Kitty Katt 11: Alien Separation (33 page)

T
HE IMAGE EXPANDED,
and we weren't seeing the ships anymore. At least, not the ships we'd been seeing. But they were certainly ships I recognized. Your typical saucer-shaped ships out of every movie and UFO sighting ever, with a little dome on top. And, as before, there were a thousand if there were ten.

“That's the Z'porrah fleet,” Reader said, voice low. “Any guess for how far away they are?”

“No. Without Chuckie or the girls looking we have no idea if they're at the edge of the galaxy or at the edge of this solar system. But if they're moving already, then I think we can assume that this war has been going on a long time. It was probably starting when Queen Renata sent Rahmi and Rhee to us.”

“Makes sense. That's over two years ago, though. Meaning this war's been going on long enough that at least one planet is probably looking for elements to replenish their supplies, or the edge that will give them the upper hand.”

“Hence why they're all here shooting at each other over Beta Eight. I'm just hoping the Z'porrah are far enough away that we have time to fix this problem and get this system focused on the bigger threat, rather than merrily continuing their infighting.”

“What's your plan for that? I ask because as far as I can see, we're pretty much the definition of being once again caught between a rock and a hard place.”

Sadly, I didn't really have a plan. “Something's Gotta Give” by Royal Crown Revue came on my iPod. It was a good song, but I preferred the Aerosmith version. Totally different songs, music and lyrics both, of course. And while I liked RCR's version of the Sinatra classic, I'd rather hear my Bad Boys from Boston, especially when things were dire. And they were definitely dire.

Considered manually changing the tunes to something other than the Algar's Not All That Helpful Clues Playlist. But I didn't. Because I realized I was focusing on the music versus the clue, mostly because I was clear that something was going to have to give. I was just afraid that it was going to be our side.

Negative thinking wasn't going to help anything, though. Gave myself a mental shake and focused back on the situation at hand. “Okay. We have to foil Plan B in order to foil Plan C and Plan A. And not only because we're here, in the midst of Plan B, but because it's the crux of the entire three-dimensional chess game. Save the day here, save the day everywhere. Fail here, fail everywhere.”

“I can agree with all of that.” Reader sighed. “I know that, as Head of Field, I should be coming up with some great save-the-day plan. But I've got nothing right now. Our fighting force, if you can call it that, is captured. At least we think they're captured. So it's five of us and some Poofs against every ship in every fleet. And that's just this solar system.”

Thought about what he'd said. “Actually . . . give me a minute to think.” Might actually have the answers and I tried to get them into order.

“Ah, you're being quiet? Are you okay?” Reader sounded legitimately concerned.

“Other Me wasn't an out-loud thinker anymore.”

“Yeah, dealt with that. She adapted, babe. I see that you did, too, but you're home and, frankly, I prefer to hear you talk out your thoughts.”

“Really? I thought that drove everyone crazy.”

Got another shot of the cover boy grin. “Not me, babe. I like hearing my girl's thought processes.”

Heaved a dramatic sigh. “And yet, you still refuse to turn straight or even bi and take me away from all this.”

Reader kissed my cheek. “True enough, but you're still and always my girl. So do what my girl does best and tell me what you're thinking.”

“Okay. We have to think like our enemy is—in three dimensions, if you will. By that I mean that each plan is connected to the others in more than one way. So, if we can figure out how to counter even one part of one of the Big Plans, we can cause issues for all three Plans at the same time.”

“Fine. So, what are we countering?”

“Frankly, it's what we're missing that's the key.”

“Besides the rest of our people that we'd finally found, our people who we haven't found, and our allies on this planet, you mean?”

Turned and looked at Fancy, Ginger, and Wilbur, who all looked back at me rather expectantly. “But we haven't lost all our allies. The three most important are standing right there.”

“Mind explaining that one?”

“Stop thinking like a Naked Ape and think like a Galactic Man About Town.”

Reader groaned. “I'm channeling Christopher right now. That Kitty-ism I'm not getting, girlfriend.”

“You're thinking that because Ginger and Wilbur seem like a cat and a dog that's it. But they're more than that—they're leading their particular clans, all of whom can fight and all of whom are also safely in Haven. You know, along with all of Fancy's Ferrets, all the Black Wolverines, and a host of other Albino Clan Lecanora. As in, we have a fighting force and then some. And we actually have the one being who can galvanize them all still with us.”

“You mean Fancy. And yeah, I'm sure she can. But I don't know that she's ready to lead her people into battle with what's out there.”

“The battle's coming, whether they're ready or not.” Motioned for Fancy and the others to come to us, which they did. “Look up.” They did. “What you're seeing are spaceships that belong to a race of aliens that hate all of us—those who live on your planet, my planet, and every other planet in this system—because we sort of belong to their most bitter enemies. They're coming here to destroy everything and everyone, wipe all our planets clean, and start over with people made in their own image.”

“They are the enemies of the Gods?” Fancy asked.

Considered how to answer this. It was one thing to pretend to be Gods. But Gods had powers we didn't. And if I was going to ask Fancy to risk her people, I had to tell her the truth. “They're our enemies, yes. They're called the Z'porrah, and they hate us, deep in the bone.”

“The enemy of my God is my enemy,” Fancy said calmly.

“We appreciate that. But . . . we aren't Gods, Fancy. What we are is aliens, for you, at least. We come from a planet that's far away from yours, not even in the same solar system. There are a lot of inhabited planets in your solar system, but only one in ours. We've become friends with many of the planets in your system.”

“The Gods come from far away, Shealla. This is not news.”

“True, but this invasion is.” Waved my hand again and, happy day, the closer view of a ton of spaceships that weren't Z'porrah ships appeared. “And here's more news. All of the planets in your solar system appear to be fighting now. And if they're fighting in your planet's solar space, and they are, then they're fighting over who gets to take over your planet.”

“Why would they want our planet?”

“Your planet's core is valuable for weapons of mass destruction.” Why bring up the katyhoppers and strautruch powers right now? I was still hoping we'd avoid anyone else learning about them, and even though Fancy knew by now, the less we talked about it, the better.

“But to reach the core, that would mean destruction of our world, wouldn't it?”

Wished Chuckie was here to bask in the glow of a really smart Bronze Age Like An Ancient Greek Lecanora. “Yes, it would. There are ways to drill safely, but no one's going to do that because this isn't their planet, it's just someplace they see as having resources they want.”

“Why would they do this to us? Especially if they call you friends?”

“None of them know any of you down here—most of them aren't bad people, but they're at war with each other, and that means they'll do bad things in the name of winning. And they can tell themselves that it's okay because they haven't gotten to know you, any of you.”

But we had. And now I realized why Algar had ensured we'd all land where and how we did. If I'd made it to wherever Gower and Jamie had, seen the Z'porrah fleet coming somehow, and been told this planet had all we'd need to defeat the Z'porrah, I might have said, oh well, just move the natives. Might have even said to kill them if they resisted, under the good of the many outweighs the good of the few mindset.

But I knew them now. And now I'd fight to protect them, we all would. Because they were ours somehow, just as they felt we were theirs. Their Gods, our people. Our responsibility. And yet, we still had the free will options to do whatever we wanted to. Algar worked in mysterious, sneaky, and really calculated ways.

“We're more like you than not. And so are they. Oh, they look different—some more like Ginger on her hind legs, some more like Wilbur on his.” Well, that was stretching it. The Canus Majorians looked far more like our Egyptian dog statues than the pig-dogs the chochos were. But still, close enough for government work.

Forged on. “Some are walking and talking lizards. And some look like we do. But we all come from the same kind of origins. So, the moment most of the people in those ships up there realize that you're just like them, we'll be able to reason with them, and to explain that what they think they want to do is wrong.” I sincerely hoped.

“We hope,” Reader said under his breath. Wondered if we had a katyhopper nearby, but figured this wasn't mind reading so much as a clear understanding of human, and probably Alpha Centauri Populated Planets, nature.

“And they also need to know that we all need to band together to fight against the invader who hates us all. But to do that, we're going to need your help, and the help of your people.”

“You are our Gods,” Fancy said, still sounding calm. Wondered if she was grasping the situation properly. She pointed down. “Look.”

We did. There were images underneath the opalescent paint. They were faint without being indistinct, and we'd been looking up at the telescope, which was why we'd missed these images. Images that looked a hell of a lot like all of those of us who'd been taken. And not just crude drawings, either—incredibly good carvings that looked amazingly like us. Just generalized enough that I could see how King Benny had believed that Jeff was a God Messenger, rather than Leoalla, for a little while, but accurate enough that I could point-blank tell which one of the Muses was Lorraine, which was Claudia, and which was Serene.

There was writing underneath each image. The Universal Translator Chip didn't provide a translation, but I was willing to bet that they were our God Names in Lecanora.

Looked carefully at the pictures. There was no image that looked like either Jamie or Gower. However, there were three female images that looked a lot like Abigail, Rahmi, and Rhee.

“What the hell?” Reader asked, speaking for both of us.

“These have been here for as long as we have been recounting our histories. They have been here since the Father of the Gods first came and gave us the All Seeing Mountain.”

Meaning Algar had put our pictures here somehow. Thousands of years before we'd been born.

Would have been incredibly awed if I didn't know that he was a Black Hole Universe dude and that probably meant he was able to bend time, space, universes, and whatever else. So, he'd “gone back” and tossed our pictures up there. Probably easier to do than “go forward” and grab a ginormous telescope. Or maybe not. Presumably he'd put our pictures here so that we'd be listened to without a lot of argument.

“Who are they?” Pointed to the images of the three gals we were still missing.

“They are the Venida, the female warriors of the Gods. They are the counterpoint to the Muses—where the Muses of Knowledge bring creativity to the Gods, the Venida ensure that the Gods' laws are carried out. And they, like the Winalla and the Nihalani, are both the warriors and the protectors of the High Godhead.”

“Are the Venida more or less powerful than the Winalla or the Nihalani?”

Fancy smiled. “Much more powerful. They are the special Gods of my clan, Shealla. We walk in the footsteps of the Venida.”

“Nice. And who makes the cut for the High Godhead?”

“The Father of the Gods, Leoalla, Shealla, Alcalla, and Binalla,” Fancy replied. “And the Guide of the Gods, who is not pictured here, because he can only be seen by the Gods themselves.”

Figured the Guide to be Gower, because the role, like everything else going on around here, fit. No mention of Jamie, though. Didn't know if this boded or not. Hoped for not.

“Who's the Mother of the Gods?” Reader asked. The question made sense, even though I hadn't thought to ask, since a clan like Fancy's would indicate such a God existed.

“She is Ethereal and watches over all of us,” Fancy said. “Even now, we know she is watching, guarding our hearts.”

“Where is her picture, or a picture of the Father of the Gods?” It would be nice to be able to confirm my suspicions. “And why didn't you mention her in the High Godhead?”