9.
 At that very moment, the Assistant Inspector emerged from the airlock. A little sorry looking guy, he stumbled under the Inspector's dozen valises, hat boxes, umbrellas, and even an elephant's foot ashtray. Several people tittered in the ranks.
The Inspector had heard the giggling. He strode around the deck, wearing a purple jumpsuit and waving a swagger stick. “You can giggle all you want. Shortly, you will see there is nothing left to laugh about. It’s just a question of how far from here I send you, and how low your next job will be, and how many centuries you will suffer in it before retiring to someplace with no running water and very, very raspy toilet paper. I’m going to do a quick inspection of the ship, have lunch, and tomorrow we will assemble in the main hall. That’s all.”
Neptune hollered in his best military voice (which cracked slightly from disuse) for the gathering to disperse.
The Inspector put his hands behind his back and strode off, followed by his stumbling assistant who left a trail of strayed knick-knacks. Some of the crew actually managed to laugh.
Mars walked away with Mercury. He told the former track star: "I think I am going to be sick."
Mercury said: "Did you smell something on his breath?"
Mars was shocked. “You know, come to think of it, I smelled something. Couldn’t put my finger on it, but now it seems to me it might have been cheap table wine.”
Mercury looked wide-eyed. "Oh God, that's all we need. What are we going to do?” There was despair in his voice. “I was going on a three week vacation to Pompeii, and now I’ll be lucky if I get to spend it by the phony lake up on the rec deck.”
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Copyright © 2018 by Jean-Thomas Cullen, Clocktower Books. All Rights Reserved.
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