Drone Command

The club owner was a friend of Jianli’s, a Chinese national and fellow princeling seeking to make his way in the world beyond the reach of his own powerful and equally disapproving father. The club was a favorite of other wealthy Chinese expats along with an internationally diverse collection of well-heeled, fully entitled, disaffected youth. A wide variety of hallucinogens was available for purchase along with the finest selection of distilled spirits in central Europe. A three-star Michelin chef in the kitchen served up the best and priciest bar food anywhere.

Jianli’s two favorite bodyguards sat in the booth with him, sipping sparkling water and keeping a careful eye on their besotted charge. His studies at Humboldt University of Berlin were going well enough, but it was the nightlife that most intrigued the handsome nineteen-year-old, especially the wide availability of willing young women. Disko Dschungel was his prime hunting ground. The members-only club carefully recruited some of the most attractive and eager women on the continent by giving them access to some of Europe’s wealthiest and rebellious young men.

Jianli’s bleary eyes were captured by the leering gaze of a stunning blonde standing at the bar. Next to her was an equally spectacular mixed-race woman, smoky and lithe, who was also locking eyes with him. Jianli’s felt the heat rising in his loins. He whispered to one of his guards who slid out of the booth and made his way to the bar.

Thirty minutes later, the two scowling guards were standing at the bar while the two women sat with Jianli, bookends to his swelling libido. They devoured sweet buttery lobster and cold champagne between bouts of laughter and short teasing kisses. Jianli couldn’t believe his luck. He had enough experience with whores to know these weren’t paid professionals. They were fashion models shuttling between European capitals on an extended contract. They seemed genuinely interested in him and that was the most stimulating thing of all. Suddenly, two swift, skillful hands reached under the table and teased him with promises of pleasures still to come. A swift nod to his bodyguards, and the threesome fled the club, heading for the armored Mercedes limo parked in the basement.

* * *

The ancient freight-elevator doors creaked open and the guards stepped out first, heads on a swivel. The basement was clear of foot traffic and Jianli’s Mercedes limo was parked in a separate VIP area reserved just for him. One of the perks of being a regular as well as being the son of one of the most powerful men in China.

The guards nodded all clear and Jianli ushered the women out with him, his arms wrapped around their waists. They clung to him like drunken sailors on a pitching deck in a high storm, giggling and purring with each step. When they reached the limo, one of the guards opened the rear door and ushered Jianli in. When the blonde girl tried to enter, he blocked her with his hand.

“What the fuck is this?” she asked in slurred but effortless German.

The bodyguard spoke no German but easily inferred the question. He motioned with his fingers at her small clutch.

“Jianli! What’s this all about?”

Jianli leaned out. “Sorry, my love, but he’s just doing his job.”

The blonde glanced over at the other steely-eyed guard, certain that the bulge in his coat pocket wasn’t an oversize smartphone. He held a security wand in his hands. “Fine.” She handed him her purse and he fingered through it. Found her cell phone, pulled it out.

“Hey! You can’t have that!” She snatched it out of his hands.

“Sweet, if you want to come with me, you need to give him your phone. He’ll keep it safe in a special box. It blocks signals so that it can’t be used to track us, that’s all. He’ll give it back later, I promise.”

“I don’t know about all of this,” she said, as the other guard wanded her firm, curvy frame.

Jianli flashed his most charming smile. Rattled a pill bottle. “If you’re a good girl, I have some candy for you.”

That caught her attention. She reluctantly handed her cell phone over and climbed next to Jianli after the other guard gave his approving nod. The blonde scrambled in with a giggle and playfully climbed over Jianli’s lap to make room for her friend.

The other girl hesitated, apprehension gripping her stunning green eyes. Jianli tried to coax her in with his hypnotic smile. The dark-skinned girl was the one he truly wanted. She looked like a young Halle Berry, an effect she clearly cultivated with her tight-fitting clothes and short-cropped hair.

“Please?” he asked in English. The woman spoke no German.

“Don’t be such a baby. We’ll have so much fun!” the blonde said, laughing.

Jianli held out his hand. So did the blonde. “Maybe it will be like Barcelona.” Her eyes twinkled.