“Who are they?”
“If you decide to join, I will introduce you. But first I need to know if you are interested?”
Adam stared at the huge alien for several moments, knowing full well that Kroekus had nailed his melancholy to the tee. He was bored, bored of his life and of his prospects, and returning to Earth was not something he was looking forward to. He was a warrior; it was all he had been or wanted to be, and at only thirty-six-years of age, he was far too young to hang it up for a more sedentary way of life.
“Just for the sake of argument, how would this unit be setup, and by what authority?”
“It would be under my jurisdiction and purview. As you know, I am very well versed in the ways of criminal enterprise throughout the galaxy. I have contacts and influence. But now that I am on the other side of the ledger, I cannot tolerate such activities as when I was involved in them. This unit would be small, and involved in quick strikes against targets across the entire Expansion. You will have authority to operate on any planet in any sector, with permission to use whatever means necessary to accomplish your mission.”
Adam smiled at that remark. He raised his own eyebrows and said, “So it’s like having a license to kill — to kill aliens! Now you have my interest.”
“I was hoping you would feel as such. You have never been squeamish about dispatching others not of the Human persuasion. But I have to warn you, even though you will have been issued the authority to carry out your activities in all jurisdictions — your so-called license to kill — you may find that your authority will not be honored in all locations.”
“So what’s new? It’s always been like that in nearly every place I’ve operated. Do you have a chain of command yet?”
“I was hoping I would get you to lead this unit. It sounds as if I have?”
Adam shook his head, a gesture that caused Kroekus’s jovial expression to change to that of sadness. “Oh, I’m in!” Adam said quickly to correct the misinterpretation. “I’ll play your reindeer games for a while and see where it leads. I’ve got nothing better to keep me busy, and it’ll sure beat spending a year of my life cooped up in a metal coffin. So who are the other members of the team?”
“Let me bring them in. They have been waiting to see if you would join.” Kroekus lifted his huge bulk off the couch and returned to his desk. A push of a button and the door to the rear of the office opened….
And in walked Sherri Valentine, Riyad Tarazi and Lee Schwartz — the young pilot Adam had met on the Bunker Hill.
Sherri and Adam rushed to each other and embraced in the center of the room, squeezing each other tightly for what seemed like minutes. He had not seen nor heard from her in over three years. Now he knew what she’d been up to. Riyad finally got his chance to embrace Adam as well, and Adam even hugged the Lt. Commander he’d only met a few times before.
“I can’t believe it,” Adam said finally, his grin stretched so wide across his face that he knew it looked clownish. “How long has this been in the works?”
“For a couple of years now,” Riyad said, “ever since Kroekus was let in on the details of The Cain Initiative. He knew it would throw the galaxy into turmoil again and he began to make plans. He is quite the remarkable being.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Adam said, looking over at the now immensely self-satisfied alien. Adam had tears in his eyes, as did Sherri.
“From what I’ve been told, Captain, this isn’t going to be cakewalk,” Lee offered. “There are a lot of nasty creatures out here that are going to require taming.”
Adam looked at him with an understanding eye. “Ain’t that the truth, commander.” Then he looked over at Riyad and winked. “But that’s just more score for us to rack up!”
The Humans continued with their reunion for a few more minutes before Kroekus eventually called them all to order.
“I have been having considerable problems with jurisdictional enforcement of our directives throughout the Expansion. As a result, I have proposed the creation of special inter-department within the Intelligence Section, one which you and your team will form, Adam. Your authority will cover all jurisdictions within the Expansion and you will only answer to me and to the head of the I.S. You will be agents of what will be called the Jurisdictional Enforcement of Directives Inter-department-”
“Hold up a minute!” Lee Schwartz interrupted, laughing. “So we’ll be agents for the J.E.D.I.” He laughed. “I’ll tell you right now, that’s not going to fly.”
“He’s right,” Adam said, barely containing his own laughter. “I’m sure there would be some major copyright infringement if we did.”
“I do not understand,” said Kroekus, genuinely confused.
“That’s all right, Mr. Administrator,” Sherri said. “We’ll come up with something of our own, like how about: Adam’s Avengers?”
“We could have issues with that one, too,” Adam said, trying to put a stop to the embarrassing banter among the Humans.
“Then how about Cain’s Crusaders?” It was Lee’s turn to offer a suggestion, his smile wide.
Riyad laughed and flashed a toothy grin. “Even though Cain is a Christian biblical name, and the Crusaders are not necessarily heroes in my culture, I must say I do like the sound of it.”
“Come on, you can’t be serious?” Adam’s frustration was growing by the moment, but he knew there was no stopping it now.
“That is hardly an appropriate name for an enforcement unit of the Expansion Administrator,” Kroekus said seriously. “I will change the name of the inter-department, but I cannot officially condone such a flippant and unprofessional title for its agents.”
“It doesn’t have to be official, Kroekus,” Sherri said, a wide grin stretching across her face. “We Humans tend to give pet names to the things we like. Call us what you want, but for us, we’ll be forever known as Cain’s Crusaders!”