Episode 6

'If the HTTP Indians won't take American dollars, what will they take?' Sprilznick exclaimed.

'If it's any consolation, they would probably reject Mr. Fujikuji's yen as well,' Spot said, referring to the world's second-richest man. 'All I know is that Hard Drive and his people must have some pretty advanced technology if they can whisk Nebraska away without anybody seeing them do it. We probably shouldn't seriously annoy them if we want to keep our scalps.' Sprilznick shuddered at the mention of scalps, so Spot added, 'That's just an expression.'

'How soon do you think Deus Ex Machina will arrive?' Sprilznick asked.

'It'll take a couple of hours to summon the governing board,' Spot said. 'Why do you ask?'

'As long as we're here, maybe we could do a little fishing.' Sprilznick cast a longing glance at the water-filled chasm that had usurped his favorite hunting grounds. He also felt bad for his cousins who were abducted, and hoped Hard Drive was right about their treatment.

'It's your helicopter and your vacation,' Spot said with a shrug. There might not be any fish in that canyon yet, but go ahead. Just remember that if Nebraska gets returned while we're here, the shock waves might not be any too pleasant. For one thing, we'd probably face a nasty tsunami.'

Deus Ex Machina, Inc. was a company that few people besides Spot and Sprilznick had ever heard of. This was intentional, because the company existed for the sole purpose of monitoring the universe for potential threats to life on Earth, then neutralizing them before the earthlings even knew they were there. NASA knew about Deus Ex Machina, of course, but any references to them were contained in government documents so secret that it was a crime to reveal this information to anyone. Bridge Toofar, Woodhed's predecessor, was going on trial for taking such secret documents to his home in Merry Largo when he left the White House.

The chairman of the board was Spot himself, which was understandable give that Spot had formed the company in the first place. Sprilznick was also on the board, as well as a blind inventor named Pollonius Neinstein. Neinstein had been an interesting choice for the board. He had invented the company's cutting-edge asteroid-sensors, and his close association with Spot went back to the time when Spot served as his seeing-eye dog. The remaining two board members were advanced lifeforms from another dimension. They went by the aliases of Extraterrestrial Weasel and Nostradamus. The company's entire workforce was small enough to fit in a minivan, but of course the company's importance was not a function of its size. Spot had formed it as the planet's last defense against asteroid impacts, supernovas, and alien invasions.

Hard Drive's little escapade definitely qualified on the last count.

Paulh

19.02.24 Front Page

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