"Yes. To pick them up by fishing boat tomorrow morning just after dawn. They were supposed to wait on the shore for the signal, and then swim out to meet the rowboat that the fishing boat will send for them.

"Well, we will let them follow their plan, then."

The information received by Libya's Jamaharija Secret Service (JSO) had been flawless. The two American spies, posing as students at Omar Muktar University in Al Bayda' who were daughters of Libyan mothers, had reported to their superiors on the status of the opposition's latest plot against strongman Gaddafi, after which they had been recalled, their mission completed. They had made their way just before nightfall to the shore north of Al Bayda'. Once there, one had stripped down to her yellow bathing suit, the other to her cut-off shorts and sports bra, to wait at the edge of the beach, in the low bushes, until the arrival of their rescuers at first light. It seemed safer to get to the pick-up spot then, instead of trying to get there during the middle of the night, when, if spotted, suspicions would certainly be aroused.

It was there -- with no weapons to allow them to fight off their captors -- that a group of six JSO operatives had found and captured them. The JSO knew that their report had gotten through to their superiors, which was regrettable, but, since it had, and since JSO had already determined and imprisoned those opposition members who had assisted them, it needed no further information from them. So all that remained was for the JSO to assist the spies in their rescue, though under rather modified conditions.

The tide was low, and two of the operatives pounded eight long wooden pegs deep into the sand just on the ocean side of the high tide line. The pegs formed two rectangles side-by-side. Two other operatives taped the spies' mouths closed, and, joined by the other two, picked up and carried the spies, who could offer no resistance beyond a few feeble kicks, to the pegs. There, each was tied spreadeagled inside one of the rectangles. The sand was still wet under them. Both stared up at their captors, eyes open wide, heads sometimes moving to the side to look at their companion.

"This is where you are to meet your rescuers, isn't it?" The senior JSO officer stood over them. "Well, just consider that we have given you a little assistance by making sure that you wait here for your rescue." He moved toward the one on the right and pulled the top of her yellow bathing suit open. He could see that her nipples were hard. She was obviously very frightened. This pleased him. She deserved to be frightened. [See Pic 1] He then walked a few steps to his left to stand over the other, reached down and pulled open and off her sports bra. This one's legs were spread a little more than the first, and this one looked even more afraid than the first. He wondered if the first one was their leader. [See Pic 2]

"If you weren't spies, my men would have their pleasure with you. But you are American spy scum, and none of us would degrade ourselves with your juices." [See Pic 3] He again reached down, and this time took out the knife from his belt and cut away the woman's jeans, then tossed them to another of his men. "Naked. That is how you came into this world and that is how you will leave it."

He then moved to the other woman, leaned over and cut off the bottom of her bathing suit. He pulled it out from under her, then pulled out the top that he had previously torn open. Again, he tossed the material to the same man. "Naked and covered in water. And now we leave you to your rescue." The senior officer stared for a moment at the two bodies stretched in front of him. Two beautiful bodies. Two wasted beautiful bodies. He led the others away. [See Pic 4]

High tide was an hour before dawn. And, with the full moon spotlighting the helpless women, it would be a spring high tide, leaving no doubt as to the women's fate. An hour before high tide, the two spreadeagled naked women felt the first brush of the water reach their ankles. It was a warm night, so the shivers that raced through the women's bodies were not from cold. A half hour later, the water had reached their shoulders, though it still remained under them. They turned to each other, looks of fear combined with resignation ... and a small hope that perhaps the boat would arrive early.

Fifteen minutes later the water was washing over them, forcing them to lift their heads to keep their mouths above the water. With their bodies tightly spreadeagled, just this small movement added painfully to the stretch on their limbs. And five minutes later, the women began to understand the sheer torture of waterboarding, as with each crash of the tide on the shore, they were drowned in water, first for just a few seconds, and then, for longer and longer, they were forced to hold their breaths until the ocean temporarily receded, only to return a few seconds later for even longer.

But soon the tide did not recede far enough, but left them covered in water, struggling vainly to try to stretch their heads above the water for just one more breath, as the tide moved farther and farther in on them, their minds now totally oblivious to the pain that the motion caused in their limbs, focused entirely on the hope for one more breath that might keep them alive until the boat arrived.

When the boat finally arrived at dawn, exactly as scheduled, the captain looked to the shore for his two passengers. But he saw no one signal, no one swim toward the boat. He waited five minutes, but then felt that he could risk waiting no longer and sailed back out to sea.

Only three hours later, as the tide slowly receded, were the women's drowned bodies again revealed exactly where they had been tied, naked and spreadeagled. And, before anyone else discovered them, the JSO returned to confirm that the treachery of the two American spies was over, and to retrieve their bodies for proper dumping in an unmarked grave.