Chapter 35

Zoltar smiled happily. He had achieved everything he had ever wanted. He was King of Spectra, ruling over a prosperous, peaceful planet, and the aptly named Princess was his Queen. The Swan was an intelligent, benevolent woman, ruling at his side, and their days were filled with pleasant interludes, while their nights were filled with passion such as he had never known.

The Spectran Leader moaned as he thought about what it would be like to share his bed with Princess, and of the magnificent sons they could produce for Spectra. Their children would have his dedication and commitment to their home planet, combine with the Swan's bravery and combat expertise. His heirs would rule Spectra for generations, as his family always had…

A soft beeping noise pulled him out of his pleasant dream. Zoltar was now familiar enough with the sound to recognize that it was his bracelet, and he immediately put it to his mouth.

"Mark here." he said. "Ears on."

"Mark, I'm so glad I didn't wake you." came Princess' soft, innocently seductive voice.

"Not at all." Zoltar grinned. "In fact, I was just thinking about you."

"How funny." she giggled softly. "I was just thinking about you too. I was planning on doing some training, and I was hoping that you would give me some pointers."

"Now?" Zoltar was surprised. What time was it anyway?

He turned to look at his clock, which clearly stated that it was 0540 hours. Somewhat early, but then, perhaps Princess couldn't sleep. And she had been thinking of him.

"I'll be there, Princess." he readily accepted her invitation. And he planned on giving her some pointers… but not in combat techniques.

"Make sure you come in Birdstyle." she reminded him.

"Birdstyle?" Zoltar couldn't hide the disappointment from his voice. He hated that damn transmutation process. It seemed like it got worse every time he attempted it.

"I'll be wearing my pink miniskirt, just for you."

Was that a slight gagging noise, on the other end? No, Zoltar must have imagined it.

'Birdstyle it is!" Zoltar agreed. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Perfect." Princess' voice practically purred. "I'll see you then, in Training Room Number Two. Over and out."

Zoltar grinned to himself. It wasn't even dawn yet, and already it was a most promising day.

He hurried to shower and dress, then walked quickly to Training Room Number Two. The Spectran Leader had had to look up its location on one of the Center Neptune schematics that he had discovered in the computer system. Apparently this room wasn't often used, and was somewhat out of the way, near the Secondary Docking Bay.

It was the perfect location for privacy.

Zoltar whistled a small tune as he approached the Training Room. It was clear to him that Princess had more than training in mind.

He entered the room, pleased to see that she was already there.

"Princess!" he greeted her. "It's wonderful to see you!"

"Same here, Commander." she said, in an almost sickly sweet voice.

Zoltar glimpsed a flash of white panties, before the world went black.

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"I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you did that." Jason muttered, emerging from behind a punching bag as he saw his Commander slump to the floor.

"Did what?" Mark asked, in his sickly sweet voice.

"Drop kicked the Commander in the face." Jason confronted the Swan.

"You promised you'd trust me." Mark reminded the Condor.

"I'm beginning to wonder what I was thinking when I said that." Jason shook his head. "I don't like this Princess. Goodness knows, I've wanted to hit Marl many times, and even done so on occasion, but I never thought that you, of all people…"

"Look, I'll explain everything to you shortly." Mark promised. "But we need to grab the 'Eagle' here and take off as soon as possible."

"I suppose that will have to do." Jason sighed in mock resignation. "Otherwise I'll never know what Mark did to offend you so badly that you're going to cart his body up to Outer Space and leave it for the Happiness Boys to feed on."

"Trust me, it's a long story." Mark replied, as the two of them began to haul the unconscious Zoltar out of the room.