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Ludor took in the scene. It was late for Leffels to still be awake, and the cheerful decorations suggested a recent celebration. It was all hideously vibrant. He watched on as the trievers attempted to bully the Leffels into moving. The firearms they waved around were standard issue weapons, badly made in Gorgon factories, that stopped working after a few brawls. To most off-world people, they looked hi tech and menacing and did the job of subduing rather well. Tonight, on this job of jobs, the Leffels seemed intimidated but not enough to move.
‘What are you waiting for?’ Captain bellowed.
‘Which wall?’ a Leffel in a gold pantsuit enquired.
‘I don’t know!’ Captain snarled and looked around. ‘That one.’ He pointed at the wall near the window, furthest from the door.
The Leffels got up and shuffled there with their hands on their heads.
‘You, stay,’ Ludor told the feeble Leffel who’d stared at him in an odd way.
She held his gaze belligerently. ‘I do have a name, you know. It’s Gelda.’
Without bothering to acknowledge her response, Ludor’s eyes moved on and settled on a Leffon with a green streak in her hair. ‘And you,’ he said.
‘Shellany,’ Gelda informed him.
Ludor turned long enough to scowl at Gelda then addressed Debrov. ‘Search her.’
‘I don’t have it,’ Shellany said plainly.
Debrov skulked towards Shellany. Even for a Gorgon she was large, and the Leffon was rather slender, so the difference between them was pronounced, like a toddler next to an adult. ‘Hand over the farking toy.’ When Shellany didn’t respond, Debrov flicked a finger at her chest. Shellany fell fast as though struck hard. ‘When Commander commands, you do what he says. Where is it?’
Holding his gaze on her, Shellany stood and remained silent. Ludor held her eyes for a moment then said, ‘Trievers, search the place – but no trashing until I give the word.’
The Leffels cried out in protest as everything that could be picked up, examined, and tossed aside was. Just before FORCE tipped over Gelda’s Fancy Beings cabinet, BRISK lifted the cushions of the sofa to reveal a capsule. When he shook it, the Leffels gasped, gaining Ludor’s attention. Before BRISK tossed it aside, Ludor yanked it from him.
Debrov leaned in close to get a better look. ‘It’s nothing like the toy.’
‘Like you know.’
‘I saw the file Boss King sent you,’ she confessed smugly.
‘You must be blind then. This is just a case.’ Ludor pushed her away. He turned the capsule around to locate the clasp and opened it to find three coloured balls and one with moving colours. Consulting his aide, he located the file Boss King provided and compared the real items to the images. They were almost identical. The ball with the moving colours looked just like the toy. While he couldn’t be certain if it was built or not, he still held it out with a victorious grin for the squad to see.
‘The toy!’ Debrov jeered at the Leffels. ‘Farkers think you’re smarter than us.’
‘We could outsmart you four times out of three,’ Captain added.
It gained him a chuckle from several Leffels, which in turn earned them a few kicks and punches.
‘Enough!’ said Ludor. Brawling rarely ended quickly, and he wanted to get the toy back to HQ before dawn and call it a night. He dropped the capsule inside a well-worn pack from his back. ‘Let’s go.’ He headed for the door.
‘Don’t give it to Boss King. He has no idea what he’s destroying!’ the green-haired Leffon blurted.
He turned back around.
While Ludor said nothing, Debrov made up for it by getting up in her face. ‘Do you even know what we are?’ she growled. ‘We’re Gorgons and we thrive on trashing and bashing! Fark off with your whimpering.’ She punched the woman squarely in the stomach. She went down with a groan but wriggled away towards Ludor, reaching for the capsule. Debrov pressed a foot to her back to hold her to the floor. ‘I can’t decide whether to cut out your tongue or take off your fingers one by one. Maybe both?’
‘All of this over a farking toy.’ Ludor was getting impatient.
‘It’s not a toy. It’s a biosphere,’ the frail Leffon, Gelda, corrected. ‘There are plenty of toys around that don’t contain living beings. Leave mine alone and go find one.’
He gave her a cursory glance then considered the remaining Leffels. A woman propped up by two others swayed and couldn’t keep her eyes open. Ludor guessed she was under the influence of a Leffel stimulant – elixir, if she was lucky enough. He hoisted her up the wall and pressed her against it with hands at her ribs. It instantly woke her up. ‘Is it true Leffels can’t lie?’ he asked casually.
‘Yes! No! We can’t,’ she blurted in confusion. When he eased off the pressure with his hands, she slid to the floor where her knees crumpled beneath her. She glanced remorsefully at the others.
Ludor held the capsule up and addressed them all. ‘Tell me now. Is this thing built?’
No one replied. Even after Debrov made threats and the trievers broke more stuff, still they remained silent.
‘Look what I found.’ Captain appeared at the door swinging a furry critter.
‘Finkle!’ Gelda cried out. FORCE and BRISK raised their weapons towards her, but she didn’t make a move. ‘Put the cat down!’
‘That’s a cat?’ Ludor had never seen one before. He would’ve expected something bigger and meaner. The soft-looking thing meowed and hissed and tried to writhe free, but when Captain held it tight, it changed tactics and went limp. Ludor found it curious that while it growled continuously, it didn’t fight.
‘You don’t know what you’re dealing with,’ said the man in the black suit and red bowtie.
‘And he’s black!’ warned the short woman next to Gelda.
‘So?’ said Captain.
‘Black cats have powers.’ Everyone turned to stare at Debrov. ‘...so I’ve heard.’
When Ludor glanced back at Gelda, she nodded. ‘It’s true. Cats are unknowable. Best thing you can do is put him down. Gently.’
Ludor had expected more of a sentimental reaction from Leffels and found their blasé reactions disconcerting.
With both hands squeezing the cat’s shoulders, Captain held it at eye level. Without blinking or flinching, Finkle stared at him. ‘Powers, hey? Let’s find out.’ Captain released a hand to reposition it around Finkle’s throat.
Paw freed, Finkle took the chance to rake claws across Captain’s face. Blood trickled in streaks. Captain cursed and let go of the cat. Finkle ran for the door, but Debrov was there waiting. One foot to his head hindered his escape and his life.
Hairs stood up on Ludor’s arms. He expected an emotional response from at least one of the Leffels but received nothing but silence. The only Leffel to seem disturbed over the critter’s lost life was the green-haired Leffel, Shellany.
‘Stop this madness!’ she blurted. ‘The Universe isn’t built, okay? Is that what you want to hear?’
‘Shellany – no!’ said Gelda.
Ludor noticed her and the Leffel named Odgio share a look.
‘I know it’s in your nature to destroy things but please do not give this to Boss King,’ Shellany pleaded.
For his own amusement, Ludor pretended to consider her words. ‘Right. I’ll be sure to pass on your concerns.’ His tone gained chuckles from Debrov and the trievers, and an eye-roll from Captain. Finally, a break, he thought as he turned to leave. Thank fark he’d found the toy in time. His release pass was almost in his hands.
‘Where the fark did it go?’ said Captain.
Ludor turned to see everyone staring at the spot where the cat had been.
‘Hims there, then poof! Gone,’ said SHARP.
‘Not quite,’ said Odgio quietly.
Ludor detected a change in the air as though something was about to happen that wouldn’t work out in his favour. ‘Time to go.’
‘What about the farkery?’ Debrov demanded.
‘Now.’ Ludor headed for the door.
It surprised them both when Captain vouched for her. ‘At least let them trash the place, or they’ll be impossible on the drive home.’
‘No!’ Ludor called back.
‘You’re being an arsehole,’ Debrov called out.
Ludor turned and repeated her own words. ‘When Commander commands, you do what he says, right?’ The last thing Ludor wanted was to stick around and watch more farkery that achieved nothing more than making more mayhem and wasting his time. ‘Gather the trievers. We’re leaving.’
Debrov begrudgingly followed him out, but Captain remained. ‘Five minutes,’ he told the trievers. While he blocked the Leffels in a corner, the trievers trashed the place. FIERCE kicked over the lounge table and snapped off its legs then threw them at a glass mirror. BRISK pulled out a knife and ripped up the sofa. SHARP toppled the cabinet that held the Fancy Beings figurines, sending them into a mass collision, while FORCE yanked down the ornate light fitting and smashed it to pieces.
With their need for chaos briefly satiated, with weapons dangling from sweaty arms, the trievers and their Captain didn’t bother looking back at the Leffels as they headed for the door where they were bizarrely prevented from exiting.
‘How?’ said SHARP.
‘What?’ said BRISK.
‘Fark!’ said Captain.
Ignoring them but with a menacing air lingering, Finkle slinked silently from one side of the open door to the other, tail casually swishing. It was almost as if he deliberately pretended not to notice them. When he turned, if he were able to speak, he might have feigned mild surprise, saying something like, ‘Oh, it’s you.’ He calmly sat facing the Gorgons then stretched out his head to rub a cheek against the doorframe while his gaze went to each of them. None of them moved.
‘Nothing rebirths that fast,’ Captain muttered.
‘What now?’ asked FIERCE.
‘Brace yourselves,’ Gelda called out.
The shift from tame to wild was instant. Hissing with claws bared, in a flash, Finkle whooshed around the room, leaving no Gorgon unscathed. It took less than a minute. Blood flowed, limbs flailed, filthy curses were expressed.
On the other side of the door, Ludor and Debrov reappeared to see the squad flailing around the trashed room and the Leffels still huddled in the corner.
‘That’s all you’ve got?’ Captain bellowed. Leaving a trail of blood, he pushed roughly past Ludor and Debrov, and stormed off after Finkle who was long gone into a place only cats could go.
‘Trievers!’ he called back, forgetting he wasn’t in charge of them anymore.
‘What the fark did you do?’ Debrov demanded of the Leffels.
‘Thems do nothing. Was the critter,’ FORCE explained walking past to catch up to Captain, followed by the others.
Gelda shrugged. ‘He’s unpredictable when provoked.’
‘We tried to warn them,’ said Odgio.
Ludor scowled. He didn’t know why he ripped down the last of the decorations – perhaps to get a reaction, or because they were sickeningly lovely.
‘Do you feel better now?’ Gelda asked.
Ludor grunted and walked out. Enough was enough.
Debrov gave the Leffels a look of disgust. Before she followed Ludor out, she left them with a piece of advice. ‘You people really need to find a more worthwhile hobby that playing with a farking toy.’
‘It’s a biosphere!’ the Leffels shouted in unison.