Invasion

"I think we should call Dr. Miller," Pitt said when he was finished.

"Now?" Jesse questioned. "It's after two in the morning."

"She's going to want to know about this right away," Pitt said. "It's my guess she'll want to start immediately trying to grow out whatever is in this sample."

"Okay, you call," Jesse said. "I've got to go in and see the captain. By the time I get back you can tell me if I'm taking you to the med center or home."

Jesse's mind was a jumble of disconnected thoughts as he headed for the captain's office. So much crazy stuff had happened in so short a time, particularly the crack appearing like magic in the black disc, that he felt numb. He was also exhausted since it was way past his bedtime. Nothing seemed real. Even the fact that he was heading in to see the captain after two in the morning.

The captain's office door was ajar. Jesse halted on the threshold. The captain was at his desk busily writing as if it were the middle of the day. Jesse had to admit to himself that the captain looked better than he had in a year despite the hour.

"Excuse me, Captain," Jesse called out. "You wanted to see me?"

"Come in," the captain said, waving Jesse over to the desk. He smiled. "Thanks for coming by. Tell me, how are you feeling now?"

"Pretty tired, sir," Jesse said.

"Not sick?"

"No, thank goodness," Jesse said.

"Get that problem taken care of with the two kids?"

"Still working on it," Jesse said.

"Well, I wanted to reward you for your hard work," the captain said. He opened the center drawer of his desk, reached in and pulled out one of the black discs!

Jesse's eyes widened in shocked surprise.

"I want you to have this symbol of a new beginning," the captain said. He had the disc in the palm of his hand, and he extended it toward Jesse.

Jesse felt a sense of panic. "Thank you, sir, but I can't accept that."

"Of course you can," the captain said. "It doesn't look like much, but it will change your life. Trust me."

"Oh, I believe you, sir," Jesse said. "I just don't deserve it."

"Nonsense," the captain said. "Take it, my man."

"No, thank you," Jesse said. "I'm really tired. I got to get some sleep."

"I'm ordering you to take it," the captain said. A distinct edge had appeared in his voice.

"Yes, sir," Jesse said. He reached forward with a quivering hand. In his mind's eye he saw the glistening chrome needle. At the same time he remembered that to stimulate the mechanism, he'd touched the edge of the disc. He also noticed that the captain was not touching the edge but rather palming the disc in his flattened hand.

"Take it, my friend," the captain urged.

Jesse flattened his own hand palm up and put it next to the captain's. The captain looked him in the eye. Jesse returned the stare and noticed the captain's pupils were widely dilated.

For a few moments it was a Mexican standoff. Finally the captain carefully insinuated his thumb beneath the disc and lifted it with his index finger on top of the dome. He was obviously avoiding the edge. Then he put it in Jesse's palm.

"Thanks, Chief," Jesse said. He avoided looking at the cursed thing and beat a hasty retreat.

"You'll be thanking me," the captain called out after him.

Jesse dashed out to his desk, terrified by the fear of being stung at any moment. But it didn't happen, and he was able to slide the disc out of his hand without incident. It clacked up against its colleague with a sound like two ivory billiard balls colliding.

"What on earth ... " Pitt remarked.

"Don't ask!" Jesse said. "But I'll tell you one thing. The captain ain't on our side."

Holding the coffee creamer jar up to the light, Sheila looked beneath the label at the scrap of blotter contained inside. "This might be the break we needed," she said. "But tell me again exactly what happened."

Cassy, Pitt, and Jesse all began speaking at once.

"Whoa!" Sheila said. "One at a time."

Cassy and Pitt deferred to Jesse. Jesse retold the episode with Cassy and Pitt adding bits of detail. When Jesse got to describing the part about the slit appearing in the disc, he opened his eyes widely and yanked back his hand in imitation of what he'd done at the time.

Sheila placed the jar on her desk and peered through the oculars of a binocular dissecting microscope. One of the black discs was positioned on the tray.

"This situation gets more and more bizarre," Sheila remarked. "I gotta tell you; the surface appears fault-free. I'd swear it was a solid chunk of whatever it is."

"It may look that way, but it isn't," Cassy said. "It's definitely mechanical. We all saw the slit."

"And the needle," Pitt added.

"Who would make something like this?" Jesse questioned.

"Who could make it?" Cassy asked.

The four people stared at each other. For a few minutes no one spoke. Cassy's rhetorical question was unsettling.