by Gini Koch
With that the Colonel’s team headed for the Server Box Floater Gate. That thing was getting a lot of work today. Made a mental note to have someone service it when this was all over.
“Now what?” Stryker asked.
“Found it!” Christopher’s hand was on a ship at the rear of the armada. “They’re here. They’re the only Earthlings on the ship. All the rest are, like Jeff said, birdlike. This ship is at the back, but I think it’s the command ship.”
I paused Adam Ant in the middle of “Whip in My Valise” and pulled out my earbuds. “Isn’t that opposite the way our birds work?”
Jennifer touched the ship. “This one was at the head before. The beings in it feel familiar.”
“They’re kind of flying in a triangle shape, aren’t they?”
“Yes, not that I know if this will mean anything for us,” Christopher said.
“We’ll find out shortly. Migratory birds shift around the bird in the lead all the time, maybe it’s the same for them. Now that we have confirmation, see if you can help Jeff and the others make the cube work right.”
Christopher trotted over to enlarge and enhance Team Wonder.
Amazingly enough, Bruno was still snoozing, though Bellie looked alert. I went to the avians. “Bruno, my bird, it’s almost show time. Bigger birds are coming. You and your flock are awesome, but I’m not sure you’re up to taking on an entire avian armada.”
He pulled his head out of his wing and warbled nicely at me.
“Wow. No idea of what you’re saying. Hope this isn’t me losing our connection at the worst time possible.”
Bruno stretched his neck out and rubbed against my cheek.
“Aww, thanks. Okay, I’ll stop stressing. Bellie, my girl, what’s the good word?”
Bellie looked right at me. “Evolution.”
“Time to move it, gang! We need to get prepped and get to the Mall.”
“We’re not done,” Jeff said.
“We’re not close to done,” Abigail added.
“Then screw it. Time is of the essence.” Bruno hopped down and stared at me. “Okay, we have a little time. Bruno says we can use the cube.”
“I don’t want us using it too much,” Chuckie said. “I’m worried about what it’s doing to our minds and bodies.”
“Seems to have done Jeff a world of good.”
“Hilarious. We need weapons before we run off anywhere.”
“I’ll get them ready,” Christopher said. “What do you want, Kitty, a rocket launcher?”
“Just extra clips for my Glock.”
“You’re optimistic.”
“Oh, you’ll have the rocket launcher, I’m not worried.”
Bruno warbled at me, then disappeared. “Where’s your bird going?” Jeff asked.
“He’s getting his own reinforcements. He’ll meet us at the Mall.”
“You’re sure that’s where they’re coming?”
“Is the International One World Festival there? Has it already been the scene of at least one ‘kidnapping,’ if not more? Does that not mean there are more reporters than you can shake a stick at around or nearby? Is it not our nation’s capital? And, to Mona’s point, isn’t this right where Clarence, Cantu, and whoever the other captain Bellie’s talking about are?”
“She’s right,” Chuckie said. “Let’s get prepped for this. As much as we can.”
“Bruno said we probably have a couple minutes. Which is good, because I want to change my clothes.” The ones I was in had already seen a lot of action.
“I’ll go with you,” Jeff said. “Because, I need to change, too.”
“I’ll stick with looking beat up and disheveled,” Chuckie said.
“It looks good on you,” Naomi said with a laugh.
“Liar.” Chuckie grinned at her and gave her a one-armed hug.
“Don’t you need to wait for Christopher to get back with weapons?” Abigail asked.
“James and Tim are bringing our real weapons. Chuckie, you need to get the nine you have control of out of storage and activated. I want them with us.”
“I want Mimi and Abby with me. But I’m not convinced any of this will be enough,” Chuckie said quietly. “That’s a huge armada.”
“And there are thousands of parasites in front of it,” Christopher added as he returned with the first ton of weapons, which he dumped on the floor at our feet.
While the menfolk divvied up the guns and explosives, I trotted over to Ravi. Time to try the next thing that might not work. “I know we have control of the supersoldiers. But have you found the androids yet?”
“Not really. There are a huge number of them, but their signals aren’t as clear as the supersoldiers’ are.”
“Can you communicate with them?”
“I suppose we could send a signal to them, but so far they haven’t responded to anything we’ve tried, so I’m not convinced we’re getting through.”
“Send one word to them, see if it changes anything. Evolution.”
Ravi typed away. I held my breath. Taking cues from a parrot seemed crazy—but that was our Initiative. And the way Bellie had reacted made me think I’d given her a code phrase to react to. Or else she liked to say “evolution” a lot and just hadn’t around me this weekend.
Ravi drew in his breath sharply. “It worked. The signals are all more clear. They’re listening to me now.”
“Great. Christopher, can you help Ravi get the androids over to the Mall?”
“I’ll do my best. You want me to stay if we can only control them from here?”
“Yes,” Jeff said firmly. “You have combat experience, these guys don’t.”
“I have the androids’ attention, but nothing I’m telling them appears to be working,” Ravi muttered as he typed furiously. “Dulce’s having the same lack of success.”
“Kitty, we still can’t find Colonel Hamlin,” Stryker said. “He’s completely off grid. But we’ve identified an older cell phone of Cantu’s that’s active and in use. He’s in D.C., near the Lincoln Memorial.”
“Can I call ’em or can I call ’em?”
“You can call them,” Jeff said. “Let’s all get going.”
“Meet here or at the Mall?” Chuckie asked.
“Mall. Get your soldiers in place. Coordinate with James and Tim, and don’t f
orget Serene.”
“Or she’ll take your head off,” Christopher said.
“Take Bellie.” Jeff handed the parrot off to his cousin.
“Why?”
“We’ll go faster without her right now.”
“No argument from me. She might share more code words with you, too. I asked her what the good word was.”
“Evolution,” Bellie squawked.
Ravi looked at Bellie. “Protocol.” Nothing. “Initiative.” Nada. He looked disappointed.
“If those were her trigger words, I think she’d have already tossed them out.” I thought about it, what I’d said that had triggered her in the first place, and then her reaction word. “Survival of the fittest.”
“Protocol two-two-six-three-seven-one-two. Protocol eight-seven-one-four-five. Protocol six-six-six-one-four-nine-two.”
Ravi typed. “That’s it! They’re obeying!”
“My work here is done. Someone give this parrot some major bird treats. If you need more, try words or phrases related to evolution.”
Hacker International all looked at me. To a dude, they looked impressed. “Kitty, I have to say, that was amazing.” Stryker sounded as shocked as he looked. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Eddy? I’ll be really offended later. Right now we have a world to save.”
Jeff grinned. “And you’re just the girl to save it.”
Yi
CHAPTER 92
JEFF PULLED A BUNCH OF BIRD TREATS out of his pocket and handed them to Christopher, who fed Bellie while she looked smug. Decided she had the right. Jeff took my hand, and we left the ballroom.
&nbs
p; He headed us for the elevator. “We’re not taking the stairs?”
“No.” The doors opened, we got in. He hit the button for our floor.
“Is everything okay?”
Jeff hit the Stop Elevator button. “No.” He turned to me. “This isn’t an invasion from the Home World, where we have some allies helping us and we know what we’re up against. This could be the end of Earth, and no matter what I tell you, I know you’ll be right there on the front lines with me. And . . .” He reached out and stroked my face. “If we’re going to die, I want to make love to my wife one last time.”
“I have no argument. Well, I do, because we need to get into place at the Mall and all that, and I think it’s against the rules in the Heroes’ Handbook to stop for nookie when the end of the world looms.” But Jeff’s eyes were smoldering, he had the “jungle cat about to eat me” look on his face, and, frankly, I wanted to make love to my husband once more before we died, too.
“Screw the Heroes’ Handbook.”
“I’d rather you screwed me.”
Jeff laughed. “Good. We’ll use hyperspeed,” he said with a sexy half-smile. “Normally I’m against any kind of a quickie, but trust me, baby, you’ll like it.” I always liked it, especially in an elevator, so there was no worry about this on my part.
“I know you just got some adrenaline, but are you sure you’re okay enough to go for the gusto?”
His jungle cat smile widened. “Let me prove it to you.”
We didn’t undress fully, though Jeff got my purse, shoes, pants, and panties off in a split second. I got his shirt opened just as fast and ran my hands over his awesome pecs. He had me up against the side of the elevator, my shirt shoved up, bra opened, his pants undone, and himself inside me in another second or so.
He kissed me deeply, and as his tongue twined with and controlled mine, I wrapped my legs around his waist, stopped worrying about what we should be doing, and focused on what we wanted to do. And moaned, because Jeff was the world’s greatest kisser.
Jeff had made love to me before using hyperspeed, right before the last interstellar invasion had arrived, but I hadn’t been enhanced at the time. It had been intense when I was fully human. Now that I wasn’t, it was even better.
In this position, he was deep inside me, especidally when he slid one arm under my thigh. I had my hands on either side of his face, because I wanted to kiss him and never stop kissing him.
My breasts rubbed against the hair on his chest and, as always, it made my hips buck against him even harder. We were going fast, but because I could do it, too, it didn’t seem faster than normal now.
My hands slid into his hair as Jeff ended our kiss and moved his mouth to my neck. He ran his teeth over the spot that made me incoherent while I started my cat in heat yowling, and my hips went nuts.
I clutched at his back as he bit me gently. As had happened before, my climax seemed to come out of nowhere. It hit—strong, hard, and incredible—and I stopped yowling because the feeling was so intense I couldn’t make noise.
Jeff changed the speed of his thrusts, just a little, but it was enough, and another orgasm built up. He ran his tongue up my neck. “Again,” he whispered in my ear, a moment before my next orgasm crashed over me.
He changed his rhythm again, building me up a little more slowly this time. We weren’t being fancy, we weren’t trying anyth
ing new, but we didn’t have to. Every time with Jeff was great, and even though we didn’t have time to review our entire sexual repertoire, it was still wonderful.
My thighs tightened around his sides and I used my lower legs to push against his butt, or as I liked to think of it, gave his amazing thrusters an assist.
His mouth moved to the other side of my neck, and I yowled again. He nibbled up this side of my neck as we both sped up. I was gasping and panting and so very, very ready to go over the edge. “Again, baby.”
Sure enough, my third orgasm hit. This time, he joined me and roared against my neck as I hit high C, each throb from him causing spikes in my climax.
Finally our bodies slowed and stilled, and I could tell we weren’t moving at hyperspeed any more. Jeff kissed me again as he slid out of me and put me gently on the floor.
He hit the Stop Elevator button again, and we dressed as the elevator continued up. Jeff used hyperspeed, so it took him about a second to finish. I didn’t feel confident enough to use hyperspeed to dress, seeing as I didn’t want to risk ripping my jeans. However, Jeff helped me, so I was dressed before we reached our floor.
He pulled me into his arms, and I leaned my head against his chest.
“I love you, baby,” he said softly.
“I love you, too.” I looked up at him. “And I forgive you for being alive and well instead of kidnapped and not letting me know for hours.”
Jeff grinned. “Good to know.” He kissed my forehead. “Now, let’s go save the world.”
“Oh, good. Routine.”
Yi
CHAPTER 93
WE ZIPPED OUT OF THE ELEVATOR and into our rooms. I changed out of my cool Aerosmith shirt into one of my more badass Aerosmith shirts. I worked best with Steven, Joe, and the rest of my boys on my chest. Decided the rest of my ensemble could remain, though I left my Lifehouse jacket in the room—it had been through enough today.
Jeff changed into a new suit. Looked just like the suit he took off, only this one wasn’t dirty. We each had our clothing ritual, and his was no better or worse than mine.
Made sure his adrenaline harpoon and my Glock were in my purse. “Huh.”
“What?”
“I have no Poofs.” Checked the Poof Condos. No Poofs there, either.
“You sent them off to search for the missing cube.”
“I just sort of thought they’d be back by now. Or, you know, that other Poofs would be along for the ride.” I was Poofless? This didn’t seem like the right time for the Poofs to not be around. Then again, they worked in mysterious, Poofy ways, and every other time they’d done a runner, it had always been for the greater good.
“Maybe they’re all at the Dome. Protecting Jamie. Which is what they should be doing.”
“No. I mean, some are there, but I sent most of them to find and help you and Chuckie. You and Chuckie are found.”
“No help from the Poofs on that one.”
“Yeah. You know, Fluffy was with the group I sent out, as a matter of fact.”
“Huh. You know, the Poof was with Reynolds when we got attacked. But I don’t think it went into the room with us.”
“But you’re not sure?” Jeff shook his head. “It doesn’t seem possible if Fluffy was with Chuckie. That would mean the Poofs could get in and out of the impregnable rooms, and, if so, why wouldn’t they have brought you with them?”
“No idea. Let’s table that concern for when we don’t have alien birds attacking us. Gate or hyperspeed?”
“Bruno said to use the cube.”
“I’m not taking orders from a bird, and besides, I think Chuck may be right.”
“The shock of you using his first name is still almost enough to make me faint.”
“Noted. Besides, I’m not confident I can land us somewhere I’m not familiar with, especially when there are a lot of people around.”
“It’s up to you, then. We can use our handy dandy floater gate or take in the sights.”
“I’m tired. Let’s take the gate.”
We headed to the ballroom and checked on Hacker International first. “Glad you two didn’t stop to have sex,” Christopher said. He didn’t appear to be saying this sarcastically, so apparently hyperspeed sexy time had been a brilliant choice. “They’re here.” He pointed to one of the screens.
The armada was hanging out by the moon. They wouldn’t be visible to the human eye, but anyone looking therough a telescope would have no problem seeing them.
“You should still stay here,” Jeff told Christopher, though he didn’t sound as though he really meant
it.
“No,” Christopher said firmly. “The hackers know what to do. The Barones are here, and they can interface. And I know you’ll need me there.”
“You sure you want us to stay here?” Jennifer asked. I could tell she wanted to stay. Jeremy looked torn. But who knew what was going to hit over here? Hacker International would need as many A-Cs as possible if they needed to clear out fast.
“Yes, at least for now. Stick around, do what you can here. Walter, you still listening?”
“Yes, Chief.”
“Excellent. Please advise everyone who might not know that the invaders have arrived. No idea what the parasite situation is, but we need to figure it’s going to be bad. Keep some Security and other available A-Cs here with the Barones and Hacker International. Help them as you’re able. Lock up behind us.”
“Roger that, Chief.”
“Christopher, you want to spin the floater gate dial?”
He shook his head. “I think, under the circumstances, we’re better off going on foot. I want to get an idea of what’s going on before we’re immediately involved in it.”
“Nothing’s on screen yet,” Ravi shared. “There are no signs of human panic.”
“Oh, give it a few minutes. Or less.” I put my purse over my neck, Jeff and Christopher each grabbed one of my hands, and the three of us took off.
Christopher might have been Cyclops in Chuckie’s mind, but as far as I was concerned, he was the Flash all the way. He controlled the hyperspeeding; we were at the Mall in what seemed like a second flat.
Which was great, because that meant we got to enjoy the invaders’ big reveal moment and, therefore, more of the total chaos it created. I’d been right—the armada had made its presence known in much less than a few minutes.
If Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg got together to make an alien invasion movie that didn’t involve shapeshifting robots, they couldn’t come up with anything better than the scene in front of us.
The sky, which had been clear only a few seconds prior, filled with flying saucers. I couldn’t tell if they were spread out around the planet or not, but there were a large number of them massed overhead.
