Alien in the Family

“Yes. But, I wouldn’t let anyone but Renata out of the room right now, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Alexander, how can you do this to us?” Uma shouted.

He closed his eyes, but didn’t turn around. “I still have a shred of honor left, and I want to hold onto it.”

“You are not my brother any longer,” Gregory said. He sounded hurt and furious.

“I know.” Alexander looked like he was trying not to break down.

“Jeff, what do you think?”

Martini sighed. “Let Renata out. Alexander’s telling the truth, and she’s not our enemy. Leave the rest of them in there.” He pulled me back, out of the clutch of people, bent down and whispered in my ear. “I can’t tell on the lizards, dogs, or cats. I need to be around them more to see if I’m filtering their emotions correctly. There’s more going on than Gregory’s told Alexander; I can feel him hiding something. Lenore is basically clueless, and Uma’s a raving bitch, but you already knew that.”

“Umm hmmm.” Him nuzzling my ear was really turning me on, scary interstellar plots or no.

He laughed softly. “I love how, no matter what, you can always focus on the priorities.”

“I want to go to Vegas.” And spend time in the huge suite. Spend time making like bu

He kissed my ear. “Put on that outfit and tell me that.”

I turned around. “You’ll be mine to do with as I please?”

Martini gri

“Oh, thanks! By the way, Poof Chow? Jeff, that was awesome.”

“You’re rubbing off on me. I like it, don’t worry.”

“I’d rather rub on you.”

“I love how you think.”

CHAPTER 32

“I DEMAND DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY and to speak with your Diplomatic Corps!” Gregory shouted, giving imperious a good run.

I snorted, but Martini looked uncomfortable. “Is this going to be a time when we’re again glad that Chuckie’s in charge?” I asked him quietly.

“Yeah.” Martini jerked his head at Chuckie, who came over to us. “This could be a problem.”

Chuckie shook his head. “Not for me. They’re suspected terrorists, not sanctioned diplomats. So, no chats with your Diplomatic Corps allowed.”

White joined us. “If, however, Gregory is truly a member of the royal family, and I have no doubt that he is, his request is one we must agree to.”

“Why?” I asked as Gower, Christopher, Alexander, and Queen Renata came over to us as well. “Chuckie just said he’s identified as a terrorist, and we all know the Alpha Four head honcho or honcha isn’t going to confirm anyone along as having true diplomatic immunity. And even if they do, why should we care? And even if we were nice and let Greg chat it up with the A-C diplomats, so what?”

Everyone stared at me, Chuckie included. I got the impression this was something that I was supposed to know, meaning it was in one of those huge sets of briefing materials I’d been ignoring for a good year now. Hey, I really hadn’t noticed any lack in my ability to get the job done. However, I saw no reason to either share that I still hadn’t read said information or not to get an answer. I stared right back.

White heaved a sigh. “Our Diplomatic Corps has great power within our society. Not only do they provide much needed protection and interference for us with the various world governments, but they hold sway with our people. While the Office of the Pontifex can and does make decisions, as do the Heads of Field and Imageering, if the Diplomatic Corps isn’t in agreement with those decisions, then the rest of our people will not be in agreement.”

Chuckie was nodding, so he clearly knew about this. “So they’re more like Congress?” I asked him.

“Close. More like the British Parliament. The Diplomatic Corps is in place to provide a check and balance against the Alpha Centaurion monarchy.”

“So, they’re a full-on A-C thing, not just an Earth A-C thing?”

“Correct,” White said. “And since Gregory and Alexander are both confirmed to be citizens of Alpha Centauri, they fall under those laws, which means that if they wish to speak to our Diplomatic Corps, then they may do so.”

“Even if they’re traitors to two solar systems?” International politics was bad enough. Interstellar politics was starting to give me a headache.

“I’m with Kitty,” Chuckie agreed. “I have more than enough precedents to not only deny them access to anyone but to ship them off never to be seen or heard from again.”

White looked pained. “I’m sure you do, but . . .”

Martini sighed. “But it could cause us more problems than letting him speak with the Diplomatic Corps.” He pointedly looked around. There were still a lot of random A-Cs here, watching the show with rapt interest. “Because our people here know, someone who’s anti the Pontifex or doesn’t like something Christopher or I do is going to find out, and then we have internal issues I’d like to avoid.” He shook his head. “Under the circumstances, just one should be sufficient, wouldn’t you think?”

Alexander nodded slowly. “The Head Diplomat would be my suggestion.”

“Isn’t that Robert Coleman?” I wasn’t a fan of the Colemans, other than Doreen, who wasn’t speaking to her parents and was also hugely happy about it. “Who’s married to that bi—”

“Yes!” Christopher interrupted quickly. “The ones who tried to force Jeff to marry their daughter. Them.”

“Dude, I’ve already failed all the protocol tests.”

“Why make it worse?” he muttered.

Alexander managed a weak grin. “The Diplomatic Corps are used to getting their way. They can be . . . quite forceful.”

“So, they don’t use diplomacy so much as strong-arm techniques?”

I got a lot of blank looks. Chuckie just laughed. “In that sense. Diplomats have jobs that entail more than just shaking hands and smoothing over problems. Besides, the power they’re used to is within their own A-C community. In Washington and elsewhere they do function as a protective layer.”

“So, they’re the bulky, ugly sweater your mom makes you wear when it’s really cold out, even though you’d rather not?”

Queen Renata smiled. “A very apt description.”

“I like her.” I looked back at Chuckie. “Does that mean we have to bring in Mister Coleman?”

“I don’t particularly want to. I’d like to know the ramifications with Alpha Four if we do or don’t acquiesce.”

“My great-uncle is not in condition to deal with this, due to the attack on his life. My mother and the Chief Councillor are. And since Gregory is my mother’s eldest son . . .”

Chuckie heaved a sigh. “Got it. Alpha Four’s already angry enough. Why make it worse?”

“Who’s the Chief Councillor and what’s his job description?” I didn’t get a lot of glares or exasperated looks, so I figured this wasn’t in the briefing papers, or if it was, it wasn’t given a lot of space on the pages.

“When we were on the home world, the Chief Councillor functioned as the liaison between the monarchy, the Diplomatic Corps, and the other sovereign planets,” White said. “While the goal is to have someone in that position long-term, it tends to be a short-term post.”

“Why? Death or desertion?” Retirement seemed out.

“Usually resignation.” White shrugged. “It’s a difficult position without a great deal of popular public support.”

“It’s still that way,” Alexander agreed. “Our current Chief Councillor has been in place for the past decade, however.”