The Alienbutt Saga, Book 1. War of the Coffee Bean. Part 42.

General Jee sat reading the report put before him; it was above top secret and had come from an organisation that didn’t exist. He knew this for definite, as he was a leading member of the organisation that didn't exist. The spy in the Ick High Command had managed to send information about a mission to rescue Wickede, who wasn’t as dead as the organisation hoped. Attached was the information on how to build the engine that was being used, but the spy couldn’t help with the fuel additive, although he did state what it was.
Jee turned on his computer and typed in the password needed to review all prisoners held within the Federation prison service. Entering a second password, he came to a much shorter list that numbered prisoners on no other list that were held by the Federation. One name stood out. He was in suspended animation and had been held for over six hundred years on a motoring offence. Smiling, he began to write the release forms so the prisoner could be released into the custody of the cybernetics department of the organisation that didn’t exist. The organisation would also start building the ship and engine needed so the released prisoner could hunt down and kill Wickede and Alienbutt. By the time the ship was ready the prisoner would be upgraded and reprogrammed into an unstoppable killing machine.
General Jee sat back and smiled. Everything was going to plan again, and very soon he would be in a position to act. He would be the first Emperor of the universe and his control would be total. First he would destroy the Ick and then remove the head of his own organisation and any other of the council that could be a threat, and he would rule the universe unchallenged.

CHAPTER 18
Hope and Dream.

INTERSTELLAR NEWS CHANNEL 9 NEWS FLASH

As the war against the Ick rebels drags into its tenth month, unrest continues to build as more anti-war protests have been broken up by security forces. With no sign of any gains in the war and static fronts being set up around Ick space and large areas of the Outer Systems, calls for a peace deal are growing. On a number of worlds security forces have been deployed to stem rebel insurgents from seizing control. Now a total of thirty planets have been brought under direct control of the Federal Security Council. This does not include those already controlled by the Coffee Houses.

In the months that Nifty had been in hiding, Mr. Fluffy had been busy. His first job had been to reprogram the ship’s medical computer to implant an altered human interface chip into the back of his skull. With that done, he could link in straight to the ship’s computer and had quickly altered all security controls to himself, while sending false information to Nifty so as not to alert her of his plans. Reprogramming the sleeping crew to obey him had proved more difficult and for some reason Blackarachnia was immune to his efforts to brainwash him. In need of certain supplies not available on the ship, he had sent a message to the leaders of the Coffee Houses offering a trade. He had revived two of the senior ship’s technicians and set them to work building a body suit for him. In a storage hold he had found damaged robotic infantry and battle armour collected over Blackarachnia's career. When finished, within a week or so he would be ready to make his move. Nifty he would hunt down himself but he would allow the Coffee House human to deal with Blackarachnia in return for the materials to build a suit worthy of him, and not the cobbled together one he would have to use to hunt Nifty. Very soon he would be ready to reveal his brilliance to the universe as he claimed it for himself.

Hydroponic sat on the river bank in the shade of a cherry blossom tree that kept shedding pink petals over him as the gentle breeze moved the branches. It was a warm spring morning, just perfect for fishing. He knew that he should be doing something important, but the fish were biting and his keep-net was filling up. Suddenly a large trout poked its head above the water and seemed to look directly at him. This struck him as strange, but when the fish spoke he found it even more so.
“Listen up, my sister Hope is coming to visit you. Listen to what she says.”
“I’m going to meet two speaking fish? Wow! You spend your life never meeting one, then two show up in the same day.”
“Don’t be a lump! I’m not a fish. I just needed an easy way to get into your dream so I could get my sister in here too, so I chose this form to appear and deliver my message. Fish seem to be something that catches your attention.”
With that the fish dropped beneath the water’s surface and swam off. Hydroponic shrugged his shoulders. The fact he had just seen a talking fish didn't seem odd, and he returned his attention back to watching the float that bobbed around near a clump of reeds by the far bank. After a few minutes he became aware of a young woman sat beside him. He couldn’t seem to focus on what she looked like, or if he could, he instantly forgot when he looked away.
“Hi, I’m Hope,” she said in a pleasant tone.
“You don’t look like your brother,” replied Hydroponic, returning his attention to his float. He was having a great time fishing and was not happy at all the interruptions.
“Dream doesn’t usually look like that, but I needed a quiet word with you without the rest of the family finding out, so I needed to get inside your head.”
Hydroponic considered this a moment and then shrugged. It was strange how in dreams such things didn’t freak you out.
“Look, Fate and Destiny really buggered things up so now we are all running around trying to sort things as they happen. Alienbutt shouldn’t be here in your reality, but he is and I like him so I’m going to help you all out. Here’s what you’ve got to do when you wake up.”

To be continued.
Thanks for reading, all images are mine.