Aces (24 page)

Rick was
surprised. “You don
’
t want to return to L.A.?”

Kaylee tilted her
head. “Dad. Please. Earth is
lame
. Everybody knows that. We
’
ve been there, done that. We want to go to Valhalla.”

“Yeah, Dad, you
promised to show us alien stuff nobody has seen before.” Manny reminded his
father.

Rick looked to
Joy for guidance. She smiled. “Hans, do you think your company yacht will bring
us to Valhalla?”

Schroeder nodded,
and coughed behind his hand. “I think the company will bring you anywhere you
want, frankly.” The company would probably give all four of them lifetime
passes on its passenger ships, Starlight Lines. At least.

“In that case,” Joy
said, “next stop, Valhalla!”

London, Great Britain,
Earth
   

Dr. Nigel Watson
had been hiding in his lab all day, and now the sun was setting outside, and he
didn
’
t know where to go, what to do. He was perched on a
stool in the corner of the lab, wringing his trembling hands, as he had been
doing for hours.

The story was all
over the newsnets for the past month, the faces of the children everywhere
Nigel looked. When he
’
d first heard, he had panicked and
called in sick to work, then decided that would make him look guilty.

The door to the
lab slid open, and Nigel heard footsteps approaching, a steady, confident
stride, click-clicking across the floor toward him. It had to be the police,
Nigel knew.

He would tell
them everything. It wasn
’
t his fault. He hadn
’
t known. He was innocent.

“Ah, the good Doctor
Watson. How are you, Nigel?”

Nigel spun on his
stool in fright. Not the police! It was his boss, the oily Todd Martin. Martin
carried a white container under his arm, he carefully set it down on a
workbench. Nigel rose unsteadily to his feet, and pointed a shaky finger at the
other man. “You,” he croaked, his voice breaking, “you did this.”

“
Oh,
don’
t be so dramatic, old man. Dash it all, Nigel, you look like hell.
Bad image for the company, and all. Clean up, and get some sleep.” The other
man said, while adjusting his necktie in a mirror.

“You
’
ll pay for this. I
’
ll tell them-“

“What?” Martin
snapped. “You
’
ll tell them what? A nice fairy tale? The
police have no idea who hired the thieves, and the thieves don
’
t
know either.” He smiled disarmingly. “Now, down to business. The Navy took the
device the thieves were trying to steal, but the Navy can
’
t
figure out what it is. JST Research has generously offered to take a look at it
for them.” He pointed to the white container in triumph. “Nigel, I wonder if you
would be interested in examining the object?”

THE END