Alien in the House

Chapter 27



“I’M NOT SAYING you can’t trust me, Kitty,” Raj said patiently. “I am saying that based on Colonel Hamlin’s warnings, and speaking somewhat modestly, I fall under Colonel Hamlin’s area of concern.”

“So, if you’re brilliant enough to be the Mastermind, why were you hanging out at New Delhi Base all this time?”

Raj shrugged. “My skills don’t fall toward medicine, mathematics, or science. I’m a good investigator, and I’ve been asking for a Centaurion Division Main post for years. Until the invasion earlier this year, I was told that since Centaurion Division wasn’t into creating entertainment no one needed troubadours and I should enjoy myself and catch a few more Bollywood movies.”

“Christopher, that was very rude.” This earned me Patented Glare #5.

“How do you know I’m the one that said that? It could have been someone else.”

“Was it?”

“No. But it could have been.”

Jeff sighed. “Christopher, we have to figure out what to do with that disk. I need to be able to function.”

“I don’t want it lost or stolen,” Christopher said, while sharing Patented Glare #2.

“We need some leaded casing to keep Superman’s Kryptonite from draining his powers. But the person we’d ask for this stuff is one of the people we’re no longer supposed to trust.” I was really hating this, in no small part because my mother and oldest friend were supposedly on the untrustworthy side of the house.

“Let’s determine who we can trust,” White said. “Before Christopher goes in search of Mister Buchanan and Colonel Hamlin. Then Jeffrey can read Rajnish and we can continue on with the unraveling of the latest attempts to ruin our lives.”

“Succinctly put. What Richard said. Let’s start with the obvious—there’s no way Paul or any of the Gowers are against us.”

“Gladys could be,” Raj said.

“Why so?” Jeff asked a tad belligerently.

“Because she’s only Former Pontifex White’s half sister. Her loyalties could lie with her late father.”

“Rajnish is correct to bring it up,” White said quickly, before Jeff could get angry. “But I can assure all of you that Gladys, like every other Gower, is definitely not on the side of my late father, the Purity of the Race Contingent, nor the War Division group.”

“Richard, I’m so proud. You used all my Bad Guy Group names.”

“I’ve decided the battle against them is fruitless.”

“Wise man takes the path of least resistance. Okay, so Claudia and Lorraine, and their parents, I know they’re trustworthy. James for sure. Tim proved himself way back when, so he’s in. Same with the flyboys. And Tito.”

“So, you think the core team when Jeff, you, and I were the heads of Centaurion Division are all cleared?”

“Yes, because we all went through too much. Honestly, I realize that Hamlin suspects Chuckie, but I go back to what Amy said during Operation Destruction—no one, no matter how brilliant, would allow themselves to be that close to real death. There was no way Chuckie could have guessed Christopher’s Surcenthumain boosted talent level, or known that Richard, the Poofs, and I would arrive in time or be able to do anything.”

“I agree, especially because I was there. And I think the idea that your mother is trying to do anything to hurt you is insane, baby. No matter what Hamlin may have said.”

“I would see most of our key personnel as being cleared,” White agreed. “Kevin and Mister Buchanan as well. I agree wholeheartedly with Jeffrey, and I include your father in that as well. It’s impossible to believe that your mother would have allowed anyone even remotely suspect to be this close to her only daughter and grandchild.”

“Mom’s been fooled before. Chuckie, too.”

“But only because of governmental protections,” White countered.

Raj cocked his head. “Washington.”

“Excuse me?” Jeff asked.

But I got it. “The people we probably can’t trust are those we’ve come to know since changing jobs and moving here. The former Diplomatic Corps may have been friends with them, but they were one with both the Purity of the Race and the War Division plots, so for all we know, they’d know exactly who was behind this.” Only the Poofs had eaten them.

“Doreen is suspect, however,” White said, apparently on my wavelength. “While I don’t for one moment doubt her loyalty to us, the fact that we did kill her parents could easily make her a double agent.”

“It was self-defense and she hated them. But yeah, you’re right. It’s a stretch to see her as the Mastermind, though. Not because she’s not brilliant enough—both she and Irving are certainly smart enough to make that cut—but because she’s too young.”

“Camilla is a spy,” Jeff said. “And she’s worked as at least a double agent for us already.”

“Triple, really. And yeah, your dad hired her, but I agree, we probably can’t trust her implicitly. And she’d also be smart enough, and she’s older than Doreen, so she also has Mastermind potential. Though she’s the only reason we’re all still alive.”

“Who else?” Jeff asked. “Of our closer personnel, I mean.”

“Pierre, Len, and Kyle. I think they’re all clear, honestly. Especially if we accept the fact that there’s no way Chuckie’s the Mastermind.”

“Magdalena,” White said. “We’re intimate, but that could be her getting close.”

Christopher shot his father Patented Glare #1. “There’s no way you mean that.”

“I don’t mean that I don’t trust her. I mean that, based on this particular exercise, we need to move her into the Mastermind potential group.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but is she smart enough?” Dazzlers were, without question. Nurse Carter was pretty damn smart, but I wasn’t ready to declare her a genius on Chuckie’s level.

“If she’s truly the Mastermind, we wouldn’t know,” White replied. He seemed completely unperturbed.

“Richard, you’re finding this funny in some way, aren’t you?”

“In that sense, I suppose I am. In part because I believe Rajnish has hit the nail on its proverbial head—these actions against us are coming from someone who is a high-level Washington insider, therefore we need to look at high-level Washington insiders who we’ve only interacted with this past year.”

“What about the freeloaders?” Jeff asked.

“Hacker International’s loyalties are to Chuckie, and I’ve known these guys for years, especially Stryker. As long as we all agree that Chuckie’s not the evil Mastermind, then I think it’s safe to clear them. Olga and Adriana, too, really. I’m only alive because of them.”

“What about the others you told to meet you in the computer lab?” Raj asked, using the nice name for where Hacker International hung out.

“The Middle Eastern Contingent falls into the same area as Doreen. Unlikely to be against us, but shouldn’t be given full info until we’re sure. Same with Cliff, who for sure is brilliant enough to be the Mastermind, although he’s almost too young. Same with all the politicians and lobbyists we know, even Senator McMillan.”

“Colonel Franklin?” Jeff asked.

Shook my head. “He was okayed way too long ago. The dude who was the head of Area Fifty-One is in no way going to be the evil anti-alien Mastermind. However, I don’t know how much we want him, or Captain Morgan, involved. Similar to the K-9 cops, called in when needed but military, like police, tend to get in the way.”

“I can agree with all that,” Christopher said. “So, do I take the disk with me or leave it with all of you? If I run into trouble the disk could get damaged or stolen, and if Jeff can feel people in the Zoo, we’ve determined range.”

“Put it in Kitty’s purse,” Jeff said. “That’s where we store most of the bugs anyway.”

“Ha ha ha, you are so funny.” I took the disk and put it into the little zippered pocket on the inside of my handbag, hopefully keeping it safe from damage or theft.

“Okay, Jeff, I don’t plan to be gone too long, but do your best to monitor me the moment you can. I know that’ll be close to impossible because of the tunnels’ shielding, but pay attention because for all I know, I’ll find something that will lead me above ground.” Christopher grinned. “So I won’t block you.”

Jeff laughed. “Will do. Be careful.” He looked at Bruno. “I don’t care if you’re all still upset with him or not. He’d better come back safely—and I mean that with the idea of it being the most direct order possible—or else we’ll be having stuffed Peregrine for dinner with a side of diced Poof.”

The animals all shot me looks that said they knew I’d never allow that but they’d humor Jeff anyway.

White kicked the part of the wall that opened the door to the Tunnels of Doom and Christopher and his Alpha Four Animal Honor Guard took off.