Alien Diplomacy

him. It’s politically stupid to say you don’t like the man you’re hired to protect. Who else?”
    I thought about it. “Senator McMillan and his wife. I care about them.”
    “Why so? Because you’ve grown up with him as senator? What does that mean, in reality?”
    “No. I like him because he’s decent. He’s a real person, still the man he was, despite being here for so long. I admire that. And, like you, he seems to actually, I don’t know, get me. No one else in this town has, just him and you.” I now had the cherry and whipped cream for the top of my weirdness sundae.
    “So, if I told you that I wouldn’t kill him or his wife, would let all your family and friends leave in safety, would you still try to stop me?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    “Because what you’re doing is wrong and will harm more people than just the ones I know and care about.”
    Cartwright nodded. “I believe it’s good to know where you stand before you die.”
    “Where do you stand?”
    She shrugged. “I want respect. I’m the brains behind Titan Security, despite what my brother-in-law would tell you. I’m the one who comes up with the ideas and then sees how to make them a reality. But someone else always gets the credit. I’m tired of that, tired of catering to men who haven’t got the brains to advance their careers without my help, tired of listening to them take credit for my work over and over again. The only thing that gets you respect in this town is money or power, preferably both together.”
    “If you turned the others in, you’d be lauded as a hero.”
    “No, they’d turn state’s evidence and we’d all go down.” Cartwright shook her head. “No, unfortunately, this is the only way. I am sorry, though.”
    “About what?”
    “It’s going to be horribly painful for you. It has to be, in order to ensure your husband is destroyed. I imagine it will destroy your child, too. Which is a pity, but sacrifices must be made.”
    “Just like your brother-in-law sacrificed his children?”
    “Yes, in that sense. Well, I’ve honestly enjoyed talking to you.”
    “Odd as it sounds, me too.” I readied myself and focused on the inner me. If I was ever going to need hyperspeed, now was the time.
    “No more lives left for Kitty Katt,” Cartwright said as she aimed the gun at my gut. “See you in Hell, Missus Martini.”
    It turned out that the shot rang out before I could run.



CHAPTER 84
    C ARTWRIGHT FELL FORWARD. The back of her head had a big hole in it. I looked behind where she’d been standing. “I think,” Adriana said, as she lowered her smoking gun, “that Grandmother would not like her new friend to be dead.”
    “Olga is your grandmother?”
    “Yes.”
    My mind was working at high speed for a variety of reasons, adrenaline high being the biggest. “She’s trained you in the old KGB ways, hasn’t she?”
    “Of course. It’s a dangerous world, and Grandmother won’t be in it with me forever. She wants to ensure I’m protected.”
    “No argument from me. How did you know where I was?”
    She shrugged. “I followed you.” She smiled. “Grandmother agreed it would be nice for me to get to enjoy the party.”
    “Thank you for the save.”
    “You’re welcome.” She picked up the remote. “It’s not on a kill switch, thankfully.” She handed it to me.
    I looked up at the monster. “It’s conscious, isn’t it?”
    “We feel sure that it is, yes. In its own way.”
    “Any guess for how to destroy it?”
    “I think the better question would be, is this the only one here?”
    I thought about it. “Of course it’s not. Think they’re all down here?”
    “I don’t know. I followed you down the garbage shaft.”
    “Seriously?” She didn’t look even slightly mussed. I was wearing the latest in garbage encrusted wraps, I didn’t have to look in a mirror to know that my hair was most likely a disaster, and, upon a quick scan, my skirt was already torn.
    “Yes.” She indicated the large, but fancy, black bag she had slung over her shoulder. “I carried what we thought I might need with me.”
    “Should I even ask how you got all that through security?”
    “Probably not at this precise time. I think we should save everyone else now.”
    “Amen to that.” I took Cartwright’s gun. “Oh, how nice. It’s a Glock. Full clip, too. Handy.” I stepped around the body and felt something follow me. I looked over my shoulder. The supersoldier was right behind me,