Alien Tango

by Gini Koch

  Rooms were nice, all suites, so we had a living room/ office/kitchenette, large bathroom, and private bedroom. Martini did a quick security check, pronounced the room bug-free in all ways, and we raced to see who could get out of our pretty much awful clothing fastest. Stuffed the clothes in the plastic laundry bag provided and got into the shower.

  He insisted he felt fine after having had a meal, and I checked him out carefully. He looked healed and better than fine. We were finally alone, and my sex drive said “what the hell.”

  Martini was a pro at mind-blowing sex in any kind of location, and we were both pros by now at doing it in the shower. In deference to the alligators and the swamp, we cleaned off first, then Martini proceeded to remind me why it was great to be his woman.

  We were in the middle of my third orgasm when we both heard my phone ringing. “You think we should get that?” He paused to make sure I heard him. I was impressed we could hear the phone over my howls, but I chose not to mention it.

  “If it’s important, they’ll leave a message.” I tightened my legs around him to give him the none-too-subtle hint that I wasn’t happy about the pause.

  “Your phone’s been kind of emergency central.”

  “Jeff, do I look like I care right now?” I was still squeezing and thrusting.

  He grinned. “No. You look totally sexy.” He kissed me and continued doing what I wanted. He made up for the interruption in fine form.

  Finally out of the shower and dried off, we both fell into bed. My phone was beeping to let me know I’d missed a call. I checked the number. “So glad we didn’t interrupt for this.” No voicemail message, so I called back.

  “Hello?”

  “Serene! How goes it for my favorite romantically obsessed lunatic?” I rolled and draped myself onto Martini. He stroked my hair and back while I nuzzled his chest.

  “What have you done with Helen?” She sounded mad and freaked, but she wasn’t screaming.

  “Who’s Helen?” I looked at Martini. He shrugged and shook his head. “Not ringing a bell.”

  “She’s my friend. What did you do to her?”

  I was tired, but great sex really did a lot for my mental abilities. “Oh, you mean the gal who found my cell number so we could be pals? The one who made the first phone call to me? Her?” I kissed Martini’s chest, quietly.

  “Yes. Where is she?”

  “As far as I know, she’s under arrest for suspected terrorism, conspiracy to commit murder, being an accomplice in the destruction of government property, illegal information search, and probably a variety of other things.” My free hand began roaming Martini’s body. He started the low growl that always sounded like a big cat purring to me. I loved that sound, and I liked to do things to make it happen and keep it going.

  “Why did you do that?”

  “Babe, you did that. The minute you decided to go Freak of the Year on me over Brian? You did that, and you pulled her into it. By the way, there’s a warrant out for your arrest, for most of the same charges, only yours are at a higher level.” My mouth felt compelled to follow my hand, so I went with it.

  “What are you doing with him?” Her voice was taut.

  “You mean, what am I doing right now? I’m with my actual boyfriend right now. I have no idea what Brian’s doing at the exact moment, but I’m pretty sure he’s not having the same level of fun we are. By the way, sick as it sounds, he was sort of flattered over your lunacy. Not to the point where he wants to cuddle, but, hey, maybe he’ll be willing to wait for you.” I trailed my tongue down Martini’s chest and stomach, following what my friends and I had always called the Happy Trail. It certainly always made Martini happy.

  “Wait for me for what?”

  “To get out of prison.” I was nuzzling my favorite thing in the world and really didn’t want to talk much longer. “Serene, is this a ‘leave town or else’ call, an ‘I’m going to try to kill you again for no sane reason’ call, or a ‘remember we meet at dawn’ call? Kind of busy, so let’s cut to the chase.” My tongue really enjoyed tormenting Martini. At least, I always told him it was my tongue’s fault. His purr was on full and heading toward the point where I was going to make him moan the way he normally made me.

  “I don’t want you to hurt Helen. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

  I found myself wishing Serene talked in longer sentences. “Mmmm . . . actually, she has. You might have thought this through a little better, but you didn’t, and she’s going down for it.” So was I.

  “Where is she? Where’s Helen?”

  Martini’s hands were clutching the bed, and I really wasn’t interested in talking. But I forced myself to pause again. I did have a hand free, after all. “I have no idea. The Feds took her away. Guantanamo, maybe. No clue. Oh, and should you manage to kill me, Brian, or anyone else with us, not to mention some innocent person along the way? You’ll never see Helen again. You have nowhere to go. The entire A-C community is looking for you—things are really tense right now, and you’ve made them worse. You can try hiding with humans, but you know, you’re going to run into problems there somewhere.”

  The positive thing about having to talk to Serene while my hand was around Martini was that she really threw off my calm, and my hand was clenched and moving furiously. He enjoyed it, if his thrusts and groans were any indication, but I preferred to be a more active participant.

  “I didn’t mean for this to get so out of hand.” Serene’s voice was low, and for the first time, she sounded sane.

  “Look, hold that thought, keep the sanity right there in front of you, and stay up. I’ll call you back, promise.” I hung up and put my mouth to far better use than talking to the poster girl for the stalkerazzi.

  Martini’s head was back, his body thrusts wild, while he groaned and panted and gasped my name. I loved doing this to him—normally I was the one helplessly begging for more. It was nice to turn the tables on him occasionally. And this kind of revenge was incredibly sweet.

  I contemplated holding him on the edge for a long while, but I did have a crazy person to call back, and who knew how long she’d stay on the Good Ship Sanity? On the other hand, this was so much more fun and enjoyable. And he wasn’t begging yet. I stopped worrying about anything else and just concentrated on enjoying what I could do to him and how much he loved it.

  “Please . . . baby, please . . . oh, God, Kitty . . . baby, please.... ”

  Okay, so he was begging now. But was it enough? Should I take pity? Martini groaned loudly, and I knew he was so close, I might as well be kind. I moved a little differently, in a way I knew from experience sent him screaming over the edge. Still worked perfectly.

  Enjoyed my reward for a job well done, then lapped my way back up the Happy Trail so I could toy with his chest some more while his body slowly stopped shuddering.

  “You’re such a bad girl,” he purred at me when I was finally up to his pecs and he was able to talk again.

  I laughed against his skin. “Good girls go to Heaven. Bad girls go down.”

  “C’mere, you.” He wrapped his arms around me, pulled me up and kissed me, his tongue deep inside my mouth as it twined around mine. This, of course, caused me to start grinding against his leg. Which caused him to pull me on top of him. Which caused me to grind against him with more emphasis. A-Cs had wonderful regenerative abilities, a fact I’d learned early and appreciated beyond almost any other trait.

  After the last day, making love naked and in bed seemed exotic. He was back in control—and he ensured I loved every second of it.

  I was collapsed on top of him, kissing his neck while he stroked my back when I remembered I had to call Stalker Chick back. I reached around on the bed until my hand hit the phone, looked away from Martini’s neck long enough to dial, and then went back to important things.

  “Hello?”

  “Yo, Serene, how’s the sanity holding on?”

  “You took a long time to call me back.”

  “Yeah, I
was occupied. So, are we still sane, or are you about to start shrieking and flinging bombs again?”

  “I don’t want Helen to get into any trouble.”

  “Too late. You want to get her out of it? Turn yourself in.”

  Long pause. Martini shifted us so we were on our sides, then flipped me, gently, so my back was up against his chest. He slid one arm under my neck, wrapped himself around me, and hugged me against him with the other arm. I yawned. This felt nice.

  “I can’t turn myself in,” Serene said finally. Good thing, I was almost asleep.

  “Look, you still want to fight at dawn? I’ll be there. Otherwise, it’s been a busy day, and I’d love the opportunity to sleep in.”

  Martini nuzzled my head.

  “Does Brian know who you’re with?”

  “Yes, he’s clear on the ‘I have a boyfriend and it’s not you’ concept.”

  “So he’s not jealous?”

  “No idea. Don’t care. I haven’t talked to him or heard from him for ten years. You know more about him as he is now than I do. He doesn’t know me at all, he just thinks he does. Why?”

  I could tell she was crying. “I just wanted him to love me the way Alfred’s son loves you.”

  Something was wrong with this sentence. I knew because I was wide awake now, just from hearing it. I nudged Martini and turned the speakerphone on. “If you knew I was with Alfred’s son, why did you try to kill me?” Alfred’s son? No one I worked with referred to Martini this way; to pretty much everyone who knew him, he was in charge.

  “I couldn’t tell until tonight.” She was sobbing.

  “How could you tell tonight?”

  “Seeing the two of you together. I wanted that with Brian. Why doesn’t he want me?”

  My body went cold. “Serene? Are you watching Brian right now?” She didn’t answer, but she was still there, because I could hear her crying. “I know you’re watching me and Jeff.”

  “Y-yes. Brian’s asleep. Everyone in your hotel is asleep.”

  “Serene? This is going to sound like a really prying, personal question, but since you just got to watch the two of us perform for you like a live porno show, I think you owe us an answer. How are you doing it, how can you see us no matter where we are?”

  She sniffled. “I’ve always been able to.”

  Martini moved his head so his lips were near my ear that was against his arm. “We don’t have those kinds of talents.”

  “Serene . . . are you a hybrid? A cross between A-C and human?”

  “Yes.” And yet no one had mentioned this fact. Why not?

  “Um . . . Serene . . . which parent was the A-C?”

  “My mother. I . . . I don’t know my father, just that he was a human.”

  “No one else knows, do they? Your mother didn’t tell anyone.”

  “No. She died when I was little. I was raised by my cousins.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-two.” Interesting . . . I’d thought she was older for some reason. Helen’s attachment and bizarre attempts to help made a little more sense now.

  “Okay, so you can see us? How?”

  “I just think about the person I want to know about. If they’re close enough to me, I can see them.”

  “What’s your range?”

  “About fifty miles.” She gave a shuddering sigh. “I’m in real trouble, aren’t I?”

  “You think? You’re using a heretofore unknown and hidden talent to cause destruction and mayhem. I don’t think that goes over well with A-Cs or humans.”

  “What am I going to do?” Why was she asking me? Did I have savior printed on my forehead or something?

  Martini cleared his throat. “Serene, if you come in now, we can work to get charges reduced.”

  “I can’t. I just can’t.” She sounded panicked.

  “That’s okay,” I said quickly. “I understand. Listen . . . this will sound out of left field, but can you find a dead body?”

  CHAPTER 53

  “WHAT?” Serene sounded shocked.As if,somehow, spying on people with her second sight talents and trying to kill them was normal, but searching for a dead body wasn’t?

  “Someone murdered Karl Smith today while he was at Kennedy. But we can’t find his body. There’s a huge anti-alien plot going on, people are trying to kill every A-C and those of us who work with them, and they almost succeeded multiple times today. Smith was trying to warn me when he was shot.”

  “Sorry, but I can’t. If he were alive and in range, I could. But I can’t see anyone once they’re dead. I’ve tried before.”

  “Worth asking.” Dammit.

  “You’re sure he’s dead?” she asked slowly.

  “Positive. I heard it happen, and Alfred and a team found his body. It was stolen from where they’d left it.”

  “Well, there are ways around here to get rid of a body.” Serene sounded a bit ill. “I’m looking at some right now.”

  I figured she was at the Lighthouse. Where else? She’d suggested it, and I had to figure it was because she was there. Maybe the height gave her talents a boost. So, what would she be seeing from the vantage point? Oh, duh. “You think they fed his body to the alligators?”

  “Yeah, I do.” Amazing. We sounded like we were working together.

  Martini nodded and mouthed, “Makes sense.” I hated the people who were responsible even more now.

  “So, sorry, but this is just an idle curiosity question. How can you see us? I mean, how does it work?”

  “I’ve never talked about it to anyone.”

  “I can understand why, but you’re going to have to, sooner or later. Practice on me. Oh, and how did you send the bomb at me and Brian? I mean, I know you weren’t in the Space Center.” I hated to admit it, but I was honestly interested in the answer, for a variety of reasons. I heard the phrase “next step in our evolution” ringing in my head. This was what I was expecting out of a lot of A-C/human pairings, but discovering that the first real protomutant was dangerously unhinged was sort of taking the wind out of the high side.

  “I need to have met the person, or at least have seen them before. I . . . know who they are from looking at them.”

  “Imageering talent,” Martini said. He rolled out of bed. “Serene, I’m going to get Christopher White in here with us, okay?”

  “Why?”

  “Because he’s the best imageer you have, and he’s Jeff’s cousin.”

  Martini pulled out a clean pair of pants and looked at me. “Get dressed.”

  I sighed and did as he told me. Martini left the room. “So, while we wait, why Brian?”

  “He’s sweet. And smart.” Ah, the old smart thing . . . apparently it was the Dazzler weakness.

  Another thought occurred. “Serene, have you ever seen a picture of either Howard Taft, the father of Frank Taft from Security, or Leventhal Reid, who I think is a senator or representative from this state?”

  “I think I have . . . yes. I’ve been in Frank’s cubby a couple of times. He’s a big man, kind of looks like a walrus?”

  “That’d be him.”

  She was quiet. “He’s not in range.”

  “Do me a favor, and this is between us. Check for him periodically, and when you can spot him and where he is, call me immediately.”

  “Okay.” She sounded confused. “Are you not mad at me?”

  “Um, how can I put this? For trying to kill me, Jeff, Brian, and everyone we were standing near earlier today? Yeah, I’m pretty pissed. But you seem to be on the normal side of the seesaw right now, and your talent is pretty damned awesome. The best thing you could do for yourself is be helpful, because anything you can do to help us stop the anti-alien conspiracy is going to go a long way toward making the rest of us go, ‘Oh, young girls get fanciful ideas’ and push for a really light sentence. For you and Helen.”

  “She’s like my mother.” Serene was crying again. “I can’t believe I got her into so much trouble.”

  �
�Help me, and I’ll help you get her out of it. Deal?”

  She was quiet again, but when she spoke she sounded both sane and determined. “Deal.”

  Just in time—I was dressed, and Serene was now acting as my personal spy, as Martini came back with Christopher in tow. Christopher had also chosen to put on only pants. This was unfair to me, in a lot of ways.

  Looking at both of them standing there half-naked, with rumpled bed hair, was enough to make me start drooling. Martini was big, broad, and ripped, with a perfect six-pack, awesome pecs and biceps, and just generally looked like the hard-body poster boy. Christopher was lean and wiry, muscular but a little less ripped, smooth-chested, but carrying the family rock hard abs. Not an ounce of fat on either one of them. Take the pants off and pose them, they’d make awesome Greco-Roman statues. My only saving grace was that they weren’t wet or oiled.

  The last thing I wanted Martini to catch me doing, ever, was lusting after Christopher. “So, Serene!” I said brightly, as I turned to stare intently at my phone. “Jeff’s back and Christopher’s here, too. Tell us about your talent. How do you do what you do?”

  Martini came around behind me, slipped his arm around my waist, lifted and carried me to the bed. He sat down at the edge and put me on his lap. Christopher pulled up a chair. We were all staring at the phone, nestled near a pillow.

  “I need to see someone,” Serene said haltingly. “In person or a picture.”

  “Right,” I said, hoping I sounded encouraging. She was either scared again or so busy staring at Christopher and Martini in her mind’s eye that she couldn’t talk. Me, I voted for option B. I was staring at my phone as though it were the most fascinating thing in the world. “Go on.”

  “If I concentrate, I can see them, in my mind. What they’re doing and where they are, I mean.”

  “Fifty-mile range,” Martini added.

  Christopher whistled. “Damn. Go on, Serene. Is that how you knew Kitty was coming?”

  “Not so much. I mean, I didn’t know she was coming, but when your plane was landing, I saw her.”

  “Why?” This seemed odd to me.