A Third Party

The 'call' had come in well before the Sun rose. It was Raphael's brother, Kass. "We've got a problem. This is a Code Red.
Raph called me this morning. He asked me to call you because he has other things he has to see to. Once I tell you, you'll understand why."

"Give me a minute." Ash sat up and grabbed his pants from the foot of the bed. Luna was sound asleep. Good. He left
their room and went outside, buttoning up. "Haven't seen you around for a long while. What's the problem?"

"We've got a third party trying to horn in on things here. The Arcturians. Ever heard of them?"

"Actually I have. Sly caught some stray transmissions last week but they weren't very strong, so we figured they were a way off.
No immediate threat. Are they here?"

"Hmmmm. Not yet. They're over at Galactic demanding license to participate in our Game. From the Arcturus system, I presume?"
Kass asked. "Raphael did manage to trick them into saying the guy was new to the Arcturian delegation. Either he doesn't care
about rules or thinks he's going to make his own."

"You get a description of him?" Ash asked.

"Nope. You don't think it's our 'friend' from Terra again, do you?"

"Given the report Eli and Raphael made a couple of years ago regarding the skull piles Eli found, I have to wonder."

"Crap...." Kass' voice in Ash's head was barely audible, but ended in a string of very ancient bad words.

"You're being too polite. This is unacceptable. It's bad enough we've got Lyl and his brood to worry about."

"Heh. Not like we could expect an alliance against a common enemy with him and his. I'm here if you need anything else, bro.
Over and out."

"Wait!" Ash erupted. "Let me do some research and get back to you and whomever else. You've given me an idea!"