the Alienbutt Saga

The Alienbutt Saga chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Book of Ick.

INTERSTELLA NEWS CHANNEL 9. NEWS FLASH.

The Federation Senate today granted new powers to the coffee producers to remove populations from planets suitable for coffee bean production. Any terra-formed planet with less than one thousand years of history could now be converted as the great coffee bean drought continues to bite. Production on eight of the thirty planet production centres have dropped over the last years leading to universal unrest. Conspiracy theories that the Coffee Houses are stock piling massive amounts of the bean to bring about the crisis have been rubbished.

In other news, a scientist who claimed to have isolated the protein that makes the coffee bean so addictive has been found dead after coffee addicts broke into his facility to steal his supply of test beans. The facility was burnt down during the robbery and all research lost, the Coffee Houses that sponsored his research have not yet commented on how security was breached.

ONE YEAR LATER.

Three single seater run-abouts raced through the asteroid field dodging around the giant rocks that slowly spun, collided and spun back in an endless cycle of movement. Piestoff, who piloted one of the three, was much changed from the taxi driver who had left Sloppystool in such a hurry. Blackarachnia who had hired him as the ships cleaner had spent much of that time teaching Piestoff to fly all manner of spaceships, from the little run-arounds they were flying now to the large dreadnoughts used for deep space travel by the Ick. The two had become firm friends, this was something that puzzled Blackarachnia as he had never before wanted or needed friendship. He realised that there was something about the strange smelly Alienbutt that was causing a change in how he viewed the universe. He had a gift for killing that he had taken full advantage of but in the company of Alienbutt he was different. He now felt more alive than ever before and for the first time he cared and after a visit to Earth to see Nifty, who had now joined them on Blackarachnia flagship, the three had become inseparable and Blackarachnia had a whole new set of feelings to confuse him that centred around Nifty.

For the first time in his life Piestoff felt happy and safe amongst friends. Always an outsider Piestoff had grown up unsure of himself and doubting his every move, now that he had grown into that confidence from feeling he belonged he had grown into himself. Without even realising it, both Piestoff and Nifty were been trained by Blackarachnia to survive in a large hostile universe, they were being taught not to be victims but to survive the only way Blackarachnia knew how. Both were natural pilots, Nifty's having enhanced reflexes and Piestoff's time dodging the traffic as a taxi driver, giving them an aptitude for combat flying that no amount of training could achieve. In Blackaracnia's world it was kill or be killed and he would ensure the strange fat arsed alien and the captivating Nifty would not be lacking in any skill he could teach them.

A collision of two giant rocks ahead caused one of the rocks to split and a piece larger than their ships to spin dangerously towards the three ships. Nifty, in the lead ship easily avoided the danger. Blackarachnia who lagged slightly behind the other two climbed sharply over the top of the rocks but Piestoff had no room to play with. Without thinking he opened fire sending four torpedoes into the rock and blindly flying through the explosion that cleared his way to safety.

With alarms and buzzers going off as fragment of rock battered the little ship, Piestoff eased off the accelerator and pulled up to get free of the asteroids and into clear space.

"Bugger!" Shouted Piestoff as he struggling to control the damaged ship as the controls failed.

"You ok Alienbutt, you look a little cooked?" Blackarachnia voice came through the com.link as he pulled his own ship clear of the asteroid field and circled back towards the now stationary Piestoff.