Chapter 1

Ralph Hinkley, a superhero, landed on the Hero League prison island dock. He was scanned and verified to be Ralph Hinkley. Once verified, all the guards were friendly and happy to meet the First. He had come to interview the past large green guy third in command, Joseph Barlow.

Joseph Barlow accompanied the supreme commander from their planet in a small stealth spacecraft with twenty other large green guys. The third in command helped set up all the Green Corporation businesses worldwide. The alien didn't want to be transported to the little green guy prison planet. Rumors said it was a hell hole, and those sent would be lucky to survive. Barlow would prefer to remain on the prison island and negotiate with the Hero League information in exchange for asylum on the islet.

Word got around on the island of how Ralph Hinkley closed another major alien project. Joseph would only talk to the First, the only human who seemed to know what to do.

Barlow had a cold, a Green Guy cold. Only green guys got this virus that originated from their home world. It didn't affect humans at all. Ralph Hinkley entered the interview room and sat down. The lizard-like alien came through the door on the opposite side of the room and sat at the table. With cuffed hands, he sat down and sneezed directly at the First. Ralph felt the spittle droplets pepper his face.

Disgusted, he said, "Thank you for that greeting," as he wiped the drool off.

Joseph replied matter-of-factly, "Oh! Don't worry about it; humans can't contract this bug."

"I understand you are willing to provide intelligence in exchange for not being transported for incarceration on the hell planet."

"That's correct."

"What sort of intelligence are you negotiating with?"

"Anything you want to know."

"Well, that is incredibly generous of you, but how could I be certain you are telling the truth?"

"It would depend on the data I give you; some info can be easily verified, some can be proven with some digging, and some you will have to take my word for it. I didn't know everything the supreme commander was privy to and did because he kept us all compartmentalized. We were only told what was required to complete the assigned job."

"Why do you only want to talk to me?" Ralph inquired,

"You seem to be the one Hero everyone listens to. It will likely be accepted and complied with if you recommend actions to the League."

"This is an interesting proposal, but I must receive approval from the Hero League Executive Committee. Perhaps you can give me some initial information to entice the committee to approve this proposal."

"What would you like to know?"

"I have a personal investigative project about the deaths of the last few single Heroes. They died under suspicious circumstances before we knew about you guys. Do you have information about any of these deaths?"

"I know a little; the single Heroes were more of a nuisance than a real threat. Occasionally, they would get close to discovering us, and we would have to remove them." Barlow made this statement as if it meant nothing.

"I want specific data about George Sommers, Connor Chalmers, Carla Ortega, and Emily Perkins, Eric Thornton's partner."

"I remember George Sommers because I oversaw the Akhdar Petroleum plastics processing program. The Hero asked too many questions and got too close to discovering us. I authorized his removal. A truck impacted his car when he wasn't wearing the suit." His voice indicated no remorse.

"I don't remember your name on any of the Akhdar documents I have reviewed."

"And you wouldn't because I was going by Joseph Bingham back then," Ralph remembered that name from some of the reviewed articles and nodded.

The alien continued, "Connor Chalmers had gotten to be a real pain in the ass. Everywhere we turned, he popped up. We could never determine how he figured everything out. Kind of like you over this last year."

Ralph thought, 'He must have also had strong psychic abilities.'

"So, he had to go. The second in command authorized a special project to attract and eliminate his attention. They sent him a message to meet in the desert for a negotiation. A sniper located a mile away shot Chalmers in the head because that was the only way to exterminate him. Judy Madison, his partner, was overwrought by this and soon quit the police force. So, we got two birds with one stone or bullet."

Ralph said, "The same thing happened to me as a young superhero in the 80s. The bullet only grazed my head and did not pierce my skull. I survived thanks to help from some friends." (ref. GAH: Wild Thing story)

"That was where we got the idea to try it again. This time, it worked."

Surprised, Ralph asked, "You know about my being shot in the head?"

"Sure, the group that set it up worked for us. But you and your partner didn't know that back then."

"Okay, what about Carla Ortega?"

"She did die by accident in a freak airplane crash. We threw a party when we found out about it."

"And Emily Perkins?"

"She was discovered when she tripped one of the motion sensors at the Supreme Commander's facility. We followed her back to the Space Force Command base and shot her in the head. Eric Thornton was so distressed we didn't hear or see anything from him for months until right before the attack on the little green guy's ship. This made the Supreme Commander extremely happy."

Ralph said, "Thank you for giving me this information. I will present your proposal to the Executive Committee. Once they decide, you will be informed of acceptance or rejection." Ralph called the guards, and they took Joseph away.

Ralph returned to the Hero League and reported everything during the interview. Suit presented the recording of the talk.

Eric asked, "Do you trust him?"

"Not as far as I can throw him. But everything he told me, I can verify from my investigations or other sources, and it seems correct. We should start using this asset but always try to back up any information he gives with further investigation. If we find he is giving us bogus info, we have him shipped off to hell planet and let him know this upfront. He must work with us if he expects to have special privileges. We will have to pull him out of the prison population and place him in a private area for his safety and to assure he isn't passing anything back to other inmates."

The Executive Committee agreed with Ralph's recommendations, and Eric visited the prison island to seal the deal. Interviews were scheduled and would be performed by a Hero interrogator.