Alien vs. Alien

William and Jennifer, which was the textbook response from any other A-C around someone who’d touched a superbeing image.
    Parasites was the name given to the jellyfish things from outer space that attached to mammals on Earth and turned them into horrific superbeings. My introduction to my new life happened when a superbeing formation occurred right in front of me.
    The parasites were attracted to rage, meaning they tended to attach to humans. Superbeings were just that—super, but in a bad way for the Earth in general and humans in particular. Most of them turned into enraged killing machines at the moment of transformation.
    They were stoppable, but it took a whole lot of firepower to do it. If the invaders were bringing or driving more parasites toward us, we were in worse trouble than anyone could imagine.
    “I thought we’d gotten rid of most of the parasites,” Tito said. “Based on what I’ve learned since joining Centaurion Division, we’ve destroyed hundreds of thousands of these things.”
    “They came from a world whose sun went supernova. We have billions of people on this planet—why assume their planet had any less of a population?” Based on the number of parasites heading toward us, I felt confident they’d had a population to rival, or even beat, ours.
    “Has anyone contacted Alpha Four?” White asked.
    Franklin laughed mirthlessly. “Oh, yes. This is the answer we got back: ‘Until you verify via the proper protocols, we cannot trust your transmissions.’ Signed by King Alexander and Councilor Leonidas.”
    “But they sent us the Peregrines.” I looked at Bruno, who looked right back. “Because they don’t trust Earth, necessarily, but they do trust us.” Bruno bobbed his head. “Why don’t you have the proper protocols?” I asked Franklin.
    “We aren’t the ones who normally contact Alpha Four.”
    The light dawned in a big, bright way. “Oh, crap. The notes that came with the Peregrines—the ‘mutual friend’ Christopher was being warned to protect wasn’t Jeff, it was Chuckie. He’s the one who Alexander and Leonidas trust. So if you take him out, then Alpha Four no longer knows who to talk to.”
    “And they’ve been fooled before,” Naomi said.
    “Exactly, and by those most likely involved right now. For all they know, Earth has called this invasion force out to take over the Alpha Centauri system.”
    “Interesting that you say that,” Franklin said. “Because as of right now, we can’t be sure where this armada is headed. The direction they’re coming from indicates they’re headed for us, but they could easily branch off and head for Alpha Centauri, or even divide and attack both solar systems.”
    “If the message was sent to Clarence, then somehow LaRue and Ronaldo have made new friends, and they’re the ones dropping by for a visit.”
    “We need to be able to prove that,” White said. “Because if it’s not them, then there’s another action being taken against Earth, and that complicates the situation even more than we suspect.”
    William and Jennifer were talking quietly, and he had the picture again. He nodded. “Ambassador, we’ve both read the beings inside the ships. It’s difficult, from this distance, because in addition to the distance, what we have is a metal of some kind that we have to read through. So we can’t identify any individuals.”
    “But we can pick up generalities,” Jennifer said. “So I can tell you that the minds aren’t mammalian.”
    “They feel somewhat familiar,” William said. “But not like anything I’m really used to reading.”
    “You two can’t read through these ships, but I know someone who can, especially if he knows where to look and what to look for. We need to get these pictures to Christopher White, faster than immediately.”
    “I can’t let these out of my control,” Franklin said. “You’ll have to bring him here.”
    “No way. He’s all we’ve got right now. They took Jeff, who Alexander and Leonidas might listen to. If we lose Christopher, then we have no one who’s able to work at the super levels.” And I knew in my gut they’d be after Christopher. The Peregrines had arrived just in time, presumably at the exact moment Alpha Four had determined that the space invaders were absolutely heading for Earth.
    “It might not be related,” Abigail said.
    “It is. I know it is.” I did. What Jeff called my feminine intuition and my mother called gut reactions said