Alien vs. Alien

enhanced.” I turned back to my guys. “Remember Moira, James? She almost killed you with one punch. I can’t believe that Clarence isn’t able to do that these days, especially since he was movi뀀d back tng so fast they couldn’t see him, meaning he’s taken a lot of that drug so he’s closer to Jeff and Christopher’s levels.”
    Reader’s eyes narrowed. “Go on.”
    “He was moving at the fast hyperspeed, but we were all able to catch him and stop him. Richard, Jeremy and Malcolm all had him, but he still got away. And yet he struggled like two big A-Cs and one big human on him were difficult to manage—right up until what he wanted happened.”
    “Which was?” Tim asked.
    “You guys showed up from wherever you’d been. He wants Paul, because Paul’s the Pontifex and because of ACE, I’m sure. How did you guys know to show up?”
    I got “really?” looks from all of them. The flyboys laughed. Reader sighed. “You broadcast a ‘help me’ emotional signal. The empaths with us mentioned that this was even better than the one you did when Mephistopheles was going to town in the Science Center, much more refined, clear, and accurate.”
    “Funny you mention that, because you know LaRue and Ronnie Junior still want to follow in Daddy Mephs’ footsteps.”
    “Playbook,” Buchanan said. “You’ve done it before and they know about it, so they knew you’d do it again.”
    “I agree,” Armstrong said. Tito nodded.
    “I as well, Missus Martini.”
    “Okay, great. So they’ve been anticipating our moves because they know us. Clarence was a traitor from at least the time I showed up, probably longer, and he’s part of the extended Martini family and used to work for the Diplomatic Corps, so he knows all they did, too.”
    “Your moves,” Tito said. “They’re anticipating you more than anyone else.”
    “Maybe so, but I’ll bet cash money they’re busy anticipating as many of the rest of you as they can.”
    “So, maybe they anticipated you’d call for help in some way and we’d come running, but why pull us all away here?” Tim asked. “I mean, if Paul was the only goal, why not do something to make you want to get him to you alone?”
    I could feel it. Tim’s question was dead on for what was happening. But I didn’t have answer yet. “What were you all doing, before my emotional cry for help rang out, I mean.”
    This question made them all uncomfortable, and some of them looked downright worried, my mother included. I took the logic leap. “You were trying to figure out where Jeff and Chuckie disappeared to, weren’t you?”
    Reader nodded. “Trying to determine how long they’d been gone, who’d seen them last, where we could look to determine if they were okay or not.”
    “They’ve been gone longer than you realize, they saw Clarence last, is my big guess, and I doubt they’re okay, in that sense.” They all looked uncomfortable, still, and none of the flyboys were making eye contact with me. Whatever news they had clearly wasn’t good. “What?”
    Silence.
    “I want to know. I’m a big girl, and I’ve been aware that they were 뀀1" facin danger and missing longer than any of you. Tell me whatever it is you don’t want to tell me.”
    “Do it,” Mom said quietly. The news moved from not good to potentially catastrophic. I steeled myself.
    Reader came closer to me and took my hand. “Kitty . . . once we realized we couldn’t find them, I called Christopher. He filled me in on what he was doing and said he’d been spending his spare time at the Dome searching for both of them.”
    “And?”
    He swallowed. “He can’t find any trace of either Jeff or Reynolds. And by any trace, I mean he’s looked to the extent of his range.”
    Unlike Serene, Christopher’s range wasn’t fifty miles. His range wasn’t even Planet Earth. Christopher’s range went to the outer reaches of the Alpha Centauri system.
    Meaning Jeff and Chuckie were really gone. Or they were dead.

    Yi

CHAPTER 55

    “O KAY. Back to the current situation.”
    I could tell I shocked everyone. “You’re handling this . . . very well,” Reader said.
    “Look, I want to freak out, but I’m trying to think ahead here. Malcolm’s right, and those of us on my team all discussed this earlier—they know us, so they’re anticipating what we’ll do. My natural reaction is to move Heaven and Earth to find Jeff and Chuckie. But if I do that, I think we all lose. And by lose, I mean