Alien Proliferation

from falling off when the train curved, and I only missed one jump. White was, fortunately, right behind me, so he hit me in the air and we both hit the top of the next car. Rolled to the side, but I managed to grab the air filtration unit on the top, and he grabbed my purse before he went over the side. I was definitely stronger than normal, because I pulled him back to me without any issue.
    “Are we there yet, Missus Martini?”
    “I think so.” There were only two cars left, the one we were on and one in front of it. Stayed on our stomachs and scooted to the back of this car. Thankfully, there were railings to hold onto between the car connections. Unhappily, there were no ladders. It so totally figured I didn’t even bother to complain about it.
    Grabbed a railing, did a sort of flip and landed on the platform. The door was locked. I looked through the little window—yep, luggage. Did a Jeff and wrenched the door open. Was so impressed with myself.
    “Missus Martini, could you go inside so I could get off the roof?”
    “Oh, sure, sorry.” Trotted in. White joined me. “Look for a Paul-sized box.”
    “You take the front, I’ll take the back.”
    “Works for me.” I ran to the front. “There’s no door leading to the next car.”
    “I anticipate another roof frolic with great joy, Missus Martini.”
    “Yeah, I’m not seeing anything big enough either.” White was picking things up and putting them back. I was ransacking. Whatever worked. There was nothing in here that was big enough.
    We met in the middle. “Next car, Missus Martini?”
    Had a thought and slammed my foot on the floor. It made a funny sound. “Hidden compartments.”
    We bent down and ripped the carpet up. Superstrength was awesome. Found the hatch, White ripped it up. I got in. “Wow, absolutely nothing in here.”
    “Good practice for your new career in destruction, I’m sure.”
    “Ha ha, funny. Let’s get to the other car.”
    Raced out, stood there trying to figure out how to get onto the roof. White picked me up and lifted me over his head. Okay, that way worked. Had to duck because of another stupid bridge.
    “Can you scream a bit less loudly?”
    “No, not that I’ve ever noticed.”
    “Yes, true. You know, babies can be awakened by loud noises.”
    Crawled onto the roof, stayed on my stomach, put the hand down, pulled White up. “You know, we live in the Lair. Unless you’re all listening in on the intercom, I can’t believe our sex life is disturbing anyone anymore.”
    “Just mentioning it, parent to parent. Shall we?” Checked for bridges, cursed, ducked, got up, ran, hurdled, didn’t miss or fall this time. Turned around to see White lower himself from the other end of the last car. Show off. He’d already ripped the door open and was inside by the time I got down.
    I was really surprised, but there were no goons in here waiting to attack us. Just a lot of big boxes. “Great.”
    White slammed his foot on the floor. It sounded like the other car had. “Let’s err on the side of overly suspicious.”
    We ripped the floor up. There was one big box in this secret compartment. “You a betting man, Mister White?”
    “No. I assume it’s rigged?”
    “I’d think so.” I had no experience with how to defuse a bomb or a booby trap. “You see anything?”
    “Not that I can spot.”
    I pulled out my phone. “Mom, need help with what could be a bomb.”
    “Nice to hear you’re still alive for the moment. What’s the target?” Brought her up to speed with what it looked like. “Have Richard check the other boxes, just in case. This could be the decoy.”
    “Good point.” Told White, and he started opening things at hyperspeed. Come to think of it, we’d been doing everything at what I’d call slow hyperspeed. I hadn’t noticed. At all. “So, what do I do?”
    “Look around the box. You’re looking for anything unusual or that seems wrong.”
    Climbed down into the hatch. It was pretty cramped with the big box in it. “It’s metal, that’s all I’ve got.” Mom cursed. “Hey, not in front of Jamie!”
    “Serene has her.”
    “Tell her to ask Jamie if there’s something that’s set to hurt her Uncle Paul and fairy godfather ACE. Use those words.”
    Mom sighed, but relayed my request to Serene. I heard voices. “Huh. Well, if we’re to trust that your child is now the all-seeing one, there’s a gas that will release when you unlock the box. It’s deadly, of