Alien Diplomacy

something here and no one’s what they seem to be or say they are. It means I’m right, or at least not too surprised, most of the time.”
    “Oh. Well. Yeah.” Chuckie cleared his throat. “Good viewpoint. Carry on.”
    She laughed and patted his cheek. “Same old Chuck. Thank God.”
    I was done running through options. “I know what to do.”
    “And what, exactly, is that?” Reader asked.
    I shrugged. “I’m going with what’s worked every time before.”
    White smiled at me. “The crazy, Missus Martini?”
    “You know it.”



CHAPTER 36
    “I ’M GOING TO HATE THIS, AREN’T I?” Chuckie asked.
    “Most likely.” I dug my iPod and headphones out. “James, what’s our status for a limo?”
    “Ready to send from the Dome on my order.” The Dome Gate was the main gate hub for the entire world, housed in New Mexico, on the original alien crash site. The Ancients’ ship’s fuel had an impressive afterlife, and it powered the Dome. Most large transfers, like cars, tanks, or planes, went through the Dome. But a gate was a gate, and that meant we could have a car here fast.
    “Great. Alter the order. Send a fleet of limos. Have them showing up as soon as possible. Every one needs a Field team in it, ready to defend or attack. Or possibly just drive people to their destinations.”
    “What the hell are you planning, girlfriend?”
    “I’m going to remove the innocent bystanders and divide the bad guys’ focus. Someone went to a hell of a lot of trouble to strand this airport, so let’s do our best to block their goals. Chop, chop, time’s a-wastin’. We need at least a hundred limos.” There were a lot of people in the airport. “Anyone who doesn’t get passengers needs to help create chaos for the bad guys.”
    Reader sighed as he pulled out his phone. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
    “Paul, as soon as Richard and I get rolling, I want you to use your most effective, diplomatic touch and make sure the security people share that the good folks from American Centaurion have discovered the plight of those stranded at National and are providing limos free of charge for all travelers.”
    “Why are we doing that?” Gower asked.
    “Like a good neighbor, Alpha Centauri is there, remember? Just channel it to our being Good Samaritans, and make it work. As soon as the limos show up, have the Field teams with them do the mind control stuff. I’m going to assume it won’t work on our enemies, but hope springs eternal, so tell them to give it a try anyway.”
    Gower nodded and pulled out his phone, presumably to score some Pontifex-level Field support. White had never rolled without a lot of backup; I wasn’t excited to see Gower still acting like he was the Head of Recruitment instead of the religious leader of the entire Earth A-C population. Then again, Christopher had mentioned we were all having trouble adjusting. Then also again, Gower had ACE riding shotgun in his consciousness. Which begged a question.
    Gower hung up, so I asked said beggar. “Paul, what’s ACE’s status right now?”
    “He’s uncomfortable, but hasn’t asked to talk to you. Which,” Gower added with a sigh, “usually means ACE approves of whatever it is you have planned.”
    “ACE is the best.”
    “ACE?” Caroline asked.
    “Later, Caro. Like when we’re all somewhere a lot safer than here. We’ll do the whole high-level debrief then.”
    “Kitty, your massive limo invasion might get some of the bystanders out of the way, but even if it removes all of them, we still have a world of hurt eyeballing us,” Tim pointed out.
    “Mister White and I are going to create a diversion. You all are going to ensure that Chuckie and Caroline get out of here safely. Whether that means you get into the bathroom or take one of the many limos coming, I don’t care.”
    “I care,” Chuckie said. “We want to take a gate. I’ve had enough of our people being delayed, shot at, and driven off the road.” Caroline’s eyes widened, and she looked, if possible, even more worried than she had been.
    Reader nodded. “Great, thanks Gladys.” He hung up. “Reynolds, we’re going to get a floater gate. It’ll show once Kitty rolls her diversion. Whatever it’s going to be.”
    “Kitty, I want to know what your plan is,” Chuckie said, in his “won’t take no for an answer” voice I knew so well. “And I want to know before you roll it.”
    I considered my options and tuned my iPod to my Hate This