Page 62 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Serving the Chocolate Eclipse

Then a single Mulo emerged from the mob and climbed up to the
roof of the temple. His movements were slow and painful, those of
an aged arthropod. Reaching the top, he turned and faced the
populace below. Kaga recognized him immediately: it was Sazish, the
high priest.
“Mulos of all clans, hear me!” he rasped. Instantly the crowd was
still, straining to hear his voice. Kaga turned up his Languex all the
way and attached a directional microphone. “Hear me! We have
fallen upon evil times! Blorath is displeased.”
A great chorus of shocked muttering burst out from his audience.
“Yes, displeased! The Mulorg have corrupted themselves with the
aliens’ confection. They have even offered it in the temple to Lord
Blorath! This is blasphemy! Blorath has become ill from the
chocolate forced upon Him. His strength is ebbing. Behold!”
Sazish raised four of his creaky limbs and pointed skyward. At that
moment the eclipse began. The Mulos fell back, groaning and closing
up their limbs like barrel staves.
“Hear me!” The high priest went on. “There is but one chance to
appease Blorath and bring Him back to health. Destroy the Mulorg!
Destroy the alien! Destroy the infernal chocolate!”
That was enough for Kaga. His last glimpse through the wall was
of a mighty surge of Mulos crashing against the palace. He scrambled
over the sand and leaped into his vehicle. As the hovercar sped past
the town gates, they burst open. Dozens of Mulos mounted on
macropods thundered out into the darkening desert.
At two hundred kilometers per hour Kaga quickly left his pursuers
in the distance. But he had nowhere to go except the landing pad.
Would the Mulos waste time combing the dunes of Somogo or
would they figure out where to look first? Would the freighter arrive
in time?
Alone in the Onsite Shelter, Kaga could do nothing but sweat it
out. His only weapon was a half-depleted quark disrupter beam gun;
it wouldn’t stop a macropod in full charge. If only he had paid more
attention to the political implications of scientific knowledge! He
should have realized that the chocolate monopoly was tipping the
scales in favor of the Mulorg against the priests, and that the religious
campaign against the PKU by itself had made little headway. And he
shouldn’t have assumed the priests couldn’t predict eclipses; it was
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