He seemed almost frightened I was calling him, but I explained I just wanted a ride from the hospital.
I sat down on the steps to wait, as I was already exhausted. Yeah, no way I could have made it to the train.
Finally, Heningly pulled up out front and I dragged myself down. I got in back as he held the door for me like I was a crippled granny. He didn’t look me in the face.
The backseat was spacious and had obviously been cleaned all of a few minutes ago, as it smelled strongly of solvent and was still wet at the sides.
Heningly ran around the front and got in. He did not turn around, but looked in the mirror at me.
“My apartment is located—,” I began.
“Oh, I know where you live, sir. I’ll take you right away.”
We came to my place and I flipped out my tele to pay.
“How much do I owe you?” I asked, after we arrived at my home.
Heningly looked scared, his eyes wide and his hands held up as if I were pointing a gun at him.
“Oh, no. Free! Let me get your door.” And he bolted out of the car and around to my side, where he helped me out.
“Thanks for the ride. Would have been a tough walk,” I said with a little laugh, feeling happy now that I was in front of my place.
“You could have made it, Hank. No problem. I’m sure you could have.”
I looked at him after this strange remark and he panicked again, as if he had said too much. Like discussing my walking habits was a state secret.
“Good-bye, call any time,” he practically yelled, as he ran to the safety of his car.
Inside, my place was still messy. I don’t know, somehow I was expecting shining surfaces and plush furniture. In my memories I was such a better decorator.
After a nap I flipped to The News. The headline was “Conspiracy #3 Details.” I couldn’t make sense of the story, so I opened the first issue since I’d been out. It had videos of me fighting the Dredel Led. Man that looked bad. The funny thing was, the story talked about the robot fleeing me as I tried to engage it. While in gross directional terms that was true, realistically it wasn’t close.
At the end of the paper was a bit that troubled me:
Hank has once again become the salvation of Belvaille by vanquishing this metallic villain. But one is inclined to ask the question, why has our nondescript community received such scrutiny? It seems beyond the realm of mere coincidence that a race as advanced as the Dredel Led would chance upon us on a whim. It’s time we come to grips with the dark nature of this space station. More to come, readers.
The next issue went into speculation. Of course, Rendrae didn’t know the real reason why the robots came, but he did his best to fill in the blanks. And those blanks were that Belvaille was in actuality a secret Colmarian military outpost and they were using the bad reputation of the city as a cover.
It went on to suggest there was likely a hidden Portal, or series, that led directly to Dredel Led space. Or that their empire was vaster than previously known and actually abutted Belvaille—which would have required a truly vigorous editing of celestial cartography.
The next issue essentially went after Garm. Rendrae had obviously been saving every drop of mud he had ever gotten on her, because he splashed them across the pages in all their inglorious detail.
Except that at every turn instead of seeing simple graft, he attributed her actions to some nefarious plot or other.
In the issue after that he attacked various parties on Belvaille and their potential involvement in the grand schemes. It was true fear-mongering, yet his facts were straight and all of this seemed theoretically possible, albeit unlikely, when read at the same time.
I mostly escaped his bile, at least in terms of being a conspirator:
I’ve known Hank for many years and he’s one of the elder residents of Belvaille. I label him a trustworthy person worthy of respect. It’s his own lack of acumen, and childish simplicity, which prevents him from seeing himself as a pawn in the Confederation’s game, however.
When our Adjunct Overwatch gave the order to bombard the delicate street fight that was ensuing, it was clear she was not only trying to eradicate the Dredel Led, but Hank as well. For she doubtlessly now considers his presence a liability. Who knows her past misdeeds more than Hank, who has so unknowingly helped advance the Colmarian Confederation’s stratagems?
I practically felt bad for myself for being such a dupe. Not to mention those good-hearted Belvaillian citizens who were being subjected to the unrelenting evil of our government.
Of course, all of this was preposterous.
I teled Rendrae so we could talk. After congratulating me on my recovery, we set a time and date to meet. I wanted to set him straight.