What scene awaited us in the room, you ask? Something we were all utterly unprepared for.
The room was... entirely empty.
That's right, empty. Not a bloody thing in it.
"What the?" Derek began. "Where's the bomb, Barry?"
The king then pushed past us to take a look for himself, saying, "What are you talking..."
He trailed off into silence as he looked around the room in shock.
"Maybe this is the wrong room," I said helpfully.
"No, it was right here!" He said. "I saw it myself this morning. This is where we were keeping it until it was to be moved out to the tournament grounds for the celebration."
The king looked completely out of his depth, like an obese lad in water wings struggling to reach the shallow end of the pool.
"This can't be," he muttered repeatedly. Then he said, "It was here. Right here."
I asked, "What do we do now, Derek?"
"Get blown up?" Derek shrugged and then said, "Don't ask me, this was your little mission, Thomas. You're the one who thought we could save the day. I would've been home by now if I hadn't listened to you."
I simply sighed.
Derek turned to the king and asked, "Where would Esmerelda have moved it to, Barry?"
"This can't be happening!" the king shouted, not even acknowledging that Derek had asked him a question. "I've got a doctorate in nuclear physics! I'm the smart one, not her!"
"Yes, it's quite clear who's the smart one," I said.
"Yep, that's painfully obvious right now," Derek remarked.
"Right, I'll show her who the smart one is," the king said. "Come on gents, the bomb must be at the parade ground, so we need to hurry over there and stop this little celebration of hers."
Boom!
YOU ARE READING
The Ill-mannered Door (humorous sci-fi)
Science FictionWhat would you do if you woke to find a door in your room? No, not an ordinary, well-behaved door that stays in the wall where it belongs, but one standing near the side of your bed that leads to another world. That is precisely what happens to Thom...
