In The Orbit (Part I)

45. Harold

I call my parents. We talk for three hours. I am interrupted by a knock on the door. Khan is laying on the ground in his underwear in a food coma so I am stuck answering the door. I say bye to my parents and open the door. Dipper stands there, arms loose and dangling. He had been acting strangely all day. Khan whispered to me while we were working out that Dipper was totally baked. I have my doubts because if he was, I think Kesselhof would have figured it out and sent him away.

"Yo dude, hope I didn't interrupt anything," he drawls.

I decide not to answer, even though maybe it was a good thing for me to stop talking to my parents.

"Where's Khan?" he asks, gazing around the room. He sees Khan spread out on the floor and stops cold.

"Yo, I'll just get my stuff and y'all can continue... 'though clearly nothin's happened yet..." he trails off.

"Heh?" Khan grunts.

"You're not... never mind bro. Where's my stash?" Dipper slurs, his voice raspy. "I need that, and I need it now."

Khan and I look at each other in panic.

"Um... maybe can you come back later?" I ask.

Khan is up and at my side in an instant.

"No... boys... I need it now..." his eyes are crazed as they look into mine.

"Too bad so-" I interrupt Khan with my elbow in his side.

"He's an officer!" I hiss.

"Always respecting authority, are we? He's freaking stoned!"

"Get it for me please!" yells Dipper.

"Quick you go to the bathroom and I'll get it from the closet and I'll secretly give it to you-" I start.

Khan interrupts me. "No, he can leave. I don't want to get caught in on this. He clearly is an addict. We'll dispose of it later."

Dipper suddenly jerks towards us. "I will accuse you of having sexual intercourse right here and now. I have direct communication. Go. Get. It. NOW."

Khan's brow is furrowed. Then Dipper collapses onto the floor in a heap.

Khan kicks him in the side, screaming "GET UP!!"

I hold him back, and the door bursts open. Medical help and the other officers crowd in, and Dipper is picked up and Kunley explains that they saw what was happening on the security cameras. He apologizes for the inconvenience and everyone leaves.

"We have to get rid of it," I whisper.

Khan looks at me quizzically. Then he nods and heads to the closet.

"No! Not yet! We have to figure out what to do with it first."

Khan nods again. "I say we get Azalea."

"Can we trust her?"

"We have to. We need ultimate trust between all of us," Khan says.

"I don't have ultimate trust with anyone..." I say.

"I trust every one of you with my life... except maybe Karma. I believe she would turn on us."

"Really?" I ask.

"Yeah, I trust Strom, Fifi, Azalea, and especially you," he says.

"Especially me?"

"Yeah you are clingy and a rule-follower. And you stick with the crowd. Also, you worship me. I can see it."

"I do not! What are you talking about?!"

"Go to Azalea's room," he chuckles.

I get stopped halfway to Azalea and Karma's room. A door is locked and a recorded voice says, "You are not authorized to be here at this moment. Proceed directly back to your room."

I get my SmartScreen out and message Azalea. She doesn't answer. When I get back to my room, I tell Khan to call her.

She picks up this time and it is clear that she is in a hot tub, and drinking something that looks disgusting and expensive.

"Hey, we need your help," Khan says. On camera, Azalea brushes a strand of wet hair out of her eyes.

"Ok, what?"

"So, it's a long story, but Dipper gave us some stuff to store, and we think it's drugs although we'd like confirmation on what it is," I say.

"Dipper, the officer... gave you drugs? To hide in your room? Why on earth would you let him do that?"

"He threatened to accuse us of having intercourse if we didn't."

"What the hell?" Azalea replies. She looks imploringly at the camera, and then I think she is looking at me. I should have never told her anything.

"Anyway," Khan says. "It looks like this. And it came in a whole locked case and everything."

"If that's what I think it is, Ruv-Kne, poison. Well-known stuff too, I'm surprised you didn't recognize it."

"Well, we weren't supposed to open it-"

"Yeah but that doesn't explain why we didn't recognize it, though," hisses Khan.

"Well get rid of it. That is worth thousands of dollars on the black market. Highly illegal."

Karma's voice juts in from the background. "I bet you all the money that crap's worth that he uses it to get money for his drugs."

"Makes sense," I say.

"And whatever you do, do not open it. It releases slightly nuclear fumes," Azalea says, then hangs up without saying good bye.