A Small Gray Dot

He studied my face for a moment then said, “Semptor Labs is a front for an alien race from somewhere out in the universe.”

Chapter Twenty-seven

I STARED AT HIM, MY BRAIN ONE BIG QUESTION mark with an exclamation point thrown in behind it. I flashed back on one of the crazy conspiracy theories put forth right after the world went to shit. Okay. The doctor was possibly a genius but that didn’t preclude him also being a crackpot.

It had been a while since the word used for what happened seven and a half years ago came up – out loud – in polite conversation, but this one wasn’t entirely polite and he’d already used it, so I said warily, “So are you saying that they caused the Event so they could come here and sell us stuff?”

He shook his head. “Oh, no, Mr. Murray. That is not what I’m saying. I know what caused the Event and I know that they did not. Nonetheless, they are taking advantage of it.”

I opened my mouth to ask how he knew and why he was working for aliens if that was the case but Morgan said, “Mr. Murray, Maddy wants to talk to you.”

As I turned to take the phone, I said to the doctor, “Proof, Doctor.”

He smiled and nodded.

On the other end of the phone, Madison said, “What?”

“Oh, I was talking to Dr. Bennett.” That out-of-the-blue tangled ball of “aliens from outerspace” wasn’t anything I could discuss with her at the moment so I asked, “How many guards do you have with you?”

“Six. Listen, can you trust this Dr. Bennett? Morgs told me about him. What is your next move? Are you bringing Morgs back now?”

“No. Getting out of here will not be easy – or fast. But yes, I trust Dr. Bennett.” Trusted him, yes, but wasn’t quite sure about his sanity yet. “Morgan will be okay here for a while. Look, six guards are not enough.” I thought for a moment. There were people on whom I could depend in a pinch. “I’m going to call someone and get some backup for you and your guards.”

“Who? And how will I know who they are?”

“Friends of mine.” She needed a way to identify friendlies from somebody showing up from Semptor. Judging by Talbert – and the guards – this Henderson guy had a bunch of goons working for him. I thought a moment, then I had it. “Ask anyone that shows up what I did for a living before I became a gravedigger.”

She was silent for a moment, then said, “You were a gravedigger?”

“It’s a long story, but yes. Before that I was a middle-school English teacher.” Everyone in my circle of friends knew that. If anyone Semptor sent happened to know my real name, it was possible some of them might know I used to dig graves, but I didn’t think any of them would know what kind of work I’d done before that.

“You were a teacher?” she sounded bemused.

“Yes, ma’am.” There wasn’t time to discuss that, either. “There’s something else you should do. I don’t know how far-reaching these people are but you should put your folk in Wilmington on alert, just in case.”

“Good thinking. I’ll do that right away. And Tennessee, thanks for finding my sister.”

Well, she’d paid me a huge sum of money to do it but I didn’t bring that up, instead, I said, “You’re welcome.”

The minute she was off the phone, I called Lowell and gave him a rundown on the situation.

He didn’t hesitate. “No worries, Tenn. Always glad to help a lady in distress. I’ll get right on it.”

He knew who all to contact and would get everyone together. I knew the first person he called would be Simon. “And Lowell,” I added, “give our friends in blue a heads up. They might be able to spring loose a few uniforms to help out, and even if they can’t they need to know what’s going on because you know it’ll get a little noisy if somebody does show up.” He agreed.

Once I hung up from that call, I turned to Morgan. On the surveillance monitor, I spotted our jackets and gloves on a chair in the livingroom where we’d left them. I’d kept my knit cap on but her hat was out there, too. I felt it was best if they were out of sight so I sent her to get them. Then I turned to the doctor who was sitting in one of the wheeled chairs at a desk next to one of the computers. I lowered myself into a chair at the desk beside him.

I studied him. “I’m not saying I don’t believe you Doctor, but what you’ve said sounds… incredible.”

He smiled. “Of course it does. I understand your skepticism. I’ve only learned they are aliens within the last three weeks but I do have proof, Mr. Murray. I would never have said it if I didn’t.”

“Okay. I’m ready for that proof, and sir, if you don’t mind, I prefer being called Tennessee – or Tenn.”

He nodded, pushed back a stray lock of hair that had fallen over his left eye, and pulled open a drawer on the desk. He removed something from it.

“I could show you pictures but those wouldn’t actually prove anything except perhaps that I’ve lifted images from some science fiction site still in operation on the internet. But, I have something I believe you will find to be credible.”