Alien Diplomacy

for. I called her while Michael called Reader to find out where Alpha Team was.
    “Caro, you okay?”
    “Yeah, Kit-Kat, I am. Right now. But, I think there are men watching me.”
    “Fabulous. Where are you at?”
    “Main Security desk for Terminal B. Feeling naked, exposed, and freaked out.”
    “I always knew you were smart.” I thought about it. “You’re not at Baggage Claim?”
    “No, they’re moving everyone up once they get their luggage, since there’s absolutely no ground transportation coming into National right now.”
    I gave Chuckie and Michael Caroline’s location; Michael passed it along while Chuckie headed us for the right area.
    As we trotted along I hooked my purse over my neck and then took a good look around. No police. At all. Not that I expected a ton of cops in the airport, but if National was cut off, an officer of the law or two hanging around wouldn’t be a shocker, if only to ensure no one panicked or to control panic should it start.
    While there were no cops, there were absolutely a lot of men around who didn’t seem to have any luggage. I could see the little plastic earphones so popular with the Matrix movies and covert operatives.
    “Chuckie, are any of these your guys by any chance?”
    “No. Figure they look at me as a roadblock or an adversary, not an ally.”
    “So it’s business as usual.”
    “Pretty much. Where the hell is Alpha Team?”
    “Meeting us,” Michael said.
    Airborne apparently wasn’t coming, which made sense since half of the team were new parents and the other half were busy being new uncles. Besides, none of them were A-Cs, and under the circumstances, A-Cs and their hyperspeed were what I wanted.
    Serene hadn’t been allowed to make an appearance at any active scenes for a few weeks now. It dawned on me that this meant that Alpha Team, therefore, consisted of Reader, Tim, and, since I was here, me. Meaning we had only two people with A-C talents with us, and only one of us was going to be able to ensure that we escaped, as opposed to slammed into walls.
    We spotted Caroline before I could share this aloud. She, like the majority of my sorority sisters, was small, fair, and pretty. I could see how someone who didn’t really know us could potentially mistake us for sisters, though it was a stretch.
    She had a rolling bag, a duffel, and a backpack, and she looked worried and exhausted. Not good. She was actively chatting with the people behind the security counter, which was smart. She saw me and Chuckie, and her expression went to relief.
    I ran to her and gave her a hug. “You okay?”
    “Yeah. Really freaked out. Security says there are no limos or taxis they can reach.”
    “That means there are more innocent bystanders around for us to be distracted trying to protect,” Chuckie said quietly as he joined us and gave Caroline a hug.
    “Chuck, God, am I glad to see you and Kit-Kat. What the hell’s going on?”
    “Tell you later. Kitty, what’s your plan?”
    Caroline stared at him. “Kit-Kat’s in charge?”
    “More often than anyone likes,” he said with a grin. “We’ll brief you later. Kitty?”
    I grabbed Michael. “Michael Gower, Caroline Chase. Michael, Caroline’s your responsibility. If you have to, you leave us to get her back to the Embassy safely.”
    “Got it.” Michael gave Caroline his wide, “you so hot, babe” smile that he gave to every female between 18 and 110. “Nice to meet you.”
    “At least I’ll die happy,” Caroline said with a laugh as Michael slung her duffel over his shoulder, took her rolling bag in one hand, and her hand in his other.
    “Stay with us as long as you can.” I looked around and finally spotted Reader and Tim. They weren’t alone. Gower was with them, and so was White. “Awesome, my partner’s here!” I shook my head as they reached us. “Paul, you shouldn’t be out here.”
    He shrugged. “The Pontifex is part of Alpha Team.”
    “No argument, I’m glad you’re here, even though it puts you in danger.” I was. The number of A-Cs had increased to a more acceptable ratio.
    “Where is Jeffrey?” White asked.
    “Handling another part of this fun operation. Where’s Christopher?” I was sort of surprised he hadn’t found a way to come along somehow.
    “He’s handling things at the Embassy,” White said.
    “There are things to handle?”
    White nodded. “Sadly, yes. We’ll fill you in once we’re all back together.” He gave me a small smile.