Lords & Ladies of the M'Verse: An Ooorah Anthology

Day 10 - RainerSalt's Bononos

Captain Sharpsnittle sighed in resignation. "For the Toad King's sake... Okay, get some soldiers to move this sofa to the shuttle."

"Sir... we don't have no soldiers. As you know, they got replaced by robots."

"Ah, yes... I remember. So get the damn robots to move the sofa. And tell the science staff to be ready at the shuttle in 15 minutes."

"I'll tell the robots, Sir. But, Sir... as to the science staff..."

"Yes? Have they been replaced with robots, too? Boffinbots?"

"No, Sir. They got sacked, Sir... too expensive, and not necessary for tax rising."

"Then, how are we to... scientifically explore a new planet, pray?"

"They've given us a Twitter account, Sir. We are encouraged to... tweet anything scientificky."

"I see."

"Excellent, Sir, because I don't."

The captain shook his head. "Really... No scientists, nor soldiers... Next thing you'll tell me we're the only humans on board of this whole dreadnought-class battle cruiser."

Sinkle studied his fingernails. "Sir?"

"Yes, what is it now?"

"We are the only humans on board of this whole dreadnought-class battle cruiser."

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Loptrunk and Lagnose had, in the meantime, moved the pebble a hand's width higher up the beach.

"That will be a real tough one to crack." Lagnose was skeptical. "There haven't been waves that high for weeks."

"Believe me, today's the day." This was a big-wave-day, and Loptrunk felt it.

They both munched on Bononos as they sat there. The fruits hang in fat clusters from the Bonono trees behind them, ready and eager for picking.

The waves rolled in, none of them strong enough to kiss the slowly drying pebble or even come close to it.

A rumbling noise made the two watchers look up. Above them, they saw a roundish object glittering in the sun.

"What, for wave's sake, is that and what does it do up there?" asked Loptrunk.

Lognose tugged his nose. "Search me. Seems to hang in the air."

"Why should I search you? And... it doesn't hang. Look, it descends."

And descend it did. Quickly. Doing so, it extended three spindly legs, each of them ending in an oversized duck's foot. With a splash, it landed—or watered—in the shallow water, a stone's throw away from them, settling in the sand a foot below the ocean's surface.

The impact triggered a wave. A big one—for local standards at least. It was a nose high, maybe more. It raced to the shore, up the sand, over the pebble, and nearly reached the feet of the two watchers.

"I told you, today's a big-wave-day!" Loptrunk got up, excited.

Lagnose rose, too. Together, they took a careful step towards the water, where the big wave was in hasty retreat. Doing so, it nearly toppled the pebble.

"Right again, as usual." Lagnose rubbed his nose. "Did we ever have a wave like that?"

"That one was really huge, right," replied Loptrunk. "It almost moved the pebble. Have you seen that?"

"Yes, it just washed over it. But—"

"Greetings, gentlemen."

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