Of course, we weren’t the only ones. Frankly, there were as many who needed family suites as those who didn’t. Since all the parents or guardians of the kids on board were also on board—other than Marcia—we were having an Embassy School and Daycare, Sidwell Friends School, and Martini Family Reunion all going on at the same time.
Well, at least a partial family reunion. Whether Jamie knew that certain family members were working against us or she just didn’t know those aunts, uncles, and cousins well, the Fontana, Carruthers, and Guerra families weren’t on board, which was a small favor for us and probably a big problem for Mom and the others left on Earth.
The Price and Valentino families were in full force, though we were lacking Jeff’s eldest niece, Stephanie Valentino, which was a blessing, though whether she and the Tinkerer were going to abide by the cease-fire he’d arranged with us at the end of Operation Fundraiser or not was anyone’s guess. Her “father,” The Clarence Clone, was with us, though. Which was good, since, somehow, TCC was a calming influence for the Martini clan. Why ask why?
Didn’t know whether to be relieved or upset that Jeff’s parents, Alfred and Lucinda, hadn’t made it on board. Jamie adored them as much as she did my parents, so her not wanting them along couldn’t be the reason. Either she was trying to be fair or somehow Alfred and Lucinda hadn’t chosen to run onto the ship while looking for the kids. Or there was some other reason I’d discover, probably at the worst time ever.
Reminded myself that, right now, whatever was going on with Earth was Mom’s problem and chose to stop fretting. About that. There was so much in front of me to fret about, after all.
Mrs. Maurer and the Lewises decided to take the largest family suite so they could also have the younger Kramer boys in with them, since Mason and Maverick were friends with Raymond and Rachel Lewis and Chance and Cassidy Maurer, and that way parental figures were watching them. We put Clinton in with Wasim, Naveed, and Gadhavi, in one of the “bachelor suites,” which settled the only kids on board without their parents.
Couples and smaller families buddied up—because no one truly felt safe on the ship—and they and the others divided into groups of four to six, depending. Hacker International were all put together, of course, with Jennifer gamely going with them, since she had the typical Dazzler weakness for brains and, being married to Ravi, she was used to the other guys and somehow seemed to look at this setup as a positive.
The press corps had a similar arrangement, since the Kristie-Bot was both a cyborg and therefore more than able to protect herself against unwanted romantic advances and all the guys with her knew it and, as near as I’d seen, none of them wanted to try anything romantic with her. For whatever reason, his hero worship of Mister Joel Oliver being the most likely one, Vance opted to room with the press.
Rhee went with Rahmi and Tito, and Mahin and Elaine Armstrong, the prior President’s widow and Jeff’s current Secretary of State, both chose to room with them. The men on Jeff’s Cabinet all chose to room together in two suites—other than Evander Horn, who opted to room with Len, Kyle, Raj, Drax, and Jeremy.
Truly hoped that we’d all remember who was where in case of emergencies, but had my doubts. Then again, maybe the trip would be uneventful now and we’d arrive safely, handle whatever the heck it was we needed to handle, and get back home without incident. I chose not to say this aloud, because I didn’t want Tito to confine me to quarters due to poor mental health.
“I can’t believe we’re in space,” Elaine said to me, as we all regrouped back at the command deck. “If only Vince could have seen this.” She looked out the windshield. “Not that there’s much to see, honestly.”
“Per Mother, that’s the space world flashing past us. For what all the nothing we’re seeing is worth.”
I was holding Jamie and she hugged me. “It’ll be alright, Mommy. You’ll see. We’ll see lots of things soon.”
Kissed her head. “I’m sure you’re right, Jamie-Kat.” Sincerely hoped she was, at least about everything being okay, and also hoped that ACE was really committed to watching over all of us, because the reality of our situation was really starting to take hold, and I was more than a little worried about getting stranded out in the middle of nowhere, galaxy-wise.
Really wanted to talk to Elaine and Horn, as well as the others I was used to working with, and figure out what to do with the limited information we had. Was sure Jeff felt the same way. And yet, we had an uppity AI in charge who was going to counter anything we wanted to do.
Found myself wishing, and not for the first time, that Tim and I had somehow created a code where we could talk to each other without someone else catching on. Realized that Tim had already done that during Operation Confusion—he’d used albums and song titles to tell me what was going on.
Of course, several of the others had been with me when I’d cracked Tim’s code, Jeff, Chuckie, and Reader in particular. All of them would instantly realize what Tim and I were doing—and apply accurate translations—and since we’d promised Team Tough Guys we’d keep their presence a secret from everyone else, that meant that Tim and I could only use our code if we were alone.
So, I’d find a way to talk privately with Tim later. Right now, since we were all settled, it was time to figure out how we were going to handle things on board the Distant Voyager until such time as Mother relinquished control—if she ever planned to do so.
“First things first,” Jeff said. “Denise, I’d like you and all the kids—and I include the older kids in this—to go into the room where most of you were already snoozing, take your seats, and stay there, strapped in. Just in case.”
“I suggest all civilians join them,” Tito said. “And that includes your Cabinet, Jeff.”
Jeff shook his head. “In a bit, but I want to talk with everyone first and, right now, Cabinet aren’t civilians. My sisters and their husbands are, though.”
“I want TCC with us, please and thank you.”
At this, Sylvia Valentino looked worried. But TCC hugged her. “It’s alright sweetheart—if Kitty needs my help, then she’ll get my help.” Proof again and as if I needed it that The Clarence Clone was a zillion times better than the original model had ever been.
“Nothing active is happening,” I reassured. “We’re in one of the supposedly boring parts of the trip.”
“Mothers of small children are included in the ‘get to a safe place’ order,” Jeff said, looking right at Amy. “No whining.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m happy to help Denise and far be it for me to hear whatever brilliant plan you’re all coming up with.”
“Oh, we’ll tell you as soon as we know what it is, Ames, never fear.”
She snorted at me. “I can help with those plans, you know.”
“We know,” Chuckie said mildly. “But right now, we have far too many kids and civilians, and we need someone we know we can trust to keep her head in there with them.”
Amy laughed. “No need to ‘handle’ me, Chuck. I got it.”
“My child isn’t an infant and I’m the American Centaurion Ambassador,” Doreen said, “so I’m staying here.”