Chapter Eight

There were two light tan multipurpose military vehicles, totally enclosed with exposed weapons. These were serious units, and there were a couple of the brown-clothed men waiting with them as Keenan was escorted out the back door of the bar. He didn't resist, went with the group, happy to be taken near his ship.

They moved fast through the dark streets, with most people and vehicles getting out of their way. The one slow cart was pushed off to the side, with no concern for the damage. At the spaceport, they roared around the parked ships and stopped back from one that was shiny and reflected the lights set up on one side.

They all got out of the vehicles, and a couple of men ran over to meet the leader. They were talking quietly to him, but Keenan leaned back against the rough side of the unit; he came near and waited. He saw a couple of men lying on the ground off to one side, with some men working on them.

The man in charge turned to walk back to stand in front of Keenan. He made a motion to some of his men. Okay, they had been trained in a military manner, as they acted fast and took Keenan down to his knees with a kick to the back of his legs. There were three or four holding him, with his arms restrained. Fuck, this kept him from touching the ground to draw the help of mother earth.

"Poly, repeat twice to them whatever they do to me," Keenan spoke out loud as he smiled up at the leader.

"Talking to someone on that ship? Well, tell them to shut down that electrical charge that keeps us from touching the outside of it." The leader nodded at someone, and a really big brute stepped forward. Fuck, this was going to hurt.

"Last chance, tell them to let us inside." The leader looked at him, waiting for only a moment, then nodded. The barbarian in front of Keenan drew back a foot and kicked him in the gut. The only thing keeping him upright, as the air left his lungs, were the men who were holding onto him.

Next, there was a rattle, and suddenly, as the thug turned to face away with a smug look on his face, he collapsed. From across the flat area were flying pieces of heavy block, and one struck the kicking male directly in his stomach. In surprise, and before anyone could move, another fast-moving block hit with speed into one of the men holding Keenan. He released Keenan as he sailed backward, also losing the air in his lungs.

"Enough." The leader walked over and drew his sidearm from the arm holster.

Getting up to stand and face the man, since only one was still holding him, Keenan stared at him. "You don't fucking want to do that."

"Tell your ship to let us inside." The leader waited for a second and then pointed the gun and shot Keenan in the foot. Keenan immediately dropped to one knee from the pain and put both hands flat on the dirt. He needed the help of mother earth.

At that instant, two blue streaks came from the ship, and one each hit feet. One went through the leader's foot, who went down instantly, his gun flying, and the other hit a man standing next to the leader. Both were down, and the rest of the crew had their weapons up, circling to form a protection position, most down on one knee.

The weapons on the two vehicles also began to turn to face toward the Adamant. It was all a small display against a large impregnable ship.

"Poly, where is the rest of my crew?"

"Captain, both returned."

With the help of what Keenan got through his hands, the blood ceased, and the hole in his foot was closing. He would need a new pair of boots, damn.

Now there were a lot of guns pointing at his head, while some more of the soldiers were gathered around the injured leader. A man rushed out from one of the vehicles and was down on one knee before the leader. He had a message from someone, and it was important.

"Everyone into the trucks." The leader was being helped to get up, and it was evident that Keenan was going for a ride. The injured leader had all the guns pointing at Keenan. He knew he could take them all out by himself. Also, Poly could use the weapons of the Adamant to clear this field. But he was here for information, so he went with them without protest. They were traveling fast with Keenan and the injured leader in the second truck and the first one pushing the way. They were soon off the roads of the town and across fields.

"Sir, the ship took off and is above us." One of the soldiers made an announcement to the leader who had his boot off and a medic working on his foot.

"What ship?"

The soldier pointed towards Keenan. "His shiny ship. It seems to be following us, but high up."

Now everyone in the back of the truck turned and looked at Keenan, who sat with an eyebrow raised.

"Is this a trick?" The leader pushed aside the medic to speak to Keenan.

"My team likes to know where I'm going. I could have offered you a ride if you hadn't been so fucking rude." Keenan lifted his foot with the damaged boot.

"Well, tell your pet to back off, or the next slug goes through your head."

Shrugging, Keenan waved his hand around. "That's fucking stupid. That would mean everyone dies."

One of the men turned and leveled his weapon right near Keenan's head. "We signed an oath saying we would be willing to die at a moment's notice."

"I have a need to stay alive." Keenan smiled then spoke aloud to Poly, wishing they had a better way to communicate. "Poly, disappear."

"Understand, Captain." The voice came in his ear. He hoped she did understand because he didn't want to have to shift as she destroyed these two vehicles. A stealth mode on the Adamant was better than on any other ship out in the civilized universe.

After the ship was reported as gone, the ride was as quiet as such rough riding military vehicles could be, over unpaved roads and across fields. Keenan adjusted his position in his seat a couple of times on the long ride. Each time, alert soldiers raised weapons until he settled down.

At last, he could see out the side windows. This vehicle only had tiny slits in them, and he saw that they were passing through a gate until they stopped. Getting out, Keenan was forced into a building. He had a chance to look around before entering to see that this was a compound with several low buildings behind a large wall. There were men up on the wall along with some small drones moving in the air, over the wall, and just beyond.

Feeling he might be getting closer, Keenan felt this wasn't the place for the top guy. Still—one step at a time. He went where they wanted him to go, through the door and down a plain hallway to an office. They waited at the open door as one of the soldiers who was holding the hopping leader knocked on the edge of the doorframe.

"Show him in alone." It was a woman's voice that gave the firm command.

"But Commander, this man could be dangerous." It was the soldier helping the leader who spoke out.

"I don't repeat myself, soldier."

The men stepped back, and a couple with their weapons waved Keenan to proceed into the room, alone. He nodded and moved forward, turned, and entered what was set up to be an office. The woman sitting behind the desk also wore a light brown outfit, meant to be some uniform.

"Come in and have a seat. We need to talk."

Walking over to a chair in front of the desk, Keenan took the time to look at his opponent. She was a mature woman but not past her prime. Not one to be called beautiful, yet there was something in that face that would draw a man for a second look in a bar late at night. From what he could see behind the desk, she was a full-figured female who could still fight if necessary. He always loved a woman with meat on her bones, especially one who worked out and had muscles on those arms.

"Did they offer you a chance to join the best army in the systems?"

"Well, yeah, about that. I'm not much of a joiner. I do have a crew, but they kinda' joined me. So, I guess I turned the fucking offer down. Oh, but with a thanks. I always try to be polite." Keenan held up his middle finger.

Ignoring the comments, including the hand gesture, the Commander sat back with a sigh. "You're going to be a tough one. That's okay. We have special spots for tough soldiers. Why don't you stick around for a while, and let me show you what we can provide for a man like you?"

Getting up and walking around the desk, the handsome woman went over to a door on the side of the room and opened it. "Let me show you what we can offer."

Getting up to follow the lady, Keenan glanced at the room they were leaving and guessed it was just set up to fool him. There were no cabinets, and he saw some marks on the floor where cots or something with metal legs had stood. Was this whole group of buildings set up for a show, if so, why?

They went through a couple of empty rooms and then reached a room that had a door that was on a back wall. She opened it, and they stepped outside, to a large area surrounded by the backs of buildings, where some men and women were working out. A couple of soldiers were putting them through their paces.

As she led him past the trainees, she began talking. "We start here with those who volunteer and need to learn how to fight. Of course, you have already proven that fighting comes naturally to you. We have two of our best and now a Leader with a foot injury out of action. All due to your attention, so you proved your worth in that matter."

Ignoring the training group and most of what the Commander said, Keenan was examining everything. Yes, this all had a temporary feeling to it, as if it was once some warehouses that had recently been taken for another use.

Now the lady was leading him into another building. Here there were soldiers with weapons who were obviously acting as guards. There were men and women in uniforms who were separating small items that looked like jewelry and expensive articles.

"There are a lot of people that donate to the cause. Even a lot of the trainees give what they can or have when they join." As they walked through another room with guards and workers, they were counting out coins and coin cards.

Going on, they passed outside as the Commander nodded at the guards. They walked across the dead grass and worn paths to the next building that had all the signs of being a useful warehouse. It had several wide roll-up doors on the side they were approaching, but she went to a standard single entry and used a palm pad to get entry.

There was a small glow below her hand and a click at the door. She smiled over at him, and using the door handle, opened it and walked inside. Yes, it was a warehouse full of fucking weapons. Keenan saw stacks and crates of hand weapons, long weapons, and even heavy cannons. So, this is what all that coin in the other building purchased. Who were they going to war against?

"So, it seems you have some pretty impressive weapons on that ship of yours. We need to discuss that also. But for the rest of our troops, we need to get them properly supplied. I was told you had a nice pistol that is being kept for you. What is on that ship that sends out the Ion blue light?"

Keeping from smiling, he had to admit he was surprised how long it took her to get around to trying to get information out of him.

"My ship takes care of my crew and me. It is best not to cross it." Keenan stopped and picked up a long gun to see how she would react. She stopped and turned to watch him.

"They are not loaded. But they are all in active position so that we can put them into the hands of those that need them." She just stood patiently, waiting for him.

Keeping the weapon, he walked towards her, and when he got about ten feet from the Commander, he tossed the thing through the air at her. She calmly caught it and immediately threw it back at him. He caught it in one hand, turned, and placed it on top of a crate. Yes, she was a trained soldier. He had to hope he was learning more about them than they were learning about him.

The Commander turned and went on through the long aisle of the big warehouse to finally come to another door that led into a real office. This time there were all types of screens and communication devices, with a couple of soldiers sitting at consoles. They were trained well, as they ignored the two people that entered where they were working.

"A well-run organization needs communication. They need the current news and to receive information on where to go for meetings. There is also sometimes, like last night, when a couple of our own are in trouble, and we need to send some help out fast." She looked at him and gave a wicked smile.

"Is that how you talk to the big guy?" Keenan leaned back against the wall by the door and gave the expression of admiring the set-up of equipment.

"Well, is there a special way you talk to your ship?" She turned and looked at him carefully.

Fuck, this was going to be an interesting game. He let his eyes slide away from her to examine each of the screens. Most of them just showed different views of this ruptured planet, but there was one that had lines of white type against the dark green background. They were running fast down the screen in different lengths, line after line. He let his better eyesight read the words and numbers, and at the same time, was sending them up to Poly.

Now the Commander came up to him and nodded to the door. He reached for the handle to open it for her. As she passed him, she moved in close and trailed a hand across his thighs. That meant it also trailed across something else that was important. What game was she playing now?

They went down between the warehouse they just left and another. After this long walk, they came out to where other buildings had been turned into private barracks. Passing several with soldiers coming and going, most of which gave her a salute or nod, she walked up to one, and again it had a palm plate lock.

It didn't take them long to get inside what turned out to be her private residence. He could tell this was temporary, and she had not been in this location very long. She ignored him while she took off her holster and weapon and her outside shirt.

Next, she went to a cabinet to pull out a recognized bottle of whiskey with two glasses. "I know what you drink since my guys watched you at the bar. It's my choice too, so let's tip one, and now we can really talk."

She put his drink down on a low table in front of a couch and sat down to wait for him to join her. It was an invitation he would be foolish to refuse. He smiled, walked over, picked up the glass, and sat down next to her on the long couch. Keenan decided they could talk or do a lot of things in this long soft sitting place.

The whiskey flowed and the game of conversation without either one not giving out any secrets made for an interesting late day getting into the evening. The Commander got messages that she ignored, and food was delivered. She accepted it at the door, and he heard her tell the person that she did not want any more people to bother her until the morning.

Hiding a smile, Keenan hoped he was up to the challenge. As she stood at the door talking to the delivery soldier, Keenan admired her generous hips. He did appreciate a female with meat on her bones.

The Commander sat the tray of food on the low table and then excused herself.

"It's been a long day since my sleep was interrupted about a fight involving some of my personal men. Go ahead and eat; I'll be right back." The lady left the room, and Keenan took her at her word. The food was cold cuts and pickled vegetables and very good. There were fat fresh rolls, so he made a large sandwich and had it about done when the lady returned. She went to the cabinet and brought another bottle back with her, giving him time to look her over.

She was dressed in a robe that seemed to be made of something shiny and soft that clung to her body. It proved without a doubt that she had nothing underneath. Her short hair was still damp, so she had taken a shower. He might wish he could also get under some water but did understand that some women preferred the smell of a real male.

When she sat down beside him, the robe separated over his legs, and he got a view of her entire body from the waist down. This lady had shaved—everything. That was an invitation he couldn't refuse, so he dropped the last of his sandwich and turned to her.

The decision was to give her a deep kiss and allow her one chance to say NO, and then get down to business. This was going to be a strange fuck, as the two were both out to kill the other. If they lived through it, it would be interesting.

There wasn't going to be anything soft between these two as he reached and pulled the Commander over for the first deep kiss. He plunged deep into her mouth that tasted like the whiskey in the bottle that she just dropped. It was her chance to say NO, and she quickly had her hands into his hair, one into his neck.

The lady might have had short nails, but she sure could dig with them. He pulled back and looked at the lips he had bruised that were now smiling. He tossed her back on the pillows and stood up to get his clothes off as fast as possible. Those damn boots made a thump across the room. He didn't care where everything else went. Just the thought of entering something calling him that was smooth and hairless brought his own member to attention.

Going down on an arm above her, she knocked the arm away and pushed to end up on top of him. Her robe uncovered all the important places as she sat on his stomach, actuating her full breasts with tight buds.

Closing his eyes to hide the flames, he smiled. He could let the lady have the high side as she worked over to slide down his shaft. The feeling of him slowly encapsulated in the hot heat of a female was ecstasy, and he wasn't going to do anything but co-operate. Keenan could enjoy fucking or being fucked, and this lady had the muscles to perform.