NOVEL FROG Chapter 45: The Show
The luxurious bathroom was out of place in the dilapidated hangar. No doubt the pornographers had been instrumental in its construction, judging by the load-bearing eye bolts set into the ceiling and the holes in the bathroom stalls. Someone could have a lot of fun in a place like this.
I watched as the dried blood washed off me, turning a rusty orange as it was diluted by the warm water. No wonder humans were such vicious killers. The blood just washed right off at the end of the day instead of getting stuck in their fur.
With hunds it lingered, the smell sticking in our noses and marking us as killers. But those humans could take a quick rinse and nobody would be the wiser. What a gift!
After a long day in my lab I had needed to scrub myself down so thoroughly that it made my skin raw. But these humans could just kill and kill and kill!
My shower was rudely cut short by Rook barging in. “We have to go, now.” The muscular panzerhund said. He was wearing his customary gray camouflage fatigues and plate carrier with an updated Döbian carbine slung across his back. “The police are on their way.”
“Yeah, yeah, one second.” I washed the last of the blood and conditioner out of my hair then shut off the water. It had been nice of Simon to bring my shower basket. “Hand me a towel, will you?”
He threw a fluffy white towel over to me. “We need to move. I don't feel like talking to the cops again. Last time they tried to shoot me.”
I chuckled as I dried off, imagining them trying to explain what I had done to Prince Bellsong. He had been such a little coward at the end, crying and sniveling, begging for his mother. Not fit to rule, that was for sure. I had been doing the world a service by removing that little pest.
They had brought me black jeans, boots, a band T-shirt and a leather jacket. I nodded in approval, feeling my mind flutter and my eyes flash blue as I accessed Eden’s memories of rocking out in her room. KMFDM was fucking awesome!
“You will want to put these on to hide your eyes.” Rook handed over a pair of wayfarer style sunglasses with ruby red frames. The lenses were blacked out to the point of being opaque. I couldn't see through them.
I shot him a questioning look, “Are you trying to blindfold me?“
Rook rolled his eyes. “They’re ballistic rated with multi-spectral optical sensors and a wetware link. Plus they’re compatible with Eden’s magnetic retention system. Sync up and follow me.”
“Oh yes, sir!” I put on the smart glasses and saluted Navy style with my palm facing the ground to piss him off.
“Bah!” Rook seemed like he was going to say something nasty then thought better of it. “Come on.”
The smart glasses interfaced with my wetware and soon I was seeing the world through new eyes. It was incredible how much I could pick up from a single glance. Thermal, UV, even some radio signals. I could see all of them. It was amazing how much technology had improved!
I followed him out into the hangar, looking around for some interesting souvenirs to take with me. But much to my surprise someone had gathered up all the miscellaneous pieces of the dismembered katzen and hidden them away.
The blood was still there, but none of the fun bits were left. The plane was also gone and the hangar doors were wide open. Simon was nowhere to be seen either.
I tugged in Rook’s sleeve. “Hey, is there any chance you guys saved me some kind of goodie bag? You know, something for later?”
“No.” Rook said coldly.
“And where the hell is the plane?” I pointed to where it should have been. Obviously they had towed it out the open hangar doors, but I was pretty sure that thing couldn't fly. Not very far anyway.
Before Rook could answer a black and white police SUV with lights flashing but no siren skidded around the corner leaving black marks on the hangar floor. It was a heavy son of a bitch, up armored with improved suspension and oversized tires.
The siren let out a single chirp to get our attention and someone I hadn't seen for a very long time popped their head out the driver's side window. It was Wolfgang Sacher, his hair was white now and he had lost some of his bulk, but he was still alive as ever.
“You wouldn't happen to know where Prince Bellsong got off to, would you?” He shouted in Hund-Katzen.
“They went that way!” Rook called back, pointing vaguely to the west. “His plane is taking off any minute now.”
“Right!” I watched as the SUV whipped around and went after the departing plane, burning rubber and taxpayers’ money like there was no tomorrow.
I looked at Rook with some alarm. I had put a few pieces of this puzzle together and wasn't liking what I saw. Simon was gone and so was the plane. “Surely he isn't going to try and fly it. That thing is barely bolted together.”
“Who said anything about flying?” Rook smiled.
I narrowed my eyes. Something was going on here and I wasn't quite sure what, but I knew Rook very well and only two things could make him smile like that. One was a nice female hund with a pretty face, the other was explosives.
A few seconds later I got my answer as a colossal boom echoed over the small airport. “Holy shit.” I said, walking out of the hangar to see a pillar of black smoke rising into the air. Whatever they had stuffed the plane with was burning hot and it showed no signs of stopping.
A fire truck pulled up to try and douse the flames but it was clear that the plane was done for. Eventually they gave up, sat back, and watched it burn at the end of the runway. The prince and all his bodyguards would be mostly ash by the time it finished.
Two figures got out of the police car. I recognized them as Chowder and Sacher. Now wasn't that interesting, what was a Captain doing riding along with a Detective Inspector? He should have been back at the precinct sitting behind a desk.
“A little sloppy, no?” I asked. “The last thing we need is an investigation. They're bound to find something identifiable.”
“There's nobody on that plane.” Rook patted me on the shoulder and pointed to a waiting car. “It's a distraction. The prince and his people left on an earlier flight. At least, that's what the records say. What you see burning is jet fuel, there's just a lot of it.”
I got into the back of the blacked out SUV. Simon was sitting there waiting for me, his demeanor pleasant. Vika gave a wave from the driver's seat. “Did you enjoy the show?” He asked.