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"So, Miss Darcy Whatever Your Name Is, let’s review this once more. You came from outer space to tell us earth is going to be clobbered by a flying pile of rocks. Is that about it?"
Colonel Arthur was not a huge man, but he was hugely unhappy. There were two genuinely large men on either side of him, as well as guards at the door. Darcy, sitting alone on her side of the table under a harsh light, felt tiny, like a child called to account before grownups.
"Yes, that's correct, sir," Darcy said softly.
After hours of being interrogated, her determination had been worn thin and it showed.
"And you arrived here from the moon in an ‘escape pod’ of some kind? Is that right?"
"Yes, sir," she whispered, staring blankly at the smooth tabletop.
"And you picked your landing coordinates from the internet, correct?"
"Yes, sir."
He had already asked these questions, several times.
"And let me especially get this part straight: you look like we do because you are a member of a tribe of people who were moved from earth to another planet eons ago by beings unknown, and you have been observing us from the moon for the last sixty years—THE LAST SIXTY YEARS! You expect me to believe that too, right? RIGHT?"
The colonel’s eyes were red and swollen and set close together and little flecks of moisture shot out of his mouth when he shouted.
"It's true, sir."
Her neck ached from the strain of not shivering. Swallowing with effort, she looked across the table at him and spoke more loudly.
“It’s true. You are all in great danger. I can give you the orbital data, and your astronomers can confirm it. I have told you this again and again. Why will you not believe me?”
The colonel sat back a little and exhaled. He continued in a slightly more friendly tone.
"All right, Miss Darcy Space Alien. Let's say I do believe all that for now. Let's say I have lost my flipping mind and I believe you. I have one remaining question. Answer this one correctly and we'll all feel a whole lot more like believing the rest of it.”
He leaned forward again. “Tell me, where is the escape pod?"
"I did tell you, sir. I burned it shortly after landing. It was of no use anymore, and might have attracted attention that would distract from my mission."
"DAMMIT!"
He slammed his palms on the desk. Darcy jumped along with the pencil and recorder on the table.
"All right, Darcy Whoever. Jennings, take her back to the holding cell. Gentlemen, let's consider this."
As the guards shut the door behind her, Darcy heard the colonel say "...have to send her to Washington and...."
