The lab eggheads were dizzy about the raygun. They had examined the piece we recovered from John and the ones in the crate from Bobby’s warehouse. I couldn’t understand half of what they said with all the ionized gas this and fusion reaction that. Eventually, I got them to speak enough English to find out that they were rechargeable blasters that were good for 5 shots before needing a reload. There was a tiny nuclear plant in the gun that would turn fuel into energy that powered the shots. They didn’t know what the blasters were made of and their giant brains were stumped as to how someone had managed to cram a controlled nuclear reaction into the palm of your hand. The empty gun couldn’t be recharged because we didn’t have the right fuel to feed it. We needed more information from our one and only lead, but he wasn’t making it easy.
I slammed my mitt down on the table hard enough to make the walls of the interrogation room shake. “Goddammit, Bobby, work with me here! Make me see the peaceful understanding that the Erelim bring!”
“Bobby cannot make Richards see anything. Richards must calm himself so he may have clarity.”
I bowed my head and blew a breath out through my nose. “Fine. Let’s say I buy this Erelim business.” I fixed my eyes on Bobby’s. “I pony up the scratch for a blaster and I’m on the road to peace? What happens when I flip my lid and blast somebody?”
“To be a Disciple of Arel is to be secure in the knowledge that violence solves nothing. Those who use violence are weak, they fight against the truly strong. Only by achieving equal ground can problems be resolved without violence.”
Danny massaged his forehead. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight. We give everyone in the world a blaster. Everyone is then equally powerful. So if there’s a disagreement the two individuals or sides or whatever have to make nice because the alternative is they both end up as smoking craters?”
“That is correct, MacCarthy.”
I raised my eyebrows and the corners of my mouth climbed upwards. “Richards sees the light, Bobby. Richards wishes to become a Disciple of Arel. May Richards meet the Erelim?”
Bobby clapped his hands with glee. “Wonderful! Bobby and Richards can go at once!” He glared at Danny. “But not MacCarthy. MacCarthy is not enlightened.”
“No, he, I mean, I’m enlightened. Yeah. If all are powerful none are powerful. Peace on earth and good will towards men, hallelujah.” Danny smiled a hopeful half-smile.
That seemed good enough for Bobby. “Very well. Richards and MacCarthy will both come with Bobby to meet the Erelim.”
I drove, Danny rode shotgun, and Bobby navigated from the backseat. He led us downtown to Park Ave.: the part of town where people had so much dough they didn’t know what to do with it. Expensive cars were parked up and down the tree-lined street. Cats in suits that probably cost more than my car escorted broads in fancy dresses to stores I couldn’t even afford to window shop at.
I pulled up in front of the high-rise apartment building Bobby directed me to and killed the engine. Bobby leapt out of the back seat like a new puppy. The doorman held the door for us and we filed in. Overstuffed chairs sat on thick tan carpet in the lobby and I could see myself in the shiny stone walls. Bobby led the way to the elevator and said to the operator, “Thirty second floor, please.”
When the bell dinged the operator said, “Thirty second floor!” The door opened and Danny tipped him a nickel. We turned left out of the car and walked to the end of the hall before taking another left. Wrought iron sconces lit the hallway every few feet and the same tan carpet from the lobby muffled our footsteps. Bobby finally stopped at number 3262. His knuckles rapped on the door.
I wasn’t expecting the fish men from my nightmare. But the tomato who answered was not what I expected, either. From the curly blond hair that framed her face to the curve-hugging, sleeveless red dress and the gams that went on for days, it took me a second to remember that I was a married man. She gave us the up and down.
“Matriarch Lauren! Bobby presents Richards and MacCarthy for your acceptance!” He bowed so low I thought he’d never straighten back up.
Her ruby lips pursed in a bemused smile. She took a step back and motioned us forward. “Very good, Bobby. Please come in, Detectives.”
My mind reeled as I tried to figure out how she knew we were Detectives. Could she really be an alien with some sort of mind reading powers? Then I realized our shields were hanging from our coat pockets.
Focus, Sam.
I stepped inside the apartment. A pair of black leather easy chairs sat beside an oak coffee table with fancy carvings on the legs. Sunlight streamed in through a picture window overlooking the city and fell on a matching black leather couch. The plush carpeting was snow white and I worried I’d leave shoe prints all over it.
I took a seat on the couch and Danny set down next to me. Bobby remained standing near the door while Lauren sat in one of the chairs, straight as a board. She crossed her right leg over her left and rested her hands on her knee. “You have come to meet the Erelim, I presume?”
“Sort of. We’re working a murder case and playing along with Bobby was the only way we could get anywhere.”
Bobby looked crest-fallen. “But…”
Lauren cut him off with a wave of her hand. “The adults are talking, Bobby. What did our friend tell you about the Erelim?”
Danny pulled out his notebook and flipped through it. “The Erelim are peaceful beings from outer space who are here to save all mankind. They’re selling rayguns to the populace in order to achieve a balance of power and end war. The Disciples of Arel believe that all problems can be solved without violence.” He looked up from his notes. “That’s the gist of it, anyway.”
“And you don’t believe him?” She tilted her head to one side.
“I think he believes what he says because he’s off his nut. I don’t believe a word of it, personally.”
Her tongue flicked over her lips, wetting them. “Very well.” She turned to Bobby. “You are excused, Bobby. Have the concierge call you a ride home.”
“Thank you, Matriarch.” He bowed again and then slipped out the door.
“You are right to question Bobby’s claims, Detective MacCarthy. He is off his nut as you say. There is no such thing as the Disciples of Arel outside of his own head and the idea of peace gained through balance of power is ludicrous. Peace can only be achieved through force, which is why we Erelim are providing the humans with our plasma pistols.”
I had nodded in agreement with Lauren until her last sentence. “I’m sorry. Do you really expect me to believe that you’re not human? That you’re an alien from another planet?”
Lauren somehow sat even straighter. “Yes, Detective Richards. I am an Arel, one of the last survivors of a world several light years away from your solar system. We are the first visitors to your planet but I assure you we will not be the last. Mankind must prepare itself for what is to come.”
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