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Chapter 2
Straker walked into his outer studio office and accepted his mail from Miss Ealand, rifling through it as he stood in front of her desk.
“So, what’s my schedule like for today?”
“You have the department head meeting at nine.”
“That’s right. I wonder if we’ll get out of there before noon this time?”
“I couldn’t say, sir.” Although she knew that particular meeting always ran over. She held up a note. “You also got a call from Billy Fairchild, who said to tell you that he is finished with the rocket design and would like to show it to you when he visits the studio today.”
Straker, who had frowned slightly at the name, found his brow clearing when rockets were mentioned. “Ah, yes! The little genius. Mark my words, Miss Ealand. That boy will be building ships for SHADO before he hits twenty.”
“Yes, sir. Do you want me to schedule him in while he’s here today? It will interfere with your other meeting.”
“By how much?”
“A good hour, I’d say. He plans to come at eleven.”
“Right. Add him in. I’ll see him at eleven.”
“Yes, sir.”
He headed for his inner office, but turned back with a wry grin. “Oh, and Miss Ealand? I can pretty much guarantee that the department head meeting will end on time today.”
She almost smiled. “Yes, sir.”
* * *
Promptly at eleven, Straker returned to his office and found two young boys waiting to see him. He shook hands with both of them while Miss Ealand took care of the introductions, then ushered them into his studio office with a smile. He waved them to the chairs in front of his desk, then took his seat behind it.
“Well, gentlemen. We’re grateful to have you visiting our studio today. Billy, I understand that you’ve finished the design for the interesting rocketship that I saw when you were last here.”
“Yes, sir,” said Billy, squirming excitedly in the chair. “I brought it with me.”
“Excellent! Shall we take a look at it then?”
Billy took out his sketch pad and opened it to a certain page, then laid it on the desk facing the studio head. “This is it, and you can see that I’ve added some hydraulics to the initial sketch to make propulsion easier.”
“Yes, I do see that,” Straker said as he looked over the design carefully. It was crude, of course. Very crude. But the idea behind the design was brilliant, and even in its current form, was something that R & D would jump at the chance to work on. He glanced back up at the boy. “Well, Billy. This is exactly the kind of rocket that we’ve been needing for our latest science fiction film, Monsters from the Planet Mongo. If you’re willing to let me make a copy of this sketch and keep it, we’ll be happy to pay you a hundred pounds for your idea.”
“A hundred pounds!” Billy gaped at him in shock.
“So, you don’t need his sketch – just a copy of it?” asked his friend curiously.
Straker turned to the other boy and explained. “Well, Jimmy. His original sketch is a work of art and should remain in his hands. We only need to duplicate the shape of the rocket for our movie, so a copy is good enough for us.”
“Wow, Billy! Your rocket’s going to be in a movie!”
Billy swallowed and said, “Do I have to sign something, Mr. Straker? My mom said sometimes people who work in a studio have to sign papers.”
“Your mother is correct.” Straker got on his phone and requested that his secretary bring in the contract for him to sign. “Now, Billy,” he said as she brought it in. “This is a very simple contract, but I want you to read it over carefully and ask if something doesn’t make sense to you. What it says is that we are buying your rocket idea for the sum of a hundred pounds, and that you agree that this is a fair amount for allowing your design to be used by the studio for its film.”
Billy did as he was asked and looked over the piece of paper, but he was far too excited to pay attention to what was written there. A hundred pounds was a fortune! And all for a rocket that he had designed! He was on top of the world! He accepted the pen from Mr. Straker eagerly and signed his name on the line. Then he sat back and grinned at Jimmy, who grinned back. This was a day unlike any other!
As Miss Ealand left the office with the paper, Straker sat back in his chair and surveyed the boys. “It seems to me that this is cause for a celebration,” he told them. “If you’ll go to our cafeteria and tell them your names, they’ll give you each an enormous ice cream sundae. What do you say to that?”
They assured him that they were quite in agreement with such a plan, talking over each other in their excitement. And as he smiled slightly back at them, Straker noticed a small nose emerging from the one boy’s pocket.
“What’s that, Jimmy?” he asked, pointing.
Jimmy started in surprise, then said, “Oh! That’s Xen, my pet mouse. She’s just curious. She doesn’t mean any harm.”
“May I?” Straker asked him, holding out a hand. “I used to have a pet mouse when I was your age,” he said. “He was white like this one, in fact.”
Xen hopped out of Jimmy’s pocket onto the desk and went right into Straker’s hand. The commander lifted her close to his face and petted her fur. “Well, now. Aren’t you a tame little thing?” he murmured. “I can tell that you take good care of your mouse,” he told Jimmy. “She’s not nervous or scared of being held, which means that you’re gentle with her. It’s important to be kind to those who are smaller than we are, isn’t it? In fact, they depend on us to be.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Jimmy, who wanted to laugh at the thought of what Mr. Straker would think if he knew Xen’s true size.
Billy had the hopes of a giant sundae in front of him, so he broke into their conversation to ask, “So, is that it then, Mr. Straker? We can go and get the sundaes now?”
“Yes, of course,” the commander replied, handing the mouse back to Jimmy. “Please get your sketch back from Miss Ealand as you leave, as well as your copy of the contract and your check. Tell your mother that if she has any questions, she can call me here and I’ll answer them for her. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Straker ushered them both out of his office and left them in his secretary’s hands. He knew she would direct them to the cafeteria without any trouble. He returned to his office and closed the door, sitting behind his desk and opening the silver cigar case that sat on one end.
“Straker,” he said absently, smiling slightly as he remembered his own boyhood, complete with a small furry friend of his own. The boys’ visit had brought it all back to him. He’d been so heartbroken when his pet had died, not realizing until too late that mice did not have long lifespans. He’d never gotten another pet after that. But his mousy friend Reepicheep had never been forgotten.
When he entered the Control room, Lt. Ford looked up from his station at communications and said, “Col. Freeman is in your office, Commander.”
“Right. Thank you, Lieutenant.”
He entered the office and found his second-in-command enjoying a whiskey in his chair behind his desk. He stopped just inside the doorway and said with a raised brow, “So this is how you conduct yourself when I’m not here!”
Col. Freeman jumped, but to his credit did not spill his drink. “Ed! Jesus, Ed! You could warn a guy!”
Straker chuckled as the colonel moved to the chair in front of the desk. The commander grinned at his old friend as he took his seat behind the desk. “It’s good to see you, Alec! You’ve been missed while you were gone. The thing is, I wasn’t expecting you back until tomorrow. What brings you back early?”
Freeman sighed and settled into the chair. “I thought you’d want the report on the inspections.” He pointed to a folder on the commander’s desk. “So I brought it along personally.”
Straker frowned as he picked up the report. “Why, Alec? What will I find when I read this report? Did something occur on the Skydivers that wasn’t in your daily messages?”
“No.” Freeman calmly sipped his whiskey, enjoying his moment. In his own way, he could be as ornery as his old friend.
The commander’s frown turned into a glare. He knew that tone. “Spit it out, Alec!” he demanded. “What brought you back early?”
Freeman leaned back in his chair nonchalantly, unperturbed by his superior’s glare. “Technically, I’m not early at all. The ship docked at its normal time this morning.”
“Yes, but you’re not scheduled to work until tomorrow.”
“True.”
“Well?”
The colonel gave a heavy sigh, giving up the game. “I was worried about you, you idiot!”
Straker relaxed, understanding at last. “You shouldn’t have been. I’m fine.”
Freeman leaned forward in the chair to emphasize his words. “Listen, Ed! That last attempt nearly killed you! The aliens have been escalating their attacks on you these past months, and it really worries me. They know how important you are to SHADO. What would we do if something happened to you? What would Earth do?”
“Earth will be fine, Alec,” his friend assured him. “Because SHADO will be fine. The aliens are short-sighted when they spend their efforts going after me. SHADO will continue long after I’m gone. It has to. Too much is at stake to even consider any other option.”
Alec sighed again. This was an old argument. Somehow, he never could get his friend to see how much his presence meant to all of them at SHADO. If the aliens ever managed to take him out, morale would instantly sink to the floor – a situation the commander wouldn’t imagine, because he didn’t see himself the way others saw him. He was their last bastion of hope in a battle they could not win.
“The aliens are craftier than you know,” the colonel said. “Because they see what you don’t.”
“And what is that?”
“How vital you are to keeping our planet safe.”
Straker sat back, wishing he could deny the weight of responsibility on his shoulders. “What would you have me do, Alec? Surround myself with security? Assign bodyguards?”
Freeman grimaced, knowing that his friend would hate such a scenario. “I just wish you’d be more careful. You don’t take enough precautions.”
The commander’s brow raised arrogantly. “Such as?”
“Look, Ed! I don’t think you should be sending me off on inspection tours for a while. Just until this latest game of the aliens ends. You could use a little added protection right now, and I seem to be the only bodyguard you can tolerate for any length of time.”
Straker’s lips twitched. “That’s because you resist all my efforts to get you to go away.”
Alec grinned and saluted his friend with his glass. “Thanks! I’ll take that as a compliment.”
The commander sat back, acknowledging the worth of his second-in-command’s argument. “Very well, Alec. I’ll . . .” He broke off as the door to his office opened. Lt. Ford stood in the doorway, a team of two men behind him.
“Yes, Lieutenant? What is it?”
The lieutenant stepped forward. “Sorry to interrupt you, sir,” he said. “But when you entered your office a bit ago, a mouse followed you in. I took the liberty of calling a team to capture it and deal with it for you.”
“A mouse?” Freeman squeaked, jumping up from his chair. “Where?”
Straker stood up and waved a calming hand at his friend. But he spoke to Ford. “Was it a white mouse, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir,” answered Ford, amazed as always by his commander’s perspicacity.
“Then your team is unnecessary,” the commander said. “The mouse belongs to a young boy who was just in my studio office. Somehow it must have gotten away from him when he left and followed me down here.”
He looked around the floor and finally saw a small white nose peeking out from under the conference table. He stepped forward and hunched down, saying quietly, “I see him. Don’t move!” This was to Alec, who was trying to get as far away as possible.
“Let the team get him, Ed,” his friend urged. “He could bite you.”
“Nonsense!” Straker said, holding out his hand toward the creature. “He’s quite tame, I assure you. Here, Xen! Come on then.”
After a moment, the tiny mouse came out from its hiding place and approached him. In the doorway, the team readied themselves if the mouse made a break for it. Lt. Ford held his breath, marveling at the commander’s way with animals as the small white mouse went onto the commander’s outstretched palm.
Straker held it close, petting it soothingly as he stood up and addressed his friend with a twinkle in his blue eyes. “You’re safe now, Alec. The monster’s caught.”
“Very funny, Ed!” said the colonel sarcastically. But then he grinned and said, “What were you doing with kids in your office anyway? Did they tear up the place?”
Straker turned from dismissing Ford and the team and said to his friend, “Of course not. You remember me telling you about Billy Fairchild, don’t you?”
“Nope.”
“The boy I saw on the lots a few months ago drawing rocketships?”
“Oh! Rocket boy. Yeah, I remember. He came to see you? He’s done with his rocket?”
“Yes,” Straker said, smiling and petting the small white mouse in his hand. “And he allowed me to use his rocket design for one of our films.”
Alec grinned as he poured himself another drink. “Clever you.”
“We got the rights to it for the price of a hundred pounds, Alec.”
The colonel’s eyebrows rose. “Very clever you!”
Straker turned pensive. “I wish I could have given him more. His remarkable design is going to help Earth in ways he can’t even imagine. R & D already have the copy and can’t wait to get to work on what he’s come up with. His design could make all the difference in this war, Alec. It felt almost like stealing to give him so little for it.”
“Look, Ed. If you’d given him more than that, it would have made people suspicious. That was a fair price for a studio design. More than fair, in fact. Don’t worry about it. Besides, I know you, and you’re not going to let that boy out of your sights, are you? I see scholarships coming his way in the future. Grants. Inheritances from obscure relatives.”
Straker bit back a wry smile. “Shut up, Alec,” he said fondly.
His friend just grinned at him.
“Well, I’d better take this intrepid little mouse back to its owner,” the commander said. “Just think, Alec. He infiltrated Earth’s most secret defense organization. He should either get a medal for bravery or be court-martialed.”
“I’ll just be happy to see him gone,” said his friend with a dark glance at the mouse in Straker’s hand. “Will Rocket boy still be on the premises?”
“He should be. He and his buddy were going for ice cream at the cafeteria when they left my office.”
“Two boys in your office?” Freeman exclaimed. “Are you sure they didn’t tear the place up?”
“They were quite well behaved,” his friend told him. “Unlike some other people I could name.”
Freeman snickered, knowing that comment was directed at him.
“I’ll get back with you once I’ve taken care of this little fellow, Alec.”
“I’ll be here,” his friend said, saluting with his glass as the commander left the office with his small burden.
* * *
The security guard at the door of his office was curious about the mouse, but the commander assured him that HQ had not been infested with vermin. This was a pet mouse from the studio above.
He entered his office and sat in his chair, idly pushing the button to take the room back to the surface as he stroked the mouse’s fur. He lifted it until he could look into its tiny face. “I once had a mouse who looked very much like you when I was a boy,” he told it. “He was my best friend for a long time.” Then he sighed. “I didn’t know how much I missed him until today. It’s a shame mice don’t live longer. You almost convince me to get another one, but I just can’t handle it when they die.” He smiled wryly at it, then made a discovery. “Oh! Sorry, Xen. I didn’t realize that you were a lady mouse.”
She squirmed in his hand and jumped onto the desktop, then onto the floor.
“Hey!” he said, surprised. Then he blinked and went very still as the tiny rodent changed before his eyes into a beautiful woman with dark hair and eyes.
Who was also quite naked.
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All's Fair (Read 1504 times)
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