by Eric Smith
Darkness. Total darkness that surrounded him and seemed almost like a live thing. But of course that was illogical...darkness wasn't alive, it was merely the absence of light. As the boy kept his eyes open, he did see some light, a thin line of it in front of him and below his line of sight.
Honker lay still and tried to make sense of it all. One moment he was in his room, then the gas came in and he tried to escape but couldn't...and now he was here. Wherever 'here' was. The gas made him think of Darkwing Duck for a moment, but that made no sense. Darkwing wouldn't have done this. Which led back to the original question, who had?
He was lying on a mattress, a bare mattress. Carefully, he swung his legs out and felt for the floor. It turned out the mattress was directly on the floor. He got up and looked at the light for a moment. Obviously a doorway. The only sound was a faint hum of a ventilation system. Honker walked towards the light and began feeling the wall on either side of that line of light. His hand rested on a switch, and he pressed it.
Immediately, the room flooded with light. Honker blinked his eyes rapidly as they became adjusted to it. He saw that he was in a small room, lit by a single florescent panel. There was the mattress, in a corner about ten feet away. The room's only other feature was a ventilation grille near the ceiling. Knowing it was probably no use, Honker tried the doorknob. Locked, as he expected. The boy sat down on the mattress with a sigh. Darkwing must surely know what had happened, and he'd try to rescue him. But from who?
The well built and equally well dressed rooster strolled down the corridor to the operations room. The overhead lights gleamed off his metallic beak as he straightened his tie and ran a plastic comb through the red comb on his head. Pays to look good for High Command, he thought. Two Eggmen saluted as Steelbeak passed, he ignored them as if they were ash cans.
High Command, he saw, was waiting for him on the screen as he entered the room. Thier faces were shrouded in darkness as always, but that was not nearly so black as thier mysterious pasts and thoughts. Even Steelbeak didn't want to know about that. "Agent Steelbeak reportin' as ordered." he said, saluting.
"You know, of course, about the operation last night." said the duck in the center, revealing a beak full of vicious looking teeth.
"Of course. Youse grabbed some kid. Ain't we recruitin' a little young?" he said, one of the few who dared joke with High Command.
"Hardly. You know as well as we do that child is a known associate of Darkwing Duck. Your task is to get him to tell all he knows about that crime fighting pest. You and your partner are authorized to use all means necessary to accomplish this, and success is expected."
"What partner?" asked Steelbeak, with a suspicion growing. "Together again, Steelie!" screeched a shrill voice, as the demented cleaning lady Ammonia Pine entered from a side door. "Youse can't do dis to me!" cried the rooster, although he knew they could do just as they pleased.
"Aw, quit complaining Steelie." said Pine. "We'll clean all the info out of that kid like yellow waxy buildup."
"Yeah, right." grumbled Steelbeak, making a mental note to ask for a raise. "The operation will commence at once. Proceed to the interrogation room, and the boy will be brought to you. High Command out." The screen went blank. "Shall we go, Steelie?" asked Pine, holding the door for him. "Yeah, sure." said Steelbeak with a resigned sigh as he followed her.
Miles away, someone else let out a sigh. This was Darkwing Duck, who had just checked the crime records for the past Wednesday. This was Monday, so he had four days to go to find which chemical warehouse had been robbed. So far, no luck, and it was time consuming. He bent his head to the side to get the kinks out of his neck, and pulled up the files for Thursday.
"Anything yet, Dad?" said Gosalyn. She had circles under her eyes, and had gotten little sleep. Darkwing hated to see his daughter so, but he understood that she was worried. They all were. "Sorry, honey, not yet"
"Come on Dad! There's gotta be something!" exclaimed Gosalyn.
"Gos, I'm trying." said Darkwing. "I have to find out what chemical plant was robbed of that knockout gas. Then I have to go there, and try and get clues as to who's responsible. When I know that, it'll be easier to track them down--and find Honker. But it takes time."
"Honker might not have time!" cried Gosalyn. She knew she was being unfair, she knew that Darkwing was doing his best. But worry made her unreasonable, and she couldn't help it.
"Wait a minute, here's something." said Darkwing. "The Plextron Chemical Factory was broken into last Thursday night. At last, I have something to go on. I'd better have a look. Come on, Launchpad." He got up and reached for his hat.
"I'm going, too." said Gosalyn. "Oh, no, young lady, you'd better stay here." said Darkwing.
Gosalyn's feet were set firmly, and the look in her eyes belonged to someone much older. "If you want to stop me coming Dad, you'll have to lock me up in chains." Darkwing stared at her for a long moment, and could barely hold in his pride for his daughter. "Alright, then, let's go, we haven't time to lose." They followed Launchpad to the Thunderquack.
To be continued...
Darkwing Duck and related characters are property of Disney. This work is property of Eric Smith. (C) 2006.