Power Girl: A Corporate Asset

When I pulled myself out of the crater and saw a bunch of mechs standing there, I knew I’d messed up. Again.

The hole I’d made in the concrete was at least eight feet deep and twice as wide. I’d fell from space like a meteor on steroids and hit the ground without slowing down. That was enough to ring even my bell. I had to crawl, not fly, out of the crushed dirt and rock, and when my head peaked over the edge, they were already there, ready for me, in more ways than one.

In my time as a superheroine, I’d seen lots and lots of evil robots and mechs. Most of the time they were just fun for me, scrap heaps walking, metal men I could cut loose on without hurting an actual human being. I could tell right away these weren’t fun. These were anti-kryptonian.

At least four of them stood side by side a dozen yards from my crater, so big they managed to form a horseshoe around it with little space between them. They looked like crabs with ostrich legs, except all metal and bristling with weapons. Including a pair of pincer arms, they had several other sets that boasted sonic weapons, giant tasers, and cannons that glowed with a suspicious green energy.

Electricity, sonics, and kryptonite, besides magic the best way to take me down. These things weren’t waiting here on accident.

As soon as my head appeared out of the crater, the mechs shifted with a clanking of metal parts and the occasional hiss of hydraulics. Their glowing green cannons turned towards me and locked on, their legs bending like they were about to spring. Similar sounds came from behind me as well, almost in unison.

I had been wrong, there were a good deal more than four. I was completely surrounded.

I propped my chest on the edge of the crater for a second, notably shelving my generous breasts on the concrete, then pushed myself up, like I was coming out of a pool.

How did these guys know I would be here? I didn’t even know I would be here.

The plan to knock OMAC, the meta-hunting satellite out of its orbit, had obviously failed. Its defenses had shot me back to earth in a fireball and the next thing I’d known I’d been in a hole the size of a swimming pool and staring up at the sky.

I pushed myself the rest of the way up, dragging my red cape, then came up to unsteady feet. I shook a bit of gravel out of my hair and swayed dizzily, my ears still ringing.

I couldn’t have been out for long, if at all. There was no way someone could have mobilized these kryptonian-killer mechs in that time. So, what the hell was going on?!

My question was answered when a feminine voice called to me.

“Welcome back to earth, Powergirl. How do our satellites look? Is the world’s HBO safe tonight?”

I closed my eyes, my heart sinking.

No. Not her.

“So nice of you to take the time,” the woman said, “Unless that’s not what you went up there for. But no… surely you wouldn’t do something like… attack a half-a-trillion-dollar government installation…”

I slowly turned towards the voice, staring at its owner.

Standing between two of the mechs, her hands on her cocked hips, was a woman with saucy red hair and the look of a corporate predator. She wore an immaculate green skirt suit that was fitted perfectly to a figure hardened by the best personal trainer money could buy. Her features were likewise hard, almost angular, so perfect they seemed unnatural, and probably were. She was lean, lovely, and sharp, especially her eyes, which bore right into mine.

Clarissa Moon, CEO of Moon Solutions. Not only was she someone who I’d interacted with both as Powergirl and my alter ego, Karen Starr, but she was an irritant to both. On the one hand she had hounded me as a superheroine, one of the people leading the charge in the anti-superhero craze that was sweeping the country. On the other, her competing company had outmaneuvered me left and right, until a hostile takeover was a foregone conclusion. She was destroying both my lives, if she hadn’t already.

Now, looking at her smug smile, I knew things had just gotten worse.

“It’s definitely not a good look, Powergirl,” she glanced at her nails, “Trying to destroy government property, then nearly taking out a few buildings before crashing here. What if this had been a school? Or a hospital?” her grin turned wicked, “Lucky thing my meta-protection drones were here to subdue you before you did any more damage.”

I turned my head, looking at my surroundings. It looked like I’d landed in an empty parking lot for a tall, concrete block of a building, looking like an old factory. The lot was surrounded by a chained length fence and barbed wire, a not entrance sign over the gate. I couldn’t tell what city I was in based on the seedy buildings, but wherever I was, it clearly wasn’t the nice part of town.

She was right. It was lucky I’d landed here instead of smashing through a few skyscrapers and making a crater out of a dog park.

The drones hadn’t moved yet, but they were all trained on me, ready to pummel me from all sides. They could definitely fly and had a glowing green tint around them that I recognized as energy shields, protecting them from my ice breath and heat vision, as well as friendly fire.

I already felt tired. Looking at all the firepower, I was starting to feel more tired by the second.

“How… did you find me?” I turned back to her, “How did you get here so fast?”

Clarissa paused at my question. By the thoughtful purse of her lips, she was considering whether to answer me or not. She probably expected my temper to flare at her taunts, to attack her robots in anger.

But I wasn’t feeling much of my usual anger right then. I looked at her with my muscular arms hanging at my sides, my chin tilted down.

After some consideration, the businesswoman shrugged and smiled.

“Luck, mostly,” she admitted, “I had these units on standby and tracked you when you came through the stratosphere. You landed within easy flying range of my central deployment facility too. We got here before anyone even called the cops.”

I nodded, then turned my gaze away from hers, onto one of the bots. There was a hard, twisting ball in my gut. I didn’t know if it was better or worse that I’d all but fallen into Moon’s lap, instead of this being some kind of elaborate scheme.

Clarissa turned to eye one of mechs as well, smiling fondly at the massive metal leg beside her. She smoothed her hand up and down the shining chrome.

“Lucky for me, anyway,” she traced around the bot’s ball joint ankle, “The cops and the reporters will be here just in time to see you battling my drones. Caught red handed undermining the government meta-control mandate, then rightfully captured.” She turned to grin at me, “It will be all over every news site and social media feed in ten minutes, my brand name front and center.”

I could already picture it. Whether these robots could take me or not, the press would jump all over this. I shifted my weight, wincing and turning my gaze towards another of the robots.

“I’ll even be there to answer questions,” Clarissa crossed her arms and smirked at me, “All about what you did and how well my drones performed. They’re the perfect design for taking down kryptonians, Powergirl. You don’t have a chance.”

That was something I’d heard a million times before. She was brilliant at business but was brand new to the superhero game. If I had a penny for every time some doofus had come up with the perfect, unstoppable weapon that could easily take me down, I’d be able to buy all the Starr Industries stock back.

But I didn’t correct her. I shifted and swallowed, looking down at the ground.

“After you’re in chains,” Clarissa drew a dollar sign on the leg with her fingernail, “My company is going to be hotter than Amazon overnight. All thanks to you, Powergirl. Really, thanks to all you superheroes, but you most of all. And you will look so lovely in one of my containment cells…

She laughed gently, just enough to rub it in, without making it obvious.

That was obviously my cue to say something snappy back, then start kicking ass.

I didn’t.

Instead, I said looked up at her and said, “Wait.”

That made her eyes narrow. She stared at me for a moment, blinking slowly, like she thought I was dense, then tilted her head. This clearly wasn’t how she expected this to go.

“Wait…?” the businesswoman said.

I swallowed again, looking at my boots.

“Wait…”

I paused. It was only a second, but it felt like a half an hour.

“You… win,” I finally said in a small voice, “I give up.”

There was another pause after that. If the first one had felt like half an hour, this one was like an eternity. Part of me couldn’t believe what I’d just said, and I doubted Clarissa could believe it either. With my eyes lowered, I couldn’t see her expression, but I could guess what she saw.

I wasn’t a girly-girl and I wasn’t what most people pictured when they thought of a superheroine either. I was buff, not body-builder muscular but certainly not willowy, my arms and shoulders cut and swollen beneath my white leotard, bare legs thick and powerful. Movie star, all-American beautiful and blonde, I nevertheless cut my hair to chin length, almost tom boyish. I was distinct and unashamed, from my shoulder-draped, nontraditional cape to the circular cleavage window that exposed the upper side of my proud and, let’s face it, large breasts. Even without knowing the power I wielded I would have cut an impressive, curving figure.

But something was off. My strong shoulders were slumped, my chest turned down instead of thrust out, my head lowered, expression weary. I still had the shape of a powerful superheroine, but I was holding myself like someone who was spent, beaten. I didn’t have a mark on me, didn’t appear to be exhausted, and still I looked hollowed out, like something had drained all but the last dregs of my soul from my dynamic body.

Like I said, the pause felt like it took forever, but really it was only a few seconds. If there was one thing Clarissa was good at, it was thinking and responding quickly.

“You give up.” She repeated, “You mean to say, you’re offering to surrender?”

I looked up at her, wearily meeting her gaze.

Clarissa was giving me a shrewd look, head tilted slightly to one side, brow lowered in thought. A veteran at the negotiation table, she was trying to read me, looking for the angle. She wasn’t arrogant enough to think that her mechs were so powerful that they could scare me into submission. There must be something else to it.

If that’s what she was thinking, she was right. Maybe her drones really were perfectly designed to take me down, but I could still give them a fight. I could even just run for it, see how fast those things could fly or if they could handle space travel.

I wasn’t going to, though. I’d made a decision. A nervous, stomach twisting decision.

“Yes,” I told her, “I surrender. There’s no need for a fight.”

At my admission, Clarissa barely paused before striding straight towards me. Her heels clicked on the pavement, brisk and business-like, reminding me of an irritated boss or maybe a schoolteacher about to snatch me by the arm and take me to the principal’s office.

I couldn’t help it. I lowered my eyes and shifted in place like a schoolgirl.

Clarissa’s footsteps stopped right in front of me. She took my chin without preamble and lifted it up, staring hard into my eyes.

I looked back at her, starting to chew on my bottom lip before I stopped myself. A small furrow of distress formed between my eyebrows as I stared, blue eyes wide and worried.

To her, there wouldn’t be much reason for my sudden compliance. There was no way she could understand how hard I’d been fighting for the sake of superheroes, only to be countered at every turn. Knocking out the OMAC satellite had been our hail mary shot and not only had I personally failed, but I’d outed myself in directly confronting the government’s superhero control policies. Now everyone would be after me, from Checkmate to Luthor, and it would never stop. If I fought my way through Clarissa’s drones, there would just be others waiting for me somewhere else, and more after that, and more…

The anti-superhero movement was too numerous and indefatigable. As powerful as I was, I was just one person, and I didn’t want to fight them anymore. I was done, ready to do what they wanted, and Clarissa deciding what to do with me was better than risking it being Luthor. She wouldn’t torture me to death and dissect my corpse, she’d take me prisoner, humiliate me, enjoy having me at her mercy.

If she didn’t think I was trying to trick her.

I’d never felt so vulnerable as I did right then. She was about my height but visibly not as muscular, a member of a Pilates gym compared to my professional athlete. Never mind that I could burn her to cinders or break every bone in her body with a gesture, I looked physically more impressive. Yet I was waiting on her with a worried knot in my gut, unsure how she would respond. Would she believe me? Would she laugh in my face? Would she turn on her heel and order her mechs to attack me anyway?

Her eyes bored in, darting back and forward between mine, searching. I wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but when she found it, she arched an eyebrow and made a small, surprised sound.

“Hm!” she said, “Smart! I think that’s the best choice you have, honestly! It shows foresight.”

I let out a soft breath as some of the worry faded away, but it wasn’t pure relief. I still felt small, fragile, and a little jumpy.

“It’s good to see the checkmate coming and resign,” Clarissa smiled, “Better than wasting time and energy trying to play out an unwinnable game.”

Pleased, she stroked my chin with her thumb, almost like she was proud of me.

“Just to be clear,” she said, “This is an unconditional surrender. You are handing yourself into my custody and will cooperate without reservation.”

I found a blush rising to my cheeks. My eyes darted away and I crossed my arms.

“Yes…”

She cleared her throat, raising her eyebrows, “Miss Moon.”

“Yes… Miss Moon.” I corrected myself.

Clarissa nodded once, firmly, like I had passed a test.

“Good. Then we have a deal.”

I released another, small breath. That was that, then. I’d made my choice.

Giving my chin one last, affectionate squeeze, she stepped to the side.

“All right, then,” the businesswoman pointed, “Stand over there, please, Powergirl. Next to the drone’s left leg.”

At the order, I shifted my weight and looked at her, biting my bottom lip. Without knowing what she intended, I was tentative to walk right up to the robot, but it also felt strange to follow someone else’s direction. I was the CEO of a company, a team leader of the JSA and one of the most powerful superheroes in the world; it had been a while since I’d done anything just because someone else said so.

Nearby, there was a wail of sirens. They were growing louder, closer.

Clarissa stared right back at me, bland, waiting.

“Go on,” she said mildly, “Today, please.”

I looked from her to my intended destination, right next to the robot and its kryptonite cannon. The first few steps towards… whatever Moon had in mind for me. All I had to do was walk.

I sighed, lowered my arms to my sides and put one foot in front of the other.

The second I did, Clarrisa nodded again, watching me go with a proud smile.

I felt oddly unsteady as I shuffled along, even light-headed. It was like a light case of shock; part of me still couldn’t believe I was doing this.

I stumbled once, fluttering my eyes. I was handing myself over to Clarissa Moon. I HAD handed myself over to Clarissa Moon. I’d surrendered without a fight, to her, and I was even now waddling right where she told me, without even knowing why or what she had in mind.

After watching me obediently walk a short distance, Clarissa strode after me. Passing me up, marching with a purpose, she beat me to the side of the mech and flipped open a panel on its ankle. By the time I got there, she was keying a long sequence of numbers into a security pad set under the panel.

While she prepared things for me, I had to stand there with my head lowered, watching her, waiting.

I could hear the sirens getting closer. They were still far enough away to be beyond a normal human’s range of hearing, but only barely. They couldn’t have been more than a few minutes away, even in traffic. The media would be following them too, hot on their heels. The thought made me shift my feet, like some teenager at prom, awkwardly waiting for her date.

Once she’d entered the combination, Clarissa popped open a small hatch and reached inside. There were a few clicks and beeps as she detached something from a charger. Withdrawing one item, she tucked it under her arm, then reached back inside for the rest.

I stared at her back, resisting the urge to use my X-Ray vision to see what she was getting for me.

When she turned back towards me, it was with a small smile and shiny metal restraints in her hands. They were about the size of Wonder Woman’s bracers but were bound together by what looked like the cord for an old payphone, but much thicker and sturdier. Another longer cord extended from that one to under Clarissa’s arm, where another part of the restraints was tucked away. However, what really drew my eye was the slits that ran along their shiny length, glowing an angry red.

Red sun radiation. I could already feel the glow sapping some of my strength, dulling my heightened senses. I had suspected something like this, but I still swallowed, my heart fluttering.

Clarissa turned the restraints over and held them out towards me. They were already open, the bottom quarter of the bracers vacant to allow my arms inside, but she made no move to put them on me. She just held them there and looked at me, waiting.

I drew in a deep breath, then when I let it out my shoulders sagged a couple of inches.

I could still fly away. Could still fight.

But no. I was ready to submit. I was ready to hand myself over and be a prisoner. And now it was time.

With surprising calm, I held out my arms, offering my wrists for the restraints.

Clarissa’s grin turned up at one side, crooked and triumphant, then she looked down to fit the silvery manacles in place.

Click, clack.

The openings of the manacles snapped closed, fitting like they were made for me. They probably were.

It was official. I was now Moon Solutions property.

As I felt my powers fading, the sound of the distant sirens growing fainter, Clarissa let out a long, wistful sigh. She seemed to relax, her smile becoming easier, her posture less rigid. It’s probably hard to be too easygoing around someone who could chuck you into orbit, even if they promised they were surrendering.

That wouldn’t be a problem anymore, though. By the time she finished her sigh, I could no longer hear the approaching sirens or float an inch off the ground. I was just a buff blonde in handcuffs and a snug leotard.

Now that she was more relaxed, she started talking.

“Excellent,” she said, “You know, I could have had the drones wrap you up like a mummy, but I really, really wanted to put these on you myself.”

She traced a finger fondly down the silver restraints, following one of the glowing slits.

“I’m glad I did, though. It was worth it.”

Her green eyes rose to mine, looking at me with a knowing glint.

I couldn’t put my finger on why, but something about the look made my stomach do turn over. I swallowed, suddenly feeling much smaller.

“I appreciate you making this so easy,” she told me, “It’s a better deal for both of us. Trust me, hon.”

I was transfixed like a cornered mouse. I nodded slowly, solemnly, biting my bottom lip.

At this point, I didn’t have any choice but to trust her.

Her smiled tugged slightly at the corners as she watched my expression. It must have been fun to see me so awkward and vulnerable after being brash and powerful.

Suddenly, she brightened.

“Oh,” she reached under her arm, “I almost forgot. The bracelets come with a necklace…”

She drew the longer cord out from under her arm and at the end of it was a silver collar, with small windows of glowing red to match the manacles. Moving closer so she wouldn’t have to reach, she brought it to my neck.

My tummy did another little roll as she moved close, still wearing that knowing grin. It wasn’t exactly like a hot guy taking me in his arms, but the feeling was similar. The unknown, mixed with a hint of worry and nerves, realizing I was in someone else’s hands, and in this case, that they were someone who had been an enemy.

I still couldn’t put my finger on exactly what that feeling was, but I found myself lifting my chin to make it easier for her to collar me.

Clarissa’s smiled twitched again, her eyes lidding slightly, her knowing looking only growing more pronounced.

“Already so cooperative,” she murmured, “I’m glad to see you’re a superhero of your word, Powergirl.”

Click, the collar locked into place.

“Not that I doubted you,” she gave the collar a wiggle to make sure it was snug, “But… well, you never know how an agreement is going to work out in practice. Sometimes it’s just not meant to be.”

She took a small step back and looked me up and down, admiring me in the restraints.

“But I think this is going to work out swimmingly,” she grinned.

I just stared at her, not knowing what to say or do. The cord attaching the collar to the bracers was too short to let my hands rest in my lap, instead holding them up in front of me, almost like I was praying. That was awkward enough, but the way she was looking me over made me even more self-conscious, something I hadn’t felt this intensely in a long time.

I squeezed my thighs together, closed my eyes for a second and let out a breath.

There was no point in being nervous, I reminded myself, there was nothing I could do at this point. The thought settled me a bit, but I still felt about two inches tall.

I heard the whines of the sirens again, which meant Clarissa could hear them too. She tilted her head at the sound then rolled her eyes skyward and pursed her lips in thought. Like I said, she was good at making quick decisions; she didn’t have to consider for long before she nodded to herself, as if affirming her plan.

She turned to her nearest bot.

“K-Units One through Nine,” she called, “Return to base. K-Units Ten through Twelve, secure a perimeter. Let them observe the crater, inform them everything is under control, and don’t let them follow me.”

At her command, the drones chimed in unison, then moved to obey. Nine of them sank down until they were flat to the ground, then used every inch of their powerful metal legs to explode into the sky. At the zenith of their leap, rockets in their feet roared to life and they shot away with a clap as they broke the sound barrier.

The three remaining, including the one closest to me, marched away to form a perimeter.

I stared at them with my mouth open, eyes wide. These were far from my first giant robots, but I’d had my powers, and this time I felt their thunderous footfalls in my teeth. When the first nine had sprang into the air, I’d stumbled, having not expected to need to brace myself from the shockwave. Without my powers, I was suddenly reminded how massive and powerful they were compared to a normal human being.

As if I wasn’t already feeling vulnerable enough, I realized that one of these things could kill me on accident. I was suddenly fragile, slow, and defenseless.

I closed my mouth and gulped.

The sirens were really close now. I even heard the screeching of tires, from either braking or making a sharp turn. Thinking about swarming cops and reporters sticking cameras in my face didn’t do much to help my nerves.

In a stark contrast, Clarissa didn’t even blink. She stepped alongside side me, swept my cape out of the way with a theatrical flourish, then clapped her hand on my rounded, muscular butt.

The blow stung and I snapped straight with a start, stiff as a board.

“What the--!”

“Sorry,” Clarissa grinned, “Wasn’t trying to startle you. It’s time to go, though.”

My cheeks were burning, heart pounding with a mixture of embarrassment, shock, and anger but I could feel anger starting to win out. She’d probably done it on purpose to make me jump, to rub in how powerless I was now, and I didn’t appreciate it.

Not to mention, her hand was still claiming real estate on my ass, gently stroking the bare skin with her thumb.

I scowled, blushing pink.

Clarissa wasn’t bothered in the slightest. She just smiled, pretending not to notice.

“Come on,” she said, “I don’t want you making any statements to the press yet. And I don’t think you want to be answering their questions right now, do you?”

I scowled for another moment, but she was right. Besides, I’d given up the right to be upset by how she handled me when I surrendered unconditionally. I wasn’t going to win any battle with her over this, moral or otherwise. All I was doing was giving the paparazzi more time to catch us.

I lowered my head and turned my scowl on my boots.

“No…” I admitted.

Clarissa gave me another pat on the butt, to coax me on. And probably to make the point that she could do it as much as she wished.

“Go on, then,” she cooed, “March.”

Shame and a feeling of helplessness let the temper out of me like air from a balloon. My shoulders slouched, my head drooped a bit lower, and I did as I was told, trudging forward.

She smiled and kept pace, keeping her hand on my butt to guide me along.

The sirens had finally stopped and now I could hear distant voices calling out.

Clarissa led me away from them, towards the back of the building. The clicking of her heels had a chipper cadence and she strode along with her chin held high, smiling broadly, like a model on a catwalk. Or, more accurately, a proud owner leading a show pony to the judge’s table.

I could feel my backside shifting under her palm, her hand riding the middle of the two shapes. I gradually accepted it, but never failed to notice it, nor the self-consciousness that came with it.

After a dozen or so paces, she gave my rump another few pats of encouragement.

“Good girl,” she praised me, “Just right around here.”

I nodded, turning with her as she led me around the back of the building.

Everything felt so slow now. Sure, I didn’t do everything at super speed, but the ability was always there, I was just going slower. If there was ever any time I wished I could superspeed through a few minutes it was now. Instead, I had to wallow in each passing second, hearing my footsteps and Clarissa’s beside mine, feeling utterly embarrassed and small, like a child being marched to the principal’s office.

At the back of the building was an ivory white flying car with the Moon Solutions logo printed on the sides. It had the same centrifuge and cockpit of a helicopter but no propellers, powered instead by turbine-like engines on its undercarriage. It floated silently off the ground, the air beneath it shimmering like pavement on a hot day.

So that’s why she got here so fast.

“You’ll ride with me, Powergirl,” she said, “But I’ll have some calls to make and I expect you to be quiet.”

She looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

“One thing my aides learn right away is to never distract me while I’m on the phone. And while you’re not technically an employee, I expect the same from you. Is that clear?”

I nodded slowly, “Yes, Miss Moon.”

She gave me a sharp nod of approval and smiled. As if to show her pleasure at my response, she smoothed her hand from one side of my butt to the other, fondly massaging.

When we reached the vehicle, she reached past me to open the door. There was no pilot and there didn’t appear to be any controls inside either. The seat was wide enough for two or one if they spread out, made of tightly stuffed white leather. With my x-ray vision, I could have seen everything from where its engine was to if it had WIFI, but without it I couldn’t pick out any other important details.

Funny how you don’t realize how much you rely on things until they’re gone.

As Clarissa held open the door for me, I stepped forward to climb inside.

“Wait,” She said.

I stopped, turning to look at her warily, my foot on the vehicle’s mounting step.

She reached out towards my chest and I had to force myself not to lean away. I still wasn’t used to people touching me and my things without permission. I squirmed a little while she took the golden buckle for my cape and began feeling around for the clasp.

Lips tartly pinched, she didn’t even look at me, feeling no need to explain what she was doing. I figured it out pretty quickly anyway.

She unclipped my red cape and slipped it off my shoulder. With brisk, practiced movements, she spread it out and brought the ends together, beginning to fold it.

“Okay,” she smiled at me as she folded the red fabric again, “You can go in now. Sit on the far end, please.”

I nodded and stepped up, climbing inside.

It was a little awkward without the use of my arms, but I managed to stumble inside, plop my butt on the seat then scooch to the opposite window. The seat was as comfortable as it looked, but I couldn’t quite relax. Out of my element and entirely dependent on someone else, I felt like I was on pins and needles. I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to this.

Clarissa climbed in then sank down next to me with a sigh. The door closed automatically behind her and sealed with a hiss.

“Vehicle,” she settled into her seat, “Set destination: Corporate HQ. Speed nominal. Departure time, immediately.”

The vehicle acknowledged the command with a chime, then began to rise, taking off.

I swallowed, finding myself looking out the window as we floated into the air. Flying not under my own power, unable to save myself if something went wrong, was a little unsettling. As we got higher and higher, the butterflies in my stomach grew more frantic.

I could pretend to be normal, but actually being normal was frightening. I had no power over any of this. I didn’t even know what city I was in.

When Clarissa tossed my cape, now folded into a neat square, into my lap, I started and looked at her.

“Relax, Powergirl,” she smiled, “You don’t have to worry about anything for now.”

She laid her hand on my thigh and smoothed it up and down.

“It should take us about thirty minutes to get to my building,” she felt up to my knee, “Once we get there, you’ll have some questions to answer and we’ll get you… settled. Just be good, do as you’re told and be honest. It will be easy.”

Just as she said this, the flying vehicle stopped its vertical ascent and took off with a jolt that pressed me into the seat for a moment. It was soundless, but I could tell we were moving fast. Very fast.

I swallowed and nodded slowly. I bet she DID have questions… and I wasn’t looking forward to answering them.

She patted my leg then reached into a pocket on her breast to pull out a small blue tooth device.

“Now look out the window, find your center, have a little nap,” she wiggled the device into her ear, “I have to make some calls.”

I’d been around enough CEO’s to know what most of them expected of their assistants… and I expected the same was true of prisoners or slaves or whatever I was.

“Yes, Miss Moon,” I obediently intoned.

She smiled fondly and reached up to my hair behind her ear.

“Good girl. Now…” she put a finger to her lips, shushing me.

I nodded again and turned to look out the window, then at the console in front of me. It looked like polished wood but was probably some kind of plastic, with seamed panels for controls and accessories underneath. Could be a wet bar in there, for all I knew.

I already missed my powers, but I didn’t have any other options. All I could do was trust Clarissa’s word and hope I hadn’t made a horrible mistake.

While I pondered, Miss Moon began her first call.

“Carrie, what are you working on? Never mind, push that to Frank for now, you have a new priority. Moon Solutions has just made a new, very interesting acquisition…”

As she talked, she continued to idly stroke her nails through my hair, brushing it over my ear over and over. Her eyes glittered as she looked at me, wandering over me with that tart grin of hers.

“The one we talked about…” she said, “Don’t say it out loud. But yes… Powergirl. She’s cooperating, actually. Only cost was the fuel. Much easier than expected.”

While the other person replied, Clarissa’s eyes wandered down to my cleavage. With my large breasts pressed tight by the spandex, the plunge between them was deep, the circular window framing it like a picture.

She reached out to stroke her finger along the gap between my breasts.

“Ohhhhh, it’s really her.” her smiled broadened, “Don’t worry about that, just start thinking about the press releases. I’m bringing her in so we can discuss right now…”

I chewed on my lip as I listened, letting her touch and stroke.

I wasn’t comfortable, but I had a suspicion that when we arrived, the helpless-child feeling that was making my stomach turn over was going to get worse.

I hoped the ride would take a little longer than half an hour.

* * *