Earth's New Masters Part 23 Gofer's Tale Chapter 7 Busted
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Earth's New Masters Part 23 Gofer's Tale Chapter 7 Busted
Mouse/Gofer's time with Ansulm and Aelwyn gets worse. Can't the poor little CBH ever catch a break
The next three years were hell. Aelwyn took every opportunity he had to abuse and intimidate me when Ansulm wasn't around. That plus having to hear them making white pee together every night, and hearing Aelwyn flattering Ansulm every night, knowing it was false flattery. Hearing Ansulm eat it up like it was the truth was even worse. It was getting to be a bit much to take.
It really bothered me for the first few months. I really liked Ansulm and the time he had been spending with me. But as I started to be less and less responsive to him he began to spend less time with me. He would still tell me I did a good job cleaning the house and that my cooking was getting really good. But he wasn't spending time talking to me, all that time was now taken up by Aelwyn.
Usually in the evening after I cooked dinner and cleaned up I would go to my room with the books I had taken out of the library. Ansulm had encouraged my interest in the library. Once he asked "So Mouse, what kinda books do you like to read?"
"I don't read so much as look at the pictures Sir." I lied because I knew Aelwyn was staring straight at me. Plus I still didn't think I should let him know that I was smarter than the other CBHs. For that reason I always brought books with plenty of pictures in case he asked to see one. I kept math and literature books buried on the bottom of my book bag and hid them under my mattress when I got home. I had been teaching myself math every evening while they talked about running the school. After the Dog Gods had been here for two and a half years I had worked my way up to trigonometry and I was reading as many of the books that had been considered classics as possible. Ansulm had been true to his word, what was in my room was mine and he didn't snoop around.
Aelwyn on the other hand made it a point to snoop in my room anytime he was in the house without Ansulm which fortunately wasn't often. Once he found a trig book and "A Tale Of Two Cities" under my mattress and called me into the room.
"What are these?" He asked.
"Books Sir." I replied trying not to look nervous.
He gave me a short sharp punch to the stomach and as I doubled over he said, "Don't be a smart ass, I know they're books. But you lied to Ansulm, you said you only looked at the pictures." He flipped through the books and continued, "These books don't have any pictures in them at all. Ansulm won't like the fact that you're lying to him." He grabbed me by my hair (we had been allowed to grow it out a little since the Sheps had been here) and pulled my head up until he was looking me in the eye, "I'll keep your secret as long as you continue to stay away from Ansulm. If I were you I wouldn't let anyone else know you're reading books like this..." He finished as he let go of my hair and pushed me to the ground.
I really hated him, maybe even more than I had hated Fred. At least Fred was honest about his dislike of me, well any of us CBHs. Aelwyn acted like he wanted everything at the school to work to Ansulm's face and undermined whatever he could behind his back. But Ansulm was so busy that he didn't appear to notice these things, he just trusted Aelwyn.
Not long after that Ansulm decided to give us IQ tests. Ansulm had decided that he wanted all of us CBHs to take IQ tests to determine just what our capabilities were. "Sir I would love to be the one to administer the test. I know it's a really important job, but I know I can handle it. Please trust me Sir." Aelwyn begged eagerly.
"OK, if you think you can handle it. We are going to have to scrounge around to find appropriate IQ tests. A Shep IQ test just won't work for them. You know the average Shep IQ is about 400 while the average human IQ back before the Collective was only 100. I looked it up and this will give you an idea what the scores will mean. Humans who have an IQ over 140 are considered geniuses. Those of 120-140 are considered very superior intelligence, and those with 110-119 superior intelligence. I really doubt we will get anyone testing out in any of those levels, I just threw them out to you for reference."
"I doubt we will get anyone even in the normal range of 90-119, but I hope I'm wrong. Maybe Mouse here will be able to get into the bottom of that range. Sometimes I think that he's smarter than he lets on."
Aelwyn's hackles raised a bit at this. I was becoming better at reading the Dog Gods. "I think it is just wishful thinking on your part to think there is anything special about the Mouse. I think he's marginally smarter than the rest and he has a small bit of initiative, but that's about all.'' He said dismissively.
"Please don't talk like that in front of him." Ansulm said admonishing Aelwyn. "He is a sentient being, and he has feelings. But I think you're wrong about him. I think he's a lot smarter than the others, he's just gone through an awful lot. Anyway 80-89 is considered low average, 70-79 borderline impaired, 55-69 mildly impaired and 40-54 moderately impaired.
"Got it Sir! I'll find the materials we need. You can count on me Sir." Aelwyn said sycophantically.
For the next week that seemed to take up all their time. Which was good because Aelwyn was always with Ansulm which didn't leave him time to abuse me. There was even some time in the evenings when he had to go out into the city and get the tests printed and get other supplies which actually left me with some time alone with Ansulm. Surprisingly he didn't talk much about the upcoming test with me. I think it was because he didn't want me to start getting nervous. On the few evenings that Aelwyn was gone it was almost like when Ansulm first got here. But I knew it wouldn't last.
After breakfast on the morning of the IQ test Ansulm got down on one knee in front of me and said, "Mouse the test you're taking today is REALLY important. I want you to make sure you do your best on it. It will be really important for your future. I expect you to do better than any of the others. I know you can." He said, then he hugged me.
I didn't know what to do. If I did well on the test Aelwyn would make me pay. He may even turn me in for lying to Ansulm and hiding the math and literature books. Ansulm had told me that telling him the truth was the most important thing. If he knew I was lying to him and hiding things from him I would be in huge trouble. At least that's what Aelwyn had said. He said I was a typical human, I had no honor and Ansulm would hate me if he found out.
But if I did poorly on the test I'd let Ansulm down. Then there was part of me that still didn't trust letting them know how smart I was. Maybe Ansulm was more like Aelwyn than he let on. I just really didn't know what to do.
But I needn't have worried, it was all decided for me any way. I should have known Aelwyn wouldn't leave anything to chance. The test was in a large classroom that held 100 students. Each desk had a card with an identification number on it. The Dog Gods had tried to give the CBHs names but they were uncomfortable with names so Ansulm finally just let them keep their numbers. I was the only one that had a name. Even though a mouse was just a small insignificant animal or maybe because it was I liked that my name was Mouse. But anyway they all sat at the desk that had their number on it. My desk in the front left hand corner had a card with Mouse on it so I sat down at it. I noticed all the other desks also had a test booklet on them. Mine just had the name tag on it.
"Mouse." Aelwyn called me up to his desk. "Here is your test booklet and your answer sheet. I already filled it out. You will sign your name on it and turn it in as it is. You will NOT change any of the answers. Do you understand?" He asked. I just looked at him in shock. He reached down, grabbed me by the balls and squeezed hard until I doubled over and asked again, "Do you understand?"
"Yes Sir." I finally replied through gritted teeth. He let go of my balls and I took my booklet and my pre-filled out answer sheet and sat down at my desk to daydream for the next three hours. He explained to the other CBHs what they had to do and then went up to his desk and read a magazine while the test was going on. After I signed my name on my test I sat at my desk daydreaming as the rest took their test.
After three hours were up Aelwyn got up from his desk and said. "Times up. Everybody put their pencils down, close your books and set your answer sheets on top of your books. Mouse first collect all the answer sheets and bring them to me and then collect all the test booklets.
I did as I was told and then I was dismissed to go back to the house. I went to my room and got my trigonometry book out and started working problems. Getting lost in math always seemed to help me stop thinking about my problems. Right before lunch I went out to the kitchen and made some hamburgers and french fries for our lunches.
Ansulm got to the house first and when he came in he immediately came up to me and asked. "How did the test go?" I just shrugged. "Mouse as long as you did your best, that's all that matters. I just need to know what you're capable of..." He said and hugged me. I did my best not to cry, why couldn't I ever be allowed to just be who I was...
It took a week to get all the students tested and for the results to come back. That morning when we got to the office there was a stack of manila envelopes on Ansulm's desk. He leafed through them, opened one of them and looked over the contents. Ansulm called me up to his desk. I stood in front of his desk. "Well Mouse the results are back on the IQ test and you scored an 85. You were the only one in the school that scored over 70 but I was really hoping you would have scored higher for your sake. I know you did your best, I guess I just had my hopes up too high."
"I'm sorry Sir." I said my eyes to the ground.
He got up from his chair and came around the desk and put his hand on my shoulder. "Mouse you have nothing to be sorry about. You've been through so much, I don't know how you're doing as well as you are. Maybe part of it is my fault, things have been so hectic that I haven't been able to spend as much time with you as I wanted. You've done a great job keeping my house clean and your cooking is getting really good. You won't have a hard time finding a job when you graduate." He hugged me and I instinctively went rigid. He let me go, looked at me and shook his head. "I'll do my best to get you into the best situation I can when you turn 16."
I shrugged and asked, "May I go to the library Sir." Normally I liked being in with Ansulm while he worked but right now I wanted to be anywhere else but here.
"Of course if that is what you want to do." He answered a bit of melancholy in his voice.
I didn't mean to hurt his feelings but I just had a hard time facing him after all of this. I walked out and went to the library. I stayed there for two hours while I gathered my composure and headed back to his office.
I sat in his office until there was about 20 minutes until lunch time. Ansulm pulled something out of his top desk drawer. It was about 5 inches long and 2 inches wide. He pushed a button and started talking into it. I moved closer to get a better look. Normally I didn't ask questions but this time my curiosity got the better of me. Plus Aelwyn was busy getting the elementary kids through the lunch lines so I didn't have to worry about him getting upset that I was talking to Ansulm.
"Sir what is that?" I asked.
"It's a digital recorder, I just got them today. I talk into it and when I rewind it and hit the play button it plays back what I just said. I use it to dictate what I want my secretary to type up for me. Here let me show you how it works." He said. He put the recorder in front of my mouth and pushed the record button. "Now say something."
"What should I say Sir?" I asked.
He hit the stop button and then the rewind button and finally the play button and my voice came out of the recorder. "What should I say Sir?" Just like I said it. "It even has a voice activated mode." He added.
"What's that Sir?" I asked
"When it's in voice activated mode, it won't record anything until you speak. Then it stops 5 seconds after it no longer hears anything. That way when you are dictating you don't have to turn it on and off all the time." He paused for a second then continued. "I have three of them, that way I can give one to the secretary and while she is typing up what I dictated I can use one of the others to dictate other stuff. And I still have a spare if one breaks." I stared at it in fascination, the beginning of a plan forming in my mind. Ansulm noticed my interest and said, "You want to play with one for a while?" He grabbed the extra one out of his desk and tossed it at me.
I caught it and said, "Thank you Sir!" I looked it over and played with all the buttons. While I found the device interesting, the opportunities it presented were even more interesting. At about 5 minutes before Aelwyn was supposed to show up to meet us for lunch I said, "Sir I'm going to go and get lunch started."
"What are you making us today Mouse. Never mind just surprise us." He said then added absently as he looked back down at his paperwork, "I'll see you in about 5 minutes."
I went back to the house and sliced up some chicken breast into chicken fingers, breaded it and fried them up and heated up some corn, mashed potatoes and gravy to go with it. It was already frying when Ansulm and Aelwyn walked into the house. They walked into the kitchen and Ansulm said "That smells delicious! I can't wait to eat." I could see Aelwyn's face contort a little in jealousy, which suited me just fine.
"It will be done soon Sir. Another 5 or 10 minutes and I should have it on the table." I replied and then grabbed the plates and silverware to set the table. They were sitting at the table discussing the fact that the CBHs were still resisting eating anything other than the gruel they had grown up with, despite the fact that they had been trying to wean them onto regular food for almost 3 years now.
"I don't know why we are bothering. Eating regular food stresses them out, it's too many decisions for them to make and besides the gruel is easier to prepare." Aelwyn argued.
"I know but we have to stretch their boundaries. Mouse has learned to love all types of different foods. Maybe they'll just take a little longer to come along." Ansulm said. I know he was at his wits end trying to deal with the rest of the CBHs. Aelwyn always seemed to know just the buttons to push to make him despair about succeeding.
"I think eventually we are going to have to accept that humanity is just not all it's cracked up to be." Aelwyn rebutted. "Just because we're half human doesn't mean humans are noble, maybe more of our personality comes from dogs than we think."
"I disagree. Those ferals we've just recently discovered are nothing like these CBHs. They are bright, ambitious, and have as much of a zest for life as we do according to their masters." Ansulm said becoming defensive.
"Oh come on, its just like whenever someone has a pet, like one of those Querlycs back on Eden. Their owners always insist they have Shep qualities that we know a they don't possess. They can mimic their owners but they really don't have any honor, or real intelligence. I'm beginning to think the humans are the same way." Aelwyn shot back.
"I guess we're just gonna have to disagree on this one. Besides I'm starving and Mouse is bringing out lunch." Ansulm ended the argument as I brought the food out. Even though it ended I could still feel Aelwyn's animosity directed at me. Which was fine, I was counting on him getting really pissed at me.
I brought the food out and set the chicken fingers and mashed potatoes on the table and went back in to get the corn and the gravy boat. They had already loaded up their plates with the chicken fingers and potatoes when I set the corn and gravy down. I filled up my plate too. Ansulm always waited until I had a chance to get my food too before he started to eat and he expected Aelwyn to also. Aelwyn always resented this so I made sure I took my time loading up my plate.
"Hurry up Mouse, I'm starving." Aelwyn said irritation in his voice.
"Aelwyn please have more patience, he took the time and effort to cook this wonderful lunch, the least we can do is wait for him." Ansulm chided him.
This had Aelwyn livid as he glared at me, I just gave a little smile as I continued to load my plate. I was going to try to get his anger to build. I finally finished and we all dug into the lunch. There wasn't much talking at first as we all ate quickly to take the edge off of our hunger. Then Ansulm broke the silence and said, "This is delicious Mouse."
I usually took complements in shy silence, but this time I wanted to get Aelwyn really angry. So I said, "Thank you Sir, is it really that good?" Aelwyn was pretending like he wasn't paying attention but I could see him getting angrier by the moment.
"Yes it is! You're getting really good at cooking. You've got it seasoned just right, the breading is crispy but the chicken isn't overcooked. The potatoes are creamy and there are no lumps in the gravy. I'm proud of you."
"Thank you Sir. I'm trying to get better." Normally I would never say something like that but I knew it would piss Aelwyn off that I was drawing attention to myself.
We finished up lunch and after I cleaned up and put the dishes in the dishwasher we headed back out to work. As we were walking back into the school instead of walking behind them I walked right beside Ansulm on his left side. I was making sure I pushed all of Aelwyn's buttons. Ansulm even put a paw on my shoulder as we walked. I went into his office with him while Aelwyn had to go back out into the school to make sure things ran properly. At the last second I turned my head over my shoulder and smiled at him. He just about lost his composure there, but I was soon in Ansulm' office with the door closed.
I did as much as I could to help Ansulm that day, running errands, bringing him records from the filing cabinet, (which he was previously unaware that I was capable of finding) and even volunteering to give him a shoulder rub.
"Sir you look tense, when Ralph the Overseer was feeling tense he always had me rub his back and shoulders. He said it was called a massage."
"That would be great Mouse." He replied letting out a sigh, "I am a little tense now. I have a meeting with The Alpha after dinner and I'm nervous about that. I have to discuss the results of the testing with him. He's not going to be happy about how low all of you scored, but he's a fair and honorable Shep. If anyone want's to see mankind restored more than me it would be Woden, it's his main priority."
I walked behind him and started massaging his shoulders like Ralph had taught me to do. After a minute I asked, "Will Aelwyn be going with you?"
"No and I'm sure it is going to upset him. He's an ambitious young Shep and he's been bugging me to introduce him to The Alpha. But Woden is a busy, busy Shep, he only has time to meet with senior staff, not low level staff like Aelwyn." He moaned as I massaged a deep knot between his shoulder blades. "Damn you're good at this, why didn't you tell me before that you knew how to do this?"
I wanted to say, "Because the scumbag that you're sleeping with would kill me." But instead I said, "Sir I'm just a CBH, we don't always think of these things."
"Why am I having a harder and harder time believing that." He mused.
"Maybe Aelwyn's right, maybe it's just that you want to think we are more than we are..." I said as I worked on another knot. This was probably the longest conversation I had ever had with Ansulm. I mean we had talked for longer than this but it was usually him talking and me listening.
When I finished up it was an hour before quitting time but I asked. "Do you want me to go and start dinner now Sir. That way it will be ready when you get home and you can go see the Alpha quicker."
"That is really showing initiative, Mouse. Wait until I tell Aelwyn how you are turning the corner. So much for his stupid theory." He replied and I was hoping he would do just that.
I left and headed back to the house. I had brought a cookbook from the library and thought I would try something different. I decided to make Beef Stroganoff, which was a little more complicated than anything I had made to this point, but I thought I could pull it off. I followed the instructions and while it was simmering I boiled some egg noodles to pour it over when it was done. By the time the table was set the egg noodles were ready to drain. I had timed it just perfectly, right as I poured the drained noodles into one serving bowl and the Stroganoff into another and carried it out to the table Ansulm and Aelwyn walked into the door.
Ansulm was the first to enter the dining room and said, "That smells wonderful! What did you make this time?"
"Something called beef stroganoff. I found the recipe in a cook book I found in the library. It's a little more complicated to make but I wanted to try it. I hope I didn't screw it up Sir." I said, throwing in a little CBH uncertainty in at the end.
Aelwyn was really steaming now. "That wasn't very smart Mouse. If you screwed it up there won't be time to make something different before Ansulm has to go to see The Alpha."
Ansulm came to my defense. "Aelwyn calm down. I want him to take more initiative. He is going to be leaving the school soon and his new employer will be glad if he can take responsibility." He chided Aelwyn and smiled at me. "If it doesn't taste as good as it smells I can always grab a burger and fries on the way." He said as the piled egg noodles on his plate and then ladled the stroganoff over it.
Aelwyn and I both followed suit. I was the last one to fill my plate and as I sat down Ansulm got himself a big fork full of stroganoff. He started chewing it. Then he swallowed. This is delicious Mouse. I wouldn't have thought you would be able to pull off a dish this complex, but it is perfect."
"Thank you Sir." I said before tasting a fork full myself. It was really good but I didn't eat a lot. I didn't want to be full this evening. We ate in silence for a few minutes like we usually did, but instead of Aelwyn breaking the silence like he usually did, this time Ansulm did the honors.
"I guess now is as good of a time as any to tell you Mouse. I told you when I took this job that I would let you live in this house if you kept it clean. Cooking wasn't part of the deal, I added that on. I am going to pay you in a lump sum when you graduate for all the cooking you've done here. I figure that you've earned 1 Eden Credit per meal which when you graduate will be about 3,250 EC (author's note, approximately $32,500 in today's money).
"Isn't that a bit much?" Aelwyn asked angrily.
"For meals this good I think it's a bargain, especially since he is cooking for the both of us. I don't see why it concerns you anyway Aelwyn, I'm paying it out of my own pocket, not from school funds." Ansulm replied. Aelwyn wasn't used to being contradicted and his temper was rising just like I had hoped.
We finished eating and while I started to clean up they went into the living room and sat down. I could hear Ansulm talking to Aelwyn. "Mouse is just full of surprises today. I was all tense about having to go see Woden. Somehow he sensed it and gave me the most exquisite back massage. He got every knot out of my back. Maybe if you're nice to him you can get him to give you one when I leave."
"I think I'll be fine without one." Aelwyn said shortly. It was obvious that he was miffed that he wasn't going to get to meet The Alpha. I'm sure he was even more miffed that I gave Ansulm a massage.
When I started to clean up I intentionally spilled some water on me, soaking my sweater. I walked into the living room where Ansulm and Aelwyn were relaxing before Ansulm had to leave. "Sir I spilled some water on me, I'm gonna go to my room and change."
Aelwyn snorted in derision but Ansulm said, "Don't worry about it, it's just water it won't ruin the sweater. Go in and change."
I went into my room and got out of my wet sweater. The Dog Gods keep the house at 50°F because their thick double coats make anything hotter than that too hot to be comfortable. But that means that I have to wear sweaters or sweatshirts around the house. Ansulm made sure I had quite a variety of brightly colored pullover sweaters to wear around the house and in his office. None of the other CBHs wore colored clothes. Ansulm tried to get them to wear them, but when they did wear them they got sick with worry. To them CBHs were only allowed to wear stately gray.
Before I put my new sweater on I got some tape and taped the digital recorder to my right chest muscle, turned it on voice activated and pulled the bulky sweater over it. I went and looked in the mirror. Even though I knew it was there I couldn't see it. I walked back out of the room and went to finish cleaning up after dinner. I got all of the leftovers put away and was loading the dishwasher when Ansulm called into the kitchen.
"I'm leaving to go see The Alpha, I should be back in an hour or so."
"OK Sir." I said, then added, "I hope things go well." Then I finished loading the dishwasher. When I was done I walked into the living room where Aelwyn was watching TV. He called to me. "Hey Mouse get your sorry ass over here."
I walked over to him and asked, "What do you want?"
He reached out and grabbed me by the nuts and said, "Don't you mean "What do you want Sir?" As I screamed out in pain.
"Let go of my balls... Sir!" I yelled out.
"Why should I, you disrespectful little cretin. I told you to stay away from my meal ticket." He said as he twisted my balls, causing me to scream again.
"Please quit twisting my balls Sir!" I begged. The pain was excruciating but it would be worth it. I screamed for effect. He finally let go of my balls and I doubled over in pain. "Why do you hate me so much Sir?'' I asked.
"You aren't significant enough to hate. I don't give a damn about you humans, you fucked up your world and blew your chance. It's our time now." He said with complete disdain.
"Is that sorta like you being too insignificant to meet The Alpha?" I asked.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" He barked, his anger visibly rising.
"That's what Ansulm said. He said you were desperate to meet the Alpha but 'Woden is a busy, busy Shep, he only has time to meet with senior staff, not low level staff like Aelwyn.' I never realized you were so low level that you couldn't even talk to The Alpha." He lashed out, punching me in the stomach. I let out an, "Oooph" as I doubled over.
"That's not true..." Aelwyn sputtered, not able to think up a rebuttal.
"You need to do better than punching me in the gut to make me fear you." I said as I caught my breath. "The overseer's used to whip me with the cat until I couldn't stand up straight, but then they had enough balls to leave a mark."
"You motherfucker. You think I'm afraid of you?" He said as he hauled back and hit me in the eye. I saw stars as I fell to the floor from the impact, but it was exactly what I wanted.
I got up and said, "I wonder what Ansulm will think of my black eye?"
"He'll believe me when I tell him you ran into the door. You're just a stupid CBH, he'll believe me before he believes you. Now shut up and get in your room before I really have to hurt you."
I didn't argue, I hoped I had enough on the recorder to nail the bastard, although I wasn't sure if the Dog Gods would find it a big enough offense to punish. I know the Overseer's wouldn't, but I was hoping that Ansulm would have more honor than that. I went into my room and untaped the recorder from my chest. It hurt like hell when I pulled the tape off, but it would be worth it. I hid it in a rolled up pair of socks and put it in the back of my sock drawer, just in case Aelwyn came into my room nosing around.
I needn't have worried, he was probably too worried that if he came in after me he wouldn't be able to control his temper. I'm sure he was busy trying to think up an alibi. I decided I would stay in my room and let my black eye mature overnight before letting Ansulm see it. I was too wired to read or do trig problems so I picked up my book on Yellowstone National Park and leafed through the pictures. I wished I could see something like that, but I had never seen outside of the school fence before except on TV or in pictures.
It wasn't long before Ansulm came back. As soon as he walked in the door Aelwyn asked, "How did the meeting go?"
"Well The Alpha wasn't happy about the test results. He's having a hard time believing that humanity has devolved this far this fast."
"Maybe it wasn't what it was cracked up to be in the first place." Aelwyn said.
"The Illuminati and the Overseer class were quite intelligent and functional when we got here, but they're all dead now. We have to be able to get these CBHs functioning. Speaking of CBHs, where's the Mouse?"
"He wasn't watching where he was going and he ran into the door to his room. He just about knocked himself out. He's probably too embarrassed to show his face." Aelwyn said derisively. "Besides I really want you. Please take me now." He added as I could hear him leading Ansulm into his room. And I had to listen to him lie to Ansulm about how special he was while they made white pee together. I could no longer imagine Ansulm when I made white pee, I just associated him with Aelwyn too much, but I imagined a bigger faceless Dog God now when I made white pee. I shot it onto a towel and threw it into the hamper. It always seemed to help me sleep. And I needed something to help me sleep, especially after listening to those two. But even with that I still had trouble sleeping, I was so anxious for part two of my plan.
I woke up early, got dressed and fished the recorder out of my sock drawer. I slipped it into my pocket and headed out to the kitchen. I had breakfast ready before the Dog Gods got out of bed. I had just put it on the table when they came out of their room smelling of white pee. The coffee had just finished brewing when they sat down at the table. I had my back to them. I grabbed the coffee pot and turned to fill their cups. That was when Ansulm saw it for the first time. "What the fuck happened to your eye Mouse?"
Before I could answer Aelwyn said, "I told you last night he ran into the door." I think Ansulm wanted to believe that's what happened, I don't think the wanted to think of the repercussions of the alternatives. I didn't comment otherwise, which drew a big grin from Aelwyn when Ansulm wasn't looking.
I cleaned the kitchen and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Aelwyn went to the elementary barracks, which was supposedly his house, but he never stayed there, while we went to Ansulm's office. Ansulm sat down and I made him a cup of coffee while he read his newspaper on his laptop computer. After half an hour he was ready to start his administrative work. I got him a couple of file folders and while he was going over them I pulled my recorder out of my pocket.
"Are you enjoying playing with that?" He asked with a smile and I nodded my head. He looked back down at his work and I rewound it to the beginning and pushed the play button. Aelwyn's voice boomed out, "Hey Mouse get your sorry ass over here." Ansulm's eyes shot up to me at the sound of the voice and got bigger and bigger as I played the whole recording. He came over to me and grabbed the recorder. I wasn't sure how this was going to play out. Was he going to erase it or was he going to confront Aelwyn. He sat back down at his desk and replayed it a frown on his muzzle. He rummaged through his desk and to my confusion pulled some cable ties out of one of his desk drawers and sat them on the top of his desk. "Mouse please come behind the desk and stand beside me."
As I moved over to him he pushed a button on his phone to activate the intercom and said "Aelwyn please come to my office immediately."
In about 30 seconds Aelwyn came running into the office, and in his most sycophantic voice asked. "What's the emergency Sir?" And with that Ansulm hit the play button. When he heard his voice on it all the blood ran out of his ears, his muzzle dropped open and his ears flattened. His nearly constantly wagging tail was tucked up between his legs. As the recording was playing Ansulm got up from his desk, picked up the cable ties and used them to secure Aelwyn's paws behind his back.
"Do you have anything to say to your 'MEAL TICKET'?" Ansulm asked with more venom then I had ever heard from him. Aelwyn just stared blankly ahead, still in a state of shock. He got on the phone and tapped in a number. "Please send a couple of MPs to my office, I have a prisoner for them to incarcerate." He hung up the phone and glared at Aelwyn.
"It's bad enough that you pulled the wool over my eyes. You had me convinced that you loved me and looked up to me, but I guess I'm only a meal ticket to you. But I could forgive that. I can't excuse abuse of power. Especially abusing someone as completely helpless as Mouse, after all he's been through."
When the MPs finally got to the office, Ansulm just told them in disgust, "Get this filth out of my office. Please put him in solitary until I have time to deal with him." They frogmarched him out and as he was going out the door, he turned his head with one pleading last glance to Ansulm, but Ansulm was staring daggers at him. I was out of Ansulm's sight to I smiled at him and flipped him the bird.
When Aelwyn was gone, Ansulm turned his attention to me. He stepped in front of me and knelt down on one knee like he always did when he wanted to talk to me eye to eye. He hugged me and I went stiff. He put me out at arms length so he could look me in the eye when he talked to me. "You should never have gone through that Mouse. How long has he been abusing you?"
"Since the day he arrived Sir."
"That should never have happened, Sheps usually have much more honor than that. Believe me he will be severely punished for this. I'm sorry I failed you Mouse."
I stood there rigid and replied quietly, "It's OK Sir, I'm used to it."