Jennifer fell back on the bed and exhaled loudly. “Holy Crap! An extraterrestrial and a talking dog.”
“Technically,” Genghis clarified, “I’m an extraterrestrial too . . . long story.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Two and a half hours and a full pot of coffee later, Jeff Trent and Genghis Khan were still in Jennifer’s bedroom. They told her everything. They started with the story of a fledgling law enforcement agency that grew into the Interstellar Police Force. They told her about their individual family histories, their partnership together, and the cases they had solved. They enlightened her with the wonders of their home planet and that of the other worlds that were out there. And, of the utmost important, of their covert mission remaining a secret.
Genghis sat on his haunches. With his coffee mug between his front paws, he tipped the cup back and drained it. no longer needing to disgustingly lap at his coffee in front of Jennifer like a common canine. “How they all got to Old Town from the transfer ship,” Genghis said as he put his empty mug on the nightstand, “is something we’re not sure of. But we do have our suspicions.”
“Chances are,” Jeff added from his chair, “is that they got their hands on a vehicle.”
“But how is that possible?” Jennifer wondered. “From what you told me the transfer ship crashed almost eighty miles from here in the middle of nowhere. There's not much traffic way out there anymore.”
“Well,” Jeff said, “someone must have been out there. A delivery truck? A maintenance vehicle? The Fuller Brush Man! They couldn’t have walked all this way.”
Jennifer shuddered at the thought of the fate of the driver who happened to have come across the inmates. Not wanting to think of it any longer she changed the subject. “So, your car is really pretty big then, huh?”
“You were down below,” Genghis said. He hopped up onto the bed with Jennifer, made a couple of circles left, then right and plopped down. “That’s pretty much how big it really is.”
“But the outside is like a normal car?”
“Yes,” Jeff added. “Think of the generation field around the outside of the cruiser as a mirage. An optical illusion.”
“Cool!” Jennifer said. She then took a sip of coffee from her Buccaneer’s mug. “That bastard who burned down my building is in hyper-sleep and the bodies from the other ship are in the morgue, all on the third deck?”
“Yup!” Trent said, “They’ll all stay there until we get home.”
“Creepy!” She was quiet for a moment “And that machine,” she pointed at Jeff, “changed you to look like a man,” then pointed at Genghis, “and you a dog?”
“Well that wasn’t the plan,” Genghis said. “Unfortunately, not much I can do about it now until we’re finished with the mission and get back home.”
“Headquarters said it must have been a computer glitch,” Trent added.
Jennifer laughed a little, “That’s one hell of a glitch!”
“Tell me about it!” Genghis said.
“This Prodor guy,” Jennifer asked, “is he here too?
“Most likely,” Jeff answered. “But right now, we’re just not sure.”
Jennifer thought for a moment, “If he is, wouldn’t the Westberry police know something about him? You said he likes to leave calling cards with his victims, you know, egging the cops on.” She looked at Genghis. “You’ve hacked into the police computers. You haven’t found anything about him? Like you did with the other two?”
Genghis and Jeff shared a look. “You know,” Genghis replied, “I have been concentrating so much on arson fires and armed robberies that I haven’t even looked for anything that fits Moffit’s profile.”
Jeff looked at Jennifer. “Brilliant, Miss Winkles!”
She grinned big and combed her fingers through her hair. “Thank you, Mister Trent. I have my moments.”
“I’ll start searching tomorrow morning,” Genghis said. “See if there are any missing persons or unsolved murders in the last ten months.”
“See, Twinkie,” Jeff said, “you are already quite the asset to us. And I think we really do need help from someone who’s more familiar with the culture around here then we are.”
She blushed and said, “I’ll help you as much as I can.” Then said, “Ah, hey guys? I’m sorry I pointed that gun at you earlier when we were downstairs in the cruiser. I was really freaking out and didn’t understand what was going on. I’m sorry.”
“Yes, that’s alright, Twinkie.” Jeff turned toward the nightstand. “But you need to be a little more careful when handling our equipment.” He then tossed that very device into her lap. “It’s all very unfamiliar to you and you can hurt yourself or someone else.”
“Whoa!” She said. “Is the safety on?” She gingerly picked the device up. “You guys really trust me with this?”
“Yes, we do, Twinkie,” Jeff said. “But the training period on that certain piece of equipment will be very extensive and time-consuming. We expect you to put one hundred percent effort into your studies. And by the end of your three-week curriculum, accumulating in a five hundred word essay, you’ll be so proficient at it that you’ll be able to break it down and clean it blindfolded.”
“Wow, really?” Jennifer asked, looking down at the device.
“Oh, for crying out loud, Jeff,” Genghis said. “Knock it off! Twinkie, that’s the remote control we use to dim the cabin lights.”
“Well, you know,” Jennifer said, “if I had thrown this at you, it would have really hurt!”
Genghis stood on the bed. “Alright! Enough chit-chat for one night. Come on you two, I’m hungry.” He jumped off the bed. “Let’s order some of that pizza stuff.” And he trotted out of the bedroom.
“You know,” Jennifer said, “that’s a damn good idea.”
“Yes, it is,” Jeff replied. He stood and held his hand out for Jennifer to take, which she did and Jeff helped her off the bed.
Chapter Fifty-Four
They stayed up late that night eating pizza, watching TV, and talking more about far-off planets. Then, when
