Chapter 21:
Drew pulled the thermometer from the patient's mouth and glanced at it. "Running a little warm," she said. "Might be this room..." The witch was brewing up something. There were a number of smoking vials and boiling pots in this laboratory, and the heat was ferocious. Drew was delighted that little Chiang wasn't up here in this. At the same time, it did somewhat speak better of Maja as a parent that she knew he didn't belong in here while she was working.
The doctor had slipped in while the witch was stirring one of the pots, and she'd stood waiting, patiently, for the witch's attention. It took a while. Drew was forced to bite her tongue and hold her peace. Maja was a prickly old bat, and her thorns could badly hurt you if you weren't careful. Drew saw that now as she hadn't really seen it before. At the same time, there was something there inside the older woman. She hewed to a strange code of ethics, one that drove her sometimes to do outrageously kind things. It was an opening of sorts, one Finn had reached through before.
"I didn't think you'd return," Maja opined, as the doctor cleaned the thermometer. The doctor glanced up, and there was a touch of fear there in her eyes. "You're my patient," she replied, "still." The witch's brow furrowed ever so slightly. "Tell me," said she. "Do you fear me?" The doctor met that deadly question with the honest truth. "Yes," she replied. "Good," said the witch. She would have turned to go back to her experiments, but Drew stopped her. "I... have a question," she said. Maja stopped in her tracks. Her expression never wavered. Those keen eyes burned into Drew's. This was not a person you pestered with questions. With Maja, you got to the point.
"Two questions," the doctor said. "I... I'm not a magician..." "Neither am I," Maja sniffed. "Magicians are fakers, Drusilla." Drew flushed. "You are neither wizard nor witch," Maja said. "Say it." "I'm neither wizard nor witch," Drew agreed. It made the witch laugh to hear the haughty little bitch admit that she wasn't all that and a bag of chips. "What does a learned woman of science need from a lowly witch," Maja demanded? Her voice dripped sarcasm, making Drew want to punch her. This bitch was pushing her buttons. And she knew she was doing it. That was what made it more infuriating. Maja was doing it on purpose.
And then, what was the point of being irritated. Maja had information she needed. "I have a patient upstairs," Drew sighed. "I... can't treat her. I have a second patient... trapped far away in a distant land. I'd... like to bring her here. Her people have sought sanctuary with Finn, but she's trapped there. She's... She's under some kind of magic curse or something. She can't leave the village she swore to protect..." "Kitsune," Maja burbled. "You know a fox-demon?"
Drew goggled at her. Then she realized that Maja had been the answer all this time. Maja was from the same lands as Katsumi. "The Nine-Tailed Fox swore to protect a tiny village called Shiyan," Drew murmured. "Except she's pregnant." "Powerful," Maja murmured. A fox-demon was already a rare-creature. A fox-demon with so many tails was a very old and dangerous creature. "Not sure why you're wanting to bring a demon-fox here," the witch remarked. "She's pregnant with Billy's child," Drew growled. "She's a member of..." Maja rolled her eyes. "Men," she muttered! "Can they not keep their cocks in their britches?!"
Drew interrupted her ranting. "Finn was very cross with him," she said. "That business is done. It doesn't matter. Right now, she's more or less an ally. I need your help." "You need to find the key," Maja replied. "It's the symbol of her pact. If her people have been moved, the danger is even greater to her than it was before. If anything happens to them, her soul is forfeit to the powers. You don't want to lose your soul, Drew. Very bad thing."
"We moved them," Drew insisted. "They're here on the island. They're safe under Finn's protection. I... want to bring Katsumi here. To make sure." "You need the key," Maja repeated. "There's a symbol of the pact. She agreed to protect them to gain power. Find the place where she swore. The key's likely there. What was the other question?" It took a moment. The doctor was still processing the answer to her original question. "The other question, Drew," Maja repeated. "I need to get back to what I was doing. It's in a very critical state." "My other patient's in a permanent dream state," Drew burbled. "I can't wake her up."
Frowning, the witch said, "someone is harvesting her dreams. You need to find whoever's doing it and make them quit it, or you risk killing her." Drew goggled at the witch, but Maja was already turning back to her experiment. "I think Thor killed him," Drew murmured. Maja sighed. "I'm sorry, Drew," she said. "I don't think your second patient can be saved. You killed the person who was capable of waking her." "Th-there's no hope," the doctor howled? "Maybe there's something in the libraries in Wizard City," Maja replied, as she took up a pink vial.
It was awful news, but it was clear that Maja was not interested in further conversation. Drew headed out, working her way out of the labyrinthine space that Maja had constructed inside the apartment Finn had given her in the prison tower. Stepping outside, Drew took a good long look at the walls. The space was bigger on the inside than it had been on the outside. She was sure of it. Shuddering in fear, the doctor turned and headed back down the hall to the VIP dungeon's door.
As a distracted Drew made her way down the hall, Blargetha called out to her. The pretty doctor stopped and turned to find the evil woman standing there at the door of her cell in a dressing gown. "I... need to talk to Finn," said Blargetha. "Urgent." Drew was aware of Finn using this evil creature's talents with weaponry. She wasn't entirely sure she approved, though it did let Nadia off the hook. "Alright," said the doctor. "I'll tell him..." She needed to talk to him about the things Maja had told her anyway.
The doctor found her husband in his new office with the other critical person. Simone was perched on the edge of Finn's desk like a secretary making moves on the boss. It was sort of sexy-cute. Shutting the door behind herself, Drew strolled over, announcing, "I have a way to bring Katsumi here." Finn looked up at her with a frown. Simone's sharp grey eyes immediately locked on Drew's face. She was a little embarrassed by her son's antics. At the same time, this was the world they had. "The lab's still in place," Finn rumbled.
Drew countered that with, "Bandit Princess is down, and the Grid-Face People have a forcefield around the village. Look, her soul is at risk, Finn. If anything happens to the villagers..." Finn's face flushed, and Simone's face took on a cast of alarm. "She swore some kind of pact," Drew explained. "Maja told me that there's some kind of physical symbol there. I was hoping maybe Simone or Emeraude could help me find it." "E's gone back to the Grey Forest," Finn replied. His eyes flicked to the Ice Queen. "If there's information, it's in the archives," said Simone. "I was headed back there anyway." She had a guildmaster she was planning to skin.
"One more thing," Drew said. "I... asked Maja about Susan. She thinks that the Buffalo-Man was doing some kind of dream-stealing magic. She says that we can't wake Susan, or it will kill her. The only one who could wake her is..." "Six feet under," Finn muttered. He began to swear. A part of him wanted to head to the Night-O-Sphere and slap Peihong around a few more times. "We'll look in the archives," Simone interrupted. "There may be something there." Leaning down, she gave Finn a peck on the lips. Sliding off the desk, she took Drew by the arm and headed out. "Looks like you'll be minding the babies," the Ice Queen chuckled. Finn snorted. As if that had ever been a problem for him. As they reached the door, Drew stopped, as she suddenly remembered Blargetha's request. "Hurletta's sister wanted to see you," she announced. "Urgent. She's up in her cell." "I'll get up there," Finn replied, as Simone tugged the doctor out the door.
On the far side of the ocean, Billy was dealing with the water-nymphs and their games, and he was already running short on patience. The mandate at the moment was to dig into every little aspect of Peihong's business. His father wanted to know exactly what she'd been up to over here. This was outside of the Agent Princess's power-base. Both Orzsebet and Cherry had limited resources here in the west. The fam wanted to know just how many resources their vanquished foe had held over here. They wanted to know who had helped the Bandit Princess. And, critically, they wanted to know if there were any successors waiting in the wings.
Naturally, the nymphs were doing all they could to stymie the effort. Billy had run into every kind of obstacle since Peihong and her henchmen got zeroed out. The wench in charge of records on the home island needed him to get permission. When he had that permission, she couldn't find the time. And when he pushed, she couldn't find the records. Nor was she alone. Business refused him entry or suddenly discovered that they had neglected to keep records of things they'd bought or sold. After a long morning of running into walls again and again with every turn he took and every person he met, a frazzled Ice Prince returned to the little apartment he shared with his girls in a bit of a funke.
Marisol the maid was serving up lunch for Nieve and, as usual, leaving Olesia to get her own. Nieve had been doing her best to 'correct' her servant. She'd even 'helped her' by making Olesia a meal herself. Billy thought there was something deeper going on with the maid. A piece of his mind wanted to paint Marisol as being Odessa's creature more than Nieve's maid. Odessa wouldn't want anything getting in the way of her Royal Baby after all.
"You look like you've been having quite the day," Nieve said, as she drew his chair. A frazzled Billy said, "same shit, different day. Didn't get anywhere. I figured these peeps would be a little better organized than the Grey Forest, but nobody seems to keep good records." Billy had discussed the obstacles he'd been running into at length with his Royal Bride. Far from thinking that he was failing, Nieve smelled a rat. "Honey, you're being naive," Nieve told him. Marisol gave Nieve a warning look. Reaching out, Nieve tugged Billy's hanging jaw shut and declared, "they're in cover-up mode, husband. There's probably a hundred different ways they helped that nasty bitch. They may even have helped her pull together materials for her rockets. You never did find out where the metal sections came from, if I recall. All those things are stuff Margarida would want to keep hidden."
Floored, Billy sat himself. Twining her fingers in his, Nieve said, "this is what I bring to the table, darling. I was born a princess. You had to get there by hard work. You don't know the games that our kind play. You don't really even understand the way women play games. Your father does, but you're still learning." "Women lie by omission, dear," Olesia agreed. "Margarida isn't good at dancing on her feet, but she could just as easily shove the dirty laundry under the rug and tell the people of the island to shut their mouths and bury the records. From what Nieve's already told us, it sounds like she's already been doing just that."
Billy sat there a moment, wearing his unease like a coat, his mind going down dangerous roads. He'd thought he had Margarida cowed. What did this mean? "You do have her cowed, dear," Nieve said, when he articulated that thought. "I can see it in their faces when they're dealing with you. They're afraid, honey. They're very afraid. Women are more prone to hide things when we're afraid." The maid wrinkled her nose at her mistress. A girl wasn't supposed to reveal 'the rules'. That was off-limits! Resting her chin on the heel of her hand, the Muscle Princess said, "you're witnessing that game on a grand scale, darling. Every wench on this island and probably beyond now has a giant fucking lump under the rug in the parlor, and everything she ever did to support the Bandit Princess is under that rug."
Marisol put a plate in front of Billy, and Nieve said, "we'll go home, honey. We'll get home. You'll see the babies and the others... Let that odious Orzsebet deal with this. She can look under the rug when their guard is down." It was good advice, and Billy found himself nodding. He wanted to see his kids. He'd been trying to do good work and close things out here, but he'd been hitting wall after wall after wall. Now he'd thought maybe it was time to fold up and try again from a different angle. "Ok," he said. "Pack your stuff, girls. We're goin' home."
Back in the Candy Kingdom, the King of Ooo came rushing into the VIP dungeon to get his little errand with Blargetha sorted before getting down to the carport to board a car for the ride across the island to New Shiyan. Rushing up to the slime-princess's cell, Finn was a little surprised to find Blargetha standing there in the entry, wearing just her panties and with her left arm holding her bra in place. He'd surprised her as she was getting dressed apparently. It was an uncomfortable reminder of just how far he'd strayed off the road with this. If it wasn't the fact that he'd banged his prisoner, it was the fact that this was 'Letta's sister. If it wasn't the fact that he was bangin' the two sisters, it was the fact that Blargetha and Hurletta hated each other, and Blargetha had done something unforgivable to her sister.
This moment felt... awkward. It was undeniably awkward, leaving Finn at a loss for how to go forward, given that he'd agreed to give 'Letta a baby. "You wanted to see me," Finn greeted her. Licking those plump lips of hers, Hurletta's sister said, "I... need you to... scratch an itch I have..." Lowering her arm, she bared those big knockers to his eyes. Finn's face flushed. He knew just what kind of itch that was. He'd scratched it for 'Letta last night. He'd scratched it several times for Blargetha in Coca Kingdom. He was already in hock. It was that last that decided him. She was asking for it. This wasn't rape. They weren't over in Coca Kingdom. Blargetha had sent for him.
The occupants of the VIP wing, at least those not in solitary, got treated to an ear-splitting shriek as the King got down to business with his fuck-toy. A couple of faces came to the doors of the cells there in curiosity as the big man hit that squishy butt from behind. Truth? It was just as weird as doing Sheila the Lamprey Princess, but it was very fucking good pussy. The King of Ooo grabbed her big left knocker, giving her gooey flesh a squeeze. It was riskily nasty doing it without a rubber, but he felt a little bit better about things having heard Drew's worries over whether or not babies were even possible for 'Letta.
Blargetha wailed into the sheets, her fingers clutching the cloth in a death-grip. He did scratch the itch. He scratched it rather well, in fact. If this was what 'Letta got, it somewhat added to the illicit thrill for her younger sister to be stealing some for herself. "Ooaaaah," howled Blargetha as Finn's hips slapped into her ass again. Who knew being on death-row in prison could feel like this?! She'd convinced him not to use a fucking rubber this time too. Maja had told her that this new body had dialed the clock back to her youth. She was fertile like a turtle, and Finn had no idea. Her plan was coming to fruition.
Finn pulled her back against him and squeezed and stroked those heavy boobies, pinching her nips and biting at her neck. The taste of that was a little nasty, but it drove her straight up the wall. Shoving her face down into the bedding, the King slapped that big ass, for the pleasure of watching it jiggle. It was like bangin' a bowl of jello. Ripples would go flowing across her gooey body from that big ass all the way to her head and back. And the noise. Glob, she screamed loud enough to be heard in the next town. The rougher he was, the more she got off. It was totally different from 'Letta. He had to work a little to get the older sister warmed up, but then she would be loving it, going crazy while he stroked that body and worked those knockers over. It was totally different than Bonnie and Sarah, who he would have rated as crazy and crazier.
Getting down low on his nasty fuck-toy, the big man gave her the works, hitting that big bottom hard and fast, pinching that gooey ass-meat to make her shriek, and even tugging at her joy-button until she was freaking out. Somewhere in the middle of it, Blargetha blacked out, though Finn wasn't aware of it until he eased his softening pecker out of her and flipped her over. Slipping the covers over the wrecked princess, the big man had a quick wash in her tiny bathroom, pulled his clothes back on, and got the hell out of there.
Twenty minutes later, the evil princess clawed her way back to consciousness to find herself alone. That wasn't really a shock. That was the nature of being a mistress–a glorified fuck-toy. What was a little bit of a shock was the way he'd gotten into that–into her. It made Blargetha grin as she thought about it. She hadn't had to push at all. She'd had a mind-blowing orgasm–literally. He'd literally fucked her under the table. Grinning an evil grin, she reached into her bedside table and drew out the little vial she'd mixed up.
She'd been researching this for weeks–really since she'd failed to get pregnant. She needed something to help things along. She needed a way to make his swimmers more effective. She needed to maybe give them more targets to hit. The drug would help with both, making conditions in her womb less hostile and making her a little more fertile. She was in business now. She was going to try to get in his pants a couple more times to make sure, though.
Climbing out of bed, she cleaned up, pulled on some fresh clothes, and headed out to work. Humming a tune, she went up the hall, carrying her notebooks and sketch-pads in a negligent grip. "Whore," Maudie spat, as she passed the Peanut-Princess's cell-door. Blargetha stopped in her tracks. Turning to regard the fallen Peanut Princess, she growled, "what did you call me?" "Whore," Maudie retorted. "That's what you call a wench who willingly spreads it for the jailor!" Far from being offended, the slime woman howled laughter. She turned and walked right up to the door of the fat woman's cell. Hands on her hips, the fallen slime princess told her miserable neighbor, "I'm going to be somebody. I'm still going to be somebody."
As Maudie stared at her, Blargetha declared, "I can be locked in that fucking cell twenty-four hours a day–just like you–or I can be something better." Maudie's jaw hung in shock now. Nodding haughtily, the slime woman rumbled, "I'm his chief weapon designer. When I'm pregnant with his child, I'll be his woman. Those things have value, fat-ass. Those things will counter 'Letta's hate and rage when she decides she wants my head again. I'll be valuable to him. I'll have a connection to him through our child, and he won't want to kill me. And what will you have, Maudie? Your bitterness? Your hatred?"
Laughing, the slime woman shook her head, turned on her heel, and strode off down the hallway, bound for her laboratory. She had work to do. She'd delivered on flying weapons to fight off the aliens' flying machines. Now she had some bigger ideas to try out. A thought had occurred to her. Between them, Finn and Phoebe, working inside the alien ship and outside, had taken down Martin's alien battleship, causing it to crash in the Fire Kingdom. But thousands of elementals had bit the big one. What if she could come up with a more sure way to knock down an alien saucer? That might be as valuable as Maja's efforts against the undead. That might buy her quarters of her own and privileges to be outside. She knew 'Letta would never stand for her to be free, but this could be her ticket to some time outside with maybe a guard or two.
Especially if she had Finn's baby.
He'd been reluctant to fuck her, and it had taken all her persuasion to twist him around to taking her that first time. He'd been frustratingly immune to her charms. Mostly he had. On top of that, he'd pulled on a fucking rubber that first time and shot his seed in that. She'd convinced him otherwise this time, and she'd know soon enough if she was pregnant. Still, she was planning to work on it a few more times. He was nice to her when she brought him good things, and the idea for some new weapons might be just the ticket. It was a one-two punch. Get him to value what she did for him, then get his baby in her belly so he had another reason to want her around.
Recognizing her, the door to the prison opened. That was something new and altogether disconcerting. She'd gotten a little too used to the relative freedom of Bonnibel's palace. She was allowed to roam the entirety of the palace, so long as she didn't dare leave. Finn's palace was a new and decidedly unpleasant change of pace. The majority of the place was off limits. His fucking kid had programmed the security systems so that Blargetha could go down to the lab in the basement and that was pretty much it. She had access to the little courtyard that was allotted to the prisoners. They shared the space, though with Bathilde quietly self-destructing and Maudie bent on blaming everybody but herself for her condition, that was a space that Blargetha avoided like the plague.
Blargetha had a dream, though. Maja had a veritable palace next door. She even had an actual door instead of iron bars. Blargetha had dreams of having a space like the witch had. It wasn't freedom, but it beat the two-hundred square feet she currently called hers. If she had a baby, that was an excuse to have a little more space. A child couldn't be cooped up in that tiny room. Kids needed to be out, running around! And would Finn risk his kid on Maudie's temper or Bathilde's desperate depression? Got to get something really big together, thought the evil genius. She needed to get Finn something so fantastic that he would be deeply in her debt.
Arriving in the lab, she found Sarah laying face-down at a workbench with her face glued to the crusted remains of a pizza. It had been a disconcerting sight the first time the slime-person had come across the android in that condition. She'd been terrified that the bitch had burned out or something, leaving Blargetha on the hook to explain it. Finn's affection for his little fuck-toy would undo all the careful work of getting in his good graces. Fortunately, Shoko had come along not long after with the truth.
In the right now, the slime-princess wheeled the unconscious android over to the wall and plugged her in. Scraping the moldy pizza off Sarah's face and popping the mess into her mouth, Blargetha moved on. They were all a little ragged. Sarah, Shoko, and Bonnie were working crazy hours getting the flying systems working. There was one more reason for wanting to deliver the goods. With no idea what, if anything, was out there to receive the Bandit Princess's signal, everybody on the island was anxious to get the castle's systems up and running.
Lollipop had been calling morning noon and even at night from the factory on the mainland. The robot-army was slowly taking shape with machines rolling down the assembly lines. There were some hiccups. Blargetha had redesigned a couple of boards to fix problems with manufacturing. It was a miracle there weren't more. She'd been in a bit of a hurry when she was designing the first ones. The bigger concern was the mini death-rockets. Shoko and Sarah had gone over the equations a few times, but Finn still refused to conduct a test. It was maddening.
Sarah awoke with a start to find her blouse and labcoat on the floor and the power-cord plugged in under her arm. The heavy-duty hottie gave vent to a heavy sigh. Yeah, she'd pushed too far last night. Blargetha was at her place at the table polishing off the pizza that Sarah and Bonnie had ordered and forgotten to eat. "Yuck," the android announced. They had rediscovered their mistake in the fridge last night. It had been turning interesting colors. Bonnie had immediately fled. Sarah had made it through one piece before her stomach revolted. Which was pretty bad, considering she was a machine with a literal cast-iron constitution. "This is the best kind," Blargetha retorted. "I always get it with blue mold."
Moving on, the slime-person asked, "what ever happened with that solar-powered heat-ray Bonnibel built to use on the Lich?" Sarah gave her a frown of puzzlement and concern. Trust was still an issue there. "Why do you care," she asked? "Thought exercise," Blargetha replied. It wasn't as though she had anywhere to go at the moment. She was Finn's dog after all.
As the two scientists talked about weapons, Finn the King rolled into Shiyan village, fashionably late. He was pleased to see all that had gotten done. He'd been keeping track of things from afar. Mostly, it was the villagers doing the real work. They were a suspicious and tightknit people. Their centuries of relative isolation under Katsumi's protection had made them suspicious. This latest business where Billy's antics had sort of stolen their guardian spirit made them more so. Finn was doing what he could to win them over.
Mostly that was providing building materials, fodder, and donations of food to keep them going. With the weather turning and heading towards summer, they had more time. It wasn't nearly as cold as it had been. Finn wanted to make sure they were safe, though. Having lived through some rough patches with Jake and then later with Simone, E, and the kids, he was keenly aware of how quickly stuff could turn on you.
The headman was supervising the construction of the town hall with his son in attendance as the limo rolled up. There was a bit of a grudge there, and Finn had been tip-toeing around the younger man's enmity towards his son. He hoped the young dude would step up and learn to fit in here. Times like these called for leadership.
The King's bodyguard opened the door, and Finn stepped out. Several of the folk there bowed before him. It was a weird feeling, but Finn had been making himself get used to that. He was the King. It was important to be seen that way. "Hey," he greeted the headman. "Great Lord," the head man replied, as he straightened. "How may we serve you?" "Tell me how I can help," the King said, as he began shedding his silk jacket.
Handing off his jacket, the King grabbed a hammer and a tool belt and got to work. As he worked alongside the villagers, carrying wood and driving nails, the King chatted with them, feeling them out. He did all he could to reassure them, telling them again and again that they were honored guests. Most were content, though a few, the headman's son among them, were still upset.
"Where is our lady," the young man demanded? Setting down the window-frame he'd been carrying, the younger man gave Finn the mean-mug, looking as if he wanted a fight. The King's ernest bodyguard stepped forward, but Finn waved him off. There wasn't a need for that yet. "She's well," Finn said. "We're working on how to bring her to you. You understand that it isn't as simple as putting her on a ship, right? She's sworn to protect the soil of the village. I've got peeps trying to figure out how to grant her power over the soil of your new home." The boy's mouth shut with a click. His face was flushed, and his darting eyes told that this wasn't about something so simple. Everybody knew what Katsumi's duty was. This problem was older and harder to manage.
Finn took the window-frame from the younger man and set it in place in the wall, saying, "the lady's heart is her own. It's her choice to make. You must learn to understand that. I did." The younger man cussed him and stormed off. When the villagers would have offered apologies, the big man assured them that he wasn't offended. "He's a boy," Finn said, "a young man with big dreams. Sometimes our dreams are taken from us, and then we have to learn from that pain, pick ourselves up, and move on." Grasping the headman's hand, the King said, "he's a fine boy. He'll be better for this." In the now, the town hall needed to get finished.
The big man worked away for a few hours until the sun began to head down in the sky. The young villager never returned, which dismayed several of the locals, but Finn was hardly bothered. He'd been a young hothead in love with a beautiful woman who didn't return his affections. He'd gotten over it and become a better man for it. Bidding the villagers farewell, the King climbed back in the limo and headed out, bound for home and a nice, hot shower.
As Finn's mind turned to the problems of tomorrow, his restless thoughts continuing their endless churn on all the 'gotta' get dones', far to the east, a telescope was turning to the sky for its nightly observations. Skywatching was a millenia-old profession, though the madness of the Mushroom War had rendered it extinct for a time. Now, with the prosperity brought on by Ooo's most-learned peeps, new generations of astronomers had taken up where their forgotten ancestors had left off, aided by dusty tomes and manuscripts discovered in the forgotten remnants of the old civilizations.
Dr. Bacon, the leading astronomer of the Breakfast Kingdom Astronomy Institute peered at the first images from the previous night's sky-gazing with a keen eye. His long-suffering eyes had scanned thousands of photographic plates over his long career as an astronomer, searching for bits of information from the cosmos beyond Ooo's veil. Some asked why he still did this since hardly anything ever seemed to come of it. For the doctor, it was the chase, more than anything. Now, as he slowly worked his way through the plates, checking for signs that anything had moved, his well-practiced eyes stopped him.
The apprentice astronomers around him had been engaged in the esoteric business of unshrouding the telescope and preparing for the night's observations. They worked to the music of clinking plates as their boss did his thing. He'd been teaching the older apprentices the job of combing through the plates for data. The younger astronomers only occasionally got to do that. All were used to the listening to the lectures about the slow, steady drift of the planets in Ooo's solar system over time and the likelihood of actually finding something interesting. Now, the silence from the doctor's table announced that something interesting might be happening right now.
Wonder what Doctor Bacon saw? And can Dr. Princess find a way to save Susan?