Alien Diplomacy

Oliver. “Good initiative, those teams. Good. Really. Thanks, Gladys. Yeah, we’ll sleep better. If, you know, we ever get to sleep again.”
    He hung up and looked at Chuckie. “They searched your home and office, the Embassy, the Pontifex’s residence, Kitty’s parents’ home as well as their new place, and Mister Joel Oliver’s trashed apartment. Gladys had each Centaurion Base run through a fullscan set, too. The only bugs found were the ones in the Embassy—those that were on his clothes and equipment and in Kitty’s purse. Between the two, there were over a dozen different pieces of tracking equipment. They’re running comparisons now, but it’s a good guess they won’t all be from the same group, organization, or country.”
    We all let that sit on the air for a while. I could see Chuckie’s conspiracy wheels turning. I could also tell they weren’t settling on anything key.
    “So, I guess the big questions are, why are Mister Joel Oliver and I so very popular, and how did we get so many bugs on us both, in, I’d have to guess, such a short period of time?”
    “Succinctly put.” Chuckie looked as if he might have gotten something. “Martini, you said there were around a dozen pieces of tracking software between Kitty and Mister Joel Oliver?”
    “Yes.” Jeff’s phone beeped. “Test results are back. We’ve identified matches between what was in Kitty’s purse and what was on our reporter here. Seven matching sets, so we can safely assume there are seven different groups who were bugging them. Huh.”
    “What?”
    “There’s one that was only in your purse, baby. Doesn’t match at all with the others.”
    “So there’s one person out there only following me, instead of me and MJO? I feel so special.”
    “Seven sets…” Chuckie’s voice trailed off. I knew his expression; the wheels were turning. “That fits.”
    I thought about the past hour and made the leap. “You think the people who visited us unexpectedly were the ones who bugged me?”
    “Yeah, because there were seven of them in addition to Cantu, Armstrong, and Cartwright. And there was no real reason for them to make the first lobbying and bribery steps today.”
    “Unless they know someone’s gonna die at the President’s Ball.”
    “I’m more concerned about Kitty being spied on in her Washington Wife class,” Jeff said, looking and sounding worried.
    “Eugene wouldn’t bug me.” I considered whether it was a good time to suggest I not attend the class anymore. Thought about it and figured I’d be told I had to go to perform counterespionage and decided not to get into that resulting discussion.
    Jeff nodded. “I don’t get anything threatening or dangerous from him.”
    “He wouldn’t have to bug you to get information about whereyou were going,” Chuckie said. “You’d tell him, as long as he asked in a way that made sense.”
    “Or he’s not involved.”
    “Possible.” Chuckie didn’t sound convinced either way. “However, the other six that dropped by all have significant others in class with you, don’t they?”
    “Oh, snap. Yeah, and that explains why they called me and Eugene over yesterday morning—to plant their bugs. My purse was shoved under the middle of the table, and I wasn’t paying any attention to it because I was so focused on the return-to-high school situation. So they all could and probably did drop something in.” I thought about it. “I’ll bet the seventh bug was planted by Jack Ryan. His wife works for the C.I.A.”
    “Not in my division, and her division’s not read in on American Centaurion. Which means her spying on you makes sense.”
    “So they showed up today because we’d found their bugs?” Jeff asked.
    Chuckie nodded. “Sounds right to me.”
    Jeff made a call. “Yeah, me again. Please have the agents sweep the lower floors of the Embassy for bugs. Yes, again. Trust me, they’re going to find some.” He waited a few moments. “Right. How many? Really? Great. No, not at this moment. Thank you.” He hung up, looking angry.
    “Well?” Chuckie asked.
    “More bugs planted. Ten of them, in fact.”
    “So, we’ll neutralize those and prepare ourselves for more impromptu visits. That covers the really obvious. But I haven’t been around Cantu, Armstrong, or Cartwright for them to bug me. So who does the nonmatching bug that’s only on me belong to?”
    Chuckie said. “No idea. I have another question, though. What is it everyone who