Diesel rolled his eyes and looked like he was trying to controlhisanger before he spoke again. “Then you have violated our laws. And since you are from the Tri-Spiral Galaxy, you will be held accountable on Alpha-Prime.”
The being seemed unconcerned.
“Why did you do it?” Jake asked.
Vanthex stared at him. “I was bored. I also wanted the financial credits it would bring me. My people were once great warriors, but that was a millennium ago. They found a semblance of peaceful coexistence and stopped warring. Our pursuits are more intellectual now, yet videos of all varieties areconsumed like sustenance. There is always a steady market for new ones.
“I heard from a reliable source that a place called Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy was easy prey for video extraction.”
“But you don’t mean videos,” Jake said. “You mean memories.”
Vanthex nodded, though it was clear he thought they were the same thing. “Yes. I suppose so.”
“Of all the vast places on Earth, how did you manage to come to Alienn, Arkansas?” Diesel asked.
“My source explained the best way to travel to Earth was via a ship from Alpha-Prime. Using standard camouflage to hide my exterior from others, I was easily able to make my way to your planet and your town. It was the only place on Earth the ship traveled to.”
Diesel nodded. Everyone knew that was true.
“Once I got to your planet and your town of Alienn, I used my very unique apparatus to extract videos from various people. It was quite simple. No one seemed to notice. There was not an immediate outcry from the citizens, so I continued.”
“But not all of the people were unsuspecting, were they?” Jake asked.
“True. And by then I had realized that there were different types of people in the town. My apparatus catalogs the organic structure of each individual that it comes in contact with. That was how I discovered the difference between Alphas and Earthlings.
“By then I had already extracted the memory of one Alpha’s arrival on Earth and sold it. I did not realize the significance of that memory untilJake Joneshunted me down.”
“Interesting,” Jake said. “Because I no longer have that memory, do I?”
“No, you do not.” Vanthex smiled.
Well, Berylthoughtit was a smile. His expression still looked evil, but he seemed rather pleased with himself.
“Imagine my surprise when you found me. After I subdued you, I used my apparatus to remove the memory of you finding me, only to realize that your entire memory bank was captured during the procedure.” Vanthex sounded annoyed, as though he were the one inconvenienced by Jake losing his memories.
“I didn’t understand why at the time, not until I analyzed your organic structure and discovered that you are not pure Alpha. Your bloodline contains a significant fraction from a species that resides on the Ossuary Valerian Space Station.
“And instead of staying unconscious when I extracted your memories, you revived enough to break through the bonds I’d secured. You leapt off the table, yanked the cord from your head and ran. After I chased you through the woods, eventually you slowed down. You collapsed on a road. Before I could pick you up, that van full of young humans arrived. I narrowly avoided being crushed!
“If I could have, I would have completed the ritual and returned your memories.”
“Liar,” Jake said.
“I do not lie! That is all I have been trying to do since you lost your memories. It is not my fault that I didn’t know you are not pure Alpha. I don’t know what you have to complain about. After a monumental effort on my part, I finally succeeded in returning your memories.”
Beryl started talking before she even realized she planned to. “But you didn’t return his memories, or at least not all of them, did you.”
Vanthex’s evil smile appeared again. “You are correct. I withheld several weeks’ worth of memory, starting with right before Jake Jones found me.”
“How did Jake find you?” Ian asked.
Vanthex kept his silence. Beryl thought he probably didn’t want to reveal what he must consider a big mistake.
Finally, he said, “I had gone back to Edgar Smithers to extract another memory but Jake was there. Somehow, he saw me and chased after me. It was later I learned that I had brushed up against something called wet paint.”
“How did everyone in town not see the big flashing cube you carried around for the extraction?” Beryl asked.
“I had a portable unit with built-in camouflage capabilities, but it was lost when Jake chased me. After that, I had to employ the larger base apparatus.”
