Alien in Chief

by Gini Koch

  “I’ll keep it in mind.”

  “What do you really look like, John?”

  “You mean as Ancients? And why are you using my real name?”

  “Yes, as an Ancient, what do you look like? And I’m using your real name because we’re in the Helicopter of Silence and this is where we tell each other the truth and use our real names and all that jazz.”

  I didn’t really believe that I’d seen what any of the Ancients really looked like, just the acceptable forms they felt the people around them could deal with.

  He gave me a small smile. “Got it . . . Kitty. And, we don’t look like angels or devils or little green men or grays. Well, not in reality. When our people came here long, long ago they took on shapes that helped, ah, soothe or awe the masses.”

  “Okay and not a surprise. Then what do you look like?”

  “Get out and onto the roof, and then I’ll tell you.”

  Did as he asked, in part because I had to figure that Jeff was losing his mind with worry. “So, tell me.” Had to shout.

  “We look like you,” he shouted back. “Like all of you on Earth and all of you in the Alpha Centauri system. Only more so.”

  And with that he flew off.

  CHAPTER 60

  FORTUNATELY I’D been doing a lot of work on the roofs of trains recently, because the wind from the chopper blades almost knocked me off, even though Wruck sheared off quickly. So I managed to drop onto my stomach and not get blown off. Just barely, but a miss was as good as a mile per some pithy saying.

  Contemplated my options as “Devil Inside” by INXS came on and I decided it would be fastest on the roof, especially since we still had a door welded shut along the easy way.

  Did the run and jump thing, but my time with Wruck had ensured that my rage levels were back to low, meaning I didn’t have anything extra in the tank. Plus I’d used a lot of energy butt-kicking seven out of the eight Crazies.

  Had no idea what I was going to tell the others, but figured I’d stick to the same story Wruck was going with—I forced him to take me back and he shoved me out at the last moment and escaped.

  I understood why he didn’t want me telling anyone else who or what he really was. He was in a position where he couldn’t trust anyone. So that he had trusted me was kind of shocking.

  Of course, it could all have been a lie and he was just a master at getting me to share vital information with him. However, I hadn’t gotten anything like that from him. On the other hand, if he was a master manipulator, I wouldn’t pick it up. Cliff had certainly been able to fool all of us for far too long.

  However, my gut, female intuition, or whatever we wanted to call it said he was the real deal. Algar’s musical clues were also confirmation. And another reason I couldn’t share what I knew about Wruck, because saying that the right songs came on to confirm his status would get me committed at worst or trigger a migraine from the pressure of trying to explain Algar without mentioning anything about him at best, and neither option was a winner.

  I was on the middle car when someone else climbed up ahead of me and waited. Reached Jeff and he took my hand as we jumped to the next car. “You know I hate it when you do things like this, baby.”

  “Yeah. Everyone okay?”

  “Yeah. I was able to monitor you.”

  “I thought your blocks were up.”

  “They were. Your rage was really strong.”

  “I’m an animal lover, what can I say? And I hate these people.” We jumped onto Rail Force Two. Contemplated suggesting a quickie, but then figured that wasn’t appropriate in the current situation.

  “Just not all of them.”

  Stopped running. “What?”

  “I could feel your emotions, baby. It’s what I do. And I can read your mind, remember? You weren’t trying to hide anything from me so it was fairly easy to access you. So I could tell when your emotions switched from overriding rage to confusion, then camaraderie, then sympathy.”

  “Crap. I’m not supposed to tell anyone that—”

  “We have an Ancient on the planet?” He tugged gently at my hand and we started off again.

  “Double crap. You got all that?” We jumped to the next car.

  “Actually, I was telling everyone else what was going on as it was happening, so we all got it. Chuck guessed, but honestly, most of us were on Beta Eight with you and we all met Usha. That the Ancients have more people out here than we first suspected isn’t really that much of a surprise. In the grand scheme of things.”

  “So, everyone on the train knows?”

  “Yeah, all fifteen of us.”

  “That’s a lot of people.” We jumped to the War Room roof.

  Jeff shrugged. “We’ll keep the secret, baby. He’s on our side, after all.”

  “He seems to be.”

  “I could access him. Not right away, but after a while. If he’s representative of the Ancients, I’ll be able to read them all now. He’s lonely, determined, and on our side.”

  “I’ll take it.” The music changed to “Inside” by Vertical Horizon. Apparently Algar wanted us off the roof. We jumped onto Rail Force One. “Let’s go the rest of the way inside.”

  “Fine with me.”

  Jeff had me climb down first. He jumped down onto the platform as I did and steadied me on the ladder. “Chivalry is not dead.”

  He grinned. “I wasn’t allowed to help you kick butt, baby. Let me pretend you need my help with this.”

  Leaned up to kiss him. He put his arms around me, pulled me close, kissed me a good long time. As always, his lips and tongue owned mine and as also always I was grinding against him and ready to go, regardless of location of situation.

  He ended our kiss, eyes smoldering, with the Jungle Cat About to Eat Me look on his face. I loved this look and was particularly disappointed that I wasn’t going to get to enjoy it in all the ways I liked right now.

  Jeff chuckled and kissed my forehead. “I’ll make it up to you later, baby. I promise.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.”

  We went inside Rail Force One and moved quickly. “I don’t want us exposed to whatever was in here,” Jeff said. “But I think we’re going to be coming into the station soon and we’re safer inside.”

  No sooner said than the train started to slow down and John Mayer’s “Stop This Train” started. We left this car and entered the one with everyone else in time to hear Adriana tell everyone via the walkie to sit somewhere.

  The beds were all occupied so Jeff sat in a chair and pulled me onto his lap.

  “Good timing,” Chuckie said.

  “Remind me never to so much as step on an animal’s foot in your presence,” Vance said.

  “Just call me the Animal Avenger.”

  “We have Field agents in hazmat gear ready to decontaminate the train as soon as we pull into the section of the rail yard we’re being sent to,” Reader shared over the walkie. “The way things have been going, everyone stay alert and have whatever you need on you, because who knows if we’re going to be attacked again or not.”

  Picked up Bruno and Ginger and held them on my lap while Jeff chuckled. Ignored him. Didn’t want to lose my pets in any kind of chaos or turmoil.

  But we pulled in and off to a track that wasn’t on the main line without issue. My music stopped so I took out the earbuds and put them and my phone securely into my purse. There were no Poofs On Board this time. Interesting.

  Would have worried about this but real Secret Service agents were waiting for us—confirmed as such by Tim and Reader—and that didn’t seem the time to bring up missing anything, Poofs least of all.

  We were quickly escorted into a secured bathroom. Such was the glamorous life we lived. Christopher ensured the calibrations were right for the toilet and one by one we stepped through.

  D
ue to his position, Jeff was not allowed to go last, and neither were Gower or I. Christopher took the caboose slot for a variety of reasons, fastest man alive and former Head of Imageering being the two strongest.

  We also had to go in one at a time, though Jeff carried Bruno and Ginger with him. Not because I didn’t want to hold them, but because he was concerned I’d squeeze them too much, potentially to death, because of my reactions to gates. Had to figure he wasn’t wrong to be concerned.

  Jeff stepped through, doing the icky slow fade that always started my nausea revving. Then it was my turn. Closed my eyes and stepped. The feeling of the world rushing past me was still there, but it wasn’t as strong when I couldn’t see the world rushing past via my peripheral vision.

  My foot hit the floor and the nausea stopped. Opened my eyes to find myself happily with the others who’d gone through and where we were actually supposed to be—the receiving area for NASA Base.

  The room had been changed quite a lot since my last visit, during Operation Drug Addict, and all changes had been for the better. There was far more security, better access to emergency equipment, and a variety of other safety features.

  Of course, there were some things in here I hadn’t been expecting.

  Like Jeff’s parents.

  CHAPTER 61

  ALFRED AND LUCINDA raced over and hugged me, since they’d just finished hugging Jeff. Then they left me to hug Gower. And on down the list until Christopher stepped through. Everyone, humans included, got parental—or, in the case of White, sibling—hugs.

  “We were so worried!” Lucinda said as she hugged everyone again.

  “We were fine,” Jeff said, but I could tell he was enjoying being fussed over.

  “It’s okay, Aunt Lucinda,” Christopher said as she hugged him a third time. He was also enjoying the fussing.

  I would have been, too, but if we had a bioweapon loose, that meant that Alfred and Lucinda had been exposed now, too. Could tell that Chuckie was thinking the same thing, based on the worried look he was wearing when Alfred and Lucinda weren’t looking at him.

  “Thank goodness you knew how to drive that train,” Alfred said to Adriana as she got another hug.

  “Have we heard anything from Airborne?” Tim asked, sounding as worried as Lorraine and Claudia looked.

  “There have been communiques that went directly to the President that might be about the boys,” Alfred said. “I don’t know for sure. But I’m sure they’re fine and we’ll get them back safely and soon.” He gave them a supportive smile. Didn’t seem to help.

  “Speaking of which,” I interjected quickly, “where are the others who were with us?”

  “Waiting for you at the conference center,” Alfred said.

  “Um, I thought they were sick.”

  “They were,” Lucinda said. “But they all seem better, even the President.”

  “So, just a cold or the flu then,” White said, sounding relieved.

  “Something like that.” Lucinda hugged him again. “You all need to freshen up. The visiting dignitaries are waiting for you. And, ahem, you all look a little worse for wear.”

  “I’m betting I look like crap, so I can’t argue with the need to clean up. However, we probably can’t afford to take the time.”

  “Sure you can,” Alfred said heartily. “We anticipated the need and have rooms set up for everyone.”

  “I’d like to talk to Tito,” Chuckie said quietly to me and Jeff as Alfred led us through the NASA Base Rat Maze to wherever we were going to change. “Just to get his medical opinion on what’s going on.”

  “You don’t think it’s over, do you?” Jeff asked.

  “The only logical answer for why the Crazy Eights attacked is Kitty’s theory. And that means everyone’s been exposed to a bioweapon. Maybe it runs its course if the infected aren’t in close quarters with each other. But maybe it adapts after its contagious phase. And if so, then no one’s cured, they’re just in Phase Two.”

  With this cheery pronouncement of doom we divided up into changing areas. We were sent to the employee locker rooms, men on one side, women on the other. Refrained from asking if this was to keep me and Jeff from doing the deed because I was pretty sure that it was. Or maybe I was just a little paranoid.

  However, we didn’t argue and the other girls and I stepped into our locker room. The Elves had clearly been by, which was a relief.

  True to my expectations, I looked like a bedraggled cat who’d dragged herself through mud to get to the family homestead in order to die on the porch. Was truly glad I hadn’t looked in a mirror at any point during the attacks on the train.

  We all took showers, which were needed and also felt great. What wasn’t great or a relief was that we had Official Suits of Those High Up in Politics waiting for us once we got out and were dried off, me in particular. Managed not to groan, but it took effort.

  “It could be worse, Kitty,” Claudia said.

  “Yeah.” Lorraine laughed. “They could have you in white.”

  Managed not to point out that they were in the standard Armani Fatigues for Women, aka a black Armani slim skirt, white oxford shirt, and low-heeled black pumps, and were therefore used to and comfortable with what they were wearing.

  “Oh, my standard pretty blue that I still manage to destroy every damn time I step out in it is good enough for the likes of me.”

  Adriana was also given an Official Outfit and she wasn’t complaining about it, so I stopped. Out loud.

  Checked my purse. Still no Poofs. “Um, does anyone else have missing Poofs?”

  “Yes,” Mahin said. “But you know how they are—they come and go as they please, not as we please.”

  “True.” Decided I had bigger worries right now. Like what to do with my hair. Decided to go for my favorite standby—pulled back into a ponytail. Ready for action—which I fully expected—and still managing to look semi-put together.

  “Kitty,” Adriana said once I was done, “do you think anyone will notice if I’m gone?”

  “You mean forever or right now?”

  She laughed. “Right now.”

  “Do you want to leave and go home?”

  She shook her head. “I’m learning to think as Grandmother does. And . . . I feel that I need to be on the outside.”

  “Kitty always says to listen to your gut,” Lorraine said.

  “And carry a rocket launcher,” Claudia added with a grin.

  “True enough. Yeah, I think if you can slip out, that would be a good idea. There are so many people here only Len, Kyle, and Malcolm are likely to notice that you’re gone and they may not even realize that you came in with us from Savannah. But where are you going? It’s a long trip home without a gate.”

  “Not home, unless that’s where the trail leads me. We all know more is going on. I would ask you which is more important—finding our missing pilots or where the Crazy Eights are hiding?”

  The rest of the girls and I looked at each other.

  “I want to say the pilots,” Claudia said, “but I think that’s because my husband is one of them.”

  “If we remove the emotional factor,” Mahin said carefully, “I would say that finding the Crazy Eights would be paramount, since Annette Dier seems to have a direct line to the Mastermind at this time.”

  Lorraine nodded. “Much as I hate to say it, Crazy Eights would be where I think you should start.”

  “Escaped prisoners it is, then. You sure you’re okay doing that alone?”

  “I’d ask for Len, Kyle, or Mister Buchanan, but that would be noticed for certain. Otherwise, I know how to stay hidden when I have to.”

  “I don’t doubt your skills.” Hugged her. “Choose wherever you want to disappear and we’ll cover for anyone who notices. And stay in touch so I know you’re okay.”

  She hugged me ba
ck. “I will as I can.”

  Dressed, coiffed, so to speak, and Mission: Adriana Disappears rolling, we headed out to rejoin the guys. They were all in the Armani Fatigues. Basically, I was the bright spot of color in our group, which was not my preferred option but one I’d gotten used to over the past couple of years.

  Onward to the conference center through the Rat Maze I didn’t even try to memorize. I was too busy wondering who was coming to visit and what the next thing our enemies were going to throw at us would be.

  Adriana had been hanging in the back of the group, so I wasn’t surprised when we got into the room to see that she wasn’t with us any longer. None of the men mentioned that she wasn’t around, probably because they were focused on what was waiting for us.

  Was overjoyed to see everyone looking better. Well, not really everyone. The people who’d gotten sick on the train still looked sick, just not that bad. Armstrong, Strauss, and Ariel, however, looked good or at least better than they had. Mom was sort of in the middle in terms of looking okay. She still looked sick but nothing like Strauss or Armstrong had. Thought back—was pretty sure Mom had been in the meeting that Jeff had left. The meeting whose participants were all sick.

  Gave Mom a hug. “How are you doing?” I asked softly.

  “Pumped full of all the cold and flu crap, chicken soup, orange juice, and whatever else Tito could come up with. I’ll be fine, kitten.”

  Didn’t want to consider otherwise, so I didn’t argue. Especially since I was also overjoyed to see who had come to visit.

  The Planetary Council was pretty much who I’d expected to see, but it’s always nice to visit with friends from far away.

  In addition to Formerly King and For This Journey Emperor Alexander, Queen Renata, Felicia and Arup, Wrolph, Wahoa and Willem and my Reptilian Soul Sister, Jareen, were all here, so we had the Not Nearly As Pissed Off Now Amazons, Cat People, Major Doggies, and Giant Lizards representing.

  Added onto the Council were Rohini and Bettini from the Shantanu aka Penguin People, King Benny representing not just the Lecanora but all of Beta Eight—without his Antlers of Office but still looking like Benedict Cumberbatch to me—Lakin of the Rapacians aka The New Hawkman, Misorek from Alpha Six and Haliya from Alpha Five, who both looked like humans and who I therefore suspected of treason either now or later.