Mr. Andersen arrives.

“I don’t know if I lost them.” Mr. Andersen says as he parks his car under the carport with your loaner.

“Who is after you?” You ask. The agents he’d encountered psychically had been able to shield their memories, indicating long hours of training on their part.

“Not sure.” Mr. Andersen replies. “All I managed to get out of the one I questioned was that he’s Federal.”

“Not a lot to go on.” you reply.

“I know.” Mr. Andersen grumbles.

“Mr. Andersen?” Desiree asks, peeking out of the basement. “What’s going on?”

“I talked her out of leaving.” you whisper by way of explanation.

“Ah, the ‘emergency vacation.’” Mr. Andersen muses. “We’ll be down in a moment, Desiree. I think it’s safer if you stay there for the time being.”

“Uh, yessir.” Desiree replies, disappearing once more down the steps.

“Phillips, you dog.” Mr. Andersen chuckles. “I’ve seen that look in a woman’s eyes before, but it’s been a while.” He says laughing quietly now, his broad shoulders bobbing up and down in mirth. “Well, one mystery solved.” he says, sobering up. “Too many more to go.”

“True.” you reply. “Starting with who sent those suits after you.”

“Can I help?” Penelope asks.

“Who are you?” Mr. Andersen asks.

“Mr. Andersen, this is Penelope.” you say as the little girl shakes hands with the elder gentleman.

“So, the government’s after you, too?” Penelope asks. “Join the club, Mr. Andersen. I’m a hacker specializing in defending regular people’s rights. What are they hunting you for?”

“Apparently, to get to Vic here.” Mr. Andersen replies. “Though I can’t imagine why.”

“I can.” Dak’s image says, appearing in a chair. Mr. Andersen jumps. “Sorry, old bean, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Who are you?” Andersen asks.

“The psychic projection of an extraterrestrial being whose name contains only one syllable we can pronounce.” you say. “So that’s the syllable we use for a nickname. Dak.”

“Oh, okay, I’m beginning to understand now.” Mr. Andersen says. “The government’s power-jealous, so it made it a punishable offense for any American citizen to have contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles, for fear that someone might trade their sister into slavery for a star cruiser and fly it to Washington or something.”

“Even if **** taking races DID come to Sol III to trade, rather than simply conquering the planet, they would hardly be so daft as to give away their cruiser for slaves. More likely a shuttlecraft, but it would require a great many individuals to be turned over. I think one of the smaller urban zones would have to be emptied to pay for a shuttle, and of course the one making the trade would have to capture the other humans himself...”

“Dak, he is talking about government paranoia, not rational thinking.” you say.

“Ah.” Dak replies. “So sorry. I do tend to ramble so.”