The Cleaner (A Short Story)

By Wilson E. Clark

Griff is an ex-con and intergalactic cleaner making a living scrambling and mopping up the atoms of problematic pests and annoying aliens.  He's been dealt a bad hand today though as his new cleanup assignment promises to not only jeopardize his job but also send him back to jail.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Griffington House
• Release date: Oct 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223588856

Wilson E. Clark

Wilson E. Clark lives in the Pacific Northwest and enjoys writing fiction and collecting vintage movie posters. If you finish one of his stories with a smile on your face, then he has done his job.

Book preview

This is really going to throw a spanner into my day, Griff said as he looked upwards and stared. An ordinary person would have gaped, but Griff was no ordinary person in this case. He was a cleaner and apparently someone had hosed up the situation. Griff set the Molly Mixer on the dry, sandy ground next to his boots. He then looked down at the keypad on his left wrist and used his other hand to punch several digits in rapid succession.

Y’ello, this is Murphy, a brisk, curt voice answered after several rings. The sound from the audio speakers hurt Griff’s ears and he used the keypad to adjust the volume inside his bubble-shaped helmet.

Hey, Murphy, this is Griff, can you hear me alright on audio?

Loud and clear, pal. Why’d you call me? You’re supposed to be on that job at Celestia-504, right?

Yep, I’m here and on the job, but something’s messed up for sure.

How do you figure? It’s simple clean up case, no?

Simple clean up my ass! Griff responded.

What’s got your knickers in a bind, pal? Murphy shot back.

Griff punched several more buttons on his keypad and heard the whirring of the camera on the right side of his helmet. Can you see the visual I’m transmitting to you now? Griff asked.

Hold on the feed’s taking a min...yeah, now it’s coming through.

Would you please explain to me, Murphy, how this is a simple clean up job?

There was silence.

A simple clean up job would typically be a Class I, maybe, and I mean maybe a Class II depending on the situation. But this is another matter, Murphy! This thing is at least a Class IV. Heck, I’d even upgrade it to a Class V based on the fireworks show before me!

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