Death Queen of Neptune
Tara Loughead
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2010
For Jim Shooter, Curt Swan, Chris Claremont and John Byrne
"I prefer the dirty jobs to the frosty ones."
"You mean the frosty ones that don't involve pubs, don't you?" Ghaavn asked.
Bulays chuckled as Ghaavn piloted the shuttle to a landing on Neptune. Clad in parkas and white body armour modified for the snowy conditions, the two disembarked.
"The base is about 500 metres to the east." Ghaavn pointed, pulling on dark glasses. "Keep an eye out."
The pair picked their way through the frozen rocky terrain, soon arriving at the door of a drab, gray bunker-type building about 50 metres long and wide. It was dark and silent with no sounds or signs of life.
Then they heard the roar.
"I think we should get inside before the welcoming committee finds us."
Ghaavn agreed, pulling out his electronics kit, starting in on the lock.
Another roar. Louder. Then an answering bestial scream from the opposite directed.
"Starting to feel surrounded, here, love."
"Almost...ah, got it!" Ghaavn stowed his tools back in his belt pack. Pulling out a pistol from a hip-holster, he toed the door open carefully. "Clear." He signalled Bulays to enter, breath steaming.
Knives in either hand, the tall, muscular shorthaired blonde woman did so. "No-one here but dead 'uns." She knelt down to take a closer look. Grouped closely together on the floor were the corpses of four women, clad in snowsuits. "Not been dead for long, it seems. Although the cold makes it a bit harder to guess.
Ghaavn joined him, reading the insignia on the breast of each body. A black-clad body. "Neville." A woman in Imperial military garb. "Dominic." A gray, leather-clad body was also missing most of its right leg. "Kimball."
"And this one has one of those new experimental AI implants, so must be Ian."
"So that's all four of them, according to Lady G," replied Ghaavn.
Bulays stood, massaging her lower leg, injured on their last mission. "Don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel more like a coroner than a Council agent."
"Well, darlings. Good of you to come. I have plenty of life for both of you." The speaker on the wall crackled into life as part of the wall irised open. The pair spun around, startled, weapons in hand. "Do please join me."
The pair shared a bemused look, and Bulays exited first.
Stepping through, they saw what appeared to be a long, furnished dining hall with a very high ceiling. Seated at the end of the room, in a large, fur-covered chair was a tall, dark haired woman. She wore white leather pants, high-heeled boots, a fur-trimmed cape, and very little else. A necklace with a huge emerald orb nestled between her full breasts. Definitely no signs of feeling the cold, it seemed. She waved them towards her, imperiously. "Very nice. You are the strapping pair, indeed." More impatiently, this time, the gesture. "Come, come." The iris closed behind them.
"Should I perforate her?"
Ghaavn held up his hand to his partner, indicating that she should hold that thought. "Who are you?" He called.
"Why, I'm the Queen of Neptune, of course." Green eyes gleaming in the cold air.
"Looks more like you're the 'ead cannibal in the refrigerator. Bit short on subjects, aren't you, 'your majesty'" Bulays scoffed. "Not to mention clothes."
