Scout Brooks vs. The Blobberous (Book 3) by Scott Donnelly - HTML preview

CHAPTER ELEVEN

HyperNog Finder XX-1

I.

I woke up early the next morning and took a much-needed shower.I tended to the muskrat wounds on my face and tried to relax my body in the warm water.This job took a lot out of me, physically and mentally.

I walked back into my room and dried off with my towel.I got dressed and looked at my phone.It was a little after 8am.I had just enough time to grab some breakfast at Father Peanuts and get to work by 9.

The weather was cool, so I dressed comfortably in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt that Chuck had designed for me.It was gray with one of his classic designs on it – the mustache turtle.Chuck hadn’t made many shirts lately, but his stock of them were still selling on a regular basis at Palmer’s Calmics.

I hopped in my Premise and drove to Father Peanuts.Once there, I grabbed a booth near the back in Mandy’s section, and she came to get my order.

“Good morning, ‘cakes,” I said with a smile.She smiled back as she flipped open her note pad.

“Good morning, Scout.”

“Can we talk?” I asked.

Mandy sat down across from me at the booth.“Just for a minute,” she said, “I don’t want to get in trouble.”

“I’ve acted a fool here lately.I admit, I was attracted to Adia, but there’s nothing there.I keep realizing how much you mean to me and it’s you that I want to be with.I’m sorry, Mandy.”

Mandy smiled.“Thank you for apologizing, Scout.I’m sorry too.I guess I was a little jealous that you were working so close to Adia.She’s pretty – much prettier than me – and I -”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa – she’s not prettier than you.No one is,” I said.I saw Mandy blush at my comment.That might have been the first time I saw her blush – I usually just made her mad.

She leaned across the table and kissed me on the cheek.“Maybe we can have a date night tomorrow.You want to come over around 7?We can order some pizza and watch a movie.”

“Action movie?”

“Chick flick.”

“Sounds perfect,” I said.Any kind of movie with Mandy would hit the spot at this point.

“How’re The Fellas?Everything resolved?” Mandy asked.

“Um, not really.We killed this giant alien called the Blobberous, but Nog was abducted, and we’re not really sure where he is.”

Mandy gasped.“My God...”

“We’re working on it though.”

“I’m so sorry, Scout.”

“It’s ok.We’ll figure it out and hopefully get him back soon.”

“Mandy!Order up!” the cook shouted from the kitchen area.

“I have to go,” Mandy said, standing up.“You want eggs and toast?”

“With some bacon, maybe?” I said.“Oh, and extra salt for the bacon.”

“Salt on your bacon?” Mandy questioned with a grossed-out look on her face.

“Please.”

“It’s your arteries!” Mandy sarcastically said, jotting down my tribute order before fleeing for the kitchen.

II.

After my unnecessarily salty breakfast, I arrived to work a few minutes before nine.I walked up to the door just as Palm was unlocking it.

“Good morning, Palmic!” I said.

“Scoutish!‘Morn!” he said.He seemed pretty awake and perky for it being only nine in the morning.

“Good mood?” I asked.

“You know it!The news called me a nut-job last night, so I’m suing the crap out of their butts.I’m gonna be a millionaire, Scout!”

“Good for you, Palm.”

I followed Palm into the store where he flipped the lights on.Sometimes it was really refreshing to work there.It was such a laid back job, the store was always cool, and the customers that came in were always so personable and kind.It was a rare breed – a inspirational breed.

“I’m gonna brew a pot of Joe.You in?” Palm asked.

“I could definitely go for a pot.Thanks, man.”

Palm walked into the back room to get the coffee going.The front door chimed and I saw Chuck walking in with a box in his hands.

“Morning, Chuckalous,” I said.

Chuck set the box down on the counter and opened the lid.I looked in and saw it was a shipment of Dragon Wind 2: Fire and Smoke, by Phillip Easton.

“Oh, they’re done?” I asked, taking out one of the books and leafing through its pages.

“Yup,” Chuck said.“Phil asked for them to be on the shelf this morning.”

“I didn’t know it was going to be done this fast.”

“You know Phil, man…very secretive.”

“Yeah I know.Um,” I looked at an empty spot on the wall, “just put them on the shelf where the first one sold out.”

Chuck picked up the box and carried it to the empty shelf.

Palm walked out of the back room with two cups of coffee.He handed me one.

“That was fast!” I said, gripping the Joe.

“Well, it better be!I just purchased the MegaBrew 3000; brews the Joe in just seconds,” Palm said adjusting his hipster glasses.He looked over and saw Chuck unloading Phil’s highly anticipated sequel.“Oh, Chuck-man!I didn’t know you were here. You want some brew?”

“I could go for a brew!” Chuck said and stopped what he was doing.He followed Palm into the backroom to pour a cup.

I walked around the counter and sat down in one of the two seats.I looked down into my cup of coffee and watched the freshly stirred beverage.The milk that Palm had injected and stirred into it was spinning still.It reminded me of a spinning galaxy.

Nog was out there – somewhere possibly in the Andromeda Galaxy.He’d been taken by the Grims: a seemingly merciless alien species out to settle the score.I didn’t know at this point what would become of the situation, but I knew it probably didn’t have a happy ending attached to it.

III.

I pulled a double shift at the Calmic book store and got out around 5pm.I texted my mom and told her I’d be late coming home because I was going to meet Mandy for dinner.That was a lie.I know it’s not a good thing to be lying to your parents, or anyone for that matter, but I was an elite space agent, and that was on a need-to-know basis.

I was really heading back to Fort Nog’s to check in on the research Farrow was conducting.I asked Chuck to go with me, but he was understandably worn out from our Earth mission, so I went alone.

I got out of my car and walked up the gravel driveway and towards the now heavily guarded barn.

“Name?” one of the guards sternly asked.

“Scout Brooks.”

The guard pulled out a small iPad-like device and searched my name.“You’re cleared.Please sign in at the front desk.”

The guards moved out of my way and pulled the barn doors open for me.A desk sat off to the right as soon as I walked in.Adia sat behind it.

“Adia? What are you doing here?”

“I’m working here at the fort,” she said.“I don’t think the missions are exactly for me.”

“I see,” I said.

“My dad will be a little bummed out, but oh well.I’m sure he’d rather me not risk my life.I’ll leave that to you guys.”

“That’s okay.We’ll take care of everything,” I said as I leaned over the desk and signed my name on the check-in sheet.“Hey, Adia, I’m sorry for acting like a fool.The truth is, you’re gorgeous, and I was a little distracted.But I have a girl who makes me happy.I really care about Mandy.”

“Good for you, Scout,” Adia smiled.“It all works out in the end.I’ve found something in Phil that I can’t get enough of.He’s mysterious, mechanical and he’s a writer – I like that.”

“Phil’s a good guy;a bigger guy, but a good guy.A guy with a ponytail, but a good guy.A guy with some Blobberous-sized gums, but a good guy.A guy with -”

“You can say all you want about Phil, Scout,” Adia said, interrupting me, “but those are all reasons why I really like him.”

“I’m glad you both found each other,” I said.“Where’s Farrow?”

“Out back.”

“Thanks.”

I walked through the barn, passed up the good old Frog Hopper, which I was sure I’d be using again really soon, and out the back door.

Farrow stood there in his white lab coat, and over-saw a select few workers – including Hastings – building some sort of satellite with a giant computer base.

“Fellas,” I said, greeting them.Hastings waved and then immediately went back to stuffing blue and red wires into the base.Farrow turned and faced me.

“Scout, what are you doing here?If you’re here to see Philclops, he’s on level three getting soldered and welded back to perfection,” Farrow said.

“I was actually coming to see how everything was going with the research.What do we know?”

Farrow took a deep breath.“This secret satellite project, which I call HyperNog Finder XX-1, should give us some extreme details on where to locate Nog.We’ll have it focused on the Andromeda Galaxy for the next few days once it’s up and running, and we’ll see what kind of feedback we get from it.”

“Do we know much yet?”

“Not a ton.Andromeda is about 2.5 million light years away and is jammed-packed with more than a trillion stars.It’s too soon to tell how many planets reside there, but it’s a massive galaxy.Even though it’s the closest galaxy to us, it will still be the most in-depth mission yet if we’re able to locate Ed.It could take a lot of planning and manpower to even get there.We’re talking multiple ships, not just you and the Frog Hopper.It’d be a whole squad we’d have to send.”

“Wow.Sounds epic.”

“It will be epic,” Farrow said.“I hate to be a rude-nilly, but I really need to get back to over-seeing this operation.I’ll let you know when we know more.”

“Okay, just let me know.”

“I will, I just said that.”

IV.

It was after midnight and I was lying wide-awake in bed, scrolling through the Frog Nog app for information on the Andromeda Galaxy.The light on my nightstand was on, and I was drinking some instant coffee to stay awake and do my own research.The instant coffee sucked compared to a pot of fresh-brewed, dark goodness.But it worked for now.

I read that if we traveled at the speed of light, it would take us 2.5 million years to travel to the Andromeda Galaxy.That means, the EIA, and Farrow in particular, we’re going to have to find a way to travel faster than the speed of light – like, really faster.I was sure they would come up with something, but it would take some time.The technology needed for this trip only currently existed in science fiction movies.

But Farrow was bent on getting Nog back, so I knew he’d work tirelessly to achieve the goal.

The light on my nightstand flickered for a moment and then shut off, leaving me in a pitch-black room.I set my phone down and turned the screen off.The house began to shake and suddenly, a bright white light shone in through my bedroom window.

I quickly sat up in my bed and put my back against the wall and braced myself for whatever was coming my way.The window shattered and a shadowy figure climbed in and stood at the foot of my bed.I was shaking – was I being abducted next?

The light outside dimmed just enough where I could make out details on the invader:five feet tall, black armored suit, yellow helmet with a clear visor…it was a Grim.

The invader took its helmet off and stared at me with its giant black, soulless eyes.This Grim specifically had a particular characteristic that made it stand out: there was a giant slash – a battle scar – that stretched from the top of his forehead, straight down his face to his chin.He seemed to be a Grim of some importance.

 The whiskery antennas above its narrow mouth wiggled, and the creature spoke.“Scout Brooks…we are aware of the EIA’s current agenda to retrieve the captured, one Professor Edward Nog.I came here to strongly advise you that such a mission would not bode well for you, or for anyone.If you attempt this mission at any point, we’ll kill Professor Edward Nog first, and then exterminate the entire EIA without hesitation.Do you understand, Earthling Scout Brooks?”

I nodded.

“Don’t make me come back here,” the Grim said.He turned back around, put his helmet back on and slipped back out the shattered window.

I heard a loud engine outside, similar to a 747, followed by a bright white flash.Within a matter of seconds, the ship that the Grim came in had blasted back into space.

I sat in bed, scared stiff, and was breathing heavily.I could feel a nervous fart coming on…