Card Game + Aliens
Of course, it would be the Flurvox. They’d always been touchy. Early on in the station’s history, they’d nearly pulled out of the peace accord because one of the fancy station restaurants served sushi, and there’d been that incident with the Kninon Ambassador’s aquarium. All those things had been smoothed over, though, and things had been going - dare he say it - swimmingly. Major General Horence Fightingale had no idea what had set them off so badly this time, but they were calling for the heads of two human children - literally - and threatening war if they didn’t get them.
This was not good.
Joan Dark and Millie Wollstencraft were in his office, wide-eyed and terrified, as he tried to round up their parents. There was a mob of Flurvoxi swimming in the air of the hall outside, burbling angrily.
“All right, kids. Your parents are being pulled off-shift and are en route.” The girls nodded, obviously scared witless.
“Now, can you tell me what happened? This isn’t an official inquiry or anything. I just want to know if you can clear anything up for me. The Flurvoxi are claiming you threatened them, and while I don’t find you particularly intimidating, they clearly do.”
Millie kicked her feet and looked down at her lap. Joan lifted her chin and said, as stoically as an eight year old can, “We were just playing, sir. I promise.”
Joan nodded. “Yes. We were playing a game. In the lounge.”
The Major General pinched the bridge of his nose. That interspecies lounge was going to be the death of him yet. Or the death of the whole damn peace accord. Some bureaucrat’s great idea of a way to foster peace - stick a whole bunch of disparate alien species together and just let them sort things out in their idle time. Like that ever worked. The Flurvox were always down there, though, swimming around in the air and flashing their fins in some complicated social dance.
“Ok, so you were in the lounge. And there were some Flurvoxi in there too?”
Joan nodded. “Yeah, a bunch of them. They were circling all around the lounge. Mom said they do that to relax, though, so we just ignored them.”
“So you two were there to play. What game did you choose?”
Millie bit her lip. She looked like she was trying not to cry. “We brought a deck of cards - it’s my brother’s. He taught me how to play a new game last time he came home on leave. I… I really didn’t think about it, sir.”
The Major General could feel a vein in his temple starting to throb. “Millie. Joan. What game did you decide to play?”
“Go fish.”
~~~
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This was not good.
Joan Dark and Millie Wollstencraft were in his office, wide-eyed and terrified, as he tried to round up their parents. There was a mob of Flurvoxi swimming in the air of the hall outside, burbling angrily.
“All right, kids. Your parents are being pulled off-shift and are en route.” The girls nodded, obviously scared witless.
“Now, can you tell me what happened? This isn’t an official inquiry or anything. I just want to know if you can clear anything up for me. The Flurvoxi are claiming you threatened them, and while I don’t find you particularly intimidating, they clearly do.”
Millie kicked her feet and looked down at her lap. Joan lifted her chin and said, as stoically as an eight year old can, “We were just playing, sir. I promise.”
Joan nodded. “Yes. We were playing a game. In the lounge.”
The Major General pinched the bridge of his nose. That interspecies lounge was going to be the death of him yet. Or the death of the whole damn peace accord. Some bureaucrat’s great idea of a way to foster peace - stick a whole bunch of disparate alien species together and just let them sort things out in their idle time. Like that ever worked. The Flurvox were always down there, though, swimming around in the air and flashing their fins in some complicated social dance.
“Ok, so you were in the lounge. And there were some Flurvoxi in there too?”
Joan nodded. “Yeah, a bunch of them. They were circling all around the lounge. Mom said they do that to relax, though, so we just ignored them.”
“So you two were there to play. What game did you choose?”
Millie bit her lip. She looked like she was trying not to cry. “We brought a deck of cards - it’s my brother’s. He taught me how to play a new game last time he came home on leave. I… I really didn’t think about it, sir.”
The Major General could feel a vein in his temple starting to throb. “Millie. Joan. What game did you decide to play?”
“Go fish.”
~~~
Thank you for your visit to The Story Machine! I hope your visit was satisfying! Feel free to try another set of options. Beep! Boop!