Sorry it took so long. I simply haven't been in the mood. Kudos to you if you know who the mystery creatures are. Even though it's obvious
Chapter 78
31:00
I walked into accounting and, for a minute, was at a loss for words.
Before me were three tall creatures with brownish skin, four arms, and one leg with, apparently, two feet on it. Their faces were hourglass shaped, and long catfish like whiskers hung down from either side of their mouths. They each wore a red cape, clasped in the front, where it looked like a tie, and short black single-leg pants. They leaned over a table littered with papers, and they all scribbled frantically with all four hands.
They must have been the accountants. Whatever. No time to ponder this. I was about to unleash the Shrykull when the three looked up simultaneously and lunged at me.
I was taken by surprise, having forgotten I was still in my mudokon body. They pinned me against the wall.
“Wassa you doin heeya?” one said.
My arms were against the wall. I couldn’t bring them together to chant out the Shrykull!
One of the accountants went back to the table and opened a briefcase. He pulled out a long-barreled gun and pointed it at my head. “Yousa not da terroris Aybuh, isya?”
What the hell? That accent was driving me nuts. “No! I’m not Abe! I … I work here!”
The accountants looked at each other, then at the mudokons in the room. They were busy moving papers to and from filing cabinets. There were clearly five mudokons there. So I was obviously lying.
“Yousa lying. Isa think Isa gonna take yousa to da big boss de factr’y. Isa think thassa goooood idea, ya?”
The other accountants laughed. They let go of my arms - I assume so that they could grab my sides and pick me up - but I didn’t give them the chance. I brought my hands together and transformed. I unleashed blue death … and fell onto my knees as a mudokon again.
The others dropped their papers and rushed over. Whistles pierced my ears.
I picked up on one. “Dante? Is that you?”
I nodded, out of breath.
“Here, take the rest of my SoBe. You need it more than I do.”
I reached up and grasped at the half-full bottle, and, after almost spilling it, managed to take it to my mouth. I downed it in three swallows.
Ah! Energy! I felt completely refreshed. Now to hurry up.
I thanked the mudokon who had given me the SoBe, then began to chant. The mudokons leapt to freedom.
---
25:00
A glukkon once again, I stepped off of the ball car and into zulag two. An announcement clicked on as I did.
“Attention all sligs! If you are still at your posts, you are now to report immediately to zulag nine. Repeat: Report directly to zulag nine!”
And a quiet warning alarm began to buzz somewhere. Good. If this went well, there would be no more trouble for me in finding the rest of the mudokons.
“Further! Any glukkons not already in Zulag nine should hurry and finish any business they have and report to zulag nine immediately! Repeat ….”
Okay.
The sligs in this zulag were packing up and moving out. I watched as they hurried. Several gave me brief glances, but didn’t stop me.
Sligs gone. I morphed back to mudokon form and whistled sharply. Twenty five mudokons turned their heads and looked at me. I waved enthusiastically, urging them to hurry. I quickly chanted and let them all stream through.
Shrykull power renewed!
Now … I heard a whimper below me. I winced, knowing I was wasting time, but …
I leaned over and looked into the pit. A sik looked up at me. It was small and round, and stood on a single leg. It peered up at me from a single beedy eye. It was plump and pink and fleshy … typical sik. Looked almost like the thudslugs we saw flying around from time to time, only a lot bigger.
I climbed into the pit and raised my hand. This was a trick I had learned years ago: sikz would line up in single file ahead of you if you raised a hand. They did so, and I began to pick them up and toss them out of the pit.
I hurried and cleared these three sik pits, and hurried to get the burrs out. The burrs, furry creatures like fuzzles with legs and no eyes, were not as docile. They weren’t vicious enough to kill me, but whatever. And they wouldn’t eat the other stock animals I’d freed.
Okay. Time is running out. I moved across the yard and into zulag three.
