THE AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, MIND-BOGGLING ADVENTURES OF TABLE-HEADED SERVICE DRONE BOB!
Part Seventeen: The informant
"But how can she work for you!?" Bob screamed at Tek, "She's one of the good guys! She said I was the only one she could trust! She saved my life more than once! She's supported me! She cared for me when no one else would! HOW CAN SHE BE ONE OF YOU!!?"
"Tek has senses in every corner of the criminal underworld," explained Chak, half a planet away, to Larb, "I was one of them. I was an informant in this slave bar, everything that mattered to her I was to inform upon. Then one of her contacts told me to look out for anything regarding the crash on Sirius Minor."
"Tek must've picked it up from the transmission," Larb concluded, arms crossed and with a stern expression on his face, "so what did you do next, traitor?"
"She found you sitting at the bar," explained Tek, back on her command cruiser, "to find out more, she had some of her lackeys beat you up, so giving her a pretext to remove your control collar and attach a tracking device on you."
"STOP SAYING THAT!" Bob shrieked, not willing to believe his ears, "SHE DIDN'T DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS!"
"I did," admitted Chak to Larb, back at the outpost, still almost falling apart from the attack, and Chak herself seemed to falling apart, "I went to find all that I could about the remain's owner, Slig. I managed to arrange a night with him, and seeing he didn't have anything, I ordered his death in order not to compromise the operation."
"Then Bob showed up, did he?" asked Larb, directing the repair effort with his other hand.
"Yes, you turned up at Chak's doorstep just as the hit-men arrived," Tek said to Bob, onboard the cruiser, "an unfortunate failure of organisation, but those responsible for it were dealt with in the same way that Irken patrol ship dealt with the hit-men. But, the ever resourceful Chak turned this to her advantage. Sensing that it was YOU who the message referred to, she attempted to befriend you to find out why the military were so interested in you, and relayed information about the base to us so we could retrieve you..."
"SHE DIDN'T MANIPULATE ME!" cried Bob, "SHE CARED ABOUT ME! STOP IT! STOP! IT! ...you're messing with my mind..."
"Yeah, I did it," admitted Chak, back at the base, disgusted with herself, "but I'm ready to help now! I can tell you how to get into Tek's ship, where it's location is! Just so long as you promise to me that YOU WON'T PUT HIM IN THAT DAMN CHAIR!"
"An Irken soldier doesn't make 'promises'," declared Larb, "especially not to a traitor like you!"
"No promises, no info," declared Chak, attempting to cajole Larb into it, despite the fact that after her admission she had little or no solid ground to make threats from. She was quivering and shaking and turning physically sick. Larb picked up on this.
"Now, there's no point trying to negotiate your way out of this mess," Larb threatened, "you will co-operate or you will be taken out back and shot as a double-agent, understand?" Tears were rolling down Chak's face. She had been placed between two equally odious sides, but without any third option. She had had ambitions, but now all she wanted in the universe was just to see Bob again.
"All-right," Chak relented. Looking down at the floor and sobbing quietly. She had managed to re-sell a second-hand soul, and she probably couldn't feel any worse than she did right now.
"Right people!" Larb declared to his remaining soldiers, "time to get our careers back!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
Part Seventeen: The informant
"But how can she work for you!?" Bob screamed at Tek, "She's one of the good guys! She said I was the only one she could trust! She saved my life more than once! She's supported me! She cared for me when no one else would! HOW CAN SHE BE ONE OF YOU!!?"
"Tek has senses in every corner of the criminal underworld," explained Chak, half a planet away, to Larb, "I was one of them. I was an informant in this slave bar, everything that mattered to her I was to inform upon. Then one of her contacts told me to look out for anything regarding the crash on Sirius Minor."
"Tek must've picked it up from the transmission," Larb concluded, arms crossed and with a stern expression on his face, "so what did you do next, traitor?"
"She found you sitting at the bar," explained Tek, back on her command cruiser, "to find out more, she had some of her lackeys beat you up, so giving her a pretext to remove your control collar and attach a tracking device on you."
"STOP SAYING THAT!" Bob shrieked, not willing to believe his ears, "SHE DIDN'T DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS!"
"I did," admitted Chak to Larb, back at the outpost, still almost falling apart from the attack, and Chak herself seemed to falling apart, "I went to find all that I could about the remain's owner, Slig. I managed to arrange a night with him, and seeing he didn't have anything, I ordered his death in order not to compromise the operation."
"Then Bob showed up, did he?" asked Larb, directing the repair effort with his other hand.
"Yes, you turned up at Chak's doorstep just as the hit-men arrived," Tek said to Bob, onboard the cruiser, "an unfortunate failure of organisation, but those responsible for it were dealt with in the same way that Irken patrol ship dealt with the hit-men. But, the ever resourceful Chak turned this to her advantage. Sensing that it was YOU who the message referred to, she attempted to befriend you to find out why the military were so interested in you, and relayed information about the base to us so we could retrieve you..."
"SHE DIDN'T MANIPULATE ME!" cried Bob, "SHE CARED ABOUT ME! STOP IT! STOP! IT! ...you're messing with my mind..."
"Yeah, I did it," admitted Chak, back at the base, disgusted with herself, "but I'm ready to help now! I can tell you how to get into Tek's ship, where it's location is! Just so long as you promise to me that YOU WON'T PUT HIM IN THAT DAMN CHAIR!"
"An Irken soldier doesn't make 'promises'," declared Larb, "especially not to a traitor like you!"
"No promises, no info," declared Chak, attempting to cajole Larb into it, despite the fact that after her admission she had little or no solid ground to make threats from. She was quivering and shaking and turning physically sick. Larb picked up on this.
"Now, there's no point trying to negotiate your way out of this mess," Larb threatened, "you will co-operate or you will be taken out back and shot as a double-agent, understand?" Tears were rolling down Chak's face. She had been placed between two equally odious sides, but without any third option. She had had ambitions, but now all she wanted in the universe was just to see Bob again.
"All-right," Chak relented. Looking down at the floor and sobbing quietly. She had managed to re-sell a second-hand soul, and she probably couldn't feel any worse than she did right now.
"Right people!" Larb declared to his remaining soldiers, "time to get our careers back!"
TO BE CONTINUED...