Doorways to Everywhere (Tourist Trap Book 2)

Chapter 40

"What was that?" the first voice said.

"Someone's in here. Grab him!"

Zeke tried to make a break for the door, but the two robed figures were on top of him before he knew it. They dragged him further into the room and threw him to the ground.

"Who are you?" the first figure said. "Are you a spy for the resistance?"

Zeke flung his hands up to show he meant no harm. "I don't know what the resistance is. I'm not a spy and I certainly didn't hear anything about anybody strangling anyone to death. This is all a misunderstanding, see. I just needed to take a leak."

The second figure put a foot on Zeke's throat and pressed down. "Who sent you?"

"The waitress sent me," Zeke croaked as he struggled to breathe. "She said the restroom was this way, but I couldn't find it."

"So the waitress is in on it," the first figure said. "Make a note. She'll have to be killed."

"No, no," Zeke said. "The waitress isn't part of anything. True, she could have been a little more helpful with her directions to the Men's room, but she doesn't deserve to die for that."

"Who are you working for?" the second figure said as it pushed down harder on Zeke's throat.

"I'm kind of between jobs at the moment," Zeke said. "I'm pretty sure Dr. Octavius probably fired me after I didn't show up for work for several months. I guess you could say I work for the Hooblerians, since they make me wash their dishes. I don't really get paid for that, though."

"He's an agent for the Hooblerians," the first figure said with a note of alarm in his voice.

"It's not like them to pick such stupid morons to carry out their dirty work," the second figure said.

"I wouldn't say I'm really one of their agents," Zeke said. "More like a captive slave. They kidnapped me against my will and hauled me halfway across the galaxy. At least they were nice enough to let me out for a drink while they refuel their ship here."

"There's a Hooblerian ship here now?" The two figures looked at each other. "The Master will be very interested to learn this news."

"Yeah, it's parked out on the docks," Zeke said. "It's the one that looks like a big wiener dog. You really can't miss it."

"Thank you for this very valuable information, spy."

"Uh, you're welcome, but I told you I'm not a spy," Zeke said.

"How many are aboard the ship?" the first figure demanded. "What kind of defenses do they possess?"

"I really don't know," Zeke said. "First off, all of those little buggers look the same to me. I can't really tell them apart, so I could have seen the same one fifty times or I could have seen like fifty different ones and I wouldn't even know. I suppose I've seen like ten of them together at one time, so there's probably at least that many. As far as defenses, I have no idea."

"What is their mission?" the second figure asked.

"They say they're going from world to world collecting stuff," Zeke said. "I guess it's for learning purposes? At least that's what they claim."