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“Hopefully not.” I went back to the Animal Planet girls. Reader came with me. I grabbed Jareen. “This request is going to make me sound like the most friendless soul in two solar systems. I have a lot of friends. Most of them don’t know what I do or who I hang with. My two best girlfriends from high school and my best girlfriend from college can’t come to my wedding for a variety of human real-life issues. My other two best girlfriends are already in my wedding,” I pointed to Lorraine and Claudia.
“But Jeff’s got, at last count, six guys standing up with him. I’ll understand if you don’t want to, or if you want to just get home and out of our boondocks part of the universe, but . . . I’d really like it if you’d be my maid or matron of honor. Maid is if you’re single, matron is if you’re married.”
Jareen cocked her head. “But he’s your best friend.” She pointed to Reader.
“Yeah, he is. But on Earth, he’s a guy so he stands on the guy side. He’ll be up there, but with the other men. Same with Chuckie. Can’t ask him since he’s a guy.”
“The person of honor?”
I shrugged. “Soul sisters are hard to come by.”
She gri
I hugged her. “Thanks. No one I’d rather have up there with me than a Giant Lizard.”
“I look forward to seeing how the Naked Apes join together. I am a matron. Neeraj and I have been mated for a hundred years.”
“Wow, really? You look like, twenty-five. In lizard years, I mean.”
She gri
“Works for me.” I moved off to Queen Renata, Felicia, and Wahoa. “This will sound like—”
Wahoa put her paw up. “We Major Doggies have really good hearing, Friendless Naked Ape. Remember?” She gri
I laughed. “Had to go with the soul sister.”
Claudia snorted. “We’ve known her longer, and we’re only at bridesmaid rank.” She gri
“How did you know that?” Reader coughed. “Oh.” Duh. Reader was pretty much taking care of everything. A suspicion tickled, but I let it pass for now. “Felicia, will you be up to it?”
She nodded. “Your doctors are very good.” Lorraine had been working on her. “I would be honored. All Naked Apes need a good Cat Person around.”
“Renata?”
She smiled at me. “I am honored to be a part of this. Besides, I’m on the Giant Lizard vessel.”
“What do we wear?” Felicia asked.
“Ummm . . . no idea whatsoever.”
Reader coughed. “Handled. Trust me. Or will be.”
“You’re just Mister Helpy Helper, aren’t you, James?”
He flashed the cover-boy grin. I noted it worked on all the females, even Queen Renata. Figured he knew that and used the power for good. “Babe, let’s just say that someone has to take care of things and leave it at that.”
Martini came over. “We have medical teams on the way, should be here momentarily. We’ve gone too long without full medical on some of the injured.”
“Are we losing someone?” My stomach clenched.
“Me, to pain, agony, and boredom,” Tim called out.
“Me, too,” Jerry said. “The rest of the guys are complaining that they’re not in the wedding party, Jeff.”
Martini opened his mouth.
“NO!” Wow, Reader and I were now doing the unison thing.
Martini snapped his mouth shut.
“Sorry, guys. The only way that would work is for you to draw lots for which two of you were putting on a bridesmaid’s dress. I’m out of females I want up there with me.” I thought about it. “Well, I could add on one more.”
“Great!” Martini said.
“One, Jeff. Only one.”
“Great!” He looked really guilty.
“Jeff . . . who did you already ask?”
He mumbled something.
“Come again, can’t hear you.”
“Alexander.”
I let that one sit on the air. “Um . . . how?”
Martini looked hugely guilty again. I tapped my foot. He heaved a sigh. “I asked ACE to ask him. He said yes. He’s really excited about it.” He looked guilty and embarrassed. “I just want it to be . . . special.”
“And huge. Fine.” I thought about it. “He just became king because his great-uncle was Poof Chow. The solar system’s in disarray. We’re getting married really soon. How the hell can he come?”
Martini shrugged. “No idea, but he said he could.”
Chuckie joined us. “It’ll be fine. From what Leonidas told me, he’s been waiting for this day.”
“You two weren’t chatting all that long.”
“He implanted the information.”
“What?”
“It’s something many of us are able to do,” Martini said quietly. I’d known Terry had put an implant into Martini, of course. To find me, as it had turned out. And I’d also known he’d passed that implant along to me. It just hadn’t occurred to me that other A-Cs could do it as well.
“Oh. They don’t hurt,” I added, because Martini was looking the way he always did whenever the implant subject came up, which was guilty and ashamed. “And they’re useful.”
“Yes, they are,” Chuckie agreed.
“You didn’t pass out.” I had, when Martini had put Terri’s implant into me.
Chuckie shrugged. “I think it’s different when you’re forewarned. I felt a little woozy, but it wasn’t an issue. And, I have a clear understanding of the political situation in the entire Alpha Centauri solar system. Or,” he added with a grin, “I have the view Leonidas wants me to have.”
“He is a politician,” Martini said. “You sure you can trust anything he told you?”
“Most of it correlates to what we’ve been told already. I’ll confirm the rest with the Planetary Council. I assume they’re staying for the wedding?”
“Yeah, because—”
“You’re out of bridesmaid options, and they all know what’s going on,” Chuckie finished for me.
“Right as always!” I’d said that too cheerfully, if Martini’s low growl was any indication. “But I need one more,” I added quickly, before the growling got louder. “Be right back. Behave,” I added to Martini as I raced off. Hey, I’d had enough fighting for one night.
I looked around, found her, and trotted over. “Serene, you willing to be one of my bridesmaids?”
She looked shocked out of her mind and pleased beyond belief. “Really? You really want me? After all the . . . stuff . . . from six months ago?”
“You were drugged. Jeff was too, and I still want him. So, yeah. I didn’t ask before because I had no idea Jeff was going insane with the groomsmen numbers.” I looked at Brian, whose head was in her lap. He was still hurt, but he looked as though he might pull through. “Bri, I don’t care if Jeff begs you. Unless James or I say yes, you are to say no if he asks you to be a groomsman. Oh, and stop playing dead.”
“Got it.” He gri
She giggled. “I like it. And, yes, Kitty, thank you so much for asking me!”
“Thank you so much for saying yes. Oh, and, I’d like you to join Airborne, while I’m thinking about it.”
“Why? I’m a scientist.”
“You’re an explosives expert and the only A-C capable of seeing through both shapeshifters and imageers with an overlay on. I call those vitally strategic skills we need at the highest levels. You can fool around in the lab on the off days.”
“You ever stop with the hiring?” Reader asked.
“You find the talent, you grab the talent before the competition does.”
“Right. Reminds me, we need a good story for your family.”
“Ugh. Let’s get everyone healed up or at least headed that way first.” An impressive number of Dazzlers were appearing out of nowhere. They fa