Chapter 14p4 – Let the Curator In

“We’d better let the curator in,” said Milly. She and Overard hurried into the hold. Tic, still woozy, stumbled after them.

Overard hit the button and the door swished open to reveal the curator in mid-knock, along with half a dozen museum employees. They were all holding various intimidating weaponry.

The curator pushed his way into Pelly’s hold. “Took you long enough… Now, what do we have here? Got that engine in yet?”

“Um,” said Overard. “No, not yet.”

“Gonna be a little while,” chimed in Cogs, popping his head up from behind the Jitterdrive. “I’m doing what I can, sir.”

“Prioritize the cloaking circuitry,” barked the curator.

“Er…” said Cogs.

“Jenks, get in there and help him out.”

One of the other museum staff dropped his blaster and hopped down with Cogs.

The curator looked at Overard. “What armaments does this old bucket have?”

“It’s his ship, actually,” said Overard. He pointed to Tic.

“Well?” said the curator.

Tic shook his head to clear away the cobwebs. “‘Well’ what? What’s going on?”

“You tell me!” said the curator. “I dunno what these scum are after, but I’m guessing it has something to do with you folks. Y’all can explain later! Right now, we gotta fight. I’m commandeering your vessel. The Enemy hit our hangars, crippled us right off the hop. In three days we could construct half a fleet out of our spare parts, but there’s no time. We’ve gotta do with what we’ve got, and right now, we’ve got your Galactic Pelican.”

There was a pregnant pause.

“Huh?” said Tic.

“Pelly has vacuum generators,” offered Haglyn.

“It’s a start,” mused the curator. “Jones, Jackson: wing-mount your turrets.” Two staffers leapt into action. “Anything else I should know before we get this freighter in the air?”

About Tim Sevenhuysen

Tim Sevenhuysen writes sci-fi and other genre fiction. He is a microfiction expert, having written over 600 fifty-word stories. He is also a noncertifiable lunatic.

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