At first, I thought my insomnia was playing mind games. But on closer inspection of the chessboard, it became clear that someone had executed a clever attack move.

 

Who was my mystery opponent?

 

“You look heavier, Pete. Is teaching science becoming too easy?”

 

I peered into the darkness. “Who’s there?”

 

A tall, gaunt figure stepped into the light.

 

“Nathan?”

 

“Hello, Pete.”

 

“It’s really you?”

 

“I am not a ghost construct!” he smiled, giant reed of a body towering over the patio table.

 

“In some ways, you are a ghost,” I said, not hiding the bitterness in my voice.

 

“I understand your anger.”

 

“The new neighbors have just moved in. It took over a year for the bank to sell your property after they repossessed it. The place went to shit after you guys suddenly disappeared.”

 

“I am sorry. But I had no choice.”

 

“What the hell happened? Did the two of you split up or something?”

 

“In a manner of speaking. Pete, there is little time. Please, allow me to explain.”

 

Nathan’s couched request for me to shut up would have been infuriating were it not for his obvious exhaustion. I shrugged.

 

“Helen and I were not what we seemed,” he said and paused as if marshaling the right words. “Pete, we were undercover agents from a distant planet sent here to gather the final intelligence needed for an invasion.”

 

Nathan’s flat, monotone voice made the statement sound all the more preposterous.

 

“Right. And the house next door is a spaceship!”

 

“No, but sometimes that is our practice,” he replied without a trace of irony.

 

His sincerity momentarily threw me off guard. “Nathan, if you’re in some kind of trouble I’ll help, just …”

 

“I am not asking for help, Pete. Please, let me continue.”

 

I acquiesced.

 

“Helen posed as my wife but was actually my superior officer. We did not see eye-to-eye.”

 

“Now that I can believe,” I said.

 

I remembered the night more than two years ago I caught Nathan looking over the bushes that separate our yards at me playing chess. The chessboard is a permanent fixture on my patio. Up until then, I had only exchanged a few pleasantries with my next-door neighbors in the year or so since they arrived. I invited him over and explained the game. Nathan was immediately hooked and we became chess buddies.

 

Countless games followed over subsequent months, including many all-nighters. Then one night his “wife” interrupted us while we were playing. She called his name in a voice chillier than a fall morning without glancing at me or venturing beyond her porch. The summons jolted Nathan, who apologized and left abruptly. It was the last time I saw either of them until Nathan’s surprise visit.

 

“Nathan let’s assume your story is true,” I said, desperately trying to shift the conversation onto a rational track. “Where have you been and why are you here?”

 

“I am what you call a double agent,” he replied.

 

Nathan helped to lead an underground organization sickened by the constant interplanetary wars waged by his world’s ruling class. They work to undermine the wars by helping victim planets, he said, and ultimately, to overthrow the despotic regime.

 

“Helen became suspicious of my motives. She reported me and we were recalled. Fortunately, I managed to escape. I have been on the run ever since.”

 

I was beginning to wish this was a dream.

 

“I am fully aware this is unbelievable,” he said, sensing my turmoil. “But for your sake, and your family’s, you need to listen to me, Pete.”

 

Something in his voice sent a chill up my spine. “Go on.”

 

Nathan said that he had warned governments on Earth of the coming invasion. At first, they thought he was a madman, but after showing them technology far in advance of anything on Earth, took him seriously. He had been helping the governments to prepare while keeping the plans secret to avoid panic.

 

“Your government has almost completed a shelter deep beneath mountains rich in certain minerals that will shield the place from my planet’s detectors. Select groups of your compatriots will occupy the bunker and survive there for as long as possible.”

 

“How long is long?”

 

“Our rebellion is almost ready to make a move and overthrow the tyrants, but I cannot say for sure when that will be. We hope your kind will survive long enough for us to succeed and stop the invasion.”

 

“You hope?”

 

“I know, it’s not much, Pete, and believe me, I wish there was a surer way,” he said.

 

I found myself believing Nathan.

 

“I have arranged for you and your family to join the groups in the shelter, should you choose to go.”

 

Nathan reached into his tunic, took out an egg-sized metallic spheroid, and placed it next to the chess board.

 

“This communicator is attuned to your energy field. It will only activate when you touch it, and respond to your unsaid questions with mental images.”

 

“So, if I think a question, like who you guys are or where this bunker is, it’ll give answers in mental images?”

 

“Precisely. It will explain everything, Pete. And will guide you to the shelter and emit a signal that gains you entry.”

 

Nathan suddenly looked skywards and checked a device strapped to his wrist. “I must go. They are close to finding me.”

 

He held out a slender hand and I shook it.

 

“Good luck, friend.”

 

“You too, Nathan.”

 

“By the way, the move I made is checkmate,” he said.

 

I glanced at the chessboard. “You’re right.”

 

“A rare victory for me!”

 

“There will be more,” I said.

 

“I would like that,” said Nathan.

 

He smiled tiredly and disappeared into the night.