Hired Gun Pt. 06

The Shield Maiden had just lifted off from a planet called Azla-El, where the four furvoids and their human first officer successfully picked up the third link in the chain needed to uncover the healing stone. Troy was mighty satisfied with himself, for it was his unconventional thinking which brought them on the right track. He, of course, was eager to help the furvoid population treat their Cysteria disease, but deep down, finding the stone would be a personal victory for the former soldier. He wanted to beat Vince Catelli. He wanted to show the major he was the better man. He wanted to win.

"The last two links are on planets which are fairly close to each other in proximity; only a few light years apart," Audra, their purple skunk archaeologist announced to their captain Ember Riley.

"Good; Troy, set in a course for Ryziak Four," the white tigress said.

"Aye captain."

"If we find the last two links, I think I might know where the stone itself is being held," Audra added.

"Where?" the captain eagerly asked.

"Galden."

"Galden? That's not what I wanted to hear."

"What's in Galden?" Troy asked.

"It's a hostile world, full of creatures and inhabitants who aren't very friendly to furvoids...or humans."

"Sounds like a fun vacation."

"We'll need help from the Furvoid Security Council. Troy, even your battle prowess won't be enough to handle the dangers on Galden."

"You underestimate the powers of my...prowess..." Troy said, instantly realizing and regretting the absurdity of his statement.

"Get some rest, both of you; you'll need it," Ember said as she relieved Troy from his duties.

"You heard the captain...we should get some rest," Audra said, running her finger over Troy's chest.

"We?"

"Come with me, and I'll see to it your relaxation and enjoyment will be well attended to," she said, leading the human to her bunk. Though she was submissive in every sense of the word, she was nevertheless seductive and persuasive.

"Sit on my bed, won't you Troy?" Audra asked. Troy Wooten found himself complying faster than his dignity would have preferred. He sat on the bed and watched the skunk take off her clothing slowly and scintillatingly. The nude skunk walked slowly toward her man, locking eye contact with him.

She dropped to her knees and removed his shoes and socks, his pants and his shirt. Her hands caressed and fondled him as she stripped the man. She climbed on the bed behind the naked soldier and began massaging his head.

"This is new," he quipped.

"Hush...relax now. Close your eyes and just...feel my hands."

The skunks hands massaged his head, neck, shoulders and back. Her warm, luscious breasts rested against his shoulders as she worked her hands down his chest. She cooed sweet nothings in his ears, occasionally taking the opportunity to nibble his lobes.

Audra gently lowered her lover's back against the bed and smiled alluringly as she began to lick the tip of his cock. He groaned with pleasure and ran his hands through her soft hair.

"You've done so much for us...so much for me, Troy. I'm going to give you a night you won't soon forget...consider it a bonus for your...hard...work," she said with a slight giggle. Troy was about to respond, but could only gasp as she quickly took the entire length of his large cock deep down her throat. She blew him expertly, with such love and attention, it almost seemed obsessive. Troy tried to hold back to prolong the pleasure, but Audra squeezed his balls, and he came in torrents down her throat.

"Relax, sweetie...I know there's more where that came from, and I'll be squeezing every drop out of you tonight," she said.

"Is that my sweet, little, submissive Audra speaking?" Troy asked lightly. She gave him a playful swat on his ass.

"Sometimes...the greatest submission is giving in to the pleasures of your mate. I know you're not dominant in bed. You try to be for me, and it's so sweet...but I feel like you're forcing yourself. So, I'd rather give you what you want than the other way around."

"But Audra," he started, and she placed her soft, warm fingertip on his lips to hush him.

"I won't hurt you like Piper does. No...I could never do that. But...I do think it's kind of fun, kind of exhilarating to lead you."

"Now, wait just a second, who said I'm so submissive?"

Audra giggled and said "it doesn't make you less of a man, Troy. You're the bravest, strongest, toughest bad-ass I've ever met, but there's nothing wrong in letting your guard down and allowing a woman to take sweet...tender care of you," she said, rubbing her fingers against his nipple.

"Audra, this is insane," he protested, trying to get up, but she pinned him to the bed.

"Ah-ah-ah, do I need to restrain you? You know I have more than enough toys in my room."

"But I don't want you to dominate me!" he complained.

"Yes you do."

"No!"

"I think you've had enough of a break. Round two," she said, and she went back to sucking his cock. It became hard, and to his own horror, he wasn't resisting this usually submissive and shy girl's awkward attempts at dominating him. His head was swimming, but before he could grasp the situation, she was mounting him, riding up and down his stiff dick.

"Oh, yes, yes, yes, Troy," the skunk shouted with delight as she bobbed her hips up and down, allowing his hot cock to thrust up her tight tunnel. A second orgasm was building in Troy, and he again tried to hold it back, but Audra wouldn't have any of it.

"You will come for me now," she said. It was as if a switch had been turned on, and his cock leaked its milky treasure deep inside the skunk. "Oh my," she said breathlessly, "that was fun. Thankfully, the night is young."

Ryziak Four, a ghost world. That's what the term was for planets which felt the wrath of a gamma ray burst from a distant supernova. Not a single living thing remained on the planet. Just ruins. The air was dry; there was no humidity on the arid planet. The sky had a sickly yellowish tinge to it, though the air was still safe to breathe. The Shield Maiden touched down near the remains of the ancient temple, stirring up whirlwinds of dust as her engines powered down.

Troy Wooten stepped out first. He wore a bandana around his mouth and nose, and large, tinted goggles to protect his vision from the harsh light. Audra was the only one to accompany the human. Captain Riley forbade anyone else from stepping foot on the desolate planet. With his rifle drawn, Troy led the purple skunk toward the temple, though the conditions of the planet meant there was probably not a living soul anywhere to be found.

"Not the nicest place to build a summer home," Troy remarked. Audra, even though she wore a similar bandana, coughed in the dusty, dry heat.

"The gamma burst wiped it clean. No water, no vegetation, no animals, not even microbes," she said as he carried her kit.

"Well, at least there aren't any creepy crawlers to worry about here," Troy said as he began to lower his weapon. The temple was the same as all the others, and it was the only building still standing. The teeth of time and the harsh winds gnawed away at the other structures until they were barely recognizable as buildings, but the temple stood defiantly amongst the ruins.

Troy told Audra to stay back as he cautiously entered the temple. It was dark and cool, but just as dry. Audra stayed at the entrance, watching the man disappear into the darkness. Troy walked deeper in and turned on the flashlight mounted on his gun. When he did, he saw them.

"Run Audra, run and don't look back! That's an order!!" Troy screamed, and then he felt silent.

"Troy?" Audra called out, but instinct overruled her body and she was running toward the safety of the Shield Maiden even while she looked back. The skunk girl saw Troy emerging from the temple surrounded by a dozen human soldiers with guns trained on his head. She screamed as she ran as hard as she could back to the open doors of the spaceship.

"What's the matter, Audra?" Ember asked as the frantic skunk leapt into the door and quickly shut it.

"They've got Troy!" she wailed.

The captain ran to the bridge to look out the window. She saw their first officer held hostage and the group of armed men approaching the ship. Without a second thought, she punched the emergency start on the engines and lifted the Shield Maiden off.

"Good girl," Troy said, watching the ship leave the ground and head towards space.

"It looks like your friends have abandoned you, Troy," Major Catelli said with a smirk.

"No, they retreated. You abandoned me, you pecker head."

"Take him away," Catelli ordered. A shock blast was delivered to Troy's abdomen, and he fell unconscious in his captor's arms.

The world was black for Troy. Cold and black.

"Am I dead?" he unintentionally asked out loud.

"No, but you'll soon wish you were," he heard a man reply. Troy tried to move, but realized his arms were affixed to cuffs and chains, and he was being suspended above the floor. The man removed the hood over Troy's head. He looked down and saw he was naked and in a large room made of stainless steel. A single steel chair and a steel table were the only furnishings in the room.

"I'm Dr. Zachary Slinger," the man who was balding with only a few spots of gray hair on the back of his head said. His eyes were cold, gray, and surrounded by wrinkles. He wore a lab coat.

"That's alright, I just got my physical," Troy quipped.

"My superiors wish to know why you and your furvoid crew have gone back to temples which have already been searched. They're...curious. Have you found something new, Mr. Wooten?"

"Yeah, we gave up on the archeology business. I was thinking of starting a franchise of hot dog stands. You're welcome to invest in it."

"Humor, Mr. Wooten, is a sign of fear. You're afraid aren't you?"

"Afraid? Of a doctor? Not hardly; like I said, I'm up to date on all my shots."

"You see, Mr. Wooten, I am a special interrogator for the military. By the time I'm done with you, I could have you confessing to killing Julius Caesar, and the funny thing is, you'd even believe it yourself. Now...we don't have to go down such an unpleasant path. You merely need to answer my questions honestly."

"You can honestly kiss my ass."

"Honestly, I'm happy you're resisting. During times of peace...there are just too few people to practice my skills on. There are those who say if you don't use your skills, you lose them, then there is the other camp which says it's like riding a bicycle...you never forget," Dr. Slinger said as he opened a case resting on top of the table. He produced a metallic rod and twisted a knob on it, then applied the device to Troy's back. The captive screamed against gritted teeth. "I suppose it is just like riding a bicycle."

"We've got to rescue him!" Audra cried to Captain Riley. She didn't respond.

"Captain," Piper chimed in, "Troy has risked his life on numerous occasions for us. We can't abandon him."

"Captain, I took an oath as a doctor to do no harm...but if it means saving Troy, I'm willing to break that oath this very minute," Suzy said.

"Enough! All of you! What do we have? We're four girls; a captain, an archeologist, a doctor and a mechanic. Who knows where they took Troy? And wherever it may be, I guarantee you, it'll be heavily defended."

"Call the Furvoid Security Council, they can act through diplomatic channels to have him released," Piper, the chocolate rabbit mechanic suggested.

"The humans will deny Troy is even in their custody," Ember said.

"Then maybe they can authorize a raid," Piper replied angrily.

"And risk an all-out war with the humans? Besides, we have no idea where in the universe he even is!"

"That's...not entirely true, Captain," Suzy, the vixen doctor said.

"Speak up, Suzy."

"When I gave him his physical, I tagged him with a pheromone which has a unique radiological signature. Our ship can detect the low frequency pulses it makes with his heartbeat."

"We will not deviate from our plan. The lives of all furvoids hangs in the balance of finding the healing stone. I will not risk our species for one human!"

"Troy Wooten. He has a name, Captain. We took him against his will, and he's been nothing but kind to us. He sacrificed himself to save us...to save me," Audra said with tears running down her eyes. "Maybe you can sleep at night knowing he'll be suffering because of us, but I sure as hell can't. Find yourself another archaeologist, Captain. I'm not continuing on this mission."

"You will continue your job, Audra," Captain Riley said, drawing her pistol and aiming it at the skunk's nose.

"Go ahead and shoot me, Captain. Shoot me."

Captain Ember Riley holstered her weapon and sat down on her chair at the bridge. She buried her hands in her face. And sighed deeply.

"Suzy, if you can find Wooten, let me know. If it looks like we can mount a rescue, we'll try. If it looks like it'll be suicide, I'm not risking the lives of my crew or the lives of all the furvoids to save one man."

"I'm willing to risk my life, regardless of the odds," Audra said.

"As am I," Piper said.

"Me too," Suzy concurred.

"Very well," the tigress captain said.

The crew returned to their stations, but Ember approached Audra.

"Audra. Sweet, little, submissive Audra. I've never seen you stand up to me or anyone else like you did today."

"Captain, I'm sorry it's just I..."

"No need to apologize. Sometimes the problem with being a captain is you think you're always right. I have a first officer to keep me in check, but he's being held prisoner right now. It's nice to know I have a crew as brave as this one."

"Captain...you were planning on rescuing him all along, weren't you?"

Ember smiled at Audra and said "as if I had any other choice."

Troy Wooten's body was suffering abuse across every square inch. From the pain sticks to brass knuckle beatings, whippings, fire torture, and injections of pain stimulators, his body was a physical wreck, but he revealed nothing. His left arm was broken in three places, yet he was still suspended by his wrists. All his toes were broken with pliers, and still the human gave no secrets away. Knives were used to cut slits around his back and a mixture of lemon juice and salt was sprayed on the cuts to sear him with pain.

Dr. Slinger was merrily punching Troy's abdomen and Wooten coughed up blood when Major Catelli walked in.

"Enough! This is a worthless waste of time. He won't speak. I trained him to take this kind of abuse and worse."

"But Major, I'm fairly certain he'll crack soon," Dr. Slinger pleaded.

"Get this man out of my sight," Catelli ordered his troops, who dragged an infuriated Dr. Slinger away.

"You know Troy, I've always admired you. I knew you were special when you were transferred to my team."

Troy looked at Catelli through his swollen eyes, smiled and spat blood on the major's boots.

"I'm tickled pink to hear the compliments...sir."

"Tough as nails. That's what I told my superiors about you. You're tough as nails. Sometimes almost as bright as a nail too. See, your problem is your overinflated sense of justice. You think you're doing those furvoids a favor getting the healing stone. What about your own race? Are there not humans who are suffering from diseases and injuries too?"

"Spare me your bullshit, Major. We know you're just in it for the money. It'll go to the highest bidder, and we all know it'll be some old fuck who wants to live to be three hundred years old."

"Who are we to judge someone who wants to live forever, Troy?"

"Tell you what, maybe after the Furvoids cure cysteria they might let you borrow the stone," Troy said, and he coughed up more blood.

"Take him out of those restraints," he ordered his men.

"What, are you going to put a bullet in my brain and show me an act of mercy, you sick, old bastard?"

"And miss out on your charming witticisms and dry humor, Troy? I wouldn't think of it! See to it he receives proper medical attention."

Troy passed out and was unconscious for the better part of a day. When he woke up, he found his arm had been mended, along with most of his wounds, and he was shackled by the ankles to a comfortable bed in a brightly lit room. A woman with long, cinnamon colored hair was examining his vitals on a computer screen.

"Oh...you're awake," the woman said.

"Regretfully," Troy said.

"Try not to move. We've mended the breaks, but your injuries were severe. You'll need quite some time to rest and heal up."

"Doesn't look like I'm going too far anyway," Troy said, looking at the shackles.

"We're not torturing you, Troy...but we're not foolish either."

"And you are..."

"Doctor Elizabeth O'Shea, but you can call me Liz."

"Well...Liz...to be quite honest, I've had my fill of doctors."

"Dr. Slinger is as much a doctor as Quelonien Three is a great place for a picnic. Here, this is going to help with the pain," she said, using a hypodermic spray injection on his shoulder. Instantly, the pain in his body began to recede.

"Is that better?" she asked.

"Maybe."

"You don't trust me. I can understand that. You went through hell. In fact, I've never seen anyone endure what you've gone through."

"Yay me; and you're right, I don't trust you."

"Have I hurt you, Troy?"

"Not yet."

"Have I taken away your pain?"

"You gave me an injection to dull it some," he tacitly admitted.

"I took an oath to not hurt anyone. Even if you're an enemy of the state, I will not harm you."

"Oh, so I suppose you're the good cop? And when I still refuse to speak, I'll just be sent back to the bad cop?"

"I can't speak for what the higher ups will do to you, but I won't be the one doing anything to hurt you."

"We've been rehydrating and nourishing you intravenously, but I'm guessing you're hungry and thirsty," she said, nodding to an orderly. A cart was wheeled in and on it were two plates of spaghetti in meat sauce, bread, butter, salad and cookies, along with a large helping of grape juice. She put the tray on his lap, but Troy refused to eat.

"I know you're hungry. I heard your stomach growl while you were out. Well, I know I'm hungry at least," she said, sitting on a chair and putting her own tray of food on her lap. She began to eat the pasta.

"It's not poisoned. Why would we revive you just to kill you?" she giggled. Dr. O'Shea was attractive, and she wore a skirt which was a bit too short, revealing her luscious legs.

"I'm not hungry."

"You're not threatening me by going on a hunger strike. All we have to do is force nutrients in you intravenously. Personally, I'd take the pasta."

Troy looked at the food and his stomach growled loud enough for Liz to hear it.

"It's getting cold," she remarked.

Troy reluctantly gave in and took a bite of the spaghetti. Liz smiled warmly.

"It's not quite the torture you endured, but they sure don't know how to cook a decent al dente noodle here."

"I thought bad jokes were my specialty," Troy said as he took another bite of his dinner.

"So...what are they like?" Liz asked.

"What?"

"The furvoids...I mean, you've slept with them, haven't you?"

"I don't think it's any of your business."

"I just imagine all the fur in my mouth, yuck."

"Are you bored, Doctor?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Don't you have something better to do?'

"Technically, I'm off my shift as of ten minutes ago, but this base is small, and there are only soldiers to speak with."

"I'm a...I was a soldier."

"Yes, I read your record. For what it's worth, I...don't blame you."

"Well sweetheart, you're wearing a lab coat, not a general's uniform full of medals and ribbons. So your opinion is about as valuable to me as this spaghetti sauce recipe is to an haute culture chef."