The Court of the Spider Queen

By Ziggy Tausend

Take your funny bone on an extraordinary adventure with Captain Tripp Vaguely! You will be hurled into immediate action as the Captain and his most trusted compatriot, Ghost-Tongue the Anasazi, trek deep into the jungles of darkest Africa to capture a legendary beast with cosmically-sighted goggles and a portable, gear-churned arsenal! These are just the tip of the extraordinary iceberg when the American bravado and Victorian gadgetry of Captain Tripp Vaguely is in play! Fast-paced action and dry wit ensue as the duo confronts both a race of humanoid arachnids and the Captain's arch-nemesis, the wicked and phonetic Doctor von Skaar! You'll laugh. You'll groan. You'll break a sweat!

The Court of the Spider Queen is the first short story installment of the Extraordinary Adventures of Captain Tripp Vaguely and the first book in the Fascination Chronicles; a humorous adventure series by author, Ziggy Tausend and his Clandestine Tales. It introduces the reader to the Captain and his cohort, Ghost-Tongue while forging the first step toward his next mysterious but surely impossible goal. Poking fun whilst simultaneously embracing the pulp format of bygone years, the Extraordinary Adventures of Captain Tripp Vaguely are quick journeys through the fantastic. An Edisonade-style steampunk genre infused with mythology and humor, the Court of the Spider Queen is but the opening of the door into a realm without boundaries. Further releases will follow soon, as Clandestine Tales (clandestinetales.com) prepares to carry the reader into vast worlds of excitement. Visiting Clandestine Tales also offers extra glimpses into the background of the characters and helpful information such as a Glossary of Terms to fill in the gaps between the here and now and the Victorian past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ziggy Tausend
• Release date: Jun 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476377315

Ziggy Tausend

A New Orleanian no matter where he may roam.

Book preview

Clandestine Tales

presents

The Extraordinary Adventures

of

Captain Tripp Vaguely

in

The Court

of the

Spider Queen

by

Ziggy D. Tausend

Book One of the Fascination Chronicles

The Court of the Spider Queen

All artwork and writing:

copyright Ziggy Tausend ©2012

Published by Clandestine Tales at Smashwords

Links to more stories plus extras at:

www.clandestinetales.com

CHAPTER ONE: DAMN NEWTON

The Captain pushed boldly through the jungle's underbrush as if any beast there hidden would prefer flight over fight in the face of his awe-inspiring figure. And had there been one, he couldn't have blamed any such jungle cat or great ape for doing just that. Retreat before an adversary the likes of the Captain couldn't be considered cowardice but rather a sign of intelligence or even keen strategic insight. He was Captain Tripp Vaguely after all; Owner, President and CEO of Vague Enterprises, veteran of the Russo-Turkish War (and several more secret ones), well-traveled scholar, and one handsome well-to-do man-about-town. In this particular instance, one might say man-about-jungle but his vaulted status as a man among men could not be diminished by it. Even still, with a well-worn western hat above and a well-waxed mustache below a pair of Transdimensional Aural-Sensitive Goggles ™ , any fool could tell they were looking at a bona fide adventurer and not some pith-helmeted, khaki-clad tourist to these darkest regions of Africa. But if there just so happened to be such an extraordinary fool beyond the dense foliage and they could not recognize the charismatic grandeur of Captain Tripp Vaguely's legendary smile and strapping physique, then they had better notice quickly the dangerous cluster of spinning barrels surrounded by spouts, hoses, prongs and knobs that combined to form the one and only Pan-Calamitous Portable Arsenal™, otherwise known as, Marybelle.

An ill-prepared man, Tripp often said, is prepared to die.

His weapon was a respectable answer to that credo. With the squeeze of a trigger, the turn of a crank, the pull of a lever or the press of a button, Marybelle could bruise, burn, freeze, electrocute, poison, smoke out or just plain perforate almost any mortal foe in her sights. Given her para-scientific origins complete with Vague Enterprises' own Quinta Essentia Power Source™, one could suggest she might fell a few immortal ones as well. So it stood to reason that the gun went into to the bush just ahead of the Captain and was already humming with expectant activity when the American-made duo stepped into the African unknown.

The native tribesman perhaps a dozen paces behind offered a warning but even if Tripp understood the fellow's language it would not have stopped him. The delegation of a guide was more of a courtesy to the tribe upon whose land the Captain now trekked. Just as much as the steel knives and tin crockery that he gave them were but an obligatory gesture of goodwill to that very same tribe who, had the Captain believed the pulp rags back home, could very well be cannibals. But man-eaters or not, he had long since learned that indigenous peoples worldwide were hard pressed for the better mouse trap. One just had to figure out what kind of mouse they were after. In this particular region it seemed weapons and dinnerware that didn't become waterlogged during the rainy season was all the rage. Nope, nothing too fancy for these folk; not like Paris or Moscow where only his most advanced and most favorite products would be required. The jungles of Africa could do with cutlery and that suited the Captain just fine. Any chance to keep his myriad machinations