Alien Proliferation

idea.”
    Both men were fighting, sort of. They were both holding the baby, in that sense, so she wouldn’t get hurt. They were both decent at fighting one-handed, but I had no guess as to who was who. The footsteps were louder; we were almost out of time.
    “Rick!”
    The one who was likely the real White turned toward me. Unfortunately, this gave the other one the chance to both hit him and move them around so fast that I couldn’t follow who was who when they separated. I figured we could do the name and speaking stuff, but the real White was going to be killed before I could figure it out.
    The zombie army was almost to us, and I had nothing but the crazy left. I ran toward both of them. “Poofs assemble! Save Jamie and the real Richard White.”
    Out of nowhere six large, toothy Poofs showed up. They surrounded one of them, and I tackled the other one.
    We hit the floor, hard, and he shifted. It wasn’t White, or the little dark guy playing Al Dejahl. This man was handsome—typical A-C handsome. He was older than Serene but not by too much. I saw resemblance to her and to White and realized I was finally looking at the real Ronaldo Al Dejahl. He flipped us, pinned my legs with his knees, and grinned as his hands went around my throat.
    “Maybe I’ll keep you around, have you pop out more kids. More of my kids. She’ll know me as her father and do what I say. They all will. You’ll like being the mother of the galaxy, won’t you? You don’t have to have a functioning brain to pop out the babies, did you know that? At least, not with the advances in medicine Gaultier’s made.”
    He was incredibly strong, stronger than Jeff, which was saying a lot. So much for the idea he wouldn’t take the drug until it’d been tested—I could tell he was enhanced, probably using Christopher’s method. Camilla was shouting, but I got the impression the zombies had captured her. I could hear the Poofs growling.
    “Poofs—”
    Al Dejahl tightened his hands on my throat, choking me so I couldn’t talk and could barely breathe. “No, no, no. I think we’ll leave your pets confused.”
    “Poofs, help Kitty,” White said. The growling continued, but the Poofs didn’t move.
    Al Dejahl leaned closer. “Your baby’s trying to help.” He looked over his shoulder. “Good girl, Jamie. You keep those fluffy monsters from hurting your mommy just like I told you to.” He looked back at me. “You got empathic blocks into her mind somehow, but that’s all right. It actually helps me, because she can’t feel anything. She can hear, though. She’s a good girl and does what she’s told.”
    I really wanted to kill this guy, but, enhanced or not, I was definitely losing this fight.
    “Let her go, Ronaldo. You can have me, take my place. Just let Missus Martini and the baby go free.”
    Al Dejahl laughed. “You really think I’ll take that offer, big brother? I already took your place. They all believe, even Gladys. She was hard, but even the strongest minds can be controlled.” He grinned at me. “Young minds are so impressionable. And, in the case of my soon-to-be-daughter, quite powerful.”
    Rage helped me jerk my neck out of his grasp, albeit only a little. “Loser,” I managed to gasp out. “Mind controlling a newborn is the best you can do? You couldn’t control my parents or my girls.”
    He tightened his grip again, and I went back to wondering if he was going to break my neck or just asphyxiate me. I already knew I had about five seconds left before I blacked out. “They need a little more time, I’ll give you that.” His smile went wider. “Can’t wait to see Martini’s reaction when he watches me fuck you in front of him. Right before I kill him, of course.”
    A fist slammed into Al Dejahl’s head. He let go of my throat and went flying. “Yeah? Let’s discuss that possibility.”

 
    CHAPTER 64
     
    J EFF LOOKED AT ME. “You okay, baby?”
    “Scary man attacking!” Al Dejahl lunged for Jeff.
    Jeff grinned and slammed his fist into Al Dejahl’s face. “Really? Hadn’t noticed.” He turned and gave Al Dejahl his full attention. “You think you can show up and just walk all over my people?” His roar was already past “rabid dog” and “enraged bear.” Jeff was at “lion takes over the veldt,” which meant Al Dejahl was toast. “You think you can threaten my uncle, terrorize my child, and attack my wife?”
    Al Dejahl was landing some hits, but Jeff wasn’t tied up. I