The Foundling

Chapter 17: The City Council

As a matter of fact, they didn't hear from Bavmen in the morning. After tossing and turning all night, Bavmen gave up on sleep entirely and decided to head into work early. Had she been awake, Meki might have nagged him about a healthy work-life balance, whatever that meant. As it was, he was careful not to wake her as he slipped on his uniform and quietly fastened the first three clasps at the neckline of the dark brown outer robe. He crept across the tiny apartment grabbing his briefcase from the table. He reached for a piece of fruit from the counter before noticing Mavrek quietly chopping purple tubers into thin slices.

"I hope the noise last night didn't wake you," he said quietly, so as not to disturb the rest of the household.

"It didn't," lied Bavmen tersely. He didn't ask where the creature was now.

"Hopefully, we'll be out of your fur by tomorrow morning. I've got to head over to Loki's to get that old generator of ours fixed."

"Loki's Mechanics?" he asked skeptically, "They're absolute garbage."

"They're cheap," countered Mavrek simply, sliding the tubers into a pan of hot oil.

Bavmen huffed and turned to leave. He would be able to think more clearly once he got out.

"Aren't you staying for breakfast?" asked Mavrek pleasantly. Irrationally, the easy, good-natured request irritated him.

"No," said Bavmen shortly, "Thank-you." He ducked under Hibei's hammock and quietly slipped out the door into the crisp pre-dawn air.

Something had to be done. He walked along the road purposefully. At this hour, the streets were mostly empty of the ordinary foot-traffic and Bavmen made good time in his trek to the city centre.

He had already resolved to report the little monster, it was simply irresponsible not to, and he knew He-ne would agree with him.

The real question was how to do it without implicating Meki, He-ne, or himself. Any scandal could prove disastrous to his career and would bring shame to his family name. As for Mavrek, he would probably be fine, so long as he wasn't thickheaded and agreed to relinquish the animal to the proper authorities. He refused to consider what could happen to it. Frankly, the creature was none of his, or Mavrek's, business. Besides, the alien was downright creepy. Bavmen shuddered as he recalled its two light brown eyes boring straight into him. Undoubtedly Mavrek would be angry, but in the end, He-ne would convince him it had been the right call.

By the time Bavmen reached the City Council Offices, he'd come up with a decent plan. Mavrek would probably be at Loki's for most of the morning. Because He-ne couldn't stand the little beast either, Mavrek would undoubtedly bring the creature with him.

If Bavmen remembered correctly, Loki's was where Mavrek had gone the last cycle when that useless machine had broken down and two cycles before that. The fact that his idiot brother-in-law continued to go there frustrated Bavmen to no end and it was unfair to his poor sister. How she could bear to live as a technologically backwards, broke hillbilly was a mystery.

Bavmen entered the building and hurried through a maze of mostly empty hallways before finally reaching his office in the basement. He squeezed past the assistant translator's desk, then carefully navigated around several stacks of books and files piled in front of his own desk which was slightly too big for the space and was covered in loose papers and still more files.

Ma-lei, his assistant, would not arrive for another [hour]. She had recently completed her education, and despite being less than three cycles old, was a very efficient worker. Due to budget cuts, she'd been reduced to working only half-days. Bavmen would have liked to give her more hours but it was impossible. He'd already had to dismiss the only other member of their department.