The Interrogation
Space Traveler Fargone • Episode 20
New to Space Traveler Fargone? Start at the beginning
There was no talking our way out of this one.
“We don’t have ID. We are from another planet,” I replied.
“Yeah, right. And I can fly. Come on, follow me,” the officer said.
“It’s true, we are from another planet. Planet Earth,” Em added.
“Listen, citizen. Lying will not help your case. Now keep quiet and follow me.”
Em and I followed the officer while the other officers kept weapons pointed at us. As we walked, I waited for Flow to do something, like turn into a tank or something. I should probably ask her if she can do that. But Flow didn’t do anything. So we walked down the same hallway we had come out of earlier until we arrived at an unmarked door. The officer held his wrist up to a panel, and the door opened.
We walked into a large room with several desks. A security officer sat at each desk. They all looked up at us as we walked by. We were taken down another hall and put in a room. It had a bench that ran the length of one side of the room. Oddly enough, it was metal and looked similar to the bench Flow transformed into.
“Have a seat,” the officer said. We did. Then the officer left and closed the door.
“This crazy, right? Once we explain, they will let us go, right?” Em asked.
“I hope so. If only I had some Farismitron donuts, I might be able to bribe our way out of this mess.”
“Enough of the stupid donuts.”
“They are not stupid. They are the best donuts in the Universe. And they worked on Manifold.”
“Well, you don’t have any. Why didn’t Flow do anything?”
“We were outnumbered. Flow probably decided it was too dangerous. Let’s not panic.”
“I’m not panicking. I’m scared. They were pointing weapons at us.”
“We will be alright.”
“You don’t know that.”
The door opened, and two security officers walked in. A woman and a man. They looked older than the officers that arrested us.
“I’m Agent Wilson, the woman said, and this is Agent Baxter. You are not from this zone. Facial recognition confirmed it. What zone are you from?”
“We are not from a zone. We are from another planet. We just got curious and came to take a look.”
“Right. We are running a scan of the other zones as we speak. There is no point in lying. How did you get to this zone?”
“We are not lying. We are from Earth. Let me show you my com. I have photos of Earth.”
“What is a com?” the man asked.
“It is a communication device that also stores photographs and video.”
I reached into my pocket, and both agents pulled out weapons and pointed them at me.
“Slowly,” Wilson said.
I pulled out my com and opened the photo app. I scrolled back to the start of our adventure when I took a photo of Rustbucket in the hangar. Then I handed the combo to the woman. Both agents looked at it intensely.
“Slide your finger across the screen to the left,” I said.
She did and saw the photos I took on Purpletonia. Then Space Station Manifold. She started swiping furiously until she reached the end.
The agents looked at each other.
“Have a seat,” agent Wilson said. Then they both left, taking my com with them.
“They have to believe us now, right?” Em said.
“Yeah. You saw their faces. They know we are telling the truth.”
We sat in silence for what seemed like hours. Finally, the door opened again. An old man entered. He carried a chair in his hand. He set the chair down and sat across from us.
He smiled and said, “I am Councilman Calvin Gray. Today is quite a day for me; I have never met an outsider. Tell me, have you come as scouts? Is there an invasion planned? Do you hope to steal our workers?”
“We are just explorers. We found your planet on a scan and were curious to see what was inside the building.”
“Just explorers, eh? Why didn’t you make your presence known when you arrived?”
“We hoped to blend in, take a look around and then be on our way. Not disrupting your existence.”
“Well, it’s a bit late for that, isn’t it?”
“Only you and your two agents know about us. We will gladly leave.”
“I am sure you will. And then tell everyone about us. That is what you do, isn’t it? I read your splogs.”
“I won’t write about your planet if that is what you want. I will respect your privacy.”
“I am afraid I can’t take your word for that. It is my responsibility to manage this planet. And I can’t do that with aliens disrupting things. Imagine if the citizens of this zone found out about other planets. They might want to leave. Or worse, other planets might come here and loot our goods. You yourself have seen the wonderful products our citizens enjoy. You leave me no choice. You cannot leave.”
Glad they are finally in trouble for real that they can't talk or fly their way out of too quickly. Looking forward to reading how they manage this situation!