Her nickname is "Tanj", and she's certainly living up to it. For her, it seems, "There Ain't No Justice." As a young engineer on a tramp space freighter, this Cheetah-morph found herself the victim of a scam, sold into slavery, and trained as a sex-slave. Sold to pirates, she finds herself as a pawn in a much larger struggle. This story contains bondage, non-consensual sex, and hopefully some humor, adventure and intrigue. Adults only, please!

Tanj's Tale: Marooned
By Kittiara
Stardate 2399.00

Tanj ran down the alleyway, casting an occasional worried glance over her shoulder. She'd worked hard to stay in shape, and when they had to, Cheetahs could move FAST. She'd sprinted as fast as she could until she could sprint no longer and now she was jogging, panting hard, dripping perspiration despite the cool air. They were behind her, she was sure of it, and probably in front of her as well; her only hope was to be where they thought she couldn't be yet, and that meant moving fast. As she emerged from the alleyway, she dropped to a fast walk, trying to look like just another pedestrian. A glance to her left showed her a police car crossing an intersection half a block away, headed towards the Spaceport, towards where she'd come from. And then she was into another alley, and jogging again, pushing herself hard.

The mission had seemed so straight-forward. The Lion wanted to meet with Cromwell, the leader of the Elysium resistance group known as the "Blues", as well as the leaders of a few of the other factions. A neutral place had been chosen for the meeting, a planet called Imroc. Tanj had thought that it would have been a "natural" rendezvous place for a bunch of pirates and rebels; the planet was on the very fringe of the Empire and nominally "independent." Its "government" was actually a consortium of the local crime families, and if you had enough money you could get away with almost anything. The place was damn near lawless.

Lord Xylex looked at Trotskie and shook his head; "But of course you're going to go to the meeting, my dear fellow; if you're NOT there, then when I have the meeting raided, they'll KNOW it was you that informed on them! Oh, don't worry, I'll see to it that you're not harmed in the least. We'll just stage some daring escape for you, something that will enhance your reputation further." The bear looked back at Xylex; "The pure bloody HELL I'll allow myself to be captured! Mistakes happen, y'know! Tell you what, that Black Panther, Tito, he's been getting a bit big for his britches lately, and too many of my freedom fighters are falling under his sway; how about I send him in my place, and, well, we could always use another Martyr to the cause..." The Wolverine grinned; "Trotskie, I DO like the way you think..."

Tanj yawned as she sat, sprawled, in the pilot's couch. She'd finally gotten her flight certification, but Mark was still listed as the "pilot" of her freighter; as such, she was taking the "other" shift, and it was the middle of ship's night. "As many days as I've been on this shift, you'd think my body would have adapted by now" she thought to herself. Then she grinned; seemed like every time she'd crawled into bed, her Lion'd had other plans for her. Stretching again, and yawning widely, she thought back to how the Lion had been relieving his boredom by finding different ways to make love to her, searching through both their not inconsiderable repertoires for yet another variation, yet another technique, for something new and different. The trip to Imroc was long, convoluted, and BORING. Looking up as the Nav computer chimed, Tanj checked her console and nodded; coming up on another Jump Point. A quick glance at the Engineering console showed the Jump Engine in the Green, and then the small freighter was passing into that nexus of force lines that permitted interstellar travel. Tanj waited half a second and then engaged the Jump Engine, strange patterns of light forming around the ship as they vanished from here... And reappeared there, light years away. Tanj did a quick scan for other traffic, and found none; smiling in satisfaction, she lined up the freighter on the next jump point, on the far side of the system, and set the autopilot. A few minutes of work, and now another day of boredom as the freighter crossed the system. Eleven jumps down, and six to go. Just for something to do, Tanj ran another active sensor scan of the system. Nothing but dirt and rocks, and ice. Grinning she wondered if there WAS anyone out there, what they'd make of the electronic scan signature of the sensor gear her freighter carried, a system more properly belonging to a warship...

Tanj looked at the Ferret in the monitor and snarled; "I've filled out seven different forms so far, each almost identical. I've transferred enough Imperial Credits to keep my ship functioning for a year; NOW what's the holdup?" The Ferret growled back; "Listen, bitch, you do the paperwork correctly, and pay the fees or you don't land on Imroc! Complete the forms I'm sending you, AND pay the fees, or break orbit!" Mark smiled as he listened, and then leaned over to whisper in Tanj's ear; Tanj scowled at him for a moment and then shook her head in disgust. Turning back to the Ferret Tanj growled; "It seems patently obvious that I'm completely incapable of filling out the forms correctly; perhaps there would be someone there I could... hire as a consultant to see that the paperwork got completed... expeditiously." The Ferret's face adopted a look half way between a smile of triumph and a sneer; "Oh, but of course; you'd be surprised how many completely helpless Spacers we run across. I'll fax you the fee schedule immediately." Tanj heard the warbling "handshaking" tones coming from the comm console and nodded to the Ferret and cut the connection. Rising from her station chair, she padded over to look at the download. Her eyes widened and she looked at Mark; "This is EXTORTIONATE! And I should know, considering who I work for!" Telling the computer to print out a copy, she growled, as she stalked off to find her Master, to see if he wanted to stand the additional expense of obtaining a landing permit sometime this century.

Tanj studied the layout of Imroc's principle city as the freighter descended through the atmosphere. It looked as if "City Planning" was a completely foreign concept, the streets small, and winding. As she lined up with the docking bay they'd been assigned at the Starport, she got the impression of a military base in a war zone. Their docking bay was almost below the surface of the planet, the bays well separated, spaced out, with thick concrete walls between them. And laser batteries and ion cannon seemed to be everywhere. Mark nodded in approval as she settled her small freighter into the docking bay. Tanj sat there for a minute and then powered down everything but one APU; she had a strange feeling about this place and was NOT going to leave her ship "cold."

The remote told her that the freighter was locked up tight; that it would take a criminal with some VERY impressive skills and tools to break into it; somehow though, on a lawless world like this, she was sure though, that such furrs existed. She jut hoped her carefully "scuffed and dented" freighter wouldn't look appealing to them. Following the others she examined the maze of tunnels and check points that lead from the docking bay to the Starport's terminal, thinking that there was no way anyone "unauthorized" was ever going to make it to a ship in THIS place...

Lord Xylex chuckled at Mistress Im'Harta; the Skunk fem was the matriarch of the most powerful of the crime families on Imroc, and the power behind the "government." "So the good will of the government of Elysium means nothing to you?" The Skunkette just smiled sardonically back at him and shook her head. Xylex shrugged and smiled; "Lady, your reputation precedes you; I didn't think it would, but it never hurts to try. Now, how much will it cost us, for you to, ah, see to it that Imroc does its civic duty and assists us in apprehending these vile criminals?" Im'Harta smiled a little wider and leaned forward; "Ah, you ARE practical after all; I'm so happy to find that out, Lord Xylex. I was thinking that for the raid itself, you'd need at least two hundred police, and as they'd have to be hired on overtime, that alone should come to at least 20,000 credits. Imperial credits, of course. And there would be other costs as well..." When Im'Harta finished, Xylex sat back in mock horror, his eyes wide. Actually, the price she'd named was within the estimates he'd been given, but he still wasn't going to let her go without some dickering. "That's simply OUTRAGEOUS! Why, I couldn't pay more than 15,000 for the police, and then only in local currency..."

Tanj looked around the hotel room and sniffed; "Urrrr, Master, are you SURE you wouldn't have rather stayed on the ship? This place may be a little more spacious, but the ship's a LOT cleaner. And a lot more secure, too." The Lion just shrugged; "I'm afraid that if anyone's looking for us, the ship'd be too likely a place to look. And we can come and go a lot freer here too. Don't worry, we won't be here long; I suspect we'll be changing locations frequently." Tanj just nodded.

They walked about 20 meters apart through the city. Tanj was behind her Master, and Hinoki behind her, with Mark bringing up the rear. Fred, a Leopard from Operations, was leading the way, pulling "point." As they moved through the city, Tanj took in the overall look of decay. There were burned out buildings here and there. Handbills and garish advertisements seemed to be pasted over any vertical surface, and graffiti covered most of that. What furrs were around were mostly harried looking, in threadbare clothes, hurrying somewhere, not meeting anyone's eyes. Occasionally a knot of well dressed furrs were seen, the one in the center of the knot obviously being guarded by the others. And occasionally well armed, well dressed furrs were seen; Tanj got the impression that these were the enforcers of the crime families that ran the place. And there were no police to be seen. Tanj had gotten the impression that this was a fairly oppressive government, and she expected a much larger police presence... If they were there, they weren't visible. Tanj kept her paw on the small blaster in her coat pocket and tried to look in all directions at once, thinking that in its own way, this place was as bad as Elysium.

After about a twenty minute walk, they came to a small restaurant. Tanj watched the Lion enter in some confusion, as the place didn't match either the description, or the address of the place she thought the meeting was supposed to be held at. As she entered the restaurant, she caught sight of a moderately well dressed coyote pointing at a door at the back of the room. Cautiously she padded across the dining room and entered the back room. There, most of the Rebel leaders were gathered, the Lion already talking to Cromwell in one corner. Padding over to him, Tanj stood on tiptoes to whisper in his ear; "I'll see to external security; call me if you need me." He nodded and returned to his conversation.

The restaurant was full of the Rebel's security; Tanj was sure of it, although she asked no questions. Covertly she tried to memorize each face, as she sipped her fifth cup of coffee. She and Hinoki, and some of the others, by wordless agreement, were taking turns taking "walks" around the building, around the block, watching for trouble. They'd been there for about three hours when a mangy looking rat scurried in through the front door and up to the coyote; they whispered for a moment, the coyote's eyes going wide. Then the Coyote was through the door, and into the meeting room. Moments later, furrs started to emerge, some slipping out the back door in ones and twos, some exiting the front door, and others descending into the basement, to what Tanj was confident was some sort of subterranean escape route. The Lion padded over to Tanj and whispered; "The place we were SUPPOSED to meet at, until the last minute change, has just been raided by a massive force of Imroc police. Somebody talked. We're going to head for the Starport and hopefully we can get off-planet before they sort out what went wrong."

The Brethren left the restaurant in a cab, moving as a group. They were about three blocks from the restaurant when three heavily armored police cruisers went screaming past in the other direction. The Lion just smiled. Abandoning their gear in the hotel, they had the cab drop them off about two blocks from the Starport, at a commuter light rail station. Tanj headed for the Starport offices, to do whatever was required to obtain liftoff clearance, while the others headed for the ship.

Mark stiffened and slowed as they walked towards the ship; then, speeding up, he grabbed the Lion; "Boss, we got a problem. There's a small party waiting for us at the ship, and a larger one closing in from behind us." The Lion frowned lightly and looked at him for a moment, then growled and nodded. Pulling a nerve scrambler from an inside pocket, he nodded to the group, and they started trotting towards their ship.

Mark winced as a blaster bolt sizzled over his head. Even with their opponents shooting wildly at nightmare images and ignoring the real targets, there WAS still a finite chance that they'd get lucky if given the time. Thankfully, the pirates were showing the temperament that is usually associated with those in their profession, attacking ruthlessly, and efficiently. Within moments the party of Imroc police that had been waiting at their ship were either dead, or unconscious, and they were dashing for the airlock.

The Lion waited until everyone was through, before sealing the airlock and dashing for the flight deck. Mark followed him, an ear twitching in surprise when the Lion sat down at the offensive weapons console, instead of the pilot's seat, or Engineering. Mark dropped into the pilot's chair, and used the controls there to bring up the mains, thankful for Tanj's foresight in leaving an APU running. He'd just channeled some of the power to weapons when the Lion cut loose with the port disruptor battery, sending masonry flying, causing the roof to the tunnel to collapse on top of the reinforcements that were just arriving. Looking over at Mark, he sighed; "Yeah, I know; she'll just have to do the best she can; if we wait, we'll all be dead. Get us out of here."

Henrik smiled at the sexy Cheetah on the other side of the counter. Furrs wanting to leave Imroc suddenly were not unusual; many times business deals went sour, or disagreements turned violent. Sometimes the place just spooked them; he didn't care why. It just meant more bribes for him. This one, though... It'd been a LONG time since he'd gotten laid, and the rat was thinking about offering her a lower "exit tax" for some nookie in return. He watched her fill out the forms as he daydreamed about fucking her; then his reverie was interrupted by alarms sounding. Turning from the counter, he looked at the security monitor, his eyes widening as a small freighter rose from its docking bay, ruby light flashing out to spear several of the nearby laser turrets. As the small ship climbed at an unusually high rate of acceleration it spewed clouds of chaff, decoys, and missiles, the latter taking out fire control radars, traffic control radars, and such. Henrik winced as one missile struck the heavily armored flight control center with a concussion that made the floor jump underneath him. Then suddenly it dawned on him... The docking bay the freighter had emerged from... Wasn't that the one the Cheetah had designated on her form? Turning to look at her, his paw reaching for the blaster he kept under the counter, he blinked finding the room empty.

Tanj forced herself to keep her pace sedate as she left the Starport, doing as little as possible to attract attention. She didn't know what had happened at the docking bay, but she was sure they wouldn't have left without her unless the situation was truly grim. Now she had to find a place to hide until they could come back for her. Slipping into an alleyway, she started to run, sprinting fast in a direction she hoped was well away from the way they'd come into the Starport...

Mark took a moment to touch Tanj's mind as the freighter cleared the atmosphere, noticing that she was clear for the moment. That would have to be good enough for now... Settling back into the Pilot's chair, concentrating on his flying, preparing to deal with the now enraged Imroc vessels in near-planetary space.

Henrik looked at the Police and sneered; THEY weren't the ones to worry about. It was the Family Enforcer standing quietly behind them that he talked to when he spoke; "Yeah, it was the sexy Cheetah bitch. She was listed as the Captain of that tub that blasted its way out of here. She was in here trying to file the papers for clearance when all Hell broke loose. By the time I'd turned around she was gone. But I think you'll be pleased to know that when she went to pay her fees, I got the ID number off her credit chit... The paperwork show a good set of pawprints, and I got a good scan of her on the security cameras too." The Family Enforcer, a Wolf, just grinned, showing fangs.

Tanj had finally caught her breath. She'd found a cab and had taken it to the North. Then she'd caught public transport to the East. And now she was walking through the streets of one of the middle class neighborhoods, looking for a place to stay. She had the clothes on her back, her compact blaster, three different credit chips, two separate I.D.'s, and the contact names for the locals that the Lion had talked to in helping to set up the meeting. She also had the name and address of one of her own local "field agents," although she wasn't sure just how useful that might be. What she wanted to do first was to find a place to "lay low" for a while. Stopping at a pharmacy, she purchased a do-it-yourself fur dye kit and a fur trimmer. Half an hour later, she was registered at a cheap hotel, using one of her fake I.D.'s and one of her other credit chips. The first one she'd been using was the one she'd expected to pay the launch permit bribes with, and carried the most credit; she'd used that for the cab, but as she'd been about to board the public transport, she'd suddenly wondered if it was traceable. If it was, the Police knew about it, from the Starport office, and she'd switched to one of her other ones.

In her room, Tanj turned on the all-news station as she stripped down to just her fur. She would have preferred to have made herself over as an Ocelot, or a Serval, or even as a Leopard, but her other I.D.'s wouldn't support so radical a change. Standing in the chipped and stained tub, she watched herself in the mirror as she played connect-the- dots, doing her best to transform herself into a "King Cheetah." It wasn't much of a change, but it was the best she could do at the moment. Later as she stood in the middle of her room, waiting for the dye to dry, she watched the report on her ship blasting its way from the Starport. At the end of the report they showed a grainy picture of her, obviously taken from a security camera, announcing that she was an "Enemy of the People," and that a reward of 5,000 credits had been placed on her head. Tanj's first impression was "That's ALL?" but then she realized that to the wretches on this planet, that might be a considerable sum.

Eventually, her stomach started rumbling, and Tanj decided that she needed to go find something to eat. Dressing, she set a few telltales around the room, so she'd know if it had been disturbed, and leaving the old-style TV on, slipped from the room. She was careful to stay out of view of the few surveillance cameras as she snuck out of the building's single exit, waiting until the desk clerk was looking the other way before slipping out. She went at least two blocks before throwing the remnants of the fur dye kit into a public trash receptacle. Down the street, she found a small pub, and finding a table in the corner where she could watch the door, she ordered a beer and a sandwich.

As she waited for her meal, she watched the old-style Television over the bar. This place didn't seem to either have, or want to invest in holographic projection. The flat image showed some sort of a game show, with some rather bizarre twists. Nude contestants ran through mazes, pursued by "hunters". When one of the hunters caught up with one of the contestants, there was a fight, sometimes to the death. Sometimes, however, male hunters merely raped the female contestants, and then bound them, to lead the defeated player off. On occasion, contestants would have to manipulate strange devices, to gain passage to the next portion of the maze. Often this required some sort of autoerotic sexual activity. As she watched she came to the conclusion that luck, as much as skill was required. In a dark, grim way, she found it somewhat interesting, but then her attention was distracted by the arrival of her food.

Mark sighed and relaxed as they made their first jump, and then got up to fetch himself a badly-needed cup of coffee. Imroc hadn't really had any ships well placed to pursue them, and he was sure their task of interception was tremendously complicated when the small freighter cloaked, something not even commonly seen in Imperial Fleet ships. There had been no defenses at the jump point that they hadn't been able to handle, and now, well, pursuit was unlikely. As he he poured the milk, he paused for a few moments to intently study the swirling patterns in the cup; then he nodded in satisfaction and stirred. Returning to his seat, he noticed that the Lion had shifted from the offensive weapons station to the Comm console. He listened quietly as the Lion encoded a message for the Brethren, directing them to start efforts to locate Tanj on the Planet. His logic was obvious. Tanj was the deputy director of intelligence, and in addition to knowing all of the Brethren's operations, she also knew most of their field agents. If she was taken, and thoroughly interrogated, they'd be in a world of hurt. It was only good business to do whatever it took to get her back... or to see that she never told anyone anything. Mark frowned a little inwardly at that idea, but knew better than to argue loudly against it. After outlining his reasons, the Lion instructed Ben to dispatch one of the Brethren's capital ships to stand off Imroc, cloaked, until she could be located. They'd then either have to go down and get her, either by bribery, or by force, or they'd have to see that she was dead. As he finished encoding the message, the Lion turned for a moment to give Mark an almost apologetic look. The Mouse shrugged and smiled a little; "You know, I think you're STILL underestimating her resourcefulness. Care for a bet? I have a couple hundred credits that say she's going to make it off Imroc all by herself..." The Lion just stared out the main viewport for a minute and then shook his head no. Wordlessly, he hit the transmit key.

She was sitting there, quietly munching on her meal when two police cruisers went past in the direction of the hotel, lights flashing but sirens off. Finishing her meal, she drained her glass, and paid the barkeep, before slipping out the back door. A quick look around the corner confirmed her worst fears; the cruisers she'd seen with several others were stopped outside her hotel. Ducking back into the alley, Tanj quietly slipped away.

The ATM was lit, and Tanj was sure there was a security camera, but there was a public transport station nearby, and Tanj thought she could make good her escape before the police showed up. Plugging in the credit chip and ID she'd used at the hotel, she directed the ATM to put some of the credit from that chip onto three new chips. She hoped in this process that she would have credit chips with new ID numbers, chips that she could use without as much risk, her one transaction buried in thousands of others... However, after a minute, she realized that the machine was not functioning correctly. Could it have identified her chip's number that quickly and frozen her transaction? Or was the machine just some sort of automated rip-off that would swallow her credit, leaving her to apply to some distant business office for her refund... After another minute, Tanj casually turned and strolled towards the public transport station; as soon as she thought she was outside the range of the ATM's security camera she turned and found a good hiding place a half a block away, Sure enough, a Police cruiser pulled up a few minutes later, one officer sprinting for the public transport station, the other going to the machine to retrieve the ID and credit chip from the machine after entering some sort of authorization code. Tanj sighed and waited until they'd departed, before leaving her hiding place. She was now down to one ID, and one useable credit chip. How had they spotted the other ID so quickly? Or were they just checking out every female cheetah on the planet?

The bar was crowded, and Tanj slipped carefully inside. She felt like she'd walked across half the city, and she wanted a place to rest. Perhaps the crowded bar would offer some anonymity. Sitting at the bar, sipping her beer carefully she watched the TV, waiting for the news bulletin. That game show was on again; it seemed to be popular here... she watched as a team of a female Jaguar, and a male Squirel worked their way through a maze, the camera cutting periodically to two large wolves obviously waiting in ambush. Finally the contestants made it through the maze; they had relieved looks, as if their worst problems were behind them. Then the trap was sprung; the Squirrel went down fast, his throat laid open by the knife of one of the Wolves. The lady Jaguar did a good job of evading the other Wolf's knife, getting in a few good kicks, until the other one came up behind her, to jab his knife into her back. As she collapsed, a look of anguish on her face, blood pooling at her feet, the announcer came on and said what a pity it was; they were only one gate away from the grand prize of ten million credits! And they'd showed such promise too... As Tanj listened to the announcer drone on, she decided she could understand how furrs on this benighted planet could be attracted to risk life and limb in such a contest; that was enough money for someone to live even here in style... or buy passage off world. As the show ended, there was the news bulletin she'd been waiting for, with a slightly better picture of her. As she watched, the bear next to her turned and looked at her drunkenly; "Hey, isn't that you?" Tanj could see the bartender look her way. Turning to look at the Bear, she snorted; "Damn, I wish I looked that good. It might almost be worth being wanted to have a body like that." The Bear looked at her and then laughed and nodded. From the corner of her eye, Tanj could see the Bartender look from her to the picture and back, and then shake his head, as if kissing the reward money goodbye. Her King Cheetah dye job seemed to have worked. Never the less, Tanj finished her drink and departed, heading back out into the cold night.

The building was abandoned, and as near as she could tell, deserted. She picked a room in the front, the windows long since shattered. It had a good view, though, and an easy escape path out the back. As she settled down, pulling her coat tighter around her, she wondered if the police used infra-red to find fugitives in abandoned buildings... Or were there too many homeless in this city for that to work? She needed to tap into the underground; every planet had one. She had to find those that would help her "launder" what money she had left; someone that could provide a fake ID. Places to hide. Places to find food without worrying. All it would take was some patience. She knew she could do it.

Xylex looked at Mistress Im'Harta and growled; "Madam, your police forces are amazingly incompetent. You've captured only a handful of the Rebel scum, and only then as they tried to make their way off-planet. Most of them have slipped through your fingers completely!" Im'Harta shrugged; "Well, if you'd given me the correct location of their meeting, it wouldn't have been a problem. Besides, there are still a few on the planet, and we'll get them for you. We're closing in on a certain female Cheetah even as we speak." Xylex growled and turned away, as if to leave, but then stopped. Turning back he growled; "Female Cheetah?" The skunk nodded; "Yes, seems she was the Captain of a small freighter that seems to have brought one of the contingents of Rebels to the meeting. She was separated from the rest of her group when my police closed in. The freighter had... unexpected firepower and made good its escape. At great cost to Imroc, and to me, I might add. She's still on the planet; we've almost caught her twice, but she's proving to be a bit of trouble." Xylex frowned again; "Do you have a picture?" Im'Harta shrugged and nodded, turning to fetch a picture from a file on her desk. As if scenting blood, she purrred; "Do you know her? Does she mean anything to you?" Xylex's eyes widened at the sight of Tanj and he growled low in his throat; "Oh, yes. Yes she does. 50,000 credits for her, but only if you take her alive. I have special plans for this one. Special, painful plans..." Im'Harta just nodded and smiled.

The bar was a squalid little place near the Starport. The neighborhood was grim, one of the poorer ones, but it was in a good position to catch spacers on leave from their ships, what ones were foolish enough to venture into town. Tanj was looking a little rumpled, a little dirty, and a little worn, but that only let her fit in with the rest of the furrs in that part of town. To her amazement, the bar was open before lunch, and as she walked through the door, the smells of cooking greeted her. She found a seat at a table in a corner and sat there sullenly watching the door, waiting for her contact to show herself.

The scantily clad Tigress walked up to her table and glared down at Tanj; "You can't sit there." Tanj blinked; "Uh, why not?" The Tigress grinned, showing fangs; she was easily a head taller than Tanj, and more well muscled than well padded; she seemed to be wearing nothing but a male's white dress shirt, the buttons straining across her bust, its shirttails barely preserving her modesty. Tanj blinked at her wondering if this fierce creature might be her contact, reputed to be a Tigress, but then her eyes locked onto the slave's collar and she realized that this was merely the "help". The Tigress' grin was a bit of a challenge, but while full of fangs, there didn't seem to be anything personal in it; Tanj was about to ask WHY she couldn't sit there, when a lady skunk stuck her head out of the kitchen, to growl; "KATJA! Quit scaring the customers! Kittiara will not be pleased!" The Tigress turned her head to growl in the general direction of the kitchen, but the skunkette had already returned to her work. Turning back to Tanj, the Tigress cast a quick glance at the door and made a shoo-ing motion; "That's Statler and Waldorf's table. Its reserved. Now be a good girl and scoot over a table and I'll see what I can rustle you up for Breakfast. You're looking hungry." As her grin softened the Tigress chuckled; "Even for a Cheetah..."

Tanj sighed and shifted as bidden. The Tigress, satisfied, departed towards the kitchen without asking what Tanj wanted to eat, but shortly she was back with a rather eclectic breakfast; sausages, and hotcakes, and applesauce in place of syrup, and some sort of soupy white stuff, and a pot of strong black coffee. Tanj ate slowly, glad that the TV that the bar possessed either wasn't on or more likely, by the look of it, wasn't working. After a bit, an elderly rabbit wandered in, moving stiffly to take his seat where Tanj had originally sat. After a moment, the Tigress brought him a plate, without a word being said; still, the way she smiled at him, Tanj could tell she was fond of him. Then the Tigress set a second plate at the table in the corner. Tanj was beginning to wonder if the Rabbit could eat that much, but then an elderly fox wandered in, to take the other chair by the wall. Without a word, he passed part of his newspaper to the Rabbit and then looking at the folded remnant, started to eat. Tanj watched the curious pair covertly, and tried to keep an eye on the door as well.

She was on her third cup of coffee when the other Tigress entered. This one was a little older, a little taller, and a little less muscular. And she was definitely the bar's owner; the way she swept the place with her gaze marked her as that. Tanj watched her over her coffee cup, until their gazes met. Tanj nodded slowly, still watching. The Tigress took another look around the bar, obviously checking on the customers, and on her slave, and then padded over to Tanj, to take a seat across the small table from her. "Do we know each other?" she growled softly. Tanj smiled and nodded; "In a manner of speaking, we do. You send me little snippets of information from time to time and I see that you're compensated for them." The tigress smiled; "With all due respect, I send information to a number of different places, a number of different furrs... As you might expect, its difficult making ends meet on Imroc, and I have to do what I can." Tanj nodded slowly; "The difficulties of living here have of late become quite apparent to me, and I understand. To clarify, I'm called Tanj; I'm with the Brethren." Whatever effect Tanj had hoped that statement might have seemed to fall flat, as the Tigress just smiled and nodded; "Ah, yes, the Pirates. I won't ask what brings you to Imroc, but I wonder if you know you've got quite a price on your head?" Tanj smiled and sipped her coffee; "Yes, 5,000 credits..." The Tigress laughed; "That, Dear, was yesterday; today its up to 50,000 credits." Tanj's eyes widened "Oh, it seems someone has decided you're MUCH more valuable than they originally thought" the Tigress grinned; "But don't worry; no one here will turn you in." The Tigress chuckled and cast a glance over her shoulder at the elderly pair at the table in the corner; the rabbit seemed to be asleep, his chair tilted back, his mouth hanging open, but the fox smiled coldly and nodded.

Tanj sighed; "Well, as you might expect, I'm in some small difficulty. I've got credits, and plenty of them, but the Police seem to have the ID number of my credit chip, and I'm having trouble using it..." The Tigress nodded; "Oh, they're very good about that here. Very efficient when it comes to money. But I think I know someone who might be able to fix that. For a rather hefty fee, of course..." Tanj nodded; "Of course; I know how it works. I've only got one workable ID left; do you think you could find someone who might be able to provide me with another?" Again the Tigress smiled and nodded. Tanj sighed; "I got separated from my group; they had to leave rather suddenly I'm afraid. But I have no doubt they'll be back for me; all I have to do is wait..." The Tigress didn't comment on that, but looked away, towards the door. "Tell you what" she rumbled; "take Room No.4. Its vacant at the moment. Get some sleep. I'll put out some feelers and see who I can turn up to help you with the credit chips and the ID. Katja will get you the key." With that, the Tigress rose, to padd across the bar, to talk quietly to another customer. Tanj finished her coffee and rose, padding towards the back of the bar, and the short hallway there. The other tigress stuck her head out from the kitchen, where she seemed to be picking up another food order, to hand Tanj, unbidden, an unmarked key.

Tanj found the room easily; there weren't that many on the short corridor leading to the bar's back door. The door had an armored look, and the lock was robust and complex, but the key opened it easily. The room was miniscule, little more than a rumpled, well-worn bed, with an even tinier water closet attached. Tanj relieved herself and then flopped down on the bed, catching the scents of several different furrs as she did so. Before she knew it, she was asleep.

Tanj heard the lock snick and was awake in an instant; however she'd gotten all tangled up in the bedclothes and was still wrestling with them when the slave Tigress slipped through the door. "Shush! Its OK, its just me!" she growled softly; "Mistress has a few furrs she thinks you should meet, and she sent me to get you." Tanj nodded and picked up her coat, rising to follow the scantily clad Tigress.

The Bar's owner was sitting at a table with an elderly Ferret and a muscular Black Panther. The Ferret's fur was going gray with age, and he wore old fashioned glasses; the Panther was of middle age and looked powerful and self- confident. Neither were introduced. The Ferret spoke first; "Let me see the ID you're currently using." Tanj handed it to him with a glance at the Tigress, but she only nodded. The Ferret gave the ID a cursory glance, turning it over in his paws. "Shoddy work. I'd ask where you got this, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't have the imprint stripe they added five months ago, and the magnetic stripe's in the wrong spot. Must be off by three millimeters! No wonder you're having such trouble." Raising his glance to look at her critically, he sighed; "A Serval I think. A good fur cut and a dye job, and you could pass as a Serval, with the proper ID. I can have the ID to you in twenty hours, but it'll cost you 10,000." Tanj nodded and extracted her credit chip, the one she'd used at the Starport. Holding it up, she looked at the Panther; "This has more than enough; the problem is they know its ID number. Can you do something to help me with that?" The Panther took the chip from her fingers, and plugged it into a portable device; he looked at it for a moment and whistled; "That's a considerable amount of credit, but no, I'm afraid this one's too hot to touch. You wouldn't believe the effort they have underway to find you right now. And there just isn't enough credit on this chip to make me risk it. Sorry." Without another word, the Panther handed the chip back, rose and headed for the door, the Tigress' eyes narrowing as she watched him leave.

Tanj sighed and produced her other chip; "This one has enough to cover the ID, but not much more; if I use it for that, I'll be just about broke." The Ferret nodded; "A difficult choice. I'll be at the bar; let me know what you want to do." With that he rose and padded over to the bar, to sit directly across from the slave Tigress who was now tending bar.

The bar's owner looked at Tanj and sighed; "I'll help you as much as I can, on the assumption that if you ever make it home you'll compensate me, but my resources are limited. Even with a good ID, it wouldn't be prudent for you to stay here more than a few days..." Her gaze flicked to the doorway; "And I wonder how prudent that would be too... I've always found Bruno to be trustworthy, but the price they have on your head would tempt anyone on this planet..." Tanj nodded; "I think I'll invest in that ID; if I have to, I can always resort to robbery to try and get money..." The Tigress just smiled and nodded; "Not easy on this planet; those that are easy targets have little and those that have something worth stealing are well defended. But such tactics are NOT uncommon here..."

Tanj rose to padd over to the Ferret; she handed him her credit chip, and he nodded and departed through the back door. As he left the Tigress behind the bar turned to coax the TV to life, and Tanj again found herself watching that bizarre game show. "Tell me about that" she growled at the slave. The Tigress just shrugged; "Its barbaric, and has everything that appeals to the folks on this planet; sex, violence, luck, and the chance to win it all." Tanj watched the TV for a moment, as a female wolf wildly humped some sort of a dildo attached to a complex machine, obviously trying to get the machine to do something, and then she looked back at the slave; "Win it all? What could they possibly offer to make furrs do things like that?" The slave smiled; "Oh, they offer just about everything. Slaves are freed, crimes are pardoned, and you win enough money to live in style and security for the rest of your life. You get fame, and fortune, and freedom. What more could a desperate furr want?" Tanj looked at the Tigress, her eyes locking on her collar; she then swept the rather dismal bar with a glance, and then turned back to the Tigress; "You ever think about trying it?" The slave laughed, and shook her head no; "Believe it or not, I'm fairly happy here. Of course, that may come from not ever having known anything better, but Mistress treats me pretty well (even if the cook doesn't), and I'm a LOT better off than many... No, I've not been seriously tempted. But many are."

Tanj was sipping a beer, idly watching the game, just killing time waiting for the Ferret to return with her ID, when there was a noise outside. It didn't sound like much, in retrospect, perhaps a groundcar stopping outside, but it seemed to galvanize the bar to action. The Slave Tigress exchanged glaces with the Bar's owner, and then growled and leapt over the bar to GRAB Tanj and drag her towards the back. The odd pair of old-timers, the ones Katja had called "Statler" and "Waldorf," the ones that seemed to spend every waking moment at the corner table, seemed to have vanished into thin air. As the Tigress pulled her through an unmarked door, Tanj could hear the bar's owner saying; "Why good evening, Officers..." And then the door was closed behind her, the slave pulling her through a maze of pipe filled spaces, and dirty passageways. A hidden door was opened and a truly foul stench assaulted Tanj's nostrils. "This is the sewer" the slave whispered; "I know its grim, but follow it for two hundred paces that way, on this side, and there will be a ladder to an access port. It'll let you out behind an abandoned building; hide there, and I'll come for you later!" And then the door was closed, leaving Tanj in the dark. With a sigh, she stepped into the slowly flowing stream of sewage, being careful to count her paces. As she struggled through the dark, she wondered if the Tigress had meant paces for someone Tiger sized, or Cheetah sized?

Tanj was gagging from the stench when she reached two hundred. She fumbled around in the slime covered walls, and failed to find anything resembling the rungs of a ladder. Carefully she paced another dozen paces in the direction she'd been going, and still failed to find a ladder. Retracing her steps she had gone eleven paces, and was coming close to panic, when her paw felt a recess in the wall. The ladder was cut into the concrete wall, and carefully she started to climb.

The hatch at the top of the ladder opened with a scream of corroded, tortured hinges, and Tanj was instantly concerned that half the city had heard her. Slithering from the hatch, she sprinted for the wall of the alley. The sewer had been noxious, but at least it had been warm; now, dripping with... Well, it was better not to think of what she was dripping with, she was cold. Freezing cold. Moving quickly she headed for the abandoned building where the Tigress slave said she'd meet her later.

Tanj crouched at the third floor window, watching the alleyway where she'd emerged from the sewer. She'd left a trail, she was sure, from the hatch to the building, and was in a way, planning on that. She'd set an ambush.

It was in the small hours of the morning, when the three slunk into the alley. They wore civilian clothes, but moved like assassins. Tanj watched them find the hatch, and then they were moving towards the abandoned building she hid in. There was only one surviving stairwell, and as they started up towards the second floor, Tanj let go of the cement block. It fell, swinging on the length of firehose she'd found in a shattered stairwell cabinet. It swung almost silently, until it contacted the back of the rearmost assassin's head with a sickening crunch. Tanj didn't hang around to see how his comrades reacted; she was already moving to her fallback position. In this case her fallback position was out of sight, TOWARDS the head of the stairs, where the assassins were headed. The first one had his head turned, to look towards where Tanj had been, as he crept to the head of the stairs. The sharp, triangular piece of glass, its base wrapped in a rag found his throat as Tanj lunged from the shadows, and as his body spasmed, he went over backwards, colliding with his partner. Tanj dashed back, towards yet another prepared position. As she dashed, she was surprised that no shots pursued her.

As bad as she smelled, Tanj's nose was of no help to her; on the other hand, she was sure she could easily be tracked by her own stench. She was depending on that, circling around through several shattered walls, to lay in wait by her own trail. Sure enough, after a minute or two, the other assassin crept into view following her trail. Holding her breath, she waited for him to pass... But at the last second he paused and looked about, his nose wrinkling. Tanj was about to retreat, her only remaing weapons being her fangs and claws... And the pocket blaster. The latter would kill him, but it was anything but silent. She would prefer to take him unawares... but the coyote's eyes widened and he growled, turning to charge her, a strange device in each paw. Tanj sighed and sighted, and squeezed off a shot. It took him in the base of the throat, all but decapitating him. And then it was quiet.

Tanj crept forward to search him. There was a cell phone, and a credit chip, but no identification. The two weapons looked like white police batons, but radiated a chilling cold, and Tanj frowned. They LOOKED like some sort of non-lethal weapon, something that would subdue an opponent, as opposed to killing them. Unable to find an "off" switch, she left them with him, and went to find his comrades. They too carried weapons, one a stunner, and the other a set of nunchucks. They had cell phones and credit chips, and nothing else. Tanj stashed the bodies in a closet that still had a door, taking none of their possessions, fearing that they might contain means of tracing her, and slunk out into the alleyway, looking for a place of concealment from which she could watch the building. The slave Tigress might still come...

It was almost light when Tanj saw her. The Tigress was wrapped in a nondescript cloak, and was moving slowly down the sidewalk, limping. Looking both ways, Tanj waited until she'd passed and then moved out from behind the dumpster she'd been crouched behind, to take place beside her. The Tigress scarcely showed any surprise, and the two angled away from the deserted building, moving down a side street in the early morning still.

"Bruno sold us out" the Tigress growled. "He didn't send the Police to the bar, though; he sent them to the Ferret's place. He's dead, I'm afraid, and your credit chip's gone. THEN they came by the bar. Mistress is under arrest but they'll let her go in a bit; she's not the one they're after, and we both have a... "working relationship" with the constabulary. And they'll let her go to reopen the bar, in the hopes you'll be foolish enough to go back there." Tanj looked up at the Tigress; "How come they let you go? How do you know you weren't followed?" The Tigress chuckled; "Oh, they hold the opinion that no slave could possibly know anything worthwhile. They went through the motions, though; some of them LIKE to "interrogate" furrs... But I didn't tell them anything. I'll tell you about it some day. Oh, if it helps, "Statler" and "Waldorf" were particularly pissed at Bruno and the Cops for killing the Ferret. They're already plotting their revenge." "Those old geezers?" Tanj gaped; "They didn't look capable of hurting a fly!" Katja chuckled and then coughed; "Looks can be deceiving; remember the Pan-Celgec insurrection, back about thirty years ago? They each led a commando unit, on opposite sides. Each was infamous, and they found that after the revolt was put down, neither could easily settle down. They wound up here, where no one knows them, and no one cares. Seems they've got more in common with each other than with most others. Oh, their names aren't "Statler" and "Waldorf", I just call them that after the characters in a cub's show. Don't worry, they're still completely capable of handling the job..."

As they came to a corner, Tanj stopped and looked up at the Tigress. "I'm sorry I caused you and your Mistress problems. It seems that I'm MUCH more wanted than I thought I'd be. The thugs that tracked me to the abandoned building were trying to capture me, not kill me. That puts a whole different complexion on the situation..." The Tigress looked down at the Cheetah; "What are you going to do? On second thought, perhaps you shouldn't tell me." Tanj grinned; "I'm out of money, my ID's probably no good anymore, and it seems the Police want to question me BAD. There are things I know that I dare not let anyone find out. I think I'll do my best to hide out, for as long as I can, but then, if they come for me, I'll have to kill myself. It's the only way to protect my friends back home..." The Tigress nodded, and started to turn away. After a moment she turned back; "There might be another way, if you're brave and determined... There's always the Game. Doesn't matter who wants you, or for what; win that, and you can leave with no questions. On the other hand, if you fail, odds are you'll be dead anyway, and it won't be suicide. That in its own right might be worth something..."

Tanj looked down the street at a single ground car moving away from them, and wondered how long it would be before a police car went by. Looking back at the Tigress, she nodded; "I'll keep it in mind; if I decide to try it, what do I do?" The Tigress turned to point towards the tallest building in the center part of the city; "That's the broadcast center. On the west side, there's a door for contestants. Just make it through that door, and you're on your way." Tanj nodded and gave a small wave and turned to padd off down the Street.

Katja watched the small figure go, and sighed. If she'd had any credit left, from tips and such, she would have given it to her; but it had taken everything she had to buy off the cops; that and more... still, she was used to them "taking things out in trade..." Turning, she hurried back towards the bar; there was a lot of cleaning up to do, and they were sure to have a grim crowd tonight...

As she walked won the street, Tanj tried to order her priorities. First step was to get clean. Then, she wanted to put some distance between the Tigress' bar and herself. Then she wanted to try some of the local contacts. She considered this a bit risky, but she was fast running out of options. For the first requirement she found at a transport vehicle service stop; they rented showers to the long haul truckers, and the Cheetah had just enough pocket change to cover the cost. The clerk never even asked for an ID; one whiff, and he just collected her coins and waved her towards the showers. Tanj delighted in the hot water; after she washed herself thoroughly, sighing as her fur dye job ran down the drain, she just stood under the hot water until the timer ran out and the water stopped. The towel was a bit worn, but still soft and fluffy and she dried herself as thoroughly as possible, not having the extra change for the furr dryer. Still damp, she left the service stop, walking towards the nearest public transport stop. She'd thought for a moment about trying to find a trucker, someone she could exchange sex with for a ride, for some distance from this place. But then she thought the reward on her would be too great a temptation... You could buy a lot of sex for 50,000 credits... No, she needed someone with a philosophy that would let them reject the reward; someone idealistic enough to adhere to a cause despite other temptations. She'd start with the contacts the Rebels had used to set up the meeting...

The Public transport was very inexpensive, requiring only a few coins; but it DID require an ID. Tanj waited patiently by the entrance, as if waiting to meet a friend, and watched the furrs as they entered. Her pickpocket skills weren't all that good but she thought she could get away with what she had in mind... There, a young raccoon with a long overcoat; he fished in his left hand pocket for some change... Tanj brushed against him, and with a "sorry," turned the corner to walk slowly away. Apparently he hadn't noticed as there was no pursuit, and for her efforts, Tanj was rewarded with several credits in coins. More than enough for the transport system and for a public comm terminal. After a suitable time, she turned and padded back towards the public transport station.

Tanj crossed her fingers as she inserted her last ID into the slot. The reader sat there for a moment and then a red light started to flash. Tanj didn't even wait; she gave the locked grill covering the walkway to the train platform a sour look and turned and sprinted off as fast as she could. This time it was much sooner before she heard the police sirens, but she was able to hide behind a parked car as the first one went past, and then behind a dumpster as the next one screamed past. Again, she ran for her life.

It was several hours later when Tanj felt confident enough that she'd shaken her pursuers to risk making a comm call. The first contact she called took one look at her and broke the connection without saying a word. Tanj blinked and walked for a half an hour to another bank of public comm terminals before trying her next call. The first didn't answer. The second was answered by someone obviously NOT her contact, and Tanj mumbled something about a wrong number before breaking the connection. Again she trekked to a different set of comm terminals before placing her final call. This contact at least gave her the decency of a few minutes conversation; the Fox looked at her, his eyes widening; "YOU! No, you can't do this! They might track it! I can't help you; you're much too hot! I'm sorry, but my own situation is precarious as it is!" Tanj sighed; "Any advice?" The Fox shook his head; "No, none at all, I'm afraid. If I get the chance, I'll pass word to the Blues that you're still alive and free, but there's nothing else I dare do!" And with that, he broke the connection.

Tanj sighed and walked away from the public comm. She'd been afraid that would be the answer she'd get. As she wandered in the gathering gloom of another cold night, Tanj wondered what to try next.

The abandoned building had a basement, and that was fractionally warmer than the floors above. The risk of being trapped was greater, but the risk of being detected by infra-red was lower. Tanj tried to find a comfortable position, trying to get some sleep. She swore that if she ever got out of this she'd do everything she could to keep from getting into a fix like this again, everything she could to keep from being this COLD again. As the night passed slowly, she tried to formulate a plan... her thoughts ran from a direct assault on some policemen, seeking better weapons, to breaking into someone's house, seeking credits, to just "swallowing" her own blaster. No plan she thought of seemed to have a decent chance of success. Except for the latter. There were always at least two officers per vehicle, and they wore body armor. Taking both out at the same time would be difficult. And homes with anything worth having would be protected by alarm systems at least. Tanj sighed and for the tenth time again tried to will herself to sleep.

With the coming of the morning, Tanj again took to the streets, hoping that in her wanderings she might spot something that would be of help. Her stomach was starting to rumble, and as she passed several street vendors, the aromas from their carts drove her to distraction. Cheetahs had a fast metabolism, and she knew she'd have to do something soon. The something turned out to be a dumpster behind a restaurant; the pickings were slim, but it was enough to fill her stomach, even if her actions did disgust her.

It was again near dusk, when she found herself near the broadcast building downtown. She'd come up with nothing workable in her wanderings. None of the residences she'd scoped out could be broken into without power tools or explosives. The police she'd steered clear of. When she'd first gotten here, she hadn't seen a single cop; now it seemed, they were everywhere. With a sigh, she looked up at the towering building and shrugged. Entering the game seemed her only possibility of avoiding capture...

The contestant's entrance was half way down the block, garishly lit. And there was a police cruiser across the street from it. It was obviously being watched. The Police must have had experience with fugitives coming to the same conclusions she had. She watched the flow of pedestrians and wondered how she could get to the door before being intercepted...

The Cabbie had stopped by the café, obviously he was taking a break for dinner. Tanj waited nearby, watching the door, and when he emerged she came up behind him, her blaster rudely jammed into his side; "Just a short ride, friend, and I'll let you go." The ferret was smaller than she was but she felt him tense just the same, as if preparing to attack her anyways. Another jab of her blaster convinced him that wasn't smart; still he turned his head and hissed; "This cab is owned by the Harkass family; do you KNOW what they'll do to you for this?" Then his eyes widened in recognition, and Tanj wondered how many other Cheetah fems had been arrested in the search for her...

The cab stopped by the contestant's entrance, facing the wrong way in traffic, two wheels over the curb. Tanj grinned and patted the bound and gagged Ferret, wondering if her driving would show up on his record. The Police were starting to emerge from their cruiser when Tanj bolted from the driver's seat, to dash the two steps to the building. The cops behind her yelled, but then she was through the door, and down the hall.

The receptionist didn't seem to be fazed by the sight of the wild-eyed Cheetah, blaster in hand. She smiled and handed Tanj a form to be filled out, with as much emotion as if she were a robot. Tanj took a glance back down the corridor, to check on pursuit, and pocketing the blaster, she took the form and a pencil, and sat down to read the first question.

The anteroom was warm at least, and Tanj was alone as she filled in the form. It didn't deal with names or addresses, but merely dealt with personal preferences, likes and dislikes, and experiences. When she was done, Tanj handed the form to the receptionist who gave her a card, directing her to room 3-124. Tanj followed the map on the back of the card, and was surprised to see the placard "Auditions" on the room's door. Inside was a Mare, wearing a slave's collar, who looked thoroughly bored. Tanj padded over to a small table and poured herself a cup of hot coffee. Taking a long sip, she purrrred and holding the cup with both paws, still trying to get warm, she turned to find a seat.

Looking across the room at the Mare, Tanj purred; "So, now that I'm here, whats the drill?" The Mare blinked at her; "You came here without knowing?" Tanj shrugged; "I'm just a little desperate..." That drew a snort from the Mare. After a minute she looked back at Tanj; "It depends... If they're hard up for contestants, they'll give us some quick instruction and throw us into the game. If they had more apply today than they need, they'll conduct auditions, to weed out the ones that wouldn't look that great on the tube." Tanj nodded; "What are the auditions like?" The Mare bit her lip and then shrugged; "Dunno; don't know anyone who ever had to audition and then survived the game..."

Tanj finished her coffee and then poured herself another, this time taking a rather stale danish from the tray. Sitting back down, she looked at the Mare; "So, what brings you here?" The Mare shrugged; "My master died, and his son inherited me. The kid's a brat, and seems to love tormenting me." Looking off, the Mare mumbled; "This way, I'll be shed of him one way or the other..." Tanj just nodded.

Tanj was on her third cup of coffee when the Mouse in the three piece suit came through the door. "All right, Ladies, we've got a few more contestants today than we can use. If you'll follow me, we have a few simple tests..."

Tanj and the Mare had been separated; it was obvious that they'd never know how the other did... a well-dressed female Coyote had led Tanj off to a dressing room, where she was undressed, and then an older lady Raccoon had fussed over her, washing her hair, and brushing her until her fur glistened. The Coyote had then returned and led Tanj to a doorway. The door was steel, and was outlined in black and yellow diagonals. "This is a typical "gateway" door in the game, and you should look for them. Sometimes there's more than one doorway leading out of where you are. Usually there is some sort of puzzle you have to solve, or defeat before you can pass on. When it opens, there are three or four rooms beyond it; work your way through each of them. You'll be filmed and the films evaluated by our judges. I'll meet you on the other side to let you know if you made it to today's contest." Tanj smiled and nodded and turned to face the door. When the door slid open, she moved through it without a backwards look.

No sooner was she inside the door than something knocked hard into her, sending her sprawling. Scrambling over, rising to her feet, she saw a nude, dark male wolf in a fighting crouch grinning at her; "To get through this room, you have to defeat me" he growled, as he started to circle her. Tanj was now on her guard, but as she looked at him, she wondered if she should show her full unarmed combat skill; if she was TOO good would they select her? Perhaps just enough to defeat this clown... The Wolf lunged, and Tanj sidestepped, like a Matador taking the Bull's charge. The Wolf almost went sprawling, his lunge having met no resistance, but Tanj didn't follow up. She just stood there, doing her best to look "lost", as if she had no idea how to handle such an assault.

The Wolf growled and circled, a little more cautious. Tanj watched him carefully... he wasn't very good at hiding his intentions, ears and eyes, and tail signaling an impending motion. Tanj ignored one obvious feint, as if her reaction time was not up to handling it, and then half- dodged another feint, and when he lunged again, she leapt, making sure that when she landed, one foot came down on his tail. He howled, and as Tanj turned, she "accidentally" backhanded him. Now as the Wolf circled, he glared at her. She'd injured his pride, and from the look on his face, she was going to make him pay. After a few quick jabs in her direction, punches Tanj was able to step back from, he grinned and lunged again, this time aiming high. Tanj fell to the floor, rolling and as the Wolf landed, she in turn pounced, landing on his back, knocking him to the floor. Squirming she managed to get both her arms under his, bringing her forearms up and behind his head, to hold him in a full Nelson. Moving her head forward, she growled into his ear; "Yield, or I'll break your neck. Does your health insurance cover things like that? Do you think they can put you back together if I do?" The Wolf stopped struggling and held still for a minute; with a sigh, he said; "No, they can't. I yield. You win. The door should be open behind you." Tanj held him for a moment and then nodded; leaning forward again, she smiled and licked his ear softly, and then she let him go, to padd through the far door, without looking back.

The Wolf looked at the Skunk and shrugged; "Mr. Terrant, you know I haven't worked here that long, and that I still have a LOT to learn, but I tell you, that Cheetah was GOOD. She didn't even work up a sweat taking me like that. AND she maneuvered me into a position where she could achieve a "kill" without actually hurting me... well, without hurting more than my pride." The Skunk nodded as his eyes followed the motions of the Cheetah fem through the maze. "I think you're right. I think this is the one the Government's after. The one they want so bad. But they're not going to get her. I think we're going to do a "Special" on her..." Looking up, the Skunk grinned, a cold, humorless grin; "Now go and avenge yourself on the Mare. Lets see just how good you CAN be, when suitably motivated." The Wolf gulped, knowing his career was on the line, and nodded, turning to padd through an adjacent door. The Skunk turned back to watch the monitor, a sly look on his face.

The Wolverine was Enraged, his paws on her desk as he leaned over it towards her, his fangs bared; "What do you MEAN you've found her but I can't have her?" Im'Harta smiled into his fury and shrugged; "It seems she's found a loop- hole. She's in a kind of a ... sanctuary, run by one of the other families. One of the other MAJOR families. I'm powerless to interfere, as is the Government. However, if its any consolation, there is a good chance that she'll loose her "sanctuary", in which case there should be no trouble at all in handing her over to you. Of course, there's a larger chance she'll die first. I really am powerless to intervene." Xylex straightened and looked at her for a moment; "What in the HELL are you talking about?" Im'Harta smiled; "It seems she's entered "the Game"..."

Tanj had attacked the maze with the same logic she used when attacking the puzzles she was used to working her way through in Intelligence... She worked her way through the maze methodically and logically. Somehow she doubted she'd gotten high marks, but she HAD found the exit. Next to the steel door were three slots in the wall, each outlined with a red set of painted lips. Before each set of "lips" was a phallic shape. Tanj looked at them for a moment and then giggled; it was obvious she had to squat on one of the dongs, and then push her tongue into one of the slots. And the fact that there were three suggested that two were the wrong ones and that only one was the one that would open the door. Swaying her hips, Tanj padded over to the rightmost dong, the one farthest from the door. Squatting she rubbed its head back and forth through the furrow of her sex, until she felt herself start to get wet. Letting one paw wander down to her mons, to rub softly helped too, and she wondered what the Judges were thinking of her performance so far. Then she was pushing herself downward, driving the dong into her pussy, until the painted lips were at the level of her muzzle. Tanj found that the act of impaling herself on the dong lacked all the usual pleasurable feelings such an action would include; for the moment, it was just something that had to be done. Still, she didn't need to let the camera know that... Leaning forward just a bit, she stuck her tongue out, to French the slot. For a moment nothing happened, and then there was a jolt of electricity that shot from her pussy to her tongue; Tanj YELPED and leapt off the dong; looking to one side she saw the door was open, but it was starting to close. Not wanting to experience that again, she dove for the door, making it through just in time.

In the next room was a rather large Tiger, and an even larger Bull. Both nude, and both quite well hung. The Tiger merely smiled at her, as the Bull lowed; "Very good; you've made it through the first two gates. Oh, by the way, the middle one would have opened the door without the shock, and the one closest to the door would have grabbed your tongue to hold you there. That one would have been a pure "loss." Now, to finish your audition, all you have to do is to contrive to make both of us cum... It has to be visibly and at the same time. Think you can do it?" Tanj just grinned.

Tanj moaned around her mouthful of TigerCock. This was MUCH better than her experience with the phallus in the previous room; this she could enjoy... The Bull was flat on his back beneath her, as she sat astride his hips facing his feet, his truly massive cock buried in her snatch. The Tiger's cock was distending her jaws, making her cheeks bulge, but at least he was "small" enough to handle there. As she slowly rode the Bull's shaft, she wondered where they'd found these two amazingly hung specimens. Would this tape ever make it to broadcast? She licked and sucked at the Tiger with relish, her mouth loving his shaft, as she tried to move ever so slowly on the Bull; he seemed the more sensitive of the two, and she thought she could bring him off almost at a moment's notice. She wished she could allow herself the pleasure of a climax, but felt she had a job to do, and that should come first... A few more licks and nibbles and she felt the Tiger's cock start to twitch; an eruption impending. Moving her hips a little faster, grunting at the effort, reaching down to fondle the bull's balls, she worked on them both as hard and as fast as she could, rising at the last moment, to stroke the tiger's cock with her paw as he blew his load all over the Bull's belly. The Bull for his part was doing his best to imitate a geyser, globs of his white cum spurting as far as the Tiger's chest. Smiling, she kissed the Tiger first, and then bent down to kiss the Bull; "Will that do, Boys?"

The Lady Coyote met her outside the door, and with a smile on her face, led her back to the dressing room. "There's a shower in there, I'm sure you'll want to clean up. I'll have dinner sent in. You should have about four hours to rest, before the show starts. See if you can get some sleep." Tanj just nodded, and headed for the shower, suddenly quite tired.

The Lion strode into the Intelligence office, a grim look on his face. The freighter had made record time, Mark pushing the little ship to its limits, and they had just docked. Finding the old Fox, the Lion growled; "What news?" The Fox sighed and sat on the edge of his desk, and shruged, paws palm up; "Zilch. We got one message from one of Tanj's agents there. Seemed she was there, but the place was raided. They managed to help Tanj escape, but that was all they were able to do. Now they're being watched closely, in case she comes back. That was... Given transmission times, um, two and a half days ago. We do know they're still running the Wanted ad, so they obviously don't have her. Oh, and there was a mysterious sudden increase in the reward figure, an order of magnitude increase. We think the Elysium folks are behind that." The lion just nodded; "OK, so what do we do to get her back?" The Fox sighed; "We keep looking. I've got some mercenaries in route; folks that can't be connected with us. They'll do what can be done to search the city, and try and find her before the Imroc government does." The Lion stared at him for a long moment and then nodded. As he turned, he growled; "Keep me posted."

Terrant nodded to the Lady Coyote; "Yes, she is something isn't she. OK, this is the way we're going to run the show. I want the following elements and puzzles in the route. Now, for our Hunters, what would you think of sending in Lance, Arnold and, um, what's that new kid's name, the big Tiger?"

Tanj came awake with a start, as the lady Coyote shook her shoulder. "Come on, its almost time. Get something to eat, and then we've got to go." Tanj wolfed down some pasta for energy and took a deep drink of water and then trotted off to the water closet. Then they were off, down the corridor, Tanj still nude, following the fashionably dressed Coyote Fem.

Tanj stood on the short pedestal, as the camera slowly circled her; she knew she was being filmed for the "introduction" before the show; then the Coyote Fem was tugging at her paw, pulling her down another short corridor. The anteroom had several couches, and there were five other fems there, all nude, along with a well-dressed male Skunk. As Tanj took a seat, the Skunk cleared his throat and started to talk. "The six of you are tonight's contestants. Obviously five of you will fall by the wayside. Some will merely be humiliated, the others will die. Only one of you will make it to the rendezvous point, where you'll join the single male survivor. You'll then act as a team, to work your way through the remaining puzzles and hunters. If you beat all the puzzles, if you triumph over the hunters, then you win the grand prize. Any Questions?" The fems looked from the Skunk to each other, and mostly just shrugged. Tanj raised a paw; "If you loose, but don't die, what happens to you?" The Skunk shrugged; "You're back out on the street, just as you arrived. There are no 'consolation prizes'." Tanj nodded. The Skunk grinned at them; "Then I wish you all luck, and I'll see one of you at the far end. There'll be a warning bell at five minutes and at one minute, and then that door will open, and the game will have begun."

Terrant smiled and bowed to the camera; "Good evening, ladies and gentlefurrs. Tonight we have something special for you. One of tonight's dozen contestants is the furr currently heading the State's Most Wanted list. Now, the Government has been quite reticent over just what crimes this Cheetah is wanted for, but you can bet your last credit that she wouldn't be stirring up that much interest if it wasn't something Major. Watch tonight as she tries to solve our puzzles, and battles the hunters. Is she truly as "dangerous" as the State believes? Stay tuned and find out!"

Xylex watched the wall-sized monitor in Im'Harta's office and growled; "You can't arrest her because she's entered a GAME SHOW?" The lady Skunk chuckled; "Oh, its not just ANY game show, it's The Game. Watch and you'll see..."

Tanj took a moment to look over her competition. There was a lady skunk that looked, well, almost resigned to failing, almost as if this were a complex and bizarre form of suicide. The squirrel fem looked determined, confident that she could take on any of the challenges and win. The Black Pantheress made her think of Jenka, sleek and graceful, and looking amused by the whole affair. The lady panda looked muscular, as if she worked out. She was attractive, in a husky sort of way, and showed an inscrutable reserve. And the shapely lady Mink looked as nervous as Tanj felt. There was no sign of the Mare, and Tanj wondered what had happened to her. When the five minute warning bell sounded, the contestants rose, to cluster around the door. As the one minute warning rang, they all grew visibly nervous, even the Panda, who was quietly doing stretching exercises. Finally it was time, and without warning the door slid open, and they all dashed through to find themselves in a maze. The other five contestants dashed off down various branches, but Tanj stopped for a moment to look the situation over, before deciding to follow the left-hand wall...

Tanj showed her usual persistence, and finally found the exit from the maze; entering the next room, she found that she was the fourth of the six to have found her way through. The Pantheress, the mink and the skunk were ahead of her. In the room were six phallic shapes rising from the floor at various positions. It was obvious that some random selection process was at work here, as each of the fems that had entered the room before her had picked one of the glistening dildoes and had impaled themselves upon it. The Skunk and the Pantheress had kneeled before taking the dongs within them, but the mink had merely squatted. All now held rather strained looks on their face, and Tanj wondered what had happened. With a sigh, she selected one of the remaining dongs and kneeling, positioning herself carefully, she slowly pushed down onto it, driving its slick length into her pussy. No sooner had she settled herself than she found out the reason for the strained looks on the other contestants: Its head seemed to balloon out, forming a knot similar to those the lupines developed. It stretched her unmercifully, and with a gasp she realized that until it was deflated, she most likely could not escape it.

Finally the Panda, and then the Squirrel fem found their way into the room, and without hesitation, chose the remaining phalluses, a small gasp escaping from each of them as it too inflated and bulged within them. A moment or two after all six contestants were "locked" in place, the dongs stared to vibrate, and Tanj knew they weren't to escape without a climax for the audience's amusement. As the dong droned within her; she panted and wondered if the first to cum would be the first to be released. Glancing over at the Pantheress, she noted that lady rubbing at her crotch with one paw as the other shamelessly caressed a breast. Grinning, Tanj mimicked her actions. The Mink was the first one to scream in passion, however, and shortly thereafter, she was able to drag herself from the phallus, to stagger through the now open far door. The Pantheress was indeed next, rising with a grin to dash towards the next obstacle. Then it was Tanj's turn to gasp and moan out her pleasure as she shuddered through a sharp climax. As she caught her breath, she felt the dong stop vibrating, its head diminishing, until she too could rise. As she dragged herself free of the phallus she wondered what sensors, or devices the game officials had to detect her climax. Were there sensors in the dong? Infra red detectors in the room? Could she fake a climax and fool the sensors? Looking over her shoulder, she grinned at the looks on the faces of the Panda, Skunk and the Squirrel. And then she was in the next maze.

The maze had been a short, basic one, obviously designed to merely space out the contestants a little, as they made their way through. The room at its end was a simple one; there were two doors, both open, and a sign. The sign read; "This is a simple variant of the "Lady and the Tiger". Behind one door is a ravening "beast" that has not been fed in days, and will devour you. Behind the other door is a handsom stud that will pleasure you. Make your choice." Tanj looked at the door on the left; it stood open, and deserted, behind it, a dead end. The door on the right was also open, a passage clear beyond it. The Mink knelt on the floor, in the firm grasp of a well muscled gray Wolf, who held her hair in one paw, and her tail in the other, slowly pumping her from behind. The Mink shot Tanj a helpless glance as the Cheetah squeezed past the rutting pair, and through the corridor into the next maze. As she ran, Tanj grinned, wondering what the Pantheress had found in the other room. Or had one of the other contestants gotten past her in the maze?

The male Brown Bear was still alive, but from the way he lay on the floor, it was obvious that someone had beaten him to a pulp. At least one leg was broken, and one arm, and from the way he lay, Tanj would have wagered he had half a dozen broken ribs, and maybe some internal bleeding. He looked at her with dulled eyes as she trotted past, following the spattering of blood on the floor. Whoever had taken this "Hunter" out had obviously been well skilled in the martial arts, and Tanj wondered about the Pantheress...

The next maze was in three dimensions, forcing her to climb over and under different obstacles. Tanj grinned as she thought of the audience getting an eyeful of her nude body squirming through tight holes and climbing over artificial mountain cliffs. The path was not complex, but it was difficult, and by the time she finally made it to the next room, she was panting hard. Here too, there was a large, obvious exit, securely closed. In the room were five devices made of steel tubing and transparent plastic. The Pantheress was already there, laying across one of the devices, supported by her knees on one side, and her paws on the other as she leaned across the device. Her breasts hung down, and had been captured by plexiglass forms that seemed to adhere to her body. In fact, her breasts seemed to fill the plexiglass forms completely... And one whole wall was transparent aluminum, and on the other side was a crowd of howling, gesturing males, of every species. Tanj watched as one particularly large bull, completely nude, held his erect cock in one hand, waggling it at her as he leered. Tanj looked at the five devices and wondered what had happened to the sixth contestant. With an eye towards the audience, both on the other end of the camera and on the other side of the wall, she winked at the bull, and sashayed over to the device closest to the transparent wall, her hips swaying. This one was arranged such that when she bent over, her ass was pointed directly at the crowd, her head facing the other contestants. As she bent over the device, her paws reaching for the obvious handholds on its other side, she felt her breasts touch the plexiglass shapes. These shapes, on the outside, were rather bullet shaped, but on the inside looked like cartoon exaggerations of the female breast. The upper edges were wide flanges, obviously meant to rest against her chest. As she wrapped her paws around the handholds, a contact was obviously closed as she felt a flow of air ruffling the fur on the flanks of her breasts. Connections at the bottoms of the plexiglass shapes were sucking air at a prodigious rate, the shapes rising a little on pneumatic lifts so that their open ends pressed against her chest like leaches. Tanj GASPED as the suction made her breasts swell, making them balloon out slightly, filling the volume of the plexiglass form. She howled as her nipples were actually sucked into the fittings at the ends. Releasing the handles did not stop the suction, and as she moved, tentatively, she found that the suction held her breasts so firmly she could not escape its grip; she was effectively immobilized on the device! Looking up at the Pantheress she gasped; "What IS this?" The Pantheress looked over her shoulder and grinned weakly; "Only saw this on one other show. Two of the devices are the "lucky" ones. Those release the contestants, and they proceed through the door. The others keep the contestants locked tight... and then the wall behind you slides open. Hey, look at the bright side; at least failing this one isn't usually fatal!" Tanj groaned; "How come only five; there were six of us; what happened to the sixth?" The Pantheress did her best to shrug; "Don't know; my guess is that either something killed her in the maze, or maybe the inflatable dong in the previous room never let her go. Again, luck plays as much a part here as skill." Tanj sighed and did her best to rest, awaiting the other contestants. She'd heard of devices like this, usually sold for "at-home breast enlargement"; she'd never thought that they worked, and was sure the at-home models didn't develop such wicked suction.

It took the Mink a while to enter the room. Then the Panda, staggered in, battered, bruised, and dripping blood from a dozen clawmarks, but still moving, and then finally the Skunk arrived. Tanj blinked and shook her head wondering how the Panda had gotten past not only her but the Mink and the Pantheress as well in that first maze after the inflating dong room; for why else would someone open the other door, if the Mink had already released the Wolf stud? In fact, just what HAD happened there? Had the Mink tried to sneak past while the Panda fought the Bear? Tanj turned that over in her mind, while waiting for something to happen. As Tanj waited, she developed a sincere hatred of the device sucking at her breasts so viciously, but finally the others too had assumed the position. After a few moment there was a clack, and the mink arose with a superior grin on her face, to sashay through the now open far door. After a few minutes there was another clack, and the Panda rose, her face neutral.

Tanj sighed, thinking that her hopes of receiving amnesty, of getting enough money to book passage out of the system were gone, that she'd wind up facing the authorities after all, when suddenly her device started making clacking motions too. However, in her case, the initial motions of the framework were merely to lock bands around her arms and thighs, even more securely holding her in place. She saw the Pantheress looking curiously over her shoulder at her, as the suction on her breasts was released. However, the edges of the plexiglass forms seemed to extrude some sort of goop, wet against her fur, and then the devices filled with some sort of cool fluid. Then, to her surprise, the bands released her and she found that she was able to stand. To her further surprise, the plexiglass forms were now stuck tight over her chest, encasing her breasts, the fluid sloshing back and forth. She found that the weight of this assembly made it difficult to keep her balance, and staggering, she headed for the door, giving the Pantheress' head a caress as she passed. As the door closed behind her, she heard the transparent wall start to rise, the howls of the crowd loud in her ears.

The next room held a maze, with three ways to go; Tanj's nose told her that the mink had gone right, and the Panda straight; with a shrug, she took the left passage, hoping that her luck was better than the Mink's. As she worked her way through the maze, she tugged at the edges of the shapes encasing her breasts; whatever that goop was, they were glued on TIGHT. She could only hope that sweat would dissolve the glue in time. This maze was also a three dimensional one, and she found it most difficult to scale the "cliff" with the big plexiglass bubbles adhering to her chest. Several times she almost fell to the jagged "rocks" below. At the top of the cliff was a tunnel, and Tanj found that she couldn't crawl on paws and knees; the tunnel roof was too low, and the devices on her breasts too long; they dragged. Finally she turned over on her back, to scoot down the tunnel, negotiating the twists and turns as best possible, concerned over the loss of time.

Emerging from the tunnel, Tanj looked over a wondrous sight; it looked like an obstacle course from a child's videogame. An artificial valley spread out before her, its floor filled with jagged stalagmites. Through the air between the ledge she stood on and the far side, were floating pieces of rock; obviously she was meant to leap from rock to rock. To compound the problem, other, larger rock shapes were moving from side to side with an unpredictable pattern. Mis-time your leap and you'd get swatted from the air, or knocked from your perch, to certain death below. Tugging forlornly at the forms covering her breasts one more time, Tanj gauged the distance and prepared her first jump.

Tanj clung to the ledge, panting hard. She'd made it. She'd had three close calls; once when she'd nearly missed the rock she was leaping for, once when she discovered the rock she'd leapt to rotated freely, and once when she'd mis- timed a jump, almost getting knocked from her rock by one of the moving boulders. Still, she was now on the far side, and for the moment, safe. Rolling over on her back, once again she tugged at the plexiglass form covering her left breast. As she pulled, grunting, she looked down at it, and was amazed to observe that most of the liquid that had been surrounding her breast now seemed to be gone; instead her breast seemed to have swelled up to fill the chamber. Thinking back, she remembered the novelty cream she'd bought at Smiley's station, the cream that was absorbed through the skin, to make that portion of the anatomy retain water. She wondered if this was something similar, a more advanced form that in providing both the drug and the fluid, worked in minutes what too the other days to accomplish? With a grunt, she managed to get one edge of the device to separate from her skin, and then working a clawtip around, slowly managed to separate it from her skin (most of her fur coming out in the process). Then she found that it was not easy to pull the slightly smaller opening away from her now balloon- sized breast. Rolling on the floor of the ledge, cognizant of the fact she must be putting on quite a show for the audience, she finally managed to free the other breast. Standing, she kicked both plexiglass forms to the "Valley floor" below. "That's fitting," she thought to herself; "might as well practice my kicking now that I've got soccer ball sized breasts..." Crossing her arms under her now more than ample breasts, trying to support them as best possible, she headed for the next room, and the next challenge, wondering how far ahead of her the Mink and the Panda were.

The next room contained three clear transparent aluminum tubes, each a body's length over the floor. The other two contestants were already standing on the pads beneath the tubes; the Panda had her arms raised above her head, and the Mink was standing with her arms at her sides. It was obvious that Tanj was to take her place under the remaining tube, although what would happen after than was unclear. Slowly she walked around the tube, taking her time, looking. As she examined it, she thought back to the previous room. It was obvious that only three were expected to make it this far... Again she expected only one of the tubes to be the clear path forward; but what would happen in the others? Figuring there was only one way to find out, she took her position beneath the remaining tube, and shooting a look at the Panda, raised her paws over her head. No sooner had she stepped onto the pad than the tube began to descend. It was a tight fit, especially over her now-enlarged breasts, and she realized that she'd probably been wise in mimicking the Panda. The diameter of the tube was barely wider than her hips and had her arms been at her side she would not have been able to raise them over her head.

The tube boomed hollowly as it touched the pad she stood on, and she tilted her head back as far as she could, to look up, to see what was to come, and then she looked through the clear tube at the other contestants. She heard a hiss and a liquid noise from below her and she tried to look down, but found her own body blocking her view of her feet. Looking to one side, just as she felt something warm and wet touch her feet, she saw that the Panda was rising smoothly up the tube, the pad she stood on acting as an elevator, sliding the fem upwards, towards a now open top. The Mink however, was suffering a different result; while something viscous was slowly rising up Tanj's legs, in the Mink's tube, it was raining down on her from above! It looked like cum, gallons of it. The viscous white jism poured down onto the Mink from above, a salty, sticky rain, and the tube slowly started to fill! The space between the Mink's body and the tube was so small, that the liquid was starting to pool around her upper body. No matter how she squirmed, the Mink couldn't get a good purchase on the slick walls of the cylinder; there was no way for her to work her way up above the slimy liquid level. The cylinder wasn't large enough in diameter for her to bring her paws up over her head, either. She was trapped, and drowning in cum!

Tanj squirmed as the level of viscous sticky cum rapidly rose, climbing up her body, the rate of its rise accelerating as her body filled more of the tube, until it was squirting up between her breasts, pushing through the crack of her ass... Squirming hard, she tried to work her way up the tube, her forearms and feet pressed against its side, seeking a grip. As she panted and squirmed, she realized that with the cum flowing up from below, and the tight fit of her body in the tube, she was at least in part being pushed up the tube like a cork. That and the density of the cum, yielded her a greater buoyancy. By the time she escaped the open top of the tube, on the level above, she was panting hard, and dripping wet, covered in cum to just below her muzzle. Laying on the grating, as the cum fountained softly from the open top of the tube, she vowed to herself that somehow, some way, she'd get back at whoever had done this to her. After a while, she rose, to look around, looking for the next "gate".

A short corridor led her to the next room, and when she saw its contents she groaned. There were two sets of rails, with one set containing a saddle-like device on rollers. The saddle had a rather thick phallic plug, and looking closely at it, it was obvious that as she sat on it, a second phallic plug would emerge from the seat, to push into her ass. There were stirrups for her feet and rein-like straps for her hands... And she knew that as soon as she sat down, as soon as she'd been "locked" into place, the device would slide forward on the rails. It was obvious that only one choice was the correct one; but which one? The Panda had already taken the saddle on the right side; Tanj had no choice but to take the one on the Left.

Placing one foot in a stirrup, and swinging her other leg over the saddle, she positioned herself just so, and slowly sank down on the thick phallic plug. No sooner had her bottom met the cool surface of the saddle than something whirred, and she felt the nose of the other plug push against her anus. As it drove deep into her bottom and as its head ballooned out, inflating wickedly, she moaned; at least it had been lubricated. She had a moment to recover, a moment to wrap the straps around her paws, and then the door in front of her was opening, the device smoothly accelerating forward along the track.

The track was gently down-hill at first, the cart gathering momentum, and then like a demented roller coaster, it went over a series of "hills," swooping up and then down, and then up again. She felt her body rise, and then fall, the two dongs tugging hard at her sex; in spite of herself she moaned and shuddered at the stimulation. As the wild ride continued, she had to concentrate on hanging on; it was obvious that if she fell from the saddle it would be a LONG fall. However as the ride got wilder and wilder, she found it more and more difficult to maintain that concentration, to grip the sides of the saddle with her legs, to maintain her grip on the "reins." When unexpectedly, and completely against her wishes her climax struck, she almost lost her grip, almost slipped from the saddle, but somehow she hung on. Three turns, two bumps, and a loop later, she gasped as she beheld poles lining the track! Each pole seemed to hold something in a variety of positions, each point seeming to reach for her as she careened down the track! With no time to respond, and no idea how to avoid them, the cart sped between the first set of poles and she felt touches on her left shoulder and her right arm. Then the next set of poles gave her harder touches on her thighs, calves and arms, and she realized that the poles held large feathers! Successive poles brought more touches, until she was starting to giggle. Looking to one side, she noted that the other track was also lined in poles, but that it didn't look as if the poles held feathers; she seemed to catch the glint of metal. And then the cart was slowing as it entered the next room. As the butt-plug deflated, and retracted, Tanj pulled herself from the saddle. She looked to her right and instantly looked away; The other saddle was empty, but from the dripping gore, Tanj thought she knew what the poles on the other track had held; the poor Panda had been flayed alive...

After a short, fairly simple maze, Tanj passed into another of the gate rooms. The exit door was clearly marked and looked like a bank vault; heavy and thick and impenetrable. The task that has to be accomplished to open it was obvious. In the middle of the room, within three large bright metal rings, was a contraption that obviously was meant to hold a body; there were foot rests and hand holds, and all sorts of automated closures. And on a pedestal in front of the contraption, in a bowl of lubricant, were two rather large Ben-wa balls. Tanj sighed and shook her head, and resignedly walked over to the bowl, to fish out the balls. Knowing she was on camera she grinned and squatted, inserting the balls into her pussy with feigned relish. Walking carefully, she made her way to the device, and climbed up into it, to stand within its open enclosures. She stood there for a moment, waiting, with no response. The handholds were simple; there were no grips, no switches that had to be closed. After a moment she chuckled and concentrating, contracted her vaginal muscles, squeezing the ben-wa balls. One of them must have held a pressure sensor, as immediately padded steel closed around her, at wrists, ankles, thighs, waist, chest, and neck. Then suddenly her arms and legs were drawn widely apart, until she was tightly spread-eagled within the device. And then the device slowly started spinning first pitching head over heels and then adding a nauseating twisting yaw, and a sickening side to side roll. The device swung slowly at first, and Tanj was able to discern the massive door creeping open. Obviously when the "spin cycle" was over, the door would be open. The motions made the Ben-wa balls jerk and dance around within her, quite nicely at first and then with increasing force until she was wailing through a sudden and quite intense climax. A camera mounted to the framework was focused on her face and she knew, as her head was jerked side to side, front to back, that the audience was watching the expressions on her face, the effects of her climax all too apparent. She grinned, thinking her now- huge, wildly bouncing tits probably were also getting a lot of attention and then another climax seized her and she howled yet again.

As she spun, Tanj realized that the sensors in the Ben- wa balls must be monitoring their "position" and she struggled hard to keep them from slipping out; however as the speed of the whirling device increased, this became harder and harder, as the centrifugal forces built. The centrifugal forces also sent blood rushing to her extremities, and she knew that if the "ride" lasted too long, she'd have brain damage. She wondered what would happen if she let the Ben-Wa balls escape; it would be SOOOO easy, but then she decided she didn't really want to find out. The world was a red blur, as she struggled to retain the bouncing, gyrating ben-wa balls, as she endeavored to keep from throwing up, as she suffered through climax after climax... Finally the device slowly spun down. Coming to a stop with her body upside-down, at an angle off the vertical. She barely had time to notice that the exit door stood wide open when all the restraints clicked open... And she was dropped headfirst into a pool of ice cold water!

As she climbed from the water, she noticed that sometime during her wild ride, doors had opened under the device; the device was on rails, and she concluded that if she'd lost the Ben-wa balls, it would have submerged itself, with her body still tightly locked into the framework. With a wince, as she considered what would have been a nasty death, dripping, she squatted, intending to remove the Ben-wa balls. However, a glance at the door, and then at the contraption convinced her to wait until she was on the OTHER side of the door before removing them. She was not sure she could retain the balls within her and thus survive, if she had to repeat her performance.

As Tanj exited the room through the door, sensors determined that she still had the balls within her, held in her sore, dripping pussy, and the master computer shifted gears, altering the direction of her path through the maze accordingly.

The short corridor led to yet another maze, this one styled to look like an old English Garden. The air was warm, the sky blue, and the grass soft underfoot. Somewhere birds sang, or at least Tanj thought it sounded like birds. The maze was formed by a thick, impenetrable hedge, about three meters tall, and at least a meter thick; there was no way Tanj could see over it, or squeeze through it. Squatting, she removed the Ben-Wa balls, but instead of throwing them away, as was her first inclination, she held onto them. If the maze contained a "Hunter", he was going to get a nasty surprise. Looking left and then right, Tanj picked a direction and started working her way through the maze.

The Jaguar watched the screen on his portable monitor; it showed him the progress of the Cheetah fem through the maze. He was nude, muscular, and rather hansom, a favorite on the show. And he grinned to himself as he strode rapidly into an ambush position; This Cheetah would be HIS!

Tanj didn't know what caused her to pause; some sort of sixth sense. Sniffing the wind, she decided she couldn't detect anything. Had she heard something? She wasn't sure. Somehow, though, she knew there was trouble ahead, and she moved cautiously. The Paw that came around the corner swatted her along the side of her head, knocking her back, knocking her to the ground; turning, she looked up in surprise at the largest Jaguar she'd ever seen. He stood there, paws on hips, as if savoring the sight of his next kill. Tanj had no intention of being so accommodating; rolling, she swung her right arm, the lighter of the two Ben-wa balls flying out towards his face. The Jaguar flinched instinctively as the lighter of the two balls wizzed past, giving Tanj enough time to get to her feet, and assume a combat stance. As the Jaguar looked at her, his eyes narrowed; it was rare that a female ever gave him a decent fight, and none had ever beaten him, but this one... Hmmmmm. Dropping into a Karate stance, he moved forward...

Tanj avoided his first kick, and spun, her tail lashing out to slap against his legs; it wasn't hard enough to knock him over though and in response he jabbed at her, connecting with her ribs. Tanj oofed, and pivoted again, bringing her right fist around in a roundhouse, that connected with his skull just below his eye. The Jaguar Yowled as the heavier of the two Ben-wa balls slammed into his skull, and he danced back in surprise. Tanj followed, delivering a snap kick to his groin, and then a jab to his chin. The Jaguar was good however, and as he fell, he swung his body, to knock Tanj's legs out from under her. By the time she'd regained her feet, so had he, her momentary advantage lost.

Tanj moved between the leafy green walls of the Hedge, dancing, watching. She'd hurt him, but she wasn't sure she'd hurt him enough. He was still moving slowly, and although he was panting hard, so was she. Suddenly he moved like lightning, to deliver a kick to her stomach, driving her backwards; he followed up with a flurry of punches and only a sudden jab of her fingers, luckily finding the right point in his neck made him break off the attack and fall back. They both stood, panting, glaring at each other, as they tried to catch their breath.

Xylex watched the wall-sized monitor, and then turned to Im'Harta; "Are you sure he understood his instructions?" The lady Skunk nodded; "He'll beat her to within an inch of her life, and if I know him, take his pleasure with her too, but he'll leave her alive for you. He's one of the best we've got and has never been beaten. Yet. This one seems to have had considerable combat training, something we don't often see in our contestants. And no one anticipated her hanging onto the Ben-wa balls to be used as a weapon..." Xylex's eyes narrowed and he gave the Skunkette a long hard look before turning back to the monitor.

Tanj panted as she moved, looking for an opening; she'd tried going on the offensive, something that had initially surprised the Jaguar; she'd gotten in a good kick to his kneecap, and a jab to his solar plexus, but had received quite a battering in return. Now he was limping a bit... But on the other hand, as she moved, she thought she could feel her ribs grating, as if something was broken... Glancing down for a moment, she spotted the other Ben-wa ball lying on the grass, and trying not to grin, she circled, doing her best to maneuver him into just the right position...

The Jaguar watched warily. This one was as good as any of the furrs he sparred with. She had incredible reaction times, something that shouldn't have surprised him, given the fact she was a Cheetah; still, she was a lightweight... If she'd been a Tigress, with skills like that, he'd have been in real trouble... Her attack had surprised him; he'd almost never seen any of his prey go on the offensive. Most often they ran screaming... Now he watched warily; if he let her hurt him too bad, he'd have to spend time in the regeneration tanks, and missing shows could be bad for his career...

Tanj smiled to herself as he passed through just the right spot; with a scream, she leapt at him, claws out. As expected, the Jaguar took a step back, his foot finding the forgotten Ben-wa ball. Although his defensive kick again found Tanj's ribs, he still went over backwards. Tanj OOFed, but still managed to land on top of him, the heavy ball in her right paw coming down HARD on his Temple. Three times she slammed him, until she was sure he was out. Grinning, Tanj checked for a pulse, and then carefully rose to her feet; something was definitely broken. Panting, she padded back down the maze, looking for that vine that had been growing on one portion of the hedge.

Xylex growled; "So much for your Champion!" Im'Harta nodded; "I admit I'm surprised... but what is she doing? Why isn't she working through the rest of the Maze?" In silence the two watched as the Cheetah fem gathered lengths of vine, severing the lengths with her teeth. Padding back to the fallen Jaguar, she proceeded to hogtie him with the vine...

The Jaguar awoke to a blinding headache, and the feel of the Cheetah's claws at his throat. Blinking, he found it hard to focus, but her words were clear enough; "You've probably got a really severe concussion. I think you need medical help, bad. Tell me what I want to know, and I'll move on, to let your associates come to your aid. Refuse me, and I'll make it worse. MUCH worse. You see, I know what its like to be broke on this planet. And I can see to it that you never, ah, "work" again. No, I won't kill you, but when I'm done, you'll wish I had. Get the picture?" The Jaguar struggled for a moment against his bonds, and then realized as her clawtips dug into him, that while he might get free, in a bit, she'd shred him first. As his movements subsided he swallowed and nodded. Tanj smiled and moved her fingertips across his face, as if smoothing his fur; then he felt the pinpricks of her claws just below his eyes. "Lets start here; an eye for each answer I don't happen to like. What comes next, after the maze?"

Im'Harta's jaw dropped; "She's INTERROGATING him! Why I NEVER...!" Xylex turned and looked at the Skunkette; "How much does he know about the elements of the game? How much can she tell him?" The Skunkette looked at Xylex; "Well, I don't know; I suppose he could know everything or nothing, depending on his own curiosity. Hunters aren't briefed beyond their own roles... But there's nothing to prevent them from looking over the whole script, and that one's always been deep into the game. I suspect he'd know quite a bit..." Xylex growled; "How much of it can you change? Can you re- order the different elements? Swap out elements?" Im'Harta shook her head; "No, it takes at least a day to build a set for a game. There just isn't time! I can change out some of the Hunters, but that's about it..." Xylex just growled.

Tanj smiled as the Jaguar talked. If he was to be believed, he'd studied the entire layout for the game. Tanj fondled his balls softly, only occasionally adding a pinprick of claws when he seemed to falter. Finally, it seemed, she'd gotten all from him that she could. Wondering about time frames, she smiled. The Male contestants might have to wait a bit, but she had something she had to do first... She knew at this juncture that sexual exhaustion was the last thing she needed, but this just had to be done... Bending over she dragged her tongue along his sheath. As she licked, she purrred; "Somehow, I have the feeling that before you've dispatched many a contestant, you've raped her... am I right?" Tanj felt the Jaguar tense, but he didn't answer; she chuckled and didn't force a response; instead she continued her licking, until his cock was standing free of its sheath, standing proud, bobbing up and down slightly with his heartbeat. Moving carefully, doing her best to ignore the pain in her side, Tanj straddled his hips and slipped his shaft into her pussy. Slowly she moved, using all her skill, watching the play of emotions on the Jaguar's face. With his legs and arms bound behind his back, the position couldn't be comfortable, and yet, she was sure, there were parts of what she was doing that he liked...

Im'Harta chuckled and shook her head; "I can't believe this! She's doing HIM! Oh, I bet this show gets incredible ratings!" Xylex just growled, and paced.

Tanj purrrred as her climax blossomed, warm waves of pleasure radiating out from her sex, to bathe her entire body. It had been a bit bizarre, a bit stimulating, to take him, watching the fear reflected in his eyes, as he wondered if she'd kill him as he'd killed so many of the contestants before her... A few more strokes and then she concentrated, rippling her vaginal muscles to milk the Jaguar's cock. She'd been holding him on the edge for a while now, and this was all he needed to cum; as his cock started to spurt, she rose off him, to let the cameras watch as his cock geysered. Bending over she kissed him, and then, pressing her thumbs into either side of his neck, she pressed closed the arteries, until unconsciousness claimed him. She wondered if this small death in any way repaid him for all the times he'd killed some poor fem, after raping her? In a way, she hoped so. Rising, moving carefully, she headed through the maze, hoping the Jaguar's directions had been correct.

Tanj smiled as she found the gazebo in the center of the maze, just as the Jaguar had told her. The spiral staircase in the Gazebo took her down, into another room. In this room, Tanj found three bound males. Each male was squatting, neither kneeling on the floor, nor standing but held somewhere in-between; poles from the floor supported an elaborate metal cock and ball harness, holding them in position. It was obvious from the looks on their faces, and from their trembling, bunched muscles that they'd been in that position for a while, and were starting to have trouble maintaining it. Each was also gagged with a large ball gag, their paws cuffed behind them. "Oh, Boys, I'm sorry I took so long" Tanj purred. As she looked at them, Tanj reviewed what the Jaguar had told her; she had to fuck one of them to get the device to release him. He would then be her partner for the rest of the game. Having some clue as to what was to come, Tanj padded over to the first male, a huge Bull. He regarded her with cool eyes, as if confident that she'd choose him. His head turned to follow her as she padded around behind him, confusion filling his face as she examined his paws. The palms of his hands were fairly soft, and Tanj figured that while he obviously worked out a lot, he did little real work. Grinning, she slid a finger under his tail, to tease his anus; the Bull flinched and twisting his head again, gave her a curious look. Leaving him, Tanj padded over to the Tiger. Again, a magnificent specimen. His paws too were moderately soft, and while he was less sensitive around the anus, he still flinched a bit when Tanj probed him. The Rabbit was fairly large... for a Rabbit. He seemed to be well muscled, but thin, and the fur around his neck was ruffled and sparse, as if he'd been wearing a collar. His paws were well callused, and when she teased him under the tail, he seemed to take it without comment. Shooting an apologetic look at the others, Tanj bent to lick at the Rabbit's bound cock, making sure he was hard for her... After a bit of teasing, letting the camera get its fill, Tanj turned and bent way over, spreading her legs wide. There was a pair of handles for her to grab, to help her hold the position, switches closing at her grip; and then she was pushing her hips back, seeking the Rabbit's hard cock. Figuring the clock was running again, she moved as quickly as she could, doing her best to bring him off. The Cheetah purred as she felt his hard cock start to spurt, his jism flooding her. Taking a moment to savor the sensations, she permitted herself a small climax... and then the device that held him was clicking, opening, releasing him.

As he staggered free of the device, stretching, and massaging sore muscles, Tanj rose, and turned, to take his paw; "Come on, this way. I'll lead, you watch our six." The rabbit unbuckled and then spit out his gag, and as he raised an eyebrow he grinned; "Our six; curious term. I assume you mean behind us. No matter, yes, I'll watch your, ah, I mean OUR rear for a bit." Tanj grinned and led off through the next maze. This was another of the three dimensional mazes, although here anti-gravity generators were used to suspend large objects that they had to transit. In unpredictable places, the gravity became significantly stronger, and in other places they were barely able to keep their feet on the floor. In many places they had to work together, one boosting the other up, and then leaning down to catch a paw, to drag the other up. By the time they'd worked their way to the exit, both were panting hard, and Tanj's ribs were bothering her bad. The exit door from the maze led them into another of the gate rooms. Again, as they entered through the door, an alarm sounded, and machinery came alive, spikes starting to emerge from walls, ceiling and floor.

In the center of the room was a broad, square pedestal. It was only about a foot high, but was about a body-length on a side. It was topped with a tank of water, only about a foot deep. Hanging from the ceiling, was a pair of the now all too familiar handgrips, but they were out of reach. Tanj looked at the rabbit; "You're lighter, let me boost you up." He nodded and stepping into Tanj's linked paws, leaped up to grab the handles. As he squeezed the handles, the rabbit looked left and then right, his eyes widening as he noticed that the spikes were still growing closer.

Tanj also saw that the rabbit's efforts were having no effect, and reached out to touch him, to alert him to the fact. The Jaguar hadn't mentioned this! As she touched him, she felt a slight tingling. Blinking, she touched him again, and then with a wry grin, she caressed his balls, eliciting a gasp. Looking up at him, Tanj grinned; "Electricity; we have to complete an electrical circuit; that's why I'm standing in water!" Grinning, Tanj licked his sheath, gasping as the current ran sharply through her tongue. Despite the shock, she was able to observe that for the instant she was licking him, the spikes had stopped, and perhaps even retreated a fraction. Leaning back to look up at him, she purrrred; "I'm sure they want me to suck you off, to reverse the spikes, and I suspect, while painful, that WOULD work; however, I've got a better idea; let go of the handles and drop down for a moment."

The rabbit gave her a questioning look, but never the less released the handles. Tanj grinned and hooking one foot behind his ankle, shoved him back into the shallow tank of water, following him down. Laughing she rolled in the water with him until they were both soaked. Standing up she grinned; "Now, when we complete the circuit, the water in our fur will conduct most of the current; should be a LOT less painful!" The rabbit grinned and gestured to the handles; "Your turn." Tanj nodded and put a foot in his linked hands and as he boosted her upwards, she grabbed the widespread handles. Closing the grips, she felt the tingle of electricity flow over her body, and with a purrrr, noted that the spikes were indeed retreating. Slowly. It was obvious for the path to the far door to be clear, they'd be here a while. Looking down at the rabbit, she wondered just how to best get comfortable?

The rabbit chuckled and took matters into his own paws; shifting a bit, he put Tanj's thighs over his shoulders, his nose pressed hard into her pussy. His first lick was literally electrifying, the current densities just below what might be considered painful! And the more he licked, the wetter she got, the more the current added spice to his licking. The rabbit was talented, knowing just how to treat a lady, and before long, Tanj was screaming through a powerful climax. The rabbit however didn't stop, and by the time the spikes had retreated into the walls, Tanj was writhing through her third climax.

The rabbit crouched, moving out from under Tanj, letting her dangle and then taking her around the waist, helped her down. She was panting hard, but had no trouble strolling leisurely with him to the exit. As they passed through the door, into the next maze, Tanj chuckled; "Thanks, I liked that!" The rabbit smiled and shrugged; "Least I could do to return the favor you granted me in the previous puzzle room. By the way, I'm Jack." Tanj laughed again, and nodded; "It fits; I'm Tanj." The rabbit just grinned and muttered good-naturedly; "Yeah, there isn't any, is there?"

The next maze reminded Tanj of an old holo film she'd seen. The "set" looked like the ruins of some ancient temple, and there were pressure points in the flagstone floor, that would set off lethal traps. Accordingly they were moving carefully. One pressure switch had released a massive bolder, swinging down on ropes; if Jack hadn't pulled her down at the last instant, she would have been smashed. At another place, stepping on the wrong square caused darts to be blown out from the walls. Tanj took one in the shoulder, and while it wasn't fatal, it had caused her to be very dizzy for a while, her vision blurred. They'd spent some time there, waiting for the drug that had been on the tip of the dart to work its way out of her system, using the time to good advantage... Now they examined each step as they moved, prepared to move fast if they made a wrong choice. As they walked, Tanj told Jack about her encounter with the Jaguar, and of the things she'd learned. "Somewhere up ahead, they'll have a method of separating us. I'll find my way to the puzzle room first, and there, I'll have to fasten myself into some sort of rig. Then you'll find your way in and have to "rescue" me, in the tradition of the classic "B" movie. Its not going to be easy, and there won't be much I can do to help you. Now, here's the key..."

Tanj put a paw on Jack's shoulder; "Hang on a second. Look up ahead. See those "statues" lining the walls..." Jack peered into the gloom and nodded; "Yup. Six of 'em, three on each side." Tanj nodded; "Yeah, how much you want to bet as we pass them, the "Temple Guards" come alive?" Jack just chuckled; "I'll take the right, you take the left..." Tanj grinned and nodded; "Move slowly, we don't want to bring more than two to life at the same time." Moving carefully, watching every footfall, Tanj carefully moved closer to the first statue. It was a rather large Tiger, seemingly carved from stone. It was bedecked in feathers, and beaded straps, seemingly costumed for a festival, for some ancient ceremony the furrs that had built the temple had held. In one paw it held a shield, and in the other an edged weapon of some sort. Tanj was within three steps of it when the stone she stepped on clicked. The Tiger seemed to straighten, as if shaking off the centuries, its head turning to look at her. Tanj grinned and stepped close, to jab one of the darts that had been shot at her earlier, into his stomach. The Tiger howled in pain, a surprising noise for a statue, and raised his weapon. Tanj sidestepped his slash and kicked him square between the legs. The "statue" made a most un-statue-like sound and doubled over, its weapon and shield clattering to the ground. Tanj made a sympathetic noise and grabbed him, to spin him around and ram his head into the stone wall. The statue dropped like a rock. Turning, she found herself just in time to watch Jack pummel the other statue; whoever had taught him kick-boxing had been quite good, and the Rabbit's powerful legs had battered through the other "Statue's" defenses; after a few well-placed kicks the "statue" was in a stone-colored furry heap on the floor. Tanj turned to look at the next statue in line... was there just a hint of fear in the stone gray eyes?

They took a few minutes to rest, to regain their strength, and then they repeated the procedure. This time Tanj had the obsidian edged weapon and the shield to aide her. The dart again gave her opponent blurry vision and dizziness, disorienting him enough that Tanj was able to whack him in the shins with the blunt side of the weapon, and then bring the heavy shield down on his head. Jack had a little more trouble with the Bull that was his opponent; he had to use two of the darts he carried, and even then he'd had to cut the Bull, The huge furr was left bleeding and moaning as they moved on to the next set of guards. These two also fell before the two, as they used the last of their darts.

Jack grinned at Tanj as they padded away from the guards. "Good idea tripping all those pressure plates and collecting the darts; that worked really well." Tanj chuckled and nodded, hefting the spear and sword she'd taken from the "statues." "I think they'll have to change the set-up in the future; half the planet just learned that trick." Jack chuckled and nodded, turning to look at Tanj just as the stone she'd stepped on disintegrated, and she dropped from view with a sharp yelp. Jack was about to leap down after her, when something slid across the hole, closing it off. With a sigh, he muttered; "Well, she said we were going to be separated..." Hefting his sword and shield, he carefully picked his way out of the Temple, and into the maze beyond.

Im'Harta just shook her head in wonder, as Tanj and the Rabbit used the poisoned darts against the Temple Guards. She'd only seen that one done twice before, and that was ages ago. Turning to Xylex, the Skunkette grinned; "She's one very resourceful Fem; I could use someone like that in my organization... Are you SURE you want her?" Xylex turned to glare at Im'Harta; "She's making fools of all your furrs. How can you THINK of rewarding her for it? No, I want her more than ever. In fact, I'm going to PERSONALLY join the ambush team in the final room! Obviously the old adage applies; if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!" Im'Harta Hmmmed; "I'll have to pull a professional from the team to make room for you; that won't lengthen the odds. Are you sure you want to do that?"

Tanj yelped as she fell, landing on some sort of slide that rapidly carried her downward; as she slid, she lost hold of the spear, something snatching it from her paw. The sword she held carefully, doing her best not to hurt herself with it, but determined not to loose that advantage. The slide finally ended, dumping her off in a room painted an industrial grunge green, stained and streaked with rust. The floor was rough concrete, and three rusted, large diameter pipes descended through the roof, ending out of reach over a bright contraption of stainless steel and black rubber. On one side of the room was a grating, obviously some sort of drain. Tanj padded over to examine the contraption curiously. It looked like a short stretcher, all in stainless steel, with a black rubber sheet stretched between the two arms, equipped with a host of robotic restraints, designed to close over anyone who laid on the rubber sheet. In the middle of the sheet was a ring gag, in matching stainless steel, with a thick rubber strap. The stretcher portion was mounted on four legs that seemed to be mounted on swivels, so that the top could swing back and forth, the vertical legs describing an arc. At one end, on the floor, were two concrete blocks. At the other end, a spring assembly held the framework tilted back towards the concrete blocks. Shafts on the other side of the "front" legs from the springs connected to two rather large diaphragm pumps, of a type commonly found on yachts as bilge pumps. It was obvious that as the platform was rocked forward, against the tension of the springs, the pumps would work. Tanj glanced up at the three pipes directly overhead and sighed. This was going to be a wet and scary one. She just hoped the water was warm...

With a sigh, Tanj propped her sword in a corner, near a vertical ladder, and then turned to the contraption. The first step, obviously, was to put the ring gag in her mouth, propping her jaws wide apart, the straps buckling behind her neck. Then, positioning her feet by the concrete blocks at the "back" of the device, she slowly laid across it, reaching down the "front" legs to grab a pair of handles mounted there, her body resting on the thick black rubber sheet. No sooner had she grabbed the handles than closures encircled her, restraining her, binding her to the platform at ankles, thighs, waist, neck, elbows and wrists. Sighing through the ring gag, she settled down to wait.

Jack had found the maze long, and complex, but without pitfalls; it was merely to delay him, giving them time to set up Tanj. He'd heard what she'd said, what the Jaguar had told her about the room, and he did NOT like the sound of it. She could easily die, and if she did, it would be his fault. As he stood before the door that was the exit to the maze he tried to calm himself, to find his "center." Then, with a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped through.

Tanj heard the door open; almost immediately there was the hooting of some alarm, and a red light started to flash somewhere. And then the three pipes above her opened up and deluged her in a torrent of cold water!

Jack's eyes widened as Tanj's form was lost in the waterfall. Throwing his sword and shield towards one corner, hoping he could retrieve them later, he dashed down the metal stairs, towards the device holding Tanj immobile. The floor was already inches deep in water, and he sloshed through it, as he made his way to the two concrete blocks. Standing on them, he found his crotch pressed hard against Tanj's ass; reaching up, straining, he took hold of the two handles hanging from the roof, straining to close the grips. Gripping one handle almost completely stopped the torrent of water; gripping the other handle opened the drain, a small whirlpool forming by the far wall; both handles were heavily spring-loaded and he had to grip them fiercely to hold the grips closed. And it seemed that by gripping them, he merely achieved a status quo; the water flow was not completely shut off, and the drain was small, much smaller than they'd hoped... By the time he'd succeeded in forcing the grips closed, the water was half way up the legs of the platform Tanj was bound to. Standing there, the Rabbit slowly rubbed his crotch against Tanj's exposed sex until he was once again hard. Driving his cock into her wet pussy, he bucked his hips forward, slowly rocking the platform forward; as he did so, the pumps worked; each stroke took about ten gallons of water from the room. The Rabbit would thrust forward, the springs would push the platform back... Slowly, as he fucked her, he emptied the room of water. When he could hold the grips no longer, as his paws screamed for relief, he leapt from the blocks to try and unfasten Tanj. Each of the closures had automated locks on one side, but there were buckles in the middle that could be released. The rubber straps however were thick and stiff, and each one took a considerable effort to undo, and working in the deluge of water wasn't easy either. Jack had the ones around Tanj's wrists, and one of the ones around her elbows undone when he had to return to the platform, to grip the handles, to stop the flow of water. Again he started "pumping" Tanj, and in the process pumping the water from the room. As he labored, he groaned at the built in puns; "wet pussy", and "pumping her," and decided that whomever had set up this room had a twisted sense of humor.

It was shorter this time, before he had to release the handles; again dropping to the floor he worked on the other elbow strap, and then on one of the thigh straps before he again had to mount the blocks, to squeeze the grips, his cock again driving hard into Tanj's snatch.

Tanj grunted with each of his thrusts, as if calling encouragement to him. With her legs and torso bound to the platform, she could aid slightly in rocking it back and forth, working to pump the water from the room. As he thrust into her again and again, she wondered how many furs had died in this room; how many had drowned. Had most of the males stayed to try and release their partner, or had they fled, seeking the highest spot in the room, and a few more minutes of life? The Jaguar had told her that if the puzzle wasn't successfully completed, the whole room would fill with water and that they'd both drown. He'd also said that the male couldn't merely push the platform back and forth; there were sensors that could detect if his cock was within her, and only then would the platform unlock. Worse, those same sensors could detect if he orgasmed; if he did so, the platform would lock up solid, dooming them both. Could Jack hold out? As Jack fumbled with one of her ankle straps, underneath the torrent of water, Tanj gasped and spluttered as the water level rose to the level of her muzzle, the ring gag permitting it to flow into her mouth... And then the Rabbit was on the blocks again, straining to hold the grips closed, thrusting his cock into her pussy again and again...

Jack gasped and strained; his arms felt like lead, and his grip on the handles kept slipping; just a little more and he could go after the only two straps holding the Cheetah fem to the contraption. Jack concentrated on the feeling of the cold water around his legs, of his straining muscles, anything to distract him from the sensation of his cock driving hard into the warmth of the Cheetah's sex. He dare not cum, but it took all his concentration not to do so; usually when he thrust that hard, it was to produce an orgasm, not to withhold one... Finally, as his paw slipped from one of the grips for the third time, he felt the water was low enough that he was able to dive at the bound female, to work on the strap around her neck.

The water level was well above Tanj's head when he finally got the strap around her waist undone, and they both kicked for the surface. There, in the corner, on a platform by the ceiling was the exit door, and they rapidly swam towards the ladder that led to it. The water was rising fast, though, and after one abortive dive for the weapons they'd left, they both scrambled up the ladder and onto the platform. The door, however, was locked, closed tight. Above it are two small handles, and square in front of it was a phallic shape, rising from the platform. Jack immediately reached up to grab the handles, to squeeze them hard. Tanj squeezed between him and the door and thrust herself down hard on the phallus, driving it deep into her sex; she wound up at just the right position, Jack's still hard cock bobbing in front of her face. She tilted her head forward, to slip the head of his cock through the ring gag she still wore. As she did so, sucking hard on him, vaginal muscles clenched on the dong in her pussy, she felt the door behind her start to open.

Jack had been holding it back for sooooo long, the sensation of the Cheetah's rough tongue on his hard cock was almost more than he could bear. By the time the door was fully open, just as the water was lapping at the base of the platform, he came, throwing his head back, to howl out his pleasure in a most un-lapine fashion. Then he released the handles, to bodily lift Tanj off the dong, to shove her through the now-closing door. As they tumbled through, the door closing behind them, cold water started to flow into the room... and then the door was closed, and they were safe.

It took a moment for the two to recover, to catch their breath. For warmth, they cuddled, as the horror of what they'd just been through replayed itself in their minds. "Should have put the sword at the top of the platform" Tanj sighed. Jack shrugged; "Couldn't have known. I thought we'd have more time than that." Tanj grinned and turned to kiss him softly; "Still, you were magnificent; a true hero come to rescue the damsel in distress." Jack nodded and sighed; "Still, we're not out of this yet. What did you say came next?"

The maze was another one of the three dimensional ones, with the added benefit of "hunters". These were a group of wolves that howled and bayed as they pursued them through the maze. Still, the Jaguar had told Tanj the secrets, and they were doing rather well in maintaining their lead.

As the pair dashed into the next room, they found themselves on a platform overhanging an abyss. It looked like some sort of crevasse, all blue ice and diffused light. At the edge of the platform were four very thin wires; suspended in-between the wires was a saddle-like device. In the middle of the saddle was a thick phallus, and again there were the obligatory hand-holds. Jack sighed and shook his head, and climbed carefully onto the saddle; after shooting Tanj a complaining look, he slowly lowered himself onto the dong, grimacing as the cold shaft pushed into his ass. No sooner had he settled himself than Tanj swung onto the device, her feet finding the stirrups that were meant for her, her paws stretching up to grab her handholds. Jack now slowly lifted himself upwards on the dong, rising until his crotch was pressed to Tanj's, the head of the massive shaft still nestled within his anal ring. Then as he drove downward again, driving the shaft into his ass, the entire assembly rose on the thin wires...

Jack had driven himself down on the device a dozen times, when the door to the room opened again and the pursuing pack of Wolves dashed in. One of them teetered on the edge of the platform, making a swipe at Tanj's tail, but Tanj jerked it out of the way just in time, and the Wolf almost fell into the chasm below. Their growls and howls rang through the crevasse, as Jack's frenzied humping slowly pulled them upwards, out of their reach and towards safety.

Xylex looked at Im'Harta as he stripped; "No, I don't think the rat pack is appropriate. You've got a rather large Lion in your stable, don't you? She's got a thing for this Lion she works for; I wonder if faced with another Lion, if it might not inhibit her." The Skunkette looked at Xylex, taking in the powerful build of the Wolverine and concluded that he spent too much time behind a desk At one time he must have been formidable, but now? No matter, she thought to herself, the show will have amazing ratings, whether Xylex takes her or not. This can still be explained away as a "grudge match." Looking at Xylex, Im'Harta sighed; "There are SOME rules to this thing. If I can't send you in with the rat pack, then its just you and the Lion, nothing more. Are you SURE you want to do it that way?" Xylex glanced at the Skunkette and nodded; "The Lion should be able to break the Rabbit in half in moments and then he can help me with the Cheetah. Oh, what plans I've got for her!" Im'Harta sighed and nodded; "As you wish. Go and take up your position, and good luck."

Tanj smiled and bent to kiss Jack as he rose off the dong; "Its not fair; you seem to be doing all the work lately..." Jack just grunted and grinned up at Tanj; "Oh, I don't mind; as long as we win, that is." Tanj grinned and squatted a bit, teasing him every time he rose... before long, his cock was hard, standing proud, and Tanj maneuvered herself so that as he rose off the shaft in his ass, he drove his own cock into her pussy. There must have been sensors somewhere, monitoring them, because as he started to pump her as well as the dong in the saddle, their upwards rate seemed to increase. As she looked down, watching him as he labored, Tanj felt he looked a little more at ease with his task...

Having nothing to do but stand there, as Jack Labored, Tanj permitted herself to enjoy the pleasures of his thrusting, and by the time they pulled even with the landing above them, she was on her third climax. As the Saddle hit the stops at the end of the wire, the Rabbit rose off the dong beneath him, pushing his cock hard into Tanj, pushing her upwards; His hips jerked several times, hard quick thrusts, and then he was grunting as he came too, his cock spurting, filling Tanj's pussy until his thick ropy cum dribbled from where his shaft spread her labia. After a moment, Tanj found that Jack seemed unwilling to again take the dong in his ass, and she had to climb higher, pulling herself up by her paws, to free herself from his shaft, in order to dismount; it was awkward, but Tanj was sure the camera loved it. Then Jack stepped off the saddle and together they faced the next door.

Behind the door was a simple corridor; it was about four meters wide, and a half a hundred long. At the far end was an ornate golden door, obviously the end of the game. And standing in the corridor, were two figures. A rather large Wolverine, and an even larger Lion, both nude. As Tanj stared at them, her eyes widened; at first she'd thought her Master had found a way to rescue her, but then she realized this one was darker, both in fur and in mane color. And the Wolverine... if she wasn't mistaken, it was Xylex himself! "That'd explain a lot" she mumbled, drawing a "Huh?" from Jack. Unbuckling the ring gag from where it hung around her neck, Tanj turned to the Rabbit; "Here's what we'll do; the Wolverine has it in for me, he's an old enemy, and he's sure to come after me, leaving you to the Lion. But that's not the way I want to play it..."

Jack shifted to the left, watching the Wolverine. Tanj had said that the Wolverine was an old adversary and would be fixated on her. On the other hand, she'd said she'd sparred with a lion often, and knew their strengths and weaknesses; she felt confident that if Jack could keep the Wolverine off her back, she could handle the Lion. Accordingly, Jack placed himself between Tanj and the Wolverine.

Xylex moved left and then right, growling; the damned Rabbit wouldn't get out of his way! And that damned Cheetah bitch was back to back with the Rabbit; the Lion couldn't get past her to remove the annoying Rabbit. Thinking once again "If you want something done, you have to do it yourself," Xylex lowered his head and charged the Rabbit.

Tanj grinned at the Lion; she'd taken the ring gag, and buckling the two ends together, had used her teeth to slice the thick rubber from one side of the chrome ring. Now she held the other side of the strap, the heavy ring hanging at the end of almost half a meter of strap. As the Lion moved, watching her carefully, she lazily swung her weapon, looking for an opening.

The two pairs moved watching each other for an opening, until Xylex charged; Jack sidestepped his headlong rush, delivering a kick in passing. Tanj had heard the noise and had leapt, Xylex passing square underneath her, as he collapsed to the floor. Landing to one side of the Wolverine, Tanj swung her strap down hard, the chromed ring striking not his head as she'd desired, but his shoulder. The Woverine howled in pain and then Tanj was battered back as the Lion slammed her with a massive fist.

Tanj panted and blinked, stars filling her vision, as she and Jack backed against the opposite wall of the corridor. The Lion watched as Xylex hauled himself to his feet, his eyes fixing Tanj with a glare. For a moment, Tanj thought of just turning and sprinting for the door at the far end of the corridor, confident that she could outrun any of them, but then she thought of Jack, and decided she couldn't abandon him. Slipping behind him, moving to his opposite side, she again faced the Lion.

Im'Harta watched on the monitor and shook her head; it was obvious Xylex wasn't as good as he thought he was. On the other hand, the way that Cheetah was flailing about with that strap, she probably would have cut a pretty broad swath through the rat pack... Sitting back in her chair, she sipped her cocktail and smiled.

Tanj had circled the Lion in one direction, while Jack had moved in the other; now the Lion and Xylex were back to back. The Lion had a greater reach than Tanj, but he was obviously respectful of her jury-rigged weapon. Both feinted and danced, seldom connecting. The Lion stepped forward to attempt a jab, but Tanj countered with a snap kick. He in turn tried a spin-kick, and Tanj danced back towards the wall. The Lion growled and linked his paws together to try and slam her with a move known as the "hammer-fist", but Tanj ducked under his swing and gave him a quick jab to the ribs, claws out. Back and forth they fought, neither quite breaking through the other's defenses. Jack on the other hand, seemed to be connecting with Xylex more often than not, the Wolverine taking a battering from the Rabbits strong legs. Xylex for his part was seeking to close with the Rabbit, to grasp him; the Bear-Hug seemed to be his favorite method of attack, and if he got a good hold of Jack, the Rabbit was probably done for... As they moved, Tanj watched the Lion carefully; neither Lions nor Cheetahs were known for their endurance. The Lion was powerful, but not as quick as Tanj, and she hated to say it, but they were much too closely matched for her tastes. She was wondering how she might goad him into doing something rash when one of his claws caught the ring at the end of the strap and suddenly she found herself pulled close. As the Lion tugged, Tanj changed tactics, to advance. One foot found a place in his stomach, and as her paws kept tension on the strap, holding her almost horizontally, her other foot swung up towards his chin. The lion grunted and as he took a swipe at her, he tried to step backwards, away from her kick, only to collide with Xylex as he retreated from the Rabbit's flying feet.

Tanj winced as her kick missed his chin; she twisted in mid-air, to land almost on her feet. The Lion's claw had come loose from the ring in their wild gyrations and she swung the strap hard as the Lion pounced, catching him on the side of the head. The Lion howled and staggered and Tanj moved in to kick at his crotch; the Lion turned however, blocking her kick with a leg; still, Tanj connected, making him wince; and then she'd danced back watching for another opening.

Xylex was fighting harder than he'd ever thought he'd have to. The Rabbit just wouldn't cooperate and fall before his assaults. Instead, it seemed like every time he'd attacked he'd gotten the stuffing kicked out of him! This wasn't working, and pausing, the Wolverine tried to think of a different strategy.

The Lion had connected with Tanj's stomach, kicking her backwards. As she landed on her back, her ribs howled in protest; but then she had to roll quickly, to evade the Lion's pounce. As the Lion leapt, as Tanj rolled, she flailed out with the strap, once again hitting him. And then she was against the wall, rising to her feet.

The Lion panted hard. This slip of a Cheetah was driving him crazy. He'd watched the video feed, seen how she'd defeated the Jaguar, but he'd been confident he could defeat her AND that Rabbit. Now he wasn't so sure. She still wielded that strap with the chrome ring, and he had the bruises to prove it. How to take her down? She seemed to be too fast to just charge in, taking his lumps until he could sink his fangs into her. Perhaps if he found a way to back her into a "corner"... Circling carefully, he looked for an opening.

As Tanj moved she felt her broken ribs grate. If she didn't think of something soon, the larger male would wear her down, until he could take her at his leisure. The corridor they were fighting in was just too narrow for this sort of combat; they were bunched up, dancing around each other, and Tanj planned to take advantage of that fact. Looking past him, at Jack, she gave a half nod, and then suddenly dropped to the floor, swinging her body, her legs flying out to try and sweep the Lion from his feet.

Jack saw the signal and Leapt at the Wolverine, his feet flashing out to slam into the Wolverine's middle. Just as the Lion leapt over Tanj's swinging legs, the Wolverine crashed backwards into him.

Tanj gasped as the Lion and the Wolverine collided in mid-air, the Lion flailing, claws out, falling, toppling straight towards her. There was no escape,... but there might be triumph... Tanj brought her knees up to her chest, her feet stretching upwards, seeking the Lion's stomach as he descended towards her. Moving her right arm, she swung the strap with all her strength, the chrome ring swinging wide, describing an arc terminating with the Lion's thick skull just below his left ear. Then Tanj was kicking her feet hard, , her claws out, pressing into his stomach, shoving at the Lion, so that he fell headfirst beyond her, slamming into the floor with a thud. Before he could recover, Tanj twisted around, scrambling to take his head in both her paws, fingers wrapping deeply into his mane, struggling to lift it up as high as she could, and then to pull it down HARD. The Lion's head slammed down, and she winced as she heard the sickening thud as his forehead hit the floor. He twitched once and then was still. Then she was rising, turning, to see how Jack was coming with the Wolverine.

She found Jack laying sideways on the floor by Xylex, his powerful legs wrapped around the Wolverine's neck; every time Xylex moved, Jack would tighten his grip, throttling the Wolverine. Tanj smiled and nodded; "VERY good, Jack, I'm proud of you!" Taking Xylex by his ears, Tanj snarled into his face; "You loose again, Lord Xylex! Oh, and another thing; with respect to your daughter's virginity, that ham handed "doctor" that examined her is the one who tore her Hymen, although I'm sure you were told a different story. Her behavior, despite the worst of circumstances, has always been such as to bring you honor! And how have you repaid her? Have you even returned her messages? You are the worst, most pitiable excuse for a Father that ever was!" Straightening, Tanj nodded at Jack, who tightened his grip. The Wolverine's eyes bulged and he pawed ineffectually at the Rabbit, who maintained his grip until the Wolverine had passed out.

Tanj helped Jack to his feet, and taking his paw, the two of them strolled towards the far end of the corridor. Tanj was gasping with each step, her ribs hurting bad. Jack was limping, his face showing considerable pain, but they were still moving under their own power when Jack opened the golden door, and Tanj stepped through,... into Pandemonium.

The Cheetah blinked, and was tempted to step back through the door; for in the next room were dozens of well-dressed furrs, each shouting questions at the top of their lungs, video and audio recorders pointed her way. Tanj looked dazedly from face to face, for a moment completely unable to make any sense of it all. Then the Lady Coyote was at her side, tugging gently, leading the dazed Cheetah through the crowd. Turning, Tanj saw Jack being led off by another fur, and then before she could even wave, he was gone.

The dressing room was a relief. The crowd of furrs had followed them, shouting questions that had failed to sink in to her exhausted brain. The silence when the door closed was a blessing. Tanj carefully lowered herself to the couch sighing in relief. The Coyote looked at her for a moment and then smiled. "We'll get a doctor to look at you; those are some nasty clawmarks you've got there. He'll be here in a moment. I can get you some time to rest, but soon you're going to have to face their questions. The forms you signed committed you to interviews and such, should you win, and now you're going to have to follow through. But first things first. Get some rest, see the doctor, get cleaned up, and then we'll throw you to the sharks." Tanj was wondering if they'd literally throw her to the sharks as she fell into an exhausted sleep; after all, wasn't the game over? She'd thought she'd won... And clawmarks? Was she bleeding? That wouldn't be good if there would be sharks about...

Im'Harta looked down at the sedated Wolverine. Apparently he'd suffered no permanent damage in the fight, although the medic said he'd be quite sore for a while. He'd been literally foaming at the mouth with rage when he'd regained consciousness, insisting that the Cheetah was his, that she be delivered to him. Now that the Cheetah had won, of course, this representative of the Elysium government had become an embarrassment. "Should have left it to the professionals" she muttered. Turning she signaled to one of her staff; "See that he gets returned to the Elysium ship that brought him here. And see that the ship departs soon, too. I would much rather they NOT be in our space when he regains consciousness again."

Tanj was seated on a soft couch, looking at a well dressed Vixen, doing her best to answer her questions as she participated in some sort of televised interview. So far she'd been reticent as to why she'd come to Imroc, although the "host" had broadly suggested to the audience that it was for some sort of illegal activity, some mysterious conspiracy. Tanj had just smiled and hadn't denied it, answering her question with a question; "Surely, Ma'am, if that were the case, you wouldn't expect me to TELL you about it, would you?" She'd been surprised when the host had smiled and shrugged and said they couldn't touch her for anything she'd done anyways, so why NOT give us an interesting story. Tanj had smiled shyly in return and suggested that her activities were not just limited to this system, and that others elsewhere might not honor amnesty granted here. The host had smiled and nodded; "Ah, so the rumors about you being a Pirate are true then?" Tanj had just stared wide-eyed at her, but then she'd changed the subject, asking about Xylex, wondering who the mystery grudge-match opponent had been, and what was behind what she'd told him. Tanj smiled, showing fangs, and proceeded to launch into a rather edited version of the truth, telling the entranced host of her time as a slave, of her "loan" to Xylex, of how he'd given her to his daughter, and of the problems that had ensued, and of how she'd rebelled, capturing the shuttle, and how they'd all wound up in the clutches of unspecified pirates. She could tell the tale of sex and violence was exactly the kind of tale they liked, from the look on the Host's face. She'd thought she'd struck gold, and she played it for all she was worth, making Xylex look as villainous as she could, and making Wanda look like a pillar of virtue (Not that anyone HERE cared about that, she was sure). In the end, the Host congratulated her on winning, commenting that she was only the third winner that year. Tanj did some quick math, figuring where they stood with the local calendar, and concluded that she'd beaten odds that were almost 100 to 1 against her. Her reverie was broken as the Host asked what she planned next. Tanj grinned; "I'm going to go home. I plan to book passage off this planet just as soon as I can. And then I'm going to sleep for a week!"

Tanj sighed and shook her head; they just kept throwing interview after interview at her. She wanted to LEAVE. But then the ship she'd booked passage on wouldn't leave for a day and a half anyways so she guessed it didn't matter. As she entered the sound stage for yet another filming she was surprised to see Jack already there. Moving carefully across the floor, she hugged him, noting that he winced as bad as she did at the hug. The Rabbit was clean, and well dressed, and looking happier than she'd ever seen him. "What next for you, Jack? What are you going to do with your winnings?" she asked. The Rabbit smiled; "I've already started spending them. Bought my family from my former Master. Got them housed temporarily in one of the better hotels. Even hired security for them! Soon as we can, we're headed for some relatives' homestead on Oberth. That's an agricultural world over in the Hammass sector." Tanj blinked; "Married? You? I never would have guessed!" And then the crew was separating them, dragging them each off to their assigned places, prepping them for yet another interview... More of the same things repeated over and over, with the added flavor of asking each of them what they'd thought when the other had done this or that. The interview included film clips from the game, and Tanj found it almost impossible to recognize herself. Was that panting, dripping, snarling thing really her? When it was over, Tanj barely had time to give Jack another hug, before they were each dragged off in different directions. As she waved goodbye, Tanj thought to herself; "Oberth. Hammass Sector. If I ever get out that way, I'll have to look them up..."

The Interviews were finally done; the financial arrangements complete, the papers signed, and Tanj was on board the shuttle to the ship she'd booked passage on. The Claire Thompson was a "packet", a combination freighter and passenger ship, headed for Benton's world. Tanj knew that she could contact the Brethren from there, and then all she'd have to do would be to wait for someone to come pick her up. As the shuttle docked, she gathered what belongings she had, and boarded the ship.

Mark was quietly sipping his coffee when the Lion padded in to the Caffeteria. He watched him gather his food, his motions quick and jerky; it was obvious that he was in a foul mood. Mark waited until their eyes met for a moment, then lightly shook his head. "Worried about Tanj?" The Lion growled; "Damn Straight. We haven't gotten ANY news whatsoever on her yet, and I don't need to tell you what could happen if she gets caught by the wrong furrs..." Mark nodded; "That too, yes. I'm not sure if it'll help any... She really IS too far away and there are too many other furrs running around providing mental static, but I'd know if she was dead, and I THINK she's even mostly out of danger now. And I got a vague impression when I woke up this moring that she may be heading off-planet shortly. I know it's a long shot, but if you want to follow up on that..." The Lion just grumbled as he turned to his meal; "I'm not sure I'd even call that a "long shot", but I'll check in with Intelligence later, anyways. Thanks."

Just inside the Packet's airlock, Tanj was met by the ship's first officer, a rather hansom Snow Leopard by the name of Pentrath. He seemed completely oblivious to Tanj's newly found fame, but the "fortune" part of it seemed to have been passed on to him as he was very solicitous in showing Tanj to her cabin, showing her all the amenities, and inquiring if there was anything else he could do to make her voyage more comfortable. Tanj suppressed a grin, seriously thinking about telling him to come back after his shift, but managed somehow to control herself. Thanking him, she told him she'd let him know if anything came to mind, and as he turned to leave, she quietly closed the door behind him.

The Cabin was small, but it was larger than her closet on the Lost Cause. Stripping down to just her fur, she flopped down on the bed. As she drifted off to sleep, she purrrrred, thinking her troubles were behind her at last. She was going home...

Tanj rolled over in the bed and stretched. Rising on one paw, she blinked at the clock, trying to work the sleep from her eyes. Almost dinner time. Telling the computer to turn on the lights, she blinked against the glare, and crawling off the bed, she made her way into the stateroom's miniscule shower. A few minutes later she emerged, refreshed, if not a little damp, to paw through her small bag, looking for something suitable to wear. The game folks on Imroc had given her several dresses, for the post-game interviews, and they were about all she had. Selecting one, she pulled it on, and adjusted it. The reflection in the mirror showed a rather busty Cheetah fem, her right shoulder and right arm covered in black fabric, trimmed in gold along the edge. The edge ran from the left side of her neck, under the stiff collar, diagonally down, passing just barely under the nipple on her right breast. The fabric of the dress then wrapped around her like a band; after passing across her back, it passed diagonally down her front, below the first part, the upper edge barely covering the nipple on her left breast, angling down across her stomach. After passing across her back once again, it angled down over her left hip, barely covering her mons, to form a dangling trail down the outside of her right leg. Each band was fastened to the one above and below it with a golden metal link, with a ruby colored jem in its center. Tanj found it typical of Imroc; sexy, risque, and just a bit tawdry. Sighing, she padded back into the water closet, to rub the steam from the mirror, to try and brush out her hair. Tying it back with a gold and black ribbon to match her dress, she turned and headed out, to try and find what passed for a dining room on the ship.

A number of other passengers were already in the lounge when Tanj entered. For the most part, aside from a few lusty glances from some of the males, and a few cold stares from their wives, they ignored her, lost in their own conversations, or in a newscast that was playing on a flat screen monitor on the far wall. A small bar had been set up, and Tanj poured herself a glass of Burgundy. Taking a sip, she padded over to listen to the broadcast. "Amazing" she thought to herself; "out of touch for that long, and there still isn't really anything "new" on the news."

"'Bout time you showed up" Tanj turned to find the smiling First Officer standing behind her. "I've been wondering if I should get the Ship's Medic to check in on you." Tanj blinked; "Oh? Why's that?" The Snow Leopard grinned; "Oh, because you've been in your cabin so long. You must have really been tired to have slept for a day and a half!" Tanj just looked at him; "You're kidding!" He chuckled and shook his head; "Nope; we're half way to Benton's World. Got another Jump coming up right after dinner." Tanj took a sip of her wine and sighed; "Well, I did have a pretty exhausting time down there on Imroc..." The Snow Leopard smiled and nodded; "Must have. But now its time for dinner and I bet you're starved!" Tanj just grinned and nodded, and let him lead her to the dining room.

"So, what line of work are you in?" The Boar was middle aged, and rather thick around the middle, and Tanj was finding him just a little bit annoying. "Oh, I'm in... data analysis." The Boar nodded and smiled; "Off on vacation, then?" Tanj chuckled; "No, returning from a business trip." The Conversation around the dinner table was a mix of ship's business, and business traveler's tales, and Tanj did her best to listen, trying to sort out the bits of information that might be useful. Attempts to get her to join the conversation, though, were resisted; she did her best to keep to herself, to not get involved. After all, she might meet these folks someday on a "professional" level, and she didn't really want personal entanglements... Still, the First Officer was a temptation... The Captain was an elderly buck, sporting an impressive rack of antlers, and Tanj smiled to herself as she tried to imagine the helmet to his vac suit. He was mostly engaged in conversation with the ship's purser, going over their finances, as if there wasn't another soul present. An otter down the table, wearing a ship's uniform that pegged him as one of the Engineers kept looking at Tanj, and she wondered if he'd caught part of one of the broadcasts of the Game... Mostly, she just savored the food and kept to herself through the meal.

It was about desert time when the Captain excused himself, saying he was needed on the Bridge for the upcoming Jump. Tanj sipped her coffee and nibbled at the cherry cobbler, idly talking with a lady squirrel, who as it turned out was a buyer for one of the regional clothiers. She was on her way back from a fashion show on Velach, and was just bubbling over with all the latest styles, and fabrics. As she listened to her prattle on, Tanj felt the stomach wrenching sensation of a ship engaging its Jump Engines. A moment's disorientation, and then it was past.

The Lion sat up in bed, fumbling to hit the answer button on the Comm panel; "Yes, what is it?" "Uh Boss, this is Lon down in Intelligence... We've just turned up something on Tanj, and I think you'd better come see this. You wouldn't BELIEVE what she's gotten herself into this time!" The Lion blinked and then growled; "Be right down." Rising he pulled on his clothes and left at a trot.

The Lion found them all clustered around one of the bigger Holo tanks in the Intelligence office. He knew most of the folks there weren't with Intelligence; whatever was going on had obviously drawn a crowd. Seeing him arrive the Fox held up a paw, and clicked a remote. The scene on the big Holo jumped, obviously returning to the beginning of the recording. He watched, looking over the heads of most of the other furrs, as a well dressed male Skunk started making introductions...

The lady Squirrel put her paw to her chest and exclaimed; "Oh MY! I'll NEVER get used to that" Tanj just chuckled and shrugged; "Actually, they've got a good crew on this ship. The Jump engines are rather well balanced. I've ridden out MUCH worse..." Her sentence was interrupted by the sound of a klaxon, and the First Officer, who'd been politely listening, rose to his feet. "Ladies, something's wrong. Why don't you return to your cabins, just as a precaution. I'd best go see what's happening." As most of the guests filed out of the dining room, everyone seemingly talking at once, Tanj padded into the lounge. She had a hunch as to what the problem was... Many times, the entertainment system on a packet like this could be switched to show exterior views, for the passenger's amusement during landings, or docking and undocking, and as she fiddled with the controls, she suddenly got a starfield. Panning about, she found the angle that would show a picture down the length of the Claire Thompson. Slowly she panned back and forth, searching, until a bright spot drew her attention. Zooming in, she nodded in recognition.

The First Officer bustled into the Lounge, looking left and right; "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask ALL passengers to return to their Cabins" he growled, shooing some of the remaining business travelers towards the door. Tanj turned and looked at him, and as he looked in her direction he caught sight of the picture on the monitor. Tanj watched as he seemed to sag, his ears and tail drooping. Tanj nodded; "Looks like a "Savage" class, probably from the shipyards on Banth. A pirate vessel that size has you clearly outmatched, in speed and shields and weapons. I'd imagine you'll surrender without a fight." The Snow Leopard looked at her, eyes narrowing, and Tanj just sighed and shrugged; "I've been through this before." Tanj grinned to herself; "Of course, I'm NOT going to tell you that I've been through it from the OTHER side..." The Snow Leopard looked at her for a moment and then nodded; "I'm afraid that gives you more experience with this than anyone else on board. We've never encountered pirates before; at least none that would dare go against the shields and weaponry we carry." Tanj nodded; "True, that's one of the reasons I chose this ship; but there's always somebody out there bigger, badder, more aggressive than you are. Just my bad luck you happened to run into them on this trip." The Snow Leopard turned towards the door, and then turned back; "Ah, if you've experienced a pirate raid before, perhaps you'd come up to the Bridge; you might be able to give us some advice as to how to obtain the best treatment for our passengers..." Tanj just grinned and nodded; "I'd be glad to."

The Bridge was a very tense place. Tanj could smell the fear in the air. The Captain sat rigidly in his chair, staring at the image of the Pirate vessel in the main viewer. The Snow Leopard leaned over and whispered into his ear for a moment and then the Buck nodded. Turning to look at Tanj, he sighed; "They've demanded we stop engines and power down shields and weapons, and prepare to be boarded. I don't think we can fight a ship that size, and there doesn't seem to be any help in the immediate vicinity. What can I expect when they board us?" Tanj shrugged; "Depends on who does the boarding. Some pirates will behave rather badly; I doubt there's much that any of us could do to stop them. Others are quite... civilized. But that ship out there is too expensive to be owned by any of the minor organizations. That's a Major outfit, and I'd suspect a more... businesslike behavior. I'd advise doing nothing that might worsen their mood, and hope for the best. If everything goes just right, your insurance carrier will ransom your ship, your passengers, and your crew." The Buck just nodded and with a sigh, gestured at the furr at the Ops console. "Do as they demand" he sighed, as if passing a death sentence.

Tanj excused herself, and waited in the lounge, not wanting to call attention to herself. She felt the ship shudder as the Pirate's shuttle clamped onto the Packet's docking ring, and then listened as the shouts and the running feet drew closer. Most of them passed by on their way to the bridge, but after a while, one of the pirates stuck his head into the lounge, his vulpine features split by a wide grin when he saw Tanj; "Well, Lookee here what Ah Found!" Tanj took in the image of the fox, wearing battered and nondescript body armor, a rather large stunner in his paws, and a commo headset perched on his head, and smiled; "Hello yourself. Who's ram-rodding this operation?" The Fox just shook his head and padded across the lounge, to wrap one paw around Tanj's arm, tugging her to her feet. "Ah'll be the one askin' the questions here." With that he dragged her from the lounge.

Tanj found herself pushed up against a corridor wall, as the pirates assembled all the passengers and crew. Some of the businessfurrs looked quite nervous, some looked amused. The crew looked somewhere between doubtful and terrified. Tanj watched the pirates closely, trying to gain a clue as to what organization they belonged to. Their operation however, was smooth, parties seizing the Bridge and Engineering, others rounding up all the furrs on the ship. Tanj hadn't seen anyone actually mistreated yet, although there was a lot of yelling and threatening gestures. Smiling to herself, Tanj treated it as an exercise, as if she'd have to give an efficiency report on the operation.

They'd been standing there for a while when a rather large Tiger swaggered into view. His outfit was perhaps just a little grander than that of the other pirates, his body armor better fitting, and still showing a shine in odd places. He carried a stunner in one paw, and an honest-to- God rapier in the other. Tanj almost laughed as she watched him. The effect was not lost on the crew and passengers, and most of them literally cowered before him. As he passed down the line, the Pirate singled out the occasional crew member, sending them to stand to one side. Most of the Crew and Passengers were passed on to a team of pirates that started binding them, preparing to transfer them to the pirate vessel. As the Tiger pulled even with Tanj, she smiled; "Well, Hello, Captain Quinn; fancy meeting you in a place like this!" The Tiger stopped and stared down at the Cheetah to growl; "How do you know my name?" Tanj rolled her eyes; "Why Jedidiah, I'm SHOCKED that you don't remember me!" Before the Tiger could speak, Tanj narrowed her eyes; looking up at him, she growled; "And I AM going to tell Jenka that you're not staying awake in Briefings." As the Tiger's jaw dropped, Tanj noted with some amusement that half a dozen other jaws had dropped as well, not only among the Packet's crew, but among the Pirates as well.

The Tiger stared down at the Cheetah fem and shook his head; "All right, you've got me; I admit it, I don't remember; NOW WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" Tanj smiled and shook her head again. For a moment she hesitated, not wanting everyone in the room to know just who she was, but then she thought about the broadcasts of the Game, and with a sigh, she realized her covert days were long over. Besides, was she really ashamed of who, and what she was? Looking back up at the Tiger, she purrred; "I'm Sou An Ky, Deputy Director of Intelligence for the Brethren, and the personal property of the Brethren's CEO and Majority Stockholder. Most folks call me Tanj. If you'd been awake, you would have seen me deliver Intelligence Briefings to the Black Fleet as part of the Information Exchange Program."

Tanj almost burst out laughing when one of the Pirate's lieutenants muttered an "Ooooooh CRAP!" Quinn turned to fix his crew with a stare, as if trying to figure out who'd let that slip, and when he turned back, he had a frown on his face; "Be that as it may, at the moment, you're booty!" Tanj shrugged; "Not a problem. I understand the rules. Just keep in mind that when I get back home, and I WILL get back home, you'll still be running on the intelligence my shop provides. Given that, I trust you'll have the good common sense to treat your captives, ALL your captives, according to guild rules. Oh, and I'd be obliged if you'd let Jenka know I'm here." With that, Tanj turned and moved to join the line of captive being bound for transfer.

Quinn watched her back as she was led towards the airlock, just another captive in the coffle. One of the Pirates, a skunk with a wicked scar across his muzzle, padded up to the Tiger and asked; "What was that crack about her providing intelligence?" Quinn sighed; "Think about it. She tells Jenka there's a lucrative convoy passing through our area. Jenka sends us out to take it. If she's slightly pissed at us, we find nothing, and she goes "oops" and we take a loss. If she's REALLY pissed at us, we find an Imperial battle fleet. And no, we won't just make her "disappear." You know as well as I do that since we started sharing intelligence with the Brethren, our revenues are up over 80%. On the OTHER hand, with a mouth like that, I've got no incentive to treat her any different than the other captives." The Tiger looked at the Skunk and growled; "Embarrass me in front of MY crew, will she?" The skunk chuckled and shook his head, one finger idly rubbing along the scar on his muzzle; "Aw come on, Skipper, EVERYONE sleeps in meetings; now not remembering a sexy thing like that, THAT's hard to believe...Did you seen the size of her tits?"

The pirates enforced silence as the group was transferred to a shuttle, and then ferried to the Pirate vessel. In silence they were stripped, passed through the showers, and then given a cursory medical examination. Finally Tanj found herself in a small cage, her paws still bound behind her back with a wire tie. The lady Squirrel wound up sharing the cage with her, as she sat there, Tanj watched her; "Oh calm down. Things are likely to get very boring, but I really don't think we're in any danger." The squirrel flashed her a quick look; "I've heard that Pirates like to rape their captives!" Tanj chuckled; "Oh, I suppose there are some that do; most I've run across prefer willing partners. Besides, you're not a virgin are you?" The Squirrel glanced at her again; "Oh, NO! Of course not!" Tanj smiled; "And you enjoy sex?" This drew a longer glance from the Squirrel; "Well, yes..." Tanj chuckled; "Did you get a good look at Quinn? The Tiger? I think he's a pretty good looking stud, and I guarantee you, by the time this gets sorted out, I suspect both of us will be soooooo bored, his attentions would be rather welcome." The Squirrel looked at Tanj for a long moment and then shook her head; "You're weird, you know that?" Tanj just laughed.

The Lion was visibly tense as Tanj and the Rabbit fought Xylex and the other Hunter, his claws twitching in and out as if he wanted nothing more than to join the fight. The crowd sighed with relief when Tanj managed to defeat her opponent, and there was a rather shocked silence as Tanj snarled into Xylex's face, one small voice wondering "Was that WANDA she was talking about?" As the recording moved into the Victory celebration, and the interviews, the Lion drew Ben and the Fox aside; "She says she's going home. She knows she can't come straight here; where would she go? And how old is this recording? Check the shipping schedules, and get your mercenaries to check the passenger lists. Then get that Cruiser we have there to follow up the more probable leads."

The trip did prove to be boring. They were fed twice a day, allowed out to use the water closet twice a day, and allowed a brief exercise period. Most of the time they spent in their cages. Most of the time Tanj just slept. Of course conversations were held among the cages, and occasionally Tanj was glad for the bars that kept her separated from the other prisoners; some of them hadn't taken kindly to the fact that she too was a pirate... The Guards liked to tease certain of the prisoners, and they soon figured out that Tanj was more than willing to tease back, and more than once the Squirrel yelped as one of them tried to reach through the bars to grab at the Cheetah. THEN they hit upon a more devious technique...

"Heeeeyyyyyyy, Taaaaannnnnnnnjjjjjjjjj, I've got Chooooocccoooollllaaaatttteeeee." Tanj licked her lips and moved to the bars, looking up at the Wolf. The food here was nutritious, but was designed to minimize demands on the ship's waste treatment system; high calorie, low bulk, and accordingly, Tanj was always hungry. Nothing they fed them seemed to fill her, even though she knew she was gaining weight, sitting around like she was. And it was tasteless. No spices. Nothing that might upset someone's stomach, nothing that might produce vomit, or diarrhea. Nothing that might cause a mess that would have to be cleaned up. It was bland! Tanj looked at the Wolf as he waved the bit of Chocolate, and tried hard not to drool. "And what am I going to have to do to get a piece, Frederick?" The Wolf chuckled, and waved the piece just out of her reach. "Oh, answer a few questions, for starters. Your little exchange with Captain Quinn has us all a bit curious..."

Tanj sat back and looked at him; "I dunno; what kind of questions?" The Wolf smiled, slowly waving the chocolate back and forth within Tanj's vision, but just out of her reach. "We heard you say something about being the "personal property" of the head of the Brethren; you some sort of slave or something?" Tanj chuckled and shrugged; "As a matter of fact, I am." Frederick stopped waving the chocolate and looked at her; "Then where's your collar?" Tanj grinned; "My Master thought it was inappropriate for me to wear it on the... mission we were on. Felt it would raise too many questions, and therefor he made me leave it on the ship. Its not like its needed or anything; we both know where we stand..." The wolf just went "Uh-huh!" After a moment Frederick smiled; "So tell me, little Slave, what WILL you do for a piece of chocolate?" Tanj grinned, a sly smile; "Its more like what WON'T I do... whatcha got in mind?"

Before the Wolf could answer, the door at the end of the room opened and Captain Quinn walked in, to stop before Tanj's cage. Tanj smiled up at him and said sweetly; "Why Captain Quinn! We simply HAVE to stop meeting like this!" Quinn chuckled; "You might change your tune on that; I received a long message from Jenka about you, and have gotten some VERY explicit instructions as to how you should be treated..." As the Tiger spoke, Tanj noticed another of the pirates, a rather large bull, walking up behind the Captain, carrying all sorts of straps and cuffs. Quinn turned to follow her gaze and nodded to the Bull; "This is the one; the Cheetah. You know what to do." Turning back to Tanj Quinn chuckled; "See you later, Tanj..."

The Bull unlocked the cage and reached in to grab a handful of Tanj's hair, dragging her out roughly. Growling at Frederick, the Bull instructed him to hold her. Tanj looked at Frederick as the Bull fastened a thick collar around her neck, locking it in place. This was followed by a rubber-coated ring gag, the ring propping her jaws wide apart. Tanj winced as she found the inside of the ring was lined with sharp little points, and in order to keep from pricking her tongue, she was forced to lay her tongue through the ring. The Bull then proceeded to pull her paws together behind her back, to force her arms into a leather sleeve. When he had it strapped into place, her arms were pulled hard behind her back, encased in tight black leather. Forced to kneel, Tanj felt the Bull tie the ring at the end of the arm binder to the cuffs that now encircled her ankles. Then the Bull was gathering her hair, tying a knot in the end; a rope was looped through her hair, and around the knot, and then her head was tugged back hard, the other end of the rope also tied to her ankles. Rising, the Bull stepped back to look at his handiwork. Glancing up at the Wolf, the Bull growled; "She's to be kept tightly tied until we dock. Jenka's orders. And she's to be used. Frequently." Grinning at the Wolf, the Bull demonstrated, undoing his belt, and dropping his pants. Tanj urked as the Bull's hard cock was slowly stuffed through the ring gag, his thick shaft filling her mouth, making her cheeks bulge. Now she knew why the ring gag was so huge; the Bull had obviously chosen it specifically to accommodate himself. Unable to move, there was little Tanj could do as the Bull slowly fucked her face. But the Bull didn't seem to mind; he kept one hand on the back of her head, his hips moving slowly, oblivious to the stares of all the caged captives. Finally, he grunted hard, and pulled back, wrapping one paw around his shaft, to stroke himself as he came, his jism splattering Tanj's face and chest. With a grunt, the Bull pulled up his pants, and as he turned to leave, he grinned at Frederick; "Your turn."

Frederick looked down at the Cheetah for a moment, and then shrugged. "Oooooookay, little slave" he rumbled, and then his pants were falling to the floor, his crotch pressed against Tanj's face. Tanj had a little more room, the wolf not being nearly as massive as the Bull, and she was able to work her tongue along the underside of his shaft. The Wolf didn't last nearly as long, and within moments, he was firing his load down her throat, his howls making the kennel ring. As he pulled out, Frederick reached down to pick up the piece of Chocolate he'd dropped, and carefully he placed it on Tanj's tongue. Then, chuckling, he pulled up his pants and returned to his station.

Tanj grunted, and strained against her bonds; they seemed to change her position every few hours... They'd even brought in some sort of scaffolding, so they could add variety to the ways in which she was bound. Currently she hung upside- down, hanging from her well-spread ankles and a broad belt around her waist; her paws still fastened behind her back. It'd been a great position for all the Pirates that had been stopping by the Kennels to make use of the Cheetah slave; her head was just about at crotch height, the ring gag once again in her mouth. Of course, there'd been this mouse who'd been a little short, but he'd actually brought a step- stool with him... Now, the kennels were quiet, and Tanj shifted yet again, seeking a way to ease the strain on her limbs.

Quinn himself had come to pay her a visit. The Bull had reappeared, and using tie-down points in the floor of the kennels, had bound her in a kneeling position, on hands and knees, her hair again used to pull her head back, its end tied to the broad belt around her waist. The Captain had quietly strolled around her, as she knelt, bound, on the floor and had then added his own personal touch by using a leather thong to tie the end of her tail to the back of her collar. Then he'd quietly removed and folded his pants, laying them aside, to kneel behind her, one paw teasing her sex, until she was quite wet, and ready for him. The Tiger's cock wasn't as huge as the Bull's, but it was large enough, and Tanj moaned as he slowly worked it into her. After he'd pumped her for a while, the Tiger made a motion, and the Bull again dropped his pants, to kneel at Tanj's head, his cock once again driving through the ring in her mouth. Back and forth they pushed her, the Tiger driving her forward, forcing her mouth around the Bull's cock; and then the Bull was driving her back, forcing her onto the Tiger's cock. Slowly they worked her back and forth, heedless of her mewlings or her cries, ignoring the climaxes that claimed her from time to time, until finally the Tiger growled, his cock spurting and throbbing within her sex, filling her with his seed until it ran down her thighs. The Bull took a bit longer, but when he came, again he pulled out, to spray his cum over her head. He then wiped off his cock, first against one of her cheeks and then the other, before standing and pulling up his pants. Without a word, they left her kneeling there, panting hard, cum dripping from her pussy, and her muzzle.

Frederick looked down at the dripping Cheetah and sighed; she was a MESS. Looking around at all the captives in the cages, he growled; "All right; which one of you would like to clean this bitch up? Get her clean and I'll let you have a turn with her." Tanj chuckled to herself as she watched some of the former passengers and crew of the Packet recoil in horror, while others obviously looked all too eager. The Wolf paced up and down the cages, looking critically at each of the occupants, before stopping and unlocking one of the doors. Gesturing to the furr inside he growled. "You. Out now." Tanj watched as the packet's first officer, the Snow Leopard she'd had her eye on, reluctantly crawled from the cage. The Wolf twirled his shock stick and grinned; "Get over there and take your "payment" first. Then untie her and haul her down to the showers. I want her scrubbed CLEAN. MOVE IT, MISTER!" As the Snow Leopard rose to his feet, to padd towards her, Tanj noted that while he seemed to be having moral and ethical problems with his instructions, his body was betraying him, his cock standing proud from its sheath... Stopping in front of her, the Snow Leopard looked down at her, and cocked his head to one side; "would you mind if I..." And then he turned and shot a quick glance at the Wolf, and his shock stick. Tanj did her best to nod her head, throwing in a wink as well, as she tried to reassure him. Shrugging, more at the other captives than at the guard, or Tanj, the Snow Leopard walked around behind her, to kneel where the Tiger had been. Softly, tentatively, Tanj felt the head of his cock nuzzle at her dripping sex, and then a touch from the Wolf's shock stick on his ass made the Snow Leopard drive his shaft into her hard, with an outraged howl! The Snow Leopard started to move, his hips thrusting rhythmically, the pattern alternating; now two deep and five short quick strokes, now four long smooth strokes and two quick jabs... Tanj panted and quivered in her bonds; this one knew how to use his cock. Unable to do little more than contract her vaginal muscles around his shaft, to ripple them, milking him, Tanj just concentrated on the sensations, slowly loosing touch with the outside world, the waves of pleasure coming from her pussy blotting out all other stimuli.

The wolf grinned as he watched the Cheetah shudder through yet another climax. Tapping the Snow Leopard on the shoulder with his switched-off shock stick, grinning at how he jumped before he realized he hadn't been shocked, the Wolf growled; "That's enough of that. Pull out and put it in her ass." The Snow Leopard started to object, but the evil hummm of the shock-stick, as the Wolf audibly switched it back on, made him reconsider. Pulling back, the Snow Leopard positioned his cock at the Cheetah's puckered rosebud, and pushed firmly.

Tanj moaned as she felt the Snow Leopard's shaft drive into her back passage. It took several strokes for her to relax enough, but after a minute she was again rattling her chains, straining at her bonds as she tried to show him it was all right by pushing back against his thrusts. And when his paw reached around her hips, to stroke her clitty, she moaned with delight. Tanj was riding the waves of pleasure as yet another climax washed through her when the Snow Leopard finally came, his cock jumping and twitching in her ass as he lost his load.

Still panting, Tanj rose as the Snow Leopard helped her up, most of her bonds in a heap on the floor, but her wrists still locked together behind her back. Frederick pointed towards the door to the showers with his shock stick, but didn't follow. After all, there was no other exit, and nothing more dangerous in there than some liquid soap... The Snow Leopard stepped ahead of Tanj, to turn on the water, and adjust the temperature. Then they were both under the water, the Snow Leopard rubbing pawfulls of soap into her fur, trying to remove the accumulations of dried cum. Tanj purrred loudly, and did her best to rub herself against his body, something he seemed to find VERY distracting.

Glancing out the door, the Snow Leopard reached up and unbuckled the ring gag. As he pulled it free, Tanj worked her jaw for a moment and then surprised the Snow Leopard by leaning forward, to press against him, giving him a big kiss; "Thanks, 'preciate your help!" The Snow Leopard looked at her a little curiously; "You mean you didn't mind..." Tanj just chuckled; "Oh Hell no; long before I was mixed up with the pirates, I was a sex slave; still am, in some regards; BELIEVE ME, I'd rather be out there in the middle of the floor, tied up and "cruelly used" than bored out of my mind in one of the cages!" The Snow Leopard resumed washing her, rubbing one thigh as if trying to remove her spots; "You mean you LIKE that kinda thing?" Tanj just chuckled, turning so he could get at the back of her thighs and her rump; "Well, it kinda depends who I'm with. Quinn wasn't bad; you were better, and I admit I don't much care for that Bull; he's just a little too rough and demanding... Frederick isn't bad either. No, don't worry about me; at this point, I'm not really sure just who's using who out there..." The Snow Leopard just chuckled and nodded, his soapy paw coming up between Tanj's thighs. The Cheetah arched her back, a dreamy look on her face as his slick paw rubbed back and forth over her crotch.

The Snow Leopard was just about done with her, when Tanj whispered in his ear; "Got to get YOU clean too; tell you what, I'll show you a trick my Master taught me; take the liquid soap, and pour a good bit down my front. THEN just stand there..."

Frederick paced the Kennels, looking into each cage, making sure everything was all right. The ship was about to dock, and he KNEW Jenka would be coming down to take possession of the Cheetah. That's why he'd wanted her cleaned up. Speaking of which, where were those two? They'd been in the showers a LONG time...

Jenka paced into the Kennels, Quinn close behind. She'd taken a shuttle out to meet the returning vessel, and as she entered, she caught the guard by surprise. He was standing by the door to the showers, looking in... When she touched him on the shoulder he yelped and jumped a foot. Jenka just had to laugh. Looking past him, Jenka chuckled as she beheld a dripping wet, covered-in-soapsuds Tanj, her paws bound behind her back, rubbing herself up and down over a rather hansom, just-as-wet-and-soapy, and rather excited Snow Leopard.

Tanj heard the laugh and turned to look. With a smile breaking out on her face, the Cheetah did her best to "pounce" the black Pantheress, despite the handicap of her paws being bound behind her back. Jenka yelped and laughed at the same time, stopping Tanj with both paws on her shoulders. After a second, she leaned forward to kiss the dripping Cheetah; "Hello, Pet, its good to see you too. But aren't you forgetting something?" Tanj laughed and nodded and dropped to kneel at Jenka's feet, in the proper position for a slave. Jenka purrrred and nodded; "That's better; but you're dripping all over the floor. Go and finish washing your stud. Oh, and I want you to relieve him of his hard-on as well; its just not fair for you to get them all excited like that and then leave them!" Tanj grinned and nodded and returned to the shower, to tilt her head up to kiss the Snow Leopard; "Its OK, don't worry about it." And then she crouched, to rub her soapy sex up and down his left thigh.

Jenka watched as the Cheetah expertly "soaped" up the Snow Leopard, rubbing against him front and back, using her muzzle to "scrub" the recesses of his body, adding her tongue here and there... After maneuvering him back under the running water, she knelt and took his cock in her mouth, to demonstrate her skill, not rushing things, but proving she could bring him off rapidly. As the Snow Leopard's hips bucked in the throes of his orgasm, Quinn leaned forward to whisper in Jenka's ear; "Got to let me borrow her as a Bath Toy some day." Jenka just chuckled and nodded.

The Snow Leopard watched from his cage as Jenka fastened a leash to the collar of the still damp Cheetah, and turning, led her off. As he watched the Cheetah's ass sway as she was led, nude, from the kennels, he wondered if he'd ever see her again.

Tanj did her best to play the part of a slave as she was led from the Pirate vessel, onto the station that the Black Fleet called home. She remembered her lessons well from the Academy; it was just a little difficult trying to get back into that frame of mind. So much had happened since then... Still, the cuffs and the collar and the hobble chain, and the leash all brought back memories... Jenka seemed to have no intention of heading straight back to her quarters; she stopped in at Operations for awhile, Tanj kneeling by her feet as she discussed business with a few of her officers. And then it was off to see this furr, or that, business that seemed to take her all over the Station, Tanj in tow at the end of the leash, her feet moving in short quick steps, the hobble chain rattling and dancing as she tried to keep up. Finally they were back at Jenka's quarters, and as the door closed behind them, Tanj smiled...

As Jenka tried to unclip the leash, Tanj rose to tiptoes to try and kiss her Mistress, but Jenka firmly wrapped a paw around her muzzle, pushing her back down. "Kitten, there are a few things we NEED to discuss..." Tanj just blinked, and Jenka continued; "There have been a lot of changes in your life of late. You're no longer the simple bed slave you once were. You're now one of the senior officers of the Brethren, and a power to reckon with in your own right. Before we go any further, we're going to have to figure out just where you stand, and set some ground rules." Tanj sighed and nodded; "Yeah, well, I think this has been coming to a head for a long time now. You'd THINK that I'd be delighted to cast off slavery, and assume a position of equality with my peers, but something deep inside me doesn't want that. Maybe it's the conditioning, maybe its just ME, but I just don't want to let go of that part of me." Jenka nodded and stroked Tanj's hair softly; "Tell me what you DO want..." Tanj looked up at the Pantheress; "That's the problem; I just don't KNOW. I like working in Intelligence, I like being a part of the Brethren's planning staff. Its exciting and demanding, and challenging, everything I thought I'd always wanted in a job. And then there are times when I wish I WAS just that simple little slave, not having to worry about anything more than pleasing my Master... I suppose, in reality, I want them both, but know I can't HAVE them both..." Jenka nodded; "Would you like for me to talk to your Master about setting you free?" Tanj's eyes widened; "No, not yet... besides, he's been most generous; I've got more than enough money in the bank to buy my own freedom; have for quite a while now. As I've said, I just don't want to let go of that..." Looking up, Tanj smiled weakly; "Speaking of which, you WILL let him know I'm here, won't you? Oh, I know, I'm fair booty from the raid; I'll be glad to pay whatever ransom you set... AND play the proper prisoner until he shows up to collect me. You know that as long as my duties don't interfere, while I'm here, I'll ALWAYS be your pet..." Jenka smiled and nodded; "OK, then... I'm not sure it'll go on this way forever, but for the moment, I'll indulge your fantasy, and treat you as my toy. Until your Master shows up to claim you... IF that's what you want." Tanj smiled and knelt before the Pantheress, head bowed, knees spread; "Yes, please, Mistress, if it pleases you..."

Jenka smiled and nodded; "You understand of course, that I feel your behavior as a slave has left MUCH to be desired. I do believe that I'm going to have to be VERY strict with you, to re-teach you the discipline you need to be a proper slave. After all, when your Master does come to claim you, I want to return to him a well-behaved slave! Now, tell me what happened to your breasts. Did your Master decide you weren't large enough?"

The Lion looked at the report and scratched his head; "OK, so she boarded the Claire Thompson for Benton's World. Good choice. So what's the problem? Have the cruiser head there." Ben shrugged; "I did; problem is, the Thompson never arived. Its three days overdue." Turning to look at the Fox, the Lion raised an eyebrow in a silent question. The Fox shrugged; "I'd suspect Pirates, but it could have been an engineering casualty, or even a bad Jump. You know that happens from time to time; ships go in one side of a jump point and are never seen again; or molten junk sprays out of the Jump effect on the other end. Or they could have been thrown hundreds of light years off their route. We're checking into all of that, of course. That's nominally the Black Fleet's territory, although on the fringe, and I've contacted them, and some of the other Guild-registered outfits. So far, no one's owning up to having her, although I wouldn't put it past her to lay low and not let them know who she is. Needless to say, we'll keep looking."

Tanj gasped and panted hard. The corset around her middle so constricted her waist, so compressed her insides that she barely had any room to breath. Her chest heaved with each labored breath. Being on the treadmill didn't help any, either. Jenka had felt that she was getting too flabby, and as a result, had prescribed a strict exercise routine. Now Tanj jogged on the treadmill, heavy shock cords running from the belt around her waist to the front of the treadmill frame, holding her in position. As she jogged, her unencumbered breasts bounced, the heavy rings through her nipples bouncing wildly...

Jenka watched for a minute. The treadmill had all sorts of safety devices; if Tanj stumbled or fell, it would shut down, the ropes being automatically released... Of course Tanj didn't know that, and with luck, never would. Confident that her pet was safe enough, Jenka left her quarters, to head for the Communications office.

"Let me get this right..." The Collie at the comm station scratched his head in confusion; "you want me to send a message marked "Priority" but you want it "lost" for a week..." Jenka chuckled and nodded; "Exactly. When it arrives, I want it to look like we tried to get the information there as soon as possible, BUT I really don't want them to get it for a while. I just want "credible deniability" for its being late." The Collie shrugged and nodded; "Ooooookay, you're the boss. I suspect we'll figure out some way of buying you time and still not getting blistered for its tardiness. But do you really think the Brethren will get all bent out of shape over one slave?" Jenka just chuckled and nodded

Tanj had to carry the message in her mouth; once again, her arms were bound behind her, encased in a tight leather sheath. While the strap attached to the ring at the end of the sheath was brought up between her legs, to be fastened to the broad belt she wore around her matching leather corset, Tanj could feel none of the sensations of the leather sawing between her thighs. Jenka had locked her in a rather heavy chastity belt, promising her that until she learned her lesson, climaxes were a thing of the past. As Tanj headed for the Station's kennels, she wondered "What lesson? What am I supposed to learn?" Padding into the guard station at the entrance to the Kennels, Tanj knelt, waiting for someone to fetch the envelope from her mouth. After a moment, one of the guards padded over and took the envelope, opening it, reading Jenka's instructions within. With a grunt, he nodded and bent, to take the ball gag draped loosely around Tanj's neck, to refasten it with the ball lodged firmly in her mouth. Then, leaving her kneeling there, he went through the doors and into the Kennels.

Tanj hadn't been told what her errand entailed, and she was fairly surprised to see the Packet's first officer led from the Kennels at the end of a leash. His paws were bound behind his back with a simple wire tie, and aside from the collar, he was nude. The guard bid Tanj to rise and then fastened the end of the Snow Leopard's leash to the ring at the tip of her arm binder. "Back to Jenka" he growled, giving Tanj a swat on the can. Wondering what was up, Tanj complied, leading the Snow Leopard through the station, a strange parade that turned more than a few heads. As they entered the comparative quiet of the residential section, the Snow Leopard leaned forward and whispered "Any idea what's up?" in Tanj's ear. She just shrugged, as best as she was able, and led on.

When Tanj led him through the doors to Jenka's quarters, "What's Up" became apparent; the Black Pantheress was reclining on her bed, wearing an almost transparent negligee, its fabric shimmering in a rainbow of colors where it could be seen at all. As soon as Tanj saw Jenka, she knelt, head bowed, the leash tied to the tip of her arm binder pulling the Snow Leopard into an involuntary bow as she knelt. As Jenka's eyes wandered over the stud, she purrred, and nodded; "Yes, I think that one shall do quite nicely..." Rising from her bed, she padded over to run a paw over the male, finally unclipping the lead from the back of Tanj's belt, letting it dangle from his collar. Leaving him standing there, a bit confused, Jenka undid Tanj's gag, refastening it loosely around her neck, obviously handy for the next time it was needed. Grinning at the Snow Leopard, she padded back to her bed, to recline. Head propped on one paw, Jenka purrrred; "Pet, come use that tongue of yours to get me ready for him; and then you can get him ready for me..."

Tanj smiled to herself as she walked across the floor on her knees, to kneel by the side of the bed, her tongue flicking out, licking at Jenka's mons. She may have been bound, but for the moment at least, she knew she had some power over the Pantheress. Her tongue teased, dancing here and there, stroking the length of her labia, seeking out her clitty, squirming into the Pantheress' warmth, touching, stroking here and there, until Jenka was clawing at the bedclothes, biting her lip to keep from moaning. Deciding Jenka was primed, Tanj left her, pulling back, to kneel by the bed, her tongue licking Jenka's juices from her muzzle. As she withdrew, Jenka made a mewling sound of displeasure at the cessation of the licking, but then again rose, to prop her head on one paw, to watch.

Tanj grinned and jerked her head to one side, signaling the Snow Leopard to come close. After a moment's hesitation, the Packet's first officer padded over, to stand before the kneeling slave. He'd been watching, wordlessly, silently, but the scene that had been played out before him obviously'd had an effect on him; It didn't take Tanj any time at all, to bring his cock to throbbing hardness, using her tongue. And then Jenka was pushing the Cheetah's head away, reaching for the Snow Leopard's lead, pulling him onto her bed, onto her body.

Tanj knelt by the bed, watching surreptitiously as Jenka used the Snow Leopard for her own pleasure. He was handicapped by having his paws bound behind him, but Jenka's wild motions more than made up for it. Finally, he wound up on his back, on the bed, the Pantheress astride his hips, riding his cock wildly. A little wistfully, Tanj watched his hard cock disappear again and again into the Pantheress' wet sex, a part of her delighted Jenka was having such fun, another part wishing it was her instead of Jenka... As Jenka rode his cock, she ran her claws up and down his chest, purring; "Don't cum until I say, or it'll go hard on the slave there. Cum too soon, and I'll make you watch me punish her..." The words seemed to have an effect on the Snow Leopard, as his face kept twisting into distorted patterns, as he obviously tried hard to obey. Finally, as Jenka was on her third climax, she screamed; "YES! NOW! Cum for me NOW, my beautiful Stud!" Tanj watched as the Snow Leopard panted and growled, driving his hips up into Jenka's, thrusting his cock into her as hard as he could. And then his Yowls were joining hers as he shuddered through what appeared to be a massive, gut-wrenching orgasm.

After a bit, when their motions had stilled, Jenka lifted off him, rising from the bed to present her dripping sex to Tanj's muzzle; "Lick me clean, Pet, and then lick him clean. Then you can return him to the Kennels." Tanj obeyed, licking softly, gently, well beyond the point where Jenka was clean, licking until she shuddered, her hips rocking involuntarily as Tanj's tongue brought her to another mild climax. Then Jenka was off to the shower, leaving Tanj to crawl over to the bed, to lick at the Snow Leopard. Keeping an eye on the door to the bathroom, Tanj licked him until he was clean, licked him until he was hard, and then licked him until he pumped what little cum he had left into her mouth. Then, unable to pick up the end of his leash, she took it in her mouth, to lead him back to the Kennels.

As Tanj padded back towards Jenka's quarters, the Guard looked at the Snow Leopard; "Yeah, its pure hell being one of Jenka's captives, isn't it?" The Snow Leopard chuckled and shrugged; "Dunno why I'M so lucky, none of the OTHER crew've been tapped out yet for, ah, "special attention"..." The guard just chuckled; "Oh, I suspect some of them will be; Jenka's got a taste for fine specimens such as you... or ones like that hot little Cheetah!"

Tanj's days settled down into a bit of a routine. She'd awaken Jenka with a few well placed licks... all right, some mornings more than a few well placed licks. Then she'd see to Jenka's bath, helping her dress. And then she'd follow her around at the end of her leash, usually dressed in some wild, sexy outfit, or sometimes in nothing at all. She'd serve Jenka in the mess, and be occasionally fed some tidbit. Then, while Jenka coordinated the efforts of the Black Fleet, she'd spend time either in bondage, in one wild position or another, or in exercise. In the evenings, she'd "assist" Jenka, as she entertained either one of her favorite males, or a lady friend, the day ending with the Cheetah sleeping on a pallet at the foot of Jenka's bed. But all through the week, she hadn't been allowed to use more than her tongue, and Jenka's exploits were getting her increasingly hot... And as time passed, the longer she stayed on the Black Fleet's station, the more she found a gag in her mouth, with no opportunity to ask Jenka when her Master might be coming, or to plead for some relief from the "itching" between her legs that was starting to drive her crazy.

Tanj knelt under the conference table. She again had her paws bound behind her back, this time by a rather standard set of handcuffs. A thin chain ran from her left nipple to a cuff around Jenka's right paw. The Chastity belt and the Corset were her only other garments. As the truly boring logistical meeting droned on, it was Tanj's job to keep the meeting's attendees awake, crawling under the table, to provide a lick here, or a nibble there. Jenka hadn't told her how far she could go in keeping them awake, but as she watched one of the Black Fleet's officers, a striking lady Ermine, hike up her skirt, and surreptitiously slide her panties down, she'd gotten the idea that whatever Jenka had in mind, the others around the table knew exactly what they wanted. But being Tanj, she licked and nibbled most teasingly, knowing that in the meeting, there was little they could do to object, when she stopped just short of satisfying them. Moving from furr to furr, nuzzling, licking, teasing, she wondered what her "punishment" would be?

As she knelt at Jenka's feet, as the meeting broke up, Tanj knew she was in for it; almost every one of the officers attending the meeting came by to whisper in Jenka's ear. Still, she wondered what Jenka would have said had one of them screamed in passion as Tanj brought them to an orgasm, or a climax, in the middle of the meeting?

Her corset was tighter than ever, and each labored breath made her chest rise and fall; that was unfortunate, as Jenka had seen fit to adorn her nipple rings with nasty little vibrating weights. Tanj knelt in the corridor, outside Jenka's office, her ankles lashed to her thighs, and her knees tied to the pole behind her, holding her on her knees. Her elbows were tied together, almost touching, and her wrists were lashed to the vertical pole, holding her not just upright, but tilted forward. A thick plug gag filled her mouth, and a sign hung around her neck, saying; "Please replace gag when through." Almost all of the Black Fleet Officers that had been in the Logistics meeting had come by, to remove her gag, to make her finish what she'd started. Additionally, a bunch of mere passers-by had stopped to avail themselves of her mouth as well. She figured she'd sucked or licked at least a dozen and a half furrs to a state of bliss so far, and while the vibrators kept her in a heightened state of sexual arousal, with the chastity belt, there was NO way she could get herself off...

Tanj groaned; who'd EVER thought something so simple could be so annoying, so painful. She knelt by Jenka's desk, told to be quiet and let her Mistress work... should have been simple enough... especially as her paws for once weren't bound; she could move her paws any way she wanted... but the balls Jenka had fastened to either side of her collar, so that they hung under her arms, pressed into her armpits were driving her mad. They were simple wooden balls, about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, with a hole through the center. A chain had been threaded through the hole in each ball, one end of the chain curving around the front of her shoulder, the other end around the back, the ends clipped to rings on the side of her collar. Each ball was studded in little brass bosses, pointy little triangles of yellow metal... Tanj found that in order to keep from pressing the points into her skin, she had to hold her arms up at a minimum of a 45 degree angle from the vertical... and her arms were getting So tired. No matter how she moved them, no matter how she placed them, the balls were a major bother. She'd thought she'd found the perfect solution, placing her paws on top of her head, but Jenka had just glared at her and shook her head no... And now Tanj struggled to stay as still as she could, to not attract Jenka's attention, to disrupt her from her work, and STILL find a position where her arms didn't ache so...

Tanj sighed, and tried not to watch. Jenka was entertaining the representative of Advanced Weapons Systems, Inc. The Black Fleet was negotiating for some weapons upgrades, and their local rep. had come by to see if there'd been any changes in the requirements, to try and get a feel for how the customer was responding to their proposal. Jenka had put on a dinner for the representative, a rather striking Vixen, and apparently an old friend, with Tanj serving. Now, Tanj was kneeling by the side of the bed, trying HARD not to watch as Jenka and the Vixen made passionate love to each other. She tried not to watch, but the combination of writhing black and flame hued fur, the muffled squeals of delight and moans of passion kept drawing her back. Stifling a moan of her own, she ran a paw over the hard leather of her chastity belt, and wondered what she had to do to earn her release from it; it was driving her mad, to have to watch, and not be able to participate... For the thousanth time that day, she wondered where her Master was... by now he MUST have gotten Jenka's message...

The Lion looked at the message flimsy and shook his head; "Are you SURE this is decoded? It looks like jibberish." The Comm tech shrugged and nodded; "We've confirmed they're using the right code, but about half their message traffic is coming through like that. I've NO idea what the problem is." The Lion nodded, his eyes narrowing... "I have the most unsettling feeling Jenka's up to something. Despatch a courier vessel, with all the unacknowledged messages in hard copy. Make sure they get hard copies of everything the Black Fleet is trying to send to us. Send someone you trust, too." The Comm tech blinked but nodded; "Right away, boss."

Jenka purrred as she led Tanj down the corridor. The Black Pantheress carried a pawful of leather straps, and other bondage devices, and as Tanj followed, she looked at them curiously, wondering what Jenka had in mind. The Cheetah found it strange, as she wasn't gagged, and her paws weren't bound; aside from her collar and the ever-present tightly laced corset, she was nude. Finally, the Pantheress led Tanj through a door, into a large meeting room. There were comfortable chairs scattered all around the room, a large Holo tank against one wall, and a small table in the middle. Unclipping the leash, Jenka gestured to the table; "Sit there, and cross your legs in the lotus position, paws behind your back." Tanj nodded, and moved to comply, not giving it a second thought. As she climbed onto the table, Jenka smiled behind the Cheetah's back.

Tanj felt the wrist cuff go around her left wrist. As Jenka fastened it, she purrred; "Tell me, Pet, have you learned your lesson yet? Have you learned what your purpose in life is? Your reason for being?" Tanj concentrated for a second on the feel of the cuff on her wrist. It had built-in straps on opposite sides, as if made for suspension; but as there were no hooks in the ceiling here, she concluded that she was going to be tied VERY tightly. "Yes, Mistress. My sole purpose for being is to make you happy." Jenka purrred as she fastened a similar cuff around Tanj's other wrist; "Very good, Pet; and how should you do that?" Tanj purrred softly; "By obeying your orders immediately, no matter what they are, irrespective of my own desires." Jenka smiled and nodded, moving around to fasten a similar cuff around Tanj's left ankle; "Very good, Pet, but you shouldn't have any other desires, aside from pleasing me." Tanj nodded slightly, head bowed; "Of course, Mistress..." Jenka finished locking the last cuff around Tanj's right ankle and then nodded; "Its these "other desires" of yours that have been causing all the problems, but I think we're making progress..." Taking the strap from Tanj's left wrist cuff, the Pantheress tugged it hard around her right side, to fasten it to the buckle on her left ankle cuff. This was then repeated with the cuffs on her right side, the strap cutting into her waist on the left. Jenka moved back and forth, tightening the straps slowly, letting Tanj's body adjust, until her right ankle was almost touching her left hip and vice versa.

Nodding at her work, Jenka fetched a stack of pillows from a corner and placed them on the end of the table in front of Tanj. Before going further, she produced a set of nipple clamps, connected by a thin, short chain. Tanj bit her lip as the first one was fastened to her left nipple, and then tried hard not to moan as Jenka tugged at the chain, pulling her breasts together, to connect the other clip to her right nipple. Then, moving carefully, she tipped the bound Cheetah forward, until her breasts rested on the stack of pillows. Tanj was now balanced on knees and breasts...

Jenka purrrred and produced a rather thick, long dildo; this she lubbed up, and then moving around behind Tanj, she worked it into the Cheetah's ass. Tanj moaned and stiffened as the dong was worked in; it was MUCH too long for her to comfortably take in her ass, at least four inches remaining protruding from her bottom when Jenka was through. And whatever the Pantheress had used to lube it was starting to burn...

Jenka took some coarse twine, and tied several loops around the protruding base of the dildo, laying the twine across Tanj's back. Then, moving around to her head, she took the remaining device; it was two thin boards, about ten inches long, by one inch wide, by a half inch thick, connected on each end by thumbscrews. Turning the screws she spread the boards; then, grinning at Tanj, she commanded; "Open wide, pet, and stick out your tongue!" Tanj didn't like the sound of that, but complied immediately; then Jenka was sliding the boards into her mouth, one passing over, the other under her tongue. When the boards met the corners of her mouth, Jenka started tightening the thumbscrews, until the two boards pinched her tongue! Jenka chuckled; "Don't tell me you've never seen a tongue stock before?" Tanj of course, had quite a bit of difficulty articulating an answer, her problem compounded by Jenka using the twine to fasten the ends of the tongue stocks to the dong in her ass, pulling the Cheetah's head back sharply. Tanj now found that any motion of her head tugged at the oversized dong in her ass. Patting the bound Cheetah on the rump, Jenka took a chair; "Now, Pet, as soon as a few friends arrive, we're going to watch a film..."

The Lion looked at the report and scowled. Looking up at the Fox, he growled; "How reliable is this information?" The Fox just smiled; "Very. There's no question. The Claire Thompson's insurance brokers are negotiating with the Black Fleet for the ransom of the ship and the crew." The Lion nodded; "Then Jenka has Tanj. I should have known..." Padding across Ops, the Lion growled at the duty officer; "Has that courier departed for Jenka's station yet?" The Stoat on duty nodded quickly; "Yessir, but he won't be there for..." "Never mind" the Lion growled. "Recall him. I'll do this myself." Ben shook his head and growled; "Ain't NO WAY I'm letting you go by yourself, not after the fiasco on Imroc. Give me a half a day to get a cruiser prepped..." The Lion shook his head; "Jenka wouldn't dare touch me. I don't have anything to fear from her. If anything it's the other way around. Tell you what. I'll take our resident seer, Mark, and his ah, girlfriend, Mala. That should be all the security I'll need." Ben thought for a moment and then nodded; "Take Hinoki too, just to round out the crew. I think he's got a bit of a "vested interest" in this as well." The Lion chuckled and nodded, grinning; "OK, if it'll make you, and him happy..."

Tanj groaned and shifted on her pillows. The nipple clamps were burning embers on her nipples, and their being pressed hard into the pillows wasn't helping. Her ass was on fire as well, and she was finding it almost impossible to remain still. The heavily boned corset however, held her rigid from hips to chest, limiting her motions. Slowly the room was filling up, with the officers of the Black Fleet, most of them pausing to stroke or tease Tanj as they found their seats. When they were all present, Jenka started the Holo without preamble, and the room grew quiet as the image of a well dressed male skunk filled the tank.

Mark looked up from the clipboard; "All fueled, loaded and ready to go. Hinoki's running a final systems check, and Mala's putting the food away in the Galley like there's no tomorrow. Maybe YOU should remind her we're only visiting our neighbors." The Lion looked at Mark, and blinked, and then shook his head; "I suppose I SHOULD ask you how you knew I wanted you to come with me on this, but I SUPPOSE someone on Ben's staff could have told you..." The Mouse nodded sagely; "Course already laid in for the Black Fleet's station. They still seem to be having Comm problems, so I guess they won't know we're coming until we jump into their system and hail them on the short range system." The lion nodded; "Don't count on that; I wouldn't be surprised if they too already know we're coming." Mark smiled and nodded; "Neither would I..."

Tanj GROANED as she recognized the recording of the Game; was this going to follow her for the rest of her life? Helplessly she watched as the recording showed her working her way through the mazes, most of those present calling out rude suggestions or making comments as to how she should have done this, or that better. The room was quiet when the hologram showed her defeating the Jaguar, a few of the furrs shooting her calculating looks. Jenka, however, purrrred with pleasure. And when it came to the fight with Xylex and the other Lion, Tanj felt she could feel the tension in the air.

Quinn watched the Cheetah and the Rabbit fight, shaking his head; he never would have guessed that those two could have taken a full grown Lion and Wolverine. As Tanj smashed the stunned Lion's head down into the floor he winced, shooting an appraising look at the bound Cheetah; perhaps he should have treated her a little nicer. After all, Jenka couldn't keep her tied up forever...

Tanj relaxed a little as the holo moved into the interview phase. She hadn't really gotten a chance to study what Jack had said, in his solo interviews, and to try and distract herself from the burning dong in her ass, from the fiercely biting nipple clips, and from the maddening occasional caresses, she concentrated hard on what the Rabbit was saying. Or tried to, anyways. And then the recording was over, furrs rising, leaving the room.

Jenka waited until the room was empty before rising. Moving slowly, she untied Tanj's tongue stocks, undoing the thumbscrews, removing the device. Tanj made a face and waggled her tongue as it came free from between the two pieces of wood, obviously trying to ease its discomfort. Jenka smiled and stroked her head softly; "Tell me, Pet, what is it you desire?" Tanj thought for a moment, an image of a cool glass of water dancing in her mind; then she thought of the nipple clips, and the burning dong in her ass... flicking her gaze up to Jenka, she mumbled around her sore tongue; "Only to please you, Mistress." Jenka smiled, and ran a paw over the Cheetah's rump, her fingers straying teasingly close to her sex; "Is that all, Kitten? Nothing else?" Tanj moaned, shuddering at the touch; "N... No... Nothing else, Mistress." Jenka smiled and nodded; "That's good; I'm glad you've learned your lesson. Now I'll have to see what I can do about finding a suitable reward for so good a student."

Tanj wobbled down the corridor at the end of her leash; she still hadn't worked all the kinks out of her legs yet. Jenka had untied her, but the cuffs still graced her wrists and ankles, the straps dragging, the buckles jangling. The dildo was still buried in her ass, and she struggled hard to keep it from slipping out, all sorts of punishments running through her mind as she reflected on Jenka's warning to hold it there, or else. After what seemed like miles, the Pantheress led her into a darkened room. As Jenka turned on the lights, Tanj beheld what at first she thought was a piece of exercise equipment. Jenka smiled; "Tanj, meet "The Machine." After your amazing performance on that Holo, I thought you might find it amusing." Reaching behind the Cheetah, Jenka rudely jerked the dong from her ass, eliciting a yelp. Pointing at the machine, Jenka directed Tanj to sit on its short bench. As Tanj got closer, she observed that there were a couple of recesses in the seat, and as Jenka positioned her just so, fastening and then tightening straps between the machine and the built-in rings in Tanj's corset, Tanj knew why the Pantheress was being so careful in positioning her. Then her ankles were spread and fastened to the machine, and her arms stretched over her head, to be fastened to another part of the machine. A curious strap went tightly around her breasts, her nipples poking through holes in the rubber. When Jenka had her bound just so into the machine, she picked up a ubiquitous remote, and grinned at the Cheetah; "I figure you're a little behind on your usual quota of climaxes; now that you've learned your lesson, I'll let you catch up. There's an intercom in this room; when you've had enough, just shout, and I'll turn it off." With that, the black Pantheress thumbed the remote, and quietly padded out of the door.

Tanj felt something stir under her, and then moaned softly as a dong rose smoothly from within the seat, to push firmly into her sex. As it rose upwards, she sighed, glad that it had been lubricated, and then yelped as it kept on rising; she was struggling in her bonds, trying to rise off the seat when it finally stopped, its head pressing firmly against her cervix. And then it started to vibrate, softly at first, but with increasing amplitude. Tanj sagged a bit in her restraints, purrrring, thinking that felt nice, but then she yelped again, as something else stirred beneath her, a second dong rising to press firmly into her ass. She gasped as the two dongs, their heads coming together at an angle deep within her, both started to vibrate...

Jenka listened to the sounds coming from the remote for a moment and smiled. Turning off the audio, she dropped it into a pocket and headed for ops, to see what was happening this evening.

Tanj's head snapped back and she screamed as the first climax in what seemed like an eternity ripped through her. With no one around, she howled and yowled, throwing herself against her restraints shamelessly, savoring every instant, every nuance of pleasure as it raged through her like a river in flood stage. Finally she calmed, panting, to hang limply in her bonds. It was then that she realized that both dongs within her were now moving in counterpoint rhythm, one slowly sliding into her ass as the other slipped from her dripping sex; back and forth they sawed, as they droned on, still vibrating. As the sensations started to build again, Tanj gasped; the rubber strap across her breasts was inflating, growing tighter, squeezing her nipples, compressing her breasts. Just as it grew uncomfortably tight, it relaxed some, only to re-inflate. The sensation was strange, but not unpleasurable, and closing her eyes, she imagined some strong male, her Lion perhaps, gently kneading her breasts...

Tanj hung limply from her restraints. She'd lost count of how many climaxes she'd had... The dongs in pussy and ass seem to have expanded, to have grown in length and diameter, the one in her pussy having lengthened until she was sure it had forced the entrance to her womb. That one was driving in and out of her rapidly now, its vibrations rapidly altering in frequency and amplitude, the combination driving her wild. The one in her ass was moving as well, if a little more gently. Both seemed to be exuding lubricant to the point where she was dripping, the lubricant and her own juices puddling on the seat beneath her, dripping down her legs. Another appendage had risen from the seat in front of her, a slender wand emerging at an angle, its head nuzzling her clitty, also vibrating maddeningly. Periodically, the wand touching her clitty and the band constricting her breasts, squeezing her nipples, would give her a sudden sharp jolt of electricity. Overall, the Machine was driving her to climax after climax after climax, as if it could measure her responses, learn what she liked, what drove her to yet another climax, and to alter its behavior to yield even more pleasurable stimuli, to the point where she wasn't even sure she COULD call for help...

Jenka slipped into the room, to watch. The Cheetah was panting rapidly, her breasts rising and falling above the top of her corset. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth hung open, and almost everything from her navel down was a damp, matted mess of lubricant and her own juices. Moving over, she lifted Tanj's chin. Slowly the eyes fluttered open, and as Jenka watched, the Cheetah shuddered, her eyes actually crossing as yet another climax tore through her. "My pet had enough yet?" the Pantheress purrred? Tanj grinned weakly; "Only if it pleases you, Mistress." Jenka released Tanj's chin with a "HMPH!" and turned to leave; "Call me when you've had enough, Pet." As the door closed behind her, Tanj chuckled weakly, and then gasped as yet another climax made her see stars.

Tanj groaned as she faded back into consciousness; she'd waited too long, and now the violently moving dongs in pussy and ass, the repeated electical shocks to clitty and nipples were all conspiring to overload her system. As good as it continued to feel, there was a growing element of pain, as if her body knew it'd had too much, and was begging for it to stop. As she shuddered through what seemed to be an unending string of convulsive climaxes, she tried to find her voice, to call for Jenka, to call for anyone, but all that came out was yet another howl... and then as her body writhed in the grip of yet another wave of pleasure, she again lost conciousness.

Jenka sighed and thumbed the remote to turn off the machine. Her stubborn, silly pet had refused to admit she'd had enough, and the machine had driven her into unconsciousness. Releasing her from the grips of the machine, from her cuffs, and even from her corset, she gathered up the limp Cheetah, and pulling her into a fireman's carry, carried Tanj to her own bed.

Jenka smiled as she listened to the comm officer. It was about time the lion showed up. Still, she had a while, and there were still things to do.

Tanj purrrrrred softly and stretched, enjoying the softness of the bed, the smooth cool feel of the satin sheets. Rolling over, she snuggled up to Jenka's body... And then her eyes opened WIDE. Holding herself as still as possible, she examined her situation, and compared it to what she THOUGHT she'd awaken to. No bondage, no strange, stressed situation, no driving dildoes, NO CORSET; instead, she was softly snuggled up to a sleeping Jenka in a warm comfortable bed. For a moment she wondered what it all meant and then it hit her between the eyes; her Master was almost here... with a smile, she softly caressed Jenka's tummy, wondering just how far she could push things, now that she was about to go home?

The Stoat in communications smiled; so the Lion was on his way, eh? Grinning, he raised his head, to look up at the others in the comm center; "Our communications problems with the Brethren have just been fixed. Start transmitting the backlog of message traffic..."

Tanj licked softly, convinced that the Black Pantheress was awake, but feigning sleep. Jenka had rolled onto her back, in response to Tanj's soft caresses, and now the Cheetah knelt between her spread legs, bending over to lick with the gentlest of touches. Whether Jenka was awake or asleep, Tanj was determined to make her morning memorable...

The Lion fidgeted as Mark completed the Jump to the system where the Black Fleet's station was. The Flight deck was just too small for pacing. As the systems equalized after the jump, the Lion opened a channel to the Black Fleet, identifying them. The "surprise" of the communications officer sounded hollow, and as the Lion broke the connection, he growled at Mark; "You don't have to be a seer to know they knew we were coming. We have a leak." Mark shrugged; "When you consider how closely we work with the Brethren, is that really a problem?" The Lion thought for a moment; "Not particularly; but if that leak decides to get a little extra income and starts passing the information to someone else, it COULD be. I still think we need to take precautions." Mark nodded in acknowledgement; "Got any suspects yet?" The Lion shook his head; "I have NO idea; only two folks I'm really sure of, and that's Me, and Tanj." Mark laughed softly and nodded, and turned back to his flight controls, directing the ship towards the Black Fleet's base; "Thanks for the compliment, I'm sure..."

Tanj purrrred; Jenka had finally shown signs of life, her body arching on the bed as Tanj's teasing licks brought her to a climax powerful enough to make her yowl. Now the two were wrapped in each other, amid the rumpled bedclothes, in the classic 69 position. Tanj tried hard to concentrate, as the two of them seemed to be in a race to see who could bring the other to a climax first... and after her exploits the previous day, she was SOOOOO tender down there, every touch seemed amazingly magnified. Still, she thought she had half a chance of "winning"...

The Lion grumbled as the Black Fleet traffic control kept them waiting what he considered to be an unreasonable length of time, while they cleared a suitable docking port. Finally permission to dock came, and Mark eased the freighter towards the station.

Jenka smiled as Tanj headed into the shower; she'd won their little "contest", but only by seconds. Now she padded nude to the door, to move the things she'd ordered left just outside the door into her quarters. She grinned, and didn't know if Tanj, or the Lion would find her little surprise first, but either way, it should be amusing...

When Tanj stepped out of the shower, she found a dress in her size hanging from the back of the linen closet door. Smiling, she dried her hair and then pulled it on. Emerging from the bathroom, still brushing her hair, she found Jenka in a silk robe, sitting at a small table set for breakfast, calmly sipping coffee. As Tanj sat down, Jenka smiled and poured her a cup of coffee, and purrrred.

An unusual calm had come over the Lion as they passed through the freighter's airlock and into the station. "Mark, I'm not anticipating difficulties here; why don't you and Mala go tour the station, take a break, have some fun. Hinoki and I will go find Jenka, and see about getting Tanj back." Mark chuckled and nodded, and holding his arm out to Mala, the two turned and strolled off down the corridor as if they were on vacation. Hinoki and the Lion watched the odd couple walk off for a moment and then they turned, to padd off in another direction...

Tanj looked up from her omelet as Jenka's doorbell rang. Jenka smiled and called "Come," and then the door was sliding back, the Lion stalking in, Hinoki close behind him. Before he could speak, before Tanj could even rise from her chair, Jenka purrred; "Took your own sweet time, didn't you?" The Lion's eyebrows rose, and he growled; "Seems you've had some "communications" problems. That message you sent, dated eight days ago, was delivered four hours ago." Jenka blinked and then took a sip of her coffee; "Oh, my... I guess I've been a bit distracted; I hadn't heard. I guess I REALLY must have a talk with those folks down there."

Tanj's head had been turning back and forth as she looked from Jenka to the Lion and back, following their conversation. As the talk died, the Lion still giving Jenka a hard look, Jenka touched a napkin to her lips and looked over at Tanj, raising an eyebrow, as if expecting something from her. Tanj stared back blankly for a moment and then grinned softly; turning she winked at a rather confused looking Hinoki, and then padded over to kneel by the Lion's feet. As she did so, Jenka took another sip of coffee and chuckled; "I thought I'd take advantage of her stay here to give her a small ... refresher course." The Lion smiled slightly and nodded, one hand reaching out to rest on Tanj's shoulder rather posessively; "I... appreciate that." Looking down at Tanj, he growled; "Tanj, you and Hinoki head on back to your ship. Wait for me there. I have a few ... matters to discuss with Jenka." Tanj smiled and nodded, and rising, reached out to take Hinoki's paw in hers, to lead him from the room.

The Lion watched them go, and as the door closed he turned back to Jenka, only to find her standing right in front of him; as his eyes went wide in surprise, her arms went around his neck and she kissed him hard. Breaking the kiss, she purrred; "It worked just like I thought it would." The Lion blinked, and then murmured; "How's that?" Jenka grinned; "Finally found a way to lure you not only here, but into my boudoir as well..." The Lion looked at her in surprise for a moment and then chuckled. Shaking his head in amazement, he put one paw on her chest, between her breasts and shoved, toppling her back on the bed, following her, growling low in his throat.

Tanj stopped as the door closed behind her, to hug Hinoki tight; "I was afraid I'd never see you again!" Hinoki hugged her back and nodded; "We all saw the holo of that game; got to tell you, it scared the pants off me!" Tanj smiled and kissed Hinoki; "Come one, lets get back to the ship; if I know Jenka, Master will be in there a while, and that'll give us some time together." Hinoki just smiled and nodded, and hand in hand they headed off down the corridor.

Jenka slipped her robe down off her shoulders as she fell back onto the bed. The Lion followed, growling fiercely, to pin her to the bed, to nuzzle between her breasts. Clutching his hairy head, Jenka mrowled and arched her back as his tongue found a nipple...

Tanj stopped Hinoki just inside the airlock, to tug his pants down. Dropping to her knees she nuzzled his sheath softly, teasing with her tongue. Hinoki caressed her head and then purrred; "Sure you don't want to lay down so I can reciprocate?" Tanj just chuckled as she licked; "No... I'm just a mite sore at the moment; long story. You can pay me back another time..." And with that Tanj took his cock into her mouth, slurping noisily as she slid it back and forth between her lips with passion.

Jenka mrowled and dug her claws into the bedding; she was now on hands and knees, the Lion behind her, pounding his cock into her fiercely, wildly, an enraged beast taking it out on her in a most delightful manner. As he bent forward to cup her breasts, his jaws opening wide to bite down on the back of her neck she shuddered, the first pangs of another climax echoing through her; Yowling at the top of her lungs she pushed back against his driving cock...

Tanj panted, and slowly licked her lips; Hinoki had exploded in her mouth quite nicely, his jerking hips causing his spurting cock to escape her for a moment or two, just long enough to spray some of his seed across her muzzle. Now as she licked him clean, she paused occasionally to wrap her tongue around her muzzle, gathering up the errant droplets. Finally, as he caught his breath and opened his eyes, Tanj rose to kiss him softly; "Come on; lets go find a nice soft, warm, SAFE place to snuggle..."

The Lion stirred, and stretched. Jenka had been amazingly insatiable, keeping after him until he'd driven her to... seven? Eight climaxes? Until he'd cum three times. Until he was having trouble keeping it up, keeping awake. What was even more amazing was that she'd padded off to the shower like she was just getting warmed up. As he lay on her somewhat shredded bed, he thought back to when he'd come through the door, earlier that day... Or was it yesterday? Jenka and Tanj had looked so ... normal, sitting there having breakfast. They'd looked so... innocent. Those two, innocent? Naw... Rising, he looked around, convinced that they must have been up to something. Those two couldn't POSSIBLY actually BE innocent... Padding over to Jenka's closet, he took a quick look at the closed bathroom door, and then quietly opened the closet door. There, kneeling on the floor was a nude and bound snow leopard, his paws bound behind his back, a heavy leather hood pulled over his head. Chuckling, the Lion quietly closed the door; so THAT'S what they'd been up to. Figgured. As he settled back onto the bed, the Lion did some quick calculations, and then wondered just how long the poor Snow Leopard had been kneeling there? Still, he supposed, it'd probably be best if he didn't say anything...

Tanj was sitting on the flight deck going over comm messages when she heard the airlock cycle and glanced over at the Ops console. A quick check of the security camera showed Mark and Mala returning from the station. Both were carrying small packages as if they'd been shopping. A few moments later Mark entered the flight deck. Tanj smiled and rose, to give the Mouse a tight hug; "Good to see you again, Mark" she purred. The Mouse chuckled quietly; "THERE you are... whatever took you so long? Interesting time on Imroc? Did you have a nice stay with Jenka?" Tanj laughed and nodded; "It had its moments. But yes, I guess, all in all, it was good to see her again. But I'm ready to go home now. Just as soon as my Master's done with her... Or maybe when she's done with him." Mark chuckled and nodded, sitting down to start a preflight checklist. Tanj watched him for a second, and then shook her head; if he thought their departure was that close, well... sitting down at the engineering console, she started bringing up shipboard power.

The Lion gave Jenka a hug at the airlock; "You realize that the next time I can't find Tanj, I'll come here first." Jenka's smile spoke volumes; the sly look in her eyes suggested the Lion would have to be very cagey indeed to FIND Tanj, even if she was here. The Lion just nodded, and giving the Black Pantheress a swat on the can, turned to cycle through the airlock into the freighter.

Jenka watched the small ship depart, and examined and then rejected three ideas for getting Tanj back. "Eventually, Pet, you'll be back" she purred to herself, and then, turning, she strolled back to her quarters, and what would have to be by now a very desperate Snow Leopard. Chuckling to herself, she thought; "If he's made a mess in my closet, I'm going to get real creative with him... Ah, but if he's been good...!"

Tanj purrrred and snuggled her Lion softly; they'd made the first jump, on their way home, Mark had the Conn, and everything was quiet. And she'd found that Jenka hadn't quite drained her Master as thoroughly as she must have thought. Still, as they cuddled wordlessly, Tanj's mind drifted along disturbing pathways, and she wondered what she could do to make sure they were never separated like that again...

This story is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any characters, living, dead or imaginary is purely a coincidence. Tanj and these stories are copyright Kittiara's player, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000. Kittiara can be found on Furrymuck; telnet 209.100.167.128 8888. Hinoki, Zassa, and Jenka copyright their players, also to be found on FurryMuck. Mark is copyright Ann'katar, also of FurryMuck. Comments, suggestions, or flames can be directed to ha_seng@hotmail.com.