| To Operation Cheesecake: Part 1 |
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To Operation Cheesecake: Part 3 |
Galen keeps the Super Soaker trained on me while Dunkirk slaps the cuffs in place. I might actually have been able to wrestle free from him if I really set my mind to it - he’s right around Hunk’s size and I’ve dealt with Hunk fairly easily many times during sparring practice. But Galen is every bit as quick as Pidge, and his aim is pretty true too. He’d nail me before I’d ever get the chance to disarm him. I’m not stupid. I’ll gladly settle for capture over smelling like Nanny any day.
Once the cuffs are on Tasia starts folding a handkerchief to gag me with. I look up at her as she approaches.
“Look...you guys want cheesecake, I want my freedom. How about we make a deal?”
Tasia tilts her head at me. “Does this deal involve us getting some cheesecake as the end result?”
“Yes, it certainly does. And not just any cheesecake. We’re talking chocolate chip here.”
She exchanges glances with her teammates before returning her attention to me. “Keep talkin’, baby.”
“Okay...I’ve lived in this castle for many years now, so you know I have a good working knowledge of where things are, right?”
She eyes me cautiously. “Right...”
“So if I tell you I can give you exact directions to the freezer in the pantry where the cheesecake is stored, you know I couldn’t steer you wrong. True or false?”
“Not unless ye were bluffin’”, Dunkirk says. “Hunk an’ I have launched many a raid on th’ pantry, an’ we never found no mother lode o’ cheesecake no matter how hard we tried.”
“Well, don’t you think Nanny would be wise to that and store it someplace secret, a spot that wouldn’t be obvious right off of the bat?”
Dunkirk rubs his chin. “Ye might be right about that one. So...where’s th’ location, then?”
“Ah, ah ah...” I hold up my wrists. “First the cuffs, then the location.”
He shakes his head. “Nae, first ye cough up th’ location, then we loose th’ cuffs.”
This is getting nowhere fast. Lance could have had the fishhook snagged in his rear end a long time ago. I breathe a deep sigh.
“Okay, let’s try this then. I also know the exact whereabouts of a half section of cheesecake that was left over from dinner last night. I’ll tell you exactly how to find it. That way you’ll realize I can give you honest directions to the chocolate chip one as well, and you end up with one and half cheesecakes for your efforts. How about that?”
Alan looks down at his watch. “Say, aren’t we supposed to buzz the sitting room to see if our demands have been met?”
Tasia nods. “That’s right, Alan. I’ll give a quick check.” She walks over to the comm and types in the access code to the sitting room.
“You could tell them the matter is settled and you’re going to let me go, you know.”
“Yeah, I could.” A slow smile spreads over her lips. “Or, I could maintain the demand, have them hand their cheesecake over, and then we have two and a half to enjoy.”
“And what makes you think I’ll comply if you stick with your ransom demand?”
She nods toward Galen; Galen tightens his grip on the trigger of the squirtgun.
“Okay, okay - I’ll comply, I’ll comply!”
Galen lowers the weapon. I narrow my eyes at Tasia. “You’re a wicked woman, Tasia.”
She beams at me. “Sho ‘nuff am, Captain Keithie.” She presses the talk button. “Hello...anybody there...?”
“Hello,” Lance replies, his voice casual and smooth. I can tell he’s got something up his sleeve just by the tone of it.
“You get our ransom note, ba-by?” Tasia asks.
“Yep, sure did.”
“And what you got to say about it?”
“Well, I thought I’d let someone else speak on my behalf.” There is a pause, then a muffled yelp that abruptly turns into a clear one. It sounds like Dexter. Tasia seems to have noticed it too; she blinks at the speaker in surprise.
“Oww, lousy duct tape...” Dexter mutters quietly, then he adds, at a normal level. “Tasia - you still there?”
“Yeah, Captain.”
“Umm, look...why don’t you guys just drop this whole cheesecake thing and let Keith go, okay? They’re supposed to be enjoying their leave time right now, not negotiating a hostage swap.”
Tasia blinks. “A hostage -”
Lance cuts in abruptly then, his tone no longer casual. “That’s right, sweetcakes. You got our Captain, now we’ve got yours. So you either drop Keith off at the vehicle bay in twenty minutes - plenty of time to get there from any point in the castle - or you’re gonna find out how fetching Dexter looks in one of Princess Allura’s ball gowns. And we’ll make sure you don’t miss it because we’re gonna capture it on video. Got that?”
The link goes dead. Tasia continues to stare at it in stunned silence for a moment before her face twists up into an angry scowl.
“Tasia,” I say to her. “Come on, we can still choose option number one. One and a half cheesecakes, remember?”
She ignores me and turns toward her teammates, her expression still ugly. “So...Lance wants to dress our Captain up in drag, eh? All right, they’d better break out gowns for themselves as well, since they’re all going to smell like women. Alan...you get the Super Soakers. I’ll go get the perfume.” She turns to me. “As for you, my good Captain, we’ll just have to find a place to keep you until our revenge is complete.” She fastens the gag around my mouth securely. “Dunkirk, take him to that old storage vault down on sub level three and hide him among the stuff.”
“Aye.” Dunkirk carries me out of the room while Tasia plots her insidious plans. And I thought Hagar could get nasty...
“Hah - I wish I could have seen the look on her face. I bet it was priceless!” Lance gives a hearty laugh as he strolls across the floor to my seat on the couch. “And now we’ll see just how much you team values your reputation, Captain Stiles. Then again, they might be curious as to how good you look in lace and bows.”
“Lance...you know, this joke has gone far enough. I’m still supposed to be on duty. You really need to take these cuffs off and let me get back to castle control.”
“I’m not an idiot, Dexter,” he replies. “I had Sven kick in the auto-alarm before we left. In an actual emergency, of course I’d let you go. But until then you’re a bargaining chip, so get used to it.”
Allura enters the room with a dress draped over her arm. “Here’s the gown you wanted, Lance. It’s all loose, like you asked. What are you going to use it for?”
Lance takes it out of her hands and holds it up to examine it. It’s the sort of lacy, puffy-sleeved, satin-and-chiffon deal that will have my great-great grandchildren giggling at me someday. He walks over to drape it over me, then grins at Allura. Her eyes shoot wide.
“Oh, Lance - you wouldn’t.”
“Sure I would. They have Keith, remember?”
Allura looks at me, gnaws her lip a little. I’m sure she doesn’t want to see things get ugly - ugly being the word of choice if I wind up wearing that gown. But Lance used the universal persuader on her. She probably wants Keith released just for the sake of him being freed, picnic or no. She doesn’t seem to take the idea of harm coming to him very well, even when it’s only in jest.
“Okay, we have the gown, and the video camera...?” Lance looks around at Pidge, who waves it cheerfully. “Good, good. Now, we need to keep him stashed somewhere so they aren’t able to retrieve him via a rescue attempt.” He’s kind enough to use a cloth to gag me with instead of duct tape this time. “Hunk, take him to that old storage vault down on sub level three and hide him among the stuff.”
“Gotcha.” Hunk turns me into a sack of laundry once more and heads for the nearest elevator.
| To Operation Cheesecake: Part 1 |
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To Operation Cheesecake: Part 3 |