Chapter 18 - (part fourteen -- continued)

An indistinct din was echoing through the halls. Lina peered around cautiously but could not pinpoint the source of the commotion. A sudden yelp from Daesti drew her attention back to her friend's current plight.

"Ow! What was *that* for?!"

"What was *what* for? What are you talking about?"

"Did you just pinch my ass?!"

"Did I *what*?!"

Daesti yelped once more. Then Lina spied the source of her friend's discomfort: Two tiny dart-like hypos were sticking out of Daesti's buttocks, one in each cheek. Lina quickly plucked out the offending needles and examined them cursorily. Then she dropped them in sudden astonishment as something much more apprehensible filled her field of vision.

She stood staring, dumbfounded, as Daesti's posterior began to expand before her very eyes.

"Daesti!" she managed to shout at last." Your ass is getting huge!"

"Knock off the catty insults and give me a push!"

"No, I mean it, it's getting bigger by the second!"

Daesti was wriggling wildly and kicking her legs. "Lina! Help! Push me through!"

Lina tried desperately to push Desi's ballooning rump through the opening, but it was no use.

Daesti struggled futilely to extricate herself. Her burgeoning behind had formed a tight seal against the hole in the wall and wriggle as she might, she found herself unable to budge.

Lina cringed when heard a familiar voice emanating from the adjoining corridor.

"Grab her! Get her in cuffs!"

Lina turned around, only to be met by a hulking four-armed securitybot, stealthy despite its size. Immediately the metallic brute pinned Lina's wrists behind her with one pair of its robotic arms and handcuffed her with the other pair.

A motorized utility cart appeared around the curve of the hallway, in the back benchseat of which was Mim, her face still flecked with bits of mashed potatoes. Still a bit out of breath, Mim slowly disembarked and approached them.

"Looks like our little brunette has grown just a bit wider on the backside, wouldn't you say?" said Mim, patting Daesti on the buttocks. "Having some trouble squeezing through, honey? Hang around for a bit, Blubber Buns!" she taunted, as she smacked Daesti's bottom sharply.

"What did you do to her?" Lina demanded. "What did you shoot into her?"

"Oh, calm down, it's only a little Templump," said Mim dismissively, as though this explanation should be perfectly apparent to Lina. Mim saw her puzzlement and offered a condescending clarification. "A cosmetic enhancer. Puffs up the fat cells. But don't worry, it's only temporary. Her ass will shrink down again. For a little while. But we'll get it right back up to size, once we've taken the time to feed her up properly. She won't need Templump for enhancement when I've finished with her." She smacked Daesti's backside again and laughed.

"Help! Lina! Help! Mmmppph--!" Daesti's behind rippled as she squirmed.

"Leave her alone!" Lina hollered, straining against the cuffs and the grip of the securitybot.

"Oh, she won't be alone. But it's obvious you two can't be trusted together, so you need to be separated. Now, you interrupted your friend's meal, and that was very rude of you. But that's all right. She's just about to have the meal of her life. We've wheeled a nice cart of food into the room, and two of my best aides will hand-feed her. Without you to interfere, she'll be free to eat as much as she likes. And as for you, blondie, you'll be directly under my care now. And when and Ms. Derecho finally see each other again, you won't even recognize each other."

"You can't do this!" shouted Lina. She was in tears now. As Mim led her away, the last she saw of Daesti was her enlarged behind sticking out of the portal, ponderously round and shiny under the sheen of the bubblegum-pink bodysuit, her legs kicking feebly.