Alien in the House

way of getting back to New Mexico quickly if necessary.”
    “I can’t wait to see a gate,” Vance said. “Do they really look like airport metal detectors?”
    Unlike the rest of us, we’d managed to keep the gates classified. There was no way Vance was cleared for that information. Then again, he hung with the Cabal, and he read Oliver’s column. Meaning Vance was likely well-informed.
    “You won’t be seeing one today,” Reader said. “You’re not authorized.”
    “He is,” Vance said, indicating Oliver.
    “Oh no, I’m not. I’ve never seen one.” Oliver smiled. “However, I was explaining something to the ambassador. Normally there are always some Congressmen who choose to live out of their offices. Not most, you understand, but a few.”
    “Like Santiago was?” Chose not to thank Oliver for the smooth conversational shift. Presumably us taking him along was thanks enough.
    “Yes. Some Congressmen see no reason to spend the money on alternate housing here, since they’re not here all that much. Some rent apartments or houses. A few stay in hotels. Normally. But these past many months haven’t been normal. There are now far more Congressmen housing in the Capitol complex than ever before.”
    “They can’t all be doing that.”
    “No,” Vance said. “Plenty have a home here, too. Nathalie and Edmund, for example, because they can afford it, easily. Eugene and Lydia have a home here, too. So do the Armstrongs. That’s one of the reasons we all know each other.”
    “What do you mean?” Jeff asked.
    “Not everyone stays here year round. Guy and I do, and so do Lillian and Abner. But most of the politicians aren’t here all the time. So, the ones whose company we enjoyed who also have homes here, we went out of our way to get to know. Soon we all started visiting back and forth.”
    “Senator McMillan has a home here, too,” Reader said.
    “He doesn’t like Guy or Lillian,” Vance said with a shrug. “So he’s not part of our group.”
    Refrained from comment about that, mostly because I didn’t like Gadoire or Joker Jaws either. Plus I wanted to ask about something else. Or rather, someone else. “You know, Vance, Jack and Pia Ryan used to be part of your group, didn’t they?”
    “Yeah. Poor Pia. She’s never really recovered. They had that huge fight and she slept somewhere else the night he killed himself.”
    Jeff nudged me and Reader gave me the “shut up” look. Not that I was going to share that Vance had this detail wrong. “Is Pia still hanging out with you guys?”
    Vance shook his head. “I think she saw Eugene a few times, but that was it. He reached out, I guess.” Vance’s eyes widened. “You think he was going to try to kill Pia next? Or that he wanted her in his harem?”
    “Anything’s possible.” What I was thinking was that I’d forgotten to share a really key piece of information with anyone else, namely that Eugene had said his “orders” had come to him via Pia. I didn’t want to share this in front of Vance, however. Time to get us off this subject. “So, MJO, all that still doesn’t explain why we’re going through so many checkpoints just to have the thrill of parking.”
    “Well, what I described is how it was in the olden days. More Congressmen lived here more of the time. Once air travel became relatively inexpensive, that changed.” He sighed. “Altered the political landscape in a way, though I’m sure most would prefer their Congressmen to be in their home states. At any rate, with the new changes brought about due to the invasion, Congress is being required to remain in session almost nonstop. So there are more people at the Capitol complex, all the time, both living here and coming here. It’s affected security, which is why we’re going through so many checkpoints.”
    All this Congress Chat had passed the time and we were finally allowed to park. Only there wasn’t a spot big enough for the limo. “We should have walked it,” Jeff said as we headed up and outside.
    “I’ll drop you and park the car,” Len said.
    “No. Take the car back to the Embassy and just meet us outside Santiago’s office.”
    “Can I go with him?” Vance asked. “So I can take the gate back, too?”
    “No. You’re supposed to be telling us about how you and Hacker International have determined that every person in the building we’re about to go into is in danger.”
    “Oh, right.” Vance slumped in his seat.
    “Keep Kyle