Agent Black too late? Will not happen! The Teen Monster Hunters deliver! And Agent Black, too.
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„Teen Monster Hunters“, now online available in print and as ebook.
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Agent Black crashed through the door of the agency restaurant, her Entrophy Gun raised and ready to fire, followed by Sergeant Flint and her team, who immediately spread out to secure the scene.
The three kids sitting around the table, munching pastrami sandwiches, looked at the group of soldiers.
“What?” Black yapped, out of breath, her eyes surveying the room, though she knew the gesture was meaningless for an invisible foe. “Happened?”
Sally pointed towards the kitchen, some urgent noises emerging from the inside. “Did you know that the Slab has all the right ingredients for a good healthy sandwich in his kitchen?”
“Sally is a sand-whiz, did you know? Want one?” Ryan quipped and held up his plate. “I’ll be willing to share half of mine. You can have the uneaten side, if you are picky.”
“Moe. S’wich.”
“Oops, someone claimed it first, Agent!” Ryan shrugged and continued eating.
“Where is the beast?” Black asked, not the least interested in food and the kids who were playing it cool.
“In the kitchen. We trapped it in the ventilation shaft. You just need to saw everything off the ceiling,” Sally said, taking another bite.
And Ryan added, “Maybe give it small shock from your super stun gun first. Don’t want it to escape, again, right?” The Entropy Gun was developed with non-violent capture in mind.
“And this?” Sergeant Flint opened the electronic door lock into the kitchen with her badge and had a look around. There was a big white puddle where the beast had dropped the jug of milk. “Who cleans that up?”
Sally continued eating. “You, as usual.” During the Hawthorne Affair, they had been in a similar situation.
Black’s team huddled around the vent, and they discussed the capture tactics for a while. It appeared a little dangerous at first, and no one wanted to bear the responsibility of the beast falling onto the stove and hurting itself. Some scientists had to be brought in first and after ten minutes of rigmarole, uninstallations, and a transport platform on wheels, Black’s Entrophy gun zapped once and a yelping sound was heard from the inside of the vent. Then the collection of soldiers and scientists dismantled the vent until they could slide out the now translucent grayish beast. Done deal. This left Sergeant Flint and her squad to reinstall the kitchen and clean up.
Black came out and sat down with the kids
“You guys had me worried for a minute.” She was genuinely relieved.
“Don’t sweat it, Agent; we are the Teen Monster Hunters. All in a day’s work. Count on us.” Sally exclaimed coolly.
“Back to the tests?” Ryan asked.
“Unfortunately, yes; we are a government agency anyway, and we have regulations that require us to…” Black explained.
“Screw the tests,” Sally said, turned around to the remaining two soldiers beside the exit door, raised her voice. “Ladies and Gentlemen, could I have the room to Agent Black and myself, please.”
Everyone stared at Sally. Moe and Ryan got up from their chairs, as they were into the charade, of course. The team looked at Agent Black who in turn fixed her gaze on Sally curiously.
Then Black nodded briefly, tapped her Entrophy gun to indicate that she had everything under control in case Sally becomes violent, and Flint and her team filed out, taking Moe and Ryan with them. The last she heard was Ryan asking for “a damn good Espresso” and Flint replying “first you have to grow a little, kid.” Sally had to smile.
Black raised her hands and said “The stage’s all yours.”
Sally pointed at the food items on the table they were sitting at. Black hadn’t noticed the items before. Two premium cereal brands, one imported from Germany, the other from Scandinavia. Half a pastrami. And roasted Italian almonds. And the very ripe and red looking tomatoes that looked like they were taken out of a food catalogue.
“Almost like made of plastic,” Black remarked.
Sally nodded. “The real deal. Very good food. The pastrami is not even branded. Must have been handmade by some Italian sausage maker nearby. The beast had a go at it when we interrupted it. A shame, actually. Such good food. Super tasty, I tell you. My mother’s lunches don’t have such quality ingredients. And they are already pretty good.”
“Good for you guys, got you a second lunch. A much better one, too. Makes me hungry, actually.” Black smiled. “What is it?”
Sally stared at her. Black did not get it.
Finally Sally said, “We are not going back to the evaluation. The beast in there is proof enough of our abilities. No tests needed, we are the real deal. You take us, or you solve your future messy situations alone.”
Black smiled. “You sit on a mighty high horse, young lady.”
“Your report to Director Fletcher will be favorable; you will recommend us to help you out in… well, whatever you do at SIA. And we will receive a security clearance above our teenage years, of course.”
“What makes you think, I’ll do that? You are kids, you got lucky. Again, by the way. I won’t lie to my director. And especially not to Fletcher. That man’s got telepathic abilities,” Black said.
“You will,” Sally said. “Because I can give you the Slab.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you want better lunches in this place?”
“Of course. But I explained to you that this is a central government contract that…”
“I can give you the Slab and better food in this place.”
“You have some dirt on him? Is that it?”
“Yup.”
Black leaned back and studied Sally. “I am thinking.” They were silent for a minute. “Dirt, real dirt?”
“Criminal size dirt.”
“To have him fired?”
Sally raised her right eyebrow.
“What does that mean, a right eyebrow?”
Sally raised her other eyebrow. “Deal-time! I give you the Slab, and you let us go home and write us a stellar recommendation.”
“Girl, you are out of your league,” Black groaned.
“Agent, stop thinking like a soldier for once. Start thinking like a hungry person, yearning for good food.” Sally picked up the unreal red juicy tomato and circled it between her fingers. “Deal time.”
Black groaned again. “Kid, you kill me. But you made me so curious and longing for a proper lunch at this place.”
“Deal or no deal?”
“Screw it and the constitution! Deal! But when The Slab is involved in something criminal, he should be removed and maybe a new restaurant proprietor will server better food,” Black said.
“But you said it yourself, the contract is a central government contract. Similar pricing, similar quality. And I bet similar scams run right under your noses.” Sally raised her eyebrow again. “Why do you think I wanted to talk to you alone? To let only you know.”
“Because I am a tough mother, capable of standing up to the the Slab?” said Black, without irony.
“Exactly. You take this evidence spread out on the table to the Slab tomorrow morning. You make sure he knows you own him. And in exchange, you tell him to use those ingredients for your food. Obviously, he knows the difference between good stuff and bad stuff.”
“That is blackmail.”
“For the better, don’t you think?”
Black looked at the things laid out on the table. Then at Sally.
“I’ll think about it,” she finally conceded. Another long look.
“What is the Slab doing with all of this? Why not feed us properly?”
Sally shrugged. “My two cents? He’s running a catering business on the side, sponsored by you guys. He diverts your restaurant budget for his own private purpose to lower the costs. And with these first class ingredients, he kills his competition on the way.”
“You have a criminal devious mind,” Black stated.
“Well, in this case, it runs in the family, nothing criminal.”
Black remembered that Sally’s mother was a restaurant owner and knew this business. “You are right, I apologize. And thanks for the good food to come.”
Sally and Black bumped fists.787Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hUfDKAsrH
