Serialization of "Quedly Dake and His Quest to Conquer the Globe" — Chapter 16 of 25
From Book 3 of the Trilogy “Taterskin & The Eco Defenders”
Rather than gliding gradually down to the U.N. Building, where many automobile and truck drivers, cyclers, pedestrians, as well as office workers looking out the windows of their buildings, would no doubt see the Androcles come into view and raise the alarm, Albert gained altitude steeply and steadily so that we would not be so easily detectable from the ground.
This is one of the advantages of the eVTOL aircrafts Albert designed and built: You can hover in the air at almost any altitude, and then silently drop to your landing spot.
Fortunately, there was no one on the roof of the U.N. building when we landed; if there had been, we would have had to take them into protective custody until we were ready to leave. Albert gave instructions to Terri regarding what to do if somebody discovered the Androcles (that is, prevent them from leaving until we returned).
We were able to make our way down to the building’s lobby by using the stairs and elevators. It was actually easier for us to get down there and wander around inside the U.N. building than we had expected. It turns out that seeing a man walk around with a parrot on his shoulder is not as alarming or remarkable as we had thought it might be.
Of course, Rovette and I, and our pups, as well as the rest of the animals, couldn’t really tell what was going on, as we were hidden under Alexis’ wings. We heard some muffled speech and could make out some smells, but not as clearly as normal, as the aroma of parrot feathers pretty much masked the smell of everything else.
Albert didn’t really know where to begin looking for Dake, so he and Alexis just wandered around for a while. Eventually, they noticed a door at the end of a large room that some of the more “official” looking characters would surreptitiously slip into, and so Albert and Alexis got the idea that Dake’s office might very well be back in that part of the building. They loitered around the door leading to that passageway until it seemed like “the coast was clear” (nobody was paying attention to them, nor was anybody walking with purpose in their direction), and then as quickly and as silently as possible they went through the door and began walking down the corridor, trying to give the impression that they belonged there and were sure of themselves as to where they were and their right to be there.
When they turned the corner, there it was all of a sudden, on the left: an oaken door with a very stately sign boasting:
Quedly T. Dake
POTUS
U.N. Secretary General
-and-
Exalted Emperor of the World
Albert and Alexis wondered if the man of many titles was inside, either alone or not. Nobody was within eyeshot down the corridor, so Albert took a deep breath, twisted the door handle, and quickly stepped in, prepared for Dake to either be there and wonder who they were and what they were doing, or for Dake to not be there, in which case they would settle in and wait for him to arrive.
The previous chapter can be found here.
The next chapter can be found here.
Book 1 of Taterskin & The Eco Defenders, “Wonders Never Cease,” can be found here.
Book 2 of Taterskin & The Eco Defenders, “Tell It To Future Generations,” can be found here.
Book 3 of Taterskin & The Eco Defenders, “Quedly Dake and His Quest to Conquer the Globe,” can be found here.
