The Second Book of the Alienbutt Saga. The Rise of Mr Fluffy. Part 7.

A MOMENT FOR WHISKEY.
Chapter 2.

INTERSTELLAR NEWS CHANNEL 9. NEWS FLASH.

In light of yesterday’s attack on the coffee bean facilities on the planet Sloppystool and the murder of all the prominent personnel there, the E.D.F. today announced there will be increased security at all facilities. It is believed that the one-time bounty hunter Blackarachnia was responsible for the attack and is now acting as an assassin for the Ick. It is believed the Ick are now co-ordinating terrorist attacks against the Coffee Houses and Federal forces in a bid to disrupt life in the inner systems.
An earlier cyber-attack by Ick operatives has led to the collapse of the Federal Wide Web with engineers still struggling to restore service. Communication within the Inner Systems has been dealt a major blow with only military service unaffected. Blackarachnia is also wanted for questioning in relation to the murder of his wife, known to millions on Earth as Nifty the Niffler, who was Earth’s oldest surviving lady. Nifty shot to fame with the story of how she had been kidnapped from pre-space Earth in her youth and ended up frozen in suspended animation aboard a trading vessel that was lost in space for six centuries. General Jee, head of inner system security has issued a kill on sight order, stating that Blackarachnia is dangerous and not to be approached without full backup.

Wickede sat at the head of the table sipping a glass of whiskey. He had returned to this dimension and immediately launched a counter-attack against the Federation, rolling back their forces with a series of victories. Sending out Frank's formula to cure the coffee addiction symptoms, a number of fleets conscripted to the Federation Navies had cleaned up their crews and switched sides, but on the whole these new forces were not very well trained or equipped. Now they had to train and equip these new forces to get them up to fighting standard, which would be a drain on their overstretched resources. The war had now come to a standstill as each side prepared for the next move, neither side able to deal the killing blow.
The down side to this lull in hostilities was now Wickede had the time to worry about his missing friends. Alienbutt was lost in another dimension and they didn’t know if he had survived the battle with the cyborg Alienbutt. Still recovering from the effects of the cyborg fart attack, Wickede had needed three blood transfusions and even now, almost a month after his return, he found himself tiring easily.
Without the Alienbutt gas essence there was no way to mount a rescue mission despite Frank’s obsessive attempts to simulate the fuel enhancer. Frank now worked in a new laboratory, working alone apart from the robot Kirk, who insisted that Frank take regular breaks to watch Star Trek and now the old earth series Lost in Space. Irony seemed to be totally lost on the robot. Snoodgrass feared for the scientist’s sanity with him being closeted away with just the robot, while Wickede knew better. Frank's sanity had never been fully there to begin with so it wouldn't be a problem if he lost a little more of it.

Blackarachnia had disappeared off the radar, full of grief when he thought his wife was dead. The only good news was that thanks to his old partner Hydroponic’s swift action, Nifty not only still lived, but her injuries were healed. She was still in a coma showing no signs of waking, but the doctors insisted she was out of danger and would make a full recovery. While no one knew where Blackarachnia was, it was not taking long before they discovered where he had been, as he was not being subtle in his actions and retribution. Snoodgrass was receiving regular reports from his spies on the bounty hunter's actions. Now members of the Coffee Houses were screaming out for extra security as word of the fate of their companions spread.

To be continued.
All images are mine.