Alien in the House

of the fun. This was true. Then again, I had no idea what fun we were going to be having, let alone how much Vance was going to be willing to say in front of White and the girls. “I’ll let Jeff and James give you the news themselves. Why spoil their big reveal?”
    “Because that’s your typical move?” Jerry asked.
    “And here you used to be my favorite.”
    The guys all chuckled and some of the Dazzlers started up the stairs, and the rest of the team clustered around the stairwell to follow suit. As my smaller team gathered together, Tito came over, too. “You taking this civilian along?” he asked without preamble.
    “Yes.”
    Tito nodded and pulled something out of his medical bag. “Take this,” he said, handing a pill to Vance. “You’ll thank me later.”
    “What is it?” Vance asked suspiciously. “Someone was poisoned earlier tonight.”
    “Not by me. It’s a medicine you’ll appreciate.” Meaning it was Tito’s specialized Hyperspeed Dramamine pill. Chuckie, Reader, Tim, and the flyboys now took this every day, too, because every human who worked with A-Cs appreciated being able to go fast without having to barf their guts out afterward.
    “Take it,” I told him. It would be nice to be able go to hyperspeed without worrying about Vance’s physical reaction to it.
    “Kitty takes one every day,” Tito said reassuringly as I nodded cheerfully.
    This was a flat-out lie, but I appreciated it, because Tito had just covered the fact that I wouldn’t be bothered by hyperspeeding. He’d also reminded me to ensure I had a hold of one of the A-Cs if we needed to run.
    Vance grumbled, but he took the pill as requested.
    Good doctorly duty done, Tito followed the others up the stairs.
    “So, what’s going on?” Lorraine asked.
    “Lots. More than lots. We have people dead, people missing, new assignments, political maneuvering, and more. It’s been a great day. But first, let me mention to my man, Vance, here, that whatever you wanted to tell me you can tell Richard, Lorraine, and Claudia as well.”
    He looked uncertain. Well, he looked like he wanted to suggest a five-some immediately, but right after that he looked uncertain.
    “Before we get into whatever the next stage of our fun and frolic is going to be, Missus Martini, could you share with us what the ‘big reveal’ is?”
    “Oh, yes, yes I can.” Considered how to broach the night’s position changes and decided straightforward was the way to go. “Jeff’s been appointed to fill the Congressional seat that was just vacated by Eugene’s murder of Santiago, and I’m now the sole Chief of Mission.”
    Claudia and Lorraine both laughed. Loudly. “No, seriously, Kitty, what’s going on?” Claudia asked.
    “Sadly, exactly what I said. Along with our usual myriad deadly schemes focused against us.”
    “There’s a bigger scheme that I don’t think anyone’s noticed yet, other than me,” Vance said. “But Kitty’s not joking. The President made the request, as did the governor of New Mexico. The move is effective tonight.”
    Lorraine and Claudia gaped at us. “You cannot be serious,” Lorraine said finally.
    “I’d assume they’re very serious, young ladies,” White said. “I can’t think of a better choice than Jeffrey, to be honest.”
    “Richard, would you like to take over as Chief of Mission?”
    “Absolutely not. I’m retired from public service. However, your friend here had something to tell us. It’s nice to see you again, young man. During our first meeting you ran away.”
    “We were being shot at,” Vance said flatly.
    “True enough,” White said pleasantly. “You ran away screaming, as I recall. Difficult to say a proper good-bye when that happens.”
    “Yeah, yeah, and then the next time I saw you was at the President’s Ball where you shared that you and the rest of your mission were sleeping with Kitty. I get it, we’re not exactly ‘close.’” Vance looked at me. “Do I have to spend the rest of the night saying I’m sorry or what?”
    “No, you’re good to go. But we need to do double duty. Amy and Caroline have disappeared. Richard, I think they saw my uncle.”
    “Ah. That could be awkward,” he said. I saw the realization of who we were talking about light in the girls’ eyes. I loved working with Dazzlers.
    “Yes. So we’re going to be looking for them while Vance tells us about whatever connections he’s made that have him worried.”
    “Very worried,”