Alien Proliferation

people. But hearing what they’d done to someone I knew and liked made me want to throw up and hit something. Neither option seemed wise at the moment.
    Instead, I took a deep breath. “Let’s get through the induction ceremony and get some sleep. Then we’ll figure out where they are. I’ll want you three to tell the rest of Alpha and Airborne, as well as Chuckie, what you saw. Might figure it out that way.”
    “What’s your plan with Walter?” Jeff asked as the doors opened.
    “I want people around us we can trust.”
    “Why can we trust him?”
    “Just know we can.” Like I’d known I could trust his older brothers.
    “Great, I feel so secure.”
    The library area was packed and it sounded like people were having a wild time. I spotted a lot of guys in uniform, and not Armani fatigues. Marines in dress blues were everywhere. I noted a large number of the younger Dazzlers sidling up to quite a number of them. The Marines didn’t seem to object.
    I forced myself to focus on the party, mostly because I knew Jeff cared about this ceremony much more than he wanted to admit. Waded through the crowd. It was packed so much that Jamie got jostled quite a bit. Jeff growled, lifted me up and put me onto his shoulders. “This is different.” I had to shout. Realized if he was turned around and the baby was asleep, I wouldn’t have the slightest objection. He stroked my thighs. Boy, did we need a bed for the baby.
    Jeff carrying me like this was a huge hit. We got lots of cheers and catcalls. Jamie didn’t like the noise, but she didn’t seem too upset. Finally got to the part of the room where my and Jeff’s parents were. Most of our friends and family were close by. Everyone was staring at us, and I started to get really self-conscious.
    Reader stood up on the same platform Al Dejahl had been using. He flashed the cover-boy grin and damned if the entire room didn’t start to get quiet. There were chairs here, so Jeff lifted me off his shoulders but kept me on his lap. Christopher followed suit and pulled Amy onto his lap.
    The room had a huge screen, and it lowered as Reader spoke. “Hey there, party animals.” Everyone laughed. He had a microphone, but I did wonder if he had troubadour in him somewhere. Because it was almost impossible to look anywhere but right at him.
    “Stop lusting after James.”
    “He’s gay. Totally hot, but gay.”
    “Yeah. It’s a toss-up, whether it’s worse to have you drooling after my gay friend or my uncle.”
    “Look at it as giving me an appetite only you satiate.”
    “Huh. Nice spin. Which one of them suggested it?”
    “I came up with it on my own, used to work in marketing, remember? Now, hush, James is talking.”
    “In keeping with human traditions, we made a video about nine months ago.” Lots of cheers. “And I know the general story was that it didn’t turn out.” Some good-natured boos. “But . . . that wasn’t exactly the truth. We’ve been saving it for this important ceremony. So, everyone, let’s take a short trip back in time and see the new parents’ wedding highlights.” Reader grinned right at me. I tried to smile back. Failed.
    “Oh, goody!” Amy was serious. “I can’t wait. I’m still upset I missed it.”
    “Me too.” Christopher stroked her face and then pulled her to him. They smooched, and I decided to watch the video.
    Of course, shortly after it started, I wondered if I could pay Christopher and Amy to make out so I could watch them instead. At the start, it was fine. I got to see Jeff and his parents enter. He looked so great in his tux I forgot to worry about what was coming. I focused on not drooling on Jamie instead. I did notice that he looked nervous and uncomfortable. It wasn’t too obvious, but I did know him well.
    I also got to hear all the various blessings everyone in the wedding party other than Jeff had missed, though I noted that Reader must have had Mister Joel Oliver edit them down, because this part didn’t last as long in the video as it had in real life.
    Then we were on to everyone walking in, looking wonderful and stately. True, they were walking around for what seemed like forever, but everyone was graceful, smiling, and looking good.
    I had to hand it to Oliver’s paparazzi camera crew—they were really good. I’d never noticed them, but they’d gotten literally everything and had clearly been using several cameras. I tried not to anticipate what was coming that they’d also