GALAXY TOUR ADVENTURES - "The Grand Residency" - 35

Zana and Rivqua burst into the control room.
   "Truck, what's going on? Where's Hoot Gaas?"
   The snow ape swiveled round on the sound tech's chair and let go a shrug. "Seems boss man has done a runner."
   The girls looked at their sound mixer a moment, breaths coming back.
   "Okay," said Rivqua. "You're taking it with impressive calm. Down there they're pretty worked up about it."
   "They practically kicked us upstairs!" Zana added.
   "Can't see the point in that." Truck dismissed it and leaned back on the mixing desk. "Here check this out, I can control the stage podiums from up here."
   "Of course we're worked up about it!" cried someone from the opposite side of the room. It was a guy with the head of a fish. "Hoot Gaas is never gone from here! And I mean never!"
   Truck looked at the fishy guy. "You gonna carry on like this all night? So the guy's not here, so what? He's probably just caught up doin' somethin' else!"
   "You're not hearing me! In no recorded occasion in the history of the Grand Galactica casino has Mister Gaas ever been absent from his post! Not on the busiest and most important few hours of the daily gambling cycle! It's a catastrophe! Allow me to spell it out for you! N-e-v-e-r!"
   "Quite a rare occurence then," said Rivqua.
   "Want me to spell out catastrophe!" Fishhead was beside himself. His scales shone in the pointed light of the control room. Rivqua shook her head kindly.
   "Why is it so important that he's here?" Zana asked. "Is he the only one who knows how to run things? Doesn't he trust the workforce? Like yourself?"
   "It's not that!" shouted Fishhead. "It's the sense of detail! The ability to see! Mister Gaas is blessed with extremely sharp eyesight!"
   "Now you mention it," Zana said. "He was bit of an owl."