It was the year 2025 and human cloning had become a standard practice. Using growth hormones and other techniques mature adults could be produced from a single cell in five to seven years. The applications were endless. Great scientists and statesmen were cloned in an effort to improve the world Pleasure models were produced to fulfil any desire. Clones were produced as organ donors to extend the lives of those who could afford them.

As a result of the need for organ donors, it became legal to kill a clone. Some were killed as soon as their organs were ready for harvest. Others were given a fighting chance for survival. This opened up another whole industry, the Hunt.

Man has always been a hunter and the ultimate game is another human. To provide a supply of worthy opponents for the Hunt, a system similar to ancient Roman Gladiator training was instituted. Men and women could train and receive rewards for their skill and ability. Some hunts were ended after the sport of the chase while others were to the death.

Jim Richardson was filthy rich. He had founded his own successful software company and made more money than he could possibly spend. He then bought a defunct computer company and installed its ousted founder as a dupe to cover his real goal of dominating the Internet. This he did through treachery and assignation.

Jim thought of business as war. When he said, "Kill the competition," he wasn’t kidding. Jim was known in his own circles as a back stabber. You never knew what he had up his sleeve.

Jim lived like a Japanese feudal warlord even though he was born in New Jersey. His house was decorated like a Japanese castle and he walked around its water garden clad in a kimono. He practised with his katana (long sword), a 400-year-old blade forged by the master Tsunemitsu, and was known and respected in the local dojo’s.

Vicki was the best of the best. Her cell culture was based on a twentieth century woman of extraordinary beauty and intelligence. She had trained for long years in the military style of kenjutsu, an art in which skill is more important than muscle strength. She had killed seven other clones and three of her clients. Jim knew he had to have her.

Vicki’s handler told her, "I’ve got a rich old bastard who wants to spar with you and take a roll in the hay". "He’ll pay a ton of money". "This should be an easy one for you and it may be a little fun".

The Hunt was arranged and the two met at Jim’s castle. They were both clad in kimonos and carried katanas.

The evening began with a formal tea ceremony. Vicki and Jim knelt in the seiza position facing each other in the teahouse. He admired her soft features in the firelight as he handed her a steaming cup of cha. Her sheer silk kimono accented her elegant curves. Jim could easily see she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

"She isn’t shiseido (the way of femininity)," Jim thought, "Hell, she isn’t even Japanese". "Could this beautiful woman really be the deadly killer I heard about"?

Vicki looked at the man handing her the cha. He was older than she had expected. "Hope this bastard can get it up," she thought, "This is going to be a long, dull evening".

The two faced each other in the courtyard wearing the traditional hakama (a pleated, skirt-like pair of pants). They bowed to each other and assumed the iaigoshi position. (A crouching position of readiness) In a split second the fight was on. Swords clashed as both sides exchanged thrusts and parries. Bodies glistened with sweat from the effort. It was an even fight with neither side yielding much.

Jim noticed that Vicki would open her defense slightly when he would feign back. This was what he was looking for. A lightning fast mae-geri (front kick) to her hands and her sword clattered across the courtyard. His sword was on her throat in an instant and she resigned by dropping to her knees and bowing her head.

"Enough of this nonsense," she thought, "let’s get on with the evening". She pulled her kimono off her shoulders, and exposed herself to the waist. "If he doesn’t get it yet, this should be enough of an invitation".

"Nice set of breasts", Jim thought as he prepared to perform the fatal thrust. "They’ll look good in my collection". The sword came down with lightning speed but Vicki wasn’t there.

"That asshole tried to kill me", Vicki thought as she stood in the shadows watching Jim slash at drapes and stab at empty spaces looking for her. "I gave him enough openings to drive a truck through and he thought he beat me". "I’m going to have to kill this jerk quietly and sneak out of here in case he has some of his corporate guards as backup".

Vicki was skilled in the art of kumi-uchi and could kill with her bare hands. When she struck Jim from behind he saw a blinding flash and felt a searing pain. He was immediately paralyzed and his sword rattled to the ground. He felt her hands on his carotid arteries and knew he had only seconds to live. Unconsciousness rolled over him like a wave.

The wakizashi (short sword) slid between Vicki’s third and fourth ribs, piercing her heart and both lungs. Her soft body offered almost no resistance to the razor sharp blade. She jerked back in an involuntary spasm and let out a gasp as she felt the cold steel in her chest. She couldn’t breathe as blood rose in her throat and filled her lungs. Her last thoughts were ones of surprise and disbelief. "Where did the asshole get that blade and how did he keep it hidden?"

Jim caught her in his arms and pulled her close. Her chest heaved as her body struggled for air. Through the thin silk of his kimono he could feel the thrust of her firm breasts. The only sound was a choking gurgling from her throat. The trembling of the dying woman in his arms was almost too much for Jim. He kissed her full mouth and tasted the sweet saltiness of her blood. Gradually the spasms of her death throes subsided and her body hung limp in his arms. He let her slide slowly to the floor.

Carefully wiping the blood from his wakizash and replacing it in its saya Jim thought about the times this little knife had come in handy. It had a slender twelve-inch blade, hardly larger than a tanto, and was easy to conceal in his sleeve. He carried it with him always.

Vicki’s kimono slipped off her shoulders as she fell to the floor. She lay there on her back, arms spread out beside her, naked to the waist. Her eyes and mouth were wide open and she had an almost surprised look on her face. Jim pulled the rest of her kimono and hakama off and admired the body before him. God she was beautiful!

She had the classic body of a dancer. Long slender limbs and smooth muscles. Her long dark hair contrasted with her light olive skin. Her large firm breasts topped with dark nipples looked almost out of place on the otherwise slender body. A slight trickle of blood showed next to the knife wound in her chest.

Jim knelt beside her and ran his hands over the classic features of her beautiful face. He gently closed her eyes and caressed her lips. Blood trickled from her nose and the side of her mouth so he wiped it away with a handkerchief. When he had finished she looked peacefully asleep.

He pulled his own kimono off and lay beside her on the tami mat where she fell. He explored the curves of her elegant body from the firm breasts, over her flat stomach to the soft moistness between her legs. He lifted her hips and pulled her limp body onto his huge erection. The warm lifeless body gave one last shudder as he penetrated deep inside.

Plunging himself into her again and again he let all the tension of the evening drain away. Waves of pleasure rolled over him as he climaxed again and again. When he finished he didn’t have the strength to stand so he lay next to the warm soft body that was once a beautiful woman.

Jim arranged the limp body in a relaxed sleeping pose. She lay on her back with her arms beside her. He rotated her hips to one side and pulled her knees up with her legs together. When he finished, he stood up and admired his work.

Jim pulled on his kimono and reached for the telephone. First he would call the photographers and pose for some trophy photos. He would then check into a hospital for his liver transplant. No hurry, the body would stay fresh for hours. He studied the naked body on the floor and thought about how Vicki would look mounted in his trophy room. The Hunt was over.