Текст книги "Alien in the Family"

Автор книги: Gini Koch

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Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 32 страниц)

“Gladys isn’t at the Science Center?”

“No. She was called to NASA Base earlier tonight,” White replied. “She can still monitor it, however.”

I looked at Michael. “I wonder if that’s how the prisoners got out?”

He shook his head. “No idea.” He pulled out his phone and made a call.

White spoke again. “Miss Katt, I do believe this is about succession. I spent some time with Alexander. His brother clearly wants the throne. The ruling king doesn’t agree. Alexander does not want the throne and has already refused it. Therefore, succession must be fought for. They could stall it off before, but now . . .”

“Now the Free Women went nuts and started a galactic war, so things need to be speeded up. Because rulers are dead or dying, and someone strong has to take control.”

“Yes.” White shook his head. “I don’t know why they won’t leave us alone.”

“Because they don’t consider us their equals. We’re their garbage dump. Gregory started them off, somehow. I know it.” Though I had a strong feeling he’d had help, even if Gregory himself didn’t know it.

“I’m sure he did. Alexander feels very responsible.”

“Jeff said he was clean. So to speak.” Another though occurred. “Can I get your cells programmed in?” I had a feeling I’d want to talk to Ericka or Stanley soon.

Ericka put out her hand, and I gave her my phone. “I’m programming in all our numbers, including Abigail’s and Naomi’s. And we’ll make sure every A-C here stays near a human counterpart.” I took my phone back and dropped it in my purse. Thank God for cell phones. Our whole operation would go down without the phone system.

I got a funny feeling in my stomach. “Mom!”

She came over. “I thought you left.”

“Trying to. I need the P.T.C.U. to monitor all the telecommunications industry. I’m betting it’s going to go down, and soon. I have no idea if we can keep it up or not, but whatever system the A-Cs are on has priority. Oh, and keep Richard with you and Dad, please. They’re after him, of course.”

Mom nodded, but Stanley seemed confused. “Why do you think they’re after Richard and not Jeff?”

“Well, they’re after all of us, but Richard’s the king, and they can only win if they take the king. Gotta dash, great meeting you all, hope I see you again and we’re all still alive. If we lose telecommunications, make sure you get the families out of here. The fight will head here, if they can do it, because they know you’re all here.”

Mom looked at me. “This went from bad to worse, didn’t it?”

“Mom, we’ve been at DEFCON Worse for hours. Ericka, Stanley, this is my mother, Angela, just in case you haven’t met. Mom, listen to them and get caught up; they sort of know what’s going on.”

I grabbed Michael, and we ran for the door.

“I’ve talked to Gladys,” Michael told me as we worked our way out of the restaurant. “She cleared all nonagent personnel out of Dulce when she went to Florida. All the human children in your family are there now, including the ones who were here in Vegas with their parents. All other American personnel are spread out at Caliente, East, NASA, or Home Bases; she’s left the other worldwide bases as is, but they’re all on alert. Security seems okay, but they have no idea of how the prisoners escaped, and Gladys feels Security wasn’t infiltrated.”

“What’s her power?”

“Jeff hasn’t told you?”

“If I knew, why would I ask?”

“She’s a combo, dream-reader and empath. And she’s trustworthy.”

“She’s Lucinda and Richard’s sister, isn’t she?”

He laughed. “Yeah. But from his second wife.”

“Can we trust her?”

“Yes, believe me. And the children couldn’t be safer—God help anyone who tries to hurt someone Gladys has under top priority protection.”

“NASA Base is where? The Martini compound?”

“I thought you only asked if you didn’t know.”

“Whatever.”

Michael grinned. “Well, it’s actually connected to the Martini estate, but they can and do function separately.”

“One day, I’ll get this all straight.” Maybe. We reached the others. “Okay, we’re officially at DEFCON Oh My God. Ancient history for any A-C history buffs in attendance. Chuckie, we need to get to the area in New Mexico and Arizona between the peaks. That’s where they’ll be landing.”

He nodded. “Figured. On it. Martini has a floater gate coming; we were just waiting for you.”

“Weapons of all kinds coming in from Home Base,” Martini added. “Issue with jets, though. Need to send the flyboys to Home Base if we want jets.”

I shook my head. “No, they’ll just shoot them out of the air. I think we want to keep our opponents on the ground.” I looked at the other emissaries still with us. “We need to know, right now, if you’re with us or against us.”

“With you.” Queen Renata sounded confused.

I checked out the other’s expressions. “Jeff, what are they feeling?”

“Confusion, baby, just like the rest of us. Alexander, too.”

“Okay . . . Gregory indeed had more going on. He’s started an ancient Alpha Four succession ritual to claim the throne. The Planetary Council are pawns in that, and so are the Amazonian assassins. Problem is, they’re all out, and their reinforcements are coming.”

“Great.” Chuckie sounded as though he was getting a migraine.

“But it should be official Free Women warriors,” Alexander said. “Not any who side with the dissidents.”

“I promise you, we’ve got the crazy ones coming.”

“How do you figure?” Martini asked.

“Because I think this has been planned for a long time, much longer than anyone from the Planetary Council here realizes.”

“Great.” Chuckie sounded as if the migraine was getting worse.

“It’ll get better. Assume they’ll knock out telecommunications first. We’re extremely reliant on it, and Gregory knows that now. Everything going on so far has been a part of the succession test, triggered because we’re getting married.”

“Great.” Martini was joining Chuckie in Migraine Land.

“They’ll want to take out Richard. He’s here, and my parents and others will be staying with him.”

“Why my father?” Christopher sounded angry and afraid. I could relate.

“Because he’s the head of your religion. If Jeff wins, they will want to force him to go back to Alpha Four. Richard, as the religious leader, would be able to support Jeff staying here. Without him, your entire race crumbles. At least in their minds.”

I looked to Gower. “Paul, I need to talk to ACE.” It was time to confirm what I was pretty sure Gower and I both already knew.

He nodded and twitched. “Yes, Kitty, ACE is here.”

“The sentient net from the Free Women planet is on its way, isn’t it? That’s who you meant when you said ‘she’ was evil. Not Moira or even Kyrellis, but your godlike counterpart, who considers itself female.”

“Yes, Kitty.” ACE sounded both relieved and scared. “ACE wanted Moira to stay unaware so Moira could not bring Moira’s God to us any faster.”

“It’s not a god, ACE, any more than you are.”

“She is freer than ACE. And more ruthless.”

“We’ll handle it, ACE.”

“ACE will help. ACE will have to.” I heard the fear.

“You’ll handle it, too. We won’t let them destroy you, either, ACE. I told you that—I won’t desert you, ever.”

Alexander cleared his throat. “I know the succession ritual you’re speaking of. But we haven’t practiced that for centuries, millennia, even.”

“But they’re still available for use. And your king is hurt and dying. And you refused the crown, and he knows Gregory is unfit. So . . . he said yes, in the hope that we’d handle his problems for him. Just like always.”

“Gate’s here, baby. Using a big one, so we can all pretty much go through together.”

“Okay, Chuckie and Christopher first, you and me last. Everyone else, remember that the humans must have an A-C near them or there’s a good chance they’ll be dead fast. Tito, Planetary Council members, Alexander—welcome to what it’s like with us. Now’s the time to back out and stay with our families. We won’t hate you, as long as you help protect the people we love. Everyone else, you’ve all been here before—let’s remember that this is our world, not theirs.”

Everyone nodded. “Don’t dawdle,” Christopher said to Martini and me. It was almost a ritual now, and I managed to laugh.

Chuckie and Christopher went through, then the rest of our fighting force, including Tito and the others. No one hesitated. No one but me.

Martini pulled me into his arms. “You okay with getting married this weekend?”

“It’ll give me something to live for.”

“Yeah.” He held me tightly. “You’re the human I’m staying near, you know.”

I shook my head. “The power pieces don’t get that luxury, Jeff. We’re lucky we have a lot of extra pawns. But they’re gunning for the power pieces.”

“Maybe so. But a knight’s job is to protect his queen.” Martini bent and kissed me. It was slow, deep, and sensuous and I never wanted it to end. But it did. Everything ended, after all.

Martini stroked my face. Then he lifted me up into his arms, I buried my face in his neck, and we walked through the gate and toward the things trying to kill us.

CHAPTER 48

WE EXITED THE GATE IN THE MIDDLE of the desert. It was the end of April, but it was still cold at night, and I was glad I had Martini’s jacket on. He put me down, and the idea of changing out of four-inch heels seemed like a smart one—too bad it hadn’t occurred to me before we’d gotten here.

We were lucky—the moon was full. We had a plethora of weapons with us, but I didn’t think they were going to matter, or help.

“Okay, we’re here. Early, hopefully. So, what’s going on?” Chuckie was looking around while my flyboys handed out weapons to everyone. “You know, we’re out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night with an invisible gate for an exit. Was this wise?”

“No. But they’re going to be here shortly.”

“We still have hours,” Kevin protested.

“No. We are supposed to think we still have hours. They knew we’d intercept the communication. They’ll be here soon. What time did the light show start up?”

“Midnight. On the dot.” Chuckie sighed. “Okay, so that’s when they’ll show again, right?”

“Right. I need our Animal Planet helpers.”

“You are lucky Charles explained your sense of humor,” Willem said, as he and the others came closer to me. “We could call you naked apes, you know.” All of them were back to their normal, unaltered forms.

“Go for it. Like I’d care? We need you guys to move your ships. They’re gonna get smooshed if you don’t, and we have to have an escape plan.”

Willem barked an order. Literally, he barked. Wahoa barked back, then she and Wrolph took off toward Chiricahua. It was miles and miles away, but I got the impression they’d be back soon.

Felicia and Arup nodded. “We will be back as well.” They ran off, but toward Animas.

“So, Iguanodon? What’s the status for your ship?”

Neeraj smiled. I was impressed. It was both scary and nice at the same time. I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to see it again. “We do not need to be in our ship to fly it.” He and Jareen did something funky between them, and I felt a very large thing fly over us. “Our ship is near. Would you like it uncloaked?”

“Can the Alpha Four folks see it through the cloak?”

“Yes.”

“Then uncloak away.”

They did. It looked a little like a lizard with wings. “Wow, did the folks who created Star Trek hang with you guys?”

“I’m sorry,” Neeraj said. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“No worries. Few ever do.”

“Would you like the lights on?”

“Sure, as long as we can turn them off right away if we have to.” Neeraj nodded, and we were bathed in light. Something resembling a cat’s paw and a dog’s head landed on either side of the Flying Lizard. They put on their brights, too. “You know, why is it humans make rockets that look like bullets, but all of you imitated yourselves?”

“No idea,” Neeraj said. “You think strangely.”

“Yeah. I think right, too.” I thought about this. “I think I know what ACE’s counterpart is going to be doing.”

“Can’t wait to find out,” Martini said. “You going to share anything or just keep the rest of us in suspense until we die?”

“Boy, are you testy tonight. Feeding you was the wrong idea, I guess.”

He shook his head. “I was happier with the toasts coming than this, I can say that.”

“Me too. Okay, fine, let’s break it down.” I took a deep breath. “This is all a chess game. Accept that, and it becomes easier to understand. We’re playing chess for the same reasons that someone would challenge Death to a match—it’s the only shot we have.”

“Kitty, that was amazingly unclear, even for you.” Tim was next to Reader. “You need some tunes or something?”

“Yes, but not just now. Look, chess, everyone know the game I’m talking about?” Most of the heads nodded. Chuckie spoke quickly and quietly to the heads that didn’t nod, and I continued. “Okay, it’s a game of strategy, of intellect. And in order to win, you have to be cagey. It’s rare to win a chess game by just barreling toward the other side’s king. You have to create action on all parts of the board, so your opponent is distracted from your true main gambit.”

“Is the main objective finding a new king for Alpha Four?” Chuckie asked me.

“No. Though even Gregory thinks it is. But he’s not actually the one moving the pieces on his side of the board.”

“Who is?” Martini asked me quietly.

“The person with the most to gain and lose.” I looked at Alexander. “How long ago was the king of Alpha Four hurt?”

“Months,” Alexander said promptly.

“And he’s Jeff’s grandfather, so he’s older than Alfred, so he’s in, what, his seventies or eighties?”

“Older,” Alexander admitted.

“Wow. An old man in his nineties is attacked by the Amazonian Assassin Squad, and he’s still managing to hang on to life. Amazing will.”

Martini cursed. “You are kidding me!”

“I wish, Jeff. Just think what you’d all be like if you were still on the home world.”

“We’d suck.” Christopher’s voice was shaking with rage. “That’s why he wants my father dead.”

“Yes, because the one person who could actually come back with the authority to lead thousands isn’t really Jeff or you . . . it’s the religious leader who’s been doing it in exile for decades. Richard is the one who leads the hearts and minds of the entire A-C population, including the hearts and minds of the people in charge of all operations.”

“So the king isn’t hurt all that badly?” Kevin sounded suspicious.

“No, and it’s obvious now.” Chuckie’s tone was one I was very familiar with. He was in full-on Conspiracy Mode. “But, the question is, who does the king want as a successor?”

“No one.”

Everyone looked at me. The spaceship floodlights made it really clear that everyone, even Chuckie, thought I was nuts.

I sighed. “Guys, I’d like everyone to meet Paul Gower. Paul, come next to me, please.” He did, while giving me the crazy girl look. “Folks, what’s the most unusual thing about Paul?”

“Oh, God, tell me you’re wrong.” Reader looked freaked. Finally, someone else got it.

“I’m not wrong.”

“Kitty, James. Answers, now.” Martini was growling and in full Commander Mode.

“Jeff, I birthed ACE into Paul six months ago. Paul’s suffered no ill effects. Neither has ACE. But I’ll bet that if we bothered to check, Paul’s longevity has been increased. Also, ACE is part of our world and so thinks more like we do. More to the point, he’s joined with a group who are, truthfully, pacifistic at their core. But the other PPB net was around the most warlike, angry world out there. We assumed it became sentient and aware and took on the anger of the world it surrounded.”

“But it didn’t, did it?” Reader asked. “Because the plan is to get rid of all the potential heirs to the throne here and now.”

“Well, the net is angry, but it’s more than that. I’m fairly sure it’s being controlled, not doing the controlling, at least, not all of it.”

“Who could control the net?” Alexander asked. “They’re created to stand alone and do what they’re programmed to do.”

“But they’re sentient, and a sentient being can always change its mind. Plus, the person who created the net could always find a way to control it, or create a fail-safe. Or merely program the net to obey at the right time.” Paul and I could control ACE, to a degree, anyway, but I didn’t share that out loud.

Instead I looked around at all the emissaries. “The plan is to get rid of all the other planetary leaders. And to do that, there needed to be an assassination squad. There were plenty of the best warriors around, in captivity on Beta Twelve. That’s why I know it’s the rest of Kyrellis’ crew who’re coming on that ship—it’s what they were created for, why their net talked to them specifically and told them what to do and who to listen to. The king of Alpha Four will join with the PPB consciousness from Queen Renata’s world and rule everyone, in both the A-C and Earth solar systems . . . potentially forever.”

Everyone looked horrified and a little ill. No one from the A-C solar system, however, looked all that surprised. From all we’d heard, this was business as usual for Alpha Four.

I looked at Chuckie. “So Earth has the most to lose, and the king of Alpha Four has the most to gain. Everything else, as always, was an elaborate ruse to keep us distracted from the real goal and what’s really coming.”

“I’m so proud,” Chuckie said with a small smile. “All those years, you really were paying attention.”

“To everything you ever said, yeah.” I looked back to Alexander. “I forgot to ask and you’ve never said—what’s Jeff’s good ol’ granddad’s name?”

“In your language, my great-uncle’s name would translate to Adolphus.”

I was quiet for a moment. “Wow. That’s so fitting it’s scary.”

“So, why was Reynolds’ room bugged?” Christopher asked me.

“Hitler’s royal A-C counterpart and the PPB net haven’t joined yet. I think Kitler wants to be sure he’s got a great story for the rest of the solar system’s inhabitants. You know, something like ‘Earth killed all your leaders and diplomats and all the heirs to my throne, so for the good of us all, I’m going to get some superpowers and fix everything.’ So, I assume he wanted to know if we’d figured it out or not as well as keep tabs on us.”

“Kitler?” Neeraj asked. “Who is that?”

“Adolphus . . . Hitler . . . King Hitler . . . put them together, it’s Kitler, also known as our Supreme Bad Guy?”

“Oh. This is more of your humor.” Neeraj didn’t seem amused.

“So to speak,” Chuckie added.

“So the Planetary Council is also a target?” Queen Renata asked, possibly to change the subject.

“You are, Renata. The rest of the gang are all identified as being close to their world leaders, so assume every member of the Planetary Council with us is in danger. Kitler’s agents here on Earth set off the laser light show not to announce a royal wedding but to set Gregory off and into motion. Alexander doing the Royal Messenger thing on the home world helped them, which is why Alexander is still alive. Oh, I’d guess Uma’s in with the Reigning Megalomaniac. The PPB has to filter through a woman to go wherever it’s going to end up, plus someone has to be feeding Gregory ideas. She was too good about focusing all of us on the protocols issue—you will refer to him as My Royal Lord my ass, sort of thing.”

“Uma is the sister of Alpha Six’s ruler.” Queen Renata sounded ill, and angry. “They murdered my mother for this insanity.”

“Babe, they’re just upset they didn’t murder you, too. Your dissidents do think they’re talking to God, though. I’ve seen the fanaticism up close and personal, and it’s real. I’ve also talked to ACE in my head, and if I didn’t know what ACE was, I wouldn’t have a hard time believing I was talking to God.”

“Especially if ACE said he was God,” Gower added dryly.

“So this has been planned for a year?” Alexander asked. “Because the first announcement lights went off a year ago.”

“Alex, you don’t plan to take over all the sentient inhabitants of two solar systems on a whim. This is a complex plan. His Royal Megalomaniacness has been planning it for years, maybe before you were born. I mean, why don’t you want to rule?”

He shrugged. “My great-uncle spent much time telling me how onerous it was, how thankless.” I saw the light dawn. “He talked me out of it, didn’t he?”

“Yes. Welcome to the team, big guy. We’ll do the blood oath and pinkie swear rituals later, but trust me when I say you come from really nasty stock. They must hate you—you’re a lot more like Jeff and Christopher than your own brother.”

He nodded. “I’ve heard that I wasn’t like the rest of the family most of my life.”

“You know, we need to protect Alexander, Martini, White, and Gower, but Reader is still going to be target number one,” Chuckie said calmly.

“Why?” Reader asked, but so did a lot of the others. It was like we had our own echo even though we weren’t in a canyon.

“Because Paul and Kitty both love you, and ACE is in Paul and worships Kitty.” Martini’s voice was clipped. “And anyone spying on us would know that. That’s why you were the target in the first place, James. To cause emotional trauma, to remove the person they both rely on. To ensure that ACE had to deal with that kind of loss and horror alone—because the two people who could best talk ACE through it would be out of their minds with grief.” He looked at me. “I hate my family.”

“Not the family here, Jeff.”

“True.”

“Sins of the father,” Brian said softly.

“Will be delivered like unto the fourth generation.” I didn’t go to temple much or mass ever, but I knew the Bible. “Yeah. Jeff and Christopher are the fourth. It ends here. Tonight. One way or the other.”