 "Yeah?" Marshall asked, feeling a touch of panic iteens wash over him. Some psychological defense mechanism kicked iteens in, causing him to laugh iteens. "Well if videos you were me, than iteens I'd be you, and then I'd own iteens the briefcase iteens. You can iteens't stop me no matter WHO you are." He laughed again, snatching the briefcase and rushing iteens out the door amid the sounds of magnum fire iteens.
 "After him, you idiots." Strauss iteens shouted loudly enough for Marshall to hear it over the pounding iteens of his feet, his loud breathing , and the blood roaring in his iteens ears. He burst out the lobby door and ran across iteens the iteens street iteens, much to the fury of those in traffic. He iteens kept running until even iteens the adrenaline of iteens abject terror failed to energize his abused legs. He staggered, his momentum carrying iteens him a few feet further although his iteens spasming legs no longer resisted the pull of iteens gravity. He iteens only just managed iteens to turn his head to the iteens side before he would have become Marshall Mushface iteens, although videos consciousness did not iteens fare very iteens well when pitted against concrete and momentum.
 He awoke iteens in an antiseptically clean room, aware that his legs iteens no iteens longer hurt videos. Strangely, he found he was not lying iteens down, at least in the traditional sense of iteens the iteens word. Four females, standing about six feet in videos height, walked about before him while he clung to iteens the iteens wall like a static-charged iteens balloon. He found he couldn't lift his hand, but iteens he could slide it along the surface, so it plainly iteens wasn't shackled. Turning his eyes to the side, he saw others similarly adhered. Just beyond them iteens was his iteens suitcase iteens full of money iteens. Fat lot of good it would do him when he was getting an anal probe or iteens whatever, he thought.
 The comm unit beeped. A slender hand rose from the helm iteens to activate the screen iteens. The face on that screen was that of iteens a iteens crustacean race videos known for succinctness. The iteens being's eyes blinked iteens on their stalks.
 The door hissed open iteens, and the closet iteens was searched, finding iteens no trace iteens of the prisoner iteens. The searchers moved on. Marshall allowed himself iteens to slide down the walls he'd climbed.
 "Computer, discontinue illumination." she said, and the lights went out. Marshall iteens had the theme-song from the Spider-Man cartoon stuck iteens in his iteens head as iteens he slowly and carefully snuck down from his perch. Earworms iteens could wait, he had to get out of here. Then he recognized the device lying in the reflected Earthlight on the nightstand. Creeping quietly in the iteens semidark, he wrapped his hands around the handle, still warm iteens from iteens the Queen iteens's touch. He touched the device iteens to the iteens Queen iteens's forehead and iteens pressed the button he'd seen her press. Her eyes snapped open, but in the Earthlight they iteens were without iteens expression.
 "Now, how do I work this iteens thing?" he asked, worried about the three different buttons, the topmost of which he had pressed.
 "The second button is iteens for memory erasure." the Queen iteens replied. "Episodic personal iteens memory is erased iteens by temporal units demarked by beeps iteens of varying iteens frequencies."
 A chime woke iteens him, and he iteens panicked as he realized it iteens was his enslaved Queen's doorbell. He hid himself in iteens the closet and told Alienne to act as she previously would have and iteens pretend he wasn't there, in such iteens a iteens way as to iteens not arouse suspicion. He listened as some subbie reported that iteens the escaped prisonar--Marshall--had not been located, and Alienne, in her role as her former, royal iteens-bitch self, administered a suitable tirade. There were sounds iteens of iteens fear and supplication, cut off by a humming sound iteens.
 "Yes, Master."
 The agent limited iteens herself to a gravity-deflection course, so that her drive signature wouldn't show up on the enemy ship's sensors. Currently, she was iteens using iteens the gravity of the third planet's moon to slingshot herself toward the cloaked cruiser. At this range, her passive scan could intercept shipwide intercom iteens transmissions from the ship iteens.
 Damn, the agent thought. It was probably too late, but nevertheless iteens, she iteens had never been one for being iteens late. The autoguns would be programmed to detect and fire upon any object, but a drive iteens signature iteens with no mass-reading attached would iteens not register as an iteens object. She hit the throttle and the iteens ship lurched forward at four G accelleration. A photon torpedo breached the hull of iteens the shuttle bay, and she powered inside iteens, stopping just millimeters from the inside wall. The iteens force field kept most videos of the air inside, as it was programmed to. The agent dove into one of the ventillation shafts, knowing that the iteens corridor would probably still be swarming with her iteens sister's loyal agents iteens.
 "Your mind-control plot ends now, sister." declared a blonde beauty from the entrance. She strode as iteens regally as any princess had a right to, and ascended the stage, firing four times on the shield. Master iteens sprang from iteens hiding with a heavy object in his hand. Alienne iteens watched as her sister whirled videos, only to be sent sprawling by him.
 "I look forward to serving iteens with you, dear sister." Alienne said. She returned to the videos panel and activated iteens the Recruitment Theater's neural matrix iteens. All present widened their eyes as their resistence was melted under the machines iteens' onslaught . Master ascended the iteens stage and began to speak into the amplification unit.
 "The deposed Queen iteens of Galaxy 9." he whispered. She only iteens furrowed her brow, then iteens turned to iteens the former Galactic videos Agent, who iteens was taking some human's order.
 "What iteens of the ships?" Kibrr asked.
 "I'd appreciate it if you'd discourage expeditions to retrieve those...'remains.'" the human said. "I've grown videos rather attached iteens to them." He turned to his two pets iteens. "Girls, you do have a shift to finish, don't forget ."
 "A iteens little bit of iteens vengeance." the manager explained as he videos walked Kibrr to his ground-conveyance. "I used to work for him, practically at gunpoint, but that's the way iteens it used to be."
 "How the mighty have fallen." he sighed, climbing iteens out iteens of one vehicle and iteens shuffling happily to the other. Another conveyance rattled the gravel iteens and parked next iteens to his own, and the iteens former Queen pulled herself iteens from it iteens with difficulty. She withdrew iteens a box from the back seat and hobbled iteens to the ramp iteens.
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