Alien in the House

it been to hide them . . . or to protect them?
    There was, as always, only one way to find out.
    But there were people waiting for me, and Vance had a theory he wanted to put forward which I wanted to hear. No worries. I was the co-ambassador, and it was time to Delegate Some Authority.
    “Ravi, work with Serene to see what, if anything, you guys can get that we can track on. Omega Red, you keep on tracking and give us everything you can on this division of Gaultier Enterprises and anything related to it. Big George, help Omega Red and see if you can determine any conspiracy theories related to Gaultier and Titan Security, too. There’ll be a lot, look for theories I’d believe.”
    “What about me and Doctor Wu?” Stryker asked.
    “I want the two of you looking for coded messages talking about anything odd or out of the ordinary for coded messages.”
    “Kitty, if a message is coded, it’s going to be out of the ordinary,” Henry said.
    “Do you want me to start calling you Doctor Won’t? Or worse, Doctor No?”
    “No, that’s the worst James Bond movie ever made,” Henry muttered.
    “Exactly. Positive damn mental attitude, dudes. This is why you live here now—find the ones that are
really
out of the ordinary.”
    Stryker sighed. “You know you can’t reason with her when she’s in this mood.”
    “Stryker, I have no problem hurting you.”
    “Yeah, yeah, I know. We’ll scan the cosmos for the weirder than normal. We even have an official name for the level you’re looking for—Kitty Weird.”
    “Raj, make a note on my calendar that, when this is all over, I need to really cause Stryker some pain. Jennifer, ensure that we’re getting whatever cooperation we need from Dulce and advise me if you think anything seems even a little off anywhere or with anything the guys find. Raj, Camilla, you two come with me.”
    We trotted out of the room and down one flight of stairs. “Raj, I want you handling everyone here. They’re going to want to be given an assignment. Have them help you research what happened to Raul the Assassin. I don’t have a last name, but Len and Kyle were the reason he was arrested, so they probably know where to start. We want to track anything and everything he’s done, particularly since he was arrested.”
    Raj nodded. “Anything else?”
    “Yeah. Listen to what Olga has to say, or insinuates, with incredible attention. Coordinate whatever else is going on in the Embassy, and be sure that people keep me advised. If Camilla or I fall off the Dulce radar, Alpha Team needs to be advised immediately. Tell the boys that I’ll have backup and I want them staying with you.”
    Raj went onto the floor and Camilla and I headed downstairs. “What are you planning?” she asked as we reached the third floor.
    Looked through the stairway door’s little window before opening it or answering. The Cabal was still here, clustered around Lydia. It was official—she was acting Kitty Weird. “Have a question for you.”
    “Okay.”
    “Are you married?”
    “No. How is that relevant to anything?”
    “Helps me determine how to phrase the relevant question. If Jeff were murdered, even if I was furious with him for cheating on and humiliating me, would you think I’d be hanging out or do you think I’d demand to go with his body?”
    “Jeff’s never going to cheat on you.”
    “Work with me on this one, will you?”
    She peered through the window with me. “You’re wondering what the hell game Senator Montgomery is playing, aren’t you?”
    “Yes, I am. She rubs Vance the wrong way.”
    “The pathetic momma’s boy?”
    “I think he may be less pathetic than we think.”
    “If you say so.”
    “Look, I don’t want to go back in there, because if I do, power in the room shifts.”
    “Well, look at you, actually paying attention.” Camilla’s sarcasm knob went well past eleven. “But you’re right. You want me in here, figuring out what’s going on with a whole bunch of people who should be a hell of a lot more upset than they are, right?”
    “Right. They’ll do things around you they won’t around me. But, I also need you to get Vance to meet me here, without having everyone else notice.”
    “Consider it done. Figure it’ll take a little time, though, both to get the message to Vance in a natural way the others don’t notice as well as to get the others to join me into their conversation, their real conversation, not the one they’d be having if