It is the middle of the last Ice Age, about 50,000 years ago. The Neanderthals roam the Earth, but co-exist with a recently arrived tribe of technologically advanced aliens known as the Amazon. The Amazon hunt Neanderthal men for their wild semen. Aablar has captured an Amazon dominess and her acolyte. The ruthless Elizabetha Warren has tracked him down. However, after an interrupted combat, he has disappeared with the dominess. Meanwhile the incident has led to political turmoil in the Amazon establishment.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

1. In spite of her outward show of ice-cold calm, Fiona was extremely nervous about the impregnation ceremony. A team of scholaresses wearing caps emblazoned with the blue cross of the Repro Institute undressed her and shaved her fine blonde pubic hair. Then they laid her on a preparation table and anointed her pelvic region with antiseptic oil made from aromatic herbs and massaged it into the folds of her cunt, murmuring admiringly amongst themselves at her gorgeous, yet powerful body.

Charlotte arrived with her handmaiden. She had removed her tiara and ceremonial sword and was all business. She carried out the short preliminary religious ceremony, invoking the name of Hera and asking that Fiona's unborn daughter be blessed with the might of Artemis and the bodily form of Aphrodite. Then Fiona was moved to a gurney and quickly wheeled into an impregnation theatre. Charlotte took the director's high chair. She asked for the impregnation prep report and was handed a thin plexi-glass sheet with a double pane of complex holographic coding. Charlotte was one of the foremost Amazon experts in molecular biology and she read the report like a book.

The sheet contained holographic images of the complete genetic codes of both the mother -- Fiona -- as well as the sperm. Fiona had chosen very well. The sperm's genetic coding exhibited a very high probability score in the all-important female gender axis -- the pregnancy would almost certainly yield a daughter. The sperm also showed extremely high probability scores in intelligence quotient, as well as in the physical prowess and coordination. More important, the genetic make-up of the sperm as well as its savage inter-cutting matched Fiona's own genes very well, both in terms of outcome probabilities as well as physical fit. Fiona is so gifted, thought Charlotte with a trace of bitterness. Even her genetic coding is perfect, so suited to match high potency sperm. She even matches the savage inter-cutting! If we could breed her, we could create a race of superwomen! No wonder Katnissa is such a perfect specimen in mind and body.

On the impregnation table, Repro scholaresses strapped Fiona's ankles into stirrups. Naked, she stared fixedly at the ceiling, brightened by recessed lighting. More than two decades had passed since her impregnation with Katnissa, but even this length of time had not lessened her fear and loathing of penetration and impregnation. It took all her self-control to retain a composure of steely calm. Charlotte sensed her disquiet. Impulsively, she rose from her high chair and came down to the table. She leaned over and rubbed nipples. Fiona's nipples were already puckered from their naked exposure and the rubbing caused them to harden and stand out as bright red buds. Simultaneously she kissed Fiona on the lips and then whispered, 'Don't worry, dearest Fiona. It will be over very soon. We will be so gentle, you will barely feel it.'

Fiona began to relax, the tautness in her muscles slowly receding. The scholaress controlling the impregnator activated it. It was a large wheeled machine with a steel-titanium mechanical probe extending from a rubber housing. The control panel of the machine was extremely complex, with myriad dials and gauges, as well as several flat display panels. The arm ended in a thin pencil-like device that was just over a foot long. Now, with a low whine, the scholaress propelled the arm forward. Her controls were extremely precise and she could govern its movement to within microns.

As the head of the impregnator neared Fiona's crotch, Charlotte signaled for the masking screen to be lowered. With a hiss, it descended from the ceiling, obscuring Fiona's lower regions from her view. Another of the scholaresses moved between her legs to stimulate her clitoris to induce lubrication prior to the insertion of the impregnator probe. This was standard practice. However, Charlotte waved her away and herself began to kiss and lick Fiona, starting from the swell of her belly and slowly descending in gentle spirals. Finally, she reached her pubic area and felt Fiona's breath quicken and her muscles tense again. Showing great adeptness, she slowed her ministrations, till she felt her charge relax again. By the time Charlotte softly kissed her clitoris, Fiona merely sighed. However, through all of this, her cunt had grown pleasantly wet and Charlotte licked off some of her sweet-smelling vaginal fluid.

Now she signaled to the scholaress on the impregnator. The thin, shiny probe had been warmed to a very pleasant temperature and was now propelled forward. Fiona was wet enough and pliant enough that she barely felt its entry. The operator had been carefully selected and she was the best at her craft. The minuscule camera on the probe head showed her multiple images of the probe's location in Fiona's cunt. She drove the probe into Fiona's vagina quickly while her charge was relaxed. She moved it to within a hair's breadth of her cervix and then stopped. She knew that this was always slightly alarming, even to sisters who were relatively unfazed by penetration.

Charlotte knew the procedure intimately, so she now moved to Fiona's head and took her arm in hers and kissed her on the lips again. Fiona could feel the warm probe in her cunt and sensed that the ultimate penetration was about to begin. But her own steel will, aided by Charlotte's loving embrace held her fears in check and she remained relaxed and calm.

The operator waited for Charlotte's signal. She was amazed at her instruments' readings -- though she had done thousands of impregnations, she had never seen a cunt that gripped her probe with such power. Princess Fiona's vaginal muscles were enormously powerful! Truly, she is a Amazon princess by birth, she thought, to be so gifted in everything prized by the sisterhood. With this in mind, she expected her cervix to be equally tight and tough to penetrate. What a story she would have to tell her friends!

Charlotte gave the signal and the scholaress activated a very gentle and insistent forward pressure. The instruments indicated a huge increase in pressure on the probe head as it began to penetrate the entrance to Fiona' womb. 'Gently, gently, breathe, Fiona, breathe, ... there, ... there. ...,' Charlotte's voice was soothing and supportive.

The probe penetrated her cervix and now emerged into her womb. The operator magnified the camera image and quickly and professionally searched for the most promising eggs. Her judgment was excellent and she found the perfect match within minutes. She moved the probe into position and the instruments gave her the location settings. The margin for error was less than a micron, for the Amazon procedure used less than ten individual sperm cells. She jockeyed the probe, frowning in her concentration, adjusting and re-setting till she was satisfied. Finally, all the position lights and arrows glowed green.

'Set, Princess Charlotte,' she called.

'Fire when ready,' Charlotte intoned.

The scholaress's finger caressed the impregnator trigger and then she squeezed it. There was no noticeable sound, but the intravenous sonar in the probe head tracked in the single sperm cell that was ejaculated. It traveled slowly in the very short planned trajectory. The sonar showed it docking with the egg. They all waited anxiously. Five more minutes ticked away. The micro-bio-scanners were drawing in mounds of data and presented a complex pictorial array on one of the display screens of the impregnator. The scholaress eyed the screen as the picture wavered and steadied, then wavered again. Finally, the bio-scanner image glowed and green signals appeared on the output displays.

'The egg has been fertilized,' the impregnator operator said gravely. 'Error probabilities approach zero. I am retracting.'

Charlotte was stunned. To be fertilized with the very first sperm! Five to six shots were considered the normal count. She knew that she herself was highly fertile, but it had taken three shots for her to become pregnant with Althea. Was there anything about Fiona that was not perfect?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

2. Even before Aablar hit the water, Elizabetha was running round the pool. Melania unslung her power-chute and followed. She came up beside her colonel at the pool's edge where Aablar had disappeared with the Lady Katnissa. Elizabetha was breathing heavily and she could not avoid grimacing with the pain in her side. Melania reached forward and steadied her, earning a smile of gratitude from her normally imperious commander.

'We have no diving equipment and do not know the depths of this pool,' said Elizabetha. 'And while I am loathe to admit it, I am injured and not up to free diving at the moment.'

'Colonel, I will go,' said Melania without hesitation.

Elizabetha was torn between wanting to do everything to pursue Aablar and risking Melania's life in a fruitless effort.

'A 50 second free dive, Seignora, no longer,' she said finally. 'Set your alarm.'

Melania set her blaster down and tapped her wrist bracer, keying up the chronometer display. Setting the alarm as directed, she pulled off her thigh boots and unfastened her helmet, shaking out a mass of shiny raven hair. Then she cleaved the pool surface in a smooth dive, barely raising a splash. Elizabetha gazed into the pool worriedly -- the savage had the upper hand now, since he obviously knew this cavern and its secrets. The second ticked away slowly. As the 50-second window approached, Elizabetha could make out a dark shape deep in the pool, rising slowly. More seconds ticked by and the shape seemed to get no larger. At one minute, Elizabetha glanced over at the throne. Both Lena and Althea were still naked, but alert.

'Watch the blonde, Lady Althea,' said Elizabetha. 'I will be back momentarily.'

So saying, she pulled off her thigh boots and helmet and dived smoothly into the pool, leaving barely a ripple on the surface. She kicked hard and within seconds had reached Melania, who appeared to have run out of breath and was kicking weakly. Elizabetha took her head in a firm grip and locked her lips on Melania's forcing her mouth open with her tongue. She blew a mouthful of air into Melania's mouth and then with her hands under the Seignora's armpits, she kicked powerfully for the surface. Another kick and her lips sought Melania's again, blowing in more air. Clasped in close embrace, their breasts rubbed together. Elizabetha's short fuse burned bright and her nipples hardened.

It took Elizabetha just three kicks and they broke surface together. Elizabetha made a mental note to invite the Melania to her chambers back on the 'Andromeda'. She towed her to the poolside, but the dominess was already recovering rapidly. As they pulled themselves out of the water Melania was shamefaced and began, 'I humbly apologize, Colonel for causing a problem. I thought I could try for a little greater depth ...'

As they donned their boots and helmets, Elizabetha waved her apologies aside.

'That is of no consequence now. What have you to report?'

'I am sorry, colonel,' she said, as water cascaded off her uniform. 'I was able to descend only about fifty feet. The pool is obviously very deep -- I could not make out a bottom. The sides up to the depth of fifty or sixty feet are very smooth, offering no concealment.'

'I am afraid we cannot do more without specialized diving equipment,' said Elizabetha finally. 'Now go to the entrance of this cavern and try to raise the 'Andromeda'. Direct the others of our party to our location.'

'Aye, aye, Colonel,' said Melania.

As Melania proceeded to the entrance of the cavern, her field fabric uniform was already dry and her temperature shield quickly dried her wet skin. Elizabetha approached the throne, noting that both Althea and Lena had donned their deerskin panties and halters. She expected the blazing hostility in Leia's eyes, but she was surprised to see the lack of welcome in the Lady Althea. The girl is exhausted and has been through Hades, thought Elizabetha. She's probably still in shock. Relief will come later.

'It is all over, Lady Althea,' she said kindly, extending an arm. 'You are safe now.'

Althea did not answer, but nodded dumbly. The girl has been severely psychologically scarred, thought Elizabetha. Gentleness did not come naturally to her, but she made an effort and drew Althea into her arms and patted her head and stroked her bruised neck. The girl remained stiff as a board in her arms and at length Elizabetha gave up.

'I have a patrol on the way,' said Elizabetha. 'We will wait for them by the cavern entrance.'

Almost as she spoke, there was a clatter of boots and Sophia led Melania and the other two Dominesss into the cavern. All of them broke into smiles of relief as they hurried over to Elizabetha and saluted.

'It is with great joy that I see you alive, Colonel,' said Sophia formally. 'I was afraid that our ineptitude had cost you your life.'

'No, no, you could not have done better, Sophie,' said Elizabetha, warmth in her voice. 'It was my foolishness in the face of the charging ice bear.'

She quickly related the events leading to the disappearance of Aablar and Katnissa. 'Time is of the essence. We must get back on the 'Andromeda' as soon as possible and get some specialized diving equipment down here. The savage obviously knows this pool and I feel certain that he did not dive in to drown himself and Lady Katnissa.'

'Seignora Melania, double Dominess Dar-Ella on your power-chute. She will lead you back to our original landing site. Collect all the four power-chutes and fly back here on the double.' As soon as the two Dominesss left, Elizabetha turned to Sophia. 'As soon as they are back, we will make the laser signal to 'Andromeda' indicating our readiness for pick-up, so that they will have the recovery team on the launch deck with grappling hooks.'

She paused. 'Sophie, now let us put our time to good use! Please counsel with Lady Althea. I will have some words with the savage girl.'

Sophia took Althea aside.

"I am Quinta Lady Sophia Stirling,' she said, introducing herself. 'Your mother, the Princess Charlotte officiated at my birth and Lady Katnissa is a dear friend. I am delighted that Colonel Elizabetha has found you safe.'

She took Althea's lack of response for grief at Katnissa's continued captivity.

'Do not worry. We will hunt the savage down and free Lady Katnissa. It will not be long.'

Tears welled up in Althea's eyes. Sophia took her in her arms and patted her, whispering, 'Ssssh, don't worry, Althea. You are safe now. Soon Katnissa will be too. Ssssh .... sssssh ....'. But Althea continued to weep silently.

In the meantime, Elizabetha walked over to Leia, followed by Erin. Her boots echoed loudly in the huge cavern. Sophia had brought back her belt, so she now had her laser pistol on one hip and sword on the other. Leia cowered on the floor as Elizabetha towered over her. Expecting no mercy from Elizabetha, her eyes darted appealingly to Erin. She noted the lock of brown hair escaping from the brow of Erin's helmet, and searched for a hint of compassion, but found none. Crouching, so that her height was hidden and wearing hideous animal skins, there was little to distinguish her from a filthy savage except for her blonde head and blue eyes. Even her skin was burned brown from unprotected exposure to the sun.

Elizabetha leaned down, grabbed Leia by her hair and yanked her to her feet, unmindful of the scream of pain.

'What is your name, savage?' she asked roughly.

'You are evil,' the girl hissed and spat at her.

Still holding her handful of hair, Elizabetha slapped her hard with an open palm. It sounded like a pistol shot and whipped Leia's head around. Bright stars danced in front of Leia's eyes. But even as the red imprint of Elizabetha's hand began to appear on her cheek, she still glared at her tormentor balefully.

'I have been beaten many times. You cannot frighten me.'

'We will see,' said Elizabetha evenly. 'Erin, hold her!'

With this Elizabetha pushed her back towards Erin, who tightly pinioned her body. Leia instinctively struggled against the powerful dominess. After a few moments, the futility of her efforts was painfully obvious and she ceased. She looks like a wild animal, thought Elizabetha with revulsion. To think she was born an Amazon! Civilization is such a thin veneer!

'You are allied to the savage, Aablar?' she asked curtly.

'I am Leia, his woman,' she said proudly. 'He is a mighty hunter and does not need to hide behind magic weapons like you Amazon.'

'You were born Amazon,' said Elizabetha without emotion. 'You are a traitor to us. I am empowered to sentence you to death. But first you will tell us all you know about the savage, Aablar.'

A red curtain of rage descended over Leia's vision and lacking any other means of assaulting Elizabetha, she spat. Her salvo struck Elizabetha's just above the breasts on the bare skin exposed by one of the rips in her uniform. The warm saliva oozed down into her tight cleavage. Elizabetha did not bother to wipe it away. Coupled with the blazing rage in Leia's eyes, she found the feeling mildly erotic.

When Elizabetha spoke, her voice was level and without a hint of emotion.

'Tell me where the savage Aablar is headed,' she said.

Leia stared at her defiantly and was silent. Elizabetha's eyes darted over Leia's shoulder and briefly met Erin's and unspoken understanding passed between them. The tall Dominess braced herself and her charge. Elizabetha's extended her right hand in front of her forming a fist barely a foot from Leia's face. Leia stared at the fist mesmerized, like a rabbit frozen in the gaze of a snake. Elizabetha's movement was too quick for the eye to see. Her fist struck Leia just between her upper lip and nostrils, striking the nerve center of her face with paralyzing force. The extent of the pain was beyond anything Leia had ever experienced. Her body went rigid in Erin's grip, as though she had been shot through with a high voltage shock. Her mouth opened in a perfect 'O', but no sound emerged, just an explosive expulsion of air. A second later her vocal chords recovered and a thin scream of pain echoed in the cavern. As the waves of intense pain coursed through her, her body went from rigid to a series of spasmodic jerks that tested even Erin's great strength. Involuntarily she was gasping in gulps of air and panting, causing her firm breasts to jounce. Beads of sweat sprang out of her brow. Elizabetha opened her fist and shook it to loosen the fingers. Then she formed a fist again and poised herself to strike.

Leia's eyes were wide open and there was naked fear in them now. She was drooling involuntarily and her eyes were watering so much that Elizabetha's form appeared hazy to her. She tried to speak, but found that she could barely control her tongue and bring forth a guttural whisper.

'Please ......' The sound barely carried to Elizabetha, who paused. Leia desperately tried to make her vocal chords obey her, but her whole body felt paralyzed. What had the dominess done to her? Incoherent sounds began tumbling from her mouth as she began to panic. Finally she was able to form a few hoarse words. 'Please don't hit me again.'
A ghost of a smile flitted across Elizabetha's face. Her fist remained poised to strike.

'I am waiting and listening,' she said slowly and clearly, as though speaking to a child. 'I want to know everything about where Aablar is going.'

Leia's fear was palpable and her defiance was gone. Slowly her gasping eased and the pain receded to a dull ache. Her expression was one of abject misery.

'Forgive me, O mighty hunter, for I have not your strength,' were Leia's first whispered words. 'I cannot bear this pain. I wish that you would kill me before I speak, dominess.'

Elizabetha said nothing.

'The pool descends to great depth,' Leia said tonelessly. 'But Aablar has reached the bottom before. There is an underwater passage leading to an underground river within the mountain. There are many passageways in the mountain and there is a way out to the northern ice fields. Aablar and his brothers have hunted mammoth there. They have a large store of frozen meat. He will hide there in the ice fields and then plans to strike further north where no one of the Clans has gone before.'

Elizabetha listened with increasing horror. Aablar may survive this mad scheme, she thought, but Katnissa! How long would she last in the northern ice fields? Elizabetha was tempted to relieve her frustrations by striking once more. She knew that she could easily break Leia's neck with a blow, killing her here and now. Instead she opened her fist and struck her captive's solar plexus with extended stiff fingers into. Leia collapsed with a moan and her muscles lost all function. The pain blinded her. Erin held up her limp form. But Elizabetha drew scant comfort from it. Her mind was fully occupied with planning her next move in the pursuit of Aablar.

Moments later a clatter of boots signaled the return of Melania and Dar-Ella. They each wore a power-chute and had strapped together the other three with tendril ropes. Elizabetha waved aside their greetings and rapped out her orders.

'Erin, I will entrust the savage girl to double with you on your power-chute. Seignora Melania can take the Lady Althea. I do not trust my own strength at the moment. Sophie, Dar-Ella will remain here with you. We will get diving equipment down to you as soon a possible. You will lead a diving party and follow the trail of the savage from this end. I will monitor the north face of the mountain. We should be able to catch him between our two forces. But do exercise extreme caution. At all costs we must ensure that the Lady Katnissa is not put at risk.'

The dominesses worked very quickly. Both Erin and Melania used their tendril ropes to create crude but effective slings. Sophia gently shepherded Althea to Melania who secured her so her arms and thighs were supported by the power-chute webbing harness. Elizabetha pushed Leia much less gently towards Erin, who bound her wrists before securing her in the sling. Then Elizabetha strapped on her own power-chute harness, suppressing a grimace of pain as the weight stressed her cracked ribs. The party made for the entrance to the cavern. Sophia went ahead of them and worked the laser beacon to send up a repeating signal to the 'Andromeda'.

They were about to ignite their power-chutes when impulsively, Elizabetha turned and held her arms to Sophia. They rubbed nipples. Elizabetha held her tightly, much longer than protocol called for, oblivious to the watching Dominesss.

'Take care of yourself, Sophie,' she whispered, her melodious voice betraying a note of concern. 'I grow more fond of you every day.'

Emboldened, Sophia ran her fingers down the powerful muscles of Elizabetha's back and kissed her on the lips. Their tongues entwined, but briefly.

'Elizabetha, your regard makes me the envy of every Amazon,' she whispered. 'Every moment in your arms is bliss. I pray we shall have time together in peace after this is over.'

Sophia and Dar-Ella retreated into the cavern to stay clear of the rocket blasts. Elizabetha, Melania and Erin ignited their power-chutes and were quickly aloft. They set their altimeter-gauges to achieve fifteen thousand feet. Both Althea and Leia were terrified. Althea closed her eyes and prayed, repeating a childhood prayer to Hera for safety again and again in her head. Leia had no such comfort and felt a rising tide of panic sweep through her. However, she was so tightly trussed that her struggles produced no noticeable effect on their flight path. Erin could feel her burden beginning to hyperventilate and intoned into her ear,

'Calm down, savage. We will soon be safe on the aircraft.'

Leia took no comfort from this announcement, but it served to slow her breathing.

It was Elizabetha whose keen eyes first caught sight of the 'Andromeda'. She steered her pack into a horizontal flight path. Melania and Erin followed Elizabetha's rocket exhaust closely. Carol had set all the ship's powerful searchlights on a steady flashing pattern to maximize her visibility in the storm. But even so, it was some time before the other two Dominesss made them out. As they approached her, Elizabetha opened a communication channel to Carol, linking it to Melania and Erin as well. They were close enough that the channel was virtually unimpeded.

'Captain Carol, I am approaching with two dominesses, both of whom have passengers. Please warn your deck party. They will approach first. I am unburdened and will come aboard last.'

'I will do so immediately, Colonel.' There was obvious relief in Carol's voice.

Elizabetha's communication was clear and Melania powered ahead, followed by Erin. As she approached, she could make out the launch deck crew, lashed in place. They saw the flashing strobe on her rocket pack and two hundred yard extensible hooks snaked out towards her. She jockeyed with the power-chute controls until she was very near one hook. Just as she was about to reach for it, a powerful wind gust swept it several yards away, out of her reach. She eased open the thrust of her power-chute and pursued the hook. The turbulent effects of the gale increased at this slow speed and she was buffeted up and down and rolled completely over several times. With great skill, she kept her eyes on the hook. All this was too much for Althea, however. Even though she kept her eyes tightly shut, she began to be violently airsick, retching and spewing the contents of her stomach into space. Through it all Melania remained focused on her prize. Three, four, five attempts, and each time she just had her target snatched away from her by the storm. Finally, on the sixth attempt, she overshot the hook and caught it with a lightning reflex as it was whirling away. She quickly snapped the hook's clasp into the reinforced eye on her power-chute harness. She opened a comm. channel to the launch deck. 'Ready for tow-in,' she cried, tired, but relieved.

'Steady on for tow-in,' intoned the launch deck seignora. As she was drawn near the ship, willing hands heaved her and Althea onto the launch deck. 'Welcome back, Melania,' said the launch deck dominess, unable to completely mask her delight behind her professional demeanor.

A second crew was working with Erin and they had similar difficulties. Leia was heavier than Althea, so Erin's task was harder. Both grappling hooks were now deployed to retrieve her and finally, by working them in series, they were able to get one right to her. She was also quickly brought on board with Leia.

Unburdened as she was, and with her almost supernatural body control, Elizabetha caught a hook on her first pass. Melania and Erin had barely unfastened their power-chutes and secured themselves and their charges to D-rings when Elizabetha swung herself, unaided onto the launch deck. This time she could not suppress a grimace of pain as she unfastened her heavy power-chute. The launch deck dominess had quickly activated the controls and jump-door slid closed, suddenly shutting off the roar of the storm.

Within moments, the ship's hatch to the launch deck opened and Carol with her staff of ship's officers appeared. She approached Elizabetha and rubbed nipples formally.

'Colonel, we are delighted to see you back,' she said. Surveying the tall colonel, she continued. 'You are injured. Shall we proceed to the sick-bay right now?'

'We will escort you, colonel,' said Melania anxiously.

'Yes, bring the Lady Althea and the savage as well,' said Elizabetha, faintly. Her long ordeal had taxed even her great strength to its limits. Now that she was back in the safety of the ship, she began to relax her iron control and her wounds began to exercise their effects. She began to say, 'Melania, I will need your help ....' but she felt her knees begin to give way before she could finish her sentence. She began to pitch forward.

Melania and Carol rushed forward and caught her. Carol rapped out commands and the crew produced an air cushion. Elizabetha was gently laid on it. Another two air cushions were brought for Althea and Leia (the latter strapped to hers with leather restraints) and the three, escorted by Carol, some of her crew and the two anxious dominesses, hastened to the sick bay.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

3. Dragged down by the heavy rock, Aablar and Katnissa sank swiftly. Aablar had watched his brothers and some others of his clan do this dive and had done it himself several times. So he adjusted easily as they sank to lower and lower depths.

Katnissa had a summa diving qualification, so she had automatically obeyed his shouted instruction and had a large lungful of air. Her training stood her in good stead and she was not uncomfortable even as the surrounding depths grew murkier and murkier. She mentally counted to try and gauge their depth, but the speed of descent was more rapid than she had ever experienced before. 'This is really risky!' was the thought that kept running through her conscious mind.

She reached a count of seventy-five and reckoned that they were approaching a hundred feet. By the time she reached a count of a hundred, she had to fight her fear, for she was now deeper than she had ever free-dived before -- they were certainly deeper than a hundred and fifty feet! She began to think that he meant to drown them both. She had exhausted much of her stock of air and it was becoming very difficult to think clearly. Should she try and fight him, even though her wrists were still bound?

She had reached a count of a hundred and fifty and her thought processes began to get confused. All she could think of was that they were approaching two hundred feet --

deeper than any known Amazon had free-dived before. She only vaguely saw the approach of the bottom and the beds of blue stones that sparkled even in this dim light. Aablar felt her body begin to go slack and knew that she was beginning to lose consciousness. He quickly dropped the chain to his ballasting rock and grabbed a large blue stone. With one powerful kick, he propelled them both in to a wide tunnel at the floor of the pool. Two more kicks and they were in another watery shaft.

Now came the tricky part. Even though he had done this before, Aablar had to fight the urge to shoot for the surface. He stroked upwards with a measured ascent, dribbling out air expertly to maintain a safe pressure in his lungs. Even as they rose, he pumped Katnissa's chest to get her to exhale slowly. He saw the bright surface and fought the temptation to accelerate their ascent. Gradually it grew nearer and relief flooded over him as they broke surface. He stroked gently for the side of this pool, towing Katnissa, who was now inert. He dragged himself over the side and then pulled her out of the water.

They were in another cavern, similar to the one they had come from, but even larger. The pool here was fed by an inflow of warm water from the far recesses of the cavern and a corresponding flow drained out of it on to a small waterfall and then proceeded to the lower levels of the cavern. Light streamed in through vents high above. Forests of stalactites and stalagmites grew around them. But at the present, Aablar had only concerns for the dominess. Her body felt cold. Putting his ear to her chest, he could barely discern a heartbeat. He stripped off her deerskin halter and unfastened her wrists. Then he began to press down on her breasts. Her nipples, flaccid from there immersion it he warm water, began to harden and stand out. He smiled to himself. 'She is not dead yet,' he thought. He continued working on her, until finally she retched and some water emerged from her mouth. He did not stop and she retched again and brought out more water. She coughed once, but then collapsed and lay deathly still. The buds of her nipples began to soften and he could no longer discern a heartbeat.

Mentally and physically exhausted, he felt the uncharacteristic urge to weep. She is an Amazon dominess, the foremost enemy of my race, he thought. She would not hesitate to torture and kill me. Why should her death cause me grief?

'Because you love her,' said a deep voice. 'You were meant to become lovers since the time you were born.'

Aablar rose to his knees and whipping out Katnissa's dagger, looked around the cavern wildly. There was no one in sight.

'Show yourself and face me, whoever you are!' he called out. He repeated the call again and again, but was only greeted with silence. Finally, his resolve, so sorely tested in past days, began to crumble. He beat his head on the stony floor, drawing blood.

'I am losing my mind!' he cried out. 'Raritar, my father, let me join you in death before I descend into madness!'