Edna Howton Super-Agent

"Actually, no. He has a private laboratory on a remote island in the Pacific. Supposedly, the lab is a chemistry and research facility. However, SOMEONE is creating and distributing high grade plutonium behind the iron curtain and to rouge states. It is quite possible that his laboratory is actually a cover for a breeder reactor."

A puzzled expression crossed Edna's face. "Can't you just raid the place?"

"If only it were that easy. The government that owns the island where the professor lives is very unfriendly towards the United States and their opinion carries a great deal of weight with surrounding countries. If we go in and find nothing, it's an international incident that the President and the diplomatic corps would simply prefer not have to deal with. If we could get someone inside to earn his trust and gain enough liberty to explore close to his laboratory, we could know for sure if he is our rogue radiation router."

"What do you expect me to do?" asked Edna.

"We plan to have you wash up on his beach. We will plant lots of evidence of a yacht explosion. You will be the sole survivor. Ulanov lives alone on the island save for his assistant. A huge hulking brute, named Pascal, who, when not in the lab, doubles as bodyguard and butler. We know professor Ulanov has an eye for the ladies and, as a widower, is probably quite lonely.

"I hope you don't expect me to seduce him!" replied Edna angrily.

"If it's essential to completing the mission ... No one at the agency thinks that will be an absolute necessity. The professor is quite urbane with a European style and diffidence. He will. however, be more than awed by your beauty and will be so taken with you that he might get sloppy. He will easily believe your cover story as an aspiring model who was on the deck of the yacht to avoid the amorous interests of a playboy when the ship exploded. Thinking you a zero, he will, most probably give you full range of the place. Even if he does not, we will provide you with a list of things to look out for."

"How will you get me off the island?"

"In two weeks, the regular mail delivery and supply ship arrives. They will ferry you back to the mainland where some of our agents will debrief you."

For the next two weeks, Edna crammed and studied hard, trying to understand the breeder reactor process. It was simpler focusing on the equipment that the man would be using. There were only so many ways to design a breeder reactor. After more delightful passionate lovemaking with Tom it was off to San Diego to rendezvous with a nuclear sub. "If this mission turns out to nothing, and even if it turns out to be something, I will come back with a spectacular tan, darling." She told Tom before accepting his sensual final kisses.

The submarine ride was actually quite fun, even with the minimal privacy. By now, Edna was so used to being ogled in her sleek new form, she scarcely paid any attention to the leers from the sailors. The captain was never less than gentlemanly however. At last it was show time.

The sub surfaced and a group of seebees created a convincing explosion and released boat parts in a scientifically designed pattern to take advantage of the prevailing currents to the island. Edna vanished to the small area set aside for her, stripped down and dressed for discovery. She donned a pair of band aids to mask her nipples, a lacy black garter belt, matching lace panties, black nylons, towering heels that she did not expect to make it to shore, a slinky lame dress with strategic rips, stains and tears, and tasteful makeup. Very carefully, Edna scaled the ladder to the deck of the sub. The captain had made everyone exit the command cabin before Edna scaled the ladder,yet, for some reason, he trailed her up to the deck.

In a small rubber raft, Edna, the captain, and two frogmen got as close to the shoreline of the island as they dared. Edna swallowed a small capsule that would cause her to loose consciousness in a half hour. She had to reach shore before that or she might drown. The boys back in Virginia believed that she would be discovered at dawn or early morning . She had to appear as though she had been through an ordeal. The drug cocktail in the capsule would simulate a long stay in the water and accompanying exhaustion. First, the frogmen released a small suitcase with a label identifying it as Edna's alias of Gloria Parks and hoped it would make it to shore as well. Even without the concealed goodies inside, Edna knew enough to complete the mission's objectives with just her eyes and astute mind. A short time later, Edna slipped over the side of the raft and began swimming for the island, which was only a dark blot against the star strewn sky.

The capsule had it's desired effect, Edna barely made it to shore just as the first traces of dawn began to paint the sky. With a grateful final gasp, Edna pulled herself out of the breakers and onto the shoreline before everything went dark.

Edna awoke to tropical sunlight spilling across the sheets of the comfortable bed she found herself in. From the strength of the sun, she gathered it was just about noon. The Pacific's roar could be heard in the distance and a warm fragrant breeze entered the room through a nearby window. With a bit of trepidation, Edna peered under the sheet confirming that she was nude. Edna pondered her situation for a few moments. Despite being thoroughly dedicated agent, the thought of being stripped by a stranger, even if it was more or less expected to transpire was still more than a little disconcerting. Just as she was about to step out from under the sheets and try to find some sort of cover in the room, or failing that, use the bed sheet as a toga, she heard a noise.

The door to the smallish, yet airy room opened. Professor Ulanov's butler/bodyguard/jack of all trades, Pascal, strode past the threshold. Edna emitted an involuntary yelp. Even having seen his photograph, Edna was unprepared for how brutish and repulsive he appeared. His bad looks and blotchy skin were done no favors by the livid scar which snaked along his jaw, scaled the right side of his face and vanished in his thick salt and pepper hair. His bulk and height were as off putting as his looks.

Edna shrank away from the man beneath her sheets, suddenly horrified at the realization that this monster had probably undressed her and seen her in her most helpless state.

The huge homely human being laughed, stooped a bit, and held up his hands, displaying Edna's, now dry, yet now even more torn and stained dress as well as her panties, garter belt, and nylons, although the stockings now bore so many rents and runs that donning them would be useless. The hulking man placed them on a chair and stated in a sepulchral voice, "The professor invites you to late breakfast. Follow the hallway on the right to the dining room." With that he straightened to his full intimidating height and exited the room.

Edna sighed with relief when the door closed behind Pascal, still, she tarried for several long moments before she rose from the bed and crossed to the chair. Since the stockings were useless, Edna dispensed with the garter belt. She slid on her panties and the slinky dress, found a mirror and tried to make herself presentable. Edna sighed deeply, the already daring dress was now even more revealing.

"You have to think like and empty-headed, exhibitionist, party girl." she silently told her reflection. "Go out there with an attitude of gratitude and vivacity, be as young as you now look."

There was a small bathroom adjacent to the bedroom where she had woken up. After relieving herself, Edna contemplated her refection. She found her chronological displacement the most difficult thing about her transformation. To the world she appeared no more than twenty-two or so, yet inside she was still the forty year old military wife who had gone through two wars and had an entirely different set of values from the younger generation. In preparing for this role, Edna had dispensed with her wedding ring and took to hanging out at a local eatery favored by the college crowd. The men were handsome enough, reminding Edna of her early days with Tom; but none of them seemed to have the drive or passion as the men she had grown up with. The women all seemed vapid, obsessed with movie stars and pop singers. They reminded Edna, in a very uncomfortable manner, of the girl she once was. "What do these women know about manning the factories during the war, of rationing, and bond drives? Where were they when the North Koreans crossed into the south?" It was all so confusing. "Perhaps youth is wasted on the young, but I'm one old broad who can't make sense of it either." she had confided to Tom one day.

"Your youth is not wasted on me!" replied Tom, frustrating Edna as she had wanted to have a serious conversation. It was at that moment Edna realized that despite their history and commitment to each other, Tom had begun to look at her differently. That realization was nearly as scalding as the alien jet fuel. Very early, the next morning, after Tom had departed for the Pentagon and before she had to report to C.I.A. Headquarters, Edna had the longest, most therapeutic cry of her entire life.

The brilliant, college educated, officer's wife tried to don an expression that would convey vacuity, took a deep breath, and made her way to the dining room. Professor Ulanov, was if anything, more handsome than his photographs. Looking a bit like a European movie star, he was well built and deeply tanned. He had graying sideburns just like Jeff Chandler, and big blue eyes, behind his wire rim glasses, that resembled Bing Crosby's, yet all of it was combined with an air of sophistication and intellect that Edna, despite herself, found immediately alluring.

"Gosh, Mister. I want to thank you for saving my life!" Edna gushed.

In way that just shouted "class," the professor managed to eye Edna from head to toe without appearing to before he stated, with a slight hitch in his voice, "I am overjoyed to have a guest. Pascal is not much of a conversationalist, Miss?"

"Gloria. It's Gloria Parks. And you are?"

"Your benefactor. You can call me "Professor."

"So, how did I get here?"

"I was hoping you could answer that question." replied the professor pointedly.

"All I can remember is that awful masher on the yacht."

"Yacht?"

"Yeah, this rich guy who claimed to be a millionaire promised me a screen test in Hollywood if I took a trip on his yacht with him. He was the perfect gentleman until, I guess it was last night, when he got really fresh. Just 'cause I put on this slinky dress that he bought me, doesn't mean that I'm THAT kind of girl. I poured drinks into him until he stopped pawing me and fell asleep and then I slid out of his arms and went for a walk on deck. I heard a loud noise, saw a bright flash, and the next thing I knew, I was in the water. And then I was here ... naked, in a strange bed."

"Interesting. Pascal did report a flash on the horizon last night. He stumbled across you a little after dawn. There was evidence of SOME event in the water judging by the debris which also washed ashore."

Edna flushed with true embarrassment and asked, "Is he the one who?"

"You were soaking wet, my dear. It was also necessary to look for injuries like broken bones."

"He didn't have to ..."

"Yes, we did." replied the professor a bit testily before continuing with, "Among Pascal's many talents, he is a first class medic. He served with distinction in the war." Edna was quick to note that Professor Ulanov omitted WHICH war, still she remained in character.

"We?" questioned Edna before dropping the subject. "Well, he scares me to death!" replied Edna with complete sincerity.

"He is supposed to." remarked the handsome professor firmly.

Edna donned a troubled expression ans asked, "What of dear old Dougie and the crew? Douglas was a louse but he didn't deserve to be blown up!"

"After so much time in the water, Gloria, I'm afraid their ... Either you are a very good swimmer or you caught a lucky current."

"I'm good in the water, my parents used to take me to Atlantic City all the time when I was a girl."

The professor greeted that non-answer with a nonplussed expression before asking,"Now how do you take your coffee? Would you prefer tea?"

"Cream and two sugars, coffee is fine."

"So, "Gloria" what do you do for a living?"

"You mean now? A bit of this a bit of that. I've been a taxi dancer and a car hop, and a cigarette girl. I seem to end up in a lot of jobs where I show off my legs!" Edna provided a not so subtle punctuation to that sentence by allowing her hand to brush the long slit of the dress, widening it to expose more of her well toned ivory-skinned gams. The professor's eyes seemed to appreciate the gesture. With a bemused smile, she continued,

"I do a little modeling too, a hosiery ad here, a face cream ad there, but what I really want to do is break into acting."

"Interesting." replied the professor insincerely.

"And what brings a handsome professor like you to this place, where ever it is."

"You are on a small island, my dear. You needn't trouble yourself as to the specific location. I need the privacy for my research."

"What do you research, professor, marine life and coral and stuff like that?" asked Edna.

"I'm more into theoretical physics."

Edna made her face fall into a frown and replied, "You mean math? I hate math! I traded kisses with the class brain for a cheat sheet to the final exam. That poor boy thought it was something more serious! But I passed and that is all that mattered."

"Are you in the habit of exploiting men, Gloria?" asked the Professor with disdain in his voice.

"Exploit nothin'! I send 'em away happy. Why shouldn't a girl get what she wants?"

"That is one way of looking at it, I suppose."

Edna accepted a cup of hot Joe, delighting in its warming and invigorating effect. She also picked up some buttered toast and a few slices of bacon. When she sampled the eggs, Edna enthused, "The bacon is perfect and the eggs are divine."

I'll pass your complements about his cooking on to Pascal. So what route were you and "Dougie" sailing? These seas can be mightily unfriendly waters to the wrong type of shipping."

"You mean like pirates?" asked Edna coquettishly.

"Yes, the worst kind, the political ones" replied the professor "How did you come to be sailing so close to my island?"

"Your island? You must be rich!" answered Edna as she batted her eyes at him.

"That does not answer my question." returned the professor sharply.

"Gee Whiz, professor I'm certainly not a sailor, (Although I HAVE dated a few!) I couldn't read a compass to save my life. I knew only what Dougie knew and all he wanted to talk about was my breasts!"

As Edna stated tat last sentence she forced her large, unrestrained boobs to press more firmly against the edge of the table. Edna needed to get the professor distracted. To shut down the inquisitive side of his nature and just accept her for what she pretended to be, a mermaid washed up on shore and into his arms, the luckiest fisherman on the world. Edna, in planing for eventualities in her head, realized that if she absolutely HAD to, sleeping with the professor would not be THAT horrific.

"I don't know why I want to believe you, Miss Parks," stated the professor after an interval, "but, for the moment, I shall.

The two dined in silence for some time, each quietly assessing the other. Edna broke the silence by gesturing to her tattered gown and stating, "This dress has really had it, professor, perhaps you could find something for me to put on? And then I'd really like you to show me your house. If I am to be your guest, I'd like to know the layout."

"I would not mind if you dispensed with clothing entirely, Gloria, but I believe that one or more of my dress shirts will conceal you nicely. If I was sending you camping, I'd have Pascal give you one of his!"

Edna laughed and replied, "You're funny professor! I love it when a man has a sense of humor!"

Professor Ulanov returned her laugh with a slight chuckle of his own. He continued to smile at her as they finished breakfast. Once Pascal appeared to police up the dishes, the professor held Edna's chair for her and led her to his rather large and comfortable bedroom. Edna considered that here, despite the tropical surroundings, professor Ulanov surrounded himself with European class and sophistication. If Edna did not know better, she could almost imagine that she had stepped through a portal in the South Pacific and exited in an old world capital. It was not a surprise to find a dozen tailored Oxford dress shirts behind the mirrored, sliding door of the closet. There were books in at least a half dozen languages, charts, maps, a lovely mahogany desk, and a surprisingly large bed. Edna accepted a blue striped Oxford and asked the professor to step out of the room while she put it on.

"No peeking this time. You sweet old man you." teased Edna before she ushered him out the door. With her trained agent's eyes, Edna scanned the room in the short time it took her to doff the dress and don the shirt. She found nothing incriminating. Edna experienced an epiphany, "If I spend the night in this room, I could explore it thoroughly while the professor is asleep. I don't see how I will get any time alone in this room otherwise."

Edna caught sight of herself in the full length mirror. Instantly, she was transported back to the first year of her marriage. Angry at Edna's choice of exclusively long flannel nighties, Tom took the opportunity, when she was out of the house for a moment, to shred every last bit of nightwear she owned. When Edna asked her husband, amid the carnage of ruined nightgowns, what she was supposed to wear to bed, Tom had handed her one of his dress shirts. Edna grumbled that first night, yet, for warmth, she had clung even closer to Tom. They ended up making love and their marriage was forever changed. Edna eventually graduated to some very alluring nightwear from select boutiques, but on their anniversary, Edna always spent the night in one of her husband's shirts. With a melancholy insight,

she realized that that night was now long ago.

"He was so young and handsome, and on his way to OCS, I was young, pretty, and foolish. Now he is still handsome but not so young and I am a different person entirely!" For the thousandth time, since her transformation, Edna's past left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Is that woman who pledged fidelity to Tom, REALLY the same person as the one in this mirror?" she asked herself. Not that they hadn't talked around the issue of Edna, as a necessary extension of her new career, needing to be unfaithful. She could tell that Tom was not happy about it, but the country was bigger than both of them and certainly their marriage. "If it comes to that" he said obliquely, "do your duty, but I NEVER want to know about it!" And with a kiss and a handshake, that was that. Edna pushed the intruding thoughts away, focused on her current duty and exited the professor's bedroom with a flourish.

"Superb!" stated the man of questioned loyalties as he viewed the beautiful young woman and appreciated the full length view of her spectacular shapely legs..

Edna paid rapt attention as the professor squired her about his home. One bedroom was Pascal's. "Not even I am allowed in there." stated the professor as they passed the closed door. The small hallway that led to her guest bedroom and bathroom also fed a small room used for a radio shack that was also crammed with exercise equipment. Edna attempted to read the frequency setting on the ham rig, but the numbers were obscured. "Is he calling us or them or both?" Edna asked herself. There was a kitchen that attached to a large living room with sliding windows and a majestic view of the beach. The surf was a gentle walk through the dunes. Entry into the other wing of the house was prevented by a pair of steel doors, their handles chained together by a menacing looking padlock.