“Am I under arrest?”
“No, but that depends on you.”
I knew the penalties for resisting arrest. I also knew that an arrest on my record wouldn’t look good for any reason. This wasn’t the time to get smart.
“That’s not necessary, I’ll come peacefully. Could you gimme a minute first, though?”
“Make it snappy.”
I stepped back into the kitchen. “Betty, I’ve gotta go. I’ll be back soon, I promise. If something happens before I am, call Danny. Tell the kids not to worry. I love you.”
She wrapped her arms around my chest and squeezed the breath out of me. “I love you, too.”
Something got in my eye but I blinked it away. I let Betty go, put my coat and hat back on, and left with the MPs. There was a familiar-looking black sedan parked out front. They opened the back door for me and I climbed in. I kept my trap shut so it was a quiet ride to the base.
When we got there the door opened again and I got out. The MPs led me into a gray building with few windows. The thumping of boots on concrete competed with the buzz of fluorescent lights as we walked down the hallway. The door at the end opened on a stairwell and we headed down. I followed the soldiers until they stopped at an open doorway flanked by two guards.
“Go on in and have a seat. We’ll be with you in a moment.”
I nodded and walked in. The door immediately closed behind me with a solid thunk. A single bulb lit the windowless room, centered above a metal table and a couple of chairs. I took a seat and listened to my ticker pound.
Minutes passed. Or maybe hours. I couldn’t tell because there was no clock in the room and I didn’t have a watch. Despite the fact the room was slightly warmer than a meat locker, I was sweating bullets. I put my hat on the table and shrugged off my coat. I mopped my brow with my handkerchief and forced myself to calm down. This was another tactic I’d used on too many suspects to count. It was incredibly effective if you didn’t know the game and I’d still almost walked right into it.
By the time the door opened I had gotten it together. The man who entered the room was dressed in an olive drab uniform. He was medium height but had ruler-straight posture that added an inch or two. His garrison cap covered coal black hair that was graying at the temples. A manila file folder hit the table with a smack.
“Samuel M. Richards, born June 9, 1915, five foot eight inches tall, two hundred and forty pounds. Married, two children. Attended police training academy in 1935, joined the NYPD in 1936. Drafted by the United States Navy in 1940, served two years of a three year tour before being honorably discharged due to injury. Awarded the Navy Expert Rifleman Medal and Pistol Sharpshooter Ribbon, in addition to the Purple Heart and various other commendations. Promoted to Detective Third Grade in 1943, then again to Detective Second Grade 1945.”
“You did your homework, but what is reading me my file supposed to prove? My record is clean.”
He didn’t skip a beat. “Your wife is expecting your third child. You’re behind on your mortgage, your car is overdue for a scheduled oil change, and you’ve been reprimanded in the past for losing your temper. In point of fact, the NYPD paid hush money on your behalf to a murder/rape suspect whom you put in traction.”
He knew a lot of things that he shouldn’t and it caught me off guard. “Hey, that scumbag had it coming to him.”
“In August of last year you were a person of interest in an investigation into the origins of unregistered firearms. You told the investigators you didn’t know anything.” His eyes narrowed. “You lied.”
“If I’m under arrest I want a lawyer.”
He placed his hands flat on the table and leaned down, the beginnings of a smile playing across his face. “Do you really think this is an interrogation, Richards? If we wanted to arrest you you’d already be in jail. If we wanted you to disappear you would have vanished months ago. We already know about the plasma pistols. We’ve known about the Arel refugees for years and we were expecting the Seraph visitors.”
I had thought I knew what was going on but the more he talked the more I realized that I didn’t have a clue. So I leveled with him. “Ok, I lied. If I’m not under arrest then why am I here?”
He straightened back up and took a seat. He tightened his tie and smoothed his shirt. “Why did you lie?”
“Because I would have been treated like I was off my rocker. Space aliens with rayguns and disguise boxes, are you kiddin me? I would have been thrown in the nut house.”
“You kept it quiet. Just you and your partner knew the truth until today, when you told your wife. Why did you tell her now?”
I didn’t question how he knew that I had told Betty. I probably wouldn’t like the answer even if he told me. “Because the Seraphim finally arrived. I assume that was them, anyway, on the radio.”
He nodded.
“Other than her, I haven’t told a soul, but I’m sure you knew that. I’ve already got a reputation as a hothead, like you say. I don’t need everyone thinking I’m a loony toon, too.”
“If you’re a loony toon then so am I. So is the President.” He leaned forward, the light casting shadows down his face. “Tell me, Sam: are you happy with your life, with your job?”
I thought for a second. He was right; I was behind on the mortgage and there would be another mouth to feed real soon. “I wish I made more money, but I like my job. I like sending over bad guys and protecting my city. And I love my wife and kids with everything that I am.”
“What would you say if I told you we can fix your money problems?”
“Is that why I’m here? Ok, sure, but what’s the catch?”
Mr. Army Man smirked. “The catch is you come work for us. You might not nab as many bad guys, but you’ll be protecting more than your city or even your country. You’ll be protecting the entire world.”
“I already served.”
“You’d be working for the Army in a different capacity. I head up the Strategic Services Unit, formerly Secret Intelligence. King Section has been tasked with managing the Seraphim envoy. I want you to act as one of our liaisons to the aliens.”
“A liaison?” The word tasted sour.
“You’d be doing a lot of what you’re doing now: investigating, asking questions, solving problems. We’d like you to be diplomatic first, of course, but if the situation called for it you’d still have a firearm.”
“So I’d be a spook?”
“Yes and no. We try to be up front with our visitors. We want to earn their trust legitimately and make every effort not to betray it. But for obvious reasons, not very many people know we exist and the information we gain is eyes only.”
“What if I say no?”
He leaned back out of the bright light. “Then your life changes, but not for the better.”
He had me over a barrel. Knowing everything that he knew, including several things that he shouldn’t know and couldn’t possibly know, meant that just saying no and walking away wasn’t an option. If I didn’t accept his offer I’d vanish and never be heard from again. I’d never see my wife, watch my kids grow up, or meet my unborn baby.
Adapt or perish. Nature’s imperative.
“Alright. I’m in.”
The man got to his feet and held out his hand. “Colonel William Cooper.” I stood up and shook it. He had a confident, firm grip but didn’t try to crush my hand in his. “Welcome to the United States Army, Specialist Richards.”
“Thank you, sir. What happens now?”
Cooper released my hand and picked the folder up off the table. “Now I can show you your office and brief you on your first assignment.”
“Sounds good.”
My office was one of many on basement level 3. It was small but not cramped, with a simple desk and a filing cabinet. A faded poster on the far wall read, “You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps!” Cooper gave me my own key then led me to the briefing room.
“Five aliens arrived today. As you know, they call themselves Seraphim. Based on what we’ve learned from the Erelim, we know that they come from a distant planet outside our solar system. They are representatives of a larger group, comprised of several individual alien nations. According to the Erelim, they’re here to evaluate humanity and determine if we’re worth bringing up to their technological standard and joining the Seraph Coalition. If not, then they send word back home and an armada comes to destroy us.
Cooper paused for effect. “Your mission is to help us prove to them that the human race is worthy of survival. Each alien has been assigned an agent that we feel represent the best of our cultural and social values.”
“Seriously? I ain’t no saint, you said so yourself.”
“You have a very strong moral compass and you provide for your family. You served your country and continue to serve your city. That trumps the rest in my book.”
“Ok. So I just talk to the alien? Take em out to the ballgame, have a beer, and talk about the good old days?”
“Something like that. The aliens are evaluating us for inclusion into a galactic empire, so think of it as the most important job interview you’ve ever had. They’ll ask you questions and gauge your responses. You’re free to ask them questions as well and we hope you do. We know many things, but this will be the first one on one contact we’ve had with the Seraphim. We’ll debrief at the end of every day. Any questions?”
“Just one. When do I start?”
Cooper flashed a tight-lipped smile. “Right after you get your weapon.”
He took me down to the armory where I was assigned my standard-issue sidearm. They even gave me a retainer for expenses. Then it was off to the embassy where they had put up the aliens. I drove a big, black sedan just like the ones I had seen around town several times before. At the embassy, I checked in and was told my charge would be right down. I took a load off and waited.
I wondered who my Seraphim would be. What sort of questions would it have for me? More importantly, how on God’s green earth was I supposed to convince it not to blow us to smithereens? I had seen things no man should see, the absolute depths of depravity that humanity was capable of stooping to, and I was supposed to tell the alien that we were worth saving?
Movement to my right forced me out of my own head. A pair of dark pumps click-clacked on the tile floor. I looked up and into a smiling, female face.
“Samuel, I presume?”
I got to my feet. “Call me Sam.”
She put out a hand covered in a long, black glove. “Rita. Pleased to meet you.”
I shook her hand. Rita was wearing a short sleeve green dress with a high neck paired with black stockings. She wasn’t as stunningly beautiful as Lauren’s human guise had been but she was still quite a looker. She released my hand and swept a lock of auburn hair from her face.
“I’d like to go somewhere to talk, I have so many questions. What would you recommend?”
I thought for a second. I certainly couldn’t take her to a dive. Someplace fancy would be out of my element, but I had the money and I needed to impress. “Let’s go to Mario’s. We can get a booth and you can order whatever you want.”
“That sounds delightful.”
We headed outside and I opened the door for her. She got in and I went around to the other side. The car started up quickly and quietly and I pulled away from the curb.
“So what do you do for a living, Sam?”
“I’m a Detective for the police department. Homicide.” I looked over at her. “When somebody gets murdered they call me in. I investigate the case and figure out who did it, then the killer goes to jail for a long time. How about you? What do you do?”
She smiled. “Mostly this. I travel to new planets and speak with the inhabitants to learn about their ways and means before sharing all we know. We Seraphim want all sentient beings in the universe to benefit from our collective knowledge.”
I frowned. “That’s funny. I was told something completely dif-“
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