The Good Reaper by Dennis J Butler Page B

accent was British or Australian. The waitress appeared
next to the table and Thomas looked up at her and smiled. “Just
coffee please.”
    Thomas and I talked quietly about anything and everything
except the real reason we were there. Thomas was on his third assignment in
London where he worked at a hospice as an orderly. He worked at the facility
but he was often sent out to dying patient’s homes to help care for them. I
finished eating and paid the check quickly. I was anxious to learn more about
how we planned to proceed. As soon as we stepped outside and began walking
toward my apartment I couldn’t wait any longer. “So Thomas, do you have it with
you?”
    “No. It would have been far too dangerous to bring them on
the plane.”
    “Them? So you have more than one?” I asked.
    “I shipped six to your address. They will come in three
separate packages. That’s about as safe as we can do it. No matter what we do
going forward, there will be risks. When you receive the packages, be sure to
keep the contents in a safe place.”
    “I understand. What do you think will happen to us if CIPE
finds out?”
    “I suspect we would be sent home immediately and we would
undoubtedly be expelled from CIPE. I’m not sure if there would be additional
civic punishment. It’s not like we are committing violent crimes.”
    I was about to open the door to my apartment building when
Thomas stopped me. “I have a long trip so I’m going to head back to the
airport.”
    “How will I contact you for patient approval?” I asked.
    “The safest way to contact me is through an anonymous online
chat service. We’ve been using HealthChat . Log in and
look for TBone or Shadrack. I’m TBone but I’ll let Shadrack know that you may
contact him at some point.”
    “How will you know it’s me?”
    “The first time you contact us, you can tell us it’s you,
Luke. After that we’ll know your chat name. Chat sessions are not saved so it’s
safe but we are still careful not to type anything that implies that we are not
human.”
    “One more question Thomas,” I said and continued, “How many
times have you performed Tseen Ke here?”
    “We’ve done seven so far. The problem is getting the meds
here. If we could smuggle more kits, we could do more. That is why we are very
selective when approving someone.”
    “I suppose children would be at the top of the list,” I
said.
    “Not necessarily. First of all, we need to be absolutely
sure the patient has no chance of recovery. Also, we have found that human
children seem to have a special strength when dealing with their own suffering.
They seem to handle it better than adults. So it depends on many things. When
the time comes that you want to submit someone for approval, we will ask a lot
of questions.”
    “Okay Thomas. I guess that’s it. I am glad to have met you
and I’m glad to be working with you on this.” Thomas smiled and turned around
and walked back toward the direction of the subway.
    In the weeks that followed, I tried to focus on my real job,
observing and documenting my findings while trying to improve the quality of my
Discovery Reports. I had come to be a supporter of open contact with humans.
There were two things I was sure about. I knew we would eventually make open
contact with humans and secondly I knew that the sooner we did it, the sooner
we could begin introducing humans to advanced medicine and vaccines. I also knew
enough about Earth’s environment to know that the situation was critical. It
would require a combination of advances in medicine and changes in the way
human activity affects Earth’s environment.
    When I returned home from work about three weeks after meeting
with Thomas my mailbox was empty except for a key. It was the first time I had
received a package in the mail. The key opened the large box at the bottom of
the mailboxes. I quickly opened the large box and grabbed the package, feeling
something like a criminal. It felt strange.