Alien Proliferation

by Gini Koch

  “Will that mean it’s a problem if Jeff or Serene ever need blood?” Now I was worried and Jamie started to fuss.

  Jeff managed a grin as he took her from me. “Jamie-Kat doesn’t like it when Mommy’s worried, either.”

  “No idea yet,” Tito replied to my question. “That’s a better question for one of the A-C gals. I’ve been kind of focused on human medical for some reason.”

  “Sarcasm is an ugly trait in a doctor.”

  “Only if you can spot it.” Tito grinned. “Anyway, on the positive side, you’re literally ready for action.”

  “Not that I’m allowing you to get into any,” Jeff said quickly.

  “Whatever. So, what’s the thinking here? Jeff was altered, so Jamie was affected? And somehow she did, what, the mother and child version of feedback?”

  “I’d assume so.” Chuckie was staring at me, but I got the feeling I was being studied, versus checked out.

  “What?” Jeff must have felt the same thing from him, because he wasn’t snarling at Chuckie.

  “Was she always fast enough to knock me on my butt?”

  “I’m not without the skills, as I have to constantly remind all of you.”

  “My guess would be no,” Reader said. I gave him a betrayed look. “Your skills are great, girlfriend. They’re also not conventional.”

  Jeff handed Jamie to Reader. “Spar with me.”

  “Uh, no, you kick my butt every time.”

  “I’ll be nice, like always.”

  “Humph.” Decided to humor them and started fake-fighting with Jeff. Actually landed a couple of hits, but not too many. Could dodge or block most of his, which was nice. Not that he ever hit me with any kind of force, but I liked showing some kind of improvement.

  He left himself open, and I landed a hit to his stomach at full force. Jeff went down. “Oh, my God, are you okay? Did I hurt you?” I was on the floor next to him, holding his upper body. “Jeff, are you okay?”

  “Uhhh . . . yeah.” He patted me. “I’m fine, baby. You just knocked the wind out of me.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. You just left yourself open.”

  “Yeah.” Jeff got to his feet and pulled me up. He hugged me to him. His hearts were pounding. “So, Reynolds, in answer to your question—no, she wasn’t that fast, or strong, before.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Jeff was still holding me tightly. “I wasn’t at full hyperspeed, baby, but I was going fast enough that normally you wouldn’t have been able to block me, let alone hit me.”

  “I never thought I’d be able to say this, but I’m shocked out of my mind.” Chuckie sounded ready to lose it.

  “Oh, come on. I don’t have two hearts or two heads.” I pulled out of Jeff’s arms. “You’re both overreacting.”

  “No, they’re not,” Melanie said as she and Emily came back. “Your blood’s changed.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how to say this, but, Kitty? You’re not fully human any more.”

  CHAPTER 29

  LET THAT ONE SIT on the air for a moment. “So, you’re saying . . . what?”

  “You have A-C regenerative powers, and you’re gaining speed and strength. No idea of what else yet.” Tito was reading the results from Melanie’s clipboard. “Standard recovery for an A-C female after pregnancy, by the way. Interesting.”

  He pulled his stethoscope out of his scrub pocket and took a listen. “But still only a single human heart. So she’s not an A-C, just gained some of the abilities.”

  Melanie nodded. “Her blood is different, so is Jamie’s. So is Jeff’s, but we already knew that. Comparing to the Gowers’ now, and Serene’s.”

  Everyone, to a person, looked freaked out. “So, let me get this straight. I get hurt, I’m going to recover right away?” Heads nodded. “And I’m catching up to the A-Cs in the speed department?” More nods. “And I’m getting su-perstrong?” Nods again.

  Considered all my reaction options. Wow, they were all the same.

  “Oh, my God, are you kidding me? Are you serious?” I started jumping up and down. “This is the GREATEST! I’m Wolverine with boobs! I’m Wolverine with boobs! This is like the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me.” Looked at Jeff’s expression. “Um, well, other than marrying Jeff and having Jamie. But right after that.”

  “Stop jumping, it’s giving me whiplash.” Jeff shook his head. “Only my girl. You’re thrilled? The rest of us are ready to have hysterics, and you’re excited by this?”

  “Uh, comics geek-girl, remember? Hell, yes, I’m excited about it! I have my body back, and I didn’t have to diet or exercise or anything. Name a woman who wouldn’t be thrilled with that alone.” This totally made up for the almost dying thing. Figured I shouldn’t say that aloud, though. Wanted to continue to jump for joy. Since I’d been ordered not to jump, however, did the happy dance instead.

  “You’re doing the Purina Cat Chow dance.” Reader started to crack up.

  “Chow, chow, chow! I’m a super! I’m a super! God . . . who can I tell? Where’re Lorraine and Claudia? And I gotta get a message to Jareen and Queen Renata and Felicia and Wahoa! They’ll be excited for me!” My girlfriends from the Alpha Centauri system were all kick-butt types. Sure, Jareen was a Giant Lizard, Felicia was a Cat Person, Wahoa was a Major Doggie, and Queen Renata was the head of the Amazons, but they were still among my best friends ever.

  “You know, I feel somewhat responsible for her reaction.” Chuckie sounded like he was still wavering between amused and freaked out.

  “Dude, you cannot stand there and tell me this isn’t the coolest thing in the world! I mean, wow. I have superpowers. And I’m not evil or some horrible parasite host. I can kick serious butt now.” Looked at Jeff. “I wonder if I can still drive and fly.”

  “Can’t wait to find out.” Jeff sounded like he could wait.

  “You’re not walking or talking faster. Maybe you’ll be able to do both.” Reader was starting to sound like this was no longer freaking him. “I wonder if it’ll work that way for the human men, like Brian.”

  “Doubt it.” Tito was still looking at my chart. “They aren’t carrying the babies. I’m pretty sure the father’s sperm were altered like the rest of him, which created the embryo and therefore mutated it. In the eight-plus months to go from embryo to fetus to baby, blood, and possibly cells, from the fetus clearly mingled with the mother’s, which then created the mutation in the mother once the umbilical cord was severed. Of course, we’ll want to run more tests.” Emily and Melanie both nodded emphatically.

  “How charming. Tito, could you have possibly made that any more clinical, gross, or weird if you’d tried?”

  He shook his head, still engrossed in my chart. “Sorry, just fascinating stuff.” He looked up and grinned at me. “You were right—I’d never have learned these kinds of things at a regular hospital.”

  “So happy it’s all working out for you. We are rather attached to you by now. So, no worries about my torpedoes suddenly not working?” About the only downside I could see was if I wasn’t going to be able to breastfeed Jamie. I liked it, a lot, and I knew it was good for her. And Jeff still loved watching it, too.

  “No, at least, if you’re now following standard A-C reactions,” Emily said. “You should be able to breastfeed as long as you want. I recommend stopping between six months and a year, but it’ll depend on how fast Jamie’s developing.”

  “Do A-C babies grow faster than human ones?” And, if so, why hadn’t anyone mentioned that in the last eight months?

  “Not so much, no. But the double hearts do speed some things up. Teeth and such, as an example. Trust me,” Melanie said with a grin, “you do not want to be breastfeeding when the teeth arrive.”

  I could easily imagine. “Good point. Noted.” I was so excited I couldn’t keep still. I was sort of bouncing.

  “Baby, the whiplash, it’s bad for me. Stand still.”

  Heaved a sigh. “Fine.” Stood still. Excitement didn�
�t go away. “Wonder how my parents are going to take the news.”

  “Take what news?” My dad’s voice came from the doorway. “What’s going on?” He went over to Reader and took Jamie. She woke up, cooed at him, and went back to sleep. “Oh, my little Jamie-Kat knows her Papa Sol, doesn’t she?”

  I watched my dad cuddle Jamie. He looked so happy and so did she, at least, as much as a newborn could. I was enjoying watching them so much I forgot what we’d been talking about.

  Dad hadn’t. He looked over. “Kitten? You had news for me and your mother?”

  Jeff cleared his throat. “Yeah, Reynolds is still refusing to let us out of the compound to get a damned bassinet.”

  Chuckie blinked, but he went right into his part of this act. “Yeah, it’s dangerous. I don’t want to risk anyone, Sol, especially Kitty, who wants to go baby shopping.”

  Dad shook his head. “Charles is right. We need to stay hunkered down. They can’t hurt anyone that way. Poor Sheila! Those goons had knives to her children’s throats. Naomi and Abigail had to alter their memories, it was that traumatic for them.”

  I took a deep breath. Jeff and Chuckie both gave me looks that shouted “shut up.” Let the breath out. Geez. I was excited, not stupid. “Dad, what does Sheila think’s going on? I haven’t seen her yet.”

  He shook his head. “Not what I would have liked. We can’t afford to have them forget the incident, because they may have information we need that they’re not remembering, may be able to identify one of this network, and so on. So the girls took the fear of the event away from them. They remember it, but more like it was a movie they watched as opposed to an experience they lived.”

  “Sounds like a decent compromise.”

  “So live without a bassinet for a bit longer, kitten. Where is my little angel here sleeping anyway?”

  Jeff and I looked at each other. Felt every eye in the room on us. “Ummm . . .”

  “She’s not in a Poof bed, is she?” Dad sounded horrified.

  “Oh, no. Not at all.” Jeff was able to answer that one with a cheery smile, because it was true.

  “So, where is she sleeping?” Tito sounded like he was readying to go into Clinical Doctor From Hell mode again.

  “Sleeps like an angel.” Shot them the bright smile.

  Tito looked at Jeff. “Where?”

  Jeff looked at me. “Uh . . .”

  “As the baby’s doctor, I want to know where she’s sleeping. And I want to know now.”

  Reader snorted. “How hard is this to guess? They have no bassinet, they have no cradle, they have no crib. Oh, girlfriend? I have you registered now. As soon as someone can get out of lockdown, some of this’ll be handled.”

  “You’re a god, James.”

  “True. Anyway, while Kitty might consider a Poof bed, Jeff wouldn’t. They’re not putting her on the floor, on the couch, or in the tub. Where the hell do you people think that baby’s sleeping?”

  Everyone gave him a blank look. Gee, nice to know they thought we were total morons.

  Reader sighed. “She’s sleeping in bed with them. And, no, I’m not sleeping in there with them. It’s just really obvious. Why the hell do you think every other word out of Kitty’s mouth is ‘bassinet’?” That was Reader—gorgeous and brilliant.

  Tito, Emily, Melanie, and my father all started in on the lecture about how it wasn’t good for the parents to have the baby in bed with them. Reader looked at me and rolled his eyes. Jeff was muttering under his breath.

  “Jesus, fine, fine.” Chuckie sounded disgusted. “Far be it for me to actually consider the safety and well-being of people marked for death. Go ahead, shop away. Take the whole family with you, particularly the elderly and little children, since they can’t run away from danger as fast. Make it a fun-filled holiday extravaganza. Possibly you won’t be killed, maimed, hurt, kidnapped, traumatized, or terrorized. You know, it could happen.”

  Dad shook his head. “No, Charles, you’re right. We shouldn’t go out.” He cocked his head and turned to Reader. “James, the registry—did you do it online?”

  “Of course. I’m in the lockdown too.”

  “All from one store?”

  “Mostly.”

  Dad looked at me. “You and Jeff want to check the registry first?”

  We both snorted. “Uh, Dad? We’ve been arguing about what stroller to choose for three months.”

  “And that’s the only thing they’d looked at.” Reader sounded brisk, back to Drill Sergeant mode, just as he’d been for our wedding. “No, the registry goes as is. If I’ve somehow missed something, which I doubt, we can get it later.”

  “Fine, fine. So, Jeff, most of us didn’t get to bring laptops along, and the few that were brought were confiscated, along with everyone’s smart phones and handhelds.”

  “Why?” No one had ever confiscated anything of mine, other than to test it for bugs and bombs.

  Chuckie heaved a sigh. “We’re under the highest threat levels. This is a standard protocol, so no one can, say, send a text to their friends to let them know where they are, alert them to impending danger, give away our position, and so on.”

  “You know, like we did with you when you joined up, girlfriend,” Reader added. Memory dragged itself up from its latest nap and reminded me that the only reason they hadn’t taken my phone when I’d first run into Alpha Team was because Jeff couldn’t find it in my purse.

  Dad nodded. “Your mother gave the order, kitten. However, that means no one has any means of doing anything externally. So, are there any computers we can use?”

  Jeff shrugged. “Library’s got the most. Why?”

  Dad handed Jamie to me. Leaned her up against my shoulder, she snuggled into my neck. Thankfully, this was just cuddly. Nice to know that Jamie and the Poofs could do what they wanted on my neck and it wasn’t any kind of issue.

  My father was on his phone. “Important things finally in motion. Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. Don’t faint. Yeah. Yes, head everyone to the library. I’m sure someone knows where it is. Yes, James has them registered. Who else? Yes, he’s a godsend, I agree. Not sure, I’ll bring him with me. I imagine it’ll take you a while to get everyone rounded up and down there. Yes, we’ll call them after James gives us all the information. Right, I’ll call him next. No, I think he’ll think it’s funny, sort of fitting for them at this time of year anyway. See you shortly. Love you, too.”

  “Dad, what did you just tell Mom to do?”

  Dad chuckled. “If the baby cannot go to the shower, the shower will come to the baby. The Internet’s a wonderful thing. You kids should start using it.”

  “Thanks for the tip. Dad, we can’t have a bunch of UPS trucks showing up here. It’s a huge security risk, for us as well as the drivers.”

  “Oh, I know that. I wasn’t going to have the merchandise delivered directly. It’ll be picked up and delivered by people we can trust.”

  “Who might that be?”

  Dad smiled at me. “Put it this way, kitten. Your Uncle Mort doesn’t go into lockdown. Your Uncle Mort stays out and makes sure other people are safe.”

  “Oh, no. You’re not serious. You’re going to call in the Marines to deliver my baby stuff?”

  He shrugged. “Your Uncle Mort is aware of the current security issue. He’s also aware that his favorite niece just gave birth and has nothing for her baby. A baby he has not yet seen.” Dad turned to Reader. “James, could you take me to the library? A large number of people want to tell you how relieved we are that you’re around to take care of business.”

  Reader flashed the cover-boy grin. “Happy to be of service.”

  Dad looked at Jeff. “We’ll call Alfred and Lucinda and let them know. Half of both families are with them, after all.”

  “Thanks.” Jeff sounded dazed.

  “Baby? They helped James plan our entire wedding in about two days. My family lives for this kind of stuff, and apparently yours does, too. Just go with it.”

&n
bsp; “You didn’t even want a shower.”

  “True. But I can’t begin to describe how much I want a bassinet, cradle, or crib.”

  He grinned at me. “Okay, point taken.”

  CHAPTER 30

  DAD AND READER LEFT THE ROOM. I waited until Reader closed the door behind them. “Okay, why didn’t you two want me telling my dad?”

  “Because your parents are unlikely to think this is the coolest thing in the world, and it’s smarter to keep you as a secret weapon than tell the world that you’re now one of the X-Men.” Chuckie looked around. “This information goes no further than the people in this room. I know Reader’s already clear on that. Has Camilla seen Kitty or Jamie’s charts?”

  “Not sure,” Tito replied.

  “She’s trustworthy,” Emily said.

  “Yeah, so was Beverly.” Jeff’s sarcasm was back up to eleven. “We’ll check it out, Reynolds. Swear her to secrecy or keep it from her, depending.”

  Chuckie nodded. “Paul Gower can know, but not the Pontifex and, for the foreseeable future, not White, either.”

  “Christopher wouldn’t do anything to hurt Kitty.” Jeff didn’t sound like he was arguing. I got the impression he just felt he had to support Christopher. I couldn’t blame him.

  “I agree. However, he’s not in his right mind and hasn’t been since he made the decision to shoot up. That makes him a security risk and a danger, to himself and everyone else. He needs to be focused on cleaning up, not on anything else.”

  “What about Tim and the rest of Airborne?” I asked.

  “No,” Chuckie said flatly. “What part of secret weapon doesn’t click for you?”

  “I trust these guys with my life, and they do the same with me. I’ve got powers now. I can agree with not telling Richard or Christopher. I disagree with keeping the rest of the team in the dark.”

  “I don’t.” Jeff didn’t sound at all like he was saying this just to show willing. “Serene couldn’t keep a secret from Brian if the entire safety of the world depended on it. She, Lorraine, and Claudia are all pregnant and don’t need any extra worries—we have enough right now. Same for their husbands. Sure, Tim, Jerry, Chip, and Matt might be able to keep it to themselves—Tim’s been with us a good while, and the flyboys are all military. But why ask them to? Tim has enough secrets from Alicia—why give him one more?”