Chapter 23
In one of the madder dashes Max had made from one side of the city to the other (which considering his history behind the wheel should say something), Max made it to the apartment complex where he, Flint Paper and now, on the 3rd floor, Agent Bubbles and the alien Pleakley were housed.
Max took the stairs two at a time running full pelt until he was at the front door to the apartment he had loaned to the pair. Not even bothering to knock Max simply barged his way into the room, ignored the surprised look on agent Bubbles who had been on the phone and went straight to Pleakley
"You. Call the Bossy Lady" Max said simply, breathing hard and staring at the alien with wide blood shot eyes.
"Ummm" Pleakley said, looking close to fright as he looked deep into Max's desperate mad eyes. He looked to Bubbles for support. Finding only the same confusion and reticence Pleakley looked back to Max.
He slowly took out the communicator he used to contact The Councilwoman but didn't move to press the big red button on it's top.
"Now Max… I cannot just call the Councilwoman. She is the galactic leader of the Federation. I need to wait for specific time slots before I can send a mess-"
Max already guessing the answer wasn't what he wanted to hear ignored Pleakley, grabbed the orb from his hand and pressed the button. He wanted to say what he had on his mind now before it started slipping away into the swirling chaos of his mind.
"No…" Pleakley moaned as he saw the orb glow and, like before in Max's office, begin to rotate and shift into the centre of the room. "I am most certainly going to die"
"Shame, rather liked you" Max said, though not bothering to look at the despondent Pleakley. He did try to be nice though and lie to him.
Pleakley tried to say something but Max couldn't hear him as the disco show from before started all over again as the small room was filled with booming noise and lights shooting out of the spinning orb, until all settled.
In the middle of the room stood a very annoyed Councilwoman.
"May I ask what is of such urgency to bother me from-"
Again Max, who realised he was probably pushing his luck to the very limit by interrupting the Councilwoman as all people said quickly. "Jumba"
"… what about him" The Councilwoman said, anger still present in an imperial glare aimed right at Max.
"When he was in prison, inside the same block he was kept in… was there a Lagomorph there?"
"… pardon?" Genuine confusion dislodging the anger for a second.
"A Lagomorph" Max said excitedly. "One who was released recently, like a few months ago… one with a bad leg… and who happens to be a psychic"
There was a pause as the Councilwoman looked from Max to Pleakley and over to agent Bubbles.
The confusion hadn't abated. "Lagomorph… with a damaged leg… who also happens to be an empath. May I ask why you….(sigh), one moment"
Obviously deciding to just go ahead and make the call now and afterwards question Max, the Councilwoman reached out her left hand and rested it on something invisible. When Max saw her fingers delicately press down on something hanging in mid-air, he guessed she was using some console right next to her. A console not being broadcast through the hologram.
After a few seconds the Councilwoman looked up at Max and declared "The warden of the prison I had Jumba held at when we prosecuted him has been called. He will be made a part of this conference."
Max grin widened. He wasn't certain on this. If he was honest with himself it was really a massive stab in the dark, but it was a theory that ticked all the boxes he had.
"I can tell you though Max, if you are after a Lagomorph with those exact attributes, you will not find him in a cell in the maximum security asteroid I held Jumba in"
Max felt his high begin to fall away. "Why's that?" He asked, suddenly feeling unsure.
"Because Max, empaths as we call them are extremely rare and those who are captured for braking any law are all stored in a very specific prison planet. One designed to hold and deal with such rare individuals. This Lagomorph you mentioned is unlikely to have been near Jumba during his short incarceration"
Suddenly with a much darker mood the Councilwoman continued "And when Warden Seali has joined us and most likely confirmed this, you will tell me exactly why you felt the need to interrupt me during a very important meeting I was attending… and the reason had better be justified"
Max felt his confidence waning. He knew why he had come in here and made the express call to the Councilwoman. Why he had come up with the theory.
He had been fixated on Cocky being the one involved in the entire affair with the theft at the warehouse and the capture of Jumba. It was the sort of thing Max knew Cocky was capable of. But just when Philip told him to try and think on what sort of person Cocky was, to justify his motives during the incident involving Sam and him… Cocky just didn't fit.
Whether he would kidnap and rob a place was not a huge problem to fit Cocky into. There could be any number of reasons to involve him. But why would Cocky have his DNA spliced with Stitch to make a Lagomorph monster, which Max now guessed is what made that hole in the warehouse.
Cocky, when he really thought about it, didn't fit. He had no reason to be here again and start causing the sort of trouble that had sprung up. So Max went through all the facts on both cases he knew. He knew there was an experiment out there. One made from spicing Lagomorph DNA with Stitch. And who could have done this? Jumba. That wasn't a huge stretch.
And he knew there was a Lagomorph out there. One most likely in need of a stick to help him walk… and unless someone else was involved, one who had psychic powers. Powers that let him create that Mental Web thing at the warehouse… and powers that could probably get Jumba, who had no wish to get back into the evil scientist role, become a happy willing servant. Again, these weren't, in Max's view, major jumps in imagination. All of these facts just fit together if he moved them into the right positions.
But there was still a problem. A problem Max had been thinking about in the back of his mind when he first heard the story. It wasn't a question on who would kidnap Jumba for his little world destroying secrets. Who wouldn't want to get a hold of someone who could make an army of furry super strong mutants. Every evil villains dream. And Max imagined there were probably plenty of bad guys with that sort of dream out there in space.
The problem was, why now? Pleakley had said it. They had been on Earth for over two years. Two years was a long time for someone to wait on coming to Earth to kidnap someone. And nothing had changed in that time. Not really. And from what Pleakley said, the people who knew Jumba, him and Stitch were here on Earth was a very small list
So why now? Though Max knew nothing what so ever about the goings in the space traveling community, he did know criminals. So if someone knew about Jumba, Pleakley and Stitch getting trapped on Earth why would they not act on the information for over two years.
Because they couldn't. Jumba had been in prison, if only for a couple days, what was to stop someone finding out, getting out some time later and chasing Jumba down. Pleakley even said that he told Jumba, in his cell, that they were going to earth right after leaving for the planet.
It had seemed so obvious… and now it seemed so flimsy.
Max almost flinched as, in a flash of light, another alien appeared in the room beside the Councilwoman. He stood taller. Taller than anyone else in the room by a good few feet. He had 8 black beady eyes and purple skin. Other than that he looked just like a steroid pumping human. He wore what was obviously a wardens uniform, complete with some random medals Max didn't recognise or really care about.
"Madam President" The thing said in a deep rumbling bellow. "What need do you have of me?"
The Councilwoman gave one quick glance at Max and turned back to the giant "Warden Seali. I need you to verify something for me. On the day Doctor Jumba was incarcerated in the asteroid prison you manage, was there a Lagomorph in his cell block?"
Again the Councilwoman made another dubious glance at Max and continued "A Lagomorph with some injury to his leg. And, by some chance, was an empath?"
The Councilwoman kept her eyes on Max, still showing the same doubtful look at him. It was because of this that she did not see the look of shock appear on the warden's face, followed by what was obviously fear. It didn't matter that he was an alien. It seemed those expressions were universal, despite the species.
Max had spotted this and felt his confidence rise. "That's the look of someone with bad news"
"Um… (cough). A Lagomorph you say, Councilwoman?" Warden Seali said, who's nervousness was practically written all over his face.
Even the Councilwoman, now looking, spotted the obvious guilt and said, in a measured tone "Yes Warden. A Lagomorph. Does one come to mind? One whom was released recently?"
The warden shrank beneath that look. Despite being half as tall and could probably be snapped like a twig by the muscle bound giant, Max saw to his chagrin that the warden was practically whimpering.
"Well, Madam President… there was a Lagomorph housed in the same block as Doctor Jumba. In the cell beneath him infact…"
There was silence as the warden obviously hoped to get some reaction from the Councilwoman, whilst she just remained silent.
Continuing with hesitant breaths the warden continued. "And he did have a weak left knee, your majesty. A badly healed wound that he seemed disinclined to have fixed by surgery, which we were prepared to offer. He needed a cane to walk if I remember…"
Max felt his grin widen. Score, score and….
"Why do you know so much about this individual, Warden Seali. You seem to know all this from memory, as you have not done any searches I can see… why do you know this inmate so well? And as I asked before, is this person an empath and has he already been released?"
"… Well Madam President, he, Kinswell I believe was his name, he… he is not a registered empath and he has not been released"
Max stared hard at the Warden, enjoying this spontaneous interrogation. There had been some odd look he saw in Seali when he used the word 'released'.
"He's not been released… so we can speak to him?" Max asked, already guessing that wasn't an option.
"Um" The Warden said, giving Max a quick look but his gaze instantly shot back to the Councilwoman. "… no. No he cannot be reached. As he has not been released, but escaped from our facility over a month ago"
Silence well over the room like a hammer. The sort of silence that smothered and choked. The Councilwoman was looking… calm. Which was probably no better than angry.
"And how did a crippled Lagomorph escape a maximum security facility, Warden Seali?" The Councilwoman finally asked, voice like ice.
"… he… took over the mind of a guard. We guess now that… he was in fact a trained psychic."
The Councilwoman did not let this breath of silence last long this time. In a below that made Warden Seali flinch like a scolded toddler she screamed "And why is it only NOW that I hear of this?!"
"I-I-I'm sorry Madam President. We have sent out parties to find him. But we had no data that he was an empath. One capable of full mental domination. He was only sentenced because of several cases of blackmail" The warden whined.
"Urgh, be gone… we know where this individual is now, no thanks to your silence on this matter, Warden" The Councilwoman said before turning back to Max.
"It appears I have need to thank you, Detective Max."
Max, though usually drinking in complements like cheap Bosco Whiskey, didn't prepare some sarcastic comment to throw back at the galactic president. Instead his gaze was still on the warden. There was something about his expression and way he looked like he wanted to leave, then and there, but seemed unable to do so. There was more….
"Looks like someone still has something to admit to" Max said in a sing song voice. His cheeks were actually beginning to hurt from smiling so much.
The Councilwoman looked from Max back to the warden and glared.
"What is it, Seali"
"Um… there is one last thing" The warden said in a small tiny voice, that did not belong in a person his size. "Kinswell left the day we had a specific ship docked at the station. We assume he waited until this day to leave when this ship was here. We don't know how he knew about it. It was the most guarded secret that only-"
"And the ship was?" The Councilwoman said sharply, interrupting the gibbering warden.
"…was the Invincible, Madam President"
The Council Women didn't say anything. Her face went blank as she calmly lifted her right hand and pushed a button in the unseen console near her. The image of Warden Seali flickered out of existence as she disconnect the call with him.
She then said in a slow tired voice "….Meega, nala kwishta"