Chapter 2: A Spy is Caught

Chapter 2: A Spy is Caught

Sheri Martina looked carefully around the corner. The dark alleyway appeared to be empty, so she eased her way around the building and, staying in the shadows, moved down the street.

Her mouth was dry and her heart pounding. It was a nervous time for the pretty young woman. The packet of documents hidden inside her blouse seemed to burn her skin with its importance. She did not know the contents of the leather pouch she carried, only that it was of highest importance to the handful of brave people who fought against the evil of a highly repressive government.

Faint light from the thin crescent moon lit one side of the alley, showing broken, dark windows and dirt-smeared bricks with faded paint. Sheri stayed on the dark side, keeping a watchful eye for any movement. Three more blocks to go and she could get rid of that dangerous pile of paper. Let someone else worry about getting it to its finally destination. She felt strongly about the resistance, but feared greatly having to put her life on the line.

At the end of the alley, she paused to look each way down the side street. Nothing to the north. She poked her head around the corner to look south. And froze. There was movement down the street.

Her heart beat even faster. Yes, there were figures moving towards her. As one stepped out into the moonlight, she saw the dreaded black uniform of a Control guard. Then another one came into view. They were patrolling the street, and coming towards her!

Sheri turned back down the alley and froze. Another pair of Guards was coming from behind her. They did not act as if they had seen her yet, but they would soon.

Fright gripped her heart tightly. What to do? Almost without thinking about it, Sheri reached into her blouse and jerked out the packet. With her back to the building, she reached behind her and dropped it through the broken window.

Without that, she felt better. Maybe she could bluff her way out of this situation. Standing upright, she began walking towards the Guards, planning a story about being lost and trying to find someplace she could call some friends for help.

Both Guards were holding assault rifles at the ready.

“Could you please help me?” she said, trying to sound innocent but not quite able to keep the tremor out of her voice. “I’m lost. Could you take me to a phone so I can…”

“Freeze!” one cut her off. Then he was talking into a mike, too low for her to hear.

Shit! They’re not buying it! she told herself. A cold fear gripped her body, making her legs tremble and almost making her wet herself.

“Hold your arms straight out to the side,” she was ordered. She did, but feared that her arms were trembling as much as her legs. The other Guard came around behind her and began frisking her professionally, working from her arms down to her shoes. She was glad that she had refused to take a weapon. Her long sleeved blouse and tight pants showed her figure off quite nicely, but also showed that there was no weapon hidden anywhere.

First her left arm, then her right arm was pulled down and behind her. She felt the bite of cold steel against her wrists and felt like crying. The stories of what happened to women who were arrested filled her mind. Torture, rape and worse, she had been told. Maybe she should have taken a gun. She could have used it to kill herself. Too late for that now. They had her.

With her arms secured behind her, the Guards felt a little safer; enough to take a good look at their prize. In the beam of a flashlight, they found a much more pleasant view than in the faint moonlight. The figure under those clothes promised to be very nice. Breasts that were good sized but not huge. A slender waist and long legs. Her hair was blonde, long and straight. A cute, sweet and innocent face with just slightly overly big lips made the Guards grin.

One Guard reached for a breast with the intention of a test squeeze, but he was interrupted by headlights illuminating the scene. A van came around the corner and pulled up alongside them. A door slide open on the side and two Guards jumped out, while a third Guard still inside swung open the side of a steel box that occupied the center of the van. Inside the box was a small seat.

The two new Guards grabbed Sheri by the arms and roughly dragged her to the van. She was lifted into and set down inside the box. A chain attached to the back of the box was pulled around her waist and locked again behind her. A pair of handcuffs with a very short chain attached were locked on her feet, forcing them back and under the seat. The top of the box was so low that Sheri had to bend her head down when she was pushed in. When the front of the box was swung shut, she was left in the dark, tightly secured to the wall, shackled and bending over.

Sheri had heard of these transportation boxes. They were designed to keep the prisoner totally helpless and uncomfortable for the trip to the prison. Sheri was startled by how fast it had happened. In less than four minutes she went from a free person to a chained prisoner heading for an unknown but undoubtedly terrible fate. She began to cry softly in the dark.