Managed to drag my eyes open. There was no one there. Groaned, rolled over, and put the pillow over my head.
The pillow was removed and the gentle shaking continued. My brain mentioned that it was possible that I was asleep and, if that was the case, maybe this was ACE trying to reach me.
ACE? I thought in my mind. Is that you?
Nothing but the shaking.
Rolled onto my back and opened my eyes again. This time, there was someone there. Mephistopheles was sitting at the edge of my bed, shaking me awake.
“Are you kidding me?”
The Fugly of My Nightmares smiled at me, always a weird combination of terrifying and nice. He still looked like a huge, blood-red faun, complete with curling horns coming out of his forehead, fingers that ended in claws, and bat wings. “Do I have your attention?”
“Oh my God, yes. I wanted to talk to ACE.”
“I’m sure you did. I want to warn you.”
“About what? There’s a lot going on.”
“There is. The Turleen is correct.”
Waited. That appeared to be his entire contribution. “Um, yes? You woke me up or whatever this is for that? Muddy’s right? Or did you mean Dew or Mossy or a Turleen I haven’t met yet?”
“Muddy. He is correct. The Z’porrah’s uplift will bring nothing but agony to any race so graced with it.”
“Good to know. I really didn’t doubt it.”
“What has been done to the Aicirtap has been done before.”
Waited again. Again, Mephistopheles seemed to have shot his entire wad. “So, am I supposed to guess or know what you’re talking about or what? Seriously, as dream clue-givers go, you’re usually better than this. Though, admittedly, you’re always as obscure as possible.”
“That’s in the rules. Obscurity is required in order to have the visitation.”
“Gotcha. It’s guessing game time, then, is it?”
“It is.”
Heaved a sigh and sat up. “I really hope I’m actually still asleep and getting some kind of rest. Okay, when was the bad uplift done before?”
He gave me the “really?” look. “Think about it.”
Did my best. “I got nothin’. They sure didn’t uplift humans.”
“No, the Ancients did that.” He stared at me. I stared back. He winked at me. Slowly.
“Are we starring in a remake of The Sting or Ocean’s Eleven or something? If so, I didn’t get the script and I have no idea what you’re so cleverly trying to impart. Words would help me an absolute tonnage.”
He heaved a sigh. “Just ask the Ancient or the Turleens about the Cettans and the Uglors.”
“The who and the what?”
“They were two races that were dependent upon each other. The Z’porrah gave them the uplift they thought they wanted. It was not what they expected.”
“When did this happen?”
“Approximately three hundred years ago. In time as you’d understand it.”
“Gotcha. I’ll be sure to ask about ancient galactic history during the downtime we won’t be having.”
“Ask them as soon as possible. It’s relevant to your interests. And mine.”
And with that he disappeared. Thankfully without a puff of sulfur or doing some icky slow fade. Just one moment sharing confusing clues and then the next, gone.
Flopped back onto the pillows. Couldn’t tell if I was asleep or awake, but either way, now was the time to try for ACE again. Tried to concentrate, but all I got was the blackness of dreamless sleep.
For a while, at any rate. Heard a faint voice that sounded quite far away. Calling my name.
ACE, is that you?
Yes, Kitty, ACE is here.
Relief washed over me. It’s so good to talk to you. Are you okay?
Yes, Kitty, ACE is okay. Jamie is okay, too. ACE has been . . . busy.
Doing what? Can you tell me?
Jamie is very powerful. So are many of the other children. ACE must teach them and ACE must watch them closely so they do not . . . interfere inappropriately.
Is that what you’re doing, training and watching over the kids?
Yes, but ACE still watches over Kitty and the others, too. And ACE can do more. Just not all the time. He sounded hesitant.
I know. It’s okay. You shouldn’t do all for us, we’ve had that talk many times.
Jamie does not agree.
Ah. Um, is she fighting you?
In a way. Not unpleasantly. Jamie is a good girl. Lizzie is a good girl, too.
Are the other kids good, too?
They are.
Silence from ACE. Had no idea where he was going with this, so focused on the first issue I was worried about. Should I bring the kids with me on my world tour?
They would like to go. ACE has been . . . discussing it with them.
Interesting. Jamie and Charlie?
All the children who are special, like Serene and Naomi and Abigail are special.
Are. He was speaking as if Naomi was still alive. Of course, for ACE, she was. She was a superconsciousness now, too. Is Naomi safe?
As safe as the rest of us.
So, not safe at all. Great. Which kids are special besides Jamie, Charlie, and Patrick? Becky is, I assume.
Yes, Becky is very special. All the children in the Embassy Daycare are special in some way.
There was something in his tone that made me replay this sentence over in my mind a few times. Considered what he’d said earlier. Are you talking to Lizzie, too?
In a way. Jamie loves Lizzie very much. Lizzie is the big sister Jamie wants.
Why does she want a big sister when she is the big sister?
It is a natural thing. Many children long for a younger or older sibling, depending. In Jamie’s eyes, Lizzie can do no wrong.
That sounds dangerous.
It would be if Lizzie were not the person Lizzie is. However, Lizzie is Lizzie, and that means Jamie has chosen Jamie’s hero wisely.
Hero. Well, why not? Lizzie was honestly a hero, after all. And better to hero worship the kid who’d stood up to evil when she was eleven than the kid who’d turned to the Dark Side as fast as possible. Um, there are kids hero-worshipping Stephanie out there, aren’t there?
Yes. Jamie would like ACE to make them think differently. But ACE cannot and will not. And Jamie is learning why this must be so.
Is this something I can do anything about right now?
No. What is coming is more important and what Kitty goes to do is more important.
So, back to the question of bringing the kids along. Should I?
ACE does not believe it will be necessary. If Kitty needs ACE, or Jamie, or Charlie, or Lizzie, they will be able to help Kitty. Said with finality.
Decided ACE was done with this particular part of our conversation. But I sure had new things to worry about, which was nice, since I didn’t have enough of that going on right now.
We have aliens coming. The first ship will be spotted by most of the world soon. And we can’t have these aliens attacked. At least, not the ones coming here for protection.
What they flee is terrifying. Said utterly calmly.
Terrifying because of what they are or because of what they’ll do to us?
Terrifying because of what they have become.
Are the Aicirtap evil?
No more or less than humans or A-Cs are evil.
That leaves wide range for interpretation. The Turleens think that the Aicirtap want to eat all of us.