A few minutes later, Steven and her mother were sitting in the kitchen, discussing plans of action, when there was a knock at the door. "Listen, dear," Steven's mother told her, "you'd better stay in your room for a while, just in case."
Steven nodded and dashed upstairs, and her mother went to answer the door. Standing on the front porch were two men in dark suits. One was an older man, somewhere around forty-five or fifty, with black hair that was just starting to show streaks of gray. The other looked to be about twenty, with dark red hair. Both wore sunglasses dark enough to where she couldn't see their eyes.
She opened the door. "Can I help you?" she smiled.
The older man spoke. "I'm Agent Fields, and this is Agent Thomson. FBI. We're assisting the Air Force in attempting to locate a lost experimental aircraft that was making test runs in the area last night. Would you mind if we searched your property?"
Steven's mother smiled. Something felt wrong here, but she couldn't think of what. "Well," she said, "I'd rather you didn't. I'm...having some family troubles lately, and I have a number of sensitive personal items in the house at the moment."
Agent Fields nodded. "I see. Well, I hate having to do this, but we do have a warrant that allows us to search your property if necessary." He produced a copy and handed it to Steven's mother. She took it and looked it over; she wasn't an expert, but it did seem genuine. "However," he continued, "we doubt that we'll even need to enter your house. We just want to search the property for any sign of the craft."
Steven's mother nodded. "I appreciate that. Well, good luck, gentlemen."
The two men turned and headed back to their car, an unmarked black Buick, producing what looked like a Geiger counter, and began to look around the property. She went back inside and headed up to Steven's room.
Steven was sitting on her bed, reading. She had closed the blinds on her window, which overlooked the side yard. She looked up as her mother entered the room. "Who was that?" she asked.
Her mother sighed. "They said they were from the FBI. I'm not sure I believe them, but the warrant they gave me looks genuine."
Steven's eyes went wide. "Warrant?"
Her mother nodded. "They're looking for a 'lost experimental aircraft.' I thought it was a little suspicious, too, but they said they shouldn't need to come in the house."
"Oh God," Steven moaned. "It's them, isn't it? What are we gonna do if they find me?"
"Don't panic," her mother reassured her. "For all we know, they might be able to help you. And they're not looking for you, after all."
Steven nodded. "Okay, right. So I guess I'm stuck in here until they leave, then."
"I suppose so," her mother said. "Anything you'd like me to bring up?"
Steven smiled. "I could use another cup of coffee, if you don't mind."
Her mother nodded and went back downstairs to mix up the coffee. She carried it back up to Steven's room and was just turning to head downstairs again when Agent Fields and Agent Thomson came up the stairs, holding the Geiger counter or whatever it was.
"I beg your pardon!" she said indignantly. "Searching my house is one thing, but coming in without permission?"
"I'm sorry, Ma'am," Agent Thomson said, as Fields tracked whatever it was the device was detecting, "but you may be in danger, and we thought it would be best to make sure you were safe first."
Steven's mother was about to tell him off again when there was a shriek from Steven's room. Both of them rushed over to see what was the matter.
Agent Fields was standing in the doorway of Steven's room, holding the device and staring at the frightened Oni girl. "Damnation," he muttered. "Haven't seen one of these in a while."