Alien Proliferation

it’s nineteen-ninety-nine, but they’re here. And Walter’s on duty.”
    “That kid needs to come over to the party. Talk about tightly wound.”
    “This coming from you?”
    “I’m not now, nor have I ever been, tightly wound.” This was true, I had to admit.
    “Yeah, but you’re Mister On Duty.”
    “It’s New Year’s Eve, and we’ve taken care of the threats. Sure, it’s a perfect time for the last ditch attempt at a successful end to the elaborate ruse and plans of world domination, and yeah, okay, the Queen’s out and potentially doing something we won’t like. And, yes, the King may be captured, but in our brand of chess, he’s still alive, so that means we haven’t won. But we can’t find her. I already have every agent searching for her. Wherever LaRue Demorte Gaultier’s gone, it’s not out in the open.”
    “You know, it’s no wonder she’s screwed up, being named The Street of Death.”
    “You sure you can trust the agents you sent, Reynolds? I mean, it was pretty clear you’re unpopular.” Jeff didn’t sound like he was trying to start a fight; he sounded worried.
    Chuckie shrugged. “I think the Poofs ate all the problems. But who knows? I don’t.” He didn’t sound right. “I have the files we took from the lab, copied and in various secured locations. I’ll get to them later and hopefully figure out what else we’ve missed, or at least who was knowingly involved, as well as who else in the C.I.A. wants to get rid of me.” The words were sensible, but the way he said them made it sound like he wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying.
    “Chuckie, are you okay?”
    He gave me a long look. “As okay as you are, I’d guess.”
    “Oh. Yeah.” I realized he wanted to stop talking about real life and all the things trying to destroy us and just go to the party to avoid thinking about what we’d seen in the Lab of Horror.
    White cocked his head. “Perhaps you should join us.”
    I heaved a sigh. “No. Jamie really doesn’t want to go.” I didn’t either, for a variety of reasons.
    “Well, if you change your minds, come on over. I’m sure you guys will be allowed to drop in on the singles and wild oldsters floor.” Naomi grinned. “We’ll vouch for you, anyway.”
    I laughed. “Thanks, you’re the best.”
    The four of them finished up, Tito joined them, and they all left for Dulce.
    “Entertainment level?” Jeff asked. He didn’t sound like he was interested, he sounded like he was worried about me.
    “I just don’t want to go to the party.”
    “I know. Totally out of character, but understandable.” We went into the elevator, but since Jamie was with us, Jeff just put his arm around me and held me close. “So, you really feel I’m the pick of the litter, huh?”
    “Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?”
    “You checked out every naked replicant in that lab.”
    “Well, they were all naked. And it was a shock. Besides, I needed to see how well made they were. Not my fault they appeared anatomically correct.”
    “Just your fault that you did a detailed visual check. And then complained that you couldn’t see my uncle naked.”
    “Hey, every one of them’s seen my crotch, most of them during the most unattractive time to see my crotch. I think it was only fair, turnabout and all that jazz. They stared at me when I didn’t know; I stared at them when they didn’t know. See? Totally fair.”
    Jeff laughed. “And here I was worried for a minute there.”
    “You’re always worried. Jealousy is your watchword.”
    “True.” Reached our floor, went into our rooms. Jeff hypersped through and verified all was well, just in case. Then we went to the living room, turned on the fireplace, and cuddled onto the sofa together, Jamie still snuggled in her Snugli, one little hand on each torpedo, presumably to keep the food nice and accessible.
    I leaned my head against Jeff’s shoulder. “Why did they clear out all their belongings?”
    He kissed my head. “You know, you’re allowed to take the night off, baby.”
    “She won’t. She has to get to Al Dejahl. Or destroy all of us. Or both. So she’s not taking a break.”
    “Okay. No idea why nothing’s here.”
    I stared at the flames. “They had the place rigged to go up, so maybe they moved all their things so that, should they blow the place, they’d still have their belongings.”
    Jeff nuzzled my head. “Maybe the building was supposed to go up, no matter what, not just