Alien Proliferation

by Gini Koch

  I blinked. “Okay, lecture points taken, no more argument.”

  “What?” Jeff sounded as shocked as Chuckie looked. “That was too easy. What’s wrong?”

  “Where is Alicia? We pulled in families. Did we pull her in, too?”

  Jeff was on his phone. He looked at me. “Tim’s not answering.”

  Chuckie was on his phone now, too. He moved away a bit and started barking quiet orders.

  “Com on.” I didn’t shout, I was proud of myself.

  “Yes, Commander Martini?”

  “Is Tim Crawford on premises?”

  “Running search.”

  Took a deep breath and hoped.

  “No, Commander. Captain Crawford is not.” Oh, yeah, Tim had the Captain title, too. Not that I ever used it for him, either.

  “Start scanning every Base we have. See if you can find Tim or his fiancée, Alicia Young. If you’ve got some way to track Tim, do it. Check the Martini estate, too.”

  We waited. “No, Commander, no sign.”

  I looked at Jeff. “We forgot her, didn’t we? But I’ll bet our enemies didn’t. And I know Tim didn’t. He probably thought she was taken to Caliente Base. We were busy—he called her or something, realized she wasn’t where he thought she was, something like that.” I felt awful. And scared.

  Jamie woke up and started crying. “I have to feed her.” I wanted to, and I didn’t. The mother part wanted to more than anything. The other part wanted to find Tim and Alicia and make sure they were safe and unharmed.

  Emily gave me a sheet, and I covered up a bit, sat down, and unhooked. Jeff helped hold the sheet over me.

  Chuckie hung up. “Just had her apartment checked. It’s been ransacked, no sign of her, her car’s still there.” He looked confused. “There was something odd. My operative said they found a CD in the refrigerator.”

  “What was the band, what was the title?”

  “Adam Ant, Friend or Foe.”

  “Tim’s got her, thank God.”

  “You want to explain that?”

  “Sure.” Took the baby off one breast, gave her to Jeff, closed side A, opened side B, put the baby on the other breast. “Tim’s leaving me a message. He runs my iPod half the time now, remember? Guy who apparently pulled me back from death by playing ‘Nine Lives’ by Aerosmith? He knows how I think, musically.”

  “Why leave a clue at all?” Chuckie still sounded confused.

  “Because he knew I’d realize either that he was missing or Alicia was missing. Look, however we missed her was an oversight . . .” Thought about it. “No, it wasn’t. It was on purpose.” Wanted to curse, looked down at my newborn, controlled the impulse. “Friend or Foe, he’s telling me that we have a mole.”

  “Can I arrest Amy now?” Chuckie was serious.

  “We can’t assume it’s her. Even though, yeah, it sure seems likely. But let me think.”

  “All you’re doing is talking.”

  “Dude, we’ve known each other half our lives?”

  “Right. That is how you think . . . by running your mouth.”

  “You know it. Okay, so he could have left anything, at least, anything Alicia had or he had.”

  “Why didn’t he tell anyone before he left?” Jeff didn’t sound any more convinced than Chuckie. “Tim knows better.”

  “Jeff? When you broke out of Caliente Base to save me, did you stop to share that you were leaving, against direct orders, with anyone?”

  “No. Fine, point taken, he’s in love with her, it’s his girl in danger, he’s not going to waste time. Carry on.”

  “Chuckie, any guess as to when the apartment was ransacked?”

  “Not too long ago. She had a small fish tank, it was overturned, but the carpet wasn’t totally soaked.”

  I was impressed with C.I.A. thoroughness. “Okay, Gladys, you still there?”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  “Can you verify the last time anyone can confirm Tim’s being in the Science Center?”

  “Last person was likely Captain Reader.”

  “Thanks. Jeff, need your cell.” A thought occurred. “Can you please go get my purse?”

  “Think Tim called you?”

  “It’s a possibility. Bring the Poofs along, too, please.”

  He sighed. “If I must.” Jeff hypersped out of the room.

  I called Reader. “James, when did you last see Tim?”

  “This morning, why?” Brought him up to speed. He cursed. I moved the phone to the side away from Jamie. “I gave a direct order to have Alicia picked up.”

  “Figured you wouldn’t have forgotten. So why wasn’t she?”

  “No idea. Did you ask Gladys?”

  “No. Hang on. Gladys? Did someone override Captain Reader’s order to have Alicia Young picked up?”

  “Not that my records show, Commander.”

  Shared with Reader. “Okay, so someone talked directly to the agents who were supposed to get her. Need to know who they were, girlfriend.”

  I had another thought. “Gladys, do records show where Alicia Young was when we went into lockdown?”

  “Yes, Commander. She was in the air, returning from . . . wait for it . . . Paris.”

  Chuckie groaned. “She’s our mole?”

  “Hardly. She thinks we’re all P.T.C.U.”

  “Could still be our mole.”

  Brought Reader back up to speed. “Okay, so she’s in the air when we go into lockdown. Tim would have known that, so he didn’t panic until he realized she’d never been picked up, or gotten the message to go to a pick-up spot.” Reader sounded calmer than me. Good, ’cause I wasn’t calm. At all.

  “They would have told her to go somewhere?”

  He sighed. “Babe? Really. Think about it. She was in an airplane.”

  “Oh, duh. Left her a message on her phone. ‘Go to this women’s bathroom and call us when you’re in.’”

  “Right, standard procedure. So why the hell wasn’t it followed?”

  Had a horrible thought. “Maybe it was. Gladys! Do we have any agent teams who haven’t checked in?”

  Jeff was back and exchanged my purse for Jamie. “The Poofs didn’t want to come. They were freaking out about something.”

  “What and where?”

  “No idea what they were upset about. They were in their little condo you love so much.”

  “Tim left a clue there, go look for it, now.”

  Jeff sighed, handed Jamie back to me, and took off again.

  “Commander? Several agent teams haven’t checked in.” Gladys sounded worried. “All teams were dispatched by Commander White. The team Captain Reader assigned to Alicia Young was sent home by the team assigned by Commander White,” she added.

  “Oh, great. White’s our mole?” Chuckie sounded like he was going to kill himself.

  “No, but it explains why we missed them—Christopher’s not functioning, and he’s not around to ask why the teams haven’t checked in. Why did he switch teams?”

  “Per the orders, Commander White felt the team he dispatched was better prepared to handle any issues,” Gladys shared.

  “Okay, so he wanted a more experienced team going out. Under the circumstances, can’t blame him. So, Gladys, who were they going for or where were they headed?”

  “The one replacement team was at Pueblo Caliente International, waiting for Alicia Young. The other three were in D.C.”

  I got a funny feeling. “Gladys . . . where are the A-C Diplomatic Corps?”

  CHAPTER 31

  “THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS ARE SECURED in the Embassy, Commander.”

  “All of them? You’re sure?”

  “Yes, Commander, I’ve scanned the building.”

  “I’d put my money on them, not Amy or Alicia, and sure as hell not Christopher.” Reader’s voice was clipped. “What’s Reynolds think?”

  “Chuckie, your thoughts?”

  “Nice. Now we have so many mole options.” He sounded tired. “Camilla could be the mol
e, too, you know. Jesus.”

  Jeff returned. “I vote for the Diplomatic Corps.”

  “James thinks so, too.”

  “I vote for locking everyone we know up in a Centaurion Base and just hibernating.” Chuckie sounded ready to lose his mind.

  “Dude, relax. Just let the conspiracy wheels spin for a bit. I’ll handle the light thinking.” Back to Reader. “James, thoughts?”

  “Yeah. Tell Reynolds he could be the mole, too.”

  “Um, no, he couldn’t. And why?”

  “Yeah, fine, I agree. But why? Love to hear him sound like he’s about to crack. Happens so never.”

  “You really have an evil streak, don’t you?”

  “One of the many reasons you love me.”

  “True. But I’m not saying that to him.”

  “Tell Reader he’s hilarious. And that your mother checks me on a monthly damn basis.” Chuckie’s tone was extremely snide.

  “Geez, dude, did it sound like I thought he was right? Or that he was serious?”

  “Didn’t hear his side, just could tell what you two were talking about.”

  “Yeah, you’re good, Secret Agent Man. Keep working on the theories. James?”

  “I have no missed call or message from Tim. I don’t know what that means.” He sounded worried.

  “Well, Tim has Alicia, or at least he got to her first.”

  “Commander? We have no contact with the four missing agent teams. Unable to raise on cell.” Gladys sounded worried and pissed.

  “The fun never stops around here, does it? Okay, lemme get my cell.” Dug it out of my purse one-handed; Jamie didn’t seem to mind. I had several missed calls from Tim’s phone, but only one message, not from Tim’s number. “Okay, James, handing you to Jeff. Gladys, hang on.”

  Tossed the phone to Jeff. “Yeah, you know, I think that’s a brilliant idea.” He hung up. “James decided since he’s in the same damn building, he’d just come on back and talk to us in person.”

  “Whatever.” Hit my voicemail and turned on the speakerphone.

  “Kitty, I’m sorry. They’re after us and I can’t get to a gate. I think they’ve messed up Home Base’s ability to track us somehow, too. My cell took a bullet. We’re not hurt, yet. I’m on Alicia’s phone, but the battery’s going. Shit!” I heard what sounded like tires screeching, and then the phone went dead.

  “Well, that was illuminating not so much.” I looked at Jeff. “What did you find on the Poof tree?” He held up a CD. Help! by the Beatles. “Geez, couldn’t get clearer than that.” Another thought occurred. “Open it, what’s the CD inside?”

  Jeff did. “Not the Beatles.” He handed the case to me and took Jamie.

  “Chuckie, get your guys to open the CD they found.” I stared at the disk.

  “On it already.” He was back on the phone. “Really? That’s weird. Okay, thanks, hold onto it. Yeah, run it for everything.” Chuckie hung up. “What was inside the Adam Ant case was a CD of your wedding video.”

  “Huh? We had a wedding video?”

  “Yeah.” Reader ran into the room. “Remember? Our favorite ‘investigative reporter’ did all the photos and video at your wedding.”

  This was true. “But Mister Joel Oliver told me the video didn’t come out. The World Weekly News only got the stills.” I tried not to think about our wedding pictures having been in the tabloids nine months ago. Fortunately, as far as the photography had gone, we’d been boring and hadn’t even made the front page.

  Reader shrugged. “I paid him to lie. It was supposed to be a surprise for you and Jeff at the baby’s induction ceremony. I gave Tim and the flyboys backup copies, just in case.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they were the most unlikely to want to watch it early.”

  “Can’t argue with the logic.” I looked back at the CD Tim had put into the Beatles’ case. “He was freaked and scared, but he took the time to set this up and drop it off. Why?”

  “What? We’re all waiting for you to tell us why and what it is you’re looking at.” Jeff sounded annoyed, but I knew it was because he was worried.

  “It’s the Beastie Boys’ License to Ill.”

  Thudding silence. Waited for the sound of crickets. Amazing, none. “What’s that mean?” Jeff asked finally.

  “Hang on . . . I have to think the timing through.” Which meant, out loud. “Okay, Alicia was in the air on her way back from Paris when we went into lockdown three days ago. Gladys, would she have just gotten in the air?”

  “Most likely.”

  “Double-check that she was on the flight she was supposed to be.”

  Heard a sigh. “Hmmm. No, Commander. She was bumped from the flight.”

  “Mole.” Chuckie sounded like he was getting a migraine.

  “No,” Gladys said. “She was flying on her airline pass. It’s here in the records. She was on standby, therefore. She was bumped twice. Only got into the air, in reality . . . hmmm . . . last night. Flight landed at JFK this morning, then at Saguaro International in Pueblo Caliente this evening.”

  “Why the hell was she in Paris? Without Crawford?” Chuckie asked. “And don’t say coincidence.”

  “She was nowhere around when we were dealing with the superbeing cluster,” Jeff said. “And as far as I know, Tim didn’t wander off to meet up with her, either.”

  “He didn’t,” Reader confirmed. “Oh, hell. I have an idea.” He closed his eyes. “They’re getting married soon. She has free airline flights. Fashion capital.”

  “She was shopping for her wedding dress.” I wanted to run around and do something, but I knew Tim was counting on me to think.

  “Right. I remember Tim saying they weren’t doing anything for Christmas but really had some great New Year’s Eve plans.” Reader sounded as bad as I felt.

  “Okay, here’s what we have so far. Alicia was in Paris. I’m sure Tim checked with her, but he didn’t ask to go get her or have the Euro team pick her up. Gladys, shout if that’s wrong. So she wasn’t in any danger while she was on that side of the pond. Which makes sense, if you consider that whoever’s running this is gunning for me. It would take time to realize, okay, the immediate useful hostages are safe, let’s start branching out.”

  “Possible.” Chuckie sounded nowhere close to convinced but like the migraine was a given. “Or she’s in it with Amy.”

  “Dude, really, let it go. Try to take Amy’s reaction to how you are now as a compliment, okay?”

  “Right. Still not seeing how Alicia’s not the mole. Or Amy, for that matter.”

  Something was nagging at me. “Gladys, were there any other Youngs on any of the three flights that Alicia was supposed to be on?”

  “Yes, Ralph and Margaret. Checking addresses . . . married couple, live in Long Island. Cross-checking . . . Alicia Young is their daughter.”

  “And now it makes sense. She went to Paris with her parents to shop for the dress and do Christmas there. Once in a lifetime, last time it’s just the three of us thing. Barring Alicia’s parents being involved, Chuckie, deal with the coincidence. We’re probably allowed one in the grand scheme of evil overlord plans.”

  “Whatever. Still not clear on the musical clues.”

  “Okay, Tim’s in contact with his girl. Probably telling her and the ’rents to be careful, terrorist activity about, so they’re on top of things.”

  “I know he called her when we were on the way to deal with the cluster in Paris,” Reader offered.

  “Good. Now . . . I’m going to play pretend for a minute here. I don’t know that Jeff’s an alien, I don’t know what he does for real, but I think he’s part of an elite counterterrorism squad. I’ve been sworn to secrecy, I’m in love with him and like his friends, so I’m a good girl and don’t say a word. Now, Jeff calls me while I’m on a trip to Paris with my parents, says things are scary, stay aware and alert, and all that jazz. I mention this to my parents, who we are also pretending are normal folks. What do the three of u
s decide?”

  Thudding silence. Was certain I heard crickets. No one in this room had a normal life? Looked around. Nope.

  Tito sighed. “My parents wouldn’t let me out of their sight.”

  “Bingo.” One normal guy left. Wondered how long before we totally corrupted him. Gave it another six months, tops. “So Alicia’s in New York, which was where the plane landed. She got off with her parents and stayed off.”

  “She shows as arriving at Saguaro International, Commander.”

  “Double-check it, Gladys. Make sure it’s not an airline snafu or that it’s her luggage that arrived or something.” My money was on both. “Remember, she was booked all the way through. She could show because by the time they realized she wasn’t getting back on, the plane was ready to leave.”

  “You used to work with the airlines, Commander?” Gladys sounded rather impressed. “Because you’re right. She was booked; seat was empty from JFK to Pueblo Caliente. Her luggage, however, did arrive. It’s still there, waiting to be claimed.”

  “Okay. So, why did Tim go to her apartment? And why did he leave me a warning before he left? He’d been tipped off about something. What was it?”

  “His room’s near Amy’s.” Chuckie was really hoping Amy was the mole.

  “Yeah, his room’s near a lot of people’s right now, he’s on the transient floor. Gladys?”

  “Anticipating you, Commander. Due to protective custody and lockdown, Captain Crawford’s nearest neighbors are Amy Gaultier, Captain Matt Hughes, Abraham and Sadie Katt, Doreen and Irving Weismann, Lieutenant Chip Walker, Michael Gower, Stanley and Ericka Gower, Captain Jerry Tucker, and Sylvia and Clarence Valentino.”

  “Who are those last people?” Names weren’t familiar to me.

  “My oldest sister and her husband.” Jeff sounded as though he was catching Chuckie’s migraine. “What the hell are they doing here? I thought they went back to my parents’ house days ago.”