Alien Proliferation

you trained me up in the conspiracy theories, and there isn’t a psycho or megalomaniac around I can’t feel the love with. The others are in France, probably Paris. But why can’t we reach Jeff by phone?”
    “Weather?” Tito asked.
    “Proximity,” Chuckie replied without missing a beat. “Whatever’s causing Security to ‘see’ twelve people in there is probably interfering with the phones.”
    “James just crossed the street,” Christopher said.
    I dug my phone out and dialed. He answered on the second ring. “James, don’t go in the Embassy!” Jamie fussed at my voice level. Christopher shook his head and took her back from me.
    “Stop screaming, girlfriend. What’s going on?”
    “Get the others over to where you are, away from the Embassy!”
    “Stop shrieking, I need my hearing.” I heard him shout something.
    “They’re moving to where James is.” Christopher sounded relieved.
    “James, I need to talk to Jeff.”
    He sighed. “Sure, break my heart.”
    “Still love you best, want to keep you all alive, that sort of thing.”
    “So you claim. Here he is. Your woman.” I heard the phone pass.
    “Why are you calling us? We’re in the middle of an operation.”
    “Don’t go in the Embassy!”
    “Baby, why the hell are you screaming at me?”
    “Do not go in the Embassy! It’s a trap.”
    “Yeah, well, we figured something when Michael and Amy tried the subtle approach.”
    “What did they do?”
    “Went to the door and pretended to be stranded and seeking shelter from the storm.”
    “Whose idea was that ?”
    “Amy’s. She’s not as good at this as you, but she can sure get into the same amount of trouble.”
    “So what happened?”
    “Door opened, they went in, door slammed shut. Called Michael, cell phone dead or inactive.”
    “Yeah, they’ve got something on or around the Embassy scrambling signals. We couldn’t reach any of you until James crossed the street. There’s probably no one in the Embassy, but it’s a trap. By the way, get the hell out of the rain before you get sick.”
    “How do you know it’s raining? I mean still. I know we got the weather report hours ago.”
    “Christopher has new, fun talents, similar to Serene’s. Look, it’s scary bad, only, thankfully, not where you are. Get back here, fast. We have to get to Paris.”
    “No ‘we’ involved in that.” I heard him bark some orders, and I was pretty sure I heard the word “floater.” “You are staying put with Jamie. Do you understand me?” He had his “growly man in charge” voice on. It was the voice he somehow always thought I’d obey, even though I never did.
    “Yes, I do. Jeff, they’re experimenting on them. If you barge in, they’ll experiment on you, too.” My voice was heading to the dog-only register.
    “We’ll be fine.”
    “Like hell! You’ll be in trouble. Tim’s hurt but still alive, Michael and Amy are alive; they’ve already tortured and killed the four agents with them, though.”
    Jeff was quiet for a few moments. “How do you know this?”
    “Christopher. Scary expanded talents. So expanded he knows we should send a baby gift to Jareen and Neeraj so it arrives when they discover they’re pregnant.”
    “How is he?”
    “Happy to be out of isolation hours later than he should have been, undoubtedly due to that bastard your sister’s married to. Of course, from what I can tell, all your sisters married jerks.”
    Chuckie shook his head. “Jerks, yes. Traitors, no. At least, not all of them.”
    “Chuckie says not all your sisters married badly. Hurrah. Get out of the rain, and please, please come back here and go to Paris from a gate out of the Science Center. Please .” Normally I begged like this when we were having great sex. This was not my preferred trade off.
    Chuckie took the phone from me. “Or you can let her stay here with me. I’ll protect her. Better than you. And, you know what? I’m betting there are plenty of things I can do for her better than you can. Things I know she likes.” The way he said it, it was obvious he was insinuating bedroom things.
    He held the phone away from his ear and looked bored. I could hear Jeff bellowing but couldn’t make out what he was saying. “Yeah? Go ahead, race off like a moron. The baby may be amazing and talented, but she’s less than a week old. She won’t remember you, and she looks just like her mother, so after a while we won’t be reminded of you at all, and I’ll treat her