The Counsellor was fat
and indolent, his ever-greasy fingers feeding his ever-eating mouth even though
it was way past midnight. The ludicrous sight of him delicately sucking his
tiny little digits with his oversized snout was almost too much for Garm to bear
and he was hard put to keep a straight face.
The Counsellor didn’t
like Garm. Even though he was the Seesh’s advisor, the counsellor still held
sway in his little domain and it was more than his pride was worth to
acknowledge Garm too quickly. So he let him wait.
Garm took the time to look around him. Everything
was carved of bone. There were couches and massage plinths, pedestals with
statues and dragon icons (much like on the way-stations in the forbidden zone)
and many low tables containing sweetmeats of all descriptions from which the
Counsellor fed continuously. White diaphanous curtains hung in the door opening,
blowing in the delicate breeze like the sails of a ship, and a servant with a
great feathered fan stood close by, wafting a cool breeze every now and then.
Finally the Counsellor glanced up with a sly
smile, his slimy snout hovering over a juicy titbit.
“What
dost thou want? I am most busy,” he said with an
affectatious little flutter of his dewy hands.
“It
is a most pressing matter Counsellor or I would not have bothered thee.”
“And
I am sure you would. But speak on, speak on, you aggravating little man,” he
said, dropping the polite form of thee and thou on purpose to show his disdain.
“It
concerns the alien prisoners.”
“Oh
does it now? And what is your interest in them?”
“I
have come to take custody of them for my master.”
“Oh
yes. And do you have an official communication from the Seesh?” he
said with a leery little grin, knowing full well that he didn’t or else he’d
have produced it right at the start.
“No,
but I have the Seesh’s ear.”
“Well,
it is a pity you do not have his mouth as well. No, the reward for their
capture is going to be mine. I know what you are doing, sitting back on another
man’s achievements, passing them off as your own. I am the one who ventured
into the forbidden zone to capture them. I shall get the acclaim for it….from
the Seesh himself.” He spoke as if he had personally gone on the
journey, and everyone knew he never went anywhere if he could help it. His
roly-poly little body could hardly get to the bathroom and back on some days if
he had eaten too much.
“Oh
yes. And what were you doing in the forbidden zone in the first place? I am
sure the Seesh would be very interested to hear why you were endangering his
Contrata by sending them off into such a place.”
“Yes
well,” blustered the Counsellor, obviously disturbed by
this thought. “If you must know we had a
report of a flying object….but why am I telling you this. You are nothing but a
booking clerk and a lackey. I do not think you have ever even seen the Seesh.
You are a nobody and you are upsetting my digestion, so if you do not mind, and
I do not even care if you do, will you please reverse your ugly little face out
of my home and leave me in peace.”
But Garm wasn’t finished.
“Alright.
But I am sure the Seesh is going to be very interested in why you took so long
to report these aliens to him. He would be very interested to hear further that
you have been displaying them for credits and food, and that you were planning a
Grob hunt with the aliens as prey.” This last was just a lucky guess from Garm.
“That
is a lie,” he splurted out, food drooling and dribbling from
his snout onto the couch, but Garm took careful note of the fact that the
Counsellor averted his eyes, a sure sign that he was lying.
“Well.
What would you like me to report back? It does not look good for you, you know.
I could always tell the Seesh that you were merely keeping them here to let
them recover from their arduous journey, but only if you release them into my
care.”
“Pha!
You have a hope. Those are my aliens, my property. I shall hand them over to
the Seesh in my own good time,” he
said with a bravado that he didn’t quite feel.
“Very
well. You leave me no choice but to impart an uncomplimentary report to his
highness when I get back,” said Garm.
“Oh
yes.” The Counsellor might
have been a fool but he was no coward. He decided to call Garm’s bluff. “And why are you so keen to get your hands
on these creatures?”
Garm was silent. The Counsellor was being
unusually stubborn and he didn’t know quite how to deal with him.
“I
thought so. You cannot have them and that is the end of it. I will deliver them
to the Seesh, not you.” But the thought of that long journey
was enough to make the Counsellor turn pale around the chops. It was actually
the main reason why he had not delivered them sooner to his almighty lord and
master.
“Alright.
You can deliver them but I still want to see them. Assess their condition for
my report.” said Garm, realizing that if he wasn’t going to
be able to scare the Counsellor into giving them up, then this was the next
best thing.
The Counsellor cocked an eye at this irritating
man. Garm was a clever man, and it would be best not to cross him if it could
be helped. He did not know how much of the Seesh’s ear Garm actually had, and
his fear of the Seesh was far deeper than he let on.
“Oh
how you irk me,” he repeated, throwing a piece of fruit away in
disgust and wiping his hands on a cloth. “Oh
well, I suppose you could see them. But I shall remember this little disservice
from you Garm. I will remember. Cathar!” he shouted to his servant. “Get me up. I have work to do. Fetch my
palanquin and bearers.”
The look on Cathar’s face showed that his bearers
had born his great burden once already that day and weren’t looking forward to
another trip. The Counsellor wasn’t looking forward to the trip himself
actually, for his journeys were very painful and he knew his bearers bumped him
around on purpose. But at that moment a disturbance was heard at the door. The
servant hurried off at the wave of the royal hand to find out what was
happening. When he returned he bowed to the Counsellor.
“There
is some news,” he
proclaimed.
“Oh
dear lord save me from all idiots! Of course there is news you grob-fingering
wheedle-worm. What is it?”
The servant coughed and spluttered and it was
plain to see he was the bearer of bad tidings and everyone knew what happened
to such a bearer.
“Go
on spit it out. Why am I surrounded by cretins?”
The servant tried to speak but his voice merely
broke out in a high pitched squeak. Then he tried again and managed to get a
few words out.
“The
Aliens have escaped.”
