Preacher Man

  Chapter 23

  During the winding flight through the canyon, no one noticed that a new war wagon had joined the relief line as it left Washoe Joni. At P-6, its troops had jumped off to help. They were dressed in stolen Imperial uniforms and blended right in to the confusion around them. In the passenger's seat was a figure sitting quietly during the loading. His head was wrapped in a bloody bandage, so no questions were asked of him. Everyone assumed that he was wounded and patiently waiting for the take off. For some reason, only dead bodies were loaded onto this craft.

  In the confusion at P-3, these men loaded fuel and got drinks with out being questioned. After a time, the hooded figure nodded and a hand signal passed from man to man of this small brigade. They carried some more corpses and headed for their vehicle. When the take off was ordered they lifted off in a cloud of dust and appeared to head off with the rest, but they didn't.

  They fell back and soon were lost to sight in the twists and turns of the canyons. As soon as they were out of sight, the leader threw the bandage off of his bright, red hair and smiled, "Let's go home, Darlin..."

  Tantee took off the dust goggles that had hidden most of her face and shook her long hair out of the cap she wore. "Yes, Sir..." and she turned at the next canyon and headed for their hideout on the far side of Purgatory Mine #1.

  Hitting a switch, a section of the sheer canyon wall split open and the wagon entered. The wall closed behind them. The man painfully stepped down from the wagon, "Get someone ta dump those bodies before they stink up the place and meet me at HQ."

  "Where ya goin', Patchie?"

  "I gotta go see the Manx..." and he hobbled off.

  Tantee turned to the man behind her, "Zooie...ya heard `im. Dump these bodies some wheres."

  The long, sad looking face in the seat behind her looked even sadder, "Yeah,...like...where?"

  "See if the blasted Spiders want 'em... figure sumthin' out..." she yelled over her shoulder as she jumped from the wagon and headed for their section of the cave.

  Shannon MacTarn hobbled along the cool, dark cave, twisting and turning until he came to walls that were painted in blue and red stripes. Seeing him draw close, a guard came to sudden attention. Recognizing him, the guard saluted, "Admiral Patch, Sir."

  Not stopping, Shannon nodded to the man and hobbled on. Going into the next small cave, he kicked the feet of a lump on the floor under some fluffy blankets. The figure sat bolt upright with a hand blaster pointed at Shannon, "Wha...ohhh, it's you. Whadya want dis time, Patch man?"

  "Get a move on. I'm callin a meet in five klicks. We kicked some serious Frogger ass today while you was sleepin’.”

  Manx laid back down and nestled back in between the two naked females that warmed his bed. "Fight’s over… What the rush?"

  A strong arm, knotted with muscle whipped out. It grabbed one corner of the mattress and flipped the three inhabitants on the floor. "Lissen, you ignorant flip rat...the Viceroy is right now on his green, slimey way ta P-6 to assess the damage. I want a surprise waitin' fer him.”

  "Oh, that will be fun enough to get me out of bed at this unholy hour!" He jumped up and fell over, tangled in the sheets. The girls giggled not even trying to hide their naked charms from the Admiral.

  Patch ignored them all. He turned and left, "Skoot yer hooter, Mister..." and he left the man to untangle himself from the females and covers. In a similar fashion, he went from section to section announcing the Council of Chiefs. Finally, he went into a section of caves painted with green and white diamonds.

  “Admiral on deck!” he barked. All the guards snapped to attention and saluted as he passed. He returned the salute and ducked through a fabric cover into his own cave. The first room had been set up as a meeting room.

  At every seat was a plate and fork and a sheaf of pictures that they had just taken of the troops and armaments while they were out. He stopped and smiled, "What's dis?"

  Tantee sat nonchallantly eating her breakfast, "Why, Patchie, ma darling man, you did call the chieftains to counsel, din'tja?"

  He pulled her up to him. Once again, she marvelled at his strength, "Me darlin' woman, I swear you kin read minds," he kissed her and tried to look sad, "or, am I becoming predictable, lassie?"

  "Do not fergit, Patchie, that my mother was a general and my father was an Admiral. Ain't this the best time fer a meetin'? With the look on yer face, I was sure that you went ta call it." She began removing dishes, "Well, if'n ya don't want this stuff."

  He grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms, "So, I am becoming predictable."

  She turned to face him. Her face softened. She reached to stroke his scarred face, "It's only that thee deserve the best, ma sweet, sweet man."

  "And that I have the best, Tantee DeNoor, as long as I have thee." They kissed for a long moment.

  "Ahem..." Holding tight, they looked at the intruder, "Yes, Kal?"

  "Guests, Sir." Shannon saw the Chieftains gathered behind the old pirate.

  He let her go and walked calmly to the head chair, "Okay, Lad. Please let them in." The group filed in through the door. He smiled inwardly, that his best friend, Doggie, will never change. With a wave of dismissal, he spoke to his old friend, "There will be eight for breakfast, Commander."

  "Aye, aye, Admiral." the curtain dropped.

  Turning to his guests, he smiled, "Wecome, Chieftains, please enjoy." His scullery crew brought in the food Tantee had ordered. For a time, nobody spoke as anti-grav servers floated among them.

  Zarla Tween curled two of her four shapely legs beneath her and gazed deeply at Shannon. "Zo, Admiral MacTarrrn, why have you awakened me before my beeyootee zleep eezz don."

  Shannon smiled, “Zarla, ma sweet. Thee are beautiful enough.”

  She smiled widely and flipped her hair. With one set of hands, she fed little tidbits of raw meat into the eating hole in her chest. With her other two hands, she picked at one of her talon-like claws with a long, slim throwing blade. She called it her "Widow's Mark." One would not want to turn their back to this spider. She leaned forward, showing her ample breasts through the unbuttoned shirt. "Oh, and Admiral, thank thee for the beautiful bodies."

  Patch looked puzzled, "Bodies?"

  "Those newly delivered Imperial soldiers from this morning. My crew will eat well today."

  Patch looked at Tante. She shrugged, "It seemed like a good idea." Behind her, other Chieftains shuddered at the thought.

  She reached a claw to touch Patch "Oh, yes, Admiral, while they were tempting, eating with you was more interesting."

  Tantee instantly bridled at the spider's attention to her man. In his mind, he read this and inwardly laughed. If only Tani could see how he felt. He shuddered to think of those eight arms and legs holding him close to the abdominal opening. Who knows how many men had had the last, wild ride of their life ended by this woman.

  Still, he knew Tani’s temper. He had to get her out of there before she could cause a fuss. "Tani, me darlin', I shall need thee to depart." He said this firmly, looking deeply into her eyes. She flared for a second and then, as his calming wave controlled her, she lowered her eyes and left. As she passed him, he reached out and pulled her to him, giving her a quick kiss.

  She smiled weakly and whispered in his ear, "Just watch that spider."

  "Dinna worry, lass. Her foreplay is interestin`. It's her idea of after-sex play that I canna live with." He laughed and he swatted her butt for good measure. She punched him in the arm and left.

  With a smile, he returned to his guests, "Ladies and gentlemen, Pirate Chieftains one and all. My sources tell me that the operations this morning were a great success. We drew them out of their protected valley and spanked tem with our traps. We owe the Manx big for his expertise with the robots and the fooling of the Askirabi spies.

  “Here! Here!”

  “Way to go Manx!”

  Now, the Viceroy is headed for P-6 to regroup. Again, we guessed correctly. Zaft, is the surprise in place?" br />
  A blond, blue-eyed giant at the end of the table leaped to his feet and struck a pose at attention. He was Derak Zaft, the leader of the Orions who tore his attention away from Zarla's naked breasts. He raised his mug of ale and shouted, "Jah, mein Kapitan, hit vas gut."

  Shannon raised his pint to the Orion, “Ja! Gut! The Commandant Major has little battle experience despite his history. He has hidden inside those walls too long.”

  As they all saluted the Orion with their mugs, inwardly, Shannon was hard pressed not to laugh at the man’s reaction to the overt sexuality of the spider woman. He was glad that he had convinced Zarla to start wearing pants, although they were skin tight and hid very little. All he could think was that Derak had better watch himself or the Orions would need a new leader. "Good news, lad. Beor... the attack plans?"

  A little toad of a woman shuffled to the front. She flicked some switches and the room went dark as she proceeded to explain their next surprise. Chieftains asked questions from time to time. Some of the plans changed to meet suggestions. When they were all satisfied, they drank a silent toast, saluted each other, and left to assemble the fleet and get their troops into position.

  Chapter 24