Michael waited in the café sipping his coffee. He dismissed the waitress with a smile when she asked if he needed anything else. He then went back to staring at the door. A few minutes later General Mac entered the room. He wasn’t wearing his uniform, but his round and pudgy body made him easy to spot.
Michael got up and gave him a half hug, like he always does when they get together. “It’s been far to long,” he said as he went in for a hug. “We will have to get together more often, now that I’ll be working in Washington.”
Mac gave him a smile. “Yes, it has been far too long,” he said. As they sat down, he added, “I thought they still had you on leave.”
“Yea, something like that,” Michael replied. “I guess they don’t trust me. Is there anyway you can put in a good word for me? I would really like to kick some alien but if you know what I mean.” He took a sip of his coffee.
Mac gave him a serious look. “Now, I think, isn’t the right time for that,” he said. He studied Michael, obviously trying to read his reaction.
“When is this perfect time then? You know me, I can’t just sit around and do nothing while my counter, and my family is in danger. I need to do something,” he yelled. Other’s in the café looked at him. He forced himself to calm down.
“Soon Michael. I promise, but there is something you can do for me,” Mac said. “There are some of us that think Jennifer and John need an eye kept on them. We of course have people looking out for them, but it would help if I had an inside man, so to speak.” He waited to see Michael’s reaction.
Michael thought about this for a second. Obviously he didn’t trust Jennifer and John. Would that mean they also don’t trust me? Probably not, but it doesn’t matter. If this is what they need me to do to help them save the world, then how can I refuse?
Still he decided not to give in so easily. “You don’t trust them? Does this distrust extend to me?” he asked.
Mac considered the question for a minute. “Yes,” he said. “We don’t trust them, and there are others that also don’t trust you. I told them that was hogwash. We have known each other for a long time. I would know if something was wrong with you. Of course, they don’t want to take any risks right now, and I can’t blame them.”
Mac stared Michael down. “But Jennifer and John,” he continued. “I’m not so sure about them. If they are not on our side, you could be the only person that can stop them before its too late.”
Michael considered his proposal for a minute. He then asked, “What about Myra?”
Mac looked surprised at the question. He obviously didn’t expect it. “Don’t worry about her,” he said. “We are looking after her.”
“How is she?” Michael asked.
“Well, I don’t know what those bastards did to you all, but they knocked a screw loose in her, that is for sure,” he said. “They doctors are doing there best though. If she is who she says she is still, I’m sure the doctors will find something to help her eventually.”
Mac got up. “You’ve got my number right?” he asked. “Just keep an eye on those two and let me know if they are planning something.”
Michael got up as well. “I won’t let you down,” he said. He stared at Mac and tried to convince him he was trustworthy with his eyes.
Mac smiled at him, and said, “I’m sure you won’t” as he turned to leave.
Michael sat back down and continued to sip his coffee as he thought about what was to come. Where Jennifer and John now really the enemy? Were they not who they said they were? Well its better safe than sorry I guess. I’d better track them down tomorrow morning. He wished he could spend his time off with his kid, but that doesn’t seem to be God’s will.
John walked up to the door of Jennifer’s apartment building. He lifted his hand to ring the bell, but hesitated. What was he going to say to her? He went through all the arguments in his head one more time. He then took a deep breath and pushed the button.
A few seconds later Jennifer’s voice came over the speaker, “Yes? Who is it?” She sounded sleepy. I hope I didn’t wake her, John thought to himself.
“It’s John. Can I speak to you for a minute?” he said. He waited patiently for a minute, but no answer came. John thought she was ignoring him and was about to turn and leave, but the door started to buzz telling him he should enter.
He went up to Jennifer’s floor. He thought the music in the elevator was peasant. He almost stayed on to hear more of it, but decided that would be childish. He got out and walked to her door.
When he got to the door he realized it had been left open. Unsure if it had been left that way for him or if it was an accident, he knocked on the door. He peaked his head around the corner and said “Hello.” Nobody replied. He repeated his hello a bit lauder.
“Come in, and make yourself comfortable. I’ll be out in a second,” came Jennifer’s voice from another room. John walked in. His first impression was that it was a great apartment. It had a classic décor, but with a bit of new age feel to it.
A balcony with large sliding glass doors was on the right. The left held a fireplace. Further on lay a hall way was Jennifer’s voice had come from, along with a dinning room with a glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
The carpet, walls, and furniture were shades of white. Many of the decorations had bright colors too them, and the entire room was well lit with many lights. All and all the room seemed to be bright and cheerful.
On closer inspection, the room didn’t look very well kept. There were crumbs on the floor, and on the couch. There were dishes on the coffee table in front of the TV. The place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a while, and the person that lived here didn’t move from the TV for a long while.
Jennifer finally emerged from the back room. She was wearing slacks and a blouse that had obviously been on the floor for at least a night. She had no makeup on, and she looked tired. Her eyes were a bit pinkish and her cheeks were a bit puffy.
She tried her best to smile, but it was half hearted. “How have you been?” she asked.
“Not bad,” John said. He fell silent, not knowing what to say next.
“You must excuse my appearance. I haven’t had time to fix myself up today,” she said. John stared at her, slightly surprised. It was the middle of the afternoon after all. “Can I offer you something? To drink perhaps?” she asked.
“No thank you,” John said.
After a moment of silence Jennifer spoke again, “Well what brings you here?” she asked.
“Rogalia. I think its important to try and find her,” he said. He waited for her to respond.
“Why?” she asked. She sat down on a chair, and motioned for John to sit down on the couch next to her. John didn’t notice the signal though. He remained standing.
“Well because she is the only one of us that knows how to speak Biaz,” he said. “That might come in useful don’t you think?”
“No,” she replied. “I mean why should we go look for her? I’m sure they have people doing that already. What good can we do?” She leaned back in her chair and waited for him to answer.
“What?” John said, a little taken back. “Well, I think we should do something. Would you have us just sit around and wait for the end of the world?” He didn’t expect this reaction. What would he do if he can’t convince her to help him? Can he really do this on his own?
“Why other choice do we have? Besides we may very well make things worse. They might actually be right. What happened to us might be a trick by the aliens. We have been altered somehow. There is no denying that.”
John considered her argument for a moment. They had already been over this. It doesn’t make any sense. “You know that is not true,” he said. He considered what to say next. “Yes, we have been altered, but not by the aliens. It’s true we might not know for what purpose, but it seems to be in our favor so far doesn’t it?”
“We don’t know that for sure,” she retorted.
“I do,” he said. “Nothing else seems to make sense. Besides how else are we going to learn why this had been done to us? You do want to find out don’t you?”
“I honestly don’t care. There are people working on it. They might still find an answer,” she said.
“I doubt that,” he said. “They might find the what, but not the why. Without that we know nothing really.”
“That may be true, but like I said, I don’t really care anymore,” she said.
He considered what to say next. He had no idea how to handle the “I don’t care that the world is going to end and its possible we are the only ones that can stop it” argument. “What about Myra? They will never let her go unless we can find the answer,” he said.
She stared at him with a look that was a mixture of horror, anger, and disgust. After several moments she rose to her feet. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll call around, and see if anyone kept track of the survivors. Come back tomorrow. I will hopefully have something by then.”
She walked to the door and held it open for John to leave. Smiling to himself he walked out the door. As soon as she closed the door, he thought to himself, well what am I suppose to do until then? He thought about knocking on the door and asking, but decided against it. Instead he pondered the question as he got a cab ride back to his hotel.
General Mac walked into Secretary Stone’s office. He knew he had a tuff job in front of him. After all he had to convince a father that his daughter was dead and we needed to know what the thing that replaced her knew.
It would still be easier than convincing that weak minded, soft, idiot of a president, as he had found out earlier that morning. I swear that president will be the death of us all before its through, he thought to himself as he waited patiently for the Secretary to acknowledge his presence. Duke was a different kind of man. He would understand, or Mac would have to find a way to make him understand.
The secretary was watching a video. Mac couldn’t see the screen, but he could tell from the sound what it was. It was the video of Myra the first night she went crazy. He could here her voice as she was speaking in that alien language. Just the sound of it was enough to give General Mac the willies. He tried to not let it show.
“What is it?” Duke said after a minute or two. He didn’t lift his eyes from the view screen.
“It’s disturbing isn’t it?” Mac said. “You have heard it has been getting worse? Every night she speaks in that alien language while she sleeps.”
“She said she doesn’t remember,” Duke said. He still didn’t move his eyes from the screen. Mac could hear other voices coming from the TV now.
“What gets me is how did she learn that language?” General Mac asked. He knew the answer, but thought it best if Duke drew his on conclusions. “It’s impossible right? For your daughter to learn a new language that nobody on earth can speak in only a couple of days right?”
This tore his eyes away from the screen. He looked directly in General Mac’s eyes. “If you want to tell me something General, then you should just go a head and say it,” he said.
“You know my opinion sir, and deep down you know I’m right,” he said.
Duke looked away from him and shook his head. “No,” he said. “It isn’t true. It can’t be true.”
“You can’t deny it any further,” General Mac said. “Your position doesn’t allow it. You have the responsibility to look after all those other daughters.” General Mac leaned forward. “I’m only asking that you do your duty. Nothing more.”
Duke looked at him again. “The president said to give it more time for the doctor’s to learn more,” he said.
”Don’t give me that crap,” Mac said. “You know that’s what presidents say. It’s your job to make the hard position when their position doesn’t allow them to, especially this president.” He looked Duke directly in the eye.
Duke flinched first. “I can’t,” he said.
“You must,” Mac retorted. He stood up straight once more. “She isn’t your daughter anymore. She is one of the people that killed her. We must find out why, and of course punish the people that did this to her.” He waited for his answer. In all honesty he was going to give the order anyways, but it would be better for him if such an order game from someone else.
”What,” Duke started, but hesitated. He took a breath and continued, “What do you want to do?”
“All we really need at this point is to be a bit more aggressive when we question her,” he said. He tried to keep a smile from appearing on his face and the thrill of victory from his voice. “I’ve taken the liberty of drawing up the orders already. I just need your signature.”
He handed over a small stack of papers in a folder. Duke took the folder from him and opened it. Mac held his breath. If he actually read it, there would be no way he would sign it. Duke put his head down. He grabbed a pen and signed it, then handed it back quickly.
“Thank you sir,” he said. “Your country is in your debt today.”
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