The Interstellar Police Force, Book One: The Historic Mission by Raymond Klein (ebook reader 7 inch txt) 📕

laser emitted from the device and struck Colus Valda harmlessly in the head. It then started to horizontally fan out the width of his large body and began to oscillate up and down. Shadows danced off the walls in a strobe light-like fashion as the oscillations continued. Valda’s body started to change. He became thinner and shorter. His clothing began to hang loosely. The replicator shut off. The transformation was complete.

Standing only five feet three inches tall in front of Jeff Trent and Genghis Khan was Colus Valda as they knew him. Valda was of a race of short and lanky humanoids. Draping off his thin frame were his oversized human clothes. Long arms extending beyond his coat shelves, stretching down below knobby knees.

Colus’s oblong bald head glanced up at the IPF agents with small dark eyes then back down to himself. “Well?” he said while raising his arms and using long bony fingers to pull at the loose fitting clothing. “Now what?” Valda asked, now speaking his native language which Genghis and Jeff both could speak fluently. And they responded in kind.

“We now transport you to the detention center’s cryogenics holding cell.” Genghis said, while watching Trent remove the TU37 teleportation unit from the duffle bag. He set on the ground using a small tripod assembly that pointed the front nozzle toward the intended individual or item to be teleported.

“Nooo!” Valda protested. “Can’t you just put me in a regular cell? The computer will take care of all my needs.” He spread his arms out, clothing hanging loosely. “Com’on! What do yah say, fellas?”

“That all depends,” Trent said, as he entered keystrokes on the keyboard of the unit. “What else can you tell us about Bollar?”

Exasperated, Colus dropped his arms to his side, his clothing making a flapping sound. “I’ve told you everything I know about Bollar. That’s it! I know nothing else about him.”

“Well, Valda,” Trent said, while standing up, teleportation coordinates set, unit humming. “Since you have no more information for us, we don’t need you any longer.”

“Now . . . now hold on a minute, Agent.” Valda argued his case. “I still can be of some use to you, can’t I?” He glanced down at the unit that was pointing at him. “I can contact Bollar and meet him somewhere, then you and your hairy partner here can swoop in and make the arrest.”

“And then what happens with you, Colus?” Genghis asked.

“Meee . . . Well!” Valda nervously said while shifting his eighty pounds from one foot to the other. “Of course, being that I assisted you in the apprehension of a known felon I could get a reprieve on my past . . . indiscretions.”

“Are you referring to the fact that you've murdered people on this planet as an indiscretion?” Trent said while looking into Valda’s eyes.

“No . . . no, no, you misunderstood me. That’s not what I meant at all,” Valda said waving a bony hand in the air. “All I’m saying is that I could pay back my debt to society by working it off.”

“Like how?” Jeff asked, bewildered.

Valda was silent for a moment, then looked at Trent, down to Genghis, then back to Trent. A drop of perspiration rolled down his back. “I . . . ah . . . could groom your partner for you! HA! HAHAHA!”

Genghis gave Colus Valda a dirty look and said, “Groom this.” And triggered the teleportation unit.

A cone of yellow white light hit Colus. He used his thin arms and over-sized human clothing to shield his eyes from the bright light. “Hey! I’m a DOCTOR!” his words slowly fading into the night. He was gone in seconds.

Colus Valda's atoms were broken down and sequenced. Their locations were mapped and stored in milliseconds by the computer, then electronically sent to the third deck of the cruiser.

On the third deck, behind a security door, were the eight holding cells, a morgue, and five cryogenic tubes. The long shiny metal alloy tubes were recessed into the wall opposite the cells. The only visible parts of the tubes were large, round, hermetically sealed hatches that were configured close together on the wall. Two hatches on the top, two on the bottom with the fifth in the center. The right top hatch’s life support computer display activated as Valda’s atoms were reconstructed inside the tube. Colus Valda lay peacefully naked on his back. All of his earth clothing and personal belongings were removed by the computer and stored in an evidence locker. He felt nothing and was not aware of his surroundings. He was already in hyper-sleep. Colus Valda would remain this way throughout the duration of Jeff Trent and Genghis Khan’s mission on Earth.

When they returned to the apartment later that night, Jennifer was up and waiting for them. She explained that she saw the tall man and started to follow him for about fifteen minutes until he spotted her. She explained the exchange they had and was thankful that he wasn’t interested. Jeff was a little concerned and admonished her for taking such a risk. This was nothing, she reassured him. Once, when a guy tried handcuffing her, she punched him so hard in the nose she could hear cartilage crunch.

The three of them then climbed into the Thunderbird and drove to Bollar’s last known location and slowly drove up and down Fifth Avenue. But this street was all retail shops. There were antique and consignment shops, used book stores, and of course Dave’s; all closed at this early hour. But there were no boarding houses, apartments, or rooms for rent. He could not be living in this part of town. Jeff surmised that Bollar knew early on that he was being followed and purposely led her in the wrong direction.

The three of them continued searching several blocks of Old Town until the sun broke the horizon. They then decided to go to Dave’s, which had opened an hour earlier, for some breakfast. Jeff, Jennifer, and Genghis sat