It came from Uranus
By Chuck Semenuk
The year is 2090. Over many decades, technology continued its exponential growth at mind boggling speed. Major scientific breakthroughs like warp drives, ion and magnetic pulse engines have made navigating the solar system as common as a trip to your neighborhood store. Unfortunately, progress has come with a price. Just like on earth, mankind is succeeding in trashing the solar system with all matter of discarded waste and debris. In fact, with the help of other so-called "intelligent" life-forms, the scenario is sure to perpetuate far into outer-space.
Approximately ten years ago, the United States Government in its zeal to continue being the planet Earth’s protector and watch dog saw fit to start up still another government agency, the Space Abnormal Phenomena Investigation agency (S.A.P.I.) Nicknamed “sappy” by the tax payers, the agency’s activities are largely a mystery to the general public. In reality, the agency was formed to investigate perceived events in space that might possibly impact the safety and security of Earth and the surrounding cosmic environment.
“Tony. Good to see you. Have a seat.”
“Hello, Director.” Tony pulled up a chair and sat down. “What’s going on? I take it that you have a new assignment for me?”
Carla entered the room again with two steaming cups of coffee. She smiled at Tony and offered him a cup. “Do you still like your coffee hot and black, Agent Nova?”
Smiling back, Tony took the cup. “You have a good memory, Carla.”
Carla handed the remaining cup to Director Benedict and left the office, moving in a manner that was sure to capture Tony's attention. She seductively looked back over her shoulder as she closed the door behind her. His mind still dwelling on the awesome attributes of the luscious Carla, Tony became aware of a burning sensation in his crotch as he realized that he was tilting his cup and dribbling hot coffee on the front of his pants. Trying to maintain his totally cool and in-control persona, Tony gritted his teeth, ignored the pain and took a sip of coffee.
Pretending not to notice the pained look on Tony’s face, Director Benedict placed his own cup on the desk and shuffled through some notes. He called up an image on his computer and switched it to the large-screen monitor on the wall so they could both see it. “I’m sure you recognize this planet?”
“Sure,” said Tony. “I’d recognize Saturn with one eye behind my back,” he said with a grin.
“Glad it looks familiar to you because that’s where you’re going.”
“You’re kidding,” said Tony. “No one goes to Saturn.”
“I’m afraid I’m not kidding,” said Director Benedict. “Let me zoom in on part of the rings.”
The director centered the cursor at a location on the rings and magnified the area. “What do you see, Tony?”
“The outer ring looks like it’s pregnant,” quipped Tony. “What is that huge bulge?”
“We don’t know. That’s why we’re sending you to investigate. What we do know is that there seems to be enough mass there to throw the ring out of balance. Our astronomers have been watching it for some time. It seems to be growing and the rings have actually started to wobble. This could be the start of a lot of trouble within our solar system if the rings start whipping around. There are some that feel the planet’s orbit may even be altered. I need you to get out there and see what’s going on.”The director pushed a memory token across the desk. “Everything you need is on this memory token. Plug it into your console when you get to your ship. The coordinates of the bulge and other details are on it. I want you to get started ASAP. If you need assistance from any of the other agencies, let me know.”
“On my way!” said Tony.
As he left the director’s office he thought briefly about flirting with Carla. She smiled broadly as she looked down at the wet, brown coffee stain over his groin. Now that the coffee had cooled, his crotch felt wet and clammy. Embarrassment moved him quickly out the door and to the men’s room to try and wash out the stain.
“Have a nice day, Agent Nova” called Carla as Tony hurried out the door.
While sitting on the commode waiting for his pants and underwear to dry a bit, Tony flipped open his communicator and contacted his long-time friend, partner and space cruiser pilot, Agent Nicolas “Nick” Pollard. Tony and Nick had been buddies since childhood and would trust one another with their lives. Nick was at the launch pad making sure that the ship was ready for its next assignment.
“Nick, get the ship ready. We’re headed for Saturn!”
Nick responded, “As soon as I finish loading supplies, we’ll be ready to go. How soon will you be here?”
“As soon as my pants dry I’ll be on my way,” replied Tony.
Nick started to snicker. “Do I want to ask why your pants are wet?”
“No, you don’t,” said Tony. “Just have the ship ready to go.”
“Got it, boss. We’ll be ready.”
####
Tony’s magnetic surface pod glided to a stop near his space cruiser and settled to the ground. He got out of the pod and looked proudly at the ship. It was an Andromeda Dragon, Class Z, very fast and maneuverable with enough armament to protect itself in a “sticky” situation. Actually, the ship was Nick’s “baby.” Nick could be a bit of a smart ass but he was one of the best cruiser pilots around.
Tony climbed aboard and took a seat next to Nick, handing him the memory token.
“The coordinates of our destination are on this token. Let’s get this show on the road.”
As Nick entered the coordinates into the navigation system, he wrinkled his nose. “I smell coffee, boss.”
“Shut up and get this thing off the ground.”
####
Nick skillfully maneuvered the Dragon above the commercial traffic lanes and placed it in a high orbit, continuing to gain speed. Breaking free of Earth’s gravity, he engaged the hyper-drive and headed for Saturn. Tony accessed the memory token. A video of Director Benedict meeting with a group of key scientists began to run on the cockpit display. A multitude of ring photographs and computer animations of possible scenarios were reviewed during the meeting. The full magnitude of the ring phenomena quickly became obvious.
“Wow,” said Nick. “That’s scary. What the heck is going on?”
“Ol’ buddy, that’s what you and I are going to find out,” said Tony as he got out of his seat. “I’m going to change into my flight suit.”
“Good idea, boss. I hate coffee.”
Tony slapped him on the back of the head. “Smart ass!”
Time passed quickly at the speed they were traveling. The men took turns catching a few winks and watching the instrument panel. A series of beeps from the navigation system and a flashing panel light brought them to full attention.
“Approaching our programmed co-ordinates, boss,” announced Nick. “Ready to disengage hyper-drive.”
“Disengage,” said Tony.
Nick maneuvered the ship with its thrusters to attain a stationary position just off the target location. Even to the naked eye, the abnormality of the ring was visible.
Tony adjusted the ship’s video camera and zoomed in on the abnormality. He began to start recognizing shapes as he increased the magnification. “What the…...”
“It looks like a giant pile of suitcases,” exclaimed Nick.
The pile was huge and stretched for a long distance in either direction on the ring. In addition to suitcases, there were steamer trunks, what appeared to be mail sacks, and various shipping crates and packages.
“Boss, I’m detecting a spacecraft. It appears to be on a heading for our location.”
“Back off of our position a bit and energize the cloaking device,” said Tony. “Let’s see what they’re up to.”
“From its propulsion system signature, I think it could be a small cargo shuttle; maybe a Uranian Titania class,” mumbled Nick.
The Uranian shuttle soon maneuvered into a position near the bulge on the outer ring.
Nick exclaimed “Boss, take a good look at that puppy. It looks like she’s packing some serious fire power. There are a couple of weapons ports that have been added to the ship. One is shuttered but the other is open. You can see a laser cannon. I never saw a cargo shuttle with weapons before. I wonder what those guys are up to.”
Suddenly a huge amount of material was jettisoned from the cargo bay. The mass floated to the ring and settled into the pile.
“They’re using it as a garbage dump!” exclaimed Tony.
“Do you want to jump in there and ruin their day?” said Nick hopefully.
“Can’t do that. From the identification numbers the ship may be registered to Uranus. We have no authorization to engage,” said Tony.
With the cargo bay closed, the shuttle moved off station and began to move away.
“Keep our cloaking device energized and follow them at a respectable distance. Let’s see where they go,” said Tony.
“On ‘em like a shadow,” said Nick.
The shuttle moved quickly away, the cloaked Dragon with Tony and Nick following discretely behind.
“She’s not going home to Uranus,” said Nick. “She seems to be headed toward Jupiter.”
Not realizing that they were being followed, the cargo shuttle took a straight course to Ganymede, the seventh of Jupiter’s moons. Moving to the dark side, it prepared to land.
Every propulsion system exhibits a unique signature, making it possible to identify a specific craft. Nick entered the information into the Dragon’s database. “We should be able to find this guy again if we’re within range.”
Tony opened a secure communications channel to S.A.P.I. The operator patched him through to Director Benedict.
“Tony, where are you? Have you discovered anything?”
Tony briefed him on the recent events.
“Uranians, eh? Looks like we’ll have to get the Feds involved. Unfortunately, we don’t have jurisdiction on our own. Come on home, boys. While you’re getting a little rest, I’ll brief the Feds on what you’ve found.”
“Roger that,” said Tony. “Head for the barn, Nick. Hyper-speed.”
“You got it, boss!”
####
Early on, the various planet governments saw the advantage of having a single investigative organization to combat growing crime throughout the solar system. Crime spread quickly with the increase in travel between the planets, their moons, and man-made satellites. A common law enforcement organization called the Federated Agencies of Interplanetary Law (F.A.I.L.) had been formed, having investigative and policing jurisdiction over all of the planets in the solar system.
Back again on Earth, Tony and Nick refueled the ship and grabbed a few winks. Later that day, they arrived at S.A.P.I. headquarters where Director Benedict had scheduled a meeting relative to the discovery of the Uranian cargo shuttle dumping “trash” on Saturn’s rings.
Carla had not met Nick before. Her eyes traveled over his lean, muscular frame, jumped to Tony, and then back to Nick. “These space jockeys are both so hot,” she thought. Leading them to the Director’s office, she said “Care for some coffee today, Agent Nova?”
Remembering his previous experience with Carla’s coffee, he declined.
Smiling at Nick she said “How about you, Agent Pollard?”
Remembering Tony’s statement about having to wait until his pants dried and the odor of coffee when he got on the ship, Nick put two and two together.
“Wish I could have seen it,” thought Nick, beginning to chuckle to himself.
“No thanks, Carla. I don’t do coffee,” said Nick. He gave Tony a little nudge. Tony gave him “the look” but didn’t say anything.
Carla showed them in to the Director’s office.
“Hi, boys. Come on in,” said Director Benedict. “I want you to meet Federation Agent Jake Porter.” Jake rose from his chair.
“Jake, this is S.A.P.I. Special Agent Tony Nova, and the guy with the smart ass grin on his face is his partner, Agent Nick Pollard, the best damn cruiser pilot around.”
“We’ve met before,” said Jake. “We’ve done a fair share of head busting together. What’s up, guys?”
“Hey, buddy,” said Tony. “How’s it goin’, Stump?” said Nick. In sharp contrast Nick and Tony were tall, lean and hard muscled, while Jake was short and thickly built, a human version of a bulldozer. Jake was known in some circles by the nickname of “Stump”; once he planted himself he was nearly impossible to move.
The handshaking and back slapping ritual completed, the men sat down.
The director tilted back in his chair. “Okay. Here’s the deal. Since you guys made first discovery, the Federation Chief has agreed to let us run this investigation. He’s assigned Jake to work with us on this. We’ve been given jurisdiction for the scope of the operation. Jake is our connection with the Feds and as such, gives us our authorization to engage the Uranians or anyone else who may be involved in this Saturn’s ring issue.”
“Works for me,” said Tony.
Nick nodded his head in approval.
“Tony,” said the director. “First order of business, you need to get a hands-on look at some of that stuff on Saturn’s ring. We need to know exactly what is being dumped there. Then, get over to Ganymede and see if you can find that Uranian shuttle again. We’re trying to trace the registration numbers but response from the Uranians has been a bit slow. Boys, you’re on your own out there. If you step on some toes, I don’t want to know. I do expect regular reports on your status. Use a secure channel as before. Good hunting!”
As the three men walked past Carla’s desk on the way out, she smiled seductively and called each by name.
“This chick has some raging hormones,” Nick mumbled to Jake.
“Yeah, ain’t she awesome?” grinned Jake.
####
Aboard the Dragon, the three discussed their plan.
“Stump, can you pilot a small maintenance craft?” asked Tony.
Jake smiled broadly. “Sure. My dad has a towing and recovery operation. I learned how to run just about everything. If it moves, I can run it.”
“Good. We’ll stop by the maintenance facility on moon base and borrow a maintenance craft with a “cherry picker” on it. You should be able to scoop up a few samples of that stuff on Saturn’s ring.”
####
The Dragon with Tony and Nick and the maintenance craft piloted by Jake slowed to a stop a few kilometers off of the bulging ring.
“Okay, Jake. Slip on in there and get us some samples,” said Tony. “We’ll wait here and try to keep an eye out for trouble.”
Jake responded “Roger that. I’ll be back before you know it.” The maintenance craft slowly moved toward the ring. Once positioned just above the ring, Jake went quickly to work gathering samples.
“That guy is poetry in motion with the cherry picker,” exclaimed Tony.
Suddenly, a communication from S.A.P.I. headquarters came in. It was Director Benedict. “Tony, we’ve finally gotten identification on that cargo shuttle. As you suspected, its registration indicates that it’s from Uranus; it’s the Sumkaka.
“What was that?” said Tony. “I missed part of that.”
“It’s Sumkaka from Uranus, boss” snickered Nick, ducking to avoid the expected slap on the back of the head.
Director Benedict continued. “Sumkaka was being stored on the Uranian moon Oberon awaiting a decision to be upgraded or scrapped. It has apparently been stolen. Uranian authorities didn’t realize that it was missing until our inquiry. At this point, they don’t care if they get the ship back and told us to do what we please with the thieves. You boys are free to use your own judgment. Be careful though. We still don’t know who we’re dealing with.”
“Okay, Director. We’ll keep our eyes open,” answered Tony. “Over and out.”
“Oh-oh,” said Nick. “I’m detecting a ship. From its signature, it looks like Sumkaka is headed our way.”
Tony called the maintenance craft. “Stump. Do you copy?”
“Loud and clear,” said Jake.
“We’ve got company coming. What’s your status?”
“I’ve got the samples. As soon as I secure the cherry picker I’ll be on my way.”
Tony looked at Nick. “Got any ideas? We need to slow them down until Jake can get out of there.”
Nick stared at his instrument panel. Pointing at the display before him, “See this approaching group of objects? It’s a debris field. The maintenance craft is small enough that Jake should be able to slip into it and be unnoticed. When he’s out of range of the Sumkaka, he can get out and head for the moon base. Meanwhile, we’ll have to give the Sumkaka something to keep them busy.”
Tony adjusted his seat. “Let’s do it!”
Nick radioed Jake and explained the plan, and gave him the headings to follow.
“Now what?” said Tony.
Nick grinned. “If I tell you, you won’t like it. Trust me, boss.”
Tony took a deep breath. “I’ve heard that before. Okay, it’s your show.”
“Cloaking device on,” said Nick.
“Cloaking on,” echoed Tony.
Nick set a course dead on toward Sumkaka. He was gambling that the old ship didn’t have any equipment that would enable the occupants to detect the approaching cloaked Dragon. “You know, we could send a burst right through their engine compartment and end all this!”
“But then, we wouldn’t know the full story of what they’re up to, and who’s involved,” said Tony. “We just need to slow them down for now.”
“Okay,” said Nick. “Here’s where it gets a bit tricky. Luckily, I forgot to empty our holding tank before we left Earth. I need you to be ready to dump our holding tank on my signal.”
“What?” said Tony in disbelief.
“Gotta trust me boss.”
“Pressurizing the holding tank,” said Tony, swallowing hard.
The Dragon continued on a collision course with Sumkaka. “Ready………Ready………Dump it!!!” shouted Nick.
Tony pressed the button that jettisoned the contents of the holding tank. A split second later, Nick veered the Dragon upward and over the shuttle. Upon exposure to the lack of atmosphere, the nasty contents of the holding tank immediately turned into a frozen mass and crashed into the nose of the shuttle.
Nick grinned. “Some kaka for Sumkaka! They’ve cut their engines boss. Our little surprise probably didn’t do any damage but it will take a while for them to try and figure out what they hit. Jake will be long gone by then.”
Tony slumped back in his seat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “No one will ever believe this.”
####
Taking a “somewhat leisurely” trip back to the moon base maintenance facility, Tony and Nick in the Dragon landed at the same time as Jake in the maintenance craft. Tony had communicated the recent happenings to Director Benedict, deciding to leave out the details about the torpedoing of the Uranian cargo shuttle with a frozen chunk of water, toilet paper and human waste. In the relative comfort of a pressurized hangar, they examined Jake’s collection of samples from Saturn’s ring.
“Suitcases, crates, mail bags, trunks ----- They’re all empty or partially empty!” exclaimed Jake. “Looks as if they’ve been robbed of anything of value and then discarded.”
Tony made notes of the shipping labels and ID tags on the various pieces. “Judging from these labels, it looks like these were all from commercial passenger flights, mail carriers and freight companies. Bet we’ll find out that they were reported ‘lost in transit’.”
“So, where is all this stuff?” asked Nick.
Tony crossed his arms. “I’m sure that our friends on the Sumkaka can tell us. You need to take us to Ganymede, Nick.”
“Roger that, Boss.”
####
Moon settlements are reminiscent of the mining and cattle towns of the Earth’s “old west.” Many are almost totally lawless, populated with various dens of iniquity catering to the vices of the inhabitants. Saloon proprietors, gamblers and prostitutes make their meager living at these establishments. Colonies on Ganymede are no exception.
The Dragon moved in a helical orbit around Ganymede, its sensors scanning for the signature of the Sumkaka’s propulsion system. “I hope that Sumkaka is here and still under power,” said Nick. “We’ll have a hard time finding her otherwise.” On the third orbit, an alert from the scanning system brought a smile to Nick’s face. “We’ve got her.”
“Where is she?” said Tony. “Is she landing or just leaving?”
“She’s landing in the colony of Kala-Jun, just into the dark side. I’ll get an exact location.”
“When we land, leave the ship’s cloaking device on. We don’t want folks to know we’re here,” said Tony. “We’d better change into clothing more inconspicuous than these flight suits. I’m glad that the colony has an artificial atmosphere.”
Once landed, Tony, Nick and Jake made their way into the Kala-Jun “business district.” “Well, where do we start? Any ideas?” asked Tony.
Jake spoke up. “I know my way around this place pretty well. Follow me.”
Tony looked at him with a puzzled look on his face. “Okay, Stump. How is it that you’re so familiar with this hell hole?”
“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you,” laughed Jake. Jake led them to a seedy looking dive called the Jarda-Ru Saloon. “When we get inside, I’ll go off on my own. The regulars aren’t used to seeing me with friends.”
Tony and Nick looked at each other and shook their heads as Jake immediately walked away from them and headed for a rough looking group at the far end of the bar. The place was dimly lit and the stench of stale beer, smoke and unwashed bodies was overpowering. They walked over to a clear spot at the bar and sat down. A repulsive looking Venusian woman tending bar leaned toward them. With a voice that was deep and masculine she asked “Wad ju vant, Earth boyzz? A dlink? A gorl? Maybe ju likes boyzz? Ju likes me?” she smiled at them with her huge blue lips. Her breath smelled like road kill. They ordered drinks. 
“Who ever had the idea that Venus was the goddess of love in Mythology would be barfing in his grave if he saw her,” laughed Nick.
The bartender brought their drinks. “Enchoy ju dlinks, boyzz. I com back liddel vile,” winking at Tony as she walked away, patting her ample backside. They slowly sipped their drinks, trying to get the smell of her out of their nostrils. Looking around the room, they spotted Jake on the dance floor with a tall Uranian girl. His eyes were closed as his head nestled on her three huge breasts, a smile on his face.
“Stump always did have a thing for big boobs,” said Nick.
“I’m at a loss for words,” mumbled Tony. “I’m really out of my element in this place.”
“I hear that, Boss. It looks as if she’s whispering in Jake’s ear. What do you think she’s saying?”
Tony chewed on his lip. “We probably don’t want to know.” Tony noticed a couple of men with patches on their jacket sleeves. “Trans-Terrestrial Express Company. Strange to see those guys out here on Ganymede.”
“Why?” asked Nick.
“The scope of their travels would normally be between the terrestrial planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Their company doesn’t do business out here.”
Tony and Nick weren’t noticing but a group of surly-looking characters had begun moving closer to them. A large Uranian man suddenly bumped into Nick, knocking him off his stool. “Yoos in mine way, Earth man!” he growled. “Wees no liking Earthers here!” Before Tony could react, another Uranian grabbed him from behind. While rising from the floor, Nick landed an uppercut to the tall Uranian’s groin. His four testicles made a loud crunching noise, similar to that made by walnuts in a nutcracker. The man howled in pain as he fell into a fetal position on the floor. Tony broke loose from his assailant, back-fisting the bridge of his floppy nose. Orange colored blood gushed from his face. As others in the group grabbed for them, Jake suddenly charged across the room and threw his solid and powerful frame into the fray, scattering them like so many bowling pins. As bodies landed on other bodies, soon everyone was swinging, biting and kicking. Jake grabbed his partners and quickly dragged them out the door into an alley just as the Kala-Jun patrol pulled up, lights flashing.
As they rested in the shadows catching their breath, they were joined by Jake’s dance partner from the bar. Jake introduced her. “This is Lananee. She’s got some information that you’ll want to hear.”
“Thees men attacking yoos – bad men. Thees men kill mine hoosband. Thees men stealing many things for selling.”
Jake explained, “Lananee told me that they work with guys from various express, mail and passenger lines who pilfer packages from random flights and bring them here to Kala-Jun where our friends from the Sumkaka go through it and take out anything of value that can be sold. They pay off their “buddies” and then take the remains of the packages to Saturn where they just dump them. They’ve apparently been doing this for some time.
“That sounds like a heck of an operation,” said Tony. “Where are they keeping this stuff?”
“Thees men having warehouse near us. Lananee taking yoos there.”
Lananee led the men through the darkened streets to a hanger-type building. Nick rubbed away some of the dirt from a window and looked inside. “This is it,” exclaimed Nick. “I see the Sumkaka, a shuttle from Trans-Terrestrial Express and one from Solar Wide Transport.”
“Some guys are unloading the shuttles while there are women at large tables sorting through everything,” said Tony. “They’re putting things into various different bins. Well organized! The stuff they apparently don’t want is being put into the Sumkaka.”
“They must have someone working in virtually every mail, express and transportation line to steal stuff and bring it here,” said Jake.
Nick took pictures with his communicator camera. “We have the evidence we need,” said Tony. “Time to get back home and let the “powers that be” decide how they want to handle this.”
“Yoos fixing these bad men?” asked Lananee.
“We’ll fix them. I promise,” said Jake. Lananee kissed Jake on the cheek and quickly disappeared down the dark street.
Nick checked his communicator for the homing signal that would lead them back to their cloaked ship. “Let’s go home,” said Tony. “I think we’ve had enough fun for today.”
Safe aboard the Dragon, Nick piloted the ship away from Ganymede and set a course for Earth. Jake quickly dozed off while Tony reported the preceding events and sent the photographic images to Director Benedict at S.A.P.I. Headquarters.
“Great job, boys. I had no idea that the scope of this Saturn’s ring issue would be so large,” said Director Benedict. I’m sure that the Feds will set up a task force to clean up this mess.”
####
Finally back home on Earth, Tony, Nick and Jake sat with Director Benedict for final debriefing. “You three did one hell of a job sorting this thing out,” exclaimed Director Benedict.
“Well,” said Tony, we couldn’t have done it without Jake’s intimate knowledge of the Kala-Jun colony.” Nick suppressed a snicker while Jake sat with a huge grin on his face.
“You know, there’s a crazy story going around about a Uranian space craft being torpedoed with a frozen mass of crap and toilet paper. Have you guys heard about it?” asked the director.
“Sounds as if someone has a vivid imagination,” said Nick with a smile.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” said Director Benedict with a knowing grin. By the way, the Feds surprised the Sumkaka at the dump site and they decided to fight it out. Sumkaka lost.
“So, what are they going to do with all that stuff on Saturn’s rings?” asked Tony.
“I don’t know boys. As usual, it’s turned into a big bureaucratic mess,” exclaimed the director. “NASA is studying the feasibility of attaching a type of bulldozer blade to the front of a space shuttle and using it to evenly distribute the discarded items within the rings, bringing them back within balance.
Problem is, the Intergalactic Union of Operating Engineers has stated emphatically that any kind of bulldozing or grading operation must have a union operator at the controls. An agreement is currently stalled over issues of holiday pay, over-time and coffee breaks.
The Intra-Solar Environmental Protection Agency is working on “land fill” type regulations, stating that it is not in the best interest of the cosmic environment to just push the discarded luggage and containers around but it must be buried to avoid future movement and contamination of space. The ISEPA is also concerned that accumulated quantities of after-shave lotion and perfume that may be left inside luggage may leach into space as a mind altering gas and may affect the ability of future space travelers to keep their minds focused on their duties. It is also feared that without proper cover, space rats may be drawn to the site.”
Tony shook his head. “It’s never going to change, is it?”
“I guess not,” said the director. “Well, enough of this malarkey. You boys deserve some R & R. Get out of here.”
As they left the building, Carla was just leaving for the day. She smiled at Nick. “Hello agent Pollard. Are you going my way?”
“I could be,” grinned Nick.
“Are you interested in stopping at my place for a cup of coffee?” she asked.
“Sure. I love coffee,” he smiled broadly. “Guys, don’t wait up. I might be late.”
As they watched Carla and Nick get into Carla’s flame red sports pod and glide away, Jake put his arm around Tony’s shoulder. Doing his best imitation of the Jarda-Ru bartender he said “Com, Earth boy. I buys ju a dlink. Maybe ve finds ju a nicey gorl.”
Tony laughed and shook his head. “Okay, Stump. Lead the way. First round is on me.”
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