Nathan Hystad - New Threat

He took a case of Scotch out of the truck and nodded me to follow him up the driveway. A dog barked from inside the house, and it warmed my heart a bit. So many animals hadn’t made it after being without food or water for so long.

Magnus trudged up the steps, setting the case of Scotch down, and knocked on the wooden door. Moments later, it opened, and a German Shepherd growled cautiously from behind a screen door. I eyed him warily.

“How can I help you?” an old man asked, and I noticed him for the first time. Through the screen, he wasn’t much more than a dark top and a wisp of white hair.

“I’m Magnus. My friend Slate told me you could be of service.” He lightly kicked the box of liquor at his feet.

The man’s face came closer and he unlocked the door, pushing it open slowly. We ceased to exist as he licked his lips and looked down at the step.

“Yes, yes, come on in. Jasper, be good to these fine folks.” With that, we entered the old man’s large home. It was tidy, but I got the sense it hadn’t been cleaned in a while. An odor wafted to me, reminding me of my history professor at university: seeds and shuffleboard dust.

“Don’t mind the mess, I don’t get much company any longer,” he said, and led us past the large two-story foyer and into an office on the right. It was full of built-in cherry red bookcases and a large desk. The kind that didn’t hold a computer, just papers and a phone.

He gestured to us to sit in the matching leather chairs on the opposite side of the desk, and we obliged him, Magnus leaving the Scotch on the floor near the door.

“What’s this all about?” I asked Magnus, who still had that big goofy grin covering the lower half of his face.

“You’ll see,” he replied.

“I’m assuming you heard of me through some reliable source or another, which hopefully means you’re trustworthy. My name’s Herman, and that furry fiend is Jasper,” the older man said. I scanned the walls and saw pictures of what I could only assume was family. The big house seemed empty now except for Herman and his dog.

He seemed to notice me looking and cleared his throat. “My daughter is still with us. Moved to Africa to help with those remaining there. Water wells are their priority, but most of the population has now moved to plumbed-in areas. She says that in a few years, they should be able to cut back deaths related to bacteria in water by ninety percent over there.” He paused, and his eyes were misty with emotion. “My wife passed before everything… five years ago. Anyway, down to business. You need a couple of rings?”

Rings? What did he mean?

“Yep. Two of your finest engagement rings. Then some matching bands. For me and my partner in crime over here.” Magnus winked at me.

The man leaned back in his chair. “Oh. I see. Well, congrats on finding each other in this tumultuous time.”

Finding each other? “I think you may have the wrong idea. I’m recently engaged, so I get that, but Magnus…” I stopped and his smile grew even larger.

“Going to ask the question right before we go. Figured we could have a big party,” he said.

“I’ll be damned. Nat’s going to make an honest man out of you after all!” I was on my feet and so was my big friend. We were hugging, and I saw Herman looking at us like he knew a secret we didn’t. That look was enough to get me to stop our man hug.

Herman used a key, turning it to reveal a sliding drawer. From it, he pulled a briefcase, which was also locked with one of those old spinning combination locks. He spun the individual rows until he had the right passcode and clicked the case open with his back to us.

“Here we go,” he said, spinning around and setting the display case down on the desk. My breath caught as I saw a wide assortment of ridiculously large stones in various cuts, in numerous settings. But those weren’t what I saw first. A ring with a large green stone sat among the plethora of pink and white diamonds.

“Where did you get that?” I asked, heart stuck in my throat.

He looked at me for a moment and didn’t say anything. I could feel the pendant against my chest and had forgotten I’d even been wearing it. It was as if it knew another like it was around, causing it to make tiny vibrations. Probably just my imagination.

“I’ve procured some interesting items over the last year. You see, I was a jewelry and stone trader before.” He didn’t have to say before what. “I heard about these magnificent stones and had to have one for my collection. I haven’t shown another soul, until I saw the Hero of Earth show up at my door. Thought you might appreciate it, Dean.” His voice was calm, a contradiction to what I was feeling.

“Wait, I thought the government got all the stones back. Unless someone chosen didn’t tell them about it, and kept it,” I said, seeing the picture of his grown daughter on the wall. She looked athletic, strong, and just the type of person the Kraski would have selected for the mission. And she was now conveniently in Africa, away from prying ears and eyes. “Are you willing to part with it?”

His eyes misted over lightly, just for a moment. “That depends on the bargain.”

I hardly heard them negotiating, but in a few minutes, Magnus had the green-stoned ring in a bag, and we were looking at the other rings. Mary had told me she’d never cared about huge diamond rings. It was something she’d told Bob, but he hadn’t listened, and she’d spent the next few years walking around with a carat and a half on her hand. When I picked out a small pink diamond set on a thin band, they gave me inquisitive looks.

“Oh, very elegant,” Herman said.

Magnus had a huge princess cut for Natalia, and when we had matching wedding bands to go with the engagement rings, we were back at the door, the Scotch still in Herman’s office. Jasper got a last scratch behind the ear, and we were off.

“What else did you give him in exchange?” I asked as the door shut on us.

“I told him the Earth Defense wouldn’t come turn his house upside down looking for more alien jewelry. He was all smiles after that,” Magnus said, hefting the bag of rings in his left hand.

“You knew the whole time?”

“They were talking about a ring seller under suspicion of having one. Not sure how they knew. Maybe they found a way to track it, or they heard rumors of his daughter being one of those left behind. Either way, we have it, and I figured while we were at it, we can get our beautiful ladies some bling.” The word sounded quite funny coming from my large friend. I couldn’t fault his motivation.

Herman’s daughter had been left behind like us. I wondered about her story and wished I could talk to her. Working on wells in Africa was something worthy of the title Hero of Earth, and I hoped she found what she was looking for. Most nights as I went to sleep, I dwelled on what it would have been like if someone else had gone to space and I’d been left back on Earth.

We made a couple more stops, nothing too important, and in an hour, we were heading back to the base for the second-to-last night before the colony ship left for Proxima b.

“Ican’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Mary said between big fake smiles.

“Don’t blame me. Blame Magnus. It’s their last night, and he wanted a send-off. Our engagement was the perfect ruse for it,” I said, instantly regretting that phrase.

Instead, she just visibly calmed and slid her hand into mine. That meant all was right in the world. We walked into the hangar, where a couple of the ships had been moved out. It was lightly decorated, and half a dozen folding tables had been placed inside, covered by some obviously borrowed tablecloths from what looked like an Italian restaurant from the seventies. LED lanterns were draped across the room, giving it a cozy backyard patio feel. It was perfect.