LITMIR.BIZ

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like “Spaceship? What spaceship?” But that was not Kelsey’s response.

      Instead, he scowled, his expression darkening like a thunderstorm. “Don’t you ever, ever ask me something like that again, Commander! You are completely out of line!”

      “So you know what we saw over there?”

      “I’m not at liberty to speak about it, and neither are you. I advise you to keep your thoughts on the subject to yourself. Do not make me regret asking you for this assignment.”

      But the anger inside Hunter surged up and out in a furious blast. “Sir! Someone phoned me yesterday and threatened the life of my girlfriend. That was what was out of line!” He was shouting, and it was with a bit of struggle that he caught himself and dialed it back. “I’m sorry, sir. But ever since our return from Korea, I have been the subject of rather intensive surveillance, including, evidently, in bed! If my oath isn’t enough for you—”

      Kelsey was mad, but it didn’t seem like it was solely at Hunter’s outburst. “Who made the threat? Who did you talk to?”

      “Damned if I know. He didn’t leave me his fucking name and number.”

      Kelsey seemed to consider this for a moment, then sighed. “Commander … let’s play a game of hypotheticals.”

      Hunter was about to reply that he didn’t play games, but stopped the words before they came out of his mouth. This was a damned good time to keep his trap shut. “I’m listening, sir.”

      “I’m not saying there are, but let’s pretend for a moment that there are aliens, okay? They’ve known about humans, have been visiting us, watching us, maybe even interfering with us for a long, long time.”

      “I’m with you so far, sir.”

      “Now, just hypothetically, let’s say that there are more than one group of aliens out there. Like in Star Trek. You have the Federation of good guys. You’ve got Vulcans, you’ve got humans, you’ve got … I don’t know. Lots of other good guys. But you have others that aren’t so good.”

      “Okay …”

      “Now, just suppose for the sake of argument, that the bad guys are trying to take over Earth. It’s an invasion, but they’re being sneaky about it. You see, there aren’t many of them, a few million, maybe, but there are seven billion of us. They might have really wizard superweapons, but they’re outnumbered at least a thousand to one.”

      Hunter wasn’t ready to admit that a mere difference in numbers would stop aliens who had the technology to cross interstellar distances. “They wouldn’t need to be sneaky about it, sir. They just trot out the Death Star and obliterate the planet!”

      “That’s Star Wars, Commander, not Star Trek. Your point is taken, though. With the technology they have, just about anything is possible. But let’s just assume, for the sake of argument, that they want to take over the Earth, but they want to have the planet intact. Maybe they want us as slaves. Or, hell, I don’t know. For food.”

      “Sounds like your typical scenario for a 1950s sci-fi B movie, Admiral.”

      Kelsey nodded. “It does, doesn’t it? Again, this is all conjecture. But back to our bad guy aliens. They want to invade, but they don’t want to kill everyone, and they don’t want to blast the entire planet into space rubble, okay? So how would they go about taking over the Earth?”

      “Well, if they looked like us, I guess they could infiltrate the government. Infiltrate all the governments of the world.”

      “And if they didn’t look like us?”

      “I don’t know, Admiral. Too many variables. Could they disguise themselves? Or infiltrate with a few key humans they’ve brainwashed or something? Use them as Manchurian candidates and slip them in to positions of power, but have them working for the aliens?”

      “Bang on the money, Commander.”

      “But … this is all hypothetical, right?”

      “Completely. I just want you to understand that not everyone in the government is on our side. There are … elements, let’s say, perfectly capable of what you described. Eavesdropping. Blackmail. Strong-arm tactics. Threats. Threats to kill you or your girl or other people close to you. Even actual murder. Make people disappear.”

      “And might these elements be aligned with various intelligence services?”

      “CIA, FBI, DIA—you name it. A lot of our alphabet soup of current government agencies might have been compromised. Hypothetically speaking, of course. It wouldn’t take much. A few key people at the top, giving the orders.”

      “Of course.”

      “So what do you say, Commander?”

      “I still need some time to think about it, sir.”

      “Okay. But I do need your answer ASAP.”

      “Oh-nine-hundred tomorrow. Yes, sir.”

      He left, his mind whirling.

      HE SPENT the night with Gerri.

      “But where are they sending you, Mark?”

      They were having dinner together at Top of the Market, a seafood and wine restaurant right on the bay with a fantastic view out over the water. Hunter’s paycheck didn’t normally stretch to include fine dining—not this fine—but he figured he owed a really special night to the girl he was about to dump.

      For some reason, the food didn’t taste quite as good as he’d expected.

      He’d left his cell phone at home, and made a point of asking her to do so, as well. He wasn’t going to spill any secrets, but, just in case, he didn’t want their dinner interrupted by unpleasant threats or bombast.

      He didn’t think They could have bugged every damned table in every restaurant in San Diego.

      “Can’t tell you, babe. Because they haven’t told me.”

      They’d finished their dinner and were talking over the last of their wine—a good ’08 Merlot recommended by the waiter. Hunter had always thought you ordered white wine with fish, but apparently a red wine with their seared tuna was the exception to the rule.

      “Isn’t that kind of strange?” Gerri asked. “I mean, is it usual to send people off and not tell them where they’re being sent?”

      “Not really. But, well, in my line of work, it does happen. Look, you knew this could happen when you hooked up with me, right?”

      “That doesn’t make this easy, Mark,” she said, irritated at his trying to turn this on her.

      “I know. I’m sorry.”

      “And you don’t know how long you’ll be gone?”

      “Uh-uh. But it might be a long time. Gerri …” He took a deep breath. “I guess what I’m trying to say … this evening is kind of a good-bye.”

      “I got that. But you make it sound like good-bye forever!”

      He swallowed. “It is. I’m sorry … but I’m not going to string you along. I don’t know when I’ll come back. I don’t know if I’ll be back.” He shrugged. “That’s just the way it is. I’m … sorry.”

      Her lip quivered, and her eyes were luminous with tears, but she didn’t cry, not yet. She dabbed at one eye with her napkin. “I thought …”

      “What? What did you think?”

      “That we had something really special together, you and me.”

      “We do.” He’d almost said “we did,” but

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