm". How on Saturday night she would have her hair up in curlers and would pull her beat-up nightgown up towards her crotch while she watched "Saturday Night Live".

But what was causing the girls to giggle was what came afterward. When Kathy had returned to her seat and the other men present had made their speeches, Ginger Conrad came up to her and reminded her of a bet the two had made nearly a year earlier. The bet was $10 of Kathy's against $500 of Ginger's. Ginger had bet that within a year Kathy would be standing proudly naked in a public gathering of at least 20 people. There were far more than 20 guests at the reception, and indeed, Kathy had been standing before them proudly naked. In fact, she had paced back and forth in front of them to give them all a better look.

That was when the fun began. Kathy hadn't brought any money with her. When she looked to Ken and told him about her wager, he was notably unsympathetic. "Kath," he said sternly, "wagering like this is against the law. And as an officer of the court, I could be subject to disbarment!"

"Sure ... you could," Kathy retorted, stretching out the first word while remembering the myriad forms of wagering prevalent whenever lawyers gathered.

Nevertheless, no money from Ken.

So poor Kathy was reduced to selling her clothing. Kim proudly reached into a grocery bag she was carrying and revealed the green strapless gown Kathy had been wearing along with the matching shoes.

"Guess what?" she asked Brad.

"What?"

"I think I got a really good deal!" she exclaimed. "The dress and shoes only cost me $8.50 ... And the dress is a designer original from Bergdorf Goodman. And since our coloring is the same, it should look really good on me, too. And you know what else?" she asked rhetorically. "Even though it's strapless, I can honest-to-God hold it up by myself!"

"Kimberly! Of course you can," Carol remarked. "What the hell do you think you have tits for? I mean ... They're not good for anything else, are they?"

"Okay, I'll bite," Brad said. "Where did the last buck and a half come from?"

"I guess Sandy Harris bought her bikini for a buck," Kim replied, "even though it's a very expensive lace number. Sandy almost took a pass when she realized that its crotch was pretty wet. She was giving poor Kathy forty kinds of hell for not even being housebroken at her age."

"And the last fifty cents?" Brad persisted.

"That was me," Carol asserted. "I did it because she's going to be my partner, so I wanted to be nice to her. And I only charged her 10 percent interest, too."

"Ten percent?" Bill asked skeptically. "Slut, I don't think you could calculate 10 percent interest for two days."

"I can too," Carol insisted. "I gave her fifty cents and she pays me five dollars on Monday. That's 10 percent, isn't it?"

Bill did some fast mental mathematics and asserted, "Whore, that's not 10 percent, it's closer to 40,000 percent! Ten percent for two days would be more like one-thousandth of a cent."

"Oh, phooey, Bill Christian," she retorted. "There you go showing off again. You know damned well I have problems with numbers. You're just saying that to make me feel badly. I can tell."

Kim started to change the subject, but Brad interrupted her. "Wait a minute. If I heard the story correctly, we've just left Kathy stripped bare without a penny to her name. How was she supposed to get home?"

Kim giggled and replied, "That's where Kathy sort of got her revenge. Ali offered her a raincoat to wear home." She giggled again and continued, "But it was one of those clear plastic ones ... absolutely see-through."

"So what did she do then?" Brad asked, his interest now really piqued.

"Sweetie, haven't you ever heard the adage that you can almost literally get away with murder if you act like you're supposed to be doing whatever it is you're doing? Well, that's exactly what Kathy did. And she even walked on the balls of her feet the way I do as she just walked calmly right through the hotel lobby and then out to the street to wait for Ken. And would you believe it? Dozens of people just walked right past her, and the few that looked didn't believe their own eyes!" Kim giggled again and added, "You know what? I really think Kath got the last laugh on that one."

When they returned to the Christian's, they decided they would take a few minutes to look around their new house that was still under construction. Since it was a Saturday, there were no workers at the site — or there shouldn't have been any. But when they went around the corner to the garage side of the house, they saw a worker.

But then Kim did a double-take. She recognized the worker as Jenny Clark, but she was naked to the waist wearing a hardhat, work boots and Levi's cut-offs with a tool belt around her hips.

"What are you doing?" Kim asked. "And why are you dressed like that?"

"Oh, hi!" Jenny replied. Then she looked down at herself and said, "Well, I know that you and Carol spend all of your time naked, so I'm just practicing. I tried being fully bare, but this damned tool belt is too rough and it chafes."

"But what are you doing?"

"Oh ... Just practicing," she replied vaguely.

Only then did the four newcomers look around. What appeared to be a two-car garage at the side of the house really wasn't. There were two Overhead doors roughly midway in width between a one-car and a two-car size. Both doors were open. The left-side door revealed the ramp down to the very large garage that was under the house. The right-side door revealed a workshop and storage for gardening tools and equipment. It was there that Jenny was working.

Brad walked in and whistled softly. "Good grief, woman! Whatever are you doing?"

The workshop and storage area was remarkably finished. Not only was the floor covered with epoxy paint, but the walls were, too. The floor was a medium gray while the walls were white, but at the junction, instead of a 90-degree angle, they met in a curve to eliminate any cracks or crevices.

"What's all this for?" he asked.

"I'm really just practicing for the inside," Jenny replied. "I'm practicing my cabinet work and painting. How do you like it?"

"It's going to be the most elaborate storage area and workshop ever built is what I think," he replied.

In addition to beautifully-made cabinets on the wall, there were hooks for hanging rakes and tools as well as spots for a garden tractor and the other paraphernalia that normally clutters a garage. The workmanship was perfect.

When Brad commented on it, Jenny only replied with a sniff that she was an engineer after all, and if a dumb lawyer could do it, she certainly could.

All five then toured the unfinished house and grounds. Because the Christians had a 50-meter Olympic pool, Kim and Brad had agreed that a second one would be a bit of overkill. Instead, in anticipation of babies and small children, they were building a baby pool and a second 25-meter teaching pool. It was only about four feet deep at its deepest rather than the seven-foot constant depth in the Christian's. They never even bothered to count the number of bedroom suites in the house, but there were a lot.

Overall, it was shaping up to be a very nice home, indeed.

-------

In October, it was time for another Aerospace Technologies picnic. There were two significant changes this time. Instead of just having a Miss Aerospace Technologies, there was another beauty contest for married women and even a third for "seniors". This last was at the insistence of Trudy Harrison and Connie Miller, both of whom entered. Indeed, not only did they enter, they were both dressed the way Kim had appeared in February: totally naked except for tiny white thongs. The two women by then had figures that were utterly perfect.

When Trudy appeared on the stage, she announced that even old bags could derive some benefit from the new Female Fitness equipment. With no support, her golden breasts were upstanding and perfect.

The auction of unattached girls in the morning had indeed produced a record amount of money for the employees' Christmas party fund. The Beauty Queens went for more than $1,000 each. It was a function of their beauty coupled with the much larger group of workers — employment at the two facilities was by then almost triple what it had been in February — and the workers were by then much more highly paid.

Jenny won the Miss AT prize, while Kim won Mrs. AT. Trudy and Connie tied for the seniors title.

Kim claimed to have edged out Carol Christian — both of their scores were at the top of the scoring range, requiring a playoff — by commenting loudly to the assembled workers, "Surely, you're not going to vote for... a lawyer...  are you?"

The crowd roared with laughter at her quip and gave her the title.

George Harrison presented the awards — even better prizes than at the previous picnic. As he awarded her prize to Jenny he said, "I need to tell you folks a little story. Many of you know it — you were there — but some of you don't.

"A couple of weeks ago, there was a major effort to organize our workers. The union held a meeting for all employees to explain the advantages of union membership. At any rate, when they got finished with the list of things they would do, one of you guys — who probably should remain nameless — rose and said, 'We don't need you guys. Jenny already does everything you say you'll do for us, but she's better at it and she's free.' With that he got up and walked out.

"I don't think the union even got 2 percent of our workers to sign cards asking for a representation vote.

"Finally, I'll say one more thing: Jenny Clark is one of the finest human beings I've ever met." Then Harrison grinned and added, "In an informal survey, we find that your feelings for Jenny run the full gamut from love to worshiping the ground she walks on. What a woman!"

His comments were greeted by thunderous applause with the people making as much noise in support of his comments as they were able to.

-------

By November the new Female Fitness plant was in full operation. Again, it was Jane Chalmers who came up with the idea. The plant staffing was totally female; in general, it seemed that Equal Rights were shaded in the direction of women; an all-male facility would have gotten into big trouble but all-female was a different story. Beyond that, though, as a condition of employment, any woman working in the FF plant had to agree to go through the course using its machines and then to stay with it. Moreover, photographs were taken of each woman at the time of her employment and then at the completion of the course. This developed into a picture gallery in the reception area, and the before and after photos were truly remarkable.

It was funny, too. A number of women wanted the pictures of themselves to be nude. The pictures were taken but all were given to the women themselves. The posted pictures all showed them wearing bikinis.

By then the infomercial had begun to run and the orders poured in. Kimberly, as president of Female Fitness, proved to be the best spokesman for the company. Not only did she appear on local television, foreign media wanted interviews, too.

Kim's beauty and charm utterly blew them away. And since she responded in their native language typically speaking it better than they did, the effect was both powerful and immediate. Orders started to pour in from overseas. The Beauty Queens had fun with that, too. They set up a pool that paid off to the girl who correctly predicted the time when their phones would start to ring off their hooks. And that was a function of what time and where the most recent Kimberly interview had aired. They decided that it was usually ten minutes or less after the broadcast. The Female Fitness line became another smash hit, and unlike the situation with the machine tools, there were no DOD export problems with them.

Kim also received a lovely letter from Janet Cox. She reported that, thanks to the money now pouring in from Female Fitness, the school was being completely renovated, and was in better financial condition than it had ever been in before. Finally, she added that Chris Headrick, the girl who had been pregnant, had returned to the States with her baby, a beautiful blue-eyed blonde.

A few days later, Kim received a phone call from Chris. It came as a surprise to learn that Chris lived in Beverly Hills. She told Kim that her parents very much wanted to meet Brad and her. A date was set for the following week at the Headricks' home.

Brad was driving when they found the address in Beverly Hills. Their eyes widened as they realized it was an estate significantly grander than the Douglas's. Before the tires had stopped crunching on the gravel, the front door opened and there was Chris Headrick. For the first time, the Kramers got a good look at her, and Kim realized the girl was truly beautiful. She was a blue-eyed golden blonde and was almost five feet nine, too. Her figure was perfect and showed no signs of her recent pregnancy. The Kramers had a gift for her — the complete line of Female Fitness machines — in the car, but they decided to leave them there for the moment.

Chris ushered them into the livingroom where her mother and father were waiting. Her father was Tom Headrick, but her mother was the big surprise. The Kramers instantly recognized her as Margo Mason, a top actress who had been starring in major motion pictures for years. Chris excused herself leaving the Kramers alone with her parents.

Following the introductions, Margo's first words stunned the Kramers. "What an unbelievably shitty mother I've been to Chris!" she exclaimed. "I should be shot."

Neither Kramer could think of anything to say so they remained silent.

"Since Chris returned from Germany, we've talked to her more than in the ten years previous," Margo confessed.

At that point the speech stopped as Chris returned with a beautiful baby in her arms. "This is Debbie Headrick," she announced proudly.

"Our utterly gorgeous granddaughter," Margo declared. Clearly, the Headricks were as proud as punch. "My God!" she continued, "we wanted Chris to abort and then later, to give the child up for adoption." She shook her head sadly and said, "Chris was a lot smarter than the rest of us. Because of her bravery and your good sense and counsel, Kim, we have the world's best grandchild."

Her parents were seated on the sofa, and both moved aside to provide a space for Chris between them. Her mother cradled the infant while Chris reached behind, unfastened the hook and then ran the zipper down below her waist. With a shrug she dropped her top revealing her golden breasts. When she put her daughter on her left nipple, her mother gently caressed her bare right breast.

"Chris is so utterly perfect!" Margo declared. "Even filled with milk — it's luscious and sweet, too, I should say — her tits stand up so proudly. In fact, she's a cheerleader now. There were tryouts at the start of school — one of the cheerleaders moved out of town — and Chris was selected." The woman paused and then added, "Honestly, I think it's funny as hell to have a cheerleader who's already a mother, although that isn't widely known. Beyond that, though, Chris now has a reputation as a Goodie Two-Shoes. Isn't that neat?" she asked with a broad grin.

At that point, Kim and Brad exchanged glances. Brad asked Tom Headrick for assistance and the two men went to the car and carried in the machine set the Kramers had brought for Chris. The Headricks were fascinated and Margo asked if they could be set up in the living room temporarily. By the time the machines had been unpacked and set up, Chris had finished nursing and returned baby Debbie to her bassinet.

Returning to the livingroom, the girl slipped off her dress and proceeded to try out the Female Fitness machines, starting with the machine inspired by the unit at the school. "This is totally perfect!" she exclaimed. "It's so much smoother in its operation than the one at school!"

While she continued her workout, Margo resumed her speech. "It was all my fault, you see," she insisted, slowly shaking her head in sorrow. "As you can see, Chris is a tall girl, and so am I. What I totally overlooked was a very common phenomenon among tall girls: They tend to be late developing on top, and that's what happened to Chris. If I had been paying any attention to her, I would have — should have — noticed it. In less than five minutes I could have reassured her.

"But did I? Hell, no! So what happened? Chris felt like the original ugly duckling with self-esteem to match. So when a guy expresses some interest in her, purely in an effort to get into her pants, what's she do? She drops them in an instant, of course, and spreads her legs." Margo again shook her head sadly, "The result was Baby Debbie, of course, but the anguish this poor girl went through..."

Then to Kim she said, "Your speech at the school turned things around. Chris thinks you are the most beautiful woman alive, and the most accomplished. You inspired her, Kim. There are no words to express how grateful we are for what you did for her."

The conversation became more general and Chris finished her exercises. She was fascinated to see how easily the machines folded up and how solid they felt in use. With her father she took them off presumably to an exercise room of some sort. When they returned, Chris told her parents more about Kimberly, far more than they had previously known.

When she exclaimed about the machines, Brad said, "Chris, thank my wife. She designed them all and is president and principal stockholder of Female Fitness, the company that makes them. Oh, yeah," he added, "and in her spare time she's vice president–manufacturing & design for Aerospace Technologies."

In an apparent change of subject, Tom Headrick asked, "By the way, who represents you folks? I've been asking around, but none of the big-time agents in town know. All they know is it's not themselves, as much as they would like it to be."

Kim and Brad exchanged looks. It was a question no one had ever asked before. Finally, Kim just shook her head and replied, "No one. We don't have an agent."

"But... !" Tom stammered, "You have to. You starred in a major motion picture. There had to be a contract."

"Oh, that..." Kim said. "I remember now: Ali Clifford had some papers for us to sign just before we started filming, and Brad and I signed them. I guess those must have been our contracts."

"But who negotiated..." Tom's voice ran down. "Holy shit! Do you know what you two did?"

Both Brad and Kim just slowly shook their heads.

"Do you know with whom you have a contract?"

Again they shook their heads.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" Tom exclaimed gleefully. "You two really broke the bank! The contract is with Alliance Studios. And do you know who controls — hell, owns — Alliance Studios?"

Kim started to shake her head but stopped. "It's Ali Clifford, isn't it?"

"It sure is! And you know what you two engineered? You had Ali Clifford as your agent negotiating with Alliance Studios, which she owns. Talk about a 'can't lose' situation; that's as good as it gets."

Both Kim and Brad's eyes started to widen as the import of what Headrick was saying began to sink in.

"I remember something the judge said," Kim commented slowly. "The hallmark of Clifford & Jamison is that the client's interest is paramount. If serving those interests create problems in the firm, they live with the problems but serve the client first."

"That's exactly it!" Headrick exclaimed. "You, in effect, had Ali negotiating with herself. The result is that you got more than anyone else alive could have gotten. All I can say is that in negotiations, those women are tough! They fight tooth and claw for everything they can get for their client. And that's what happened. Alliance just rolled over for you two."

Then Headrick again changed the subject. "The reason I asked is that I've talked to Dan Douglas and he says you two are the very best in the business. And I have it from both Henry Hall and Penny Watts that the love scenes you do are the hottest things ever put on film. Anyway, as you may or may not know, I have a few Oscars lying around here, too. Are you interested at all?"

"Golly, Tom," Kim replied with her eyes wide, "maybe you should talk to our agent."

"Who is... ?"

"Allison Clifford, of course," Kim said with a grin.

"Oh, shit!" Tom replied with a grin of his own. "Here we go again!"

"What's that mean?"

"It means I'm doing the film for Alliance Studios, is what it means."



-------

Chapter 28



It was late October, and it was the moment of truth. That night — Friday — the first sneak preview of "Kelly" was going to be run at a theater in Beverly Hills. Both Brad and Kim were amazed at the location. Although neither knew much about the business side of the film business, they thought that films were often previewed in the Hollywood vicinity, but they didn't think a preview would be in a place like Beverly Hills.

They decided to wear Levi's and since Brad was wearing his sweatshirt from Berkeley, Kim wore hers from Cal Tech. They knew the Douglases were planning to attend with Lisa along with others from the film, but they had also decided not to attend together.

Arriving at the theater, they saw a sign close by the ticket window indicating there would be a sneak preview that night and indicated on which screen in the multiplex it would appear. Standing together in the line, they were surprised to hear so many different people talking about the preview, and as they got closer to the cashier they were amazed at how many of the people were buying tickets for it.

They decided it was a good thing they had arrived early; the preview looked like it would be a sellout, and was. When Brad asked her about popcorn, Kim eagerly nodded her head, so he bought the biggest bucket they had.

As the film rolled, they were pleased that the audience seemed to be reacting appropriately to what was on the screen. Their first love scene was greeted with gasps of awe. The final one was accompanied by moans as more than a few men and women got themselves off while watching the action on the screen.

Although they had seen every scene a number of times, it was the first time either Brad or Kim had ever seen the whole thing in one pass, let alone on a big screen. Even they agreed it was awesome. To their surprise, the last scene as they walked toward the waiting Blackhawk clearly showed the expansion of the blood stains on the back of Kim's blouse.

Finally it was over and the couple exited the theater while as they left each tried to listen to any comments about the film from the other people. What little they heard was uniformly great.

They had agreed to meet the Douglases at the entrance when the film concluded. There was a spot close to the entrance that was devoid of people and it was a perfect place for them to wait. While they were waiting, they noticed a group of young people — apparently high-school age — standing about 40 feet away, just watching them. Finally a girl separated from the group and came over toward them. She was followed by other young women while the boys remained where they were.

"You're Kim Kramer, aren't you?" the girl said softly.

Kim just nodded her head.

"That was the greatest performance I've ever seen!" the girl gushed. She paused and then continued, "The lovemaking on screen was real, wasn't it? It had to be."

By this time the other girls were crowding around. One of them said, "Of course it was! Didn't you see the blushing that began at her tits and moved up to her neck and face? Not only was the lovemaking real, she had a real honest-to-God orgasm on camera! That might have been an all-time first; I don't think even the girls in the porn films really cum on camera."

Another girl was looking at Brad. "Sir, you're a real hero, too, aren't you?"

Brad tried to temporize, but Kim replied, "He certainly is. My darling husband holds a Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star and a Purple Heart. Those are the second- and third-highest awards for bravery in combat our country can award. And you're not going to find any of them in a cereal box, either."

"And you two can really shoot, can't you?" another girl commented. "That business at the bank a couple of weeks ago was unreal!"

-------

Brad and Kim had been driving from Huntington Beach to Hollywood when they had pulled off the freeway so that Brad could take care of some banking business. Although they didn't know it at the time, the city where they had stopped had some of the strictest gun-control laws in the nation. A permit to carry a concealed weapon was essentially impossible to obtain. The couple were unaware of this, and also unaware of the fact that three bank branches had been held up in the city over the prior four weeks. Because every one of the holdups had resulted in shootings and death — the death toll was up to seven by then: two bank guards and five customers had been shot and killed — the holdups had been featured on the local TV news shows. What had not been featured, though, was the fact that all the holdups were in the same city, nor was there any mention of the city's gun-control laws.

They entered the bank during the noon hour, and the teller lines were long. Kim stayed close to the entrance while Brad stood in the line at the last teller window; it appeared to be the shortest. While Kim was woolgathering, six men burst into the bank. All were hooded and were carrying M-16s or similar-appearing weapons. One of them immediately shot the guard while another fired into the ceiling.

"On the floor!" another yelled, and the customers dropped.

At that instant, things came together for both Kim and Brad, both of whom were armed with the weapons Kelly had given them. Because Kim's was in her purse, she had easier access. By this time the six gunmen were spread across the banking floor in two groups of three. Kelly pulled her gun and opened fire with double-taps. At her first shot, the five remaining gunmen looked in her direction providing Brad with his opportunity. An instant later, both guns were firing and all six robbers were on the floor.

Jumping to her feet, Kim raced for the door closely followed by Brad. There were two cars at the curb with their motors running. The two drivers were hauled from the cars and put on the ground.

Another girl spoke up. "My dad is chief of detectives here in Beverly Hills." The girl grinned and continued, "He said that screaming, 'On your face, asshole!' isn't the most appropriate way to make an arrest." She paused, then added, "But it was effective, though. By the way, he also said that the local police tried to give you two a hard time. Is that true?"

"Let's just say that it was a good thing that Brad called the FBI on his cellphone," Kim replied. "It saved us a lot of hassles."

That was a massive understatement on Kim's part. What had actually happened was that, as soon as Kim and Brad took their shots, a teller hit the silent alarm. She had been too frightened to do it earlier. A short time later, local police started to pour into the bank, and two officers immediately moved to pick up the felons' weapons that were lying on the floor.

"Stop!" Brad yelled. He got the officers' attention.

"Leave everything right where it is until the crime lab people arrive," he continued.

"But..." one of the officers protested, "there are guns lying on the floor. And they're probably loaded, too. Someone could get hurt."

Brad could scarcely believe his ears. "Look, guns don't shoot people. People shoot people. None of those guns is going to fire by itself!"

But then he became aware of the fact that other officers were about to move the bodies. "What in hell are you guys doing?" he yelled.

"We're ... we're going to give CPR until the EMTs arrive," was the response. The victim was one that Brad had shot.

"That's going to be a very good trick," Brad commented while shaking his head. "His heart is in pieces. There's no heart to resuscitate."

At that point a police sergeant appeared. He was shocked to find that both Brad and Kim were armed. As he was about to draw his gun, he found that Kim had her gun out and aimed in his general direction. "Don't touch it!" she said softly. Although her weapon was not pointed at him, its direction was close enough.

"But guns are forbidden in this city!" the sergeant exclaimed. "The ordnance was passed by the council unanimously," he added proudly.

"That's wonderful," Kim commented acidly. "Might that have anything to do with the fact that you've had seven people killed in bank robberies here over the last few weeks?" Then she added, "Brad and I are both Federal officers." She showed the officer her Justice Department ID, and he was still poring over it when the first FBI agents appeared.

"These are fakes!" the sergeant declared. "The government doesn't issue things like this."

The FBI's senior agent on the scene had already heard from Washington. "The hell it doesn't!" he responded. "And I got that word from the Director himself only moments ago."

By this time the crime lab people had appeared. They marked and identified all the bodies on the floor and carefully tagged all the weapons to know which was in the hands of whom. When they finished their initial work, the coroner's people appeared. That was when they found that two of Kim's targets showed only single bullet holes in their heads. With the help of the crime lab people, they tried to determine from the relative positions of the body and Kim's firing spot where the stray bullet might have gone.

"Don't bother," Kim said. "I'm certain you'll find two bullets in the brain. I've done this a couple of times before on the range. Two bullets entering a single hole."

And that's exactly what they did find when a post mortem was performed awhile later.

The two drivers were being held without bail on charges of felony murder. Each had been identified from video tape as having shot and killed people in earlier holdups. Both had been wounded by other gang members who were careless with their weapons.

-------

"Dad says your shooting was unreal," the girl continued. "Apparently it was easy to tell who shot whom. Mrs. Kramer, you apparently shoot for the head while Mr. Kramer aims for the heart. In every case, there were two bullets on the target; they were all very dead."

"They were trigger-happy punks," Brad commented. "Already there were seven dead, and Kim and I were glad to be able to stop the carnage there. Fortunately, the bank guard where we were was only wounded and is expected to recover."

"Unbelievable!" the first girl exclaimed. Then, looking at Kim she added, "But I've seen you someplace else, too..."

"Probably one of those Female Fitness interviews," another girl said. "She runs that company."

"My God!" the first girl murmured, "You really do it all, don't you?"

"You don't know the half of it," Dan Douglas replied, having just joined the group with Donna. "Our problem with Kim Kramer is trying to find time for her to do another film for us."

The girls didn't recognize Dan but certainly recognized Donna. They put the two things together and realized that he was the film's producer/director.

Another girl had been studying Kim carefully. Finally she blurted, "You're not wearing any makeup, are you?"

"No, she's not," Penny Watts said, joining the group along with Henry Hall. "And if there were many more like her, I would be out of business."

It had become clear that many of the girls who surrounded them were daughters of people in the film community. As a result, they not only knew the stars, they also knew many of the behind-the-scenes people.

Henry Hall was asked, "Sir, what do you think of Kim Kramer?"

Henry just laughed. "What do I think? I think she's the most beautiful woman in Hollywood, and the most capable. Do you realize there were no doubles used in the filming of that motion picture?"

"None?" another girl gasped. "You mean... ?"

"I mean!" he replied emphatically.

"Ms. Watts, there are two things that I was wondering about. I just don't see how you could do it..."

"Do what?" Penny asked.

"Well ... In the last lovemaking, it looked like blood was running down Kim's side. And then in the final scene where they're walking to the helicopter, it almost looked like the bloodstains on her back were expanding in size. How did you do that?"

"It's back to what Henry said a moment ago," Penny explained. "Kim was actually whipped; those were real bleeding stripes on her back. Apparently their lovemaking got a little strenuous, and the cuts opened up. What you saw was her blood flowing down her side. And it was the same thing in the final scene; those cuts were still bleeding as they walked to the chopper."

"But how could you?" a girl gasped.

"It's what really happened to Kelly Jackson in Germany," Kim explained, "so that's what we did."

"What's next?" a girl asked Dan Douglas.

"I really can't answer that," Dan replied. "It's up to Ali Clifford, their agent. Even though this was the first public screening of the film, the buzz is all over town. The Kramers are the hottest thing to hit town in many years. And there are no end to the kind of films they can do.

"It's really funny," he continued. "I happen to know that one producer is reviewing old Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers films with a view toward remaking some of them. Then there's an idea I've been kicking around in my mind..."

"What's that, sir? If you care to tell us, that is."

"These two are the most incredible talents I've ever encountered," he replied. "What I would really like to do is to put these two on a small Pacific island with only a couple of fishhooks and a couple of knives, then just see what happens."

"What about clothing?"

"What about clothing?" Dan responded. "There wouldn't be any."

Kim and Brad exchanged looks. Then he took her in his arms and the pair kissed. It was intended to be light, but they still hadn't figured out how to do that. The girls surrounding them could feel the electricity and hear the bells.

"Good grief!" one of them exclaimed. "It's all real, isn't it? I thought what I was seeing were special effects, but they weren't, were they?"

"The only special effects in the entire film were blowing the bridge," Donna Douglas replied. "And the German government was quite willing to let us blow the real thing; then there wouldn't have been any at all. Beyond that, though, what you saw was what the camera saw. It was all real."

"Good grief!" another girl exclaimed. "We've just seen a guaranteed Academy Award-winning performance ... from both of them!"

"I think you're right," Henry Hall said. "I'm one of the voters, and they certainly have my vote!"

"And mine, too," Penny added.

-------

A week later, Kim and Brad decided it was time to pay another visit to Precision Manufacturing. "Let's see how that soap opera is playing out," were Kim's words.

The first person they saw was Mark Hopkins. He greeted them like long-lost relatives and very proudly showed them around the plant. Stopping at one of the new AT machine tools, he looked at Kim and asked, "Want to check?"

She grinned and nodded. The operator was given a break and again Kim opened an inspection port. What a difference! The lubricating oil was so clear it looked like it had been changed only moments before.

"Looking good," she said to him with a grin.

Moving to another unit, they watched as the operator stamped out ten units in a row. Taking the stack, it was apparent that they were all identical. Furthermore, although they had just been stamped, there was not the least hint of a rough edge on any of them. Hopkins just grinned.

"My father-in-law would have bird if he learned you two were here and you didn't stop in to see him. To say that he's pleased with what you people at AT have done for us understates the case by miles." Hopkins paused and then added, "We don't always act as dumb as we look. I also want to thank you for the extremely fast delivery of our new machine tools. I happen to know that there were some companies waiting almost a year for theirs, but we got ours beginning less than a week after you were here."

Arriving at Jack Canfield's office, they were surprised to find his wife, Diana, at his secretary's desk. But that wasn't the only surprise. She was sitting there nude, and when she turned her chair away from her typewriter, they could see she was visibly pregnant.

Ignoring her nudity, she rose and extended her hand with a warm smile on her face. "Mr. and Mrs. Kramer! Welcome! It's so good to see you again," she gushed.

Kim's eyes widened. As Diana stood there, it was easy to see welts all across her body, some of which had obviously been recently bleeding. In spite of herself, her jaw dropped.

Seeing the look on Kim's face, Diana smiled warmly and said, "I haven't worn any clothing since what I was wearing was cut off my body by my daughter." Looking to her left, the woman smiled warmly and continued, "And speak of the devil, here is my daughter and our pride and joy, Mark Hopkins, Jr."

"Hi, Mom," Pam Hopkins greeted her. Then she held out her baby who appeared to be about six months old.

Diana took the infant, then sat on the edge of her desk and put the child to her breast. Kim and Brad could see the baby swallowing as he nursed at his grandmother's breast.

The woman was crooning at the baby and then looked up with the warmest smile on her face the Kramers had ever seen. "This is just so neat!" she exclaimed. "I never did this when Pam was born, and I bailed out on Betsy as soon as I was out of the hospital. What an idiot!"

"From the looks of it, you're close to delivering yourself," Kim commented.

"Just a few more weeks," Diana replied. "Would you believe it? This will be Jack's first child." Her eyes widened as she looked at Pam. "I'm so sorry! It will be my master's first child. And isn't it wonderful? Master is allowing me to be his concubine!"

"What's Betsy doing now?" Kim inquired.

"She's back in school," Pam replied. Then to her mother she said, "I really don't see how you can bear to have the baby nursing at your tit, slut. It looks like your breasts were beaten earlier today."

"They were," Diana replied calmly. "But it makes nursing the baby so much better. It hurts so beautifully!"

"Masochist!" Pam exclaimed.

"Mmm..." was Diana's only comment.

When the baby had finished nursing, Pam took him off to change his diaper while the others went into Jack Canfield's office. Diana brought in a stack of papers with her.

After greetings were exchanged, Diana softly announced, "The girls are now rich ... and so are you, Master."

"Oh?"

To the Kramers she said, "You may not have seen it, but last March there was a small-plane crash. The pilot and the four passengers were all killed. Well, that was my former lover, Brucie, and his family.

"His will was ... interesting. It contained a 'common disaster' clause. Initially, his estate was to be left to his wife, and if she were not alive, to his two daughters. But if none of them survived, it was to be divided among any other children of his along with the children's mother.

"Well, the DNA testing was conclusive: Pamela and Betsy are his daughters. Although a couple of charities that were residual legatees were going to contest, and indeed started the process, they gave up in the face of the DNA evidence. Apparently there's something like a 6 trillion-to-1 chance of a false DNA match, and the chances of two being wrong are effectively nonexistent.

"At any rate, the girls will be getting about $1 billion apiece, and you, Master, will get whatever is left after the judgments against me and the other directors of that misbegotten foundation are satisfied."

"Did you ask for permission to file those papers?" Jack Canfield asked sternly.

"No, sir."

"Well... ?"

"Could ... could you add only 250 lashes, Master?"

"And how many will that make?"

"I've already absorbed 800 from the initial 1,000 for my obscene behavior, so that would make the new total 450," Diana replied brightly.

Canfield just slowly shook his head. Then he said slowly, "No ... No more. In the first place, you're carrying my child and I don't want to take a chance of any injury. But second, it's becoming very clear that you're now a masochist, so as the sadist I am, I am stopping the punishment. Clear?"

"Yes, Master, you're very clear," Diana replied, clearly disappointed.

"Why don't you take the Kramers out to the house, slave?" Jack said. "I'm sure Betsy would love to see them again. You can ride out with them."

Diana led the way out of the office. The fact that she was naked didn't seem to faze her a bit. She scrambled into the back seat of Kim's car and away they went.

"Doesn't it ever cause problems for you to be outside naked all the time?" Kim asked.

"Oh, I've been arrested a few times for Indecent Exposure, but the police have sort of given up on that. I refuse to wear any clothes in jail and they're unable to force me to. Now I just get a summons and mail them a check," Diana replied blithely.

At the Canfield house in Beverly Hills, Diana excused herself and went to make tea. While they were awaiting her return, the Kramers heard a god-awful clatter coming from the driveway. Going to the window, they saw it was Betsy driving up in a Volkswagen Beetle. The car was more than 10 years old and appeared to be in miserable condition. With her mechanical engineering background Kim was incensed.

Leaving Brad slowly shaking his head, she went outside to meet Betsy Canfield. "What are you doing to that poor car?" she demanded.

"What's the problem?" Betsy replied. "It's still self-propelled ... sort of."

"Young lady, I'm going to have you charged with machinery abuse!" Kim said. Then she looked into the garage and found there was a full assortment of mechanic's tools. Since Jack Canfield was also a mechanical engineer, their presence came as no surprise.

Still shaking her head, she held out her hand for Betsy's car key. The girl just shook her head, but got into the car and off they went to a very large auto supply store. There Kim loaded up with the parts necessary to tune up the engine, replace the muffler and reline all the brakes. Returning to the house, she put the car up on steel servicing ramps and went to work, being thankful that she was wearing Levi's and a work shirt.

It took her several hours to do all the work. As she was finishing up, Brad and Diana came out to watch. From her position under the car, Kim was impressed with Diana's beauty. She was tanned all over and was now as fit as her daughters. It was amazing to her that the woman was a real grandmother, although she was still in her early 30s.

Finally finishing, Kim started up the car. This time, it was quietly purring. "Much better!" she pronounced. Then turning to Betsy she said, "The next time I see you, if this car isn't as good as it is now, I'll take off your head!"

"Yes, ma'am," Betsy agreed with a grin.

At that point another car came up the drive. It proved to be Lisa Douglas.

Greetings were exchanged with Betsy Canfield initially being amazed. Then her face lighted up in recognition. "Good Heavens!" she exclaimed. "Of course! You're the Kramers!"

"So what else is new?" Kim commented. "That's been true for quite a while now."

Betsy just shook her head. "How could I be so stupid? I saw 'Kelly' with Lisa, and I recognized you both, but didn't make the connection." The girl grinned and added, "Whoever would expect film stars to also be executives of a machine-tool company? It just does not compute."

"You won't believe what's happened, Sir Brad and Lady Kimberly," Lisa said.

"What's that?" Brad responded.

"Betsy and I are both cheerleaders!" Lisa said proudly. Then she grinned and added, "But the funny thing is that she and I are the two Goodies on the squad. The other girls are always talking about getting laid or giving a blowjob to a guy, and we just shake our heads. Little do they know that we were both prostitutes! It's so funny!" she giggled.

"That's because you both are truly good girls," Kim replied. "In both cases, you did what you had to do to survive. That's a big difference."

"And you know what else?" Betsy said.

"What?"

"We're both going very heavy into math and science. We both want to go to Cal Tech to study engineering. Look what it's done for your career, Mrs. Kramer," Betsy said.

"Oh, by the way..." Brad said looking at Kim.

"'By the way' what?"

"I just got a communication from the Defense Department."

"And... ?"

"And they want me — and you — to go to Fort Benning, Georgia, early in November.

"The reason?" Kim asked.

"I'm not supposed to know," Brad replied, "but it looks like they finally caught up with Ken Carlson."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"That means he's going to be awarded some major hardware. As in big-time medals."

"Oh, by the way..." Kim began slowly.

"What?"

"Diana Canfield reminded me of it today."

"Reminded you of what?"

"We're going to have a baby," Kim said with her face glowing.

"What?" Brad nearly screamed.

"A baby," Kim repeated. "You know ... One of those little, always-wet things?"

Brad took her in his arms and they kissed. It was the finest kiss they had ever exchanged in their lives.



-------

Chapter 29



The Army band marched proudly down the parade ground at Fort Benning. On the reviewing stand were the Carlsons, but also the Kramers and the Christians. Ken, Brad and Bill were all in uniform, Ken as a major, while Brad and Bill were both captains. All were wearing the Rangers' black berets. Kim was also in uniform, but wearing her Special Forces green beret.

The band doubled back on itself, then took position facing the reviewing stand. A moment later, the presidential limousine drew up beside the reviewing stand and the bugler played Ruffles and Flourishes as the President emerged, followed by Kelly Jackson who was also wearing a green beret.

As he climbed up to the reviewing stand, the band played "Hail To The Chief."

With everyone present, the band struck up "Stars And Stripes Forever." That was the signal for the Rangers to march onto the field. Leading the way was Alpha Company, 1st Ranger Battalion: Carlson's Rangers. As they passed in review, the troops were as proud as they could be. All were wearing combat boots and wearing their black berets. At the command, "Eyes... Right!" every head snapped and the guidon dropped to the horizontal.

Finally the last of the troops passed and they were at Parade Rest facing the reviewing stand.

The commanding general on the stand went to the microphone and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen ... The President of the United States!"

Moving in front of the microphone, the president began, "Troops, stand at ease.

"Have you ever heard the phrase, 'hiding in plain sight'? An example of that was a mystery entitled 'The Three-Penny Black.' It involved the murder of a wealthy man. But after he was killed, there was no trace of his fortune. It turned out that shortly before his death he had converted his money into just a few extremely valuable stamps. Apparently the murderer knew this, but had been unable to find the stamps.

"Where were they? It turned out that the stamps had been affixed to envelopes and were sitting in a stack of mail right on the victim's desk where he was murdered. The murderer looked everywhere ... but not on the desk where they were in plain sight.

"So what does that have to do with us today? Well, the answer is: a lot.

"Standing in front of us I see a group of fighting men, Alpha Company, 1st Ranger Battalion. It's better known, even today, as Carlson's Rangers. In size, it's a heavy platoon. In fighting power, it's an infantry battalion."

The president paused to look out over the assembled troops. He continued, "Wherever fighting men gather, there's one unit that's always mentioned: Carlson's Rangers. And I mean, wherever! I was speaking with President Solov of Russia a few days ago. When I mentioned Carlson's, he just said, 'The finest group of fighting men in the world!' For those of you who don't know this, President Solov was formerly Field Marshal Mikhail Solov, commanding all Warsaw Pact forces in the West. He knows whereof he speaks. Moreover, he assured me that his feelings were shared by fighting men around the world, regardless of the side for which they were fighting.

"But it goes on. When I ordered the Department of Defense to inquire into the activities of Alpha Company when it was under the command of Kenneth Carlson, it proved to be almost funny. Everyone knows about Carlson's. In fact, it seemed to become a game of 'Can You Top This?' Everyone had his favorite story.

"And you know something else? They all turned out to be true, although most turned out to be substantially understated." He paused, grinned and added, "I guess that the truth had to be toned down in the interest of believability.

"But back to 'hiding in plain sight.' It's widely known that Ken Carlson has been awarded medals. A part of the problem was no one was at all sure for exactly which exploits the medals had been awarded. The result? Major Carlson has the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star. Those are two of the three highest awards for gallantry our nation can award.

"But you know what? We have already validated eleven actions each of which is deserving of a major medal."

Turning to Ken the President said, "Major Carlson, front and center!"

Ken moved up, snapped to attention and saluted.

The president then read the citations accompanying the award of two Medals of Honor. Then without reading the citations, he also awarded two more DSCs, the Legion of Merit, two more Silver Stars and two Bronze Stars.

Turning back to the assembled troops he said, "Thankfully, even wearing full dress, Major Carlson only has to wear miniature medals. If he had to wear them all, they might break his back."

Ken saluted again and returned to his place with Kathy. Ignoring the President and everybody else, she melted her body to his and whispered, "My darling, I am the proudest woman in the whole world!" She paused and then added, "And by the way ... you're going to be a father."

Ken was stunned.

"But sweetie," Kathy whispered, "when you spend so much time between my thighs, these things do happen."

The President returned to the microphone. "This has been a very interesting exercise, though." Then he looked pensive, and appearing to be thinking out loud he said, "There's one thing that puzzles me, though. And that's the acronym, REMF... [Rear Echelon Mother Fuckers]"

The troops roared with laughter while the President pretended to be puzzled.

"Golly," he continued, "you folks seem to know what it means. Why can't I find it in DOD's book of acronyms?" He shrugged and added, "Oh, well...

"Anyway, as I said earlier, it seems that all the stories told about Carlson's Rangers are true, although typically the truth is toned down in the interest of believability. But at any rate, DOD started checking ... and validating the stories. Virtually every one resulted in the need to give at least one guy an important medal. But which one? That was the problem.

"Thank goodness Carlson's never had more than 40 men. If it had been a full-strength company or a larger unit, it would have been impossible. But with 40 men, it was manageable ... just! At any rate, a bunch of guys in the Pentagon started with sand table exercises. Through combat records and interviews, they would take an engagement and locate each of the men. Then the guy who was left over got stuck with the medal."

Turning around again, he said, "Captain William Baker Christian, front and center!"

Bill was startled, but went up to the microphone and snapped off his very best salute. After calling the troops to Parade Rest, a position of attention, he read the citation awarding Bill the Medal of Honor. As he placed it around Bill's neck, the President noticed how proud of him Carol Christian appeared. She was bouncing up and down. At the conclusion, Bill saluted again and returned to his place.

Carol leaped into his arms and gave him the most passionate kiss she could, murmuring, "My hero!" Then while absolutely glowing with pride and happiness she whispered, "Did you hear Kathy tell Ken that she's expecting a baby?"

Bill just slowly shook his head.

"Well, I am, too! Your resident slut has just become your concubine!"

"Oh, sweetie! That's wonderful!" Bill exclaimed.

"What did you just call me, Bill Christian?" Carol demanded.

"I called you sweetie. Enough is enough! You, Carol Christian, are the love of my life and my wife! Now get used to it, because that's the way it's going to be. You're out of the prostitution business ... permanently! Get it?"

"Yes, my darling husband, I get it," Carol replied softly. Then she kissed him again.

The president ordered the troops to stand at ease, then continued his address.

"As some of you may know — although none of you are old enough to have actually seen me — I was a movie actor once upon a time. In fact, I was president of the Screen Actors Guild ... and my dues might even still be paid up. I'm really not too sure.

"But in any case, I still have some friends in the industry ... or the business, as it's often called. Over the last couple of months I've been getting an increasing volume of communications from them, all telling me the same thing: 'See "Kelly!"'

"So what's 'Kelly', you wonder. It's a brand new motion picture that hasn't even been premiered yet. But in spite of that, I can't ever remember such a buzz about a new film. It's about the beginning of the military career of General Kelly Jackson who is here with us today. As you know, she's now the senior flag officer in the Armed Forces of the United States. The new film only traces the first few days of her military career, during which she essentially stopped the Soviet advance through Germany single-handed. With her in her initial adventure was Michael Callahan, now a lieutenant general ... and Kelly's husband." The President grinned and continued, "I'm not telling tales out of school when I tell you that Kelly is far more proud of being Mrs. Michael Callahan, wife and mother, than she is of being General Kelly Jackson.

"Well, it seems that the new film stars Kimberly and Brad Kramer, another husband and wife team."

Facing out at the troops, the President commanded, "Troops, Parade ... Rest!"

Again the troops snapped to.

Turning around again, he ordered, "Captain William Bradley Kramer, Jr.! Front and center."

Brad's eyes widened, but he moved forward and saluted smartly.

The President then read the citation and awarded Brad the Medal of Honor. As he was hanging it around his neck, he turned to the mike and said, "This medal joins his Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, and Purple Heart. Bill Christian also holds the DSC and a Bronze Star. I should add that the fine folks in the Pentagon are still doing their thing, so more medals will be awarded. On the other hand, we don't want to lose you troops to heat prostration, boredom, or whatever, so we'll just make do with the most senior awards today."

Brad saluted again and returned to his place. Again the President ordered the troops to stand at ease while he continued his speech.

"So what do we have? We have a Medal of Honor winner playing the rôle of the winner of a DSC. Pretty good, huh? But what about the female lead? Who's going to play the rôle of Kelly Jackson? Well I already gave it away. It's Kimberly Kramer who is also up here on the podium.

"Casting the Kelly rôle was truly giving the producer fits. You see, Kelly had casting approval and she shot down every candidate who was offered up ... until Kim appeared. The two women are the same height, the same weight and the same age. The color of hair and eyes is different, but that didn't matter to Kelly. What did matter was whether the girl could perform.

"So what happened? Kelly took her down to Quantico and trained her. Trained? Yeah, right... ! 'Training' consisted of Kelly doing something with Kim watching and then Kim doing it." The President then looked puzzled as he continued, "You know, there's one thing I've never understood. It seems that Kelly's pet name for Kim is Bitch. I'm assured it's all very friendly, but honestly, I wonder..."

The troops, Kelly and Kim all broke up with laughter.

The President continued, "It might have been Kim's scores ... You see, Kelly held every personal record they maintain down there. Now Kim holds three of them, and Kelly had to extend herself on four others, setting new records, because Kim had broken her old ones." The President snapped his fingers and added, "Oh, yes! There was one tie. In pistol shooting, they both shot Possibles which as you probably know is the perfect score."

The President grinned and said, "But I know they really are friends. Kelly was a bridesmaid in Kim's wedding party. And she did come up with a very different wedding present, too: His and Her matched Smith & Wesson automatics! Isn't that just so romantic?"

The President grinned while the troops howled with laughter.

"But that 'Bitch' thing..." he mused. "Recent events in California might have had something to do with it. It seems that Kimberly and Brad were in a bank branch when a bank robbery went down. And these weren't ordinary robbers, either. There were six of them in the bank, and in previous hold-ups they had shot and killed a total of seven people. In the bank in question, the first thing they did was to gun down the bank guard.

"But then what happened? In moments there were six dead robbers on the floor of the bank. Brad and Kim had fired 12 shots; two bullets each were found in the hearts of three of them, and two bullets each were in the brains of the other three.

"Have you guys heard of 'the Kelly Jackson trademark'?" The President paused, but there was no reaction from the troops.

"The 'Kelly Jackson trademark'," he explained, "is a bullet in the brain. I suspect Kelly might have been a bit annoyed when Kimberly put two in each one. Furthermore, in two of the three cases, there was a single entrance wound; both bullets entered in the same hole." He paused and then added, "I'm pretty sure Kelly was annoyed at Kimberly's showing off."

Kelly, standing to the side, rapidly nodded her head and then stuck out her tongue in Kimberly's direction. The troops and even the President cracked up at that one.

"Oh, yes..." the President continued, "I almost forgot: You see Kimberly here today wearing a green beret and the uniform of a captain in the Army. That was Kelly, too. It seems she couldn't bear the thought of a civilian holding some of her former records, so..." The President shook his head and grinned, "Kelly is also very well connected on Capitol Hill. The result was the passage of special legislation giving Kimberly Kane Kramer a direct commission as a captain." The President looked out over the troops and grinned. "So you see, folks, the records are safe. They're all still held by military personnel.

"But back to the new movie. What's so different about it? One thing is that there were no doubles used. None! Moreover, the only special effect in the entire film is the blowing of the Weser River bridge.

"Oh, yes ... That 'Bitch' thing ... Another might be Kimberly's language skills. You see, Kelly speaks both German and Russian like a native ... Like a native of Frankfurt or Moscow. Kimberly? She speaks both languages fluently, too. Her German is a Berliner's, and her Russian — its most literate form — is like a native of Saint Petersburg. And then she's also fluent in French and Spanish, and ... Heck, she speaks English almost as good as a native, too!"

Again the troops howled with laughter.

"At any rate, because of the awards today, through a special arrangement with the production company, Alliance Studios, even though the film has not had its world premiere, we have made arrangements for it to be shown for ten days starting today at the base theater. I would urge you all to see it. I saw it aboard Air Force One coming down this morning and I will say it's possibly the most remarkable film ever made."

The President paused, then looked around. Spotting Ali Clifford, he said, "Ali, you come up here, too." She did.

"I think it's fair to say," the President continued, "that had it not been for the woman now standing beside me, this picture would never have been made. For those of you who may not know her, this is Allison Clifford, better known to moviegoers a few years ago as Ali McGrath." He paused, but then went on. "At a time when Vietnam — or at least South Vietnam — was unexplored territory as far as Hollywood was concerned, Ali McGrath was there for the troops.

"In the course of our research on the medals I've just awarded, we learned some other things, too. From former North Vietnamese officers who subsequently defected, we learned that Ali had become a prime enemy target. It seems that they realized her visits were charging up our troops and making their lives difficult. As a result, on at least three separate occasions, they tried to kill her.

"As you can see, they never succeeded. Why? Because Ali McGrath was truly loved by our troops. And I'm certain that includes more than a few men who are standing in front of me right now. When the Vietnamese launched their attacks, the results were uniformly fatal ... for them. It seems that having Ali present with them truly inspired our troops. No one knew at the time that she was the real target of the attacks, but the troops did know that she was with them and in as much danger as they were. I am told that those three incidents were three of the most effective actions we were involved in through the whole sorry mess."

Turning to Ali he said, "Allison McGrath Clifford, it is with great pride I award you the Medal of Freedom. It's the highest award our government can make to a civilian. You knowingly sacrificed your career to help our troops."

Turning to the men arrayed before him, he added, "More than one GI literally died in her arms. It happened in our hospitals when she was visiting. She got into bed and held the boy in her arms. He died, but he had the happiest look on his face anyone had ever seen. He was in bed with Ali McGrath!"

Because the troops were at rest, in spite of being in ranks there was a thunderous cheer for Ali.

"These men standing before you did more than just kill the enemy." At that, Jim Conroy, the Trang sisters, Jerry Smith, and Lisa Douglas appeared on the reviewing stand. The president then recited how Carlson's Rangers had saved each of their lives.

When he concluded, Lisa asked to speak, and the President moved away from the mike.

"That's all well and good," the girl said, "but I'm here to tell you that some of these guys were wimps! And that's with a capital 'W', too!" To the amazement of the President as well as the troops, she told how she had been a starving child prostitute on the streets of Saigon and how she had been rescued by Ken Carlson and Brad Kramer. Finally, she said, "But can you believe it? Here I was, all cleaned up and fed, sitting bare-assed naked on the sofa with Brad Kramer. What was he doing? He was teaching me English for gosh sakes!"

The troops howled with laughter.

"And what was Ken Carlson doing? I'm not sure he even knew I was there, let alone that I was bare-assed; he was rereading his Kathy-grams!" With that she moved away from the mike.

The President was still laughing when he returned. "Thank you, Lisa." To the men he said, "Some of you guys are a bit far away, so maybe you can't see her too well. But I'm here to tell you that Lisa Douglas is one of the most beautiful and the smartest young woman I've ever met. And she's here today because of the actions of you and your comrades.

"I had the opportunity to speak to her on the phone yesterday. This young woman also has quite an historical perspective. She said that Vietnam had been consistently overrun. First by the Chinese, then the French, then the Japanese, the French again, and now the North Vietnamese. 'But Americans were so very different, ' she said. 'You came and honestly tried to help us, asking nothing for yourselves. So when Ken and Brad came up with a way by which I might possibly get to America, I grabbed it.' And here she is and aren't we lucky?

"But she said something else, too. She mentioned the Kathy-grams. We've certainly heard about them, too. It seems that Katherine Hughes wrote to Ken Carlson nearly every day when he was in Vietnam. Every one was on blue notepaper and written in blue ink. From dozens of accounts, we know that those notes inspired Ken and charged him up. He, in turn, recharged his men, and back into the jungle they went." Turning to Kathy he said, "I don't know what to say, except thank you. And I hope you two have many children."

"We've already started," Kathy responded softly.

"That's wonderful!" the President exclaimed. "But what about the rest of you?"

Only then did he and the assembled troops learn that Carol, Kim and even Kelly Callahan were all expecting.

"Guys, I think this is truly wonderful! Can you believe it? We have four Medal of Honor winners up here right now, and all of their wives, and a Medal-of-Honor winner herself, are all expecting babies. There's hope for the Republic, yet!"

He concluded his remarks and the troops snapped to attention. Again they paraded past the reviewing stand led by Alpha Company. This time their salute to their former officers was even smarter than it had been on the first pass. They were proud men and very proud of their unit's tradition and its leadership.



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Epilogue



"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Kate Cornwall announced. She was sitting in a director's chair and was back lighted. All the viewers of the TV show could see was her silhouette. A rising star at WNBC, NBC's owned and operated station in New York, Kate was an anomaly. At a time when every on-the-air personality wanted to maximize face time, Kate shunned it. Even while in journalism school, she had decided that reporter-as-celebrity got in the way of the story she was covering.

"For those viewers in New York, I want to assure you I'm still with WNBC. Through a combination of circumstances, I'm doing this show for the network."

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It had begun the previous November. She had been on vacation in Los Angeles just seeing the sights, but had decided to visit KNBC Los Angeles to say hello to her colleagues at WNBC's sister station. It was on the morning of the scheduled World Premiere of "Kelly" and because of the increasing industry buzz about the film, KNBC had decided to cover it. But just moments before Kate appeared, the woman who was scheduled to cover the event had called in sick. Furthermore, the entire station news staff had already been assigned to stories that were felt to be more important.

At that moment, Kate walked in and introduced herself to the station's news director. Instantly he recognized her as the answer to his problem. "Would you like to make a little freelance money?" he had asked. "I know you're on vacation and all, but you could help me out of a big jam, if you would."

She agreed and found herself with a camera crew at the premiere site. Then the unexpected happened: A limousine drew up with flags flying from its front bumper. Kate recognized the flag as the white-blue-red of the new Russian Republic. Bodyguards appeared and a big man alighted. From her time in New York covering the UN, she recognized Mikhail Solov, the president of Russia.

No sooner was he ushered inside, when another flag-bearing car appeared, this one with the flag of the newly reunited Germany. The Chancellor of Germany appeared. He was followed in turn by the ambassadors to the United States from Great Britain and France.

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On camera, Cornwall told her viewers, "This story began last November out here in Los Angeles. I was asked to cover the world premiere of what became the motion picture of the year, the Academy Award winning 'Kelly'." She then told them about the statesmen and diplomats who were in attendance.

Kate then told her viewers about seeing the premiere herself. "Following the showing, though, an interview had been arranged with one of its stars, Kimberly Kramer. This show is about her. Kim is the most remarkable young woman I've ever had the good fortune to meet.

"When I went for the interview, I found her conversing with the president of Russia, the chancellor of Germany, and the ambassadors of Great Britain and France. Furthermore, with her was the subject of the film, Kelly Jackson Callahan herself."

The TV show continued with footage from the interview. It showed Kim speaking in Russian, German and French to the relevant statesmen and diplomat. On camera, she asked President Solov about Kim's Russian.

He just laughed and said, "It's perfect! If I could persuade her to come home with me, she could start at Radio Moscow this afternoon!" Through an interpreter, Chancellor Schmidt said the same thing about her German.

Then Kate turned to Kelly and asked her about Kim's language capability. "She's just doing it to make me feel badly," Kelly responded. "Her Russian and German are far better than mine, and she knows darned well that I don't speak a word of French. It's all I can do to order a meal in a French restaurant." But she went on to say that what they had all seen on the screen was an exact recreation of the events that enabled Kelly to stop the Russian advance. Still on camera, she mentioned that President Solov had been Field Marshal Solov in command of Warsaw Pact forces in the West at that time.

After a break for the first commercials, Kate came back on camera. "That was the beginning of this story," she said. "The next event was the Academy Awards last March. Before the awards were made, the Hollywood buzz had reached deafening levels. And since the network management felt I had done a good job with my interviews at the premiere, they assigned me to do the story expecting — like almost everyone else — that 'Kelly' was going to clean up.

"And it did. As I'm sure you all know now, it won all the major awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Actor, as well as a number of technical awards. Now watch as Kimberly Kramer comes up to receive her award. Have you ever seen a more graceful woman or a more perfect female figure?"

Kim was wearing a white gown along with a diamond necklace and diamond ear studs. The gown was designed in such a way that only a woman with a perfect figure could have worn it. She graciously received her award and made her short acceptance remarks.

"Now watch what comes next," Kate said. "This scene follows the major awards, and the recipients were lined up for photographs. You see Brad and Kim Kramer in the middle of the group. Now the camera pans to the right and they're out of the picture, then it pans back ... And they're gone! What happened?"

Again the camera was on a back lighted Kate Cornwall. "Well, I was there that night, and I didn't know, either, at the time." Although her face was obscured by the backlighting, the viewers could "hear" the smile on her face. "This happened. Because of the soundproofing in the theater, we couldn't hear the noise of a helicopter taking off, but that's what did happen.

"And then the next morning, I was fortunately able to interview Kim ... in an Orange County hospital. What was she doing there? Well, let's see..."

The picture cut to Kim wearing a gray cashmere robe. It was pulled back from her left breast and she was nursing an infant. "This is William Bradley Kramer, III," Kim said softly. "But for rather obvious reasons, we've decided to call him Tony," she added with a warm grin. "And yes, I know it's an Oscar, but Brad and I think that's a really yucky name, so he's going to be Tony. That's close enough, isn't it?"

Kate was in the picture, but her back was to the camera, preserving her anonymity. "Kimberly Kramer, do you mean to tell me you were in labor while you were receiving your Academy Award?"

"Well..."

"You do realize that every woman in the world will hate your guts if you tell me that, don't you?"

"Oh!" Kim exclaimed softly. "Then I guess I wasn't, was I?"

"Kimberly... !"

"But you said not to tell you I was in labor, didn't you?"

"Grr... !" Kate exclaimed. "But how could you be? And what happened to your pregnancy? I was at the Awards last night, and you were the most un-pregnant looking woman I've ever seen!"

"Oh, it wasn't so bad," Kim replied. "The contractions were only coming about every five minutes, but then they became more frequent when we were lined up for pictures afterward."

"How frequent was that?" Kate asked, not at all sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"About two minutes apart," Kim responded. "That's when I thought we should head for the helicopter."

"How long were you in labor?"

Kim laughed. "Labor? I don't really think that's the appropriate word. They rushed me into the delivery room, the doctor said, 'Push!', I did, and it was all over. Labor?" she repeated. "Maybe 30 seconds."

Cradling the sleeping infant in her arms she added, "Now he sleeps! It seems that for months now he's been kicking my guts trying to get out, and now that he's out, he just wants to sleep. Why couldn't he have done that before?"

"And that's the story of Kimberly Kramer's delivery," Kate reported.

"But the conversation I had with her opened up a new vista," the reporter continued. "The result was this special. To do it, I spent almost two months living with the Kramers. That was also a revelation.

"Without going into details, I will say that the Kramers live next door to the Christians. It's really funny, I guess. Here we have two families living off by themselves. But what a pair of families! Each is headed by a Medal of Honor winner, if you can believe it. Beyond that, though, in just those two houses there is the top management of Aerospace Technologies, the manufacturer of the most sophisticated machine tools in the world.

"Kimberly Kramer not only is the designer of all of them, she's also vice president–manufacturing & design. And at a time when many people think of actresses as airheads, she has her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Cal Tech. Her husband, Brad, is vice president–marketing, and their live-in nurse, Jenny Clark, is vice president–administration. Then Bill Christian, their neighbor, is vice president–finance, while his wife, Carol, is one of the top trial lawyers on the West Coast.

"Oh, yeah ... Two weeks after Kim gave birth to Tony, Carol Christian delivered an utterly beautiful baby boy who has been named Paul."

While still in silhouette, Kate continued, "The two women — now aware of the sizes of their respective houses; they're huge — have decided to try to fill them with children as fast as possible. Would you believe it? There are only two houses, but there are three swimming pools! It's true. There is a 50-meter full size Olympic pool, then there is a 15-meter square baby pool, and a 25-meter training pool. Honest."

The show continued with shots of the four AT executives at work. It showed Kim in her other office as president of Female Fitness, Inc., and Kate commented wryly that Female Fitness caused her no end of problems. "The fact is," she reported, "in my time out in California, I increased my bra cup size by a full letter." She giggled and added, "At least I would have if I wore a bra, but they went by the boards, too. It's that equipment they have. Then I lost inches around my hips and about ten pounds of fat from each thigh.

Kate neglected to tell the viewers that she also returned with an all-over tan and a bare pussy except for a small patch on her mons. She decided Network Practices — a/k/a the censors — might object if she told her viewers that virtually her entire time at the Kramers was spent nude. But it was the sight of the perfect bodies of the other three women that inspired her to try to get in shape. It turned out that the three women — Kimberly, Jenny, and Carol — were incredibly good teachers.

"Was that all? Hah! I thought I was a pretty good Bridge player when I went out there. I was teamed with poor Jenny Clark. Why 'poor Jenny'? Because the poor woman had to try to carry me. We played against the Kramers almost every night. What a massacre! It seems that Brad Kramer's instinct to go for the jugular carries over from the battlefield to the Bridge table. And then there's Kim's mathematical mind! All I can say is that I've covered national Bridge championships and seldom saw the game played as well as they do.

"But what now? It seems that following on the success of 'Kelly', the Kramers are actually going to do a film with them alone on a tropic island with only some fishhooks and a couple of knives." The viewers could see Kate slowly shaking her head as she added, "That is going to be something to see!"

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Brad and Kim were in their lean-to on the tropic island. The film crew had repaired to the motor yacht on which they were staying while the Kramers lived alone on the island.

"Damn!" Kim muttered.

"What was that 'damn' about?" Brad asked.

"I had such great plans, too..."

"Plans about what?"

"I was going to use my periods as a calendar, and also use my menstrual flow to maybe entice a shark or two..."

"And?" Brad asked again.

"And no period," Kim replied with disgust.

"You mean... ?"

"I mean!" Kim replied emphatically. Then with a grin she added, "Oh, well ... We did want to fill up the house, didn't we?"


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The End
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Posted:  2005-11-18
Last Modified: 2012-04-08 / 12:49:19 pm
Version: 1.10
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