Chapter 9
Just a few weeks after the unwelcome visitors to Anaheim had been chased out, an investigator from the Off-World Agency appeared in Captain Klegghorn's office, much to his annoyance.
"I've received information about strange events occurring in your city," the investigator said as he flashed his ID.
"Mr. Mulligan, you're about two weeks too late. We already had problems with outsiders in Anaheim, but they're long gone."
"Yes, I am aware of the incidents that occurred between the first and second of May."
"So what are you doin' in my office?!" Klegghorn demanded.
"We have concerns that your city may be in danger from …unknown forces."
Klegghorn did not appear convinced.
"Is this about the lizards?"
Mulligan sighed.
"No, captain, this is not about the Saurians or any other villains. Although, there is some question as to whether the Saurians did not cross a line during the timeframe I mentioned earlier."
"You can have the pleasure of talking about that with them," Klegghorn said, pointing a pen at the investigator. "Reprimanding alien overlords is not in my job description."
Mulligan did not appear pleased.
"The reason I'm here is to ask if you know of any other outsiders residing in Anaheim at this time … or any other time in recent weeks."
"No, of course there's no one else here," Klegghorn scoffed. "Someone would have seen them if there were."
"You have no reason to believe there might be at least one in hiding?"
Klegghorn tapped his pen impatiently on his desk.
"And why would an outsider be doing that?"
"Some outsiders are dangerous. Not all of them have been cleared by our office. The ones that are more of a threat tend to keep a low profile lest they be identified. My information leads me to wonder if there is one here."
"What information?"
"That's classified."
Klegghorn scowled at the investigator.
"First, you disrupt my day by waltzing into this office, and then, you refuse to share information about the safety of my city. Stop wasting my time and find the door, pal."
Klegghorn appeared in no mood for further discussion, and Mr. Mulligan picked up his briefcase and walked out.
Klegghorn waited until the man walked out of police headquarters to pick up his phone.
"Wildwing, we got another guest in town."
Wildwing turned off his com a few minutes later, and he hurried to find Grace and the other ducks.
"There's someone from the Off-World Agency poking around town," he announced when he found Grace and three of the other ducks.
Grace stood up with a concerned look.
"Dude, why would they send someone?" Nosedive asked.
"Maybe someone saw Grace and reported her," Tanya said nervously. "Or Dragaunus changed his mind."
"More likely Chase went to the Off-World Agency," Grace said coldly. "He has friends there, and having suspected there was someone here to challenge them, he's released the hounds."
"If they don't have proof that you're here, there's nothing they can do," Wildwing said, thinking out loud. "But we have to make sure you stay hidden."
"If they come here, we don't have to let them into the Pond," Tanya said. "We can send them away."
"That might stir up more suspicion. It would be better to let this investigator in, and for him to find nothing."
"I can hide well enough that they won't find me," Grace said.
Wildwing looked down at his com beeped.
"That's probably the investigator now. Grace, hide yourself, and the rest of you, go and warn the others."
Wildwing made his way to the main level of the Pond where he found Phil talking to the investigator. Listening to Phil chatter on to the agent made Wildwing thankful he had resolved to keep Grace's presence a secret from the overly talkative manager.
"And here's our goalie and team leader!" Phil said cheerily as he saw Wildwing approach. "Mr. Mulligan says he's here from the Off-World Agency."
"Really?" Wildwing asked, feigning surprise. "What can we do for you, Mr. Mulligan?"
The thin man in a gray suit held a notepad and pen in his hands. He tipped his hat to Wildwing.
"Mr. Flashblade, I was hoping to request a meeting in your headquarters. Perhaps I could speak to you and your teammates?"
"About what?" Wildwing prompted.
"It is something I would rather discuss below. Do you mind?"
Wildwing shrugged.
"We don't usually allow guests into our headquarters, but I suppose we could make an exception."
He started to lead the way to their locker room and the elevator entrance, but Phil called out,
"Don't forget about the public appearance at the mall tomorrow, boobie!"
Wildwing sighed and waved off Phil's reminder.
"He's relentless sometimes," Wildwing said to Mulligan, but the investigator walked on silently. "I have to admit that it is strange for us to have someone from the Agency here. I thought your offices just dealt with outsiders."
"We take a special interest in the safety of our world. As you and your team are a force dedicated to the protection of this city and upholders of justice, I trust that you will understand why we would want your cooperation."
Wildwing activated the elevator.
"Cooperation with what?"
"I'll wait until your teammates are gathered to speak," Mulligan said, tucking his notepad and pen away.
Once the elevator stopped and opened on one of the lower levels, Wildwing let Mulligan step out first and then followed him.
"Could you ask your teammates to join us?" the man asked.
Wildwing activated his com and asked the others to join them in the Ready Room. It took a few minutes for the other ducks to arrive, but finally they were all gathered together.
"This is Mr. Mulligan from the Off-World Agency. And I guess he has some questions for us," Wildwing told them.
"Is there anyone else here in the Pond?" Mulligan asked, looking first to Wildwing and then to the other ducks.
"Why would there be anyone else here?" Tanya asked. "This is our headquarters."
Mulligan drew out a device from his pocket and turned it on. It began beeping steadily, and there was a needle moving back and forth over a scale.
"This device will tell me if the person I am looking for has been here or is here now," he said. "If you want to spare yourselves some trouble, you should go ahead and tell me the truth."
Some of the ducks cast worried glances at Wildwing, but their leader just stood by calmly and watched their visitor. The needle on the device started to move over towards the red numbers on the scale, but suddenly it began sweeping back to the yellow and green numbers. It beeped erratically and then the beeping became one long annoying tone until it faded away. The needle was flung over to the green numbers on the low end of the scale, and it vibrated there.
Mulligan raised the device and tapped it with one finger. He seemed frustrated with the reading.
"Aside from calling us liars, what is it you're trying to do?" Wildwing asked with a confused tone. "It's time you explained why you stepped into our headquarters and demanded a meeting."
"Mr. Flashblade, if you are hiding an unregistered outsider, you are obligated to report such an alien at once. To refuse to comply would be committing a capital offense. You do understand this?"
Duke laughed.
"Understand a ridiculous charge like that? You think there's an outsider, here?"
Mulligan did not appear amused.
"Why on earth would there be an outsider here?" Wildwing asked.
"Several weeks ago, you came to OtherEarth, Inc. seeking assistance from one of our registered humans, did you not?"
"I did," Wildwing said. "And I left without receiving any help. Did they tell you that?"
Mulligan looked at his notebook.
"It says here that you came on a complaint about your friends' health. If you left alone, why do your teammates appear so healthy now?"
"Because we got better, duh," Nosedive scoffed. "A little vitamin C, plenty of naps, you know man, you just gotta drink a lot of fluids."
"I am supposed to believe they all recovered on their own?" Mulligan said, accusingly as he turned to Wildwing.
"I'm not sure what to tell you to believe," Wildwing said coldly. "Do you know what was causing them to be sick in the first place? Can you explain their illness to me? None of the doctors I asked could do that."
Mulligan grew quiet, and Wildwing knew he didn't have any answers.
"Then I can't explain how they recovered. But they did, thankfully …without the help of any of your outsiders who charge an arm and a leg for their services."
The investigator looked around at the other ducks who watched him with cold and doubtful expressions.
"You do understand that if there were any unregistered outsiders in Anaheim, even just one of them could cause terrible damage and the deaths of several innocent civilians?"
"Who are these unregistered outsiders you keep asking us about?" Duke asked. "We only know of the ones in offices in OtherEarth, Inc."
"Yes, some of them came to visit Anaheim a few weeks ago," Mulligan said. "I understand they received a very cold reception from you."
"Is that what this is about?" Wildwing said with a sigh. "Yes, they came to Anaheim, trying to sell us their services again. They seemed to think we needed their help even after they saw that my teammates were healthy and strong again. We might have been less than friendly."
"It's hard to be welcoming when you feel you're being cheated," Mallory said with a forced smile.
"I was told the Saurians attacked them, and you didn't try to stop them. That's quite unusual for you, isn't it? The Saurians are your enemies after all."
"Yeah, well, Dragaunus doesn't like being cheated either," Nosedive said.
"They had a defender with them. They didn't need our help," Wildwing said bluntly.
Mulligan stood in silence for a few moments before he said,
"I need to conduct a tour of your headquarters as part of my investigation."
"Fine," Wildwing sighed. "I still don't understand what you think you'll find."
Mulligan told the rest of the ducks to remain in the main room as he and Wildwing toured the Pond. As the investigator walked through each hall and entered every room, he carried his device with him. It whined occasionally, but the needle always remained within the range of green numbers. Wildwing felt impatient for the search to be over, but lest they give Mulligan any reasons to be suspicious, he showed the investigator every single part of the Pond. Grace never appeared during any of it.
When at last Wildwing returned with Mulligan to the Ready Room, the other ducks were standing around waiting for them.
"So did you find anyone?" Tanya asked sarcastically.
Mulligan tucked his device away.
"Your headquarters appears devoid of suspects, but I have one more thing to show you before I go."
He drew out an envelope containing pictures and handed them out to the ducks. The pictures were all different, and yet, they all displayed images of destruction to buildings and homes.
"Those were all caused by unregistered outsiders. They're dangerous. It's my job to make sure they don't run loose to destroy cities and lives. If you ever come across an outsider who can't prove registration or seems to possess unusual powers, it's your duty to report that alien to our Agency at once. Or something like this will be your fault."
Wildwing considered the picture in his hand and then gave it back to Mulligan.
"Protecting Anaheim is our responsibility. We'll do what we have to keep it safe."
Mulligan accepted the pictures back from them.
"I hope that's true." He put the pictures away, but then he turned to them with one last request. "Do you have a way for me to get in touch with the Saurians while I'm here?"
"Do you have a death wish?" Mallory asked.
"It's merely my job to question everyone," Mulligan said, though he did not appear to be looking forward the prospect.
"There's plenty of other people in Anaheim to talk to," Duke offered.
"We can't contact the Saurians for you," Wildwing said. "Every time we find the Raptor, they move it and hide it again. But even if you could get in touch with them, I wouldn't go asking for a tour of their ship. Dragaunus would likely just let his henchmen drag you to a cell."
Mulligan considered that and then cleared his throat as he nodded.
"Well, I suppose my business is finished here then."
Wildwing led him back to the elevator.
"I'll show you out."
The other ducks breathed with relief when he was finally gone. Duke decided to go off and look for Grace, but she appeared before he left the room.
"Where'd you go to hide?" he asked.
Grace raised her hand and suddenly it became invisible.
"I was here most of the time."
"Cool trick!" Nosedive said. "I wasn't sure if we were ever going to get rid of that guy."
"Did you cause his device to have a different reading?" Tanya asked.
Grace nodded.
"It wasn't that different from manipulating other objects, but it was starting to give me a headache controlling it for so long."
When Wildwing returned, he nodded to Grace, assuring her that their guest was gone, and she smiled in return.
"Have you ever known any others with powers like yours?" he asked after a thoughtful silence.
Grace sat down on a couch. Having overheard what Mulligan had told them about the pictures, she understood where the question was coming from.
"I have known some of them. It's not an easy thing for me to talk about though. But I think I can explain those pictures you saw."
