Hero's Call

Chapter Eleven

He materialized outside the double glass doors of the station which gave an exiting officer an awful fright. They said nothing to each other as the officer stepped out of the building and allowed Seven to enter behind him. The officer did his best not to stare at the water-like blue skin of the alien that had just scared the bajesus out of him, but he found it quite difficult. Seven barely noticed the man leering at him. The dumbfounded nature of humans had been an easy thing to get used to. They marveled at nearly everything.

Buckland was a small town and, as such, had a small police force. All in all, there were nine officers, one dispatcher, and a file clerk that worked for the city of Buckland's law enforcement agency. The station was always quiet so early in the morning; the only sounds in the room were rustling paper and a running coffee machine. Seven took a seat on the bench as was his custom and simply waited. A few of the officers shot him sideways glances from time to time, not sure whether they could trust his presence or not. Apparently spending several days in their presence was not enough to convince them that he meant them no harm.

Sgt. Buck Strickland sauntered into the station at four minutes past eight. He was clad in his official police uniform, but a cowboy hat sat crookedly on his head. A tuft of salt and pepper hair peeked out from below the hat's brim. Sgt. Strickland was getting older, but he still had a few years to go before retirement. He was a relatively fit man who liked old western movies and fried Twinkies with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. He wore a perpetual five o'clock shadow and spoke in a harsh vaguely southern drawl. His life had been relatively easy until the Macledowny kid had been sent through a wall and the blue guy – as Strickland had referred to him – showed up claiming it was an accident but not providing any proof of such. Buck Strickland had been fascinated by the An'Fari peoples as a child, but now that he was dealing with one, he found them to be rather pushy and a little on the elitist side.

Seven stood when he entered and Sgt. Strickland rolled his eyes when he saw the extra-terrestrial.

"Didn't think I'd have to deal with you this morning," he grumbled and made a bee line for his office.

"Why is that, sergeant?" Seven asked genuine curiosity in his voice.

Strickland shrugged. "I figured after...how many days has it been?"

"Five now, sergeant," answered Seven.

"After what will soon be five days," the gruff officer continued, "of getting no information from me, you'd just give up."

The two moved through the station towards Sgt. Strickland's office. Seven followed as if he were more than welcome to wander about a police station like he owned the place. "I am on strict orders from The Council, sergeant," he said to Strickland's back. "You know I cannot –"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the sergeant said, cutting him off. "I know you got a job to do, son. But I told you already, as soon as we know something, you'll know something. Go enjoy Earth while you wait. There's a pretty nice amusement park a few towns over. Ever been on a roller coaster?"

Seven ignored the question. Amusement was irrelevant when he had a job to do. "You still have the communicator I left with you, correct sergeant?"

Strickland stepped into his office and grabbed a small metal disk off the top of his desk. He held it up so Seven could see that it was still firmly within his possession. "I got it. If I know something, I'll give you a ring."

Seven nodded patiently. The communication disk he'd left with the captain did not have the capabilities to ring. Humans had a tendency to overuse slang and jargon and it made him have to use a fair bit of inferencing. He turned and left the sergeant to his work without another word. Somehow he doubted anyone in the Buckland Police force was taking the issue seriously. He moved back through the station and out the double glass doors in the front of the building. Without taking more than a single step out of the door, Seven teleported himself over to the Buckland General Hospital.