Alien Tango

and my stomach mentioned it was now devoid of anything and food was going to become a necessity very, very soon. “So, how did she know I was here? How, in point of fact, did anyone know I was here, other than Alfred? The only other person who had a chance of knowing I, personally, was coming was Karl Smith, and he was dead before he could mention it to anyone.”
    Something was tickling my brain. I dialed the phone. “James, you guys okay?”
    “Yeah, but we heard a huge explosion. Another attempt on Jeff’s life?”
    “No, mine and Brian’s. Stalker chick has some skills.”
    “Great.”
    “Who does Kevin think is stalking me? Does he have the person in custody?”
    Reader sighed. “Yeah, but I think he’s wrong. It’s an older woman who everyone says sort of mothers Brian. She’s mild-mannered and really doesn’t seem like a lunatic. But she’s the administrative assistant to one of the highest-ranking people here, and we’ve identified her as the one who found your cell phone number.”
    “Has she had access to a phone or a bomb trigger in the last few minutes?”
    “No, she’s been with Tim and Kevin the whole time since Kevin called us when we were at quarantine.”
    I caught Reader up on what had happened, including my upcoming Rage in the Cage. He was quiet for a few moments. “You think she’s protecting someone?”
    “Yes, because she’s not the one who called or the one who tried to turn us into crispy critters. Is she human or A-C?”
    “Human. Why would you even think she could be an A-C?”
    My brain kicked. “Is she pro or con A-Cs?”
    He sighed. “I’ll ask Alfred.” I could hear him talking in the background. “Michael, how many A-Cs work here?”
    “A few hundred.”
    “How many women?”
    “Most, really. Kennedy has the second highest female A-C population after Dulce.”
    “Baby, what are you thinking?” Martini sounded suspicious and worried. He was a lot smarter than the Dazzlers wanted to give him credit for.
    “Brian? Do you think it’s okay to date an A-C?” He was silent and looked embarrassed. “Bri, I don’t care about the answer. I won’t hate you for the answer and neither will anyone else standing here.”
    “I hate him already, so, yeah, won’t change my opinion,” Martini said, almost cheerfully.
    Brian grimaced. “I like all our A-C personnel. They’re good people. But, I just don’t think it’s . . . right . . . to cross-pollinate, if you will.”
    I nodded. “Not a surprise.” After all, the first thing he’d asked when I told him I was dating Martini was if I knew Martini was an alien. “Have you dated any A-C women?”
    “No. I wouldn’t ask someone out I didn’t want to pursue in a meaningful way.”
    “So, you’re the anti-Michael.”
    “Dying with laughter,” Michael said. But he didn’t look all that insulted. He looked as if he knew where I was going.
    Reader came back on. “Alfred says that, as far as he’s ever been able to tell, the admin pool is very positive toward A-Cs. Some of them are jealous of how the women look, but most of them get along so well with the human women that they’re pretty popular.” That made sense to me—I’d wanted to hate them, too, but couldn’t. Because they were so nice. I wanted Claudia and Lorraine to be able to marry Randy and Joe because it would make them so happy.
    “James? Ask her, gently, which A-C woman she’s protecting.”
    I could hear him talking to someone. “She won’t tell me. She’s crying, by the way, so you’re right. Again. Don’t know how you did it without me, either, girlfriend.”
    “I didn’t, that’s why I called you.”
    “Oh, good point. But we’re not closer to who it is.”
    “Or how she knew I was coming.” My brain kicked, hard. “Oh. Duh. James, ask Alfred if his admin is an A-C. And also if she happens to be in the office today.”
    “Oh, God. You really think?” He was talking to someone urgently. “Hell. Yeah, she’s an A-C, and she was here, but she left before we arrived, said she was feeling sick, so before the bomb went off that put us all into lockdown. And our main suspect is looking very guilty when this gal’s name is mentioned, too.”
    “What’s her name and is she scientifically minded?”
    “Already asked. Her name is Serene, and she’s quite good with the sciences. You’ll love this—her specialties are explosives and miniaturization.”
    “I’ll bet she’s good with long-range spying and related