Alien Deception by Tony Ruggiero Page A

short period. He had been studying at the Zirean University, a student of high promise in the field of computers and artificial intelligence, when an ugly incident threatened to cause his expulsion under less than honorable circumstances. Then one day, he was approached by a life form named Journo that worked for Copolla. The alien offered to help him out of the sticky situation in which he found himself. Cheating on an exam was a serious offense and, not having any other options available, he went along.
    The University mysteriously and very quietly cleared him of any wrongdoing in the incident. Copolla's agent wasted no time in requesting his services for a matter of the utmost urgency that required his special talents. Further, it was a Council matter and the request could not be refused. When Biom tried, he was informed that certain illegal documents had been obtained with his handwriting on them that would easily implicate his wrongdoing and reverse what had been done to exonerate him.
    Copolla's agent, Journo, was very thorough and arranged for Biom to be planted flawlessly inside Leumas’ organization. Computer records were altered, life forms were bribed to vouch for his character to ensure his acceptance, and it was all bought with Copolla's money.
    Biom felt no strong allegiance to Leumas and, as long as no physical harm came to anyone, he saw no problem with the situation if it would release him from the heavy debt he found himself burdened with. Moreover, Copolla had even promised him a good position with the Council if all went well. Most of Leumas’ assistants’ loyalties swayed whichever way the current situation turned. If Leumas’ standing with the Council was good, they were true blue loyal. If not, they would let Leumas swing in the breeze on his own. All with the exception of Greta; he thought it was best to stay clear of her. Greta maintained some type of personal relationship with Leumas, so he only approached her on official matters, and rarely then.
    Biom doubted that anyone would be able to trace what he had done to the program directly, but there was still a risk involved. As the newest addition to the team, he would probably fall suspect first. He would have to cover his tracks well; he suspected Greta was keeping an extra close eye on him. He checked the display indicator. The transmission uplink of information was almost complete. With the time delay and encryption precautions, it would be several minutes before the information reached Copolla. He added a note in the last details regarding the probable suspicion that he would fall under, and let Copolla know he might not be sending any more communications for a while, if at all.
    He had received Copolla's personal assurance that, if he were taken into custody, a rescue would be initiated. He wasn't sure if he truly believed that, but he felt some reassurance from the stun weapon he had placed beneath his jacket before he left the simulation room.
    The uplink indicator reflected that the transmission was ninety-eight percent complete. He stood and drew his weapon, preparing to destroy the information disk as soon as it reached one hundred percent. The indicator now flashed ninety-nine percent complete.
    A flare of light and heat buzzed by him as a laser beam struck the transmitting device. It destroyed the entire unit and with it, the information crystal. The explosion that followed threw him several feet from where he had been standing, his weapon lost in the confusion. His scared and dazed young face looked up and he found himself face to face with Greta, who held a stun weapon pointed squarely at his chest. Biom threw his hands in the air. As he stared at Greta, his facial expression changed from scared to one that suggested that his initial surprise and fear had been replaced with the realization that he still was not in an unrecoverable from situation.  He said to Greta with a smug smile, "You may want to hear what I have to say before you