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I sat in a booth, idly shredding a pastry, and nonchalantly watching the other party guests, who were nonchalantly watching each other. I was too nervous to eat, and too tightly bound in a Coruscant style corset to swallow anything anyway.

I felt exposed, I felt cheap, and I felt one hundred sets of eyes giving me a second and third glance.

I tried to sigh, but the tight corset wouldn't allow me a full intake of breath. Irritating, no suffocating I decided.

What I really felt like doing was giving Mike Burn the biggest dressing down of his life. How dare he doll me up in this outrageous outfit and drop me in this meat market?

"It's only a small undercover operation, it'll only take a few hours." Mike had said. "The captain really likes redheads and we know where he will be next Friday night."

"Why can't Lyarn Platt do it? This is really more her style of operation than mine, and you could die her hair red." I had said.

"No go, the captain can tell a fake red head from 20 meters. Besides she is off-world for an extended mission of her own and we really need this information," he'd said.

What could I say, he's the Admiral. He's also my boss. And I'd been aching for a chance to get into field work. I'd spent the last year locked up behind a vid screen analyzing incoming information from our spy satellites and decoding encrypted messages. This could be my chance for some adventure.

So why was I so upset that the captain had not shown up as our intelligence had predicted? After all, I was not good at playing the dumb blond... er red head. I hated it when people did not take me seriously, I have a mind dang it!

But he didn't show up, and I looked really really good too. Oh, well. Chalk one up for experience. My first undercover job a bust.

I stood with the aid of the table. This corset was the first thing that was going to go. And then the 4 inch stiletto pumps and the one inch French tip nails and then an hour long bath to get rid of the perfume. Ugh, my head was swimming with it.

I was just about to put on my wrap when something caught it from behind. I turned, prepared to do battle with a potted fern and found a smiling man at my back. "Hello," he said, "I do hope you were not just leaving. I have not had the opportunity to introduce myself. I am Lieutenant Black, and it would be my pleasure to introduce you to an old admirer of yours."

Wow, was he ever suave. Took my breath away. "You are very kind, but I'm a little tired," I tried to explain, "You see I came here to find a friend and I'm afraid I have missed him."

"I'll be your friend," said the laughing blue eyes. O.K. the suavity was beginning to wear a little thin on me. I could smell a rat, and his name was Black.

"I really must be going, perhaps next time." I was just about to give my put 'em down easy speech when he took me by the arm and every so gently and insistently guided me to a door hidden behind a silken curtain. Did I know the door was there? You think I'm going to tell you that I did not spot it? OK, I can't fool you. I didn't spot it. It's my first undercover job all right, I think I told you this before.

The door opened into an exceptionally appointed room. The far side of which was made up of a bank of vid screens, with scenes from the party outside. Two men in dark suites were watching the screens with interest and did not look up when we entered. To the far right was a private bar with cut crystal decanters filled in various colors, and in front of it, leaning on the rich wooden counter was the man I had come to meet. Captain Vrellius. A tall man with a gray demeanor and a piercing eye. He gave me an appraising look, the kind I normally do to the fruit I buy in the market, and then he smiled.

I looked at Lieutenant Black with a questioning little frown. Men love a helpless stupid woman for some reason. "What am I doing here?"

"This is the gentleman I wanted you to meet," said the Rat as he coaxed me over to the bar. "Captain, please meet Cleo Morganz." Stick with the stupid act sister, I said to myself, and smiled. "How did you know my name?"

"I told you Miss Morganz, the Captain has been an admirer of yours for a long time."

The men were enjoying themselves immensely. Their little joke was not lost on me though. So I cleverly played up the dumb act.

"Oh, I see."

We went up to his private suite. I was expecting him to chase me around the couch a few times. But instead he decided he wanted to talk. OK, I can talk. Well, I can talk, the character I was playing could really only bat her eyelashes and say "Oh, you amaze me." Argh, he was really interesting too, in a psychotic 'I'm gonna take over the galaxy sort of way.' Boy did he have an ego.

I gave him my best side to look at while he talked and talked... my recording device was in the earring on that side anyway. Tricky aren't we.

I could not get past the information he was telling me. I didn't even have to prompt him or give him any of the various pharmaceuticals I had stashed about my person. He just chatted away, as if he really did not care what I heard, or understood. Boy if he only knew what I understood!

I'm getting a little concerned about this stream of consciousness confessional he's got going... just what was he playing at? Only the paranoid survive is my new motto, and my paranoia bells were clanging like a klaxon. I shifted around slightly to check my gear. Mike had set me up right, he really knew how to hide a weapon in plain sight. Take my necklace for example - garrote. The heel of my left shoe - plastique. My ring was an expertly made Borgia style capsule ring. Yeah, that one is really well known, but this one was not your dime store enormously gemmed and obviously hinged variety, this one was class

I could see that the sky was starting to lighten outside. If I waited much longer I would not have a chance to get to his data pad and download the information that was my real target. Something had to be done and soon. I made a move to pour him a drink, and he waved me away. So much for the sleeping powder in my ring. Was I going to have to do this the old fashioned way? I really didn't want to do that, I'm not that kind of girl! Although in this outfit you would not be able to convince anyone of my purity. Oh, well here goes.

I freshened my lipstick, the lipstick specially prepared by the NRI. Admiral Burn had warned me not to lick my lips once I had put the 'knock out' lipstick on, or "you will be sleeping like a baby," he had said. "And there will be no help for you." Boy was it getting hard to remember that little tidbit, my throat was really dry and I knew I could not touch a glass of anything in this room for fear of getting from others what I was trying to give to them.

I tried the artful allure of draping my hair over my shoulder and giving him that doe-eyed look most guys seem to really go for. No go. What was up with this guy?

So I stood up seductively and gave a little yawn, "Gee Colonel, I'm really tired." Hint, hint for crying out loud.

"That's Captain, Cleo." He smiled and stood. "I'm glad you came here this evening. Let me call my men to walk you out."

The will power of this guy, who said he liked red heads anyway? Before he could reach his comm unit I was already there leaning against the wall giving him my best Marilyn Monroe eyes.

"I've never meet a real captain before," I said draping an arm over his shoulder." If this didn't do it... He patted me on the shoulder. He patted me on the shoulder? I will never think of myself as alluring again. I have about as much appeal as a pair of garden shoes.

He must have seen the disappointment in my eyes because he bent over to give me a peck on the cheek. No way buster, I didn't get all fancied up to let it end like this. I caught his face between my palms and transferred the peck into a full lipped smack. Ha that's got him, he'll be sleeping in no time.

I was smiling a self satisfied smile and gloating to myself when he slapped me. I could hear the ringing in my ears and the redness of my face as it burned under his hand. "Ouch." Should I stay in character or let him have it? I could taste blood in my mouth and now I was really getting mad. I looked at him through bleary eyes, he didn't look to be feeling the effects of the knock out drug... oh, boy. "Don't you like me?" I said in a helpless voice. Mike what have you gotten me into!?

"Oh, Cleo, I've marred your perfect face. Tsk, tsk my little Cleo. You should not have done that." He palmed the door control and it opened immediately. Two men came walking in, the Rat and another. "I've enjoyed your company Cleo, and now you need to go."

"I believe I can see myself out," I said as I edged for the door. But the Rat leaned on the door preventing me from opening it. He leered at me, "not out that way, out this way." He gestured toward the balcony. Pulling my last shred of dignity together I walked serenely across the room. My knees were knocking, I know they were, but I was not going to show it to these guys. I had to think and think quickly. What were they planning? Push me over the edge? Fake a suicide? Well this answers my question about why the Captain was so willing to talk. He could get everything off his chest and then dispose of the evidence. He didn't plan on me sticking around long enough to tell anyone anything I had heard.

The railing was right in front of me now. I grabbed onto the cold metal bar and steadied myself. There was no way that I could keep from looking over the edge at the long, long drop below. A wave of nausea passed over me. What did I have that I could fight with? Garrote won't help, plastique takes time. Come to think of it I didn't have any real weapons. Not defensive or offensive. There was simply nowhere in this dress that I could hide one. Well, I could still play up the innocent act, work on their sympathy. I turned to face them. One look told me they had no intention of giving me the chance of talking my way out of this.

The Rat stood back as the Other Guy advanced upon me. I'm not giving up without a fight! That's what you were thinking, huh. Well forget it. I know how strong guys are, I fought with my brother often enough, and I've had self defense courses. Course they always end with the phrase "If you have a good blaster at your side, the only person who will beat you, will be the one with the bigger blaster." Ha, helpful. The big guy was getting closer now, going into a wrestlers stance. I narrowed my eyes and lowered my center of gravity to match his own. Time to be me and not Miss Morganz anymore, this is life and death.

He made a lunge. His first mistake. His body weight was shifted and I grabbed his arm and tipped him headfirst into the railing. His head making a satisfying dong as it impacted on the metal. Unfortunately he just got mad, he stood up rubbing his closely cropped head and glared at me. Second mistake. I kept his eyes focused on mine while I delivered a crushing blow to his instep with my four inch high heel. He bellowed and bent double to massage his foot and that was his third mistake. His face was right in range now and I clawed at it with my long finger nails, leaving track marks down his face. I was inches away from kneeing him in the groin when I heard the whine of a blaster. "That's enough Miss Morganz." I stopped short, breathing rapidly and looked at the muzzle held inches from my face. "I do so dislike unpleasantness," the Captain was leaning on the wall, checking his manicure. He deigned to look up and give me a moments parting glance, before going back to more important things. "Lieutenant Black, no more fooling around. Finish the job."

I was back against the railing again. This time holding on for dear life. Black however was not getting anywhere near me. He made a few upward motions with his blaster. Did he really think I was going to jump. Not me! "Shoot me you idiot. Leave your fingerprints all over this one. No one is going to think I committed suicide." He chuckled and handed the blaster to the Captain who rolled his eyes and took it. "A few more bruises will not show when you are down there," he said motioning to the ground more than seventy feet down. "You will be nothing more than a small puddle in a cheap dress." Cheap dress? How dare he! Grrr, killing me is one thing, but insulting me is another.

This time both he and the Other Guy came at me from either side. I pulled off my pumps and yanked off the tips of the heels exposing sharp nubs. The men began taking experimental lunges at me from either side, gaining little red welts as rewards for getting too close.

The Rat lunged getting very close this time, and I hit him with a cross swing of my shoe. But just as I turned to give the Other Guy my attention he dove on me knocking my feet from under me and slamming me to the ground. My arms were pinned, I was seeing stars. Just as my vision cleared I thought I saw a man far above me on a rope. What? My head was still fogged from hitting it on the decking, I shook it to clear it and wished I had not.

The Other Guy picked me up and moved to throw me over the balcony. I tried to kick... "Put her down." Huh? I turned and so did the Other Guy. "I said Put Her Down!" Aww Mike, I've never been so happy to see anyone in my life. Sorry I shot you the first time we met, really. There was subtle movement behind him as the Captain came out of the shadows and turned his weapon on Mike's back.

Watch out behind you Mike! The words were forming in my mouth and he must have read my eyes, because Mike spun and fired, catching the Captain in the chest and slamming him into the wall. He fired again as the Rat rushed him from the side and caught him also, dropping him to the ground. The Other Guy made to throw me over the railing and Mike blasted him in the back. He also crumpled to the deck and I fell with him. Almost fell with him. Just as he sank to his knees his arms shot out and I flew over the side of the balcony. "Help!" I just had time to grab the railing with one hand, and I twisted in the air over the side, my bare feet dangling in nothingness. I couldn't grab anything with my other hand, I was now with my back to the balcony wall. "Red, take a hold of this." Mike shoved his rope in my hand and then grabbed my opposite wrist and pulled me over the railing.

"Blaster, good. Need one of those," I said a little too firmly.

Mike just laughed and patted me on the back. "You did a good job Cleo. Cleaned up a couple of messes tonight. Now we know why all those women were disappearing, and we won't have to wait for a trial." He laughed, I shuddered. "Oh, I got some really good information from him too." I said catching my breath. "What a chatterbox. Would have told me the combination to his bicycle if he had one."

"Yeah, I know. I heard. I was keeping tabs on you through your earring. It's all on disc, ready for you to analyze it."

"Thank Goodness! Back to my safe little cubicle."

"Well, at least until next time," he prompted. Next time? What did he think I was, crazy? I almost got killed! Like three times. Next time, huh...

"Next time, no corset, ok?" I said.

"Why?"

"Can't breath, can't fight..."

Mike looked at me cockeyed, reached out, and removed two slender and very sharp durasteel rods from the stay-holes in my corset.

I looked at him open mouthed.

"Corset, good. Need one of those," I said firmly.