The Crop Circle Syndrome

Part Four: Ransom & Motives/Agent T

The head of the MIB was in his office shuffling through a large stack of folders that a paper pusher had just deposited on his desk. The door suddenly flew open and a disheveled Agent Di stumbled in.

He cocked an eyebrow at the panting agent, this was going to be bad news.

"Agent Chase…kidnapped…crop circles…REAL!" was all she managed to spit out before collapsing.

Sighing he got up from his desk and helped the agent up. Once she was seated and her breathing less rapid he started asking her questions.

"Now calmly tell me exactly what happened out there."

Wiping her brow Di took a deep breath and began explaining, "Agent Chase and I went out to that farm and questioned the family about those crop circles. The aliens are apparently using a fake storm cloud to cloak their ship. They were hanging right over the field. Chase and I went out there to contact you but something jammed the communicator."

The chief listened intently, this was bad. Alien menaces hovering over crops only meant one thing…they were after the soil. On distant planets the land became so over farmed that the nutrients in the soil had no time to replenish themselves. Soon the land became barren and no crops would grow. In an effort to restore the nutrients to their poor soil aliens often sent scouts out to other planets to obtain vast amounts of their soil and return it to their home world to replenish their soil. This often resulted in mass agricultural destruction for the unlucky planet the aliens ravaged.

"Agent Chase was hit with a tranquilizer that some weird scaly alien fired at us. It was a total surprise attack. Chase went down and then the creep with the gun came after me. I tried to stop him Sir, but-" Di went on explaining.

"That's alright Agent," her boss patted her shoulder, "there's no shame in a tactical retreat."

"But now Chase is in the clutches or that---that---Gent guy!" Di exclaimed.

"Gent?"

Just then another paper pusher came rushing into the office. "Sir! There's an alien on screen that says he's got a very important message for you. And Sir…he claims he has one of our agents."

The chief's face took on a stern and unyielding look as he nodded and went down to the main floor with Di trailing along behind.

The main screen revealed the sneering face of an alien identified as Gent. "Ah, the head man himself."

"Cut the wise cracks Gent, what do you want?" the chief demanded.

"I think it's what YOU want." Gent chuckled and held up Agent Chase by his collar.

"CHASE!" Di shouted.

The poor alien had his human mask removed and looked the worst for the wear. He was still groggy from the sedative but held his eyes open before the startled agents.

"Let him go Gent," the chief ordered, "you'll gain nothing by holding him hostage."

"Oh I think I might," Gent grinned deviously, "and if you ever wanna see Green Boy alive again, I suggest you pay up."

"No chance." the chief stated firmly.

Di looked terrified as Chase's eyelids slid down. He was out again.

"Maybe I haven't made myself clear." Gent kneed Chase in the stomach and a muffled groan escaped the captive alien's gagged mouth. "Either you pay me 2 million Earth bucks, American money, by sundown, or I use Green Boy here as my personal punching bag!"

The screen went black as Gent finished his threat and the agents were left standing there with Gent's last words ringing in their ears.

"What now?" Di asked softly. She HATED Gent and would make it her personal mission to pay him back and teach him that NO ONE messed with HER partner.

The head of the MIB looked to one of the agents, "Were we able to get a fix on Gent's location?"

"Yes Sir," the agent, Agent W, nodded. "He's working out of an old rundown factory downtown."

"Figures," the chief muttered, "I'm gonna send some agents down there ASAP to get Chase back. Then we'll take care of those crop circles."

"Uh Sir," Di spoke up, "I'd like to volunteer to rescue Chase. He is my partner after all."

"That's very noble of you Agent Di but I'm afraid that I can't just send you out there alone."

"I'll go with her Sir." a new agent stepped forward.

The new agent had long hair streaked with several shades of blonde. She looked every bit the part of an action loving, crime solving, stylish MIB agent.

The chief nodded and turned to Di. Gesturing to the new agent he introduced them, "Agent Di, this is one of our newest recruits, Agent T."

"Charmed," Di shook hands with the new agent. She had a surprisingly firm grip.

"I look forward to working with you Agent Di." Agent T smiled.

"Take care you two." the chief cautioned, "I don't want anymore agents getting abducted."

"No problem Sir," Di saluted.

"We'll exercise extreme caution," Agent T assured him, "And kick some alien butt." she added beneath her breath.

Agent Di flashed a smile, she could tell she was gonna like this partner. "Careful," she laughed, "I might get used to having a competent partner."

"I'm sure Agent Chase will be thrilled to know you feel that way," T chuckled.

"Alright Agents," the chief spoke up, "get out there and teach that piece of alien slime why the MIB is the best law enforcement organization in the galaxy!"

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*Getting exciting? I hope so, G. I'm looking forward to writing more of this. Hope everyone's enjoying the story. Reviews are appreciated! No flames please.*