Planet – Ingilium
Moglum’s Land Base Rental
Renter: Gorth – practicing war games on the backlot…
“I will not die! At least not today! So take that! And that! And that!”
Bam! Fizzzt!
“Gorth! Hold on would you? You’re turning my back lot into a crater. I know you’re a lean, mean, fighting machine—but please—I need some space that isn’t constantly being bombarded with shrapnel. My poor nerves—”
“What a landlord! Where’s your Ingilum spirit, Moglum? Your mama should’ve packed you off on one of those slave transports.”
“Nice. Real nice, Gorth. Now shut up and listen. Someone from the Imperium just sent a message—”
“From the Imperium? For me?”
“Yeah, and if you’re being transferred, you better fix this mess before you leave!”
~~~
Imperium Central Office for Inter-planetary Security
Hologram message coming through…
“Citizen Iz, secretary for the Imperium, can I help you?”
“Oh, hi, it’s me…I mean…this is citizen Gorth. You sent a message….”
“Gorth! Yes, thank you for checking in so quickly. Good news. We’ve been watching your progress and decided that this is the time to support your… unique skills.”
“Um. What does that mean exactly?”
“Listen, Gorth, there’s a new threat. We’ve received secret information that the Cresta are planning an invasion… and they won’t be coming alone.”
“Annihilate! Really? This is big. How can I help? I mean with the weapons’ ban and all…”
“The ban has been lifted. Your research may continue where you left off. In fact, the Imperium is prepared to assist you by any means necessary.”
Silence.
“Gorth?”
“Oh, yeah… I just had to get back on my feet…I sorta fell over. Honestly, I never expected this. You know, weapons are my passion. I live to evaporate. It’s what I dream about. After the ban, I had to be content with just blowing—”
“We understand. That’s why you have been chosen. You’re gifted and if it hadn’t been for interplanetary pressure, we’d never have agreed to that infernal… Never mind. The fact is, you are now reinstated. Fully. Get back to work, Gorth.”
~~~
Three moon cycles later…
Back at Moglum’s Land Base Rental
Moglum’s Living Space
Moglum and Gorth sit hunched on a steel bench as they lean over a long table strewn with various weapon and weapon parts.
Gorth holds up a small, smooth, and rounded handheld devise, his chest puffs with pride. “I’m calling it the Evaporator.”
Moglum frowns. “Nah… Come on Gorth; don’t be stupid. That name’s already been taken. It blew the entire watching audience to smithereens. Don’t you remember? It was on every hologram from here to the Cresta Divide.”
“Musta repressed it. Hmmm… I’m not so good at naming things. Any ideas?”
“How about the Destroyer? The Atomizer? The Dustbuster?”
“Hey, I like that. The Dustbuster! I’ll call it the Dustbuster I. I mean, I’ve done about a kazillion of these things but nobody needs to know that.”
“Go down in history as the greatest weapon maker of all time… Brilliant. Oh, and when you get paid… You are getting paid for this right?”
“Sure. The Imperium said they’d give me what I deserve.”
“Well, then, you’ll be in a position to rebuild the back lot. I was thinking of turning it into something like that resort on the South Sea. You know, the one with all the foliage and females…”
“Yeah. Yeah… I’ll get to it. But first I got to present this to the Imperium. See what they think.”
“You’ll be a hero. No doubt about it. I always said you’d make the Ingot name great again.”
“Ah… Just following my passion.”
~~~
Universal News Today:
It has been verified that the missing inventor of the Dustbuster I, Gorth, has finally been tracked to the back lot of Moglum’s Land Base Rental. Apparently, his newest weapon had been used against him and then stolen.
The Imperium requests that any information concerning Gorth’s demise be sent directly to their Central Security Office.
On the interplanetary front, it appears that Crestas are once again up to no good….
~~~
A. K. Frailey is the author of 15 books, a teacher for 35 years, and a homeschooling mother of 8.
Make the most of life’s journey.
For books by A. K. Frailey check out her Amazon Author Page
https://www.amazon.com/author/akfrailey
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