Alien Research

CHAPTER 47

JEFF GROANED. “We’ve had enough ‘fun’ with the Mastermind to last a lifetime.”

“He, or she, isn’t stopping. And, let’s face it, for all we know, Apprentice Tryouts have started up again.”

“So, what was the point of taking our people?” Christopher asked as Gower, Naomi, Abigail, Gladys, and White joined us. “You said you thought it was to get Patrick and Jamie.”

“And I still do. Tim pointed out that only the Poof I asked for by name went to help.” I swallowed. “I shouldn’t have sent him, either, because despite what happened, I don’t think they ever intended to hurt anyone in the room other than Brian.”

“Why are you all here?” Jeff asked the newest arrivals. “You need to be with your parents.”

Gower shook his head. “Uncle Alfred and Aunt Lucinda are here now. We don’t have time to indulge the grief. We’ve never been this exposed or vulnerable.”

“I don’t understand why ACE didn’t help us,” Abigail said softly. Gower’s shoulders slumped.

I really felt for Gower. He’d been through more than enough. Time to be the Resident Bearer of Bad News again. “ACE is gone. In a way. He hasn’t been with us since the end of Operation Destruction. We don’t know how to get him back. So, right now, ACE can’t be in any equation we’re working.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered if we’d still had our talents,” Naomi said.

“Don’t blame yourselves—”

“I don’t,” she said before I could finish. “I blame you.”

“How is it Kitty’s fault?” Tim asked.

“She’s the one who had us burn ourselves out during the invasion. If we hadn’t, we’d have been able to get away from Al Dejahl and my brother would still be alive.”

“Never, ever let me hear you complain about that again,” Gower said, with full Authority of the Office of the Supreme Pontifex in his tone. “Our jobs are to protect the innocent. That was the best reason to burn out talent that anyone’s ever had. You two saved tens of thousands as well as national treasures this country could never reclaim.”

“She didn’t mean it that way,” Abigail said. “It’s just . . . we couldn’t do anything.”

“We could do even less,” Jeff said. “None of us like feeling impotent, but that’s not a reason to attack each other.”

Naomi seemed to ignore what they were saying and, instead, advanced on me, eyes flashing. “You called for Fuzzball, I know you did. You’re the only one the Poofs listen to. If you’d stayed the hell out of it—”

“You’d all be dead,” White said calmly. “And Naomi, as our Supreme Pontifex said, that’s enough.”

“No, it’s not. Michael’s dead and for what? So we can do whatever Kitty says again? And get more of our people killed?”

I knew she was grieving, but Naomi was reminding me a lot of when she’d been a total Bridezilla. It wasn’t a good personality style for her. And it was a complete 180-degree change from this morning and how she normally was.

“Mimi, calm down,” Chuckie said soothingly. Amy and I both winced in anticipation.

Sure enough, Naomi spun around and turned on him. “You always take her side! You think she never makes mistakes! You act like she walks on water! I’m sick of it! I’m sick of all of this. My brother’s dead and all you’re all doing is lounging around chatting.”

She was getting hysterical. And, while grief and stress did terrible things to people, Naomi wasn’t normally a raging bitch. Brian had been blindfolded, and that meant the others probably had, too. The men had been stripped to the waist but all the women had had their shirtsleeves torn off. Why?

I knew in my gut that Michael wasn’t supposed to have been killed—he was one of the few adult hybrids out there, he was more valuable to the bad guys alive. But none of the hostages had really had time to compare notes.

Naomi was still freaking out and most of the others didn’t seem to know what to do. Tito and Nurse Carter were speaking quietly to Melanie and Emily, so I knew they were coming up with a medical response. However, I wanted this stopped now, and I knew how, and I knew Amy did as well. She and I exchanged a look and she nodded. Fine, she had my back on this one if necessary.

Rahmi and Rhee had noted my little exchange with Amy, and they both nodded to me. Good, if necessary, I’d have Amazonian backup, too. Hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.

Went to Naomi, who was now screaming at Gower, White, and Abigail about how they never supported her or loved Michael. This was officially too much, and I stopped worrying about her or anyone else’s reaction to what I was going to do. I spun her toward me, and slapped her as hard as I could.

She stared at me. “What the hell?”

I grabbed her arms and yanked them toward me. Sure enough, there was a needle mark and a forming bruise. “You were injected with something during capture, weren’t you?”

“Yes!” She was back to screaming. “We were attacked and—”

Slapped her again. “I don’t know if they gave it to everyone else or just you. But you were the one screaming before, and you’re really off the charts right now. You’re not acting at all normally. And since you’re not planning a wedding, and only a couple of hours ago you were totally normal, I’m going to just spitball this one and say that you’ve been given Surcenthumain.”

Naomi’s eyes were still flashing. She reminded me of how Jeff had looked when he’d been given the huge dose of Surcenthumain during Operation Drug Addict. And yet, she didn’t feel any stronger than an average A-C. I could keep hold of her wrists without really trying.

“Kitty, Melanie, and I weren’t injected with anything,” Emily said.

“I wasn’t injected, either,” Brian confirmed.

“Or me,” Abigail said, showing her arms.

“Why pick Mimi?” Chuckie asked.

“Because she’s your wife and whoever’s in charge of all this really hates you.”

“Remember that comment,” Tim said. “I guarantee Kitty’s right.”

Tito and Nurse Carter came over. “We’re going to give you adrenaline,” Tito told Naomi. “It counters the drug.”

“I don’t want it,” Naomi said. “I just want my brother back.” She started crying. “I just want my brother back.”

“Do it, please,” Chuckie said. “Mimi, let’s go get you feeling better.” He put his arm around her and she leaned against him.

“Take her into the guest bedroom,” Jeff suggested, as Melanie and Emily came to help and relieve me from holding onto Naomi. Chuckie kept a hold of her, but Melanie and Emily each held one of Naomi’s arms.

Gladys was examining herself. “I could have been injected. You don’t really . . . remember correctly when you’re under mind control.”

“Come with us and we’ll examine you to be sure,” Nurse Carter said. Gladys joined the group heading to our guest bedroom, which, seeing as it was in the Embassy, was the size of a small apartment. So they’d have plenty of room. One tiny one for the win column. Decided to take it.

“Well,” Reader said when the door closed, “that was fun. We need to catch everyone up on all we know, but it should probably wait until Reynolds is back with us.”

“Kitty, Naomi didn’t mean it, not really,” Abigail said, as she came over and gave me a hug. “We know it wasn’t your fault.”

Hugged her back. “Thanks. But it still feels like my fault.”

“It does to everyone. I’m not sure if my talents are coming back, or if the grief and guilt is so strong from everyone that I can feel it without talent, but everyone feels the same as you do. And none of us are to blame.”

“She’s right,” Jeff said, as Abigail and I broke apart.

Chuckie came out of the guest room. “Doctor Hernandez is giving her something so she can sleep.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s got a drug cocktail inside her right now.”

“She’ll be okay,” Jeff said reassuringly.

“Right now, it doesn’t feel like anyone’s ever going to be okay ever again,” Chuckie said morosely.

Took a deep breath. I was going to lose it and I knew it. “I’ll be right back.” Squeezed Jeff’s hand as he gave me a worried look. “Just need to piddle. You guys catch everyone else up while I go.”

Went to our bedroom, closed the door, went into the closet, and closed that door. Like everything else in our apartment, the closet was huge, so there was plenty of room. Sat down near the hamper.

“I miss ACE. You know what I want, Operations Team of One? Elf of the Elves? I want ACE back. Let’s have Michael and Fuzzball back, too. Can you do that, or are you really only good for delivering Cokes and clean clothes?”

The hamper was silent, as hampers usually are. I hit it, simply because I wanted to hit something.

“Hey, Mister I’m Immortal, I’m talking to you. Why did you let them kill Michael and Fuzzball? Is that how you get your jollies?”

I didn’t expect an answer, so I was kind of shocked when Algar appeared, sitting right on top of the hamper.