by Gini Koch
She bounced up to high-five Lorraine and Claudia. “I’ve been playing around with more miniaturization in my spare time. You’ll love what I’ve got for us!”
“I’m sure, as long as you’re not throwing the bombs at me.”
“I’m on the team too,” Adriana said. Who then got high-fives from both Lorraine and Claudia and a hug from Serene. We were all fired up about being the All Girl Power team. I’d have to play Good Charlotte’s “Riot Girl” when we rolled.
“And me,” Buchanan added. So much for All Girl Power. However, on the good side, Jeff and Chuckie both noticeably relaxed. “No one would expect me to be at the funeral, and most of your enemies still seem unaware that I exist, which is how we want it. You two,” he pointed to Len and Kyle, “obviously ‘guarding’ whoever’s pretending to be Missus Chief will mean that most observers buy the ruse.”
“Children are not allowed at funerals,” White said. “A new rule that I’m sure our current Pontifex will be glad to enforce.”
“Good one, Mister White. Meaning that we won’t need to worry about any of the kids blowing their moms’ covers. And Kevin, that means Denise stays in the Embassy, hopefully where it’s safe.”
“Who else is on your team?” Chuckie asked.
“Me,” Amy said indignantly.
“Nope. Ames, you need to be at the funeral. You’re the only one who will have enough pull with the Gaultier bigwigs to keep them at the event. Especially since we think one of them is the current Apprentice, we need to keep them where all of you can see them. And Caroline will need you, because there’s no way she’s going to be a part of the guerrilla team.”
“Why not?” Caroline asked as she, Naomi, and Abigail all joined us.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“Whatever they gave me brought my powers back,” Naomi said. “Just a little, but I could feel all of you over here. I realized we were needed.” She looked right at me. “Blaming the wrong people for Michael’s death doesn’t bring him back. But making the people who killed him pay in ways they don’t want to will at least avenge him.”
“So Sis and I are in,” Abigail added.
“Okay.” This earned a lot of angry looks from the menfolk. “Look, dudes, it’s all great that you want to tell me that we delicate little flowers need to stay close to home and safe. Only no one was safe at their home yesterday. And we can use the A-C powers, even if they’re just the standard ones.”
“And no one would believe we wouldn’t be at our brother’s funeral,” Abigail said. “Meaning that we’re great choices to go undercover.”
“So I’m going, too,” Caroline said. She was still wearing both her engagement ring and the Unity Necklace Michael had given her. My heart hurt looking at them.
“No,” I said as gently as I could. “You need to be at the funeral. Both because of who Michael was to you, and because you need to be seen.”
“No one would believe that Kitty wouldn’t be there with you,” Chuckie said slowly. “In that sense, you become the perfect cover.”
Caroline took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re right, Chuck. And Kitty, I know you’re right, too. I won’t have any trouble being dramatic if you’ll need me to.”
“Probably will. You and Amy are going to have to work on how you’ll signal each other.” Swallowed hard. “I’m sorry I won’t be there, Caro.”
She managed a sad little smile. “I wish none of us had to be.” Her expression hardened. “But we do, so, let’s make sure that it’s worth it and get these bastards where they live.”
CHAPTER 58
GOT UP AND GAVE Caroline a big hug. “That’s my girl. And I’m still sorry . . . for everything, up to and including the fact that I won’t be there with you.”
She hugged me back. “It’s okay. None of this was your fault. You’re going to be doing what needs to be done. Just . . .” She hugged me tighter. “Don’t let them get one of my best friends right after they’ve taken my fiancé, okay?”
Swallowed the latest lump in my throat. “I’ll do my best, I promise.”
Naomi grabbed me next. “I’m so sorry,” she said quietly as we hugged each other.
“It’s okay. Really.”
We separated and I sat back down next to Jeff and my purse, while Caroline and the Gower Girls settled in next to Chuckie in our ever-widening Campfire Circle.
“What about me?” Doreen asked once everyone other than Buchanan, Len, and Kyle were once again on their butts.
“You, I’m of two minds about. You’ve proven you can handle the fieldwork along with the rest of us. But you’re also one of the only Embassy A-Cs who can believably lie. And you know everyone, and that means you’ll know people Amy and Caro don’t.”
She nodded. “I’d like to go with your team, but I think you’re right, I’ll probably be of more use at the funeral itself.”
“Okay,” Jeff said with a sigh. “I give up. You’re all going in, fine. But explain how you’re planning to use our friends the protestors to ensure that the various corporate heads we want at the funeral actually will attend.”
“If I may?” Oliver asked.
“Go for it, MJO.”
“While freedom of speech is our country’s watchword, the majority of people in this country don’t agree with the so-called religious who are busy protesting that Michael deserved to die because he was an alien and his older brother is openly gay. They’re a small, hideous, quite vocal group, but the operative word is ‘small.’ Most corporations—and certainly huge ones like Gaultier, Titan, and YatesCorp—aren’t going to give in to these people’s demands. It does their businesses more good to oppose them.”
“That’s true,” Amy said. “And, as Len said earlier, Gaultier prides itself on being a very open company. At least in its PR.”
“Reality’s always different than the marketing hype, Ames. I think it’s to our advantage that the Religious Asshats Du Jour are creating a love connection with Club Fifty-One. Sure there are plenty of people out there who may agree with the Club Fifty-One nuts, but a lot of them will not want to be associated with the Religious Asshats. And vice versa.”
“So their collective power gets diluted,” Oliver agreed. “Then, all it takes is some well placed media commentary, and you can get a firestorm of support going. Which is what my part of this operation will entail.”
“Exactly. They either attend Michael’s funeral, or all these corporate heads and politicians are flat out saying to the world that they support Club Fifty-One and the Religious Asshats. Most of them won’t be willing to risk that.”
Chuckie nodded. “In this case, I think you’re correct. While there’s still plenty of anti-alien activity going on, even someone like Langston Whitmore wouldn’t be able to avoid the fallout he’d get from non-attendance.”
“Yeah, let’s make sure someone’s keeping an eye on our beloved Secretary of Transportation, because he’s also high on my list of potential Apprentices.”
“The P.T.C.U. will be out in force, as will other protective government agencies,” Buchanan said. “They’ll be watching everyone. This funeral will have the potential to be the site of another attack.”
“In which case, our men will hustle the women to safety and then kick some butt. At least, that would be my plan. Jeff?”
“I’m sure we can handle it,” Christopher answered for him, sarcasm knob already at eleven and heading for twelve, “should Michael’s funeral devolve into chaos like everything else we do.”
“I have to ask this,” Kyle said, looking and sounding embarrassed. “I don’t understand how all of you are so calm about this plan.”
“Funerals don’t mean the same things to us that they do to humans,” Jeff said, clearly happy with the subject change. “Michael’s soul has left his body. There’s no great glory in honoring his corpse.”
“Funerals do more than that,” Kyle said. “They honor the person’s life.”
“They do,” White a
greed. “But we’ll have made our peace with Michael’s death well before the official funeral. So, for us, using the funeral as a way to get our team inside Gaultier and able to hopefully retrieve our stolen data is a more palatable reason to have the funeral than the ones we have to give lip service to.”
“But that lip service must be given to Gladys. I’m not sure how her talents work, but we have to do everything we can to keep her believing that we’re all actually there, at the funeral, not doing a guerrilla raid.”
“How?” Amy asked. “I’m surprised she didn’t realize we were all up to something earlier.”
White shook his head. “Her talents don’t work like Jeffrey’s, even though she’s an empath. Her dream reading talent is dominant, meaning she reads most emotions when she’s asleep. Because of that, she learned young to go in and out of sleep without issue. I believe the term is ‘cat naps,’ but basically she sleeps in short bursts throughout the day and night.”
Well, that explained a lot about why the A-C Security team worked in the way they did. “That must be how they’re getting her, via her dreams.”
“Perhaps,” White acknowledged. “But we don’t know for sure.”
“If Sis and I were back to normal, we could combat, counter, or protect her,” Abigail said regretfully. Naomi nodded.
“But you’re not, meaning Paul’s likely the only one who can.”
“Not without ACE’s help,” Naomi said. “Paul’s a dream reader, not a manipulator. ACE could help him, but I don’t think he could do it on his own.”
Had an overwhelming urge to look at my iPod. Went with it and dug it out while the others discussed ways to circumvent Gladys’ powers. Didn’t bother to put my earbuds in, just turned it on and looked at the song. “I’m Not Sleepin’” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. And, just in case I wasn’t clear, the next song was “I’m Not Sleeping” by the Counting Crows. Clearly Algar thought I was a little slow.
Or else, he was suggesting that more than Gladys not sleep. Sleep deprivation wasn’t a good plan for most people, be they human, A-C, or hybrid. So had to contemplate what he was going for here.
Thought about the songs’ lyrics. The Big Bad Voodoo Daddy one was about not sleeping to avoid dealing with problems and memories of the past. But the Counting Crows song was about being haunted by someone.
Algar might be referring to Michael having visited me in my sleep, but I still wasn’t sure if that had been real or my subconscious, though it had felt more real. Had a feeling I was going to need to really listen to both songs, potentially more than a few times.
Of course, Algar could simply be telling me he wasn’t sleeping on the job, but per what he’d told me he also wasn’t “on” the job, either. Unless I wanted a Coke or a snack. Huh.
“I’m getting something to drink,” I said quietly to Jeff. “You want anything?”
“Not that the Operations Team can deliver.”
Had my doubts about that, but trotted off into the kitchen area. There were several huge refrigerators housed here. Chose the one farthest from the group and looked at it. “A Cherry Coke and a little help, please and thank you.”
Then I opened the door.
CHAPTER 59
ALGAR WAS SITTING CROSS-LEGGED in the fridge, holding a frosty Cherry Coke, a straw, and an ironic expression.
“Wow, that’s some service.” Took the soda and the straw.
He rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. Resisted the urge to be overly sarcastic, hard as it was. “I don’t think anyone can hear us. I realize you want to tell me something. I have no clue as to what that is, though.”
He gave me a look that could only be described as derisive and snapped his fingers.
Took a quick look around. Everyone seemed frozen. “Oh. So, I guess that was a summoning hint, wasn’t it?”
“You think?”
“Wow, trying to remember why it’s an honor that, out of all the naked apes out there, you’ve picked me as your new favorite.”
“Trying to remember why myself.”
“Okay, as fun as this bantering is, why did you summon me, oh Master of the Cupboard?”
“I like your plan.”
Waited. That appeared to be it.
“Um, thanks. I think. I’m finding it hard to believe you wanted to see me to give me an ‘atta girl’ in person, especially since you don’t really strike me as the ‘atta girl’ type.”
“Your enemies are planning, too, of course.”
“Ah, now there’s the Algar I’ve recently come to know and pretend to love. So, the bad guys aren’t sleeping, either. I figured, and I promise you, everyone else over there on the floor has figured as well. It’s just that we, unlike you, aren’t privy to what’s going on elsewhere.”
“Really?” He stared at me.
“Really. I get that you’re trying to give me a clue here. The happy news is that I’ve got no ego attached to saying these three little words: I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re trying to make me realize, other than that Gladys needs to be kept from sleeping, God alone knows how we’re going to do that.”
“I’m sure Gladys would agree with you.”
“Awesome. No-Doze for Gladys, please and thank you.”
This earned me a dirty look. “Just because someone agrees with you doesn’t mean they’re right.”
“Good to know. I’ll ponder that.”
Algar heaved a sigh. “The First King of Alpha Four wasn’t this willfully dim.”
“And yet you like me better. We can both contemplate all that says about both of us later. But, you know, before you go, I do have a question that’s been bugging me since I moved into the Embassy.”
“Yes, there’s a hidden gate and it would be the best thing in the world if you found it, sooner as opposed to later.”
“Wow. That was, honestly, rather impressive. Any shot of you giving me a clue to its whereabouts, since everyone’s been over the entire facility with many fine-toothed combs and all we’ve found is a pamphlet saying Kitty’s A Paranoid?”
“No one’s looked correctly.”
“Really? That’s your answer? Obviously no one’s looked in the correct place, since we haven’t found it.”
“I didn’t say that. I said that no one’s looked correctly.” With that he handed me a box, snapped his fingers and disappeared.
Resisted the urge to say either “goodbye” or “good riddance” but it took effort. Closed the fridge door and looked at the box in my hand. It wasn’t No-Doze. It was a box of Unisom.
Stared at the box as I walked slowly back to the group. “I have a question.” Didn’t wait for the go-ahead; I’d already interrupted the conversation. “Has anyone actually discussed her powers and how they work with Gladys?”
“I have,” White said. “Somewhat at least. And of course Paul has.”
“Of course, because he’s got a similar talent. Jeff, Naomi, Abigail?”
“No,” Jeff said. “But that was because of Aunt Terry.”
“Right, the glowing cube she programmed that we now know was a Z’porrah construct.” Realized Algar worked in sneaky and, once you saw the pattern, not all that mysterious ways. But they were effective ways. One day I might even admit that to the little jerk’s face, too.
I needed to ask the Poofs if they’d let me have a cube, or, better yet, tell me if there was one they hadn’t confiscated. But didn’t say so out loud because I didn’t want to derail this line of thought by having everyone tell me I was crazy to still think there was a hidden gate hanging around.
Forged on with the other line of reasoning Algar clearly wanted me on. I’d figure out why the being who’d spent a lot of time protesting that he wasn’t picking sides was clearly helping one side quite a lot. Had some suspicions, but Algar’s long game wasn’t of prime concern at the moment.
“Mimi, Abby? What about you two?”
“Well, no one knew about our powers until just a few years ago,” Naomi said. “But yes, after tha
t, Aunt Gladys worked with me a little.”
“Uh huh. She does most of her work while she’s asleep, right?”
“Right. Which is why we want to keep her awake for, I guess, over a week.”
“Actually, we want her snoozing.”
“What the hell changed your mind on that in the less than a minute it took for you to get a Coke and come back?” Chuckie asked.
Could feel myself not being allowed to articulate the real source of my inspiration. Which was okay because I didn’t want to try to explain Algar to anyone—I was sure I’d get a migraine if I even tried. Besides, the source wasn’t as important as the actual idea.
“We think Ronaldo’s reaching Gladys through her dreams. But doors go both ways. Meaning perhaps she can reach him through his dreams as well.”
“Why would we want her to reach Al Dejahl?” Christopher asked. “To give away even more of what we’re doing? So we can all be killed? One wasn’t enough?”
“What is wrong with you?” Amy asked him. “Why are you acting like Kitty’s your enemy?”
“I’m not,” he mumbled.
I was still looking at the Unisom box while working through how I wanted to phrase what I thought we needed Gladys to do. So I didn’t pay a lot of attention to my mouth. “He’s just lashing out at the only safe person he can, Ames. It’s tough for men when they’re having what they perceive as performance issues.”
Played that back as the last word left my mouth and winced. Decided to look up from the box, in case I had to run really fast.
Christopher wasn’t glaring at me. His expression was more like betrayed shock. “Thanks a lot,” he said finally.
“Oh for God’s sake,” Amy said. “Is this about your extra powers disappearing? That’s ancient news. I figured it out weeks ago, and we all heard the confirmation from Kitty when you were at Dulce yesterday. And really, who cares? So you’re slightly less amazing than you were before. I didn’t marry you because you’d shot up with Surcenthumain, you know.”