WACO’S LUMMOX
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 a lot 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 said and shook his head.
“Yes, I would, Chet. I’ve seen things myself,” Carol urged him.
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 monologue 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,” Chet said.
“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,” Chet said.
“Really?”
“How would you feel about a brother-in-law?” Chet asked with a big
grin.
“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,” Chet announced.
Carol didn’t know what to say. She was stunned. “My first reaction
is, good for Lyle if it’s what he wants, but my second concern is
how do you feel about it?” Carol 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; granted, 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,” Chet said with conviction.
“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. No pun intended," she said with a giggle,
"When you get all bent out of shape and nothing seems to go right
for weeks, all I gotta' do is pack your ditty-bag and ship you off
to Lyle for a night. One evening with him and you’re jes’ fine for
several 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 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,” Chet said.
“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 sounded
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, Sweetheart. 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,” Carol said quietly.
“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 canvas
the area around our current position?” Lazarus asked.
“Yes, Captain Long. I have all data including stealth capable
satellites the Theocratic Republic has in orbit. I have access to
every government and black ops computer 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 which 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 what 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?” Kyron asked.
“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,” Lazarus instructed the sentient machine.
“No problem, that will give us a jump on the feed. I’ll feed all
info back to you personally on your com line,” Kyron said.
“That will be fine, Kyron. Thanks,” Lazarus treated his
artificially evolved intelligences with manners and respect.
“You’re welcome, Captain,” Kyron replied.
* * * * * * *
Waco received a message on his com line from Kyron he received 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?” Kyron
asked.
“I prefer holographic, Kyron. That way I get to see all of the Captain,”
Waco said. He 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
certain parts of my anatomy 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 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 heroic
in defeat, and it is sometimes the greatest quality in a true
leader. When he does win, he can then afford to be gracious and
magnanimous. 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 the men playing football 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 royal blood. She is a
princess of the Shushonni 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, but 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 solid 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 governess of our races.
"She also needs to learn graciousness and humility, as you so
adequately displayed on the football field, 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 a greater understanding of 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 suffer through similar
problems with most young Shushonni of noble birth. Don’t let her
intimidate you or push you around. You are her leader, you have
become her temporary Lord Protector, you are her undisputed
master, 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
greatly 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. Keekepata's dancing was perfection. I stopped
the video at the end of her performance because my men were so
moved. Above all, 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.
“May I say, he has great faith in you, Master Waco,” Kyron
observed.
“Thanks, Kyron, I only hope I can live up to his expectations,”
Waco said unsure of himself.
“I have no doubt you will, sir. Never underestimate yourself,
Captain. I certainly don't, and I know many others who share my
belief,” Kyron encouraged him.
“Thanks for them kind words, Buddy, and again, thanks for putting
up the video for me,” Waco said.
“My pleasure, Young Captain.” Kyron replied.
“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, but I did notice he's called me 'Captain'
several times. Thanks,” Waco said.
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 flawlessly 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.
“Waco and and Kyron worked together on 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 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 what she wanted out of
Arnie. Once a month she was allowed to have a private conversation
with her Lord Protector, and he was quite pleased with her
progress.
Waco held a private conversation with Captain Vinceeth about once
a month, or more if they had something important to discuss. Like
a good producer, he was learning how best to use Kyron's
capabilities. Waco held long chats with Kyron about video projects
they might accomplish together to more enlighten Captain Vinceeth
as to Keekepata's progress. Kyron suggested they start from the
very beginning with footage from the robo-cams of Scraps and Happy
confronting the big cat with Keeke in his mouth all the way
through the expert skill of Cable's surgery and Dr. Arlen Jones
support and her subsequent recovery. It made for an engaging and
compelling drama which was palpable in it's compassion and heroics
of those who came together to save her life.
Kyron even added a music track that added pathos and strength to
the film. Those videos Waco had Kyron send personally to the
captain for his review to determine whether he should show them to
his crew. Trey Vinceeth decided his crew should know how close
their princess came to death, and the excellent care she received.
He also forwarded a copy to his home world for the Pata family and
the High Council to review.
For the first three months of transmissions between the Banshee
and the Bandersnatch, it somehow never occurred to Waco or Keeke
to mention Captain Long’s name. They discussed Captain Jones and
his help in putting Keeke back together, but somehow 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
Ccommander 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, Son. I’ve
followed your career, and you’ve made your family proud. Tell me,
how is yore’ fine looking daddy, Hayward and your handsome
granddad, Stewart?” Lazarus asked.
Captain Vinceeth had a natural ruddy complexion, 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
asked in awe.
“He is, indeed, Captain. I’m very proud to know him and serve
under him in our resistance,” Waco said proudly.
“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 in person. 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 Captain 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,” Lazarus said with a smile.
“He has, indeed, Admiral, and I’m very pleased and flattered he
finds me worthy, sir,” Trey Vinceeth said.
“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 wonderful memories of 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.
Trey shook his finger at the camera and grinned real big, “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
about your superior,” Trey threatened.
Waco laughed, “Is that a promise, Captain? Should I keep a copy of
this transmission as a contract to hold you to your word, sir?”
Waco asked with a wicked grin.
Trey broke up laughing. “It is, but you don't have to keep a copy.
My word is my bond. You certainly deserve it, Young Man. 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 sent a rodeo
video to the captain and his men went crazy with the cowboys
riding 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 Banshee.
* * * * * * *
Sam Eagleston had two older cowboy slaves who were war veterans.
One was an ordinance man from the earlier Iraq war and the other
saw active duty in Afghanistan. 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 Grays 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.
If they couldn't hear them, perhaps they didn't think they were
around. 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 a bogey 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,” Sam conveyed to
Captain Long. 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’moan, men! It’s
show time,” Lazarus ordered. They were away 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 with much laughter,
whoops, and cheering in the background, “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 Christ 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 about 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,” Lazarus sent to him.
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 the pieces of the craft
were raised into the air and disappeared onto the Buttercup. They
were 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?” Lazarus asked
Sam and his men.
“Sure,” Sam replied and his weapon's men agreed. 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 stored. 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 power-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 asked Cable, David, and Jonathan to 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 which 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 invigorated. He was 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 reported was from several of the neighbors who
heard a large explosion. Everyone but two families knew what the
men were planning and knew the time was near for action. The
Sheriff handled the reports and they got filed away under weather
conditions. A couple of the ranchers reported seeing several
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 cowboy slaves 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. 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 was
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 a 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 agricultural 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, but 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 every abduction of
cattle just dried up over night – 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 them 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 became 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 quotas and told
them to gather their own straw, the Reptiles raised the Gray’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 Grays moved off to other areas of the planet,
but the Reptiles developed a taste for American beef and it was
all their Theocratic Republic 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 Grays were
being shot down everywhere in 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.
* * * * * * *
Wildleek's Law ~
There comes a time in the progression of a species when they
become unclassifiable in relationship to certifiable periods of
advancement. (e.g. agricultural, industrial, information age,
space-age technology, etc.) A little known writer, historian, and
social 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's 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, and in
particular, the selfishness and greed of large hive-like
corporations who try to suppress socially progressive thinking at
all cost at the expense of the lower classes, lies a
self-defeating quantum. Without the quality and quantity of fresh
individual input, as opposed to the 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. Certain plot-able trends,
actions, and counter-reactions became sociological constants.
For his other model, Wildleek pointed to the great attempt of a
democratic form of government in the previous 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 blatantly criminal
actions. Some insisted the "H" in Jesus H. Christ stood for
"hubris."
Through controlled media, corporate and political crimes grew to
become thought of by the public as acceptable losses due to
unfortunate circumstances caused by little more than "bad
judgment." No investigations or corrections meant even greater
repeats of the same trend as soon as the mass mind forgot the
implications. 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 which created their fortunes in the
first place. They were unwittingly replacing a liberal democracy
they purposely labeled 'socialism' by a poorly thought out
corporate controlled form of communism. Socialism, indeed, but
only for the upper one or two percent of the population.
It became a house of cards and for all their wealth, power and
bought political control, they 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
imminently necessary 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, clever, and
versatile than the mass minds of their adversaries. For all the
money they made, which was mostly siphoned off the top by the two
percent in power, corporate communism was even less successful
than the old socialist communism in Russia of the twentieth
century.
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
Theocratic Republic to be concerned. They had no idea the Gray
ships were being destroyed and disposed of systematically. There
was little communication between
them.
* * * * * * *
As the weeks and months went by, Blue took on a greater role in
becoming one of the boys. By the next party and football game at
the ranch, 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, gentle,
and somewhat retiring personality than Waco, but he was becoming
his own man. Charlie was only one of the few who could tell them
apart. The other people who could distinguish them were Lucas,
Lazarus, and Ida Mae. When asked, Ida Mae just said Blue has a
different aura about him. She never made a mistake between the two
boys. 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 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 Thunder-bird
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. The big birds decided to stay clear of the
Goodnight ranches.
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, closed-to-outsiders, Sunday
afternoon parties at the ranch. The two younger Goodnight brothers
from the city 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’ extended family
became the Grange and its associates.
The two high school coaches and their families were accepted into
the Grange and Coach Davis became one of the 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. Many began to
search the Internet for sites promoting atheism and other
'non-prophet' organizations.
There was some hard feelings, though. The preacher who attempted
to expose Chet and Lyle, David W. Yates, felt he was being
snubbed. After all, he was the pastor of the largest Evangelical
Pentecostal 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. Yates 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 were guests at their ranches for the
Sunday afternoon festivities numerous times. While they were not
yet members of the Grange, 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 which belonged to 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 gathered all the compromising
photos of him they needed dressed in women’s clothing complete
with makeup. They were taken in the privacy of his own home, but
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 comments.
The old cowboy Dade Wickson declared the preacher made the ugliest
damn woman he ever saw. 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 which simply said, “Be sure your
sins will find you out. Continue to 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 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 dared invade his
privacy and go against his position and power. Why, this was
nothing short of blackmail. He 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 receipts for female items from 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. Her father, a famous rodeo
cowboy, and her brothers were even talking about applying for
membership. That made him realize he was ‘checked’ and ‘mated.’
Thus, the boys saved the Grange for a while longer. Lazarus
decided to leave the robo-cams 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 number of
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 or Ancients
of the universe. I think he hears and speaks with them. I want to
be a good leader for my people someday. I wanted to know what he
knows. I’m learning from him how to be a good leader. I think our
meeting 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, and what I can learn from 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 know
about. We don’t have the variety of animals and people living
together on our world. Your world is such a cornucopia of
different beings 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 treasure you.
We’re quite fond of you, ourselves,” 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,” Mary Gibbons
laughed.
“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,” Keekepata lamented.
* * * * * * *
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 brung us. I love Jack
and Jill like they’s my own. It’s gonna’ be hard for me to imagine
a mess of talk’n puppies, though," Charlie Goodnight allowed.
“You’re the one who always says, ‘the more the merrier,’” Lazarus
reminded him.
“Yes, and I meant it. I ain’t never been so happy and content as I
been with the addition of them boys and unusual critters we got
living with us. There’s never a dull moment. No time for boredom
means you're living a full life,” Charlie insisted. Ida Mae and
Hank agreed 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 lie down
together and the Krysellians 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 cow's cream fortified with lummox milk every day.
She never was healthier in her life and Scraps found her most
attractive in her motherly state. She got more attention than she
ever experienced. Everyone would stop to pet her to tell her how
well she looked and how pretty she was. It doesn’t matter what
specie an animal is, they 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 mirth
they named the males Larry, Moe, and Curly,* and the three females
they named Maxine, Patty and Laverne; what else? Those names just
seemed to lend 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 later. 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-bark 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 have cared
less. Travis was harder for them. It came out “Twa-vus.” Little
Bear came out “Lee-ta Bar.” Lucas came out, “Loo-coos.”
They were speaking before they could walk steady. One would
stumble, fall and utter a sound that sounded like cussing.
“Fuuutz!” it would say in disgust. It would aright itself and off
it would go again. From there on, it was nonstop hilarity. Each
was as intelligent as the next. There wasn’t a runt or slow one
among them. The boys would come in to visit to feed them their
lummox 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 yelling at the same time, “Me,
Whak-co! Me, Boo! Pick me up, Twa-vus! No, me first, Letta Bar!
Me, me, me, Loo-coos,” they would shout.
They were ruthless. 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 make of
them. She couldn’t deny they were cute and lovable, 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 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, "no, no, no" when they were older and learned
a few manners, then he might reconsider. 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 offspring.
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.” 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,
but to the boys, no matter how bad it sounded, 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 masters.
It was like listening to someone scratch their fingernails across
a blackboard while eating a very sour lemon.
One afternoon Lucas decided he would 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 even 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 hours 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? Did they want to learn a song? Of course they wanted
to learn a song. Yippee! Oh, joy! Their trusted friend and
playmate, Loo-coos, was going to teach them a song. They wanted to
do anything to please the wonderful boys who chased after them,
helped take care of them, who fed them wonderful sweet milk and
small treats, 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 ABC song to teach them the alphabet.
Lazarus and Charlie were amazed, after about a week of blood
curdling, spine tingling 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
over each other, groan and laugh until they cried at the boy/dog
chorus singing the ABC song together. It was something to behold.
It was a bloody god-awful racket. Occasionally, one of the pups
just couldn’t hold back his or her 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 alphabet 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 cowboy boots, why didn't the cat?
If Carol and Chet Baker thought they saw 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. They were tentatively spoken
for shortly after they were weaned. Word got around each of them
could talk and the boys were offered large sums of money for even
one of the pups, but they graciously 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. Kyron was keeping a
steady stream of videos of the pups from their birth through
puppy-dum to become young musical prodigies and would include a
goodly segment each week in his videos to Captain Vinceeth and his
crew. They looked forward to every one and the ongoing growth and
news about the new family. The ranch, its critters, and Waco's
extended family were fast becoming the rugged space-farers
alternate family.
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 were bringing her to the Bandersnatch regularly and letting
the Kryscellians do what they could for her, but the Kryscells
felt the damage was already done from some undiscovered cause.
They suspected a form of unknown micro-bacterium which might
possibly develop under certain conditions within vaccination
serums forced on them by the federal government. Once the damage
was done, 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 Blue could effect both, he was the Krycellian 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. 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.
While Blue was holding her, would be one of the few times she
would appear to be at peace. 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 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. Maxine 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 quiet 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 mind, they found a new
family member. 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. Hoot and Cotton 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 or she
would want to be out with the cattle or sheep doing what they were
bred to do. It was left up in the air. If Hoot and Cotton were
honest with the boys, they would have liked to have one of the
pups as much as the Stamper boys.
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 the
dietary requirements of dogs and assured Waco the Visallian ship
could easily accommodate a couple of animals, and they 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 any
animal 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 came to care for him as much as
any of the other Goodnight boys. Blue really didn’t need the
education, but 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 become the main priority and the details of
who and why get lost in the daily grind. The teachers who were
most pleased by the Goodnight boy’s freshman year in high school
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 high school ball. Coach Baker was
thrilled to get the job and accepted immediately. It meant more
money for him, and he would 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 which carried them through high school. 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 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 Jubal and nine pounds fifteen ounces for Bo. There
wasn’t much fuss about leaving the comfort of their secondary
dad’s pouch. They were ready to live in the world; besides, as
large as he was, they were just too damn big for Strom 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 so macho and cute, they laughed at them.
* * * * * * *
Kyron was doing an excellent job compiling videos to send to
Captain Vinceeth and his men. Kyron would always include an update
on the final eviction of the twins and their progress learning
about their new world. The boy’s antics with the twins and 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 with which they could really
relate. 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 for 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, but 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 the
young naked human athletes. They found the male human body much to
their liking. There wasn’t a dry penis among the warriors after
watching the boys take their showers. In the middle of showering,
Waco would send 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 their 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 personal 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, also known as the 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 an
unannounced trip to the town and observe for himself. He had an
old friend who was the pastor of the Pentecostal 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 Holy Prophet flew in the Angel Flight
(formerly Air Force One) to El Paso and traveled by limo to the
small town. There he hooked up with his old friend from divinity
college, Pastor David W. Yates. To say Reverend Yates was
surprised was an understatement to find the Holy Prophet and
president of the New Theocratic Republic 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 the 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 (aka semi-vestal virgins) to help him hear the
voice of God more fully. 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,
preacher Yates almost told him about his transgression and
subsequent blackmail by the Grange, but his wife was standing near
and shook her head 'no.’ Yates bit his lower lip instead.
Yates figured the visit from someone as powerful as the leader of
the strongest country in the world 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. They were playing one of
their toughest rivals. They weren’t 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 Pentecostal church 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 only
heard of the Holy Prophet on TV news and didn’t know what to
think. They formed their own opinions partially on the 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;
however, 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 instructed his
male secretary to make notes about whether a particular boy was
freeborn or slave. He was pleasantly surprised to find many of the
better looking boys were slaves, but he found two boys he assumed
were twins much to his liking who were freeborn, Waco and Blue
Goodnight. He had his secretary make a note of their names and put
a star by them. He also had him put a check by the name's of
several slaves, Lucas Long, Travis Jessup, Little Bear Tin Penny,
Stan Edmunds, 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, their country, 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.
The boys knew about the Holy Prophet’s young temple slaves. They
knew they were little more than his sex toys. The temple guards
were pumped up riod-freaks who were impotent and many 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 politely ‘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 the boy's or
parental consent.
The local preacher begged the Holy Prophet to stay over and preach
at his church on Sunday. It would be 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 he felt he so richly deserved. He put up with these cow
and horse shit smelling yokels for years, but he held greater
ambitions for himself than simply remaining a small town
Pentecostal minister the rest of his life. He just knew God had a
greater calling for him. Unfortunately, the Holy Prophet wasn’t in
a charitable mood and brushed him off. He said he needed to get
back to Washington on urgent business. Before he and his men left
he asked once again if there was anything to the rumors his
intelligence men 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.
Scudder 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 sing 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 wanking 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 know the drill. Get in the showers and clean
each other. Me and Buster will 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 to do it
again. 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 temple-boy shit on his prick, now wouldn’t it?” the
huge bodybuilder asked.
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, but because of that reason they came
to love and trust him above the other Temple Guards and would obey
him without question. They called him ‘Teddy Bear Brick’ behind
his back because he was just that to the boys. He was big, warm,
and cuddly. Brick 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 pumped; muscles to the max, but he took steroids
for so many years his testicles and penis were shriveled up to
almost nothing. He couldn't get an erection and hadn’t ejaculated
in five years or more; however, he did enjoy the boys sucking on
his tiny penis from time to time.
The Temple Guards were not strictly forbidden from physically
fraternizing with the boys. Hell, the catholic priests had been
abusing and fucking little boys for centuries. Scudder didn't see
why his trusted Temple Guards shouldn't share in the wealth. They
were allowed to have sex with the boys, but unlike the catholic
pederast who forcibly rape the kids, the guards were allowed to
only if the boy consented. They were urged to, if they felt the
spirit move them and they could find a willing partner, but most
had little interest in sex or were delusional they were celibate
straight men.
Brick had little sexual interest in the boys. His massive doses of
steroids made his penis shrink and become almost useless as that
of a eunuch, but he did like to cuddle and sleep with them. He
would often allow a boy to bunk it in with him. Brick 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?” Tim asked.
“Sure. You know you can come to me anytime, Tim,” Officer Brick
replied.
“Do you love me, Brick?” Timmy asked.
“I ain’t suppose to, you know that, Tim,” Brick replied softly.
“I know. I guess it don’t matter none. I love you, though – enough
for bow'fus,” Timmy said.
“Well, lemme’ put it this way, Kid. If I could love you, I would.
How’s that?” Brick asked, 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 that’s what you really want. In a
way, I wish you wouldn’t. I’ll miss suck’n on you, Brick,” Tim
lamented.
“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,” Tim said.
“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 an eternity.”
“Okay, Brick. I understand,” Timmy replied 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 his 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 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 small prick it began to feel really fine. Brick pondered:
What was happening to him? Was it a miracle? Did God touch him and
Timmy? For the first time in six years, Brick Armstrong’s penis
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 give this young man to you to call your own.
You need no greater reward. He is yours to hold, keep, and protect
with your love and strength. You are his to love. Let him have
what he most wants and needs from your body. He needs what only
you can provide him. It is yours to give. Give of yourself. Let
him taste the sacred essence of your body as you have tasted mine
with the Eucharist. Give to him the full measure of your passion,
the holiness of your being, the sanctity of your spirit.
“There! He has you to the point of no return. You’re falling, but
let yourself go. Do not be afraid. Fulfill the prophecy, my son.
You will need his love and devotion to slay the dragon for his
first death. Bless him with your essence to conjoin with him. Give
the boy a small spark of your soul; pour your love into him. Let
your penis spill your live spermatozoa into him. By consuming your
seed you will become a part of him. A part of you will live in his
body. Become one with him, and you both will share a place in my
kingdom and live together for a thousand years,” he heard and
responded and the word came unto him. Brick Armstrong, holy temple
guard of the Holy Prophet, emptied himself into the hungry warm
mouth of his eager young lover. It would be the beginning of a
shot heard around the world.
End Of Chapter 27 ~ Waco’s Lummox
Copyright ~ © ~ 2007~ 2017 ~ Waddie Greywolf ~ All Rights Reserved
Mail to: Waddie Greywolf <waddiebear@yahoo.com>
WC = 16,062
02/26/2007
02/07/2017
* There was some argument about Curly's name as some of the boys
preferred "Shemp" over "Curly." Many called him Shemp but that was
mistaken for "Shep" and since they were basically sheep dogs, it
stuck.