Alien Diplomacy

and join the party.
    “Boys, don’t start.”
    Jeff shook his head. “I hate saying it, but Reynolds is right. And, frankly, I should have run that decision by James and Tim—and you,” he added to Chuckie. “So, this one’s my screw-up. Walter, turn all the video feeds for all the public areas back on, please.”
    While Walter quickly complied, I stared at the pictures our doorway cameras had caught. “Those guys aren’t Peter the Dingo Dog or Surly Vic. But they look familiar.” I considered. “Can someone get everyone else back inside, and get Len, Kyle, and Mister Joel Oliver in here, please?”
    “I’ll get them,” Jeff said. “You two check out and dismantle those bugs,” he added to Chuckie and Christopher.
    The three of them trotted off. “I’m sorry about the bugs, Chief,” Walter said quietly.
    “Walt, they didn’t get to do whatever else they’d planned only because you refused to leave this Embassy unattended. I’m not joking, you’re the only one of us who’s actually doing a good job.”
    He perked up a little. “Thanks, Chief. You’re not doing as badly as you think you are, you know.”
    “Ha. I’m betting I’m doing worse than I think I am. But you know, we do persevere, right?”
    “That’s the spirit,” Oliver said as he and the boys joined us. “I’ll be happy to give you some pointers about how to survive in this town.”
    “Later. I’ll take your course. It can’t be worse than The Washington Wife class.”
    “How is Darcy?”
    I looked at him. He looked sincerely interested. “You’re kidding me. You know her?”
    “Quite well.” Oliver shot me a small smile. “I imagine you’re driving her crazy. Carry on; it’s good for her. Now, what did you need from me and the young gentlemen?”
    Kyle pointed at the screen. “Those guys look familiar. But I don’t know why.”
    “I do,” Len said. “They were driving the cabs that were after us yesterday.”



CHAPTER 48
    “Y EAH, THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT. But they’re not wearing their fake beards.”
    “Too obvious for the situation,” Oliver said.
    “True, they were pretty lame.”
    “But I agree,” Oliver went on. “That one was the one who spoke to you.” He pointed at one of the men on the video.
    “He was the one in charge,” Walter confirmed.
    “Do the videos capture sound, too?”
    Walter shook his head. “There’s too much interference under most circumstances. We need different cameras installed if we want to capture sound, too. At least sound we can distinguish as more than a cacophony.”
    “Great. Well, at least we have something, and faces are probably more important than voices right now. Let’s blow these up and get Mom’s and Chuckie’s people on the whole recognition database thingies.” I looked at the images as Walter did the picture captures and size increases. “These guys don’t look anything like the Dingo Dog or Surly Vic.”
    “We know they’re not the same people,” Kyle said patiently.
    “No, I mean they don’t look like they come from the same part of the world. Can someone get Nurse Carter in here?”
    I heard a sigh behind me and turned just in time to see Jeff zip off. He was back momentarily, Nurse Carter in tow. She gagged a little from the hyperspeed and was then positioned in front of the monitors. We were back to Night at the Opera status. I took heart—the last time we’d had a ton of our own people shoved into a smaller room, we’d figured out what was going on.
    I gave her the fast high-level “we’ve been infiltrated and are being bugged downstairs” recap. “So, we’re hoping you can identify our intruders.”
    Nurse Carter stared at the pictures. “I don’t know them,” she said finally.
    So much for that idea—even the Marx Brothers were letting the team down. I tried another guess. “Do you think they could be your countrymen?”
    She nodded slowly. “It’s possible.”
    “How probable?” Chuckie asked as he and Christopher shoved into the room.
    “I’m really not sure.” Nurse Carter shook her head. “I’m sorry.” She turned around. “So, what are you going to do with me?”
    “Keep you here, with us, under guard,” Chuckie answered without missing a beat. Jeff and Christopher both nodded.
    Either Nurse Carter was already aware that if the three of them were in agreement, arguing was fruitless or she didn’t mind sticking around. “Good. I would prefer to be here, I think.”
    “Why so?”
    She smiled at