The sun was setting over the small buildings of Xover Labs, a falling chemical lab due to go under in a month. This was unknown to the bickering pair of raccoon delivery men in their van.
“I can’t believe you did that Wally, the ink all blotted now. I can’t tell if that a 2 or 3…is that ‘G’ or K!
Wally huffed, “I wouldn’t have spilled my Coffee if you hadn't braked so hard, Tom!”
The pair shoved each other roughly back and forth, spilling more coffee onto the already-soaked paper with names of the places they had to deliver their packages.
“Stop,” cried Tom before getting the last shove on Wally, “Let's try and see if can’t find the blasted place. If they didn’t order anything they will tell us, kay.”
Looking over the soggy paper they attempted to decipher the blotched ink. “I think it says either 24 or 23 Ka-Maz Road. ( It said 25 Chimes Road).
Wally poked his furry mask face out of the window, “Hey this one says 24 Kuzmin road, and it’s a big building. Didn’t the boss girl say it came from an observatory? If I was sending something from a space telescope I would send it to someplace big.”
Tom turned the logic over in his head, “Well I guess it can’t hurt to go knocking. I will deliver the package, you try and figure out what the rest of those blotches mean.”
Had they known that 25 Chimes was only around the next block and was a house.
…..
“All things considered it’s nice that they are giving us our paychecks for the month.” huffed a wolf in a lab coat, as he put clip files into a package box.
In lab 17, two Anthros set about cleaning and packing up their workplace for the last ten years.
The grey wolf was assistant to the head of this often-unnoticed section of the building, a black stallion with a white ear named James.
Now when one hears the word ‘stallion’ an image is conjured up of a tall, muscular hunk with unisex appeal.
Only one third of that would apply to James Bray, he was tall alright like a string bean. At times it seemed comical that his average-sized head had not toppled off his thin body. Many times, he had tried to alleviate his lack of muscle tissue but it left him at best wheezing with little gains. His mind on the other was his real muscle, a science genius he had twice skipped a grade and only went to college at the same time as his peers because he didn’t want to go in without his girlfriend (now wife of 20 years) Hazel.
In the here and now, he was observing the reactions of a dozen chemicals inside beakers running through tubes over Bunsen burners. Dotting down an observation at every bubble bursting. James nearly jumped into the ceiling when his assistant roughly taped him on the shoulder, “Geez, Zane… I don’t want to get a heart attack before we're let off.”
“Well, I would have called you but I already did that six times. There someone at the door with the packages we ordered, and Dana says you’ve got to sign because your senior or something.” Zane a grey wolf of average build and height for a wolf of his age, sporting a hanging goatee, was both James' assistant and closet friend since they met on their first day at Xover Labs, it was cemented when Zane started to date Hazel's best friend Elan, nearly every weekend they would have dinner at each other house.
Before leaving for the front desk James put his notes down next to a container of milk which his doctor suggested to avoid brittle bone in old age. He drank three glasses a day like a horse.
…
James returned quickly.
Zane started with disbelief at the single package, “This is what they sent to put all our sensitive chemicals…who’s the idiot? Was Dwayn, I never liked him.” The wolf spattered and waved his arms about. They had only a week to clear out their chemicals lab or face charges of mishandling of potentially harmful chemicals, and after being fired from their only job, legal fees were the last thing they wanted.
“Zane, Zane. Zane!, Calm down maybe he’s dropping off the first package, or maybe this is meant to pack the more volatile chemicals,” James gingerly pulled off the plastic on the package, “or I have no idea why someone would send us this.”
James pulled a dimly glowing meteor in a half sphere of see-through plastic. It was a curiosity indeed.
A dozen times the horse scientist turned the odd rock in its container over and over in his hand. He could tell from the scorch marks that it was a meteorite and that the casing was keeping potentially harmful radiation, though he had no theories as to why they use plastic instead of lead if someone feared that exposure would be harmful.
“I think that raccoon gave us the wrong box or is playing a prank,” Zane growled, the pressure of all the sudden changes in his life had grounded his last nerve. “I’m going to find that blasted trash panda.”
Seeing that Zane was not in the best mood for complaining to the mistaken deliveryman, James hastily put the meteor container next to an active Bunsen burner, the sudden change of heat caused the cosmic stone to whiz and pop in its container.
James caught Zane just outside the door. “Hey, wait, Zane just calm down for a moment. Deep breaths, please.”
Though he wanted to snap at his friend with a few swear words, he quickly took deep breaths to calm himself, with concern James looked into the wolf's eye, something he was reserved about doing, “Zane is something bothering you. I know that this shutdown of the labs is stressful and we're not getting a tax break, but that can’t be all.”
The normally chilled Zane, the natural open Zane, the friendly Zane just sighed as if he had lost a great battle and there was no one to blame but himself, “My application didn’t go throw.”
“Which one?”
“All three.” When the company announced it would be shut down Zane had the foresight to apply to three large companies to join.
For once preparing for the future didn’t help. It sure didn’t help that last year he had been conned out of half a million dollars by the untouchable Mr Big.
“Um well at least that position of Veldue is still open,” James said trying to be helpful but knew that wouldn’t be much help, no one with a college degree wanted to work at a Latex factory.
“Yaay,” Zane said bitterly, confirming the uselessness of James' support, “Still Elane thinks she can get me a desk job from one of her friends.”
“Oh, really. Isn’t that good?”
Zane scratched his goatee, “Almost, you see… ” He never got the chance to finish his sentence as the lab exploded!
The pair were nearly thrown off their feet by the shock wave that cracked windows, their lab coats quickly became covered in dust and ash. Thankfully they suffered no injuries, apart from a rapidly beating heart and an empty bladder. Wolf and horse steady each other, about to ask each other the same question, when someone beats them to it.
“What in Sam-Hell was that!?,” Dana shouted as she ran down the hall, her uncomfortable heels clacketing down the hall. The sectary of Xover labs was a dull red southern vixen named Dana, she was of the friendly sort and acted as the calm eye of the storm in the hectic final days of Xover labs.
James had also found out recently that despite dressing the part of sectary alluringly so, she was more comfortable in more masculine clothing and pursuit being a fan of race cars.
James sputtered, “I don’t know, the lab does have some volatile substance but nothing that should go off on its own. We have to see what the damage is.” Without hesitation, James strode into the lab, Dana behind him and Zane cautiously waffling just behind.
The damage was not as severe as all three had feared, sure the windows were all cracked, and more than a few beakers were knocked over, along the wall a few scorch marks on the walls near where the meteor had been. It was still bad but not that bad!
The vixen's eyes became wide as plates at both the disheveled state of the room and the realization of how much paperwork this will mean. She turned swiftly onto the two workers of the lab, “What did you two fu… what did you do!”
The pair flinched at the outrage at from the normally friendly fox. Zane quickly spoke, “It must have been the rock,” he answered.
Dana raised an eyebrow, “A rock?”
James took over the explanation, “Do you remember that raccoon deliveryman? The one that badly flirted with you.”
“The kind I keep a fake ring to say I’m married so they’ll go away. Yay, I remember him.”
Inwardly the pair breathed a sigh of relief as they saw Dana more even nature returning.
“It was some kind of space rock and by the looks of it a volatile space rock. We were just on the way out to talk to you about it.” He then gestures to the damage. “Didn’t expect this to happen.”
The vixen pinched her snout, “exploding rocks.” She then smiled, “Well at least I have a story to tell the gals. Okay, fellers get going, I think we’ve both had enough fun today. I will call the cleaners they’ll enjoy getting paid for overtime,” She then turned and left, muttering to herself about ‘reports’ and ‘exploding space rocks.”
James was the first to hear the night shift approaching, “Time to punch out I say."
Zane nodded, he was tired.
What no one had seen happen in the lab when it exploded, a piece of the space rock no bigger than a pebble, shot across the room into a collection of tubes filled with chemicals. Like a wrecking ball the stone smashed into ten helpless glass barriers. Its porous surface quickly absorbed the contents of the tubes till the white-hot surface was turned into a cool combination of colors.
Finally, the again flaying space rock hit the wall, bounced off and in an arch fell through the opening in James milk carton. The space rock dissolved in contact with the lactose, yet the rock's chemicals combined with all those it had absorbed had a truly unique reaction. In an instance, the white creamy milk was transformed into a golden liquid.
With all that had happened, the carton was almost forgotten.
Who spots it?
Who takes It home?
Who discovers its properties?
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