by Gini Koch
“Remember, too, that we didn’t come en masse. We were sent in waves. Diplomatic Corps for our race went first, to ensure we’d be allowed to stay. Give the home world that much credit, anyway.” Jeff sounded only mildly disgusted.
“I’d give the credit to Richard and Terry and probably your dad and Stanley Gower. The ones with actual influence with the Royal Court, such as it was.”
Jeff shrugged. “Probably. The first wave arrived in the nineteen-fifties. Established us as political and religious refugees, and then brought the next waves. We were all here by the mid-sixties.”
“Which is when the interbreeding experiment was allowed.”
Jamie started to fuss a little. Reader, still talking, came over and took her away from me. Put her onto his shoulder, and she was out like a light. Wondered how often he’d be willing to babysit his namesake. Hoped a lot.
“Stanley was pretty much the youngest person in the test group. That’s why all the other hybrids are older than Paul—their parents started their families earlier. Oh, another fact you’ll find interesting—the Gowers are the only couple who had more than one child.”
“Did all the mothers die in childbirth?” I figured it was better if I asked that question.
Reader shook his head and kissed the baby. “Not a one. The pregnancies were harder on those couples with human females, but not life-threatening.”
“So I was just special.”
“I think of you that way, baby.”
“Awww, so sweet. So, how many of them had special A-C talents?”
“Average number. The only thing normal out of the whole analysis.” Reader shifted Jamie back into my arms. I cuddled her, and she snuggled into my chest. “About a third had normal A-C talents, and normal for males. So there were imageers, empaths, and troubadours. A couple of dream-memory readers, again, about average since that’s the most uncommon talent, even though it’s not male-specific. All of them were in active service. The imageers and empaths all died dealing with superbeings.”
“Which isn’t necessarily suspicious,” Chuckie offered.
“True, it’s not. The troubadours were a variety—accidents of some kind, usually automotive, superbeings, a couple from household accidents. Same with the dream-readers, other than our last one, who was our suicide.”
“So, did they all know who was on the grassy knoll?”
“I’d assume it’s more that they were being wiped out to prevent additional expansion of the species.” Chuckie looked at Jamie. “I don’t want her out of sight of at least two members of Alpha Team at any time.”
“I agree.” Jeff didn’t even complain about agreeing with Chuckie. I didn’t know whether to be happy or afraid. Settled for both.
“Here’s the thing, though. None of the males showed anything different. Why wipe them out? I mean, I know for a fact that Yates and Mephistopheles both wanted to keep Jeff and Christopher from reproducing. But the Gowers were never mentioned. I don’t think Yates even knew Serene existed.”
Chuckie sat up straight. “No one knows who her father is?”
“No, only that he was human. Her mother died when she was a little girl; she was raised by cousins. Brian’s met them—they didn’t seem very invested in her, not the way Alfred and Lucinda are with Christopher, or Richard is with Jeff.”
“Because Serene was born out of wedlock.” Reader didn’t make this sound like a supposition.
“You know this how?”
He snorted. “Girlfriend, they’re all about playing the field and finding your ultimate love connection, I’ll give you that. But be really thankful you got pregnant on your honeymoon. Their views about unwed parents make the Puritans look loose. Both parents, by the way, not just the mother.”
I looked at Jeff. He shrugged. “Wasn’t an issue.” I managed not to say that it almost had been—I’d gotten pregnant a few days before our honeymoon, and if we’d been on schedule, we’d have been married after I was already six to seven weeks pregnant. He shook his head. “Get pregnant, get married, all is forgiven, never discussed, really. Just the kids making really sure. Get pregnant, say you don’t want to get married? Then it would be a problem.”
“Jesus, so you were banging Kitty when interspecies marriage wasn’t allowed while at the same time unwed pregnancy would equal complete banishment, and you somehow think it’s okay because your timing worked out?” Chuckie sounded just this side of enraged again. I hated to admit that I sort of shared his opinion.
Jeff’s eyes narrowed. “From the moment I met her I wanted to marry her. It’s not any of your damn business, but I was perfectly willing to be excommunicated, to use a human term, if we weren’t allowed to get married.”
Reader cleared his throat. “Guys, please. I don’t want Kitty to have to flash the maternity rack—unless I have time to call the rest of Alpha and Airborne down to witness it. Let’s get back to the matter at hand. What about Serene made you sit up and take notice, Reynolds? Haven’t seen you that perky since we found Kitty’s wedding dress.”
Chuckie grinned. “Great dress.”
“Yeah, my wife looked wonderful in it.”
“Jeff!”
“He started it.”
Chuckie shook his head. “I’ll be the bigger boy and finish it. Simple question—how the hell do we know that Serene’s father was really a human?”
CHAPTER 27
“SHE WAS TOLD HE WAS A HUMAN, and she has the expanded A-C talents.” We’d never gotten any more out of Serene, and Brian hadn’t been able to get more out of her relatives, either.
“Technically, Martini and White have them, too.”
“No, they don’t. They’re just stronger than the others.” This sounded somewhat lame when said aloud, but I decided that I didn’t have to be brilliant this early into the Mommy Hood.
Chuckie sighed. “Let me say this in simple terms. Even before Martini got unwittingly loaded up on those A-C steroids and White shot himself up with them, they were both so much more powerful than any other empath or imageer that if you’d told me they were genetic mutations I wouldn’t have argued. Now that the drug’s been introduced? Martini’s got expanded powers, and God alone knows what’s happened to White. I don’t even want to think about what Serene’s got going, not that I’ll be able to avoid finding out.”
“So . . . what? Dude, if you have a theory, really, spit it out. The baby’s gonna wake up for a torpedo soon.” I knew this because my breasts were trying to burst out of the nursing bra.
“I want a full background check run on Serene, her mother, the cousins, everything. Try to pin down anything we can about her father.” Chuckie sounded both worried and very in charge. “I also want a DNA test run as soon as possible.”
Jeff looked like he was going to argue. I did my best to send an emotional signal not to start. “Chuckie . . . who do you think is Serene’s father? I know it’s just a guess, but I want to hear your guess.”
He looked right at me. “Let’s hear yours, first. Bet they’re the same.”
I swallowed. “Most of the A-Cs were told Richard White’s father, the original exile, died when they first arrived. Only a handful knew that he was alive and calling himself Ronald Yates. Serene’s part of the family is clearly not well connected—no one working at the top levels knew of her existence. So they probably didn’t know Yates when he was on Alpha Four, or if they did, in the same way I’d have known the President, you know, before I found out my mom hangs with him on a regular basis—pictures from afar. Richard and Christopher both confirmed that Yates’ looks had altered greatly by the time the rest of the A-Cs got here. Her mother was young when she had Serene, I know that much from talking to her. Very young. About twenty, no more than twenty-one.”
Jeff looked sick. “Ronald Yates loved to spend his time with young girls.”
“Yeah.” All four of us looked at each other. “Well, on the plus side—at least Serene will have some family now. And she already has a daddy-crush on Richard.”<
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“Who would be, in actuality, her older brother.” Reader sounded about this as I did—sort of glad, sort of grossed out.
“Thank God she married Brian and not, say, Christopher.” Jeff ran his hand through his hair. “Not that Christopher’s ever shown interest in crazy chicks.”
“He liked Kitty.” Chuckie grinned at me. “But she’s special.”
“Awww, you’re both so sweet, how do I keep the blushing away? Seriously, guys, what are the odds?”
“Gladys is really powerful,” Reader said. “Everyone tends to forget she’s Richard and Lucinda’s half sister when discussing how the Martini family had no significant A-C talents in it before Jeff showed up, and how Christopher’s mother brought in the A-C talents to the White side. I know why they try not to mention Yates. But it’s the Yates half mixed with her mother that made Gladys strong. Maybe Richard’s mother was the, pardon the phrase, weak link.”
“And Serene’s mother wasn’t.”
“Odds are long but also likely at the same time.” Chuckie shook his head. “We have to find out as much as we can about Serene’s parentage. Under the circumstances, we need a DNA test from the Pontifex.”
Jeff opened his mouth. “Fine, I’m sure Richard won’t object,” I said quickly. Jeff’s mouth snapped shut.
“I agree. The Pontifex does seem willing to actually help us solve mysteries instead of tossing himself in front of us like a roadblock.” Chuckie said this staring right at Jeff, who had the grace to merely grimace. “And, frankly, we need to find out as much as we can about Ronaldo Al Dejahl. Discovering anything about his and Serene’s parentage is going to be difficult. Which, in a way, brings us back to Amy. I still don’t trust her part in this. At all.”
“If Ronaldo’s after me, or us, or whatever, then her involvement makes a lot of sense.”
Chuckie shook his head. “It’s too damned convenient. Especially using her father’s name to lure the Pontifex.”
“Maybe that’s what we’re supposed to think.” I rocked Jamie. Not that we had a rocking chair, or anything else. The men looked at me blankly. “Guys, think. Whoever planned to take out the ETD and P.T.C.U., and let’s assume it’s our pal Ronaldo, has had some time to set it up. He’s crafty. His father knew Amy’s parents, meaning Amy might know him, or recognize him, but even if she doesn’t, using Amy’s dad’s name to lure Richard isn’t that much of a leap—I mean, if Richard had run it by me, I’d trust Amy’s dad, right? If our Head Fugly makes it look like someone we think we should be able to trust is untrustworthy, we spend all our efforts on figuring out her deal, when we should be paying attention to other things.”
Tito came in during the middle of my little speech. “Yeah, there’s something else I really want us paying attention to.”
CHAPTER 28
TITO LOOKED WORRIED.
“What?” Jeff looked worried, too, now.
Jamie started to cry. I got up, put her on my shoulder and did the Mommy Dance. All of the men were staring at me. “What?” I looked down. Nope, my clothes were on and my breasts weren’t leaking. Saw no issues.
“Yeah,” Tito said. “See what I mean?”
Jeff and Chuckie both nodded. Reader stopped leaning against the wall. All three men looked freaked. “I don’t see what you mean.”
“Look in a mirror.” Tito didn’t make it sound like a suggestion.
“Rather not, thanks. Last I checked I was down to moo-cow levels, and while that’s an improvement over hippo, I just don’t enjoy staring at myself looking like this.”
“I didn’t really notice,” Jeff said, sounding confused.
“You’ve been with her constantly.” Tito cocked his head. “I haven’t, but I’m seeing her enough to note the dramatic change.”
“I still have my hair—right?”
Reader grinned. “Thought bald was sexy.”
“On Paul. And on you, when you were bald for, what, a week before your hair grew back? On girls it says militant or cancer patient.”
“Yes, baby, your hair looks fine. Uh, let’s go into the bathroom.” Jeff got up, put his arm around me and walked me into the bedroom. “I want you to be really calm about this. In fact, let me hold Jamie.” He took the baby from me, leaned her on his shoulder and kept his other arm around me.
“Is this supposed to be the Scare Kitty Hour?”
“No.” He moved me in front of the mirror.
I looked. Saw me. Whoo hoo. “So?” Jeff took the back of my shirt and pulled, so that it conformed to my body. “Again, so?”
He sighed. “Baby, what’s wrong with this picture?”
“Nothing. I look fine. I—” I stopped myself and stared. I looked more than fine. I looked pre-pregnancy, other than my breasts, which were still inflated to torpedo proportions. “Ummm . . . is it time to freak out or call Oprah and announce the best diet, ever, in the history of the world?”
“No idea.” Jeff took my hand and led me back out to the living room. “Okay, Kitty’s on board with the news. What’s it mean?”
Tito shook his head. “No idea.”
Chuckie’s eyes were narrowed. “I think I have one.” He stood up. “Do some kung fu move on me.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No. I think I can block you.”
I shrugged and did my personal fave, Crane Opens a Can of Whuppass. I did it nicely, since I didn’t want to kill or even hurt Chuckie. He was fast, but I was faster, and he was on the ground.
I put my hand down. “Why?”
He took it, and I could feel he was shaking as I pulled him up. “Martini, we need to run blood tests, right away. On all three of you.”
Jeff was white. “No argument.”
I looked to Reader. Wow, he was white, too. Tito wasn’t pale, but he had his Serious Doctor Face on, which was never a good sign. I didn’t like it when the most important men in my life were freaking out. All we needed was my dad to make it a full house.
“What’s going on?”
Tito shook his head. “No idea. At all. Your charts show the same thing. You’re back to pre-pregnancy status, other than your breasts, which are, thank God, making milk and acting normally. They’re the only part of your body that is.”
“I’m defective?” It figured.
“No.” Chuckie’s voice was shaking. “I think you’ve mutated.”
“Oh, come on. I’m a human. I didn’t get hit with any radioactive juice or get zapped by gamma rays.”
“No. You just were carrying the baby of a mutated alien for the last nine months.” Chuckie didn’t sound accusatory or angry. He sounded scared.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Reynolds is right.” Jeff sounded more scared than Chuckie. He was clutching Jamie and she started to cry again.
I took her from him and cuddled her, did the Mommy Dance, petted her back, and she calmed down. “Baby girl does not like it when her daddy freaks out, Jeff.” I looked at the others. “Or when Uncle James and Uncle Charles and Good Doctor Tito freak out. She doesn’t like that, either. Please calm down, guys, I mean it.”
I found it hard to believe that Jamie was in life-threatening danger right now. So either everyone’s emotions were so high that the blocks Jeff put in weren’t working, or ACE was incorrect, which I doubted, or . . . something else. Under the circumstances, I felt it was probably a good idea to confirm if and what that something else might be.
Um, ACE? Are you there?
Yes, Kitty, ACE is here. Jamie is not picking up emotions. Jamie is hearing and interpreting sounds.
Wow, either I was broadcasting my concerns, which was, per Jeff, very likely, or ACE wasn’t in the mood to make me work for it. I counted it as one for the win column either way.
So she’s crying because all the guys sound freaked out?
Yes, and because of the tension around Jamie. Jamie cannot feel emotions as Jeff can right now, and Jamie cannot control the blocks as Jeff can, right now, but Jamie can feel things as all a
nimals do. Not that ACE feels Jamie or Kitty are really penguins.
But we are animals, just more highly evolved ones.
Yes.
So she’s acting like any baby would in a room full of freaked out men?
Yes.
Good to know. Thanks, ACE, you’re the best.
“Blood tests. Now.” Tito said, interrupting my chat with our higher power. He didn’t make it sound optional.
“Oh, fine.”
We went up to medical, and Tito did his vampire thing. I didn’t like needles overmuch, but I could handle them by talking about something other than what was going on. “So, Chuckie, can I just run out to some baby store, buy a bassinet, and come right on home? I’ll take a contingent of hunks with me, if necessary.”
“No.” He still looked freaked out.
“Jeff?” I tried whining.
“Hell, no.” He looked more freaked than Chuckie.
“James?”
“I’d do it, but I think bassinets are the least of our worries, girlfriend.”
Tito took the blood from Jamie, and she started to cry. “Oh, it’s okay, Jamie-Kat. It won’t hurt much and it’ll be over fast. Tito just wants to take care of us.” I kissed her head, and she calmed down a bit.
Melanie and Emily trotted in,looking strained. “Ready?” Emily asked.
Tito nodded and handed them three vials. “Do it fast and do it accurately.”
They nodded and raced out of the room.
“So, to reassure everyone, I wasn’t shooting up with Christopher.”
“I know that.” Jeff wasn’t glaring but he was close. At least he didn’t look freaked out for a few seconds.
“Already checked your arms out.” Chuckie rubbed his forehead. “Look, Martini was altered from the drug the Club Fifty-One people gave him. So was Serene. The drug’s not in their systems, but their systems were changed because of it. Their blood was, too, I’d assume.”
“Safe bet,” Tito said. “From what I’ve learned, A-Cs are more adaptable than humans in some ways, probably due to the faster regeneration based on the double hearts.”