Rosanna sat in the bushes with a group of podded humanoids, blinking in the light of the afternoon sun. It was hard to credit, but it had only been a few hours since her initial capture. Mistress worked quickly, preparing for the landing party.
The area outside the cave was quiet, long stalks of the soporific flowers filling the under canopy. Above, the waving branches of tall evergreens filtered the light trickling down to her sister slaves.
Rosanna was situated on an outcropping above and to the side of the entrance to the cave, giving them an excellent view of the clearing below. An earthen ramp wrapped around the side, a grass strip leading from the top of the cliff to the small clearing. Everything was quiet but for branches waving in the wind.
She looked down, admiring the contours of the octopus creature sitting on her pussy. It was wrapped around her waist beneath her swollen belly, watching her with animalistic devotion. It had climbed onto her body as she had left the cafeteria cave, settling into position with a wet slap. She didn't question its presence; this, too, was the will of her Mistress.
Running a hand over its bulbous head, she moaned as it stroked its rough tongue over her pussy. She thought about how the one on her head was doing the same to her brain, treating her like a pet. *Good thought* She wanted to stand here and think about her slavery all day, *bad thought*, but she needed to be ready to follow her Mistress' commands. *Good thought*
She focused as her comm chirped. She wasn't wearing her utility belt, but that didn't matter. One of the octopus arms dangling on her shoulder was helpfully curled around the small device. She retrieved the device in the palm of her hand, lacking the fine control necessary to manipulate it with her arms. As she acclimated to her new position, she was certain that with practice she would learn to use these new appendages as if they were her own. *Good thought*
"Rosanna here," she said, careful to leave out any hint of her arousal.
"This is Abbott," came a prim voice. "We have landed near your position. Please give us directions." His tone was clipped.
Rosanna rolled her eyes. Abbott Prosser was an idiot. A well connected idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. She wondered why he had been assigned to lead the expedition, as his only achievement was failing upward to first lieutenant. Even that much power was more than enough to go to his head. She had been ordered around by him like a peasant more than once.
She curved her lips, viciously pleased at what Mistress would do to him. All she needed to do was set the hook and lead him into the trap. She glanced at the comm's readout.
"Direct your path to grid coordinates 543841. You're looking for a small clearing butted up against a small cliff face. Watch for the cave opening, and group up. It's easy to get lost in the forest. Rosanna, out."
"Abbott received," he replied, voice dripping with condescension. "We should be there within minutes, if your directions are sufficient. Out."
Rosanna curled her lips in a snarl. The backhanded insult was an unfortunate pleasure of dealing with the supercilious bastard. Never mind, it wouldn't be her problem for long. A sudden realization hit her. This wasn't her problem at all. Mistress would solve the problem for her. *Good thought*
She stroked her fingers over the Octopus on her waist, taking comfort from its rubbery presence. Ten other podded humanoids crouched all around her, hiding in the long grass that grew at the cliff face. The clearing below was only about ten feet down, not a long drop. She imagined jumping from the top, landing in the circle of green grass as if it was a bed of down feathers.
Her imagination was being silly again. She shook her head, narrowing her eyes. There, against the far edge of the clearing, she could see motion. Was that the landing party? If she had her full complement of equipment, she could have used her spotting scope, but most of her usual gear was hidden somewhere in the cave. Mistress must not think she needed it to accomplish this task. *Good thought*
Her initial intuition was correct. The waving fronds of vegetation soon resolved into a line of heavily armed crew members, scanning back and forth as if they were in a hostile environment.
Damn, they were being overly cautious for what this mission should entail. The spearhead of the unit was led by a woman, who stopped in the middle of the clearing and held one hand up in a fist. The rest of her people spread out behind, forming a circle of troops that watched their surroundings warily.
Abbott wasn't with this bunch. She hadn't expected him to lead the party, but she certainly had thought he would be close behind. She couldn't have missed him. His thin, gaunt frame would be unmistakable. Where was the rest of their party?
The lead soldier raised a hand to her helmet, popping the visor open and waving her hand. The other soldiers followed suit, the red lights around their neck lines making them look like armored beetles.
"We're here!" Sally declared in a commanding voice. "Rosanna, where are you?"
Rosanna froze, not sure what she should do. Leading this unit was her friend Sally, the security chief, not that bozo Abbot. Sally was no push over, and could beat Rosanna's butt twice over without breaking a sweat. She had never won a tennis match against the chief.
If she gave away her position now, without knowing where the rest of the landing party was holed up, Mistress might not be able to capture them all in one fell swoop. If anybody was able to get away and warn the ship above, they were all as good as dead.
Indecision kept her frozen, unable to move a muscle. If she did nothing, this would all be over. Her pulse raced.
The tentacle in her brain shifted, spearing her core. She could feel her body straightening. She waved an arm, her lips moving, not under her control. "Hello, the party!"
Sally blinked, looking up at Rosanna's position with surprise. The sun beamed from behind her head, making it hard for them to see her clearly. Still, it was impossible to hide that she was completely nude, and it wouldn't take much longer for them to realize that she had an octopus sitting on her head.
"Mistress welcomes you to Antasia," she declared, not bothering to hide her strange condition.
It was mighty bold of Mistress to take a direct approach. She must be confident of success. *Good thought*
Everything happened all at once. The tall flowers surrounding the soldiers leaned over, expelling their spores into the air, a yellow cloud suffusing the area. "It's a trap!" declared Sally, pressing against her neckline to snap her helmet back on.
Some of the others on her squad weren't quite as lucky, the soporific effect seizing their autonomic nervous systems before they had a chance to react. At least half of them succumbed to the flowers, but that still left five more to deal with.