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Oliver backed away. “Care to make any comment for why there were thousands of aliens in Las Vegas this morning?”
“Movie stunt,” I called over my shoulder. “Casting call for the next Ocean’s Eleven sequel.” We piled in while Oliver took more snaps as we drove off, Tim giving the driver directions to head downtown. “How do we stop him from printing our pictures? I mean, I doubt the government wants proof of things like Chuckie being with all of us on the front page.”
“You have no faith, do you?” Christopher said. He sounded smug.
Chuckie laughed. “You could alter the film just by touching the camera?”
Christopher shrugged. “No.” He gri
“How?” Everyone other than our driver looked at me. Everyone had the “duh” look going. I thought about it. “Oh. Hyperspeed.”
Chuckie shook his head. “I worry about you sometimes.” He looked at Martini. “I don’t think we want our driver sharing.”
Martini nodded. “I don’t want us sharing until we know this vehicle’s safe. Tim, have our driver pull over.”
The driver pulled off onto a side street. We piled out. While Chuckie and Christopher searched the limo for a variety of nasty things, Martini gave the driver a lot of money and a strong suggestion to walk to THEhotel and wait for us and his limo to return. The driver wandered off, the limo was declared safe and clean of bugs, Tim took the wheel, Christopher took shotgun, and the rest of us settled in.
Even with those two in the front seat now, what with me, Martini, Chuckie, Gower, Lorraine, Claudia, Alexander, and Tito in the back, it was cozy. I was between Martini and Chuckie, which I knew Martini wasn’t happy about. But there was too much going on to worry about seating arrangements. We could worry about those for our wedding once we had the latest alien invasion schemes thwarted.
“Reynolds, where do you want me heading?” Tim asked.
“Where you were heading us already. Downtown. I’d tell you to leave the Strip, but I think we’d be too conspicuous on the regular city streets.”
We turned back onto the Strip. “Got it, casual wandering on the way.” Tim sounded as though this was a normal order. I wasn’t used to us just meandering anywhere, however.
“Why?”
“Because we need time to regroup.” Chuckie sounded tense, which was a rarity. “Since tragedy’s been averted and White’s taken care of the a
“I’m honestly not sure,” Martini answered. “We haven’t dealt with anything like this during my tenure as Head of Field.”
“I believe I could convince my mother that Gregory was acting dishonorably,” Alexander said. “And Councillor Leonidas would undoubtedly see things from your perspective.”
“I got more about him out of the emissaries,” Chuckie said. “He’s playing a dangerous game, but it appears to be for the overall good of the Alpha Centauri system, not just Alpha Four.”
“Why would he do that?” I asked. “Wouldn’t that make him a traitor to the Alpha Four monarchy?”
“No,” Alexander said. “My great-uncle is perceived by some to be . . . unstable.”
“Is he?” Gower asked.
“No,” Chuckie answered. “From what I got from the Reptilians, Canus Majorians, and Feliniads, the king of Alpha Four is shrewd. He’s been in power for a long time. The Free Women’s attack was something no one seemed to have seen coming.”
“Councillor Leonidas warned about it for years,” Alexander said. “He has never felt the PPB nets should be around any planet, Earth included.”
“So, is he pro-Earth?” It would make him the only being in the A-C solar system who was, apparently, but it was worth a shot to ask.
“I would call him more pro-planetary freedom. While he, like the rest of us, does not want the might of the Free Women brought down upon us, he has counseled for years that holding people prisoners in the way we have is not conducive to their becoming peaceful members of a greater solar and galactic community.”
“Think Winston Churchill,” Chuckie said to me. “Only the A-C version.”
“So Leonidas is a better ruler than the king, isn’t he?”
Alexander looked uncomfortable. “Those kinds of questions are not voiced on Alpha Four.”
“Because dissidents are eliminated with extreme prejudice,” Chuckie added. “They were actually being benign to our Earth A-Cs by sending them all here.”
“I hate my family,” Martini grumbled. Alexander looked stricken. “Not the family here,” Martini added quickly. Alexander didn’t cheer up. “Oh, and not you. Probably not your mother, either, unless she’s just like your brother or great-uncle.”
Alexander shook his head. “She’s more like me. My mother has been very . . . alone since our father died.” His eyes clouded. “I believe our great-uncle may have had a hand in his death, but I was only a child when it happened, and I could be mistaken.”
“Assume you’re not,” Chuckie said briskly.
Gower nodded. “Even without confirmation from Richard or our parents, I know the royal family was very . . . stringent . . . in how they dealt with what they considered insubordination.”
“Wow, what a great bunch of folks they are. Let’s not plan to visit.”
“Most of our people are like yours,” Alexander said. “They want to live their lives in peace and enjoy their loved ones and the fruits of their labor.” He sighed. “Councillor Leonidas has protected our people from my great-uncle’s whims, as much as he could, at any rate. He protects my mother, too.”
“Leonidas actually runs the day-to-day,” Chuckie added. “Which is why he’s been able to influence the formation of a Planetary Council.”
“You sure he’s a good guy?”
Alexander nodded. “I believe if you knew him, you would feel he was trustworthy.”
“So far,” Chuckie said, “Leonidas seems like the only thing that’s prevented Alpha Four from doing even more damage than they’ve already managed.” Tim was winding us through the streets of downtown Vegas, and Chuckie sighed. “We’re no closer to knowing what’s coming, let alone how to defend against it. Leonidas can be the biggest booster of Earth and planets’ rights around, but the king’s word is the law.”
“Maybe Jeff needs to accept the kingship,” Lorraine said quietly. “That would stop all the badness, wouldn’t it?”
“I’m not going there,” Martini growled. “I’m not going there alone, or taking everyone back with me. Alpha Four isn’t our home, Earth is.”
“There is no one else,” Alexander said. He sounded desperate. “If not you, or one of the others here who are in the bloodline, then we lose the monarchy.”
“Sounds like a good thing to lose. Give the idea of democracy a try.”
“No, it won’t work that way,” Chuckie said quietly.
Gower nodded. “The other planets may not like the control Alpha Four has, but without it, they’d all fight like . . .”
“Like cats and dogs and dragons?”
“Exactly.” Gower shook his head. “Alpha Four remains in power because, in reality, the other planets want them to be in control.”
“They’d like more say in their self-determination, but I agree,” Chuckie said. “From what I got from them, what they object to is the current king’s tightening of the screws, as opposed to Alpha Four’s leadership. They’d all welcome Leonidas as leader.”
“Which is impossible, as he is not in the bloodline,” Alexander said.
“Could he marry in? I mean, if he’s protecting your mom already, why not?”
Alexander looked as though he’d never considered the idea, and now that he had, he wasn’t a fan. “Ah, I have no idea.”
“He’d lose his position,” Gower said. “The Chief Councillor can’t be a member of the royal family. He wouldn’t really be considered royal, though any children would be.”