by Milo James Fowler
The hideous alien on the viewscreen bared its white teeth in some sort of bizarre greeting ritual. "I am Captain Bartholomew Quasar of the Effervescent Magnitude," it said.
Gorthrexx the Goobalob Sector Twelve toll collector scowled with most of his eyes - and he had a myriad of them, located all over his gelatinous body. "Prepare to be boarded," he droned.
The alien blinked its measly pair. "I don't understand-"
"You have trespassed into our space and will be enslaved."
"Is there a second option?"
Gorthrexx sighed. "You pay the toll."
Captain Quasar checked his credit. His shoulders slumped. "Welcome aboard."
Author bio: Milo James Fowler is a teacher by day and a speculative fictioneer by night. Stop by anytime: http://www.milo-inmediasres.com/
Is this the last of Captain Quasar, or will he bumble his way out of a sticky situation yet again? He does seem to have a knack for it. Fun stuff. Thanks for publishing it.
ReplyDeletelol, took me a minute to realize this wasn't in Quasar's PoV (I guess technically it's omni). Interesting to view Quasar in another light.
ReplyDeleteI love the tone of this! It's all just so blasé, from the "bizarre" greeting smile, to the sighed acceptance of slavery.
ReplyDelete(Judging from the other commenters, you've written about Captain Quasar before. I'm working my way backwards through 101Fiction, so I've not read about him elsewhere. But this works brilliantly as a stand-alone tale.)