Cyberdryad Guardian Friends: Trouble in Bogsquat Swamp - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Later next afternoon, Rusakina was preparing to enter her living quarters after their lunch with Senator Czartashian. She had filled up on four pulled pork Reuben sliders served along with chipotle burgeroni bites and pumpkin spice eggplant fries drizzled in cream sauce, and washed them down with two sweetly spicy ghost pepper mojitos. Consequently, her belly was swollen with satisfaction, making a cute little bulge in the tummy of her black designer dress, just above the skirt. When she entered the entry spot just before the kitchen and living room area, she saw that Senator Czartashian had already entered their living area ahead of her, and was standing with Dr. Elena Marshall, waiting for her.

"Senator!" Rusakina said. "Is everything all right?"

Senator Czartashian nodded. "You know, I spoke to all your friends, Rusakina," she said, "and they all said that you were the M.V.P. last night, that you were first on the scene and it was your bravery and tenacity that won the battle. I just thought it would be appropriate to personally thank you one more time, and do you a favor to repay your help."

"Well, gosh, you bought me lunch with all my friends already," Rusakina said, shuffling her feet in Mariko's pretty designer pumps. "I can't ask anything more of you."

"No, I believe that there's definitely something I can do," Senator Czartashian said, and her full lips quirked in a knowing smile. "Watch this."

Rusakina was transfixed as she watched the Senator produce a terrycloth washcloth from her purse. Then she took a bottle of Dr. Neat surface cleaner and sprayed it vigorously over the stainless steel countertop in the kitchen, let it stand a few seconds, and scrubbed away the crumbs and the drying strawberry jam and cashew butter that had left it such a mess. In seconds, the stainless steel countertop glowed pristinely, free from the hated mess that had plagued it, and Senator Czartashian put the washcloth away with a benevolent smile. Rusakina felt as though she could wilt from happiness!

"There you go," she said to Rusakina. "I had suspected that might make you happy."

"Thank you so much, Senator!" Rusakina ran forward, overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement, and gave Senator Czartashian a big hug. Over her shoulder, she saw the clear, shining surface of the clean countertop, and joy soared within her heart.

"You're welcome," Senator Czartashian said, "and thank you, again. For everything. Now I should be going. I've got all the guys waiting in my car: Judas has agreed to help me keep house with his fairy magic, while I've recruited Webster as a personal household guardian. Kurlag too; it's always good to have a troll around." She smiled. "They'll be paid well for their efforts, and you can come visit them at my place whenever you like."

"I'd like that," Rusakina said, pleased that the guys had gotten good, well-paying jobs from their heroics.

"Also Gil says thanks, again," Senator Czartashian said. She frowned. "And... he made some other offers and comments where you're concerned, which I'm probably doing you a favor by not repeating."

Rusakina's nose crinkled. "You can't approve of your daughter dating that clown," she said. "I mean, you're her mom, and he's trying to hit on me through you!"

Senator Czartashian shrugged. "Yeah, he's an asshole, but we're neighbors," she said, "and his old man's got pictures of the time when I got plastered, climbed up on their roof, and shit down their chimney because I was pissed about their dog getting into my back yard and tearing up the flowers again. You'd better believe that could cost me a re-election if it got out!" She laughed. "So I've gotta keep relations good between our families, you see." She checked her watch. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be due in two hours for my group acupuncture appointment with the Speaker of the House, Benito Greyjoy, and I've got just enough time to drop everybody off and be on my way."

"Isn't he a member of the opposing party?" Rusakina said, frowning. "I thought you hated him!"

"We're trying to build bridges and work across the aisle to pass some bipartisan legislation," Senator Czartashian said. "Besides, his oldest son's got a set of abs that you could do your laundry on, and before election season starts up again, I intend to do exactly that." She grinned lasciviously.

"Goodbye, then," Rusakina said, with a wave and a soft smile, "and tell the guys I said hi. And I'll visit soon."

After the Senator's departure, Dr. Elena Marshall put a hand on Rusakina's shoulder. "I've never been more proud of all of you," she said. "You're all like daughters to me. You know that, right?"

"You've made us what we are," Rusakina said. She pursed her lip, thoughtfully. "I mean, literally, you put the cybernetic implants in us and transformed us into part-machine super-soldiers. But also as a metaphor, too. You taught us well. And thank you, for that and for everything."

Rusakina watched out the large bay window, and saw the Senator's SUV turning off onto a street that would carry her towards the highway to the airport. She was thinking about Judas, Kurlag, and Webster as she watched the vehicle disappear, and the intimate moments they had shared. It made her body aroused to recall it, but it also made her heart wistful. Yet her place was as a protector, as a member of GAEA-Shield One, and she just couldn't afford to give her love wholeheartedly to someone right now. Behind her, she was vaguely aware of Chancelly and Mariko entering the room.

"Hey, Russie, how'd your one-on-one with the Senator go?" Chancelly asked.

"It was good," Rusakina said as she stared off into space, distant and distracted. She started to hum the old style dirty country blues number that Judas had played during their dance, pressing her thighs together as she enjoyed the feelings and the memories.

"You okay?" Chancelly pressed. "What's gotten into you, anyway?"

Rusakina giggled. "Three different, magnificent cocks," she said, "and each one was incredible." Ignoring Mariko's groan and the scandalized gasps from Chancelly and Dr. Elena, she fell back on the sofa, kicking her legs out in languid happiness and savoring the warmth of the afternoon sun as it shone through the large bay window.

"...and in financial news, the market tumbled nearly 600 points on the news that Senate Majority Leader Lynn Czartashian promises a filibuster of the Resource Harvesting, Industry, and Jobs Act..."

Several days after the battle in the swamp, Chief of Operations Burton Robertson turned off the television with the click of a remote control. He, and the other men and women on the Nailrazer Board of Directors, were all looking down the meeting table in the sterile, black-tiled board room at Nailrazer Headquarters. They were staring at Commander Octavia Spindel as she sat before them, dark circles of sleeplessness under her eyes, her uniform's blouse unbuttoned to the white cotton undershirt because her belly was already starting to swell with the unnaturally-fast-growing half-human, half-mutant-spider offspring that had been conceived when she mated with the giant mutant spider who called himself Webster, when she botched the extortion and toxic waste operation thanks to those meddling dryads. Now these humorless suits had reviewed her performance in the Bogsquat Swamp theater, and found it lacking.

"You understand, of course, that this is completely unacceptable, commander," Burton Robertson said. "Failure on the level of quality is not among the accepted core values of Nailrazer. We need to see a shift towards a success-oriented paradigm in the sphere of your duties, and without delay."

"You think you could've done better?" Commander Octavia snapped. "I fought my way up to this rank with bitterly won experience, and I'm sure you can tell when you look into my eyes, I've lost sleep over this outcome. I take it damn personally. I'm experienced, driven, and ready, and unless any of you are coming out from behind your desk to do the job yourselves, you'll let me see this thing through." She had fought too long and hard for her career to let these suits micromanage her from this boardroom, only to dismiss her for a narrow failure.

"You won't let us down again?" Burton Robertson asked, raising an eyebrow.

Octavia felt the half-spider baby twitch inside her, and she gently rubbed her pregnant belly. "I will end those pesky dryads and the threat they pose to our operations," she said with a grim smile, "no matter what sacrifices I must make, or what tactics I must resort to. Like I said, it's personal."

"Good," Burton Robertson said ominously, staring intensely down his glasses at Octavia and tapping a pen on his clipboard. A hateful tension, a feeling of darkness and greed reigned within this room, where ruthless glares were exchanged across the table and all considered how this recent turn might be best managed and manipulated to ensure maximum gain and profit.

Then Burton shuffled the papers in his hand, checked his phone, and cleared his throat. "Well, I think that about concludes this meeting," he said. "Oh, and Commander Spindel, you'll want to see Judy in HR right away about our maternity leave package, given these... unusual circumstances. Also, the annual company safety potluck's in two days, and I think it'd be a real shot in the arm for morale for all of us if you could bring some of your famous honeycrab salad in. What do you say?"

Octavia rolled her eyes. "I mean, I've got to pick Ben up from soccer practice tonight, and I'll probably just pick something up from a burger place for my own table," she said wearily. "And then I've still got to go to the store." She paused, chewing thoughtfully on her bottom lip. "But maybe tomorrow night, if my gaming group lets out early and Pierre can watch the kids, I can whip it up before bed and then bring it in..."

While business was soon back to normal in the Nailrazer offices, it was only a matter of time before they'd strike again.

The End