Alien in the Family

unstable.”
    “Is he?” Gower asked.
    “No,” Chuckie answered. “From what I got from the Reptilians, Canus Majorians, and Feliniads, the king of Alpha Four is shrewd. He’s been in power for a long time. The Free Women’s attack was something no one seemed to have seen coming.”
    “Councillor Leonidas warned about it for years,” Alexander said. “He has never felt the PPB nets should be around any planet, Earth included.”
    “So, is he pro-Earth?” It would make him the only being in the A-C solar system who was, apparently, but it was worth a shot to ask.
    “I would call him more pro-planetary freedom. While he, like the rest of us, does not want the might of the Free Women brought down upon us, he has counseled for years that holding people prisoners in the way we have is not conducive to their becoming peaceful members of a greater solar and galactic community.”
    “Think Winston Churchill,” Chuckie said to me. “Only the A-C version.”
    “So Leonidas is a better ruler than the king, isn’t he?”
    Alexander looked uncomfortable. “Those kinds of questions are not voiced on Alpha Four.”
    “Because dissidents are eliminated with extreme prejudice,” Chuckie added. “They were actually being benign to our Earth A-Cs by sending them all here.”
    “I hate my family,” Martini grumbled. Alexander looked stricken. “Not the family here,” Martini added quickly. Alexander didn’t cheer up. “Oh, and not you. Probably not your mother, either, unless she’s just like your brother or great-uncle.”
    Alexander shook his head. “She’s more like me. My mother has been very . . . alone since our father died.” His eyes clouded. “I believe our great-uncle may have had a hand in his death, but I was only a child when it happened, and I could be mistaken.”
    “Assume you’re not,” Chuckie said briskly.
    Gower nodded. “Even without confirmation from Richard or our parents, I know the royal family was very . . . stringent . . . in how they dealt with what they considered insubordination.”
    “Wow, what a great bunch of folks they are. Let’s not plan to visit.”
    “Most of our people are like yours,” Alexander said. “They want to live their lives in peace and enjoy their loved ones and the fruits of their labor.” He sighed. “Councillor Leonidas has protected our people from my great-uncle’s whims, as much as he could, at any rate. He protects my mother, too.”
    “Leonidas actually runs the day-to-day,” Chuckie added. “Which is why he’s been able to influence the formation of a Planetary Council.”
    “You sure he’s a good guy?”
    Alexander nodded. “I believe if you knew him, you would feel he was trustworthy.”
    “So far,” Chuckie said, “Leonidas seems like the only thing that’s prevented Alpha Four from doing even more damage than they’ve already managed.” Tim was winding us through the streets of downtown Vegas, and Chuckie sighed. “We’re no closer to knowing what’s coming, let alone how to defend against it. Leonidas can be the biggest booster of Earth and planets’ rights around, but the king’s word is the law.”
    “Maybe Jeff needs to accept the kingship,” Lorraine said quietly. “That would stop all the badness, wouldn’t it?”
    “I’m not going there,” Martini growled. “I’m not going there alone, or taking everyone back with me. Alpha Four isn’t our home, Earth is.”
    “There is no one else,” Alexander said. He sounded desperate. “If not you, or one of the others here who are in the bloodline, then we lose the monarchy.”
    “Sounds like a good thing to lose. Give the idea of democracy a try.”
    “No, it won’t work that way,” Chuckie said quietly.
    Gower nodded. “The other planets may not like the control Alpha Four has, but without it, they’d all fight like . . .”
    “Like cats and dogs and dragons?”
    “Exactly.” Gower shook his head. “Alpha Four remains in power because, in reality, the other planets want them to be in control.”
    “They’d like more say in their self-determination, but I agree,” Chuckie said. “From what I got from them, what they object to is the current king’s tightening of the screws, as opposed to Alpha Four’s leadership. They’d all welcome Leonidas as leader.”
    “Which is impossible, as he is not in the bloodline,” Alexander said.
    “Could he marry in? I mean, if he’s protecting your mom already, why not?”
    Alexander looked as though