The alien that the team brought back had caused a significant amount of damage; two severely wounded and three dead. It was brought in and thrown in an old Alien Containment cell, where the atmospheric generator had pumped in a perfect mixture of Terran gasses. The alien, it seemed, could adapt to its situation. It was dressed in a torn magenta tunic, black gloves and boots. The team needed as much information as they could get on this vile creature. Thus, they assigned the station's best Xenobiologist to interrogate it...and perhaps conduct an autopsy if it proved uncompliant...
The alien spoke perfect English, as if it had lived on Earth its entire life. From the voice, I could guess that it was male, but perhaps no more sexually evolved than the other species I had learned about. If it spoke English, then it could understand my questions. This would be easier than I had first estimated.
"Eh? Of COURSE I do, filthy EARTH-STINK!" It seemed my little alien had an attitude problem. I sat down in the chair beside the door and switched the console to record mode. Taking out a notepad and a pencil, I began asking it the standard questions.
"Alien, your compliance with my questions will determine the nature of your treatment. Do you have a name?"
The alien must have been self-important, for he literally screamed his name.
"I AM ZIM!" I scratched out the words "Subject A15" and wrote "Zim" beside them.
"Thank you, Zim. Now, we can do this one of two ways. I can keep you locked in the cell, or I can release you and speak with you directly. Since you seem to understand humans somewhat, I will let you choose."
Several seconds passed before Zim spoke again. "Let me out and I'll talk..." He sounded resigned. I almost felt sorry for the alien. I picked up a data disc and reviewed the label printed upon it. The disc was from Dib Selane, the son of the famous inventor Membrane Selane and a member of the Swollen Eyeball Network. The tiny disc held everything Dib had learned about Zim singlehandedly, culled from almost nine years of personal war against this tiny alien invader. Grabbing a stun rod from the table and flicking the power switch on, I placed the disc in a coat pocket and pressed the door unlock button. I stood before the opened door, waiting to see if Zim would submit or if he would strike.
He chose the opportunity to strike. From his back, four metal appendages unfolded and locked in a rectangular shape. The tips began to glow with an unhealthy green light, and I barely ducked the blast of laser energy that the legs projected. I held the stun rod tightly and swept it under Zim's legs, hoping to strike him unconscious. Luck was on my side, for the alien fell to the floor with a grunt. The four metal legs retracted into his back once more, and I shuddered involuntarily. I took the data disc out of my pocket and looked at it. Was I really this unprepared? My thoughts began racing. I needed some time to think.
I took a deep breath and, picking up Zim's prone form, threw the rebellious alien back into his holding cell. I locked the door again and keyed the threat level to red. I leaned against the blue walls of the containment facility and closed my eyes. I knew too little about this creature. I had to know more, and I had to learn it soon. The disc remained in my pocket, the key to solving this mystery. It was now or never. I sat in a chair and, taking the disc in hand, inserted it into the media slot. The computer began to load all the data that our unlikely saviour had gathered.
As I looked at the screens and saw what only Dib Selane had seen in his generation, I became aware...and I grew angry. How had Zim managed to hide under humanity's collective nose for so long? What was so wrong with the locals that they ignored the presence of such an alien scourge for almost a decade? I skimmed the data files and learned more about this alien, this...Irken. I came to learn Zim like Dib had known him. It took several hours to absorb and digest the massive amount of knowledge Dib had collected over the years, but I was ready sooner than I could believe. If what Dib had said about the Irkens and their galactic empire was true, then I had to act fast with Zim. The autopsy would come later, but I needed to get in the Irken's head, to learn how he saw the world. How he saw mankind. What Zim felt and saw would certainly be the key to defeating the Irkens when they came to destroy our world.
I repeated a mantra that many of the Xenobiologists had taken up, the unwritten code that some anonymous thinker had spoken long ago. Simple and direct, the sentence held everything we agents had learned in training and field work.
The devil you know is far less fearsome than the one you don't...