Alien Proliferation

of hostages were to our left, our team was spread out to our right, Christopher in front of them.
    Jeff was ready to leap into the room, but White and I held him back. “Wait,” I whispered.
    Gaultier hadn’t spotted us. “You can’t win.”
    Christopher snorted. “And you can? By doing what, exactly? You kill her, kill any of them, and I kill you. How do you win that way?”
    Gaultier laughed. “If I die, the pen will kill them all. You want to be the one who kills all those little children?”
    “How did you turn into this?” Amy snarled. “You weren’t always like this.”
    “Sure he was,” Chuckie said. “I told you, you just didn’t want to believe it. Your mother died, and his only restraint died with her. Speaking of which, where’s the trophy wife? She in on this or sitting home thinking you’re on a business trip?”
    Gaultier smiled. “She’s perfectly safe.” He shook Amy. “She’s not against being queen of a new world. What’s wrong with you?”
    I studied the pen. “Where’s the switch, do you think?” I whispered in White’s ear.
    “I’d imagine on his person somewhere. Do you notice anything odd about him?”
    I looked carefully. “His nose isn’t broken any more.”
    White nodded. “He enhanced himself. The drug is popular.”
    “Your wife might enjoy life on a new world, but you won’t,” Christopher snarled. “It’s eating you up.”
    “What?” Gaultier laughed. “The Surcenthumain? Hardly. I feel great.”
    I knew what Christopher wanted to do, but I didn’t see a clear way for him to do it without Amy or all of Jeff’s family dying. Which meant we needed to disengage the net and create a distraction.
    Moved back a step and spoke softly. “Poofies.” Six Poofs showed up, silently, at my feet. I went down on my knees. “Can you get to Alfred’s family, Harlie? Behind the net?” No Poof mewling or purring. I took that as a “no.” Limitations to Poof talents was not the news I was hoping for.
    White stepped back and squatted down. “Can you rescue all of Alfred’s family who are held here in the net in this ballroom?” The Poofs bounced up and down, then disappeared.
    “Dude, again, you rock beyond all others.”
    Jeff pulled me and White to our feet. “What do I have to do to get that kind of hero worship from you?”
    “Tell you after I help Christopher.”
    “Me, not you.”
    “No, me. I’ll explain why later, okay?”
    Jeff opened his mouth to argue, but White put his hand on Jeff’s chest. “Please, Jeffrey. Trust us.” He looked at me. “Missus Martini, your plan?”
    “Going with the crazy again. It’s working so well for me right now.” Dug into my purse and pulled out my portable speakers. Plugged in my iPod, programmed the song, handed it to White. “He has a gun, so put this in the doorway, but be sure you and Jeff are against either wall when you turn it on.”
    White nodded. “I approve of the song choice.”
    I took my purse off and put it down and to the side. There was a door opposite us, I ran around to it. Got there in about two seconds. Hyperspeed was awesome. Christopher and Gaultier were still talking. He’d learned something from hanging out with me for the past couple of years. Keep the bad guy monologing, keep everyone alive.
    “Is it the drugs making you act like this?” Amy asked. “Or are you actually enjoying it as much as you seem to be?”
    Gaultier chuckled. “There’s nothing more enthralling than power. You used to understand that.”
    “That’s not how I was raised. You were never like this when Mother was alive.”
    “You need to stop mewling for a woman who’s been dead for years. She lacked vision, something I see you’ve inherited from her.”
    “Right now, I’m praying I’ve inherited everything from her.” I recognized the expression on Amy’s face—I’d seen it at her mother’s funeral and a few other times in our lives—she wanted to cry and was determined not to.
    “Including an early grave,” Gaultier said with a sneer.
    Hoped the Poofs were in place, because I could see Gaultier getting antsy. Had to figure he’d learned how to calibrate a gate, and I was confident there was more than one gate in the Embassy. Meaning that if he got away, we were going to have a hard time finding him, or stopping him from getting to Alpha Four.
    “What are you waiting for?” Amy said. She sounded scared, but more, she sounded angry. “Why don’t you just kill me and all the