Alien Proliferation

thought she was taken to Caliente Base. We were busy—he called her or something, realized she wasn’t where he thought she was, something like that.” I felt awful. And scared.
    Jamie woke up and started crying. “I have to feed her.” I wanted to, and I didn’t. The mother part wanted to more than anything. The other part wanted to find Tim and Alicia and make sure they were safe and unharmed.
    Emily gave me a sheet, and I covered up a bit, sat down, and unhooked. Jeff helped hold the sheet over me.
    Chuckie hung up. “Just had her apartment checked. It’s been ransacked, no sign of her, her car’s still there.” He looked confused. “There was something odd. My operative said they found a CD in the refrigerator.”
    “What was the band, what was the title?”
    “Adam Ant, Friend or Foe .”
    “Tim’s got her, thank God.”
    “You want to explain that?”
    “Sure.” Took the baby off one breast, gave her to Jeff, closed side A, opened side B, put the baby on the other breast. “Tim’s leaving me a message. He runs my iPod half the time now, remember? Guy who apparently pulled me back from death by playing ‘Nine Lives’ by Aerosmith? He knows how I think, musically.”
    “Why leave a clue at all?” Chuckie still sounded confused.
    “Because he knew I’d realize either that he was missing or Alicia was missing. Look, however we missed her was an oversight . . .” Thought about it. “No, it wasn’t. It was on purpose.” Wanted to curse, looked down at my newborn, controlled the impulse. “ Friend or Foe , he’s telling me that we have a mole.”
    “Can I arrest Amy now?” Chuckie was serious.
    “We can’t assume it’s her. Even though, yeah, it sure seems likely. But let me think.”
    “All you’re doing is talking.”
    “Dude, we’ve known each other half our lives?”
    “Right. That is how you think . . . by running your mouth.”
    “You know it. Okay, so he could have left anything, at least, anything Alicia had or he had.”
    “Why didn’t he tell anyone before he left?” Jeff didn’t sound any more convinced than Chuckie. “Tim knows better.”
    “Jeff? When you broke out of Caliente Base to save me, did you stop to share that you were leaving, against direct orders, with anyone?”
    “No. Fine, point taken, he’s in love with her, it’s his girl in danger, he’s not going to waste time. Carry on.”
    “Chuckie, any guess as to when the apartment was ransacked?”
    “Not too long ago. She had a small fish tank, it was overturned, but the carpet wasn’t totally soaked.”
    I was impressed with C.I.A. thoroughness. “Okay, Gladys, you still there?”
    “Yes, Commander.”
    “Can you verify the last time anyone can confirm Tim’s being in the Science Center?”
    “Last person was likely Captain Reader.”
    “Thanks. Jeff, need your cell.” A thought occurred. “Can you please go get my purse?”
    “Think Tim called you?”
    “It’s a possibility. Bring the Poofs along, too, please.”
    He sighed. “If I must.” Jeff hypersped out of the room.
    I called Reader. “James, when did you last see Tim?”
    “This morning, why?” Brought him up to speed. He cursed. I moved the phone to the side away from Jamie. “I gave a direct order to have Alicia picked up.”
    “Figured you wouldn’t have forgotten. So why wasn’t she?”
    “No idea. Did you ask Gladys?”
    “No. Hang on. Gladys? Did someone override Captain Reader’s order to have Alicia Young picked up?”
    “Not that my records show, Commander.”
    Shared with Reader. “Okay, so someone talked directly to the agents who were supposed to get her. Need to know who they were, girlfriend.”
    I had another thought. “Gladys, do records show where Alicia Young was when we went into lockdown?”
    “Yes, Commander. She was in the air, returning from . . . wait for it . . . Paris.”
    Chuckie groaned. “She’s our mole?”
    “Hardly. She thinks we’re all P.T.C.U.”
    “Could still be our mole.”
    Brought Reader back up to speed. “Okay, so she’s in the air when we go into lockdown. Tim would have known that, so he didn’t panic until he realized she’d never been picked up, or gotten the message to go to a pick-up spot.” Reader sounded calmer than me. Good, ’cause I wasn’t calm. At all.
    “They would have told her to go somewhere?”
    He sighed. “Babe? Really. Think about it. She was in an airplane.”
    “Oh, duh. Left her a message on her phone. ‘Go to