Alien Collective

by Gini Koch

  Looked around to see Stephanie up and holding the waterbender up. Said bender spoke. “You killed my father, and my brothers.”

  “Maybe. Not sure who your brothers are.”

  “You murdered them! In their sleep!”

  “Um, no, no I didn’t. I haven’t killed anyone in their sleep, ever.”

  “Yes you did. All this week. We’ve lost so many.”

  “Um, how many?” Good to get confirmation of what Team Assassin was up to. Not a surprise Buchanan hadn’t wanted to share what was going on. But it made sense—Siler had written these people off, he knew they were dangerous, and presumably Stephanie had led him to a lot of them. Truly hoped Buchanan and the others had been sure that who they’d killed were bad guys. “And were these brothers people you grew up with or dudes you’ve met in the last year or so?”

  “It doesn’t matter how long you’ve known someone. If they’re your blood, they’re your blood.”

  Okay, that felt like proof that these brothers of hers were more Yates Kids found in the last year. “I didn’t kill any of them. Neither did anyone here.”

  “Yes, you did.” Her eyes were wide—crazy eyes for sure. “You, all of you, are murdering bastards and we’re going to wipe you off the face of the Earth.”

  “Technically, you and your siblings would be the murdering bastards. But whatever makes you happy. I’m not going to allow you to kill anyone, especially not all those innocent people down there you seem hell-bent on hurting. They’ve done less than nothing to you. There’s no reason to attack them, other than the fact that you know we’ll do everything we can to protect them.”

  Stephanie was backing the two of them away from me. Wasn’t sure why. Neither one of them could be hurt that badly, because I hadn’t actually done any kind of real beat down on them. So she was either trying to get away from me, or trying to get me to move somewhere.

  Risked a look around. In addition to some press who were still here, there was a guy trying to sneak up on me. Pity for him that Prince was here. The dog tackled this guy silently, took him down, and stood on his chest, growling, fangs right against the guy’s throat.

  “Good dog!” Turned back. Stephanie and the waterbender had disappeared. Cursed, ran over and did a side blade kick against the guy’s head so he was fully out, and then took off running at human speeds, just to be sure I didn’t miss anything, Prince bounding along at my side.

  Reached the stairs again. “You stay here,” I said to Prince. “I’ll be right back.” Raced upstairs. There were two more levels, one loaded with meeting rooms, one with the ballroom. As I reached the third floor, someone grabbed me.

  “It’s me,” Christopher said quickly, as I spun to hit him. “I already checked everything. It’s clear.”

  “You saw the tank and didn’t do anything?”

  He shrugged. “You were handling it.”

  “Gee, thanks. Stephanie and the waterbender have escaped, no idea where they are.”

  “Not upstairs.”

  “Well, that’s good. There’s a bomb somewhere, though, I’m sure of it.”

  “Bombs work best when they’re low, to bring a building down. And there were none on these top floors, or the roof, which I also checked.” He took my hand and we raced back downstairs, Christopher grabbing Prince on the way.

  A fast check of the outer lower level showed no bombs. My music went to “Mobscene” by Marilyn Manson. This combined with what we hadn’t found meant the bombs were in with all the people, for maximum damage. And, based on what had gone on before, they were ricin bombs.

  Rejoined the mob of panicked, fighting people. “You search,” I shouted to Christopher. “You’re the fastest.” He nodded, put Prince down, and took off.

  Prince heaved all over someone waving an anti-alien sign. I grabbed the sign and hit them with it. Hit a few others holding nasty signs, too. The benefits of hyperspeed and superstrength meant that I knocked these people out on the first try.

  I needed to get the room cleared and get to Jeff, not necessarily in that order. “The Angry Mob” by the Kaiser Chiefs came on. Decided this meant I needed to bang some more heads.

  Did so—they were really easy to spot what with all their signs and such. As I broke one 2x4 over someone’s skull, I just took their sign and kept on going. I was so enraged that I was fairly sure no one knew what hit them, because I was pretty sure I was going far too fast to be seen by anyone except maybe Christopher.

  As I finished taking out about a hundred people there was a shout and collective gasp. Looked to the stage. Everyone else was down, and Stephanie had Jeff on his knees, with a gun to his head. The waterbender was with them, and she had a tube of water spinning around them. It was deflecting bullets, at least as near as I could tell.

  Two women came to me as “Come Hell or High Water” by Poison hit my personal airwaves. Had that right. “What would you have us do?” one asked, and I realized they were Rahmi and Rhee.

  “We need to take those two women down before they can kill Jeff.”

  As I said this, I spotted someone I wasn’t expecting—Cameron Maurer. He trotted right by us and through people, knocking them out of his way. Tried to get a bead on where he was headed. “Lift me up please,” I said to Rahmi, who obliged. I followed his trajectory—which, despite the chaos, was simple due to people being knocked aside—and realized he was going to end up near to the stage. Where Christopher was, with Chuckie, working feverishly on something.

  Rahmi put me down. “Follow our android,” I told them. His route would put us close enough to the stage and we’d get there quickly because he was clearing a path. Picked Prince up again, and we all took off.

  Got onto the stage in a matter of seconds. Stephanie was enjoying her moment in the spotlight, and hadn’t shot Jeff in the head yet. But it was only a matter of time.

  The people who’d been around Jeff were alive, I could see all of them breathing. As I grabbed Tim’s gun, which was, happily, a Glock, something I’d really been hoping wouldn’t happen did.

  The air around us swirled, as if there were a variety of dust devils forming without dust. Looked around. Spotted Mahin—she was fighting with a couple of people I was pretty sure were half-siblings—so it wasn’t her doing this.

  The air devils formed into shapes. Eight shapes. Eight humanoid shapes. One of which was far more defined than the others. “I am sorry,” Sandy said. “But the time for judgment is here.”

  CHAPTER 91

  “THIS IS REALLY BAD TIMING. Give me a couple of minutes to save my husband’s life and ensure the nasty bomb that’s going to kill and/or poison everyone here doesn’t go off. Then I’ll be glad to let you all toss your weight around, okay?”

  “This is the leader?” one of the others asked Sandy.

  “No, I’m not the leader. Well, I’m ACE’s leader, yes. And I lead our people. Somewhat. But I’m not ‘the’ leader.”

  As I said this I noted a couple things. One of which was that Cameron Maurer had reached Christopher and Chuckie. He wrested something from them, and took off running, again bowling people over left and right.

  The other was that if Maurer was doing this, then the Superconsciousness Council hadn’t moved us out of time. Meaning that the entire world was seeing this particular showdown. Oh good. I was drenched and bedraggled, so totally ready for my close-up.

  “We look around and see how unworthy all of you are,” one of the other shapes said.

  “Well, as I look around, I can easily find us unruly, even though we’re all definitely quieting down due to confusion, fear, and the sheer awesomeness of being in your august presences, but unworthy? No. We’re not unworthy. Younger than you, yeah, by millennia or more, I’m sure. Different, absolutely. But unworthy? A few of us, sure. But the vast majority? Worthy. At least as worthy as you. Maybe more so.”

  “We find you unworthy,” the one said again.

  Contemplated my options. I could beg and such, but I wasn’t in the mood. I could
ignore them and try to get to Stephanie, but they’d probably stop me. However, Sandy had told me what their ultimate weakness was, and now I realized exactly why Sandy had done so. It was good to have friends all over.

  “And I find you rude. Okey dokey. Guys, or gals, or whatever you are, I hate dealing with formless, nameless beings. Particularly nameless. So, there are seven of you. Line up, names are coming.”

  “What are you saying?” a third asked, sounding horrified.

  “Well, Doc, I don’t know. Grumpy seems to think we’re unworthy. Happy wants to know if I’m the leader. Sneezy, Sleepy, Bashful, and Dopey haven’t spoken yet, but I’m sure they’ll add in.”

  “Who are you naming Dopey?” another one asked, sounding outraged. Despite the situation, heard some giggles from the crowd.

  “You, congrats on stepping up. Everyone, meet the Superconsciousness Seven. Sneezy, Sleepy, wave to the audience. Bashful, don’t bother, we’ll figure out who you are. Eventually.” There were a few more titters from the audience. Keeping it light, that was me all over.

  “Stop it,” the one I’d named Doc hissed. “You have no right.”

  “My world, my rules, my rights. You have no right to come here and try to order us around, Doc. You haven’t come to help us, you’ve come to interfere with us. So you and Grumpy, Happy, Dopey, Sleepy, Sneezy, and Bashful go back to wherever you came from and leave us the hell alone.”

  “Stop using those names. I am not named Sleepy!”

  “Yeah, you are. You chose it, actually, not me. Isn’t that right, Sneezy?”

  “No,” the sixth one said. “I am not Sneezy either.”

  “Bashful, what’s the good word? Okay with your name?”

  “Not really,” the last replied. “I don’t . . . understand it.”

  “Oh, you will. Soon enough. By the way, I heard a lot of I’s in there. Good. Enjoy learning what being an individual feels like. You’ll feel very alone, and then you’ll realize that other individuals can join with you and make you feel less alone, make you stronger, safer. So, in that sense we’re just like you are, only we have to choose to be joined with others. Some of those other individuals are bad. Most are good. That’s pretty much our world in a nutshell. Like it or leave it, but seriously, we have a lot going on, so back off, I’m working here.”

  With that, I turned away from them and toward the nasty tableau on the stage next to me. The waterbender had managed to keep her water tunnel going all this time, but it looked weaker. And I was, by now, the very definition of seriously pissed.

  I could see the water, see the individual drops that formed it, and therefore see the spaces in between them. I aimed my gun. “Stop with the water, or I shoot. And I won’t miss.”

  “Why are you aiming for her, not me?” Stephanie taunted. “I’m the one with a gun to your husband’s head. Or don’t you care about him at all?”

  “Oh, I care. I just know when to let someone else handle the big save.”

  As I said this, Rahmi and Rhee broke through the water barrier. Rahmi slammed her battlestaff onto the arm Stephanie was using to hold the gun on Jeff, while Rhee pulled him away and out of the range of fire.

  Stephanie screamed as her gun dropped to the ground. I was pretty sure her arm was broken. The waterbender stared at me.

  “Try me,” I said conversationally. “Maybe I’m wrong and I can’t shoot your head off. But, before you decide, tell me, bitch . . . do you feel lucky?”

  She waited another long second. Then the water sloshed onto the stage, and she put her hands up. Apparently she did not.

  Claudia and Lorraine hypersped over and put her and Stephanie into restraints, despite Stephanie screaming and starting what sounded like a tantrum. Much nastier restraints than handcuffs.

  Looked around. There were a lot of people in the same kind of restraints. Apparently all the good guys had been spending the breather Sandy and his folks had provided in getting the bad guys tied up. Wondered if Sandy had considered this might happen. Decided that he probably had.

  Mous-Mous jumped out of my purse and started mewling, meowing, and jumping up and down. It was clear that the Poof was talking to Sandy and the Seven Superconsciousnesses, not anyone else. I let the conversation go on while I went to Jeff and hugged him tightly.

  “Can I say, once again, how much I hate how all the bad guys want you on your knees so they can kill you dramatically?”

  “It’s because I’m tall. And as long as they don’t actually kill me, I don’t care.” He kissed me. “You were awesome, baby, as always.”

  “Yeah.” Surveyed the scene. There were bullet holes through almost every poster, half of the décor was down or halfway down. The video screens were shot up. Many people looked as bad as I did.

  Raj came over and handed me his microphone. “Cast your delegation’s votes.”

  “Seriously?”

  He nodded. “We’ve had the stage long enough.”

  I laughed, and turned to the audience. “American Centaurion gives all its votes to the Armstrong-Martini ticket.”

  Wasn’t sure what to expect. But someone started clapping, then a few more, and a few more. And all of a sudden the room was cheering again, as if this horrific battle hadn’t just happened.

  Sandy set down on the stage next to us. He’d pulled some downed flag streamers in to make himself look solid, just like he had with water and sand. It was no weirder than any of his other looks. No better, either.

  “This is us,” I said to him. “We get knocked down and we get back up again.” “Tub Thumping” by Chumbawamba came onto my airwaves as I said this. I laughed again and pulled my earbuds out. “If you try to hurt us, we’ll fight back, and we won’t stop until you go away and leave us the hell alone.”

  Sandy shook his head. “No. You’ve proven your worth. You defended the helpless when all you had to do was run away and remain safe.”

  “We don’t run away,” Jeff said. “We came to this world and asked for refuge. And in return we promised to help and to protect it and the people on it. That’s still what we’re here for. And that means protecting people we don’t like, who don’t like us right back. Not all the time, but many times.”

  Sandy looked around. “Many of your enemies are dead or down.”

  “There are always more. Trust me.” Realized that, because I still had the microphone, everyone in the room had heard us. Decided not to care. But I turned the mic off, because what we were going to discuss with Sandy now wasn’t for general consumption. “But, what’s the plan? The Seven Superconsciousnesses going to try to destroy us, take ACE, or similar?”

  “No. They’re going to leave.” Sandy sounded amused. “I warned them not to come, but they had to see it for themselves.”

  Reached out and took his hand. While I could feel his hand as a real thing, it also felt insubstantial, as if, were I to squeeze it, it would dissolve into nothing. “Thanks for your help.”

  “You are welcome. I am not going to join with Paul. Right now, anyway.”

  “Why not? Too much excitement for you?”

  “No. I wish to visit other worlds, see what their inhabitants are like, learn their good and bad. And unlike those who protect you now, I have less restraint in terms of helping you. I would do what the others are able to avoid—I would help you too much. I would make you dependent upon me, and I would become the despotic god I do not want to be.”

  He squeezed my hand, and didn’t dissolve. Instead, he formed, from the inside out. Which was icky, but masked greatly by the décor he’d used as his form outline. Sadly, there were a lot of bullet holes in that décor, so I could still see his internal organs and bones and such. Managed not to gag, but only because I was still so revved up.

  Once his skin and hair were on, he smiled at me. “Thank you.”

  “You’re going to stay as a human? I don’t think we travel well through space.”

  “No. But now that I know how to form as you are, I can do so when I want to or need
to.”

  Mous-Mous came over, jumped onto his shoulder, and purred. “Mous-Mous, are you staying with Sandy?” Tried not to sound horrified. Failed. I’d promised Jamie I’d protect her Poof. How would I explain that I’d let it go off with some superconsciousness that might or might not ever be back?

  “No,” Sandy said gently. “Your daughter’s pet will never desert her. It argued quite eloquently on your race’s behalf, and for you in particular. But just now it was merely sharing its thanks with me as well, in its own way.” Sandy took Mous-Mous off his shoulder, patted the Poof gently, then handed it back to me.

  Clutched the Poof to me. “Back into Kitty’s purse.” Mous-Mous purred at me, then did as requested. Checked. I had a lot of Poofs back in there, including Harlie and Poofikins, so all was well in Poof Land. “So, Sandy, what now?”

  “Now we leave you. But I will do you one small favor.” He waved his hand and everything was put back in its place, everything was repaired, every single thing. The room, and presumably the rest of the convention center, looked as if nothing had happened.

  “Thank you, but yeah,” Jeff said, “we need you to leave. Miracles like that make humans and A-Cs very desperate to bow down and worship.”

  “We know. All of us will be leaving. And while we may visit from time to time, we will ensure that the majority never know of it.”

  “One thing, before you go?”

  Sandy nodded. “I know what you want to know. And as much as I want to tell you, I can’t. It will . . . disrupt the balance of things. This great secret you all must learn on your own.”

  “One little hint?” I asked. Okay, I wheedled. Hey, I really wanted to know who the hell the Mastermind was.

  “No. I will give you some advice instead. Offer the truce. It will be in everyone’s best interests.” Sandy took my hand and squeezed it one last time. Then he dissolved into thin air, and the others with him did as well.