Page 53 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Cooking the Cannibals of Kek-lawa

visitor. It was a Kek. He seemed to be glancing about nervously as he
pushed the call button over and over again.
Kaga switched on the Languex circuit and broadcast his translated
voice through a speaker mounted in the gate. “Hello! This is the new
PKU representative, Captain Kaga, speaking. What can I do for
you?”
The Kek jumped in the air, all four limbs splayed. “What? Where
are you? I don’t see anyone.” His voice came back to Kaga through
the Languex without any of the shock evident in the creature’s
behavior.
“I’m inside the building, about one hundred meters on the other
side of the gate,” replied Kaga. “Would you care to come in and
talk?” He pushed the gate release button.
“Yes, yes, I would,” said the Kek, again looking around
apprehensively. “And could you please close this door tightly after
me?”
Kaga did so and watched the approach of his first real live Kek on
the monitor. This must be Bezinflib, he thought with satisfaction,
come to pay his respects; now I can find out a few things. He turned
on the desktop Languex.
His visitor entered the office and stopped dead at the sight of the
human. “Excuse me,” he finally said, settling down on his haunches.
“I’ve never seen a real live alien before.”
“Oh, I’m not offended at all,” Kaga responded hastily. “It’s a
perfectly natural reaction. I’ve done the same thing myself— but wait
a minute: haven’t you been here before? Aren’t you Bezinflib?”
“No, I’m not. Bezinflib is dead, killed and eaten by his own
followers. I am Tchorposk, member of the Gorzon. I’m very relieved
that you let me in to see you; the alien who just departed would not
respond to my signaling. If you hadn’t, I don’t know what we would
have done.”
“Why, what’s the matter?” asked Kaga. “I was led to believe that
everything was in order here.”
“In order? Here?” said Tchorposk, twitching his tail. “Far from it.
In fact, thanks to you, the Kek will soon be extinct.”
An hour later Captain Kaga drove back into the PKU compound
after making a tour of the surrounding countryside with Tchorposk
beside him in the staff car. Kaga was badly shaken; he had seen fields
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