The Second Book of the Alienbutt Saga. The Rise of Mr Fluffy. Part 59.

He was halfway back to his ship when the grenade exploded. As the echoes died of that explosion he heard the ping of the lift arriving. Alienbutt turned and saw the doors begin to open, the lift full of people. The cord connecting the two halves of the sphere snapped. Alienbutt dived for cover, expecting an explosion. After a moment he lifted his head to see the five off-worlders run out of the lift and begin to fire their guns at him. Caught in the open, Alienbutt’s metallic arm, still holding the assault rifle, reacted and returned fire, causing his attackers to dive for the floor as the high velocity rounds ripped into the wall and lift doors. One hit the intended booby trap and a giant fireball ripped across the hangar. Again the station’s safety system sprang to life, spraying foam down to smother the flames.

Alienbutt sat up. He was covered in foam, his hair and clothing singed by the fireball. Looking over towards the lift he picked out the bodies of the assailants lying on the floor, smoke rising from their foam-covered bodies. The lift doors were ripped apart, the mangled edges still glowing red and pinging as they cooled. Only the distance and fact that he had been lying down had prevented him from being caught up in the inferno of the booby trap’s blast.
“Damn, next time I’ll read the instructions, not just look at the pictures,” Alienbutt said to himself.
Getting back to his feet he reached into his bag and pulled out a fresh bottle of whiskey. Opening the lid, he took a drink. After half draining the bottle he looked down at his metallic hand.
“When this is over, me and you are having a talk.” The hand gave him a thumbs-up. “Oh Sung, please let this be a bad trip from Quint’s drugs,” Alienbutt said, before pressing a button on his wrist-com as he lifted his arm to speak.
“Glarfel, are you there?”
“Commander Alienbutt, what’s going on? There’s explosion and fire alarms going off all over around the hangar.”
“Just introducing myself to Quint’s men. You need to patch me through to wherever Quint is; I think I should talk to him,” Alienbutt asked. After a moment Glarfel said she was ready.

Quint stood waiting with the remaining members of his men. The sound of an explosion had rocked the stairwell, while the lift had reached the hangar and then gone out of service. With no response from any of his men, those remaining had started to quietly murmur amongst themselves and he knew they were nervous. Suddenly Crugack’s radio crackled to life. Bending down he picked it up.

To be continued.
All images are mine.