Alien Proliferation

couple of dream-memory readers, again, about average since that’s the most uncommon talent, even though it’s not male-specific. All of them were in active service. The imageers and empaths all died dealing with superbeings.”
    “Which isn’t necessarily suspicious,” Chuckie offered.
    “True, it’s not. The troubadours were a variety—accidents of some kind, usually automotive, superbeings, a couple from household accidents. Same with the dream-readers, other than our last one, who was our suicide.”
    “So, did they all know who was on the grassy knoll?”
    “I’d assume it’s more that they were being wiped out to prevent additional expansion of the species.” Chuckie looked at Jamie. “I don’t want her out of sight of at least two members of Alpha Team at any time.”
    “I agree.” Jeff didn’t even complain about agreeing with Chuckie. I didn’t know whether to be happy or afraid. Settled for both.
    “Here’s the thing, though. None of the males showed anything different. Why wipe them out? I mean, I know for a fact that Yates and Mephistopheles both wanted to keep Jeff and Christopher from reproducing. But the Gowers were never mentioned. I don’t think Yates even knew Serene existed.”
    Chuckie sat up straight. “No one knows who her father is?”
    “No, only that he was human. Her mother died when she was a little girl; she was raised by cousins. Brian’s met them—they didn’t seem very invested in her, not the way Alfred and Lucinda are with Christopher, or Richard is with Jeff.”
    “Because Serene was born out of wedlock.” Reader didn’t make this sound like a supposition.
    “You know this how?”
    He snorted. “Girlfriend, they’re all about playing the field and finding your ultimate love connection, I’ll give you that. But be really thankful you got pregnant on your honeymoon. Their views about unwed parents make the Puritans look loose. Both parents, by the way, not just the mother.”
    I looked at Jeff. He shrugged. “Wasn’t an issue.” I managed not to say that it almost had been—I’d gotten pregnant a few days before our honeymoon, and if we’d been on schedule, we’d have been married after I was already six to seven weeks pregnant. He shook his head. “Get pregnant, get married, all is forgiven, never discussed, really. Just the kids making really sure. Get pregnant, say you don’t want to get married? Then it would be a problem.”
    “Jesus, so you were banging Kitty when interspecies marriage wasn’t allowed while at the same time unwed pregnancy would equal complete banishment, and you somehow think it’s okay because your timing worked out?” Chuckie sounded just this side of enraged again. I hated to admit that I sort of shared his opinion.
    Jeff’s eyes narrowed. “From the moment I met her I wanted to marry her. It’s not any of your damn business, but I was perfectly willing to be excommunicated, to use a human term, if we weren’t allowed to get married.”
    Reader cleared his throat. “Guys, please. I don’t want Kitty to have to flash the maternity rack—unless I have time to call the rest of Alpha and Airborne down to witness it. Let’s get back to the matter at hand. What about Serene made you sit up and take notice, Reynolds? Haven’t seen you that perky since we found Kitty’s wedding dress.”
    Chuckie grinned. “Great dress.”
    “Yeah, my wife looked wonderful in it.”
    “Jeff!”
    “He started it.”
    Chuckie shook his head. “I’ll be the bigger boy and finish it. Simple question—how the hell do we know that Serene’s father was really a human?”

 
    CHAPTER 27
     
    “S HE WAS TOLD HE WAS A HUMAN, and she has the expanded A-C talents.” We’d never gotten any more out of Serene, and Brian hadn’t been able to get more out of her relatives, either.
    “Technically, Martini and White have them, too.”
    “No, they don’t. They’re just stronger than the others.” This sounded somewhat lame when said aloud, but I decided that I didn’t have to be brilliant this early into the Mommy Hood.
    Chuckie sighed. “Let me say this in simple terms. Even before Martini got unwittingly loaded up on those A-C steroids and White shot himself up with them, they were both so much more powerful than any other empath or imageer that if you’d told me they were genetic mutations I wouldn’t have argued. Now that the drug’s been introduced? Martini’s got expanded powers, and God alone knows what’s happened