Caesar73 wrote: ↑2 years ago
GreyLord wrote: ↑2 years ago
Caesar73 wrote: ↑2 years ago
Dear @GreyLord I will have to read this latest Chapter of your epic tale again, because it is so rich in Detail and simply worth reading it more than once. On first remark: I liked the Scene in the Tavern very much, they way Carlos took out the Tugs. It will be interessting to see how Summer will react!
[...]
The Tavern scene was fun to write. Soon Stella will show that she is a badass also.
Looking forward to it. I can´t wait so see Stella kicking some ass
After being tied up as much as she has, Stella is ready to do some ass kicking. Just a few more chapters til then.
Bandit666 wrote: ↑2 years ago
Well what can I say. It taken me a few days to get through this epic tale. Though at first I wasn’t sure if it was me. I’m not one for sci-fi. But it simply doesn’t read the way I initially expected. In fact it more like the traditional western you wished had been played on in the big screen. And as my esteemed fellow writer @Caesar73 stated. The detail is fantastic. Please keep up the great work it’s truly appreciated
Thank you so much for your remarks, [mention]Bandit666[/mention]. I hope that I haven't missed an earlier comment from you. Welcome to the Bandit Scout. I hope that you will continue to enjoy the story as it unfolds.
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You have kindly posted comments on my story. That is appreciated very much. Please continue to tell me what you think about
The Bandit Scout on Newhome. If you would like your tag removed from this list, send me a PM to that effect.
In this next chapter, you will get a little better glimpse of Summer and a much closer look at Helen.
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Chapter 28 (M/F) – They learn about Helen
Summer Johansson had not expected her men to prevail against Carlos McTavrish. He had a longstanding reputation for being tough, gained from his years of experience as Wagon Master. The almost incoherent report they received from their hand, John, added to that reputation but was fuzzy in the detail. But she had expected her men to get at least a few grams of flesh in the process. As far as she could determine, other than a few words, the encounter had lasted about a second. She had not heard anything previously indicating that he was a master swordsman. That kind of training took many years.
Moreover, his encounter with her two men at the oasis showed that he was superior at barehanded fighting as well. That was not unexpected. But not many barehanded fighters would go against two swordsmen. She was dealing with a very superior person here.
He could be a danger to her, or he could be a prized asset. She would have to play this very carefully. The role of the Bandit Scout was not very clear either. Every indication she had received showed that the Scout was a closely guarded prisoner who had learned not to give trouble. The daughter of a Bandit Chief who had shown her capability as a Scout would not submit to that kind of treatment willingly. Roy said that she was dressed more scantily than a tart and was bound cruelly. But two things didn't seem right. First, Carlos treated her like a lady even though he kept her bound. Second, when they left the room, the girl's attitude changed. She acted like a partner, maintaining watch even tied up. That might be the most troubling thing about all of this.
It was going to take a personal evaluation to resolve. That was what she was so good at doing. In the morning, she would send the McTavrishs an invitation to lunch. She would have to show enough of her cards for them to know this was a serious game. Then she would make an offer that they couldn't refuse. She would continue to think carefully about which of her cards to show and what offer to make.
The following morning, she sent an assistant to ask Mr. Jackson to drop by immediately. Naturally, it was only a few minutes until Jackson was at her door.
“Thank you for coming promptly, Jackson. I have an invitation that I would like you to deliver to the McTavrishs by 9 am this morning. Will that be a problem?” She handed Jackson a envelope.
“No, Ms. Summer, I am delivering breakfast at 8 am and can give them your invitation then.”
“Good, I appreciate your assistance in this matter.”
-----
At 8 am, Jackson loaded Helen with a breakfast tray to take to the top floor suite. The tray was filled with link sausages, scrambled eggs, grits, country ham, toast, hash brown potatoes, and red-eye gravy. And a carafe of coffee and a pitcher of juice. Helen was dressed more demurely than last night but was still very attractive.
At the top of the stairs, she set the platter on a side table and knocked on the door. Carlos opened it for her and asked her to put the platter on the bed. Helen was quick to notice that Stella was entirely free, propped up in bed with a silk robe around her. Carlos had fires burning briskly in both the bedroom and the sitting room.
Stella said, “Good morning, Helen. Could I ask if you have any special plans for today? Could you assist me.”
“If Jackson approves, then I am at your service, ma'am. I will check with him right away. When would you like me to come?"
“In an hour would be fine. Would you arrange for hot water for the tub to be delivered then as well?”
“Surely. On your platter, there is an envelope from Summer Johansson. I am to see that you receive it.”
“Wait while we see what this is. Carlos, we have a message from Summer. Let's see what it says before Helen leaves. We might have a reply."
Carlos said, “Open it up, dear.”
She did and announced, "We are invited to lunch with her at the Cattle Club at noon. Since we are just getting settled here, I think a verbal response will be alright. I assume that you want to go."
“Of course. Helen, can you have the Inn send a messenger to Summer saying that we will be pleased to meet her at noon?
“And, Helen," Carlos added, I do hope that we can rely on you to keep whatever you may see or hear in this room private. For example, I would not like it known that my mate was not bound when you arrived. Is that clear, and do you agree?"
“Certainly, Mr. McTavrish. I will not have a problem keeping anything about you to myself. No one around here has stood up to the Johanssons that I know of, and it was refreshing to see. I also see a lot of what is happening in Cold Water Springs from working at the Tavern. I will be happy to share anything with you. First, I should tell you that the manager, Roy, belongs to Summer Johansson. The Cattle Club is a private club for the Johanssons and those that they favor. And, I would like to add, no one in Cold Water Springs has ever seen a sword drawn as fast as you did last night. And, my full name is Helen Wayne.”
At 9 am, Helen returned to the third-floor suite and knocked. Again, Carlos opened the door. Stella was still in her silk robe but was in the sitting room. Carlos said, "It is my wish that you provide Stella with whatever she may require. She speaks with my full authority." To Stella, he said, "I am going to check on the horses and wagon. I will take a walk around town while I am at it. See that the door is locked and latched until I return. Helen, admit no one except me."
Helen replied, “Hotel staff will arrive in a few minutes with hot water for the bath. Shall I send them away?”
“You know them individually?” Helen nodded, yes. “Then let them bring in the water while Stella is out of sight. Lock up again when they leave.”
Carlos departed. Stella said, “Helen, I’m sure you know all the stores in town. Your first task will be to procure satisfactory clothing for my lunch with Summer. And two more outfits, for now, that I can wear to the Tavern and about town.”
Rita Smith in Round Rock had measured Stella for all of her sizes. Stella passed that information on to Helen. "Do I need to write any of that down for you?"
“No, Ms. Stella. I have a good memory. And I think I can pick out things that you will like. I know just where to go.”
There was a knock at the suite's door. Stella got up and went to the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Helen went to the entrance and looked through the peephole. She saw it was the staff with the hot water. She opened the door and they filled the tub leaving extra buckets of hot water. Helen followed Carlos' instructions and carefully locked up when they left.
Helen went back into the sitting room, where Stella was already peeling off her robe for her bath. Stella had a small sack of coin which she gave to Helen. "This should be completely adequate for the clothes. I will lock up behind you."
“Ms. Stella, you are so beautiful. There is no one in Cold Water Springs to compare with you.” Her face was slightly pink at seeing Stella completely naked.
Stella put her arm around Helen and guided her to the door. “Helen, you should call me Stella. Carlos and I are not much for formality.”
“This is so confusing. The rumor going around is that Carlos kidnapped you. But you are not kidnapped at all, are you? He just ties you up, so people will believe you are kidnapped. But last night, you were tied up so completely and so sexily. Doesn't that bother you?"
“No, Helen. It is a lot of fun for me when Carlos ties me up.”
“I wish I had someone I could trust to tie me up. I think I understand. I think it would be a lot of fun if the right person ties you up," Carmen said as she peeked to be sure nobody was outside their door, unlocked it, and slipped out. Stella locked up behind her and hurried to the bath. "A hot bath is one of the good things in life," she thought as she immersed herself.
When Carlos returned, she was back in her robe, waiting for Helen to bring her an outfit. She told him to get in the tub for a quick bath as well. He did, and she sponged his back. He finished and dressed in clean clothes for their meeting with Summer. A knock announced Helen had arrived.
At Stella's direction, Helen laid out her selection on the bed. High heeled knee-high dark leather boots, a dark leather riding skirt, a brown silk shirt slightly lighter in color than the skirt, and a fur-lined jacket in deference to the cold weather. The jacket was a lighter brown. There were also several panties and bras.
“You have a perfect eye, Helen. Thank you. I am very pleased with your selection. You can show me the rest when we return. Now, I think that Carlos has some questions for you. Do you mind him asking?"
“No, not at all. I have been expecting you to question me.”
“Let’s move into the sitting room. Stella, why don’t you get dressed and join us?”
After Carlos and Helen were seated comfortably, Carlos said, “Helen, you know I was Wagon Master for many years. I had to learn to judge people’s character very quickly. My assessment of you tells me that you are no friend of the Johanssons. Am I right?”
“Carlos, Stella said to call you that. My father had a small ranch and worked hard to make a go of it. After we lost my mom to fever, Carl Johansson approached him to buy the Wayne Ranch. The Diamond Bar Ranch is constantly expanding. He even offered a fair price, but my dad didn't want to sell. I was 16 at the time, and young men were starting to show an interest in me. Dad wanted the ranch to be mine. So Dad told Carl no.
“Not long after that, Dad was returning from town with supplies, and, supposedly, the horses started running away. The wagon overturned, and Dad was killed. The day after the funeral, the Magistrate came to see me. I thought he was coming to put the ranch in my name. Instead, he told me that Dad had recently incurred heavy gambling debt. He showed me papers as proof. They had what looked like Dad's signature, but I didn't believe it. Dad had always told me that gambling was a great evil that only hurt people. The debt was just over what Carl had offered to pay for the ranch.
“The court forced the sale, which still left me in debt. I have been working at the Drop In Tavern ever since, trying to get out of debt. I am also looking for a way to prove that my father did not gamble. I believe that Johansson rigged the proof of his debt and killed him to get the ranch."
Stella came in and sat beside Helen. She could see that Helen was on the verge of tears from telling the story. Stella put her arm around Helen and pulled her into a tight hug.
“I heard the whole story, Carlos. What do you think?”
“Helen, I believe every word that you said. And that includes your belief that your father was murdered. Let me tell you the rest of my assessment of you. I think that you are highly intelligent. You would have eventually solved this on your own. But now you will have our help. When we get back from meeting Summer, we will tell you our entire story, including why we are here. That will take most of the afternoon. One question before we leave. Where does Jackson stand in all of this?”
“Carlos, I don't have any evidence, but I believe that he is independent. He defers to everyone, but I don't believe that he is on the Johanssons side. I suspect that you already know that Carl is not the leader. Summer is."
“Yes, that fits what we have heard. Stella, you look damn good in that outfit. Are you ready to go and meet Summer?”
“I am ready. How do we do this?”
“We will continue our role in public. Put your jacket on.”
Stella did, and Carlos bound her hands behind her back to Helen's big eyes.
Stella said, “Until this operation, we were very private with our bondage.”
“We are going to need two more keys. One for each of you. Are you ready to leave now, Helen, or do you want to wait here for us to return?”
“I am ready to leave. I will see you after your lunch. It should be a good one.”
In the lobby, Jackson smiled at their approach. Helen went on to the Tavern.
“I hope you are finding your accommodations satisfactory, Mr. McTavrish, Ms. McTavrish?"
“Indeed they are,” said Carlos. My mate has found Helen most helpful this morning. Can we make that a permanent arrangement for our stay?”
“I would be delighted to assign her to you. I assume that you are going to your lunch with Ms. Summer. Is there anything else that I can do for you at this time?”
“Yes, there is. Would you make two more keys for us?” handing Jackson the key.
“That is not a problem. I will have the keys ready when you return.
“We thank you for all of your assistance, Jackson,” Stella said. “The breakfast this morning was excellent.”
“I'm glad you enjoyed it. And if I can say so, you look terrific in that outfit. Mr. McTavrish, I do hope that I am not overstepping my bounds. But it is also very nice to see Ms. McTavrish ungagged and boundless severely."
“Indeed, we will see you after we meet Summer.”
-----
Jason and Jasmine were waiting for them when they exited the lander the following morning. They found that the AIs had indeed improved theeir ability to translate the native’s speech. They were invited to the village for breakfast. Jasmine walked next to Buzz. The AI, from Buzz’s armband, said to her, "I am sorry that I did not know the meaning of nipple yesterday. I do hope that my ignorance did not cause you great stress. Will you forgive me?"
“Yes, and I forgive Buzz for not touching my breast also. Your voice in the village last night explained that they are mates and do not play sexually with others. Buzz, I am sorry if I caused you stress. I did not know this custom of your. Please excuse my behavior?”
“There is nothing to excuse, Jasmine. When different cultures meet, it takes time to develop understanding. I hope that you know that I think you are very beautiful and desirable. If I weren’t married, I would court you very hard.”
Jasmine was smiling as they entered the village.
The breakfast was a feast with eggs and different meats. Lou told the Chief that they must return to the Argonaut to study the blood sample, but they would return in a few days with the Chief's permission. The Chief asked if they could keep the communications device and that they would like to study the English language. Lou agreed but cautioned there would be times in which they could not communicate.
Chief Iron Eyes was congenial with Buzz. He mentioned that they all felt there was something mystical about the communications devices. If the communication devices appeared to be magic, the idea of the lander flying away was beyond comprehension.
Buzz looked at Lou and got a nod of approval. He said to the Chief, "You are all welcome to come and watch us depart. We can show you where to stand so that it will be safe."
“Will we be able to talk to you with the devices?”
Lou answered, "Yes, except for the times when there are no communications."
“Would it be alright for my people to study your language as well? The device said it could help.”
“Of course, that would be wonderful,” replied Lou.
“We will look forward to seeing you again soon. Are you ready to leave now?”
The entire village followed them back to the lander. It would only take a minute to prep for the lander to depart. Buzz paced off a hundred meters and told the Chief, "Please stay this distance from the lander until it is gone. When we go inside, it will take about one hundred heartbeats for us to prepare. We both are looking forward to seeing you again too.”
Buzz and Lou entered the lander and started the AI computing the rendezvous with the Argonaut. In less than a minute, they lifted off and were soon out of sight of the natives.
Chief Iron Eyes announced, “We have just seen the history of our world change. It will never be the same again. I think that we are fortunate that Commander Lou and Buzz are friendly and want to help us. If they were not, I do not doubt that they could destroy us. Remember this day. Tell your children about it over and over. Now we must wait to see what happens and if they return.”
-----
On the Argonaut, the quick analysis of the blood DNA showed the natives were human. It would take the rest of the day for the complete analysis. Lou sent messages to Earth with the final results, but the limitation of the speed of light weighed heavily on them. It would be 48 years before Earth knew that there was human life on this planet. What decisions would people on Earth make before they knew about the human life on this planet?
“Buzz, this is the first time that I don't want to be the Captain of the Argonaut. It is too much responsibility with too few options to do anything constructive. Help me! What do we do now?"
“Oh, Lou. You are the only one of us who could be the Captain. You know I will help in any way that I can. You are thinking about the natives, aren't you? What can we do to prepare them so that our civilization does not overwhelm and destroy their culture?"
“As always, you went right to the heart of the matter. Right now, I am going to declare today and tonight a holiday. Then we will plan to the best of our ability. Is that alright with you?”
“Yes, Lou. The past few days have been most eventful. And stressful. I must admit that I am still stressed over my encounter with Jasmine. I keep wondering if I failed to do something that I should have. I think you know what I mean.”
“I do, Buzz. And that leads me into the next part of this conversation. I told you that I have discovered the joy of bondage. Hopefully I demonstrated that to you after your encounter with Jasmine. But I know that it is part of an entire culture about which I know nothing. I thought that you could use our stand downtime to give me a more in-depth introduction. Would you be interested in doing that? I think that it would take both of our minds off of our professional problems. We can return to them at full strength tomorrow."
“Lou, I would be thrilled to share everything that I know with you. But it is a big subject, and I only know a small part. Bondage is part of a subject called BDSM or Bondage, Discipline, SadoMasochism. The ship library will have everything you can ask about the subject, including different interpretations of BDSM. For example, some say the DS stands for Dominant/Submissive. I don't think that any of that matters very much. What is important is that a couple finds what they like and enjoy. Is there something that you think that you would like?"
“Is it alright to ease into this? I have looked at some bondage videos. I don't think I would ever like really being hurt. But some light pain might be a turn-on. Some bondage looks to me like it goes too far. Some look hard but might be alright for short sessions. What I would like to try is maybe having just my hands tied but for a long time to see if I get used to it."
Buzz said, there is nothing wrong with that. Do you want to do that now?”
“Sure, let me change clothes first. I think I should dress in something you can easily remove if you want to. It is kind of funny, but you know you are the only person that I have ever known that I would trust to do this. I will put on a bikini."
Minutes later, Lou returned wearing a bright red bikini. Buzz said, “You look very sexy, Lou. There are many different ways to tie your hands. I think a cross wrists tie will be best for this.” She turned her back to Buzz and crossed her wrists for him.
“Your wrists make an X. I will start by making a lark’s head horizontally and making a second loop in that direction.” He did that. “Notice that it is not too tight. I don’t want to cut off any of your circulation. Now I will continue with two vertical loops.” which he did. Because there are two strands of rope coming out of the lark’s head, you now have four strands in each direction. Now I will take out any slack with a cinch. Let’s move over to a mirror so you can see.”
“Thank you, Buzz. I would like to see what you are doing. Okay, I see that my wrists do make an X and your ropes make a +. Show me the cinch. The end of the second vertical loop ended at the top of her crossed wrists. Buzz split the two strands, one going clockwise and the other counter-clockwise between her wrists. At the bottom of her wrists, he tugged them gently tight and continued around to the top again. There he tied a simple square knot after pulling the rope strands tight enough to remove any slack in Lou’s wrist bonds.
“You see, the knot is well out of reach of your fingers. If you are tied well, you should not be able to free yourself. That means that you trust me and give yourself to me. At the same time, you should not feel any undue tightness. Do you?”
“No, this is fine. I feel like this will be alright all afternoon. Or until you untie me, of course. You are in charge now.”
“Yes, but we will still do things by mutual consent. Right now, I suggest that we walk around a bit for you to get the feel of being tied up."
“That sounds like a good idea. I can see that any ladders will be off-limits for me. Let's try the kitchen. I would like a drink of water."
In the kitchen, Lou found that she could not reach the cabinet to get a glass. Buzz was going for her when she said, "Wait, if you would, Buzz. I am exploring possibilities. I would like to see if there are other options before I have to get your help."
“Good, you are thinking about how to adapt to being tied up. You are very limber. You can easily stretch your hands back to turn on the faucet. Then you can turn around and drink straight from the faucet."
Lou tried that and found she could easily get a drink of water, at least in her present bondage. They continue their stroll around the Argonaut.
Lou said, “I wonder what the AIs think about this?”
The ship AI answered, "We have always known that you humans are strange creatures that do strange things. You are showing us another example."
Lou grinned at that and bumped Buzz with her hip. At the media room, Lou said, “Could we stop here for a while? I would like to watch some bondage videos.”