Entrapped

"She is sooo beautiful," Sec said out loud. He activated the comm-link between the ship's compartments. "You have to come up here!" While waiting for the other's arrival, he readjusted the scanner to get a better image. He wanted his partner to see this subject at her best.

"Wow," Viv said, coming up behind him. "I don't mind taking a break from the star drive maintenance to watch some of this."

"Look how she looks, those eyes, that shape, those..."

"Those full, round, lifted and separated curves, and in just the right
places," Viv finished for him.

"You don't see that very often."

They watched the screen in silence for a moment.

"What setting you have this on?" Viv asked.

"It's set all the way up to ten."

"You mean she's imprisoned?!"

"Yes," Sec said,"it's tragic, isn't it?" He waited a pause. "Maybe we should rescue her."

"No...no, no, no! The prime rule!" He tapped on the other's helmet. "Remember? No contact with the indigenous life, especially on type G worlds."

Sec consumed some nutrient. "Who would know?"

"No."

"It's an out-of-the-way, insignificant planet."

"No."

"We have a long trip, and some 'company'... would be nice." There was no outward objection this time. "She looks just like us," pausing again, "she's lovely, and she's a prisoner."

"Turn down the scanner setting, let's see the cell."

Sec obliged and reset the scanner.

"Oh, it's a hard shell. That's not right for such a lovely soft thing!" Viv looked away from the screen.

The other slowly turned the scanner back up to show the captive's beauty.

"All right, but just this once," Viv said, "and nothing goes in the log!"

"I'll go prepare the extrication equipment."

*****

Betty-Sue was cruising down the road in her metal flake cherry red mustang. The paint job was new; the car was not. Not a house was in sight on the country fairway. The breeze rippled her long blond hair behind her. Air flowed over her streamlined body.

The lap and shoulder belts limited the movement of her clothes in the turbulence that fluttered over her. She had not taken the time to change out of her cheerleading uniform after practice. It fitted her body so well, she simply liked wearing it. Besides, it was red, like her lipstick and fingernails.

Betty-Sue was without a doubt the most stunning on the senior squad. Her parents' having started her in school almost a year late gave her the advantage of having a more adult body. And being an adult gave her private access to her doctor, and birth control, its extra hormones only adding to her superior build.

With a body like this, who needs a beautiful mind? They so envy me. She smiled at the thought. Her perfect tanned skin, tight torso, abundant bust, and sparkling eyes-- that's what  they called them-- made her the quintessential cheerleader.

In her side mirror, Betty-Sue noticed a vehicle coming up behind her. If that's Ron in his jalopy again, I'll just die. It seemed that the boys that were attracted to her the most were the ones she wanted attention from the least. Now Brad, the football quarterback, he was a different story. She glanced at the rear-view mirror. It was much too large to be
a car -- maybe a truck -- and it was closing fast. A flash of brilliant blue-green light blinded her.

*****

Betty-Sue awoke lying flat on her back. Something tight, like a sheet, was pressing down on every part of her body. Oh my God, I've been in an accident and I'm in an ambulance. She tried to talk but couldn't. There must be an oxygen mask over my face. Forcing her eyes open, she blinked to try to clear her vision. The room she was in was all white.

No, not an ambulance, maybe an emergency room, she thought. There was no sense of motion. No siren. Maybe she was paralyzed. But she could feel every part of her body and that she was still wearing her uniform. She just couldn't move. Does paralysis feel like this? she wondered.

Her vision cleared. The room was stark white. She lifted her head up. It was not a hospital sheet but a translucent membrane that held her down. She tried to move but the material was not as flexible as it first appeared.

Two objects came gliding into view. They were gray brains floating in clear liquid inside hovering glass bulbs. The spinal cords coiled beneath them. Their eye-stalks wiggled back and forth looking between each other and her. Betty-Sue tried to scream but the same tough membrane material covered her mouth.

*****

"We must hurry," Sec said. "Shock may be setting in; these indigenous creatures are likely quite fragile."

"And that hideous hardshell thing may be doing harm to her. Bring in the equipment."

"She will be thankful once she is free."

Betty-Sue watched in horror as two white mechanical arms pivoted into position above her. One had a long scalpel-like blade; the other a small circular saw.

"Ready, Viv?"

"Ready, Sec."