by Gini Koch
Whatever the reason, we made it to the limo quickly, and Chuckie had to gag for only about half a minute before we could take the gate.
Floater gates were harder to create and maintain, but they usually allowed more than one person to go through easily. Now that I had the A-C powers, I could actually see the gate as a real thing, as opposed to a weird, almost invisible shimmering. The A-C agents who’d come to guard the limo were still there. We had them stay, because I didn’t want Jeff in a rigged car any more than he wanted me in one.
I kept a hold on Michael and Chuckie as we stepped through the gate. It had been a long, exciting, exertion-filled couple of days already, and my body really hated going through gates when I was fully rested and relaxed. I managed not to barf my guts out, but only because it was a really short trip, as gate transfers went, and I had a death grip on their hands.
We exited, as was totally par for the A-C course, in a men’s bathroom. Not in a stall, for once, but still, right there, in the bathroom. The joys of floater gates were without number. Amazingly enough, there was no one at a urinal, though most of the stalls seemed occupied. Doing my best to ignore the sounds, smells, and my own nausea, I dragged both men out, fast.
I hadn’t had the brains to ask Caroline where in the airport she actually was, but fortunately, that’s what phones were for. I called her while Michael called Reader to find out where Alpha Team was.
“Caro, you okay?”
“Yeah, Kit-Kat, I am. Right now. But, I think there are men watching me.”
“Fabulous. Where are you at?”
“Main Security desk for Terminal B. Feeling naked, exposed, and freaked out.”
“I always knew you were smart.” I thought about it. “You’re not at Baggage Claim?”
“No, they’re moving everyone up once they get their luggage, since there’s absolutely no ground transportation coming into National right now.”
I gave Chuckie and Michael Caroline’s location; Michael passed it along while Chuckie headed us for the right area.
As we trotted along I hooked my purse over my neck and then took a good look around. No police. At all. Not that I expected a ton of cops in the airport, but if National was cut off, an officer of the law or two hanging around wouldn’t be a shocker, if only to ensure no one panicked or to control panic should it start.
While there were no cops, there were absolutely a lot of men around who didn’t seem to have any luggage. I could see the little plastic earphones so popular with the Matrix movies and covert operatives.
“Chuckie, are any of these your guys by any chance?”
“No. Figure they look at me as a roadblock or an adversary, not an ally.”
“So it’s business as usual.”
“Pretty much. Where the hell is Alpha Team?”
“Meeting us,” Michael said.
Airborne apparently wasn’t coming, which made sense since half of the team were new parents and the other half were busy being new uncles. Besides, none of them were A-Cs, and under the circumstances, A-Cs and their hyperspeed were what I wanted.
Serene hadn’t been allowed to make an appearance at any active scenes for a few weeks now. It dawned on me that this meant that Alpha Team, therefore, consisted of Reader, Tim, and, since I was here, me. Meaning we had only two people with A-C talents with us, and only one of us was going to be able to ensure that we escaped, as opposed to slammed into walls.
We spotted Caroline before I could share this aloud. She, like the majority of my sorority sisters, was small, fair, and pretty. I could see how someone who didn’t really know us could potentially mistake us for sisters, though it was a stretch.
She had a rolling bag, a duffel, and a backpack, and she looked worried and exhausted. Not good. She was actively chatting with the people behind the security counter, which was smart. She saw me and Chuckie, and her expression went to relief.
I ran to her and gave her a hug. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Really freaked out. Security says there are no limos or taxis they can reach.”
“That means there are more innocent bystanders around for us to be distracted trying to protect,” Chuckie said quietly as he joined us and gave Caroline a hug.
“Chuck, God, am I glad to see you and Kit-Kat. What the hell’s going on?”
“Tell you later. Kitty, what’s your plan?”
Caroline stared at him. “Kit-Kat’s in charge?”
“More often than anyone likes,” he said with a grin. “We’ll brief you later. Kitty?”
I grabbed Michael. “Michael Gower, Caroline Chase. Michael, Caroline’s your responsibility. If you have to, you leave us to get her back to the Embassy safely.”
“Got it.” Michael gave Caroline his wide, “you so hot, babe” smile that he gave to every female between 18 and 110. “Nice to meet you.”
“At least I’ll die happy,” Caroline said with a laugh as Michael slung her duffel over his shoulder, took her rolling bag in one hand, and her hand in his other.
“Stay with us as long as you can.” I looked around and finally spotted Reader and Tim. They weren’t alone. Gower was with them, and so was White. “Awesome, my partner’s here!” I shook my head as they reached us. “Paul, you shouldn’t be out here.”
He shrugged. “The Pontifex is part of Alpha Team.”
“No argument, I’m glad you’re here, even though it puts you in danger.” I was. The number of A-Cs had increased to a more acceptable ratio.
“Where is Jeffrey?” White asked.
“Handling another part of this fun operation. Where’s Christopher?” I was sort of surprised he hadn’t found a way to come along somehow.
“He’s handling things at the Embassy,” White said.
“There are things to handle?”
White nodded. “Sadly, yes. We’ll fill you in once we’re all back together.” He gave me a small smile. “Catsuit time again, Missus Martini?”
After a couple of days of everyone calling me Miss Katt, it was a refreshing change. “It is indeed, Mister White.” I did fast intros for Caroline and then took stock again of our position. “I may be crazy, but it looks like we could just walk out of here.”
“You are crazy,” Tim said, “and we can’t. We got in via gates. We were late meeting up with you because we scanned the perimeter.”
“Any police officers about?”
“No.” Tim sighed. “There are a lot of unfriendlies, though.”
Reader nodded. “They’re ready for us and clearly ready to take a lot of hostages. All ground transportation into this airport has mysteriously stopped or vanished, but there’s no terrorism alert.”
Caroline stared at him. “Oh, my God! I know you! You did that Calvin Klein ad that caused so much controversy a few years ago.”
Reader flashed the cover-boy grin. “It’s always nice to be recognized.”
She laughed. “We had that framed and hanging up in our rec room at the sorority.”
Gower looked at me. “How much did you have to do with that?”
I managed not to blush. “Perhaps a little. I think we have other, more pressing, matters.”
“Like survival,” Chuckie said. “Why don’t we just use a gate to get out of here?”
“Wow, aren’t you Mister Logical?”
“Yeah, I am. Let’s move to a bathroom and get quietly and safely home. I realize you haven’t tried that at all these past couple of days, but I really recommend it as a good plan.” Chuckie had a sarcasm knob, too.
“Which bathroom has the gate in it?” I asked Reader.
“The one we came through. The one they sent you to doesn’t.” He started off in the direction they’d come from, and we followed in a rather tight group. We got about fifty yards, and Reader stopped walking. “I think Reynolds’ plan is offline.”
The bathroom was clearly marked. There were also a lot of mean, nasty-looking men wearing the little plastic earbud things standing around it. That, in and of itself, wouldn�
�t have been the problem. The problem was the guy doing free balloon animals. He was undoubtedly there to draw a crowd, and a crowd he had. Families, some younger folks, even some of your standard business travelers were there. Free was powerful, there was nothing to do, and the guy was running good, engaging patter.
Chuckie cursed quietly. “Okay, so Plan A and Plan B are completely out. Should we call for a floater gate right here?”
“Can’t do the crowd control,” Gower said. “Richard and Michael don’t have implants. Mine was removed when I became Pontifex.”
“Implants?” Caroline asked. “I’m confused.”
“There are gases natural to Earth that many from American Centaurion can manipulate to create mass hallucinations,” I said quickly, while I pondered our limited options. “Used only for crowd control in danger situations. Like this one.”
“Ah. I’ve picked up that American Centaurion isn’t…normal.”
“Oh, in some ways we’re very normal,” White said genially. “In others, we are quite different, yes.”
“Who did you pick that up from?” Chuckie asked Caroline. “And how is it that you came in from Paraguay but are here, instead of Dulles or, as would make sense, considering the people on the plane, Andrews?”
“Now is probably not the time,” I pointed out.
“Until we have at least Plans C through G in place, sure it is.”
Caroline sighed. “They only allowed the politicians to get off at Andrews. The rest of us had to stay on the plane and disembark here. It’s part of our security process—they make us do this practically every time; supposedly it helps us fly under the radar. Sometimes they drop us off first and then take the pols to Andrews. Sometimes we all get off here. Occasionally we all get off at Andrews. Why we have to go through all this rigmarole I don’t know, but the senator gave up on trying to win that battle months ago.”
“Where’s everyone else who was with you?” Chuckie asked, sounding tense.
She shrugged. “They left. They all had their cars here. I thought I had a ride, which is why I didn’t go along with one of them.”
“And what’s made you suspicious of American Centaurion?” He still sounded tense. And ready to read Caroline her rights if her answer was wrong.
Caroline rolled her eyes. “Chuck, because of things you told me in school. I pretty much figure everyone’s hiding something here and no one’s what they seem to be or say they are. It means I’m right, or at least not too surprised, most of the time.”
“Oh. Well. Yeah.” Chuckie cleared his throat. “Good viewpoint. Carry on.”
She laughed and patted his cheek. “Same old Chuck. Thank God.”
I was done running through options. “I know what to do.”
“And what, exactly, is that?” Reader asked.
I shrugged. “I’m going with what’s worked every time before.”
White smiled at me. “The crazy, Missus Martini?”
“You know it.”
CHAPTER 36
“I’M GOING TO HATE THIS, AREN’T I?” Chuckie asked.
“Most likely.” I dug my iPod and headphones out. “James, what’s our status for a limo?”
“Ready to send from the Dome on my order.” The Dome Gate was the main gate hub for the entire world, housed in New Mexico, on the original alien crash site. The Ancients’ ship’s fuel had an impressive afterlife, and it powered the Dome. Most large transfers, like cars, tanks, or planes, went through the Dome. But a gate was a gate, and that meant we could have a car here fast.
“Great. Alter the order. Send a fleet of limos. Have them showing up as soon as possible. Every one needs a Field team in it, ready to defend or attack. Or possibly just drive people to their destinations.”
“What the hell are you planning, girlfriend?”
“I’m going to remove the innocent bystanders and divide the bad guys’ focus. Someone went to a hell of a lot of trouble to strand this airport, so let’s do our best to block their goals. Chop, chop, time’s a-wastin’. We need at least a hundred limos.” There were a lot of people in the airport. “Anyone who doesn’t get passengers needs to help create chaos for the bad guys.”
Reader sighed as he pulled out his phone. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“Paul, as soon as Richard and I get rolling, I want you to use your most effective, diplomatic touch and make sure the security people share that the good folks from American Centaurion have discovered the plight of those stranded at National and are providing limos free of charge for all travelers.”
“Why are we doing that?” Gower asked.
“Like a good neighbor, Alpha Centauri is there, remember? Just channel it to our being Good Samaritans, and make it work. As soon as the limos show up, have the Field teams with them do the mind control stuff. I’m going to assume it won’t work on our enemies, but hope springs eternal, so tell them to give it a try anyway.”
Gower nodded and pulled out his phone, presumably to score some Pontifex-level Field support. White had never rolled without a lot of backup; I wasn’t excited to see Gower still acting like he was the Head of Recruitment instead of the religious leader of the entire Earth A-C population. Then again, Christopher had mentioned we were all having trouble adjusting. Then also again, Gower had ACE riding shotgun in his consciousness. Which begged a question.
Gower hung up, so I asked said beggar. “Paul, what’s ACE’s status right now?”
“He’s uncomfortable, but hasn’t asked to talk to you. Which,” Gower added with a sigh, “usually means ACE approves of whatever it is you have planned.”
“ACE is the best.”
“ACE?” Caroline asked.
“Later, Caro. Like when we’re all somewhere a lot safer than here. We’ll do the whole high-level debrief then.”
“Kitty, your massive limo invasion might get some of the bystanders out of the way, but even if it removes all of them, we still have a world of hurt eyeballing us,” Tim pointed out.
“Mister White and I are going to create a diversion. You all are going to ensure that Chuckie and Caroline get out of here safely. Whether that means you get into the bathroom or take one of the many limos coming, I don’t care.”
“I care,” Chuckie said. “We want to take a gate. I’ve had enough of our people being delayed, shot at, and driven off the road.” Caroline’s eyes widened, and she looked, if possible, even more worried than she had been.
Reader nodded. “Great, thanks Gladys.” He hung up. “Reynolds, we’re going to get a floater gate. It’ll show once Kitty rolls her diversion. Whatever it’s going to be.”
“Kitty, I want to know what your plan is,” Chuckie said, in his “won’t take no for an answer” voice I knew so well. “And I want to know before you roll it.”
I considered my options and tuned my iPod to my Hate This Place playlist. It was getting a lot of use. I scrolled through to Fall Out Boy’s “I Don’t Care.” By now, I didn’t care what anyone thought or wanted. I was sick and tired of being trapped in this crazy town with all these crazy people who were, once again, trying to kill everyone I cared about.
“Richard and I are going to engage the gaggle of goons waiting for us by the bathroom with a gate. Should we successfully get into the bathroom, we’re going to use the gate in it to get home.”
“And what are you going to do when, as is so much more likely, you don’t get into that bathroom?” Chuckie asked, clearly voicing everyone else’s concern.
I sighed. “We’re going to lure them away from you all and the floater gate. Once you’re all off the premises, I guarantee you they’ll leave the limos and travelers alone and go after me and Richard.”
“Then what?” Tim asked.
White shrugged. “Then we kick butt and take names.”
“You are such a natural, Mister White.”
“Kitty, that sounds really dangerous,” Caroline said nervously. “Isn’t your husband going to have a fit?”
“He’ll have
kittens,” Reader said with a snicker. It was nice to see that his ability to be the comic relief wasn’t waning, despite his promotion to head man.
“He’s used to me. Caro, look, don’t panic. Just do what the boys say. Boys, be good, get back to the Embassy.”
“And be ready to pull your butt out of the fire,” Chuckie added. “Right?”
“Of course right.” I didn’t expect to need it, but then again, it never hurt to have Plan Z in place, too. “Ready, Mister White?”
“Ready whenever you are, Missus Martini.”
“Awesome. Then let’s go be the New Avengers again and cause some mayhem.”
CHAPTER 37
WHITE AND I STEPPED US AWAY from our group and toward the latest Goon Squad. Yes, what I wanted was right by them and the bathroom, but it was too close. I wandered us off, casually, searching for another option.
“Mister White, when you were Pontifex, you seemed to have an unlimited supply of whatever kind of cash you might need.”
“True enough, Missus Martini. What of it?”
“Do you still have that? Sort of like former presidents still have Secret Service details? Still on you and in active use?”
“I do indeed. Again, what of it?”
“I’m shocked you can’t guess. Must be three months of us doing absolutely nothing interesting making you rusty.” Happily, I spotted an option in the vicinity, within sight and sound of the Goons and everyone else. It was also located by an elevator and an escalator. It was the best we were going to get, so that meant it was perfect. I wanted the many innocents going in a direction away from the Goons, after all.
“My shame knows no bounds. But I still have no idea why my having money would help in this instance. I doubt these men are bribable, at least, not in this situation.”
“Pull your wallet out, and get ready to follow my lead.” While he did as requested, I put in my headphones, and hit play. I grabbed White’s free hand and started off. “Rick, honey, I’d like you to become a crazed philanthropist when I say go. Got it?”