by Gini Koch
“Only tonight when I realized they were all here.”
“Okay, we’re out. What the hell is going on?” Martini was growling. “Not the invasion, what you were talking to our parents about. And what the hell have you told them you’ve been doing?”
Reader laughed. “She told them she and I started our own marketing agency. Small but with a high-paying customer base. Easier explanation than what we really do. And as for what’s going on, jeez, Jeff, think about it.”
Chuckie was counting noses. “We have everyone. Brian, you sure you’re coming along?”
“Yeah. Hey, Kitty, Jeff.”
“Bri, nice to see you. Michael riding herd on you?”
“Like always,” Michael Gower said. “You know, you dragged my parents out here and you still haven’t talked to them.”
He was right. And I needed to. “Back in a flash. Michael, can you introduce me?”
“Sure.” We trotted off. I heard Reader and Chuckie explaining the obvious to Martini. He was starting to bellow as we got back inside the restaurant. “He’s a little slow sometimes,” Michael said with a laugh.
“Caught us both by surprise. I’m just clearer on how my family works.”
“You okay with it?” He took my elbow and led me toward an interracial couple about my parents’ age. The man was typical A-C handsome, and I could see a resemblance to Alfred. The woman was stunning in her own right—skin the same color as her sons’, beautiful features. They were with two younger Dazzlers, same skin tone as their mother and the boys.
“Yeah, I think so. Not sure about Jeff. Paul wasn’t kidding—human external genetics rule, don’t they?”
“Yes,” Mrs. Gower said with a knowing smile. “They do.” She stood up, as did the rest of the family. “Paul and James have told us so much about you. I’m Ericka, this is my husband, Stanley, and our girls, Abigail and Naomi.”
Shook paws all around, then everyone except Ericka sat back down. “Sorry to be rude, but we’re at the usual end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it time, and I need to ask you two things.”
“Go ahead,” she said with another knowing smile. “I can guess both.”
“Oh, yeah?”
She nodded. “Yes, it’s worth it. Yes, it can be absolute hell, and the extended, nosy, always-there family can be torturous. But once you’re in, you’re in, and they’ll love you like the rest of the clan and die for you if they have to. Paul was a lot of work, but, honestly, Michael was more. He got more of the human side in his personality,” she added with a laugh. Wow, she was good or I was obvious.
Michael shrugged. “Playing the field’s allowed.”
“Not like you play it,” Naomi said with a snort.
“So,” Ericka added, “while you’re likely to get powerful children, I don’t agree with Lucinda’s concerns. I’ve heard enough about you to feel confident you can handle it. And your parents are clearly capable of helping.”
“Not to mention Jeff.”
“Yes. Now, your other question? No, this never happened when Stanley and I got married. Nothing like it.”
“Anyone expect something to happen?”
Stanley shrugged. “Somewhat, but we’d been exiled. Once Ericka and I got married and nothing triggered, we assumed the cut was complete.”
“Why did you? Get exiled, I mean, you personally? You’re from the royal family side of the house. I wouldn’t have thought you’d have been asked to leave.”
He gave me a small smile. “I agreed with Richard, about religion, about how people should live. The rest of those on our home world may want to act civilized now, but our history was brutal, and some of that was still retained. The way we demanded that the other civilizations in our solar system toe the line we’d drawn or be controlled by us, things like that.”
Alexander had said as much when we were in the limo. I thought about ACE and the other PPB net, how they’d been created, what they’d been sent to do. “Yeah. I can see the brutality’s still there.”
Stanley shrugged. “Richard’s not a brutal man. Yates wasn’t either, until he lost two wives.”
“Two?”
“Yes. And while there’s no proof, most of us believe they were both murdered.”
“Why kill his wives?”
“Yates was probably the target, both times.” Stanley sighed. “I know you’re in the middle of another crisis. All I can say is, it’s probably not due to your engagement . . .” His voice trailed off, and he got a funny look on his face. “Oh . . . no . . . it can’t be.” Stanley stood up. “Alfred!”
Alfred came over; Richard White did as well. “Thought you’d left, Kitty,” Alfred said with a worried smile.
“Did, came back, getting info.”
Stanley grabbed Alfred’s arm. “Think back, way back. What were the rituals for marriage? Not in our grandparents’ day, but early on.”
“They were brutal,” White said quietly. “They were a reason our ancestors broke away from the world religion and world leaders.”
Stanley looked pale. “Alfred, think about it. You, more than the rest of us, would have learned this.”
Alfred’s expression was both confused and horrified. “What you’re talking about was done thousands of years ago. Why in the world would they pull them up now? And for my son and his intended?”
This didn’t sound good. “Um, should I just guess, or are you going to share?”
White closed his eyes. “Everything that’s happened has been a test.”
“Come again?”
He opened his eyes and I saw rage and fear in them. “Tests. All of them. Tests of you, of your ability to lead.” His voice was clipped. Stanley and Alfred were nodding. They looked ill.
I decided arguing was stupid. “Why would they test the incoming spouse?”
“To be sure said spouse would be strong enough to help rule, to provide strong children, that sort of thing.” Stanley sounded sick. “But they were so long ago . . . I’m sorry, we should have realized anyway.”
“No. None of this is the fault of anyone here.”
“The modern tests were more like you all were expecting—protocol and deportment.” Stanley’s voice was shaking.
“You know,” Michael said. “All the things you were going to flunk.”
“Too damn true. But this is less about Jeff’s wedding than about succession, right? I mean why they’re pulling up the old stuff.”
“No idea,” Stanley said.
Ericka was on her phone. “Yes. Get all the children, theirs and ours. Yes.” She looked at Alfred. “I’m moving them to your home, is that okay with you?”
“Yes, please,” Alfred said briskly.
Ericka went back to her call. “Yes, go to Alfred’s. Highest threat levels. Yes. Thanks, Gladys.” She hung up. “Okay, all the children, yours and ours, are sequestered or getting there. Gladys will be with them.”
“Gladys isn’t at the Science Center?”
“No. She was called to NASA Base earlier tonight,” White replied. “She can still monitor it, however.”
I looked at Michael. “I wonder if that’s how the prisoners got out?”
He shook his head. “No idea.” He pulled out his phone and made a call.
White spoke again. “Miss Katt, I do believe this is about succession. I spent some time with Alexander. His brother clearly wants the throne. The ruling king doesn’t agree. Alexander does not want the throne and has already refused it. Therefore, succession must be fought for. They could stall it off before, but now . . .”
“Now the Free Women went nuts and started a galactic war, so things need to be speeded up. Because rulers are dead or dying, and someone strong has to take control.”
“Yes.” White shook his head. “I don’t know why they won’t leave us alone.”
“Because they don’t consider us their equals. We’re their garbage dump. Gregory started them off, somehow. I know it.” Though I had a strong feeling he’d had help, even if Gregory himself didn�
��t know it.
“I’m sure he did. Alexander feels very responsible.”
“Jeff said he was clean. So to speak.” Another though occurred. “Can I get your cells programmed in?” I had a feeling I’d want to talk to Ericka or Stanley soon.
Ericka put out her hand, and I gave her my phone. “I’m programming in all our numbers, including Abigail’s and Naomi’s. And we’ll make sure every A-C here stays near a human counterpart.” I took my phone back and dropped it in my purse. Thank God for cell phones. Our whole operation would go down without the phone system.
I got a funny feeling in my stomach. “Mom!”
She came over. “I thought you left.”
“Trying to. I need the P.T.C.U. to monitor all the telecommunications industry. I’m betting it’s going to go down, and soon. I have no idea if we can keep it up or not, but whatever system the A-Cs are on has priority. Oh, and keep Richard with you and Dad, please. They’re after him, of course.”
Mom nodded, but Stanley seemed confused. “Why do you think they’re after Richard and not Jeff?”
“Well, they’re after all of us, but Richard’s the king, and they can only win if they take the king. Gotta dash, great meeting you all, hope I see you again and we’re all still alive. If we lose telecommunications, make sure you get the families out of here. The fight will head here, if they can do it, because they know you’re all here.”
Mom looked at me. “This went from bad to worse, didn’t it?”
“Mom, we’ve been at DEFCON Worse for hours. Ericka, Stanley, this is my mother, Angela, just in case you haven’t met. Mom, listen to them and get caught up; they sort of know what’s going on.”
I grabbed Michael, and we ran for the door.
“I’ve talked to Gladys,” Michael told me as we worked our way out of the restaurant. “She cleared all nonagent personnel out of Dulce when she went to Florida. All the human children in your family are there now, including the ones who were here in Vegas with their parents. All other American personnel are spread out at Caliente, East, NASA, or Home Bases; she’s left the other worldwide bases as is, but they’re all on alert. Security seems okay, but they have no idea of how the prisoners escaped, and Gladys feels Security wasn’t infiltrated.”
“What’s her power?”
“Jeff hasn’t told you?”
“If I knew, why would I ask?”
“She’s a combo, dream-reader and empath. And she’s trustworthy.”
“She’s Lucinda and Richard’s sister, isn’t she?”
He laughed. “Yeah. But from his second wife.”
“Can we trust her?”
“Yes, believe me. And the children couldn’t be safer—God help anyone who tries to hurt someone Gladys has under top priority protection.”
“NASA Base is where? The Martini compound?”
“I thought you only asked if you didn’t know.”
“Whatever.”
Michael grinned. “Well, it’s actually connected to the Martini estate, but they can and do function separately.”
“One day, I’ll get this all straight.” Maybe. We reached the others. “Okay, we’re officially at DEFCON Oh My God. Ancient history for any A-C history buffs in attendance. Chuckie, we need to get to the area in New Mexico and Arizona between the peaks. That’s where they’ll be landing.”
He nodded. “Figured. On it. Martini has a floater gate coming; we were just waiting for you.”
“Weapons of all kinds coming in from Home Base,” Martini added. “Issue with jets, though. Need to send the flyboys to Home Base if we want jets.”
I shook my head. “No, they’ll just shoot them out of the air. I think we want to keep our opponents on the ground.” I looked at the other emissaries still with us. “We need to know, right now, if you’re with us or against us.”
“With you.” Queen Renata sounded confused.
I checked out the other’s expressions. “Jeff, what are they feeling?”
“Confusion, baby, just like the rest of us. Alexander, too.”
“Okay . . . Gregory indeed had more going on. He’s started an ancient Alpha Four succession ritual to claim the throne. The Planetary Council are pawns in that, and so are the Amazonian assassins. Problem is, they’re all out, and their reinforcements are coming.”
“Great.” Chuckie sounded as though he was getting a migraine.
“But it should be official Free Women warriors,” Alexander said. “Not any who side with the dissidents.”
“I promise you, we’ve got the crazy ones coming.”
“How do you figure?” Martini asked.
“Because I think this has been planned for a long time, much longer than anyone from the Planetary Council here realizes.”
“Great.” Chuckie sounded as if the migraine was getting worse.
“It’ll get better. Assume they’ll knock out telecommunications first. We’re extremely reliant on it, and Gregory knows that now. Everything going on so far has been a part of the succession test, triggered because we’re getting married.”
“Great.” Martini was joining Chuckie in Migraine Land.
“They’ll want to take out Richard. He’s here, and my parents and others will be staying with him.”
“Why my father?” Christopher sounded angry and afraid. I could relate.
“Because he’s the head of your religion. If Jeff wins, they will want to force him to go back to Alpha Four. Richard, as the religious leader, would be able to support Jeff staying here. Without him, your entire race crumbles. At least in their minds.”
I looked to Gower. “Paul, I need to talk to ACE.” It was time to confirm what I was pretty sure Gower and I both already knew.
He nodded and twitched. “Yes, Kitty, ACE is here.”
“The sentient net from the Free Women planet is on its way, isn’t it? That’s who you meant when you said ‘she’ was evil. Not Moira or even Kyrellis, but your godlike counterpart, who considers itself female.”
“Yes, Kitty.” ACE sounded both relieved and scared. “ACE wanted Moira to stay unaware so Moira could not bring Moira’s God to us any faster.”
“It’s not a god, ACE, any more than you are.”
“She is freer than ACE. And more ruthless.”
“We’ll handle it, ACE.”
“ACE will help. ACE will have to.” I heard the fear.
“You’ll handle it, too. We won’t let them destroy you, either, ACE. I told you that—I won’t desert you, ever.”
Alexander cleared his throat. “I know the succession ritual you’re speaking of. But we haven’t practiced that for centuries, millennia, even.”
“But they’re still available for use. And your king is hurt and dying. And you refused the crown, and he knows Gregory is unfit. So . . . he said yes, in the hope that we’d handle his problems for him. Just like always.”
“Gate’s here, baby. Using a big one, so we can all pretty much go through together.”
“Okay, Chuckie and Christopher first, you and me last. Everyone else, remember that the humans must have an A-C near them or there’s a good chance they’ll be dead fast. Tito, Planetary Council members, Alexander—welcome to what it’s like with us. Now’s the time to back out and stay with our families. We won’t hate you, as long as you help protect the people we love. Everyone else, you’ve all been here before—let’s remember that this is our world, not theirs.”
Everyone nodded. “Don’t dawdle,” Christopher said to Martini and me. It was almost a ritual now, and I managed to laugh.
Chuckie and Christopher went through, then the rest of our fighting force, including Tito and the others. No one hesitated. No one but me.
Martini pulled me into his arms. “You okay with getting married this weekend?”
“It’ll give me something to live for.”
“Yeah.” He held me tightly. “You’re the human I’m staying near, you know.”
I shook my head. “The power pieces don’t get that lux
ury, Jeff. We’re lucky we have a lot of extra pawns. But they’re gunning for the power pieces.”
“Maybe so. But a knight’s job is to protect his queen.” Martini bent and kissed me. It was slow, deep, and sensuous and I never wanted it to end. But it did. Everything ended, after all.
Martini stroked my face. Then he lifted me up into his arms, I buried my face in his neck, and we walked through the gate and toward the things trying to kill us.
CHAPTER 48
WE EXITED THE GATE IN THE MIDDLE of the desert. It was the end of April, but it was still cold at night, and I was glad I had Martini’s jacket on. He put me down, and the idea of changing out of four-inch heels seemed like a smart one—too bad it hadn’t occurred to me before we’d gotten here.
We were lucky—the moon was full. We had a plethora of weapons with us, but I didn’t think they were going to matter, or help.
“Okay, we’re here. Early, hopefully. So, what’s going on?” Chuckie was looking around while my flyboys handed out weapons to everyone. “You know, we’re out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night with an invisible gate for an exit. Was this wise?”
“No. But they’re going to be here shortly.”
“We still have hours,” Kevin protested.
“No. We are supposed to think we still have hours. They knew we’d intercept the communication. They’ll be here soon. What time did the light show start up?”
“Midnight. On the dot.” Chuckie sighed. “Okay, so that’s when they’ll show again, right?”
“Right. I need our Animal Planet helpers.”
“You are lucky Charles explained your sense of humor,” Willem said, as he and the others came closer to me. “We could call you naked apes, you know.” All of them were back to their normal, unaltered forms.
“Go for it. Like I’d care? We need you guys to move your ships. They’re gonna get smooshed if you don’t, and we have to have an escape plan.”
Willem barked an order. Literally, he barked. Wahoa barked back, then she and Wrolph took off toward Chiricahua. It was miles and miles away, but I got the impression they’d be back soon.
Felicia and Arup nodded. “We will be back as well.” They ran off, but toward Animas.