Alien Tango

was the caretaker’s.” Reader’s voice was low. “He was dead when I found him.”
    “Where?”
    “Near the car. He must have seen something and tried to escape.”
    I looked to the middle of the car again. Serene seemed better, but she was shivering. Brian gently pulled her next to him and covered her with the blanket. She gave a shuddering sigh, and he hugged her. I looked back at Reader. “Who did it?”
    “I’m guessing one of the Club 51 Goon Squad. Wasn’t Jeff or Christopher, and I don’t think Serene would have done it, either.” He made the throat-slitting gesture.
    “Ugh.”
    “Got that right. Kevin called someone; the body should be taken care of soon.”
    We drove on through the night, my Wallflowers mix continuing to do its good work. I checked, and as far as I could see, the guys in the front part of the car were all awake, with the exception of Christopher, who I was pretty sure I saw slumped in his typical napping-in-the-vehicle position.
    Reader shifted and lay fully down. Gower made a grunting sound, wrapped his arm around him, and snuggled closer. Reader’s eyes closed, and his breathing went rhythmic.
    Martini snoozed while I stroked his hair. Most of any car’s occupants sleeping meant I was awake. For whatever reason, my tiredness would disappear if the majority were out of it. No idea why, but I guessed it had to do with feeling that someone had to be ready.
    Quiet time never meant contemplation or relaxation for me. It meant my mind wandered. We’d cut off the head of the Club 51 snake, but that didn’t mean the rest of the little serpent’s nests would go away. The one picture I’d seen of Leventhal Reid swam in front of me. This was our head fugly, only he was a human and a normally attractive man, not a parasitic superbeing. We were all better equipped to fight threats from outer space than threats from human beings. Humans were so much more devious and tremendously nastier.
    I thought about killing Taft. I killed superbeings regularly now, but even the first one I’d killed didn’t make me feel remorse. But I could admit I hadn’t liked killing anything, not the superbeings, not Taft, not even Beverly. It had just had to be done. Them or me. Them or others, really. Maybe that’s what Martini and my mother meant—some evil has to be killed, but you don’t have to enjoy doing it.
    My mind wandered to ACE. So powerful and so innocent at the same time. I’d known without asking that if we’d shot at the alligators, ACE would have gone haywire. I wondered if my killing Taft had affected ACE in a negative way.
    No, I heard in my mind. ACE is clear why Kitty had to kill. Alligators were not evil, just being alligators.
    How are you talking to me?
    Still everywhere while also all inside Paul. Paul is a good person, Kitty chose well for ACE.
    Thank you for saving us. We wouldn’t be alive if you hadn’t shielded us when we needed it.
    ACE would like to do more. . . . Its voice trailed off in my mind. I thought about why it wouldn’t or couldn’t.
    You shouldn’t. You could solve all the problems for us. But that would make us dependent on you, to the point where we couldn’t do anything for ourselves. And it would make you so powerful that you would risk becoming something I know you don’t want to be. Though my viewpoint was a lot different when those cars were headed toward us.
    But Kitty did not ask ACE for protection, and neither did Paul.
    You did that on your own? Thank you even more.
    Kitty is welcome. ACE is learning when to step in and when to stay quiet. Just like always, watching and protecting.
    Like God.
    No. God is much greater than ACE.
    There is a God?
    Why do you ask, when ACE can see you already know?
    Confirmation, I guess. Sometimes it doesn’t seem as though He’s paying much attention.
    God is vast. Many galaxies, many worlds, many beings. Free will exists so God does not have to do everything.
    I wanted to continue this discussion, but the car stopped. I realized we were on what looked like a residential street, waiting at a big double gate attached to high walls. I could hear Tim talking to someone, but I couldn’t make out any of the words. The gates opened, and we drove in.
    At first I thought we were in a private, gated community. After we drove along a winding drive for a minute or so, I saw a house that looked at least double my parents’. For a moment I thought we were going there, but Tim kept on driving. A minute or so later we