Alien Proliferation

by Gini Koch

  “So,” Jerry said. “Routine. By the way, looking great, Kitty. Love the way you’re filling out that top.” I really felt Jerry and Jeff had somehow been separated at birth.

  “The usual elaborate plans intersecting on top of us?” Lorraine asked.

  Claudia gave a mirthless chuckle. “I’m putting money on it.”

  Did a very fast recap of everything that had happened. “So Alpha Team’s working under the assumption we have our standard megalomaniac trying to take over the world while at the same time we have everyone’s favorite Purity of the Race proponents doing their thing in support of said megalomaniac. But, sadly, the actual elaborate ruse is different.”

  “How so?” Lorraine asked. “Seems pretty clear they wanted guinea pigs.”

  “Yeah. So why Alpha Team as said piggies? I mean, no one will notice that Jeff and Christopher are dead, right? No human would notice Chuckie’s disappearance? No biggie, grab the top dudes and go to town.”

  “You think it’s like Florida?” Hughes asked. “You think a human’s in charge?”

  “In charge of what?” Randy asked. He was absently stroking the back of Claudia’s neck. I missed Jeff. “The elaborate ruse or something else?”

  “Amy is the ruse.”

  “You think she’s the mole after all?” Mom sounded sad.

  “No, I think she’s been an unwitting pawn. See, it’s too freaking convenient. Amy’s sent off to do some weird work thing and finds a connection to a known but supposedly defunct terrorist organization as well as information that says the heads of the P.T.C.U. and ETD are targets. Then she’s allowed to escape with this information, is given a number to call by a guy you and Chuckie cannot find, alive or dead, is pursued by double digits, manages to get rescued just in time.”

  “Sounds like she’s the mole.” Mom, like Chuckie, really was into the mole idea.

  “No, it sounds like she’s a patsy. And she’s been set up by someone who knew exactly what she’d do, every step of the way.”

  CHAPTER 47

  SHEILA SAT UP STRAIGHT. Her eyes were wide. Interesting—then again, she’d been in the bathroom with me and, clearly, she was still Miss Insightful. “Kitty . . . is this going where I think it’s going?”

  “Probably.”

  Everyone looked at Sheila. She shrugged. “I have four kids, but that doesn’t make me a moron.”

  “I think they’re waiting for you to share, Sheila.”

  “Oh.” She blushed, then swallowed and looked at me. “You think it’s someone in Amy’s dad’s company, don’t you?”

  “Not someone.”

  Mom dug her phone out. “Where is your target? What? Why wasn’t I informed? Fine.” She covered the phone. “Herbert Gaultier is in D.C.”

  “No, he’s not. He’s in Paris. He went into the Centaurion Embassy, didn’t he? Which means he’s gone to wherever they took Amy and Michael.” Mom went back to the phone.

  “Amy’s own father? Kitty, how could that be?” Sheila sounded horrified.

  “He doesn’t plan to hurt Amy, at least I’m sure that’s what he’s told himself. He doesn’t care about the rest of us. Maybe he would if his first wife, the one who knew me and you, was still alive. But she’s not. We haven’t seen him since her funeral. We’re not important to him at all. Plus, whoever’s behind this knew my closest friends from high school but has left my closest girlfriend from college completely alone, and said girlfriend is a senator’s Girl Friday. So whoever’s behind it only knows me from the high school years, which is why your family was targeted, Sheila. You’re a weakness for me and for Amy. And, let’s face it, there’s nothing wrong with capitalism. Until you find the most amazing drug in the world.”

  “But what’s he going to do with it?” Randy asked. “Having it’s useless unless you have some use for it.”

  Mom hung up. “Good lord. Yes, Gaultier went to the Embassy. No idea of why my team thought that wasn’t something to warn me about.”

  “You told them to guard him, he wasn’t in danger.”

  “Kitty, we need more info.” Hughes had his eyes closed. “I know you usually do this with James, but I’ll do my best, because I think I see where you’re going with it. But if you’re going to bring down an influential businessman, and figure out where the hell he is, you have to have more than a logo.” My flyboys—great-looking and brilliant. Loved them all.

  I took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay. What is standard procedure for a known threat? Exactly what we did. Total lockdown, pull everyone, and I do mean everyone, in. Teams will inch out and about, but carefully. Only team likely to be out without a lot of permission is Alpha.”

  Just as I’d confirmed for the C.I.A. folks the other day. I wasn’t sure if they were involved, but I was willing to accept only one coincidence per Operation, and Alicia being in Paris when this all started was it. Not that I had a clue yet if they were actually involved, had shared this info, or had an alternate plan running we’d find out about along the way. The fun truly never stopped for us.

  “So it’s the usual destroy Alpha team ploy. Not seeing a connection. Or a motive.” Walker’s eyes weren’t closed, but I could tell he was willing to see if he could figure it out before Hughes. Healthy competition was never a problem. It was the unhealthy competition I was worried about.

  “No,” Joe said. He was standing behind Lorraine, rubbing her shoulders. “Because there are easier ways to get rid of them than having them in lockdown. Besides, look at Kitty. It’s the drug that’s the root of this plan, right?”

  “I’m pretty damn sure, yeah.”

  “But if they don’t want to destroy Alpha, what do they want to use the drug for?” Jerry sounded thoughtful.

  “Florida was a lot of plans, but they all led back to the same guy.” Brian was getting in on the act. Serene was on his lap. I stared at her.

  “What, Kitty?” She looked down. “Is there something on me?”

  “No, in you. In me, you, Jamie, Jeff, and Christopher.” I looked at my mother. “A superhuman, superalien drug. Mom, what would that be worth on the black market?”

  She snorted. “You wouldn’t have to black market it. Every government would pay billions to get their hands on it. The bidding war would be insane.” Mom looked at me, and her face drained of color.

  Hughes’ eyes opened. “Oh, shit. Well, there’s the motive.” He looked at me. “But why all the elaborate steps?”

  “Originally? To get us out of the way and set up the Diplomatic Corps to oust the Sovereign Pontifex or insist he demand the patent rights be turned over to Gaultier International or whoever the Corps thinks is in charge. Now? Well, now they have the hostages they need to force the patent-holders to give up those rights.”

  I looked around, everyone looked blank. “Okay, here’s what’s going on and why. The stuff with Amy was to get us all herded into place. The stuff with Sheila was to enforce our fears and pull in anyone else who might still be loose. This would have worked great if Tim’s girlfriend hadn’t been in Paris waiting for a standby flight.”

  “But Tim’s captured, and that’s why Alpha’s in trouble.” Lorraine sounded confused.

  “Tim being out is the only reason we know what’s going on.”

  Hughes nodded. “They were never after any of us originally, they just wanted us out of the way, right?”

  “Originally, I think so, yeah. See, the one thing no one ever asked during Operation Drug Addict was who, exactly, made the Club Fifty-One drug cocktail they gave to Serene and Jeff.”

  “It was based on drugs we were working on for NASA,” Serene said.

  “Based on. Movies based on books have an original book they look at. So, who put the drug together the first time, in the combination and strength to affect Serene and Jeff biologically?”

  “Wasn’t NASA,” Brian said.

  “I’m betting it was Gaultier International, or some subsidiary branch.”

  “Not sure, but Alfred said—” Brian stopped s
peaking and looked at me in horror. “Oh, my God.”

  CHAPTER 48

  “YOU THINK ALFRED IS INVOLVED in this?” Mom sounded shocked.

  “No. Alfred holds the freaking patents on everything the A-Cs do out of NASA. Because the Martinis are royalty, right? But when they got here, they landed in Capitalism Unlimited. I’m sure it was an easy decision, since Alfred already had scientific aptitude, to send the patents through him—meant he would maintain wealth and, for this country, that would equal our version of royalty. Jeff said they use his family’s home as one of their showcases for humans. The Embassy is another, I’m sure.”

  “They have everyone Alfred would care about.” Walker sounded sick.

  “Not quite, but damned close. Okay, listen. The person behind this knew not only Amy well, but me well. Well enough to know what my mother and oldest male friend did for a living. Well enough to know where and whom I was working with. And well enough to predict most of what was going on. But not well enough to know who my college or work friends might be.”

  “Tim’s the mole?” Mom was starting to sound like Chuckie. Tried not to worry about him, and Jeff, and the others. Failed utterly.

  “Mom, for the last and final time, there is no mole! The mole idea is the elaborate ruse, just like I said to Chuckie, Jeff, and James, geez, only earlier today.” Felt like it had been days ago. “The mole idea focused everyone away from what’s really going on.”

  “Which is?” Lorraine asked.

  “Chuckie’s always said that there are only two reasons why anyone pulls the elaborate ruse—to gain money or power. This is a money grab, the first one we’ve ever gone through together, which is why it didn’t dawn on anyone. There is no mole—there are people set up to look like moles. And this elaborate plan has been in effect since, at the latest, we went through Operation Drug Addict. The person who created the original Club Fifty-One drug, which has become Surcenthumain, realized way back then that this was a freaking gold mine, as long as it didn’t kill the users. Trust me, when we have time to research it, we’ll discover that Herbert Gaultier is the one who created the right drug cocktail or that the flunky who worked for him who created it is dead.”

  “But the operation in Florida was almost a year and a half ago. Why is this happening now?” Claudia asked.

  “Perfecting drugs takes time,” Mom said. “Think about how long it takes the FDA to approve anything.”

  “But imagine if you can speed it up by testing it on A-Cs who are close enough to humans to breed just fine with them, but different enough that they have regenerative properties. Jeff was the target for Operation Drug Addict—both Leventhal Reid’s target and our current Head Fugly’s target. If they’d succeeded in killing Jeff and/or the rest of Alpha Team, no worries, there were all those thousands of Club Fifty-One loons to test the drug on—who cares if some of them die? Just don’t want the soldiers from the country that wins the bidding war to die.”

  “So Jeff and Serene were the test subjects?” Lorraine pursed her lips. “That’s not enough.”

  “They used Christopher and observed him somehow. His talents are so strong it’s frightening. But healthwise he seems fine. Meaning that you can give this stuff to people a lot, and it’ll just make them more super. Meaning that you can sell it to every country out there, and have repeat buyers, and so forth.”

  Hughes looked at me. “You’re a test subject, too. So’s Jamie.”

  I nodded. “Gaultier would have known I was married to an A-C—Amy would have told him Jeff’s name, somewhere in there, I’m sure.”

  “He sent a gift, remember?” Mom’s voice was like ice. “A silver frame.”

  “Oh, wow. So that’s how they were spying on Christopher.”

  “If there was a camera in the frame, wouldn’t it have been spying on you?” Mom sounded like she was worried the drugs had affected my brain.

  “Yes, except that we gave it to Christopher because we liked the ones we got from Sheila and Roger better, and we only have so much space in the Lair. It’s the frame on Christopher’s nightstand.” I chose to save the anger and hatred—I was sure I’d need it later, in a big way.

  “So, who or what is the target?” Jerry asked. “I can buy all the rest of it, but not why the Diplomatic Corps is involved or why Tim and the others were kidnapped.”

  “And how does Ronaldo Al Dejahl fit into this?” Mom asked.

  “He’s the other elaborate ruse.”

  CHAPTER 49

  EVERYONE STARED AT ME. “Come again?” Jerry said.

  “There is no Ronaldo Al Dejahl. There is some guy playing him. Perhaps the same actor who played the older businessman who gave Amy the old covert ops number and was ‘murdered’ in front of her.”

  Naomi shook her head. “Clarence firmly believes this man exists.”

  “How do you know?”

  She shrugged. “I’m looking into his mind right now. He believes.”

  “Bet the Diplomatic Corps believes, too. You know, Centaurion’s not the only group with lobbyists. I’m sure Gaultier has a lobbyist or two, and I’m sure they’ve become good pals with the A-C Diplomatic Corps.”

  “Probably,” Mom said. “I’ve mentioned I can’t stand Robert Coleman, right?”

  “At my wedding, yeah. I hate his wife a lot more. Look, they may be A-Cs, and maybe they’ve learned how to fake it better than the rest of them, but the entire race literally cannot lie, at least believably to humans.” I knew Chuckie disagreed, and I also knew he was probably right, but now wasn’t the time to focus us all on finding the A-C liars, since it was clear to me that we knew who the main ones were anyway.

  “It makes them vulnerable to lies, though,” Walker said slowly. “I mean, look at the Pontifex.”

  “Richard. We need him. Gladys, any sign of Herbert Gaultier?”

  “No, Commander. Which is why I haven’t alerted you. We’re still searching. Should I assume you want me to send the Pontifex to you?”

  “Yes, thanks. Tell him it’s extremely urgent.”

  “He already knows. He’s been on the com with me since your call from the bathroom.”

  “Nice. Mister White, please hyperspeed down here.”

  “At your beck and call, Missus Martini.” No sooner had his voice died on the speaker than he was at the door.

  “Why is it you hyperspeed faster than the Security guys?”

  “I’m in better shape. I told you when we first met, I can perform at active agent levels.”

  “Good, we may need you to come along with us.”

  “Kitty, are you crazy?” It looked like Hughes was speaking for everyone. “Every scheme is designed to put the Pontifex in danger. He was already at risk, remember?”

  “Well, see, the thing is—”

  “As Commander Martini has been saying, this is an elaborate plan to make billions of dollars selling a dangerous and severely undertested drug.” White sounded calm, which was good. I wondered if he was clear on how much danger his son and nephew were in and figured he was. “As such, I was never in danger. You all were supposed to think I was in danger, so you would continue to work to find the nonexistent mole.”

  “Mister White, thank God you’ve come.”

  He nodded. “I’ve also already alerted Alfred. As of yet, he has not received a request for patent rights.”

  “Where are his daughters and, more importantly, their husbands?”

  “Sylvia is here, and Clarence, as you know, is in solitary confinement. Jonathan is with Marianne at the Martini estate. The other three told their wives they were at the Embassy.”

  “So they’re either hostages or in on it.”

  Naomi closed her eyes. “Can’t get it out of Clarence. He’s really into the purity of the race thing, though. He seems to believe Al Dejahl is going to rescue him.” She opened her eyes. “Right after Al Dejahl kills Richard and takes over as the new Sovereign Pontifex.”

  “Wow, usually they want to kill Richard to just not have a
Pontifex any more. Mister White, you’re moving up in the elaborate ruse world.”

  “Truly, I’m thrilled. However, this entire plot seems to me to be centered around you, Missus Martini.”

  “As flattering as it won’t be, why so?”

  “The threats were all to people in your orbit. I am in that orbit, let me remind you.”

  I thought about it. “Gladys? What do you think?”

  “Beg pardon? You want my opinion?”

  “Yeah. Because you’re sort of our A-C God in the Machine.”

  “I’d suggest calling the real one.”

  I looked at Naomi and Abigail. “Duh.” Said in unison. Too busy to care.

  I closed my eyes and concentrated. ACE, can you hear me?

  Yes, Kitty, ACE is here. Please hurry.

  Hurry to where, ACE? I think we know what’s going on, but we don’t know where you all are.

  ACE is not with the others.

  What do you mean? Where’s Paul?

  Paul and ACE are together. They attacked Paul and ACE first, because of ACE, he wailed. Paul is unconscious, and ACE must stay with Paul or Paul will die.

  ACE, they’re the evil ones, not you. Don’t blame yourself. Where do they have you and Paul stashed?

  In an airless chamber.

  Managed not to scream, either out loud or in my head. Why?

  So ACE would be unable to help the others.

  ACE, where are you all? Are you in Paris?

  Not any longer. ACE and Paul are in something that is moving. It stops, then starts again.

  And the others?

  The only thing ACE and Paul saw before the attack was a circle with letters in it.

  A-B-C?

  Yes.

  I’m on my way, ACE. Hang on.

  I opened my eyes. “They attacked Paul first because of ACE. He’s doing a Houdini, so ACE can only concentrate on him.”

  “Pardon?” White asked, but the others looked just as confused.