"October twenty-first, two thousand seven. Zero eight.....thirty five. Subject...", he paused the digital recorder while considering his next words. Taking a deep breath, he depressed the control once more.

"Subject....Stage one assessment. Project Alpha. Major Anthony Griggs, United Earth Space Probe Agency, attending. Please state your name for the record.", he nodded to the man seated across the table from him.

"Doctor Zachary Smith, at your service.", the man replied with a humorless smile. Whether the sibilant quality of his inflection was natural or added for effect was irrelevant. An uncontrollable shiver passed up the major's spine just the same.

"Doctor Smith, please state your affiliation with Project Alpha."

"Certainly. I served as the mission psychologist."

Major Griggs shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He could feel Smith's eyes boring into him and found it difficult to match his gaze. The doctor was not at all what Griggs expected and Smith knew it. Gone was any trace of the man once dubbed "The Cowardly Lion". Smith exuded an air of sinister self-assurance.

"In your capacity as mission psychologist, what were your official duties as a member of the crew of Jupiter 2?"

"Major, there is little to be gained by senseless wordplay. We both know very well that I had no official reason for being on that vessel. Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Ask me about them."

"The Robinsons?" Already, control of the interrogation had passed into Smith's hands.

The doctor chuckled; an unpleasant sound. "The Robinsons were assets of the military. Therefore quite disposable. You want to ask me about the Umbra."

"Doctor Smith, I must remind you that this interview is being rec-"

"Do you want the truth or not?", Smith interrupted. "My fate is sealed. Self-incrimination is the least of my concerns at this point."

"Very well. Tell me about the Umbra."

Smith leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head, all the while fixing Griggs with a demonic stare.

"Do you believe in the soul, Major?"

Growing uncomfortable with the direction that the debriefing had taken, Griggs attempted to return to terra cognita.

"Doctor Smith, I fail to see what bearing that question has to the subject at hand."

"Do you believe in the soul?" Smith would not be deterred from his point, whatever that happened to be.

Griggs paused the recorder and dropped all pretenses of civility.

"Ok, Smith, you want to play your little mind games. Fine. Let's play mind games." Griggs locked eyes with the doctor; unbridled anger giving him just the strength he needed.

"Yeah, I believe in a soul and you know what? I believe that yours is damned to Hell. Where are the Robinsons, doctor? How is it that only you returned from the mission? How exactly did you get back to Earth?" Griggs' voice gained volume with each question.

"The Umbra believe in the soul. Oh, yes. They most assuredly do." Smith refused the bait and continued in measured tones. "Who am I to argue? They were here from the beginning, after all."

A darkness seemed to envelop the room and a few beads of sweat dotted Griggs' brow. Whether it was due to morbid curiosity or a need for closure, he wasn't sure, but he pressed on with a question to which he already knew the answer.

"The beginning? The beginning of what?"

"The beginning of everything, Major. The fall of man.  Lucifer being cast out from Heaven. Everything!" The doctor seemed consumed with otherworldly glee. "Mind you, Ezekiel interpreted events as best he could given his limited understanding, but he was essentially cor-"

"Ezekiel??!!!", Griggs slammed his palm down on the table. "Where does it stop with you, Smith?! Where does it stop? I want to know who hired you to sabotage the expedition to Alpha Centauri and kill the Robinsons. I don't give a damn about your theology lecture!"

"Who said they were dead?"

"Then the Robinsons are alive?", a faint glimmer of hope stirred within him.

"Oh the pain, the pain." , Smith offered mockingly. "The pain you must feel, Major, knowing that your dear sweet family of pawns might actually still be alive somewhere...out there...", Smith lifted his eyes to the heavens.

Griggs had heard enough. Reaching across the table, he grabbed the doctor by the lapels of his uniform and pulled him across the table.

"They were my friends, Smith! What did you do to them??!!!"

"The soul never dies, Major. The soul never dies."

Copyright 2007 Scott Stewart
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