Alien Diplomacy

that you probably didn’t remember, I mean.” My mother’s sarcasm knob went well past eleven.
    “I remembered.” Sort of. “I’m distracted.”
    “Yes, I know. I’m used to it. Be there shortly. If we can ever get through this damn traffic.”
    “Yeah, it wasn’t our friend earlier, I can say that. I’d suggest a police escort only I think you’d have to send out to Maryland or Virginia to score any. Possibly to Florida or New York, even.”
    “Let’s deal with the bigger, more pressing issues first, shall we?”
    “Okay, love you, Mom, calling Chuckie now.”
    “Love you, too. Keep all of them where you can see them. Search their cars but be careful in case they’re rigged.”
    “On it.” I called Chuckie, had a very similar conversation with him, complete with rage about the continuing danger and insinuations about my lack of focus, and then considered how best to search the cars. Decided I wasn’t up to the task, so I traded with Christopher—I held his hostage, he searched the other limos.
    Lots of guns and such were found, not much else, including false beards, so I went back to the assumption these guys had nothingto do with the taxis from earlier. By the time Christopher was through and I’d given him back his captive to have and hold, Mom and Chuckie had both arrived. Kevin Lewis was with them. The hotness quotient was now back up to where I liked it.
    “I demand diplomatic immunity,” the man Jeff was holding declared.
    Mom and Chuckie exchanged long-suffering looks. “Let’s see your papers,” Mom said.
    The man Jeff was holding reached into his inner suit pocket and handed Kevin a folio. He nodded and handed it to Mom. “Looks legit.”
    Mom heaved a sigh. “So, you’re from the Republic of Kazakhstan?”
    I looked at the men. They didn’t really look Central Asian in any way. Then again, that might not mean anything.
    “Yes. We demand to be released immediately, and have all our property returned to us.”
    Mom was muttering under her breath, but she nodded to Jeff and Christopher, who let go—reluctantly. “They tried to kill my wife and child,” Jeff said with a growl.
    “They have the immunity, we don’t have a choice,” Chuckie said angrily.
    “Stop them!” Kyle shouted as he ran to us. “I ran all the plates. None of these cars are actually diplomatic vehicles.”
    The Goon Squad turned as one and tried to grab everyone. Kyle slammed into the nearest group, showing that USC really had a great football program. The three men he hit went down, Kyle on top of them.
    There was a flurry of activity that included a lot of slamming of bodies and a variety of martial arts. Apparently the Goon Squad hadn’t gotten the memo that those working with aliens were highly trained. Mom, Chuckie, and Kevin were all kicking butt and waiting for later to take names. Kyle was slamming body after body to the ground; Jeff and Christopher were taking those bodies and slamming them up against the walls.
    However, there were a lot of goons, and our side was quite busy. And the two bad guys clearly in charge were hoofing it for their car.



CHAPTER 18
    I DIDN’T HESITATE. I RAN AFTER THEM. At hyperspeed.
    The fact that this was a mistake was made quickly clear as I overshot them, their limo, and, in that sense, the parking garage. The only positive was that I didn’t hit a wall. I was, however, outside, in front of the exit.
    While I caught my breath and tried to determine if I should run back in or not, the decision was made for me, as their limo came barreling down the ramp.
    During Operation Drug Addict, a crazed politician had tried to run me down in the middle of the Arizona desert in an Escalade. This seemed remarkably similar, only I wasn’t emotionally distraught, and I now had A-C powers.
    I jumped out of the way as the limo screeched its way out of the garage. The two escapees were in the front seat, and the driver was aiming for me, but either the missing door caused some sort of wind disturbance, or he was a lot more interested in getting away, because they missed me completely.
    However, I wasn’t happy with the idea of them getting away. I ran after them and this time caught what I was aiming for. I was through the hole in the car and inside the limo in a split second, and, happily, I didn’t just bash out the other side.
    I congratulated myself for a moment, then realized, hey, I was now, essentially, in the car with the guys who’d been trying to kill me all