by Gini Koch
“You don’t know me.”
Christopher snorted, and Buchanan laughed. “Fine,” Christopher said. “I think I have things under control here.”
I took a good look around. The Dome looked as it always had—dull. It had gates everywhere you could imagine, some in differing sizes, meaning it was an airport metal detector enthusiasts’ dream location, but otherwise it didn’t scream “excitement.”
What it did scream right now, though, was crowded. In addition to being the main hub of all gate activity, the Dome was used for larger transfers, like limo fleets or big machinery. What it wasn’t used for, however, was housing. So while the Dome was quite large and rather spacious normally, right now it gave off even more of an airport feeling, complete with the accompanying noise and stress.
There were a lot more people here than I’d actually expected. Of course, interspecies marriage had been approved once Jeff and I had managed to get down the aisle without the world ending, though it had been a close call, both the generalized interspecies stuff and the specific world not ending. And I knew other A-Cs besides my friends had gotten married to humans. I just hadn’t actually paid attention to the number of couples who’d tied the knot in the past year and a half or so. I’d paid less attention to what number of those couples had a baby on the way.
Apparently, that number was “lots.”
The Dome was packed, and the Security A-Cs whose jobs were to hang out here didn’t look happy. At all.
“We have a slight logistics problem,” Christopher shared, winning the Stating the Obvious Award for this moment in time.
“You’re not kidding,” Buchanan said. “Are you sure this was a good idea?”
“It’s Kitty’s idea, so no, I’m not sure about it at all.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Christopher. It was actually your dad’s idea. Besides, it’s secure, and that’s what matters right now.”
“Security isn’t happy.” Christopher apparently wanted to ensure he won the Stating the Obvious Award at least once a minute.
“Yeah. I can see that.” I could. The Security A-Cs ran big, bigger than Jeff usually, and that was saying something. These were men who, if they’d been humans and, therefore, not all totally gorgeous, would be working as bouncers for the likes of Jay-Z and Beyoncé and keeping the less cool out of all the really great clubs. Or starring as the barbarian hordes in epic fantasy films. Basically, they were all huge. And clearly unhappy.
“They’re only doing this because Gladys told them to, and I’m here,” Christopher said. “Without my father, Jeff, Paul, or James around, though, they’re questioning what we’re doing and why.”
“Huh. I feel a revision of the plan coming on.”
“I can’t wait,” Christopher snarked.
“Actually, you can. Which is my plan revision.”
“What?”
“You’re staying here. They’re listening to you, because you used to be the Head of Imageering and so second in command. I’d imagine they’re still not so sure how much they love taking orders from James and Tim. But they were great with taking orders from you and Jeff. So you stay, and the situation remains under control.”
Christopher looked like he really wanted to argue.
“Your wife will be here. And your goddaughter. Who, let’s be clear, is the likely focus for kidnapping.”
Either my logic was overpowering or Christopher had done all the math I had and come up with the same answer: If we wanted to house civilians here, we needed someone who could shout the right commands at A-C speeds.
“Fine. But before we do this, are you absolutely sure this is necessary?”
“Happy to check.”
“With who?” Christopher asked.
“On what?” Buchanan asked.
“Oh, ye of little faith.” I handed Jamie to Christopher. “Entertain your goddaughter for a couple of minutes.”
I sat on the floor and closed my eyes. Hopefully I wasn’t going to disturb him at an inopportune time.
Yi
CHAPTER 46
ACE, ARE YOU THERE? I thought in my mind.
Yes, Kitty, ACE is here.
I know there’s a lot going on.
Because ACE did its best to stay out of our affairs and so avoid becoming either a crutch we ultimately couldn’t live without or an all-powerful despot, I didn’t call for help as often as I wanted to. ACE was willing to break and bend the rules when the situation was dire, but it wasn’t a good idea to push anyone all the time, and certainly not for things we could do ourselves. Since ACE resided in Gower, I was also careful to make contact only when it was necessary or I knew things were slow, because that way I didn’t risk disturbing ACE at an inopportune time for Gower. While ACE was incredibly powerful, even the strongest entity out there could lose focus at a bad time.
I’d also discovered ACE could be, if not injured, then depleted in a way that was as bad for a collective superconsciousness as getting a major smack down was for any human or A-C. And I knew from experience that entities like ACE could be, if not killed, then destroyed in such a way that they wouldn’t be “together” any more. So I did my best to word my conversations in such a way that they wouldn’t stress ACE out. I didn’t succeed all that often, but I did persevere.
Yes, Kitty. Much is going on.
Am I on the right track, feeling that all the things that have happened to me over the past couple of days are being done to distract me from the danger Chuckie’s in?
Yes. But Chuckie is not the only one in danger.
Yeah, I know. Are Jamie and the other hybrids I have at the Dome safe here?
In a way. ACE sounded evasive. Great. Exact questions were always better.
Will having Christopher stay with them be a better choice than having him come with me?
Yes.
I pondered this. ACE usually preferred to give me longer answers, and often tossed out some helpful breadcrumbs, but only when I’d actually asked the right questions. ACE was a lot like my mom and Olga in that way.
Have I put the right people into hiding in the Dome? Am I missing anyone who should be here and be protected, or someone who should be coming along with me?
ACE was silent. Maybe It often,’d asked too many questions.
No, Kitty never asks too many questions. Right. ACE could “hear” my deeper-level thoughts, too. ACE enjoys speaking with Kitty. Kitty thinks right.
Sometimes you’re the only one who believes that, ACE.
Chuckie always believes in Kitty, just as Kitty always believes in Chuckie. James will never give up on Kitty, just as Kitty will never give up on James. Kitty saved ACE, and ACE will never forget that.
You save us all the time, too, ACE.
Does Kitty still feel ACE is . . . correct to do so?
I stopped myself from giving a knee-jerk “of course” reaction. ACE only asked questions like this when it saw a big moral quandary ahead. So, why would ACE be asking me that question, right now? I had no idea.
Gave it a shot anyway. Well, if we put aside the fact that I like being alive and keeping all the people I love alive, I still believe you have every right to protect this world, and the people in it, ACE. This is your world. We’re yours, you’re ours.
Even though ACE is not like Kitty or Jeff or even Paul?
Yes. You’re a combination of every A-C talent, but you were sent here to watch over us.
But ACE has done much more than watch.
True enough. But you were right to do it.
Why?
I thought about it. It’s like Jeff’s new bird, Bellie. You know about her, right? I didn’t actually want to try to comprehend everything ACE knew, but I was fairly sure that if it had the slightest form of sentient thought, ACE knew about it.
Yes. Bellie belonged to Antony, who tried to destroy Kitty and Jeff and the others.
Yes. And my ‘uncle,’ Peter the Dingo Dog, sent her to me. But Jeff attached to her. Jeff loves her now, and B
ellie loves Jeff. As she liked to share constantly. Jeff could have sent her to someone else, to a bird sanctuary, even had her put to sleep.
You mean killed.
Sometimes it’s killed, yeah. Sometimes you’re putting something you love out of its very real and painful misery.
If Jeff had sent Bellie away, it would have killed Bellie.
Then Jeff was right to keep her and take care of her, right?
Yes.
Well, it’s like that with you and us, ACE. Jeff is much more powerful than Bellie. He’s bigger, smarter, and, to her, probably very much like a god. But he takes care of her because she needs him to. And she repays that with her love.
Just as Kitty repays ACE.
Honestly, ACE, I don’t know that I could ever repay you for everything you’ve done for us. But I love you for all you do. And for all you don’t.
How can Kitty love ACE if ACE does not always do for Kitty?
You could have become this world’s worst nightmare. You could have answered all our prayers. And both would ultimately have been terrible outcomes for us. Destruction of the world is easy to understand. But the achievement of all our hopes and dreams would leave us nothing left to aspire to, no challenges to meet. And humans, and A-Cs, don’t do well with nothing to strive for.
Adversity helps humanity to achieve?
Yes. I knew ACE knew this. So why were we having this conversation right now? Um, ACE, are you not able to protect Jamie and the other hybrid babies?
ACE will guard the Dome.
The Dome. That seemed remarkably specific. ACE, are you saying you’re only willing to guard the Dome and those in it, or are you saying that you’re going to have to use a lot of power to guard the Dome and those in it?
ACE is never unwilling to watch over.
Watching over probably counted as guarding. I took this nonanswer to mean that either ACE was being forced to guard only the Dome or that there was a lot of bad coming and ACE felt that he could only guard the Dome effectively. Neither option was really great. I was sort of sorry I’d asked.
ACE, are the supersoldiers going to be activated? And by that, I mean are they going to be attacking any time soon? Maybe at the International One World Festival, or somewhere else?
No. The supersoldiers are not prepared.
Oh. Good.
No. That is very bad.
It was? Why is that, ACE? They’re destruction machines of the highest order. It took an incredible amount of power, teamwork and, frankly, luck to defeat the few we destroyed at the President’s Ball. One of them could probably take out the Dome without issue, let alone more of them. Suddenly, the idea that ACE was going to focus on the Dome almost exclusively seemed wise, especially since my baby was going to be here.
Yes, the supersoldiers are machines. But there is thought inside the supersoldiers.
Fantastic. So, they’re sentient? And do you mean all of them or just the ones we have under our control?
The few now under Chuckie’s control are not like the others.
Well, Marling had told us as much right before he’d effectively killed himself. Do you mean the androids, like the one I fought yesterday? Or something else?
Yes.
Great, back to the one-word replies. ACE, am I okay leaving Jamie here without me?
No. The way he said it, though, made me think I had, yet again, phrased my question wrong.
ACE, will Jamie be safe if I leave her here with the others in the Dome?
Yes.
So, I was the one who wouldn’t be safe. Well, that was, pretty much, the story of my life since meeting the gang from Alpha Four. I haven’t figured out what you want me to, have I?
Not yet, ACE said politely. But Kitty will. Kitty thinks right. Kitty should think about what Kitty and ACE have talked about.
Fantastic. Oh, well, I needed to race off and make sure Jeff and Chuckie, not to mention everyone else, were okay, at least for the time being.
ACE, one last question.
Of course, Kitty. Kitty can speak to ACE whenever Kitty wishes or needs to.
Thanks, ACE, I appreciate that. My last question is this—have I figured out what’s going on corr
ectly?
Kitty has determined things.
Huh. Rephrasing time. Have I figured out what’s really going on—not just part of it, but all of it?
No. The relief in ACE’s voice was plain. Nice to know that ACE’s issue had been that I hadn’t figured out the full Bad Guy Plan of the Moment. But Kitty will. Kitty thinks right.
Thanks, ACE. You think right, too.
ACE thinks that ACE will protect Jamie and the others.
Thank you.
Or ACE will die trying.
Yi
CHAPTER 47
I FELT A SURGE OF WARM FEELINGS, which was ACE’s way of hugging me in my mind, and then I felt him leave my mind. ACE certainly knew how to make an exit.
I opened my eyes. “Christopher, you’re staying here. Prepare for something.”
“What ‘something’ am I supposed to prepare for?”
“I have no idea, but I think it’s going to be bad.”
Christopher rubbed the back of his neck. “Really? That’s it?”
“Yeah.” I looked around. “Just how many people can the Dome actually hold?”
“Most of our people, if necessary.”
“Really? It doesn’t seem that big.”
I was treated to something other than a Patented Glare—I got a Derisive Look. Nice to see he was branching out. “Kitty, you’ve been with us how long?”
“Close to two and a half years. Why?”
Buchanan sighed. “There are lower levels.”
I stared at them. “There are? Seriously?” Truly, no one told me anything. I couldn’t wait to discover what else I hadn’t been told. I was sure it would be at a completely inopportune time, whenever the next surprising bit of information appeared.
Christopher shook his head. “Why am I surprised? At all? You were given briefing materials on every single A-C facility when you were made the Head of Airborne.”
“Oh. Right. Those.” The huge binders full of boring blah, blah, blah that I’d pretty much ignored this entire time. Well, we were all still alive and kicking, for the most part, so I decided the Binders of Boredom could wait a little while longer.
I took Jamie back and hugged her. “You be good for Uncle Christopher, Jamie-Kat. Mommy’s got to go for a while, but she’ll be back very soon.”
Jamie looked up at me and gurgled. During Operation Confusion she’d been able to shot. Mommyw us where all our kidnapped team members were, which was why they were still alive. I wasn’t sure how much of that was Jamie and how much was ACE, but all I saw were her pretty blue eyes looking at me trustingly. I wasn’t going to do anything to betray that trust.
Lorraine and Claudia came over, babies in their arms. Lorraine was a buxom blonde and Claudia willowy with brown hair a shade the hair dye industry would kill for. They were the perfect example of what Dazzlers were—gorgeous, brilliant, and really nice.
“You’re leaving us and racing off?” Lorraine asked after we’d all hugged and exchanged baby kisses.
“Yeah, I am. I need you all here, safe and on guard.”
“On guard for what?” Claudia asked.
“I don’t actually know. But I think it’s gonna be big.”
The girls exchanged a look. “You’ve talked to ACE?” Claudia asked.
“Yes. I didn’t get much. I mean, I got some, but not much.” Not much I really understood yet, anyway.
Lorraine nodded. “For what it’s worth, yesterday Paul said ACE felt more . . . absent than he ever has before.”
“Yeah,” Claudia chimed in. “He said it was as if ACE was really distracted by something.”
“Did he say if ACE felt uneasy?”
They both shook their heads. “Paul’s had a lot going on with—” Claudia slammed her mouth shut.
“W
ith the high security stuff I’m not supposed to know right now, yeah, I figured.”
Lorraine looked pointedly at Christopher. “Don’t you need to help your wife or something?”
“You’re so subtle. No, actually, I probably need to stay here and make sure Kitty doesn’t hear anything she’s not supposed to.”
“What would it really matter?” Claudia asked. “I mean, it’s never been bad for us to have Kitty in the loop.”
“Half the time, she’s the one who discovers the loops,” Lorraine added.
Christopher shrugged. “To me? I don’t really care at this point. I can’t imagine how it would affect our diplomatic mission and she’s already guessed half of it or more. However, if you all want to keep Reynolds in place, then Kitty can’t hear it from any of us, because if she knows or, worse, we tell her, then his job’s at risk.”
“Fine,” Lorraine said with a sigh. “We don’t want Chuck out of the picture.”
Claudia nodded. “He does too much for us.”
This was the first time I’d heard either one of them use Chuckie’s first name. “When did you two decide to get off Jeff and Christopher’s Let’s Hate Chuckie bandwagon?”
“We were never on it,” Claudia said. “We just didn’t want to get into an argument with Jeff, Christopher, or the other guys about him.”
“You never said.” At least, not to me. I hoped thstophat someone had told Chuckie.
“We weren’t Captains before,” Lorraine said with a wink. “And after working with him, it’s hard to understand why they’re still acting like Chuck’s anything but our friend.”
“But then again, Jeff and Christopher tend to be a little slow sometimes.” Claudia laughed, and I knew she was thinking about Operation Fugly.
“True enough.” Lorraine grinned.
“I’m right here,” Christopher said while reverting to form and offering Patented Glare #5 to all of us.
“Hey, I didn’t call you slow. Right now.”