Protectors of the Veil

by Dawn Matthews

  Kiev and Jordon got out of the car and walked into the police station. It was a very rustic, small town police station. There were only four policemen standing around. All eyes turned to Kiev and Jordon. Group interrogations were sketchy as sometimes they were able to gang up on the Interdimensional and Veil Affairs; it always depended on the strength of the will of the those being interrogated. These were police officers; therefore, they would take no chances. In his most authoritative voice, Jordon said, “Good afternoon. My name is Agent Jordon, and this is Agent Strom. We are from the NSA. I will slowly pull my identification out of my jacket pocket.”

  Jordon did exactly that, once the badge was out, he held it up for all the officers to see. “Can I take a closer look at that?” one of the officers asked.

  “Certainly,” Jordon replied as he handed him the badge

  “Looks legit,” the officer said.

  “Indeed,” said Jordon.

  “What would the NSA want with us?” the same officer asked.

  “We’d like to question you each individually about a certain prisoner that was in your custody. If we may be allowed to use one of your rooms?” Jordon asked. “A room without a two-way mirror, if you would? This is classified.”

  The officer that had been doing all the talking had his arms crossed in a territorial, this is my turf, kind of way. However, what he said was, “Of course. Michaels, take them to room 3.”

  Michaels did not look much like a cop, despite the uniform. His eyes were shifty and he seemed nervous. Jordon didn’t think this had anything to do with his presence, as much as it would please him if it were. He was quite certain this nervousness was Michaels’ normal state. They followed the weasel-like little man into room 3. There was classical music playing in the room, which switched from Bach to Chopin’s Op 9 No 2.

  “Michaels, we can start with you,” Jordon said as Michaels was about to run out the door. He looked like a deer caught in headlights.

  For the first time, his grey eyes met Jordon’s blue eyes. He looked away immediately, “O-o-o-kay,” he stuttered a bit, clearly unhappy. He sat down in the chair and adjusted his glasses.

  Kiev smiled in a predatory way, and with an immense amount of confidence and style, he sat in the chair opposite the nervous Michaels. Jordon closed the door and turned to face the table. He liked to stand during his interrogations, as it gave him more of an air of authority. He paced around the table for a minute, making Michaels even more nervous.

  “You had a prisoner here named Helmut Heydrich. Tell me everything you know or have heard about this man,” Jordon said.

  “I-I-I d-don’t know m-much. H-he…” he paused here and vigorously shook his head, and took a deep breath. He slowly said, “I…tend…to…stutter when I’m nervous.”

  “That’s okay, take your time,” Jordon said. It wasn’t so much patience; he knew if he intimidated this guy any more, it would take him all damn day to get a sentence out.

  Michaels took another deep breath. “He killed at least one man, from what I’ve heard. Possibly more than one.”

  “Have you heard anything else about this man? Anything at all?” Jordon asked. Meanwhile Kiev was reading his thoughts and putting suggestions in his mind.

  “That’s all I know, is he wanted for something else?” Michaels asked.

  “That’s classified, but something like that,” Jordon replied. He looked at Kiev and asked mentally if Michaels was telling the truth. Kiev indicated he was and he could be let go.

  “Thank you, Michaels, would you please send one of your co-workers in?”

  “Y-yes sir!” Michaels practically ran out of the room.

  After several minutes, there was a knock at the door right before it opened. The man that walked in was tall with broad shoulders. He could have played Conan or Hercules. He was very well-built with black hair and black eyes. His voice was deep and smooth. He looked at Jordon, who was much smaller than him. Jordon was not intimidated. This was the same officer that had been doing all the talking in the beginning.

  “What’s your name, officer?” Jordon asked.

  “Jenkins, sir,” said the large man.

  “Have a seat, Jenkins,” Jordon said as he motioned to the chair.

  As Jenkins walked to the chair, he stared at Kiev. He sensed something was odd about him, but he couldn’t place it.

  “Jenkins, do you remember a prisoner you had here named Helmut Heydrich?” Jordon asked.

  “Yeah, he wasn’t here long,” Jenkins responded.

  “What have you heard about him?” Jordon asked.

  “I heard he killed a few people,” he said.

  Kiev made a motion, and had a grin like the cat the caught the canary. Jordon knew what that meant. “Is that all?” Jordon asked.

  “Yeah, that’s what he was booked for,” Jenkins said.

  “I didn’t ask you what he was booked for! I asked you what you heard! I will ask you one more time, what have you heard about Helmut Heydrich?” Jordon was just starting to get serious.

  However, it wasn’t Jordon that Jenkins was looking at. Though he hadn’t said a word, Jenkins was looking at Kiev. Kiev, of course, was as confident as ever, almost arrogant with his feet crossed on the table, leaning back in the chair. He was still smiling like the Cheshire Cat. Jordon tried to bring Jenkins’ attention back to him. He slammed his hand down on the table. “You know we could throw you in prison for withholding evidence,” he said.

  That got his attention. “It was something the sheriff said. I don’t think he was serious,” Jenkins said. His attention was back to Jordon, though he still kept glancing at Kiev.

  “The sheriff said what?!” Jordon asked.

  “He said he told him some story about what happened in the cave. He was obviously trying to get out of a murder sentence. He said there was some guy made out of crystal that killed the other guy and that there was one other. Like I said, he was either trying to pin it on someone else or he was going for an insanity plea,” Jenkins said.

  “That’s it? Have you heard anything else about Heydrich?” He asked this mostly to cover their tracks. If it was obvious that they were interested in the story Heydrich told, it would give it more credibility, which would defeat their purpose.

  “No, other than he was a loner. He lived in that house alone and seemed to be into hunting. He was an odd duck. That’s all I know.” Jenkins attention went back to Kiev, who hadn’t removed his eyes from Jenkins since he walked in. He had to concentrate on him to read his mind and plant suggestions.

  A glance at Kiev told him Jenkins was telling the truth and fully believed the story was made up. “Okay, you’re free to go, please tell one of you co-workers to come in. Thank you for your co-operation,” Jordon said.

  Jenkins took a long stare at Kiev before getting up from the chair, glancing at Jordon, and walking out the door. “Sometimes I think it would be better to use a two-way mirror, so they can’t see you,” Jordon said.

  “No, they would sense me still and be even more freaked out, as you say,” Kiev replied.

  Then the knock came on the door, and opened to reveal a lanky man of average height and blonde hair. He nodded to Kiev and Jordon, looking them both in the eye.

  “And you are?” Jordon asked.

  “I’m Officer Nick Talbert,” he said it with a heavy New England accent, so “officer” sounded more like “ahffisah.”

  “Officer, please have a seat,” Jordon motioned to the chair. Officer Talbert, like Officer Jenkins, fixated on Kiev. Jordon made an audible sigh, realizing he would have to struggle to keep this one’s attention on him and away from Kiev. Kiev realized that these men had alien blood in them and were better able to sense that he wasn’t human. They also realized that Kiev was picking their brains.

  Once Talbert was seated and situated, Jordon began. He slammed his hands on the table right in front of Talbert, and spoke loudly and firmly. “Officer Talbert, tell us everything you’ve heard or know about a prisoner named H
elmut Heydrich.”

  “He was a prisoner in cell one. He was in on suspicion of murder in some underground cave…” There was a long pause as if Talbert was stuck.

  “Yes, and?” Jordon asked.

  “Um…he, he, he gave the sheriff some cock and bull story about a crystal wizard or something. He was clearly trying to get out of a murder charge,” Talbert said almost robotically.

  “Okay, is there anything else?” Jordon asked.

  “No, he is a liar and a murderer. That is all I know,” Talbert responded.

  Jordon looked at Kiev, who had a huge grin. Kiev looked up at Jordon and winked. “Right, okay Officer Talbert. Thank you for your help, you may get back to work.”

  The last officer was Officer Kate Jones. Her accent was as thick as Talbert’s. She was short and slender with shoulder length dark hair. She gave Kiev a good hard look, then looked at Jordon and back to Kiev. She sat down without being asked.

  Jordon thought that was a good sign, until he looked at Kiev. His usual confident grin had been replaced by an “oh shit” kind of look. This one would not be persuaded so easily. She was strong, and Kiev was unable to convince her that everything was fine. Jordon knew that it would be up to him to try and convince her, but if he was unable, the next level of officers would be called in to take care of her.

  “Officer Jones, tell me what you have heard of Helmut Heydrich,” Jordon said.

  “I know the same thing everyone else has told you. I never took his stories seriously, but if you’re here there must be something to them,” she said defiantly.

  Shit, Jordon thought. He could see Kiev concentrating harder than he had ever seen him concentrate before. She was going to be a problem. Jordon thought that was a pity, because she was cute. “The reason we are here is classified, it has nothing to do with his stories,” he said convincingly.

  “Right. It’s known that the NSA investigate weird shit. I’ve never heard of a man made of crystal before, but if it exists, I’m sure you’d be trying to shut it up.” At this point, Jones was almost angry.

  “You seem to have some animosity towards us, why is that?” Jordon thought she might have had previous experience with IVAs they didn’t know about.

  “Dr. Lise Mendel was a friend of mine. She disappeared and then you guys showed up. I don’t know if you killed her to keep her research quiet or if you took her away. Whatever happened to her, you guys kept it quiet!” Officer Jones was having none of this.

  “Officer Jones, the IVA is somewhat similar to police work. If we are not on a case, then we don’t know about it. Dr. Mendel was not my case; therefore, I have no knowledge of it.” At this point, Jordon was treating her like a suicidal lunatic on a ledge about to jump.

  “Fine, but I don’t know any more about Heydrich than the others,” she said sadly.

  “Okay, thank you for your time.” Jordon and Kiev left Officer Jones alone in the room and headed straight for the car. It disappeared immediately and they were back in the garage.

  “Kiev, you were changing their minds when they got all robotic, right?” Jordon asked.

  “Yes, things went well with the men. You will have to go to the General and tell her about Kate Jones,” Kiev said.

  “Yes, I will do that as soon as you tell me about Dr. Lise Mendel,” Jordon replied.

  “It wasn’t my case either,” Kiev said.

  Jordon just looked at him, since he knew Kiev could know about whatever case he wanted to know about.

  Kiev gave a loud sigh, “Fine, though I’m not sure what good it will do.”

  “At the very least, it’s more information that I can pass on to the General,” Jordon said.

  Kiev nodded, “Dr. Lise Mendel was your stereotypical mad scientist. She conducted experiments in a home-built lab. She was funded by the Miskatonic University. She was working on dark matter and dark energy theories.”

  “Okay, what happened to her?” Jordon asked.

  “She got too close to the truth. She tapped into something and started to realize that the dark matter and dark energy were tied to the Ancient Ones. Dr. Mendel began to lose her mind with the realization. Then she started to see reality. Of course, everyone thought she had lost her mind, but you know the risk of even one person being able to clearly see reality. She had to be taken care of,” Kiev said.

  “Killed. She was killed to preserve the matrix,” Jordon said.

  “Yes, that’s our job,” Kiev said.

  “Indeed. Thanks for telling me, I’ll let the General know all of this,” Jordon said.

  Kiev smiled and nodded, then he was gone.

  Jordon made his way to his desk, and called General Samantha Louise Strongbow (in a way she’s a serial killer, so she gets three names, serial killers always have three names). “General, we have a problem,” he said.

  “Alright Cannon, come up and brief me,” she said.

  Jordon hung up the phone and went straight to the elevator. When the elevator doors opened, the Muzak version of “You Can’t Touch This” began. Jordon pushed the button for the 25th floor, where the heads of the human division of the IVA were rooted. On the way up, it hit him that he would have a hand in this woman’s death. She wasn’t the first and he figured she wouldn’t be the last. He felt no guilt. If he didn’t do is job, it would jeopardize all of existence. Even the human IVA agents were limited in the knowledge they were permitted. It was too risky. It was a long ride to the twenty fifth floor. The doors opened and he walked briskly to General Strongbow’s office. He knocked twice and then entered. It was a large office with a lot of windows. He closed the door behind him and walked up to her desk.

  Samantha Strongbow was a tall woman with dark hair and eyes. She was quite beautiful. She wore her uniform, a dark blue skirt, white shirt with a tie, and a dark blue jacket with a bunch of ribbons and adornment. “Hey Jordon, how are you doing?” she asked informally.

  “Hey Sam, not bad. How are you?” he asked in return.

  “I have a feeling my day is looking up. What do you have for me?” she asked.

  “Indeed, Kiev and I just came back from a case in Massachusetts. There were some police officers that arrested a man that claimed to have found a cave underground that contained a man made from crystal. The man had some ties to the Ancient Ones. Some of the officers seemed to believe the story. Kiev was able to convince the others that there was nothing to the story, all but one. Officer Kate Jones was a friend of a scientist named Dr. Lise Mendel. Dr. Mendel, according to Kiev, managed through her lab experiments to start seeing reality…”

  “Yes, I remember her. I thought she was bat-shit crazy. I can’t even imagine what ‘reality’ is going to look like based on the sight of that woman. I’ve seen others like her as well,” she said.

  “I haven’t given it much thought. I think it best that I don’t. However, Officer Jones was upset about Dr. Mendel’s disappearance. In some way, I think she holds us responsible. When she saw us, in her mind it confirmed his stories,” Jordon concluded.

  “Clever woman, that isn’t good for her. You’re right about not thinking about reality, it’s dangerous. Let’s focus on the task at hand. We have a new recruit, and it’s been awhile since I’ve gone out on assignment. I think I’ll see what the new guy is made of,” she said.

  Jordon smiled, he kind of wished he could go, too. “Enjoy your kill. I hope the new guy works out.”

  “Thanks, Jordon. You have yourself a good weekend,” she said.

  “I will, you do the same,” Jordon replied.

  Sam looked out the window long and hard. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could do this job. There was an asylum that was also run by those working for the Ancient Ones, and she was thinking of transferring there. Instead of killing those who had seen things, they drugged them and made them think they were insane. She could do security there. This could be her last assignment. She wouldn’t decide now; she would do her job, and think it over. She went to her desk and called the new recruit.


  “We have a job, get yourself ready while I talk to the higher ups about the mission,” Sam said.

  “You’re going yourself?” he asked.

  “Have you got a problem with that?” she asked.

  “No, ma’am, not at all. I’ve just never worked in the field with a high-ranking general,” he said.

  “I don’t like to get soft,” she said. “Be ready.” She hung up. Sam took a deep breath to steel her nerves. Talking with the big wigs kind of creeped her out. They weren’t human, they were something much older, but not alien either. They were Gods, though Sam didn’t quite get the full meaning of that. She was quite certain that the human idea of “gods” was a bit off or at least incomplete.

  The sound of her black patent leather heels echoed off the floor. While Sam wore heels, they were nowhere near the six-inch stilts that Bertha wore. Sam walked to a closed door on the right of the hallway. She had to unlock the door with a key, and then lock the door behind her. Normally, when a subordinate wanted to meet with a superior, they were required to call first. However, these guys already knew she was coming the instant she decided she needed to speak with them.

  Sam had another key. She opened another door and locked it behind her. It looked like an ordinary empty closet. As soon as the door was locked, Sam closed her eyes. She knew the blinding light was coming, and it did. Then she was on the ship, or Vimana, as they were called in ancient times. They brought her right to the room she needed to go. She was brought straight to Atum.

  Atum looked human. He was tall and muscular. He had long black hair and blue eyes. He didn’t really have to speak, but he chose to speak to Sam, because he knew it helped put her at ease. “Good afternoon, Samantha. Please have a seat.”

  Sam nodded and took the seat opposite of Atum. “I’d brief you, but you already know what I’m going to say, so I won’t waste my breath.”

  “Indeed,” he said. He sat back smiling. “I could show you in your head, but I know how you hate that, so I’ll just tell you.”

  “I’d appreciate that, I have to admit that it does creep me out when you go putting things into my head,” she said.