“Officer Howler at your service. Over. Ruff!”

The radio crackled and a familiar sound was heard.

“Officer! We’ve found you! This is Corporal Simm and I have Captain Cormitz here too.”

“Corporal! Captain! It is good to hear from you. I had feared the worst, you know, considering. Ruff.”

“And you. The last we heard you were plummeting towards Lexonus Pleasure Beach at a terrible speed. We had a tip off that you were working for FOG now though. And it’s true!”

“It is. So where are you? How is the battle faring back home?”

“Not good I’m afraid, but it’s probably still retrievable. Unfortunately that Jake Spencer ruined our classic ploy of ‘Entering the battle really late to surprise our enemies’ by organising an ambush and getting everybody killed. There’s still a couple of us around though, so we can probably pull it back.”

At the mention of Jake’s involvement in the battle, Rosemary began to go red in the face. She grabbed a handset and joined the conversation.

“Hello there, Corporal and Captain whoever you are. I couldn’t help overhearing the lies you have been fed. I, am Rosemary Spencer, Jake’s Mom, and I can assure you 100% that he did not organise that ambush.”

“We’ve got a live one here, I think, Corporal,” said Captain Cormitz, a twinkle in his voice.

“I think you are right. I wouldn’t have bothered coming into battle if I’d known. Officer, can we just send Rosemary in?”

Officer Howler laughed. “If only we could. She’s a bit scared of flying though I’m afraid. Ruff.”

“Ahhh. Terrible shame. We could have based a fool-proof battle plan around her.”

“I’m still here, you know...” said Rosemary, firmly.

The Beagles all laughed, and Officer Howler felt his spirits lift. As nice an old lady as Rosemary was, and as entertaining as her little battles with Melissa were about who could look after the fighter pilot the most, he had missed the good old-fashioned camaraderie that he was used to in the forces. Besides, he wasn’t even sure if there were any other Rearguard Beagles left until today.

Rosemary saw Melissa carrying three cups of tea towards them, spilling a little as the cups weren’t exactly the same size.

“Melissa! You’re making such a mess! This is an important room which needs to be perfect for our brave pilot. Next time, let me do it.”

Melissa bit her tongue. She had had a few fallings out with Rosemary in the last few weeks, mostly over stupid trivial little things, and it was very difficult to clear the air when in such a contained space. Avoiding arguments was definitely the best policy, as it was very hard to stay out of the way of those you were arguing with.

She let Rosemary take the tea, and then let her go and find some cloths from the kitchen to sort out the few tiny droplets that had found their way to the floor.

“She’s doing my head in,” said Melissa to Officer Howler.

“I know… she’s just different to us,” he replied.

“I’m not surprised to be honest, she sounds like trouble,” came a voice over the radio.

“Just keep letting it go,” advised Officer Howler. “It’s much easier in the long run. Some of the arguments have been really long, and really petty.”

“You’ve been getting into arguments with Rosemary?” asked Captain Cormitz. “You’re a brave soul!”

“Aye,” answered Corporal Simm. “Very brave. As long as you haven’t slandered her precious traitor Jakey, you’ll be ok.”

“JAKE IS NOT A TRAITOR!!” came a voice from the back of the room that made Officer Howler jump, knocking his mug of tea everywhere. Rosemary stormed back into the control room and grabbed the radio transmitter from Officer Howler. “MY JAKEY HAS BEEN FRAMED, AND WE WILL PROVE THIS. I EXPECT AN APOLOGY.”

At the other end of the radio, Captain Cormitz and Corporal Simm sat in stunned silence, hoping that at some point there would be one of those deafening high pitched squeals that made them go mad, just to prove that they still had their hearing.