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A render for 's Back in Black - Part 10The cable car came to a halt with a whoosh and several mechanical clicks and a harsh grinding of gears. It swayed for a moment, then steadied. The doors opened a moment later, revealing an unloading platform.Oriole and Bluejay stepped out of the vehicle. The air was crisp but the sky was clear and the sun was out. The two gorgeous female agents stood for a moment on the platform in front of the entry doors to the Spa. The two guards standing near the end of the platform regarded them with half-interest. “Ready?” Oriole whispered.Bluejay nodded. The two women strode forward into the heated foyer of the Ultimate High Spa and Sauna. Oriole gave Bluejay a subtle nudge with her elbow and nodded at the scanners subtly placed on either side of the entrance, partially hidden by potted plants.Bluejay swallowed and nodded. Not bringing guns had been a wise decision.“Welcome, welcome!” A tall, stately blonde woman in a sharp business suit came up in front of them, clapping her hands once. “You must be the new arrivals. Welcome to the Ultimate High Spa and Sauna. I assure you, this will be the best weekend of your lives.”“We’re just so excited,” Oriole said, trying to muster up as much enthusiasm as she could. “We’ve never been to a spa before.”“Well,” the blonde woman said through a smile a mile wide, “I promise that we’ll treat you like royalty here. In fact, we have a welcome massage waiting for you right now.” She stepped to one side, gesturing to a door on the other side of the gushing fountain. “Just go through there and find an empty room. Undress to your comfort level, and one of our masseuses will be with you in just a few short minutes.”Oriole and Bluejay exchanged a quick glance.“Actually,” said Bluejay, “we were hoping to get a quick tour of the place first. I mean, we’ve never been to a spa like this before. It would be awesome to see everything you have to offer.”The blonde woman’s face faltered for a moment, but her smile returned quickly, just as big as it had been before. “All in good time, my dear. But for now, the massage. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.” She gestured again to the door, with a little more smiling insistence than before.Oriole and Bluejay gave each other another look.“Okay,” Oriole said with a fake grin. “A massage sounds…great.”“Excellent,” the woman beamed. “Right through there. And welcome again to the Ultimate High.”Oriole and Bluejay walked across the foyer, glancing at the armed guards that stood in the back of the room. They stepped through the door and into a hallway.Many of the doors in the hall were closed. A few were open. At the very end of the hall was another solid-looking steel door. A female guard stood in front of it. She eyed Bluejay and Oriole keenly.Bluejay stepped up to one of the closed doors and tried the handle. It was locked.“Find an open room,” the guard said gruffly.Bluejay gave a twittering smile. “Oh, right. Sorry.” She glanced back at Oriole.Oriole nodded at an open door. The two women went up to it, then slipped inside. Bluejay shut the door softly behind them.“She sure seemed awfully insistent about us getting this massage, didn’t she?” Oriole said as soon as the door was shut.Bluejay nodded. “Yeah. Did you notice that the closed doors are locked?”“Yeah,” Oriole confirmed. “And an armed guard’s at the end of the hall. Sometimes tells me we’re not going to make it to the pedicure.”Bluejay wrinkled her nose. “Hey, that incense…”Oriole nodded quickly. “Yeah, I smell it too. Some kind of chemical compound.” She grabbed a towel off the shelf and tossed it over the smoking incense sticks, smothering the scent. “Nothing too strong, or else we’d already be out.”Bluejay sidled up to the door, listening at the crack. “It must be something to relax the girls as they wait in here, making them drowsy and docile.”Oriole pointed silently up towards the ceiling.Bluejay glanced up to see a flatscreen monitor set into the ceiling above.“Think they get cable in here?” Oriole asked dryly. “Whatever they’re doing to the girls,” Bluejay said under her breath, “they sure don’t waste any time about it.”“That’s probably good,” Oriole said with a sigh. “I doubt I could pretend to be this chipper for the whole day.”“Yeah,” Bluejay said with a frown, “but it also means we’re going to have to break our cover pretty quick here.” She tapped her ear. “Bluejay to Meadowlark, over.” She waited a few seconds, then tapped her ear again. “Bluejay to Meadowlark, come in Meadowlark. Do you read me?”Oriole tapped her own ear. “Static,” she said.Bluejay tapped her communicator off. “They must be jamming communications.”“Great,” Oriole said. “So there’s no way to call for backup or even let Meadowlark know what’s happening.”“Not unless we disable whatever jammer they’re using,” Bluejay said. She waved her hand at Oriole. “Someone’s coming.”Oriole gave a quick nod, then pushed herself up against the wall on the other side of the door. The two beautiful women waited in silence.Outside in the hall footsteps approached the door. The handle turned, then the door opened.A toned woman with a lithe torso and long, wavy brown hair stepped into the room. She wore a white uniform. “Well, well, who’s ready for a—” She stopped mid-sentence, staring at the two empty massage tables in confusion.Bluejay grabbed her quickly from behind as Oriole shut the door behind them. Bluejay twisted the woman’s arm hard behind her back, causing her to gasp in pain.“One cry for help and I’ll break your arm,” Bluejay snarled.The masseuse nodded, her eyes wide and her face pale. Oriole quickly patted the woman down. “Well, well,” she said, pulling two capped syringes out of her pocket. “And what are these?”“P-please,” the masseuse whimpered. “I don’t know anything, honest—aagh!”Bluejay twisted the masseuse’s arm just a bit more. She glanced at Oriole. “One way to find out.”Oriole grinned and nodded. She uncapped the syringe and jabbed it into the masseuse’s neck.“Arrgh, don’t…” the masseuse gasped. She blinked heavily, her eyes glazing over. “Don’t…”“Looks like someone’s going nighty-night,” Oriole said. She gave the end of the syringe a quick lick with her tongue, then spat. “Tastes like a cocktail of stuff. Sedative, muscle relaxant, hypnotic…not a straight-up knockout drug though.”The masseuse had melted into Bluejay’s arms while Oriole had been speaking, her body becoming delightfully limp while all pretense of resistance faded into nothing. She giggled happily, a dreamy and contented expression on her face. Her head lolled back against Bluejay’s shoulder.“Well, she’s out for sure, even if she’s not unconscious,” Bluejay sighed. “You’re soooo…sooo niiice…” the masseuse sighed. She snuggled her face against Bluejay’s neck. “Looks like she’s taken a liking to you,” Oriole said with a teasing smile.Bluejay rolled her eyes. “Help me get her onto the table, will you?”“Sure thing.” Oriole took other side of the softly sighing masseuse, and between the two of them the agents hoisted the sweetly drowsy and compliant woman onto the massage table. She settled down onto her stomach, her lissome body heavy and unresisting. Her eyes were still dull and unfocused, and a tranquil and happy look was on her face. “Might be worth asking her a couple of questions,” Oriole said with a glance at the door. “Sometimes tells me she might spill a few things in the state she’s in.”“Yeah, if we can get her to focus.” Bluejay patted the masseuse’s cheek. “You still awake, honey?”“Mmm?” the masseuse licked her lips drowsily, her eyes fluttering and rolling. “Yeah…”“Good girl,” Bluejay said. “What’s your name?”The masseuse gave a sleepy sigh. “Cleo…”“Alright, then, Cleo,” Bluejay said. She rubbed a hand over the prone’s girl’s back. “What’s behind the metal door at the end of the hall?”“Hmm?” Cleo yawned. “Stairs…”Bluejay glanced at Oriole, who was standing by the door, alert and listening. “And what’s up there?”“Command…” Cleo moaned. “Offices…barracks…”“Is that right? Is the door locked?”“Mmm-hmm.” Cleo closed her eyes, her voice thick and slurred. “Key…in my…my…”Bluejay started to dig through Cleo’s pockets, and emerged triumphantly with a silver key. “No sign of the guard yet,” Oriole whispered from the door. “But if Cleo doesn’t come out soon we might have a problem.”“I have an idea,” Bluejay said. She gave Cleo a soft pat on her round ass. “Alright, Cleo, you can go to sleep now.”“Okay…” the pretty masseuse murmured groggily. A few seconds later she was snoring softly.Bluejay pushed the key into her bosom. She glanced down at her mini-dress with a sigh. “I miss pockets.”Oriole grinned. “I guess even skintight catsuits are better than dresses for these covert operations. At least you can wear a utility belt.”Bluejay headed over to the door. “Here, hand me that second syringe.”Oriole handed it over. Bluejay took it in one hand, then opened the door and walked into the hall. The guard at the end looked at her sharply.“Our…masseuse…she’s collapsed!” Bluejay stammered. She pointed with a shaking hand inside the room. “I think…I think she’s fainted or something!”The guard hesitated for a moment, then came at a run towards the door. As she drew closer, Bluejay gave her a quick glance. She was fit and slender, with a supple bust and elbow-length bleached blonde hair.The guard turned quickly into the room, and stopped abruptly when she saw Cleo on the table. She started to turn back to Bluejay.It was too late. The moment the guard’s back was turned on her, Bluejay’s panicked face and trembling body vanished abruptly. She uncapped the syringe and stuck it into the pretty guard’s neck.The woman gasped, her eyes widening and her body stiffening. She reached instinctively for her sidearm. “Grab her!” Bluejay grunted. She already had the guard from behind, and locked her arms around the guard’s front. Oriole moved in swiftly. She clapped a hand over the woman’s mouth and pulled her hand away from her weapon.“Mmmphhhgghh—” the guard cried out through the hand over her mouth. She kicked a leg weakly, then her eyes went blank and her body sagged back into Bluejay. Both her hands twitched and then went limp. Her eyes slowly crossed.“There’s a good girl,” Bluejay whispered into the guard’s ear. “Time to go to sleep.” Oriole grabbed the woman’s buckling legs, while Bluejay grabbed her firmly under the arms. They carried the moaning, barely conscious girl into the room. Bluejay nodded at the empty massage table. “There.”They grunted as they lifted the barely conscious guard onto the table. She settled with a sigh, her eyes mere slits and a blank and dreamy look on her face. “Man, whatever’s in those syringes sure trips them out,” Oriole said with a glance at both girls.“Probably to make any brainwashing that much easier,” Bluejay said. She cracked open the door and glanced up and down the hall. “All clear. We don’t have much time. Let’s get these two undressed.”Oriole gave Bluejay a questioning look. The redhead was already pulling the guard’s pants off. “Might buy us a few extra minutes before these two go missing. Hurry up.”The two agents lifted limp limbs and pulled clothing off unresisting and helpless bodies until Cleo and the guard were both in nothing but their panties. Bluejay tossed the last of the clothes into the closet, then tossed two towels to Oriole. “Over their backsides.”Oriole nodded understanding, then covered each of the slumbering girls with the towel. At a glance, it looked like both girls were undressed and simply waiting on the tables for a massage.“Think that will really fool anyone?” Oriole asked.“Doubt it,” Bluejay said, moving to the door again. “But every minute counts, and eventually someone will come looking for these two.” She picked up the guard’s gun. “Are we shooting people now?” Oriole moved up behind her.“Not unless we have to,” Bluejay said through her teeth. “But I’m not wandering through here unarmed.”“Fair point,” Oriole conceded. They both moved cautiously and quietly out into the hall. Bluejay moved over to one of the closed and locked doors. She reached into the bust of her dress and pulled out the key, then tried the lock. The door open. Curious, both women opened the door quietly and peeked inside. Two women lay on the massage tables, wearing nothing but panties. They stared vacantly up at the ceiling through half-closed eyes, where the flatscreen monitor flashed and flickered with hypnotic images. Each woman wore a headset. Neither reacted in the slightest to the door opening.Bluejay shut the door quickly. “We were right,” she said. “Brainwashing.”“But what for?” Oriole said in a low voice. “All these women are being released, aren’t they? Why—?” Her eyes suddenly widened. “Oh, no.”“Oh, yes,” Bluejay said grimly. “We have to shut this place down, fast.”“We have to communicate with Meadowlark first,” Oriole said, with a glance back at the door behind them. “Do you think we could just walk out of here?”Bluejay snorted. “I doubt they’ll let us. And with all the guards between us and the cable car there’s no way we’ll make it if we have to fight.”“And even if we did they could just stop the cable car and bring us back,” Oriole said with a sigh. She glanced down at her orange mini-dress. “We can’t exactly climb down the mountain wearing these outfits.”Bluejay looked back at the steel door at the end of the hall. “Forward into the lion’s den, then. We might be able to disarm the communications jammer. Or find another way to send a message to Meadowlark.”Oriole nodded. “I’m with you.”Bluejay moved to the steel door, Oriole right behind her. She tried the handle, but it didn’t budge. She tried the key next. The door clicked open.“Be ready for anything,” Bluejay whispered to her friend. Oriole nodded.Bluejay opened the door.A stairwell led upwards.“Well,” Oriole said quietly. “Here we go.”

Description
A render for 's Back in Black - Part 10The cable car came to a halt with a whoosh and several mechanical clicks and a harsh grinding of gears. It swayed for a moment, then steadied. The doors opened a moment later, revealing an unloading platform.Oriole and Bluejay stepped out of the vehicle. The air was crisp but the sky was clear and the sun was out. The two gorgeous female agents stood for a moment on the platform in front of the entry doors to the Spa. The two guards standing near the end of the platform regarded them with half-interest. “Ready?” Oriole whispered.Bluejay nodded. The two women strode forward into the heated foyer of the Ultimate High Spa and Sauna. Oriole gave Bluejay a subtle nudge with her elbow and nodded at the scanners subtly placed on either side of the entrance, partially hidden by potted plants.Bluejay swallowed and nodded. Not bringing guns had been a wise decision.“Welcome, welcome!” A tall, stately blonde woman in a sharp business suit came up in front of them, clapping her hands once. “You must be the new arrivals. Welcome to the Ultimate High Spa and Sauna. I assure you, this will be the best weekend of your lives.”“We’re just so excited,” Oriole said, trying to muster up as much enthusiasm as she could. “We’ve never been to a spa before.”“Well,” the blonde woman said through a smile a mile wide, “I promise that we’ll treat you like royalty here. In fact, we have a welcome massage waiting for you right now.” She stepped to one side, gesturing to a door on the other side of the gushing fountain. “Just go through there and find an empty room. Undress to your comfort level, and one of our masseuses will be with you in just a few short minutes.”Oriole and Bluejay exchanged a quick glance.“Actually,” said Bluejay, “we were hoping to get a quick tour of the place first. I mean, we’ve never been to a spa like this before. It would be awesome to see everything you have to offer.”The blonde woman’s face faltered for a moment, but her smile returned quickly, just as big as it had been before. “All in good time, my dear. But for now, the massage. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.” She gestured again to the door, with a little more smiling insistence than before.Oriole and Bluejay gave each other another look.“Okay,” Oriole said with a fake grin. “A massage sounds…great.”“Excellent,” the woman beamed. “Right through there. And welcome again to the Ultimate High.”Oriole and Bluejay walked across the foyer, glancing at the armed guards that stood in the back of the room. They stepped through the door and into a hallway.Many of the doors in the hall were closed. A few were open. At the very end of the hall was another solid-looking steel door. A female guard stood in front of it. She eyed Bluejay and Oriole keenly.Bluejay stepped up to one of the closed doors and tried the handle. It was locked.“Find an open room,” the guard said gruffly.Bluejay gave a twittering smile. “Oh, right. Sorry.” She glanced back at Oriole.Oriole nodded at an open door. The two women went up to it, then slipped inside. Bluejay shut the door softly behind them.“She sure seemed awfully insistent about us getting this massage, didn’t she?” Oriole said as soon as the door was shut.Bluejay nodded. “Yeah. Did you notice that the closed doors are locked?”“Yeah,” Oriole confirmed. “And an armed guard’s at the end of the hall. Sometimes tells me we’re not going to make it to the pedicure.”Bluejay wrinkled her nose. “Hey, that incense…”Oriole nodded quickly. “Yeah, I smell it too. Some kind of chemical compound.” She grabbed a towel off the shelf and tossed it over the smoking incense sticks, smothering the scent. “Nothing too strong, or else we’d already be out.”Bluejay sidled up to the door, listening at the crack. “It must be something to relax the girls as they wait in here, making them drowsy and docile.”Oriole pointed silently up towards the ceiling.Bluejay glanced up to see a flatscreen monitor set into the ceiling above.“Think they get cable in here?” Oriole asked dryly. “Whatever they’re doing to the girls,” Bluejay said under her breath, “they sure don’t waste any time about it.”“That’s probably good,” Oriole said with a sigh. “I doubt I could pretend to be this chipper for the whole day.”“Yeah,” Bluejay said with a frown, “but it also means we’re going to have to break our cover pretty quick here.” She tapped her ear. “Bluejay to Meadowlark, over.” She waited a few seconds, then tapped her ear again. “Bluejay to Meadowlark, come in Meadowlark. Do you read me?”Oriole tapped her own ear. “Static,” she said.Bluejay tapped her communicator off. “They must be jamming communications.”“Great,” Oriole said. “So there’s no way to call for backup or even let Meadowlark know what’s happening.”“Not unless we disable whatever jammer they’re using,” Bluejay said. She waved her hand at Oriole. “Someone’s coming.”Oriole gave a quick nod, then pushed herself up against the wall on the other side of the door. The two beautiful women waited in silence.Outside in the hall footsteps approached the door. The handle turned, then the door opened.A toned woman with a lithe torso and long, wavy brown hair stepped into the room. She wore a white uniform. “Well, well, who’s ready for a—” She stopped mid-sentence, staring at the two empty massage tables in confusion.Bluejay grabbed her quickly from behind as Oriole shut the door behind them. Bluejay twisted the woman’s arm hard behind her back, causing her to gasp in pain.“One cry for help and I’ll break your arm,” Bluejay snarled.The masseuse nodded, her eyes wide and her face pale. Oriole quickly patted the woman down. “Well, well,” she said, pulling two capped syringes out of her pocket. “And what are these?”“P-please,” the masseuse whimpered. “I don’t know anything, honest—aagh!”Bluejay twisted the masseuse’s arm just a bit more. She glanced at Oriole. “One way to find out.”Oriole grinned and nodded. She uncapped the syringe and jabbed it into the masseuse’s neck.“Arrgh, don’t…” the masseuse gasped. She blinked heavily, her eyes glazing over. “Don’t…”“Looks like someone’s going nighty-night,” Oriole said. She gave the end of the syringe a quick lick with her tongue, then spat. “Tastes like a cocktail of stuff. Sedative, muscle relaxant, hypnotic…not a straight-up knockout drug though.”The masseuse had melted into Bluejay’s arms while Oriole had been speaking, her body becoming delightfully limp while all pretense of resistance faded into nothing. She giggled happily, a dreamy and contented expression on her face. Her head lolled back against Bluejay’s shoulder.“Well, she’s out for sure, even if she’s not unconscious,” Bluejay sighed. “You’re soooo…sooo niiice…” the masseuse sighed. She snuggled her face against Bluejay’s neck. “Looks like she’s taken a liking to you,” Oriole said with a teasing smile.Bluejay rolled her eyes. “Help me get her onto the table, will you?”“Sure thing.” Oriole took other side of the softly sighing masseuse, and between the two of them the agents hoisted the sweetly drowsy and compliant woman onto the massage table. She settled down onto her stomach, her lissome body heavy and unresisting. Her eyes were still dull and unfocused, and a tranquil and happy look was on her face. “Might be worth asking her a couple of questions,” Oriole said with a glance at the door. “Sometimes tells me she might spill a few things in the state she’s in.”“Yeah, if we can get her to focus.” Bluejay patted the masseuse’s cheek. “You still awake, honey?”“Mmm?” the masseuse licked her lips drowsily, her eyes fluttering and rolling. “Yeah…”“Good girl,” Bluejay said. “What’s your name?”The masseuse gave a sleepy sigh. “Cleo…”“Alright, then, Cleo,” Bluejay said. She rubbed a hand over the prone’s girl’s back. “What’s behind the metal door at the end of the hall?”“Hmm?” Cleo yawned. “Stairs…”Bluejay glanced at Oriole, who was standing by the door, alert and listening. “And what’s up there?”“Command…” Cleo moaned. “Offices…barracks…”“Is that right? Is the door locked?”“Mmm-hmm.” Cleo closed her eyes, her voice thick and slurred. “Key…in my…my…”Bluejay started to dig through Cleo’s pockets, and emerged triumphantly with a silver key. “No sign of the guard yet,” Oriole whispered from the door. “But if Cleo doesn’t come out soon we might have a problem.”“I have an idea,” Bluejay said. She gave Cleo a soft pat on her round ass. “Alright, Cleo, you can go to sleep now.”“Okay…” the pretty masseuse murmured groggily. A few seconds later she was snoring softly.Bluejay pushed the key into her bosom. She glanced down at her mini-dress with a sigh. “I miss pockets.”Oriole grinned. “I guess even skintight catsuits are better than dresses for these covert operations. At least you can wear a utility belt.”Bluejay headed over to the door. “Here, hand me that second syringe.”Oriole handed it over. Bluejay took it in one hand, then opened the door and walked into the hall. The guard at the end looked at her sharply.“Our…masseuse…she’s collapsed!” Bluejay stammered. She pointed with a shaking hand inside the room. “I think…I think she’s fainted or something!”The guard hesitated for a moment, then came at a run towards the door. As she drew closer, Bluejay gave her a quick glance. She was fit and slender, with a supple bust and elbow-length bleached blonde hair.The guard turned quickly into the room, and stopped abruptly when she saw Cleo on the table. She started to turn back to Bluejay.It was too late. The moment the guard’s back was turned on her, Bluejay’s panicked face and trembling body vanished abruptly. She uncapped the syringe and stuck it into the pretty guard’s neck.The woman gasped, her eyes widening and her body stiffening. She reached instinctively for her sidearm. “Grab her!” Bluejay grunted. She already had the guard from behind, and locked her arms around the guard’s front. Oriole moved in swiftly. She clapped a hand over the woman’s mouth and pulled her hand away from her weapon.“Mmmphhhgghh—” the guard cried out through the hand over her mouth. She kicked a leg weakly, then her eyes went blank and her body sagged back into Bluejay. Both her hands twitched and then went limp. Her eyes slowly crossed.“There’s a good girl,” Bluejay whispered into the guard’s ear. “Time to go to sleep.” Oriole grabbed the woman’s buckling legs, while Bluejay grabbed her firmly under the arms. They carried the moaning, barely conscious girl into the room. Bluejay nodded at the empty massage table. “There.”They grunted as they lifted the barely conscious guard onto the table. She settled with a sigh, her eyes mere slits and a blank and dreamy look on her face. “Man, whatever’s in those syringes sure trips them out,” Oriole said with a glance at both girls.“Probably to make any brainwashing that much easier,” Bluejay said. She cracked open the door and glanced up and down the hall. “All clear. We don’t have much time. Let’s get these two undressed.”Oriole gave Bluejay a questioning look. The redhead was already pulling the guard’s pants off. “Might buy us a few extra minutes before these two go missing. Hurry up.”The two agents lifted limp limbs and pulled clothing off unresisting and helpless bodies until Cleo and the guard were both in nothing but their panties. Bluejay tossed the last of the clothes into the closet, then tossed two towels to Oriole. “Over their backsides.”Oriole nodded understanding, then covered each of the slumbering girls with the towel. At a glance, it looked like both girls were undressed and simply waiting on the tables for a massage.“Think that will really fool anyone?” Oriole asked.“Doubt it,” Bluejay said, moving to the door again. “But every minute counts, and eventually someone will come looking for these two.” She picked up the guard’s gun. “Are we shooting people now?” Oriole moved up behind her.“Not unless we have to,” Bluejay said through her teeth. “But I’m not wandering through here unarmed.”“Fair point,” Oriole conceded. They both moved cautiously and quietly out into the hall. Bluejay moved over to one of the closed and locked doors. She reached into the bust of her dress and pulled out the key, then tried the lock. The door open. Curious, both women opened the door quietly and peeked inside. Two women lay on the massage tables, wearing nothing but panties. They stared vacantly up at the ceiling through half-closed eyes, where the flatscreen monitor flashed and flickered with hypnotic images. Each woman wore a headset. Neither reacted in the slightest to the door opening.Bluejay shut the door quickly. “We were right,” she said. “Brainwashing.”“But what for?” Oriole said in a low voice. “All these women are being released, aren’t they? Why—?” Her eyes suddenly widened. “Oh, no.”“Oh, yes,” Bluejay said grimly. “We have to shut this place down, fast.”“We have to communicate with Meadowlark first,” Oriole said, with a glance back at the door behind them. “Do you think we could just walk out of here?”Bluejay snorted. “I doubt they’ll let us. And with all the guards between us and the cable car there’s no way we’ll make it if we have to fight.”“And even if we did they could just stop the cable car and bring us back,” Oriole said with a sigh. She glanced down at her orange mini-dress. “We can’t exactly climb down the mountain wearing these outfits.”Bluejay looked back at the steel door at the end of the hall. “Forward into the lion’s den, then. We might be able to disarm the communications jammer. Or find another way to send a message to Meadowlark.”Oriole nodded. “I’m with you.”Bluejay moved to the steel door, Oriole right behind her. She tried the handle, but it didn’t budge. She tried the key next. The door clicked open.“Be ready for anything,” Bluejay whispered to her friend. Oriole nodded.Bluejay opened the door.A stairwell led upwards.“Well,” Oriole said quietly. “Here we go.”