Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Tom studied the plaque on the door like he always did before he went into the Captain’s office: H. B. Hacker: Captain of The Ministry of Nations Investigations of the Paranormal. Tom had always wanted to take this plaque off the door and beat it into the Captain’s head. He looked up and down the hallway watching the other agents of the ministry do their daily business. Someone walked by with a head in a jar, while another checked some reports on some frog’s eggs in the office across the hall.
“Come in Jet!”, said a voice from behind the door, as Tom raised his hand to knock. Tom shook his head. He was in a lot of trouble. He slowly opened the door and pushed it aside. The room had been painted a dull brown color and a single window gave view over the courtyard of the ministry below. Different maps of different lands, cities, and countries were propped up, pinned down, left lying in corners, in the trash bin, and some other places Tom didn’t want to know about. A globe sat on the desk along with many different tools and instruments. Tom casually glanced about and then walked in, casually of course.
He sat down across from the Captain and looked him in the eye. He kept his posture straight and his face gravely serious. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot. The Captain stood there and kept his solemn look on his face while he tapped his foot also. The Captain shifted his weight in his chair and Tom copied him. The Captain shook his head and picked up his pencil to continue doing paper work.
“I think you should start explaining Jet,” the Captain said gruffly as he pinpointed areas of some Eastern European Country in front of him. “I’m not very fond of what you’ve caused to happen. And to be frank, I’m not very fond of you. The latter, of course, you already know.” The Captain looked up from his map and stared calmly at Tom.
“Yes, I guessed you’d want a good explanation,” Tom said very scholarly and with a smirk on his face. “And I can assure you I have one, but you must take into consideration th-IT wasn’t my fault!” he blurted out. “It was Charles! It was a setup! They had it all planned ou-”
“We know, we know!” interrupted the Captain as he held up the same issue of newspaper that Tom had already seen. “We sent men down there this morning, and from what we can make of the…well…remains of the town, this was definitely the device that we sent you after.” The Captain threw the newspaper at Tom, who in return threw the newspaper back at the Captain. The Captain, shaking rather violently, looked at Tom, who in response to what he had just done, smiled sheepishly and cowered a little. “Get out.” The Captain ordered. “Get out, get out, get out!”
“But! The device? My mission?” Tom asked in surprise.
“Forget it!” yelled the Captain, “You’ll be lucky if I let you keep your job you blithering idiot! Now get a move on, there’s a ton of paper work that needs to be done left on your desk!”
“You can’t kick me off this mission, Captain!” Tom argued, “It’s mine, all mine!”
“Listen, you clumsy, irresponsible, meaningless, mindless, nonsensical, thickheaded, flaky, underdeveloped, fool, I’m giving it to some one else!” The Captain shouted, “Now get out before you lose your job, or worse, anymore of your dignity, if you have any remaining in that shell of yours that you call a body!” And with that, Tom got up, moodily kicked the Captain’s desk and walked out. He slammed the door, once because he was mad, but twice for effect, and he finally slammed the door a third time knocking the knob of the door.
Tom held the knob in his hand for awhile and glanced around before finally slipping it in his pocket. People had stopped what they were doing because of the noise that was going on, and workers had stopped in the hallway to stare at Tom. The man checking reports on the fish eggs had dropped a couple on the floor and some more were oozing out slowly on his shoe. Tom walked casually to his office down the hall, where he found his door shut.
“Hmmmmm,” Tom thought out loud, “I could’ve sworn I left that open…” He opened the door, turned on the light, and looked about the room. His mahogany desk was there, his latest map of Mexico was on the wall where he left it, his globe in the corner of the room was there, the bones of several different dinosaurs were scattered about the floor where he had put them, and his trash bin was at the side of his desk. His pet cat-fish, Klondike, was gurgling in the tank by the window and everything seemed normal. Everything except for the silky black haired woman sitting in his chair.
“Alessandra!” Tom shook his head. “Not again,” he mumbled. Alessandra was Italian, beautiful, hardly dressed for work, and out of her mind. For some reason, which Tom could never figure out, she was obsessed with Tom’s very being. His breath, his eyes, and even his shoes, some of which she had stolen before. Secretly, unbeknownst to him, she stalked him quietly every night as he went home. She was also quite a nuisance.
“Oh Tom!” She gasped, “Thank Florence you’re alright. I was so worried after the fire in Westchester and you coming in late.” she said as cute as she could well sticking out her bottom lip as much as even she could handle. “Why don’t you come in and we can ’discuss’ you’re trip, and maybe I could help relax a little, yes?” Tom sighed and rolled his eyes leaning on the door.
“Alessandra, are you sure you’re feeling al-” Tom started.
“Oh Tom…I just…I need you Tom…” Alessandra interrupted and she knocked his paperwork off of his desk and into his trash bin. “I need you Tom,” she said again while pouting, as she started to crawl across the table, revealing more than she should have while doing so. She started to push everything of his desk and lie there seductively, almost in position to pounce. “Don’t you need me Tom?” she asked quietly.
Tom shut the door in front of him. Too much, just too much in one day. “At least that took care of the paperwork.” he said to himself. He turned around where he was catching more attention in the hallway again. However, this time people were more attentive to what was behind the door. Tom got another idea.
He walked up to the Captain’s office and threw open the door. “Fine, if you’re going to keep me trapped here doing office work, then I’m taking my leave! I’ll be on vacation for my saved up…” Tom thought in his head for a moment, then continued, “16 days and seven hours!” He shouted the best that he could at the Captain who had spilled coffee in his lap and on one of his maps and then he attempted to slam the door.
The door didn’t exactly slam and it kind of slipped from Tom’s fingers, so he kicked it instead, and threw the door knob at the Captain. “Here! Take it! It’s yours anyway!” And with that, Tom left and walked down the stairwell and out the front door after giving a short goodbye to Lydia.
Tom studied the plaque on the door like he always did before he went into the Captain’s office: H. B. Hacker: Captain of The Ministry of Nations Investigations of the Paranormal. Tom had always wanted to take this plaque off the door and beat it into the Captain’s head. He looked up and down the hallway watching the other agents of the ministry do their daily business. Someone walked by with a head in a jar, while another checked some reports on some frog’s eggs in the office across the hall.
“Come in Jet!”, said a voice from behind the door, as Tom raised his hand to knock. Tom shook his head. He was in a lot of trouble. He slowly opened the door and pushed it aside. The room had been painted a dull brown color and a single window gave view over the courtyard of the ministry below. Different maps of different lands, cities, and countries were propped up, pinned down, left lying in corners, in the trash bin, and some other places Tom didn’t want to know about. A globe sat on the desk along with many different tools and instruments. Tom casually glanced about and then walked in, casually of course.
He sat down across from the Captain and looked him in the eye. He kept his posture straight and his face gravely serious. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot. The Captain stood there and kept his solemn look on his face while he tapped his foot also. The Captain shifted his weight in his chair and Tom copied him. The Captain shook his head and picked up his pencil to continue doing paper work.
“I think you should start explaining Jet,” the Captain said gruffly as he pinpointed areas of some Eastern European Country in front of him. “I’m not very fond of what you’ve caused to happen. And to be frank, I’m not very fond of you. The latter, of course, you already know.” The Captain looked up from his map and stared calmly at Tom.
“Yes, I guessed you’d want a good explanation,” Tom said very scholarly and with a smirk on his face. “And I can assure you I have one, but you must take into consideration th-IT wasn’t my fault!” he blurted out. “It was Charles! It was a setup! They had it all planned ou-”
“We know, we know!” interrupted the Captain as he held up the same issue of newspaper that Tom had already seen. “We sent men down there this morning, and from what we can make of the…well…remains of the town, this was definitely the device that we sent you after.” The Captain threw the newspaper at Tom, who in return threw the newspaper back at the Captain. The Captain, shaking rather violently, looked at Tom, who in response to what he had just done, smiled sheepishly and cowered a little. “Get out.” The Captain ordered. “Get out, get out, get out!”
“But! The device? My mission?” Tom asked in surprise.
“Forget it!” yelled the Captain, “You’ll be lucky if I let you keep your job you blithering idiot! Now get a move on, there’s a ton of paper work that needs to be done left on your desk!”
“You can’t kick me off this mission, Captain!” Tom argued, “It’s mine, all mine!”
“Listen, you clumsy, irresponsible, meaningless, mindless, nonsensical, thickheaded, flaky, underdeveloped, fool, I’m giving it to some one else!” The Captain shouted, “Now get out before you lose your job, or worse, anymore of your dignity, if you have any remaining in that shell of yours that you call a body!” And with that, Tom got up, moodily kicked the Captain’s desk and walked out. He slammed the door, once because he was mad, but twice for effect, and he finally slammed the door a third time knocking the knob of the door.
Tom held the knob in his hand for awhile and glanced around before finally slipping it in his pocket. People had stopped what they were doing because of the noise that was going on, and workers had stopped in the hallway to stare at Tom. The man checking reports on the fish eggs had dropped a couple on the floor and some more were oozing out slowly on his shoe. Tom walked casually to his office down the hall, where he found his door shut.
“Hmmmmm,” Tom thought out loud, “I could’ve sworn I left that open…” He opened the door, turned on the light, and looked about the room. His mahogany desk was there, his latest map of Mexico was on the wall where he left it, his globe in the corner of the room was there, the bones of several different dinosaurs were scattered about the floor where he had put them, and his trash bin was at the side of his desk. His pet cat-fish, Klondike, was gurgling in the tank by the window and everything seemed normal. Everything except for the silky black haired woman sitting in his chair.
“Alessandra!” Tom shook his head. “Not again,” he mumbled. Alessandra was Italian, beautiful, hardly dressed for work, and out of her mind. For some reason, which Tom could never figure out, she was obsessed with Tom’s very being. His breath, his eyes, and even his shoes, some of which she had stolen before. Secretly, unbeknownst to him, she stalked him quietly every night as he went home. She was also quite a nuisance.
“Oh Tom!” She gasped, “Thank Florence you’re alright. I was so worried after the fire in Westchester and you coming in late.” she said as cute as she could well sticking out her bottom lip as much as even she could handle. “Why don’t you come in and we can ’discuss’ you’re trip, and maybe I could help relax a little, yes?” Tom sighed and rolled his eyes leaning on the door.
“Alessandra, are you sure you’re feeling al-” Tom started.
“Oh Tom…I just…I need you Tom…” Alessandra interrupted and she knocked his paperwork off of his desk and into his trash bin. “I need you Tom,” she said again while pouting, as she started to crawl across the table, revealing more than she should have while doing so. She started to push everything of his desk and lie there seductively, almost in position to pounce. “Don’t you need me Tom?” she asked quietly.
Tom shut the door in front of him. Too much, just too much in one day. “At least that took care of the paperwork.” he said to himself. He turned around where he was catching more attention in the hallway again. However, this time people were more attentive to what was behind the door. Tom got another idea.
He walked up to the Captain’s office and threw open the door. “Fine, if you’re going to keep me trapped here doing office work, then I’m taking my leave! I’ll be on vacation for my saved up…” Tom thought in his head for a moment, then continued, “16 days and seven hours!” He shouted the best that he could at the Captain who had spilled coffee in his lap and on one of his maps and then he attempted to slam the door.
The door didn’t exactly slam and it kind of slipped from Tom’s fingers, so he kicked it instead, and threw the door knob at the Captain. “Here! Take it! It’s yours anyway!” And with that, Tom left and walked down the stairwell and out the front door after giving a short goodbye to Lydia.