After the television program finished, Ralph called Eric Thornton, the Hero League Director, and told him what he had seen on the televised debate.
He asked, "Has there been an investigation of Senator O'Malley and the possibility of him getting backing from the large green guys?"
"No, we don't have anyone working in that area."
"We should start checking into all the Senators and House Representatives. If the green guys have infiltrated Congress, the whole country could be in jeopardy. I'm willing to go and do some work."
Eric said, "That is a big project; we would need more than one Hero assigned. Let me think about this, and I'll reply later."
"Well, place me on the list for the team. I have a bad feeling about this. And you know me and my bad feelings." Ralph was anxious to start working on the project.
"Yeah, I know. Okay, I'll get back to you."
His wife had been listening to Ralph's conversation over the phone. "Is he going to assemble a group to look into this?"
"He said he has to think about it, but I think he will put some people on the project. Once I observed that aide shimmer, my spidey sense went wild." He and Pam had attended the most recent Spiderman movie, and while watching it, he had thought, 'Spidey sense is kind of what happens with me.'
Wanting to understand more, he went to his home office and requested information on Senator Ted O'Malley through the Hero IT search program. While waiting for the report, he played with Alphy. Alphy's little fingers grabbed Ralph's clawed fingertip and put it in his mouth to chew on the hard claw, leaving drool running down Ralph's finger. The fingernails were still rounded on the ends from the last manicure Cindy gave him. Before the nail reduction, the claws grew long and developed serrated edges, handy in his fight against the large green guy intruders he subdued.
Pam was preparing Alphy's bottle, and Daddy playing with him kept the baby entertained, and his baby mind off the hunger pangs his tummy was sending. Ralph wiped the baby's spit off his finger onto his pants as Mommy took their son to feed him.
He returned to his home office, and the report was on the screen. He read the information and discovered that the major contributor to O'Malley's re-election campaign was Numiko Digital Products Inc., a company specializing in electronic products of various kinds. The business had been cited for excessive pollution at several circuit board manufacturing plants. The CEO was Andrew Strong.
The Hero thought, 'Ah, that is why he is such an anti-pollution law person. Nurmiko is probably paying him off.'
The phone rang; it was Eric, as identified on the smartphone's screen.
"Ralph, can you come in tomorrow morning? I've got a team ready for the Congress Project, and I want you to head it up."
"Sure thing. What time?" Ralph responded, eager to start the mission.
"Early, 6:30 am."
"Okay, I'll be there. How many will be working on the project?"
"Five," Eric told him. "They are good people, excited to work with you."
"All right, and I want to meet all of them."
Pam walked in and asked, "What's going on?"
"Eric has a team to investigate the Congress and wants me to head it up. I'll be going in tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. I might not be back for several days. I'll call and let you know. As I said, I have a strong impression about this, and it isn't good."
"Okay, honey. But you be careful." Pam's face was calm but concerned.
Ralph arrived at 6:15 a.m. and entered the meeting room. Three of the group were already present. They introduced themselves to Ralph: Lewis Rodrigez—Hispanic, IT specialist, 30ish, with messy dark hair; Norman Warren—political analyst, 40s, with brown, meticulously parted and combed hair; Janice Shultz—corporate lawyer, 40s, with straight blond hair. They all shook hands.
Eric entered with a smile, seeing how many had already arrived, "Oh, good, you've introduced yourselves."
Another assigned member, Steven Brandy, an electrical engineer and mid-30s African American, showed up. He shook hands with the First. They all waited for the final associate of the team. He arrived 15 minutes late; Quinn Anders—Telepath, early 20s, with tousled dark blond hair with dyed red streaks. Ralph thought, 'I wonder if Cindy did that for him?'
Ralph looked at the man, "Telepath? I thought we all were telepaths."
Quinn sarcastically answered, "Not like me—I can read any mind, not just Heroes. And yes, Cindy did dye my hair."
Ralph said, "Oh, that could be very handy." He reached out his hand to shake Quinn's. The young man stepped back with a slight show of fear in his eyes.
Eric explained, "He doesn't like to touch people because he gets too strong a reading off them, and it overwhelms him."
The First said, "Oh, okay," getting his own curious impression of the young man.
Ralph started the meeting. "Here is what I'm sure of: Senator Ted O'Malley's aide is a large green guy. Both Pam and I saw him shimmer to green while watching the debate on television. And as we know, if there is one, there are more. O'Malley's biggest campaign contributor is the Numiko Digital Products Corporation. We need to do a thorough investigation of that company. I'm betting it is an alien organization. Janice, can you work on that?"
"You got it," she said with a nod.
"We must find out how many other Senators and House Representatives are green guys or have aliens working for them."
Quinn said in such a low volume that it was almost a whisper, "If I can get close to them, I can tell if they are green guys."
Ralph asked, "How?"
"I can't read green guys. I can't get an emotional impression from them."
"Okayyy! That's great. When they are in session, you can walk around invisible, see whom you can't read, and have your suit record it. Once we know who the green guys are or have aliens on their staff, we bug their offices. That is where you come in, Steven. Then we hack their computers-that is on you, Lewis. After gathering what information, we can, we will report directly back to Eric, and a decision will be made on whom to take down."
Eric said, "You can all meet in DC at the local Hero's house; his name is Gregory Grimes. His address has been sent to your phones. He is expecting you. He can help wherever needed. Greg knows the DC area very well."
They packed personal items and equipment required, had their suits shrink everything, and placed it all in their pouches. They left for DC at noon, reaching Gregory's house a little after 2 p.m.
Ralph knocked on Greg's back door. He answered with a wide smile, happy to meet the First. Ralph introduced the team.
Lewis asked, "Where can I set up my computer system?"
"I've got tables in the garage with work areas for everyone."
They all walked into the adjacent area through a door connected to the kitchen. The car wasn't in the garage. Multiple fold-out tables and chairs were assembled and distributed throughout the room. Several extension cords with all the needed power were along the floor. Greg had the large green guy solar panels on his roof so that no problems would occur with electrical usage. One wall had an eight-foot whiteboard for writing notes and plans. A four-foot board was next to it for any other needs.
Ralph said, "Very nice base of operations."
Greg said, "Well, I was a DC police detective, so I understand a few things about running a major investigation." Ralph nodded his head and smiled.
The team pulled items from their pouches, and the super suits enlarged them to normal size. They set up all their computers and other equipment.
Ralph asked Norman, "When are the next sessions for the Senate and House going to take place so Quinn can go through and identify any large green guys?"
Norman got on his computer. "The Senate will be in session tomorrow."
Greg offered, "I can show you the easiest way to enter the building without damaging anything, and no one will realize anyone has entered."
Quinn said, "Okay."
"Norman, you can go with Quinn and point out the most important people and aides," The First added.
"Sure thing, Ralph."
Ralph asked, "Lewis, can you start hacking into O'Malley and his staff's computers and search for anything interesting?"
"Already working on it."
The green-haired Hero turned to the electronic expert, and Steve said, "I'm calibrating the room bugs, so everything will be ready when needed."
Ralph said, "Well, look at that; you are all ahead of me." He walked to the far side of the room, called his wife, and told her what was happening. "These guys are so efficient; I have nothing to do."
Pam said, "Oh, I'm sure you'll figure something out." They continued talking and said, "I love you." At the end of the conversation.
Janice came over and commented, "I've sent everything I've found on Numiko to that computer for your review," pointing to a system on a table across the room.
"Thanks" Ralph told her and sat down to study the report. Links to the supreme commander's Green Corporation were evident. This was another large green guy company, explaining their continued air pollution violations. As Ralph had discovered while captured on the oil platform, the alien's ultimate goal was to destroy all life on Earth and repopulate it with their planet's flora and fauna.
Ralph called Steven and Janice over. "Can you two access the Numiko Corp offices and find out what type of undercover projects they are working on? I'm sure they are planning something huge."
The electronics expert said, "No problem." He looked at Janice, "Do you want to go tonight?"
She said, "I'm ready when you are." They checked on the location, and Lewis helped them acquire facility drawings. They took off at midnight.