by Joseph Pryce
Annie was at the bottom of the stairs and could now see the four of them standing there but Heiro was on her before she could scream out. He wrapped his hand around her mouth and stuck his blaster into her neck. “Nod your head if Baba is alone up there,” he whispered urgently into her ear.
Annie nodded in silence. Her eyes were fixed on Peaches who stared at her with malcontent. “How could you, sister?! Baba is my man!” At that moment any thought Peaches had previously had in her mind about warning Baba was now gone.
Hiero kept his hand clamped over Annie’s mouth so she could not reply. He moved in closer to her and sniffed seductively at her neck. “Is that Limite Grand Exit that I smell on you, Annie? Baba must be treating you extremely well. That perfume sells at three hundred thousand credits per bottle”.
“Annie?” The rest of them heard Babe call out. “What’s taking you so long with that champagne?”
Hiero slyly slid his blaster up from Annie’s neck and placed it under her right eye. “Answer him”, he ordered her quietly and slowly removed his hand from her mouth.
“I am coming, lover”, she replied her voice quavering just a little.
“Bring that sexy ass back up here”, Baba bellowed good-naturedly. “I want to spank it again”.
Trane nodded at Hiero to lead Annie up the stairs. He, Busha and Peaches followed close behind.
The bedroom was magnificent. The ceilings were twenty feet high and painted with gold dust. On the walls hung priceless pieces of art that members of Baba’s criminal organization managed to steal from every major art gallery in Summerhill.
Baba’s was sprawled out nakedly on his gigantic four posted golden plated bed under black silk sheets. He was a very obese man with a clean shaven head and thick black beard. Several thick gold links laid around his neck. He wore bulky diamond rings on three fingers of each hand and two expensive black gemstone earrings in each ear. Baba puffed happily on a large brown gasper which he almost dropped into the bed when he saw Annie come up the stairs followed close by everyone else.
“What the bleeding hell is all this?!” He exclaimed as the apple of his throat bobbed in fright beneath his gold chains.
Hiero roughly shoved Annie on top of Baba before he could get a chance to press the white emergency alert button that happened to be located on the top of his gold plated night stand.
“Keep your hands where we can see them, Baba!” Trane told him while pointing his blaster at Baba’s face.
“What the hell are you doing, Trane?! You signed signed your death warrant breaking into my house like this!” Baba sputtered.
“Summer is over, Baba”, Trane replied. “And according to Peaches here, I should be dead already. So I guess that does not matter”, Trane replied. “Just tell me who sent the Viper Agents and why. Then we will be on our way”.
Baba sat up straighter in the bed in an attempt to appear more authoritative.
Annie used the sheets to hastily cover herself.
“Do you think that I am just going to let you the three of you walk out of here tonight?!” Baba asked incredulously.
An unflustered Heiro smashed Baba across the jaw with the butt of Yamila knocking out the man’s tooth. “Trane asked you a question, fat man”, he said matter-of-factly.
Peaches struggled to pull away from Busha’s iron grip. “I cannot believe that you are fucking my sister, Baba! After everything that I have done for you!”
“It is not what it seems like, Peaches”, Annie tried to tell her sister but Peaches was beyond listening. “There is more going on than you truly know”.
“Shut-up, you traitorous wretch! I will deal with you later!” Peaches screamed.
Busha placed her rifle against Peaches’ temple in a dangerous fashion. “Enough with that shit, Peaches. You, Baba and your sister can have your little family squabble after we have left the premises”, she told her.
“Or they can indulge in a menage a trios. I am sure Baba would not mind that”, Hiero said mockingly.
Trane stepped closer to the bed and pressed his blaster against Baba’s knee. “Getting a blast in the knee cap is very painful, Baba. Ask Peaches if you do not believe me. I am going to ask you one more time. Why are there Viper Agents after me?”
Baba grinned at Trane with his mouth full of blood from Heiro’s blow. “Because you stole something very valuable from some very powerful people and they want it back”, he answered.
Trane hesitated and looked quizzically into Baba’s face. “What are you talking about? I have not stolen anything from anybody for some time now”, he replied.
Baba drew gratifyingly on his thick gasper and smiled a toothy grin. His teeth were filled with golden caps covering them. It was obvious to Trane that he knew exactly who sent the Viper Agents. “Not lately you haven’t but you did a while ago”.
Hiero sighed with great impatience and smashed Baba once more with the butt of his blaster knocking out another tooth. “Just tell us what we need to know, fat man before I kill you”, he said seriously.
“You kill me and your lives won’t be worth the shit in my privy. I run this city! The three of you know this to be true. So why don’t you just get the hell out of here?” Was the crime lord’s rude retort.
Trane exchanged glances with Busha and Heiro in an attempt to decide what the next step would be.
In that moment of hesitation was all the opening that Peaches required. In one hasty move she ripped away Derg’s blaster from Busha’s hand and used it to incinerate Baba into a pile of smoking white ash.
“NOOOO!” Was all Annie had the chance to scream out before her sister turned the blaster on her.
In a blink of an eye Annie was burned to ashes as well.
Busha grabbed hold of Peaches and tried to wrest the blaster away from her. As the two of them struggled against one another, Trane and Heiro aimed their blasters at Peaches in vain attempt to get a clear shot at her.
Peaches managed to stagger Busha with a brutal punch to her throat and used that moment to blast her also to ashes.
“NO!” Trane shouted.
Heiro did not hesitate to fire at Peaches and kill her instantly with a blast through her skull.
The young woman fell to into a heap onto the bedroom’s luxurious carpet with blood and water seeping from the hole in her head.
SUMMERHILL EMPIRE
PRINCE AKUNA AFFONSO SHAKA
The visiting party entered through the castle gates as if they were themselves were the ruling family of Summerhill, in a stream of expensive gems and coloured silks, a party made up of one hundred strong, that included dozens of servants and bodyguards and of course the entire Uhura family. Emblazoned proudly on the breast pocket of their matching purple business suits was the Uhura coat of arms. A fierce black mountain lion on one side and a white stallion on the other both clutching a pyramid of gold bars between them. The words Industry, Family, Power were scripted in formal black lettering underneath in the ancient tongue of The First World.
Akuna knew many of the Uhura family members. He first saw Lady Despera, Lord Uhura’s plain looking wife, then Nasak Uhura, Lord Malon’s first child and heir with his perfect posture, flawless teeth and shiny clean shaven head, and beside him was his shorter but very curvaceous younger sister Tamanni. Her long black braids with their purple tipped ends reached the small of her back and were held in place by a golden bejewelled headpiece. Akuna had met the beautiful Tamanni Uhura when he was just eight years old and fell in love with her on first sight. He glanced upwards for a moment at the bright blue sky and spied four large gold feathered eagles swooping majestically above them, but he knew the birds of prey were actually cybernetic surveillance droids that were fully equipped long range attack weapons, should their probes scan any danger to the royal family in the immediate area. There were other additional security protocols in place to protect the members of the royal family whom were in attendance that day, such as the one hundred palace guards positioned here and there but also Ak
una, his older sister Kadilla and youngest brother Ukan were each protected by a psionic net. The net was a telekinetic forcefield device that had been surgically implanted at the base of the spines of every single member of the ruling royal family. The forcefield when activated was invisible to the naked eye but acted as a protective barrier, against any weaponry attacks or close proximity explosions, but still allowing air molecules to penetrate so the forcefield occupants could still breathe. To Akuna’s father, the king of Summerhill, the safety of his bloodline was paramount, so none of his children were given the choice to avoid the forcefield implant surgery.
The young prince looked again up into the cloudless sky. Father must have commanded the Department of Meteorology to give us a sunny day. Akuna thought. The last forecast I scanned showed there was to be rain all day today. Lord Malon is the only subject in the kingdom that could warrant a sun filled day from father.
Being the king’s son meant Akuna was privy to top secret government information, in this case, to the fact that the country’s weather patterns were specifically controlled by a sophisticated computer buried deep in the grounds underneath the royal palace. The short portly man approaching at the very front of the contingent, flanked by two purple skinned cyborg-bodyguards dressed in the black and purple cloaks which were the House Uhuru family colours. Was none other than Lord Malon Justice Uhura III, the second most powerful man in Summerhill after the king himself. He stepped down gracefully from his floating anti-grav mat and enclosed Akuna’s hand in a friendly bone crushing grip. “Prince! It is good to see you again after so many months! You look more like your father every day”. Lord Malon said with a genuine smile and general jolly but pompous manner.
Akuna smiled back politely and inwardly gritted his teeth. Why does he have to say that every single time he sees me? And why is it that he gets to float in the air while the rest of his family are forced to walk?
“It is very good to see you again as well, Lord Malon”, Akuna said in greeting. “My brother, sister and I welcome you once more to the royal palace”.
Malon pressed his beefy hands against the wide girth of his belly and peered anxiously over Akuna’s shoulder. “Where is the king?” He asked politely while shaking hands with Kadilla and Ukan both.
“Mother and father had some urgent business to attend at the royal moon base, my lord. But assured me they will be back in the palace by the time your family settles in”, Akuna replied with grace.
The lord made an attempt to hide his disappointment that the king and queen were not at the gates to greet him personally. The owner of the richest private fortune in the world was not one used to be kept waiting by anyone, but as rich as he was, even the lord of Uhuru Hill had to bend the knee to the king. The Uhuru family’s prosperity was hundreds of years old, with businesses encompassing a diverse range of fields, including finance, real estate, terraforming, energy, agriculture and mining. Malon waved over Nasak and Tamanni to his side.
The two Uhura siblings bowed graciously before Akuna. “My Prince”, they both said in greetings to Akuna and Ukan both. They bowed to Kadilla separately greeting her with an obligatory, “My Princess”.
Akuna and Tamanni immediately locked eyes. A hot electrical current passed between them. Although it had been half a year since he saw her last, his heart still skipped a beat. The fragrance of her vanilla scented perfume caused his head to swoon. He wanted to sweep her braids away with his hands and plant kisses on the back of her long brown neck.
Snap out of it! He chastised himself. You are the son of the king! Not some silly thirteen year old boy with a crush. I am almost a man now!
Still when he looked once more into Tamanni’s deep brown eyes and studied her thick luscious lips, his mouth became as dry as cotton. In his mind he went back in time to when he was just thirteen years of age and Tamanni was fifteen. The Uhuru family had paid a visit to the king’s ancestral estate in Summertide. And that was the day he had impulsively told the beautiful young girl that he was deeply in love with her.
Damnned fool! He remembered with some embarrassment. She looked at me as if I had grown a second head.
QUEEN ZARIA
Later that evening in the royal palace’s great hall, the king and queen feasted the Uhuru family. A passing male servant stepped forward bowed courteously and refilled Zaria’s wine cup. The great hall was a large circular room that was three times as long as it was wide. There are several large bay windows on each wall that gave the guests inside, spectacular views of the rear courtyard’s lush gardens and manmade lake. In the middle of the hall was a raised dais where the top table was situated. At this massive long table was King Bornu Masi Nesta Shaka, Zaria, Akuna, Kadilla, Ukan and Gambolt, the king’s first born child and eldest son. Zaria’s other two younger daughters, Nazinga and Petrah were away attending boarding school.
The air was heavy in the hall with the smell of roasted chicken, lamb and fresh baked sweets. Its black and green walls were draped with the royal family colours Black, green and gold: The golden eagle of House Shaka against a black background in a ring of green flame. At the other end of the table was a free-standing Uhuru banner planted behind where they were seated.
A plump teenaged Volgag from the Chrine Tribe with orange hair that matched her eyes, sang an upbeat balled from the minstrel’s gallery alongside a live string and woodwind quintet. But her lovely voice could scarcely be ward above the din of the one hundred guests eating, drinking and being merry. The feast was well into its third hour and Zaria was bored beyond belief. Even her multiple cups of wine could not ease her mood. She used her perfectly manicured hands to smooth out her finely pleated gold tunic. The fabric of the long elegant dress had been created using unstable molecules, which automatically adjusted themselves to the shape of their wearers’ body. And the queen’s body was still quite shapely and firm despite bearing four children and passing the age of forty this past summer. The queen’s intense almond shaped eyes roamed the great hall and she caught her brother-in-law, the Duke of Karnak staring at her supple breasts. When the Duke realized that he had been seen, he swiftly returned his attention to finishing his supper.
Poor Tornu. Zaria laughed privately. That skinny dolt has wanted to bed me since even before Bornu and I were married!
Zaria sipped some more wine and laughed inwardly again. But then who could blame him? She continued. After all I am the most desirable woman in three kingdoms. She felt her diamond crown slip slightly amidst her halo of black kinky hair and crooked a finger to signal over her lead handmaiden. She was a seventeen year old beauty with the face and body of a young goddess named Anath. The young girl hurried over and curtsied before her queen.
“How may I serve you, your grace?” Anath asked Zaria breathlessly.
What is it about this young trollop that I cannot stand?! Zaria thought meanly.
“My crown has become loose, girl. It needs to be tightened and keep your grubby little hands out of my hair”, the queen whispered between clenched teeth.
“Yes, your grace”, Anath obediently replied and rushed to fix Zaria’s crown. She made sure that her slender fingers did not come intact with the queen’s luscious head of hair.
Zaria’s eyes slid to the right side of her where the king was seated and caught him casting glances at her or Anath. She could not be certain which but Bornu looked away before she could be sure.
Damn him! Zaria cursed silently. If I find out that he is fucking this little harlot, I will——.
“Is there anything else, my queen?” Anath’s melodic voice cut off the rest of Zaria’s thoughts.
“Nothing!” The queen snapped a little louder than she intended. “Return to my drawing room for the remainder of the evening. I have no further use for you”.
Anath curtsied and replied, “Yes, your grace”, with the most polite of voices. But then Zaria caught a very quick subtle exchange of smiles between her and the king before she walked away.
He is fucking her! Zaria seeth
ed. I swear by the Creator, I will kill him in his sleep!
The fact that her husband or any other man for that matter, would have need for another women when they had her was beyond comprehension.
AKUNA
Akuna pulled uncomfortably at the green and black cape around his neck. He had detested the wearing of formal clothes since he had been a toddler. He remembered back when he was just six or seven years old poking holes in his brand new dress pants with a dining fork. His mother had been so furious that she banished him to his bedchambers for a day and a half.
The prince watched his father and Lord Malon converse privately by one of the large bay windows. The sun was setting on the palace and the sun rays cast an orange glow on the king’s dark brown skin.
The two of them are so different. It is a wonder that have been friends for so long. Akuna remarked to himself. King Shaka was tall, elegant and broad shouldered, with long greying dreadlocks reaching the end of his back. Lord Malon was short and plump with short curly grey hair that was rapidly receding from his forehead. Yet the two powerful men had remained close friends for more than two decades, oft times the king even seeking out the fabled industrialist for counsel.
