by Gini Koch
“What was your ultimate goal with all this? I’m not clear.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why the extensive network of coconspirators, the triple plans going at the same time, all the destabilization attempts? I mean, is it all just an elaborate ruse to cover up a huge heist? Did you just love Ocean’s Eleven a bit too much?”
He laughed. “Not money. Power. Whoever controls the space trash controls the world.”
“Taft said he wanted them to be his slaves.”
“A good word. They aren’t human; they don’t belong here. They use resources; have power and respect in the highest levels of world government. And why? For no reason other than they have some knowledge we don’t.” He put his face near mine. “Understand me. I will bring them down, under my heel. They will be mine to control, or I will destroy every last one of them.”
I slammed my forehead into his nose. It hurt, but my head hurt already, so who cared. He fell back and I wrenched out of his grasp. I rolled and scrambled to my feet.
“Freeze.” Shannon’s voice. I froze, turned around. Sure enough, he had a gun trained on me. Of course, being shot to death sounded infinitely better than what Reid had planned. I took off to my right.
I heard car doors slam. They were coming after me in the Escalade.
CHAPTER 70
THE SUV WAS ALMOST ON ME, but just before it ran me down, it circled and came at me. Oh, they were playing a new game, Kitty Herding. Fine.
Played this for a bit, spent a lot of time diving one way and then the other. Of course, I was exhausted, and they were going to win. I decided to stop playing. I stood still facing the car. It was heading toward me, full speed ahead. Maybe ACE was watching and would join me into the group consciousness.
I could see Shannon and Reid’s faces. I flipped them the bird. And then something hit me, but not the Escalade.
Suddenly I was a mile away, up against a rock hard body I knew well. Martini’s arms were wrapped around me, and his hearts were pounding more than I’d ever felt, even after an adrenaline harpoon.
He let go of me and stepped back. His chest was heaving, his shirt was pretty much shredded, and he looked crazy. My ex-boyfriend, the Incredible Hunk. “You couldn’t stay around Pueblo Caliente?” he gasped out.
I was going to answer, but the Escalade had found us. “Jeff, we need to run.”
“No.” He grabbed me and shoved me away, hard. I went flying, but I landed on something soft. I chose to believe he’d aimed me that way. He was in front of the car now, and he wasn’t moving.
I screamed as the car hit him. Or at least, as I thought it hit him. Because from what I could tell, he moved at the last moment, grabbed the side of the bumper and the driver’s door handle, and flung the Escalade over to the side, as if it were just a large toy truck. Okay, he was the Incredible Hunk.
The SUV landed, bounced, and rolled, ending up on its side about a hundred yards from Martini. I scrambled to my feet and ran to him, but he was heading for the car. He got there and ripped the undercarriage out with his bare hands. I was clear on how he’d gotten out of the restraints in the isolation tank.
Martini grabbed Reid and pulled him out, along with the lead pipe. “I know what you wanted to do to her with this,” he snarled.
Reid opened his mouth, and Martini punched it. I saw shattered teeth and blood. Martini took the pipe, slammed it against the back of Reid’s neck, and then twisted it as if it were a licorice stick. He pulled it tight, then lifted Reid up like a rag doll, and slammed his head into the body of the Escalade. Repeatedly. I had to look away.
I saw movement. Shannon had climbed out; he was behind Martini, and he had a gun trained on Martini’s back. I started running again. “Jeff!” Martini spun, and I threw myself at Shannon, achieving the best tackle of my limited football career. The gun went off, but the bullets missed Martini.
Shannon was attacking me now, and I realized he was using martial arts. Fine, I was tired of not getting to hit back. Kung fu maneuvers all have peace and beauty names, like Tiger Blesses the Sun or Dragon Dances on Air. We had a technique at my studio called Crane Prays to the River that we’d all nicknamed Crane Opens a Can of Whuppass. Shannon was perfectly placed, and it was time to open the can.
I jumped to the side to avoid his punch while blocking with my arms, which threw him off-balance. Kicked out his knee with a side-blade kick; he went down. Hit his temple with a left palm-heel strike, followed by a right palm-heel strike to his face, double right side-blade kicks to the floating ribs and the side of his head. Turned and did the pretty on-guard stance. Watched Shannon burble with his neck at a funny angle. Hey, at my studio, our rule was they went to the ground, and then we’d decide if we let them live or not. I’d chosen not.
Martini still seemed to be channeling the Hulk and Raging Bull at the same time. His body was shaking, and his breathing was heavy. He was staring at me, and he looked close to insane. I wasn’t sure if I should say something or run or what. But all I wanted was for him to hold me.
“What did he do to you?” Martini’s voice was a menacing growl.
“Not as much as he wanted to.”
“He touched you.” He stalked over to me, and I started to cry. I didn’t want to be afraid any more, I wanted it to be over.
He reached for me, and I cringed. “Jeff . . . please . . . I didn’t want him to.”
Martini’s expression changed. He didn’t look enraged or out of his mind any more. He looked as though he was going to break down. “I know.” He stroked my face, gently, where Reid had hit me. “I’d have been here sooner, but you were actually driving faster than I could run.”
“We’re a hundred miles from Caliente Base, maybe more. How did you get here?” The aftermath was starting to hit me, and my body began to shake.
“I ran.” He slid his hand around to the back of my neck and massaged.
“The whole way?” He put his other hand on my waist and drew me toward him.
“Yeah.”
“How?” One hand was at the back of my head and one at my lower back. But our bodies still weren’t touching.
“An effect of the drugs they gave me with a massive amount of adrenaline.”
I looked down at his inner forearms. It was still dark, but we were close and my eyes were adjusted—I could see needle marks. “Jeff, what did you do to yourself?”
“What I had to.”
“Why?”
He gave me a shaky smile. “Because I love you. I always have, I always will. Even if you never want anything to do with me again.” He swallowed. “Baby, can you ever forgive me?”
I started to bawl, buried my face in his chest and wrapped my arms around him. He held me tightly against him. I tried to tell him I was sorry, but the words weren’t coming out coherently.
He kissed the top of my head. “It’s okay, baby, it’s all right. I’m here.”
“Don’t leave me.” It was the only thing I could get out.
Martini squeezed me. “No, not if you don’t want me to.”
I looked up. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were sick.”
He bent and kissed me—it was deep, powerful, a bit frantic. It was wonderful, and as his tongue twined around mine, my body finally started to relax.
He ended the kiss slowly, slid his hands down my arms, then backed away just a little, but he kept hold of my hands in one of his. “I’ve . . . been trying. . . . ” He stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Then he went down on one knee and my chest got tight.
Martini opened his eyes and looked up at me. “Our culture doesn’t get engaged or give rings. When we find the person we . . . want to spend the rest of our lives with, we make a declaration, of love, fidelity, and trust.” He gulped and put his free hand into his pocket. He opened my hands and laid something across them. “It’s called a Unity Necklace. It shows that the person wearing it has accepted someone’s declaration. You wear it until you’re married.” He was shaking,
but I didn’t think it was from the drugs. “They . . . they’re passed down through families, through the male children. This one’s been in our family for centuries. The stone and the metal are from our home world.”
I stared at it. It was an unusual design, geometric shapes intertwining to create something very lovely and very non-human. The stone in it was dark, I couldn’t tell if it would be black, blue, or green in the light.
“Oh, Jeff . . . I can’t put this on.” His eyes closed and pain washed over his face. “My hands are shaking too much.” His eyes opened, and he looked at my expression. “I don’t want to lose it.”
He gave me a half-smile and stood up. He took the necklace and slid his hands up my body and around my neck. He fastened the necklace, then adjusted it between my breasts. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me, and this time we didn’t stop.
We were still kissing when the helicopters arrived.
CHAPTER 71
IT WAS AN IMPRESSIVE ARRAY of choppers. I’d never seen so many other than in the opening credits of MASH. They were military ones of different kinds—police, sheriff, and highway patrol, as well as a couple of news helicopters—but there was also one that looked big, sleek, and expensive.
The wind they created was intense, and my skirt was ripped up to my waist. I was doing a Marilyn Monroe in black for the crowd as my hair whipped around Martini and me. I turned in to his chest, and he covered my face with his hand. We both gave up on my dress. I tried not to remember I was wearing black thong underwear and just pretended this wasn’t happening.
The blades slowed, and people got out and ran toward us. Christopher reached us first. He didn’t say anything, just grabbed us and held on. We group hugged for quite a while but it still ended too soon. “Next time Kitty has a class reunion? I want you both to stay home.”
Martini managed a grin. “We’ll see.”
“Kitty, are you okay?” There were plenty of spotlights now, and I saw Christopher look at my face. “Who hit you?” His tone was furious.
“Reid. He likes—liked to do horrible things to women.”
Christopher looked around. “I see two dead bodies. Who killed them?” Martini and I both raised our hands. “Great. Not that I wanted them alive, but this is going to get ugly fast. Reid’s a well-known politician.”
“Did they know he was the devil?”
Martini hugged me. “It’ll be okay, baby.”
I saw my parents getting out of, of all things, one of the news helicopters. I started to leave Martini and Christopher to go to them, but my mother proved she really could run twenty miles with ease. She sprinted to us so fast I didn’t have time to do more than get my arms free.
Mom held me in the bear hug, and I didn’t mind at all. “You’re okay?” I nodded. “Jeff?” I nodded again. “You two back together?”
I pulled away and looked at her. “How did you know about that?”
“Gloria recorded your call, and played it all back for us while we commandeered the Channel Five News Chopper.”
My dad reached us now and grabbed me. He was shaking. “I thought we’d never see you again.”
“It’s okay, Dad. I’m okay.”
Dad reached out and pulled Martini to him. “You saved her again.”
Martini laughed. “She did most of the saving.”
“Yeah, all but the part where Reid was going to run me down with the Escalade. Jeff kind of handled that save.”
Mom was hugging Christopher, then she and Dad switched. We were turning into group hug central.
Someone pulled me out of the group and into his arms. “Can I mention that I hate it when you do stuff like this, girlfriend?”
I leaned against Reader’s shoulder. As always, a nice place to be. “You know how to solve it.”
He laughed. “I thought this might scare me straight. Didn’t, but I’m still working at it.” He rocked me. “You and Jeff back to normal?” I moved back a little bit and pointed to my chest. “It’s a great rack, Kitty, spoken as a gay guy with taste.” I rolled my eyes and pointed again. “What? Oh! Really?” He grinned.
“Yeah, really.”
“I told you they make great mates.”
“Let’s hope you’re right.”
“James, why are you staring at Kitty’s chest?” Christopher sounded slightly annoyed. Moving back to normal.
Reader turned me around, put his arms around me, and moved my dress a bit. I saw my parent’s eyes go wide, but Christopher gave me a big smile. “I told you I’d fix it.”
Martini snorted. “Yeah, thanks for that. I don’t think strapping me down in an isolation chamber counts as ‘fixing’ the situation.”
“Nice necklace,” my father said. “Why is it and too much of Kitty’s chest being shown off?”
“Dad, I show off more in a bikini.”
“I didn’t need to hear that.”
“It means Jeffrey has declared for Katherine, and she’s accepted.” I wasn’t expecting White to be here. He never used my full name, either.
“I didn’t think intermarriages were allowed,” Mom said.
“Under a variety of circumstances, the Office of the Pontifex has been reconsidering its position.” White took me out of Reader’s arms and hugged me. “Not tomorrow, but soon,” he whispered.
I heard the unmistakable sound of big guns being cocked. I reached out and took Reader’s hand, just in case. White took my other hand in his. I saw Martini poised by my father and Christopher by my mother.
“Police! Put your hands in the air!”
We did, though White and Reader didn’t drop my hands, and I saw Christopher had Mom’s and Martini had Dad’s.
A voice boomed out via loudspeaker. “Officers, you are interfering in a federal investigation. Put your weapons down.” Sounded like Kevin, really pissed.
None of the guns moved.
A different voice came out via a different loudspeaker. “Officers, this is Colonel Franklin of the United States Air Force. Put your weapons down or we will put them down for you.”
“We’re pretty popular,” I said to White.
“I’ve always told you to never complain about having extra backup.”
“Yes, wise man. No argument. You just tend to roll with a lot more big guns than I ever get to.”
“You’re impetuous. I’m not.” White sighed. “The police seem unwilling to cooperate.”
Yet another voice boomed out. “This is Major General Mortimer Katt of the United States Marines. We suggest you listen to Colonel Franklin’s orders because you are surrounded and we are getting impatient with your stubbornness.”
“Uncle Mort’s here?” I hissed to Dad.
“What, you were being pursued by crazed murderers and you didn’t think I’d make the call?”
The police still weren’t moving.
A man got out of the expensive helicopter. I recognized his shape. He sauntered over to the policeman with the bullhorn and put a badge in his face. “Stand down! Federal officers!” Finally, the guns weren’t pointing at us.
Chuckie took the bullhorn. “I want all police, highway patrol, sheriff, and news teams on the ground, by the Escalade, and I want them assembled in three minutes. Can the Marines please ensure that all requested parties comply?” There was a scramble, and a bunch of guys sort of appeared out of the landscape.
“Where the hell were they when I needed them?”
Reader laughed. “From what we could tell, you were breaking land speed records. They were probably just trying to catch up. Just be glad Kevin had the presence of mind to monitor the police bands—it’s the only way we had a clue of what was going on.”
Chuckie came over to us. “Oh, put your hands down, please. Angela, good to see you.”
“Always nice to get a visit from the only C.I.A. bigwig I can stand,” Mom said.
“C.I.A.? You said you were in the ET Division!”
Chuckie shrugged. “I am. It’s the ET Division of the C.I.A.” He grinned. �
��We don’t always see eye-to-eye with Centaurion or the P.T.C.U.”
The realization that the “new head guy” at the C.I.A. Martini hadn’t wanted me to meet was the guy I’d known since ninth grade was irony I wasn’t emotionally up to handling just now.
I almost mentioned that he’d lied to me but decided against it. It was going to be miserable enough explaining to Martini what was going on with Chuckie and me. I didn’t need to make it worse.
“Mr. White,” Chuckie was addressing Christopher, not Richard. “If you wouldn’t mind altering all the footage?”
“Giving us orders as usual?” Christopher snapped.
Chuckie shrugged. “They have far more information on tape than I believe any of our organizations want made available to the public. Please ensure that you show Leventhal Reid to be acting recklessly while under the influence of methamphetamines and in the presence of a known drug dealer.” He pointed to Shannon’s body. “Since I’m sure the world knows of the high-speed chase by now, just make it good and lurid.”
“Why?”
“He’s a known user, and it’ll make the story fly better through the channels I’ll have to send it. Besides, politicians behaving badly goes over well with the media.”
Christopher gave Chuckie a curt nod and then signaled toward a couple of the zillion and one helicopters. A bunch of A-Cs poured out and went with him over to the news choppers.
“Big job?” I asked White.
“Worse than when you killed your first superbeing,” he said with a chuckle.
“Mr. Martini, is it safe to assume you’re not up to memory alterations right now?” Chuckie and Martini were eyeing each other.
“I’m up to whatever I need to be, Reynolds,” Martini said, eyes narrowed.
“No insult intended. I’m aware of the . . . ordeal you’ve been through. And I’d like someone to suggest an alternative scenario to Kitty playing Speed Racer through the Arizona desert in a stolen car. Take your time.”