"IF I SHOULD DISCOVER THAT YOU OR ONE OF YOUR MEN IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS–" Senator Eric Wheiner had to take a deep breath before he could continue shouting at Walsh, "YOU CAN BE SURE AS HELL THAT YOUR HEAD WILL ROLL!" The dark grey poodle under his arm wriggled, and a cloud of tar-colored dust swirled up.
     "Senator. I assure you for the third time now that none of my people is responsible for what happened to your spouse's darling." 
     The poodle yapped. Something darkbrown and slimy slipped off his jewel setted collar and splatted to the floor. A piece of banana skin? Walsh decided not to look too closely at it – the Senator was already furious enough. The commander leaned back in his seat. Lady Wheiner's darling Fluffy was more than a little smelly at the moment. 
     The Senator seemed to notice, too, he dropped the dog and headed for the door. Pulling it on its leash behind him, he almost ran down Walsh's adjutance Sheela McIntyre as she entered the room. 
     "Watch where you're going!" he snapped, and the door slid shut behind him. 

"Lady Wheiner feels better now, Sir," Sheela informed her boss. "She stopped having hysterics the moment we could tell her that her poodle was found." She sighed slightly and excused herself, "Sorry, Sir. ViViD's are exhausting." 
     "Especially when the Senator, his spouse, and her noisy little critter are pissing around," Walsh commented drily. 
     His adjutance smirked. "Literally in the last case." She frowned, "But Sir, from what Lady Wheiner told me I thought she owns a white poodle." 
     "It is a white poodle after a trip through waste shaft A." Walsh grinned. "And now call Gooseman and tell him to spirit away his cat for the rest of the day. From the claw marks on the yelper's nose I've got a very clear idea who made it jump into that shaft." 
     "Yes, Sir." His adjutance suppressed a laugh. "I guess the cleaning crews are going to spend their next month's pay on cat food for that." 
     "Likely, Sheela." Walsh's grin deepened. "Likely." 

Glossary 
ViViD: Sloppy for VIP Visiting Day, the one day a year BETA Mountain is open to all members of the Board of World Leaders and their families...