Three Square Meals Ch. 107

"Fat Tony," the ganger replied, jabbing his thumb against his broad chest.

Another of the miners beckoned him forward. "We're blowin' all the tunnels... cutting off the Bugs. You need to get the fuck outta there."

"Sure, just gimme one second," Tony said, holding up one finger. He turned and walked back to the bend in the corridor, shining his torch ahead of him. He found Perl and Kelli cowering around the corner, hugging the rock wall and staring at him with huge terrified eyes. "Sorry I ran off. They were gonna blow the tunnel, but I managed to stop 'em."

The two girls sagged with relief and gave him grateful if rather tremulous smiles.

He led his petite companions back towards the miners, who were darting worried glances at the pitch-black tunnel. "Bugs ain't close, we haven't heard shit behind us."

"Still... let's not fuck about," the second miner muttered anxiously, waving them onward. "Charges are set... another minute and you wudda been wormfood."

The group retreated up the tunnel, putting plenty of distance between them and the explosives. One of the miners pulled a demolition pack from his belt, twisted the dial on the side until he found the correct frequency, then stabbed his thumb down on the grubby red button. A thunderous explosion filled the tunnel with a wall of sound, followed moments later by a huge concussive wave of air and dust that buffeted the group.

Tony managed to brace himself, but Kelli stumbled and fell over, the slender brunette too weary to react in time. He offered a hand to help her upright again, receiving a grateful smile for his trouble. He glanced back at the miners and noticed the dark gleam in their eyes as they stared at Kelli's shapely figure, her revealing clothes doing little to protect her modesty when she stumbled over.

Scowling to himself, Tony wondered if he'd made a bad mistake bringing the girls with him. Karron miners were a feral lot at the best of times and the desperate circumstances they now faced would bring out the ugly side of far better men. He darted a quick look at Perl and Kelli, and saw them cringing under the miners' lecherous gaze.

"You fellas want to lead the way?" he asked, jerking his thumb towards the open tunnel. "My gun light is nearly outta power."

Abner managed to drag his hungry eyes away from the girls and stared at Tony for a moment. He reached up to his hardhat and activated the lamp, making the Diablos ganger squint against the harsh glare. The other three miners mirrored his actions, then they set off, the four men walking confidently down the rocky tunnel.

Tony fell into step behind them, with the two girls flanking him this time. Perl slipped her hand into his and when he glanced her way, he could see the worry in her face. She'd been Pitbull's property for a couple of years and a hooker before that... so Tony was sure she knew just how precarious her current situation was.

He shook off her hand, getting an anxious look from the blonde that he studiously ignored. Reaching for the small of his back, he pulled out a compact pistol, his last-ditch handgun that had saved his life on at least a dozen occasions. "Six shots... don't waste 'em," he said in a hushed whisper, placing it in her hands.

She held the weapon reverently, her blue eyes glistening in the dim light. Tony turned away, unable to handle seeing that look of profound gratitude for so simple a gesture. He stopped and crouched down, pulling the pistol's twin from the holster on his right calf, then gave it to Kelli.

"If you shoot me, I'm gonna be really fuckin' pissed," he muttered gruffly under his breath.

"Thank you, Tony," she murmured, giving him a quick hug.

"Yeah, let's keep movin'..." he grumbled, striding ahead to follow the miners.

The group travelled in silence, the minutes stretching interminably as they made their way down the rough-hewn passageway. He spotted large metallic crates placed along the walls every few hundred metres and a glance at the label revealed the contents to be blocks of thermotex charges. Tony's thoughts were troubled as he walked along, keeping a tight grip on his SMG and watching the miners carefully for the first sign they might turn on him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Tony suddenly thought, berating himself for his stupidity. "Yeah, the girls are hot pieces of ass, but they're just a couple of whores. You've got enough shit to deal with already..."

He rubbed at his tired eyes, feeling the heavy drag of exhaustion; squinting into the ominous gloom for hours had taken its toll. It was hard to tell how much time had passed by the time he spotted emergency lighting strips embedded in the tunnel walls up ahead, but that extra light gave him a surge of hope. The girls were dragging their feet, stumbling in the darkness and he could tell they were both about to drop.

The tunnel banked up sharply and after struggling up the ramp, Tony could see it opened up into a large cavern. There were big trucks in here, their six chunky wheels rumbling across the rocky ground as they drove across the mine compound with armed men in the back. A dozen utilitarian blockhouses formed the mining complex, with a big sign above the entrance to the walled fort stating "Mortimer Mine."

The miners walked over to a sturdy security gate that was flanked by a pair of guard towers. A stocky figure stood in the open gateway, surrounded by a group of hard-looking men in combat fatigues, and he pointed animatedly at the walls with his glinting metallic hand.

"Boss, we found some stragglers," Abner called out as they approached the gate.

The man with a cybernetic limb turned his bleak gaze on the miners, then glanced at the trio following them. "Can you fight?" he asked, eyes drifting to the chrome SMG in the ganger's hand.

"Yeah... reason I'm still alive," Tony said, lifting his chin in a show of bravado. "Need to shoot them Bug fuckers in the head... blowing holes through the rest of 'em don't do shit."

The leader of the mine nodded, his eyes roaming over the girls before dismissing them without a second glance. "Get some rest in the bunkhouse... when the Bugs attack, you're on the wall."

He turned around and started talking to the mercenaries again, discussing how they could beef up their fortifications.

Abner beckoned for Tony to follow and they walked through the gate and into the compound itself. There were huge piles of waste rock along one side of the cavern, the grey granite almost touching the ceiling. A dull-yellow digger was shovelling chunks of that rock towards the walls, where miners with drills were breaking it up and shoring up an inner wall behind the main parapet.

"Civvies over there," Abner muttered, pointing towards a squat blockhouse on the far right of the compound.

"Can we get some water?" Tony asked, his throat raspy after all the dust.

Abner snorted. "This ain't no fancy hotel and I ain't your waiter."

When Tony gave him a steady look, the miner rolled his eyes and pointed at another blockhouse. "That's the Canteen."

With one last lingering glance at the girls, Abner and his three companions wandered off towards another of the granite-grey buildings.

"You girls hungry?" Tony asked, holstering his SMG and looking down at his companions.

"Starving," Kelli murmured, looking unsteady on her feet.

"I'm mostly thirsty..." Perl replied, darting wary glances at the various groups of men who were watching them with unsettling interest.

They approached the blockhouse Abner had indicated, enticing smells wafting through the air as they got nearer. There were a couple of mercs lounging against the door, who eyed Tony's glinting chrome weapon with professional curiosity but let him pass uninterrupted. A reasonably-clean man in a striped top was stirring a big pot of stew on a stove and he gave them a disinterested glance over his shoulder.

"You want some of this?" he asked, sounding bored.

"Yeah, three bowls and some of them bottles of water," Tony muttered, nodding with his chin towards the crates stacked at the back of the cantine.

"8 credits," the chef drawled, his hand moving in lazy circles.

"You fuckin' kidding me?" Tony growled under his breath.

He went to retrieve his cred-stick, then froze when he remembered it was in the hidden pocket in his Diablos jacket... which was now buried under thousands of tons of rock. He'd saved up nearly 200 credits on that stick and he'd lost it all, because of those dumbass miners. He tensed his muscles, bristling with fury... after all the shit he'd been through that day, this was the last straw...

"Yeah that's fine... three of each," Perl said, placing a calming hand on his arm.

When Tony looked at her in confusion, the blonde reached into her top and pulled a cred-stick from her cleavage. She swiped it over the register and when the transaction light flashed green, the chef shrugged and started pouring out the steaming stew. Tony caught a glimpse of the balance and his eyes widened at the sight; her credstick contained over 5000 credits!

"What the fuck?" he hissed, looking at her wide-eyed.

She quickly shook her head, putting a finger to her lips while flicking a nervous glance at the cook. They collected their bowls and bottles, then sat at one of the tables. Drinking and eating in silence, the trio wasted no time in finishing everything they had, before dropping the bowls into the pile of dirty washing up. Perl bought some more water and they left the canteen, making their way towards the civilian blockhouse.

Fat Tony glanced into the building and saw at least fifty bunks inside, most of them occupied. There was a stink of fear coming from the place, scores of men and women with an air of desperation to them looking up as they entered. Tony didn't like the look of it one bit, so he hesitated in the doorway, unsure what to do in this situation, feeling awkwardly out of his comfort zone.

He suddenly felt Kelli's soft hands on his shoulder as she stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, "What would Pitbull do?"

Narrowing his eyes, Tony turned to look at her, wondering if he was being played. The scared brunette gave him an innocent look and shrugged helplessly. He realised that as frightening as all this was for him, it must be ten times worse for the girls. Used as whores for most of their adult lives, they'd been entirely dependent on strong men to protect them from physical abuse... while also trying to avoid it from their owner. Was that what he was now, their owner?

Squaring his shoulders, he swaggered across the blockhouse towards the two bunks in the far corner. There were a couple of squint-eyed men lounging on those beds and Tony could tell at a glance they were obviously from the wrong side of the law, maybe even gangers themselves. They were both armed, and when he approached, their hands hovered nervously over the pistols in their gunbelts.

"You're on my bed," he growled, glaring at them with the same kind of feral intensity that Pitbull had mastered.

He'd seen his boss use that crazed scowl to scare the hell out of hundreds of gangers over the years and Tony would never admit this to anyone, but he'd spent hours practicing it in front of a mirror. The stare promised a totally unprovoked, brutal beating, which the recipient would be lucky to walk away from. Tony found it worked best if he imagined breaking all of his victim's limbs, giving him just the right amount of homicidal intent to unsettle the most hardened of men. Pitbull had the edge though, because the Diablos boss was actually trying to restrain himself from ripping his victim to pieces; a fight he succumbed to on more occasions than Tony could count.

The bloodthirsty stare shook the two men, Tony could see it immediately. They lowered their gaze in an instinctive act of submission and were careful to keep their hands away from their guns as they rolled off the bunks before backing away. Tony pretended to ignore them, but he watched them carefully with his peripheral vision, his hand on the SMG holstered on his belt. They marched across the room and after some angry threats evicted another couple of men from their beds, creating a chain of confrontations down the blockhouse.

Tony shoved the two beds together, then flopped down in the middle. He tried not to let out a sigh of bliss as he relaxed on the hard mattress, which in his exhausted state, actually felt like the softest bed in the history of beds. The girls crawled on as well, giving him demure smiles as they flanked him and cuddled up against his chest. He put his arms around them possessively and they didn't object when he caressed their soft skin.

"Just like Pitbull," Kelli whispered as she stroked his chest.

"But without all the crazy," Perl added, glancing up at him with a knowing smile.

Tony took a quick glance around the room and saw that he was being watched by at least a dozen men. The atmosphere in the room had subtly changed now and he didn't feel threatened... only envied and grudgingly respected. He wondered if this was how his boss had felt all the time and he freely admitted to himself that he liked it... he liked it a lot.

Looking down at the blonde, he let his eyes fall to her mouth-watering cleavage. "OK, time to talk..."

Perl saw where he was looking and her smile suddenly turned anxious. After a long pause, she whispered, "When the bugs attacked, we were watching the battle from the monitor in Pitbull's bedroom. We saw him get fucked up... so..." She darted an apprehensive look at Kelli, who gave her a quick nod. "We looted the gang vault..."

Tony's eyes widened and he moved his hands around to cup their breasts. They made no move to stop him, watching his face intently as he felt several hard lumps concealed under their tops, each one the size of a cred-stick.

"You sneaky little bitches!" he muttered, shaking his head with admiration.

They smiled at him, recognising it for the earnest praise it was, their expressions brightening even further when he made no attempt to rob them.

"Get some shut-eye," he said quietly, holding them close. "I'll keep watch for a few hours... then one of you's gonna hafta take over."

"Thank you, Tony," Perl said, lifting herself up to give him a soft kiss on the cheek.

Kelli gave him a naughty grin. "If we actually get out of this, I'm going to fuck the shit out of you."

"As long as it's you doin' it, not the Bugs," he muttered, allowing himself a smile when she giggled.

The two girls settled down, resting their heads against his shoulders. He felt their breathing deepen and thirty seconds later, Kelli was fast asleep, confirmed by her quiet snores.

"Tony... can I ask you something," Perl murmured drowsily.

"Sure, babe, one thing then sleep," he said, rubbing her back.

"Why does everyone call you Fat Tony?" she asked, running her slender fingers across his muscular chest. "You're a big guy, but you're definitely not fat..."

"Kelli's gonna find out if we live through this shit," he replied, fighting off the seductive pull of sleep.

Perl went quiet for a second, then her hand dropped lower. "Holy fuck!" she exclaimed as her inquisitive touch provoked a reaction. She gently caressed him then made eye-contact and whispered, "You know why Pitbull was mad all the time?"

"No... why?" he asked in confusion.

She gave him a smug smirk and lifted her hand, then crooked her pinky finger. As Tony tried to stifle his guffaws, she pursed her lips and blew him a kiss, then nestled down onto his shaking chest.

***

Lynette stood in front of the mirror, trying not to smile at the ridiculous contrast between her youthful face and her imposing Fleet Admiral's uniform. She would have her holographic disguise activated throughout her date with Charles that evening, but it was amusing to see how she really looked now, rather than the masquerade that everyone else saw. She double-tapped the holo-projector in her pocket and after a few seconds wait, her features shimmered and changed, concealed by the holographic illusion.

She winced at the sight of her old face, then lifted a wrinkled hand to her worn features. The holo-projectors were a marvel of engineering, the integrated VI compensating to reposition the microscopic projectors so that the illusion remained unbroken, even when she touched her skin. It amazed Lynette how quickly she'd adjusted to the incredible rejuvenation of her body and now she found it hard to look at herself as she'd once been. How had she let herself get so out of shape? She looked so tired and old...

Staring at the mirror with young eyes was a sobering experience and she swore she'd never let herself get like that again.

*Don't be too hard on yourself, Lynette,* Alyssa said quietly. *Old age creeps up on everyone, and you had other important priorities.*

*Not quite everyone,* she replied, deactivating the holo-projectors and studying her beautiful face once more. *There's a certain blonde bombshell I know who'll never age a day.*

*That's not quite true,* Alyssa purred. *Occasionally, John has to pack other deserving tummies full of spunk. When a certain sexy brunette stayed with us recently, it was nearly two whole days before I was fed... he was too busy making her look pregnant with his heavy load.*

Lynette bit her lip and quickly unbuttoned her jacket, then slid her hands inside her shirt to stroke her toned stomach. She felt an onrush of lust and let out a low moan as she remembered how incredible it had felt having Alyssa go down on her, while the gorgeous young woman caressed her cum-filled stomach. Feeling her pussy getting moist, she glanced at the chronometer hanging on the wall, considering rubbing herself to satisfaction before her date.

*You're so bad,* Alyssa chided playfully. *I'm only eighteen and you're nearly old enough to be my grandmother! I can't believe you led me astray...*

Bursting into laughter, Lynette relaxed and buttoned up her jacket. *I seem to fondly recall someone else being the seductress... and I'm very glad that you did.* She let out a wistful sigh, then walked over to her bed and sat down on the end. *I can't believe you've only been gone for a day... I really miss you.*

*We miss you too,* the blonde said, her voice turning sympathetic. *I'm fortunate in that I still get to hear your lovely voice, but I also got closer to you than the others... it was hard letting you go.*

*You really mean that, don't you?* Lynette asked, surprised by how earnest her matriarch was.

*Of course,* Alyssa immediately replied. *You're part of our family now, I'd never lie to you.*

Lynette flopped back on the bed and savoured the warm sensation of belonging that seemed to fill her mind. *You told me I'd never be alone again... I finally see what you mean.*

*Well with a bit of luck, you should have some much closer company tonight!* Alyssa enthused. *Are you going to jump his bones on the first date?*

Giggling at the thought, Lynette seriously considered it. *You should have seen the way he was staring at me this morning! I swear there were stars in his eyes... Charles reminded me of a lovestruck teenager!*

*Lynette, you're an eleven out of ten now,* the blonde said with an indulgent smile. *If Charles reacted differently, I'd have strongly advised you to start looking for another man... because he'd have to be gay.*

She frowned as she remembered their lunchtime meeting. *But he was so distracted today! Then he seemed to light up when Lina interrupted us... 'Oh, Charlie! I want to pump you for information!'... that fucking bitch, I should reassign her to the Kirrix border!*

*Shh, easy now, beautiful,* Alyssa murmured, swaddling her mind with a calming telepathic wave. She laughed as she added, *Were you a green-eyed monster the first time around?*