Alien Research

CHAPTER 55

I OPENED MY MOUTH and then shut it again. I wanted to share what I’d figured out, but I realized I couldn’t. Because Gladys was in the room, and we pretty much had proof that, with the slightest effort on Ronaldo’s part, she was likely to tell the bad guys everything they wanted to know. For all I knew she was reading me right now and would be relaying what I was thinking to our enemies shortly.

Could tell Jeff, Chuckie, Buchanan, and Tim all noted me gaping like a fish. Thankfully none of them asked what was going on.

“Let’s get back to the most pressing issue,” Jeff said smoothly, presumably because he had for sure read my mind and/or emotions. “We need to determine what we’re going to do about the funeral the President’s requesting.”

“You know,” Chuckie said, “I don’t think any humans have a right to add in on this one—this is a very personal discussion that all of you need to agree upon. I need to contact Vander and Cliff anyway, so Kitty, Buchanan, why don’t you two come with me and we’ll leave your husband to manage whatever the official American Centaurion decision is for Michael’s funeral.”

“Reynolds, you okay if the other humans come along?” Tim asked. “Your discussion undoubtedly affects Alpha Team.”

“Sure. Martini, can we use your office?”

“Sure, Chuck, go ahead.”

I was impressed. Gave Jeff a quick kiss. “You rock,” I said softly. Nodded to Len and Kyle who wheeled Olga out behind Chuckie. The rest of the humans trailed out behind us.

“We could also have this meeting at our embassy,” Olga said as we waited for the elevator. “Or over at your Zoo facility.”

Assumed Olga had made the same leaps I had and that she wasn’t sure of Gladys’ range. Neither was I. Gladys ran the entire Science Center, after all.

“I think the Zoo might be best,” Buchanan said. Considered the distances. Yep, the Zoo was farther away than the Romanian Embassy, hence the most likely reason why Buchanan was voting that way. “We’re on the right floor to just walk over anyway.”

As he said this the elevator opened and Lorraine and Claudia stepped out. “Awesome, you two are here. Come with us. But first, Tito, please go with the girls and get your laptop. Don’t pass go, don’t check in on the conference room, just grab your laptop and any backups you have, and bring them and Nurse Carter back with you.”

To everyone’s credit, no one asked why, though Stryker really looked like he wanted to. The girls just shrugged and stepped back into the elevator, Tito joining them. Assumed at least half of those with me had connected the same dots I had, and I was pretty sure everyone was clear that whatever we were going to talk about needed to be done in a secure location.

“You want the rest of the guys meeting us?” Stryker asked.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Have them meet us on the second floor.”

While Stryker sent a text, Kevin and Irving exchanged a glance. “You want Pierre, too, Kitty?” Irving asked.

“Not yet.” Mostly because I had to figure that Pierre would be the one human the A-Cs would expect to be instantly available if they needed something, and I didn’t want to arouse more suspicion than we might have already.

“Do you want Denise to weigh in on any of this?” Kevin asked. “She might have a different perspective.”

Denise liked Gladys a lot, and knew her far better than I did, and I knew Kevin knew this. However, some things took precedence, Jamie being Number One. “No, but only because she’s on kidlet duty, and that goes the same for Brian.”

The girls and Tito returned, Nurse Carter in tow. “Let’s move,” Chuckie said.

“While we go,” Buchanan said as we all headed for the bridge that connected the Embassy to the Zoo building down the block, “yesterday’s events caused this to move down in importance, but we still need to get Field teams into every embassy in your neighborhood, as well as into the residences of any openly pro-alien politicians.”

Was about to ask if he was sure this was necessary when we reached the bridge. It was made of steel and reinforced bulletproof glass, so we could see outside while walking across and stay safe at the same time. Which was currently a very good thing, because there was quite a crowd in our street.

“What’s going on?” Claudia asked.

“That wasn’t there when we got Olga,” Len said.

“Looks like a protest,” Tim said, squinting. “And, if I’m reading that right, they’re protesting . . . us.”

A-Cs had better vision than humans, so Lorraine, Claudia, and I all looked more closely. Sure enough, there were signs saying things like “Alien Go Home,” “Aliens are NOT Americans,” “If You Weren’t Born Here, Leave,” “One Dead Alien is a Good Start,” and other pleasant things. Many of the signs were familiar from yesterday morning.

There were also people passing out pamphlets, and a table with what looked like a petition or two being signed was set up in front of the Irish Embassy. “Looks like Club Fifty-One is out in force.”

“Not just them,” Lorraine said, her voice tight. “Those horrible people who protest at military and other funerals are there, too.”

“Oh, fantastic. The least Christian Christians in the world and the most xenophobic morons together at last. Two bad tastes that taste even worse together. But, I have to figure that’s a love match made in hell, right there.” Wondered if they’d done their hook up yesterday, after chasing us. Probably.

“Undoubtedly,” Buchanan said.

“Com on!”

“Yes, Chief?”

“Walter, you’re back on the job so fast?”

“Yes, Chief, though William’s still here with me.”

“Good. William, please stick around. Bring the wife and kids over if you’d like, but do it via a gate. Shields need to be up on the entire Embassy complex.”

“William suggested I keep shields active, Chief. Shields have not been off since he first turned them on yesterday.”

“You two rock. We have a situation outside that could quickly turn into a riot. I’m certain people will try to get in. We need to let friends in and keep enemies out. Good luck with figuring out which are which.”

“On it, Chief. Do you want the com to remain open?”

“No, but please advise Jeff of what’s going on. He’s still with some of the others in the conference room.”

“I don’t know that Field teams are the right answer,” Chuckie said once Walter had turned off the com. “I think we might need the National Guard.”

“We need to discuss this at the Zoo,” Olga reminded us.

We started across the bridge, meaning we were now easily seen from the street. This clearly made the crowd’s day. They turned their random focus onto us. Happily, the thick glass and metal and other materials made the bridge pretty soundproofed, so we couldn’t hear what they were yelling. I could guess, though. I’d heard most of it already.

We could, however, see them surging at us, which wasn’t fun to experience. They weren’t all that coordinated, but there were a lot of them. Wanted to pull my Glock out of my purse, but since bulletproof glass worked both ways, controlled my fight impulse, though it took effort.

Someone tossed something at the bridge, and that, of course, meant that others followed suit. Good to know this was one of their signature moves.

Happily, the shields were indeed on and working quite well. Whatever was being thrown was tossed right back. Tried not to feel vindictive joy when signs, rotten fruit, and other nasty things bounced back onto the crowd. Failed.

We reached the Zoo and were able to at least not look at the scene outside. The Zoo’s first floor was where the Alpha Four animals were on display on random days and times for our protection, the fourth and fifth were housing and the Computer Lab. The third floor was where we now hosted gala events where sometimes our guests didn’t die.

But the second floor was mostly a huge kitchen, a row of bathrooms, one of which housed a gate, a couple of elevators, and open space. It made for a good For Your Ears Only meeting room, because there was almost nothing anyone could hide in or behind.

The rest of Hacker International were waiting for us, looking worried. “Did you look outside?” Ravi asked.

“We walked over from the Embassy, what do you think?” Stryker replied.

Showing that Dazzlers were always on top of things, Lorraine and Claudia did a fast check of the floor and stairwells while Hacker International bickered amongst themselves about who was on top of looking at the mob outside and who wasn’t.

“We’re alone,” Claudia said when they returned, a few seconds later.

The one thing this floor didn’t have was chairs. Oh well. Olga’s chair traveled with her, and everyone else could follow my lead and sit their butts down on Mr. Clean Floor. Most of them did—we looked like the most formal bunch of Fireside Friends ever—though Buchanan remained standing, and because he did, Len and Kyle did as well.

“Great. Okay, I know what’s going on and I know why, at least, most of it. But first, to explain why we’re here and everyone else is in the conference room, you know how I’ve been saying off and on that we have a mole?”

Everyone nodded. “Going to steal your thunder,” Chuckie said. “It’s Gladys, isn’t it?”

“Yes, and before you all start protesting, I don’t think she’s been a willing mole.”

“No,” Tito agreed. “However, she’s given in to Al Dejahl’s mind control at least twice that we know of. Who’s to say it hasn’t been more often?”

“I’d think she’d have told someone if that were the case, Richard maybe,” Lorraine said.

“Not if she doesn’t remember it. She said that things are fuzzy when she’s under mind control and she can’t remember everything.”

“How long have you known about Ronaldo Al Dejahl?” Olga asked.

“Since Jamie was born. But he was a French businessman and philanthropist well before then. And he had to have been protected in some way, because Mom never made the connection to him and the Al Dejahl terrorist group until then.”

“While I’m sure he’s been protected,” Buchanan said, “your mother checked him out years ago. But Al Dejahl and its derivatives are common names in a small, very rural part of Europe and also in a few remote regions in the Middle East, and he had legitimate lineage to those areas. Ronaldo wasn’t shown to be anything but a successful businessman until Baby Chief’s birth.”

“So, where does this leave us?” Adriana asked.

“Besides exposed and under attack both from the mob outside and from our other enemies? It leaves us with this—I know, exactly, what the bad guys are after.” Pointed to Tito’s laptop. “From now on, Tito, that laptop, its backups, Melanie, Emily, and Magdalena are considered second only to Jamie and the rest of the kids in terms of protection needs.”

Nurse Carter looked confused. “Why? And why am I on that list?”

“Because what our enemies are searching so desperately for is the one thing they couldn’t have found when they stole and wiped our data yesterday—the research on the Yates Gene.”