Alien Diplomacy

him holding me.
    I buried my face in his neck, wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his shoulders, and heaved a shuddering sigh.
    “It’s okay, baby,” he said softly. “I’m here.” I whimpered, and he kissed my head. “No one’s going to yell at you, or even tease you.”
    “I’ll leave you two alone,” Christopher said.
    “Thanks. And thanks for getting them.”
    “They can’t neuter us, no matter how hard they try.”
    Jeff laughed softly. “And God knows, sometimes it feels like everyone’s trying. Tell the others what I said when I left still stands.”
    “Will do.” I felt a third hand on my back and figured it was Christopher’s. “It’s okay, Kitty. My dad will be fine; everyone elseis safe, at least currently. We’ll figure it out and fix it, just like we always do.”
    I nodded. He patted my back, then the hand left, and I heard footsteps going away from us.
    “If you want to cry, baby, we’re alone and we’ll be left alone.”
    I sort of did but sort of didn’t. I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and shook my head. “No. I’d rather not look like a red balloon for the next couple of hours.”
    Jeff chuckled. “Even when you’re crying, you’re the sexiest girl in the galaxy.”
    I snorted. “Wow, you’re a great liar, all of a sudden.”
    “Nope, it’s true.”
    I snuggled more tightly against him. “I love you.”
    “I love you, too, baby. It’ll be okay. I promise. We’ll figure out what the hell’s going on, stop it, and bring a world of hurt to our enemies. Just like always.”
    We stood there for a while. I didn’t try to figure out how long. I just let myself relax, let myself remember that nothing could hurt me when he was holding me, let my body shudder, my emotions calm, and my mind center.
    After a while, I found I was wondering if we could sneak off and have sex before we went to powwow with everyone else. Meaning I was feeling normal again.
    Jeff picked it up, of course. “As much as I love your current idea, I don’t think we can spare the time.”
    “I’d suggest a quickie, but I agree with you.” I took another deep breath and pulled my face out of his neck. “So, let’s figure out what’s going on and kick bad guy butt, so we can get back to doing the really important stuff.” Hey, I considered orgasms to be vitally important to my well-being.
    Jeff grinned and kissed me. It was strong and sensuous, and his lips and tongue owned mine, just like always. The world seemed to be shifting back where it belonged.
    He ended our kiss slowly, then let my body slide down his until I was standing. Jeff kept his arm around my shoulders and I kept mine around his waist as we walked slowly to the conference room.
    Then we walked past it. “Where are we going?”
    “We have so many people here, we’re actually meeting in the ballroom.”
    “Wow. I say again, if they really want to get rid of us, all they have to do is bomb the Embassy right now, and we’re no longer anyone’s problem.”
    I’d said this in the ballroom doorway, and apparently I wasn’t using my Inside Voice, because I was heard.
    Chuckie, in particular, had caught this, and he nodded. “I agree. Which begs an interesting question.”
    “And that is?”
    “If American Centaurion is the actual target, why aren’t we dead in a pile of rubble right now?”
    I pondered this while Jeff and I found our seats. I had no idea where we’d gotten them, but there were a lot of long tables set up in a big U formation. Almost everyone who was anyone in Centaurion Division was here, though we were missing the new parents and their nearest and dearest. My mother and Kevin Lewis were also in attendance, as were Nurse Carter and Caroline. It looked just the way our living room had yesterday—really crowded—only everyone had a seat, and we looked a lot more official. Or like we were in a Corporate America Training Session.
    “Maybe, despite all the evidence, we’re not the targets,” I offered as I dumped my purse on the floor at my feet.
    “If so, I’d like to know who is,” Chuckie said. “Desperately.”
    “I’d like to know how they were finding Kitty and my father so easily,” Christopher said. “Since all the bugs on Kitty were removed.”
    I thought about it. “Whoever’s in charge has some serious pull with the transportation in this area.”
    “So?” Christopher snapped. I saw Jeff flash him a warning look. “I mean, what does that have to do with