[Things are not right in the Diner: Sarah's speaking backward, there's Musketeers in the back booth, and they're speaking in Blank Verse... and just what *is* The Drool?]
The Drool was not happy. The floor was too slippery, the Men's Room
door was blocked, the Dinerite's were acting strangely, and The Bassett wasn't
here yet.
The LabRats™ were here, though, and
they were usually entertaining. Only Speaker seemed to understand them, but
they took instruction well. It was a bit
too crowded for them to start cleaning the diner, maybe they'd start out
back. The Drool would follow along and
watch.
Under the direction of the biggest
one – 'Ratley' is what Speaker called him – the rats pushed a wedge under the
Ladies' Room door and moved a sign in front of the doorway. 'Closed for Cleaning.' The sound of water, paper rustling, and
brushing sounds came from within.
Amanda came back and stood outside
the Ladies' Room and stood tapping her foot impatiently. The rats finished up and quickly got out of
her way. The Drool wisely slid over
toward the Men's Room. It Would Not Do
to be caught outside the restroom door when one of the Diner's females came
out.
There was such an intriguing blue
glow coming under the door. A couple of
rats finished in the Ladies' Room and tried the Men's Room door. When it wouldn't open, then moved on to the
utility washroom – handicapped restroom back by the kitchen. With Laura still rattling around in the
kitchen, they wouldn't dare go in there yet.
The smallest rat, Ratface, came
back and stood in front of the Men's Room door.
He leaned on the door. It didn't
move. He looked under the door, squeaked
a couple of times, then squeezed himself through the crack under the door and
disappeared. The Drool considered
whether to follow. Certainly if a small
rat could squeeze under that door, The Drool could do so as well. The blue glow, though. Whenever things Glowed in the Diner, strange
things happened. Meanwhile Amanda came
out and returned to the dining room.
Strangely, it hadn't taken her very long considering that she had
changed into that long dress with the ruffed collar.
In a little while Ratface came back
out and ran back to the rest of the cleaning crew. At least The Drool *thought* it was
Ratface. He had trouble squeezing under
the door, and his fur was more gray than black, but since Ratface went in, it
could only be Ratface coming out.
Right? The Drool thought about
this for a moment, and never for a moment thought about the fact that it was
*thinking*!
---
"Dom. Lunch." Laura called into the intercom. Whatever was happening out in the dining
room, she knew she had hungry customers.
She had a complete menu ready to go.
Soup and sandwich for Sarah, Faux chicken enchilada casserole for Dom,
waffles for Dick, bangers and mash for Kit, a burger and fries for Wolfie,
croque monsieur for D'Artagnan, fish and chips for Elizabeth…
What?
Who?
"Ratley, if you're going to be
in my kitchen, get to work."
"Yes, Ms. Laura."
"You and the boys take this
out to Table 1."
"Sure thing. Ratso and Ratfink. Table one.
MOOOVE IT!" Two of the rats grabbed
the tray and scampered over the counter.
"YouDirtyRat, get away from the soup. RatsNest, you will NOT touch the silverware
drawer!" The big rat had the most
*amazing* drill-sergeant voice.
"Right." said Laura. "Before those two get back, go and take
Speaker's order." He had claimed
his usual booth in the back and had his laptop open, doeskin gloves, brass
goggles and ivory walking stick on the table beside it. Ratley had to climb up onto s2la's grey felt
top hat to catch his eye.
Sean and Chris had finally
returned, the chase having given way to hunger.
Sean was taking off the jacket of his customary zoot suit while Chris
laid his plumed hat on an extra chair. "Serving
rats! ORDER UP!" Laura called,
ringing the counter service bell in the window.
"Laura?"
"Yes, Dom?" Laura hadn't noticed the trapdoor opening, or
heard footsteps coming up from the dungeons.
"Why are the *rats* serving
lunch?" Dom asked, taking off her
flying helmet, glasses and scarf.
"Well, they were here and
nobody has seen the mini-onions. Why do you ask?"
"You don't find that
unusual?"
"Nope. Hungry?
Better grab a seat while you can."
More customers were coming in, and
the dining room was getting crowded. The
LabRats™ were running all over, carrying menus, delivering trays… even The
Drool had been pressed into service – clearing tables. The Bassett had finally arrived and was
seated opposite s2la, stroking his moustache and saying: "Tepes. Not Teeps.
Not Tapes – 'Tseh-pesh', you idiot!"
---
Through the outside windows the day
had turned to dull gray, neither dark nor light. Looks like
rain, Sarah thought. Drak and
Robin walked in. Strange to see the
dragons *now*, since they didn't usually fly in the rain, but then again,
considering the amount of flame a dragon could put out, there was no certainly
no need to worry about mid-air collisions.
"So how was the christening
and launch?" Drak asked the Chief
Dragon Lady.
"Wonderful!" said
Robin. " 'Kitty Hawk' CVX 80 is a
beautiful ship, and perfectly named."
"Yeah," agreed Drak. "They couldn't exactly keep naming them
after Presidents, could they?"
"Is that the new 'Prince
Roger' book?"
"Uh huh. 'March to the Market.' Just released, I
pre-ordered mine from iMazon five years ago. Ya gotta love Baen's advanced
release schedules."
Ev joined them at their table. "I'm
surprised they found the time."
"Well, after David finished
'Great-grand-children of Honor' and John finished 'Circumstantial Aldenata
Palladin Wars', Toni told them she wouldn't pay them for any more books until
they finished it, and it *still* took 10 years."
"ENOUGH!"
---
[Hmmm, perhaps Sarah's had enough? Tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion in which we hear...
"Hi Sarah! – look who I found – I told everyone I needed to find someone who appreciated my genius – I just needed another genius! – master da Vinci, this is Sarah – Sarah, this is Leonardo da Vinci..."
See ya soon!]
