Aablar the Neanderthal Ch. 11

Fearing for Caitlin’s life, Aablar has been talked into given himself up to the pursuing Zon by a strange apparition. He has fallen into the hands of the ruthless Diana Tragina and her elite team of Palace Guardians. Even as the Zon rejoice, the election campaign to succeed Queen Hildegard rages on.

* * * * * * * * * *

1.

Caitlin, Althea and Leia were all in a luxurious suite in the sickbay of the ‘Andromeda’. Arrays of non-contact sensors monitored all their body functions and displayed them on screens to a Medica in the sickbay office. Nonetheless duty Medica Dannae Margell looked in on them every fifteen minutes. These were the most important patients that she had ever had. They had suffered so much! And Leia, a lost sister, recovered from the wild, intrigued her. It was like a story from the legends!

In spite of their sedation, both Caitlin and Althea tossed and turned fitfully in their soft sickbay beds, drifting in and out of sleep, occasionally emitting low moans. Leia, more heavily sedated and chained to her bed, lay still, with no sound except for her deep breathing.

All her life Althea had been meek, the youngest daughter of the Royal House of Spalding, whose brilliant mother was rapidly rising in the ranks of the sisterhood. From an early age, she had displayed poor athletic abilities, but superior intelligence. However, her dark hair in a society obsessed with blondeness, her relatively small stature and her looks – she was pretty, rather than classically beautiful – made her shy and self-effacing. She studied what her mother told her to. When the time came to serve her two years as an acolyte, Andromache chose Caitlin as a ‘safe’ huntress who would appreciate her daughter’s worth and not treat her harshly. It had worked well, and the two had rapidly become inseparable.

Then Aablar had roughly and unceremoniously entered their lives and their bodies. Now her conscious thoughts centered on the defining moment of her life so far – when she had decided to ally herself with Aablar and bear his son. Althea could clearly visualize his huge, powerful frame on the throne in the cavern, the naked Leia at his feet, licking and fellating his massive cock. She carefully observed how Leia arched her neck as she swallowed and with the grace of a sword-swallower, managed to engulf almost three-quarters of his huge length with her mouth. And she noted that Aablar’s hands in her hair guided her, up and down, up and down, Leia sucking as she swallowed, exhaling as she withdrew.

She saw Aablar motion Leia away and sit back in the throne, his rampant erection causing wetness in her cunt by its very sight. She could almost feel his cock-head at her cunt and she moaned softly, vividly recalling the pain and the pleasure as she had impaled herself, driving that huge cock into her cunt. Even as she lay in the sickbay bed, she grew wet and her breath grew short. Her right hand found its way to her wet crotch as her mind replayed the feeling of Aablar’s steel hard manhood in her vagina and of his rock hard chest against her nipples. In her sedation, her fingers felt leaden as she tried to manipulate her clitoris. Even so, she moaned again. Media Dannae looked at her instruments, shook her head in disbelief. Lady Althea had just had an orgasm! She quickly went to the suite and poked her head in. All was quiet now and the three girls were peaceful for the moment.

Althea slipped back into a fitful sleep, in that in-between state when dreams appear very real. She climbed down from the throne in the cavern, saying over and over, ‘Aablar, I will bear your son!’ Then there was the clattering of boots and Diana entered the cavern.

‘Althea, you carry the savage seed! I must purge you of it!’ she cried.

‘No, no, Aablar, save me! Save me!’ She tried to run from Diana, but her belly kept growing and growing and soon she could barely walk. Aablar just sat on the throne, immovable, like he was carved out of stone. ‘Aablar, at least save your son, if you care nothing for me!’ Tears streamed down Althea’s face now, for with her huge belly she could not even walk and sank to her knees. Then Diana towered over her.

Diana caught her by her hair and dragged her to her feet, simultaneously drawing her long dagger from the sheath in her thigh boot.

‘You are a shame to Royal House of Spalding, Lady Althea,’ Diana spat, shaking her like a rat. ‘You are a shame to the sisterhood! You cannot defile the pure Zon race with filthy savage blood. I will cut your sin out of your womb!’

As Diana’s dagger approached her vulva, Althea covered her crotch with both hands, crying out, ‘No! No!’ But the blade slipped between her fingers and she felt the cold steel in her cunt, the long blade seeking to kill her unborn son. Even as she shrieked, she felt her son struggle and die in her womb. As Diana withdrew her bloody blade, Althea felt torrents of her amniotic fluid stream out of her cunt, drenching her thighs and knees. And then she felt the first contractions of labor that heralded the birthing of her dead child.

Her eyes jerked open. The sickbay floor pitched and rolled as the ‘Andromeda’ rode out the storm. Periodically brilliant lightning flashes illuminated the dark suite. Her face was wet with tears and sweat. She was breathing with quick, shallow gasps. Medica Dannae’s cool hand was on her forehead.

‘There, there, you are safe now, Lady Althea,’ Dannae’s voice was soothing. ‘It was just a dream. The savage can’t hurt you now.’

Caitlin’s sleep was also tormented. It was heavy blow to her pride to be captured by a primitive savage. And even the pain of the rape, with Aablar’s huge cock stretching and bloodying her tender ass, was dwarfed by her humiliation in the eyes of her sisters. She wanted vengeance! She knew all the torture equipment in the basement of the Central Military Complex. She would take delight in personally killing Aablar by inches. Diana and her mother would be glad to give him to her, so that she could get ‘closure’ and resume her life. He would have days, weeks of agony until he begged her to kill him. Yes! Yes!

Another nagging voice arose in her head. Did he not have a right to hate her? She had participated in many raids on his people; she had blown ‘useless’ old men and women to pieces with her disintegrator. She had seen terrified young mothers huddling on the ground, trying to protect their children from her horse’s hooves and laughingly trampled them. She had helped to capture scores of prime age males. Then, after weeks of semen harvest, she had helped to herd them, exhausted and resigned, to the gas chambers.

Unbidden, an image of Aablar invaded her mind – toe to toe, locked in mortal combat with Diana. And then a second image – of Aablar lying bloodied and beaten at Diana’s feet. He had given himself up to save her life. She knew Aablar better than Alexandra – he was no fool and he had no illusions about the Zon. He knew that by saving her life, he was giving himself up to torture and a slow, painful death. Why? Why couldn’t he have just let her die?

She heard the huntresses say that he was in chains in the prison hold. She knew what it was like down there – she had placed savages there in the past. It was unheated, so it would be terribly cold. His wrists would be shackled high above his head to a bulkhead of the prison hold, so that he had to remain standing. The Zon used old-fashioned steel chains to increase their savage prisoners’ discomfort. A large lump began to form in her throat.

* * * * * * * * * *

2.

Diana heard her comm. channel ping. She opened it. It was Hebe Nevis.

‘Cornelle, we have just received a flash communiqué from ‘Thetis’. Princess Deirdre and Princess Andromache are on board and on their way to meet us. They expect to be alongside within the hour.’

‘You want to attempt a mid-air docking in this weather/’ Diana was incredulous.

There was a musical tone as Hebe switched to a private secure channel. ‘It is not what I want, Cornelle Diana. I have been ordered to organize a mid-air docking to get the Princesses on board the ‘Andromeda’ at once. They have especially asked to meet with you and Quinta Lady Alexandra at a reception immediately on boarding and that the reception be beamed on the public comm. I imagine that you’ll be receiving official commendation as part of the election campaign.’

Almost as soon as Diana closed the comm. channel with Hebe, she heard a musical note indicating another secure incoming comm. She opened the channel and heard Deirdre’s smooth tones.

‘Diana, my love, I have been wrong these past years to doubt you. You have done us all proud.’

‘I did not physically capture the savage, Princess Deirdre,’ said Diana, slightly embarrassed to receive more than she considered her fair share of praise.

‘Nonsense, my dear,’ Deirdre would have none of it. ‘Two rocket pack descents on high elevations of the Claw Peak, with its abominable weather! Single-handed combat with the savage, while severely wounded! Safe recovery of both Lady Althea and our own dear Caitlin! I will see that you are awarded the Purple Garter for this.’

The Purple Garter was the highest Zon award for valor and was so rarely awarded that it had not been awarded in over a hundred years. While both she and Deirdre had won the Order of Merit, neither had won the Garter.

Diana demurred, still more embarrassed. ‘Princess, I do not deserve this honor…’

But Deirdre ignored her and went on.

‘Diana, I require yet another service from you.’

‘I am yours to command, Principal,’ said Diana formally.

‘You know that the Princess Andromache and I will shortly board the ‘Andromeda’ to congratulate you and all of your team on your great achievements. We are here as mothers. But you know full well that we are in the midst of a close election campaign and our future as a sisterhood depends on the outcome. Before I proceed, I would like you to declare, under oath, which one of us you support.’

‘Princess Deirdre, I assume this question is a formality. Regardless of our differences in the past, my support for you has never wavered. I swear under oath to the divine Hera that I support your bid for the throne and will do all in my power to further your quest for it.’

‘I never doubted you, Diana. But what I am proposing requires me to be sure that you believe in me. This visit to the ‘Andromeda’ will be on the public video comm. Nearly all of our sisters and certainly the vast majority of the electorate of priestesses and huntresses will be watching. Andromache favors reconciliation with the savages. I would like an incident to demonstrate to our sisters the threat posed by the savages in the most graphic terms.’ Deirdre paused here, but Diana made no comment, content to listen intently.

‘We should be ready to transfer to the ‘Andromeda’ from the ‘Thetis’ in about an hour. I would like you arrange our formal reception, as Pontifex Magna Maxima and Legion Principal, on the ship’s main view deck. At the height of the reception, before we make our speeches, introduce the savage in steel chains. Right now,’ and here Deirdre paused, ‘shoot him up with two or three units of cerebrus hypersteroid. I want him madly aggressive and I want him tugging and dragging Guardians hanging on to the chains on his collar. Ideally, I would like him to launch an attack on Andromache. You and I will prevent her from coming to any harm. Once the sisterhood sees this on the video comm. my warning speech will bring all but the most radical priestesses to my side.’

Diana’s mind raced. The plan was brilliant! But how much of this entire saga had Deirdre planned and how much had she improvised? She was lost in thought as she briskly strode down the companionways to the sickbay. Medica Dannae was still on duty in the sickbay office and looked up and smiled when she saw Diana enter. She stood up, parted her robe and raised herself on her tiptoes to rub nipples with the tall Guardian cornelle.

‘All three patients are sedated and resting, Cornelle,’ she said pleasantly. ‘Lady Caitlin required substantial skin grafts to prevent scarring, but had no internal injuries. Lady Althea and our lost sister Leia had very minor injuries. All three were very malnourished, however, so I have had them on intravenous fluids – their dosages should be complete in a few more minutes. The only thing that I am a bit concerned about is their mental state. All three seem extremely depressed, and even sedated, the Ladies Caitlin and Althea are disturbed and occasionally cry out. This is not my area of expertise – we have a trainee psychiatrist on board, but I would rather they saw a real expert in Repro on our return to the City.’

Diana nodded. ‘Your work is highly commendable, Medica. I will make sure to include your contribution to this mission in my report to the Council of Principals. What is your name?’

Dannae beamed with satisfaction. For a junior officer, this was very high praise. And to get into the report to the Council of Principals! ‘I am Medica Dannae Margell, she said, happily.

‘By the way, Medica,’ Diana continued casually. ‘Do you have any units of cerebrus hypersteroid on board?’

Medica Dannae blanched. ‘Cornelle, that is a controlled substance. I cannot prescribe it or give it out without clear medical necessity.’

‘Medica, I have absolute faith in your loyalty to the sisterhood. This is a matter that affects of the security of the Zon state at the highest level. I require three units.’

Medica Dannae stood stock still, but did not argue. ‘I hear and obey, Cornelle Diana,’ she said, finally. She left for the medical storeroom, returning a few moments later with three small glass vials. Diana drew a thin air pistol from a small pouch that was clipped on her belt, just in front of her laser pistol holster. She snapped open the finely machined ergonomic butt within which was a set of four steel darts. She selected one and unscrewed the base, revealing it to be hollow. She poured the three units of hypersteriod into the dart, one at a time and screwed the base back on. Then she smashed the three glass vials into a metal pan and handed them back to Medica Dannae.

‘Medica Dannae, make a note in your records. These three units were destroyed in the bad weather we are having.’ She left quickly and quietly.

* * * * * * * * * *

3.

Aablar’s wrists were chained so high above his head that he could not keep his balance as the ship pitched and rolled. He was constantly thrown against the limits of his shackles and back on to the bulkhead, so that the steel cuffs bruised his wrists. He shrugged off the pain, but he was weak from hunger. With no food in his belly and just wearing his loincloth and rough deerskin boots, the cold penetrated to his very bones and he shivered continually.

The old man said he would protect me from the Zon, he thought. But I never really believed him! Why have I done this to myself? But another voice arose in his head – the huntress Caitlin is safe, it said. For some reason this thought gave him comfort, even though he kept repeating to himself aloud, ‘Jondolar, my father forgive me, for I have failed to avenge you.’

Through the bars of his cell, he could see a tall huntress standing guard at the force field marking the entrance to hold. She was in a warm and brightly lit corridor and stood nonchalantly, leaning on her ceremonial halberd. Soon after he was chained in his cell, she had come into the hold and poked at him through the bars of his cell with her long halberd, obviously expecting to draw an angry response. The sharp tip of the weapon cut him and drew blood, but he did not acknowledge the pain or her presence and she rapidly tired of this pointless sport.

Suddenly, he saw her stiffen to attention and rap the floor with the shaft of her halberd. The familiar clatter of boots announced Diana’s arrival.

‘At ease,’ she said to the huntress on guard. ‘Take up station a hundred paces down the corridor, please.’

‘I hear and obey, Cornelle,’ the huntress touched her helmet with the shaft of her halberd and withdrew down the corridor, out of sight.

Even in his current state, Aablar had a hard time reconciling Diana’s melodious voice with her ruthless nature. He tried his best to control his shivering, concerned that she would mistake it for fear. She came to the bars of his cell and stared at him – once again they locked eyes, but neither spoke. Without ado, Diana raised the air pistol and fired. There was a hiss and then Aablar felt a stab of pain in his chest. The dart struck him high on the left side of his chest and the tip had penetrated his heart muscle, precisely as Diana intended.

She waited a moment to let the dart’s contents seep into him and entered the cell and withdrew the dart. Then she produced a plastic bottle filled with clear fluid and secured it to his forearm with tape. A rubber hose ran from the mouth of the bottle ending in a shiny steel needle. She stuck the needle into a vein inside his elbow and taped it on. Within seconds, she was back outside his cell again and clanging the bars shut. Without a backward glance, Diana left the prison hold and the huntress resumed her position at the entrance. The momentary stabs of pain from the dart and the needle dissipated quickly. Another Zon game, he thought resignedly.

* * * * * * * * *

4.

Diana, Alexandra and a squad of Guardians stood anxiously behind a recovery team of airship crew on the poop deck of the ‘Andromeda’. Hebe and her senior officers were on the bridge, using the ship’s engines to try and hold her steady – a task that required great skill in the furious storm. About a hundred yards away, the running lights of the ‘Thetis’ could be seen through the murk. Captain Rhea Candaris and her senior officers were equally engaged, trying to hold their ship steady. Both ships had their bright searchlights on and focused on the chasm between them. A glimmering green conduit could be seen, tracing a midair trail between the poop deck hatches of the two ships. Then the ‘Thetis’ hatch slid open and all free hands on both ships clicked on their magna-visions.

Princess Deirdre emerged from the ‘Thetis’ and stepped out on to the seeming nothingness of the force field conduit between the ships. Fully aware that multiple views of this scene were being played on the public video comm., she was in full ceremonial regalia, her tiara glinting in the beams of the ships’ searchlights. Her flowing red robes billowed in the gale force winds that sought to tear her from the narrow conduit and hurl her thousands of feet into the rocks below. She wore no safety harness and her step was steady, even as the conduit flickered and sagged with the electricity discharge of every lightning flash.

‘She looks every inch a queen,’ whispered Alexandra into Diana’s ear.

When Deirdre was about twenty yards away from the ‘Andromeda’, Diana signaled to the recovery team and they opened the ship’s hatch. Impulsively, Diana stepped out of the ship on to the conduit and reached Deirdre in a few long strides. On the unsteady conduit they embraced and rubbed nipples.

‘It is with great pleasure that I welcome you, Princess Deirdre,’ Diana said, raising her voice to be heard above the storm. Deirdre laughed, a long silvery laugh and squeezed Diana’s arms.

‘You are such an adrenalin junkie, Diana,’ she said happily, but in a normal tone that was not picked up on the comm.

‘You and me both, Principal,’ returned Diana in same tone.

On the ‘Andromeda’ bridge, Hebe gripped the arms of her command chair. Her eyes, like those of most of the Zon sisterhood, were riveted on the scene playing out below her. ‘Lunatics!’ she muttered. On her own bridge, Rhea just shook her head in wonder.

Arm-in-arm, the two tall blondes stepped on to the poop deck of the ‘Andromeda’ and the hatch was closed behind them. All the Guardians and airship crew dropped to one knee and bent their heads.