Aablar the Neanderthal Ch. 07

It is the middle of the last Ice Age, about 50,000 years ago. The Neanderthals roam the Earth, but co-exist with a recently arrived tribe of technologically advanced aliens known as the Zon. The Zon hunt Neanderthal men for their wild semen. Aablar has captured a Zon huntress and her acolyte. He is now the object of a massive hunt led by the ruthless Diana Tragina, known to the Neanderthals as Lady Death.

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1. At Diana's orders, the 'Andromeda' cruised as low as Captain Hebe Nevis dared take her in this mountainous terrain. At fifteen thousand feet, she was barely a few hundred feet above the highest known peaks in this area. All her bio-scanners were on full power and a mounted squad was in the ready room to investigate each time they registered a promising hit. Alexandra took command of the ready squad for the first two-hour watch. She had led the squad on two fruitless forays. The first turned out to be a small grouping of young adults of the Bear Clan who were quickly rounded up and questioned. They knew nothing of Aablar and had no prime quality males. Alexandra turned them loose to breed. The second group picked up by the scanners moved very quickly and scattered by the time the huntresses hit the ground. They rode hard and caught their prey that turned out to be two wild highland sheep. In frustration Alexandra blew their heads off with her disintegrator. She did however, have the squad transport the carcasses back the ship's kitchen for butchering.

After stabling her horse, Alexandra clattered to the for'ard cabins and paused by the command stateroom. There was a light panel on the door in runic Greca script spelling out 'Cornelle Diana Tragina'. She hesitated. Alexandra considered herself confident and self-assured, but like almost all who worked with Diana, she found the steely Guardian Cornelle intimidating. She steadied her nerves and knocked.

'Enter,' she heard Diana's deceptively melodious voice.

She entered and bowed. Diana was lounging on a leather club chair by one of the clear stateroom portholes surveying the thick cloud beneath them. She wore her formal uniform, a purple and green bustier and matching short skirt, high gloss black ankle boots, a titanium choker marked with the single crown indicating her rank and her titanium wrist bracers that huntresses were seldom without. Her pale blonde mane hung loose over her shoulders.

She eyed Alexandra up and down, taking in her sweat-stained uniform, the dusty thigh boots with jingling spurs and the plumed helmet. She did not miss the flash marks on the disintegrator barrel indicating recent use. She rose and said, formally, 'Welcome and greetings, Quinta Lady Alexandra.' She advanced with extended arms and they met at the center of the room and rubbed nipples. Alexandra was built more like the typical huntress with small breasts and button-like nipples and she always marveled that a huntress of Diana's prowess could manage such full breasts. And maintain their firmness with no hint of sag!

Alexandra's strong female smell went to Diana's head like a drug and she held her slightly longer and tighter than formality decreed. She released her and stepped back, returning to her club chair by the porthole. She signaled Alexandra to join her and indicated the club chair facing her own. Alexandra seated herself, unfastened her helmet and shook her short hair loose. She was a dark blonde with darker streaks.

'I was just preparing to go to the wardroom for luncheon. But I'd like to hear your report first.'

'Unfortunately, there is nothing to report. Just a small herd of highland sheep. We will dine on wild mutton tonight.'

Diana said nothing. Alexandra waited respectfully and then asked, 'May I retire to my cabin, Cornelle? I'd like to have a quick shower before luncheon.'

Diana seemed far away and did not respond immediately. Alexandra was about to repeat her question when Diana asked, 'What's it like making love to the old girl?'

'What!?' Alexandra was taken aback.

'You know, the Queen. Surely she asks her handmaiden to service her?'

'Really, I am not at liberty to discuss this.'

Diana laughed. 'Such a fine blue-blooded aristocrat! Spoken like a gentlewoman and a true member of the sisterhood! I am sorry if my crude red-blooded remarks offend.'

They faced each other, Diana's pale gray eyes cool and challenging, Alexandra's gray-blue eyes hot with suppressed anger. Zon society was a confusing and often uneasy mixture of meritocracy and aristocracy and the two of them illustrated it perfectly. Diana, the meritocratic commoner, had ascended to the highest realms of power and privilege, but made do with her relatively modest officer's pay. Alexandra, the aristocratic daughter of the Countess Dorothea Scheel, had achieved her rank through merit, but lived luxuriously in the Scheel mansion on the Acropolis in Atlantic City. Her mother had not achieved selection to the Legions or the Temples and neither had her sister. They both worked in relatively undemanding positions.

'I have nothing to be ashamed of,' Alexandra said hotly.

Diana's cool colorless eyes continued to bore into her. 'Come here,' she said sharply. Alexandra stood and approached her, leaving her helmet on the chair.

'Get down on your knees.' Alexandra's anger churned in her stomach, but she obeyed rigidly, controlling her temper.

Diana's powerful hands went into her hair and massaged her scalp, firmly, but not roughly. She turned her aide's angry face up to her and to Alexandra's consternation, kissed her on the lips. She kissed with authority and passion, her tongue aggressive in soliciting a response. Alexandra found her anger replaced by confusion and as she opened her mouth, found Diana's aggressive tongue snaking around hers to arouse and control.

Diana's hands unbuckled her disintegrator strap and it slipped to the thick carpet with a soft thud. Her holster-belt followed. Alexandra felt Diana's active hands on her breasts, kneading and caressing them. Her nipples that had puckered when they first rubbed, now hardened into long pencil-like points. They quickly unclothed each other and found themselves rolling on the floor. Alexandra indulged her fantasies now, kneading Diana's full breasts and finding them supple and pliant with hard and meaty nipples. She found and caressed Diana's highly developed chest muscles that held her magnificent tits high and firm. Their lips traced patterns on each other's bodies and they playfully bit at and sucked each other's nipples.

Alexandra was only slightly shorter than Diana and they fell into a comfortable 69 position with Diana on top. They worked each other into a frenzy of mewing and moaning. Finally Diana returned to her club chair, spread her legs and let Alexandra service her clitoris with a will. Her moans turned to groans and she began to buck with both her hands holding Alexandra's head to her crotch. Then her climax was upon her and she began to scream, calling to Hera and Athena as huntresses were wont to do. Her contractions were spasmodic and wild. Alexandra felt her own excitement rise.

When Diana was finally calm, she drew Alexandra up on to the wide chair beside her. With nimble fingers, she quickly worked her clit and brought her to a fever pitch of excitement, and then to a climactic release. Alexandra squirmed and moaned and came. Diana's lips found hers and she kissed her through her orgasm, prolonging it as her tongue induced more excitement.

They lay on the club chair together, naked save for boots and wrist bracers. Alexandra giggled suddenly.

'You're going to need another shower before luncheon, Diana,' she said.

'When I smelled you in my arms, the peasant in me wanted to strip you then and there,' said Diana without a hint of guile. 'We'll have a shower together. We're late and will have the wardroom to ourselves for luncheon.'

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2. Meanwhile, the Queen called an emergency meeting of the Council of Principals. The Council chamber was hushed, the High Priestess' handmaidens were in the outer reception room. A squad of Palace Guardians was dispersed around the Chamber at a discreet distance out of earshot.

The details of the kidnap were explained with Rhea Candaris attending on a comm. channel from the 'Thetis'. There was horror all round. Huntresses had been killed on raids before, but attacked and kidnapped by a savage male! Both by breeding and conditioning, male domination was the deepest fear in the Zon psyche. The findings of the mounted search squads were received with increasing dread. Who could have imagined more prominent victims? The daughter and sole heir to the Royal Tiara of d'Orr fucked in the ass by a savage! Who knew what was in store for the youngest and (some said) dearest daughter of the Royal House of Spalding? Both Deirdre and Andromache sat immobile and received the commiserations of the three other Council members formally and without any displays of their inner emotions.

'I move that we confirm Cornelle Diana Tragina as search commander,' said Princess Selene d'Allerand, Principal of the Queen's Household Legion. All around the table nodded assent. Deirdre received some surprised glances, but Andromache knew that Diana was firmly back in the good graces of the House of d'Orr. The details of Diana's work as interim search commander were discussed and her idea of forming an ambush at the Claw Peak was endorsed.

'I would like to place a commendation to Cornelle Diana in the official record.' said Deirdre.

'Hear, hear,' said Princess Selene.

This too was passed without opposition.

'Before I adjourn the meeting and offer you some refreshment, I would like to make an announcement to the Council,' said the Queen. 'I have decided to retire, with immediate effect. I will, as required by law, supervise the election of my successor. I will allow the minimum period before the election – 48 hours after the public announcement. I would like your permission to make the announcement this afternoon. I plan to leave for the Ostracis Citadel immediately after the declaration of results.'

There was shocked silence around the table. All in the Chamber had expected the Queen to retire fairly soon, but no one had imagined it would be now, in the midst of this crisis.

'You will stay to supervise the coronation of the new Queen, will you not?' asked Heliodora Bucca-Senora, High Priestess of the Temple of Aphrodite.

'No,' the Queen responded, tiredly. 'The Council can take care of that. You all have my best wishes and blessings.'

'But why the rush, your Highness?' asked Andromache, voicing the thoughts of all the Principals.

'I am tired, Andromache,' Hildegard returned. 'And I am growing old – I see it in the eyes of all around me. The Ostacis Citadel calls to me. It is time for someone else to shoulder the burden of presiding over the sisterhood. This incident with Lady Caitlin and Lady Althea is the final straw. I don't want to preside over our policies any more. A younger woman with fresher ideas must be Queen.'

'Then there is nothing for it,' said Calliope Philosthela, High Priestess of the Temple of Eos. 'I move that we accept the Queen's retirement and support her wish to announce immediately.'

They all nodded. Each calculated the impact of the decision on her own position. Andromache and Deirdre were thinking about their manifestoes. Andromache wondered how she could pacify the huntresses and Deirdre wondered how she could get enough support from the priestesses who outnumbered the huntresses four to one. Heliodora wondered whether she should support Andromache's bid for the throne, with the promise of becoming the mistress of the Temple of Artemis. Or should she try for the throne herself? Calliope wondered if she should work with Andromache to try and leapfrog Heliodora to become Abbess of the highest Temple. Their handmaidens served fine clove wine in the outer reception room and they maintained exquisite decorum in their talk. But they were all wrapped in their own thoughts and plots.

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3. Diana and Alexandra, both freshly showered and wearing their formal uniforms, entered the 'Andromeda' wardroom for a late lunch. Contrary to Diana's expectations, several of the ship's off-duty officers lounged around over hot mugs of katsch, the thick, sweet and black Zon stimulant. The buzz of conversation died down as the tall huntresses entered. Among the off-duty officers was Hebe Nevis, the ship's captain. Hebe was a dark brunette whose silky hair now hung loose over her shoulders. She brushed it back as she arose and formally rubbed nipples with Diana.

Technically, airship crew-women were huntresses, but practically they formed a very distinct cadre with their own traditions and rules. Nominally the 'Andromeda' and the 'Hypatia' were assigned to the Queen's Household Legion, while the 'Thetis' and the 'Atlanta' were assigned to the Pentheselia Legion. Hebe wore the purple and green leotard of the Household Legion. Each airship had a crew of roughly a cohort and airship captains were nominally equal in rank to the cavalry cohort cornelles. In practice, however, cavalry cornelles always took precedence. As Cornelle of the Cohort of Palace Guardians, Diana was the most senior cavalry cornelle. Hebe recognized her as a superior officer and deferred to her respectfully.

'What can I do for you, Cornelle Diana?'

'Lady Alexandra and I were hoping to have a late lunch, Captain Hebe. I hope that will be possible?'

'Of course.' Hebe snapped her fingers and a couple of stewardesses quickly laid a fresh table and ushered the huntresses to it.

Hebe joined them in their repast, sipping her katsch as they ate. Afterwards, they took their own mugs of katsch and joined the airship crew in a lounge area. One of the airship officers produced a gwendell, a Zon stringed instrument and began singing Mirabelle, a ballad about a girl and her wild horse on the open high plains of their home planet of Atlantis. Diana joined in and proved to have a surprisingly melodious and powerful singing voice. One by one the airship crew-women fell silent, listening to her in admiration. The legend of Diana Tragina was further embellished.

Diana finished and there was brief pause. Alexandra took up the gwendell and began to play a lively jig. Several of the crew got up to dance. In the midst of this merry-making, Hebe tapped Diana on the shoulder and whispered in her ear –

'Cornelle, I've just heard from the bridge. The north face of the Claw Peak is on the starboard bow and the bio scanners have picked up a strong multiple signature. I suggest that the three of us proceed to the bridge at once.'

All the mirth faded out of Diana's eyes.

'No, Lady Alexandra and I will join the team in the ready room immediately. Have a briefing for us there in ten minutes.'

Hebe nodded. Diana signaled to Alexandra and the two tall huntresses hurried out of the wardroom, leaving behind a buzz of excitement.

Both Diana and Alexandra were in the ready room in under the promised ten minutes, in their combat uniforms, fully armed. Almost immediately, Hebe's face appeared on the view screen.

'The bio-signatures are strong, but the atmospheric distortion here makes them very fuzzy. They appear to be mammalian but we have no accuracy on their size or precise location. They are human size or larger.'

'We will proceed to the surface at once,' said Diana decisively. 'Please prepare an air-boat for immediate launch.'

Hebe looked pained. 'I am sorry, Cornelle, but that is impossible. The weather outside has become drastically worse. We are now in a major storm system. The outside wind-speed is over eighty miles per hour and below us it is snowing heavily. Big as she is, we are having considerable difficulty holding the 'Andromeda' steady and on even keel. An air-boat would not survive more than a few minutes out there.'

Diana felt the deck sway gently beneath her feet. She looked out of the porthole of the ready room – the skies were steel gray and the clouds below them had thickened considerably. She cursed inwardly.

Outwardly calm, she said, 'We must get to the surface now. If we cannot pilot an air-boat, we will have to use rocket-packs.'

Hebe looked worried. 'Cornelle, this is also highly dangerous. A controlled descent with a rocket-pack in this weather would require enormous skill and a great deal of luck. You want to make a landing about twelve thousand feet up on Claw peak in near zero visibility. Our comm. channels are highly distorted this area due to the large heavy metal deposits in this mountain. We will have virtually no audio contact with your team. I would strongly advise against it.'

Diana nodded. 'Noted, Captain Hebe. Thank you for your concern.' She turned to the squad in the ready room, relieved that it was a squad of Palace Guardians, the best huntress cohort. 'How many here have summa rocket-pack qualification?' she asked. Four of the ten put their hands up. Diana glanced over at Alexandra, who nodded affirmatively. 'This is a mission of extreme danger,' Diana continued. 'Participation is completely voluntary. Declining to participate carries absolutely no stigma.' The four hands remained up and Alexandra inclined her head slightly in assent.

'Then we six will launch. Captain, please have rocket-packs prepped and ready on the launch deck. We are proceeding there at once.'

Hebe was persistent. 'Cornelle, we must have your plan and time schedule for recovery.'

Diana paused and smiled. 'Of course, you are right, Captain Hebe. I assume you will keep a rough track of us with your bio-scanners. If the weather does not clear, we will make a laser signal indicating our readiness for recovery. We will reach altitude using the rocket-packs. Please have grappling hooks and a recovery team on the launch deck. We will use our zircon lassoes if necessary. We hope to complete the rescue within a maximum of twenty-four hours. In the event you have no contact from us within forty-eight hours, you are free to seek further instructions from Princess Selene.'

Hebe bowed in the video screen. She knew that everything in their exchange was on the video log. She would review it and made detailed plans later.

A squad of airship crew met the six Guardians on the launch deck with rocket-packs. They checked them thoroughly before helping each of them fasten the shoulder and waist straps. When they were done, the airship squad Seignora bowed and said: 'Cornelle Diana, all packs are secure. Please set your temperature shields and lash yourselves to the bulkhead D-rings before we open the jump-door.'

All of them, airship crew and Guardians alike tapped their wrist bracers to set their personal temperature shields to their liking. The Guardians lashed their zircon lassoes to metal D-rings by the jump-door, while the airship crew did the same at the rear bulkhead. The airship Seignora was at the door control panel. When Diana nodded to her, she pushed the lever and the jump-door slid open noiselessly. Immediately they were assaulted by the howling of the gale. The temperature in the launch chamber dropped to the outside temperature of about forty degrees below freezing. They all felt a gentle tug towards the door caused by the slight decompression.

Diana was first in line. The light above the jump-door glowed red. She could not hear the jump-count that the airship Seignora was chanting, but as soon as the light turned to green, she loosed her zircon lasso and launched herself into the storm.

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4. Aablar led the way further into the cavern. Huge stalagmites and stalactites formed pillars of white to both sides, all lit with the bluish hue reflected off the pool. The central nave of the cavern was open and huge. As they approached the pool, it became clear that the water was very warm. There must be hot springs in the mountain, Caitlin thought. The pool was an oval - about 50 yards and 40 yards along its two axes. The stream flowed into its leftward side as they faced it. Aablar led the way around the right side. As they passed the water's edge, Caitlin noted that the pool appeared to be very deep – the water was clear so she could see a long way into it, but she could still not make out a bottom.