Jeff and Genghis were in the kitchen. Jeff was still unpacking groceries when an alarm tone was heard coming from their computer on the coffee table. The tone was something they were not familiar with. “What’s that?” Jeff asked.
“Not sure,” Genghis said as he put a pack of hot dogs in the refrigerator and closed the door. “I don’t recognize it.” He walked over to the computer and looked at the screen. “That’s gotta be wrong,” Genghis said, as Jeff came in and looked at the screen over the Doberman’s shoulder. “It’s the motion detector alerting us that someone’s below decks.”
Jeff and Genghis shared a look, then said in unison, “Twinkie!”
Jennifer was moving very quietly, slightly in shock. She could not believe her eyes. Her mind was reeling and her heart was pounding. The stairs led to a large dimly-lit room, in which computers were humming, small lights on equipment panels were blinking. She warily walked further into the science lab of the Interstellar Police Force cruiser.
There were many strange-looking objects on tables and shelves. Several of the computer screens were on, and a couple showed the same logo that looked like three planets orbiting a distant sun. She got closer to a long wall console. Under its computerized touch screen glass were digital switchers, moving dials, and bar graphs rising and falling. She tried to make out what the words printed on the screens read, but they were all in that same odd hieroglyphic text that she saw on Jeff’s laptop upstairs. Jeff’s laptop! She began to feel lightheaded.
She scanned the room as she slowly backed up toward the stairs. She saw another room that looked sterile, with shiny equipment like a hospital operating room and another that looked like it could be a kitchen. There was a large sealed door toward the back of the room that had odd symbols printed on it with more of those hieroglyphics. She took in the surroundings, trying to comprehend what she had stumbled into.
“This can’t be real!” she said, as she thought to herself that she’d seen things like this before in the movies. The computer systems, the strange objects, the odd writings, none of these things she could explain. There was no possible explanation at all . . . Except one.
“Is this . . . is this a space sh . . .” Just then, she heard voices and footsteps running down the metal stairs. She panicked and ran toward the back of the room, hoping to find a way out. There was none that she could see. If she didn’t take control of her fear she was going to start hyperventilating. Jeff and Genghis suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
“Twinkie!” Jeff said, with eyes wide. “It’s okay, we can explain.” Her street instincts kicked in. She quickly grabbed the first thing she saw off the table in front of her. It was long, gray, and cold to the touch. It had a glass cover on the front and what looked like a push button trigger on the top, she pointed it at Jeff.
“Whoa! Twinkie,” Jeff said with hands slightly in front of himself, not sure of what she had in her hands. Genghis ran to his right against the perimeter wall and came within ten feet to Jennifer’s left. She swung around and pointed it at Genghis. It was shaking in her hand. She swung it back toward Jeff.
“What is this?” Jennifer asked, her voice quivering. “What’s going on? I heard voices. Who else is with you?” She pointed the trembling device again at Genghis, then back toward Jeff. “What the hell is going on?” Genghis took a step forward, and Jennifer quickly swung the weapon toward him. Genghis stopped, surprised at how fast she moved. She looked at Trent, but kept the device trained on Genghis. “I’ll kill your dog if he comes any closer, I swear it!”
“Jennifer,” Jeff said, trying to calm her. “No one is going to kill anyone.” She looked toward the Doberman. “Twinkie, look at me.” She did. “That’s Genghis. He’s not going to hurt you . . . you're family.”
“I don’t give a shit!” Her heart started to race as she felt panic creeping into her bones. “What the hell is going on? Where the hell am I?” She swung the device in her hand from Genghis to Jeff and back again. “What is this place?”
“Twinkie, it's fine, we can explain everything.” Jeff took a tentative step forward. “I just want you to calm down a little bit. Just take a seat and we’ll tell you everything.”
“Why do you always say that?”
“Say what, Twinkie?” He took another step forward. “Jennifer, I . . . I don’t understand, say what?”
“You always say that! We! We are going to do this. We are going to do that. We’re going out patrolling. We, We, We! It’s never, I’m gonna to do this or that, or I went here or there, it’s always We! You always say that.” She looked at Genghis, then back to Jeff. “You act like he can understand you. Like you and that damn dog can talk to each other.” She looked again at Genghis and this time when she made eye contact with him, she saw for the first time behind his eyes. Comprehension!
“Oh, . . . my . . . God!” Her eyes started to well up. “He can understand everything, can’t he! He can understand what I’m saying.” She looked back at Jeff. “Can’t he? You really can talk to him, can’t you?” She slowly looked
