Alien in the Family

“Yes.” Gregory was looking at me, but his eyes were shifting all over the place. Chuckie was laughing softly.

“And, somehow, the rulership of Alpha Four doesn’t care about the fact that if Jeff goes back, all the exiles go back, too?” They wouldn’t, but then, Martini wasn’t going in the first place. But it was a good question.

“Uh, yes. That’s fine. All is forgiven. Their work here is done.” I saw the Cat People’s expressions—they were as unimpressed with Gregory’s lying as I was.

“So, are the parasites still hitting the ozone shield?”

Gregory nodded. “Slowing down, but yes.” He seemed relieved. He shouldn’t have been—I could tell he was finally telling the truth.

“So Chuckie remains the Conspiracy King, not that I ever had a doubt, and all this is an elaborate ruse. You don’t represent the Alpha Four government at all. There is no way they want all our A-Cs back. As long as there are parasites, they want our A-Cs right where they stuck them, on Earth, with all of us dealing with the superbeing problem. In fact, I’m betting they, either don’t know you’re here or, worse, they’re coming after you with intent to blow us all up. Which is it?”

I stared at Gregory. He tried to stare back. I was much better at it. “We’re . . . not sure . . . entirely.” He stared at the ground.

I turned to the only one I figured was going to tell me an approximation of the truth. “Queen Renata? What’s your guess?”

She nodded. “Prepare for interplanetary war.”

CHAPTER 30

THE OTHERS IN THE ROOM SEEMED UPSET when Queen Renata shared reality with us. I heard silence behind me—our Earth A-Cs were thinking, and so was Chuckie.

Left me to handle the human side again. Always the way. “So, wonderful beings who have arrived in three cloaked spaceships that were somehow landed on the top of the same three peaks my team and I just visited a day or so ago, I have one question.”

They all looked at me. The Poofs were, to a fluffy thing, growling quietly.

“What is it you hope to gain from Earth by showing up and pretending to be the actual royal shipload from Alpha Four?”

No one replied. Shocker. I looked over to where Martini was. “You know, we’re back to three freaking plans.”

“Yeah, baby, I picked that up.”

“The one in front of us, whatever the royal family is really doing, and Moira’s, right?” Chuckie confirmed.

“Yep.”

He wandered the room again. One of the Poofs trotted along with him. I was almost willing to forgive the Emissaries from Hell for coming—I’d wanted a pet of my own. Now I had seven. Well-trained ones. I hoped they were housebroken.

Chuckie got to the back of the room and turned so he was facing me. “Move them into planetary position, would you? In relation to their suns and each other.”

Like I was going to be able to do that? “You heard the man, move it.” Poof growls emanated, beings moved their butts. “Paul, make sure they’re right, okay?”

“Sure, Kitty.”

While they were moving about, a question nagged. “Greg, why did you bring the Poofs along?”

He sighed. “Because they’re customary.”

“Do they really only mate when a royal wedding’s on the horizon.”

“Yes.”

“Mister White?”

“Yes, Miss Katt, from what I recall, that’s the case.”

“And they’re really rare?”

“Yes,” Greg and White said in unison.

“Interesting. So, you brought a rare, royal-family-only animal—seven of them, really. Enough for all the potential royals on Earth and Jeff’s intended.”

“Yes. Protocol. Maybe you’ve heard of it.” Gregory was almost as snarky as Christopher.

“What position in the royal court do you hold?”

Gregory was silent and wouldn’t look at me.

I noticed the other A-C wasn’t looking at me, either. He was looking at his feet. “You, what’s your name?”

He looked up. “Alexander.”

“What positions do you and Greg here actually hold, Alex?”

He winced at the nickname. “Alexander.”

“Best of luck with that. Welcome to Earth, Alex. What positions do you and Greg hold within the Alpha Four royal court?”

He didn’t answer. I got up closer to him and took a good, long look. Same with Gregory. They were both about my age, so younger than Martini and Christopher. Physically they fell between those two as well, but were about Christopher’s height and leaned more toward the wiry side as well. Hair like Christopher’s. Facial structure like Christopher’s. And at least one of them snarked like Christopher.

“So, Alex, who’s older, you or Greg? I mean, he is your brother, right?”

Alexander swallowed hard. “Yes. My older brother.” He wasn’t lying.

I got closer to him. Eyes were green, but you could see the blue flecks in them this close. Christopher’s eyes, nose, and mouth were his father’s, but not his eye color. Went to Gregory. One eye was pretty well shut, but the other was the same, green flecked with blue. He glared at me. Christopher’s Glare #2, as a matter-of-fact.

I did one last comparison. I thought about my mother, since she, and I, looked like Christopher’s late mother, and I tried to see if they could look a bit like her. Or me. I got a reasonable yes. Not a lot, but enough.

“Jeff, are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Not so much, baby. What are you seeing?”

I turned around and started to laugh. Christopher was glaring. Glare #2.

“Look at Greg here . . . then look at Christopher.”

He did. “Oh, are you kidding me?” Martini sounded beyond a

“What?” Christopher was still glaring, but it had shifted to #5.

Martini rubbed his forehead. “Why are they here?”

“I don’t know.” I turned back. “Greg, Alex? This just seems like an incredibly complex plot merely to get to vacation with the distant relatives.”

They both looked hugely guilty. Chuckie came over and took a look. “Amazing. Genetics are really something.”

“Yeah.”

“What?” Christopher snapped. “I’m not clear on what you’re driving at, Kitty.”

“Greg and Alex here are your cousins, Christopher. Possibly as close to you as Jeff is. On your mother’s side, of course.”

“Are you kidding me? What are they doing here?” Christopher sounded exactly like Martini, only a bit less bellowy.

“Well, boys? Both Jeff and Christopher have asked you the same question. Why the hell are you here?”

They didn’t answer. Chuckie did. “Let’s list our options. There’s been a coup of some kind on Alpha Four. The royal family has been overthrown or is fighting to retain power. The ruling monarch is dead or dying. The people are not accepting whoever is supposed to take over. They’re going outside the norm to bring in Martini so that he can act as a messiah. Or, more likely, they’ve come here to drag Martini back so he can be their martyr. You take your pick from those options.”

The two A-Cs were quiet, but they also weren’t looking at us. The other delegates were quiet, and all looked nervous. I could tell that Chuckie had hit the real reason in his list of options, but I couldn’t tell which one had been our wi

Chuckie’s voice was low and very menacing. “But know this—Martini, White, all the others? They report to me now. And I don’t let terrorists steal my people. You try to take anyone by force or coercion? We’ll show you that there is no planet more frightening to deal with when angry than Earth.”

“They’re all in position, Reynolds,” Gower said.

Chuckie nodded and walked through them. “Where are the suns, exactly?”

“Greg, put three of the Poofies into sun positions.”

He glared at me. “Why?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll break your neck.” Chuckie was right behind him. “And I can. I may be human, but I’m trained to take out aliens.”