Susan Jennings


	     Morgan 1992, 1998


		Chapter 1


  Susan Jennings didn't know what to do when she regained her senses.
She was now, she assumed, a prisoner of war.  She was in a POW camp,
but she didn't see any of her medical detail there with her.   Sue had
no idea how long she had been there.  The last thing she remembered
was an explosion in the OR   the hospital's Operating Room   and then
everything collapsed around her head.  She wandered around the
compound inside the barbed wire trying to get oriented.  Other women
seemed to be bartering their clothing, but she couldn't figure out
what they were getting in return.

  It was terribly hot.  On the other hand it was always hot in
Vietnam.  Eavesdropping on a transaction she found that the girl was
bartering for food.  Susan had never paid a great deal of attention to
the very occasional lectures on prisoners' rights and obligations.
After all, as a nurse she was a noncombatant.  Of what earthly good
could such information possibly do her?  Now she was finding out.
Feeling a little dizzy, she touched her scalp and discovered why.
There was a lot of dried blood and what felt like a nasty laceration
on the back of her scalp.  The girl she had been watching completed
her transaction and Susan asked her about it.  The girl had taken off
her bra, then put her shirt back on.  She explained that there was
only a tiny amount of rice given to the prisoners each day.  Since she
had been imprisoned for nearly three months, her bra was now hanging
on her now-flattened chest so it didn't make any difference to her
anyway.  And it more or less guaranteed a full rice ration for the
next thirty days.  Then Susan asked about later   after the thirty
days.  The girl pointed to a couple of girls on the other side of the
compound.  One was naked to the waist retaining only her skirt.
Others were completely naked.

  "What do they do?" Susan asked.  "The ones with no clothes, I mean."

  "They have a very stark choice.  They either trade their bodies or
they go without.  And if they go without for too long, they have no
bodies to trade with," the girl replied.  She pointed out an emaciated
girl crouched in the far corner of the compound.  "I think she's been
here for over a year.  She decided she wouldn't sell her body and now
it's too late."

  Susan looked around and saw a guard watching her hungrily.  With her
golden-blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes, she was a true beauty.
Going up to the guard, she started to talk with him about rice.  When
she asked what her bra would be worth he replied that for her it would
be a triple ration for two months.  Susan accepted his offer on the
spot.   When he told her that she would have to take it off right
there, she unbuttoned her uniform shirt, hung it over the wire and
then took off her bra.  At the sight of her full, firm breasts, the
guard almost climbed through the fence.  Before giving him her bra she
asked him how and when she would get her extra food.  After looking
both ways the guard said she could have some right away.  Taking her
bra, he gave her a handful of ration bars.  Susan immediately
recognized them as being from Red Cross parcels that should have been
given to the prisoners in the first place.  Taking the ration bars,
she realized that the guard had been a good-enough sort; there were
eight of them.  Making her way across the compound, she went up to the
starving girl who had been pointed out to her.  When she got closer,
she saw that the girl was a human skeleton.  Jennings doubted that she
weighed even seventy-five pounds.  The girl was hunkered down with her
head resting on her knees.  "Hi!  I'm Sue Jennings.  Who are you?" she
asked.

  The girl looked up with a very vague, unfocussed look in her eyes.
Susan realized with a shock that the girl was dangerously close to
death.   Then her green eyes focused and remarkably she even tried to
smile.   "Hi, Susan.  I'm Ginny Cameron.  I would shake hands, but I'm
not sure I can even get up."  Ginny's body was the color of mahogany
from being bare in the tropic sun for so long.  Putting the girl's arm
over her shoulder, Susan helped her over to the side of one of the
huts.   Because of the time of year and Vietnam's closeness to the
Equator, the sun was now almost directly overhead, but she found a
little strip of shade under the hut's roof overhang.  After gently
easing Ginny Cameron down, Susan sat down beside her.

  "Ginny, you've got to eat something!  You've really carried this
diet thing too far already," she said with a bright smile.

  Ginny Cameron remarkably still retained a sense of humor.  "I don't
know...  Sue, is it?...  I think I can still spare another pound or
two."  Susan almost cried.  The girl's breasts had completely dis-
appeared and her ribs were so prominent she could count them just by
looking.  Even her thighs were now not much larger than the femur bone
itself.  Remembering what she knew about dieting and starvation, Susan
remembered that the body first uses its fat and then breaks down and
burns muscle tissue.  Clearly this is what was happening to Ginny.
And there wasn't any muscle left.

  Smiling at Ginny she said, "I brought you a gift."  Carefully
unwrapping one of the nutrition bars, she offered it to the girl.
Ginny just looked at it without comprehension.  Finally she said, "Are
you giving this to me?  Sue, I can't take it.  You just don't know
what you're doing.  I made a choice and I guess it was a stupid
choice.  So now I'll die of it."

  Ignoring the girl's words, Jennings broke off a small piece of the
very rich nutrition bar and put it between Ginny's lips.  The girl
just let it melt in her mouth.  As she did a near-rapturous expression
appeared on her face.  Susan just continued feeding the starving girl
small morsels until the bar was gone.  Only then did Susan notice that
Ginny's eyes were flowing with tears.  "Sue," the girl asked, "Why are
you doing this?  You know it's too late, don't you?  I've only got a
few hours left and I guess I was almost looking forward to the
release."  Trying to smile, she continued, "Starvation is a hell of a
way to die, though.  But isn't there anything I can do for you?"

  Smiling warmly at the girl Susan replied, "Yes, there is!  Ginny,
please keep fighting.  You were a beautiful girl before and you will
be one again.  Please?  Try to hang on?"  Virginia Cameron slowly
nodded her head.

		  * * *

  Over the next weeks and months Susan developed an abiding hatred for
three people, all Americans: Homer Black, Colonel, U.S.  Army Medical
Corps, Charles Simon, Major, USA MC, and Judith Harrison, Captain,
U.S. Army Nurse Corps.  They were always well dressed, clearly well
fed and housed outside the compound.  She asked Ginny Cameron about
them one day.  Ginny by now had actually gained a couple of pounds and
now could even move around a little.   When Susan approached her, the
girl smiled and asked, "How's the camp lifeguard today?"  Then she
frowned, shook her head and asked, "Susan, what are you trying to do?
I heard about the episode with the guards and the male prisoners.
What was that all about?"

  Susan rubbed her crotch remembering how she had taken thirty guards
one after the other in order to try to save the lives of some of the
men who were dying for lack of medicine.  Susan was the only
operational nurse   or medical person   inside the compound.   Black,
Simon and Harrison did nothing.  Susan had traded her body for units
of antibiotics and she still felt unclean.  Now she was only wearing
her shirt.  All of her other garments had been traded for food and
medicine which she had used for other prisoners.  After quickly
telling Ginny about her experience she concluded by saying, "It really
wasn't too bad.  I have a pretty liquid cunt which lubricated their
entry pretty well.  I'm all right."

  Looking at Susan, Ginny unbuttoned her shirt.  By now Susan's tits
had completely disappeared and her skin was almost as deep a shade of
mahogany as Ginny's.  "What are you doing, Sue?" she demanded.  "I
know you get enough food to keep yourself fit.  But I think you're
losing weight even faster than I did.  You're giving it all away,
aren't you?"

  Susan only shrugged but did not reply.  Instead she asked, "Ginny,
what's with Black and company?  Why do they live so well?"

  "It's the shame of the camp," Ginny replied with a grimace.  "I
think they sign off for all the Red Cross parcels and the rest of that
stuff, certifying that everything's fine here in the camp.  In return
they get whatever they want."  Then she frowned at Susan and
continued, "Incidentally, I hear they hate your guts.  Sue, you're a
threat to them, and they'll get you if they can."

  Susan looked at Ginny Cameron and realized she was truly a beautiful
woman.  Before she had not realized how glorious Ginny's hair was   a
beautiful shade of auburn.  She said so and Ginny gave her a skeletal
smile.  "You're changing the subject," she accused.   Looking at Susan
carefully she added, "Susan Jennings, I want to swear a solemn oath to
you.  If I get out of here alive, I want you to know I will do
anything   anything   for you that it is ever in my power to do.  I
owe you my life.  You know it, Sue.  I just want you to know that I
know it, too."

  Over the previous days they had noticed that the guards had been
increasingly nervous.  Since the prisoners received no news of any
kind they couldn't identify the source of the nervousness.  Just then
a guard came along cracking a whip and ordered all the prisoners to
assemble in the center of the compound.  Susan started to help Ginny
to her feet but the guard pushed her away.  Ginny almost made it to
her feet but failed, falling back to the ground.  The guard stood over
the prostrate girl and held out both of this hands with all his
fingers extended.  Ginny was going to receive ten lashes with the
bullwhip.  Knowing it would kill the girl, Susan stripped off her
shirt and covered Ginny with her own body.  The whip came down across
her five times.  Each stroke felt like a white-hot wire cutting into
her back.  After five lashes the guard made a rolling motion with his
hands.  Susan rolled over and bridged her body over the fallen girl.
Again the lash came down, this time across her breasts, belly and
loins.  When the whipping was finished, Susan rolled off the
red-haired girl and just lay bleeding in the dirt.  Then the guard
commander came up and pointed to her.  Looking up she saw that a cross
had been erected and it was obviously for her.  Swallowing hard, Susan
gave Ginny a quick thumbs-up sign.  Then she threw her her shirt and
said with a little grin, "It doesn't look like I'll be needing this
anymore."

  Susan accompanied the guards to the cross where she was quickly tied
by her wrists to the crosspiece and left to bake in the bright sun.
A guard was posted at the base of the cross to keep other prisoners
from helping her in any way.  Soon the pain in her shoulders became
unbearable and she had difficulty breathing.  After hanging there
throughout the day, by late afternoon she was in a terminal stupor,
very close to death.  Sounds of gunfire and nearby explosions
partially roused her.  Moments later American troops swept through the
compound, routing the guards who had already retreated into the
surrounding jungle.  Susan tried to raise her head which had been
lolling against her chest.  She could see helicopter transports
supported by gunships land and begin the evacuation of the liberated
prisoners.   When she felt strong arms holding her, she was just
slumped against her bonds unable to move.  An American was holding her
while he reached and slashed the ropes holding her to the cross.  By
the time he got her down the last wave of assault troops was loading
up.  Ordering his men to run for it, he said something cryptic to them
about "the supply point."

  Rick Jackson was a major in the U.S. Marine Corps and was in command
of the rescue mission.  Watching the last of his men mount up, he
glanced at the girl in his arms and was shocked at her condition.   As
the last of the helicopters lifted off he picked the girl up and moved
back the way his troops had come in, climbing one of the very rare
hills in that part of Vietnam.  Meanwhile, several gunships stayed
close to the camp to discourage pursuit.  As he moved up the slope he
felt a sharp sting in his left thigh.  Although he fell, he was able
to keep his body between the girl and the ground.  Recovering, he put
her over his right shoulder in a fireman's carry and, using his weapon
as a crutch, made his way to the supply cave they had used earlier.
Rick hoped the shot had been a lucky one.  Since he had not heard the
sound of the shot, he assumed it was a stray bullet and he had just
been unlucky   at least he hoped so.  If he and the girl had been
observed entering the cave it was all over.  He knew the North
Vietnamese had been driven back into the jungle but had not been
seriously hurt.  Putting the girl down on the floor of the cave, he
limped towards the rear where large piles of supplies were stacked.
Locating the first-aid kit, he put it on the ground.  After using his
combat knife to slit his fatigues near the wound site, he poured
antibiotic powder on it and tied a bandage over it.   Remarkably, the
wound had not bled much.

  Completing the first aid, he looked through the supplies and found
several things he was looking for.  After first spreading a ground
cloth and then a blanket, he picked up the girl and placed her on it.
After pouring antibiotic powder on the vicious cuts, he put antiseptic
ointment over each one.  Although he couldn't be sure, it seemed that
the cuts had been made by a whip.  As he moved the girl, he was
astonished at how thin and light she was.  Carrying her   even up the
hill after he had been wounded   had been no trouble at all.  Finally,
he thought to do something he probably should have done much earlier.
Opening his canteen he gently poured a small amount of water into her
mouth.  She gagged, sputtered, but then swallowed.  Then he heard her
voice for the first time, very faint and rasping, say, "More,
please..."

  With her eyes now open, he found himself looking into the most vivid
blue eyes he had ever seen.  Gently holding her head he trickled more
water into her mouth.  Looking around the cave he spied a fatigue
jacket which he grabbed and wrapped around her.  She almost drowned in
it.  After putting down the canteen he opened a ration bar.  Then he
did for her what she had done for Ginny: He broke off small pieces and
put them in her mouth.  The first few she merely allowed to melt.
Then as she started to become more aware, she slowly began to chew.
Rick found he liked holding this battered girl in his arms as she
methodically chewed on the food.  When he saw her jaws stop working,
he had managed to get nearly two full bars of the concentrate into
her.  Since she had fallen asleep, he gathered her into his arms, drew
her into a sleeping bag with him and then held her as she slept.

  That night one of the more-or-less regular torrential tropic
rainstorms lashed the surrounding jungle.  Hearing it Rick breathed a
prayer of thanks hoping the rain would wash away any tracks they might
have left during their escape earlier in the day.  Eventually he, too,
fell into a deep sleep.  When he awakened he found himself looking
into those blue eyes again.  Her head was resting on his shoulder, and
he was startled to realize that his hand had entered the unbuttoned
fatigue jacket and was over her breast   or where her breast should
have been.   It was right on top of the worst of the lacerations
across her chest.   When he yanked his hand away as if it were on a
hot stove, she smiled weakly and said in a stronger, but still very
husky whisper, "Please don't.  Please put your hand back where it was.
It felt so good."

  Gently he moved his hand back to where it had been.  Seeing her eyes
close he went back to sleep, too.  Later he was awakened by her
movements as she tried to reach their food supply without disturbing
him.  When she realized he was awake, she grinned, scrambled for a
supply of food, and brought it back to within easy reach.  In spite of
being in the jungle, Rick realized that the dampness coupled with the
cool ground temperature made it feel chilly inside the cave.  The
sleeping bag felt good.  When she clambered back into the bag, he
caught a glimpse of a shrunken and lacerated buttock.  As he watched,
she very carefully unwrapped a ration bar.  Only then did he realize
he was watching the movements of a person who was used to eating the
tiniest sliver of food.  Carefully she fed the bar to him in the same
way he had fed her the previous day.  Only after he finished his did
she open one for herself.  Then she repeated the process with a second
and then a third.  Finally she zipped up the side of the bag,
carefully positioned his hand on her chest and went back to sleep.

  They spent the entire second day together in the sleeping bag just
eating and sleeping.  When Rick awakened late in the day he was
startled.  Susan was out of the bag, had located a tarp and draped it
over the cave entrance to try to make it light-tight.  Having also
lighted a small gasoline lantern she was inspecting his leg.  Only
then did Rick realize he was feverish from the bullet wound.  Susan
had found a much larger first-aid kit which was now lying open on the
cave floor.  She was hunkered down going through its contents when she
felt his eyes on her.   Looking up at him she smiled warmly and asked,
"How do you feel?" Then she came over to him with her pitifully
emaciated hand outstretched and added, "My name is Susan Jennings.
Thank you for saving my life."

  Rick took the hand and was astonished at the strength in the grip of
a hand that was almost skeletal.  "Hi, Susan.  I'm Richard Jackson,
but everyone calls me Rick.  Major, United States Marine Corps.  I'm
afraid I screwed up, Sue...  Is Sue all right, or do you prefer
Susan?"

  "Sue is fine," she replied with a warm smile.  Then pretending to
glare at him she demanded, "What do you mean, screwed up?  The last
thing I remember, I was playing the Christ r“le in an Easter Pageant,
and we had just come to the crucifixion scene.  I thought it was the
end of the play.  Now I'm warm, cozy and loved."  Her face fell on the
last word.  "I'm sorry, Rick.  I didn't mean that.  Anyway, I'm about
to fix you up.  I was just taking inventory.  Although I'm certainly
not a surgeon, I'm afraid I will have to operate to remove the bullet.
If I don't, there's some risk you could lose the leg.  I think I can
do it, but you can see I have been in better shape in my life.  It's
your leg, though, and it's your choice.  Do you want me to try?"

  He smiled to try to take the sting out of what he was about to say.
"Aside from being Susan Jennings, a girl with the most beautiful blue
eyes in the world, who are you?"

  Susan was on her knees on the floor of the cave.  Although she tried
to jump to attention, she couldn't make it.  She made a little face
and knelt up straight, though, saluting as she had been taught to do
at Newport.  "Major, Susan Jennings, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy Nurse
Corps, certified as an OR specialist.  Do I have your permission to
operate, sir?"

  Rick's heart flipped.  Never had he met a braver person than this.
"Go to it, Doctor Jennings," he replied with a smile.  "You'll make
it.   Now what do you want me to do?"

  Susan returned his smile.  "First, try to figure out the most
comfortable position for your leg.  I found some morphine ampules, so
I won't have to be probing with you screaming in my ear."  She had all
her materials and he watched in amazement as she carefully cut away
his pants leg and then very gently removed the battle dressing that
was still in place.  Rick was surprised at the tenderness of her
touch.  Taking an ampule, she fitted a needle and injected his leg
above the wound site.   Then she went for more food for both of them,
while she gave the morphine time to work.  In moments they were
companionably eating their nutrition bars.  When she finished, she
carefully scrubbed, then put her hands into surgical gloves.  Even
though the gloves were highly stretchable rubber, her fingers had lost
so much flesh they were loose in places.  Then she carefully and
painstakingly scrubbed the area surrounding the wound.  She had even
found a surgical mask to put across her face and Rick admired how
deftly she had tied it into position.  Looking at him she asked, "Are
you ready?"  He just nodded.

  Carefully, Susan used a probe to track down the bullet hole while
feeling for the slug.  He had briefly told her how he had been hit, so
she was not surprised when she reached the bullet just below the skin.
As he had hoped, it had been a spent bullet striking him at its
extreme penetrating range.  It had been a very lucky   or unlucky
shot.   Taking the forceps she followed the probe down the wound.
Feeling the nose of the plier-like instrument contact the slug, she
opened the nose to grip it.  Carefully she manipulated it until she
could feel it fasten on the bullet.  Slowly retracting the instrument,
she carefully eased the bullet out.  When it finally emerged from the
wound it was followed by a flow of blood mixed with pus.  Then she
reentered the wound with the forceps, reached the muscle tissue, very
carefully locked the forceps and retracted.  When the tip reappeared
it held what she had been probing for: a piece of his uniform the slug
had driven into the wound ahead of itself.  She allowed the wound to
drain while examining what she had extracted.  Meanwhile, Rick had
been watching the process with interest.  Susan had set up a plasma
bottle beside him before beginning the operation.  Now she opened the
clamp to allow the fluid to enter his vein.  Then she powdered the
area with antibiotic powder and carefully bandaged it.  Finally,
taking off the mask she smiled and said, "You'll live, Major.  The
bullet remained in one piece and I got the bit of uniform driven in
ahead of it.  What do you think?"

  "Lieutenant, when did you do your residence in combat surgery?
That was as nice as I could imagine.  And Susan, I'm really serious.
I'm not teasing you at all.  They couldn't have done a better job at
Pearl Harbor or Bethesda.  Thank you!"

  "Rick, I guess I'm weaker than I thought," Sue said quietly.
"Would you mind holding me again?  I would like us both to get into
the sleeping bag and sleep.  And if you can bring yourself to do it
again, I would really like it if you would hold my breast   or where
it was when I had one.  Do you mind awfully?"  Rick held her in his
arms in the sleeping bag.  Only then did he realize that she felt hot
to the touch.   In an instant she was asleep.  As he began to doze off
he only hoped the North Vietnamese weren't pursuing too relentlessly.
His hand was on her chest and gently he ran his fingertip over her
nipple.  Almost instantly it became turgid, and she gave a little
murmur of pleasure while she held his hand in place.  In moments they
were both asleep.

  The next morning Rick awakened to find the sleeping bag empty.
Susan was already up and about.  The tarp covering the cave mouth had
been removed and the gasoline lantern had been extinguished.   Cans of
food had been gathered and something that smelled very good was
cooking on the gasoline stove.  Rick just watched Susan move around.
In just a few moments she ladled the food into two mess kits and came
over to awaken him.  She smiled warmly when she saw him watching her
and gave him one of them.  Sitting down beside him on the edge of the
sleeping bag she slowly began to eat.  In spite of trying to eat very
slowly, it was no good.  Suddenly she jumped to her feet, ran to the
mouth of the cave and vomited up everything she had just eaten.
Looking very chagrined she returned to the sleeping bag, sat down,
took a nutrition bar and very slowly and carefully ate it.

  When he finished the food on his plate, she returned to the stove
and turned it off completely.  Bringing the pot back, she emptied it
into Rick's mess kit.  "I'm sorry, Rick," she said sorrowfully.  "I
thought I could hold some solid food, but I guess I was too ambitious.
I'm sorry you saw it.  And I apologize for ruining your breakfast."
Her face was crestfallen as she spoke.  But then she brightened and
said, "Rick, there are all kinds of military things back in the cave.
I got some out, but I think there's a lot more we could use if I only
knew what they are for and how to use them."

  For the first time Rick realized that there was a light machine gun
now emplaced at the mouth of the cave.  Rocks had been carefully piled
around to provide some concealment and some protection for the gunner.
The location she had chosen was perfect, providing the broadest
possible field of fire.  Moreover, she had done it all quietly so as
not to awaken him and managed to do it in spite of her enfeebled
condition.  "Susan, you are unbelievable!  But I thought nurses were
supposed to be noncombatant?  That machine gun looks pretty

combatant' to me!"

  Opening her fatigue jacket, his heart sank as he saw the whip cuts
across her body.  He motioned for her to come closer to him and she
did.  "I thought we were, too, Rick," she said softly.  "But I've been
used and abused to such a degree I've become a combatant.  Rick, what
do I do with the rest of this stuff?"

  "Right now you do nothing!" he exclaimed.  "Susan, I'm so sorry.
You operated on me like the skilled surgeon you are.  Meanwhile, I
knew that you were sliced to ribbons, but I didn't do a damned thing
about it.  Lieutenant, lie down on the sleeping bag," he ordered as he
opened up the zipper and spread it out flat on the cave floor.  Susan
looked at him with an unreadable expression on her face, but then did
as he asked.  Taking off the combat jacket she lay face down on the
sleeping bag.  Remembering how she had cleaned his wound, he decided
that he had to do the same thing for her.  Retrieving the large
first-aid kit he found the preoperative cleaner and the surgical
sponges.   Very carefully he started to clean out the lacerations on
her back.  As he worked he realized how bad the cuts were.  Moreover,
each cut now appeared to be infected along its entire length.
Although they had all scabbed over, he began to scrub anyway.  She
involuntarily winced and he knew that the pain must be excruciating,
but still she made no sound.   Carefully he kept at it, scrubbing each
cut from end to end.  As he removed the dirt, he felt like kicking
himself.  The dirt was probably the primary source of the infection
and her resulting fever.  The wounds should have been completely
cleaned out much sooner.  This time he did a good job and scrubbed
them clean.  Then he put more of the anaesthetic ointment on each cut
after carefully sprinkling antibiotic powder into the cuts.  Finally
he put a light dressing over each one to keep any new dirt out.

  When he asked her to turn over, she did.  Again he found himself
looking into her beautiful blue eyes, now filled with tears.
Obviously the pain had been terrible as he had worked.  Suddenly it
occurred to him that he was looking at a nude woman.  He became aware
of the small tight patch of curly golden pubic hair below her
emaciated body.  She looked at him as he looked at her body.  "It's
really pretty ugly, isn't it?" she asked softly.

  "What is?" he replied.

  "My body.  It's the sorriest excuse for a female body you've ever
seen.  Rick, thank you.  I know how hard it is to do what you are
doing.   It's really terrible to have to work on an ugly body, and
they don't get any uglier than mine.  Thank you for not laughing   or
vomiting.  Either reaction   or both   would be entirely appropriate.
Rick, I think a couple of the ones in front are the worst.
Particularly the one across my breasts   or where they used to be.
It's pretty bad with infection.   Why don't you let me do them myself?
You already did the hard ones on my back that I couldn't reach.  But I
can reach these just fine.  And you have to be getting sick just
looking at me!"

  Rick came closer to crying at that instant than he had since he was
six years old.  This girl who had nursed him was offering to clean her
own terrible wounds   an extremely painful and nearly impossible
process   just so he wouldn't have to look at them.  "Lieutenant, you
are the bravest person I have ever met   and possibly the dumbest!
Now just lie back.  I found something for you to bite on.  I know it
hurts like hell."  Suddenly Rick's face brightened and he exclaimed,
"Wait a minute!  How about me giving you a couple of shots of morphine
while I clean you up?"

  "Thank you, Major," Sue replied warmly, "But I would rather you
didn't.  I will take something to bite down on, though."  He gave her
a strip of leather he had cut off a bag in the back of the cave.  She
bit down on it, made a face, and then bit down again.  She nodded her
head indicating she was ready and he began to clean her wounds.  The
worst cut was indeed the one across her breasts.  Where it went over
her left breast, he realized it was almost half-an-inch deep.  After
opening the cut he watched blood flowing down her side as he scrubbed
all the dirt out of the deep cut.  He followed the same procedure he
had on her back.  He scrubbed out the cut, put on antibiotics, then
ointment, and finally a bandage.  He was shocked at how quickly the
bandage across her breasts became blood-soaked.   Although he had the
plasma bottle set up hanging from a forked stick, he didn't know what
to do next.  Susan took the needle from him and, to his amazement,
managed to find a vein in her left arm.  Carefully, she inserted it
using her right hand.  When it was fully in place, she fainted.   Rick
had watched the process so he released the clamp on the bottle and let
the plasma flow.  When it was drained he carefully removed the needle.
Positioning her in the sleeping bag, he climbed in beside her.   In
just a moment he was also asleep.

  The next days were spent preparing to defend the cave.  Susan's
fever was reduced but still not back to normal.  Nevertheless, she
positioned a large number of Claymore mines around the approaches to
the cave, making trip after trip in spite of her weak condition.  Rick
was amused.  She had looked for trousers but couldn't find any.
Similarly, although there were several pairs of combat boots, there
were none nearly small enough to fit her dainty feet.  She told him
that American women's boots were highly prized by the North Vietnamese
because only American women had feet small enough for their boots to
fit the guards' feet.  Susan set up a number of mines with trip-wire
detonators and others that would be fired from the cave.  She was
meticulous about concealing the detonator wires.

  Their cave overlooked a roadway leading to the prison camp and
commanded a road bridge over a small gorge.  Rick showed her how to
apply C-3 plastic explosive to a bridge and how to wire in the
detonators.  As he watched, she scrambled around the structure.
Suddenly he wondered if he had lost his mind.  Although he had a leg
wound, he could move around and realized he should.  Instead, their
perimeter defenses were being installed by a girl who was lacerated,
feverish, and emaciated.

  Slowly but surely all the munitions in the cave except for the
small-arms ammunition were sited.  Although they had a radio, it
didn't work.   Rick suspected that it just needed fresh batteries.
Finally, Susan made her way back to the cave and just collapsed.
Smiling at him she pretended to complain, "I'm going back to the OR!
There's no heavy lifting.  Rick, I'm sorry I'm so badly out of shape."
He had regularly checked her over and was keeping his fingers crossed.
It was clear even to his untrained eye that she was going to have
scars across her body from the whip marks.  He only hoped the Navy had
skilled plastic surgeons who could put her back together again.
Looking at her, he gave her a full-bearded smile.  She just smiled
back, then unbuttoned her combat jacket exposing her entire body.
Rick suddenly realized she was starting to look more like a woman
again and less like a skeleton.   Reaching out, he felt her chest.
Now he could even feel a slight rounding where her breasts should have
been and felt her nipple harden under his rough fingers.

  Since there had been no chance to wash he knew that he stank to high
heaven.  Now his beard was only a little darker than Susan's hair.
While his hair was brown with gold flecks, hers still was liquid gold
in spite of all the dirt.  He was startled to realize that her pubic
hair almost exactly matched the color of the hair on his head.
Shaking his head to try to quell his sexual thoughts, he asked, "Have
you seen any batteries back there, by any chance?  I think our radio
would work if the damned batteries weren't dead.  As it is our
evacuation chopper is nearly two weeks overdue."

  Susan got back on her feet and went to the back of the cave.  After
rummaging around in several containers she came back with two handfuls
of batteries.  "Are these the right size?  And do I have enough?"
Rick glanced at the batteries, opened the battery box on the radio and
loaded in eight fresh batteries.  Going to the front of the cave he
extended the antenna.  When he spoke into the microphone and gave his
call sign he was surprised at the instant response he obtained.  The
reception was outstanding because there was an AWACS plane on station
almost directly overhead which picked up his transmission and in
moments patched him through to headquarters in Saigon.  Rick quickly
explained their situation, and a pickup was scheduled for the second
morning at dawn.  After having felt abandoned, he was relieved to
learn that the AWACS would maintain position and monitor their radio
frequency continuously until they were picked up.

  That evening Susan picked through their food supplies looking for
the very best of the remaining food.  Since they would only be staying
one more day, they could really feast.  She had now recovered enough
in just the few weeks so that she could eat normal meals although she
still could not eat very much.  Carefully she cooked the food and then
they sat side by side on the sleeping bag   she now thought of it as
their home   and ate in companionable silence.  Rick had been watching
her as she prepared their dinner.  Here is a truly remarkable girl.
he thought.  Try as he might, though, she would not let him do any
cooking in the cave, and he had to admit that the food she served was
far better than anything he had ever eaten in the field even though it
came from the same containers.

  Later that night they were lying together in the sleeping bag and
his hand was over her breast where she liked it to be.  Now there was
even a small bulge since she had started to regain some of her lost
weight.   Turning her head to look up at him Susan asked, "Rick, would
you do me a great favor?"

  Looking down at her Rick was startled to see that there were tears
in her eyes.  "Of course, Sue!  Anything.  What is it?"

  Swallowing hard and with her tears beginning to flow she said
softly, "Rick, would you please make love to me?  I know the whole
idea has to be repulsive to you..."  Then she proceeded to tell him
how she had regularly been fucked by the guards, including the time
with thirty of them at once.  She spared herself nothing and seemed to
be trying to emphasize how vile she had been.  Listening to her tale,
it was all Rick could do to keep from starting to cry himself.  She
concluded her tale of self-degradation all focused on trying to get
food and medicine for her fellow prisoners.  Finally she said, "I'm
emaciated, ugly...  There's not a single reason I can think of,
except...  Rick, I really need to know if I'm still a woman.  I need
to know if I'm capable of pleasuring a man.  Please take me!"

  Taking her into his arms, he slipped off her combat jacket.  Then

Susan unzipped the sleeping bag and helped Rick off with his clothes.
He made a wry face as he smelled the rank odor of his body when she
removed his underwear.  When he commented on the stink all she said
was, "It's a real man's smell."  Finally he was undressed.  Then Susan
looked down at herself and then at him.  Kneeling between his spread
legs she bent over, took his prick into her very thin hands and began
to kiss and suck it.  In just moments his cock was in a raging
erection which she kissed tenderly.  Lifting her head she said softly,
"Rick, I've been beaten on my back and chest.  You have a bad leg.
May I be on top?  That way might be less painful for both of us."

  Bending over, she kissed him on the lips.  Trying to be careful of
her cuts he held her and returned her kiss.  Although he now knew
exactly where all of her cuts were, tonight she didn't care about the
pain at all.  It was clear that she wanted to be held tightly and
kissed with as much passion as Rick could muster.  As their lips met,
Rick suddenly realized it was the first kiss they had ever shared.  In
spite of sleeping together with his hand on her breast they had never
kissed before.  The first kiss was unbelievable for them both.
Initially it was filled with warmth and goodness and love.  Then the
passion increased and just flowed in rivers between them.  There was a
flow of electricity that almost knocked Susan over, and ringing bells
that they both heard.  As they continued their kiss, Susan could feel
Rick's already immense cock get larger still.  Carefully she took it
and positioned it at her vaginal opening.  Slowly she lowered herself
down on it, impaling herself on the giant pipe that ripped her
insides.  Even before they shared their first kiss Susan's cunt had
been flowing with her juices.  Now they were flowing in a flood to
lubricate the passage of the ravaging cock.  She had never had an
experience like it in her life.

  For his part Rick had never had such an experience either.  Susan
was still emaciated.  She had no tits, no hips, and no legs.  All she
had was skin and bones.  Her thighs were still like pipe stems, yet it
was almost as if she were worshiping him with what little was left of
her body.  The feelings she was able to create with her cunt were
utterly marvelous.  Although he could feel his cock stretching her
insides, Sue seemed to revel in it.  She made ecstatically happy
noises deep in her body as she just rose and fell on the impaling
weapon.  He felt her reach an orgasm with her pelvis moving by itself
as she let out a scream of pure joy.  Sweat was starting to pour off
her body as she regained control and then continued to fuck herself.
She reached a second orgasm, a third, and a fourth.  Now it was almost
continuous but still, incredibly, whenever Rick felt that he was about
to release she would subtly change her tempo so that his need to cum
receded.  Finally she could control it no longer.  Dropping all her
weight on him she drove his cock as deep into her body as it would go
just as it began to pump his cum into her.  Again she let out a
wordless scream of pure joy as she felt him flood her insides.  Then
she could take it no longer as her nervous system shorted out from the
sensory overload.  She collapsed on his chest in a dead faint.
Although his cock was still inside her, he pulled the sleeping bag
over them, zipped it up, and just held her close.   Gently he rolled
on his side while his cock continued to impale her.  In moments they
were both sound asleep.

  Early the next morning the first of the Claymores exploded jerking
them both awake.  Rick scrambled for the light machine gun while Sue
reached for her combat jacket.  Peering over their homemade parapet of
rocks they saw that a small patrol had been wiped out by the
well-placed mine.  Unfortunately, the patrol had been on the path
which led right to their cave.  Although the mine had done its work
well, the explosion had brought the prison camp, less than half-a-mile
away, alive with a rush.  They could hear the sounds of heavy
equipment  presumably tanks   starting up.

  Rick picked up the radio, punched the "Talk" button and said,
"Mayday, Mayday.  This is Gopher One.  It looks like we shook up the
hornets' nest and the hornets are out in force.  Any available air
support would be greatly appreciated."  The AWACS controller responded
immediately with the welcome message that air support was on the way.
Both fighter bombers and helicopter gunships were inbound and Rick was
requested to mark their location with smoke.  Locating a Very pistol
he fired red smoke flares in the agreed-upon patterns.

  Meanwhile, while they were talking, Rick could hear the sound of
tanks moving down the road toward the bridge.  Susan had already wired
down the contacts for the bridge charges to the detonator.  While Rick
scrambled to get dressed he could hear Susan saying, "Come on...  Come
on...  Just a little bit more...  a bit more...  Now!" She screamed
the last word and twisted the detonator as the first tank was about to
clear the bridge and the second had just gone out on the span.   There
were huge explosions at both ends of the bridge.  The span just
tiredly collapsed in its center and fell into the river below taking
the tanks and accompanying troops down with it.  Turning to Rick,
Susan was beaming with pride as she asked, "Was that okay, Rick?  Did
I do it right?"

  "It couldn't be better!" he exclaimed.  "But let's keep a sharp eye
out.  They almost certainly know where we are now."

  After the bridge was blown, all hell broke loose.  Wave after wave
of assaults were launched at their positions.  The first few were
broken up by Susan's remotely-fired Claymores.  Others were broken up
by the fighters and gunships that were flooding the area like angry
hornets.   But still the attacks continued.  Rick was utterly
astonished at Susan's strength and stamina in spite of her
still-emaciated condition.  Watching her handle the machine gun she
reminded him of an Amazon.  An emaciated Amazon, he thought.  That's
certainly a contradiction in terms!  And yet it was true.

  While just snatching at the nutrition bars and sipping water, they
beat back attack after attack through the day and then into the night.
Finally at dawn   it was the day they were supposed to be evacuated

 the North Vietnamese launched an all-out assault preceded by heavy
mortar fire.  Finally their luck ran out.  A mortar round exploded
inside the cave and shredded Rick with shrapnel.  When she saw him hit
and drop to the ground, Susan went berserk.  Grabbing an Armalite and
a sack of grenades, she charged the attackers, cutting them to pieces.
Although she was hit three times herself, she neither knew nor cared.
All she knew was that the man she loved more than life itself was
dead.   Between the Armalite and the grenades, there was not an enemy
left alive when the Marine Rangers arrived moments later.  Susan saw
them arrive, motioned toward the cave mouth and then collapsed.


		Chapter 2


  Rick Jackson was passing his secretary's desk when he heard her say,
"I'm sorry, Miss Jennings.  Mr. Jackson is not taking your calls..."

  He stopped short and screamed, "Don't let that person hang up!   Is
that Susan Jennings?"

  "Yes it is," Annette Richardson replied in a bored tone of voice.
"The silly thing has been calling for weeks.  All she says is that she
knew you in Vietnam, but she would not tell me what she wanted to
speak to you about.  I told her you had no interest in talking with
her."

  "You're fired!" Rick exploded.  "Collect your pay and get out of
here now!  And if you lose the girl on the end of that line, I'll not
be responsible for your safety.  Am I making myself clear!?" he
screamed.

  Miss Richardson was stunned.  Holding the receiver in her
now-shaking hand she said, "Miss Jennings, Mr. Jackson will take your
call.   Please do not hang up!" She uttered a small prayer with the
last words.

  Before she had finished speaking, Rick, who had dashed into his
office and picked up the phone, was on the line.  "Sue, is it really
you?   Where are you?"

  The voice at the other end of the line sounded tired and defeated.
Speaking as if by rote she said, "Mr. Jackson, I don't think you
remember me, but we met in Vietnam.  Would it be possible for me to
make an appointment to see you someday?  Miss Richardson has already
told me how very busy you are..."

  "Susan, my darling, where are you?" Rick interrupted.  He had
remembered her voice instantly even though it had been over four
years.   But something was very wrong.  It was almost as if she did
not hear a word he said.  Susan sounded like she was reciting
memorized lines.

  "I'm...  I'm downstairs at a pay phone..."  Just then Rick heard the
characteristic sound of the pay phone collecting its initial deposit.

  Before the connection was broken Rick yelled into the receiver,
"Susan, I'm on the fortieth floor.  Please come up immediately.
Please!" The connection clicked off and he did not know if she had
heard him or not.

  Rick immediately called the reception desk on the floor.  Although
he didn't even know the receptionist's name, he did know she was like
Cerberus at the gate.  No one ever got past her.  She answered his
direct line instantly, "Yes, Mr. Jackson, how may I help you?"

  "A Miss Susan Jennings is on her way up to see me.  First, you are
to escort her in to me personally regardless of how she may look.
Second, call security downstairs immediately.  Alert them to Miss
Jennings' presence.  Have them bring her up here if, by some chance,
she did not hear my invitation."  After taking a deep breath he
continued, "Miss Richardson has just been fired.  She has been
screening Miss Jennings away from me for weeks.  There is nothing more
important to me than seeing that girl again!  Am I clear!?"  He could
hear the receptionist swallowing very hard and then saying that he was
being very clear indeed.  Then he called Personnel   Human Resources,
these days, he thought with a grimace   and told them to send up a new
secretary for him immediately.  He also informed the director that
Annette Richardson had been fired for cause: gross misconduct.  He
slammed down the phone again as the receptionist escorted a girl into
his office.

  Rick's heart did a somersault.  He met Susan at the office door,
thanked the receptionist and told her that he was not to be disturbed
under any circumstances.  Meanwhile Susan was just standing at the
threshold looking bewildered.  When he finally focused on the girl, he
was shocked.  Although it had been over four years, she looked little
better than she had in Vietnam.  Her clothes were rags.  As he looked
at her he couldn't even talk.  All he did was gather her into his arms
and hold her tightly.  As he did he realized how frail her body still
was.  It felt like he was embracing a skeleton.  Still he tilted her
chin up and kissed her gently.  At least it was supposed to be gentle.
Instead, the instant their lips made contact he again felt the same
incredible electricity flowing between them.

  Releasing her finally, he helped her over to the sofa and then
picked up his phone.  A girl answered when he buzzed his secretary's
line.  He told her to have his car brought around immediately and to
cancel all of his engagements until further notice.  As he was
speaking to the woman, he saw Susan slump over on the sofa.  Gathering
her up in his arms   she was now unconscious   he carried her out to
the elevator.  He was only dimly aware of the shocked looks in his
direction coming from company employees to whom he had always been the
soul of propriety.  Here he was now carrying a ragamuffin   a homeless
woman of the streets   in his arms.  When his private elevator reached
the basement garage his limousine was at the door waiting.  After
gently putting Susan into the back seat, he told his chauffeur to take
him back to his apartment as fast as possible.

  As the big car started to move, Rick picked up a car phone and
called his private physician, Tony Burke.  When the doctor was on the
line he said, "Tony, it's Rick.  I'm on my way to my apartment and
unless you're in the middle of open-heart surgery I need you right
away.   Can you come?"  Tony was hearing a tone of concern in Rick's
voice that he had never heard before.  Sensing that something was very
wrong he said he would be right over.  After canceling the rest of his
morning appointments he ran out to his car.

  When Rick and Susan reached the apartment, he carried her to the
bedroom and gently lay her on the bed.  As he did, he was again
astonished at how little she weighed.  She was as light as a feather
and apparently not much heavier than she had been after starving
herself in the POW camp.  He could not understand it.  As he began to
strip off her clothes he found that she was wearing next to nothing.
There was a ratty coat, a worn dress several sizes too large   and
nothing else!   There were no underwear nor shoes.  Her bare feet were
filthy from walking the Los Angeles streets.  From the callouses on
them it was apparent she had been doing it for some time.  Both
garments appeared to be Salvation Army rejects.

  After disposing of the clothing remnants, Rick went into the
bathroom and ran the tub.  As it filled he had his first chance to
look at the girl he loved   and he was appalled.  The scars on her
body from the whipping were still prominent.  But now, in addition, he
saw signs of at least three bullet wounds in her right shoulder
displaying the characteristic inward pucker.  After checking the
temperature of the water he carefully carried her into the bathroom
and gently lowered her into the water.  The contact with the water
caused Susan to begin to revive.  He held her as her eyes blinked open
and she asked softly, "Where am I?" as if being naked in a bathtub was
an everyday occurrence.

  "You're in my apartment, Susan Jennings," Rick said softly.  "I'm
Rick Jackson.  Do you remember me?"

  Instead of immediately answering, she just held out her arms to him.
Kneeling on the floor he again held her close and softly kissed her.
Again he felt the same electricity but now that she had regained
awareness, it had far more power than it did earlier.  After feeling
her lips move on his he could hear a warm murmur from deep in her
body.   "How could I possibly forget?" she replied softly.

  "Do you feel better?  Would you like to wash your hair?"  Rick was
beside himself, not knowing what to do.  "I'm pretty sure I have some
woman's shampoo and stuff," he added.  "I was going to try to do it
for you, but I'm sure I'm even worse at washing a woman's hair than I
am at cleaning out cuts.  Would you like to try yourself?  Can you?
Are you strong enough?"

  "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed.  "It has been so long.  But I'm
sure I'll be able to do it."

  After getting the shampoo and conditioner Rick started draining the
tub and then turned on the shower.  When she began to wash her hair he
left the bathroom but listened carefully at the door fearing she might
faint again.  He heard the shower shut off and the hair dryer start
when the doorbell rang.  It was Tony.  Rick quickly briefed him on
what little he knew of Susan's background and then took him into the
bedroom.   As they entered Susan was just emerging from the bathroom
wearing a terry robe that had been hanging behind the door.

  "Susan," Rick said brightly, "I would like you to meet Tony Burke.
Tony is my personal physician and I asked him to come over to examine
you.  Will you permit him to?"  Sue just looked at him in a strange
way, let the robe drop to the floor and then stood up straight with
her arms at her sides.

  Tony took one look at the revealed body and pulled the covers back
from the bed.  "Get in here, young lady," he ordered.  "Now!" Susan
was startled by the tone of his voice but instantly obeyed.  Lying on
the bed, she looked up at Rick sorrowfully.  He didn't understand the
significance of the look she was giving him.  What she was trying to
communicate was that it wasn't her idea to dirty his beautiful bed.
Tony gave her a thorough examination, inspecting her body very
carefully.  Then he asked her to roll over on her stomach because of
what he had learned from Rick about her scars.  The five on her back
were nearly as prominent as those across the front of her body.
Susan's skin color was shocking.  She appeared jaundiced and was
sickly pale.  After completing his examination he made sure the drapes
were drawn to darken the room.  After pulling the covers up over her
shoulders they withdrew from the room quietly closing the door behind
them.

  Sitting in the library, Tony just shook his head and said, "Rick,
never in my professional career have I seen a girl in as bad shape as
she is.  She is suffering from dangerous malnutrition.  She has wasted
away to just skin and bones."  Looking at his friend he said, "Rick, I
have never seen you react like this in my life   to anything.  You
really care about her, don't you?"

  "Tony, I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for that girl.  She saved
my life   twice!  And in less than three weeks.  I have never met a
finer human being in my life."  Rick paused and then continued in a
very quiet and near-reverent tone, "And I love her more than life
itself!"

  "Ah, hah!  A mystery solved.  Rick, you've done nothing much the
last few years except make money   in enormous piles!  I have never
seen you socialize   ever.  And you sure as hell aren't gay.   What
happened?"

  "Tony, I was shot up in Vietnam.  You know that.  You've seen the
scars.  What do you think of my leg?"

  "A competent surgeon extracted the bullet.  It's no big deal for a
modern hospital.  But why do you ask?"

  "Because she's the competent surgeon and the  hospital' was a cave
in the jungle.  She operated by lantern light, while running a burning
fever and weighing about ten pounds less than she does now."  Shaking
his head, Rick continued, "You see those scars across her body?  They
were open wounds that day.  The one across her breast was nearly half
an inch deep.  And she operated by herself.  There was no one there
except the two of us.  She is a Navy nurse.  Then beginning the next
day she started to play Amazon.  I was the commander of a Marine
Ranger unit.  But I just watched while she set demolition charges and
land mines while being in even worse physical condition than you see
now.

  "After I took a mortar hit, my men tell me she absolutely went
berserk!  Although she took three bullets, she absolutely wiped out
the attacking enemy force.  My men counted seventy-seven dead, but
that's incomplete.  My sergeant carried her out along with me.  I was
still unconscious when I was evacuated back to Pearl Harbor.  That was
the last time I saw her until today."  He looked intently into Tony
Burke's eyes, seeming to force the man to understand.  "Seventy-seven
enemy makes Sergeant York look like a piker.  Do you understand,
Tony?"

  "I understand," the doctor replied softly.  "Look, Rick, there's a
guy I want to get on her case.  His name is Mike Chapman.  He's the
finest plastic surgeon in the world.  I want him to operate on those
scars."  Then Tony looked puzzled.  "There's one thing I don't
understand, though:  Those wounds are from enemy action and our
military people are very good at treating that sort of thing.  Rick, I
don't think she was ever treated.  In fact, from the way she moves, I
wouldn't be surprised if she's still carrying some enemy metal in her
body.   Whatever happened?"

  Rick just shook his head and said, "That's the problem, Tony.  I
don't know!  I've been thinking of her every waking moment for years,
hoping against hope that she was still alive.  This morning I fired my
secretary.  She had been told repeatedly that I wanted to see or talk
with anyone from Vietnam in hopes of getting some word about Susan.
Apparently I didn't make myself too clear because this morning,
entirely by accident, I find out that Susan herself has been trying to
reach me for weeks but that idiot secretary was intercepting her
calls."  He just shook his head and then continued, "I think I know
Mike Chapman.  I'll call him.  But what about right now?  What should
we do?"

  Tony checked the phone book for a number, placed a call, ordered,
gave Rick's address and hung up.  When Rick looked at him quizzically,
he grinned and shrugged.  "Rick, aside from surgery to handle the
scars and the apparent slugs, Susan needs to be built up.  I just
ordered a gallon of Jewish penicillin, otherwise known as chicken soup
with matzo balls."  He shook his head and added, "And you know what?
I was reading an article a short time ago that reported researchers
have found significant medicinal properties in the stuff!  Anyway, it
can't hurt and will probably help.  That girl needs to regain her
strength before anything else can happen."

  Tony's face became serious as he continued, "Rick, can you leave
Susan alone for a while?  The operations on those scars are going to
be very time-consuming and painful.  Beyond that, though, she'll look
a lot worse before she looks any better.  What I'm suggesting is that
you get her on her feet and then leave her alone for a while
possibly as long as a year.  Could you do that?"

  Rick looked crushed.  "My God, Tony!  I've lost her for over four
years already.  I don't even know where she's been.  Why do I have to
leave her now?  She's going to need care.  You said so yourself."

  Tony looked very unhappy with what he had to say.  "Rick, I'm
assuming you're in love with her and she's in love with you.  It's
obvious that she has no regard for herself at all.  She acts like her
body is a trash can.  I think it would be much better if you could
stay away until she's back together.  I think she wants to be
physically attractive to you.  Will you let her be?  Do you
understand?"  Rick just nodded miserably.

  When Tony left, he went into the bedroom and just sat on the edge of
the bed in the dim light just looking at the sleeping girl he loved so
much.  When the doorbell rang, he was still sitting there.  The soup
even came with instructions on reheating it.  Rick tipped the man
twenty dollars and made arrangements for daily deliveries until
further notice.   Then Rick heated up a large batch and ladled some
into a soup dish.   After carefully putting in two matzo balls he
carried it into the bedroom.   Turning on a light away from Susan's
head was enough.  He saw her eyes blink and then open.  Smiling at her
warmly he said very quietly, "Hi.  How are you feeling now?"

  She tried to grin but her face dissolved into tears.  Only her face
was showing from under the covers.  "Mr. Jackson, why do I always look
like something the cat wouldn't touch when you see me?"  She tried to
get out of bed but he held her down.

  "Susan, please just lie still.  I have something the doctor
recommended.  Do you feel like eating?  I don't know how it compares
in nutrition to those bars we had in Vietnam, but I'm sure it tastes
better."  He gently lifted her up to a sitting position and again
almost cried when he saw her scarred chest with its almost-vestigial
breasts.   Remembering Tony's comment about her self-esteem, he noted
that she made no effort to cover herself.  Carefully he spooned the
soup for her.   After she tasted the first mouthful he was rewarded by
a look of joy on her face.  After going through three full bowls he
could see her head nodding and her eyes starting to close as
exhaustion again overtook her.   Disposing of the soup dishes he
undressed and climbed into bed with her.  With his arm around her body
he held her close.  As she had done in Vietnam, she put his hand on
top of one of her scarred tits and immediately fell asleep.


		Chapter 3


  The next morning Rick initiated a pattern that he continued for the
following week.  He just continued to heat more chicken soup and feed
it to her.  Between times she slept, often with him in the bed beside
her.   Although it might have been his imagination, Rick felt that
Susan slept much more soundly when he was lying next to her.  He came
to love the feeling as Susan would almost awaken, rub her body against
his, and then relax again back into a deep sleep when she found he was
still beside her.

  After nearly a week spent in bed Susan started to take an interest
in her surroundings and Rick thought it was time to try to find out
what had happened.  He had ordered some clothing for her from a
mail-order house and she was now sitting opposite him at the breakfast
table wearing a blue flannel bathrobe with her monogram on it that he
had bought for her.  Rick was pleased to see that her color had
improved significantly.  She seemed to adore her new robe.

  "Sue, where have you been for the last four years?" he asked softly.

  She tried a little smile and replied, "I really don't know.  I guess
I started to figure out where I was a couple of years ago.  Between
that point and the time we were together, there are just brief
episodes I can dimly recall.  For example, I think I was
court-martialed.  I must have been, because I was dismissed from the
service and that can only happen in a general court-martial.  I can't
remember anything about it.   I...  I've been subsisting.  It seems
there were a few antiwar groups that wanted to make me a heroine but
they found I wasn't antiwar."  She smiled faintly and added, "As a
matter of fact, I was pretty bloodthirsty."

  She looked at him and changed the subject, speaking very softly.
Her words almost killed him: "Mr. Jackson, could... could I be your...
maid?  I realize I don't know very much about housekeeping and I
certainly can't do very much yet, but if I could just stay here with
you, as soon as I'm able, I'll take care of the apartment and cook
and...  and... perform any services you might want."  She looked at
him with an intensity that almost made him cry as she repeated, "Any
services I am capable of performing.  Do you understand?"

  Rick's heart turned over.  Being very careful with his choice of
words and recognizing the sense of total defeat in the girl he changed
the subject and asked, "How did you find me, Susan?"

  "I saw your picture in the paper a few months ago.  I just hoped you
might remember me.  How did you find me, Mr. Jackson?  The last few
days have been just a vague blur."

  Again his heart lurched.  "Susan, you found me.  But I think you
just answered a question I had.  Do you remember talking to me on the
telephone?"  She just shook her head, no.  "I didn't think you did,"
he continued.   "You did, though.  You sounded like you were just
reciting lines and weren't hearing my replies.  I guess you weren't,
were you?"

  Again she shook her head.  Then she gave him a very small but very
warm smile.   "Thank you, Mr. Jackson, for the beautiful bathrobe.
It feels so good against my skin.  It's the very first clothing of my
very own I've had since I was kicked out of the Navy.  I'll pay you
for it as soon as I can earn some money."  Again Rick's heart turned
over when she continued, "Of course, it's so much nicer than anything
I would have bought for myself.  It's much too nice for a maid to be
wearing."

  Rick excused himself and went to the telephone.  First he called his
office and asked for his security chief.  "Brad, this is Jackson.  I
know you have great connections in Washington.  I need a fast check
run.   There was a general court-martial in the Pacific   I'm guessing
it was between three and four years ago, and probably in Subic Bay.
The defendant was Lieutenant Susan Jennings, U.S. Navy Nurse Corps.
She was convicted and dismissed from the service.  I want everything
you can get on the trial and its outcome, and I want it fast.
Understand?   Call me at home as soon as you get anything at all."
The instructions were acknowledged and he hung up.

  Then he placed another call.  A voice answered, "Cameron residence."
Rick identified himself and asked to speak to Ginny.   Moments later
she was on the phone.  Ginny Cameron was far better

known to the movie-going public as Marcia Matthews.  Now rated the top
female box-office star in Hollywood, she had just received an Academy
Award nomination for her latest film, a motion picture that had been
financially backed by Rick Jackson.  She had first contacted Rick
nearly three years earlier as a result of a search she had been
conducting.  She, too, had been desperately trying to find Susan
Jennings.  Subsequently, Rick had made tens of millions of dollars
backing two of her films.

  "Hi Rick!  What's new?" she asked brightly.

  "Ginny, are you still... friendly... with that overpriced meat
cutter?"

  He could actually hear her grin over the phone.  "If you are
referring to Dr. Michael Chapman, Fellow of the American Academy of
Plastic Surgery, the answer is yes.  Why?  Did you crack up one of
your fancy sports cars?  Need a little repair work on your face,
perhaps?"

  Rick realized with a start that he had already relaxed.  He realized
it was the effect Ginny always had on him.  Moreover, he realized that
her incredible personal warmth which came across in her films was,
along with her incredible beauty, substantially responsible for her
motion picture successes.  "It's not for me," he replied.  "Do you
remember a girl named Susan Jennings?  I think I heard you mention her
name once or twice."

  There was an immediate stillness on the line.  When Ginny spoke
again it was in a hushed and near-reverent tone.  "Rick, did you find
her?"

  "Honey, believe it or not, she found me.  And Ginny, she's really in
very bad shape.  She needs help... an awful lot of it."  He took a
deep breath and continued, "Look, I've been teasing you about Mike for
a long time but I know he's the very best there is at what he does.  I
know he's booked for fifteen years in advance, but do you think you
could get him to take a look at Susan and try to work her in?  Money
is not an issue!"

  Ginny remained silent for a few moments longer.  When she finally
spoke it was almost as if she hadn't heard a word Rick had said other
than Susan's name.  "How soon can I see her?" she asked in the same
reverent tone.

  "Could I bring her over to your place sometime today?  Would that be
possible?" he asked.

  "Could you bring her over right now?" she replied.  Again, there was
the same strange voice tone.

  "We'll be over in less than an hour, if that's convenient," he said.

  "Any time would be convenient," she responded and then hung up.

  Returning to the kitchen he found Susan still sitting patiently at
the kitchen table.  "Susan," he said, "This apartment is really kind
of small

 there's only one bedroom.  But I know a big movie star named Marcia
Matthews who might be able to use you as a maid if you're willing.
Are you?"

  His heart sank as he saw the light in her eyes suddenly die.  Then
she smiled very weakly and said, "Thank you, Mr. Jackson, for caring.
I'll try to do my very best for Miss Matthews.  When can I meet her
and how do I get to her house?"  Suddenly Susan's face fell.  "Could I
borrow some money?  Maybe five dollars?  I'll ask Miss Matthews to
send it back to you from my very first paycheck.  It's... It's a
little hard getting around in Hollywood using public transportation."
Suddenly she began to weep in a hopeless-sounding fashion.  He tried
to take her into his arms, but she wouldn't let him.  She just sat
upright on the kitchen chair with tears streaming from her eyes.
Looking straight ahead, she said, "Sir, that won't be enough.  I need
a lot of money.   Maybe even fifty dollars.  I have no clothes.  I
looked around, but I guess you threw out what I was wearing when you
met me.  All I have is this beautiful bathrobe."  She immediately
thought about returning it to the store and using the money to buy a
blouse and skirt.  But then she realized that it was monogrammed and
was probably not returnable.   To her the problem was insoluble.
Fifty dollars was more money than she had had in the entire previous
year.

  Meanwhile Rick was close to tears again.  The pain and humiliation
that this girl had suffered and was still experiencing was inhuman.
Leaving the room for a moment, he picked up some things and returned
with three large boxes in his arms.  "I think you'll find something
here, Susan.  All of these things are yours."

  Susan opened the first box and found brand-new women's clothing
mostly sporty things   in the smallest sizes available.   Dropping the
robe to the floor, she put on a blouse and skirt.  Even though it was
the smallest size the company made, the skirt almost fell off her
body.  She was slim-hipped, but all that showed were her very sharp
hip bones.  After he located a couple of safety pins Susan was able to
pin the sides enough for it to stay on.  Then she looked up at him
with tears streaming from her eyes.  "There's no way I can thank you,
sir.  No way at all!  These are very expensive, I know.  Far more
expensive than anything I would ever think of buying.  May I return
some so I won't owe you quite so much money?  I won't ever be able to
wear them all, anyway, and it will take me years to earn the money I
owe you already."

  Rick could scarcely see through the tears that suddenly clouded his
eyes.  Instead he helped her pack a couple of small bags with the
things she thought she might need and then carried them down to his
car.  After helping her in   and getting a curious glance from Susan
in the process   he got behind the wheel and headed over to Beverly
Hills.  Soon they reached the gates of Ginny's estate.  Rolling up the
driveway, he stopped at the gracious entry.  As he got out, the front
door opened.  It was Ginny who stood waiting as he helped Sue out of
his car.  Tears were rolling unchecked down her cheeks in twin streams
as the girl was helped up the steps.  Susan extended her hand and
said, "Good morning, Miss Matthews.  Mr. Jackson said you might
consider hiring me as a maid."  Susan was dumfounded when the
beautiful woman ignored her outstretched hand and instead took her
into her arms and just held her close.  Sue looked into the woman's
eyes and a light of recognition went on in her brain.  She was looking
into such familiar brilliant emerald-green eyes and seeing hair that
was a glorious shade of auburn.  "You aren't...  You can't be...
Ginny?"

  At the sound of her name, Ginny Cameron completely lost control and
started to bawl like a baby.  Susan could feel her head nod as she
just wept uncontrollably.  Susan wrapped her arms around the woman and
tried to comfort her.  This caused Ginny to forcibly pull herself
together.  "Susan Jennings, you haven't changed a bit!  You're still
trying to protect me and comfort me, aren't you?"

  Embarrassed, Susan just shook her head.  "No, ma'am, Miss Matthews."
With her face falling she added, "I do apologize for the familiarity,
though.  Maids certainly don't hug their employers."  Then, with a
small, very shy little smile she added, "But, Miss Cameron, you look
simply exquisite!  I'm so very happy for you!"

  It was only through an enormous effort of will that Ginny did not
dissolve into tears again.  Putting her arm under Susan's she escorted
her through the house and out onto the pool terrace.  There a tall,
very handsome man was standing waiting for them.  "Susan," Ginny said,
"I would like you to meet Mike Chapman, a very dear friend of mine."
Looking at him tears started to flow as she said, "Mike, I don't know
how to introduce Susan to you."  Her voice broke and she began to cry
again.  "Darling, but for Susan I would have been dead four years ago.
What can I possibly call her?"

  Susan extended her hand and said diffidently, "How do you do, Mr.
Chapman.  I'm very pleased to meet you."  Mike knew something of
Susan's background and so was watching her closely.  As a result, he
was able quickly to grab her the instant he saw her knees start to
buckle.  Helping her to a chair, he took a glass of water and held it
for her while she sipped.  Looking up at him gratefully, she softly
added, "Thank you, sir.  I guess I'm not as strong yet as I thought I
was."  But then with a smile she continued, "But I'm sure to be ready
to go to work as Miss Matthews maid in just a day or so."

  Mike's heart twisted listening to this poor tortured girl.  As a
plastic surgeon he was expert at judging bone structure and
unchangeable physical characteristics.  Looking at her closely he
instantly concluded that Susan should be a very beautiful woman.  He
said, "Susan, I'm a plastic surgeon.  Ginny tells me you have some
scars that should be tended to.  May I examine you now, please?"

  Again his heart was wrenched by her reply: "Of course, sir, but it's
really very premature.  I had them looked at in a city hospital once
and it will take years and years for me to save that kind of money..."
Suddenly her eyes widened and she asked, "Are you Dr. Michael
Chapman?"  He nodded and she just shook her head steadily.  "Thank
you, sir, but no.  I've heard of you   I guess everyone has.  You are
the very best in the profession.  I couldn't earn enough in my
lifetime to pay your fee to remove even one of the scars.  I am... I
was... a nurse.  The scars are really pretty bad."  Then she
brightened and continued, "But they don't show at all, so there's
really no need to bother."

  Mike decided to try a different tack.  "Young lady, you are coming
with me to a bedroom to be examined.  I cannot accept no for an
answer.  Ginny introduced me as a friend.  Actually, I am her live-in
lover and am slowly breaking down her resistance to the idea of
marrying me.  Your reappearance will certainly help.  However, if I
don't at least get to look at you, I get kicked out on the street.
Since I can't live without being able to make love to Ginny's glorious
body, I'm afraid it's either you or me.  And I'm bigger than you are.
Now let's go!"

  He helped her to a spare bedroom and watched as she took off her
clothes.  Rick and Ginny followed them into the room but stayed in the
background while Mike took out a pair of magnifying eyeglasses and
carefully examined Susan's scars.  Then he pulled down the bed covers,
motioned for her to get in, and then gently tucked her into the bed.
When the three reached the terrace, Mike breathed a heavy sigh.
"That is as bad as anything I have ever seen in my life," he said.
"And that includes pictures in the medical books, as well.  What
happened?"

  Although she was quietly crying Ginny looked up at him and said,
"That poor kid!  Mike, those scars should be mine!  We were both
prisoners in a North Vietnamese POW camp.  We were ordered to assemble
in the center of the compound for some reason.  I got up, but fell
down again.  I was in pretty poor shape at the time.  A guard was
going to give me ten lashes with his bullwhip.  Before he could swing
it, though, Susan covered my body with her own.  First, the guard gave
her five lashes across her back and then motioned for her to roll
over." She looked at him with her green eyes melting with tears and
continued, "Mike, she turned over and bridged her body over mine.
Blood from the cuts on her back was dripping onto me, but she held
herself above me with her arms and legs to keep from putting any
weight on me.  Can you imagine?"  Tears were pouring from her eyes as
she continued, "I could feel her shudder each time the whip cut into
her body.  When he finished, the chief guard motioned towards a cross
they had erected in the yard.  I suspect it was Black and his friends
that set that one up.  At any rate, Susan saw the cross, smiled, and
then gave me her shirt saying she wouldn't be needing it anymore.
They tied her to the cross in the morning.  That afternoon Rick and
his men raided the camp.  The last thing I saw was the cross standing
bare in the compound.  Rick had already taken her down.  It was the
last time I saw Susan Jennings until this morning."  She looked up at
him with hope in her eyes, but with tears streaming down her cheeks
and said, "Mike, if you will help that girl, I will do absolutely
anything you ever want.  Anything!  I will be completely available to
you for any purpose whatsoever."  With her eyes gleaming she asked,
"Am I making myself clear, Mike?  Absolutely anything!  Forever!"

  Turning to Jackson she said, "Rick, how can I sign over all of my
rights to the films I've made to Susan?  If it weren't for her I
wouldn't be here and there wouldn't be any.  Can you do that for me?"

  Rick just shook his head doggedly and said, "I could, Ginny, but I
won't.  Believe me when I say she doesn't need money.  She has all she
could possibly use.  Mike, if you can make her whole...  If you can
even make her a little better...  There is no price I will not pay.  I
will give you absolutely anything!  Mike, for the love of God, please
help her," he cried.

  Chapman had been looking from one to the other.  Without responding
directly to either of them he picked up the phone and called his
hospital.  He spoke to the hospital administrator and asked for the
surgery to be set up for a very special operation.  He ordered his
full team to be ready for the first operation beginning the following
morning.   Surgery could take as much as three successive days for the
first phase alone.  After listening to the administrator's reply he
said, "Incidentally, there will be no fee either to me or to the
hospital.  I'll pay the rest of the surgical team myself."  The
administrator was obviously objecting, but Mike cut him off.  "I have
generated more revenue for your damned hospital than all of your other
surgeons combined!  And if you ever want me to operate there again,
this one is on you.  Is that understood?"

  He hung up the phone and glared at the other two.  "As for you,
young lady, you can start preparing that trim little ass for our
wedding.   Clear?  We will be married in eight or nine months.  Susan
Jennings is going to be your maid of honor whether you like it or not.
And her beauty is going to put yours in the shadows!  When I get
finished with that girl, she'll be ready to be chosen Miss Universe.
It could even me Miss Nude Universe if there is such a thing."
Wheeling on Rick he continued, "And as for you, Jackson, I don't want
to hear one more fucking word about money.  With the matrimonial
concession I just won from my friend here, I'm more than happy."
Looking back at Ginny who had brightened appreciably he added, "I'm
disappointed in you.  My darling, I don't think you even knew it, but
I did.  Susan Jennings has been the impediment to our getting married.
There is one thing that bothers me, though, and it bothers me a lot.
I'm almost certain there is still metal in her body.  We're setting up
a CAT scan to find out for sure.  But why is it still there?  What
happened?"

  Rick had been watching and listening carefully.  Shaking his head in
frustration he said, "I don't know.  I did learn this morning, though,
that Susan was court-martialed and dismissed from the service.  How,
why, and on what charges, I have no idea.  I'm still trying to find
out.   I do know that it had to have been one of the greatest
miscarriages of justice in the entire military history of the United
States.  I am going to get her case reopened as soon as possible."

  After listening carefully to the two men Ginny reentered the
conversation.  "I have an idea.  First, though, Rick, could you see if
your guy has learned anything?"

  Rick called his security chief again and asked, "Brad, what did you
find out?"

  "Chief, you stepped into something.  Is it important?" he asked.

  "It is the most important thing in my entire life," he replied.
"Now what's the story?"

  "The story is that there is no story," the man replied.  "I can't
find out a single thing except that it apparently did happen about as
you suspected.  Everything else is up for grabs.  I can't even find
out for sure where it happened, although I'm pretty sure it was at
Subic Bay.   But, Boss, these things are all supposed to be a matter
of public record."  He paused for a moment and then continued, "I do
know one thing, though.  The name, Susan Jennings, is poison!  I
started by playing dumb.  I said it was a standard prehiring check and
was told not to hire her   for any position!  Christ, Chief, I never
got that strong a reaction when I was checking on a convicted
murderer.  Something is very odd   and for my money, very wrong."

  Rick told the other two what he had just learned.  Looking at Ginny
he asked, "Okay, what's your idea?"

  Looking at them very seriously she said, "I suspected something like
this.  Let's face it, Rick.  You and I have been turning over every
rock for years trying to find out anything.  We couldn't even find out
if she was alive.  Now you learn that any employment check gets a flat
no.  Your security chief is right, too.  Hell, there are convicted
child molesters driving school busses, so when an official government
agency   the United States Navy, yet!    says  Hell, no!', who's going
to argue?  Mike, what is your professional opinion of Susan's health
right now?  Specifically, is she in shape to meet the press at a press
conference?  Could she take the physical strain?"

  Chapman swallowed hard, shook his head and said slowly, "That is the
toughest girl I have ever seen.  The short answer is that I believe
she can.  But I don't know if she would be willing.  Why don't you ask
her?"

  Entering the house, Ginny went to the guest room where Susan was now
sound asleep and opened the curtains slightly to admit a little light.
When she sat on the edge of the bed, the slight additional weight was
enough to awaken the girl.  As soon as Susan realized where she was,
she tried to scramble out of the bed.  Cameron held her back and, as
she did, was appalled at how emaciated the girl was.  "How do you
feel, Sue?" she asked softly.  "And are you up to meeting a few people
this afternoon?  And following my lead with them, regardless?"

  Susan just smiled and stretched.  "Ginny, this bed is so utterly
delicious!  And I feel so much better now.  Pretty soon   tomorrow,
maybe   I'll be ready to go to work for you.  But what would you like
me to do?  I think I could be a pretty good lady's maid.  I can bathe
you and help you dress and... and... help get you prepared to receive
Dr. Chapman."  Her eyes sparkled as she continued, "I'll bet he's just
great with you in bed, isn't he?"  Suddenly Susan reddened as she
realized what she had just said.  In a subdued voice she finished,
"Would you like me to wear a uniform?"

  Tears began to flow unchecked down Ginny's cheeks.  With a shake of
her head she exclaimed, "I don't know what Rick Jackson told you or
why!  But that's about enough of this ridiculous nonsense.  You are my
house guest."  She stopped, looked up at the ceiling and shook her
head.  "No, that's not right, either.  Let me say it differently:
Susan, this place and everything in it are yours.  I will sign over my
bank accounts to you and give you everything I own.  You work for me?
The very idea is ludicrous.  What idiocy!" With green flame coming
from her eyes Ginny concluded, "Now, once and for all, knock off this
shit and answer my question.  Do you feel able to meet with some
people a little later this afternoon?"

  All the while Ginny had been speaking, Susan had just been steadily
shaking her head from side to side.  When Ginny finished, she said,
"You can't be serious.  The answer is that of course I will meet with
your friends.  Ginny, I belong to you.  I will do absolutely anything
and everything you ever ask of me.  So the answer is, of course!
Beyond that, we'll talk.  But I will not accept charity.  If you will
not allow me to work for you, I'll have to go back to the street."
Ginny was still sitting on the edge of the bed.  Now the flow of tears
gave way to hopeless-sounding weeping.  Susan, remembering the
starving girl in the POW camp who only hours away from death by
starvation could still joke, was shocked.  With her eyes wide she
asked, "What did I say, Ginny?  I didn't mean to hurt you.  I've
always tried as hard as I could to protect you from any hurt.  What
did I do?"

  Ginny just yanked the covers off Susan's emaciated body exposing the
still-very-prominent scars from the bullwhip.  "You sure did, didn't
you!?" she cried.  "Darling Susan, these scars should all have been
mine.  Of course, it wouldn't have made much difference, because I
would have been dead, right?  I could not have survived, could I?"
Susan started to shake her head when Ginny took her by the shoulders,
shook her and screamed, "Could I!?"  Susan, totally bewildered, just
shook her head as she looked at her dearest friend with tears
streaming out of control down her cheeks.  "But you won't let me do
anything for you, will you?" Ginny demanded.  "Nothing!  All I hear is
this... this insanity... about being my maid.  My maid, for God's
sake!  Susan Jennings, you don't seem to understand that my life has
value to me even if it has none for you.  You gave me my life, but you
refuse to allow me the tiniest expression of my gratitude.  Jennings,
you are just incredibly selfish!  I just want you to think about
that."  With that Ginny stormed out of the bedroom slamming the door
behind her.   As the door closed, Susan was still sitting on the bed
with a totally bewildered expression on her face as tears still flowed
down her cheeks.

  Ginny ran out on the terrace sobbing uncontrollably with tears
running unchecked down her cheeks.  Mike Chapman took her in his arms
and held her close as she cried like her heart was broken.  While he
held her close he saw Susan, now dressed, padding barefoot out on the
terrace after her.  "What's wrong, my darling?" Mike asked softly with
his mouth almost in Ginny's ear.  "What happened?"

  Ginny's voice, although muffled by his shoulder, was still clear.
"Mike, I love that girl so damned much!  Every time I look at her I
want to cry.  I want to do everything for her, because I love her so
much, but she won't let me do anything!  Nothing at all!"  Then
pulling away from Chapman's shoulder she glared at Rick Jackson and
demanded, "And it's your fault, too, God damn it!  Jackson, what was
this idiocy of Susan being my maid?  She got the idea from you, you
idiot!  Now what am I going to do?" she asked with her fists on her
hips and green fire streaming from her eyes in Rick's direction.

  "Kick me in the ass, please?" Susan said softly from behind her.
Hearing her, Ginny spun around and saw Susan with her eyes wide and a
very sheepish little smile on her lips.  She continued softly, "That's
something you could do.  But please be careful.  I'm so bony  there's
no padding left at all   that you would probably hurt your foot."
With a plaintive little smile she concluded, "Ginny, can you ever
forgive me?"

  With an exasperated shake of her head Ginny gathered up the frail
girl and sat down beside her on a love seat.  "There you go again!"
she complained.  "Can I forgive you?  Sue, please just say that you'll
stay here with me?  I'm not making a film right now, and I have all
kinds of time.  I will visit you in the hospital after Mike operates.
He has already scheduled two sets of operations."  Glaring at Susan
she continued, "And right now he is so damned mad he might carve his
initials in both of us.  I've never seen him as mad as you made him
this morning.  You started it, too, when you said he couldn't operate
because he was the best and you couldn't afford him.  I offered him
anything if he would operate," she said and then with a little grin,
"Even my no-longer-virginal body.  Then your friend, Rick Jackson,
who, by the way, made Forbes top ten among the richest people in the
United States, said he could have anything at all."  Glaring at Susan
she asked, "What do you suppose Mike replied?"  Susan's eyes were wide
with wonder.  She could only shake her head.  "I think his response
was something like,

Fuck you all!'" Ginny continued.  "He's doing it for no fee.  Except
one," she added with a little smile.  "I am going to marry him, but I
was hoping to do that anyway.  Now, Susan Jennings, do you have any
problem with Dr. Michael Chapman, FAAPS, operating to remove those
ugly scars?"

  With a kaleidoscope of emotions racing across her face, Susan just
slowly shook her head and finally said, "Do you mean to say he was mad
at me!"

  Dr. Chapman spoke up.  "You're damned right I'm mad at you.   Of all
the stinking nerve!  You save the life of the girl I love more than
anyone in the world   a girl I love more than life itself.  A girl who
wouldn't marry me   and I'm not sure she even knows this herself
because she was trying to find you.  If Ginny Cameron is more
important to me than my life, you, Susan Jennings, are similarly more
important to her.  She utterly adores you!  And then you have the
nerve to refuse to let me operate because I'm too expensive.  The hell
I'm too expensive."  Wheeling around toward Rick he demanded,
"Jackson, give me a dollar!"

  Rick looked bewildered but gave Mike a dollar bill.  "Okay," he
said, almost to himself.  "Now you're prepaid.  Jennings, you are a
nurse.  Do you think ten cents a scar is too much?  If you do, I'll
refund the difference."  Glaring at her he demanded, "Well?  What do
you say?"

  Susan could say nothing.  All she did was continue to slowly shake
her head as if she were trying to clear it.  Finally she said softly,
"I give up.  I seem to be insulting people left and right this morning
by refusing help."  With a very bright smile she continued, "So thank
you, Dr.  Chapman.  It would make me very happy for you to operate on
me and remove these scars."  Her smile was the first real smile they
had seen.   Now Susan's face just glowed with pleasure.

  Returning the smile, Ginny picked up the phone.  Reaching a studio
publicist, she announced a press conference at her estate for that
afternoon.  Then she gave the woman a list of the media people she
wanted to have invited.  When the publicist responded that there
wasn't enough time and, besides, she was booked for the afternoon,
Ginny acidly replied that it was fine because she wasn't invited,
anyway.  She slammed down the phone and just glared at it.

  Moments later it rang.  The woman had called the studio front office
in a panic and the studio president was on the line for Marcia
Matthews.  Ginny just passed the receiver to Rick while Susan watched
in bewilderment, not understanding anything that was going on.  Taking
the phone Rick said, "Charley, this is Rick Jackson.  You know who I
am, I hope.  Now what's the problem?"

  "Well, yes, sir.  I certainly know the name," came the reply.  "But
what do you have to do with Marcia Matthews?"

  "I don't have very much to do with Marcia, Charley, but I have a
great deal to do with you."  After a very slight but pregnant pause
Rick continued, "Who owns the studio, Charley?"

  "Why... Why a conglomerate of some kind," the president stammered.
"I see a vice president of the company nearly every month.   I think
it's called Arjay Enterprises, or something like that..."

  "It's easy enough for you to check, Charley," Rick interrupted.
"And frankly, I'm surprised you haven't done it long before now.  I
would think you would be more than mildly curious about who it is
who's signing your paychecks.  If you did check, though, you would
find that Arjay is derived from initials...  Mine!  In other words,
Charley, I own the joint.  Now what, exactly, did you want to speak to
Marcia Matthews about?"

  "Well, sir, it's this press conference thing.  I mean we try to
humor our big stars, but..."

  "Charley, you are humoring me!  If you don't, you're through,
effective immediately.  In just a few minutes your replacement will be
taking over your office and he or she will.  Am I making myself
clear?" Jackson demanded.  After a momentary pause he continued,
speaking almost to himself, "You know, one of the nice things about
owning the joint is that I can make things happen once in a while.
Now Marcia gave that broad a list of people she wants to have out here
this afternoon.  I certainly hope she took good and complete notes.
Because, Charley, if they are not all out here, you will both be
looking for jobs."  After another pause he concluded, "You know, I
think today would be a good day for you and your friend to call in
your chits.  All of them!   Understood?"  With that he slammed down
the receiver.

  Susan's eyes were wide and she was shaking her head.  "Richard
Jackson, you were terrible!  You terrified that poor man.  I have
never seen you act mean to a living soul before, but you were awful!"

  "He's not poor," Rick replied with a grin.  "I pay him half-a-mil a
year plus bonuses.  On the other hand, your auburn-haired friend here
has made almost $75 million for me in the last year alone.  Given a
choice...  That's irrelevant, though.  Sue, you are more important to
me than life itself.  No one   no one   is going to get in the way of
you receiving all the help you need."  Then with a wry grin he
continued, "Besides, you haven't taken the trouble to get to know me
very well." Looking at her with love in his eyes he said, "Do you
realize you have only known me for about four weeks   total!  And that
has been spread over more than four years."

  The four sat on the pool terrace and discussed arrangements for the
afternoon press conference.  Before they got started in their talk
Rick was on the phone to his security chief who gave him the
information he was looking for before the press conference opened.
While he was talking, Mike Chapman was studying Susan carefully and
began to feel better.  She had reflected on the things both Rick and
Ginny had said to her and already she was feeling better.  To Mike she
seemed to blossom like a flower in the sunshine.

  But then Chapman kicked Ginny in the foot and whispered, "Just
because you've started to brag about now being big enough to start
thinking about a diet, there are others here who need to eat... and
eat often!"

  Ginny Cameron was chagrined.  Going out to the kitchen she asked
Maria, her Mexican cook, to prepare huevos rancheros   a spicy Mexican
egg dish.  Susan tried it and liked it very much.  When Ginny asked
her if it wasn't too spicy, perhaps, Susan's response was that she was
used to eating anything edible and more than a few things that
weren't.  Maria served Susan another small meal just before the press
conference was due to begin.



		Chapter 4


  The press began to arrive at the estate shortly before the appointed
hour.  Ginny was pleased to see that two of the network-affiliated Los
Angeles television stations had sent out film crews.  Moreover, in
addition to the usual motion picture industry reporters, there were a
few who were from the regular news desks.  Chairs had been set up on
the pool terrace for the conference.  A rostrum with a microphone was
set up in front.  Taking her position there, she opened the session.
"Good afternoon, everyone.  Thank you so much for coming.  I am Marcia
Matthews," she said with a warm smile.  "The reason for this press
conference has nothing to do with motion pictures, but a great deal to
do with me.  As many of you know, my real name is Virginia Cameron,
known to my friends as Ginny.  I'm a newcomer here to Hollywood.   In
fact, aside from believing myself to have been incredibly lucky, I'm
still not sure how I got here.

  "Before arriving in Hollywood, I was an officer in the Army serving
in Vietnam.  Over five years ago I was captured by the enemy when a
helicopter in which I was traveling was forced down.  I was held in a
prisoner-of-war camp for over a year.  Near the end of my stay I met a
person who I want you all to meet today."  Ginny paused, backed away
from the rostrum and stood with her head up straight.  Only then did
the reporters realize there were tears flowing in twin streams from
her eyes.  Then she said, "Before I continue, though, I am going to do
something I have never done before.  I am going to rely on your
discretion about what you see and how you might use what you see and
hear here today.  Of course, the news judgment is entirely in your
hands.  I cannot and will not stop you from using it in any way you
see fit.  I have been candid with you in the past," she said with a
warm smile, "and you have never let me down.  I am counting on you
again today."

  Ginny took a deep breath and continued, "Now for the  first'.  I am
going to pass out the first nude pictures ever taken of me.  In a
sense they are pornographic   what they depict is obscene.  I will
come back to that after you have a chance to see them."  Then she
passed out full-color photographs of herself   front and side views
taken in the hospital immediately following her rescue from the POW
camp and return to Saigon.  All that was recognizable as Virginia
Cameron was the hair color and the intense emerald-green eyes.  Mike
Chapman, as a plastic surgeon, could recognize Ginny in the pictures
but even he gasped.  "That's sort of how I looked when I first met the
person I referred to earlier," Ginny continued, "Except, thanks to
her, I weighed about five pounds more in the pictures than when the
two of us first met."

  Looking around the group of reporters she asked rhetorically, "Are
these pictures pornographic?  I think they are.  They certainly depict
man's inhumanity to man.  But God knows I was not in a sexy pose.   In
fact, it's no pose at all.  Although it's been quite awhile since I
saw these photos last, I can still remember when they were taken.  The
photographer wasn't sure I could even stand up unsupported.  I could.
At any rate, after I was released from the hospital, I slowly regained
my weight, and then   as we love to say here in Hollywood   the rest
is history.

  "Now I want to tell you about the other person.  Her name is Susan
Jennings.  While I was waiting for you to arrive, I was thinking about
my remarks, and so I was trying to think of appropriate words to
describe my relationship to her."  Ginny's eyes were flowing with
tears now and her voice broke, but she recovered enough to continue,
"All I could come up with was a line from Charles Dickens' A Tale of
Two Cities,  Greater love hath no man than he who lays down his life
for a friend' Well," Ginny continued while using every ounce of
remaining willpower to continue to speak, "I guess Susan must be my
friend.  She literally laid down her life to save mine.  Susan, would
you please come up here?"  Susan walked up to the front of the area
and joined Ginny.   Rick brought up a chair for her to sit on since
Mike had urged her to remain seated as much as possible.  "This is
Susan Jennings," Ginny Cameron continued.  "When I first met her, I
was literally hours away from death.  I remember vividly what happened
next.  Susan had traded her bra to a guard for food bars.  The bars
were taken from Red Cross parcels we were supposed to get but never
did.  You see, the way things worked in the camp was that girls traded
their clothing for food.   When there was no more clothing, they
traded their bodies.  A couple of us were probably fools.  We decided
it was better to go hungry.

  "I am here to tell you that starving to death is not a pleasant way
to go.  I didn't go the sex route.  When I realized I was going to die
and changed my mind, it was too late.  By then I no longer had a body
left to sell.  Since all the prisoners were in the same boat
starving   it was live and let live.  Or, more accurately, die and let
die.  The only way someone could help another was by going without.
That is exactly what Susan Jennings did for her entire stay in that
prison camp.  She went without so that other prisoners might survive.
To put it into perspective, I was imprisoned there for more than a
year, while Susan was there less than three months.  Nonetheless, when
we were rescued, she weighed even less than I did.  On the other hand,
there were probably at least fifty more prisoners still alive than
there would have been without her."

  Although tears were still flowing, Ginny had now regained control.
Standing up as straight as she could with her shoulders back and her
tits upthrust she looked incredibly beautiful.  The news people were
all hanging on her words.  Clearly, this was a very different
Hollywood press conference.  "On that first day, Susan Jennings
brought a nutrition bar over to me.  She fed it to me a tiny piece at
a time.  She just put a tiny piece in my mouth, let it melt, and then
did it again.  She continued until the bar was all gone.  Susan saved
my life.  And there was so much more.  One day Susan took on thirty
camp guards sexually one right after the other.  Why?  To get some
medicine to try to save the lives of some of our dying men.

  "Finally, there was the last day.  The guards ordered us to assemble
in the center of the compound.  I never did know why.  At any rate, I
fell trying to get up.  The guard indicated I was to get ten lashes
with his bullwhip.  My thought was that at least it would be a faster
death than starvation.  But the next thing I knew, Susan's body was
extended over mine, covering it.  She was doing what amounted to a
pushup to keep her weight off me.  I could hear the whip crack and
slice into her body.  After five lashes the guard ordered her to turn
over.   Then she bridged her body   sort of an upside-down pushup
and held it while the whip cut into her five more times.  She cringed
at the cuts but didn't fall on me as the whip sliced into her flesh.
Meanwhile, I was below her with the blood from her back dripping onto
my body.   When it was all over, she was ordered to be crucified!"

  Now Ginny's eyes were blazing with an emerald fire.  The TV cameras
were rolling and the still photographers were taking their pictures.
Ginny looked like an Amazon warrior at that moment.  "You heard me
right.  Crucified!  Sue looked at the cross and knew it was for her.
She gave me the last item of her clothing, the shirt off her back,
with the comment that she wouldn't be needing it any more.  They hung
her from the cross.  They did not nail her to it the way the Romans
did it two thousand years ago.  They tied her to it.  For reasons I
won't go into, it is just as lethal with rope.  That was the last time
I saw Susan Jennings until this morning," Ginny concluded.  The tears
were now uncontrolled but she was able to gasp out, "She was hanging
on that cross, dying for me!"

  Ginny took a couple of deep breaths to try to regain control.  Then
she reached below the rostrum, pulled out a khaki uniform shirt and
opened it out.  "I found this in the back of one of my drawers today,"
she said.  "It is the shirt Susan Jennings was wearing that day.  You
can even read the name inside the collar, neatly stenciled in
indelible ink, JENNINGS.  This morning I found something else I had
never noticed before."  Opening the shirt, she spread it over the
front of the rostrum so the reporters could see more clearly and
pointed out marks on the shirt that appeared to be rust stains.
"These look like rust stains, don't they?" she asked.  "They are not.
It is Susan's blood.  It dripped off her back onto me as I lay on the
ground beneath her.  Then it must have been soaked up by Susan's shirt
when I put it on as she was being hung on the cross."

  Turning to Susan she said quietly, "Sue, please take off all your
clothes."  Without a moment's hesitation, Susan dropped her skirt,
shrugged off her blouse and stood before the group completely naked.
There was an audible gasp as the reporters and cameramen saw the vivid
scars crisscrossing her body.  "You see the scars from that bullwhip,"
Ginny continued.  "I am asking if there is a photographer here today
who can photograph her body better than that sailor was able to
photograph mine in Saigon.  You see, beginning tomorrow, Susan will
have a series of operations to try to erase those scars.  But I don't
want them forgotten.  There is some unfinished business here.   I
heard gasps from many of you when you first saw Susan's body.  I don't
know if you were reacting to the scars, to her emaciated condition, or
to both.  You see, Susan Jennings is the reason I invited you all out
here today.  There are a number of unanswered questions.   I will list
some and my friends will add to the list.  First, why is she still
scarred?  Why wasn't she cared for in a naval hospital after she was
rescued?  We just learned today that she was dismissed from the
service.  That is the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge, but
applicable to officers.  How, when, where, and for what reason was she
court-martialed?  Only a general court-martial can order dismissal,
but we cannot find out anything.  Keep in mind, the record of trial is
a public document.  Why is it hidden?"  Turning to her side where Mike
was now waiting she continued, "I would like my fianc‚, Mike Chapman,
to speak to you.  As some of you may know, Mike is a plastic surgeon
practicing here in Los Angeles."

  One of the reporters asked, "Is this Dr. Michael Chapman?" When
Ginny nodded agreement, the reporter spoke for the benefit of his
colleagues, "For those of you who may not know it, Dr. Chapman is
generally regarded as the finest plastic surgeon in Southern
California, and many believe he is the finest in the world.  Doctor?"

  "Thank you very much.  With my surgical team I am going to begin
operating on Susan Jennings tomorrow.  I can't tell you how long the
whole process will take nor how successful it will ultimately turn out
to be.  We are going to try like hell.  On the other hand, I will also
say that this surgery should have been undertaken years ago, almost
immediately upon her release.  What should have happened was she
should have been physically built up from her starvation and then
operated on.  The probability of successful surgery was much greater
then than now."

  Mike Chapman took a deep breath and continued, "There's much more,
though.  In addition to the scars that are so visible, I am almost
certain that she is still carrying enemy bullets in her body from the
day of her rescue years ago.  We have scheduled Susan for a CAT scan
later today to confirm, but I am virtually certain right now what they
will reveal.  We know Susan was hit by enemy fire just before she was
rescued.  It now appears that the enemy bullets were never removed.
Can you believe that!?" Mike nearly screamed.  "They don't do that
with murderers, for Heaven's sake."  His gray eyes were fiery as he
exclaimed, "Do any of you care!?"

  There was a growling sound from the assembled news people.
Evidently they did care, and some of them cared a great deal.
Meanwhile, a photographer had taken Susan away to arrange lights and
reflectors to properly photograph the scars on her body.  When Mike
introduced Rick Jackson, a newsman muttered to a colleague sitting
beside him, "She may not have many friends, but the ones she has have
enough horsepower to move an army!"

  Rick got up in front of the group and said, "I first met Susan on
the day Ginny   Marcia Matthews   just described.  I commanded the
rescue unit that assaulted the camp.  It was I who cut her down from
that cross.  At the time I thought I was retrieving a dead body, but
when I reached her I could feel her heart still beating and then her
eyes opened.  Since the evacuation was in its last stages and there
wasn't time to get her to a chopper, I carried her to a cave we had
found and had used to store supplies before out assault.  On the way
back up to it I was hit in the leg by a nearly-spent bullet.  We
reached the cave, I put a combat dressing on the wound and then spent
the next couple of days just feeding Susan.

  "Then, in spite of her own emaciated and feverish condition, she
noticed that I had a fever.  Under the circumstances, I must have had
a pretty good one.  Anyway, she examined my leg and prepared to
operate.  You saw the picture of Ginny.  That is roughly the way Susan
looked except that those cuts across her body were new.  There is one
you may have noticed that runs across her breast that was nearly
half-an-inch deep.  Nevertheless, she operated on me one night using
our first-aid kit and a gasoline lantern.  When I asked a surgeon
about the wound later, his reaction was that it should have been
reasonably routine for a well-trained surgical team in a military
hospital.  When I explained the circumstances of the surgery, he said
that under such conditions successful surgery was impossible.  It
flat-out could not be done!  But of course it was."

  Rick turned, looked towards Susan and winked at her.  He was
overjoyed to see her wriggle with delight and grin back at him.  God,
I love this girl!  he thought.  Turning back towards the news people
he continued, "I spent the next few days explaining to Susan how our
demolition toys work.  She put out all our Claymore mines and wired a
road bridge with demolition charges.  Just before we were due to be
extracted, a patrol triggered one of the Claymores.  The next thing we
knew, we were under heavy attack."  Rick stood back from the
microphone for a moment and shook his head as he remembered.  Then he
continued, "What does Susan Jennings do?  Well, she blows the bridge.
As neat a job as I have ever seen, by the way.  She blew off both ends
and the span just dropped into the river.  She timed the explosion so
she could take two enemy tanks along with the span itself.   Then she
opens up with machine-gun fire.  I didn't keep my head down the way I
should have, so I take a big hit with shrapnel from a mortar round.
My sergeant told me later that she went berserk and charged the enemy
with grenades and an Armalite.  When the detail arrived, they counted
seventy-seven bodies, not counting the tank crews and the infantry
carried away with the blown bridge.  When the choppers got us all back
to Saigon, Susan was whisked off and I was evacuated back to Pearl
Harbor.  That is all I know   from back then.

  "Today, I found out a few more things.  Someone in Washington is out
to make Susan Jennings' life miserable.  If you try to check her
references   as one of my people did earlier today   the word is,
don't hire her... for anything!  In fact, one guy tried to substitute
an ex-con with three felony convictions.  So Susan is worse than a
felon who is a three-time loser.  But why?

  "Another thing," Rick Jackson continued.  "How was she
court-martialed?  Who certified her as medically fit to stand trial
and participate in her own defense?  What were the grounds for the
court-martial?  Marcia has given you that list.  What I would like you
to do is this: There is a toll-free telephone number that we would
like to have broadcast across the entire country.  We would like to
hear from anyone who was in that prison camp over the range of dates
when Susan was there.  The dates will be given to you.  We want to
hear from absolutely anyone!  There is another phone number at which
we will accept collect calls from anywhere in California or from
overseas.  We are trying to rectify a terrible miscarriage of justice.
I have here a sheet of paper with all of the relevant names, dates,
and telephone numbers.   I hope you will use them in your stories, and
I certainly hope that you do a story on today's events and that the
stories run.  Thank you for taking the time," Rick concluded.

  While he was concluding his talk, Susan had rejoined the group and
was sitting behind Rick.  When he sat down and Ginny rose to close the
session, one of the reporters asked if Susan would answer a few
questions.  Ginny looked at Susan who smiled and nodded her head
vigorously.  Susan rose and took Ginny's place behind the microphone.

  One of the reporters asked how she had been captured.  "I was in our
operating room and something hit the roof," she replied.  "The next
thing I knew I was in the POW camp.  I don't even know how long I was
there before I regained my senses."  Looking around the area she
asked, "Any more?"

  Another reporter rose and asked, "Miss Jennings, Mr. Jackson says
you were reported as going berserk.  Do you remember it?  If so, what
happened?"

  She grimaced and said, "I remember some of it.  I remember seeing
Rick hit with the shrapnel.  I immediately decided that I didn't care
to go on living so I might as well take as many of them with me as I
could.  I may have been out to avenge Rick as well.  It was really a
pretty stupid thing to do, I'm afraid."

  A reporter from a TV station asked, "Susan, it's pretty obvious that
your friends are working very hard for you.  In light of their
efforts, what are your thoughts?"

  "I don't really have any," Susan responded.  "Until a couple of days
ago I was just wandering around LA, being rousted constantly.
Finally I was able to contact Mr. Jackson and suddenly everything
changed.  It appears that I have some very good friends who want to
take care of me.  There is really nothing more I can say."

  The reporter followed up with another question.  "Miss Matthews
believes you saved her life in the prison camp.  Do you feel that you
did?"

  "No, I really don't," Susan replied in a decisive tone of voice.
"She saved herself.  I did a couple of little things to try to help
her, I suppose, but that's all."  Then Susan smiled an incredibly warm
smile that instantly won over the audience and continued, "I remember
vividly the first time I met Virginia Cameron.  She was in terrible
shape  professionally, I gave her only hours to live   yet she could
still crack a joke.  I said something stupid like,  Haven't you
carried your diet a little far,' and she came back with,  I think I
can still lose a couple of more pounds.' That is an indomitable spirit
we cannot afford to lose.   I just helped a little," Susan concluded.

  The reporter persisted, "Did you cover her body with your own to
protect her from the guard's bullwhip?"  Susan nodded.  "Why?"

  "Because a whipping would have killed her," Susan replied.  "I
thought I could make it.  And as you can see, I did," she concluded
with another smile.

  At that point the entire group rose to applaud while the TV
announcers spoke quietly into their microphones.  There were few dry
eyes in the crowd as they did.  In a short time the press had left and
Ginny asked Maria to bring out more food for "the starving one."
Maria, who was close to two-hundred pounds, took it as a personal
challenge to put some meat on Susan's bones.

  The four were now sitting around the table beside the pool when
Susan looked longingly at Rick and then said sadly, "Rick, could you
do me a very great favor?  You have only seen me as a physical wreck.
Would it be possible for you not to see me for a while?  I've seen
some of these plastic surgeons' work and it usually gets much worse
before it gets any better.  I... I... I don't want to lose you
forever, Rick."  She smiled at him warmly and he could see that her
eyes were full of tears.   She was just moments away from breaking
down completely.   Nevertheless, she continued, "I must admit, though,
you're awfully hard to discourage."

  Before responding to her request, there was one question Rick had to
ask: "Susan, girls have been making a living on their backs for a long
time.  You used your body to help others survive in prison.  Why did
you starve here in Los Angeles, now?"

  Looking steadily directly into his eyes Susan replied, "There are
two reasons.  First, I kept hoping,  Today will be the day.' I had no
such hope in Vietnam.  Second, I have not been with a man since you."

  As Rick remembered their one time together, his eyes misted and he
could scarcely talk.  He just shook hands with Mike and kissed Ginny
Cameron on the cheek.  "Take good care of her, please?  But I'm sure
you will."  Then he crouched beside Susan's chair and took her head in
his hands.  Turning her face toward himself, he could see the tears
now streaming from her eyes.  Then he kissed her tenderly on the lips.
It was a kiss full of love and promise, and again he heard the bells.
Jumping up, he went through the house and out the front door.
Sitting behind the wheel of his car, he waited for the tears to abate
enough for him to see to be able to drive.


		Chapter 5


  That evening Mike and Ginny drove Susan to the hospital where the
CAT scan was scheduled.  When they arrived, Mike was joined by a
friend, John Roberts, a top general surgeon.  The two doctors met the
radiologist-CAT operator in the control booth and Mike told him where
to start looking.  Almost instantly the CAT revealed three imbedded
bullets in Susan's right side and shoulder.  Roberts did not believe
his eyes.  "Mike, I was wondering what you have been smoking when you
called me," he said.  "These bullets are easily operable   or were.  I
have never seen or heard of anyone leaving military service with
removable enemy metal still in them.  No one!  Ever!  Turning to the
CAT operator he said, "Hal, can you get me the exact coordinates on
those three?  I want to look at her and then maybe get some x-rays."

  Chapman had arranged for the best room in the hospital for Susan now
that she was his patient.  Although the administrator had screamed,
Mike had merely pointed out that his patients were always in the best
room so there was no difference.  When Susan was wheeled back into her
room, Mike and Ginny were waiting for her.  Ginny had already taken
charge.  After checking Susan's hospital schedule with Mike she had
made some special arrangements.  A few minutes later one of her
friends, Jim Reading, a top Hollywood hair stylist came in.  Like Mike
Chapman, he was used to recognizing raw material.  He could see that
Susan could be even more beautiful than Ginny when she recovered, and
he said so.

  He thought he might provoke a reaction from Ginny and did, but not
the one he expected: "Oh, Jim!  Do you really think so?" she
exclaimed.  "I do, too, but I'm prejudiced."  The hair designer was
baffled but Mike whispered to him to watch the late news on TV or read
the papers in the morning.  Then Jim took Susan over to the sink and
his assistants descended in force.  Mike thought they were trying to
drown his patient but Ginny said, "It's good for you to see this,
Mike.  It's some of the garbage you are going to rescue me from."  She
looked at him lovingly and said, "Michael, darling, I am going to be
making babies for us as fast as I can.  Do I have to keep on working
in films, too?"  Mike took her into his arms and melted his lips on
hers.   After easing away and regaining her breath, Ginny looked over
at Susan and said, "She'll live   through that, anyway."  He kissed
her again, more hungrily this time.  She whispered, "I thought I took
good care of you already today."

  "But that was this morning," he complained.  Then he whispered in
her ear, "And in the meantime I've made all kinds of warm cum to flood
your insides.  Interested?"

  Ginny made warm noises deep in her body and rubbed her body against
his now-engorged cock and muttered, "Yum!  I can hardly wait."

  "I adore you, my darling," Mike said.  Then he told Ginny about the
bullets in Susan's body.  "Honey, that girl must be in continuous
agony.  And yet she almost moves as if there is no problem.  You only
notice it if you carefully look at her movements on each side
independently."  Shaking his head he continued, "You know, John
Roberts admits he only came over to humor a friend.  He just flat
could not believe a veteran could be discharged with removable bullets
still in her body.  Now he believes, and it's not at all funny.  He is
going over some x-rays that were just taken and then will be joining
us.  We are going to go in together.  Given where the bullets are, I'm
assuming he'll be going in from the front.  That poor girl is really
going to get a working over."

  Jim Reading and his people left to be replaced by Penny Watts, a
senior makeup artist.  The woman looked over Susan very carefully and
finally nodded her head decisively just once.  Turning on Ginny she
pretended to glare and said, "Marcia Matthews, for chrissakes will you
quit wasting my time.  This girl could use a manicure.  She needs some
sunshine   she's too pale.  She could wear a little lipstick if she
wants to really go hog-wild.  Full stop!" Penny just shook her head
and continued, "Marcia, she is going to be utterly gorgeous.  I
thought you were the last of the makeup artist's dreams, but now
there's another: her.  But where in heaven's name did you find her?
And what are you two playing in?  I assume you're both starring in the
same film, aren't you?  And could I please get the assignment?
Please?"

  Ginny just smiled and replied, "Susan is not even in the business,
Penny.  She is here for some very serious surgery.  But could someone
give her that manicure you mentioned?  I think it would cheer her up."
The woman smiled and made a thumbs-up sign.  Moments later a
manicurist came in and started to work on Susan's hands.

  By the time she finished, John Roberts had joined them and waiters
from Maxim's produced a catered dinner for the foursome.  They were
seated around a rolling table with Susan wearing her new bathrobe.
She looked beautiful with her hair now glistening with its natural
highlights.   "How do you feel, Sue?" Ginny asked.  "Is there anything
else you want?  Anything at all?"

  Susan smiled warmly and slowly shook her head.  "Ginny, everything
is just perfect.  I can't thank you enough."  Then the smile turned
into a very cute grin as she added, "Miss Cameron, could I make a
short video tape?  With me kneeling on the floor and bowing until my
forehead touches, thanking you?  That way when these things come
along, one right after another, I can just point to the VCR, roll the
tape, and save a lot of wear and tear on a bod that can't take a whole
lot more right now."  Ginny just delighted at her good spirits and the
return of her sense of humor.  Susan continued, "I have just one
question, though.  How much did you have to pay those people, and how
much rehearsal time was required for them to get their lines down?
That is the right phrase, isn't it?   Getting the lines down'?"  Ginny
looked at her puzzled.  Susan explained, "You know, Ginny!  All that
garbage about my hair, makeup, and the rest.  It was a real hoot!"

  Finally realizing what Susan was talking about, it was Ginny's turn
to shake her head and laugh.  "I hate to ruin your day, honey," she
said, "But it was all honest.  Jim Reading was in absolute raptures
over your hair.  When he was leaving he asked me to tell you that he
would consider it a personal favor if you would allow him to continue
to handle your hair styling.  That's not bullshit, either.  You're not
in the trade, so you may not know that Jim has four or five Oscars for
hair styling.  He's considered the very best in the business.  Oh,
it's all free, by the way.  He says women like you are great
advertising for him."

  Ginny laughed again as Susan's jaw dropped.  She exclaimed, "You
can't be serious!  If you are, he's crazy!  He's nuts!  Certifiably
insane!  Me!?"

  Ginny was now laughing so hard she could no longer even talk.   All
she could do was to vigorously nod her head up and down while she
howled with laughter and tried to regain control.  Finally she was
able to say, "My darling Susan, that is the highest praise there is.
Honest.  Ask Mike.  Those people know heads and faces.  They are real
pros.  They see the structure and the raw material.  If you ever want
to really roll on the floor laughing, just get a group of hair
stylists and makeup people together talking about the stars they have
worked on.   Talk about seeing it warts and all!  And they will be
delighted to tell you exactly were every wart is and describe it in
detail."

  Susan just shook her head in disbelief and turned to the other
doctor.  Her face grew serious as she asked, "Dr. Roberts, what's the
word?  I guess the bullets have to come out, don't they?"

  Roberts was developing an appreciation for the incredible courage of
this girl.  "Miss Jennings," he replied, "They have to come out.
You're in constant pain, aren't you?"

  In response Susan shrugged her shoulders.  When she did Ginny saw
what Mike had seen earlier.  Her right shoulder moved differently from
her left.  "It's okay, Doctor," Susan replied.  "I'm used to it,
anyway."

  Roberts raised an eyebrow and looked at her skeptically.  "Young
lady, you are lying.  Should I get a dolorometer?"

  Susan's eyes widened and she said softly, "No, Doctor.  Please don't
waste your time."  Then she tried to grin and continued, "I give up.
I guess it does hurt pretty bad.  But I really am used to it, though."

  Hearing of a dolorometer, Ginny whispered a question to Mike asking
what a dolorometer is.  He explained it was a machine that measured
pain.  It was attached to a part of the body away from the suspected
pain source.  Then the pain was increased until the patient could feel
the machine-induced pain rather than the internal   or external   pain
source.  Based on Susan's reaction, the pain must be continuous and
agonizing.  Mike turned to John and asked, "Which way are you going
in?  From the front?"  Roberts nodded.  "Okay," Mike said, "How do you
feel about it, Sue?  You're a nurse so you know what's coming up."

  Susan smiled ruefully, nodded her head and said, "I guess I'll
manage.  And thanks, guys."  Turning to Roberts she said, "Doctor, I
haven't had a chance to even talk to you.  I guess you're going to
take out the metal, but I really don't have any money yet.  So... So
could...  could..." Susan stammered, "Could you submit your bill in
sort of bite-sized pieces?"

  John Roberts looked at her with tears forming in the corners of his
eyes.  His voice cracked when he asked, "Susan, do you have a penny?"

  She was puzzled but looked in her purse.  It was part of a brand-new
outfit Rick had given her.  There was a loaded change purse in it.
She took out a penny and gave it to him.

  Looking at her solemnly, he carefully put it in his pocket.  "Do you
need a receipt for tax purposes, Susan?" he asked.   "You are now
prepaid in full for the surgery.  Thank you very much for your prompt
payment."

  "Dr. Roberts, you can't be serious!" Susan exclaimed.  "You...
you're famous!  I owe you," she insisted.

  "Like hell you do!" he instantly responded.  "I happen to know what
you're paying Mike Chapman.  I just scaled my fees to his.  If he's
getting ten cents per scar, even one cent for a few stray bullets is
much too much."  Looking at her intently now he asked, "How did you
get them, by the way?  They have obviously been there for quite a
while."

  Ginny quickly told him the story of the prison camp, the
crucifixion, the breakout and the aftermath.  She watched his tears
start to flow uncontrolled as he realized his patient had carried the
bullets in her body for almost four years.  Reaching into his wallet
he took out a ten-dollar bill and gave it to Susan.  "I made one of my
usual billing mistakes, Miss Jennings.  This is your overpayment,
refunded." Looking at her closely, he nodded his head and said,
"Susan, I owe you more than mere money.  You are a credit to this
country, to the nursing profession, and to the human race.  I consider
it a great honor and privilege to be allowed to operate on you.
Believe me when I say it is worth a very great deal to me."

  Susan studied his face very carefully and finally realized that
Roberts was totally serious.  Tears started to flow down her cheeks
and she stammered, "Thank you, Doctor.  I don't know what to say
except thank you.  It's inadequate, I know, but... but... Thanks."

  He kissed her on the cheek and said he would see her in the
operating room the next morning.

		  * * *

  While Ginny was waiting for Susan to be brought back to her room
from the recovery room the next afternoon, Mike came in looking for
her.  When he entered, Ginny was scared and gasped in dismay when she
saw tears running down his cheeks.  "What happened, Darling?  What
went wrong?" she asked while a sense of pure panic threatened to
overwhelm her.  Something had gone terribly wrong with the operation.

  Mike just shook his head and said finally, "Those bastards!  And I'm
talking about my surgical team, Darling.  Susan is fine.  But those
idiots saw the TV news last night that we missed.  Anyway, there was a
big story about Susan and her wounds.  When they learned that she was
our patient today they refused to submit bills or to accept any
payment at all.  They are working for nothing   every damned one of
them!  Even Carmen Gar‡ia, for God's sake, and she is supporting
three children.  Even though she desperately needs every penny, she
flat refused!" At that, Mike completely lost control.  He was on his
knees with his head cradled in Ginny's lap while she stroked him and
made soothing sounds to comfort him.

  Later Ginny was sitting in a chair beside Susan's bed.  The girl's
body was bandaged like a mummy's and she was just coming out from the
anaesthesia.  When Ginny saw Susan blink and open her eyes, she went
to the bedside with a glass of water and gave her some through a
straw.  Susan just smiled her gratitude.  "How do you feel,
sweetheart?" Ginny asked softly.

  "Since you ask," Susan replied hoarsely, "I feel like I've just been
run over by a truck.  And, Virginia Cameron, I am giving you fair
warning right now.  Your fianc‚ is a sadist."  With her eyes wide and
with a completely straight face, she continued, "It was painful for
me, Ginny, but I found out in time.  You should immediately throw
Michael Chapman out in the street and have nothing further to do with
him.   Why... Why a man who would do to me what Mike just did would be
whipping you every week.  He would tie you to a whipping post and
stripe your back and your chest.  I have saved you again, Ginny.
Aren't you glad?"

  "Do you really think he will!?" Ginny exclaimed eagerly.  "Boy, I
can hardly wait.  Just think!  Those lovely stripes on my body...  The
joy of feeling him crush my wounds..."  With her eyes as wide as
saucers, she repeated, "Golly, Sue, do you really think he will?"

  She had to hold Susan carefully as the girl began to laugh but at
the same time aggravate her surgical wounds.  The two young women were
both crying and laughing at the same time.  When she regained control,
Ginny carefully stroked Susan's forehead with a cool cloth and watched
her fall asleep.

		  * * *

  A week later a limousine pulled up in the hospital's driveway to
pick up Susan and take her back to Ginny Cameron's estate.  Once there
she began a program of exercise, diet, and sunshine after the bandages
were removed.  Meanwhile, Maria continued to feed her many times each
day.  A few weeks later, after the worst of the surgical cuts on her
chest and belly were sufficiently healed, she returned to the hospital
where Mike operated a second time, this time on the scars on her back.
Both operations were completely successful, as was John Roberts'
operation to remove the Vietnamese bullets.  Susan even had the
bullets in her top drawer.  Periodically, she and Ginny would kid
about what she might be able to make out of them.

  As the long recovery process began, Susan was delighted and gave
thanks to God for her association with Ginny.  The girl was a tower of
strength for Susan who realized that she loved Ginny as a beloved
older sister.  The girls had become utterly inseparable to such a
degree that one evening Susan asked with her eyes wide if Ginny wanted
her to keep her company in bed and give her advice while Mike Chapman
was plowing her vaginal canal.  Both Ginny and Mike cracked up with
laughter while Susan just looked from one to the other with a puzzled
look on her face as if she could not understand what could possibly be
so funny.

  Meanwhile, the press coverage of the Susan Jennings story increased
in intensity.  There had been intense public interest and an outcry
aroused by the first stories.  Responding to the public reaction and
interest, the media maintained the pressure.  Rick Jackson got a call
from an Orange County Congressman wanting to know what had happened.
The representative, a member of the House Armed Services Committee,
talked with his chairman.  The Navy Department was contacted by a
committee staffer and then all hell started to break loose.

  In addition to his masterful job feeding new information to the
press, Rick was also following up on all the contacts coming in on the
telephone lines in response to the stories.  In addition to recording
their stories, Rick also fed juicy tidbits to the press to maintain
the media pressure.  Within three weeks of the first story breaking,
he had talked to virtually every person who had been held prisoner in
that compound.   The stories he heard merely confirmed what he already
knew from Ginny and Susan.  To a man   or woman   they offered to go
anywhere to testify in Susan's behalf.  Many refused any offer of
payment, insisting on paying their own way.

  Finally, Rick put in a call to the White House.  A couple of hours
later he was speaking to the President who had returned his call.
Quickly he explained the situation.  The President was aware of the
Congressional inquiry and had already determined to be out in front.
This man took his r“le as Commander in Chief of the armed forces
seriously.  After hearing the story, the President asked Rick if he
would come to Washington to head up an investigation on his behalf.
Rick immediately agreed and was on the red-eye to Washington that
night.

  Rick found the subsequent events amusing.  Or they would have been
had they not had such a terrible impact on the woman he loved.   When
a colonel is burying a captain   or a lieutenant in the Navy, the
equivalent rank   it is not difficult.  And if the cage starts to
rattle a little, everyone just holds on tight and waits for things to
quiet down again.  But when the Congress and the White House become
interested, the rats begin to run for cover.  Because of the mixture
of services, Rick's was a Department of Defense investigating team.
He derived bitter amusement from the events.  Because of his shrapnel
wounds Rick Jackson was now a major, United States Marine Corps,
Retired.   But as chairman of the special presidential investigating
committee, he outranked the Chief of Naval Operations and the Army's
Chief of Staff.   As a result, Susan's "lost" court-martial file was
quickly found.  He and his people carefully reviewed it, interviewed a
number of the witnesses Rick had previously located, and then reported
back to the President.

  The Secretary of Defense then ordered that a special Court of
Inquiry be convened.  Miss Susan Jennings, Brigadier General Homer
Black, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Simon, and Major Judith Harrison
were named as parties to the inquiry.  Black, Simon, and Harrison were
frozen in place.  They were not allowed to change their military
status in any way pending the findings of the court of inquiry which
was scheduled to convene in Los Angeles at the call of its president,
a Navy vice admiral.  The court panel was composed of two- and
three-star flag officers from both the army and the navy.  Rick had
occasion to meet with the court's president, Vice Admiral Charles F.
Adams, at the Pentagon.  Admiral Adams was surprised to see that the
head of the investigating committee   about whom he had heard so much
was only in his early thirties.  Adams also knew that Jackson was a
highly-decorated combat Marine, and was also one of the richest men in
the country.  A very interesting combination, he thought.  Rick sat
down across the desk from the admiral.  "I'm Rick Jackson, Admiral
Adams," he said.  "I understand you wanted to see me."

  The admiral looked at him thoughtfully and then said, "Mr.  Jackson,
what are you after?  Why are you involved in this affair?  What are
you trying to do?"

  Adams saw Jackson's eyes turn steel grey   and become as cold as an
iceberg.  "Admiral, my interest is to see that justice is done.  From
our investigation, the defendant in the court-martial, Miss Susan
Jennings, was in no condition to do anything   least of all,
participate in her own defense.  The defense counsel appointed to
serve was the most junior lawyer on the base."  Adams recoiled from
the piercing look in Jackson's eyes as he continued, "It wasn't a
trial, it was a railroad!  They railroaded a girl out of the service
who deserves medals for gallantry, heroism, and selflessness.  She
most assuredly did not deserve a court-martial.  Admiral, I don't want
to prejudice you, but I'm sure it will all come out.  We have located
everyone concerned and have taken steps to ensure their availability.
When do you intend to convene the court?"

  "Why... in two weeks," Adams replied in some surprise.  "But of
course I am moving the trial back here to Washington."

  "Wrong, Admiral!" Rick exclaimed while shaking his head.  "You will
convene your court in Los Angeles at the Federal Court House on
February 1, next year."

  The admiral was stunned.  He was being contradicted by a mere major.
"Why... Why that's ridiculous!  It will be here in two weeks..."

  "Wrong!" Rick was glaring at him now as he continued, "I'm afraid
you didn't read your letter of appointment too carefully.  For if you
had, you would have seen that convening the court is dependent upon
the availability of Miss Jennings.  She will not be available until
February 1, and then only in Los Angeles, the site named for the court
in your orders.  Admiral, this girl was railroaded once.  It will not
happen again."  With fire still in his eyes, Rick regained control and
asked in a calmer tone, "Now why don't you reread your orders?"

  The admiral did, slowly.  Then he read them again.  His blood
pressure was rising as he said, "But this is ridiculous!  She... She's
only a civilian!  This cannot be."

  Rick shook his head again and said, "It can be and it is.  You
noticed that the order is signed by the Secretaries of the Army and
the Navy and countersigned by the Secretary of Defense.  Do you care
to argue?"  Adams now looked thoroughly defeated as Rick said, "I
thought not.  I look forward to seeing you again in Los Angeles.  Good
day, Admiral."  Rick left a very deflated vice admiral sitting in his
office as he quietly shut the door behind himself.


		Chapter 6


  It was mid December now, and Susan's bandages had long since
disappeared.  She was moving freely now that the pain from the
embedded bullets was gone.  Moreover, she and Ginny had continuing
competitions in everything from weight lifting to tennis, to swimming,
to golf.  The love and mutual respect between the two beautiful young
women was a delight both to them and to everyone with whom they had
contact.  All of Ginny's friends knew the story very well and they all
rejoiced in the way Susan had blossomed.

  When the two young women went out together which was often, they
attracted the stares of everyone around.  First, at five feet eight,
both women were quite tall.  Beyond that, though, their figures were
utterly perfect and they were incredible beauties, Virginia Cameron
with her magnificent auburn hair and emerald-green eyes, and Susan
Jennings with her hair like newly-minted yellow gold and the most
brilliant blue eyes anyone had ever seen.  Moreover, the two women
truly adored one another and took every opportunity to exchange
kisses.  Whenever their lips met, the two both felt an incredible flow
of the purest love and joy.   Finally, both women were very
intelligent, well read and very well informed.  Before long the two
found themselves temporarily in demand for appearances on daytime talk
shows   until it was learned that neither woman was at all
"politically correct."

  Late one afternoon Ginny said, "Let's go inside, shall we?  In spite
of almost being Christmas, it's awfully hot."  With a grimace she
added, "In fact it reminds me of that late, unlamented POW camp."
Going into the cool house they went on to Ginny's bedroom.  Once
there, Ginny suddenly stopped in front of a full-length mirror.  Susan
had to stop suddenly to keep from walking into her.  Since both women
were nude having been soaking up the sun, Ginny just said casually,
"Take a look.  You don't really look half bad, little sister."  The
two girls had been tanning nude, Ginny because she liked to, and Susan
because Mike was concerned that the tiny scars from the surgery might
be revealed as white lines on a tan.  They were not.  His work had
been utterly perfect: There were no marks of any kind showing on
Susan's now-perfect body.

  Susan looked at her reflection in the mirror and was stunned.  She
did not recognize the girl looking back at her.  The girl in the
mirror had perfectly formed tits with tiny upthrusting nipples.  Her
stomach was flat, her hips were slim, her buns were small and tight,
and her long legs were feminine perfection.  With her golden tan, and
hair the color of newly minted yellow gold, Susan was a vision in
shades of gold.  The only color was the incredibly bright red of her
lips   even without any lipstick   and the brilliant blue of her eyes.
Susan Jennings was now utterly exquisite and, in a whisper, Ginny told
her so.  Then to Ginny's surprise she could see tears forming in the
corners of Susan's eyes.   Turning to Ginny she hugged her tightly and
exclaimed, "Oh, God!   Thank you.  Ginny, do you think he'll like me
now?  Do you?"

  "Who's  he'?" Ginny asked professing ignorance with a puzzled look
on her face.

  "Virginia Cameron, I will cheerfully kill you right now," Susan said
in a flat tone of voice.  Then folding her arms on her chest she
cocked her head and looked at Ginny thoughtfully.  After a few moments
she nodded her head firmly just once and said, "Yup.  I knew it.  I
should have eaten the damned nutrition bars myself instead of wasting
them on you.  This is all it got me."

  Dropping the act, Ginny enveloped Susan in her arms, hugged her
tightly and then melted her lips against hers.  There was an
instantaneous two-way flow of pure love as the two women poured out
their hearts to one another.  In a whisper Ginny said, "My darling
Susan, I adore you.  I hope you know that."  Then pulling away she
pretended to glare at Sue and said in her normal tone of voice, "Susan
Jennings, what is your problem?  He loved you in Vietnam when you were
cut to ribbons and as thin as a rail, didn't he?"  Susan just nodded
once.  "He's not blind," Ginny continued.  "You are one of the most
beautiful women alive in the world today.  I know he will love you!"

  Apparently changing the subject, Ginny said, "Incidentally, before I
forget, Mike and I are going off to the Islands   without you!" she
said with her nose in the air.  She sniffed and interjected, "This is
to show that I can too make love to Mike Chapman without you giving me
directions!"  Then she just hugged Susan tightly and kissed her again
murmuring, "I adore you, Sue."  Back to her original line she said,
"It will be a sort of pre-wedding honeymoon.  Since we want to give
Maria time off to visit her family in Mexico over the holidays, the
house will be sort of empty.  Anyway, I checked with Rick Jackson and
he said his apartment is empty.  He has been traveling a lot and he
would be very happy to have you use his apartment while we   and he
are gone."  With her eyes wide she asked, "Sue, do you mind?"

  "Of course not, silly!" Sue replied with a grin.  "When can I get
into his apartment?  And where is the key, for that matter?"

  Ginny swallowed hard, reached into her purse, and pulled out a ring
of keys.  "This is the key to the apartment," she said.  Pulling out
another she continued, "This is the key to the BMW, and this is the
one for the Porsche.  I would drive the Bimmer myself   it's much
easier to handle.  Both are ready for you now, though, and the choice
is yours."  Going through an envelope she had produced she added,
"Oops, I forgot something.  This is for you, too.  Rick said you
should open your own bank account."  Then she passed the very fat
manilla envelope to Susan.

  The girl opened it and found a stack of one-hundred-dollar bills.
It contained five hundred   there was fifty thousand dollars.  Susan
looked at the money and then up at Ginny, utterly bewildered.  "I
can't take this, Gin.  Really, I can't."

  Ginny just slowly shook her head and said, "Sue, you really can't
appreciate how much money Rick Jackson has.  Suffice it to say a lot
more than this just spills off the edge of the table every day.  To
him, that is a couple of days' grocery money.  Okay?  Please use it
like it is.   Please?"

  Susan packed her things, kissed Ginny and Mike, and remembered to
wish Maria Merry Christmas in Spanish.  Maria smiled broadly when she
heard, Felices Navidad! and gave Susan a warm kiss.

  "The se¤orita is very beautiful.  You always very beautiful, but
now..."  She gave Susan another warm kiss and retreated to the kitchen
with tears streaming down her cheeks.

  When Susan Jennings arrived at Rick Jackson's apartment, she didn't
know what to expect.  She found it had been completely redecorated
from the time she had been there before her operations.  It was
spotless.  Since there was only one bedroom, she unpacked there.
Finding a whole empty chest of drawers, she carefully unpacked her new
clothes.  Now she was wearing sizes she had last worn just before
going to Vietnam.

  Susan spent the next few days stocking the apartment.  While doing
it she found a note from Rick suggesting that she open an account at
the bank branch across the street from his apartment.  The manager's
name was Mr. Smith.  He turned out to be very nice.  He told her that
there was already money at the bank waiting for her.   Moreover, he
said, the headquarters branch was transferring money to her account at
the rate of $50,000 per week and Susan had not even signed the bank's
signature cards yet!  Poor Mr. Smith was terribly upset.  After Susan
carefully signed all of his forms he felt much better.   Finally he
gave her all the charge cards and bank ATM cards made out in her name
that had been waiting there for her.

  Susan decided to buy a Christmas tree.  She could not even remember
how long it had been since she had had the last one.  After calling
several places listed in the Yellow Pages, she finally found a place
that claimed to have a lovely blue spruce.  At least they said it was
lovely, and when she saw it, she agreed it really was.  After buying
lights, ornaments, tinsel and a Nativity set, she was about to return
to the apartment when she saw something else.  On a whim she bought a
set of Lionel electric trains.  It was complete, so over the next few
days she worked on her tree and her electric trains.  It was truly a
labor of love.  Sue managed to assemble the train with its switches
and men and dumping cars.  Then she spent hours on her knees playing
with it under her now-beautifully decorated Christmas tree.  Finally
she went food shopping.  With all of her preparations complete, she
even spent two full days making and decorating Christmas cookies.
Susan was delighted to find that the apartment now had a
fully-equipped gym she could use for her daily workouts.  Otherwise,
she thought, she would have blown up like a balloon.

  Shortly before Christmas, acting on a whim she called Jim Reading,
the hair stylist who had worked on her in the hospital.  He remembered
her instantly and asked when he could work on her hair again.  Susan
told him that was why she had called him.  He told her to come right
down to the studio, so she did.  When she arrived, he looked at her
and just shook his head.  "Susan Jennings, you are incredibly, utterly
beautiful!  It is a real pleasure for me and my people to have the
opportunity to work on you.  Come on in!"

  He worked on her for three hours.  When he finished, he spun the
chair around so she could see herself.  Susan looked at her reflection
and was disappointed.  "Jim," she said, "It.... It... It still looks
like...  me.  Aren't you going to do something dramatic to make me
look beautiful... or something?"

  Reading just smiled and slowly shook his head.  "Susan Jennings, we
do that a lot.  Sometimes, even, because the r“le requires it, we
might even cut off all the hair and shave a skull.  Far more often,
though, we work to draw attention away from something.  You are as
genuinely beautiful a girl as I have ever seen.  Incidentally, that
includes Marcia Matthews who had the natural-beauty record around here
until you appeared."  He shook his head and continued, "Just look at
your hair.  It is full, full-bodied, naturally wavy...  It is just
exquisite.  I hope you like the way I styled it.  I think you should
have a little more than ordinary length, but I guess I am prejudiced.
I would like to see you as Lady Godiva naked with only your glorious
hair falling all the way down to your waist!"

  Reaching out her hand, Susan took his.  "Thank you, Jim.  It really
does look beautiful.  And thank you for the kind words."  Then with a
little smile she asked, "Now how much do I owe you?"

  "Not a penny!  It's been a real pleasure for both me and my people.
Incidentally, speaking of pennies, Penny Watts, the makeup director
you met at the hospital, knows you are coming in today.  She asked me
to ask you to do her a big favor and please stop by her place before
you leave.  Do you have a few extra minutes?"  Susan told him that she
had no plans at all.  After thanking him again and wishing him a merry
Christmas, she went off to find Penny.

  Following Jim's directions, a few minutes later she knocked on
Penny's door.  The woman opened it, took her hand and then set her in
a makeup chair.  One of her people started giving Susan a manicure
while Penny worked on her face.  There were hot towels, cold towels,
packs of every kind   in short, everything.  Susan decided that this
time they were really going to do a job.  She giggled as she felt her
shoes being removed so she could be given a pedicure.  There was a
great deal of discussion regarding the precise shade of nail enamel to
be used.  Of course, Susan was not consulted.

  Finally they finished and Penny whipped the sheet off Susan's body
with a flourish and spun the chair so she could see herself in the
mirror.  Susan's face fell when she looked at herself.  It was the
same face she always saw in the mirror; there had been no change.
Looking down at her fingertips, she saw that her nails were a
beautiful Christmas red, and there was a tiny bit of the same color on
her lips, but that was all she could see.  "But...  but what did you
do, Penny?  Why don't I look different?" Susan asked.

  The woman just smiled warmly and said, "I cleansed your face,
freshened it, dried it, put a tiny bit of powder on the tip of your
nose and tinted your lips.  You're done."  With a broad smile she
continued, "I understand you had a similar conversation with Jim.  All
I can say is women wear makeup because they have to, not because they
like it.   Susan Jennings, if everyone who came in here was like you,
I would be out of business.  Fortunately, almost none are.  There are
only two that I know of: you and Marcia.  And I suppose it's only
right that the two most beautiful women in Hollywood are best
friends..."

  Suddenly Penny interrupted herself.  "No!" she exclaimed.   "You're
not friends.  You're...  you're...  sisters!"  With a delighted look
on her face, the woman clapped her hands and exclaimed, "That's it,
isn't it?  You adore each other, don't you."  Then she shook her head
slowly and continued, "You know what?  Even sisters doesn't quite do
it.  The intensity of your love for each other is truly remarkable."
Taking Susan's hands in both of hers, Penny just looked intently into
Susan's eyes.  "You offered your life to save hers, didn't you?"
Susan tried to demur but Penny insisted.  Finally, with the greatest
reluctance Sue nodded her head just once.

  Changing the subject dramatically, Penny asked innocently, "By the
way, who is the poor guy?"

  Pretending ignorance, Sue just shook her head.  This, in turn,
caused Penny to archly raise an eyebrow.  "Young lady, I should have
said it earlier.  You look utterly spectacular right now.  We were all
so delighted to hear that the operations were completely successful.
Now the perfection of your body matches that of your face."  Shaking
her had sadly, Penny said, "The poor guy!  He doesn't have a chance."

  "What poor guy?" Susan asked.

  The poor guy you're getting all fixed up for.  Will you see him on
Christmas?" Penny asked shrewdly.

  Susan's face fell as she replied, "I don't know, Penny.  Honest.   I
really don't.  I desperately hope so, though.  But why do you ask?"

  "Because the poor slob doesn't have a chance."  Then she gave Susan
a small bag and said, "I have some more lipstick and nail enamel for
you to take home.  I'll see you in a month or so.  Just call Jim
Reading and he'll let me know you're coming.  And, Susan, have a very
merry Christmas!"  Like Jim, Penny waved away any payment.

  When she got home, Susan looked at herself carefully in a mirror and
decided she looked very good.  Only then did it occur to her that she
was pleased with her appearance and really had not been for years

 since before she had been sent to Vietnam.

  Finally it was Christmas eve.  Susan was curled up in a chair
reading a book   or trying to.  Although it was a very good book, she
was unable to get into it.  Instead she found that her eyes were just
moving across the lines of type while her brain was preoccupied with
thoughts of Rick Jackson.  Please, dear God!  she prayed, Make him
come to see me.  Checking her watch she found it was already after
eleven o'clock.  She had just about given up hope when there was a
knock at the door.  Catapulting herself out of the chair, she ran to
the door and threw it open.  Rick was standing there in the hall.

  When the door was thrown open, Rick could only stare at the
golden-blonde apparition standing in front of him.  Then there were
the most brilliant blue eyes Rick had ever seen on anyone.  Thank God
that the hair and eyes don't change, he thought.  Otherwise I would
never recognize her.  With a little smile he said, "Hi, Susan.  Do you
remember me?  I know it's awfully late, but may I come in?"

  Instead of stepping back to welcome him in, Susan hurled herself at
him, threw her arms around his neck and began to kiss him.  As she
worked her lips on his and the electricity flowed between them, he
could feel her trying to mash her body against his.  He almost fell
over from the power of her unleashed passion.  Finally they separated
to breathe.  With her lips only inches away from his ear she
whispered, "Welcome home, my darling.  Merry Christmas!" Suddenly
Susan completely lost control and started to cry like a baby.  "Oh, my
darling, I love you so!" she cried.  Rick lifted her up in his arms,
carried her to an easy chair and sat down with Susan on his lap.

  Immediately she began to undress him, throwing his clothes on the
floor.  Then she stripped off her own things and moved as far from him
as she could while still sitting on his lap.  "Do... do... do you
approve, my darling?" she asked.  "How can I be better for you?"  Rick
just looked at the utter perfection of Susan's fully revealed body.
Reaching out, he began to just lightly run his fingertips all over
her.  For her part, she just closed her eyes and reveled in his
wonderful touch.  Now Susan was completely naked while Rick only had
his pants on.  Again he picked her up and carried her, this time into
the bedroom.  With a giggle, while still being held in his arms, Susan
pulled the covers off the bed.  Rick laid her down on it but then, to
her dismay, disappeared from the room.

  A few minutes later he reappeared, this time with a bottle of
champagne in an ice bucket along with two flutes.  He had also shed
his trousers so now he was only wearing his shorts.  Setting down the
beverages, he stripped off his shorts and just stood beside the bed
with his cock now huge and proudly erect.  "Do you approve, my
darling?" he asked, repeating her words from a few minutes earlier.
"How can I be better for you?" he asked.

  "If you really want to know," she replied with a wonderfully
salacious grin, "you can make love to me right this instant!" He
jumped onto the bed, took her into his arms and began to kiss her soft
lips.  As he did, Susan maneuvered her body to enable her to ease his
cock into her sopping wet sheath.  When he entered her, she increased
the intensity of her kisses and made wonderfully satisfied noises deep
in her body.  In spite of their shared desire to prolong their initial
lovemaking, their passion was too great.  In just moments, both were
in the throes of uncontrollable orgasms.  His cum flooded her vaginal
cavity and the power of her own orgasm caused her to lose
consciousness.  Still wrapped in each others arms, they went to sleep
with the champagne sitting untouched beside the bed.

		  * * *

  Susan was awakened on Christmas morning by a wonderful sensation.
Although the couple had fallen asleep wrapped in each others arms
or, more accurately collapsed from sexual exhaustion

 as she became more aware she realized that again her head was on
Rick's shoulder and his large hand was cupping her right tit.  Her
breast, now very firm and full, was being gently squeezed.  Her hand
was on his so she pressed down causing him to squeeze her breast even
harder.  Looking up at his face she whispered, "My darling, this is a
first for you.  There is really something there to squeeze this time.
Do you like it?"

  "My darling, I love you," Rick said softly.  "I have from the very
first day.  You are so incredibly beautiful, but you always were.  I
remember a girl who was so badly cut up she couldn't bear any physical
contract, yet wanted to make love with me.  There has never been
anything like it in my experience," he whispered.  "Sue, the
operations were really for you, not for me.  I now know that you have
been in intense pain from carrying those bullets around for years, and
I'm so happy for you that they   and the continual pain   are gone.
But, Darling, as far as appearance, I love you however you look."
Then looking deeply into her eyes he asked, "Do you remember what you
did that time in the cave?"

  "You mean getting on top?" she asked lovingly.  "Impaling myself on
that gigantic thing between your legs?  Splitting myself in two?  Is
that what you mean?"  Rick was concerned about her characterization of
the size of his sex.  He knew he was large, but now he was concerned.
Before he could say anything, though, she said, "Of course I remember.
How could I ever forget?"  Then sweeping off the covers she knelt
astride his body and asked, "Would you like me to do it again?"
Without waiting for a reply, she slid down on his body so she could
take his cock into her mouth.  Kissing it and sucking it caused it
almost instantly to extend to gigantic proportions.  Meanwhile his
fingertips were roving all over her incredibly smooth skin and feeling
her muscles right below the surface of her satin skin respond to his
touch.   Moving back up on his body she carefully positioned the red
head of his raging erection at the mouth of her vagina and then eased
herself down on it.  She could feel her cunt being stretched to
accommodate his huge girth, and later, as she took its great length
inside her, Susan could feel it stretching her cunt in length as well.

  "Darling," Rick exclaimed, "I'm ripping you in half!" With that he
tried to lift her off him to relieve her pain but she wrapped her legs
around him and refused to budge.  "Please stop, Sue!  You'll be
killed."

  "I will like hell!" she exclaimed.  "Richard Jackson, when I was
starving and was tempted to try to sell my body, I remembered this.
If I could take you when I was nothing but a torn-up bag of bones, I
sure as hell can take you now.  And I did!" She wiggled her internal
muscles and just reveled in the feelings in her cunt.  "My darling, I
can't tell you how wonderful this feels."  Then she leaned forward and
kissed him softly.  Again there was the electricity flowing between
them.  "Merry Christmas, my darling," she whispered.  "Can my body be
my present to you?  You've been running your fingers over me, but you
haven't really felt the merchandise.  I think it's pretty nice now.  I
just hope it's nice enough for you."  Sitting up straight while still
impaled on his raging cock, she cradled her tits and said, "My boobs
are nice and firm, although you probably want them bigger.  Do you?"

  Rick caressed her body, moved her hands away, and cupped her
beautiful tits in his own.  As he seemed to weigh them in his hands he
looked thoughtful.  "These are pretty good.  In fact, Sue, they are
utterly perfect.  I love you this way."  Then he smiled softly and
added, "But I love you any way."  Then his face grew serious and he
looked up into her eyes.  "Darling, there was something else you said
at the press conference.  You said you went berserk when I was hit by
a mortar round because you didn't care to go on living.  Did you
really mean what you said?"

  "Yes, I did," she replied softly.  Then she leaned forward with his
cock still splitting her insides so that she could hold him close.
"Rick, I love you more than life itself.  When I saw you hit and go
down, I thought you were dead.  At that point, life was no longer
worth living.   I had lost you."  Raising her head again, she looked
into his eyes and said, "I asked you before, Rick, but I was a wreck,
then.  My darling, may I continue to live here with you?  Could I be
your cook and housekeeper and maid and..."

  He just sadly shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Susan, but my
wife wouldn't like it, I'm afraid."

  At that instant, Susan almost died.  Rick's heart turned over as he
saw her eyes instantly go dead.  "But... but... I could be her maid,
too," she said slowly.  "I could prepare her for your glorious cock.
I could clean out her cunt with my mouth...  Ginny says I am really
very talented..."

  "Susan," Rick interrupted, "Did you say you would do anything to
make me happy?  Anything at all?"

  "Of course, Rick," she replied, puzzled.

  "That's what I thought you said," he continued.  "That's why you're
going to be my wife.  We will get someone else to be the maid, the
cook, and so forth.  You, wench, will spend all your time in bed with
your legs spread wide!" Pretending to glare at her he said, "And for
that matter, young lady, I think you have something of mine inside
you.  Are you going to just sit there?"  Susan grinned and began to
move her pelvis slowly.

  For Rick it was as if his cock were enclosed in a very tight, very
moist glove.  He could feel the walls of her vagina rhythmically
squeezing his trapped cock and creating the most marvelous sensations
as she did.  Continuing, she reached one orgasm, and another, and
still more.  Yet at the same time, whenever Rick would get close to
achieving his own release, she would subtly change her tempo to
prolong her pleasure.  Each time Rick felt he was going higher and
higher.  He felt he had to obtain release or he would internally
explode, but she kept him from it, although his internal pressures
continued to build reaching intolerable levels..  Finally, even her
changed motion could no longer control him and he exploded inside her.
When he did, the incredible sensations caused both of their nervous
systems to short out.  Both Susan and Rick lost consciousness, with
Susan just collapsing on top of him.

  Later they regained consciousness but remained the way they were.
The two giggled as they reached down to try to rescue some bedcovers
and finally recovered enough to cover and warm them both.  At that
point they went back to sleep with Rick's cock still inside her.  When
they awakened, they were still wrapped in each others arms.  Without
moving, Rick said, "I'm waiting for my answer."

  "What answer, Darling?" Sue replied.

  "If you will marry me," he explained.

  "But Darling, I gave you my answer, or at least my cunt did.  Of
course I will marry you.  Anytime at all."  Finally he withdrew and
they rolled on their backs.  Susan took his hand, placed it on her
favorite location cupping her tit, and with her hand on top very
lightly stroking the back of his.  In just moments they were both back
to sleep.

  When Rick next awakened he realized that the bed was empty.   Going
into the bathroom he showered and shaved, then put on a bathrobe and
went in search of Susan.  He found her in the kitchen naked, just
putting the finishing touches on a breakfast feast she had prepared.
When he came in she just stood up straight and put her shoulders back
to cause her tits to thrust upward.  Taking her into his arms, he
melted his lips to hers while he ran his fingers over the satin
smoothness that was her body.  Then holding her face between his hands
he whispered, "Susan Jennings, you are beyond belief.  You are so
beautiful, it's sinful!" Again they kissed and he could feel the love
just flowing between them.  When he saw that her eyes were shining
with tears, he asked her what was wrong.

  "Nothing, my Darling," she replied.  "I am just so happy I can't
stand it.  It almost hurts!  I love you so much I'm afraid my heart
will burst from sheer happiness."  Pushing him away she smiled warmly
and said, "On the other hand, I'm afraid you might think that I'm
trying to starve you.  Since I know firsthand how painful that can be,
I took steps.  I hope you're at least a little bit hungry."  When he
replied that he didn't want food, he just wanted her, Susan grinned
and said, "But, sir!  I am the dessert course."

  They spent an utterly delightful Christmas day.  At Susan's
insistence they got dressed and went to Mass.  As they walked toward
the nearby church, Rick realized it was the very first time he and
Susan had ever walked together.  With her long legs and naturally long
stride, she maintained his natural pace with ease.  In fact, it
appeared to be hers as well.  It was amusing to see the reaction of
people they passed on the street.  Both men and women were utterly
dazzled by Susan's incredible beauty, heightened today by the great
love she was feeling for Rick which made her more beautiful still.
For her part, she was utterly oblivious to the looks she was
receiving.  All she cared about was the man whose arm she was holding.
During the Mass at the point where the priest asks the congregation to
exchange a sign of peace, Susan turned towards Rick who had his hand
out.  Ignoring his hand, she rested her hand lightly behind his head,
cocked it slightly, and then kissed him with all the power she could
unleash.  Poor Rick almost passed out.  When she removed her lips she
continued to hold him until his eyes focused again.  Then she asked
innocently, "Was that peaceful enough?"

  Returning to the apartment, Rick discovered the electric trains and
spent most of the rest of the day playing with them.  He claimed it
was the greatest Christmas gift he had ever received since he was
eight years old.  "But, Darling," Susan protested, "they're mine, not
yours!"  Rick just grinned.

  Whenever she could pry him away from the toys, Susan took him into
the bedroom to make love.  Once, though, she just lay with her back on
the floor and her pelvis supported with a couple of pillows.   While
Rick continued to play with the trains, she eased his cock into her
cunt and murmured, "Now we can both play."

  Later Susan served the dinner she had planned in her mind for weeks.
Although she had originally intended to wear a beautiful dress she had
bought just for the occasion, she ended serving the dinner nude.  Rick
found he adored being able to look at her gorgeous tits with their
tiny pink nipples staring at him from across the table.

  Finally late that evening they were in bed together after the most
exquisite lovemaking of the day.  Susan had her head on his shoulder
and his hand was cupping her breast while they both regained their
breath.  Finally Rick said, "Sue, you didn't even ask me what I was
going to give you for Christmas.  Aren't you even interested?"  He
sounded like his feelings had been hurt.

  Susan was now sufficiently confident in his love that she teased
him.  "I am interested, Richard, but I am no longer speaking to you.
You stole my electric trains!"

  "If you're not speaking to me," Rick replied skeptically, "What was
that action a few minutes ago?"

  "That," she said with her nose in the air, "was my cunt."  Turning
her head to be able to look directly into his gray eyes she said, "And
I'm mad at you about that, too.  Before you came, Richard Jackson, my
cunt was a nice, sweet, petite size.  Now, in only twenty-four hours,
it's extra large.  You are stretching me completely out of shape!" She
sniffed and then returned to his original question.  "Regardless, I do
not talk with my cunt, I talk with my mouth.  And in spite of being
stretched out of shape, my poor cunt is on very warm, close, and
loving terms with your magnificent cock.  It feels utterly glorious,
even though I probably won't even be able to walk tomorrow."  With her
nose in the air, Susan sniffed loudly and continued, "Nevertheless,
you stole my electric trains!  I don't think I will ever speak to you
again.  They are the only electric trains I've ever had."

  Rick just grinned, slid towards the side of the bed and took a gaily
wrapped little box from the drawer in the night table.  Giving it to
Susan he said, "My darling, I am still speaking to you, and I have
something for you.  I hope you like it."  She opened the box and found
an utterly magnificent diamond engagement ring.  Slipping it on the
third finger of her left hand, it fitted perfectly.  Then he kissed
her passionately and asked, "Will you join me on a trip to Hawaii?  I
thought we might go out for New Year's and spend a month or so.
Interested?"

  "My darling," she replied softly, "I am interested in absolutely
anything as long as you are with me.  It sounds utterly divine."  Then
she pretended to glare at him again and added, "I'm still not sure I
forgive you for stealing my electric trains, though."


		Chapter 7


  The special Court of Inquiry convened on February 1 at the Federal
Court House in Los Angeles.  Vice Admiral Adams was annoyed to find
that the press was present in force.  This was beyond his experience
because first, military courts usually convene on military posts to
which civilians do not normally have access, and second, because there
is usually no civilian press interest at all.  After Adams called the
Court to order, the letters of appointment were read and the Law
Officer announced that the Court was in session.

  The first witness called was Lieutenant Commander Warren Judkins who
had served as trial counsel at Susan's trial.  The trial had been held
at the naval base at Subic Bay in the Philippines.  Susan's attorney,
Jack Smithson, began the questioning.  Each of the parties could be
represented by individual counsel and all were.  "Mr. Judkins,"
Smithson began,  "What were the charges and specifications under which
Miss Jennings was brought to trial?"

  "She was charged with consorting with the enemy," Judkins replied
proudly.  "Specifically, she used sex to obtain special favors while
held in the prison camp."

  "Who preferred the charges?" Smithson asked.

  "They were preferred by the other parties sitting over there,"
Judkins said.

  "Commander, who were the supporting witnesses?"

  Judkins looked surprised at the question.  "There weren't any.  It
wasn't necessary."

  "I see," Jack said thoughtfully, "Tell me, what was the physical
condition of the parties in this court?  How did their appearance then
compare to their appearance today?"

  "Well, Miss Jennings looks like she's gained a little weight,"
Judkins replied, "And the other three look like they have lost some."

  "So Miss Jennings was thinner at her court-martial four years ago,"
Jack continued.  "How much thinner?"

  "Oh, a lot," Judkins replied with some enthusiasm.  "Actually, you
see, she caused us a problem.  The accused has to appear in court in
uniform, and because she was so thin, they had to race around and have
one specially made for her.  There was no standard size small enough
to fit her.  That's around, sir," he explained.  "Not up and down."

  "I see," Jack continued.  "How much did Miss Jennings weigh at the
time?  You said she was very thin."

  "I think I remember hearing she weighed seventy-five or eighty
pounds.  Something around there."

  "Do you know how tall Miss Jennings is?" Smithson asked.   Turning
to Susan he asked her to stand.  She looked utterly magnificent as she
stood facing the court.  With her deep golden Hawaiian tan, coupled
with her perfect physical condition, she was an unbelievably beautiful
girl.

  "I guess she's five seven or eight   around there," Judkins replied.
Jack indicated for Susan to be seated again.

  Smithson had initially appeared to be almost bored with the
proceedings and Judkins replies to his questions.  Suddenly his
demeanor changed totally.  Now there was fire in his eyes as he said,
"Judkins, where is your brain?  You have just testified that the
charge against Miss Jennings was  consorting with the enemy' to obtain
special favors!  Then you tell the Court that a woman five feet eight
inches tall

 her correct height, by the way   weighed seventy-five to eighty
pounds.  Judkins, that is about twenty-five pounds or so below the
minimum weight for that height.  You then say that the complaining
witnesses were all heavier than they are now."  Barely able to control
the disdain in his voice, Smithson concluded, "I ask you, man, who
looked like they had been receiving special favors?  Miss Jennings or
the other parties?"

  "The others?" Judkins replied with the question mark obvious in his
voice.

  Jack was now disdainful.  "I am not testifying, Mr. Judkins.  You
are.  What do you think?"

  "The others did, sir," Judkins stated firmly.

  "Thank you, Mr. Judkins," Smithson said.  Then, changing the subject
he asked, "Is it not a part of the responsibility of the trial counsel
to ensure that the accused is capable of standing trial?  Of
participating in her own defense?"

  "Yes, sir, it is, although we don't pay much attention to it.  It
has sort of become a part of the defense counsel's job   at least it
was out at Subic," he replied.

  "And who was the defense counsel?" Jack asked.

  "I believe it was William Devers, sir."

  "What was Mr. Devers rank at the time?"

  "He was an ensign, sir.  I think he had been at Subic for about a
week when he received the appointment."

  "Did Mr. Devers raise a question about Miss Jennings' capacity to
stand trial?" Jack pursued.

  "Yes, sir, he did," Judkins answered.  It was obvious that he was
now becoming very nervous as the significance of his own testimony
sank in.

  "What did Mr. Devers say?" Jack asked.

  "He said that Miss Jennings had three untreated bullet wounds and
was suffering from extreme malnutrition.  He said he was unable to
interview her.  She just kept saying the same few words over and
over," he replied.

  "What were the words?" Jack asked.

  "She just kept saying,  He's dead,'" he replied.

  "As trial counsel representing the government, what did you do?"
Smithson asked.

  "I took it to the staff judge advocate and asked for an opinion," he
answered.

  "And what was his expressed opinion?"

  "He said it was the usual stall.  He pointed out that she was merely
a nurse lieutenant and there was testimony from both a colonel and a
major.  I was ordered to proceed with the trial.  Devers was ordered
to shut up or face court-martial himself for insubordinate conduct."
At the end of his statement Judkins was speaking slowly and softly as
the real meaning of his own words finally sank in.

  "Did you get a medical opinion, Mr. Judkins?" Jack pursued.

  "No, sir, I did not.  I was ordered not to by Commander Henderson,
the staff judge advocate.  He said we had to wrap up the trial quickly
because he had a pigeon in Colonel Black and he was going to take him
to the cleaners.  And he did, too," Judkins concluded.

  "You said,  take him to the cleaners.' What, exactly, do you mean?"

  "He   Commander Henderson   was going to take him on the golf
course.  And he did, too!  He took him for almost five bucks!"

  "In other words, Mr. Judkins, Miss Jennings was railroaded to allow
Commander Henderson to win less than five dollars from Colonel Black.
Her life wasn't worth five dollars?  Is that what you are saying, Mr.
Judkins?"  Jack Smithson, a very experienced trial lawyer and
court-martial specialist, was almost screaming.  He had never
encountered such inhumanity in his professional career.  Wheeling
around to address the court, Smithson requested that Judkins be named
as a party at interest.  Adams curtly nodded while Judkins turned
white.

  Smithson called Commander John Henderson as his next witness.
After being sworn, Smithson asked him about the Jennings trial.  The
officer, acting bored by the whole thing, claimed it was strictly
routine.   It was similar to dozens of other cases.  Jack asked him to
name a single similar case but he could not.  Then he asked if
Henderson had asked for and received any medical input.  The commander
could scarcely control a yawn when he replied that doctors were always
bleating about something.  Jack then asked about the bet and Henderson
said he had taken the colonel for almost five dollars.  "You mean to
tell me that a girl's life is worth less than five dollars?
Commander, what kind of man are you?"  It was all Smithson could do to
control the rage that was seething inside.

  Turning to Adams he said, "Admiral, I am formally requesting that
this court name Commander John Henderson as a party in this inquiry."

  Henderson suddenly went white as Admiral Adams, with scarcely a
glance at his fellow court members, immediately named Henderson as a
party at interest.  Henderson was not reassured when he looked into
the eyes of the members of the court.  All of their eyes were as cold
as death.  It was obvious that the Admiral and his fellow members were
utterly appalled at what they had heard that morning.

  Next, Jack called Dr. Oliver Wainwright, the physician at Subic Bay
who had examined Susan.  He testified that he had been forbidden "by
higher authority" to operate to remove the bullets from Susan's body.
He was ordered to prepare her to stand trial immediately.  Citing
professional ethics and The Uniform Code of Military Justice,
Wainwright had refused.  Jack asked the doctor about Susan's physical
condition at the time.  He replied that she weighed seventy-two pounds
and was suffering from extreme malnutrition.  In addition, she had
severe lacerations front and back that he was also forbidden to treat.
Finally, there were the new bullet wounds.  All he was allowed to do
was the bandage them while the bullets remained in her body.  His
commanding officer, Captain Warren Holmes, had taken over the case.
Wainwright had resigned his commission as a result of the Jennings
incident.

  Captain Holmes was then called as a witness.  When Jack asked him if
he had examined Miss Jennings, he replied that he had not.  Jack then
asked how he could possibly refuse permission for Dr. Wainwright to
operate.  Holmes said that Black was a friend of a friend and told him
that Jennings was a malingerer.  That was the basis for his action.
"In other words, Captain, you took the work of a friend of a friend
who is not even a physician, by the way   in preference to the word of
a doctor on your own staff who had examined and was treating Miss
Jennings."

  "But Wainwright was only a reserve officer," Holmes protested.
"What could he possibly know?" 

  Holmes, too, was immediately named a party to the court.  Hearing
the Admiral, Holmes suddenly went as white as a sheet and glared at
General Black.

  When Admiral Adams recessed the court for lunch, Susan met Rick at
the back of the courtroom.  Pulling his head down to hers, she melted
her lips against his and then began to work her tongue into his mouth.
Again there was a jolt of electricity and the beautiful bells.
"Hello, future husband," she whispered, as she supported herself with
her arms around his neck.  As usual, her knees had been turned to
water by their kiss and Susan was not sure her legs would even support
her weight.

  "Boy, do you ever lose on that deal, lady," Rick replied with a
grin.  "You get a beat-up, shot-up, ex-Marine for a husband, while I
get the world's most beautiful woman as my wife."  Pulling her body
close to his, he could hear the wonderfully warm and happy sounds
Susan always made deep in her body whenever her body was being crushed
to his.  While she mashed her tits against his broad chest, she moved
her pelvis against his private parts that were vainly trying to become
erect in spite of being trapped in his shorts.  Lifting her chin up he
kissed her softly again and again their love for each other just
flowed between them.  "How do you feel, Darling?" he asked.  "I guess
I have to be appalled.  About the only guy who is looking good is
Wainwright, but I sure wish he had been able to blow the whistle on
the rest of these creeps.  I suppose that's asking too much, though."

  They met Jack Smithson and went to a nearby restaurant.  Susan shook
her head sadly and said, "The thing that makes me so mad is to think
that I spent four years in misery for less than five dollars.  Jack,
you're experienced in this sort of thing.  What happens now?  And
what's likely to happen to these people?"

  "There are going to be a stack of courts-martial coming out of this
one, Susan," he replied.  "Their answers are utterly appalling.  I
think you probably could see that at least a couple of members of the
court were physically sickened by what they had been hearing.  I think
I'll jump back to Vietnam this afternoon.  My plan is to start with
Ginny Cameron, follow with a number of ex-prisoners, and then close
with your testimony.  I guess you will be testifying in a few days."
With a little smile he asked, "How does that sound to you?"

  "It sounds okay to me, Jack," she replied.  "But, Rick, I have shown
terribly poor judgment where it comes to taking care of myself over
the last few years, so what do you think?"

  "Honey, I think the whole thing is coming apart on them," Rick
answered.  "I agree with Jack.  Your case couldn't have started out
any better.  Already it has been established that you were seriously
wounded, cut up, and down to only seventy-two pounds, for chrissakes.
Their big problem was getting you into a uniform.  It has been
established that you were seriously wounded and no one did anything.
Finally, by Judkins own admission, you could not assist in your own
defense.  Taken together, the testimony so far is utterly disastrous
for the others, particularly Black's Navy friends at Subic.  A number
of careers are going to crater on this one, and some people are headed
for prison.  But I think a great many other people are going to have a
hard time living with themselves when they realize the significance of
what they have done, or allowed to be done."

  Back at the courtroom, when the court was called back into session,
Jack asked for Virginia Cameron to be called to testify.  After she
was sworn and took her seat, Jack began his questioning.  "Miss
Cameron, when, where, and under what conditions did you first meet
Susan Jennings?"  Ginny told how she had been a first lieutenant in
the army and the circumstances of her capture.  She explained in
detail how the camp operated   the grossly inadequate rations, the
trading of clothing and then sexual favors for enough food to survive
on.  She told how initially she had been unwilling to make such a
trade.  By the time she realized she was headed for death from
starvation, she no longer had a body to trade with.  She first met
Susan after she had been a prisoner of war for over a year.

  "Miss Cameron," Jack asked, "What was your physical condition on the
day you met Miss Jennings?"

  "I was dying of starvation," Ginny said flatly.  "I would have been
dead in a matter of hours, had it not been for Susan."

  General Black's lawyer was on his feet at that point.  "I object!"
he exclaimed.  "That is an uninformed conclusion of the witness.  She
has no basis for making such a statement."

  Jack told the court that the medical basis would be established by
subsequent medical testimony.  He pointed out that at the time of her
rescue Virginia Cameron weighed only seventy-one pounds.  He was
allowed to continue the questioning subject to it being stricken if
the basis for it were not established later.  He continued, "What did
Miss Jennings do that first time you met?"

  "She gave me   or, more accurately, fed me   a nutrition bar from a
Red Cross food parcel.  I told her she shouldn't.  I had made what was
by then an obviously poor choice and I would have to die with it."
Holding her head up straight, there were tears flowing from her eyes
as she concluded, "Susan Jennings forced me to go on living!"

  "Miss Cameron, did you know Colonel Black, Major Simon, or Captain
Harrison at that time?" Smithson asked.

  "Yes, I did.  More accurately, I knew of them.  They were never in
the camp itself.  They lived outside the wire.  I hated them all, and
I still do," she said flatly.

  "Why is that?" Jack asked.

  "Colonel Black   now General Black   was the senior POW officer.  In
that capacity he had the responsibility to try to obtain humane
treatment for the prisoners.  As far as any of us could see, he did
nothing!  The only person who did anything   and she did more than
everyone else combined   was Susan Jennings."

  "Would you please tell the court about the events of the last day
you spent in the prison camp?  The last time you saw Miss Jennings in
Vietnam?" Jack asked.

  First, Ginny told about the guard preparing to lash her with his
bullwhip and how Susan had shielded her body with her own and had been
cut to pieces.  Finally, she told how she had been given the shirt off
Susan's back when she was about to be crucified.

  At this point Admiral Adams interrupted.  "Miss Cameron, really!
This is a Court of Inquiry, not a court-martial.  As a result, a
broader latitude for questioning is permitted, but there are some
limits.  This is clearly beyond those bounds!"  Shaking his head he
concluded, "Crucifixion, indeed!"

  "You heard me correctly, Admiral!" Ginny exclaimed with green flame
flashing from her eyes.  "Crucifixion!  As in being hung on a cross
until dead.  I saw her put on it, and I watched her hanging from it
while slowly dying, all day long.  Neither I, nor any of the other
prisoners, could do a thing to help the girl who had saved so many of
our lives.  Another witness will testify that he cut her down from the
cross, thinking he was recovering a corpse.  You heard me correctly,
Admiral: crucifixion!"

  "But Miss Cameron," the admiral protested, "This is ridiculous!
There are rules.  There is the Geneva Convention."

  "That is correct, Admiral," Ginny responded.  Then with the green
fire again in her eyes, she glared at him and asked, "Does the
Convention permit starving prisoners?  Does it permit slicing them to
ribbons with a bullwhip?  Does it require them to sell their bodies to
get Red Cross   yes, Admiral, Red Cross   medical supplies for dying
prisoners?  Does it Admiral?"  By this time Ginny had nearly lost
control and was screaming.

  Adams called for order as attorneys for the three parties from the
prison camp   Black, Simon, and Harrison   all objected.  Jack
Smithson waited for the uproar in the court to die down.  When it
finally did he asked for and received permission to excuse Miss
Cameron in order to call other witnesses to testify on the same
points.

  One after the other, the witnesses Rick had located were called to
the stand.  The testimony ran through the afternoon and continued for
the next three days.  It was obvious that the court members were being
sickened by it.  Perhaps the most memorable testimony was given by
Donald Clinton, formerly a sergeant in the Marines.  After being sworn
and taking his seat, Jack Smithson asked, "Mr. Clinton, did you know
Miss Jennings in Vietnam?  If so, when, where, and under what
circumstances did you meet her?"

  Clinton was a big man, standing six feet three and weighing 220
pounds.  He had brown hair and warm brown eyes.  "I met Miss Jennings
when I was a prisoner in the same POW camp where she was kept.  She
saved my life," he said simply.

  "Would you please tell the court how she did it," Jack asked.

  "Yes, sir, gladly!" Clinton replied.  "You see, sir, I had been
wounded before being captured.  There was an infection that was
killing me.  The only way to handle it was with antibiotics, but, of
course, there were none available for the prisoners."  Tears came to
the corners of his eyes as he continued, "Miss Jennings learned about
me.  She offered her body for antibiotics.  But to punish me, they
made me watch."

  Turning to the Admiral he said, "Sir, can you imagine?  I am laying
on the bare ground beside Miss Jennings.  The first guy comes up and
she extends her hand.  After he gives her the medicine, she spreads
her legs wide and welcomes him inside.  This repeats for three more.
Each time she received the antibiotics first.  Each time while they
are taking her she is holding my hand and squeezing it.  When they are
finished, with their cum still dripping from her vagina, she takes the
antibiotic and gives me the first injection."  At that point Clinton
lost control.  "Can you believe it?  While she is injecting the
lifesaving medicine she's apologizing to me for being so morally
filthy.  She wouldn't have even touched me except there was no one
else who knew how to administer the medication.  Can you believe it?
She saves my life, and then apologizes!"

  Leaving the witness stand, he went to where Susan was sitting, knelt
down on the floor, took her hands and kissed them.  While he was on
his knees, a lovely woman with twin girls about seven years old joined
them.  Clinton had his head on Susan's lap, unable to control his
tears.  One of the little girls   they were identical twins with
gorgeous blonde hair and blue eyes   said, "Good afternoon, Miss
Jennings.   My name is Cathy Clinton, and this is my twin sister,
Christine.  We want to thank you for saving our daddy's life.  If it
hadn't been for you, he would not have come back alive.  And since our
mommy loves Daddy so much, if he had died, we are sure she would have
died very soon, too.  So you see, Miss Jennings, you saved four lives,
not just one."  Looking into Susan's beautiful eyes she said, "Could I
give you a kiss?  Please?"

  In the meantime the woman had helped Clinton to his feet.  Susan
reached out her arms and took both of the little girls in her arms
together and then melted her lips against theirs.  When they finally
parted each girl was sitting on one of Susan's legs while facing the
other.  Chris Clinton said, "Sister, Miss Jennings is a saint.  No
human could possibly kiss like she does.  Her kiss is just pure love,
grace, and goodness.  She is a saint!"

  "No, sister, she is not," Cathy replied.  "She is one of God's
angel's come down to earth.  Not even a saint could be as pure, and
sweet, and wonderful as she is.  She is an angel!  Did you look into
her eyes?  All you can see is purity and love."  Her sister thought
for a moment and finally agreed.  Susan was an angel.  Susan just
hugged them both tightly, kissed them again, and then very gently set
them back on their feet.  The two little girls were utterly glowing
with joy.

  At that point their mother, Claire Clinton, gave Susan a check.
Susan almost choked when she saw that the check was for more than one
million dollars.  "What is this!?" she exclaimed.

  "It's your dividend check, Miss Jennings," Claire replied.  "You
see, Don has been very successful since he was discharged from the
Marines.  Since none of us would even be alive if it had not been for
you   my daughter was correct, I'm afraid   Don and I have given you
one-third of the shares in our corporation.  This is just your
dividend check for the last two-and-a-half years."  Although Susan
tried to resist, the Clintons would not hear of it.  She still had
their check in her hand when they left.  Jack Smithson said nothing.
He just looked at the members of the court who were all in a state of
near shock.

  More witnesses were called to testify.  Several of them had to be
forcibly restrained from attacking the former senior camp officers.
Finally Jack addressed the court and said, "Gentlemen, I have here a
list of seventy-three additional witnesses who are prepared to testify
similarly.  Admiral, you did not believe Susan Jennings could have
been crucified.  There are thirty-five more witnesses who will say
that she was and testify that they saw her dying on that cross all day
long.  Of course, the testimony is highly repetitive."  With a
deprecating little smile he asked, "It may be presumptuous of me, but
may I ask the Court if it needs to hear any additional witnesses
testify to the pattern of prisoner abuse?"

  Adams looked at his colleagues on the court.  All were senior
officers with extensive combat experience.  All looked ill.  Every
officer shook his head, no.  "Mr. Smithson," the admiral replied, "You
have made your point.  Do you wish to recall Miss Cameron at this
time?"

  "No, sir," Smithson responded.  "Before I do that I would like to
introduce testimony on her physical condition at the time she was
liberated and testimony bearing on her starvation.  I would like to
call the senior medical officer who examined the freed prisoners when
they were returned to Saigon, Lt. Col.  Douglas Evans."

  Colonel Evans was called and sworn.  Jack asked him about the
general condition of the repatriated prisoners.  His reply was that,
with three exceptions, all were emaciated.  He took out a table from
his pocket and said that, based on the time of imprisonment compared
to estimated weight at the time of capture, the prisoners were losing
five to ten pounds per month of captivity.

  "Doctor, you said there were three exceptions.  Who were they, and
in what way was their condition exceptional?" Jack asked.

  "The exceptions were the three people sitting over there: General
Black, Colonel Simon, and Major Harrison.  They were all, to a
significant degree, overweight.  There was one other factor.  Those
three were quite pale.  The fact stood out because all of the other
ex-prisoners were sunburned.  If their skin tanned, they were burned
nearly black.  If it did not they were severely sun blistered.
Several required lengthy hospitalization for burn treatment."

  "Doctor," Smithson asked, "Did you examine Lt. Virginia Cameron?"

  "Yes, sir, I did," he replied.

  "What did you find?"

  Consulting his notes Evans said, "Miss Cameron weighed seventy-one
pounds when she returned to Saigon.  Her normal weight is in the 115
to 120 pound range, and it could be more."

  "Doctor, did you inquire about her condition?  And how was her
morale?"

  "Her morale was incredibly good," he replied.  "She had a single
all-consuming interest: the whereabouts of Lieutenant Susan Jennings.
She told me how Susan had  fattened her up'   her words, sir.  Her
physical condition, though, was appalling.  She said that she had
gained perhaps five pounds in the few months prior to her rescue and
there were medical signs that supported her statement.  If it was so,
however, I find it hard to believe that she remained alive."

  After questioning Evans about his education and professional
qualifications to establish him as an expert witness, he asked,
"Doctor, in your professional opinion what would Miss Cameron's
condition have been had she weighed five pounds less   or sixty-six
pounds?"

  "She would have been dead, sir.  Or so close to it, it wouldn't make
any difference.  The short answer is that she would have been dying.
Death would have been a matter of minutes   at most a few hours
away," he replied.

  "Thank you, Doctor," Jack said.  "There is just one more question.
I show you a uniform shirt and ask if you recognize it?"

  "Yes, sir, I do," Evans replied.  "It is the shirt Miss Cameron was
wearing when she was returned to Saigon.  I remember the
identification, JENNINGS, marked inside the collar."

  "Doctor have you seen this shirt since that day in Saigon?"

  "Yes, sir, I did.  "I saw it again a few weeks ago when you brought
it to me.  You asked me to have tests run on some stains that I had
not noticed before."

  "Doctor Evans, did you have the tests run, and, if so, what did you
learn?"

  "The tests were run, sir.  These stains   he showed the inside of
the shirt to the members of the court   are human blood.  It has been
tested by the FBI laboratory in Washington.  There is a positive match
and a positive identification.  The blood is Susan Jennings'.  The lab
dated the stains to a period of time centered on the date of the
prisoners' release."

  "Thank you, Doctor.  Are there any other questions?" Jack asked.

  A member of the court asked, "Doctor, is there any doubt about this
identification?  What is the chance for error?"

  "Essentially none, sir," the doctor testified.  "The FBI lab is
certain the blood is Miss Jennings'."

  Next, Jack recalled Ginny to the stand.  She testified how, while
Susan was being whipped while shielding her body, she was aware of
blood dripping onto her body from Susan's lacerated back.  "I didn't
realize until a short time ago that the shirt had mopped up the blood
that dripped from Susan onto me."

  "It has come out in previous testimony that you weighed seventy-one
pounds at the time of your rescue.  Could you describe for the court
you appearance at that time?"

  "I can do a lot better than that," Ginny replied with a little
smile.   "Photographs were taken of me at the time and I have copies
with me." She produced a set which were labeled for identification and
then accepted into evidence.  "If the court wishes," she continued, "I
am willing to strip here now so the members can see the difference in
my appearance, then to now."

  The pictures were passed from hand to hand among the court members.
Jack could see the looks of revulsion as the officers saw the pictures
of Ginny as just skin and bones.  Jack asked if there were any other
questions.

  After checking with the other members, Adams shook his head.   Then
he said, "Thank you, Miss Cameron.  On behalf of the court, I want to
thank you for coming in to testify.  I also want to express our
pleasure that you have recovered so well from your experience.  There
is just one more thing: When did you next see Miss Jennings?"

  "I saw her early last year, sir.  Mr. Jackson brought her to my
home."

  "What was her condition at that time?" the admiral asked.

  "There will be medical testimony on that point later.  However, she
weighed eighty-five pounds.  She was still heavily scarred from the
whipping years earlier.  And she was the person who save my life and
almost lost hers in the process.  She was abandoned on the streets!"
Ginny wailed.

  Witness followed witness.  Mike Chapman testified and introduced the
photographs of Susan taken at Ginny's by the press photographer.   The
pictures clearly showed both the lacerations and the bullet wounds.
He stressed that it was over four years after the event.  John Roberts
told of the operation to remove the bullets form Susan's body and how
the bullet removal had been greatly complicated by the length of time
they had been allowed to remain there.  Finally, he stressed in his
testimony the continual excruciating pain Susan had been living with
because of the bullets' presence.

  Finally Jack called Rick Jackson.  After being sworn, he testified
that, as a Marine major, he had been in command of the Ranger unit
assigned to free the prisoners in the POW camp that reconnaissance had
finally located.  He described how he cut Susan free from the cross
and carried her to the cave.  He told how he had been hit in the leg
during the escape, and then how, in spite of her appalling physical
condition she had operated and removed the slug.  Then he told how
Susan had mined the bridge and the approaches to their cave, located
their other defenses, and then how she had fought off repeated
attacks.   Finally he was excused.

  The next witness was Marine Senior Master Gunnery Sergeant Horace
Brown.  Brown was now serving in the commandant's office as the senior
noncommissioned officer (NCO) in the Marine Corps.  He had been the
senior NCO on the raid to free the prisoners and later on the pickup
mission.  He was the man who had carried Susan to the helicopter.
"Sergeant," Jack Smithson said, "Would you please tell the court in
your own words what you saw on the mission to pick up Major Jackson
and Miss Jennings?"

  "Yes, sir," Brown began.  "We came in low in the choppers, in from
behind the hill in which the cave was located.  As we cleared the
ridge, a person came charging out of the cave and attacked the enemy
massing further down the hill for a final assault on the cave.  But
she hit them first.  She   it was Miss Jennings, of course, sir   hit
them with an Armalite and grenades.  By the time we got on the ground
it was all over.  The enemy were all dead."

  "Did you count the enemy casualties?" Smithson asked.

  "Yes, sir, we did," he replied.  "There were seventy-seven enemy
dead at the location of her firefight.  Then there were lots of other
casualties all over the place.  She had emplaced a light machine gun
at the mouth of the cave that did a lot of damage.  Then there was the
characteristic pattern of exploding Claymores that took out a bunch
more.  I reached Miss Jennings as she started to collapse.  The right
side of the combat jacket she was wearing was just soaked with her
blood.  She was losing consciousness, but I could hear her say,  Get
Rick's body.  It's in the cave.' A couple of my men went to retrieve
the body, but then we found he was still alive.  Anyway, we bailed out
as fast as we could to get them both back to medical care.  After all,
sir, our primary mission was to get them out, not waste time counting
bodies.  So we did."

  "What happened to Miss Jennings when you got back to Saigon?" Jack
asked.

  "She was rushed off in an ambulance.  We thought she was being
rushed to the hospital.  It's certainly where they should have taken
her." Brown shook his head like a bear and continued, "I expected to
be a part of a big award ceremony for her, sir.  We never saw or heard
of anything like what she did that day."

  Looking over at Susan he smiled and said, "Miss Jennings, I guess
I'm not supposed to say this, but over the last few weeks I have heard
from almost all of the men who were with me that day on the pickup
mission.  They all asked me to give you our very best wishes, and to
express their pleasure that you look so good now."  In spite of his
dark complexion, everyone in the court could see Horace Brown blushing
as he added, "And, Miss, begging your pardon, convey our love."  Brown
was a very big man   nearly six fee four inches tall and weighing 245
pounds.  He joked about his name, claiming that it should be Black
because he was as black as the ace of spades.

  "Aside from her wounds, what sort of condition was Miss Jennings
in?" Smithson asked.

  "She was emaciated, sir.  I swear, she didn't weigh much more than
one of our combat packs.  I didn't realize how light she was and
almost threw her into the air."

  Taking a chance with the court, Smithson asked, "Sergeant Brown, are
you a good judge of weight?"

  "I think so, sir," was the reply.

  "Then, Sergeant, would you be willing to pick up Miss Jennings now
and estimate her weight?"  Brown looked at the admiral who looked back
and forth at his colleagues.  Then he shrugged and indicated it was
all right.  Brown got up from the witness chair and went to where
Susan was sitting.  She rose and smiled at him.  Then he picked her up
effortlessly in his arms.  It was so effortless, he even bounced her a
little.  Then Susan wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, "I
never had the chance before, Sergeant.  Thank you for saving my life."
Then she melted her lips against his.  The power of her kiss almost
caused the huge man to fall over.

  Brown put Susan back on the floor, handling her as if she were made
of the finest china.  Then he just ran his fingers over his lips and
stared at her.  He put out his hand, Susan took it firmly and looked
up at him.  "Miss Jennings," he said, "Thank you for coming back to
us.   And I'm so happy you're looking so well.  You are the most
beautiful woman in the whole world!"  Brown returned to the witness
chair.

  "How much do you think Miss Jennings weighs now?" Jack asked.

  "Well, sir, she is in utterly perfect condition now!  I would
estimate about forty pounds heavier than she did then   between 110
and 115.   I would estimate 112."

  Susan grinned at him and said, "It was 112 this morning   but that
was before lunch."  Brown was excused and Jack proceeded with his
presentation.

  Stacks of signed forms from the Red Cross were introduced in
evidence.  They were forms certifying receipt and distribution to the
prisoners of various parcels that had been flowing to the prison camp
in an uninterrupted stream.  All were certified by Black with either
Simon or Harrison concurring.

  Finally he called Susan to the stand.  She told of meeting Ginny and
other events in the camp.  Then Jack brought the questioning around to
the court-martial charges.  "Miss Jennings, you were found guilty by a
General Court-martial of  consorting with the enemy.' Did you ever
have sexual relations with the guards?"

  "Yes, sir, I did," Susan held her head up straight and said quietly.
"I did it frequently."

  "For what purpose?"

  "Usually to obtain medical supplies.  Sometimes it was for food,"
she replied calmly.

  "Mr. Clinton was made to watch while you had sex with the guards to
obtain his medicine.  Was that a common occurrence?"

  "For the last half of my stay it was," Susan said calmly.  "One of
the guards said it was Judith Harrison's idea.  She wanted all the
prisoners to be able to see my filthy cunt."  If anything, she held
her head up even higher as she continued, "I believe it backfired,
though.   Mostly, I could see the men crying as they realized what I
was doing.   And in spite of my filth, mostly they wanted to kiss me
to thank me," she said.

  "How much did you weigh when you were taken prisoner?" Smithson
asked.

  "I'm not sure, sir.  I guess between 115 and 120.  That was my
normal weight range at the time."

  "Therefore, Miss Jennings, you were convicted of  consorting with
the enemy' to obtain preferential treatment.  Yet when you were
rescued you weighed seventy-two pounds, a loss of at least forty.
Moreover, your body was cut to ribbons and you carried three bullets
in your body.  In your opinion, Miss Jennings, is this preferential
treatment?" Susan just shook her head.  "What do you remember of your
court-martial?" he asked quietly.

  "Nothing at all, sir," she replied.  "I was not aware of anything.
I guess it was a year or so afterward that I learned it had happened."
At that point Admiral Adams abruptly adjourned the court.  While the
rest of the people left, he asked his fellow court members to stay for
a few minutes.

		  * * *

  The next morning when Admiral Adams called the court to order, Jack
prepared to resume his examination of Susan.  Instead, the admiral
held his hand up in a signal to stop.  "Mr. Smithson," he said, "We
would like to interrupt these proceedings."  Turning to the others he
said, "General Black, do you, Colonel Simon, or Major Harrison, have
anything you would like to say to this court?  If you do, this is your
opportunity.  However, it is my duty to warn you now that anything you
say may later be used against you in court-martial proceedings.  Do
you understand?"

  Black looked thoroughly defeated.  He looked at his partners, then
told the court that he understood his rights and declined to make a
statement.

  After asking the other parties if there was anything they wished to
add to their testimony and receiving negative replies, Adams looked at
his colleagues and received an affirmative nod from each of them.
Then looking at Jack he said, "Mr. Smithson, thank you for your
excellent presentation and for all the help you have provided to this
court.  We have heard enough.

  "It is the finding of this Court of Inquiry that Brigadier General
Homer Black, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Simon, and Major Judith
Harrison be held for trial by General Court-martial.  There will be an
array of charges beginning with consorting with the enemy and
including the attempted murder of Lieutenant Susan Jennings, U.S. Navy
Nurse Corps and First Lieutenant Virginia Cameron, U.S. Army, retired.
General Court-martial charges will also be brought against Lieutenant
Commander Warren Judkins for dereliction of duty, obstruction of
justice, and attempted murder.  Similar charges will be filed against
Commander John Henderson, along with a few more.  Similarly, charges
will be brought against the then-Medical Director of the Naval
Hospital at Subic Bay, Captain Warren Holmes.

  "This brings us to Lieutenant Susan Jennings.  It is the unanimous
finding of this court that Miss Jennings' conduct was exemplary.  But
words fail the court.  Exemplary means, according to a dictionary we
consulted last night,  worthy of imitation, commendable.'  That
definition does not do it!  It does not fit the circumstances of Miss
Jennings' actions.  One cannot expect anyone to sacrifice her life for
others, and yet that is exactly what Miss Jennings did.  Dozens of
witnesses listed hundreds of vivid examples of her doing just that.
We can only stand in awe.

  "Then there is the episode at the cave and her attack on the enemy
forces.  Standing alone, it is worthy of the highest honors this
nation can bestow.  Taken with the other events, and coupled with her
ruined physical condition, words fail us.  They are totally inadequate
to the task.

  "Finally, there is the disgraceful series of events including the
court-martial and its aftermath.  We can only accept it for what it
is: a nation's utter disgrace!  We have already named several people
who will await trial by courts martial.  There will be more:  The
people who prevented you from being treated, and those who prevented
you from getting any kind of job.  The people who so obviously wanted
you dead, buried, and forgotten.  I promise you, we will bring them to
justice."

  Sitting up as straight as he could, Adams continued, "The findings
and sentence of the Subic Bay court-martial are hereby set aside.  The
court will urge that a Presidential pardon be immediately given to
Miss Jennings.  You are hereby immediately reinstated in your former
rank with all back pay and allowances to the time of that
court-martial.  We can only offer our deepest personal and
professional apologies to you for the incredible pain you have been
made to suffer for so long.

  "Finally, Susan, we humbly beg you to forgive us for what has been
done to you.  We cannot ask.  We have no right even to mention it.
And most certainly, you should never forgive us."  Adams looked into
her brilliant blue eyes and smiled.  "We believe you will, though.
You should not, but you will.  Why?  Because of the person you are: A
person who cheerfully sacrifices her life for others.  Miss Cameron

 who, as Marcia Matthews has achieved brilliant and well-deserved
success in the films   said it best:  Greater love hath no man than he
who lays down his life for a friend.'  She is right, of course.  Susan
Jennings, on behalf of myself, the fellow members of this court, and
the people of the United States of America, I can only say humbly,
thank you."  Tears were streaming from his eyes and it was all he
could do to say, "This court is adjourned."

  Tears were streaming down Susan's cheeks as she was mobbed at her
table by well-wishers.  Finally she was able to get free.  Going up to
the court she thanked each member individually.  In each case the
officer blushed.  Finishing with Admiral Adams, she said, "Thank you,
Admiral.  I cannot thank you enough."

  Adams looked at her and just shook his head.  "Susan, you are doing
exactly what I expected you to do.  However, my dear, there is one
more thing.  You can sue the government for millions of dollars, and
you should.  What happened to you was truly a national disgrace.   You
suffered to a degree and in ways that are utterly barbaric."  He
smiled warmly and continued, "Now you are the most beautiful woman any
of us have ever seen.  You are utterly exquisite.  I want to wish you
every possible happiness   happiness few people have ever so richly
deserved."

  When she kissed him full on the lips, Adams almost fell over from
the incredible power of Susan's love.


		 Epilogue


  Susan Jennings was standing on the reviewing stand at the U.S.
Naval Base at San Diego.  The stand was draped in bunting and faced
with the seal of the President of the United States.  Wearing her new
white dress uniform as a Commander in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps, she
looked gorgeous with her glowing tan, golden hair, and brilliant blue
eyes.  The President had just awarded her the Purple Heart.  Then he
smiled at her and addressed the crowd.  "Ladies and gentlemen, we are
her today for a unique event.  The rarest award for valor in our armed
forces is the Medal of Honor.  It is the highest award for bravery in
combat our nation can bestow.  In modern times a tiny handful of
people have received it twice.  Never in our entire history had anyone
received two of these medals at once.

  "History is being made here today.  It gives me great pleasure to
award to Commander Susan Jennings, U.S. Navy Nurse Corps, retired, two
Medals of Honor.  The first is for her work in a prisoner-of-war camp
in which she saved the lives of hundreds of her fellow prisoners with
a total disregard for her own.  Facing me this morning are over 300
people who were her fellow prisoners in Vietnam.  They have come here
on their own to pay tribute to the woman to whom they owe their very
lives.  There is nothing more I can say.  The second medal is for
bravery and gallantry in action against the enemy in which, again with
a total disregard for her own life, she singlehandedly attacked and
wiped out an enemy force of seventy-seven men.  Commander Jennings,
please step forward!" He hung the two medals around her neck side by
side.  Then he took her in his arms and kissed her on the cheek
whispering, "Susan, I read the entire transcript of the trial.  I can
only pray that you have many children and just a tiny bit of their
mother's incredible courage rubs off on each of them.  Thank you."

  The band struck up and the command was given to pass in review.
Susan saw the first detachment was from the Marines.  Tears flowed
down her cheeks as she realized it was commanded by Rick, back in
uniform for the day.  His chest was also shining with medals,
including the Navy Cross.  In the first sergeant's position was Horace
Brown who gave her the most impressive salute she had ever seen.  Then
she was stunned to realize that the navy contingent was being
personally commanded by Vice Admiral Charles Adams.  Tears started to
stream down her cheeks as she realized the extent of this personal
tribute.

  Finally, it was over.  She met Rick Jackson who was with Sergeant
Brown.  When she came up to them, Brown again gave her a meticulous
salute to convey the depth of his respect for her.  She teased them by
saying it was a good thing they were together, because all she had to
do was look for the biggest person present and there the sergeant was.
After giving Rick a very warm kiss, she said with a big grin, "Guess
what?"

  "What?" he responded, returning the grin.  "Except that the
Commander looks absolutely gorgeous   and, of course, now outranks
me."

  "I just got my check," she said.  "The President brought it out with
him.  Apparently they backdated a couple of promotions so I got over
$200,000.  Now, along with the Clinton money, I can even afford a
wedding dress.  But Darling, are you sure you still want to marry me?"

  "Are you kidding?" Rick asked incredulously.  "Wait 'til I get you
home!  Damned right I'm sure."