Alien Proliferation

Commander.”
    “Neither do aliens, if you ask the general public.” I cuddled next to Poofikins. I hated feeling helpless. But Jeff had taken my Glock away, because I always forgot to set the safety for one, and because I’d gone into one of those daydream things when I’d been putting a clip in for the other. So, no gun. Couldn’t do the most basic of kung fu moves. Couldn’t run. Could barely walk. Could cry and freak out. Not exactly “stop the psycho killer” options.
    My cell was on the nightstand. When in terror, my motto was to share the fun. And, when sharing the fun, if my husband’s unavailable, my other motto was to pick one of your best friends first. My other motto was to pick the friend who wouldn’t cause my husband to have a conniption fit.
    Dialed, got a very sleepy James Reader on the other end. “Girlfriend, what’s up and why are you calling me at this unreal time?”
    “James, um, I don’t want you to come down here.”
    “No worries, babe. I’ll just go back to sleep, okay?”
    “No, um, I’m really scared.”
    “Isn’t Jeff the one who should have to deal with your nightmares?”
    “If he were here, yeah.” I filled him in on what had transpired.
    “Gladys is on the com?”
    “Yes.”
    “But you called me.”
    “Yes.”
    “I feel special.”
    “You are.”
    “Is the knocking still going on?”
    “Yes.” I looked at the wall where the com was located. “Gladys? What’s the Security status?”
    There was no response.

 
    CHAPTER 9
     
    “J AMES? I THINK WE ARE in extreme, terrifying danger. Please activate your Poof.”
    “I wish you were kidding.”
    “I’m not, I’m really and truly not. Gladys isn’t answering on the com, and she’d left it open.”
    Reader cursed. “Okay, hang on.” I heard him waking someone else up. The someone else was Gower. “Okay, Paul’s awake. And this is fun—something’s knocking at our door, too.”
    “Don’t answer it!”
    “Yeah, clear.” He was quiet for a moment. “You think it’s a vampire?”
    “I suggested that to Gladys! She said they didn’t exist.”
    “Yeah, well, they probably don’t.”
    “I’m really beyond scared. Oh, God, what if Jeff comes back and whatever it is eats him?”
    “Hang on.” I could hear Reader telling Gower to call Jeff or Christopher. “Okay, Paul got hold of Christopher. They have your friend. She didn’t make it to the bathroom, but they got to her before the thugs after her dragged her off. But they have to get to another gate.”
    “Gladys said she called in Euro teams.”
    “Really? Trading phones, tell Paul.”
    “Kitty? This is surreal. You still okay?”
    “Yeah, just freaked. The knocking isn’t stopping. Did Christopher say there were other teams with them?”
    “No. It’s just him and Jeff with your friend.” I told him what Gladys had said. “Okay, got it, trading phones back.”
    “James? The Pontifex is in danger.”
    “Yeah, great, but we can’t leave our rooms, and Security’s been breached.”
    “Okay . . . I’ll be a big girl and call Richard.”
    “No, I want you staying on the phone with me.”
    “But I want Paul staying on with Christopher.”
    I heard Reader talking to Gower. “Okay, fixed. Jeff’s calling Richard. And . . . he’s got him. He’s in his room, he called Security first, got no response, so didn’t go to the door. He’s got the knocking, too.”
    The realization that we were all in some sort of cell phone round robin would have been funny if I weren’t scared out of my mind. The baby picked it up, of course, and she was kicking and moving like crazy. I rubbed my stomach. “It’s okay, Jamie,” I said quietly.
    “Um, Kitty? We’re not pretending to be lovers, are we?” Reader sounded confused. Jamie was the pet name Gower had for him, and I only used it if we were doing something covert to save our lives, as a clue that things were off.
    Thing was, I’d figured we were having a girl the moment Jeff started showing his worry, and Reader had become my best friend in my new life. That I was best friends with the former top international male supermodel never failed to amaze me, but we had a tremendous amount in common, however odd that seemed. Our joke was that if he were straight, we’d have gotten married and left all the alien stuff behind us.
    He’d almost died right before Jeff and I got married, had recovered miraculously, and pretty much created our dream wedding in two days, out of nothing.