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