The Home Front

In the mess Chloe stepped behind poor Broderick silently as a cat, lowered herself by his side and put her left hand to his thigh while fingernails of her other hand gently scratched behind of Broderick's right ear.

"Brody, you Fuck Muppet, do you now how bad I feel, that I can't come with you right now. I bet, that behind your thick glasses and goofy smile is a real sexual predator. And it was about time to discover your sex appeal, you Fucknuckle," she purred. With her stunning looks, red hair and green eyes, she actually reminded member of the Felidae family, but she was not a kitten, but more like a tigress in the jungle, who just caught a guinea pig. Broderick became red faced and he gasped breath as a first thing and started to cough after that, because some of his coffee went into another tube than he originally planned. All thanks to Chloe's sudden act.

"But I can't leave my hunks behind, Crickey, and make our little Knob Jockie, Lady, jealous." Chloe looked all remaining knights of the round table and grinned like Cheshire Cat. Luckily Broderick could not see that, because he kept coughing. "I am sorry, Fuck Muppet, but some another time perhaps, like after a century or two," continued Chloe, patting his back.

Volodja watched Chloe's "seduction attempt", looking calm as ever, but he could not resist laughing inside. He guessed, that other might have same problem, he had at moment. Where is the a morning paper, so useful to cover the smile, which tried to take over his serious face, when you need it most? Suppressing the grin was a really hard task. Really really hard. At least it eased his bitter sweet feeling in his heart when he thought about Sandy. Managed to win his urge to smile, Volodja went serious again and listened others.

When the encrypted transmission began complete with visuals, Belle Starr was still seated at her large wooden desk at the VBI installation secreted in the canyon below the underpass. She gave a tentative smile at Taffer before it disappeared as she glanced over her right shoulder at something or someone not in sight of the camera. She sighed deeply, and all of the team saw that her big blue eyes and pale face looked worse then her last transmission to them less than an hour ago. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying since then, and she had a large red gash on her right freckled cheek as if someone had backhanded her who had a large heavy ring on.

"I'm glad you all made it home safely too, but I shouldn't have made that sock puppet comment, as someone dear to us all has paid the price for my stupidity, and I promise I won't go off script again! Ever!" Belle made the last part of the statement looking fearfully over her shoulder at the unseen presence again; disturbing to her team mates in that they rarely, if ever, saw fear in her diamond blue eyes.

"Get on with it my dear, so that they get on with their business, and us with ours!" Said a cold voice from off camera, that seemed coldly familiar to some of the team mates, although they couldn't figure out where they had heard it before. "Show them your little present!"

Belle bit her lower lip, as she reached into her desk drawer, taking out a small silver box the size of a ring box. She placed the box in front of her, then manipulated some controls on her desk to have the camera do a close-up on it as her thin pale hands then opened it, a whiff of frigid air coming out of it creating a small cloud as it condensed with the warm air outside of the box. Clearly in the box could be seen a single Irathiant cyan eye.

Belle's voice could be heard as she said, "If you have your EGOs check the retinal imprint like I did, you will find it is indeed Vo's eye. It even shows where I enhanced his vision with my powers, and that can't be copied," Her voice broke in a stifled sob as she continued, "This was sent to me to remind me what they can do to him after I made that stupid sock puppet remark! Please, I beg of you, just do as they say - "

"Enough with the pathos!" Said the cold voice from off screen, "Let me take it from here my dear."

The camera was refocused on Belle sitting at her desk as she carefully closed the small box again, then clutched it to her bosom as a chalk white hand waved her out of her seat - a hand wearing a large gold signet ring! A thin Castithan man in a Red Casti suit, much like Belle's green one, took her place in front of the camera, smiling wickedly at them. They all immediately recognized him as the Castithan Inquisitor they had captured in Freedom, Alabama, and who had escaped from the Law Keeper's jail cell there.



"Hello bitter enemies, greeting from the Mistress of Judgment", Began the Castithan Inquisitor dramatically, "My name Is Micor Newlo, known as the Master of Stealth among the other Inquisitors, and now Ms. Starr's second-in-command at VBI here; although make no mistake, I am in full command. Here's the real deal: We know positively, 100% true, beyond a doubt, that Lady is pregnant with Atticus' baby. You don't mind me calling you Atticus do you? I will anyway, but it is so much nicer if we all agree on it, hmmm? You can call me Micor if you like, but I digress! Anyway, don't blame Lady's EGO Psyche, Sandy I believe her name is, as there is a nano device there in the EGO implant that was giving her continual subliminal messages to promote the pregnancy, even to the point of making her think it was her idea! The Mistress of Judgment is just wonderfully brilliant! You may disable that nano if you like, but please don't touch the nanos monitoring the baby's progress, or the unfortunate Mr. Kshaa will pay the price, I fear!"

Micor Newlo poured a drink of water from a crystal canister into a glass on Belle's desk, taking a sip of it before continuing, "The deal part is this: You leave us alone, we leave you lone, just for the next nine months! You do no harm to the baby, Lady, and the Inquisitors and we do you no harm, allowing Lady to come to term resulting in a healthy baby boy and you to do whatever you do here in the Bay Area as long as it does not interfere with out operations here. Miss Starr and Mr. Kshaa remain our guests during that time, her here at VBI and him at an undisclosed place, so undisclosed I don't even know where it is. At the end of nine months, you give us the baby, and Lady if she chooses to come, and we give you our hostages - I mean our guests - and we can go back to being bitter enemies if that is what you wish! The Mistress of Judgment would much rather that Lady and Atticus raise the baby together, but their present lifestyle is much too volatile, and you have shown that you can't even protect your friends, let alone a newborn infant. No, the baby will be much safer with us!"

He focused the camera into an extreme close up of his smiling chalk white face saying in a whisper, "Just between you and me, I bet if you keep your proverbial noses clean and show that you can provide a stable and safe environment for the child during the next nine months, the Mistress can be convinced that the infant should remain with his parents! She can be a big softie when it comes to family!"

The camera backed away to its previous setting as he said with a wave of his hand, "Well, there is the deal, take it or take it! You don't attack us! We don't attack you! If you attack us in any way, or try to undermine our efforts in any way, Miss Starr and Mr. Kshaa pay for it! We stay in an amiable détente for nine months, the baby is born in good health, we take him - or not, up to you - return to you Miss Starr and Mr. Kshaa, even put his eye back in good as new, and part out ways! We don't have to be bitter enemies, as we all want the same thing: Lady's good health and the safe birth of Atticus Junior! You don't have to say anything now, discuss it among yourselves, but please be quick in your answer, after all, Mr. Kshaa has only so many body parts left! Micor out!"

With that, the screen went black, and the team mates were left wondering about what to do next.

Lady was already headed down the hall after Atticus before Dinara even had a chance to contact Sandy, and arrived at Atticus' armory next to his bedroom by the time Dinara and Sandy were becoming alarmed.

"Approach with caution..." began Sandy with alarm.

"Hush both of you." Lady admonished both Sandy and Dinara, adding, "This is Atticus."

Sandy and Dinara quickly retreated to the dark recesses of Lady's EGO implant as Lady moved towards Atticus, disrobing slowly as she went and being completely naked by the time she reached him, whereupon she embraced him. It wasn't a strip tease, or even a seductive dance, but just a revelation of her alabaster body to the man she loved, for Lady had never really learned feminine wiles in her sixteen years, for she had found her true love way before she had felt a need for them. Lady was just... Lady, and the way Atticus looked at her, it was enough for him as well.

"Never got our shower," Said Lady before kissing him passionately, then slowly disrobing him as they kissed and as she pulled him towards the bedroom shower. Atticus felt the anger slip away, replaced by emotions of a different type. The shower washed away the last vestiges of his madness as it washed away the soap she lathered his whole body with, especially as she spent extra time with his nether regions. Using his broad shoulders to pull her small body up, her thin arms belying her true strength as she then allowed herself to be impaled by him, making her gasp at the action. He anchored her small tush with his huge hands as they made rhythmic love in the shower. Once both had released their sexual ardor, Atticus gently carried her to his bed, not bothered that both were still soaking wet as they made love once again, and then yet a third time. By then, both their energies were spent, and Lady fell asleep in Atticus' muscular arms.

"Erika is at least partly right here. Mistress wants the baby and we can't act openly against them, or they keep hurting Vo physically, to break Belle's spirit. So no direct attacks, if we can avoid them, unless they attack us first. But in a future, conflict WILL BE unavoidable, because one thing is giving a birth to the ruler of the world, but RAISING him to be the one is a whole different matter. And Mistress DEFINITELY wants to handle that matter herself. Without her influence, Giant Jr. might become physically extraordinary kid, but might end up as a scholar or computer nerd, for example. Mistress wants the ruler, so she will attempt to get our baby to herself anyway, so there won't be that "up to you" part at all. I know her mind and methods well enough, to assume, that they won't keep their part of the bargain. Remember, what Mistress promised to my poor Sandy...

And now they have huge and powerful organization under their control, thanks to capturing Belle. Why let her go after nine months? She is useful to Mistress now and will be in the future. So we must stall them enough, to gather information just like Erika said. And they probably hold their horses back for a few months, because it's not useful to wipe us out yet, but they will try to infiltrate into our base, if they already haven't done that. They are interested about information about our actions too. If we act unprepared, then we will fail to save anybody. They are more ready to attack us at moment, because of their advantages and eventually they will take us down. They can't let us live longer, because we will be on their way and try to get Lady and the baby back. Don't forget that Mistress sees Lady as her heir on the Throne of Blood," Volodja went silent after declaring his prophecy, thought a bit more and got up to his feet.

"I ll let you to decide, what will be our best strategy on this case. At moment I don't have anything offer than my theory, advice, assumptions and suggestions, but nothing to support them, so I must work on that problem . Maybe I will get an idea or two, after having some more rest. I will be mostly in classroom...or my cabin, depends of the situation, if anyone needs me." He left the War Room, made his way to canteen and equipped himself with enough food and wine to survive during his mental exile. 

I his cabin, Volodja sighed silently and started to gather his books. Instead of dealing with abstract problems about individual and society, he must concentrate on fanaticism and psychology of zealots and terrorist organisations and deal with matters of intelligence and infiltration. Actually, that was a mental challenge too, so only thing to do is change the subject and put his brain into work, to ease the pain in his heart. He allowed himself one bitter sweet moment, when he asked Sophie to play something about loneliness of a man, who just lost love of his life, because he realized it too late. He knew it from their first kiss, full of passion and tenderness, that Sandy was the one for him, but he could not resist the feeling that Sandy is pushing him away, because of her work, although all he wanted, was more time with her. His fault, because his selfish wish caused Sandy to give him really hard slap, making him to fall over the edge and end up in a catcher in a rye.

Sophie fulfilled his wish very reluctantly. At least she found a music video, full of references, in a hope that Volodja will concentrate on solving a musical quiz and won't let his emotions to take him over completely.



Volodja listened the song, found some references giving him intellectual pleasure, but could not resist feeling like late Alvin Stardust in that video. But he had to clench his teeth and concentrate to work and wine, so he opened another bottle and started with smelling and tasting ritual again. "Suitable enough," was his thought, when he poured first glass. Wine was as bitter sweet as his feelings at moment.

"For you, Sandy," he said, having first sip. "You are better without me and my selfish expectations, but I feel so lost without you." After that he buried himself into books determined to be as useful to the team and do what ever it takes to save his friends. And make that present for Sandy, if possible. So he kept digging deeper, singing with his soft tenor voice: "I feel like Buddy Holly 'cause it's Raining In My Heart..."

Taffer looked at his team members leaving the War Room and sighed.

"You and Volodya are right", he said to Erika. "There's nothing we can do at this moment to help our friends other than play along and seek for any information we can get on our enemy. I don't think they would keep their part of the deal as well, but for a different reason. They are those kind of people for whom the war never ended. They still treat all Humans as enemies and all Votans who help them as race traitors. I'm sure as soon as they get the baby and possibly Lady under their control, they will ensure that all of us will die one way or another. Volodya's right with what they promised Sandy for her cooperation, they surely will have this kind of a "present" for each of us. I'm also sure they despise VBI as a multi-national and multi-cultural organization and they will likely try to make it Votan-only or bring it down completely once they fulfill their immediate goals with it.

We can query Belle's location but we don't know Vo's and his EGO is probably disabled. Even if he managed contact us and inform us on his whereabouts, we'd have to attack both Belle's and Vo's locations simultaneously to ensure they wouldn't have enough time to harm them. It also could be tempting to find their submarine but I don't know any ways of locating a submarine somewhere deep in the ocean other than reactivating all remaining over-the-horizon radars all over the US territory and probably on other continents too. The downside of this approach is those facilities are most likely abandoned and desolated. Even if they could be repaired, they draw a lot of power and are easily detectable, so this activity definitely won't go unnoticed, especially with this kind of enemy we have now, who has their spies everywhere. Capturing their agents won't work as well unless under some special circumstances because they are likely monitoring all their agents through their EGOs so they would immediately detect something is going on. Another approach might be through politics, maybe we could find some other enemies of theirs to cooperate with, but I'm not experienced in it at all. I hate to leave our friends in the situation they ended up in, but it really seems like the best we can do now to do some research and dull their vigilance."

"Anyway Erika", he stood up reluctantly, "I'm going to check up on your children and talk with Doc Orion on what he might need to help them back to normal life. With all this VBI equipment relocation no matter how we drag our feet we'll definitely be in need on some equipment replacement. I'm going to find out what exactly we'll need and think of where to get it."

Erika Widaowmaker walked with Taffer and talked as they made their way to the infirmary to see Dr. Orion and her children. Erika was almost glad this latest conflict had come up, as it gave her something she could have an effect on, where she was truly helpless in helping her children through their medical crises. At best she could give moral support just by being there, at worst she could inadvertently do something that might send them further off the edge from sanity.

"I don't believe we have anything to worry about from the law keepers or E-Rep now that we have sent the VBI personnel on their way, as I do not believe the Inquisitors want their attention any more than we do," Commented Erika to Taffer, but then continued on a grim note, "But, as you humans say, let me address the large monkey sitting in the center of the room: I do believe that we may be more in danger, especially those team mates in the Inquisitors' hands, if Atticus becomes so enraged that he attacks the Inquisitors immediately, which considering the size of the hole in the mess hall's wall, is highly likely. If he attacks the VBI installation, the Mistress may very well pit Belle in her Volge form against him, and although such a battle would be interesting in theory, I fear it would lead to one of them being killed. So Taffer, sir... how do we keep that from happening?"

It was at this time that Erika was very glad that she was not the leader of the team, for, as she remembered some human writer saying, "heavy is the head that wears the crown."