drabble #2 (for stellaluna_)

[bedlamsbard]

It's the sort of thing some scientists dream of. Black car and government plates on the curb. A blue uniformed military officer -- Air Force -- standing at the door, which is very clearly unlocked. Danny doesn't happen to be one of those scientists; he prefers his work at Columbia.

"Dr. Daniel Messer?"

"Um, yeah, that's me," Danny says, wondering why the Air Force feels the need to break into his house.

The airman pulls a handheld scanner out of nowhere. "I'll need to see some ID," he says, "and your prints."

"To get into my own house?" Danny says, but he pulls out his wallet anyway and subjects himself to the scan.

"They're waiting for you, Dr. Messer," the officer says, swinging the door open. Danny sticks his wallet back into his pocket and goes in, where another airman points him toward his kitchen.

There's a woman in Air Force blues fussing over his coffeemaker and a man in a Marine uniform at his table. He stands up as Danny approaches.

"Dr. Messer, I presume," he says, holding out his hand. "I'm Colonel Mac Tayor, U.S. Marine Corps; this is Major Stella Bonasera from the Air Force."

Danny shakes his hand and smiles at Major Bonasera, who's still tinkering absently with his coffeemaker. Colonel Taylor offers him a folder.

"You'll have to sign that," he says.

Danny glances inside. It's a single sheet of paper and a pen. "A non-disclosure agreement," he says.

"You refuse to sign that, we walk out of here right now," Taylor says. "And you won't learn what this is all about."

Danny hesitates; Major Bonasera glances over at him. "Maybe the Colonel didn't make this clear," she says. "You're one of the best astrophysicists in your field and there are a lot of good ones where I work." She smiles slightly. "I'm a physics doctorate myself -- quantum, not astro."

"Oh, well, in that case," Danny says, and scribbles his signature.