Alien in Chief

by Gini Koch

  She laughed. “Will do. We have a way to send coded messages. Is everyone okay?”

  “I’m sure you do. And yes, amazingly enough, we’re all okay, barring the ones who seem to be sick.”

  “Good.” She sighed. “I miss my dad,” she said quietly.

  “I’m sure you do. And I’m just as sure that he misses you.”

  “Really?”

  “He wouldn’t have adopted you if he didn’t want you, Lizzie. But he wants you safe, and so do we. So stay put and be my eyes and ears in the Embassy.”

  “Will do, Kitty.”

  We hung up and Jeff put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a hug. “Good job, baby. You were right to tell her the truth. What?” He laughed at the look I shot him. “Chuck says to tell you to stop being bitter about the past. He and your parents shared what you needed to know when you needed to know it.”

  “Sure they did.”

  “We have a plan for the rest of the trip,” Jeff said as my music came back on and “Good & Bad Times” by INXS came on. Had no idea if this was an Algar or Kyle playlist song and decided not to worry about it.

  “I hope it’s not going to the bathroom, because I’m never entering that room again.”

  He grinned. “No. We’re going to get Tim and James up here to help Adriana. We found some walkie-talkies and, amazingly enough, most of the food and drink weren’t destroyed in the fighting, so they’ll bring a walkie and refreshments with them.”

  “Don’t drink anything,” I told her. “Trust me.”

  “I can hold it,” she said with a laugh.

  “Christopher, you and I are going to go back with the others, at least for right now,” Jeff went on. “We want to be sure that the Vice President and his wife are not seen to be driving this train whenever we finally stop.”

  “I think it would make you look even cooler.”

  “Chuck thinks it will raise questions we can’t really answer,” he said. “So, we’re going to not be cool.”

  “Spoilsport. You know it’s going to be hard as hell to get up there.”

  “Paul and Richard are coming to help. We’ll be fine.”

  “Once more onto the roof then. Truly, I cannot wait.”

  CHAPTER 56

  GETTING UP WASN’T as bad as I’d expected, in part because Jeff, Gower, and White were all big men. Reader and Tim had hold of Gower, Gower had hold of White’s ankles, White slid down toward me, Jeff lifted me up, White and I grabbed each other’s wrists, and up I went.

  In deference to all of this, I’d put my phone into my purse, nestled between snoozing Poofs. Had a moment—when Jeff had to sort of toss me up and before White and I caught each other—where I really wanted to ask the Poofs for an assist. However, there was no reason to ask them for help when we didn’t need it and, as I was pulled onto the roof, it was clear we didn’t need it.

  Bruno flew up with Ginger in his claws again. Then Jeff lifted Christopher up. This was harder because Christopher had been steadying him before, but they both made it look easy.

  Now it was time to lower Reader and Tim and their supplies. “Are you sure you three shouldn’t have an A-C with you?” I asked as we lowered the supplies down to Jeff.

  “Yeah, we’ll be fine, girlfriend.” Reader flashed me the cover boy smile. “Tim and I need to learn how to run one of these things and apparently Adriana’s an expert.”

  “All hail the KGB.” Hugged Reader and Tim, then it was time to lower them down. Reader went first, in the reverse move we were all pretty good with by now. Tim was handed down without issue, too.

  Jeff had it the hardest because he had to jump up and though Tim was steadying him, there wasn’t enough room for Reader to be there, too, and it would take both of them to lift Jeff.

  He proved that white men could indeed jump, though, and thankfully White was really good at this sort of thing, because Jeff actually overshot and went up higher than he should have.

  White grabbed him around his chest, and I grabbed Jeff’s hand and pulled as Christopher dragged Gower backward. In this totally smooth way we got Jeff onto the roof.

  “That looks more fun on TV,” Jeff said after everyone was upright and as I hugged him and tried not to shake. “I’m okay, baby,” he said as he nuzzled my ear. “I promise. And thanks for the assist.”

  “Any time.”

  We did the jump down to the next car. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the jump up had been, but I wasn’t sorry that Jeff had my hand. Abigail had taken the shield down a long time ago now.

  We climbed down and went into this car. I was surprised to see everyone there. “We’re camping here?”

  “It’s the least destroyed of all the cars,” Lorraine said.

  “Well, other than the caboose,” Claudia added.

  “And it has more amenities than the caboose does,” Vance said.

  “And it’s right by the engine,” Chuckie said. “So if we have to detach the other cars for whatever reason, we can.”

  “God, let’s hope we don’t have to.”

  “We cleared out anything else useful,” Mahin shared. “And this car has more beds than the others.”

  “And the least broken windows, too,” Gower said. True enough—only two were broken and someone had put what I was pretty sure were floorboards over them. Chose not to ask how that had been achieved—we were a talented group, after all.

  “I wanted to stay in Rail Force One,” Stryker said, “until I remembered that the President and all the other sick people had stayed there for a couple of hours.”

  “Good point. We’re going to need to decontaminate the entire train. Maybe, I mean. Could just be bad colds.”

  “Let’s hope,” Abigail said. “Anyway, we have food, water, other beverages, beds, and a bathroom. We should be good until we reach Savannah.”

  “Time to rest, then,” White said. “Everyone’s already overtired. Let’s take advantage of the lull we find ourselves in and lie down or sit in a relaxed manner.”

  “Wise man knows when to take the naps.”

  Everyone had a snack, we determined our watch and walkie-talkie duty schedule, then we settled into bunks as best we could. Jeff and I were cuddled together with Bruno at our heads and Ginger between our legs. It wasn’t the sexy times I’d hoped for on this trip, but we were together and that was what really mattered.

  I wasn’t given a watch duty, and neither were Mahin or Abigail. The thinking was that the three of us would need to rest and rejuvenate the most, since no one was foolish or naïve enough to think that we’d seen the last of our various enemies.

  Despite it being daylight, managed to fall asleep anyway, listening to Chuckie and Reader discussing the finer points of train engineering while Christopher and Tim discussed why the conductor role was also vital. Apparently the guys had all harbored train love that they were just now getting to share. Whatever worked for bonding was my opinion.

  Had kind of hoped I’d get a visit from ACE while I was sleeping, or even a hint-filled dream, but all I got was rest. Always the way.

  I probably would have slept until we got to Savannah, only my phone went off. Not with a ringtone or an alarm, but with music activation. “Hurricane” by Lifehouse was playing at top volume.

  Could recognize an Algar Hint when it slapped me in my eardrums. Got up fast, put my purse over my neck, then looked around.

  It was dark out, meaning we had to be close to Savannah. White had the walkie meaning it was his watch duty. Everyone else was waking up, due to my sonic blast.

  “Why is that song shrieking at us?” Christopher asked, sharing Patented Glare #5 with me.

  “It’s crooning, and I’m not sure,” I lied. Hey, I was human, ergo I was good at lying. Pulled out my earbuds, put them in my ears, and plugged them in so only I could hear the melodious sounds. The volume was instantl
y normal. Proof again, as if I needed it, that I was again on the Algar Channel. “I think we might have gone over something.”

  “No,” White said, “we didn’t. We’re in the midst of the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.”

  Looked out the window. We had a full moon, so it was relatively easy to see. Saw a lot of what could be swamp or could be forest or could be something else. All of it looked eerie. “How can you tell?”

  “Phone services are fully back, Missus Martini, and while watching all of you sleep had its own naïve charm, I got bored.”

  “Shocking me to my core, Mister White.”

  “The Refuge is home to quite a number of fowl, American alligators, and bobcats.”

  “Hurray. I’ll bet it’s also home to about a million venomous snakes, too, isn’t it?”

  “Information does indicate that copperheads and water moccasins are inhabitants.”

  “Double hurray. I’ll take the bobcats and possibly the alligators, but the only birds I like are Peregrines.” Bruno nudged up against me to share that I was his favorite, too.

  “Hey,” Jeff said, sounding hurt, “what about parrots?”

  “You mean Bellie, specifically, and I’ve never been a fan of your avian mistress, so why you think I’d be a fan of her relatives out here or anywhere else is beyond me.”

  “I’ll take the parrot over the alligators,” Christopher said. “Without ACE to help us, we’d have been alligator food.”

  “Oh, Gigantagator and Alliflash were our friends, never doubt it.”

  “I saw them try to eat us,” Gower said dryly. “I doubt it, believe me.”

  “I’ll still take them over any snake, anywhere, anytime, especially the two Mister White just named. Killers, they are. Vicious, evil killers.”

  “Phobia much?” Stryker asked.

  “She’s always been afraid of snakes,” Chuckie said, shooting him a “shut up or die” look. “Everyone’s irrationally afraid of something.”

  “There is no irrationalness about this.” Wondered why Algar had woken me up. The song’s title seemed obvious. “Mister White, can you check with our enthusiastic engineers and see if we have any weather-type stuff ahead of us?”

  “I live to serve.” He relayed the request to Tim and that I was the one asking.

  “Nothing looks off,” Tim replied. “Kitty, what are you worried about?”

  “No idea. I just have a feeling that something’s coming.”

  “Her music started for no reason,” Christopher said as he took the walkie from White. “I think she’s just trying to come up with a reason for why she woke all of us up.”

  The car shook. “What was that?” Lorraine asked.

  “I think Kitty’s found her reason,” Reader said. “That was a gigantic blast of wind.”

  “There’s been no strong wind until this moment,” Adriana added.

  “We’re going to be coming to quite a wide river soon,” White said.

  “Tim, time to put on the Megalomaniac Capes.”

  “You think the Crazy Eights are here, don’t you?” he asked.

  “I do. Lowe is an air bender and Nerida is a water bender. They didn’t try to get us at the last river we crossed, but I’m sure that attack gave them some ideas.”

  The car shook again. “That one was stronger,” Reader said.

  “Should I put up a shield?” Abigail asked.

  “Not yet,” Jeff replied. “Wait until we need it. And,” he added with a sigh, “I’m sure we’re going to need it.”

  And, as “Tidal Wave” by The Killers came on, I knew he was right.

  CHAPTER 57

  “HUMANS BATTEN THE hatches and stay inside! Abigail, Mahin, come with me!” With that, I ran for the front door.

  I was on the platform before anyone else. Jumped for the ladder on the engine and this time I caught it without issue. Being revved up was always good for me.

  The girls were right behind me, which was good as we were hit with another gust of wind and needed to grab each other in order to stay steady.

  “What do you think is coming?” Abigail asked once the wind subsided.

  “A tidal wave. Or similar. If they can do it right, Lowe and Nerida could work together to create a wall of water strengthened by wind.”

  Mahin nodded. “They could indeed. I don’t know if I can counter that, Kitty. And this isn’t me not being confident. Dirt tends to lose to wind and water.”

  “But not always.”

  The train was traveling at a fast pace and our hair was whipping around. We were also not wearing goggles, which was a tremendous oversight on my part.

  On the other hand, White arrived, goggles on and three pairs in his hand. “I’ve managed to convince Jeffrey to stay inside.”

  “You mean you had Paul, Christopher, and Chuckie tackle him.” The girls and I put our goggles on quickly.

  “That is indeed what I mean, Missus Martini. I have no idea how long they’ll be able to keep him down, so I suggest we put whatever plan you have into action with all haste.”

  There was no wind at the moment and I could hear Jeff bellowing. Pity I had no plan to enact. “Um, we need to block water and wind in some way. Tidal wave level water and hurricane level winds.”

  As I said this, we were hit with another gust. We dropped flat and held onto each other. However I was watching and saw a variety of birds of all kinds, a small alligator, and a couple of bobcats go flying through the air. The animals that could were screaming in terror.

  That was all it took. I flipped into rage faster than I could blink. I didn’t care for birds but that didn’t mean I wished them ill. And this was a wildlife sanctuary that these horrible people were destroying for the sake of hurting us. It was time to take the fight to them.

  I was holding onto Abigail and a shimmering went around each of the animals. “Thanks, Abby.”

  “Go get them,” she said angrily. “I see what you want to do, and I can help.”

  It was nothing to get into the blocks position from the one I was in. Did so, and took off running. Hurdled off the front of the train and landed on the tracks without issue but definitely with an assist from Abigail. I kept on running.

  Couldn’t have told how fast the train was going, but I was far faster. I was at the same speed I’d been at during Operation Destruction when I’d run on water to get Tito to try to save Hughes and Walker.

  Which was good, because the tracks left the trees that had been surrounding us and were now over water. Could see a wall of water coming toward us, and, thanks to the goggles, I could spot the origination point. Looked like a sandbar or a tiny island or whatever you called a small landmass in the middle of a wide river.

  Channeled Johnny Storm—didn’t think about it, didn’t hesitate. Went for it and jumped off the tracks.

  Splashed a little, but I could tell that Abigail had helped me again, because I didn’t go into the water. Kept on running as the water wall headed toward me and “Wonderwall” by Oasis came on. I was going fast enough that I could see the individual drops that formed the water wall—they were small and insignificant and I ran right through and around them.

  Got a little wet, but it didn’t stop or slow me and I reached the sandbar in seconds. Sure enough, Lowe and Nerida were there, standing next to each other, Bender Stances Activated.

  Keeping with my Johnny Storm theme, I didn’t slow down. Instead, I slammed into both of them.

  I was going so fast that my momentum carried us to the end of the sand bar. Didn’t bother to see if I’d stopped their bending—just started beating the crap out of them both.

  The moves were flowing like they always did when I was fully enraged and there was absolutely no one else around to see them. Went for a multiple attackers form I’d learned way back when—Tiger Takes on the Poachers. Okay, that’s w
hat we’d called it in class. Its real name was Tiger Greets the Dawn. But a rose by any other name would still kick the same amount of butt.

  They hit, I blocked, I hit, they didn’t block fast enough. Spinning, leaping, hitting, kicking, sweeping, and definitely cursing, we were all over the sandbar. Hoped we weren’t destroying precious flora, but had to figure that we were. Better than every animal around getting tossed about in the air then getting to die on impact.

  “You will not hurt these animals,” I shouted while I back-kicked Lowe in the stomach and hit Nerida with a chop to the neck. “You people are really the damned lowest of the low, aren’t you?” This was accompanied by a jumping splits kick to both their chests that would have made Jean-Claude Van Damme proud.

  Heard the chopper now. Meaning it had to be close. Grabbed Lowe and threw him into the water. “Deal with the alligators on their own terms, you loser!”

  Lowe started screaming, in part because there were indeed alligators swimming over as fast as they could. We undoubtedly looked like a lovely buffet.

  Grabbed Nerida and threw her at him. She screamed, too, hit Lowe, and they both went under the water.

  The chopper turned on its lights now and dropped its handy-dandy ladder but it had to come low to reach them. Decided I’d had enough and I charged again.

  Was still going so fast that the only one who could have kept up with me was Christopher. Ran on top of the water, hurdled an alligator, then Lowe and Nerida, then jumped and grabbed the rope ladder.

  Climbed up quickly and grabbed the first person I reached, yanked hard on the arm I’d connected with, and tossed them out. Was rewarded to see Kozlow land with a smack in the water. “Enjoy the water moccasins!” I screamed at him.

  Reached in again and grabbed another person. This time I got an ankle. No worries. Pulled hard. Whoever I had fell down. All the better to pull again and toss them out.