Rats

by Seven


Disclaimer:  Earth: Final Conflict and its characters are copyrighted by Tribune Entertainment Company.  All rights reserved.



Note from Author:      This is a sequel to "Pied Pipers And Cough Syrup"



**********



"I am never taking you on another nature walk again," Lili proclaimed, tossing another bottle of medication into the bathroom. "That was very embarrassing."

"Hey, how was I to know what it was?" Liam defended himself. "You told me what to look at, you DIDN'T tell me what to avoid."

Lili groaned. "Liam, I thought you had at least rudimentary knowledge of wildlife."

"It looked dead to me."

Lili sighed and listened to Liam slosh madly in the bathroom. "Let me take a look at you," she called.

Liam exited the bathroom, his arms held out at right angles and his legs spaced far apart. He was clad only in boxers, and his reddened skin was mottled with anti-itch cream. Lili groaned. "Who knew Kimera had such a bad reaction to poison ivy?"

----

Agent Ronald Sandoval heard a soft squeaking from the bridge. But when he went in, there was no one there. Zo'or was looking at him strangely, apparently not hearing the odd sound. He looked even stranger when Sandoval began checking on the floor. "Agent Sandoval, what are you doing?"

"Checking."

"For what?"

"Mice." Sandoval bumped his head against the console and got up, groaning and massaging the back of his skull. Zo'or smirked and commented, "Agent Sandoval, you seem to have forgotten that no such animal could board the mothership."

Sandoval thought about mentioning the energy-devouring insectlike life-forms from another dimension, but thought it best not to comment. "Better to be safe than sorry," he said simply.

Zo'or smirked wider and entered the bridge. He stepped up on the dais and began to sit down on his chair, but rapidly got up and stared behind him. "Agent Sandoval!" he barked. Sandoval came over, and Zo'or pointed at the chair with a mixture of horror and disgust. "What is... THAT?"

Sandoval reached down and picked up the dead rat by the tail. "I think," he stated slowly, "that's it's a problem."

----

Liam, lying on his chair, groaned as his entire left leg began to itch. "Lili," he moaned. "My leg itches."

"Don't scratch it," she called from the nearly empty bar. "It only makes the itch worse."

"But I'll go crazy if I don't scratch it."

"Either itch and scratch or itch and go crazy. It's your choice," Lili called, sounding distracted.

Liam thought it over for a moment, then vigorously began to scratch his leg and foot.

----

Sandoval emerged from the mothership's lower levels with a gas mask. "We found the rats," he stated to Zo'or.

Zo'or smirked. "Excellent."

"But not all of them. I'm wondering how such a large body of rats got aboard in the first place," Sandoval said, sounding peeved.

Zo'or looked irritable. "Simply find and exterminate them," he said tightly.

"Find and exterminate who?" Da'an asked, emerging from the shadows. "I apologize, I could not help hearing yourconversation."

Zo'or looked like he wanted to say something he might regret later, but pasted on a smile. "Rats. The rodents have invaded the mothership, and Agent Sandoval is attempting to eradicate them."

Da'an looked confused. "Liam has devised a method of driving out any rodentia."

Zo'or shot a look at Sandoval. "Call Major Kincaid and... request that he come to the mothership."

Da'an glanced at Sandoval. "I will ask Liam to assist you. Unfortunately, I am not certain that he can. He is afflicted with a disease called... poison ivy."

----

Liam looked like a walking itch, Sandoval thought. The younger man, skin red and white-mottled, was breathing hard and walking mechanically, global clutched tightly in his twitching hand. He dropped it on the console. "That contains the frequency you need. All you need to do is activate it."

Sandoval looked warily at the global, then pulled out a pair of gloves and put them on. Liam groaned. "The chances of it being transmitted that way are very small."

"Not small enough," Sandoval said. "I hate poison ivy."

"You hate it? I'm the one who can barely move."

Sandoval punched in the commands, and a high tone sounded. Suddenly, rats poured out of everywhere, squeaking and squealing, scampering madly. Zo'or and Da'an both looked repulsed. Some of the Volunteers had jumped up on the console and were adding a few squeaks of their own.

"Something has occurred to me, Agent Sandoval," Da'an said, pressing himself against the wall to avoid the rats.

"And what is that?" Sandoval asked, inching onto the console.

"There is nowhere for the rats to go."

----

*Two days later*

Sandoval walked onto the bridge to report to Zo'or. Da'an and Liam were also there, but Liam was still red and white-splotched, twitching every now and then. "The Volunteers have been skrilling the rats. I'm ready to call off the search," he stated.

"You sure about that?" Liam asked shakily. "It only takes two rats to infest..."

Sandoval pondered that, and then stated, "As I was saying, Zo'or, the search will go on."

"Very good, Agent Sandoval," said Zo'or, not noticing the small furry shadow under his chair...