Alien in the Family

we’ll just kill you. So, you know, we win either way.”

CHAPTER 31

    THEY DIDN’T ANSWER. But I was thinking. I’d had to do a lot of thinking like this over the past year, and it was starting to come naturally to me. Being human and not an A-C, I liked to do my thinking aloud and share the fun and deepness that was me with everyone within earshot.
    “Since we have two males somewhere in the royal line standing in front of us, it can’t be that they’ve run out of potential king options. We also have what I assume are hot Poofs, because if they’re that rare, then they’re valuable, and we have seven of them.”
    “Works for me,” Chuckie said. He was still examining the living solar system in front of us.
    “What do you mean about the Poofs being hot?” Alexander asked.
    “Hot, stolen, removed from their owner’s possession without said owner’s consent, lifted, shifted, grabbed and bagged.”
    “Oh. We didn’t steal them.” He was telling the truth, from what I could tell. “They were given to us. But . . .”
    “But?”
    “Amazing.” Chuckie looked over at Martini. “I heard about the first one. It bonded to you, didn’t it?”
    Martini shrugged. “I guess.”
    “No, Harlie did, Jeff. Harlie likes Jeff, right?” The Poof started to purr up a storm. All of them joined in.
    Alexander nodded. “They didn’t bond to me or Gregory. That’s why we knew—” He stopped himself.
    The light dawned. “That’s why you knew you had to come and find someone they would bond with? Because they’re a part of the succession process?”
    “Yeah.” Alexander looked down.
    “Shut up,” Gregory hissed.
    “Oh, Greg, stop it.” I went back near them. “There’s a reason Moira and her mate are here, isn’t there? A reason you know about. All of you.” He wouldn’t look at me. I dropped my voice. “If anything happens to Jeff or Christopher, I’ll hurt you in ways you’ve never imagined. I’ll make it last for what will seem like forever. I’m a human, you know I can do it.”
    He looked right at me. “I know you won’t. He might,” he nodded toward Chuckie. “But not you.” He swallowed. “We’ve been watching you, all of you.”
    I kept my eyes on Gregory’s face. “Queen Renata, Moira and her mate, and however many of your other dissidents, you arrested them, didn’t you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Because they were planning to kill the king of Alpha Four, correct?” Gregory drew in his breath.
    “Yes.”
    “But the sentient net let them out, didn’t it?”
    “Yes.”
    “Is the king dead?”
    “He lives, but just barely.”
    “And Moira and her mate escaped, with the help of the sentient net, and made it here. I’ll bet they used the gate that sent my A-Cs here all those years ago. It’s locked to us, but not to the home planet.”
    “Yes,” Renata confirmed. “As far as we can determine.”
    “Greg? Why is the Queen of the Amazonian Nutcases the only one willing to tell me the truth?” He swallowed but didn’t reply. “No worries. I know why. Because, unlike you, she’s not a gutless coward.”
    I spun around and walked over to the door. “Let’s get out of this room, Chuckie and Poofs.” It was that or I was going to try to kill them. The door was opened, and we all exited. The delegates stood there, still in solar system formation. “Take a look, folks. You’re never going to see a better collection of cowardice and guilt anywhere.” I was so angry I was shaking.
    Martini came over and pulled my back against his chest. “Okay, I can already tell I’m going to hate it. What’s going on?” The Poofs went back to tiny. They all crawled up and onto my shoulders, though Harlie went onto Martini’s.
    “Want me to do it?” Chuckie asked softly.
    “Yeah.” I had to keep my teeth clenched. Martini gently moved some Poofs and started rubbing my neck.
    “We’re looking at a bid for power gone wrong.” Chuckie leaned against the glass. Like Martini, he made this look comfortable. “White’s cousins presumably expected to advance to the throne. Martini, however, has a more direct claim to it. He also chose a bride.”
    “Setting off the Alpha Four Alert System,” I added.
    “Right. Meaning that the most direct male descendant was going to get married and presumably start having some babies. Which would strengthen that line even more.”
    “I don’t want to go back there, so why does it matter?” Martini asked.
    “Old men get funny notions.” I