CHAPTER 28.3

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Approx. 1400 words

All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2015   SJ

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Slaanesh:

The Aura of Acquiescence

 

written by  SJ

 

 

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    Lucynda had parked her hovercar next to the narrow stone fence that connected two of the outstretched building wings of the mansion; between the two wings there was a walkway that led through a small courtyard up to the main double doors. Once she had been accepted inside, Melinda and her team watched the monitors carefully. On each side of the double doors, were windows, where, eventually, Lucynda’s outline could be seen past the hanging curtains. Her image would seem to move forward and disappear, then back again, one time right against the window. When she went out of sight once more, they were hoping she had been invited to talk to Melancholia herself. Then, after about five minutes, Lucynda seemed to stagger out of the door, then stumble through the courtyard back to her car.
    They watched as the hovercar returned to town.
    The hovercar seemed to waver a bit as it proceeded on course back to the team, sort like the driver was a little tipsy; and the vehicle was noticeably moving faster this time.
    Eventually, Melinda had to call. “Lucynda, are you alright?”
    The only answer was the fumbling of the phone...
    “Sergeant, are you alright?” Melinda asked, more determined. “Is there anything wrong?”
    It sounded like Lucynda was breathing hard. She sighed before answering. “I’ll tell you about it when I get back...okay?”
    This time Melinda sighed; but, she decided to wait...
    The town of Louvain had given the Federal team an available rental house to conduct their investigations from, minus the rent, of course. When Lucynda entered, it was like she still didn’t want to talk about what had happened. After she was asked several times about it, she frustratingly began. “Two men escorted me inside.” She sighed, then continued. “Well...the best way to describe them is they looked like male models.”
    The others looked at her curiously.
    “Several other men arrived, and they looked the same way.” She continued, hesitantly. “And they wore these tight outfits with bulging muscles...kind of like comic book super heroes.”
    “So, they sort of turned you on--” Koufax mentioned, but was put down.
    “LOOK!” Lucynda frowned angrily. “I’ve seen sexy men before. But, this was different.” She remained angry, struggling to explain, then just blurted it out. “I became horny as all hell, alright! When Melancholia showed up, she invited me to have sex with as many of the men as I wanted.” She began shouting. “It was like I could barely control myself. They kept enticing me. It was everything I could do just to get the hell out of there!” She suddenly became embarrassed.
    Melinda noticed it and had to console. “It’s okay, Lucynda. You did good. It’s okay.”
    Koufax stood wearing a snug tee-shirt, trying to look understanding. Lucynda looked at him, frowned and ordered, “put on a shirt!”
    The two men looked at each other, then suddenly realized why she said what she did. Koufax eventually spoke for both of them. “Do you want us to leave?”
    “No, no.” Lucynda apologized. “I’m sorry. It’s just...” She sighed again. “I was hoping the feeling would go away before I got back.”
    “So, you think it might be something Chaos related?” Melinda asked.
    “I hope so. I don’t think I could feel like this just because I saw a bunch of surgically enhancement men.”
    “You said you saw Melancholia, right?” Melinda was hoping. “What did she look like?”
    Another frustrated look came over Lucynda. “She was wearing a damn mask. She and her two Daxzan goons walked up on a balcony and looked down at me.” Her voice took on a mocking tone as she imitated Melancholia. “Hello...I’m glad you could join us. My men would love to HAVE you...and I’m sure you would love to HAVE them.”
    Petrovsky and Koufax couldn’t help but smile a bit...
    It was Melinda’s turn to sigh. “Well, I would have to say if this is Chaos related, it’s the weirdest one, yet.”
    Lucynda had to agree. “You, think!”
    When the female sergeant kept eyeing the two male members of her team, Melinda had to ask, “Lucynda, are you going to be alright?”
    She gave the team leader a beleaguered frown, then mentioned unseriously, “maybe I should just go take a long walk in the 110 degree weather; maybe that’ll sweat it out of me.”
    Melinda had an idea. “Lucynda, do you think you can pilot the shuttle?”
    The sergeant was listening.
    “The General called while you were gone. He wants us to go pick up Officer Dakota from Warhammer 40K Headquarters and bring her here.” Dion smiled. “Do you think you can do that?”
    Lucynda thought about it, then began having trouble resisting a smile. “Yes...yes, that would be a good idea. I mean...do you want me to go right away?”
      “Yes. Have a nice trip.”
    ******
    The distance from Neubayern to Proxima Altair was 32.2 light years. Jump time was 1.61 days. Lucynda returned in 3.4 days, which meant she spent about four extra hours physically at the space station. When she returned with Officer Dakota and showed up at the house, Melinda noticed the difference in her appearance, “you look like you’re feeling much better now?”
    Lucynda resisted a smile. “Yes, I feel a LOT better.” Then she frowned. “But, I had to wait until Marcellus finished all his tests on me.”
    Jennifer nodded, seeing it first hand. “Yes, she was a little eager to go meet a friend.”
    “I’m assuming that friend helped you with your...problem.” Melinda tried not to smile.
    “YES.” Lucynda affirmed strongly, then joked, “Yes, he did. He might be unconscious for a few days, but yes.”
    After there were a few chuckles, Melinda became serious. “A day before you guys arrived, I was called by Marcellus and the General.” She looked at Lucynda. “All those tests turned up something. It seems like you had some tiny, microscopic, particles attached to your clothing and hair. And they had a WARP essence to them.”
    Lucynda’s jaw dropped.
    “They’re defining this stuff as some kind of soporific musk.” Melinda continued, then wanted Lucynda to know. “So, you see, it was very possible that you WERE being affected by something that was very real.”
    “Well, they aren’t sure exactly what kind of properties this stuff has, yet.” Jennifer clarified.
    Melinda nodded. “Marcellus said it might’ve been used in combination with something else...an aura of some type.”
    “You know, if we have to assault the mansion,” Lucynda had to warn. “We might need some kind of protection from it--”
    “Or else our attack might turn in an orgy instead of a battle,” Koufax joked, seriously.
    Lucynda sighed. “Well, I can’t speak for you guys.”
    “Hey, there’s two Daxzan women there and they could very well cause a serious and very personal injury.” Koufax replied.
    “Okay, let’s stop the sexual speculation.” Melinda was firm. “Nobody’s going over there until we know more about what we’re dealing with. I’ve sent one of our drones over to Neubayern’s capital city and they’re going fit it with a stealth device. That drone is going to be only thing going back to that mansion.”
    “If needed, I can take a trip over there.” Jennifer offered.
    Melinda shook her head. “No.”
    “They won’t control ME with their...Aura of Acquiescence.” Jennifer was positive.
    “I know they won’t.” Melinda knew something. “It’s not that. If there are demons that can see into our Universe though the eyes of Melancholia, then...you might be ID’ed.”
    Now the Librarian understood. “You mean they might recognize me as the Spear of Light.” She frowned. “I didn’t think about that.”
    “We have to sit and wait.” Melinda began explaining. “If Melancholia knows the location of another WARP object, we need to know about it. The government here has offered me the use of a Planetary Guard company commanded by a Captain Wayne. And the General told me he might be able to send Davis with a squad of Marines...depending what our drone finds.”