TEOTWAWKI
#57: Banana Slug -Old Oil Change
On one particular day, and it had been a particularly long day. Wilbur and the youngest Mage, Joshua, went to Ernie's to have a drink. Joshua had a milk.
“Ernie” Wilbur said
“Yo!” Ernie appeared out of nowhere. “Whazup?”
“You recall that box of stuff I gave you a while back? Would you bring me a bootle of it please?” Wilbur said.
No more than a minute passed than Ernie handed Wilbur a quart jar of something black that looked corrosive and nasty. Wilbur took a drink, had a mild seizure , smiled and croaked. “smooo-ooo-oth”.
“You know, that’d make pretty good Camo.” Wilbur decided, while sucking down the concoction he had made. It had started life as beer. Not too bad. Nice and black. Perhaps he should call it “Old Oil Change? Yeah. He liked that.. “The wood was good but that would be even better.”
“What the Hell are you talking about?” Yvette, Joshua’s Daemon, asked him.
“Huh?” Wilbur hadn’t realized that he was speaking aloud. “Oh, sorry. Just an old man muttering in his beer.”
“Old compared to who? You young whippersnapper” Shelby floated in. “Did I hear someone say beer?”
“It’s kind like beer.” Wilbur admitted. “sorta.”
“Is there more?” Shelby asked “I need a ‘calm-me-down.”
“Ernie” Wilbur said “Get The ArchMage one of what I’m drinking, please.”
Minutes later the ArchMage had one too.”Cheers”
Two ‘beers’ and a milk clinked glassware.
Shelby took a deep draught, not to be outdone so did Wilbur. Joshua just grinned.
The two old men convulsed slightly. They were bonding, then Shelby croaked “Smoo-ooo.”
Wilbur completed the accolade “ooo-ooo-th” with another shudder, then he hiccuped.
“Not bad.” Shelby said “Do I taste torpedo juice in that?”
“Yup.” Wilbur said “It started life that way then I added secret ingredients.”
“Pretty good stuff” Shelby said.
“Thank you this is the batch that I set aside and aged.” Wilbur told him.
Shelby raised an eyebrow. “A week old?”
Wilbur appeared hurt when he admitted. “Ten days.”
“I’ll buy as much of it as you want to sell.” Shelby said “ Now what wuz that bout wood?”
“Oh that” Wilbur said “Well when Ya’ll first rescued me the eyestalk looked just like a floating snag. Imagine my surprise when I saw you inside it! Well those barges gave me an idea. There’s thousands of barges broke loose it seems. We just got hit by a few. Why not use those barges as cover?”
“What makes you think we need to hide?” Shelby took a sip of the black devils brew. He didn’t shudder quite so much this time.
“Oh I dunno” Wilbur did the same “ A little burdie told me?”
“Who you calling a bird?” Yvette asked politely. She rode on Chad’s shoulder when he walked into the room
“Do I smell beer?” Chad asked brightly.
“Ernie?” Wilbur said
“See Senor” Ernie replied.
“Um...Sorry ma’am. A little dragon told me” He said.
“There’s a WarBoat floating down the river behind us. It’s looking for us. Too bad for us they have radar. The fog is thick as soup, and the loose barges are slowing them down too, they’d not be able to move much without the radar. Even so, as slow as they’re going they’re moving faster than we are.” Chad said.
“Our surveillance swarm pinpoints them exactly. We even have bugs on board listening to them talk to each other. I understand you used this technique once before ArchMage?” Chad asked.
Shelby Nodded.
“It works well. The war boat has an Agent of Viper on board. The same people who killed me. ” Chad was grim.
“Their radar will shine like the sun when they come over the horizon. That would be less than ten miles from here if their radar dish is twenty feet in the air and you’re standing on deck at water level. “ Yvette said.
We’ll just have to not let them see us.” Shelby decided. “We’ll hide in plain sight.”
The Next Episode is
#58:Banana Slug -WarBoat…
The Previous Episode was
#56: Banana Slug -Missed One…
The First Episode was
# 1 : Prologue…
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Book One: SoulStone
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When watching the LameStream FakeNews Media
it's hard to tell what’s true or when they are lying isn’t it? It seems that they are more interested in influencing public opinion than they are reporting the facts.
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Time for camouflage. Stack and pack a few barges, break up the outline, make it look on radar like a pile up, and hope they don't try to clear the pile up like a log jam pileup.
Nice work, good old gin, always with the taste of joy on the lips.
Once again you have me compelled to read this. I would have to start from the beginning ASAP. Thanks, this is a good read.
The Viper Agency approaches on board the WarBoat and it is necessary that Shelby and his people begin to develop strategies of security and defense. It is showed much tranquility on the part of Shelby, Chad and other characters ... Will the "Old Oil Change" inject some peace of mind in front of the problems that are about to happen?