The trip to the DMV—just on the edge of downtown and only a few blocks off their route back to Spirit Cop Headquarters— proved to be less of a hassle than the actual line once they reached their destination. At least a hundred people were in a queue in front of them as they arrived.
“So maybe this wasn’t the best idea,” Ian said as they got in line. “It’s not like they’re even going to help me without social security information or some kind of ID already in place.”
“I told you to trust me, Ian. Are you going to trust me?”
Ian shook his head at Phoebe. He wasn’t sure what it was about the woman, but he inherently trusted her. He wondered for a moment if she was exerting some control over him, perhaps making him believe her words and go along with her actions. He almost instantly dismissed the thought. It was pure paranoia and he had enough of that in his life already. He clearly trusted her because she was one of the few people to treat him like an actual person. Like Peach—poor lost Peach—she seemed willing to accept him as just another person with flaws and fortunes. He wasn’t someone that needed help or worse, someone to fear.
“Yes, I’m going to trust you.”
“Good.” Phoebe turned away from Ian and tapped the hefty man in front of them. “I’m sorry, sir. My friend and I are in a bit of a hurry and I hoped we could perhaps budge in front of you in line. We would greatly appreciate it.”
That’s never going to work, Ian thought. But the man just smiled at Phoebe, nodded and stepped out of the way for them.
“How did you do that?”
“I’m a very patient individual, Ian. But I know you’re not. So I gave him a little nudge with my mind. I’m not nearly as good at it as many of my past compatriots, but it isn’t an unusual skill to hone. And it can be very handy when you need to secure official documents in an unofficial capacity.”
“Wait, I thought you were some kind of space cop. Isn’t this against the rules?”
“I am a peacekeeper, Ian. And sometimes being a peacekeeper is about blending in as much as it is about flouting one’s authority. When I travel to world’s less heavily connected to the Confederation, I often need to find ways to secure entry to their security. This just proves to be one of the easiest paths of action.”
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