Max remained shaken by the incident with Howard. His nerves drew tighter as he faced Bubba in his office immediately upon his return from lunch.
“Sounds like you’ve had quite an exciting day.”
He nodded, but didn’t want to explain so much as answer whatever questions Bubba had.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Didn’t Astrid tell you already?”
“She did. However, I want to hear the story in your words.”
Max nodded again and recounted all he remembered. Which was not much. Howard’s entry, the question, the blue aerosol bottle, then nothing for forty-five minutes.
“And you didn’t recognize Howard at all?”
“He seemed familiar, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before.”
“He asked for you especially.”
“Apparently. That’s what Astrid said.”
“And you have no memory of anything for forty-five minutes.”
“That’s right.”
“Interesting.”
Max tilted his head. “Interesting as in ‘you’re fired, don’t ever show your face on this Earth colony ever again’ or just interesting, interesting.”
The hulking former Guardsman cracked a smile. “Why would I fire you? Someone is obviously messing with you, Max.”
“I’ve been framed before. I recognize the signs. It didn’t go particularly well for me last time.”Not counting my interaction with the Sheriff directly after the Black and Orange Ball.
Bubba nodded. After several long seconds of silence, he added, “Whoever it is, we’ll figure it out. Okay?”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” The compulsion to tell the truth reared up so fast he couldn’t stop it. “There is something else that you need to know.” He wanted to bite his tongue off rather than tell his boss about the recent episode with Sheriff Merrow. Because that was exactly what he needed in his life, another incident he’d have to run from.
“What else?”
“Did Sheriff Merrow tell you he questioned me after the Black and Orange Ball?”
His boss’s eyes widened. “No. I sense another interesting story, though.”
Max opened his mouth to carefully explain he wasn’t in any trouble, but a loud explosion from somewhere close by rocked the building. A framed picture of the Big Bang Truck Stop in Alienn, Arkansas bounced on the wall next to Bubba’s desk and slid to the floor with a crash. Outside, someone’s car alarm went off, followed by sudden screams and the sounds of stampeding people.
Bubba lurched to his feet. “What in the space potato farm was that?”
Max didn’t answer. He got a truly horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach as he followed Bubba from the office at a run. In the reception area, all the clients and psychics had crowded around the two front windows.
Astrid opened the door to the sidewalk as pedestrians raced by, headed away from the gargoyle fountain. Max and Bubba ducked through the doorway and ran against the foot traffic toward the fountain. A cloud of smoke billowed above the nearby buildings next to a pillar of flame.That can’t be good. Not good at all.
Max noticed the distinct scent of bauxite fuel, a power source used in a lot of Alpha technology. Bubba also inhaled deeply. With some uses, as in explosives, bauxite fuel expelled a particular odor that was easy for Alphas to identify. As soon as he thought it, Bubba said it. “That smells like Alienn bauxite fuel.”
Max nodded grimly as they got close enough to see the damage.
The gargoyle on duty at the fountain was using his big hands to scoop water out and dump it on the sidewalk on the oddly spherical fire as the flames shot straight up into the air—a peculiarity of Alienn bauxite fuel when used out in the open and not in an Alpha-Prime mechanical fuel regulator. Someone showed up with a souvenir Nocturne Falls bucket and helped put out the five-foot-diameter fire on the sidewalk.
As the fire finally winked out, Max heard the siren scream of a firetruck added to the general chaos.
