Alien in the House

layman’s terms and how they should be considered highly classified information in strictest terms. Vance was vibrating with excitement, Nathalie and Brewer looked concerned but game to try, and Rahmi and Rhee seemed relieved to see me. Pulled them aside.
    “Okay, girls, you two are visiting dignitaries. You can identify as princesses, but that’s it. No sharing what planet you’re from, who your mother is, and so on. You are coming along to be seen but not heard.” They both nodded. “Good. You’re also coming along to put that force field of yours around Jeff. Someone’s already tried to kill my husband today and I don’t want anyone else to try or, worse, succeed.”
    Rahmi nodded. “Our mother said you protected the men. We will follow your lead.”
    “But where is the Great Tito?” Rhee asked without any form of guile, as Reader took the lead and stepped through the gate.
    “Excuse me?”
    “We expected that the Great Tito would be going to protect you and your . . . husband,” Rahmi said, trying out the word as if she’d never heard it before. Maybe she hadn’t.
    “Was the Great Tito killed in battle?” Rhee asked politely, radiating sympathy.
    “Ah, no. The Great Tito is a doctor. Our doctor. On staff. He still kicks butt when needed, though.” The princesses looked shocked and sort of horrified. “He’s a great doctor.”
    “I’m sure he is.” Rahmi looked incredibly disappointed. Rhee looked as if she might burst into tears. Clearly meeting Tito had been top of their list of Awesome Things To Do On Earth.
    “He’s, ah, guarding one of our warriors who was felled in battle. You two can meet him later, when we’re back. Would you, ah, like that?”
    Both princesses brightened up immeasurably. “Oh, yes, please!” Rhee said. Rahmi nudged her, no doubt due to her excessive enthusiasm.
    “If it would please the Great Tito to meet
us
,” Rahmi said, “we would be incredibly honored.”
    “I’m sure it’ll make his day.” Tito would probably prefer that someone get him enough information to be able to cure Buchanan, but that didn’t seem diplomatic to share right now.
    Vance and the Brewers were through. We sent Rahmi, then Gower, then Rhee, so the princesses could flank him, so to speak, with stern admonitions from me that Gower was also to be protected. Chuckie was next, then Len. Jeff and I were next, with Kyle bringing up the rear.
    “Uncle Richard, alter for two, please,” Jeff said as he swung me up into his arms.
    “It’s not exactly a professional look,” Christopher shared.
    “Don’t care. I don’t want this job, my wife had to watch me be gunned down in the street in front of her, and we’re going through like this or we’re not going.”
    “What Jeff said. Double. Good luck to everyone else and please be careful. Christopher, your dad’s a better agent than you are, which is not actually an insult, so I’d listen to him while your team’s out on Assassin Patrol. Mister White, call if you need me.”
    With that I buried my face in Jeff’s neck and prepared to get sick to my stomach.



CHAPTER 66
    S INCE DAY ONE with Centaurion Division, gates had been the bane of my existence. Getting A-C powers hadn’t changed that, either. The gates could move you thousands of miles in seconds. And it felt like it.
    As Jeff stepped us through, time both sped up and slowed down, and the two met in my stomach. It was lucky that gate transfers were over fast, though they never felt fast to me, because too much time in this state meant what we’d be doing was watching me barf for real, probably on the nearest congressman.
    But the horror stopped and I pulled my head out of Jeff’s neck. We were in a bathroom. Always the way.
    “Seriously, we got let out in a bathroom? Here?”
    “Easier to explain,” Jeff said as he put me down and we walked out of the stall. Len was still here, waiting, and Kyle came out right after us.
    “We’re going to be explaining why I had a foursome with all of you in here, that’s what we’re going to be explaining.”
    Luck was on our side, and the rest of our group had congregated near enough that they were blocking the bathroom door from view. I credited Reader with that move.
    “That was interesting,” Brewer said. “We have about three minutes to get to the floor of the House.”
    “Do we all go?” I asked as we all scurried off, Brewer in the lead. I wasn’t sure at this point.
    “You do, for certain. I’d assume your