WACO’S
LUMMOX
By
Waddie Greywolf
Chapter
27
Chet Baker was
behind the wheel of his family’s SUV driving home from the boy’s
birthday party. He and Carol were in a good mood. They had
lots to talk about. The kids were fast asleep in the rear seats
and belted in. They talked quietly. Carol knew there was
something disturbing Chet. She knew him too well. She
didn’t want to pry, but he wasn’t very forthcoming about the
supper the night before.
“If I told you
the things I witnessed you wouldn’t believe me, darling.” Chet
just
shook his head.
“Yes, I would,
Chet. I’ve seen things myself.”
Chet slowly
began to tell Carol little by little what he and Lyle
experienced. Carol sat listening like she was dumbfounded.
Chet was quiet in his explanations, because he didn’t want to sound too
excited to wake the kids in the back. He just kept up his monolog
with his soft, relaxed Texas cowboy drawl. He was right, Carol
almost didn’t know whether to believe him.
“You’ll
eventually meet Blue and Keekepata, hon. Last night was like a
dream sequence from a Disney movie.”
“Did you and
Lyle have a good time?” Carol asked not knowing what else to say.
“Yeah, we did,
but things are changing between us.”
“Really?”
“How would you
feel about a brother-in-law?” Chet chuckled.
“You mean Lyle’s
met someone?” Carol asked with surprise.
“Not someone,. .
. some thing.” Chet looked over at her and winked. “The big
Lummox what’s carrying Ramrod Long’s twins. I think Lyle’s
falling in love with him.”
Carol didn’t
know what to say. She was stunned. “My first reaction is,
good for Lyle if that’s what he wants; however, my second concern is
how do you feel about it?” she asked in a concerned tone.
“Obviously, I
have mixed feelings. I told him I was happy for him, and I meant
it. I want him to be happy. Lyle’s like a brother to
me. He’s the only brother I’m ever gonna’ have. He and I
were the ‘only’ children by our parents, and we came to rely on each
other growing up; maybe a little too much. I’ve known how he
feels about Strom for a while now. I never thought much about it,
but we talked last night, and I told him to go for it, with our
blessing.”
“You did the
right thing. Of course he has our blessing. If you’re sure
you’re all right with it, I’m certainly for it. We’ll stand
behind him all the way, but what are we gonna’ do when you get cranky,
cowboy?” Carol laughed, “I’ve come to depend on Lyle to
straighten you out. When you get all bent out of shape and
nothing seems to go right for weeks all I have to do is pack your
overnight bag and ship you off to Lyle. One evening with him and
you’re jes’ fine for a couple of months.” She broke up laughing.
“I laughed and
told him the same thing. I told him I weren’t the one he had to
convince.” Chet broke up laughing. Carol giggled.
“I’m gonna’ have
me some fun with this.” Carol chortled.
“I don’t know if
that’s a good idea, he’s dead serious, hon. He’s talk’n ‘bout
having the big beast’s baby. I think they already done made
plans.”
“That’s all
right, what’s a sister-in-law for? I’ll be right there with a
giant economy size, industrial strength bottle of Midol. I’ll
hold his hand and wipe his brow with a warm towel when he gets morning
sickness.” Carol declared, “And he damn well better not have made plans
without consulting me first!” she was almost irate. They shared a
laugh.
“I feel
responsible for him not finding someone before now.’ Chet
admitted, “I told him I felt I was to blame, because somewhere along
the line, I think I came to need him more than he needs me.” Chet hung
his head. It was a big admission for a man who was a masculine
icon in his community.
“I’ve known it
for some time, sweet heart. Lyle’s always been the more
self-sufficient.” Carol allowed quietly. She didn’t tell
him, if Lyle had been excessively needy of Chet’s time and affection
she wouldn’t have been able to cope with their bond. “My biggest
worry isn’t for Lyle. Lyle will find happiness. He will be
content. My concern is for you.”
“Don’t be,
darling. It’s gonna’ work out jes’ fine. I’ll be
okay. You’ll see.” Chet assured her. Carol wasn’t so sure.
* * * * * * *
“Kyron, do you
have all data available on satellites which can canvas the area around
our current position?”
“Yes, Captain
Long. I have all data including all stealth capable satellites
the U.S. Government has in orbit. I have access to all government
and black ops computers and scan them daily for any information about
new technology being considered or those already in place. There
is nothing in orbit I don’t know about or can’t control, Sir.”
“Good,
Kyron. Very good. We’re going into the first phase of our
resistance on this planet and need you to correct any satellite feed
that might show what we’re doing. Some of our men plan to shoot
down one of the gray’s ships and we need you to create a loop that will
show nothing happened in our area.”
“That won’t be
difficult, Captain. The minute I detect the launch of an RPG I’ll
interrupt feed and create a dead loop so there will be nothing on the
download to show anything abnormal in the area. Do you have any
idea when this will occur?”
“No, I
don’t. I wish I could be more specific, but it will depend on the
Grays. Can you detect them when they’re in our area?”
“Yes, Sir.
A simple scan for their propulsion drives will tell me where and how
many. Would that be useful feedback for you and your men?”
“I think it
might. It will give us some forewarning, and our men can be
better prepared. You have my permission to monitor com
messages. The men of the Grange will let us know when they’re
about to go into action and you can begin your control of the
satellites at that time.”
“No
problem. That will give us a jump on the feed. I’ll feed
all info back to you personally on your com line.”
“That’ll be
fine, Kyron. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,
Captain.”
* * * * * * *
Waco received a
message on his com line he had a message from deep space from the
Visallian space fleet. It was from Captain Vinceeth. It was
labeled top secret and personal. Waco went to the ship and into
Kyron’s area.
“You have a
message for me, buddy?” Waco asked.
“As a matter of
fact, I do, Master Waco. I’ll put it up immediately. Would
you like standard format or holographic?”
“I’d prefer
holographic, Kyron. That way I get to see all of the
Captain.” Waco could swear he heard Kyron giggle.
“Beginning
message, Sir.” Kyron said.
Captain Vinceeth
was sitting behind his desk in his uniform. He was all business,
but his warm smile betrayed his pleasure in speaking to his intended
recipient.
“Captain Waco, I
wanted to send this personal message to thank you for your fine
transmission the other evening. I have some comments, a couple of
questions, and I need to clarify a couple of things with you.
First of all, I received your personal message, loud and clear, and it
made me very happy. It was deeply appreciated. Secondly,
the video was excellent and of the highest quality. It was a
welcome treat for me and my men, and they haven’t stopped talking about
it. Like I told you, our operations right now are in deep space
where we can remain for sometime months at a time and any diversion at
all is welcome. We have amusements and entertainments, but it’s
not the same as receiving a transmission. My men and I
particularly enjoyed your game of ‘football.’ It is very similar
to a game we play and my men enjoyed it as much as I did.
Of course I was
hoping your team would win, but you were gracious in defeat and that is
sometimes the greatest quality in a true leader. When he does
win, he can then afford to be generous and compassionate. The
final scene of you and your men in the shower I have reviewed several
times in the privacy of my stateroom. It will last me until I’m
fortunate enough to receive another transmission from you.
My men asked me
to inquire about the large, handsome, four legged creature all the men
playing football would run to pet. We don’t have animals like
that on our planet and have never run into them before. Are they
an integral part of the game? Any information you might provide
would be appreciated. Furthermore, the men are most curious about
the four, multicolored, long-tailed creatures who watched the game from
the back of the big creature. It looked like a family.
There is one
thing I’ve been meaning to share with you, but didn’t know how, because
I didn’t want you to be intimidated by your new slave, Keekepata.
She is of noble blood. She is a princess of the Shoshonni and
very much loved by the Visallian people as well. We’re concerned
about her safety, because we’ve come to learn your world is in flux at
this time; however, that doesn’t mean we mistrust you or your people
caring for her. Word has come to me that you and your people
operate outside the current governments on your planet and we feel
reasonably certain she is secure.
Her family is in
agreement, no matter what danger she has placed herself in for the
moment, she must learn to survive on her own if she is to become a
great leader and take her rightful place as a governor of our
races. She also needs to learn graciousness and humility or she
will never be allowed to progress to such a position. I have a
feeling you are just the man who can lead her to understand her
obligations to others in life and the price she must pay to get there.
Right now, she
is in transition and the perceived heavy burden of leadership and
status is fearful to her. She doesn’t want to shed the carefree
days of her youth and begin to accept responsibility. We
understand it and go through similar problems with most young Shushonni
of noble birth. Don’t let her intimidate you or push you
around. You are her leader and she must follow and obey
you. I can’t stress that strongly enough. Reward good
behavior with kindness. If she becomes petulant and demanding,
ignore her. She must learn, to get what she wants she must give
of herself without consideration of reward.
In closing let
me say, Captain Waco, I was very impressed with the costume Keekepata
was wearing in the video of her dance. I was also impressed by
her speedy recovery and health. She looked quite well and danced
better than I’ve ever seen her. One can tell much by a
Shushonni’s dance about their mental attitudes and physical
excellence. Her performance was perfection, and I had to stop the
video at the end because my men were so moved. Don’t wear
yourself out, Captain Waco. Any communications you send us will
be appreciated, but don’t feel obligated to keep a schedule. I’ll
look forward to your next transmission, Son, and thanks again for all
you’ve done.” The Captain signed out and the video was done.
Waco sat for a
moment, thinking to himself.
“He has great
faith in you, Master Waco.” Kyron observed.
“Thanks, Kyron,
I only hope I can live up to his expectations.”
“I have no doubt
you will, Sir.”
“Thanks, again,
Kyron, and thanks for putting up the video for me.”
“My pleasure,
young Captain.”
“You know I’m
not really a ‘Captain’ don’t you?” Waco chuckled.
“Not according
to Captain Long. Any man who has Captained one of his scout ships
has the right to the title. So according to him, it isn’t
incorrect to refer to you as ‘Captain.’”
“I didn’t know
that, Kyron. Thanks.”
Kyron didn’t
answer.
* * * * * * *
Waco wondered if
he would have enough material for a weekly transmission to the
Captain. He set up a review every Saturday evening to see what
Kyron came up with for the week and there was always something of
interest to send. It was always well filmed and edited. The
Sunday football games became a standard part of the videos and
eventually all of the Captain and his men’s questions were answered.
There were
videos of brief histories of the horse and how they were domesticated
and used in modern day ranching. Waco was quick to point out that
the bond between man and horse could become quite strong, and mental
communication with them was even possible for some. After further
videos of Ranger interacting with the boys and Jack and Jill there was
no doubt in the Visallian men’s minds there was great affection between
them.
Waco made sure
there were lots of video shots of the boys working the ranch and
rodeoing on the fourth of July. Waco entered in team roping with
his dad and their ramrod. Lazarus and Waco won second
place. The warriors were beginning to get a picture of life on a
ranch on Earth and they were loving it.
On Saturday
evenings, it became an open call for anyone wanting to review the video
for the week including the adults. There was always a shot of
Waco and his men in the shower or bathing and caring for their Lummox
friends. It became a time for everyone on the ship and ranch to
come together, relax and have a good time. The crowd sometimes
got quite vocal and rowdy with cat calls and wolf whistles.
At least once a
month, Keeke would work up another dance and film it to be included in
the transmission. She had a new dress or costume for each
performance and her wardrobe was growing. She never had to worry
about wearing the same old thing. Many of her dresses were
exquisite works of art. Arnie really threw himself into his
designs and Keeke worked closely with him. They became close
friends, and she learned how to get out of Arnie what she wanted.
Once a month she was allowed to have a private conversation with her
Lord protector, and he was quite pleased with her progress.
Waco had a
private conversation with Captain Vinceeth about once a month or more
if they had something important to discuss. For the first three
months it somehow never occurred to Waco or Keeke to mention Captain
Long’s name to him. They discussed Captain Jones and his help in
putting Keeke back together; however, Lazarus’ name never came
up. One Saturday morning Waco was due for a one on one with the
captain and he invited Lazarus to sit in and meet Captain Vinceeth.
Lazarus dressed
in his usual cowboy clothes along with Waco. When the captain
came on the screen Waco introduced Lazarus as his commander Admiral
Lazarus Long. Lazarus smiled and waved to Captain Vinceeth.
“Hello, Trey,
ain’t seen you since you was a boy, when I used to bounce you on ma’
knee in yore’ granddaddy’s garden. You grew up to be a fine
looking warrior. I’ve followed your career and you’ve made your
family proud. Tell me, how is yore’ dad, Hayward and your
handsome granddad Stewart?”
Captain Vinceeth
had a natural ruddy complection, but for a moment he turned ashen
white. In a hushed tone of almost reverence he addressed Waco.
“Admiral Long is
your superior, Captain Waco?”
“He is, indeed,
Captain, I’m very proud to know him and serve under him in our
resistance.”
“Blazes!
Excuse me, your Lordship, I forget myself. Please, forgive me,
Sire. It is such an honor to be in your presence even by
transmission. My father and grandfather are fine, Sire.
Admiral Lazarus Long.” he repeated like he couldn’t believe it,
“Why, just yesterday in conversation my granddad spoke of you and how
he would be pleased to shake your hand once more. My father will
have apoplexy when I tell him I’ve spoken with you. He will
surely ask me if I had the good sense and manners to remember to send
his best greetings and an open invitation for you to visit. That
goes double for me and our royal highness’ family, your Lordship.
The Patas of the Bool dynasty would declare a world holiday if you
should decide to visit.
I had no idea
you were Master Waco’s superior. Now that I think about it, I
remember seeing you in some of the videos, but it never crossed my mind
you could be the famous Lord Lazarus Long, a hero to our people.
My parents and grandparents will be thrilled to know I’ve been in
communication with you. I expressed the concerns of our families
leaving our princess with Master Waco, but now I understand where he
gets his maturity, his stability, his poise and dedication for one so
young. Our royal highness couldn’t be in better hands. I
must tell her family and mine immediately after we speak.”
“It’s very good
to speak with you again, Trey. I didn’t choose to make myself
known before now, because I wanted you to have a chance to get to know
my young friend and protege. I’m glad I waited. I
understand Captain Waco has accepted your gracious invitation to become
his suitor?”
“He has, indeed,
Admiral, and I’m very flattered he finds me worthy.”
“From my vantage
point, I think you both have chosen well. Captain Waco is a fine
young man of outstanding qualities and potential.” Lazarus
smiled. “Be sure and give my very best to your respective
families and to your father and granddad in particular. I humbly
bow to them. My memories of them and the graciousness of their
families are filled with love and companionship. Tell them I will
yet, one day, look forward to sitting in their wonderful garden and
sharing a pipe with them. It’s been far too long.” Lazarus
excused himself and bowed out of the picture to leave Waco and Trey
alone.
“When we meet
again, young man, my first official duty as your suitor will be to turn
you over my knee and loving apply some much needed correction to your
fantastic bottom for not telling me before now who your superior is.”
Waco laughed.
“Is that a promise, Captain?”
Trey broke up
laughing. “You certainly deserve it. What a shock!
What a pleasant surprise. I haven’t seen his Lordship since I was
seven or eight years old, but he hasn’t changed a bit. Maybe just
a bit more gray around the temples, but he’s in great shape. A
likeness of him hangs in our great hall of heroes and every Visallian
and Shushonni household has at least one picture of him.
“He’s still
busting wild broncos.” Waco laughed. He had sent a rodeo
video to the Captain and his men went crazy with the cowboys riding of
the wild stock and bulls. It was one of their favorite
transmissions they asked to see again and again. The video
transmissions continued through the summer. There was only a
brief interruption the first week in July. Even then, a shorter
video was made and forwarded to the Chaptain Vinceeth’s vessel the
‘Banshee.’
* * * * * * *
Sam Eagleston
had two cowboy slaves who were war veterans. One was an
ordinance man from the earlier Iraq war and the other saw active duty
in Vietnam. They both had experience with RPGs and knew how to
load and fire them. The cattle thievery was getting worse, and it
was time to do something about it. Lazarus wanted to make damn
sure there was no possibility the Greys were tapping their minds for
information. He insisted Sam provide him with photos of the
Gray’s stealing a cow. Since they couldn’t tell what the men were
thinking due to the static blockers, Sam got a dozen or more excellent
shots of a couple of cows being raised into their craft.
Lazarus was
convinced the Grays were unsuspecting of what was going on, and didn’t
seem too concerned about lack of information from their victim’s
minds. Lazarus loaned one of the launchers to Sam and his men and
set about getting his crew together for cleanup. Waco, Lucas,
Travis, Little Bear and Gavin were his first choices for crew with
Charlie and JR coming along for support. Ping was to ride as
Lazarus’ co-pilot and Pong as navigator. Ping and Ox trained the
boys in their jobs. They were to operate the tractor beams which
would collect the debris and load it onto the Buttercup.
All men involved
in the mission were to sleep on the ship for the week. The second
night of July they were enjoying a leisurely supper on board the
Bandersnatch when Lazarus’ com activated, and it was Sam Eagleston.
“Captain, we got
us one hovering over our cattle right now. The minute we see its
doors open and start lifting a cow we’re gonna’ take it out. My
men are locked and loaded.”
Kyon immediately
went into action and initiated a feed loop to all satellites which had
access to their area. The satellites would neither see nor record
anything but a continuous loop for as long as the cleanup took.
“Stay on the com
until you know you have a kill, Sam.” Lazarus told him.
“We’re headed for the re-con ship now. C’mon men! It’s show
time.” Lazaurs ordered. They were to the Buttercup in no time, in
their seats, in front of their vid screens ready to roll.
“Hoe-lee
shit!!” Lazarus heard over on his com. “Son of a bitch, the
fucker just blew up. Damnation! Lit up the entire
sky. What a sound! Fourth of July done come early!”
Lazarus put the com on speaker so everyone could hear. Sam’s men
were shouting and hollering in triumph.
“We’ll be right
there. For cries sake, Sam, don’t shoot us down.” Lazarus
laughed. “Ready, men?” Lazarus hollered and everyone gave
him a thumbs up. They were away.
It took them no
time to get to the scene of the crash. There were small fires and
smoldering wreckage. A couple of Sam’s men were wandering around
in the wreckage gawking.
“Sam, tell your
men to get the fuck out of there, or they’re gonna’ get caught up in
our
beams. They won’t like what will happen to them.”
They heard Sam
cuss and yell at his men. They waited until Lazarus was sure they
were clear, then he ordered the boys to do their thing. They
started scanning the area, and all the pieces of the craft were raised
into the air and disappeared onto the Buttercup. They were all
loaded into the same cargo bay and when the last area was thoroughly
scanned there was a huge pile of wreckage and bits and pieces of cow
and Gray body parts. Lazarus had the boys scan the area three
times to make sure they got everything.
Lazarus signaled
Sam they were returning to the Bandersnatch and to bring the weapon
through the portal so if Sam's ranch was searched nothing would be
found. Sam and his men were waiting when they got back to the
Bandersnatch.
“You men wanna’
see how we dispose of the remains?”
“Sure.” said Sam
and his weapon's men. The boys already knew, but they wanted to
see the process.
Lazarus took
them to the door of the cargo bay where the wreckage was. There
was a
thick quartz window for them to look into the room. There was a
strong light shining on the mess. They could see the bodies of
several of the Gray critters. One was still moving about.
Lazarus didn’t seem concerned. He opened a panel and flipped a
switch. There were purplish rays which shot out from all corners
of the room shining on the rubble. It began to vibrate and the
men watched in awe as the large pile of rubble began to shrink in
size. It continued until it was about the size of a bowling
ball. Then it dropped into a hole in the center of the
room. From the ceiling a long arm brought down what looked like
the other half of a sphere and was placed over the ball of rubble.
There was a bright light from the arm and it went completely around the
sphere.
“It’s melding
the two halves of the containment cylinder together for storage.
It will become a fission pellet for feeding to the fission reactor on
the Bandersnatch. We have plenty of fuel right now burning in the
reactor so we’ll store this one until later. Once it’s introduced
into the fission soup, it will be broken down to its base
elements. A single pellet that size is enough to power the big
ship for a year while docked here, but for only about a month in space.”
Lazarus had
Cable, David and Jonathan serve drinks for the men and the boys
returned to finish their supper. They began to talk about the
fourth of July rodeo and party that would be held this year on their
ranch. It was back to business as usual. Sam and his men
departed and were warned by Lazarus they might have visitors the next
day, but to appear dumb and no one saw or heard a thing. Sam
assured him they could handle it. Somehow, Sam thought it was
appropriate they killed the first Gray ship two days before
Independence Day. For the first time in a long time, Sam felt
empowered. He had been butt fucked for so long by the government
and the Grays it gave him a feeling of great pride and empowerment to
be able to fight back.
* * * * * * *
There was no
investigation. There was nothing recorded on any satellite. The
most that was reported was from several of the neighbors who heard a
large explosion; however, all but two families knew what the men were
planning and knew the time was near for action. The sheriff
handled all reports and they got filed away under weather
conditions. A couple of the ranchers reported seeing a couple of
government cars on the back roads like they were looking for
something. They would stop, the suits would get out and look
through binoculars at the surrounding country side but none stopped by
any of the ranches.
The fourth of
July rodeo was a blowout celebration of the first magnitude. All
the ranchers and associate members in the Grange were invited to a
brief meeting on board the Bandersnatch in the afternoon. There
was much cheering and applause for Lazarus, his men and Sam Eagleston
and his men. They listened quietly as Sam and his slave-cowboys
described how they destroyed the ship in the process of stealing one of
Sam’s cows. They told how Lazarus and his men flew over and
cleaned up the area.
At this time
they didn’t know what the result would be, but so far they hadn’t
experienced any feedback from the Grays or the government. Sam’s
family were staying in temporary lodging in the small New Mexico town
on board the Bandersnatch where Keeke and Blue were residing. If
things got bad, they would be moved into permanent housing. Sam
and his family had no idea the power and technology available on the
Bandersnatch. Lazarus made a speech at the meeting.
“Okay, this is
just a start men. There are several things to consider.
There may be backlash, then again, we may just luck out and there will
be no response. You never know with the Grays. They’re
unpredictable. I guarantee you, there will be a drop in cattle
rustling. Now, I know you men have been reporting thefts and
mutilations to the sheriff and the county ag department over the years
to little avail. In our sheriff’s defense there weren’t a lot he
could do about it and the ag folks never wanted to admit there might be
other reasons than coyotes or other predatory critters killing your
cattle.
I know you have
a certain amount of stock loss due to old age and sometime a calf just
won’t be strong enough to make it. You must continue to report
losses. Even if we have to import genuine photos from other
ranchers in other states. You can download hundreds of them off
the internet; however, be sure to include your losses from natural
causes. Take pictures of them and file them with the sheriff’s
office and the ag folks.
Don, it’s
important for you to keep an ongoing file cabinet of these reports so
if the government comes and checks you can show them all the
reports. It must not look like all abductions of cattle just
dried up over night. This is for two reasons. First, it’s
to cover you men and the sheriff’s asses by making it appear nothing
unusual is happening. Second, if the Reptilians press our
government to look into the matter and records show continued
mutilations and abductions then the Reptilians will go back to the
Grays and accuse them of deceit and holding out on them. It could
cause great trouble for them. If we can get all factions fighting
with each other and becoming distrustful of one another, so much the
better for our cause.
The men swore to
a man they would continue to report any losses and if they didn’t have
enough they would invent losses to keep the current records at the same
level as before the killing of the Gray’s ship. As it turned out,
alien cattle rustling dropped off altogether for about six
months. The ranchers were ecstatic. It was like they
plugged a leaky drain hole in their finances. Then it started up
again.
The first to be
hit was Angus’ ranch. Angus had an ex-military cowboy-slave who
was also a weapons expert. Sam loaned him his two men and between
them they brought down the next bogey. The same procedure was
followed with this kill only there were two survivors of the
crash. Angus took great delight in using his Colt .45 to blow
their thieving heads off. It was a messy business, but the
ranchers looked on it as war. They took Lazarus’ words to heart,
they took no prisoners.
Again there were
no reprisals. Lazarus was at a loss for an explanation when the
men questioned him. The most he could come up with was the Grays
had become much more withdrawn and independent from their masters as
well as the humans and there was little communication between
them. There were so many of the Grays the loss of a couple of
ships was negligible to them. They certainly were careful not to
hunt in the same areas again for a long while.
There was only
one more incident about six months after Angus’ attack and it was on
Ranger Gibbons’ ranch. Lazarus and his men handled that one with
the loan of Sam and Angus’ ordinance men again. They had become
specialists and couldn’t wait to make their next kill. Once
again,
it went off like clockwork. The ranchers in the Grange didn’t
lose another cow for almost a full year. When they did, they
wiped out that ship as well.
When the Grange
went into kill mode, the family of the ranchers whose ranch they were
shooting from, would be moved to the Bandersnatch and kept for a while
until the men were certain nothing was going to happen, then they could
go back to their ranches to live. Sam Eagelston’s family only
stayed on the Bandersnatch for about a week. When Sam felt
comfortable nothing was going to happen he brought his family home.
The few ships
that were shot down began to make a difference. It was a ripple
effect. It was beginning to tell and beyond that, the Grays
weren’t able to meet their master’s meat quotas they set for
them. Rather than try to find out the reason their little slaves
were having difficulty the Reptiles immediately assumed they were
attempting some form of resistance or were being duplicitous with
them. What did they do? Like any unreasonably
controlling bureaucracy would do; like the Egyptians did to the
Israelites when they complained, they doubled their brick quotes and
told them to gather their own straw; the Reptiles raised the Grey’s
quotas.
Desperate, the
Grays moved off to safer areas and began to take more. They’re pickings
became more centralized. They began to get sloppy and make
mistakes allowing photos and video recordings to be taken of their
actual abductions. There was solid proof on the Internet of
strange ships stealing rancher’s cattle. The government couldn’t
use the ‘swamp gas’ theory for UFOs any longer. There was visible
proof something was going on. If these vehicles weren’t ours then
whose were they and where did they come from? Why couldn’t our
all powerful government take care of the problem? It became an
embarrassment for the military and people began laughing at them.
It was devastating to the macho, military control freaks.
The government
complained to the Reptiles and they chastised the Grays. Fearful,
the Greys moved off to other areas of the planet, but the
Reptiles developed a taste for American beef and it was all their
U.S. government counterparts would accept. News began to spread,
and other Granges were formed around other ships located in other areas
of the Southwest. Lazarus didn’t see any need keeping their
success a secret and shared their actions with the other Ark ship
Captains. It wasn’t long before the Greys were being shot down
all over the West and the ranchers couldn’t have been happier.
The Grays were losing a lot of ships. The more the Gray’s tried to
steal cattle, the more ships they lost until the Reptiles decided they
had to investigate themselves.
* * * * * * *
There comes a
time in the progression of a species when they become unclassifiable in
relationship to certifiable periods of advancement. (i.e agricultural,
industrial, information age, space age, etc.) A little known
writer, social historian and commentator of the early twenty-first
century, Tyndall Wildleek discovered, as a species passes beyond the
gateways of the limits of the world of their origin, their technology
will have progressed so logarithmically they will hold very little in
common with those of other species who have achieved the same. It
became know as “Wildleek’s Law” of advanced species progression.
Just as there
are sometimes multiple ways of solving a problem, there will be
numerous technological ways to accomplish the same goals using
different means. Wildleek originally hypothesized, the species
who ultimately survive the age-old battle of the fittest would be the
species that solves these problems for the good of the many rather than
the few. However, he later discovered within that concept lies a
self-defeating quantum. Without the quality and quantity of
individual input, as opposed to a mass mind approach, a species begins
to severely limit its options and chances of prevailing in
conflicts. Spontaneity and improvisation are replaced by the
sluggish movement of the conflicting elements of a mass mind and is
doomed to failure no matter how quickly the mass mind might seem to
adapt. Wildleek pointed to the Japanese industrial model after
WWII being the more innovative because of individual input to the mass
mind and immediate implementation of those ideas which ultimately rose
above the U.S. model.
For his other
model, Wildleek pointed to the great attempt of a democratic form of
government in the United States. Because of the government
decaying into a limited two party system, the country became divided
into two mass minds; stupid, and not so bright; or as Lewis Carroll so
succinctly put it, Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee. You may assign
your own favorite party affiliation preference from that period
to either model. It wouldn’t make a dime's worth of difference in
the outcome, because the model became so slow and sluggish mentally
incompetent thugs and crooks of either persuasion could come to
power supported by even larger corporate crooks and completely gut the
foundation of the country and its original purpose within their tenure
in office and never be held accountable for their actions or crimes.
Greed will blind
the timid and always overlook the obvious to ultimately become
self-defeating in the long-run. Unrealized or overlooked by the
crooks or corporate raiders, by undermining the underpinnings of the
democratic structure which built their fortunes, they weren’t so much
creating greater control and profits for themselves as they were
weakening the superstructure of the society that created their fortunes
in the first place. It became a house of cards and for all their
control couldn’t stop the final collapse.
The real tragedy
of their actions was not necessarily visited on them but left on the
doorstep of their children and their children’s children. As with
advances in all areas of society, the advances of the potentially evil
who learned to control and manipulate the system to such a degree, made
leaving the planet for a better life not only a preferred option, it
became a necessity for survival of the species. Thus, Wildleek's
law prevailed. The strength of the individual’s input to a
cooperating core became much stronger, more agile and versatile than
the mass minds of their adversaries.
Wildleek
discovered the Grays were slow to respond to the huge loss of their
craft and crews because of the increased slowness of their mass
mind. If they didn’t have any trace of a missing craft or
crew, it simply didn’t compute in their intelligence as something to be
concerned about. Since there were no patterns or recordings of
disturbances on satellite images there was no reason for the slower
than molasses in sub-zero weather mass mind of the U.S.government to be
concerned. They had no idea the Grey ships were being destroyed
and disposed of systematically.
* * * * * * *
As the weeks and
months went by Blue took on a greater role in becoming one of the
boys. By the fourth of July party and football game the coaches
were running him in as much as the other boys. He wasn’t yet as
good as Waco and Lucas, but there was no doubting his potential.
Coach Davis was salivating to get his hands on this group of boys in
the fall. Blue became a big favorite with everyone on the
ranch. He had a more mild and gentle personality than Waco, but
he was becoming his own man.
Charlie was one
of the few who could tell them apart. The other people who could
tell them apart were Lucas, Lazarus and Ida Mae. When asked, Ida
Mae just said Blue had a different aura about him. She never made
a mistake between the two of them. Travis and Little Bear soon
learned to tell them apart. Keekepata never had any
problems. She and Blue became roommates and lived in the cottage
at the rear of Dr. Stevens and Arnie’s property.
Keeke was
allowed more freedom to come and go around the ranch except she had to
be accompanied at all times by one of the boys. Most times it was
Blue. She quickly developed a system where she could hitch a ride
with a boy who was going where she wanted to go. No one ever said
no to her. There were still numerous cats, but they were
counseled and told if they didn’t want to suffer the fate of the big
cat, they would respect Keekepata as someone who belonged on the
ranch. There were bob cats and an occasional puma who crossed the
ranch but stayed away from the men. They knew all the cowboys
carried guns.
There were no
large birds of prey around the ranches, except a few hawks and some
barn owls. Word got around to them not to mess with the bird that
lived with the men on the Goodnight ranch. They did get another
visit from the Thunderbird pair who checked out the ranch a couple of
times, but were warned they would be shot and killed if they ever tried
another stunt like their last one. Gronk and Kragga decided to
stay clear of the Goodnight ranch.
Captain Vinceeth
and his men were amazed how quickly Blue came along. They
marveled at the medical knowledge of Admiral Long and his
staff. They got to see more of Keekepata in the videos
because she would regularly attend the Sunday afternoon parties at the
ranch. The two younger Goodnight brothers never came to the
weekly functions. It was hard enough to get them to the ranches
for Christmas and Waco’s birthday. They didn’t bother with the
fourth of July. It was all right with Charlie and Angus as they
began to feel more comfortable without them. Charlie and Angus’
family had become the Grange and its associates.
The two
highschool coaches and their families were accepted into the Grange and
Coach Davis became one of their strongest voices for the Grange in the
community. The men were careful about who they invited to attend
their functions and unless someone was initiated into their fold they
made sure they saw nothing unusual. A lot of
speculation went on in the small town from the hell fire and damnation
crowd, but since they were never invited they had no proof of anything
going on.
Furthermore,
most of those in the Grange including Lyle and Chet attended church
regularly. In a theocratic neo-nazi society you played the
game. You did what you had to do to survive. If going to
church, even if you didn’t believe, meant your survival, you went to
church, said the prayers and creeds, sang as loud as your neighbor, and
made sure you were seen contributing your tithe to the offering plate.
There was some
hard feelings though. The preacher who attempted to expose Chet
and Lyle felt he was being snubbed. After all, he was the pastor
of the largest fundamentalist church in town and was used to the town
folks kowtowing to him. It was his opinion, just because the
Goodnights and most of the members of the Grange didn’t attend his
church didn’t give them an excuse not to recognize his importance and
position in the community. He began to make suspicious
accusations against the Grange in his sermons. He even went so
far as to say he thought the secret meetings of the Grange was the work
of the devil. It didn’t take long for his accusations to get back
to the men of the Grange and they were angry.
The young pastor
of Charlie and Angus’ church and his family had been guests of the
ranch for the Sunday afternoon festivities numerous times. While
they were not yet members of the Grange, but they were being
considered. They were welcomed to many social function, but the
men made sure they saw nothing out of the ordinary. The men of
the Grange went to the trouble mainly for their protection. If
they didn’t know anything, they didn’t have to lie. During those
times, even Scraps was sworn to silence. He hated those days and
mostly slept with his mate in the kitchen of the big house.
The boys managed
to get a personal article of the bad preacher and collected his DNA
signature from it. They talked Lazarus into assigning three
robocams to him to spy on him for a while. After about a month,
they had all the compromising photos of him they needed dressed in
women’s clothing complete with makeup. They were all taken in the
privacy of his own home; however, the Grange felt if all was fair in
love and war, then he shot the first two volleys across their bow and
was directly responsible for two of his own members being sentenced to
slavery.
The photos were
passed around at the next Grange meeting and the men had a ball
laughing and making funny statements. The old cowboy Ed Wixson
declared the preacher made the ugliest damn woman he’d ever seen.
Another commented the old saw about putting lipstick on a pig just
didn’t work in the preacher’s case. Everyone agreed with
him. The next thing was to send the photos to him
anonymously. It was taken care of through the mail. There
was no way of tracing where or from whom the photos came. There
was a large handwritten note inside that simply said, “Be sure your
sins will find you out. Speak against the Grange and these photos
will be made public.” Unfortunately, for the preacher, his wife
opened the envelope before he did and she confronted him.
At first he was
scared. How did they get these pictures of him in the privacy of
his own home? His wife wasn’t even there. She was off
visiting relatives. Then he became angry they dare invade his
privacy and go against his position and power. Why, this was
nothing short of blackmail. He then began to wonder what the
Grange had to hide to go to this much trouble to shut him up. He
vowed he would show the Grange who had the greater power in the
community. He would claim they were doctored photos. After
all, kids today are doing all sorts of things with their computers.
His wife knew
better. She found his stash of clothes and makeup. She even
went so far as to find several thrift stores in the next large town
where he bought his female drag. She begged him to
reconsider. She reminded him the sheriff and most of his men were
members of the Grange. That made him realize he was ‘checked’ and
‘mated.’ Thus, the boys saved the Grange for a while
longer. Lazarus decided to leave the robocams focused on the
preacher for a while. He also decided to have Kyron monitor his
telephone conversations from his home and church parish just in case he
was thinking of doing something foolish. The men could make
another decision at that time.
* * * * * * *
The summer
passed in an idyllic manner. Keekepata was accepted as part of
the family and included in almost everything the boys did. She
was with them constantly. At first, some of the boys would be
hesitant to be naked in front of her, but after Waco and Blue shucked
off their clothes, they thought nothing of it either. The boys
would ride on horseback to the Gibbon’s ranch to take more Lummox milk
to Mary and Elsie’s boys and on the way back they would stop under the
shade of some Sycamore trees along a creek bank and have a picnic
lunch. Those were the times Keeke loved best. The boys
would take a dip in the creek and she would watch from the protection
of the trees on a soft quilt the boys spread on the ground. If it
was really warm she would take off her dress, fly about and dance
around to entertain the boys. They learned the beauty of the
female body from Keekepata. She always judged the success of her
impromptu dances by counting the erections on her young male
audience. She usually got several standing ovations.
Keeke became
great friends with Waco’s pony Ranger and always sat just ahead of Waco
when they rode. She developed many friends among the women of the
Grange and was always welcome in their circle to talk about female
stuff. They were interested to know how she lived her life and
the lives of the Shushonni. They asked her why she stowed away on
the Buttercup?
“I sensed
something in Master Waco I wanted to know about. I think he
hears the holy voices of the elders of the universe. I
think he hears and speaks with them. I want to be a good leader
for my people someday. I want to know what he knows. I’m
learning from him how to be a good leader. I think it was meant
to be.” she answered.
“How long do you
intend to live among us?” Mary Gibbons asked.
“As long as it
takes for me to learn all I can from Master Waco and Admiral Long; all
I can learn from all you good people; until my people are satisfied
I’ve learned the lessons I was sent to learn from this world. I
have learned much in the short time I’ve been here. I hope to
learn more. There is much more I want to learn. We don’t
have the variety of animals and people living together on our
world. Your world is such a cornucopia of different beings all
living and existing together. It staggers the imagination.
I would like to set up a trade system between our worlds to introduce
such splendid animals as your horses and dogs to our world.”
“Well, you’re
certainly welcome here. The boys adore you and you’ve become
almost a mascot for the Grange. They all treasure you.
We’re quite fond of you, too.” added Ida Mae.
“Yes, you’re the
only female allowed in the Grange meetings and you’re kind enough to
share what goes on with us.” laughed Mary Gibbons.
“Thank you, I
enjoy it here. Everyone has gone out of their way to see to my
comfort and well being. I feel like I’ve been accepted as part of
an extended family, something we don’t have on my home world. I
miss the intimacy of close friends and family, but I’ve come to
realize I’ll miss the bonds I’ve made here as much when I return.”
* * * * * * *
That summer, the
summer of the boys fourteenth birthday was a memorable one.
Scraps and Happy could wait no longer. Ida Mae and Hank gave
them permission to start a family. Ida Mae and Hank talked
with
Lazarus and Charlie and they gave their blessing.
“After all,”
said Charlie, “we gave Ping and Pong permission to start a family last
year and look what they brought us. I love Jack and Jill like
they’re my own. It’s gonna’ be hard for me to imagine a mess of
talk’n puppies though.’
“You’re the one
who always say, ‘the more the merrier.’” reminded Lazarus laughing.
“Yes, and I mean
it. I ain’t never been so happy and content as I’ve been with the
addition of all the boys and unusual critters we got living with
us. There’s never a dull moment.” Charlie insisted.
Ida Mae and Hank had to agree with him.
During Happy’s
pregnancy the dogs would go aboard the Bandersnatch once a day.
Cable and his men made a comfortable bed for them in one of the unused
corners of sickbay. There they would lay down together and the
Krysallians would come and sing to Happy. They checked her out
every day of her pregnancy and were doing tweaking here and there to
make sure the pups turned out to be of the highest intelligence and
beauty. Happy was also getting a big bowlful of fresh cows cream
fortified with Lummox milk every day. She’d never been healthier
in her life and Scraps found her most attractive in her motherly
state. She got more attention that she ever experienced.
Everyone would stop to pet her and tell her how well she looked and how
pretty she was. It doesn’t matter what species an animal is, we
all respond to flattery. Happy was no exception.
The pups were
born at the end of July and for her first litter Happy whelped six
beautiful pups; three females and three males. Scraps left the
naming up to the boys and in a moment of hilarity they named the males
Curley, Moe, and Shep; and, the three females they named Maxine, Patty
and Laverne, . . . what else? Those names just sort of lent
themselves to the occasion. The boys were in mental communication
with the pups as soon as they were born, and they said their first
words about a month after. They were speaking before they could
walk steadily. One would stumble and fall and utter a sound that
sounded like cursing.
“Fuuutz!” one
would say in disgust. It would aright itself and off it would go
again.
From there on,
it was nonstop fun. Each was as intelligent as the next.
There wasn’t a runt among them. The boys would come in to visit
and to feed them their fortified cow’s milk from a bottle. Utter
chaos would ensue. There would be six little black and white
fluff balls running about jumping up and down all yelling,
“Me, Waco!
Me, Blue! Pick me up, Travis! No, me first, Little
Bear!” They would shove and knock each other down to get to the
boys first. They knew the boys had extra milk of some kind for
them they loved almost as much as their mother’s milk. The boys
couldn’t get enough of them and Scraps and Happy couldn’t have been
prouder.
Poor Keeke
didn’t know quite what to think of them. She couldn’t deny they
were cute and loveable, but they were so frenetic she steered clear of
them most of the time. Their enthusiasm for life knew no
boundaries. There was no such thing as moderation. Nothing
attempted was worth doing just halfway. There were no gray
areas. They just wanted to love everyone to death with as much
gusto as they could bring to the effort. They looked upon Keeke
with awe and wanted to play with her, but Waco wouldn’t let them.
He told them when they were older and learned a few manners, then he
might let them. After all, their daddy and mom were the heroes
who saved Keekepata’s life.
Jack and Jill
and Ping and Pong had no problems with them. They would get down
on their level and play with them. The pups adored them.
They could talk to them with their minds or the pups would laugh,
holler and bark to surprise them. They ran their
parents ragged. Either Scraps or Happy was after them all the
time. They took head counts numerous times a day and invariably
one would be missing and into some mischief. Sometimes Scraps and
Happy would look at each other like they were bewildered and wondered
if they made the right decision to have a family. They didn’t
count on Happy’s fecundity providing them with six outrageously
rambunctious offsprings.
They were all
spoken for shortly after they were weaned. Word got around all of
them could talk and the boys were offered large sums of money for even
one of the pups, but they declined. Ida Mae, JR, Hank and Waco
wanted them to go to good, caring homes who would love them and take
care of them properly. Charlie suggested they might consider
keeping a male or a female for the ranch. He left it up to the
boys to decide.
When they were
barely old enough to recognize the humans who came to see them and play
with them, they quickly learned their names and began to try to speak
to them. They somehow figured out from early mental
communication Waco, JR and Lucas were the pack leaders of the humans
and the ones their parents most trusted and admired. Therefore,
it only seemed natural for them to try to speak their names
first. The name ‘Waco’ was half barked and half word as it would
come out a garbled “Whack-co” much to Scrap’s embarrassment. ‘JR’
didn’t fare much better. His name came out “Grrrr,” like a cross
between a growl and word.
Scraps would try
to correct them, but Waco would laugh and tell him they would learn in
time. He would praise the pups and encourage them for
trying. Waco reminded Scraps it took him a while to get it
right. They got Blue’s name a little better. It became
“Boo” without the ‘L.” The boys started calling him ‘Boo’ for a
while. As laid back as Blue was, he could’ve cared less.
Travis was harder for them. It came out “Twa-vus.” Little
Bear came out “Lee-ta Bar.” Lucas came out, “Loo-coos.”
As a joke, Waco
would sing to them, “You ain’t nothing but a hound dog, just a cry’n
all the time. You ain’t never caught a rabbit, and you ain’t no
friend of mine.” and the pups would try to imitate him. A couple
got it down pretty good. It was mangled beyond recognition to
anyone who didn’t know what they were attempting; however, to the boys,
no matter how bad, it was music to their ears. Naturally, it
would cause the boys to fall on the floor laughing at the pups trying
to sing, “You ain’t nothing but a hound dog.” When one picked it
up the others would automatically join in to make it all the more funny
to the boys; six shrill little voices trying their best to sound like
their human master. It was like listening to someone scratch
their fingernails across a blackboard while eating a very sour lemon.
One afternoon
Lucas decided he’d try an experiment with the pups. Lucas heard
them try to imitate human singing, but it would come out half song and
half howl. Lucas innately felt they might actually learn to carry
a tune.
“After all,” he
speculated, “what is howling but a form of singing? It was just
another form of communication; some might consider it a language.
Who knows,” Lucas further speculated, “how do we know it wasn’t our
canine brothers who taught man to sing in the first place? Early
man would hear his wolf brothers cry to one another. How
difficult is it to imagine man did the same to keep in touch with his
human brothers during the dark of a long winter’s night?”
Lucas sat down
with them all around him, got their attention, which was no easy task
in itself, and asked if they wanted to learn a song? Of course
they wanted to learn a song. Yipee! Oh, joy! Their
trusted friend and playmate, Lucas, was going to teach them a
song. They wanted to do anything to please the wonderful boys who
helped take care of them, loved them unconditionally and played with
them constantly. Happy couldn’t have been more pleased with the
boys. They gave her and Scraps some much needed relief for a
while. She would be heard to sigh deeply, curl up next to her
beloved mate and grab a much needed forty winks.
Lucas started
out with the A, B, C song to teach them the alphabet. Lazarus and
Charlie were amazed, after about a week of blood curdling attempts at
melody which would usually break into uncontrollable howls and barks,
they finally began to get the hang of it. Lazarus, Charlie, Ida
Mae and Hank would fall all over each other, groan and laugh until they
cried at the boy/dog chorus all singing the A, B, C song
together. It was something to behold. It was a bloody awful
racket. Occasionally, one of the pups just couldn’t hold back his
enthusiasm and would break into a howling melismatic descant that would
make any modern day pop singer green with envy.
From there it
was a simple matter to teach the pups to recognize the letters as
symbols of the letters they were singing. The next step was to
teach them to put the letters together into words. The boys were
in heaven. They would be the first to teach another species to
read the English language. The pups got better and better and by
the time they were weaned and ready to go to good homes they could read
on a second grade level. Every pup could read several of Waco and
JR’s old children’s books. Their favorite was puss in
boots. Later, when they saw a cat for the first time they wanted
to know where his boots were? They were crushed to find out he
didn’t own a pair. They couldn’t understand it, all the boys wore
boots.
If Carol and
Chet Baker thought they’d seen strange things at the ranch before, the
Sunday afternoon they witnessed the first performance of the
human/canine chorus, they almost couldn’t contain themselves.
Lyle was about to roll on the ground from laughter. Chet and
Carol were holding each other with tears streaming down their
faces. Everyone thought it was about the most unique experience
of their lives. Every kid immediately wanted one of the
pups. Most adults did, too. They were irresistible.
As one wag put it, they were death by cute.
As the pups grew
they began to take interest in some of the folks who came to the ranch
for Sunday Grange get-togethers. One of the female pups began to
take an interest in Don Lassiter’s last child; a little girl who seemed
to be having developmental problems. It was finally confirmed she
was autistic. Don and his wife had been bringing her to the
Bandersnatch and letting the Kryscellians do what they could for her,
but the Kryscells felt the damage was already done from mercury
poisoning used as a preservative in childhood vaccines forced on
them by the federal government and there was little they could do to
correct the problem. They recommended purging her system of heavy
metals and allowing their native son, Blue, to work with her.
While he could effect both, Blue was their expert on corrections as
opposed to cures.
Every time they
came out to the ranch Blue patiently held her and played with her for
hours. Whenever the boys were gathered to listen to the others
she would be in his lap. In the late evenings it was impressive
and mysterious for the adults to see the blue lights and sparks
emanating from his hands and flowing into the child. She seemed
to soak up his energy like a sponge. She responded to him
when she wouldn’t anyone else. He could get into her head and
understand her confusion, frustration, anger and rage. He had a
calming effect on her. She had no difficulty telling Blue from
Waco. She would immediately run to Blue when she arrived with her
family. She loved him and trusted him completely.
The little
female pup Maxine began to be interested in the sheriff's daughter, the
little girl they called
‘Tammy.’ Tammy was completely absorbed by Maxine and would sit
and pet her by the hour. She brought one of her children’s books
with her, but she never paid much attention to it until Maxine became
interested and asked her to turn the pages for her. She wanted to
see if she could read it.
Maxine slowly
read the book to Tammy and the little girl would turn the pages for
Maxine to continue reading. All the adults were stunned not only
because the young pup could read, but also because it had that much
influence on the autistic child. Don and his wife were in
tears. It was the first time they ever saw Tammy pay attention to
anything for more than a few minutes. She sat quietly and still
as Maxine finished reading the children’s book to her. Blue
suggested Maxine might have found herself a home. There was no
question in the sheriff and his wife’s minds, they had found a new
family member.
So ultimately,
Maxine went to live with the sheriff and his family and became a
treasured member of their household. She worked with Tammy until
the little girl seemed to do a complete turn around. Blue’s
efforts and her understanding constant companion Maxine seemed to help
her readjust back into normal society. By the time she was old
enough for school, Tammy was ready for the first grade. Maxine
taught her the alphabet and how to read her children’s books. Her
teacher didn’t believe her when Tammy told her, her dog taught her to
read. Several of the other kids came to her rescue and assured
the teacher her dog did, indeed, teach Tammy to read.
The Olsen boys
and the Stampers wanted one of the pups in the worst way. They
got together to ask Cotton and Hoot if they could have one of the male
pups if the Goodnight boys would give them one. They reminded the
boys Happy used to live on their ranch and their cow dogs beat her up
all the time. They didn’t think it would be fair to the pup to
have to put up with them. A herding dog’s natural instinct is to
herd and he would want to be out with the cattle or sheep doing what he
was bred to do. It was left up in the air. If they’d been
really honest with the boys they would’ve liked to have one of the pups
as much as they would.
Waco wanted to
hold back one of the male pups as a gift for Captain Vinceeth.
The Captain remarked several times how wonderful he thought Scraps and
Happy were. Waco wasn’t sure the Captain could feed and care for
a dog on board his ship. Keeke knew of the dietary requirements
of dogs and assured Waco the Visallian ship could easily accommodate a
couple of animals and would become the joy of the entire crew.
They would have a wonderful home on board the Captain’s ship. The
only draw back was, the Banshee was a war vessel, and if the ship fell
upon bad times, the animals might suffer the same fate as the men.
* * * * * * *
The fall
semester began and the boys were back in school. Blue
stunned everyone at school. His teachers had a difficult
time telling him and Waco apart. They all came to care for him as
much as any of the other Goodnight boys. Blue really didn’t
need the education; however, he soon found there were other things he
could learn. He learned many things he might not have
otherwise. Just getting feedback from the boys had its
limitations. The greatest thing he learned was from his brother
Lucas. He knew Lucas was sort of floating through school with one
of the best minds. Lucas told Blue what Lazarus told him; he was
in school to learn to socialize and get along with others his
age. Lucas also claimed it was a way to learn to care about his
brothers again.
Blue adopted the
same laid back accepting attitude and easily found his place in the
scheme of things. Since Blue had the same last name as Waco, the
students and teachers just accepted him as Waco’s relation. It
was a little more difficult for them to accept he was a long lost
cousin from Alaska, but those things have a way of working themselves
out. School and learning becomes the main priority and the
details of who and why got lost in the daily grind.
The teachers who
were most pleased by the Goodnight boy’s freshman year in highschool
was Coach Davis and his staff. His second coach, Coach Ryan, and
his family moved away to a suburb of Dallas. Coach Ryan got a
better job offer. Coach Davis asked Chet Baker if he’d like to be
his second coach and move up to highschool ball. Coach Baker was
thrilled to get the job and accepted immediately. It meant more
money for him and he’d get to be working with the boys again.
Waco and his men went crazy when they heard the news.
Blue met
everyone’s expectations as a fine athlete and student. He became
as popular with the town as he did the teachers and student body.
Waco and his men could do no wrong. They were riding the crest of
a wave that carried them all the way through highschool. The
Stamper brothers were considered first cousins to the Goodnight boys
and
their popularity began to skyrocket after they became slaves.
They were changed young men. They were more interested and worked
hard at their studies. They always had their homework done on
time and were always in the top two percent of their class in
grades. They knew the better they did in school the more they
would be rewarded by their masters, and in spite of the stigma of
slavery, they came to be very comfortable with their lives. They
were controlled and disciplined, but not in a bad way. They came
to look upon Blake as their big brother and Hoot and Cotton as their
parents. Since they were owned by Lazarus and Lucas was too, they
considered themselves his slave brothers.
* * * * * * *
The second week
in September, the twins got their eviction notice from Strom.
They were fully baked and done to a ripe healthy ten pounds for Bo and
nine pounds fifteen ounces for Jubal. There wasn’t much fuss
about leaving the comfort of their secondary dad’s pouch. They
were ready to live in the world; besides, they were just too damn big
for Strom, as large as he was, to carry around much longer. They
got diapers slapped on their butts and were put in a crib
together. Their care became a family project.
The boys did
most of the work. It just seemed natural somehow since they took
care of so many critters around the ranch. Two more didn’t make
that much difference. Sometimes the upstairs of the ranch house
was mass confusion but the boys soon got organized and handled
everything with their usual attention to detail. There wasn’t a
boy in the family, including the two youngest, who didn’t become
experts at feeding and changing diapers.
The boys were in
contact with the twins since they were in Strom’s pouch. They
would talk back and forth, but their real conversations began after
they left the big Lummox’s pouch. Bo and Jubal retained partial
memories of their previous lives as the two great warriors, Castor and
Pollux, and would until they began to form new memories from their
present life. At first it was frustrating for them to realize
they were born again as babies to suffer the indignities of having
someone take care of them and see to their needs, but the boys wouldn’t
let them become maudlin. They joked, cajoled and played with them
to make them see the humor of their situation and brought them along as
two more brothers in the Goodnight household.
They never
cried. They didn’t have to. They were in constant
communication with the boys and would mentally tell them what they
needed and when. They slept a lot, but they were always awake and
ready when big daddy Strom walked into their room to feed them.
Sometime Ox would help Strom and feed one while he fed the other.
When asked why they never cried, they replied,
“A warrior never
cries!” The boys thought that was funny and laughed at them.
* * * * * * *
Kyron was doing
an excellent job compiling videos to send to Captain Vinceeth and his
men. The boy’s antics with the pups would have the men rolling on
the floor with laughter, but then the seriousness of the boy’s first
major football game in their uniforms and playing heavy contact, tackle
football brought them to their feet. This was a sport they could
really relate to. It was a game true warriors played. It
was as rough and tumble as their contact sports. They felt they
shared a kindred spirit with the Earth boys in their game. They
spoke of yearning to be there to cheer them on. It raised their
estimation and admiration of the boys ten fold.
They loved the
pageantry of the game and the music of the bands at halftime.
Since the boys were playing unknown teams, or at least unknown to them,
they could gamble without much knowledge of how the game might turn
out; however, the conservative money was on the Goodnight/Stamper
boys. The first game Waco and his men walked all over the other
small town team with a thirty-six to nothing win.
Waco encouraged
Kyron to film his men in the locker room and showers after the game and
the Captain’s men went crazy seeing all the young naked human
athletes. They found the male human body much to their
liking. There wasn’t a dry dick among the warriors after watching
the boys take their showers. In the middle of showering, Waco
sent his private message to his Captain. He made certain he sent
his personal message in each video. There was always much
whistling and wolf calls from his men, but the Captain took the kidding
in good humor. He would stand, turn to his men, bow from the
waist gracefully with a sweeping gesture of his arm and smile at them
with a smile that said, “Eat your hearts out!” That only got him
more applause and guff from his men. They loved him and whatever
joy came his way they thoroughly approved.
* * * * * * *
Word filtered
back to Washington through the powers that be, there was some unusual
goings on in a small town in West Texas not far from the town the
President and Holy Prophet Dr. Scudder was from. Rumor had it,
the small town had a football team the entire state was talking
about. When asked if he wanted it investigated, the Holy Prophet
declined stating he would make and unannounced trip to the town and
observe for himself. He had an old friend who was the pastor of
the major evangelical church in the community. Scudder was sure
his friend had his ears open to anything going on which might be
considered out of line. Plans were made and the Prophet flew in
Air Force One to El Paso and traveled by limo to the small town.
There he looked up his old friend from divinity college, Pastor David
W. Yates. To say Reverend Yates was surprised was an
understatement, to find the Holy Prophet of the US standing on his
front porch.
Dr. Scudder
envisioned a quick, quiet trip to the small town as a fact finding
mission and also to get a look at the local athletic talent this small
West Texas town had to offer. Some of his finest young temple
slaves were sold to him from poor families in small towns in West
Texas. He hoped to be able to see some of the talent up close and
personal. He was looking to increase his harem of young male
slaves to help him hear the voice of God more fully.
Of course,
Reverend Yates had bigger things in mind. What a boon and a boost
it would be to his reputation to have the Holy Prophet on his arm at
the local Friday night football game. When the Holy Prophet
inquired about various rumors his intelligence heard about the area and
the Grange in particular, the Preacher Yates almost told him about his
transgression and subsequent blackmail by the Grange; however, his wife
was standing near and shook her head ‘no.’ Yates bit his lower
lip.
He figured the
visit from someone as powerful as the leader of the strongest country
in the world paying him a visit would speak volumes to his
enemies. Mrs. Yates offered his Holiness a nice glass of iced tea
and a piece of her pecan pie she just made. He sat in their
kitchen while the pastor made several phone calls to alert the town
fathers they would have the Holy Prophet attending their football game
that evening.
The boys got
ready for the game as usual and were playing one of their toughest
rivals that evening. They weren’t too concerned and were having a
good time getting ready. When they were about finished and ready
for the coaches to come in to give them a last minute talk, Coach Davis
said he had an announcement.
“Men, we don’t
know how or why, but we have the Holy Prophet here with us this evening
to watch the game. Reverend Yates of the Baptist church here in
town is bringing him in to say a prayer with you men and wish you well.”
The boys looked
at each other like they were stunned. They had only heard of the
Holy Prophet on TV news and didn’t know what to think. They had
their own opinions formed partially on their own information they
gathered and the feedback they got from the men of the Grange.
The Holy Prophet wasn’t a big favorite with the Grange. They knew
well enough to keep their mouths shut and go along with whatever
transpired.
The local
preacher brought Dr. Scudder in and introduced him to the team.
He went down the row and met each boy and made particular notes as to
whether they were freeborn or slave. He was pleasantly surprised
to find many of the better looking boys were slaves; however, he found
two twin boys much to his liking who were freeborn, Waco and Blue
Goodnight. He had his secretary make a note of their names and
put a check by them. He also had him put a check by the name's of
several slaves, Lucas Long, Travis Jessup, Little Bear Tin Penny, Sam
and Jeb Stamper.
He made a
blowhard speech about how wonderful it was to serve the Lord and what a
great calling it was for young men to dedicate their lives to the
service of the Holy Ghost and the Holy Prophet in particular. He
let it be known he was looking for some young men to serve as his holy
acolytes; much like the congressional pages of year's past. He
was also looking for several new temple guards to enter service on a
basic level. They would be trained by the other temple guards.
All the boys
knew about the Holy Prophet’s young temple slaves; they were little
more than his sex toys. The temple guards were all pumped up
riod-freaks who were impotent and most were complete eunuchs.
They didn’t care to volunteer for either position. The boys were
cordial, but reserved. They looked to their leaders for
guidance. Waco and Blue kept their mouths shut. The others
followed suit.
The Holy Prophet
made a long winded prayer over the boys and evoked God’s blessing on
them to win the game. The boys couldn’t help wonder if God was
looking out for the rival team as well? They all ‘amened’ his
prayer after he was done. The Prophet and Preacher left to take
their seats and the coaches gave the boys their final pep talk.
Before he began, Coach Davis stood looking at his men and got a funny
look on his face. He just shook his head almost in
disbelief. He didn’t have to say a word, the boys knew.
They looked at one another and smiled. After they went onto the
field they had to listen to another prayer from the Holy Prophet, but
this time he included the other team in his prayer as well. ‘So
much for a partisan God.’ Coach Baker thought to himself.
Both teams
played hard, but during the last half of the game Waco and his men
walked away with a decisive win. They won by three touchdowns and
three field goals. The small town went crazy. While the
boys were in the shower after the game they were interrupted again by
the preacher and the Holy Prophet who just wanted to congratulate them
and wish them well. He also wanted to get a good look at their
tackle and had two of his men taking nude photos of the boys.
When the boys later recounted this to the men of the Grange and both
coaches confirmed their stories, the men were livid he would do
something that bold without owner’s or parental consent.
The local
preacher begged the Holy Prophet to stay over and preach at his church
on Sunday. It would have been a big feather in his cap to have
the number one man in the country speak at his small church. It
would bring him the social and political status in the small community
the felt he so richly deserved. He had put up with these cow and
horse shit smelling yokels for many years, and he had greater ambitions
than simply remaining small town Baptist minister. He just knew
God had a greater calling for him.
The Holy Prophet
wasn’t in a charitable mood and brushed him off. He had to get
back to Washington. Before he and his men left he asked once
again if there was anything to the rumors his intelligence men had
heard. The preacher assured him there was nothing to the
rumors. Dr. Scudder said his unctuous goodbyes and left the small
town to return to El Paso. He watched a slide show on his lap top
of the digital photos of the young men in the shower and played with
himself on the return trip. He was almost certain, every time the
pictures of Waco and Blue Goodnight or Lucas Long came on the screen he
could hear the angels singing and the voice of God telling him he
needed these young men’s inspiration.
“Hallelujah!
Praise God!” he shouted as he was overcome by the holy spirit and
it overflowed into his waiting hand. It was truly a blessed
moment.
* * * * * * *
“Hurry,
men!” Brick Armstrong yelled at the temple boys. “You,
Stark! You, Ivan! You, Harry and you, Billy! Oh, yes,
and you, Timmy! You men are on the Holy Prophet’s list of
acolytes for later this evening to relax him and prepare him to receive
the holy spirit. He’s let it be known he will speak with God this
evening upon returning from his trip to Texas. It’s up to you men
to be clean and ready to give yourselves unto his service should he
call upon you. You all know the drill. Get in the showers
and clean each other. Me and Buster will come in and inspect
you. We better not get any dirt on our fingers when we check your
holes either. You’ll be spanked by me or Buster and have to go
back to the shower. We’ll have the older boys come down to clean
you. Do it right the first time, gentlemen! Just remember,
cleanliness is next to Godliness. It would be a terrible thing
for the Holy Prophet to get a temple boy’s shit on his dick, now
wouldn’t it?”
For his huge
size and massive muscles, the boys knew Brick Armstrong’s bark was far
worse than his bite. In fact, he had no bite at all. They
could get away with murder with Brick and he wouldn’t do anything to
them; however, because of that reason they all came to love and trust
him above all the other Temple Guards and would obey him without
question. They called him ‘Teddy Bear’ behind his back because he
was just that to the boys. He was big, warm and cuddly. He
was the first the boys ran to if they had a problem or were feeling
down. Brick’s big heart and arms were always open to them.
He was one of the few guards who would be physical with them.
The boys knew he
was up for promotion so their minding him went a long way for a good
review from his superiors. His next position would require him to
sacrifice his genitals. He was incredibly muscularly pumped, but
he had taken steroids for so many years his testicles and dick were
shriveled up to almost nothing. He could barely get an erection
and hadn’t ejaculated in five years or more; however, he did enjoy the
boys sucking on his tiny dick from time to time.
The Temple
Guards weren’t forbidden from physically fraternizing with the
boys. They were allowed to have sex with the boys but only if the
boy consented. They were urged to if they felt the spirit move
them; however, most had little interest or were delusional they were
celibate straight men. Brick had little sexual interest in the
boys, but he did like to cuddle and sleep with them. He would
often allow a boy to bunk it in with him. He had a couple of
favorites he enjoyed more than the others. His very favorite was
little Timmy Kelly.
When Timmy came
back from the main bunk room naked he walked up to the huge, mountain
of a man, put his arms around his waist and hugged him. Timmy
liked to feel his nude body against the leather uniform the Temple
Guards wore and Brick’s hard cod piece hit Timmy right in his
groin. Tim would always get an erection.
“Can I come to
your room after I’m dismissed by his Holiness, Officer Brick?”
“Sure. You
know you can come to me anytime, Tim.”
“Do you love me,
Brick?” Timmy asked.
“I ain’t suppose
to, you know that, boy.”
“I know. I
guess it don’t matter none. I love you, though.”
“Well, lemme’
put it this way, kid. If I could love you, I would. How’s
that?” Brick smiled down at the boy, hugged him tight and stole a
kiss.
“Ah,
Brick! I know you love me, but I won’t say nothing. I want
you to get your promotion if’n that’s what you want. In a way, I
wish you wouldn’t. I’ll miss suck’n on you, Brick.”
“Ah, you won’t
miss it. We can still sleep together, and I can suck you.
You still got my big tits to suck on. You know how much you like
to suck on them. Hell, you keep ‘em sore most of the time.
If I turn a certain way, I can feel where you sucked me raw.
Makes me crazy think’n ‘bout you all day.”
“I know, I love
to suck your tits, but it just won’t be the same without your manhood
to suck on.”
“Don’t do that
to me, Timmy. You know how dedicated I am to the Holy
father. He’s expecting this of me, and I just can’t let him
down. It would be a sin to back out now. I’d go to hell for
sure and give up my chance to serve his Holiness for eternity.”
“Okay,
Brick. I understand.” said Timmy sort of defeated.
Brick felt bad for his little friend, but there was no doubt in his
mind, if offered the position he would sacrifice everything for it.
* * * * * * *
Timmy sneaked
quietly into Brick’s room after he was dismissed by the Holy
Prophet. He gently climbed into the Guard’s big bed. Tim
really needed Brick’s strong body and mental support. He needed
to feel lost in Brick’s arms. He made love to the big, gentle
giant of a man and cried his heart out.
“Wanna’ tell
your buddy about it, little one?” Brick whispered.
Timmy just shook
his head. He began sucking on Brick’s tits with a
vengeance. Brick had to move him from one to the other to keep it
from getting too sore. Finally Tim moved down Brick’s incredible
body to his treasure trail and licked it down to his small, shrunken
penis. He lovingly took it into his warm mouth and began to make
love to the huge man. Timmy made such sweet love to Brick’s tiny
prick it began to feel really fine. What was happening to
him? Was it a miracle? Had God touched him and Timmy?
For the first time in six years, Brick Armstrong’s dick became fully
erect. The harder he became the more fiercely Timmy made love to
him until Brick was sure he heard the very voice of God himself speak
to him.
“You are my son,
one of many, in whom I am well pleased. I gave this young man to
you. He is yours to have. You are his to have. Let
him have what he most wants from you. It is yours to give.
He needs what only you may give him. Give of yourself. Let
him taste of your body as you have tasted mine. Give to him the
holiness of your being; the sanctity of your soul. There!
He has you to the point of no return. You’re falling!
Fulfill the prophecy, my son. Give him the essence of your
spirit; give him your love. Let yourself go!” and Brick
Armstrong, Holy Temple Guard of the Holy Prophet emptied himself into
his eager, hungry young lover.
End Of Chapter 27 ~ Waco’s Lummox
Copyright 2007 ~
Waddie Greywolf
All Rights
Reserved ~
Mail to:
waddiebear@yahoo.com