Alien Diplomacy

and leaned down. “She’s jealous,” he whispered in my ear.
    My mother was indeed in the room, as were many others, so I did my best to focus and not start rubbing up against him. “Why? What’d I do this time?” I whispered.
    Jeff chuckled. “You didn’t do anything. And she’s not jealous of you so much as she’s jealous of Caroline’s relationship with you and with Reynolds.”
    “Amy still hates Chuckie. Why would she care that Caro likes him?”
    He sighed. “It’s complicated, but I think it’s because Caroline actually thinks as highly of Reynolds as you do, and he clearly likesher, and he’s just as clearly never liked Amy. The three of you are all friends, college friends, with a very different history and dynamic than she has with you, or Reynolds, for that matter.”
    “Well, Amy could take a clue on that, you know.”
    “Let’s adjourn this meeting of the Reynolds Fan Club before it really gets going, okay? Just telling you so you’ll understand if Amy’s acting strangely toward you or Caroline.”
    “Is Caro jealous?”
    “No. She’s worried, tired, stressed, angry, confused, and relieved that you, Reynolds, and your mother are here. And she’s definitely interested in Michael.” He sounded a little worried when he mentioned the Michael interest. “But she’s not jealous.”
    “Don’t worry. Caro can handle a player. She’s not really into the idea of finding Mister Right and settling down. She’s not against it, but it’s not something she’s concerned about. Her motto’s always been, when it happens, it’ll happen.”
    “Huh. Kind of like yours.”
    “I suppose.” I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I just hope she finds someone as wonderful as I did.”
    Jeff smiled and looked extremely pleased. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything we were interrupted by a really loud sound.
    It was a sound I was somewhat familiar with, even though I’d never heard it in an A-C facility before—the sound of a fire alarm.



CHAPTER 46
    J EFF STOOD UP. “EVERYONE, evacuation procedures!”
    We had evacuation procedures? Apparently we did, since everyone other than me and Caroline seemed to know what was going on, and everyone including Caroline leaped up in what seemed like an orderly fashion. A-Cs grabbed the humans near them, and everyone headed toward the exits.
    Jeff took my hand; I grabbed my purse and stood up. We took a couple of steps, but something was bothering me. I pulled my hand out of his. I sniffed. I smelled no smoke. I listened. I heard no crackling between the blares of the alarms. I looked around, saw no smoke.
    “Why are you suddenly not willing to hold my hand?” Jeff asked.
    I shook my head. “I don’t smell smoke. We’re in the middle of some kind of operation. I don’t like the coincidence.”
    “There was a gas leak earlier,” Jeff reminded me.
    “Yeah.” The alarms were still clamoring, so I didn’t figure I could hear Walter through the intercom. I took Jeff’s hand, but this time I dragged him along as I ran for the stairs. We headed up to the third floor and Walter’s rooms.
    I breathed a sigh of relief—he was still in there. “Chiefs, shouldn’t you be evacuating?”
    “Maybe. Walt, did you trigger the fire alarm?”
    He gave me the “you so crazy” look. “No, Chief. The alarms go off automatically.”
    “But there’s no smoke, no smell of smoke, all our food was prepared in Dulce, and I wasn’t cooking, so I doubt someone forgot to turn the stoves off.”
    Walter looked doubtful, but Jeff was listening. “Walter, turn off the alarms, please.” He did so, and Jeff listened more closely. “I don’t hear anything out of the ordinary.”
    “Not all fires will show immediately to our senses, Chiefs,” Walter said. “Besides, it could be in the basement or one of the top floors. I don’t think it’s good for you two to be at risk.”
    “You weren’t exactly running off,” I pointed out.
    “No, but my job is to be the last man to leave, in the case of any emergencies.”
    “Let’s get out of here and figure it out once we’re sure the building is secure,” Jeff said.
    “No. Something’s wrong with all of this.”
    Jeff gave me a long look. “Feminine intuition?”
    “I think so. I mean, there’s been a lot of extra ‘just one of those things’ going on, like roadwork and a gas leak scare. Suddenly out of nowhere we have fire alarms going off? When we’re in what would have to be the