Find The Book!

Find The Book!

Liburn watched the message tape emerge from the console. When it stopped unspooling, he ripped it off and began to study it. After a few minutes, he turned to his second in command, Naglar with exasperation in every line of his face.

“It’s written in code.”

“I haven’t seen the book in eons. That tickertape messenger is really outdated.” Naglar commented, his nose still buried in the latest Cosmic Cuties magazine. Liburn snatched the book from his hand.

“This is not the book I need you to find!” he roared in Naglar’s large ear.

Naglar winced and glared at Liburn.

“I heard you the first time, you want the codebook!”

Liburn simmered down. “Yes, I want the codebook. Where is it?”

“Danged if I know,” Naglar said, his eyes straying to the magazine which Liburn still held clutched in his taloned hand.

“It is your job to know. You are hand-picked by me to be my right-hand man,” he said.

“Does that come with a raise? It should. I could use more back issues of Cosmic Cuties,” Naglar replied.

“Forget them! All I need or want from you is the codebook, so I can figure out this message!” Liburn said, turning pucer with every word he uttered.

Watching the changes to his skin with interest, Naglar seemed fascinated.

“Hop to it! Hurry up!” Liburn demanded.

Without another word, Naglar began chucking books at him in a rapid-fire manner. When he ran out of books, he said:

You find the bloody codebook! I don’t even know what it looks like!”

Liburn picked up the one that had hit him on the left ear.

“Ah, here it is, just where you left it.”

“Wow, what does it say about the message?”

“I haven’t a clue! It needs a codebook!”

300 WORDS DAILY FLASH 2/15/2024