by Gini Koch
Jeff turned around. “Folks, we need to belay the rest of this for a short while. Raj, could you please escort our guests to the Visitor’s Lounge for this part of the complex?”
Raj nodded and used his troubadour power to make everyone hearing him think that heading to the lounge was the greatest idea in the world. Well, almost everyone. Those who had come with me weren’t leaving, and neither were those on Team Private Press Corps.
Raj called in A-C escorts, all of whom I recognized as being troubadours. Oh, sure, I couldn’t have told anyone their names, but at least I had their talents down, which was something. Raj then had a quiet conversation with Adam, who nodded, and ordered the rest of his crew to leave. They didn’t. Raj did some more talking and called in more troubadours. The crew agreed to leave. Raj held on to their camera. The troubadours took everyone who was going away to, hopefully, safety. Raj gave the cameras to some other troubadours, with the admonition to keep them under said troubadours’ control.
Those remaining joined us onstage, Team Press Corps included. “What’s wrong?” Raj asked as soon as the last guests were out of sight. “And let me say that there had better be something wrong because we need the good press this school is providing.”
Pointed to the dust. “Something’s wrong, likely bad news. Muddy, can you get your people who are on patrol to share what they see?”
He nodded, looked at Dew, who also nodded, then the two of them took flight. Mossy stayed with us. “I’m assuming it’s an attack of some kind,” he said. “And as for why our people haven’t alerted anyone yet, my guess is that whatever’s creating that dust looks benign.”
“So not a tank, then.”
“Could be a tank,” Mossy said. “I’m just saying that if it is a tank, it’s disguised as something innocuous.”
“Based on wartime experience,” Oliver said, “that dust looks far away, but it’s quite visible. I’d expect to find out that we have several large vehicles or an inordinate number of people either on motorcycles or horses coming our way. Runners wouldn’t stir up as much dust as we’re seeing.”
“I agree,” Naveed said. “Based on the same kinds of experiences.”
General consensus was that Mossy, Oliver, and Naveed were probably right, and since no one had binoculars and Jeff didn’t want anyone else going out there, just in case, we’d have to wait to find out. Considered seeing if I could snag binoculars out of my purse, but there was just no way Jeff would believe I’d brought a pair along with me, so I refrained.
“Wonderful. Do we have any aliens who can’t go through the gates who might be coming in a vehicle?” Hey, it was possible. Improbable, but possible.
“No,” Gower replied, keeping our record of rarely if ever scoring the improbable consistent. “They’re all more technologically advanced than we are on Earth, particularly as it relates to their own anatomies and abilities. All those issues were solved before the school opened. All our gates can now safely transport any kind of matter, even matter nothing like that found in the Solaris or Alpha Centauri systems.”
“I thought we’d already used the gates for all of our aliens during Operation Immigration.”
“No, we used them for several of the races and were fortunate that their anatomy and physiology was close enough to what we have in our two solar systems that nothing untoward happened. Basically, we were lucky, and no one wanted to trust in luck alone again.”
We were at a school, but I chose not to ask any more questions about this. That last answer threatened to make my head hurt, and without Chuckie around to do Kitty Translations, didn’t feel up to the task on my own, not after the last day and a half I’d had. Sex with Jeff seemed so very long ago.
Dew finally returned with a report as my music changed to “Danger Danger” by Hello Hollywood. “It’s seven big, black busses. Muddy has stayed outside to command forces if needed.”
Jeff and I looked at each other. “You’re absolutely sure we’re not bussing students in?”
He shook his head. “Not to my knowledge.”
“Absolutely not,” Gower said. “Security on the school is set up to prevent unauthorized people coming in. The only entry is via the gates system. Dew, was there writing on the busses?”
“Not that any have seen. The windows are black, too. The windshields are not, but they’re also tinted enough that it’s difficult to see who’s driving.”
“I grew up in pretty much the sunniest place around, and that level of tint sounds illegal. Meaning I think we should assume whatever’s coming isn’t our friend.” Besides, Algar seemed sure. “Um . . . do we have an evacuation plan?”
“We do,” Raj said. “But just about the worst thing in the world would be for us to have to evacuate the school on the first day.”
“Worse than a bake sale food fight on the first day of school?” Lizzie asked.
“Much,” Raj, White, Jeff, and Gower said in unison. Chose not to pay attention to the unison thing. I’d made a promise during Operation Immigration to ignore normal people talking in unison if I never again had to hear clones or the like doing so, and I was keeping that puppy.
Double-checked that Dion wasn’t taking pictures. He wasn’t. He looked too worried to use his camera as anything other than a blunt instrument. Shared that sentiment. He was huddled close to Jenkins who was, in turn, huddled next to Oliver. Surreptitiously checked out Adam and the Kristie-Bot. They looked worried, too, and had both moved closer to Joseph and Rob, who were doing their best to look impassive and not totally succeeding. Frankly, everyone had an expression of concern of some level on their faces.
“What kind of defenses does the school have?” I hadn’t noted any on the blueprints, but that was the same as my saying that I didn’t remember the names of all the A-C Field agents I’d worked with over the years—absolutely no surprise and proof of nothing.
“Dulce is next door,” Raj replied.
“Uh huh. What else?” There was silence. “Hold on. There are no other defenses? Seriously? And Chuckie, let alone my mother, approved that?” Wondered if I was going to have to call Tom Curran and ask him to get the FBI to give the others some lectures on preparedness.
“No, we have other precautions,” White said. “Such as shielding. Which I believe someone should probably put into place.”
“Do we want to pull in any patrols first?” I asked.
“All but the Turleens, yes,” Mossy said. “Our people are prepared. The others are helping in terms of surveillance, but I believe that we would prefer that they not be involved in fighting.”
Dew leapt into the air. Shortly we had a stream of flying aliens zooming into the courtyard. Dew returned. “Only Turleens remain, and all are prepared for battle.”
Jeff nodded and Raj pulled out his phone, stepped away, and started talking at hyperspeed. Saw the shimmer that indicated shielding was up. Hoped it would be enough for whatever was coming.
“There are things that can get through your shields,” Mossy said, instantly dashing those hopes. “There are things that can get through anything.”
“Wish we had a way of seeing anything.” The busses were still far away. “I mean, if they’re here to cause problems, Dulce could just blow them up.”
Len was looking at his phone. Was about to ask if he could hold off on trying to get the high score on Bejeweled for a bit when he grunted. “The astronomy department has telescopes. They’re mobile, too, since the classes are expected to come up to the roof at certain points in the school year.”
Raj, who had just finished his call, also grunted, then made another.
“Where did you find that information?” Hey, no one here seemed to know about it.
“On our internal website, only A-C bases and select others have access.”
“Set up by Chernobog,” Kyle added. “Approved by Director Reynolds.”
Len g
rinned at my expression. “No one’s bothered to tell you about it because we all knew you’d only care when it mattered.”
“You don’t know me.”
Everyone other than Adam, the Kristie-Bot, and Dion snorted. Gave it no more than one more day around me before those three would start snorting, too. “What She Came For” by Franz Ferdinand came onto my airwaves. And that did raise a point.
Looked at the Kristie-Bot. “Did you do this?”
“Do what?” She seemed genuinely confused.
“Trigger whatever or whoever’s coming.”
She rolled her eyes. “How many times will I have to say it before it gets through? You are how I become galaxy famous. There’s nothing I want to do to harm you, or anyone else associated with you. Bad for you means bad for the Code Name: First Lady franchise.”
Some A-Cs came up with seven small telescopes. They got them set up in a couple of seconds, then we took a look at what was coming, with some people taking turns. But not me. I held on to my telescope because it was time to toss on my Megalomaniac Girl cape, and Megalomaniac Girl did not give the eyepiece to anyone else.
The busses were as advertised, only, in addition to the window tinting, they were double-deckers, meaning there were a lot more of whoever or whatever inside. My guess was that each bus was holding between eighty to a hundred people. If there were people inside, that was.
“That tint is absolutely illegal. Meaning these aren’t tourists. I’m with Mossy—those busses are likely a form of tank.”
“We need to be sure before we bomb the hell out of them, though,” Jeff said. “Because I don’t want us killing innocent people just because their charter company skirts traffic laws.”
“So, while we watch and they, thankfully, are doing nothing, are you serious that the only way in or out is via the gates?” “Ready To Go” by Guards came on. Was pretty sure it wasn’t us Algar felt were ready.
“No,” Kyle said before anyone else could answer. “That’s the only way that’s advertised and the only way students, faculty, visitors and such are supposed to get in or out. Officially. But there are exits because there have to be in case of gate malfunctions.”
“Walter insisted,” Len added. “As did several others, Director Reynolds, your mother, and Jeff included.” Len was crystal clear about how little Jeff and I enjoyed the use of titles as applied to ourselves, which was only one of his sterling qualities.
Not a surprise that Walter had been consulted and put his foot down about this both. Walter had been intimately involved when our enemies had overtaken the Science Center to destroy us during Operation Infiltration. He knew full well that the gates could be compromised.
“Dulce is only half a mile away,” Kyle went on. “So the expectation is that if full evacuation is necessary, everyone could get there quickly and safely, even on the hottest days.”
Chose not to comment. Barring Brian having been involved in the architectural designs and these discussions, there was no one working with us who’d had to run in the Arizona desert heat for extended periods other than me. Meaning I should have been consulted about this so-called evacuation plan but wasn’t. Now wasn’t the time to complain about that, though. Now was the time to figure out if that plan could work.
Could it be done? Sure. Half a mile wasn’t all that much. If you were in shape and had no disabilities. If you weren’t or did, then fifty feet could be too much. Could all the many aliens do it? A-Cs, sure. The rest? Unlikely. A-Cs were from a hot planet and had two hearts. The aliens from outside the Alpha Centauri system weren’t all equipped to handle the heat, let alone the distance, and not just the Vrierst. The idea of the Themnir moving fast at any time was hilarious, and while desert sand wasn’t the same as salt, doubted that people who were giant slugs would do well sliding over it. And the less said about how the Faradawn would fare the better—willow trees and similar didn’t really thrive in desert climates unless they had a ton of water and were protected from the elements.
“Are there tunnels that are connecting the school to the Science Center?” Hoped the answer was in the affirmative, because if the answer was no, my ban on getting pissed was over.
“Yes,” Len said. Redemption. “But only two.” And back to mostly pissed.
“They’re big,” Kyle added. “But it will still take a while to evacuate if there are no A-Cs who can assist with speed. Only those from the Alpha Centauri system seem to have hyperspeed. At least as we understand it.”
“Fan-freaking-tastic. Seriously, how did Chuckie approve this? Or Mom? Or Walter? Because I see so many things I wouldn’t have approved.” So much for shutting up.
“We have the gates,” Jeff said patiently. “We have the Science Center which is, for us, literally right next door. We have Home Base on ready alert and monitoring the school, just like the Science Center is. We have Field agents assigned to the school, more than are assigned to any other location, including the White House. We have shielding. We have security of all races, including human, represented.”
Gadhavi cleared his throat. Realized he’d been utterly silent since we’d arrived at the stage. Wondered why, but that question was definitely for another time. “I believe Queen Katherine’s concerns are quite valid. With very little planning G-Company could overtake and control this entire complex with ease. Despite all you’ve just said.”
Then again, maybe he’d been quiet because he was planning a coup, for real or just to keep in practice. “In everyone’s defense, the A-Cs are hella fast and they’re trained in how to evacuate.” God alone knew we’d had to do it often enough.
“And if you have traitors—and we have confirmed that you do—then they already know what you can do, what you are likely to rely on in case of emergencies, what you do not suspect, and so on. I strongly urge that you contact whoever has those missiles and have them sent into these busses. Apologize for a mistake later. If a mistake it will be, which I doubt.”
My music changed to “Listen to What the Man Said” by Paul McCartney & Wings. Algar couldn’t be clearer. And I agreed with him.
But before I or anyone else could do what Gadhavi suggested or argue about it one way or the other, the busses came to a halt, about a quarter of a mile away, pulling up next to each other in a kind of breakfront formation, not that this really worked in this particular setting. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t be hit from any direction or as if someone couldn’t get around them with ease. Which made this formation sort of unsettling, especially based on what Gadhavi had just said.
The doors opened and people got out. Lots of people. Lots of people I recognized. Well, one person I recognized, duplicated what looked like well over six hundred times.
“Oh crap. It’s a new Fem-Bot Army. Only our enemies have expanded their range.”
They all, every last one of them, looked like Lizzie.
CHAPTER 54
“WELL, NOW WE KNOW, officially and fully, why Ansom Somerall and company wanted to get their paws on Lizzie.”
“Why do they look like me?” Lizzie asked in a low, horrified voice. “How do they look like me?”
Stepped away from my telescope, pulled her away from hers, and hugged her tightly, ensuring my purse wasn’t between us. She clutched me back even more tightly. She was shaking and I was pretty sure she was close to tears. Couldn’t blame her.
“I agree,” Jeff said, sounding furious and protective. “How?”
Thought about what I knew of Lizzie’s past. “Your parents were Russian spies who were doing all they could to undermine the U.S. and destroy all aliens. They were willing to kill you when you didn’t roll with them. And they were already hooked in with Harvey Gutermuth. To me, that says that your parents join the multitude of horrible people we know about who were willing to do terrible things to their children for their own gain or warped ideals. They gave whoever your specs so that they could create a new
you if you did exactly what they hoped you wouldn’t—stand up to them against their evil.”
“How did they get Lizzie as she is now?” Len asked, sounding every bit as angry and protective as Jeff.
“They got pictures of her at her old school. They’ve gotten pictures of her as our ward. They’ve sent in things to film us like they did before. Pick an option, any of them work and more besides. Bottom line, that isn’t important right now. Frankly, why they’re right here, right now doesn’t matter, either. Figuring out how to stop this particular Fem-Bot battalion is what counts.”
“What do we do?” Lizzie asked, voice shaking.
Considered what I knew of Lizzie’s present, or, rather, Lizzie’s life once she’d met Siler. Kissed the top of her head. “It’s time for Quick Girl to help Superman and Megalomaniac Girl defeat the evil robot army.”
She took a deep, shaky breath, let it out, then looked up at me and nodded. “Quick Girl reporting for action.” Fear was gone, replaced with determination.
“That’s my girl.” Kissed her forehead, let her go, and turned to the others as my music changed to “Come Together” by the Beatles. Clearly Algar and I were of one mind. “Jeff, guaranteed we need Christopher here. Team Tough Guys, too, if they’re available, but Christopher for certain. If he can’t get in through the shielding, have him go to the Science Center, which should shield immediately after he arrives.” You could get out reasonably easily through the A-C shield, but to get in required the shields to drop, which didn’t feel like a wise choice right now.
Jeff was on his phone, barking orders, immediately. “What about Alpha Team?” Gower asked, while Jeff went back to doing what he did best outside of the bedroom—managing personnel in a crisis and leading the troops.
“They’re dealing with our favorite hatemongers, and that means they’re in the Middle East.”
Gadhavi nodded. “From what Commander Reader and I discussed, they will not be able to be contacted for quite some time.”
