Three Square Meals Ch. 107

Her hands dipped lower as she felt a flutter of arousal and erotic scenes flooded her mind. She remembered Jack vigorously pounding her best friend from behind, Vivian throwing back her blonde mane as she climaxed, with Maria strumming her clit to really make her squeal. Yes, she'd been the perfect wife over the last 25 years... maybe she should finally cash in all those hall passes Jack owed her, in exchange for a whole night of debauchery with the Lion of the Federation. The wrongness of bedding her daughter's handsome fiancé... and what the hell... Alyssa too... quickly tipped Maria over the edge.

"Oh Fuck! Oh, yes..." she hissed, clenching her eyes shut as she orgasmed hard.

Maria's breathing steadied as she recovered and she blushed at just how hard she'd climaxed with those illicit images in her mind. There was a ruddy glow to her cheeks as she dressed and headed downstairs, ready to start her day with some breakfast. Turning on the big holo-screen to TFNN, she smiled as she remembered watching Sakura's interview last night. She'd grown very fond of that lovely young woman and had felt a surge of pride at seeing her being publically praised for her heroism.

Glancing at the screen as she refilled the kettle, Maria smiled when she saw that Dana was the next Lioness to be featured. Her interview with Jehanna Elani was scheduled for prime-time that evening, TFNN milking their exclusives for maximum effect. Dana was another charming young woman, who hid her sensitive nature behind a sometimes-shocking burst of profanities. It was astonishing to think that the stunning redhead was also another of her daughter's lovers, Calara coming out of her shell with gusto.

Apparently TFNN was running a second exclusive that evening, this one featuring the first interview with the new Fleet Admiral. Maria listened to the brief excerpt in fascination, until she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Activity out in the street drew her full attention and she peered through the window across her front lawn at the big hover-truck that had just pulled up to the kerb. It reversed into the Hutchingsons' driveway next door and she got a good look at the logo emblazoned across the side, the name "Five-star Movers" making it abundantly clear as to its purpose.

A young couple got out of the truck accompanied by several men in overalls, so Maria quickly poured out a half-dozen cups of coffee and put them on a tray. By the time she walked around to her neighbour's drive, the move was in full-swing, with an endless stream of sealed containers being carried into the house.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully, to the couple who were directing their team of removal men. "My name's Maria, I'm your next-door-neighbour... well one of them at least. I thought you might like a cup of coffee to welcome you to your new home."

The couple turned around, broad smiles on their faces. They looked to be in their late-twenties and Maria could tell they were married by a brief glance at the wedding rings on their fingers.

"That's so sweet!" the brunette gushed. "It's lovely to meet you. I'm Linda, this is Ed."

"You're a lifesaver, Maria," Ed said with a grateful smile, reaching for a coffee cup. "We were up at four to beat the rush-hour traffic... I'm parched!"

"I brought some for your hard-working assistants too..." Maria said, glancing at the men striding past. "Are they allowed a coffee break, or are you cracking the whip?"

Linda laughed and shook her head. "No, some caffeine will do them some good."

"Guys, there's coffee here!" Ed called to the men, who looked their way and smiled.

"I had no idea that the Hutchingsons had put their home on the market," Maria said, glancing behind the couple at the large five-bedroom house.

"We were so lucky!" Linda enthused. "We heard through a family friend they were thinking about downsizing, so we took one look at the place and realised it was the absolutely perfect place to raise a family!"

"We put in a cash offer straight away and they accepted," Ed said, clinking mugs with his wife in celebration.

The four big removal men gathered around to collect their mugs. "Thank you, ma'am," the first one said, smiling at her before taking a sip.

Maria caught a slight flicker in Ed's mild expression. She kept a pleasant smile fixed on her face, pretending to be completely oblivious to the man's slip... but the removal man's respectful reply was ringing all sorts of alarm bells.

Her perceptive eyes flickered over the men as she glanced at each in turn. "I didn't add any sugar, I hope that's okay?"

They nodded as she surreptitiously studied them all: athletic, muscular, closely-cropped hair, all about the same age... roughly late twenties. They had the grizzled look of veteran marines and she did briefly consider the possibility that they might have all recently retired from the military. She noticed the instinctive furtive glances the men made at their surroundings when they thought she wasn't looking; that cagey ever-vigilant look was one she'd only seen in special forces. Maria quickly discounted the likelihood of men with their skill-set working as removal men, especially as Ed and Linda fit the same profile.

She smiled at the young couple and said, "You two remind me of my husband and me when we first moved here. My four children have all flown the nest now, so it'll be really nice to have a young family moving in next door. What do you two do?"

"Well, I teach fourth grade, but I haven't found a vacancy in this district yet," Linda said with a forlorn pout.

"And I'm a programmer for Dynalight Holo-Solutions," Ed replied, before taking another sip of his coffee.

The brunette gave her husband a loving smile. "Which means he gets to work from home and I get to bother him all day!"

"I'm very envious; my Jack's often on tour for months at a time," Maria said as she watched the interaction between the supposedly married pair in front of her. At first glance they seemed like a couple very much in love, but they were a little too saccharine-sweet to be completely convincing.

"Well, I'm new to the area, so I'd love to find out all the great places to visit," Linda said, giving her a hopeful smile. "Maybe when we've got all these boxes put away, you could come over for lunch?"

"That's a good point," Ed said, glancing at the removal men with a grin. "Enough slacking off, back to work guys."

Maria returned the young woman's smile. "You should come over to mine for lunch; you probably haven't had a chance to unpack your kitchen or get any groceries yet."

"That's true... and thanks!" Linda said gratefully.

Putting down the tray on the lawn, Maria pulled out her holo-phone and said, "Why don't I take a picture? Moving day in your new home! If you give me your Holonet account name, I can send you the pictures."

Ed and Linda exchanged a quick glance then smiled at her. "Sounds like a lovely idea!"

Maria took several pictures in rapid succession, managing to capture the four removal men in the background as well as the happy couple. Once Ed had given her his contact details, she retrieved her tray and promised to stop distracting them from settling in.

As soon as she returned to her own home, she darted across to the comms-interface in the lounge and set up a secure call. After a minute, the image of a stylised lion appeared on the holo-screen.

"Hey, Maria! It's lovely to see you!" Faye exclaimed a moment later, a dazzling smile on her pretty face. "Did you want to speak to Calara?"

"Actually... I was wondering if you might be able to help me with a background check?" Maria replied, darting a glance out the window. "I might be getting paranoid, but a new couple just moved in next door..."

Faye's expression instantly turned serious. "Are you worried you're in danger?"

"No... I don't think so. They just don't feel right," the Latina hesitantly replied. "I took several pictures of them and the removal men helping them..."

"Please send me those pictures," the purple sprite requested. "I'll ask Irillith to help... we'll have answers for you within the hour!"

***

"Tony, wake up!" Perl hissed in his ear, shaking him awake.

Fat Tony groaned and blinked as he sat up, trying to adjust his eyes to the murky glow from the battered LED lanterns dotted around the bunkhouse. It took him a moment to get his bearings, then it all came flooding back: the attack by the Kirrix, fleeing through the tunnels, then bedding down at the Mortimer Mine.

"What is it, babe?" he grumbled, stifling a yawn.

"Kelli had to take a piss, but she's been gone ten minutes!" the blonde said, her face a picture of worry.

"Goddamn stupid-ass whores," he snarled, suddenly wide awake and rolling out of bed. "Why the fuck didn't you wake me?!"

"You looked so tired..." she whimpered, cringing away from his anger.

Tony grabbed her hand and yanked her off the bed. "C'mon..."

He marched down the bunkhouse dragging Perl behind him, the other occupants staring at the big ganger in fear.

Tony stopped by a nervous looking miner near the door and fixed him with an intimidating stare. "Where's the shitter?"

"Turn right... past the next blockhouse," the man stammered, desperate to avoid a fight.

Whirling around, Tony rushed out of the door and headed right, hoping his hunch was wrong. He pulled out his SMG and quickly screwed a silencer on the end of the barrel. When it was in place, he slid brass knuckles over his left fist, then glanced over his shoulder at Perl and snapped, "Cover me with that pistol if it all kicks off!"

She nodded nervously and held the handgun in both of her small hands as she hurried to keep up.

They'd barely gone fifty metres when Tony heard faint voices carrying in the dark, coming from a direction away from the squat buildings.

"Yeah, boy!"

"Get some a' that pussy!"

"Tear that shit up!"

He felt a frozen ball of ice form in his stomach, his worst fears realised. He ran towards the voices, hearing grunts and the sound of flesh slapping against flesh. Decades of sneaking around in Karron's murky shadows had trained Tony to move quickly and quietly, barely making a sound despite his imposing figure. He caught the miners completely by surprise when he rushed around the pile of bleak grey slate, all four of them oblivious to his furious presence.

Three of the men had pinned Kelli down on the rocky ground, while the fourth was between her thighs pumping away. Tony charged out of the black and grabbed the rapist by his hair, yanking his head back. He brought the heavy grip of his SMG down on that exposed throat, crushing the man's windpipe. As the choking miner fell backwards, Tony launched himself at the next of the stunned men, leading with a left hook that splattered the man's nose across his face in a shower of blood and sent him reeling.

"What the fuck?!" the third wiry man managed to blurt out as Tony fell on him, knocking him backwards. "You're fucking dea-"

Tony's knee thumping into the miner's balls turned his angry retort into a tortured shriek of agony. He recognised the terrified man as Abner, one of the miners they'd met in the tunnel. As Tony knelt above him, his repeated blows with a metal-clad fist broke several rotted teeth, anguished cries of pain rattling off into a sickening gurgle as he caved in his face.

"Tony, look out!" Perl screamed.

Throwing himself flat, Tony narrowly avoided the last miner's hurried burst from his rifle. Time seemed to freeze as he stared at that rifle barrel as it lowered inexorably towards his chest and he could feel the Reaper's shadow falling over him. Just as that rifle was about to bark again, the miner's head seemed to explode like a ripe watermelon, showering brain and skull fragments across the ground. The gunshot echoed eerily around the cavern before fading away, leaving only the disconcerting sound of choking and whimpering.

Tony sat up and saw Perl still clutching the pistol in two shaking hands, her eyes wide as she stared at the miner she'd decapitated with her hollow-point round. The other two rapists were going about the business of expiring, which meant there was just one left... the miner he'd punched in the face. The gasping man was crawling away, one hand pressed to the ruined mess of his nose. Tony holstered his SMG and pulled out his twelve-inch hunting knife, then stalked after the man, his face a grim mask.

The last miner glanced back in fright and held up a hand as he begged. "Please! I've got loads of cash! Just lemme live!"

"He's got your money, Tony," Kelli said, her cold voice coming from behind his shoulder. "That piece-of-shit stole it off me... they were all going to rape me then put a bullet in my head so I wouldn't talk."

"You motherfucker!" Tony snarled, lunging forward and stabbing the begging man in the neck.

There was a bright spray of red blood as his carotid artery was severed and the miner sprawled on the floor, his hands going to the gaping gash in his throat. His eyes were wild with terror as he collapsed, filled with the awful certainty that he would be dead within minutes.

Tony grimaced as he wiped his hands on the miner's shirt to get rid of the worst of the blood, then did the same to clean his knife on the dying man's trousers. "Get your shit back then let's go."

Kelli darted past him, her deft fingers pulling cred-sticks from a pocket in the miner's jacket. "Nice! Some gold here too!" she exclaimed, showing Tony a gleaming nugget.

Tony glanced at Perl, who seemed to have got over her shock and was busy rifling through the pockets of the headless miner. Turning his attention back to the brunette he asked quietly, "You alright, Kelli?"

The brunette shrugged and didn't bother looking away from her search. "Sure... I've been getting fucked most of my life by guys I didn't like, what's one more asshole?"

He stared at her in silence, feeling an unexpected surge of empathy for the girl. He couldn't imagine living the kind of life that Kelli had endured. To be that weak and vulnerable, her survival dependent on the mercy of men who'd just take what they wanted whether she was willing or not... he couldn't help pitying her bleak existence.

Tony looked away and muttered, "C'mon, let's go before someone checks out the shootin'."

The girls nodded, pocketing the other items they'd looted from the dead. "Where to, Tony?" Perl whispered, looking up at him with big eyes as they hurried away.

He glanced back at the dead miners with a grimace. "I dunno for sure how their boss is gonna deal with this shit... probably he'll be real fucking pissed." Letting out a heavy sigh, he continued, "We better stock up on supplies, I reckon we need to get the fuck outta here."

"I'm really sorry, Tony," Kelli whimpered, as she realised they would have to leave the safety of the Mortimer compound. "I shouldn't have gone off on my own like that."

Tony ground his teeth together in frustration, as he wanted to snap, "No! You fucked up and now we're in deep shit!" Instead, he took a deep breath and replied, "Something like that would have happened sooner or later... don't worry about it."

He spotted the canteen and strode towards it, the girls hurrying to keep up as they followed behind him.

***

In the command room aboard the Kerhom's Anvil, Chancellor Niskera studied a holographic map of the Trankaran Republic, her heart filled with sorrow at the bleak state of her empire. A score of systems had now fallen to the Kirrix, a sickly ochre pall marking the extent of their encroachment into Trankaran Space. Millions of Trankaran citizens lived on those worlds and she could only imagine the horrors being visited upon them during the occupation by the hideous insectoid menace. The first worlds had been conquered over a month ago and she knew it was now too late to save those people from an agonising death as hosts for Kirrix spawn.

"Hundreds-of-thousands slain by those monsters," she said, her words heavy with grief. "It's such a horrific waste of life... and the most galling thing is it could have been so easily averted."

Fleet Warden Thandrun glanced her way, a pained expression on his granite-grey face. "I have more bad news, my Queen." His huge paw-like hand tapped several runes on the holo-table and the empire map updated, showing the insidious spread of the Kirrix invasion. "I received word that Bhar Furum, Dun Gerluhr, Theg Haldrim, and Negbhaldum have also fallen to the Kirrix."

Niskera's face fell, anguish in her glowing amber eyes. "By the Great Protector... how many citizens on Dun Gerluhr? 400 million?"

"Half-a-billion by the last census," he replied, his gravelly voice echoing her grief. "The Kirrix have penetrated deep enough to start hitting our most populated worlds."

"And the Yelneg are next," she said, staring at the several systems owned by the fungoid creatures, the green demarcation of their territory perilously close to the Kirrix invasion corridor. "They're teetering on the brink of extinction..."

The Fleet Warden watched her for a long moment, then said hesitantly, "Queen Niskera, I know your orders were to focus on protecting the Yelneg Dominion, but I believe our first duty should be to protect the citizens of the Republic. Besides, it makes more strategic sense for Warden Brokurlun's fleet to liberate Dun Gerluhr."

"Our people are very resilient... as terrible as it will be for the citizens of our worlds to be subjected to infestation, they are more likely to survive Dr. Voss' prescribed treatment," she replied, her voice troubled. "The Yelneg are physically weak, they would not withstand bursts from a Sonic Cannon, at least not with enough strength to destroy Kirrix eggs."

Thandrun grimaced in revulsion. "It just... galls me to see our citizens being sacrificed in place of the Yelneg."

"I understand and sympathise with your disquiet, but it seems we are faced with one appalling choice after another these days," she said, her rich voice tinged with sadness. After a brief pause, she managed to give him a hopeful smile. "Do you have any good news for me, Fleet Warden?"

He rubbed his chin with his heavy hand. "Well, as you know our first fleet of newly upgraded ships is enroute to engage the Kirrix. Warden Brokurlun is a skilled tactician, I believe he will acquit himself admirably against their forces."

Niskera studied the map and watched the icon representing Brokurlun's fleet race towards the Kirrix invasion line. "It is uncanny to see how fast those upgraded vessels can travel in hyper-warp."

"Agreed, my Queen," the Fleet Warden said, his amber eyes following the holographic icon. "Combined with our new sensors, we now have a significant strategic edge; we will be able to strike at the Kirrix on battlefields of our choosing."

The Glowing Queen tapped one of the runes on the holo-table and the view zoomed in on the Trankaran forces. Four huge rust-red battleships formed the centre of the formation, with over two-dozen cruisers assuming a protective cordon around them. At the rear of the group were two substantial heavy carriers, each of the massive capital ships dwarfing their destroyer escorts.

"Will the new ship equipment make much of a difference?" Niskera asked anxiously, knowing how precarious their position was, with so few fleets in a position to intercept the Kirrix.

"The combination of the Ashanath Power Cores and the Kintark heatsinks will make a huge difference. Our vessels have always had the speed advantage in combat, but now when we close to range, our Fusion Beams will strike back with twice the potency," Thandrun replied, staring at the formation of ships. He glanced her way and continued with regret, "If only the Maliri fleet were in range to transmit the schematics for upgraded shields... Our vessels are as hardy as they have ever been, but our shields are comparatively weak. Access to Brimorian shielding would make our ships vastly more resilient and would greatly extend the longevity of our forces in a sustained campaign."