Damn, he was good at this. Better than Somerall. I’d had no issues diverting and ignoring Somerall. The YatesCorp Board of Directors had chosen really well when they’d picked Tobin.
“No, the Office of the President is not in charge of specific battles, skirmishes, and so forth. The CIA, FBI, and local law enforcement are on the scene. We need to bow to their authority since this is their bailiwick.”
“Ah, I do understand. Tell me, though—out of the CIA, FBI, local law enforcement, Centaurion Division, and the Office of the President, who has the authority over the new aliens who just arrived?”
Checkmate.
CHAPTER 31
TIME TO ONCE AGAIN follow my father’s advice of avoiding answering a question with a question of your own. “Amos, if I may ask, where are you located right now?”
“Me? I’m in D.C.”
“In which case, I’d like to know your thoughts on the fact that a D.C.P.D. precinct was blown up earlier today.”
Silence. Possibly Tobin was hitting mute to ask his cronies or advisors what to say.
Hit mute myself. “I need Chuckie here, faster than fast.”
Claudia zipped off at hyperspeed while Lorraine sent a text. Claudia was back with Chuckie, Reader, and Tim in three seconds. Christopher arrived immediately after, asking Lorraine what was going on and why she’d asked him to get here ASAP. Sadly, Tobin came back to our call as they arrived, so I had no time to share. Indicated that the others should share what they knew amongst each other. Jeff and Muddy did most of the talking, albeit quietly.
“Are you saying that the bombing was done by aliens?” Tobin asked.
“Hardly, Amos. The bombing, like the attack, was done by Club Fifty-One True Believers.”
“He’s friendly with Gutermuth,” Chuckie said quietly.
Nodded and spoke again before Tobin had a chance to reply. “Harvey Gutermuth and Farley Pecker are friends of yours, aren’t they, Amos?”
“Well, I’m friendly with a lot of people,” Tobin said in that backpedaling way so near and dear to most politicians’ hearts. Wasn’t sure who’d learned it first, captains of industry or captains of countries, but the effect was the same. Prepped myself to start hearing a lot of BS.
“True enough. But I’d like to know where you stand in terms of your relationship with Gutermuth, Pecker, Pecker’s church, and Gutermuth’s anti-alien organization. And I’d like to know now, and in exact detail.”
Hit mute because I’d managed to salvage my chess match with a pawn and now was the time to put all my sales training into effect. Once the offer was made, the question asked, or the definitive statement stated, whoever talked next lost. I was not about to talk next.
To Tobin. To the others, hell yeah, I was going to talk.
Everyone was caught up with what was going on with the Turleens and all the other alien races coming to hide, help, or eat, so it was time to get caught up on everything else. Double-checked that the phone was on mute. It was. And presumably Tobin was, unlike most of his cronies, trained in the same sales technique I was and was no more willing to lose than I was.
“All prisoners are at Guantanamo now,” Reader said. “We used a floater to get them there, and the flyboys did the escort. Your Uncle Mort is there, too. The flyboys will join us here once the handoff is officially complete.”
“Good, that should mean our homegrown terrorists will be having the Worst Day Ever. Is Serene alone at the scene, though?”
“No,” Claudia said. “She called in troubadours and they’re assisting Field agents along with all the CIA and FBI agents and local law. She’s got it under control.”
“Caliente Base is completely cleared,” Christopher shared. “Looks like minimal damage, though there is some. It’ll take the Operations Team to fully determine what needs fixing and what doesn’t.”
“Tobin is still not responding?” Chuckie asked. “It’s been at least two minutes since you stopped talking.”
“Nope. And the call is still live.” Triple-checked. “And still on mute.”
Chuckie rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not used to anyone outlasting you, Kitty. Are we sure he’s not dead?”
“No, but I’m sure I don’t care.”
“He said he was in D.C.?” Christopher asked slowly.
“Yeah, why?”
“Media centers are New York and L.A. If he just took over Oliver’s paper, they’re L.A. based. Jenkins is syndicated out of New York, but they have a satellite office in L.A., too.” Christopher looked thoughtful. “And they’re not the only ones.”
“Meaning Tobin was lying and is in California. What does that mean or matter?”
“Means I’ll be right back.” Christopher zoomed off.
“What is he doing?” I asked in general.
Jeff sighed. “Give him his moment in the sun.”
“Not trying to deny him sun moments, Jeff. Just have no idea what he’s thinking.”
“I’m sure it’s relevant,” Reader said. “I’m also sure he’s gone to California.”
“Guess we have time to wait,” Tim said.
“He can run around the world without any issues these days,” I pointed out.
“Your people are most amazing,” Muddy said politely. “So many things you can do that others cannot.” Pondered why he was saying this at this precise time. Muddy might look cute and goofy but that was an act, his race’s protective coloration. Muddy was quite sharp, and he reminded me a lot of White, meaning he wasn’t saying anything without a reason.
“Thanks,” Jeff said. “We try.”
“You succeed,” Phoebe said. “And since we’re waiting for whatever we’re waiting for, I have to mention that once again being saved by the people we’re supposed to be protecting is, at best, humiliating.”
“Yeah, I’ve given up feeling that I can ever be good at my job again,” Joseph agreed. Evalyne and Rob both nodded emphatically.
“Apparently any alien can do more than a human,” Evalyne added.
Rob looked at me. “Well, a normal human.”
Felt bad that, once again, we were making these people feel inferior. “Inferiority.” Looked at Muddy. “That’s going to be the issue we have to deal with.”
“I don’t follow you,” Muddy said.
Wasn’t sure that this was true—in fact was willing to bet he’d started this particular conversation to lead us right to this conclusion—but chose not to argue. “Humans feel inferior to most aliens. That’s the underlying emotion behind all the anti-alien groups—they fear that the aliens are better than them.”
“They’re better looking,” Tim said dryly. “Some of us learn to live with it.”
“And some adapt,” Lorraine said, pointedly looking at me.
“Didn’t really have much of a choice in that.”
“Why hasn’t Amy mutated?” Claudia asked. Everyone looked at her. “What? I figured we were just hanging out, waiting to see who blinks first between Kitty and Tobin, discussing inferiority issues and adaptation. I can’t be the only one wondering.”
“You’re not,” Chuckie said. “I have a theory but I haven’t been able to speak to the people who would be able to confirm it.”
“Who can’t you reach?” I asked.
Chuckie shook his head and sighed. “You were there, with me and Christopher, and you’re asking?”