Alien in the House

could get a response. Mimi and Abby put it down to their talent loss. Serene thinks it’s because she’s not as close to ACE as the others.”
    “But you don’t think that at all.”
    “Of course not. ACE has never shown himself to be unwilling to talk to any of them. And he was talking to you well before you gained any kind of A-C talents.”
    “Yeah, he’s always there for his favorite penguins.”
    “I’m worried that our benevolent observer has left us, and if that’s the case, Earth is back to being very alone, lonely, and vulnerable.”
    “Why so? Alpha Four are our friends, and so are the rest of the planets in that system.”
    “Yes,” Chuckie said patiently, “they are. And how do we contact our friends when we need them?”
    “We ask ACE to connect us. Crap.” I felt sick to my stomach. I hadn’t worried about ACE much. I’d checked on him after we’d all survived the Dino-Bird alien invasion attempt, of course. “The last I spoke with ACE was when we were doing cleanup after Operation Destruction. He told me he was tired and needed to rest, just like the rest of us did.”
    “There’s a possibility that ACE left us in case he was going to die, so he wouldn’t destroy the Earth.”
    “There’s also a possibility that he’s so hurt that he can’t talk to us. I have no vote for which one of those ideas is worse, by the way, but thanks so much for choosing to have this conversation with me right before I have to entertain a bunch of politicians.”
    He shook his head. “We’ve become reliant on ACE. If he’s not there for us any more, we need to be prepared for it.”
    “Why are you discussing this with me and not Jeff or James or anyone else?”
    “Because Gower isn’t willing to admit that ACE isn’t chatting with him on a regular basis. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t told Reader.” Reader was not only the Head of Field, but he was Gower’s husband. “And if he hasn’t told Reader, then he hasn’t told anyone.”
    “Yeah, I can agree there.” Chuckie was the smartest person in any and all rooms, so it didn’t shock me that he’d figured out what was going on. “So, you think Paul knows, or suspects something’s wrong with ACE and is hiding it to avoid mass panic?”
    “Yes, nice of your brain to join the party.”
    “Blah, blah, blah. Does anyone else suspect?”
    “No, I don’t think so, mostly because no one else really understands how we work with ACE, and most don’t know that he exists, in that sense.”
    “What about Naomi, Abigail, and Serene?”
    “I told them I didn’t want to bother the Pontifex with my request. When they couldn’t reach ACE, I said I’d talk to Gower about it. Mimi and Abby can no longer tell if I’m lying, and Serene can only do it if she’s touching a picture of me, and I gave her no reason to race out to grab a camera.”
    “Not dissing the skills, Secret Agent Man, just checking. Have you talked to Cliff about it?”
    “Absolutely not, and you shouldn’t, either. I don’t even want you talking to your husband about this. This is the highest security issue we have right now, and it affects the entire world.”
    “Well, I can do my best to take this news to my grave, but where have you missed the fact that, since his special Surcenthumain boost, Jeff can pretty much read my mind when he wants to?”
    The door opened and Jeff came in, closed and locked the door behind him. “And I also pick up when she’s stressed, simply by being the strongest empath on the planet. Though, I get why you don’t want this spread around,” he said to Chuckie.
    “Can you feel ACE?” Chuckie asked him.
    Jeff shook his head. “No. I’ve never even thought to try before, so I wouldn’t know what ACE would feel like emotionally, even if I could access him.”
    “Can you get Gower to tell me the truth about what he knows?” Chuckie asked.
    “Possibly, but not tonight. The party has to take precedence unless you’re going to tell us to declare a state of emergency.”
    “No, I agree.” Chuckie rubbed the back of his neck. “The last thing I want is anyone actually knowing that we have no idea where ACE is, in that sense.”
    The com sprang to life. “Excuse me, Chiefs,” Walter said. “Missus Lewis asked me to remind you that it’s almost time for Jamie to have dinner.”
    “Thanks, Walt, we’ll be right there.”
    “I’ll relay, Chief.” The com went dead.
    Chuckie’s eyes were narrowed. “Think he was listening