
Special Police DekaOps
12
D.E. stood in front of a church, admittedly a little nervous. He had to pull a few strings to get this arranged. And he was starting to hope things on this end didn’t change without him knowing. Relaxing a little bit when the doors opened he gave the two people coming out one of his trademarked smiles. A woman in a suit and a preacher greeted him in return. “Howdy guys, I was starting to think I got the wrong day.”
“It’s my fault Terry,” the preacher told him. “I was a little more nervous than I thought I was going to be, Carol had to calm me down believe it or not. This is a first for me as well as the children.”
“It’s cool padre,” D.E. assured him. “Where are the rugrats?”
“Missy’s bringing them out in a minute,” Carol told him. “We could hardly get anything done because this was all they could talk about.”
“Sorry about that Carol.”
“Don’t be Terry,” she laughed. “If Jeff can be a bit distracted then we can let the children get a little excited.” The preacher didn’t dignify that with a response. Some more footsteps could be heard, soon a bunch of kids under twelve came out onto the parking lot. “Children,” Carol started as she and Missy tried to get the kids into some type of order. “Now you all know Terry, Billy’s older brother.”
“Hi guys,” he grinned and waved.
“Hi,” they all said back.
“Do I take over now?”, he whispered. “I’m not sure how this works.”
“Be my guest,” Carol walked back behind the children to keep an eye on them.
“Aright, your Sunday school teacher says y’all really excited to meet the guy I brought with me today. So instead of boring you guys by talking I’ll just bring him out.” He shouted behind him at a van. “Ranzack you can come out now.”
Rev came out from behind the van and walked toward them. As usual he was wearing the green hoodie over his uniform. He pulled the hood back revealing his huge insect eyes and antenna. “Hello children,” he greeted them warmly.
“Whoa,” a couple of them muttered as they stared at him. Rev started to look a little uncomfortable so D.E. stepped in.
“No need to be shy kids,” he told them. “Ranzack just as nervous being around you as you guys are of him. Besides,” he put an arm around his shoulder, “he’s one of the nicest guys I ever met.” Rev gave him a grateful look. “Now before the questions start flying he’s got no special powers like the aliens on TV or in the movies. So don’t go asking if you can see them.”
“Then how do we know he’s really an alien,” one of the older boys in the back said under his breath.
Rev looked right at him, “What type of proof to you require?”
“Ah…,” the boy stammered as his face went beet red.
D.E. had to grin at his reaction, “Did I mention he’s got better hearing than a dog?”
“So,” Carol said trying to get everything back on track, “perhaps you can explain what you do here on Earth. And how you know Terry.”
“Ah,” he looked over to D.E. who urged him on, “I work with Terry. I help mediate things when the police is called and a extra terrestrial is involved.” Rev said a quick prayer to the Great Spirit for forgiveness for spinning a half truth, but it was the cover story he and the others had came up with in case this question was asked.
“Isn’t that what SPD is for?”, asked a girl who was in the front.
“Well yeah,” D.E. stepped in, “but SPD main concern are the Alienizers. We try to handle the minor disputes with the help of some friends. Like my good buddy here.”
“Aren’t all aliens Alienizers?”, another boy in the back asked.
“Of course not,” D.E. told him.
“But the only aliens you hear about on the news are Alienizers,” he argued.
“That may be true,” Rev agreed. “The Alienizers are a very large group, made up of several different species. But percentage wise a very small number of those species have actually joined the Alienizers.” Some of the children looked confused.
D.E. stepped in again, “What I think my buddy is trying to say is there are good and bad people in all the groups you see. And you shouldn’t judge all of them by a few bad apples.” The kids seemed to understand that. A few more questions were asked. The kids wanted to know about Rev home planet, what he did there and if he missed it. Then a little girl got a little closer. D.E. knelt down and looked at her, “What is it darling?”
In a small voice she said, “Is it alright if he can play ball?”
“Lilly,” Carol admonished her.
“Play ball?”, Rev asked D.E. “That is a children game is it not?”
“Yup,” D.E. replied. He looked at his watch, “You know we still got some time before we got to head back.” He looked at the kids again, “I got an idea. Y’all learned a little something from Ranzack today, how about you guys teach him how to play ball and a couple of other games.” That got them excited again.
“I don’t believe the Major or Captain Stevens said we could do something like that,” Rev whispered.
“They didn’t say we couldn’t either,” D.E. grinned. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”
“Well alright.” The little girl grabbed Rev by his three fingered hand and lead him to the playground. Actually it was more like she was pulling and he was trying hard to keep up. But after things got going it looked like he was starting to enjoy himself when he got the hang of things. D.E. chatted with the preacher for a few more moments before deciding to get in on the fun himself.
***
Chatrox hated the rain, especially on this planet. In fact he hated everything about this planet. He still couldn’t see why the other Agents actually wanted to come here. The human stench was unbearable at best. And he had been getting up close and personal with them lately, so he was quite familiar with it.
“I see you,” a voice said. A purple looking alien walked out from a cave. He wore some kind of equipment on his back. Two cables from the pack trailed down his arms and connected to these emitters on his hands. “I’m not kidding, I know where you’re at.” To anybody passing by it would look like he was talking to the air.
Chatrox looked down, he was still invisible but he walked into a puddle and two holes, the exact size of his feet, were visible. He absolutely hated the rain. Dropping his invisibility he said, “What do you want Shockblast?”
“I need a reflector crystal,” he said matter of factly.
The Agent raised a scaly eyebrow, “That is a very rare item now a days, especially on this backwater planet.”
“I know, but I need to upgrade my weapon system. The one I’m using is almost spent and the backup I have ain’t exactly good quality.”
“Even a poor quality gem is going to fetch a pretty hefty price.”
“Don’t I know it, but everybody I talked to says you’re the one I need to talk too.”
Chatrox thought it over, “I do believe I might have a connection to a supplier with a reflector crystal. A very excellent quality one at that.”
“Great I’ll take it no matter the cost.” Shockblast handed him a money chip. Chatrox, as a precaution, ran it through a reader.
With a slightly disgusted look he said, “This is nowhere near the asking price.”
“But that’s all I got.”
“Too bad.”
“I need that crystal”
“Then I suggest you find a way to raise the remaining funds.” Chatrox turned to walk away. Shockblast raised his hand and pointed it to his left. The air in front of his hand started to distort slightly then shot out crashing into a car. It bent around the near invisible shockwave. Then he pointed his other right at the Agent.
“I said I need it.”
“Perhaps I can pull a couple of favors and get him to lower the price. But it won’t be by much, you’ll still have to raise the rest.
“That’s not good enough.” Shockblast was going to fire but he felt the cross blade of an Igadroid at his head.
“I use to arrest people like you for a living remember,” he said smugly. “So I know exactly who I am dealing with. Get the rest and I will get you that crystal.” Shockblast roared at him and stormed away. “Make sure he doesn’t double back,” he told the Igadroid.
“Right,” it replied. The one thing he missed about working for SPD? He could usually convince his superiors that any unauthorized kill he made was an accident if he played it right.
***
Michelle watched as the door opened and the Major and Dan hurried in. The Major gave her a quick nod as Dan stood beside her behind the rail. Pierce planted his cane in front of him as he told her, “Put him through.” Dan stood a little straighter as the image of Meng Yeow Gan appeared on screen. “Meng Yeow,” the Major greeted him warmly, “Sorry about the wait. I was caught a bit by surprise.”
Meng Yeow nodded, “I wish this was a social call Henry.” He looked over to Dan, “I assume this is Ops1.”
“Sir,” Dan said while giving him a quick salute.
“It’s good to finally put a face to the stories I’ve heard about the rather infamous Captain Stevens.”
Dan eyes shifted over to the Major who quickly changed the subject, “What’s the emergency Meng Yeow?”
“Basically we have a jumper,” he nodded to somebody off screen. At the bottom right corner an image a purple alien appeared. He was wearing a device of some sort on his back. “We only know him by the alias Shockblast. He’s been wanted on several planets for massive destruction and the death of millions.”
“I’d wager command is just waiting for the chance to take him out,” the Major commented.
“I wouldn’t bet against you Henry. He was spotted in Japan a few days ago. Unfortunately by the time my team got there and picked up a trail he had already boarded his craft and hit international waters.”
“And he made his way over here,” the Major said.
“For a brief stop. Then the SpaceBase tracked his vessel to Mexico.”
Michelle gave Dan a sympathetic look as he winced slightly. Mexico was still a bit of a sore spot. “Do we have any idea what he was after?”
“We did some checking on our side and discovered he was after a reflector crystal.”
“That’s weapon system component isn’t it?”, Dan asked.
Meng Yeow nodded,” Shockblast wears one on his back. He specialized his gear to emit a sound wave of devastating power, with the aid of one of these crystals.”
“Is he still in Mexico?” the Major asked.
“Our latest information says he is.”
“We’ll take him out,” Pierce told him, “you don’t have to worry about that.”
“I’m not worried at all, DekaBase out,” he said right before the screen went blank.
“Get the team scrambled and I’ll get them up to date on route,” Dan said. “If this guy is as dangerous as he says we don’t have a moment to waste.”
“Good idea. Meng Yeow wouldn’t call unless it was major. I’m lifting silent operation for this one, I want to be kept up to date.”
“I’m hooking up with the SpaceBase now,” Michelle said. “I’ll try to track him from here.”
“I want real time if possible,” Dan said as he exited the command room.
“Field team to the launch bay,” the Major commanded over the intercom. “Prep to launch in fifteen minutes.”
“That’s my job,” Michelle smirked as she kept her eyes on the keyboard.
“Dan’s right, time is of the essence. I’ll be in my office.”
***
Shockblast wasn’t that hard to find. In fact he wasn’t even trying to be stealthy at all. He stood in front of a jewelry store or a bank and blew whatever door that was in front of him open. Any human that got in his way, well that was just too bad for them. Read the rest of this entry »