Alien Tango

still all over the place, but the only non-Centaurion operative with us was Kevin.
    “Not that this isn’t great, but why don’t we just go back to the Science Center?” I asked with my mouth full of cannelloni.
    “I’ve suggested it,” Gower said. “More than once. Richard would prefer we stay here.” Martini growled and grumbled, but he didn’t say anything. This was clearly one of those times when the Office of the Pontifex was trumping Field and Imageering.
    “Why?”
    Gower heaved a sigh. “We need to continue to appear ‘regular.’ ”
    “By spending the night in the airport?” By any standards, this seemed like Plan Inconvenient and Dumb.
    Christopher and Martini exchanged glances. Reader chuckled. “Richard knows that if he lets us go back, Jeff’ll enact a protocol that will send us via a gate.”
    “We have protocols?” Truly, no one ever told me anything.
    “Some,” Martini allowed. “I think Richard’s trying to avoid a fight. Besides,” he sighed, “as long as we leave somewhere in the early hours, we’ll get there in the morning.”
    “Oh. Good.” I wasn’t what anyone would call a morning person. “We could go to my parents’ house.”
    All the men shook their heads. “We need to remain here,” Kevin said. “If Centaurion leaves the area, jurisdiction will shift. And we don’t want that.”
    I gave up. “How are we going to sleep?”
    “In shifts,” Martini said. “If at all.”
    Tim and Alicia joined us for food before I could whine any more. He got some looks for bringing her, but I couldn’t blame him—she looked wiped, and she knew most of what was going on, anyway.
    “The press get their story?” Christopher asked meaningfully.
    Tim nodded while he piled lasagna onto his plate. “All clear. Alicia did a great job, said exactly what Kevin told her to.”
    She smiled weakly. “I’m too tired to be creative.”
    “How are we getting Alicia home?” I asked Kevin quietly.
    “We’re not.” He smiled at my shocked expression. “She’d prefer to avoid reporters, so she’s staying here with us until we leave. Then I’ll have her escorted home.”
    Alicia heard us. “Agent Lewis, could that be after my shift tomorrow? I’ve got morning duty, so I might as well not waste a sick day.” I got the impression Alicia wanted to hang out with us, Tim in particular, for as long as she could.
    “Sure thing.” Kevin stood and stretched. “I’m going to check on things. It’s fine if you want to wander, just don’t leave this terminal, and make sure everyone has an idea of where you are if you do wander.” He left the room. Some of our random A-Cs stretched out as much as they could and, as near as I could tell, went to sleep. A-Cs were big on napping whenever it was safe to do so.
    Martini stroked the back of my neck. “So, we have time to kill?”
    “Yep.” Reader gave us both a knowing grin. “You two want to go wander around, look at the gift shops? I think some of them are still open.”
    “What a great idea,” Martini said. “Yeah, we’re going to disappear for a bit.”
    Reader winked at me. “Enjoy. I’ll call you when we’re ready if you’re not back yet.”
    We took our bags with us; it made us look less obvious. At least, so I told myself. “Where are we going?”
    “Don’t care. Just away from all this.” Martini squeezed my hand. “You know this place better than I do.”
    This was true. But I’d never needed a private room before. “I know the elevator alarms go off if you stop one between floors.”
    “Damn.”
    “We could sneak back to the Science Center.”
    “No, I don’t feel like getting into anything with Richard. Or Gladys interrupting us again.”
    “Does she do that on purpose?”
    “Sometimes. Not always. She can’t see us, and she can’t hear us unless she’s talking to us via the ’com.”
    Thank God. We walked by the food and gift areas. Not exactly private. However, there was a door between the last shop and the parking area. I led us over there—it said “Maintenance,” but it was locked. It was also very out of the way, and the noise from the parking lot was loud, meaning it would drown out any suspicious noises.
    Martini walked us out to the parking area, reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a thin case. As he opened it, I realized it was a set of lock-picking tools. “You’re trained to pick locks?” Why wasn’t I trained to pick locks?
    “Yep.” He looked at me out of