by Gini Koch
“Ah . . .” She looked up at White.
Who took her hand in his. “Yes, Magdalena was definitely included in the note.”
Christopher looked shocked. “You’re dating Nurse Carter?”
White rolled his eyes. “Pardon me.”
Christopher’s expression went to supershock. “You’re kidding! You only knew her a couple of weeks before you left for Florida.” He seemed borderline losing it.
“Some things move swiftly,” White said, pointedly looking at Amy.
“But . . .”
I cleared my throat, and he looked at me. “Christopher, twenty-three years of mourning is pretty much considered about twenty to twenty-two too long. She wouldn’t have wanted him alone this long. Why would she want him alone forever? Why do you want him alone?”
“I . . . I don’t.” He looked hurt and confused.
White sighed, kissed Nurse Carter on the cheek, dropped her hand, went over, and put his arm around Christopher’s shoulders. “Son, let’s go have a chat, shall we? Excuse us, please.” He led Christopher out of our rooms.
Amy looked at me. “You are not allowed to die.”
“Come again?”
She shook her head. “See how he is about hhe is abis mother? He’s that way about you, to a sort of scary degree. He’s never gotten over losing her, and for whatever reason, you’re one of her stand-ins. So’s your mother.”
“Ames, I told you. Mom and I look like Terry. Not a hundred percent, but enough.”
Jeff jerked and stared at me. “I guess you do.”
“You never saw it?”
He grinned. “No, not until this moment. Not with your mother, either.” He laughed. “Terry thought like you, but she didn’t act like you, or Angela.”
“See?” I said to Amy. “I told you. Stop worrying. I don’t need to have a jealousy chat with you, do I?”
She shook her head. “No. I just don’t think he’s ever dealt with losing his mother.”
Jeff shrugged. “He didn’t. My parents had to take us after Aunt Terry died. Richard was too heartbroken to be able to help either one of us. And my mother was still too jealous of Terry to deal with her death as well as we could have wanted. We both had to pretend nothing was wrong.”
I hated hearing about their childhoods. Or rather, their brief moments of childhood interspersed with pain, horror, and adult responsibilities.
Jeff took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “No one’s perfect, baby. Other than you,” he added with a grin. I snorted. “I’ve had some long talks with my mother, and father. They’ve both talked to Christopher, too.”
“It hasn’t sunk in,” Amy said with a sigh. “He’s still messed up about it.”
“The brooding types are always brooding for a reason, Ames.”
She laughed. “Yeah. And I don’t mind helping him through it. But, seriously, you almost dying in childbirth? I know Jeff was a mess, but Christopher was, too.”
“It was going on five months ago.”
“Seems like yesterday to me, baby.” Jeff stroked the back of my neck. I managed not to arch into his hand, but it did take some serious effort.
Nurse Carter sighed. “I should move back to Paraguay, shouldn’t I?”
“That seems a little drastic. Christopher’s just surprised, is all. He’ll get over it.”
Amy put her arm around Nurse Carter’s shoulders. “You’re not going anywhere. Those of us with no one else but the family we’ve chosen to join have to stick together.”
One of the birds, the male I was fairly sure had walked in with White, went over and rubbed up against Nurse Carter.
“The bird says you’re good to stick around.” All the Peregrines looked at me. They seemed remarkably pleased. The one that had cozied up to Nurse Carter rejoined the flock. “Well, until we buy the building next door, where are the Peregrines staying?”
All the birds continued to look at me. They now looked as though they wanted to roll their eyes but were simply being polite.
“I’m scared of the birdies, Mommy,” Rachel Lewis said in a qs said iuiet voice.
One of the pairs looked at each other and went over to the Lewises. Bird necks were extended, coos were given, bird heads were reluctantly patted, then less reluctantly patted. Smiles and giggles ensued. The birds cooed again, then rejoined the flock. They all looked at me. Expectantly. Then sat down. En masse.
Reality dawned. “I’m going to have to keep these things right here, aren’t I? At least until their aviary is built. Wow, it sucks to be me again.”
Jeff sighed. “I’m just praying they don’t have to sleep in the bedroom with us.”
Yi
CHAPTER 27
WE DISCUSSED IT AND DECIDED TO SEE IF, by chance, each set would go back to their original recipients. This sounded like a great plan, only the birds all looked alike.
To everyone else, at any rate. I could definitely see differences. I chose not to share this.
The others tried moving around and calling to the birds. They didn’t budge. I had a sinking feeling about this. I got up and walked toward the back bedrooms. The Peregrines got to their feet en masse and followed me.
Two of them stopped and stood by Doreen, Irving and Ezra. Two more trotted over to the Lewises. The exact same two that had gone over to comfort Rachel and Raymond earlier. The others looked at me expectantly. “Oh, good. Doreen, you get to have your set with you. Feel lucky.”
“Trying to.”
“Failing like me?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” The birds cocked their heads at her. “Oh, fine. But no being mean to our Poofs!” Everyone in the Embassy had their own Poof by now. We had plenty after all, and I felt it was a wise security measure. Besides, the Poofs were beyond cute. Who wouldn’t want one? Well, the Peregrines, based on the looks they were giving said Poofs.
Who were quite unhappy, if their continued quiet growling was any indication. They’d gone back to small, but they were eyeing the Peregrines like nobody’s business. The Poof that had attached to Jamie was perched on her, clearly ready to eat any Peregrine that came near.
“That’s right, Peregrines. The Poofs were here first, and we love them. If you want us to love you, you have to play nicely with the Poofs. And the dogs and cats. And any other birds we happened to have around. Any animal that was here first is higher on our collective totem pole than any of you. So you need to leave them alone or protect them, depending. As well as be good birdies and all that jazz.” I looked at the Lewises. “You guys okay with your new family pets?”
Kevin shrugged. “As long as they don’t attack us again, sure. If they do, I’m going to start an interstellar incident.”
“Should we be concerned that they’ve only attached to the families with kids?” Jeff asked quietly.
“No idea. At all. Naomi, Abigail, does your card give us` any clue about that?”
“No,” Naomi replied. “Our card said, ‘While these birds will be most at home in the palace, they will help you control and stretch your talents while keeping you safe. Please enjoy them with our compliments.’ So I guess either Sis and I are expected to leave ‘our’ Peregrine set here, or Alexander thinks we live here.”
“Or that you should,” Chuckie said slowly. “I’ve looked at the handwriting. The cards to Martini and White are in the same hand. All the others are in a different hand. King Alexander wrote the cards to his closest kinsmen.”
“And Councilor Leonidas wrote the rest, didn’t he?”
Chuckie nodded. “That would be my assumption, yes.”
Nurse Carter looked at the card in Naomi’s hand. “Yes, the card Richard received was in that handwriting.”
“He let you see it?”
She looked embarrassed. “It was, as he said, personal. But for the two of us.”
“Oh, one of those ‘congrats on hooking up and welcome to the family’ kind of messages.” The Peregrines all cooed at me. It was as if they were telling me they loved that I was so intuitiv
e. I didn’t share this thought with anyone else either.
“What did everyone else’s notes say?” Jeff asked.
Kevin pulled theirs out. “Captain, these birds will form the basis of the palace’s defenses. While they can and should travel with the Royal Family and their other charges, always ensure at least two pairs remain present within the palace grounds.” He shook his head. “They’re really not clear on how things are here, are they?”
“Or they’re being deliberately obtuse for reasons we still don’t know.” Alexander I could almost buy not being able to get his head around the whole “we aren’t royalty” thing, but it was a stretch.
I was clear that Councilor Leonidas was Alpha Four’s version of Chuckie and Winston Churchill rolled into one. Councilor Leonidas I knew for sure understood our position within Earth governments, probably better than anyone else in the Alpha Centauri system. I was positive he understood it better than I did. “And whoever wrote that clearly knows what the Defense Attaché position is all about.”
Pierre nodded. “Mine reads, ‘The Concierge Majordomo’s position within the household is both honorable and perilous. These birds will assist you in your duties while protecting your person at the same time.’ They certainly are focused on the whole attack bird idea, aren’t they?”
Len and Kyle exchanged a look. “Our cards say almost the same thing as Pierre’s, only they didn’t mention job titles.”
“Amy, make sure you grab Richard when he’s done with Christopher and find out just what kind of jobs these birds are intended to do.” Jeff’s Commander voice was back on full. “I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but something that’s entire job is protection isn’t necessarily friendly.”
The Peregrines gave him a group hurt look. A couple of them looked ready to cry. “Wow, you hurt their feelings, big time.” Whoops.
“Excuse me?” Jeff said, very carefully.
Gave up. “I can see their expressions.”
“What?” Jeff was clearly verbalizing everyone’s question.
“Um, I feel like I . . . know what the Peregrines are thinking.”
“It’s like you’re on drugs. They’re birds. They have no expressions. I’m not convinced they have thoughts.”
“Bellie’s a bird, and you’re convinced she has thoughts.” The Peregrines all bobbed their heads. “See?”
“What does that prove?” Jeff aske
d. But he sounded nervous. “I think that’s a bird behavior thing. Bellie does it all the time.”
“Yeah? Well, I think it’s because she’s trying to nod yes.” I looked at the Peregrines. The full flock bobbed their heads. “Can I get a bird amen?” Peregrine wings all flapped, there were several coos, and even a couple of hoots. “Can I get a real bird amen?” Peregrines hooted and flapped. They enjoyed the impromptu revival meeting.
I looked around the room. Apparently only the Peregrines and I were finding this amusing.
“Wow,” Chuckie said finally, breaking the horrified human and A-C silence in the room. “You’ve become Doctor Doolittle.”
Yi
CHAPTER 28
“I BELIEVE IT’S HER TALENT,” White said as he and Christopher rejoined us.
“Excuse me?”
“Talent. Many A-Cs do have them, I believe you’re aware.” White seemed amused.
“True enough. But I’m not an A-C.”
White coughed while everyone else looked slightly uncomfortable. “No, you’re not. You’re also not a human any more, either. And you’ve always been good with animals.”
“Well, sure, but the cats and dogs have been my family’s pets for years.”
He pointedly looked at the Poofs. “And yet, the Royal Pets don’t really obey anyone. Other than you. Supposedly Poofs will only obey their owners. And the head Poof.”
“Harlie’s the head Poof.”
“True enough. However, I’ve seen Harlie do whatever you want, whenever you want it, unless you weren’t phrasing your request in a way that would ensure Jeffrey would remain safe.”
“It’s a nightmare,” Jeff said. “Fine, let’s worry about this later, and by later I mean tomorrow.”
“Wait, we haven’t seen what Christopher and Chuckie’s cards said.”
Christopher looked as though his world was still spinning. Amy took the card out of his hand. “Congratulations on your recent nnuptials. We wish you many happy years of fruitful marriage and hope these birds will serve you well as you take your place within Earth’s hierarchy.”
“That’s nice.”
Amy shook her head. “There’s more. That first part was on the front of the card. This was on the back. ‘As the Primary to His Royal Highness, we would like to warn you that we fear a threat against our mutual friend from a common enemy. Please take all due precautions.’ It’s not signed, but it’s in different handwriting from what was on the other side. It matches the handwriting on Tito’s card.”
“The Primary?” This was a new one.
“It’s an Alpha Four title,” White answered. “Chief Councilor, which is Councilor Leonidas’ full title, would correlate for Earth into a position similar to that of the British Prime Minister. The Primary, however, is different. Primaries tend to be a blood relation of some kind to the King, but the function is similar to that of the U.S. Vice President. It could also technically correspond to Christopher’s role here, as Chargé d’Affaires.”
“So, if Alfred had been crowned King of Alpha Four, the Primary might have been Stanley Gower?”
“Exactly. Well done.” White looked pleased with my insightfulness. As did the Peregrines. Go me.
Amy, however, looked upset. “It’s got to be my stepmother and Al Dejahl,” she said to Jeff.
Jeff shook his head. “Why not just say that? They told Tito what the birds were for, they told Walter and Kevin and everyone else how to use them for security—why be cryptic to Christopher? Particularly about a threat?”
“What do you think, Christopher?”
He blinked. I got the impression that Christopher was still thinking about the fact that his father was romancing Nurse Carter. “Same as Jeff. I’ve got no idea why they do anything they do. I don’t see any reason to be sending us hidden messages attached to attack birds.”
“Possibly because they were worried about the birds or the messages being intercepted,” Chuckie said. “If the threat to ‘our mutual friend’ means Martini, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for them to be concerned that something would happen with the deliveries.”
My throat felt tight. “Someone’s out to hurt Jeff?”
“Possibly,” Jeff said. He sounded irritated. And tired. “But right now, let’s just get the last message to Reynolds and go back to bed.”
Chuckie looked at his card. “Huh. You’d think they’d have said something similar on mine.”
“What does your message say?” Jeff asked.
“Mine’s like what Naomi and Abigail got. ‘Please consider taking up residence with the rest of the American Centaurion diplomatic mission. Your skills will be needed within far more than without.’ It’s Leonidas’ handwriting.”
“Well, that’s ominous.” I looked at the Peregrines. “That’s why they sent these birds now.” Sure enough, the flock all bobbed their heads.
“I’m livinI’m g in a zoo,” Jeff muttered. “Fine,” he said in his normal voice, “so we have a new threat. Nothing we haven’t had before, I’m sure.”
“Common enemy sounds like my wicked stepmother,” Amy said for the third time. I hoped this didn’t work like Beetlejuice and her mentioning LaRue three times meant she’d show up. I waited. No puff of smoke, no evil villainess standing in the room. I allowed myself to be relieved.
“Could be,” Kevin agreed. “But we have other common enemies. And since none were named specifically, I wouldn’t limit our thinking at this stage.”
“Are you going to do what he asks, Chuckie? And by you, I mean you, Naomi, a
nd Abigail. You’ve all stayed here before.” If Councilor Leonidas thought we needed Chuckie and the Gower girls living here, then we probably needed Chuckie and the Gower girls living here.
Jeff and Chuckie looked at each other. “You’re here so damn much anyway,” Jeff said finally. “You already have your own room.”
Chuckie laughed. “True enough. So do Mimi and Abby.”
They nodded. “I think you need us right now,” Naomi said. “So we’re staying. Like Chuck, we’re here a lot anyway.”
“But it looks like the Peregrines are only going to go with those of us with children,” Doreen pointed out. “I don’t understand why, or how they’re going to be protecting anyone if they’re all with Kitty.”
Considered this. As well as all the notes, the ones to Christopher and Chuckie in particular. “Maybe we have the majority of the birds because we have Jeff.”
“Or Jamie,” Denise said quietly.
“You think they’re after my daughter?” Jeff said with a growl.
Denise shrugged. “Weren’t they before?”
“Yeah, they were. And now we have more hybrids, too.”
“Raymond and Rachel aren’t hybrids,” Kevin pointed out.
“But they’re kids, in the Embassy. And, let’s be honest—you and Denise are both great looking enough to pass as A-Cs. I wouldn’t want to bet that whoever the Peregrines were sent to protect us from would ignore them.”
I realized we were saying this in front of the children, and Raymond and Rachel were old enough to understand we were talking about scary people stealing them in the night. A quick glance at their expressions proved I’d indeed freaked them out. I wanted to do or say something to reassure them, and fast.
Before I could open my mouth, their two Peregrines both cooed. At the Poofs. Several Poofs growled back. The Peregrines squawked quietly. The Poofs mewed. This went on for a while.