DARK DUCK: FOWLed

CHAPTER TWO

PART 2

Edibility

It was mid Sunday morning. The streets of St Canard's business district were relatively empty, the Xo Technology building stood tall, steel and blue windowed.

Gray and Stella Lite were working hard in the peace and quiet of Sunday morning.
His wife was focused on the readouts at her station.
"Great! These adjustments just took nearly a third off the fluctuation rate! I knew if I got a bit of sleep it'd help."

There was a knock on the door that made both of them jump. "Who the heck is coming in here on a Sunday? I'm not paying them for it, that's for sure." Gray grumbled and went to the lab door.

It busted open. Two eggmen pointed their weapons at them, pushing their way into the room.
"Get back against the wall, both of you."
"Sure, okay, fine." Gray reached the wall and grabbed Stella into his arms.
"That's our project!" Stella complained.
"Oh, you can keep the project. We just want to use the technology you've built."
"But it's not ..."
"Take it!" Gray shouted, drowning out Stella's words of warning. "Guys like you are the reason my insurance premiums are so high!" He sighed. "Can we wait in the other room, please?"
"Sure, we'll be done in a few minutes."
Gray and Stella walked into the tiny supply room.
"I'm sick of these raids," Gray complained to his wife. "These F.O.W.L. guys just think that because we're scientists ..."
"Well, it's true, honey." Stella patted his arm. "We're scientists, not lawyers. We haven't got any bite to us."
"If only we did, they'd think twice," Gray grumbled. "Just once, I'd like to see someone come in here and find more than they bargained for."
"Well, I know we gave them quite a surprise finding us in here." Stella laughed. "Buzz, the great Duckfly!"
He laughed. "Call out the Duquitos to the defense!"
"Oh, drat. If only Duckson could've gotten that invention to work."

Stella sighed. "Will we rebuild it, Gray? We were so very nearly close. Think of it, remember? It's to be a safer option than those dangerous X-ray machines."
"I'd like to think of F.O.W.L. as our guinea pig. If they like it, we know we have a seller on our hands."
"Hey, yeah!" Stella laughed, and then paused. "But it's still not stable, Gray."
"Neither are the jokers that are taking it."

They turned to the opposite wall, looking out the window as a camouflaged F.O.W.L. carrier craft chopped the air noisily, hovering at their level.
"Hey! How about fish for lunch from Casey's on Lighthouse Avenue?" Gray yelled over the noise.
"Sounds great, hon'!"

Sunday Afternoon

After talking with Launchpad, Gosalyn came up through the trap door and looked around. She frowned. When her dad woke up he'd start angsting over the meat again. He couldn't stand the smell of it, had even commented 'It's like part of a crime scene's found its way into our fridge.'

Gosalyn decided the best solution was to get rid of the tray of meat, that is, of the 'evidence'.
"Mrs. Muddlefoot can do something with it." She grabbed it out of the fridge. "A worthy cause." She smiled and carried it next door to the Muddlefoots.
"Oh, hello, Gosalyn." Honker's mum said, smiling pleasantly down at her.
"Mrs. Muddlefoot, um ... could you use this meat?"
"Oh, why, how very thoughtful of you, sweetie." She took the tray from Gosalyn. "Oh, my, fancy the stove breaking," she tsked. "I hope your father gets it fixed soon. It's important for a growing girl to have her meat." Gosalyn walked in after her, watched her turn on the stove, slap on a frying pan, douse it in oil and then empty the entire tray of meat into the giant pan.
Gosalyn blinked, realising she was staring wide eyed at this spectacle.
"Now, young miss Gosalyn." Mrs. Muddlefoot busied about, preparing a salad. "You must stay and have some of this food for lunch, okay?"
"Yes, thanks, Mrs. Muddlefoot!" The smell of the cooking meat made Gosalyn super hungry.
"Lunch will be ready shortly. Honker's upstairs. Why don't you go fetch him, dear?"

After lunch, the others moved into the television room and on it went. Gosalyn heard the news come on as she helped Mister Muddlefoot with the wiping up. She put down the plate she was drying and raced in to see the screen.

"... This just in: reports on a break in at Xo Technology labs with a large experimental scanning unit reported as stolen by that Fiendish Organisation for World Larceny."
Gosalyn covered her beak, staring at the screen. "Oh no ... Dad!" She raced home.

Drake jolted awake, sitting up in bed. "What was that?" There was silence.

"What ... what time is it?" He turned his head. He'd just missed lunch.
He went to the window and opened the curtain. He fell back, then cringing, stepped forwards again. It was only a little uncomfortable, like touching the water for the first time with his foot and finding it cold. In this case, it was tingling and hot.
"Dad!" He turned and headed towards the door. Gosalyn was dashing up the stairs, tearing along the corridor. Drake opened his door and she stumbled inside, her hand raised to knock.
"Are you alright, sweetie?" The sight of her filled him with relief as if he'd been unconsciously worrying about her while he'd slept. He scooped her up into his arms. "Oh, what would I do without you?"

"You keep saying that, dad," Gosalyn said, turning pensive as he held her.
He put her down and sat down on the edge of the bed. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing ... Well, uh, it's just a bit different." She put her hand against his chest. "You've been hugging me a lot lately."
"You're my little girl. I love you so much. I always want you near me so I can look after you."
"You can't look after me forever, dad. Someday, you'll need to show me how to look after myself."
"Well, that's very true. But you're already looking after me." He petted her head. He had so much more faith in the world, simply because he knew that she was a part of it. And she was a part of him too. Drake drew her back into his arms again, unable to help himself.
"You've been sleeping all day, haven't you, dad?" He let go of her and she took a step away from him.
"Yes, you woke me up. What's wrong?"
"Are you still alright with the sun?" He looked over at the window.
"Yeah. It takes a bit to get used to, that's all."
"Well, you just gotta eat more vegetables."
"Eat?" He stood up in a hurry. "What am I going to do for your dinner?"

"Don't panic, dad, we can go out."
"But ... we have meat in the fridge."
"We can try meat tomorrow."
He sighed. "Okay, Gosalyn. That makes sense."
She paused. "Besides which, we had that meat for lunch just now. Mrs. Muddlefoot cooked it up. All of it! She had this massive frying pan, and ... it's all gone."
"Well, there were five of you, right?"
"Yes."
"And Herb would eat twice as much as everyone else. Tank too, probably. That was smart thinking, Gos. And you got some meat into you; that's the best news. A growing girl needs her meat."
That was twice she'd heard that comment just in as many hours. "Yeah, well, no disagreement here. If I don't get enough meat, I might just turn into a growling ghoul instead." She jumped up, making for the door. "Come on, dad, let's play cards."