Episode #10
"What have your tests shown?" asked Captain Gokiburi. The captain of The Happy Garbage Can had left them alone to investigate the shiny pinging ball, apparently to tend to some urgent trash business. Despite his position as captain of a garbage scow, he was a striking figure who came across as intelligent and confident. Rockzanne could almost forget he was a cockroach.
"Lieutenant Karasu believes it is some kind of spy drone," she said. But as soon as she caught herself revealing her analysis to this stranger, she felt a twinge. Maybe it was her training making her cautious in a strange environment. Maybe she needed sleep and didn't trust her instincts. Or maybe it was because Captain Gokiburi was nibbling on a turd.
"Yes," said Gokiburi as if he had been thinking the same thing.
"Where did it come from?" asked Rockzanne.
"We picked it up with the rest of the garbage. It would have gone unnoticed, were it not for the pinging."
Nothing the captain said, nor anything in his demeanor, gave her the slightest reason to be suspicious. But she was not at ease. It was just too coincidental. The Avocado gets a distress call from a purple bird woman in the Beta Lugosi quadrant. And Captain Cockroach just happens to be in the neighborhood pulling shiny metal spy drones out of the garbage that just happen to broadcast at the same frequency as the distress call.
"I must be sleep deprived," she thought. "I should have been way more freaked out by this."
"I better report back," she said to Gokiburi.
"Not just yet," he said with an authority that startled her. "What do you make of this?" He held the sphere up for her to examine, practically shoving it in her face.
"What do you mean?" she said, wanting to back away, but not yet ready to reveal her distrust.
"Did you notice the inscription?"
"Inscription?" She could not believe they could have missed something like that. They had examined the probe with all their sensors. Unfortunately, just like on the Starship Enterprise, they had forgotten to program the sensors to scan visible light.
Captain Gokiburi turned the shiny ball upside down several times in his hand. Rockzanne stared, mesmerized. As she watched, a small wavy window seemed to open into the sphere. She could see writing.
"What does it say?" asked Gokiburi like a hypnotist leading a subject.
"Answer Unclear, Ask Later." she droned, seeming to enter a trance.
"Yes," and with that he touched the sphere to her forehead, and she was out.
(Tim)
"What have your tests shown?" asked Captain Gokiburi. The captain of The Happy Garbage Can had left them alone to investigate the shiny pinging ball, apparently to tend to some urgent trash business. Despite his position as captain of a garbage scow, he was a striking figure who came across as intelligent and confident. Rockzanne could almost forget he was a cockroach.
"Lieutenant Karasu believes it is some kind of spy drone," she said. But as soon as she caught herself revealing her analysis to this stranger, she felt a twinge. Maybe it was her training making her cautious in a strange environment. Maybe she needed sleep and didn't trust her instincts. Or maybe it was because Captain Gokiburi was nibbling on a turd.
"Yes," said Gokiburi as if he had been thinking the same thing.
"Where did it come from?" asked Rockzanne.
"We picked it up with the rest of the garbage. It would have gone unnoticed, were it not for the pinging."
Nothing the captain said, nor anything in his demeanor, gave her the slightest reason to be suspicious. But she was not at ease. It was just too coincidental. The Avocado gets a distress call from a purple bird woman in the Beta Lugosi quadrant. And Captain Cockroach just happens to be in the neighborhood pulling shiny metal spy drones out of the garbage that just happen to broadcast at the same frequency as the distress call.
"I must be sleep deprived," she thought. "I should have been way more freaked out by this."
"I better report back," she said to Gokiburi.
"Not just yet," he said with an authority that startled her. "What do you make of this?" He held the sphere up for her to examine, practically shoving it in her face.
"What do you mean?" she said, wanting to back away, but not yet ready to reveal her distrust.
"Did you notice the inscription?"
"Inscription?" She could not believe they could have missed something like that. They had examined the probe with all their sensors. Unfortunately, just like on the Starship Enterprise, they had forgotten to program the sensors to scan visible light.
Captain Gokiburi turned the shiny ball upside down several times in his hand. Rockzanne stared, mesmerized. As she watched, a small wavy window seemed to open into the sphere. She could see writing.
"What does it say?" asked Gokiburi like a hypnotist leading a subject.
"Answer Unclear, Ask Later." she droned, seeming to enter a trance.
"Yes," and with that he touched the sphere to her forehead, and she was out.
(Tim)
posted by Scrognoid at
2:47 PM
