Universal Alien (37 page)

“T
ELL JAMES
we'll be right there,” Martini said. “Wherever his there is.”

“Alpha Team is coming back to you,” Walter shared.

I went to the door and got it just as James was knocking. “Nice timing, girlfriend,” he said with a grin. “Do I call you that in your world?”

“You do, as a matter of fact. So don't stop here.”

“Duly noted.” He, Paul, Serene, Singh, and Crawford came in. I wasn't sure that Singh was officially on Alpha Team, but based on what he and Serene had told me, assumed she wanted him around to hear whatever so the A-C C.I.A. would have all the intel. Couldn't argue with the logic.

“Where are Lorraine and Claudia?”

“Taking their kids to daycare,” Serene said. “My husband is taking Patrick. Oh! You probably don't know—I'm married to Brian.”

“Brian?”

“Brian Dwyer. Your old high school boyfriend.”

“Oh. That's great, go you guys.” I hadn't given Brian any thought for quite a while. For a variety of reasons, our having to get a restraining order against him being just one of them. “Ah, is he, um . . . mentally stable?” Because if he wasn't, wanted to ensure we didn't have a reunion in this world. Ever.

James started laughing. “I see he was obsessive in your world, too?”

“Yeah. To, uh, an unhealthy degree. But if he's married to Serene, then he's in far better shape here.” I sincerely hoped.

“Yes. I was kind of the unhinged one when we met.”

“Our enemies were drugging her,” Martini said. “Club Fifty-One is an anti-alien organization, and they slipped Serene a lot of a drug we call Surcenthumain and my Kitty accurately calls the Superpowers Drug. They gave it to me, too. And . . . to Christopher.”

“It's made the three of us more talented than normal,” Serene said. “And it made Jamie and Patrick . . . much more talented.”

Stared at them. “You know, you're all acting like Jamie is the focus, but if your son is like her, why isn't he under the same guard as Jamie is?”

“He is,” Paul said. “Believe me, all the hybrid children are under guard. It's one of the reasons we're so happy that Denise Lewis is running the daycare program. The children are here when they're not with their parents or other guardians, and the Embassy is very well protected.”

Thought about Charlie, Max, and my Jamie, who had none of this protection. Supposedly they had my CA guarding them, though, so that had to be good. She wouldn't ignore the boys just because she only had Jamie in her own world, would she?

Felt a hand on my neck. “Relax,” Martini said quietly, as he massaged gently. “She'd die before she'd let anything happen to your children. Or your husband and friends. They're all hers, too, never forget that, because I promise you she won't.”

Took a deep breath, let it out, and did my best to stop worrying. “Okay, so you said there was a problem with the team in Paris. Are they all okay?”

“Yeah, I didn't mean for Walter to panic you,” James said. “But Reynolds doesn't want to leave the singer you found there alone.”

My immediate reaction was one I wasn't proud of—jealousy. Which was ridiculous. Shoved the jealousy away—if he liked her that was fine. He wasn't my husband here. And if he just felt protective of the person I'd essentially made him manage, well, that was okay, too. It wasn't like I wanted anything bad to happen to my favorite female recording artist, especially since she hadn't even gotten started on her career in this world yet.

“Tell him to bring her along,” Martini said. Everyone gave him looks that said they feared he'd lost his mind. Martini sighed. “She knows we're unusual, and the guy she's recording with knows we're aliens—he recognized me and Kitty. So, bring her along. Her grandmother said she needed an adventure. So, she'll get one.”

“You're sure?” James asked.

“I think we have a potential hostage both Kitty and Chuck are going to care about, and by now, Richard and Buchanan probably will, too. Let's keep her safe, and that means with us.”

“And who knows, maybe the PM couple will like her singing.”

“I meant to just bring her to the Embassy, baby.”

“Yeah, but . . . let's see how she handles it. If she's cool with coming and with what's going on, let's bring her.”

“Why?” Paul asked.

I shrugged. “She's something the Mastermind can't predict. Sure, maybe he can extrapolate now that he knows something about her. But she's an unknown, even more than I am. And . . . I just think we should take her with us.”

“We ignore Kitty's feminine intuition to our detriment,” Martini said. “So, fine. Let's see how she handles the gates, and if she can deal with it, she's part of the auxiliary team. Oh, and if Chuck wants the male singer to come along, too, bring him. Why risk losing a registered voter who likes us?”

Alpha Team took off and we headed into the bedroom. “We're both napping?”

“Yeah, we need it.” Martini kicked his shoes off and took off his jacket and tie, then lay down on the bed. “I'll change before we go, but this way it should be less uncomfortable for you.”

“You're really an awesome guy, you know that?” Took off my shoes and climbed up onto the bed next to him. Put my back against his side and my head on his arm, we shifted a bit, and then both relaxed. “You going to be able to sleep?”

“Yeah. All of our agents are trained to sleep whenever we can. I'll be out fast. How about you?”

“Mother of three, learned fast to nap when the kidlets napped or were at a friend's house, so yeah.”

He kissed the back of my head. “Great. Then let's power nap.”

Martini wasn't kidding, he was asleep fast. I might not have managed it, because everything going on had my brain actively spinning, but Gershom appeared and snuggled between my chest and Martini's arm, purring softly, and as I buried my face in its soft fur, I fell asleep, too.

We were all awakened by a knocking at our door. Martini groaned but I was trained to go from dead sleep to wide awake if I heard one of the kids, so I bounded up and went to get the door.

A gorgeous black Beauty Queen was standing there. Was fairly sure I'd met her at the gigantic briefing session but couldn't swear to it, nor could I remember her name. Thought she might be Paul's sister, though. She gave me a beaming smile. “Wakey wakey. I'm your personalized wakeup call.”

“Ah, thanks?”

“Abigail, what are you doing here?” Martini asked drowsily as he joined us.

“Seriously, I'm here to wake you guys up. Walter's coordinating things with Alpha Team, the Office of the President, and the Office of the Australian Prime Minister as well as with Sydney Base and James doesn't want his focus disturbed. So, you're up, my work here is done.”

“Thanks?”

She laughed. “You have no idea who I am, do you?”

“Ah . . .”

Abigail came inside but stayed near the door. “I'm Paul's youngest sister.” She stopped smiling. “His only sister now. And he's now my only brother.”

“Oh, so you're Charles', sorry, Chuckie's sister-in-law?”

“Yeah. Speaking of which, pretty girl you found in Paris. I have hopes.”

“Hopes?”

“For her and Chuck. To get together. You wake up kind of slowly, don't you?”

“I guess so.” The jealousy came back. Kicked it to the curb. He was allowed to have a love life, and based on what everyone, including Charles himself had said, he'd been terribly depressed and lonely. I wasn't here to become his wife in this world. I was here to fix things, and if he and Amadhia hit it off, well, that was fixing things.

“Well, the guy with her is a cutie, too.”

“Oh, Aaron came along, after all?”

“Yeah. He's all jazzed about the two of them premiering their partnership for the Vice President and the Prime Minister both.”

“Glad he's embraced the plan.”

Abigail laughed. “He's like Jeff's biggest fan now, so I say we keep him. Anyway, you two get dressed and ready. I think we're going to Sydney Base first, then to the capitol. I'll get Jamie from daycare so you two don't have to worry about that. Just expect us back soon.”

Abigail trotted off and Martini and I went back to our bedroom. “I feel like I haven't had nearly enough sleep, but Mister Clock says that we've slept for a good five hours.”

“It's the time zone changes. It's hard on the body, no matter how much you do it. We should probably shower again, just in case.”

“Is that your way of saying I didn't use enough deodorant earlier?”

He grinned. “You smell like roses, baby.”

“Wow, you
can
lie a little, can't you?”

As before, I showered first. Made it a point to ensure that my hair was dry, in a ponytail, and back up in a banana clip before I left the bathroom. Wanted to avoid seeing Martini in nothing but a towel again. Well, that wasn't true—I desperately wanted to see him naked. I was just smart enough to know that doing so wasn't going to be good for anyone, me especially.

As I came out of the bathroom with my robe wrapped around me I noted that there were three rolling bags at the foot of the bed. Two were clearly a His and Hers set, in black. The third was a cute Hello Kitty bag that basically screamed that it was Jamie's. “This seems like a small amount to make it through a full trip to the other side of the world.”

“Like Abigail said, we'll be stopping at Sydney Base first, and that's where we'll be sleeping as well. While it's nice to hope that we'll fix everything in an hour, there's no guarantee, and if we're lucky and the Prime Minister forgives us and goes so far as to ask us to stick around a bit, we'll want to have our personal things close by. The Operations Team will take care of anything we need when we're at the Base, but it just helps to have essentials with us, just in case.”

“Works for me.”

I got dressed with Gershom assisting me. Put on both layers—just in case, and besides, I really liked the way the sweater dress looked.

Fortunately for me, as soon as I was dressed and had my purse hooked onto my rolling bag, there was another knock at the door. Fortunately, because Martini was once again coming out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist.

And once again, all I could think about was what he'd look like if he dropped the towel.

S
CURRIED OFF
like the Hounds of Hell, or at least the Hounds of Inappropriate Lust, were at my heels, to find Abigail and Jamie at the door. They were accompanied by five guys in Armani. Four of them had one dog each, and one had the Feline Winnebago. Inappropriate Lust was shoved aside for Jamie and the Pet Parade.

“Mommy, can the pets all come with us?” Jamie asked as Abigail handed her to me and they all came inside and headed for the living room.

Abigail shook her head violently, as did the five agents, where Jamie couldn't see. “Ah, I don't think that's a good idea, Jamie-Kat.”

“Poofs and Peregrines are okay,” Abigail said quickly.

“Yes, but the dogs and cats aren't allowed into Australia without waiting a very long time in cages, all alone. They'll be much happier and safer staying here.”

“Okay, Mommy,” Jamie said with a sigh, as she squirmed out of my arms.

She gave each dog a hug and kiss, opened the Winnebago, took out each cat, and gave them a hug and a kiss, too. The animals seemed appreciative. Gave the dogs and cats pets, to ensure that I didn't seem off to anyone.

Some of the Poofs got out of the Winnebago. Those that didn't got hugs and kisses from Jamie, too, and pets from me. Then Abigail nodded to the agents, and they took the dogs and cats down the hall and into what Martini had said were guest bedrooms.

“Why not just let them sleep in our rooms like they always do?” I asked Abigail.

“And leave the pets all alone?” Jamie gasped. “Mommy, they'd be too lonely and they'd cry and cry.”

“Or, as we call it, howl and caterwaul,” Abigail said dryly. “All day and all night. Trust me, taking care of your animals is an assigned duty. Happily, we've found a couple of sets of agents who have become dog and cat lovers.”

The remaining Poofs, who were amassed on the living room furniture, all looked at me expectantly. “Ah . . . do they
all
come with us?”

“If they're invited, Mommy, yes they do.”

“Okay, then any Poofs,” felt a feathery nudge against my leg, “and Peregrines who want to experience the adventure of travel, come on down.” There were now no Poofs in evidence, but my purse felt slightly heavier and I looked inside. There was a lot of condensed fluff in there now. Decided not to care. Felt something soft rub against my neck, then Gershom mewled at me and jumped into the purse as well. “Have Poofs, will travel.”

“Auntie Abigail, are you coming with us?” Jamie asked.

“No, I'm not. I'm staying here with Doreen and keeping the Embassy running.” She winked at me. “Someone has to do their jobs while the rest of you are off gallivanting.”

My memory did me a solid and shared that she meant Doreen Weisman, who was the only truly trained diplomat on staff. I hadn't met her, and I couldn't remember if she knew I wasn't the Kitty they all expected or not. Decided that if she wasn't coming along it didn't matter.

“Just heard from James,” Martini said as he came out of the bedroom, fully dressed and carrying all three bags. “We're leaving from the Zoo.”

“Oh, enjoy that,” Abigail said. “You're going to miss Boggy, though. She's across the street, visiting Olga.”

“Boggy? Olga?”

“We told you about them—Boggy is Chernobog the Ultimate. The best hacker in the world, basically. She's on our side now. And Olga's the wife of the Romanian Ambassador and your good friend.”

“Impressive. And I don't remember this at all.”

“Long stories,” Martini said quickly. “And ones you don't want right now, trust me. Just know that you're the one who brought Chernobog over onto our side and that Olga's never wrong, if you can figure out what she's telling you. Which you usually can.”

“Go my Cosmic Alternate.”

“Right.” Abigail hugged me. “And go you, too. You'll do great. Call us if you need anything, we'll have someone up and ready twenty-four seven until you guys are all back.” She left the apartment with us, but took the stairs.

“You don't mean we're leaving from where the animals are and where Jamie supposedly wants to go, do you?” I asked Martini as I picked Jamie up and we headed for the elevator. If the Peregrines were along, they were in their Invisible Mode, but I had a feeling more than just Bruno were coming with.

“No. We bought the other building on this block, and have a raised, covered walkway that connects them. It's where Hacker International, as your Cosmic Alternate calls them, live and work. And, ah, you need to be prepared.”

“For what?”

“For Stryker Dane.”

“Stryker's here? That's great!”

“Ah, yeah. Great. Per Chuck, and based on your descriptions of the Stryker in your world, you're not going to be able to handle how he looks in this world.”

“Oh my God. Did he have an accident or something?”

“Ah. No. Just . . . try to control whatever reaction you have, okay? And we have not told them what's going on, so you literally have to act normal, normal for my Kitty, around them.”

“What is that normal?”

“Sarcasm and one-upmanship.”

“Oh. So how it was with Eddy when I first met him. Gotcha.”

“Probably exactly like that,” Martini muttered.

We got out of the elevator on the second floor and the others joined us, rolling suitcases in hand, Secret Service agents included. Meaning we had a lot of people. Wanted to ask if we always rolled with this much of an entourage, then realized that no one seemed fazed, so of course they did.

Christopher and Amy were there, too, presumably to see us off. Len and Kyle took the luggage from Martini as we headed down the hallway. Had no idea what to say to the agents. “I'm so sorry about what happened,” was all I could come up with.

“Those are the risks,” Evalyne said briskly. “We would really appreciate you two not trying to escape from us in the future, however.” She sounded unhappy with us, not that this was a surprise.

“They weren't after them,” Kyle said. “Think about it. They're after the people protecting them, but not them. At least, not this time.”

“Seems like it,” Phoebe said. “However, our jobs are to protect the three of you. And Mister Reynolds as well.”

“Where are they, by the way?”

“Waiting for us in the Zoo,” Crawford said. “Reynolds is giving the hackers some directions and Richard and Buchanan are there to ensure that the recording artists you've added to the team don't get into trouble or break something.”

The walkway was impressive. When I looked outside I saw protestors. Managed not to ask what was going on, only because I could see some of the signs. They were protesting that aliens were on the planet and that Martini was in public office.

“People like that,” Evalyne said softly to me, “are part of what we're supposed to protect you from.”

“Who protects the protectors, though? It's a two-way street. If we can protect you, we should.”

She sighed. “We appreciate that sentiment, Kitty. But if you hadn't left in the middle of the night—”

“Eight of your peers might be alive. I know.”

“Kyle's right,” Len said. “Why were they sent to eight different gates? That screams setup to me. And I know it screams setup to all of you, too, Kitty especially.”

People around me stiffened, Evalyne and Phoebe in particular. “Mister Goodman sent them to their locations,” Phoebe said. “To cover all the bases . . .”

This wasn't good. These people weren't stupid, and they were all about to figure out what some of us knew already. But that just meant Goodman was going to catch on and put whatever his Doomsday Plan was into action.

Evalyne looked at me, and then looked at Martini. “Cut the chatter,” she said, using her In Charge voice. “We'll discuss this when we're all at Sydney Base.”

We were across the walkway and in a large room that had what appeared to be a bank of bathroom stalls against one wall, a gigantic, industrial kitchen at the far end, an elevator, two stairwells, and nothing else in it.

“No,” Martini said. “We'll discuss it now.” He jerked his head at Singh. “Search them.”

Singh nodded, pulled out his bug finder, and ran it over every one of the Secret Service agents. “They're all clean. No bugs, no trackers, no emotional blockers or overlays.”

“Great.” Martini took a deep breath. “You all know we feel that we have a Mastermind who's running all the actions against us.” Everyone nodded. “Well, we've determined who that is.”

“Cliff Goodman,” Evalyne said, voice like ice.

Martini nodded. “We think your coworkers were murdered in an attempt to frame Malcolm Buchanan and get him out of the way. It didn't work, but only because we figured out what was going on in time.”

“How could he have done that?” one of the male agents whose name I hadn't been told or hadn't caught asked. “And why?”

“Why?” Singh asked. “Why does anyone betray their country and the people who trust them? Money, power, influence.”

“And more,” Martini said. “Since we've arrived on this planet, people have tried to control us to use us for their own ends, not for the reasons we came here—to protect and help our adopted world.”

Everyone looked at me. No, not at me—at Jamie. I held her a little more tightly. “They want Jamie.” We shouldn't be talking about this in front of her, but I had no idea how to stop this conversation.

Jamie hugged me. “It's okay, Mommy.”

“It's not if one of you is working for Goodman, instead of working for the good of your country,” Singh said.

“No.” Everyone looked at me again. “I don't want people working for the good of their country. I want people around us who are working for what's right and decent. People who don't want a crazed madman to take a little girl and use her in ways I honestly don't even want to imagine. I want those kinds of people around us. You can do a lot of evil under the guise of doing good for your country. We want people around us who won't use those excuses to betray us, kill us, or use us.”

“Kitty's right,” Serene said. “If you're not with us, you're against us. Plain and simple.”

“In other words,” I said, “choose your side.”

“And,” Martini added, “choose it now.”