Universal Alien (46 page)

T
URNED OUT
Cantu was coming with us to Australia, ostensibly to ensure that our setup would work and that he could have half his team across the world.

At first I thought it was because he didn't trust us, or wanted to get me onto the team as well or something. Then I realized it was because Caroline had taken vacation time, with Senator McMillan's blessing, so that she could come with us to recover from the “fun” few days we'd had. It was clear Cantu was smitten with her—not that I could blame him. But what shocked me was that Caroline seemed receptive. Well, he was handsome, and brave, and it couldn't hurt to have my BFF keeping an eye on Chuckie's boss.

Cox handled the piloting and Reader copiloted. Would have worried that Reader felt slighted, but he and Cox were getting along great. Wasn't sure if it was the start of a bromance or a romance, but either way, they were having fun hanging out together.

The flight was a long one, and I wasn't used to long flights any more. Though the Reynolds Family Jet was definitely the way to go. It put the A-C's jets to shame in the comfort and sleekness departments.

Slept some, played with the kids, played cards with Dad, Aunt Carla, and Alfred, ensured Stripes and Harlie were okay, and let Pierre fuss over all of us. Wondered if this was going to be my life now. If I could stop missing Jeff, my Jamie, Mom, and everyone else, it would be great here. But I couldn't.

Stryker Dane was waiting for us at the airport. At least, Chuckie insisted it was Stryker, and he greeted me like we'd known each other forever, so I accepted that this well-groomed, well-dressed, fit, confident guy was really the Stryker Dane I knew.

“You're back in time for the concert after all,” he said as we piled into two stretch limos. “I didn't get rid of the tickets, just in case.”

“Concert?”

“Amadhia,” Chuckie said quickly. “Your favorite female recording artist.”

Managed not to say that I'd never heard of her. “Oh, great! When is it?”

“Ah, tomorrow night. All ages. Whole family was planning to go to celebrate my being here on book tour. Well,” Stryker looked around, “the whole family you went to the States with. The new additions may have to pass on the event.”

“Kitty hit her head,” Chuckie explained to Stryker. “She's having some memory issues.”

“Oh, I'm sorry, kiddo.” Stryker hugged me and kissed my forehead. “Don't worry, you'll remember her when you hear her. Voice of an angel, that's what you always say.”

Stryker took meeting Uncle Alfred in stride, shared that it was about damn time we'd gotten the kids a pet, and generally acted exactly like you want the friend picking you up from the airport to act. Seriously had trouble associating this person with the Eddy Simms I knew.

The Reynolds home was fantastic. If the home in Colonial Village had been large and lovely, their home in Darling Point proved that things were indeed better Down Under. Managed not to say I was impressed with the house, grounds, and furnishings because I knew without asking that Other Me had chosen them.

We had almost no luggage, seeing as everything the family owned in the States had been blown up, cars included, and we hadn't overshopped during the few days of freedom the government had given us. Talk about starting over. There. Here, the place was furnished and closets filled as if no one had ever left.

Thankfully, Pierre showed everyone to their guest rooms, of which this house had plenty, while the kids scampered to their rooms. I followed the kids. Charlie and Max's room was similar to the one they'd had in America—still loaded with science, sports, and Lego stuff.

Jamie's room was almost an exact replica of her room in America. Complete with a three-way mirror. She raced to it and plopped right down in front of it, Stripes in her lap. My heart sank. She'd been so normal, as Chuckie had said. And now, this again.

But I went over to her, sat down behind her, and put her and the cat into my lap. “What do you see?” I asked softly.

She heaved a sigh of relief. “Everything.” She smiled at me in the mirror. “It's going to be okay, Mommy. I promise.”

I hugged her. “I know. But . . . you need to promise me something else.”

“What?”

“You need to not spend all your time in front of these mirrors. I know that you saved everyone by bringing me here and sending your Other Mommy to my world. But your family needs you. Daddy needs to see his little girl smile at him. Your brothers need to be able to tease their little sister, and you need to be able to drive them crazy. For some kids, they can never have those things—it's not their choice, it's just how their brains are wired. But your brain isn't wired like that.”

She shook her head. “But the other mes need me.”

“I know they do. But you know what?”

“What?”

“You don't have to do it all. And you shouldn't do it all. If you can do it, then the others can do it, too. Maybe, one hour a week, you look in your mirrors. Make sure everyone's okay. But that's all.”

“But what if they need me when I'm not looking?”

Hugged her again. “Baby, your family needs you all the time. They need you looking at
them
. Papa Sol needs you to keep him from missing Nana Angela so badly. Uncle Alfred needs you to remind him that in another world, you're his granddaughter. Aunt Carla needs you to remind everyone why we love her. And your Other Mommy needs you, so much, to be the little girl she gets to dote on. I know she wants to, and I know she hasn't been able to. Doesn't she deserve that?”

Jamie nodded. “But what if something happens when I'm not watching?”

“Then I'll handle it. Somehow. Just like I did here. Okay?”

“You promise?” She was looking at me in the mirror still.

Looked right back. “I promise.”

“What if the only way I can send you back is if I look in the mirrors all the time?”

The hard question. The question I knew was coming as soon as I saw the mirrors, if I was honest with myself.

Took a deep breath and sent an apology to the cosmos. “Then I stay here. You're more important—you having a good life, as normal a life as someone as smart and wonderful as you are can have, is the most important thing to me. In every universe, you're my daughter, and in every universe I love you and want only the best for you. And if that means I can't go home to my universe, but you'll have a better life because of it? Then I'll stay here. Because that's what mothers who love their children do—they sacrifice for those children. And one day, when you have children of your own, you'll know exactly why I'm saying this.”

Jamie smiled. “Then it will all be okay, Mommy.”

She put Stripes down, got up, kissed me, picked Stripes up, and trotted out of the room.

“Okay,” I said to myself in the mirror. Stared at myself for a while. And then I could see her. Not me, not Jamie—Naomi. Both in front of me and somehow also in the reflection of every one of the multiverse images. As I'd known her, not as a superconsciousness, but as the beautiful Dazzler with ebony skin, kind eyes, and a smile that reminded me of Jeff's and Alfred's.

“We miss you,” I said softly to the images in the mirror. “I know you can't come back. I wish you could. But thank you for watching over Jamie and Chuckie wherever and everywhere they are.”

She smiled at me and blew me a kiss. Same smile, same kiss, repeated at the same time all over the multiverse. Then the mirrors went back to normal, and all I saw was me.

It wasn't an answer, but I felt a little better. No matter what, no matter where, Naomi was watching and doing what she could to protect those she loved. I got up and followed Jamie out of the room.

Met Chuckie in the hall. “Is Jamie—”

“We talked. She's going to look in her mirrors one hour a week. We'll want to police that. But she seemed to accept it.”

“Did she . . . say if you could go home?”

I could tell him, tell him what I'd told her, tell him who I'd seen and what it might mean. But why?

“She isn't sure.” Leaned up and kissed his cheek. “It'll be fine. One way or the other.”

W
E'D BEEN IN AUSTRALIA
for a good week, and I was still
in
Australia. Of course, I had no idea where in the world my Cosmic Alternate actually was, nor did I have any idea if we had to be in the exact same place at the exact same time in order to switch back. Refused to consider the idea that she or my Jamie were dead, and didn't allow Martini to bring it up, either.

On the plus side, we'd had a nice time seeing all the sights, including the Taronga Zoo, which Jamie loved. Martini and I were doing fine with the public displays of walking around holding hands, with our arms around each other, or nuzzling. Sure, the nuzzling was more about passing along information than smooching, but the average person on the street was fooled.

We'd also had a lot of political mover and shaker meetings, as Margie had promised. They were okay. The hardest part was pretending I didn't know people I'd been friends, frenemies, or enemies with for years. But I smiled and nodded and it seemed to do the trick.

I'd also spent a lot of time with my parents, Mom in particular. “When you get back, I want you to give your father a message,” she said when it was just her and me alone. “Tell him that I love him throughout the multiverse, but if I'm gone, he needs to find someone else who makes him happy.”

“I'll try, Mom, but I don't know if he'll listen.”

Mom stroked my cheek. “He will. Now.”

“Do you think I'm going to go back or stay here?”

“Honestly? I don't know, kitten.” She pulled me to her and hugged me tight. “But I love you in all the multiverse, too. You are my precious one and I'm proud of you every single moment of every single day. Don't ever forget that, for the rest of your life, whether you're here or there.”

We hugged for what seemed like a long time. But it wasn't nearly long enough.

I'd also written out what had gone on, as much as I could, in the hopes that it would help my CA. And in the additional hopes that my CA would see them because we'd be back in our own worlds someday soon. Wrote notes for Jamie and Martini and Charles as well. And for Mom and Dad. And I spent a lot of time with Gershom. Had no idea what happened to a Poof when the person who named it disappeared. Maybe it would just be attached to my CA. Hoped that whatever happened, the Poof would be okay.

The night for Aaron and Amadhia's concert finally arrived. They'd been practicing all week and this was the last day we were going to be in Australia; Martini was needed back in the States, in part so it didn't seem like the VP was spending all his time hanging out and having fun.

It seemed mighty fast to get a venue and all the other things necessary to a live show set up and going in a week, but apparently when the PM wanted a thing done, that thing happened. At least if it was a concert to celebrate what great pals the U.S. and Australia were while raising money for charity at the same time. And it wasn't the largest venue, so that might have had something to do with the speedy setup.

The Operations Team had my clothes ready for me—jeans, Converse, an Aerosmith hoodie, and an Amadhia shirt, hot off whatever presses were used to make concert T-shirts. Charles had had shirts made with just Amadhia, just Aaron, and both of them. “Thanks for the clothing choices and all your help,” I said to the hamper.

Jamie was being allowed to come along, since all her babysitters were going to the concert, too. The humans who weren't Centaurion agents were dressed casually. Everyone else, Martini in particular, were in their suits.

We headed to the Big Top Auditorium. Amadhia and Aaron were already there—I'd already told both of them to break a leg hours earlier.

Our entourage made up a good portion of the attendees, but much of the political hoi polloi were in attendance as well, since this was a benefit concert to support those injured during or at cricket matches—the way we'd turned the whole incident at the stadium into a positive joke.

There were the usual opening speeches any kind of fundraiser seems required to have, and then the music started. They opened with the Australian national anthem, and then the Star Spangled Banner.

“Want to dance?” Martini asked me. “When the real music starts, I mean?”

“Sure.” Hugged Jamie and gave her to Mom, then gave my purse to Dad. “We're going to get up a little closer.”

Mom laughed. “I'm so shocked.”

Martini took my hand and as we got up nearer to the stage, Amadhia spoke. “I want to dedicate this to Kitty, for making our dreams come true.” I heard the first notes and realized this was the first song I'd ever heard the Amadhia in this world singing—“Heartbreak Beat.”

Couldn't help it—I squealed. Martini laughed and kissed my cheek. “Enjoy this. You more than earned it.”

Listened to her sing the lyrics, and really heard them, as I danced along next to Martini. Couldn't help myself—I sang along, too. Well, that's what you did at concerts.

Started to twirl with the chorus, and as I did, I felt something.

As if I was floating away.