Doorways to Everywhere (Tourist Trap Book 2)

Chapter 37

Zeke finished another twelve-hour dishwashing shift and exhaustedly threw the dirty dishrag into the sink. He walked out of the room to find Sadie waiting in the hall for him again.

"Hey stud," she said. "While you were working your tail enough I did a little more exploring of the Earth collection. Why don't you come hang out for a little while back at my room? I've got a surprise for you I think you might like."

"Is it a sexy surprise?" Zeke asked.

"I don't know, why don't you come find out?"

Zeke followed her back to her room and the door whooshed open to reveal Bumble-Boo, Milosh, Nulfar, and that weird blue donkey who was apparently obsessed with wrestling all hanging out on her bed.

"That's a no on the sexy surprise," Zeke said.

"I finally convinced Nulfar to let me get rid of the giant stuffed gorilla, so now there's actually a little bit of elbow room to hang out."

Zeke heard a bah-ing sound and he looked over to see a goat.

"Oh yeah, I found that goat hanging out in the Earth collection and thought I'd bring him out for a bit of company," Sadie said.

"Now this really better not be some kind of weird sexy surprise," Zeke said. "I know we've been out in space a long time, but a guy's got to maintain some standards."

"The goat isn't the surprise," Sadie said. "This is." She pulled out two bottles of beer and handed one to Zeke. "It's even cold!"

"So it is," Zeke said as he looked at it in wonder. "How'd you manage that?"

"I asked Nulfar if there was a way to chill them down and he let me use some sort of freeze ray device. Cool, huh? I thought we could have a little party so I invited everyone over to hang out."

"Is party time," Milosh said enthusiastically. Bumble-Boo smiled broadly and let out a high-pitched noise. The blue donkey attempted to put Zeke into a half-nelson before Sadie pulled him off.

"This is pretty cool," Zeke said as he twisted off the top of the beer and inhaled. "That smells amazing."

"Just remember to savor it," Sadie said as she clinked bottles with him. "That might be the last beer you ever drink."

"Well, since you put it that way, I'll be sure to take my time with it," Zeke said as he set the beer down on the nightstand. "Hey, I've been chained to a sink all day and I really need to take a leak. So if you guys will excuse me for a minute, I'll be right back."

Sadie attempted to make small talk with the other guests after Zeke had left the room. "Nice weather we're having, eh?"

"Actually our vessel is climate controlled to maintain a pleasant temperature and air flow at all times," Nulfar said.

"Right," Sadie said. "So how about those Mets?"

"What is a 'Met?' Is it contagious?"

The room suddenly flooded with an intense bright light and a doorway materialized in the air about a foot above Sadie's bed. It swung open and a strange-looking frogman stepped out.

"Hey there everyone," he said as he blinked his eyes. "The name's Maximillian J. Toad. You can call me Max if you'd like. You folks didn't happen to see a twelve-foot tall guy in a black robe come past here, by chance, did you? He might have been carrying a flask?"