Alien in Chief

by Gini Koch

  There were park benches very nearby, so we went and sat down while I sent texts to Brian and the girls, Buchanan, White, and Oliver keeping a lookout.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Reader asked.

  “Hang on.” Brian replied that he had TCC with him but they were still in Alfred’s home, mostly because there was indeed panic in the area around NASA Base and he wanted to be sure he could actually get both of them wherever I needed them to go. They were hunkered in the basement, hanging out with the gate. So everyone was having fun tonight.

  On the plus side, Brian and TCC showed no symptoms of this disease. So far, at any rate. Who knew what would happen when they left the safety of the Martini Mansion Complex?

  “So glad we’re out to save the day by sitting around,” Tim said.

  “You wound me.” The girls were out of the quarantined side of NASA Base and were waiting at a gate for where I wanted them to go. They all had fevers, though they felt mild. Tito had taken blood samples from them, then pumped them full of water and chicken soup before they left, so they insisted they felt okay.

  Adriana hadn’t replied yet—hoped I hadn’t blown her mission but assumed she had her phone on Silent Running. “Okay, we have a lot of targets, and a short time to find them all, so we’re going to split up.”

  “I figured,” Buchanan said. “And I already know I’m not going with you, Missus Executive Chief, based on what you told our new President.”

  “Let’s chill with the titles right now, Malcolm, just in case anyone’s around to hear us. First off, do you know how to get in touch with Camilla?”

  “Why?”

  Heaved a sigh. “Because we’re literally facing the end of the world and I know she’s deep undercover somewhere and I’m just praying that it’s somewhere that can help us in this situation and for God’s sake, dude, we need her help. Is there some other freaking test I need to pass to get her freaking number?”

  “No, just curious.” Buchanan pulled out a phone. Not his regular phone. Like the rest of us he was using a second one. But this looked like a burner phone to me. He dialed. “I’d like to know if you’d like a subscription to the Times.”

  “What the literal hell?” I said quietly to Tim.

  “I think it’s spy code,” he replied in kind. “Let’s listen and learn.”

  “We have a great deal for you,” Buchanan said, continuing his sales pitch.

  “You brought him why?” Reader asked.

  “For the laughs.”

  “Okay, well, if you change your mind, give us a call.” He hung up.

  “You didn’t leave a number,” I pointed out.

  “Nothing gets past you, does it?” Buchanan asked, as a different phone rang. “Hello? Great, we have a situation. Handing you off to Cyclone.” He gave the phone to me.

  “Hilarious. Is this the party to whom I am speaking?”

  “I’d have thought you were too young for that show,” Camilla said, sarcasm knob already turned to eleven.

  “TV Land saves the day and I’m married to an old shows junkie. We have a situation.” Filled her in fast on what was going on. “So, I’m really hoping you’re in deep somewhere that could help us.”

  “I am, actually,” she said. “But I need muscle to get what I think you’ll want.”

  “Want to tell me who, what, or where you’re entrenched?”

  “Nope. Want to tell me who I can access for backup?”

  “Can you tell me who or what you’re going after, so that I can, perhaps, send the right backup to the right place?”

  “Nope. Who’s got the easiest way out of wherever they are?”

  Pondered. I needed the guys with me for various missions. I needed the girls for other missions. Said missions might overlap with Camilla’s, but hopefully Buchanan would give us a hint in that way.

  So, who else did we have? Really only had two options, who were together and who I’d hoped to get out and into the action anyway. “Rahmi and Rhee are probably the easiest, if you can call getting them out of a cell in Guantanamo where they’re terrorizing a bunch of commandos easy.”

  “I can and do. You’ll need to give them the order.”

  “What order?”

  She heaved a sigh. “The order to come with me if they want to live.”

  “When did you go all Terminator on me?”

  “I know what speaks to you.”

  “Whatever. Okay, I’ll let them know. How soon should they be ready to leave and should James send a floater gate for them?”

  “In five minutes and no. Where’s the meet point?”

  “Um . . .” Hadn’t given this any thought. Chose to think quickly right now. Meet up point would need to be in Florida or D.C. Cliff was in D.C. however, so that was the winner. But where in D.C.? My phone beeped. Adriana returning my text. Fortuitously. “The Romanian Embassy.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Nice to surprise you for a change. The Romanian Embassy. It’s empty, they’re all in our Embassy complex because Olga—”

  “Isn’t stupid and saw this or something similar coming. Got it. Works for me. Don’t text or call me. I’ll contact you.”

  “What if I’m in the middle of a mission?”

  “Then either mute your phone or figure the disturbance will help you save the day.”

  “Love your optimism on that last one.”

  “Love how late you called me in.”

  “Is that why you’re bitter? This is the first chance I’ve had.”

  “I’ll accept your lousy excuse and apology.”

  “You know, I’m the First Lady now.”

  “God help us all.”

  “I’d be offended but it’s like you read my mind.”

  She laughed. “You’ll do fine, Kitty. Roll whatever, we’ll get our side of things taken care of.”

  “What exactly is—” She hung up. “Your side of things?” Sighed and hung up myself, then handed the phone back to Buchanan. “Sometimes I like her.”

  “And sometimes she’s busy and we disturb her at inopportune times.” Buchanan shrugged. “It’s part of the job.”

  “Whatevs.” Sent Rahmi and Rhee a group text with high-level information and the request that they do what Camilla said, short of trying to kill anyone they knew for certain was an ally.

  Thankfully, Rhee replied right away. They were still in the cell but would be ready to do whatever, whenever, that Camilla needed. They had no fevers, and neither did any of the Invisible Commandos.

  Who were, apparently, becoming visible. What the princesses had learned was that the invisibility irradiation was a cumulative thing. The first big treatments didn’t make you invisible forever, just for about twenty-four hours. The thinking was that the more irradiation a person had, the longer the invisibility would last. So the princesses felt secure in leaving, because all the commandos were coming more into focus for those without the special goggles.

  “Okay, the princesses are activated and ready.” Shared what Rhee had told me with the guys.

  “Don’t know what them not being sick means,” Reader said.

  “That they weren’t near the main source of infection long enough is my guess,” Oliver said. “I assume I’m ill because Cliff Goodman shook my hand at NASA Base.”

  “Or because you were around people who were very ill, or in the contagious stage, or both,” Reader said. “Really, we have no idea how this disease transfers, so any option could be the right one or ones.”

  My phone beeped—it was Adriana. She had a bead on the Crazy Eights but wasn’t in a position to take them down because she didn’t want to spook Wruck and also felt she was outnumbered. Told her to sit tight and that we’d be there as soon as we could. The Crazy Eights were in Florida, which was convenient, though I didn’t ask where, specifically, since they weren’t ou
r primary target yet. Adriana also didn’t have a fever.

  “And Adriana’s on the case and fine, so the NASA Base handshake theory seems quite sound. As does the NASA Base Surrounded By The Sick And Dying theory. So we’re good there. Malcolm, I’m going to outline who’s doing what and then I really want you to tell me if we have overlap with whatever the hell Camilla’s planning.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Rolled my eyes and resisted the urge to strangle him. “Fine. Okay, Malcolm and Mister Joel Oliver, I need you two to find Colonel Hamlin, get him to gather all his evidence against our Mastermind, and get him to the safe house, which is the Romanian Embassy.”

  Male mouths opened.

  “If one of you says that you already figured that out I’m going to take out all the pent up energy I used not killing Cliff for the past few hours and not strangling Malcolm for the last ten minutes and expend it on you.”

  Male mouths closed.

  “Good. MJO, any questions?”

  “No, just concerns. The colonel is not going to want to come out.”

  “Explain the damn situation to him and I guarantee he’s going to have a reason to risk it. We need him. He’s the one with the comprehensive information. Send out the carrier pigeons and get him on board and ready.”

  “Fine,” Oliver said with a sigh. “We’ll do our best.”

  “Super-duper. Adriana is after the Crazy Eights and has them located but can’t take action yet. However, we know where they are which is a huge win. Mahin and Abigail are after Stephanie aka Huntress. Lorraine and Claudia are trying to find the flyboys. Yes, we realize that their missions may overlap each other, which is why they’re still together and waiting to see if we have any idea where their quarries are.”

  “What are you going to be doing?” Buchanan asked.

  “I have two missions. I need to find Siler, the Dingo, and Surly Vic and determine where Siler has, please God let it still exist, hidden Lizzie’s father’s notebook. Then I need to find another ally. This will overlap with what Adriana is doing, at least I hope. I’m going to take James, Tim, and Richard with me because I know I’m going to need help.”

  Buchanan didn’t look happy. “You should take me with you for the assassins.”

  “I know they’re your best buds forever. The thing is, Hamlin trusts exactly two of us—you and MJO. And this situation is probably going to require both of you. He’s more important to the end game, you go after him.”

  “Where are we heading to search?” Reader asked. “It’s a big world and we don’t have a lot of time.”

  “See, that’s where being Megalomaniac Girl comes in so handy. Oh sure, two of our teams are in the places the other team should be, but that’s what gates are for, am I right?”

  “You think the flyboys are around here somewhere?” Tim asked.

  “Yes, because Drax was doing a sales pitch. He might have been selling along the way to Florida, but he planned to close the deal here.”

  “And the assassins are in Florida?” Tim didn’t sound convinced.

  “Remember my visit to Bizarro World? Well, in that world Luis Sanchez and Julio Lopez are Cuban assassins. Well, they were. They’re dead there now and no loss to that universe.”

  “And?” Reader asked.

  “And, per Mom and Chuckie, they exist in this world, too. Per Team Assassination, dear Luis and Julio are raving loons and our guys expected them to be lying in wait for us in Orlando. We never made it to Orlando, and therefore instead of having a great time at Disney World we are instead stuck once more having to save the entire world. But I think Team Assassination made it there and, since they were not representing during our frolicsome train ride, nor can Lizzie reach any of them, I think they’ve been captured.”

  “Hopefully captured, not killed,” White said.

  Reader shook his head. “Their relationship with Kitty is well known. They’ll be used as bargaining chips, I’d think, before they’d be killed.”

  “So, we’ll have the girls gate here and we’ll go there. But I kind of wish I’d let Len and Kyle come with us.”

  “Why so?” Buchanan asked.

  “Because I have a last mission and I can’t spare anyone to do it.”

  “And that is?” Reader asked.

  “Someone needs to get to Langston Whitmore, keep him alive, and convince him to share what he knows about the Mastermind with us and the world.”

  “Ah,” Buchanan said. “I’d suggest that you put Lorraine and Claudia on that one.”

  CHAPTER 77

  “SO, CAMILLA’S in deep with Drax? How the hell is that when he’s come out of nowhere?”

  “She’s not in with Drax.”

  Tim nudged me. “She’s in with Titan.”

  “I thought she’d been going in deep at Gaultier.”

  “She did,” Reader said. “But Chuck said something a couple of years ago about moving her around. I think, based on what Buchanan here is and isn’t saying, that he moved her to Titan.”

  “Super. So, we’ll assume that she’s somehow magically going to know what we need her to do?”

  Buchanan shrugged. “You told her what was going on, including about the Invisible Commandos and the flyboys being captured.” He checked his burner phone. “She has the princesses with her and they’re going after Drax’s helicarrier.”

  “I don’t even want to know at this point.”

  “Good, because we can’t tell you.”

  “Can’t or won’t?”

  “Take your pick. Anyway, reassign the others, would you?”

  Shot him a glare I hoped was channeling Christopher, then sent a group text to Lorraine, Claudia, Mahin, and Abigail. Wherever Drax was, it was likely Stephanie was, too. Told Abigail and Mahin to do their best to connect up with Camilla via the princesses and to stay in touch with Brian, since he and TCC would need to meet up with them once they had Stephanie corralled, while I reassigned Lorraine and Claudia to Whitmore. To their great credit, none of the girls complained about this. Too much.

  “The girls have been in touch with Serene, so they have a floater gate waiting to take them wherever they need to go. Dulce has floaters ready to go for us, too.”

  “We won’t need one,” Buchanan said. Oliver nodded.

  “Nice to know Hammie’s still sticking close to home and you’re going to show him that you’re not revealing his hiding place to anyone else. Okay, you two head off. Contact Serene if you need or want a gate. We’ll see you at the Romanian Embassy, and if not, we’ll try to let you know where we are.”

  “Be careful.” Buchanan looked worried. “You know they’re going to kill you if they can.”

  “Malcolm, we killed these guys in Bizarro World. I’ll be fine.” He didn’t look convinced, but he nodded, then he and Oliver turned to go. “Oh, one last thing, just in case?” They both turned back. “Love you guys.”

  They both smiled. “We’ll all be back,” Oliver said. “Never fear.” Then he and Buchanan walked off down the street.

  “Hurray for team efficiency and fond farewells,” Reader said. “Where are we going, Kitty? Orlando is a big town. And if you say Disney World I’m taking you back to the White House.”

  Considered this for a moment, in no small part because Reader was right. But it also occurred to me that there might be a simple way to find out where Siler was—by asking him.

  “Hang on.” Sent a text to Siler, since I actually had a number for him thanks to Lizzie. Didn’t try to code it, just said that I needed to know where he was.

  Got a reply very quickly. Go to the roof.

  Can’t. Have to come to you.

  Got a return text with an address. Sure enough, it was in Florida.

  “Okay, we have a location and we’re going in hot.”

  “You suspect a trap?” White asked.

>   “Very much so. Siler hasn’t responded to Lizzie’s coded messages, but he was Johnny on the Spot with the reply to me for where he was. They expect us to come to him, so that’s where we’re going.”

  Reader called Serene, gave her the location, then asked for the gate to deposit us nearby but not at the location. “It’s nice to see that others have learned from our experience, Missus Martini.”

  “Warms the heart, doesn’t it, Mister White?”

  “James and I are going to vomit all over both of you if you’re not careful,” Tim said.

  “Megalomaniac Lad, you wound me. I kept the best with me.”

  Tim grinned. “That’s better.”

  Looked at the texts again. “Mister White?”

  “Yes?”

  “It’s likely that Siler knows what’s going on, right?”

  “Even captured I’d assume the news of the President’s death, as well as the Secretary of State and Speaker of the House, has reached them.”

  “Their captors are probably cheering about it,” Tim added.

  “Yeah . . . so, why would they tell me to go to the roof?”

  “No idea,” Reader said. “Because he was trying to give you a clue? I mean, I assume that it’s not Siler who’s replied to your texts, since he didn’t respond to his daughter.”

  “Right. Lizzie was sending coded messages, so it would be easy to pretend they were nothing. I sent a very straightforward ‘it’s me and I need you now’ message . . .”

  “What are you thinking that we’re not?” White asked.

  “The Dingo always tells me to go to the roof of the Embassy if I need him. Siler does, now, too.”

  “So you think it’s really Siler answering?” Reader didn’t sound convinced.

  “I think his captors told him I was texting and insisted he give them a reply I’d believe.”

  “Why use the obvious code, then?” Tim asked. “That’s both telling our enemies where Siler and the others expect you to go and also useless.”

  “Or it’s a code you’re not catching,” Reader said.