by Koch, Gini
“Supposedly. What were you screaming about when you woke up?”
It was fuzzy, but I could still see it. “When Mephistopheles had me up to his face, when it looked like he was going to bite my head,” I said slowly. “Remember?”
“Vividly. I’m glad your father won’t have the memory.”
“Well, didn’t it strike you as odd, that he was going to eat me, versus stomp or crush me?”
“Kitten, I was watching some monster try to eat my baby. I wasn’t giving the oddity of the situation a lot of thought.”
“Me either. I was focused on his bad breath and getting my hairspray out.” I could just see it, in the back of his throat. “Martini said it would move to me. Oh, I am so grossed and freaked out. Where the hell is he, anyway?” It was a shock to realize I wanted Martini next to me, right now, more than anything in the world. Because I was finally really and truly terrified.
“He’s inside the terminal. Kitty, what are you trying to tell me?”
I was about to answer when the car door was flung open and Martini’s head appeared. I managed not to shriek. “What’s wrong?” he asked, clearly frightened.
I was about to ask him what was wrong and why he’d tried to give me a heart attack when my brain kicked in. Empath, remember? Empath who liked me. Duh. It was nice to know that if I was scared, he’d be right there. “I’m sorry, we’re okay,” I said as reassuringly as I could. “I just realized something.”
“To the point where your entire being was terrified and screaming for me?” he asked. He looked shaken.
I pulled him into the car and kept hold of his hand. “I’m sorry. It’s okay. I was, well, am, scared, but the threat isn’t immediate.” I hoped.
He didn’t look convinced, but he did settle down in the seat. “What is the threat?”
“The parasite is in Mephistopheles’ throat, hanging back there like a third tonsil. He was trying to eat me, not to kill me, but so the parasite could move to me. The hairspray must have hit the parasite and just made it go haywire for whatever reason. It was extra hold.”
Martini went back to looking concerned. “Dammit, I knew you were too tempting.”
“As flattering as that could be but probably isn’t, why so?”
He heaved a sigh. “Anyone capable of being a human agent is also very tempting to the parasites. For all we know, the parasite you killed was actually heading for you when the man near you got enraged and it shifted its focus to him.”
This was not comforting news. I was homicidal-maniac-parasite bait. Not exactly what I’d always hoped to attract.
Gower, Reader, and Christopher showed up now, all looking worried. Apparently Martini had run to me at hyperspeed without telling them where he was going or why. I was rather touched even while I reminded myself this was a power to be used wisely.
Martini brought the others up to speed on what I’d told him. To a man they looked disturbed. “We have to get her to the Science Center,” Gower said finally.
“No argument,” Martini agreed. “But now I’m worried about the trip from here to there.”
“Why? I mean, we’ve been trotting all over the place. Why worry now?”
Christopher gave me a withering look. “Because now the most powerful in-control superbeing knows exactly who you are and is undoubtedly looking for you.”
“You all said the superbeings don’t remember what they are when they’re back in human form,” I protested. “That their brain is split.”
“True,” Martini said. “But the superbeing portion will remember this incident. And if it manifests again tonight, it’s going to be hunting you down.”
“It has more power as Yates,” I argued. It was feeble, and I knew it. But it was worth a shot.
“You’re younger and healthier,” Christopher snapped. “And, from all I can tell, nastier.”
“That’s enough,” Mom said quietly. “We’re all upset. This is not the time for little games.” She gave Christopher a long look, and I saw him back himself down. Interesting. Mom looked to Gower. “I’m now very concerned about Kitty’s father, as well as the rest of our extended family.”
Gower shook his head. “They’re all under protection. We have them mapped and agents covering all of them, pets included.”
“Not that I object, but why the pets, too?” This was a new one, at least in my admittedly limited experience.
“If you love it, it’s got potential as a hostage,” Martini answered.
“My fish are safe.”
“They might be the only things that are,” Mom said dryly. “I’d like my husband with us.”
Gower shook his head. “He’s safer at your home. At least for right now.”
Mom gave Gower a look that could freeze water in the Bahamas. “Young man, ensure that I don’t have to say this more than once. I don’t care what planet you’re from or what powers you have or what you think you can do better than humans. I’ve been protecting that man since I was nineteen, and if you think I’m going to trust his safety to any of you right now, you’re insane. I want my husband with me, where I know he’ll be safe, and I want him with me now, or I will show you that Mossad training is the best on any planet.”
Gower actually looked as though he was going to argue, but Martini spoke up. “Do it. Now.” It wasn’t a request, it was an order. Gower didn’t fight it, just nodded and left the car, presumably to make the arrangements. Interesting again. Christopher followed him. Both of them were on their phones.
Martini was concentrating. “I’ll be right back.” He got out of the car, too, joining Gower and Christopher. They were off their phones and clearly arguing.
Reader sighed. “Let me see if I can get them to calm down.”
“Why are they so upset?”
Reader shrugged as he got out of the car. “Mephistopheles does that to them.”
I was happy we were inside the car with the doors shut while the menfolk argued. Mom looked worried. “I’m not clear on all this alien parasite business yet. Christopher had time to give me only a few details while we were running for our lives, and honestly, I was so distracted I didn’t even realize they were aliens until you said something—I was thinking experimental weapons and technology. You really got under his skin fast,” she added.
“Yeah, but I think Martini makes fast decisions because he’s an empath.”
“Probably, but I’m not talking about Jeff. I’m talking about Christopher.”
“The jerk? I have no idea why he hates me, and I couldn’t care less right about now.”
Mom gave me an odd look. “Why do you think he hates you?”
I snorted. “You mean aside from everything you’ve already seen? Calling me princess, asking about my tiara. He went through my stuff at home, pawed my pictures all up. I barely know any of these guys, but Christopher and I haven’t stopped fighting pretty much since we met. If my trying to strangle him earlier wasn’t a clear enough clue that we don’t exactly get along, let me clarify that for you right now.”
Mom still had that odd look going. “Ah. Okay. Well.” She straightened her skirt.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she said, not looking at me. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Whatever the argument was, Reader seemed to have gotten the situation calmed down. At least it looked as though everyone was playing nicely together again. Martini opened the door and stuck his head in. “We’re just about set. I want you two ready to move, okay?”
“Sure. So, now what?”
“Now we go to the bathroom. Quickly.”
“I don’t actually need to go,” Mom said dryly.
“Yes, you do. You explain it to her,” Martini said to me as Gower called to him. He shut the car door and went back to the other men.
While I explained the traveling system, Martini, Reader, and Christopher milled about outside the car. I couldn’t tell what they were doing, though Gower seemed to be getting Mom’s luggage out of the trunk.
“But effective. We’re going to use the men’s, I’m sure. I don’t think Martini wants us separated.”
“That’s clear. But, you know, choose your husband carefully.”
“Mom, this isn’t the time or the place. Besides, I meant he wouldn’t want us splitting up because it’d leave the two of us exposed.” I thought about what she’d just said. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Other than the fact that he’s known you less than a day and wants to marry you? And is, from what they’ve said, an alien? Oh, gee, nothing.”
“He’s an empath. I think that makes him more emotionally committed.” I had no idea why I was defending Martini all of a sudden. “And Reader says they make great mates.”
“James and Paul may have a wonderful relationship, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have the same.”
“How’d you know about them?” I’d been with them for hours and it took seeing them holding hands for me to catch on. Mom’s with them an hour and knows their life story.
She shrugged. “You get trained to spot things like this.”
“In the Mossad?”
“Among other places, yes. Let’s get past that, shall we?”
“I guess. He’s really handsome. And he’s funny.”
“No argument. They’re all handsome. Looks aren’t everything. Your father was the best looking man I’d ever seen when we met, but I didn’t marry him because he was a hunk. I married him because of the kind of man he was, because of how he treated me and cared for and about me.”
“Fine. Well, Martini’s doing a lot of caring.”
“Just don’t make a decision based on how someone acts for one stressful day.”
There was more to it, I could tell, but I decided not to argue with her. “Fine, no final mating decisions will be made tonight.”
“Good.”
“So, Dad really doesn’t know what you do?”
She sighed. “He knows, to a certain extent. What he understands is that much of my work is classified, and information filters on a need to know basis. He doesn’t need to know, so he doesn’t ask. He knows I’ll tell him when he does need to know. He’s fine with that.” She gave me the hairy eyeball. “I expect you to be fine with that, too.”
“I suppose.” At the moment, what choice did I have, anyway? “I’m sure it’s all complicated.”
“True enough.” Mom looked around. “What’s taking them so long?”
“I have no idea.”
Martini stuck his head into the car. “We’re making sure we’ve got the airport cleared, just in case.” He grinned at our shocked looks. “Empath, remember? I can pick up the mutual impatience.” He looked straight at Mom. “And I care about her a lot more than you think I do.” Then he went back to the other men.
“Well, it’d be hard to fool him, I’ll say that,” Mom said quietly.
“Unlike Dad?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “As I said, Dad knows more than you think he does.”
“But not everything.”
She gave me a slow smile. “No man should know everything about his wife. There’s no mystery then. And mystery is good for a long-lasting relationship.”
Words of wisdom from The Mossad Mother. I guessed I’d just accept it and argue with her later. Martini was too close by to deal with all this now.
“I think they have two hearts,” I said to fill the silence.
Mom looked thoughtful. “I guess that would explain the speed.”
“Did you get the whiz tour with Christopher?”
“Yes, to get outside onto the tarmac. It was interesting.”
“Did you black out?”
She smiled. “No, he said he went slowly.”
“Yeah, Martini did that with me the first time, too. Regular speed for them is pretty hard to take.”
“I’ll bet it is. Alpha Centauri, huh?” She still looked thoughtful, not freaked out.
“Is this just another day at work for you?”
“In a way. You get used to having your world turned upside down in my line of work.” Mom sighed. “I keep on planning to retire, but then something happens, and you realize it’s not just your family you have to protect. Sometimes you really do have to save the whole world.”
I could relate to this, far too well after today’s events. “The supposed terrorist I killed sprouted wings and shot knives or something worse out of them. It was horrible.”
“And you stopped him.” I could hear the pride in her voice.
“Guess it’s in the genes.”
“It’s always nice to know your child will do the right thing, the brave thing, when it matters. No one knows what they’ll do until they’re tested. Not everybody is a protector.” She looked straight at me, and I realized she had tears in her eyes.
I leaned across and hugged her, this time just as tightly as she hugged me. “I love you, Mom.” She kissed my head, and I felt that maybe this whole day had been worth it after all.
We finally pulled apart, and Martini stuck his head back in the car. I knew without asking he’d waited for our mother-daughter moment to be over. “Time to go, ladies.”
CHAPTER 15
MARTINI TOOK MY HAND, and Christopher took Mom’s. I wasn’t wild about it, but it wasn’t as though I wanted to hold his hand instead, so I didn’t say anything.
Gower and Reader were in the lead, then Mom and Christopher, with me and Martini bringing up the rear. The other agents with us were flanking in formation, one in front of the other, with three on either side of us. Two of these had Mom’s luggage split between them. We looked very official. I was the only person not in a suit, and I felt underdressed.
Not that it mattered. Because there were no people in the airport. At all. “Where is everyone?” I asked Martini.
“Evacuated.”
“I didn’t see anyone run out in a panic.”
“Because we know how to evacuate.”
I thought about it. “You used some mass hallucination thing, didn’t you?”
He smiled. “You think? Yeah, we moved everyone to the baggage claim area.”
“Will they be safe there if something happens?”
“Hope so. Hope nothing’s going to happen, though.” He was looking around. It wasn’t obvious, but looking at him, I could see his eyes darting everywhere.
“But you’re still worried.”
“We don’t know if the in-control superbeings can or do communicate with each other. Mephistopheles is well known to us, but the others, not so much.”
“Whether they’re well known to Mephistopheles is what you’re worried about.”
Martini nodded. “I just want to get everyone back safely to one of our strongholds. We can sort everything else out then.”
“Think you’ll manage to explain more then, too?”
“Maybe.” He grinned. “I’m always willing to explain things to you in private.”
“I’ll bet.” I tried not to admit that the idea of being alone with Martini was starting to sound appealing.
We reached a men’s restroom, and Gower and Reader went in first—cautiously. This wasn’t reassuring. “I thought you cleared everyone out.”
“Everyone we know about or can affect.” Martini was still on the alert, and so was Christopher when I glanced his way. He caught me looking at him, gave me an angry glare, then looked away. Charming as always.
Gower came back out. “Calibrated for single entry only. I know you’re worried about them,” he added as Martini opened his mouth, to protest, I assumed. “They’re going to have to go through alone. This is an older gate, we’ve taken too long already, and they’re both capable women, not little girls.”
“Fine,” Martini said, sounding exasperated. “Let’s get moving.”
We went in, and I noted the men’s room at LaGuardia was no nicer than the ones at JFK or Saguaro International. “Why didn’t we use the ladies’ this time? If n
o one was around?”
“Because Mephistopheles is after two women,” Christopher snapped.
“Who are with ten men,” I snapped right back.
“Children,” Mom said tiredly, “stop it. Please.”
The two agents who had Mom’s luggage went first, one at a time. Martini wanted Mom flanked, just in case, so Reader went next, then Gower, then Mom. She didn’t seem flustered at all. In fact, she seemed interested and excited. She did exactly what Martini said, and I watched her step into the stall and disappear. It was unsettling.
Christopher was going next. “Don’t let the princess hold things up,” he said to Martini.
“Oh, I think I can manage her. Better than you, at least,” Martini said casually, keeping a very firm hold on my hand.
“Yeah, enjoy that,” Christopher muttered as he gave me one last glare, stepped into the stall and, happily, disappeared from view.
Martini looked at the four agents left. “You all get back to the cars and get them back to East Base.”
The four of them looked uncomfortable. “Christopher told us to wait until the two of you were through the gate,” one finally admitted.
“And Christopher’s in charge of image control. Who, do you happen to remember, is in charge of active situations?” Martini’s voice was clipped and filled with authority. I found it interesting to see which of them got huffy when.
The agent who’d spoken up dropped his eyes. “You are, Jeff. But Christopher thought it was important for us to watch your back.”
“Right. I know exactly what he wanted watched. You and the rest of our crack image control team get out of here, now. Get back to East Base and, as an idea, try to monitor if we have Mephistopheles or one of his cronies heading out of their respective states. You know, if you think you can handle it.”
Admittedly I’d only known them less than a day, but in all that time I hadn’t seen Martini be anything but genial. Even when he was all business, he wasn’t rude or nasty. This was sort of a shock, and an unpleasant one.
The other agents seemed confused as well, but they left, albeit reluctantly. Martini watched them leave. Then he turned back to me. “Ready to go?”
“Sort of. You want to share why you were just Jerk of the Year to those guys?”