THE AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, MIND-BOGGLING ADVENTURES OF TABLE-HEADED SERVICE DRONE BOB!
Part Sixteen: Kingpin
"HOW DID THEY GET THROUGH OUR DEFENCES!?" Larb demanded to know, "we have an integrated sensor system that can detect anything coming from orbit, so WHY DIDN'T IT!?" Larb was not happy to say the least. His first proper command since his stint as an Invader and he had just officially cocked it up. But he wasn't willing to face the end of his career just yet, he had to salvage this somehow. The technician facing him was primarily concerned with living through the rest of the day with his innards still inside his body.
"Th...they must've landed on the other side of the planet and travelled across the surface," the technician gave as an excuse, "that's probably why the sensors didn't pick them up, they were directed into space..."
"And did no one think that this might pose a flaw?" asked Larb, sounding innocent but making perfectly clear that the knives were out. The sparks flying from the welding torches of the repairmen added a suitable level of menace.
"W...we didn't even know anyone could find this place!" pleaded the technician, "They must have tapped into our security systems somehow, but I can't think how..." The technician's musings meandered miserably to a finish but the cogs in Larb's mind had already started turning. A tap? Even a person of Tek's resources couldn't have just somehow found this place by hacking some network somewhere. Something of this magnitude would've required...
"Excuse me?" the voice of Chak sounded meagre and pathetic, "but if we know that the ship Tek used to get here had to land here, shouldn't we try to find them? If we hurry we might be able to catch them before they lift off." Chak was trying her best to cope with what was happening, but the strain was rapidly getting to her.
"Look around you, girl!" Larb said, indicating the destruction wrought by the SIRs around them, "we couldn't assualt a sandwich bar at the moment and you're asking us to attack a heavily armoured battlecruiser bristling with all manner of banned weaponry? HAVE YOU THE BRAINWORMS!? We can't do anything without some foresight into Tek's plan."
"Yes, but..." Chak stopped abruptly. She bit her lip and jumped from one foot to another in agitation. Realisation dawned on Larb as her guilty expression said more than it really needed to.
"But you DO know something about Tek's plan," Larb accused, "DON'T you?"
Meanwhile, onboard Tek's cruiser, Bob was kneeling with guns pointed at the back of his head. So another average afternoon, then. Crag was kneeling beside him, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He had never actually had a gun pointed at him before, since the research lab always seemed so safe and secure. But Bob was little better at keeping his own cool, since he had always been an insecure little tyke.
Tek was strolling up and down her bridge, basking in power. Not authority, since she had been outside the law for most of her life, but genuine power. She had eyes and ears in every corner of the Irken underworld, and had given the authorities the slip so many times they had practically stopped looking for her. But now, the chance for REAL power seemed within her grasp, though only if she could get off this planet.
"I don't WANT to be ready for lift-off in the next three to four hours," she complained, "I want to be ready NOW!!" The crewman she had shouted at cowered away back into the engine room. Whenever something was wrong, the crew had long ago realised that making excuses was only going to get you flushed into space.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME!?" shrieked Bob. The pressure was getting too much for him. He needed answers and he needed answers NOW. Tek turned, a sly grin appearing on her cold, emotionally-vacant face.
"Why don't you tell me?" Tek asked menacingly, "we have plenty of time for it." Bob remained shtum, since without the chair, all Tek had to get information out of him was strong arm tactics. But Crag wasn't so confident.
"I'll tell you whatever you want to know!" Crag pleaded, "just don't hurt me, please! All I want to do is play with experiments!" Crag burst into fits of tears, this was more than his job was worth. Bob shook his head in disgust.
"Touching," Tek said icily, "and what do you have to offer, sevice drone?" Bob tried his best to look defiant, but he wasn't particularly good at it.
"My friends will find me you know," said Bob, with very little in the way of authenticity.
"Service drone, you don't HAVE any friends," Tek commented, "all you have is people who want to find out what's inside your brains. And I wouldn't rely on that call-girl friend of yours, either."
"And why's that?" Bob spat. He didn't like having Chak described as a 'call-girl'. Tek leaned forward conspiratively and uttered a few words which completely dissolved Bob's moral foundations.
"Because she works for me..."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Part Sixteen: Kingpin
"HOW DID THEY GET THROUGH OUR DEFENCES!?" Larb demanded to know, "we have an integrated sensor system that can detect anything coming from orbit, so WHY DIDN'T IT!?" Larb was not happy to say the least. His first proper command since his stint as an Invader and he had just officially cocked it up. But he wasn't willing to face the end of his career just yet, he had to salvage this somehow. The technician facing him was primarily concerned with living through the rest of the day with his innards still inside his body.
"Th...they must've landed on the other side of the planet and travelled across the surface," the technician gave as an excuse, "that's probably why the sensors didn't pick them up, they were directed into space..."
"And did no one think that this might pose a flaw?" asked Larb, sounding innocent but making perfectly clear that the knives were out. The sparks flying from the welding torches of the repairmen added a suitable level of menace.
"W...we didn't even know anyone could find this place!" pleaded the technician, "They must have tapped into our security systems somehow, but I can't think how..." The technician's musings meandered miserably to a finish but the cogs in Larb's mind had already started turning. A tap? Even a person of Tek's resources couldn't have just somehow found this place by hacking some network somewhere. Something of this magnitude would've required...
"Excuse me?" the voice of Chak sounded meagre and pathetic, "but if we know that the ship Tek used to get here had to land here, shouldn't we try to find them? If we hurry we might be able to catch them before they lift off." Chak was trying her best to cope with what was happening, but the strain was rapidly getting to her.
"Look around you, girl!" Larb said, indicating the destruction wrought by the SIRs around them, "we couldn't assualt a sandwich bar at the moment and you're asking us to attack a heavily armoured battlecruiser bristling with all manner of banned weaponry? HAVE YOU THE BRAINWORMS!? We can't do anything without some foresight into Tek's plan."
"Yes, but..." Chak stopped abruptly. She bit her lip and jumped from one foot to another in agitation. Realisation dawned on Larb as her guilty expression said more than it really needed to.
"But you DO know something about Tek's plan," Larb accused, "DON'T you?"
Meanwhile, onboard Tek's cruiser, Bob was kneeling with guns pointed at the back of his head. So another average afternoon, then. Crag was kneeling beside him, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He had never actually had a gun pointed at him before, since the research lab always seemed so safe and secure. But Bob was little better at keeping his own cool, since he had always been an insecure little tyke.
Tek was strolling up and down her bridge, basking in power. Not authority, since she had been outside the law for most of her life, but genuine power. She had eyes and ears in every corner of the Irken underworld, and had given the authorities the slip so many times they had practically stopped looking for her. But now, the chance for REAL power seemed within her grasp, though only if she could get off this planet.
"I don't WANT to be ready for lift-off in the next three to four hours," she complained, "I want to be ready NOW!!" The crewman she had shouted at cowered away back into the engine room. Whenever something was wrong, the crew had long ago realised that making excuses was only going to get you flushed into space.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME!?" shrieked Bob. The pressure was getting too much for him. He needed answers and he needed answers NOW. Tek turned, a sly grin appearing on her cold, emotionally-vacant face.
"Why don't you tell me?" Tek asked menacingly, "we have plenty of time for it." Bob remained shtum, since without the chair, all Tek had to get information out of him was strong arm tactics. But Crag wasn't so confident.
"I'll tell you whatever you want to know!" Crag pleaded, "just don't hurt me, please! All I want to do is play with experiments!" Crag burst into fits of tears, this was more than his job was worth. Bob shook his head in disgust.
"Touching," Tek said icily, "and what do you have to offer, sevice drone?" Bob tried his best to look defiant, but he wasn't particularly good at it.
"My friends will find me you know," said Bob, with very little in the way of authenticity.
"Service drone, you don't HAVE any friends," Tek commented, "all you have is people who want to find out what's inside your brains. And I wouldn't rely on that call-girl friend of yours, either."
"And why's that?" Bob spat. He didn't like having Chak described as a 'call-girl'. Tek leaned forward conspiratively and uttered a few words which completely dissolved Bob's moral foundations.
"Because she works for me..."
TO BE CONTINUED...