by Gini Koch
He wasn’t wrong. Had no idea what I was going to tell Jamie and Charlie, aside from how much their father and I loved them. Didn’t want to say goodbye forever to my children. And I really didn’t want some aliens who weren’t even themselves anymore to hurt my children, especially not in the ways I knew they would.
My music turned back on. Elton John’s “Answer in the Sky” was the current musical selection.
“The helicarrier—do you think it has the firepower to stop the Aicirtap?”
Siler shook his head. “If it did, Drax would have already told everyone to stop worrying.”
The music switched to “Octopus’s Garden” by the Beatles. Looked at the Killer Octopus. “We have the means to zap them all into dust.”
“But not the time to create more of those.”
“But there are four sets . . .”
“What are you thinking?”
“Four people, each manning a nozzle. Dropped into the middle of a group, able to zap at will.”
“I don’t even want to contemplate the odds. And it might even work, except that the machine needs electricity to run, and a lot of it.”
Pulled my phone out and called Drax. “Gustav, the amazing helicarrier, can it do spaceflight?”
“Of course, what do you take me for?”
“Just checking. How fast can it fly? And by that, I mean is it up to the level of the latest spaceships to grace Earth with their presences?”
“Vata ships are all extremely fast. If you’re looking for a comparison, I believe the helicarrier is at least as fast as whatever the Z’porrah fly, probably faster.”
“Super. How quickly can you alter an existing machine to have its own power source? It needs a nuclear level of power, but it would be nice if the machine didn’t kill those wielding it.” Described the Killer Octopus, how it worked, and how I’d like it to work in the very near future.
“I’ll need to see it to be sure if it’s able to be altered, but the Vrierst could assist.”
“Excellent, make it so. And bring along any other aliens who might be able to help. Pronto.” Gave him our location and we hung up. “Now the issue will be to move it. That thing is hella heavy.”
“We were able to move it, though, since we have a lot of strong people,” Siler said. “One of whom is being called back to his post.”
Considered our options as Iron Maiden’s “For The Greater Good of God” came on. “Screw that. Come on.” Trotted back downstairs, Siler right behind me. “Chuckie’s right. We can’t leave this stuff lying around. Because we’re not going to be killed by the Aicirtap.”
This got me the room’s attention. “How are we not?” Tim asked, for everyone based on expressions. “I’m not against survival, mind you, but I’m not seeing a lot of options.”
Pointed to the Killer Octopus. “I am.” The air near me shimmered and Drax walked through the floater gate. He wasn’t alone. There were three Vrierst with him, swirling from manta to human, depending on how their personal winds were flowing. None of them bothered with introductions, they just headed for the machine.
“What’s going on?” Jeff asked.
“We have something that can zap someone into dust as easily as it makes living photocopies and, apparently, devolves your IQ. This is what Cliff was talking about when he said he could have saved everyone. He meant he’d use this machine. So, I want us to use it.”
“Who do you mean by ‘us’?” Jeff asked.
“Us. You, me, Nightcrawler, whoever else wants to handle the fourth nozzle.”
“We can’t allow that,” Reader said. “Jeff is the President—”
Put up the paw. Reader stopped talking. Was starting to love this power. Meaning I had to save the world or I’d never get to use it again.
“The President needs to lead. And that means he needs to protect his people. But more than that, in this case, Jeff is the King Regent of the Alpha Centaurion Empire. And since the Emperor himself came to rescue us during Operation Destruction, I’d say that precedent has been set. The good kings, the ones people want to follow, lead. Period.”
“Kitty’s right,” Jeff said. “If I go back to D.C. all that means is that they’ll shove me into the Bunker. We all saw the pictures the Faradawn shared—I don’t want to survive in order to see how anyone not deemed ‘important enough’ has been destroyed, since I already know it will be in one of the most horrible ways possible. If this is how we die, then it’s a far better death than to cower in a metal room while everyone else dies.”
“Then we’re all going,” Reader said.
“Nope. Because, as Chuckie said, I’m right. Always, I’m forced to add because now isn’t the time for modesty. You and Tim need to stay here with Chuckie and ensure that we get everything useful, dangerous, or compromising out of here.”
Rahmi zipped over. “We need to take that.” She pointed to V.A.R.I.S. “Kitty, that’s where everything we couldn’t find will be.”
“Rahmi’s right, Chuckie, we need to save this version of V.A.R.I.S. John can tell her to listen to you. Rahmi and I are both listening to our guts and betting the computer is hiding more than you’re going to get via the printouts.”
“I agree,” Chuckie said. “I want it at Dulce, though.”
“No argument. After moving V.A.R.I.S. you guys need to ensure that you reduce this place to rubble. You’ll all need help with that, meaning that A-Cs or those with hyperspeed have to stay.”
“Christopher, you stay here,” Jeff said.
This earned him Patented Glare #4. “Why?”
Jeff sighed. “You need to be with your family.” Christopher started to protest and Jeff shook his head. “Your children need you here.”
“Children?” Considered how stressed he’d been over Kozlow moving in and how adamant Jeff had been about Christopher not attempting the water rescue. “Oh, wow. Congrats! When’s the baby due?”
“Eight months from now. Faster than we’d planned, but we’re not complaining. But this wasn’t how we wanted to tell everyone.”
“But this is how it tends to roll for us. I’m with Jeff, you stay home. So to speak.”
“You have two children, and Siler has Lizzie. Why are you three allowed to go?”
“Someone has to stay to take care of the kids if we don’t come back,” Siler said.
“Ah. Uh. Yeah.” Christopher didn’t look happy with the reality of this answer, but he stopped arguing.
Drax trotted over. “I have good news and bad news.”
“Fantastic. We’ll take the bad news first.”
“This is not something that anyone on Earth could possibly have created, at least not without assistance, because the materials at the core are not from this solar system.”
“Super. Is that it or is there more bad news?”
“More. The core is made up of a metal found only on certain worlds in the galaxy.”
“Wow, and I’ll bet none of them are in our neighborhood.”
“No, they are not. Would you like the good news now?”
“I’d love some, yes.”
He smiled. “One of those planets is Netu.”
We all stared at him. “Yes?” I asked finally.
“Apologies. Netu is the Vrierst home world. They use large balls of this metal to power their ship. And they have spares with them.”
Now wasn’t the time to do a comparison between Drax and Wruck’s views of what constituted our galactic neighborhood. Now was the time for cautious optimism. “So, we can stick a ball into the Killer Octopus?”
“Oh, no, that won’t work. It’s too unwieldy and, frankly, more than a little unstable.”
“Just like the guy who created it.” So much for cautious optimism. “So, um, where does this leave us?”
“The Vrierst and I have agreed. We’ll have to manufac
ture something that’s more mobile and easier for humans to wield.”
“Wow, that sounds great. Only we don’t have a few months to get things into production. We have, like, maybe three hours.”
Drax’s smile widened. “You forget, I am a weapons expert, a Prince of Vatusus, and I have plenty of my smart metal available. I’ll have all the personal laser cannons you’ll need within two hours.”
CHAPTER 94
WHILE WE WAITED, Jeff, Reader, and Tim fielded “why aren’t you here?” calls, the others helped or hindered with V.A.R.I.S. Relocation, and I was on a conference call with the captain of the Treeship, a female Faradawn named Othala, her chief engineer, who was a male Faradawn named Abralox, and Tevvik. Because the best weapon in the world wasn’t going to work if we couldn’t get onto the Aicirtap ships.
The Vrierst didn’t have enough of their metal balls, called cryex, to power a large enough blasting weapon that could be mounted on the helicarrier. Or rather, they did, but only just enough, and if we used them all, then they had no way to escape, because ethereal and cloudlike though they were, they could be shredded, and the Aicirtap had already proved that with half of their people.
Tempting though it was to tell them that they needed to give us what they had and trust us, the fact was that if we weren’t successful, we were going to have to load as much of humanity as possible onto the various alien ships that were here now and flee right along with everyone else. And the Vrierst ship had landed in the waters outside of D.C. and had room for refugees, meaning that we could evacuate the Embassy and White House to that ship.
So we were trying to determine if we could use, borrow, or recreate the beaming tech the Faradawn had. Abralox and his team were working with the other Vata to get this integrated somehow with the helicarrier. Didn’t know if they’d manage it in time, but Tevvik assured me they were doing their best.
The gate system was getting the workout of its existence, sending people and materials all over the world, but those at the Dome said that everything was holding up just fine. So one thing was going right.
Turned out that “all we’d need” was a dozen. Well, it was a lot better than none, or just one unwieldy one that four could use. Meaning it was time to pick the twelve people who were going to go in as Earth’s shock troops.
Anyone without hyperspeed was out, so despite Adriana, Buchanan, Len, and Kyle insisting on going, they were vetoed.
“Right now those going are me, Jeff, and Siler. I need volunteers.”
“I’m in, Missus Martini, and son, don’t start. I’m going to protect all of our people, but my current and future grandchildren most of all. It will be up to you to manage our people’s evacuation from the Embassy and White House—James and Timothy will be far too busy dealing with preparing troops for the fight.”
Felt my stomach clench. “I refuse to allow the Aicirtap to touch Earth soil.”
White smiled gently at me. “Well, that’s why we’re going, Missus Martini, is it not?”
“We’re going too,” Lorraine said, as she, Claudia, and Abigail stepped through a floater gate. She grinned at my shocked look. “You’ve been on with Jerry. He’s not a tomb when you don’t tell him to be. Our husbands called us and told us the plan.”
“We’re in,” Claudia said. “And we don’t want to hear it from you. We already had to crush Mahin, and learn some new Farsi curse words, by telling her that she had to stay at the Science Center. But, James, she’s prepping to fight on the ground. So are the rest of our people.”
“I am going,” Rahmi said, as Rhee and Gower came through a different gate.
“We are, too,” Gower said, indicating himself and Rhee. “And, Jamie, before you start, this is the best way I can protect our people right now, and you know it.”
“We know,” Reader said as he hugged his husband. “But we don’t have to like it.”
“Like has never had anything to do with what we’ve had to do,” Gower reminded him.
“This is what we came here to do,” White added. “To protect this planet that is the only home most of our people have ever known and the world that allowed us to stay when our own rejected us.”
“Girls and Paul, you all wound me by thinking I’m not jazzed to have you all be a part of this show. But that only makes ten, and we need two more.”
Another floater shimmered into view and Butler walked through it, along with someone else I hadn’t expected, Cameron Maurer. “Your small but dedicated android strike force is here to help,” Butler said. He nodded to Kozlow. “I hear you helped save my life. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Kozlow said. “Ah, sorry to ask, but where are those of us staying here on the island going once we’ve blown this place up?”
“Into the Vata ships. Per Othala, the Treeship is pretty full, and even though they’re offloading their people, they can beam them back in, since everyone’s tagged at a genetic level. They’ll take anyone who’s in the ships with them, but they won’t have room for much more.”
We didn’t have nearly enough ships for evacuation of an entire planet. Meaning that, once again, we’d just have to be successful. Well, having two androids had to be a help, right?
“I’ve downloaded all military history into both myself and Cameron,” Butler said. “Every tactic ever used in human or A-C history, and the Vata were kind enough to allow us to download their military history as well.”
The download was important for Maurer, who’d been a career politician before Cliff and his cronies had gotten their evil talons into him. And it might be the thing that saved us, too. Yay for androids. Had to sort of thank the memory of Antony Marling again. He’d been the Head of the League of Crazed Evil Geniuses for a while, but he’d also really been an artist in his own weird, dark, twisted way.
“My mother says that she knows as long as you’re leading we’ll make it, Kitty,” Maurer said. “She also said that she has everyone you personally care about either in the Bunker or with her, prepared to go in case of evacuation, the entire K-Nine squad included.”
“I love your mother.”
“I will be going with you as well,” Wruck said.
“Sorry, Martian Manhunter, we don’t have a weapon for you.”
He laughed. “I am the weapon. And I can talk to those of my kind who are on the Z’porrah ship. Most of our people use their shifting ability to avoid frightening the locals, so to speak. Or else we use it to impress them. And, of course, to survive on alien worlds. It’s time I showed at least some of our people how to use the power we have naturally for guerilla warfare. I’ve already had V.A.R.I.S. reprogram herself to listen to and obey Charles.”
Wanted to tell him no, that he needed to stay here and stay safe and protect people, my family in particular. But that was what my team was doing—protecting everyone. And I couldn’t ask him to be less or risk less than the rest of us. “Works for me.”
My phone beeped. A text from Tevvik. The beaming situation was solved due to a suggestion from one of the Q’vox scientists who’d been called in. At least in a way. But it was something that could be done quickly. Shared that it needed to be done for thirteen of us, including two androids, and was thankfully told that wouldn’t be an issue. If they could get the core of the devices to work, which wasn’t yet a given. Chose not to share this last part.
“The Faradawn have come through in a pinch, so we can assume that we’ll have beaming capability by the time the weapons are done. So, Colonel Butler, what’s our plan?”
He looked like he was trying not to laugh, which was kind of cool to see—it meant his human side was really still there, because machines didn’t usually have a sense of humor. V.A.R.I.S., for example, was a particularly dry Operating System. Maurer looked amused, too. Go Team Android and Android Repair. We had this.
“After reviewing all of three different races’ military histories,” Bu
tler said, very clearly trying not to laugh, “and regardless of anything else and paramount to every rule, idea, or suggestion, the bottom line is this: Follow the leader who always wins and do what they say regardless of whether or not you feel their plan is correct or will work. So, Kitty, what’s your plan?”
Everyone stared at me. I had nothin’, because without the beaming tech confirmed, any idea of mine wouldn’t work.
A Poof appeared before me. Mous-Mous, Jamie’s Poof. It mewed at me, then coughed something up. A Z’porrah power cube. Picked the cube and Mous-Mous up. “Oh, I like where your head’s at.” Snuggled the Poof and got a mighty purr in return.
Mous-Mous then mewed again, this time angrily. Got the distinct impression that, even though Harlie was the Head Poof, Mous-Mous was one of the Top Poofs in Charge, because twenty other Poofs appeared, Harlie and Poofikins included. And each one of them barfed up a power cube.
My music chose this moment to start up again—Panic! At the Disco’s “Victorious.” I’d heard that on repeat long enough during the endgame of Operation Madhouse to know exactly what Algar meant. This time on the very first try. I could be taught.
Smiled brightly. “Well then, we’re going to do what’s always worked. We’re going with the crazy.”
CHAPTER 95
“I HATE THIS PLAN,” Jeff grumbled. “Seriously, I hate it.”
The strike team was in the helicarrier, with the flyboys at the controls. We’d left Drax on Earth, because we were going to need his ship to save people, in case my plan didn’t work.
So we were all suited up in the excellent battle gear the helicarrier possessed. Maybe we were going to our deaths, but we were going to look totally badass while doing it.
“Stop complaining, Donnie Downer. I’d like morale to be high, spirits up, everyone focused on success sort of thing.”
“Just sharing. And sharing that if these new pieces of tech don’t work, we’re dead before we start.”
Jeff wasn’t wrong to be worried. The Q’vox scientist’s suggestion had been personal beaming tech. It was smaller, faster to create, and had the added advantage of being something the wearer, as well as the main controller in the helicarrier, could utilize. The Q’vox, being big, lumbering beings, used similar on their home planet to go long distances without killing themselves or it taking forever.