TAYLOR JONES SAYS: In Dan Arrow and the Hollow Moon by Edward S. Baker, private investigator Dan Arrow is still fighting the aliens and the New World Order. In this episode, he and his girlfriend, FBI Special Agent Mona Casola, are searching for Mona’s half-alien baby who was stolen from and taken to someplace called the Hollow Moon. They first head to Mars where the “resistance,” aliens and humans fighting against the New World Order, give them a cover story and send them to the moon, which they discover is not only hollow but a base for the aliens trying to destroy the human race. Dan has a two-fold mission: find and rescue Mona’s baby and discover who ordered the murder of the alien Waam’s (the leader of the good aliens) nephew. But the NWO aliens have advanced technology, and Dan’s missions (all of them) seem pretty hopeless.

Clever, intriguing, and full of surprises, this one will keep you glued to your seat from the very first page. A really great read.

REGAN MURPHY SAYS: Dan Arrow and the Hollow Moon by Edward S. Baker is the second installment in his Dan Arrow PI Series. In this story, Dan returns to his office after fighting aliens and humans who belong to the New World Order and are trying to bring back Hitler. He discovers that his secretary has sold most of his office furniture and sublet the conference room, trying to pay the rent and her own salary. Needing a new client fast, Dan is delighted when the alien Waam, one of the leaders of the resistance fighting the NWO, hires Dan to find out who ordered the murder of Waam’s nephew just as he was getting ready to send the container holding the soul of Hitler into the sun to be destroyed. Now Hitler is about to be put in a new body and the NWO is planning to set off a bunch of nukes that will destroy most of the population on Earth. In the meantime, Dan’s girlfriend, Mona Casola, an FBI agent, is determined to find the alien-hybrid baby who was stolen from her and taken to “the Hollow Moon.” Dan agrees to help and they combine their missions, traveling first to Mars and then to the moon, which they discover, to their amazement, is hollow and serving as a base for the NWO. Things start out great, but as soon as they get to the moon, everything starts to fall apart and Dan and Mona will be lucky to escape with their lives.

Dan Arrow and the Hollow Moon is both intriguing and plausible, despite the fact that some of the subplots appear to be outrageous at first glance. Baker has really done his homework, and he weaves fact and fiction in a way that makes the plot seem completely realistic. A worthy addition to the series.

Chapter 1

When our debit card was denied at a gas pump outside of Newport News, I knew that it was time to head home. Mona and I had been on a two-week vacation, compliments of Mack, Mona’s boss and head of an investigative unit at the FBI in D.C. We had traveled all over the east coast, well, from Deerfield Beach to Virginia Beach, following the local coastal roads, sleeping in the best hotels, dining in mom and pop’s, and just enjoying getting to know each other again.

“I guess the party’s over, baby,” I said to Mona, “unless you want to call Mack and ask him for an extra couple of grand.”

“Slide it through a second time, Danny.”

I did, and this time it worked.

“That’s Mack’s way of letting me know that it’s time to come back to work,” she said.

With a full tank of gas, we found our way to I-95 and pointed our rented Escalade north to D.C., and on Monday we were back in our respective offices. Mona got to park down the street in a federal lot and hike a couple of blocks to 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, that concrete building with all the windows and a distinctive line of American flags. I, on the other hand, got to park on a side street near Stan’s Used Cars and walk uphill half a block to a door with a “Moving Sale” sign taped to it. Yup, it was good to be back at the old grind.

As I climbed the stairs to the second floor, I couldn’t help noticing the distinct odor of an old building. It was so different from the smell of the subterranean snake holes where I had spent so much time over the past two months. Yeah, it smelled like home.

Another moving sale sign was taped to the door of my office. I pulled it down and walked in. Hal was bent over, rummaging through a small cardboard box on the floor. Across the small of her back was a Harley Davidson tattoo that I had never seen before. Of course, she had never shown me that side of her.

“I’m back, Hal.”

She turned quickly and tugged at the bottom of her tee shirt. It was nice to see that her modesty was still intact. “So you aren’t dead after all,” she said with a look of mild disappointment. “I suppose you’re wondering what’s going on here.”

“Where are we moving?”

“Out of here, unless you come up with some dough. The landlord has been here three times inquiring about his rent. You’re two months in arrears.”

“I’ll take care of him,” I replied, although I wasn’t sure that I could come up with more than one month’s rent in cash.

I looked around the office. Hal’s desk was cluttered with empty paper coffee cups. Cardboard boxes bore hand-scrawled messages like 2 for $1, make an offer, and free. I walked into my office. My desk and its old executive chair were gone. It was definitely a moving sale, and I already had been moved out.

I walked back into the outer office. “So what’s been going on?” I asked Hal.

“Listen, Danny, I’ve had to sell this stuff in order to feed myself and keep a roof over my head. I haven’t had a paycheck in over a month. You just forgot about me.”

She had a point. I guess that I had been so engrossed in being with Mona after the Powers case that I had forgotten to check in with Hal to let her know that I was alive and to see if she needed help with anything. “What about Willie? Didn’t he give you the two grand that he owes me?”

“Fine upstanding guy, Willie. I called his number, but somebody there told me that he was doing eighteen months for bookmaking.”

“Oh.”

The phone rang.

“That’s probably the electric company telling us that they’re going to shut off the power,” Hal said, picking up the receiver. “Dan Arrow PI. How can I help you?” She handed the phone to me. “It’s some guy named Juan.”

I took the phone from her. “Dan Arrow,” I said in a firm and official voice.

“Mr. Arrow, it’s me, Waam.”

“Hi, my friend! How have you been these past two weeks?”

“I’ve been good enough for most of these past two weeks, but I need your help. Do you have time to see me?”

“It looks as though I have plenty of time on my hands. My assistant is having my office redone, and all appointments are on hold.” Waam probably knew that I was lying through my teeth. I figured that if I didn’t get a client in the next day or two, I’d be signing up for public assistance.

“Good. Can I come by at dark?”

“Sure, I can be here then.”

“See you then, Mr. Arrow.”

I hung up the phone and told Hal, “We have to clean up this place because we have a client coming after dinner.”

She sighed. “Listen, Danny, you won’t be able to use the conference room for your meeting because I’ve sublet it for six months to an alternative lifestyles counselor. You’ll have to use my desk.”

“What the hell is an alternative lifestyles counselor?”

“She’s a therapist who is helping men and women cope with issues of transgender transformation. Nice woman. You’ll like her.”

“Did you get a name?”

“Sam something or other. I have it in my datebook.”

I rolled my eyes at Hal.

“What’s a girl gonna do when she needs money, Danny? The lease is only for six months.”

“Well, you could go out on the sidewalk and strut your moneymaker.”

Hal gave me a stern look. “Watch what you say, Mr. Smartmouth. You could be running your ass straight into a sexual harassment charge at the Human Rights Commission!”

I made a cross with my two pointer fingers. “Whoa. Sorry. I was just kidding.” I made a mental note to buy her a bottle of wine as a peace offering.

“And you’d better watch what you say to Sam LaFemme when you meet her,” Hal warned me.

Aha! We have a last name. Great, I thought. Samuel or Samantha LaFemme. That sounds possibly transgender in itself.

I opted to change the subject. “Can we find a sofa someplace?” I asked. “This client is a really big man, and he isn’t going to fit in a normal chair.”

“Fat guy, huh?”

“Tall and broad.”

“He isn’t one of those creepy dudes with the sunglasses, is he?”

“No, he’s nothing like that. He’s an Ummite. They’re very tall and very peace-loving people from the planet Ummo. He saved my life. Now he needs my help.”

“He’s a space alien, and you owe him a favor? He’s gonna expect you to do it for free,” Hal said with her hands on her hips.

“We’ll see.”

“Well, I think there’s a sofa in Sam’s office. Maybe you can drag that down here after she closes up for the day.”

“Did you keep a key? Maybe I can simply use her office for my meeting.”

“I’ll ask her when she comes in.”

***

Waam showed up at seven-thirty p.m. His eyes told me that he hadn’t slept in a couple of days. I escorted him to Sam LaFemme’s office. Waam bent down so he could pass through the door and into what had been my conference room. “Interesting décor,” he said. “This is very non-threatening, almost feminine. I did not expect it.”

When I closed the door, Waam broke into tears and, still bent over, laid his massive head on my shoulder. “Doroo is dead,” he sobbed.

“Aw, noooo,” I said softly, patting his bicep. Doroo was Waam’s nephew and had become a good friend in the short time that I had known him. “I’m so sorry, Waam.”

“I haven’t told his mother. She’s my sister, and I don’t know how I can tell her. He was her only child.”

“Can you tell me about it?” I asked.

Waam sat down on the sofa. Sitting, his head was only a few feet from the ceiling. Hell, he was nearly ten feet tall on a short day. I handed him a box of Sam LaFemme’s tissues.

Waam wiped his eyes and then began. “As we had planned, Doroo carried the electrical essence of His Excellency for a date with your star. As he approached the point where he was to jettison the magnetic storage device into the molten plasma, his tureen was intercepted and overtaken by the Draconians. His Excellency and the toroidal device which contained him were taken. All on board were killed. My tureen received a distress message but, by then, it was too late, and all was lost. The video devices in Doroo’s tureen automatically continued to transmit signals.”

Waam pulled a cell phone from his coat’s breast pocket, touched the screen a few times, and then handed it to me. The video displayed the door to Doroo’s tureen being blasted open, probably by some sort of laser weapon. As the reptilian soldiers began to shoot liquid light at the crew, Doroo held up his hands and stood in front of them. I couldn’t understand what he said, but his physical motions translated to me as, “Stop!” He was unarmed, and he was instantly cut in half. There were more blasts and many sparks.

When the video ended, I handed the phone back to Waam. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Waam. Doroo was a good friend.”

“His tureen’s automatic tracking devices continued to send messages indicating its location. However, the tureen was within the gravitational pull of your star and, as it plunged into the solar fire, transmission ceased. There is no more to tell. I have lost a nephew, and my sister has lost the light of her life.”

“What can I do to console you?” I asked.

“Find the one who issued the order to kill Doroo and his crew, Mr. Arrow!” Waam replied. “The order may have come from officials on your garden planet.”

“I owe you and Doroo that much,” I told him, “but things are going to hell here. I have to stay local and earn a little money in order to keep my office open and my assistant employed. Give me a few weeks to get my affairs in order, and I’ll get on it.”

Waam pulled a bar of gold from his pocket and handed it to me. I had to grasp it in two hands in order to keep from dropping it. “Surprisingly heavy,” I said.

“That bar weighs ten of your Earth pounds. It’s pure gold that was recovered from Galactic pirates by an Ummite patrol. The pirates claimed to have pilfered it from a shipment that was heading to the Draconians from the Chinese.”

“The markings are clearly Chinese,” I said, turning the bar over in my hands to examine it.

“Will that bar help to settle your local affairs, Mr. Arrow?”

“Are you giving me this gold, Waam?”

“We Ummites have little use for it, except to trade for resources from other planetary systems. They, in turn, trade it for resources from the Draconians, who have a great need for gold. Finding Doroo’s murderer is much more important to me than that bar of gold. If it will help you to get on the track of the individual who gave the order, then it is yours.”

I did a quick estimate in my head: Sixteen ounces to the pound times ten pounds was 160 ounces at about $1200 per ounce. I think Hal can probably get by on that. “I’ll begin in the morning.”

© 2018 by Edward S. Baker