The Cortollian Affair

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: This story must contain the words: smoke, surprise and furry

The Cortollian Affair

“We will die before surrendering to the likes of you!”

Big surprise there, thought the captain as the view screen blinked off.

He turned to his guest/captive. “Well ambassador, it doesn’t look like you and your fellow Cortollians are on the same page. Do you suppose they are bluffing?”

The ambassador’s furry tongue flashed in and out rapidly. He was either panicking or calmly thinking of an appropriate response. The captain guessed it was the former, but he was never sure when it came to Cortollian body language. The damn creatures were each as different from each other as they were from alien species. No two looked or acted the same.

The captain started to wonder how they chose a mate and then realized there were more important tasks at hand.

“Perhaps, Captain, you underestimate our offensive abilities. At this very moment, they are preparing to board your ship. In case you are interested, we will not be taking prisoners.”

Okay, so flickering tongue does not mean “I give up.” The captain made a mental note.

He pressed a button on the command console and announced, “General Quarters. Prepare to repel boarders.”

Moments later, several Cortollian-sized smoke balls appeared on the Command Bridge. They hovered momentarily and then with a flatulent-like sound, disappeared; leaving behind a small puddle of electronics and biological matter.

The captain turned to his guest. “Very impressive Ambassador. What do you do for an encore? Self destruct?”

“Perhaps we were a bit rash, Captain. Maybe further negotiations are in order.”

The captain admired the potato-shaped alien ambassador. He had guts.

“Perhaps Ambassador, we should have your fellow Cortollians transport you back to their ship.”

A small fur ball popped out the backside of the ambassador. The Captain was fairly certain he was interpreting that gesture correctly.

Word count 300



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