by Gregg Taylor
The Red Panda eyed Parker coldly. There was something about this young officer.
“The question I have, Parker, is what to do with you?” he said. “You have done good work in the service of our cause. But you know more about the way we work than I’m entirely comfortable with, and you know the identity of at least one of my agents.”
“Agents?” Parker said. “You mean Gregor Sampson?”
“Agent Thirty-Three,” the Red Panda replied.
“Thirty-three?” Parker stammered. “You have… how many do you have?”
“That,” the Red Panda smiled, “is what we are here to determine. Do we have fifty… or fifty-one?”
“Fifty-one?” Parker said, realization dawning on his face. “You mean–?”
“You know something of my hypnotic powers,” the Red Panda said with feigned casualness. “Erasing your memory of these events would take no great effort. But it strikes us that you have… potential. Talent if you will. You could be useful.”
“I took an oath to uphold the law,” Parker said seriously.
“No one is asking you to break it,” the Red Panda replied, “though there would be another oath involved.”
“No man may serve two masters,” Parker said gravely.
“I ask you only to serve one.” The glowing blank eyes seemed to peer through to his soul.
“Justice,” Parker replied after a moment. “We both serve justice.”
“Well, whaddya know?” the Flying Squirrel beamed. “He’s the only one to ever get it on the first try.”
“The second one, actually,” the Red Panda reminded her gently, making her blush behind her mask just a little.
He turned back to Parker. “The job is yours if you want it, Parker.”
“The job…” Andy Parker’s head spun. “What would I be… an informer?” The word fell out of his mouth with no little contempt attached.
“We have our own means of getting police information when we need it,” the Red Panda said. “And a Constable isn’t generally that well-placed, intelligence-wise. That sort of thing may come up from time to time, but you’re of much more use to us as a man of action.”
Parker nodded, more to himself than anything. Certainly there would be great risk in accepting this offer. His career, his freedom, possibly his life. But all of them paled in comparison to the thought of saying no and losing this opportunity.
“I’ll do it,” Parker said simply. “What do I… I mean, when do I…?”
“We’ll be in touch,” the Red Panda said, turning quickly, his great coat making a sudden sweeping sound like the sail of a ship catching the wind as he walked towards the edge of the roof.
“Don’t wait up.” The Flying Squirrel beamed as she raced after him.
“But where are you–?” Parker’s question was cut off as the two of them stepped off the rooftop and fell into the black of the night.
Parker raced for the edge of the building, skidding to a halt just before reaching the ledge. Through the chilly night air, over the darkness of the city that needed heroes, Andy Parker could just see the shape of the girl in the steel grey catsuit, floating through the air at great speed. Beside her, suspended from a silken cord until he reached the side of a building to cling to, was the remarkable man of mystery he had set out to catch.
Parker could still hear their laughter ringing through the night. It was the mad laughter of those that fought an impossible fight, and did it gladly. And it was the confident, joyous laughter of two people that knew their place in a dark world that needed their light. High on the roof of his building, Andy Parker felt that same laughter growing within his own heart for the very first time.
“The first time,” he knew, “but not the last.”
--THE END--
About the author:
Gregg Taylor has been creating new stories in the pulp tradition since 2005 with the Decoder Ring Theatre, for whom he fills the functions of writer, director, performer and chief bottle washer. The radio-style adventures of the Red Panda and the Flying Squirrel can be found for free download in mp3 format at www.decoderringtheatre.com, together with Taylor's detective series Black Jack Justice and other programs.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
