One of Morse’s committee members leaned over and whispered in Morse’s ear, his hand over the microphone. Morse’s nostrils flared and his mouth twisted unattractively.
Benita distinctly heard the colleague say, “By, you’re making an ass of yourself. We don’t want to rub the envoys the wrong way and this hearing is all on the record, anyhow.”
While Morse, flushing, pretended to look at the papers before him, Benita sat down, her feet together in ladylike fashion, her hands folded in her lap.
The colleague asked her to state her name.
“Your committee knows who I really am,” she said. “You were told by Congressman Alvarez. The envoys prefer that my name not be widely used. To protect my privacy and that of my family, and for the purposes of this hearing, I am Jane Doe.”
“For the purposes of this hearing,” snarled Morse, “you are whoever you are. Give us your name.”
“Since this intermediary business has been dumped on me, Senator, and since my family knows nothing about it, it would be polite of the committee to grant my wish for anonymity.”
Morse spluttered and boomed, “It will be necessary to question your family in order to ascertain that you are who and what you say you are.”
Benita glared at him, feeling her mind slip a gear. “That is utterly specious, Senator. The FBI has already ascertained that I am who I say I am. Why don’t you ask your questions, and if you think some particular question isn’t answered honestly, we can talk about a polygraph. My intention is to tell the truth, and since I have not been consulted about any decisions the envoys have made or any activity they have engaged in or thought of engaging in, I have no reason whatsoever to lie about it.”
Benita had read Mclntyre’sFrankenStarr w hen it first came out, so she wasn’t totally unprepared for the deep-water fishing expedition Morse conducted. Where had she met the aliens? What had they looked like to her? What had she done, where had she gone? When had she met with the president?
“The day after I delivered the cube to Congressman Alvarez.”
“Who else was at that meeting?”
“General Wallace.”
“Was that the only time you met with the president?”
“That was the only time I have seen the, president in person,” Benita answered. “Agent Riley was appointed my go-between to the White House, and I have communicated through him.”
Her answers obviously displeased Morse. “Aside from that dinner you attended, who have you spoken to about the aliens?”
“The only people I have spoken to about the aliens are Representative Alvarez and General Wallace, and…” she meant to continue with the SOS and the FL, but he interrupted.
“And the president?”
“No, I didn’t speak to him about them even when I saw him. The president simply thanked me for my efforts because by that time he’d already seen the envoys for himself.”
“What have you done since that time?” asked someone else.
“Once the FBI was involved, I figured the matter was out of my hands. Since then, all I’ve done is transmit messages from the Pistach to Mr. Riley, who transmits them to whoever needs to know.”
“Why was the FBI involved in the first place?” Morse snarled, with a glare at Chad.
Benita pursed her lips, considering. “To do just what you said you wanted to do, Senator. The White House and the Justice Department felt it was wise to check me out and be sure I am who I say I am, to be sure my story is true.”
Somebody snapped at Chad, “Is that the case?”
Chad said it was.
At this juncture, Senator Morse snarled at Benita, “This all sounds very innocent, but you and I both know that you and the president and others have conspired to let these predators take over our country, haven’t you?”
That came so far from left field that her jaw dropped and the committee members hastily covered microphones and began muttering to one another. While they squabbled lengthily, she decided upon a response, beginning by saying stiffly:
“I’m not aware they’re taking over the country, sir. If so, I certainly didn’t plan it. I can’t speak for the Pistach, though my opinion is they didn’t plan it either. They were extremely upset when they learned the predators were here, and they’ve already given them notice to leave the planet.”