Page 10 of Tooth and Nail

“Carmine’s an alien from M-3918. It’s a very distant star system. The authorities there have been notified that we have him and the ship he crashed here on Earth, but it will take them about four more years to arrive. He’s been here for two already,” he said.

“Whoa. I had no idea. Does he speak to you…ah…us?”

Eoghan shook his head. “They communicate in either a very primitive language or an advanced one, depending on who you ask. In any case, we communicate using symbols developed by the Agency—the organization the chief told you about. Anyway, we’re here to house him until they get here to collect him.”

“He’s dangerous, I guess?”

“We’re not sure. He’s the first one of his kind that we’ve met but we’re not taking any chances,” Eoghan replied. “From what we understand, the negotiations with his kind didn’t start off so well and it might get dicey when they come to collect him. Until then, it’s Interspecies Response’s job to house him.”

“What does he—does he eat or—”

“Or shit?” Eoghan asked with a laugh. He turned and looked at Charlie.

“Neither as far as I know,” Charlie replied. “I’ve been down here ever since we’ve had him, and I was told he doesn’t need anything. I’m supposed to simply check on him twice a day and keep him locked up. As for the vamp, his is a different story.” He moved away from Carmine’s cell and walked over to the sleeping vampire’s quarters. They stopped in front of it. Several crates were inside the cell. From their vantage point, Eoghan could see that they contained empty bottles of synthetic blood.

“He drank all those?” Eoghan asked. “I knew he was emaciated when I took him down, but I had no idea he was starving.”

“The doc estimates he’s lost about a third of his total body weight,” Charlie said.

“That explains why he was so slow and easy to catch,” Eoghan said.

“You caught him on your own?”

“Yeah, I did,” Eoghan muttered, not wanting to share the story with anyone. Looking back on it now, Chief Deputy Priest had been right in berating him. It’d been stupid as hell going down into the metro tunnel without anyone at his side. He glanced at the sleeping vamp. He looked peaceful and possibly at rest for the first time in a while. “I don’t want to wake him. They sleep during the day and the truth is, this one looks like he really needs the peace and quiet.” He glanced over at Charlie. “He hasn’t been interrogated yet, right, Charlie?”

“You interrogate fugitives?” Ari asked.

“Only to find out how they were able to evade the authorities. I guess interrogation is the wrong word. We talk to them. We’re always looking for weakness in our borders,” Eoghan replied.

“I see.”

“So, has anyone spoken to him, Charlie?”

“Not yet. Priest wanted him fed and rested up, then brought upstairs for a talk before his people come to collect him. There’s gotta be a good reason why he’s so starved with humans all over the place.”

“You’re right. Nothing about that makes any sense. We need to talk to him before we release him.”

A Klaxon suddenly went off, blasting through the building.

“What’s that?” Ari asked, looking serious.

“Unfortunately, something you’re going to become well acquainted with,” Eoghan said, moving quickly to the exit with the others following. “Someone’s either called in a sighting or there’s been an attack. Either way, it’s all hands on deck. Let’s see what you’re made of, Aristotle.”

“Call me Aristotle again, and I’m going to show you, Sapphire.”

Eoghan laughed as he used his key card to exit the lockup, letting it slam shut behind him and Ari, leaving Charlie to secure the jail as he ran down the outer corridor with his new partner close on his heels.

Chapter Three

When they exited the elevator at the main level, Eoghan noticed several marshals had already gathered in the center of the office along with the chief. They were watching the large, rectangular holographic screen imbedded in the wall. It appeared to be a picture of a big, white building with a multitude of geometric, oblong, rectangular cutouts on the exterior. The cutouts themselves gave the optical illusion of going right through the cement they were cut from.

Eoghan had driven by the building a hundred times and always thought the outer concrete veil resembled a skin graft. The way the cement had been cast almost made the building look like someone had taken a slice of skin, run it through a device to cut the holes for the graft, and then laid it over the top of the building. Several police cars were parked in front of the building and the authorities had already cordoned off the entrance with police tape.

“What do we have, Chief?” Eoghan asked the moment they walked over.

She turned to look at him. “It looks like Derwin has taken a room full of museum patrons hostage. Fortunately, a museum goer on the outside was able to snap a picture of the subject before he closed them into a room. The moment the LAPD broadcast the image; we were notified along with every other Federal agency with the hopes for an ID.” She sighed. “Obviously, we can’t disclose Derwin’s true identity but we did let everyone know he’s a fugitive and ours to deal with. TheFBI isn’t happy about it but when we tell them something like that, they generally back off without argument.”

“And everyone else?” Eoghan asked.

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