Alien Tango

Best Friend?” he growled.
    “Fine. You can relax about it—” I would have continued talking, but Martini jerked and spun around. As he did, I saw people starting to act like something was wrong. Some I knew to be humans were running, and many expressions were grim. “What’s going on?”
    “I don’t know.” Martini sounded as he did when there were too many emotions going at once—confused and worried.
    More people were running now. Toward Martini. I knew what that meant—something very bad was going on. Reader reached us first, holding a cell phone. “Jeff, your dad just called me.”
    “Why did he call James instead of you?”
    Martini sighed. “I have my phone turned off.”
    This was unheard of in the A-C world—all phones on at all times, in case someone needed you, top dudes in particular. “Why?”
    Christopher appeared before us out of nowhere. I jumped while I reminded myself that he’d obviously used hyperspeed. “Because he’s still avoiding Aunt Lucinda,” he snapped.
    Martini shrugged. “It was a quiet day.”
    “Not any more.” Reader gave Martini a commiserating smile as he held out the phone. “Your dad said to try to ignore your mother and please call him back.”
    Martini sighed, took the phone, and dialed. “Yeah, it’s me. Uh-huh. What?” He spun around and walked a few paces away. “You’re sure? Yeah, that’s bad. Yes, we’ll be there. Yes, I mean Kitty, too, she’s the head of Airborne. Oh, really? Thanks. No, I mean it, thanks. Yeah, it’ll be nice to see you, too.” He hung up and turned back to us, all business. “We need Alpha Team assembled, now. There’s a situation in Florida.”
    Christopher and Reader both looked freaked. They took off, presumably to alert the rest of Alpha team that we were traveling. I was in the dark. “What’s going on?”
    “My father works at Cape Canaveral. They’ve got a situation there. We need to make sure we don’t have a major manifestation.”
    I looked around. Everyone was moving at hyperspeed or a run, depending on whether they were A-C or human. “How bad is this likely to be? Do my guys need to get into the air?”
    Gower came over. “We don’t need Airborne, so far, but I’ve put your boys on alert.” He shook his head. “Richard doesn’t want me to go on this one.”
    “Why not?” Martini’s eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?”
    “Political issue on top of everything else. Richard doesn’t want it to seem like Centaurion Division is getting involved.”
    “So why is Alpha Team going, then?” Alpha Team was a hybrid, the heads of each active division—Field, which was Martini, Image Control, which was Christopher, Airborne, so me, and Recruitment, which was Gower. Reader was also part of Alpha, the designated driver and pilot, and because of my addition to the team, Tim was on Alpha now as well. White, as the Sovereign Pontifex, went along frequently, too. To have Gower being told to stay behind was odd, to say the least.
    Gower handed me a folder. “Make sure you all read this before you get there.”
    “This is like an inch thick, Paul. I’m a fast reader, but not this fast.”
    “You’re not using a gate, you’re flying. In a regular plane.”
    “What?” Martini sounded as shocked as I felt.
    “I told you, it’s political.” Gower didn’t look happy.
    “Crap. This means I have to wear a suit, doesn’t it? And heels.”
    “You clean up nice, so let’s take care of that.” Martini took my hand and we headed toward a gate anyway.
    “Jeff, you have to leave right now.”
    Martini spun around. “No. If we have to leave now, we use a gate. I’m the damned head of the Field and you’re telling me I have to send our highest-ranking team via public air, which is like asking Tiger Woods to use a miniature golf club to win the Masters. So we’re packing for a trip, and if that means we miss taking Slower-Than-Dirt Airlines, then we’ll just use a gate and get there before it’s all over.”
    He spun back, dragging me along with him. “We’ll pack fast,” I shouted to Gower.
    We reached a gate, and Martini calibrated. I ignored it on the grounds that nausea wasn’t going to be helpful right now.
    Reader and Tim came racing up. “Thank God you’re letting us pack, Jeff,” Reader said. “What the hell’s going on?”
    “No idea, he’s your boyfriend.” Martini seemed to realize what he’d said. “Wait a minute—Paul didn’t tell you what’s going on,