I was thinking if not for Donny and the rest being in some kind of trouble, I should just stay on that mountain. It's not like they needed me at the business. The mistakes I made cost the company more than I brought in and everyone knew it. Us Machine and Motorcycle would be better off without me and Wackemall Inc at its measly pennies per share with the FAA, Securities and Exchange Commission and Consumer Products Safety Commission breathing down their backs. No the SEC and CPSC weren't my fault but the FAA was. I was hoping before I left they would see the potential in Bobbie and take her on as a full partner. My plan had been to never leave the mountain but now that I couldn't get in touch with Donny any more I knew I had to somehow get off this mountain and find out what had happened to them.
So I kept spending my days shoveling snow, keeping the Wackemall 750 ready to ride, eating almost nothing but meat and loosing weight. I wasn't well and I knew it.
As was usually the case, the Veggicycle serenaded me to sleep each night with another poem.
ease out on the clutch--
just a little, not a lot.
No need to do too much.
Release the brake and..."
Did I mention his poems were really just boring me to sleep?
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Having grown up with the Aliens, Alex and the rest of the mutants knew well the thing the Aliens hated most was the musical note 'C' and the more 'C' notes you played at one time the harder it was for them. When they were children the 'C' keys were removed from their toy instruments and Alex and her friends were never allowed to sing 'C' notes. A loud enough 'C' note could cause the Aliens to fall to the floor, cover their ears and beg the children to stop. Of course, it would then be followed by the most severe punishments imaginable. Some repete offenders actually had their vocal cords removed. At Muntanthouse, hatred for the Aliens ran deep and they had waited years for their revenge. Now with Greensboro helping them they hoped to finally have it.
_____
Greensboro City Council members Nancy Vaughan, Marikay Abuzuaiter, Tony Wilkins and Jim Key were dealing with a nightmare. Some criminal who called himself the Duke was cutting down all of Greensboro's trees at an alarmingly fast rate. He even had the audacity to leave cards behind to let people know he had done it. People would leave home, return and find their trees chopped down in pieces in their yards. With the Aliens in control of the council they weren't getting any help in finding solutions as the Aliens seemed to always be busy with other things so the four of them drove to Burlington in the hope that Steve, Woolie, Bobbie and Veggie might have some ideas.
"You say it's the Duke?" Veggie asked.
"Yes," Jim said, "Have you heard of him?"
"I had a run in with him once before," Veggie said.
"Can you stop him?" Nancy asked. "Greensboro won't be green very much longer."
"I can't stop him," Veggie said.
"Is there anyone who can stop the Duke?" Marikay asked.
"Surely there's someone," Tony added.
"There is one person with the energy to stop the Duke," Veggie answered.
"Who is it?" Jim asked.
"Where is he?" Tony asked.
"His name is Epa and last I heard he was on his way from Washington, DC to Denver, Colorado."
"I'm feeling sick," Nancy said, "How will we ever get him here in time?"
"I'll call him," Veggie said, "and "Steve and Wooley can fly the company jet to pick him up and fly him back."
"But isn't your jet still impounded," Marikay asked.
"Yes," Veggie answered, "but we can get it out."
"We can?" Wooley asked as he, Bobbie and Steve walked into the room.
"It's under guard 24/7," Steve added.
"Bobbie and I will keep the guard rooted," Veggie said, "you just get it in the air."
"I think I can fly the jet," Bobbie said.
"I'm going to need your special talents here," Veggie said. "We've got to give the Duke a little case of indigestion to slow him down until Wooley and Steve get back with Epa."
Continue to Old Dogs, New Tricks.
