He was not surprised that Taiwan too had been able to place a top spy in China 's military operations. What stunned him, though ... he picked up and opened the folder again.... her face was still there. Sun Li. Captain Sun Li. His top aide.

General Chin laughed. Had he just in his mind described Sun as his top aide? Well, that was accurate. She had worked for him now for nearly two years. Of course, she had also shared his bed for the past six months. What would she say if she heard him describe her as his "top aide" after he had explored virtually every inch of her creamy body?

The General opened his top desk drawer and took out the small box. He had told Sun that he would pick her up at eight and had a big surprise for her. He opened the box and stared at the ring inside. What a fool ...

Some things now were so much clearer. He had wondered why an attractive woman 15 years his junior had been so interested in him. It was Sun who had made the first moves to turn their relationship into more than that of a ... general and top aide. He thought that she was attracted to him because of his powerful position as China 's top military officer, a position that he was proud to have obtained two years ago at the age of 39. But she convinced him that there was much more, that one could not analyze why people were physically and emotionally attracted to others.

But he had been right, after all. Not because Sun wanted to associate herself with power, but because she wanted to destroy it. After all, he was the most ardent advocate of immediate invasion of Taiwan to restore it to the rightful Chinese government.

Well, he would have a surprise for her tonight after all. Just not the surprise that he had originally planned.

General Chin picked up the phone. He had a few changes to make for the evening's "festivities."

General Hong was still in his office at the end of the day, and answered on the first ring. Yes, he had just seen a copy of the file within the last 15 minutes. Although he was as startled as General Chin to learn of Sun Li's betrayal, he could not tell this to Chin, a superior officer, since it would make him appear foolish -- almost as foolish as Chin himself, he thought. Nor could Hong suggest that Chin had been careless in dallying with such a person. So he just listened.

Chin asked Hong what plans he had for that evening. Hong replied that he and his girlfriend, Mei, were planning a quiet evening at her apartment. Chin told Hong that he would pick them up at Mei's apartment just after eight, and that the three of them would take Sun to the "armory" on the outskirts of town to take care of the situation. Hong understood. The armory. General Chin was not a happy man. It was unfortunate that he had to bring Mei into this. But he understood that it would look suspicious if it were just Sun and the two Generals. This way, she would have no idea, he thought, until it was much too late. The four of them had gone out together before. Hong and Mei would simply be part of the "surprise" that Chin had promised her.

* * * * *

7:45 p.m. Sun Li readied herself for her evening. The General had told to wear her finest black dress. He had something special in store. She thought she knew what it was, and she realized that she had to accept an engagement proposal to keep her contact with him. Then she would try to forestall any wedding for as long as possible. Or maybe she would have no choice but to go through with the marriage. For her country.

Things could be worse for her, she thought. He wasn't an unattractive man. He was decent in bed, although she was repelled by his desire to penetrate her anally, and had refused his efforts to change her mind. She shuddered when she thought about the time that she thought that she heard other officers talking about her and the General. Had he not been discrete?

The perks were certainly nice. Riding to most places in a limousine. Eating at the finest places. Having the sexiest western underwear. [See SunLiUnder pic] And this was supposed to be a country that treated all its citizens equally. She laughed. Espoused theory and practice were two different things. Which was one reason she found her work rewarding. She would help keep this illegitimate country in its place, which, mainly, was out of her beloved country.

She finished dressing by putting on a garter and stockings, which she seldom wore. She put on her heels, took a long cigarette holder out of her purse, lit it and stared at herself in the mirror. [See SunLi Dress pic] Damn, she sure looked like a spy, she thought. But she hoped that Chin just saw her as an attractive woman. The doorbell rang. She put out the cigarette. It was showtime.

"Ravishing. Simply ravishing, my dear." Chin kissed her hard on the mouth. He was not always this generous in his praise. He looked, well, he looked as he always looked in his uniform.

Outside, she was not surprised to see the limousine, and paid no attention to the driver who opened the door for her and the General. As they drove off, she noticed that the window separating the driver's compartment was already raised. The car had barely moved when the General was on top of her. "This is going to be a very special night. Let's start it off right." So passionate, she thought. He really was going to ask her to marry him.

His hands were quickly under her dress, raising it to allow him to slid the crotch of her panties to one side. He wasted no time unzipping his trousers, placing himself to enter her, then putting one hand behind her head and the other on her breast over the bodice of her dress.

She gasped as he entered her quickly and roughly. She wasn't sure what had gotten into him, but his thrusts were deep and not completely unsatisfying. She felt herself pushed up against the separating window, and figured that the driver knew what was happening even with the window closed.

Her legs were stretched out onto the floor, his thrusts all that kept her from falling off the seat. He continued for much longer than she thought him capable, after such an unexpected start, and felt herself nearly ready to explode when his grunts indicated that he would be finished just a bit too soon. Still, it had been surprisingly pleasurable under the circumstances.

The car stopped soon after. She barely had time to straighten her clothes and position herself back on the seat when the door opened, and Hong and Mei entered. Mei wore a white strapless dress. [See Mei pic] Heck, Sun Li, she looks like a spy, too. In fact, all attractive Asian women looked like spies when they wore nice dresses.

"Guess we're part of the surprise." Hong shouted. Mei gave her a kiss on the cheek, and the two took seats opposite Chin and Sun. "He hasn't told me what's up, so don't look to me for help," said Mei.

"Did you bring the wine," Chin asked Hong, who proudly held up two already opened, but still full, bottles. "Your favorite red, Sun, and our bland white. I know, we have no taste. You don't have to say it." Hong poured a glass of red for Sun, and glasses of the white for him and Chin. "What about me?" cried Mei. "No wine for you. You were sick this morning, remember?" responded Hong. "C'mon. This is a special occasion, remember," intervened Sun, "and she looks fine to me." Sun poured a glass of the red for Mei from the bottle that Chin had deposited in the bar. Hong looked at Chin and shrugged. "It will be fine."

The 25-minute drive was quieter than this group of four usually was. Sun noticed that they were traveling in a direction that she had never been. "Not telling me yet where we're going?" she asked Chin. She had begun to believe that he was not going to propose, as she originally anticipated; if he were, he wouldn't have invited Hong and Mei. So she was now unsure what the "surprise" was going to be.

As the car finally pulled up to a dark building and stopped, Sun noticed that Mei appeared to be sleeping, her head slumped on Sun's shoulder. "Maybe she is feeling sick," Sun noted. "She'll be fine," said Hong.

When the door to the limousine opened, Sun noticed, for the first time, its driver. Hugo ! She couldn't recall what name he was using in China, but it was Hugo, her compatriot, more importantly, her signal to proceed with her mission. After two years, no more waiting. It was time to rid the world of the man most likely to start war between China and Taiwan, to pave the way for a more moderate Chinese leadership. She had mixed emotions, but they lasted no more than a few seconds before she restored her complete focus on completing her mission. And by tomorrow night, if all went well, she would be back again in her own country.

Chin and Sun got out. Mei was still in full slumber. "Stay here with her," Sun offered to Hong. Yes, they were generals, but she didn't hesitate to make the suggestion to her superior officer. She hadn't yet figured out what was happening, and keeping Hong and Mei in the car, where Hugo should have no trouble taking care of them, should the need arise, would leave her to deal only with Chin.

"Don't be silly," Chin replied. "She'll be fine in a few minutes, and we don't want her to miss the fun."

Chin felt that the element of surprise was his, which would be enough by itself to allow him to handle what was needed; in fact, his message to General Zhao, the head of the "special forces" charged with dealing with "persons of disloyalty," had told him to arrive at midnight, and it was not yet nine o'clock. By midnight, of course, the work would be done. Though not normal procedure, Chin wanted to handle things himself, given the circumstances. But he still preferred Hong's assistance, just in case. And Mei's condition was actually a blessing. She would have just gotten in the way, which may have caused its own problems.

"Besides, I think that the driver may have a few errands to run while we're gone." Chin nodded to the driver, his gaze lingering just a second longer. "You're new?" "Yes, General. My second day," Hugo replied. "I haven't before had the privilege of driving for you."

Hong helped pass the sleeping Mei to Chin, then exited the car himself, and picked her up in his arms. Led by Chin, the three of them, with Hong carrying Mei, walked the thirty or so steps to the front door of the darkened armory, a small, unattractive, windowless building miles from anywhere. Sun knew that this was not the kind of place where men asked women to marry them. She wondered at the irony that Chin may have figured out who she was the same day that she received her orders to carry out her mission. But she still wasn't sure, and she didn't want to act precipitously.

Sun tried to size up the situation. She carried a pistol in her purse, not the one issued her by the military, but one that she had taken of the many in Chin's apartment. He had never hinted that it was missing or that he suspected that she had taken it. She was pretty certain that he hadn't even noticed that it was gone.

Chin and Hong carried sidearms belted to their hips. She wasn't sure if Chin carried any other weapons. Hong carried a silly stiletto-type knife on his other hip. Others had joked about it. Hong responded only that it was symbolic of an earlier time. Symbolic? Knives and swords were phallic symbols? Was he proud of wearing such a thin symbol, regardless of how long it was?

Chin opened the door and flicked a switch, dimly lighting the large single room. Sun's intake of breath was audible to both Chin and Hong.

No one would describe the room as anything other than a dungeon. Chains hung from the ceiling both along the walls and from several places in the center. A row of whips adorned one wall, all different but designed for the same purpose. Near the door was a metal chair, with straps on its legs and at the top and back. Sun could see that the x-type seat of the chair allowed the distance between the legs to be widened to allow greater accessibility to the sitter's private parts. There also seemed to be a metal container below the seat. Sun imagined that it was used to make things just a bit hotter for the poor victim.

Sun's eyes darted to an x-frame in the far corner of the room, and then to a nearby table. She couldn't make out exactly what was on the table, but assumed that it had an array of clamps, needles and other devices also designed to help extract whatever it was that their user wanted to know ... or was just used for his pleasure even if he didn't want to know anything.

But dominating the center of the room was an old fashioned rack. Sun started to examine the details of the rack with her eyes, but forced herself to stop. She had taken all this in in just a few seconds, but it was clear to her now that Chin's surprise was his knowledge of her traitorous activities and her treatment on this special equipment. In the meantime, Hong had placed Mei down on the nearest place possible, which happened to be the metal chair.

"What a fabulous surprise!" Sun shouted immediately. "You know how I've always gotten off on those little bondage games we play. And now you've come up with the perfect setting. This is terrific!"

Sun began to race around the room, exploring all its devices and toys. "This is going to be a great evening. Are you ready again so soon?" Sun looked at Chin, standing off with Hong, and moved to the rack. The chains that hung over it were obviously designed to capture and pull up the victim's nipples, at the same time that she was fully stretched horizontally. A bolt held in place the portion of the rack below the victim's head. If removed, the head would fall, and the victim would find herself staring back at her interrogator. She knew the purpose of that. There was also a bolt holding the portion between the legs, again for a similar purpose.

Sun then darted to the chair holding Mei, and, in a few seconds, strapped her legs in place, her wrists behind the chair, and her shoulders in place. "When she screams we'll know she's awake," Sun laughed. Chin and Hong stared in amazement, not quite sure what to do, waiting for a more opportune moment.

"Let me put my purse down and take off my dress." Sun moved to the table near the rack. "I'd hate for you to tear it." She quickly undid the back of the dress and pulled it off, leaving herself dressed in her black bra and panties, garter, stockings and heels. This time the audible intake of breath was Hong's, who had never before seen her other than fully clothed.

Sun looked at Chin. "I want you to chain me to the rack and take me. And I don't mind if Hong joins us if you don't."

Chin looked at Hong. This was almost too easy. Could Sun really have no idea what was about to happen? Then, again, why should she? They had no idea themselves until just a few hours ago. And Sun had enjoyed their light bondage play. Maybe she just was more into it than he had realized, and was truly excited at the scene, the ignorant traitor.

As he walked over to her, she flung her arms around him, and kissed him on the mouth. In reaching up, she lost her balance slightly, and the two tumbled onto the middle of the rack, with Sun on top. Chin quickly moved her to the side, and then under him, her arms still around his neck. She moved her kiss to his cheek and then to his ear.

As she began to whisper in his ear, Chin felt the nail of her middle finger dig into the back of his neck. "I took an antidote to the drug you put in my wine. But I doubt you've taken the antidote for this." Her thumb squeezed the back of the nail on her middle finger, and Chin felt a cold liquid against his neck that quickly seeped into the cut made by the fingernail. Sun moved her mouth back over his, stifling the brief sound of protest. She then screamed and pushed Chin off of her, onto his back on the middle of the rack. "I think he's having a heart attack ! Help me, please !" She motioned to Hong, and put her ear to Chin's chest. "I don't think he's breathing!"

A startled Hong came running, and replaced Sun's ear with his own, as Sun moved a few steps away to her purse. The caliber of the bullet was small, but it had the desired affect as it entered Hong's right temple a second later. He slumped onto Chin. Sun knew that the next shot into Chin's left temple was unnecessary, since the effect of the poison was so immediate, but it helped complete the scene that she would leave.

Sun chained Chin's wrists to the rack, and then undid his trousers, exposing him from his navel to his knees. She then slid Hong down until his face was on Chin's stomach, put the pistol in his hand, which then dropped it to the floor. "Wish I could be here when they discover this," she muttered quietly.

Sun put her dress back on, then realized that one unpleasant piece of business remained. "I'm so sorry, innocent one." Sun approached the still motionless Mei, and ripped her dress open in front down below Mei's navel. "If you'd seen the drug in his medicine cabinet, you'd have known to take an antidote, too." Sun retrieved Hong's stiletto, and, placing a hand over Mei's mouth, coldly drove the point of the stiletto into Mei just above her pubic bone, and then down until she heard it hit the seat of the metal chair. "Sometimes length does matter, I see." Mei's body tensed for just a moment, and then again relaxed. "Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm so sorry."

Sun walked to the door, and turned back to admire her handiwork. The investigators would find a lovers' triangle, double murder and suicide. Mei had walked in and found Hong with Chin, Hong killed her, then, humiliated, had killed the chained Chin and himself. If they were competent, it shouldn't take them too long to figure it out.

Sun turned off the light and left the room. As the door closed behind her, though, she stumbled on something. Looking down, she saw the dead eyes of Hugo staring at her. "Wha...?" She looked up to find four soldiers with their rifles pointed at her chest, and, at the same time, felt two soldiers behind her grab her elbows. The name on the shirt of the man who approached -- another general -- said Zhao.

"We've been waiting for you, my dear. You may have finished your work, but the party is not yet over. Certainly you don't wish to leave when there is much more fun in store."

Zhao entered the room first and turned on the dim lights. Sun was pushed in after by the two soldiers, followed by the remaining four.

The two generals lying on the rack in the center of the room first caught Zhao's attention. Then he noticed Mei in the chair close by him. He felt for a pulse, not expecting to find, and not finding, one. He removed the stiletto, releasing an ooze of fresh blood, and motioned two of the soldiers, who unstrapped Mei's legs and shoulders, and released her wrists from behind the chair. Mei slumped to the floor, landing sprawled on her stomach. The stiletto's exit wound was visible. The men dragged Mei by her shoulders the few feet to the door. "The generals I can understand. Part of your mission. But did you really have to kill her?" Zhao questioned Sun. Sun gave no response. Zhao hadn't really expected one.

Zhao next moved to the center of the room. He grabbed Hong by the back of his shirt, lifted him off the rack, and examined the wound to his temple before dropping him on the floor. Two other soldiers dragged his body toward the door.

"And, finally, the coup de grace. General Chin. Now wasn't he your lover? Strange way your show your affection to our top military officer." Zhao sneered the last words. Sun's attempts to twist free of the soldiers' grasp did nothing more than arouse them, and allow their hands a greater excuse to roam over her body.

"Before we begin, my dear, to discuss your friends and your activities, I want to thank you for doing for us what we could not do ourselves, that is, eliminate our beloved commander, General Chin, the one man whose popularity threatened our government's stability. I guess the people like those who talk so boldly of retaking the rebel island." Zhao began to laugh. Sun's body tensed. In accomplishing her mission, had she really helped her enemies?

"You see, his talk of invasion was embarrassing to us. Our military is not prepared yet for such an invasion, and the more he talked of such, the greater our fear that our military shortcomings would be uncovered. But how to rid ourselves of one so popular?"

"Fortunately, that is not a question that we must consider any longer. No, you have solved our dilemma, for which, again, I thank you. Officially, of course, it will be reported that Chin and other members of his entourage died tonight when their car plunged off the bridge on the outskirts of town, into the fast moving river. In fact, as we speak, that is being arranged." Sun noticed that the bodies of Mei and Hong had been brought outside, and two of the soldiers were dragging Chin's body to the door. "Now, they will find just the car. We cannot let the bodies be examined, you saw to that. So they will have been thrown free of the car and sent to the bottom of the river at its deepest point."

"Personally, I'd rather tell the people the story you wished them to hear ... the homosexual relationship between two generals. But that will not do. Unfortunately, he will die a hero." Sun's head started to spin. This was too much information to try to analyze in her current situation. She tried to dismiss what Zhao was saying as the beginning of some form of psychological mind control ... but she wasn't sure.

Zhao moved to the side of the room, and pulled a small chair to the head of the rack. Sun felt herself being lifted. Her struggles were too feeble and too late. With one soldier at each limb, she was quickly secured, face down, to the rack. Facing forward on her stomach, looking directly at Zhao, she could not see, but she knew that the sound that she heard was the removal of the bolt holding up the piece of the rack between her spreadeagled legs.

"But, my dear, enough about us. Let's talk about you. Now, our conversation is going to have just two simple rules." General Zhao handed Hong's well-traveled stiletto to one of the soldiers, who moved behind Sun. Zhao himself walked to the handle controlling the chains that held Sun's wrists.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions. The first rule is that, if you tell me the truth, you will be rewarded." Sun felt the soldier unzip the back of her dress, and then cut down from the end of the zipper to the hem of the dress. The soldier then yanked the material open, exposing Sun's entire backside save for her panties and bra strap, as Zhao turned the handle a notch, removing some of the slack from Sun's body. "The second rule is that, if you lie to me, you will be punished." Another notch. The soldier was now using the stiletto to cut the shoulders and sleeves of the dress, until it lay flat between Sun's body and the rack. "Now that's simple enough, isn't it?" The third notch brought Sun's body taut. "Isn't it, I asked?" Zhao's voice was insistent, and he turned the handle one more notch with emphasis. Sun could feel the tension in her shoulders, and the rusty metal cuffs bite into her wrists, as her body rose just slightly upward. As it did, the soldier pulled the dress out from under her.

When she and Chin had played their little bondage games, Sun realized, the cuffs were always padded. Not this time. Whenever she tried to turn her wrists or ankles to reduce the discomfort, they scraped the unyielding metal, and were already starting to chafe badly.

"No. They're not. I understand." Sun quickly responded, hoping to avoid another turn of the handle. "Good," said Zhao. "It's no fun when the players are not playing by the same rules.

"My first question is: How long have you been spying on us?" Sun tried to think how long she'd been in the country, figuring that there was no sense in denying her activities, given that she'd been caught in the act after completing her mission. "A little over a year."

"No !" Zhao snapped. "Our very reliable information from your own agency -- oh, you thought only your side had spies?" Zhao laughed, "is that you've been here more than two years. So that was a wrong answer."

Sun strained to look up, and saw Zhao nod to the soldier, who immediately cut the back strap of Sun's bra, then its two shoulder straps, and, finally, the crotch of her panties, as Zhao turned the handle another notch. Sun tried to twist to ease the increased tension, which she now felt in her hips and knees, as well as in her shoulders, but she succeeded only in scraping her wrists and ankles futher, and kicking off her heels.

"Let's try again. What exactly was your mission, and when did you get your instructions to proceed with it?"

"To kill General Chin. I received my instructions earlier today," Sun responded. Zhao knew that this response was true as far as it went, as witnessed by the fact that Sun's body was now lying on a rack stained with Chin's blood from not an hour earlier.

"Well, I will eventually need more information than that. I will need a complete answer. But, for now, I'll consider that a correct response." Sun breathed a sigh.

"Reward her." Zhao looked at the soldier, who immediately unzipped his pants, and began to rub himself against Sun, whose spreadeagled legs could do nothing to prevent it. The soldier then climbed onto her, his hands first pulling away the now useless bra, and then forcing themselves underneath her body to caress her freed breasts. His actions tightened the stretch of Sun's body even more. "Noooo. I told you the truth." Sun protested. "Yes, you did," Zhao smiled. "And so you are being rewarded."

Zhao's questions continued as the soldier entered her. "And who gave you your order." "It was ... Hugo ... the limousine driver." Sun could manage no more than two or three words at a time, interrupted by the soldier's rhythmic thrusts. "How convenient, isn't it? I mean, that the driver is dead. So easy to finger him" Zhao grabbed Sun's hair to force her face up close to his, and then, fascinated by its contortions each time the soldier pounded himself deeper into her, paused in his questioning. Zhao's eyes took in Sun's agonized face for the next several minutes, as the soldier thrust repeatedly into her, more quickly and more powerfully, until he held his final effort as long as he could, and then collapsed on top of her. When he did, Zhao released Sun's hair, and let her head drop back down to the rack. The soldier slowly climbed off, gave a satisfied look at Zhao, re-zipped himself, and picked up Sun's dress and bra from the floor.

Zhao gave Sun no time to recover. "The limousine driver was an underling !" he shouted at her. "Who were you taking your orders from?" It took Sun a minute to catch her breath enough to respond. "That's not how it works," she protested. "My order came from Hugo. Who he took his orders from I don't know."

"And what were you to do after killing General Chin?" Zhao himself now moved to the back of the rack, and began to run his hands over Sun's buttocks. "That was my only mission. Hugo and I were going to leave the country immediately."

"Liar !" Zhao held his middle finger on Sun's anus, and began to move it inside. "Now I can make this very unpleasant for you ... so don't take me for a fool and tell me that your only mission was to destroy someone that we too wanted destroyed. What else were you supposed to do?"

Sun was now starting to panic. Her only mission, aside from gathering whatever information she could before being ordered to complete it, was to kill Chin, who was explained to her to be the person most likely to start a World War. Certainly Zhao understand that. Hadn't he said so himself when they first entered the room?

"I think that you need some more persuasion," Zhao said icily

Zhao placed both of his hands on the rack's handle. Sun knew that her body could not stand the stretch of another notch. Her shoulders, especially, were already begging to be dislocated to end the stretching that they could no longer bear.

"How much more can you take, dear Sun? Don't all women wish to be just a little taller? As they say, be careful what you wish for..." Sun screamed as soon as she heard the motion of the metal. "Please, I'm telling the truth !!" Her words were drawn out, as if Zhao would not dare move the handle until they faded away. By now her body was bathed in sweat, and her mind could not stand the anticipation of more pain, indeed, what certainly would be much more pain. Sun fainted.

A small grin crossed Zhao's face. He turned the handle. But his second hand had reversed the mechanism so that all of the notches by which Sun had been stretched were released, and the rack returned to its original position. Sun's unconscious body collapsed onto the rack, still chained in place by her four spreadeagled limbs. But it was no longer taut.

Sun had no idea how much time had passed when she awoke in the darkened room, still lying face down on the rack. As she tested her limbs to see if there were any give at all, she was surprised to discover that neither her wrists nor her ankles were chained.

It took her eyes several minutes to adjust to the darkness, but, as they did, she realized that there was no one else in the room. She noticed that she was now completely naked. The remnants of her panties had been removed, as had been her garter and stockings.

Slowly, Sun lifted herself off the rack and tried to stand. With each motion, she felt her bones crack, trying to move back into the position for which they were designed and from which they had been greatly altered by that instrument of inhumanity. Sun stood gingerly, also feeling the soreness from the soldier's violation. She walked to the door. She knew that it would be locked, but allowed herself a few moments to dream before trying it. She turned on the lights, and again the room and all of its devices were dimly lit. Her dream was not realized. The door was locked, and it was hopeless to try to force it open. There were no windows, and she saw no other possible exit. Sun noticed the chair in which Mei had died. No, the chair in which she had killed -- executed -- Mei. Her body shivered. For that alone she no doubt deserved her fate.

Sun started to walk to the other parts of the room, but, as she approached the x-frame near the corner, she quickly realized that she had no desire to examine what might too soon be another instrument of her torture. She sat back down on the rack.

Why wouldn't Zhao believe that her sole mission was to execute Chin? It was. It was an important mission, and she had completed it. Why wouldn't Zhao believe that Hugo was her contact? Operatives deep under cover could not risk contact with more than one individual. And of course Hugo was made to look like an underling. That was part of his own cover. Or did Zhao really believe her but not care, just so that he could play his torturous games at her expense?

Given recent events, however, Sun's mind was not up to the task of figuring out Zhao and his motives. They really mattered little, since she realized that it was unlikely that she would ever be able to discuss them with anyone who might take advantage of any insights that she might reach.

Sun hoped that it was not yet morning. She knew that they would come back in the morning, and she wasn't ready for more. She realized suddenly how cold it was in the room. Shivering, she curled herself into a ball and closed her eyes.

Any brief respite for Sun during the next few hours was interrupted repeatedly by nightmares about Mei. Sun had finally decided that Chin had indeed learned of her activities, perhaps even of her mission itself, and had planned to do to her exactly what Zhao was now doing. Which meant that Chin had brought Hong along for support. Which meant that Hong had brought Mei only so that Sun would not be suspicious when Hong joined them in the car. So Mei was merely a pawn who was placed in a position of peril by more powerful others who determined that her sacrifice was for the "better good of the country."

Sun sensed movement around her, and slowly, fearfully, opened her eyes. Four of the soldiers from the night before were sitting at the corners of the rack watching her. They said nothing as Sun turned to survey the entire scene. Zhao stood behind them, holding a newspaper.

"Good morning, and congratulations, my dear." He placed the paper next to her. "Your lover made the front page." Sun could see the large, bold headline immediately: "Top General Dies In Automobile's Plunge from Bridge; Bodies Sent To Depths Of The Sea." Below were pictures of Chin and Hong, uniformed and smiling, and a picture of the bridge where the car had gone off the road. "You see, it happened just as I said it happened," Zhao said softly.

But Sun's attention was now focused on the story's fourth paragraph. "Also killed in the accident were were the fiancees of the two generals, Mei Cho and Sun Li, and the car's driver, who has not yet been identified."

So here she was, in this -- what did Chin call it? -- "armory," miles from nowhere, both sides of the struggle believing her already dead. Sun's body sagged; the paper fell to the floor, and she buried her head in her hands.

Her only comfort was that her people would know --in fact, probably already had learned -- that Chin was dead. And, despite the story presented to the public, her superiors in Taiwan would put it together -- she had finally been given the go-ahead to exterminate Chin, and just a few hours later he was dead. Certainly, they would know that she had successfully completed her mission. But, even if they didn't, Chin was still dead, as her superiors had so strongly desired. And the price to be paid was one that she had known all along might be the price for such a result.

Zhao's voice broke the silence. "Now you have seen that we are not barbarians, but reasonable men, who have given you time to regain your strength before asking more questions -- or the same ones until we get truthful answers. But now it is time to continue."

Without further warning, the soldiers lifted Sun off the rack, and dragged her toward one side of the room.

Yhe soldiers led Sun to a spot about six feet from the far wall. She immediately saw two sets of chains hanging down from hooks in the ceiling, a little more than shoulder width apart, their other ends running through the hooks and then secured to other hooks embedded in the side walls, one on each side, from which they could be adjusted to lift or lower her.

Within seconds Sun found her still-chafed wrists secured to the cuffs at the end of the chains, and pulled until her toes barely touched the floor. The pain in her shoulders from the night before came back stronger than before. When the soldiers grabbed her ankles to secure them to chains attached to rings in the floor, again more than shoulder width apart, Sun no longer had hope of reaching the floor, aggravating the pain in her shoulders even more.

One of the soldiers then pushed a table to within a few feet of Sun's spreadeagled form. Another placed a small box on the table. As soon as she saw the wires attached to the box, Sun knew what was coming next, and she began, helplessly, to pull at her bonds in the feebles of efforts to free herself.

"No !! Please !! I've told you the truth !! I have ... I've told you the truth !!" She repeated her pleas over and over until they began to sound like a wild mantra.

The soldiers ignored her protests. She watched in horror as one took two of the wire leads and clamped one to each of Sun's big toes, while another clamped two of the wire leads to her nipples. When she looked back toward the table, she saw Zhao holding the last two wire leads, and continued her ignored screams. Zhao approached her writhing body, and, holding one wire lead in each hand, ran his hands over her stomach, then down her pubic hair to his target, clamping one to each of her lower lips. He could feel that her body was already starting to sweat. They hadn't even begun yet and the spy was starting to sweat. He smiled again -- guess they just didn't prepare spies like they used to, he thought.

Zhao returned to the table, and turned the box around so that Sun could see its front. She stopped her screams to examine it. On it were several rows of buttons.

"Let me explain," Zhao sounded like he was teaching a grade school class. "The top row -- these four black buttons -- control the intensity of the electricty. So the first button on the left is mild." Zhao pushed it. Sun screamed and shook at her bonds, further chafing her already bruised wrists and ankles. After a second, however, she realized that there had been no shock.

"The next button is moderate." Again Zhao pushed it. Sun prepared herself, but again, no shock. "The third button is severe, and the fourth button is ... well, I doubt we'll get that far."

"Now the second row -- these three green buttons -- control the duration. The first will send the charge for two seconds." Zhao pushed the button. Sun's muscles tensed, but there was no shock. "The second will send the charge for four seconds, and the third for six."

"I will set them in combination, for example, mild and two seconds" -- Zhao pushed both buttons, and Sun was certain the pain would come with both buttons depressed, but still there was nothing. "And, at some point fairly quickly, I think, you will finally tell me the truth."

Zhao left the mild and two second buttons depressed. "Oh, and this red button on the bottom." Zhao pushed it. An unanticipating Sun felt the current surge through her body, sending it leaping forward involuntarily as far as her chains would allow, and reforming her mantra into a loud, continuous cry of pain. After two seconds, the current ended, and Sun's body fell back to its starting place. "That is the button that activates the charge."

Sun gasped to try to catch her breath, but, before she could, Zhao pushed the middle green button, and then the red again. As before, Sun's body leaped forward against her chains, and her scream of pain sounded like it would rip her out her throat. For four seconds the supposedly mild current raced through her body, from her toes to her breasts and everywhere in between. Like a hundred knives stabbing into her. Finally, mercifully, the current ended, and Sun's body again collapsed to its original spread eagled position.

Zhao was beginning to lose his patience. "Now let's stop the charade. Answer my questions !" he shouted at her. "That was only the mild level. There are three other levels, if you wish."

Sun tried to swallow, regain her breath, raise her mind beyond the stabbing pains that continued to rack her body, and control her twitching muscles that had developed a mind of their own.

"My mission ... was to kill ... the General ... General Chin .... That was all." She saw Zhao reach toward the box. "My contact was Hugo!" she screamed quickly.

Zhao moved the black button one to the right, leaving the green button in the middle. He picked up the box, walked around the table, and stood close to Sun's still shaking form. As he moved his hand toward the red button, Sun's screams grew louder.

"No... No... NO ... NOOOO !!"

"Your mission ! Your contact !" Zhao's screams were nearly as loud as Sun's.

"I've told you !!"

Zhao held the box in front of Sun's face, and then moved the black button still one more to the right, skipping the moderate level, and pushed the red button.

Sun's mind blurred from the pain. The knives that seemed to be stabbing her entire body now felt as if they had moved inside her, and were ripping her insides out. Her body reacted involuntarily, tearing and twisting as hard as it could to free itself from the chains and escape the wires covering her body. Whether the current surged for four seconds or forty she had no idea. The room blurred and then darkened. She could not tell whether the screams that she was hearing were her own or Zhao's.

Zhao was livid. He needed the information. How could he tell his superiors that Chin had not died as reported, but had been murdered by a Taiwanese spy whom he himself had then captured, tortured and disposed of if he had to confess that he had not obtained her secrets, leaving his government exposed to the cancer that they created? But if she talked, and he was able to uncover the entire operation, then he would certainly be elevated to Chin's former position as the head of the entire military.

As soon as the first current ended, Zhao pushed the red button a second time, staring straight at Sun's contorted face. Sun's body once again arched into its now familiar, distorted and violent position. Two soldiers ran quickly to Zhao. "Stop. You'll kill her like that. And what good will that do?" One took the box out of Zhao's hand, just as the current ended. Zhao remained motionless, continuing to stare at Sun, whose body continued to convulse uncontrollably, and whose head had fallen onto her chest.

One of the soldiers approached her and put his hand against her neck. "She's alive."

"Let her hang until she comes to. Then ready her for the next stage. I have an errand to run. I should be back by the time she's ready." Zhao turned and walked out of the room without further explanation. The soldiers looked at each other. Only one prisoner before had ever faced the next stage.

Twenty minutes passed. Two soldiers, sitting at a table across the room, remained to watch the unconscious Sun, and to prepare her for her next torment as soon as she awoke.

One of the soldiers, Qian -- the soldier who had raped her the day before -- rose and walked over to the shackled figure, head hanging down to her chest. He wrapped his arms around her naked form, one hand stroking her breast, the other lowered to her stomach, and pressed his body into hers. "We have some time for a little fun, now, don't we? " he said, knowing that she couldn't hear him. "I mean, don't you want a real man one more time while you still have your ravishing body?" Qian pretended to thrust himself into her, pressing his body firmly against her buttocks.

The other soldier looked up. "You know, if Zhao finds you like that, he'll shoot you on the spot." Qian looked back and smiled, continuing his feigned rhythmic thrusting. "I know. But what a way to go !" Soon, however, realizing the truth of his friend's statement, Qian returned to the table.

Zhao returned ten minutes later, carrying a thin file. Noticing that nothing appeared to differ from the scene that he had left, he nodded in Sun's direction. "I guess you were right. Looks like I did nearly kill her. Well, we haven't all day. Get her ready."

The two soldiers quickly rose and moved toward their prey. Zhao sat at the table and opened the folder.

The soldiers unshackled Sun's wrists and ankles, and she collapsed into Qian's waiting arms. He draped her over his shoulder, one hand across her knees, the other on her buttocks and carried her to another corner of the room. The two soldiers then reshackled Sun's ankles in a fashion that did not appear to differ from her previous position -- spreadeagled slightly more than shoulder-width apart. However, the chains were looped behind her and then joined behind, from where, if pulled, her ankles would be forced farther apart. The give in the chains was only in this one direction; there was no way for Sun to move her ankles any closer together. Qian then cuffed her wrists behind her back, and ran a chain to a hook in the nearby wall. In this strappado position, the chain could be pulled, though it was not yet, so as to create any amount of tension in her shoulders. The two soldiers then stood several feet in front of their victim, and admired their work.

While the soldiers were preparing Sun for her further interrogation, Zhao was studying the first pages of the folder: "Taiwanese intelligence agent operates under the name Sun Li. 27 years old. 5'4". 115 pounds." Then several photographs. Sun in a Tawainese Army uniform. In a party dress. In a modest bathing suit. Zhao looked at each of the photos, then at the girl in his presence. Not stunning, but pretty. Nice body. A bit petite for him. Nicely formed breasts. Not large, but not too small. Well, again, he personally liked his women larger, but still ... Small nipples.

But Zhao had no pity for this helpless creature hanging before him. He remembered who Sun was and how her stubborn refusal to reveal her mission and contact was causing him great embarrassment and humiliation.

It had not taken Zhao long to find Sun's folder in Chin's desk. The date on it confirmed that Chin had only learned of Sun's treachery the day before -- which, because of her, had been his last day on earth. Zhao had hoped to find folders on Sun's accomplices there as well -- Chin liked to keep secrets that he rightfully should have shared, figuring that it increased his position of power -- but Sun's had been the only folder in Chin's desk.

Zhao had expected to hear Sun scream when she regained consciousness and once again realized her situation, but she did not. She merely closed her eyes tightly for a few seconds, apparently resigned to her fate. Zhao, too, appeared resigned. He no longer screamed at her to reveal the information that he needed.

"Welcome back, my dear," he said just loud enough for her to hear, as he walked toward her. "You have proven quite strong. For that you have my admiration. But now we have no more time for you, and so you will either tell us what we want to know within the next ten minutes or ... well, let's just say that it is unlikely, if you survive without telling us, that any man will wish to share your company ever again."

Sun shuddered, but otherwise kept her terror inside. She did not deserve admiration. She would have given Zhao more information after the first electric shocks had coursed through her body. It was not a matter of being brave, but of having no more information to give him.

Zhao held Sun's chin in his hand and stared into her eyes, asking his questions again, but this time without words. After a second, Sun merely shook her head slowly and began to sob.

Zhao turned away and began to walk slowly back to the table. The two soldiers took this as a sign to continue. Before Zhao had reached the table, he heard Sun begin once more to scream horribly. Zhao listened as the screams gradually turned into gurgling sounds as her throat hoarsened and she lost the strength to scream anymore.

Only then did Zhao turn to face the scene. The soldiers had taken the two chains that hung through hooks in the ceiling. At the end of each of these chains, however, were not cuffs, but large three-pronged claws. The soldiers had opened them and placed their jaws around Sun's breasts, the points, not particularly sharp lest they accomplish their purpose much too quickly, surrounding the base of her breasts. They had then weighted the other sides so that, as they pulled upward, Sun was forced to arch her back as far as possible to try to reduce the pain that they created. Still, the points began to press into her flesh, and would press deeper as she moved to try to ease the pain from them. Which is what gave the device its insidious quality.

To complete the scenario, the soldiers had moved between Sun's legs a large dildo, fastened to a heavy wooden base, and inserted it just far enough into her so that there was no way for her to force it out. The small, thin, but sharp spikes started a few inches further below.

Sun now knew what the final stage was ... to the extent that her tortured body allowed her mind to think at all any more. Qian placed a hood over Sun's head. In those moments that she knew why she was in such excruciating pain, she was grateful that she could no longer see her body. On the other hand, the darkness forced her mind, when it could, to focus more on the pain. She could no longer identify the gurgling sounds as coming from her own lips, nor the intermittent screams as her movements allowed the claws to dig in deeper.

Sun could also sense that the chains holding her ankles were being pulled slowly apart, lowering her further onto the dildo, closer to its spikes. As this lowered her body the claws also pulled further on her breasts.

A spy for China's arch enemy, captured red-handed, chained naked in the enemy's dungeon in the middle of its country, placed in this inhumane, torturous position, her protestations that she has told all she knows disbelieved, and her only contact and hope of rescue dead. In her total helplessness, Sun realized that she held but one element of power, the power to deny Zhao the pleasure of extending her torture until her mind totally snapped.

Once she had determined the only thing that she could do, Sun gathered all the remaining strength that she had ... and thrust herself as high as she could into the air, at the same time spreading her legs as far as she could. As she raised herself, the pull on her breasts lessened for a moment ... but then she fell back down ... For just a second she could feel the claws ripping through her breasts, until she landed forcefully on the dildo, which drove deep into her. Her mind blurred, but also only for a second. After that, there was no more pain.

The two soldiers cringed and turned away from the sight of the disfigured Sun. Zhao just stared, realizing that, although he had forced her to suffer excruciating physical and mental pain, and even though she was now dead and he alive, she had defeated him.

Zhao motioned to the soldiers. "She died in a car crash, remember? Please make certain that her body is not found." He watched briefly as Qian began to unchain Sun's body, and then he went back to the table, to the opened folder that he had left unfinished when he heard Sun's final screams. He turned the page. "Primary mission: Exterminate General Chin. Secondary mission: None. Primary contact: Agent operating under the name Hugo. Secondary contact: None."

Zhao was uncertain how to react. On the one hand, it was now apparent that Sun had indeed told him all that she knew. So his methods were effective. But, more importantly to him, she had been unable to identify others operating in his country, and there would be no reward to him simply for capturing and exterminating a spy whose only role was to help rid the country of that which they were about to rid without her help. He remained puzzled by Sun's strange mission.

* * * *

In Taipei, three days later, Secretary Yin, head of Taiwan intelligence, met with one of his top aides, Colonel Bo, in Yin's office.

Yin looked at his aide: "It is confirmed. She is dead. And Chin is dead. Of that we are certain. We are not certain how they died. We are not certain whether she was responsible for Chin's death. We are not certain whether she died before or after Chin, or whether she was tortured before she died. There is even a small possibility that the car crash was real. But we do know that General Chin learned of her identity earlier this week, the same day that we gave her instructions to proceed."

"Regardless of whether she killed Chin, he is dead. So her mission was successful, and we are relieved of that danger to peace," Bo replied. "As tragic as her loss is, we must be pleased with the result. And we -- and she -- knew the risks. We should honor her as a hero."

"But we do know one thing more," Yin directed his gaze downward. "Her mission was extremely covert. It was known only to four people." The expression on Bo's face changed.

Yin continued, now staring directly at Bo. "It was known to her and to her contact, who is also confirmed dead.... And it was known to me, who ordered it ... and to you, Colonel Bo, the only other person whom I told and kept informed of her activities."

Bo tensed as he saw three members of the military police enter the office. "My purpose in sending her on her mission was not to kill General Chin. I am surprised that you did not figure that out. General Chin was doomed in the very near future by his own generals. We had no need to risk a top agent's life to kill him."

"No, Colonel, my purpose -- though I could not share it with her or anyone else, and instead gave her the seemingly important, but really unnecessary, mission of killing General Chin -- was to uncover the mole who we knew was operating in our midst but could not identify. To do so, sadly, I sent our agent, Eda Chang -- operating under the name Sun Li -- undercover two years ago, telling only you, whom I had begun to suspect. I regret that I was forced to use Agent Chang in this fashion, as my unknowing pawn. But it was for the sake of our country."

Yin shook his head.

"So you are correct, in one way, Colonel Bo," Yin continued. "Agent Chang did succeed in her mission, whether she killed Chin or was killed by him. She is indeed a hero. She helped us uncover the mole in our own midst, who, as I feared, was you, my faithful Colonel Bo, the only one who could have known to warn Chin of the imminent danger from his aide, Sun Li."

Bo stood up weakly and walked toward the waiting military police officers, who shackled his wrists and ankles and marched him out of Yin's office.

Yin sat silently for a minute, then took out a file, opened it and removed a photo, which he placed on the top of his desk. Yin stood and faced the photo. "Thank you, Agent Chang. You have nobly served your country, which honors your sacrifice." Yin saluted the photo of Agent Chang in her mililtary uniform, placed it back in the file, replaced the file in his desk, and went back to his work.