Alien vs. Alien

dude, you are not Superman. But, just to make you feel better, I’m kinda Wolverine. With boobs, of course.”
    “Of course. They still nice and perky?”
    “Dude, Chuckie and my husband both will break your neck if you ask me that question again.”
    “He always was jealous.”
    “My husband? Yeah, how’d you know?”
    “I meant Chuck. Told me you were his and I was never allowed to make a move.”
    I managed to refrain from sharing that in the Possible Alternatives to Jeff Olympics, Stryker’s chances were slimmer than the Jamaican bobsled team’s and let this one go. Sent a mental thank you to Chuckie for preventing an embarrassing and beyond gross situation in the past. Figured I’d handle the upcoming one with more grace and style than when I was younger—I had a lot of extra muscle with me.
    Franklin cursed quietly. “Here it is. Edward Simms. Chrˀist.” He stood up. “Let’s go.”
    “Be there shortly, Eddy.”
    “Kitty, I’m not prepared to receive visitors!” He sounded panicked.
    “Pity. ’Cause I’m coming right now.” I looked at Franklin’s expression and felt I had all the confirmation I needed. “With a bunch of tough guys . . . and your boss.”

    Yi

CHAPTER 67

    I HUNG UP AND DROPPED my phone in my purse. “I’m assuming we can walk it, Colonel?”
    He nodded. “Yes. The ‘bunker’ is close by.” Franklin looked seriously pissed.
    “Do we want everyone to go?” White asked.
    I considered. “I think we can use the addition of the skills, experience, and mindset of the Bahraini Royal Army, and that goes double for Mossad. Ambassadress, are you up for it?”
    “Absolutely, Ambassador. As long as you call me Mona.”
    “Works for me, and call me Kitty. Everyone else I feel is needed, Mister White. Unless you think we need someone protecting Colonel Franklin’s office or the gate within.”
    “It’s been secure all this time,” Franklin said. “I believe we can leave it.”
    I wasn’t so sure, but this was Franklin’s call, not mine.
    “I actually was wondering if you wanted to leave the parrot and Mister Joel Oliver,” White said dryly.
    “Oh. MJO, I’m betting wild horses wouldn’t keep you away.”
    “Correct as always, Ambassador. I’ll do my best to keep the lovely Miss Bellie quiet.”
    Bellie nuzzled up against him. “Bellie likes Mister!”
    “Bellie, you cheap slut. What is Jeff going to think when he sees you cheating on him?” I hoped he’d think that Bellie needed to stay with Oliver, but I doubted my luck would be that good.
    Franklin stalked out, and we all trotted after him like a flock of really big ducklings. We were headed up the road, so to speak, but on a path that led us behind some buildings. They all looked military and official to me, and I tried to spot landmarks, in case we had to run back to Franklin’s office. However, all I came up with was that military bases really looked a lot alike—dull. If I got lost, I’d call Mom—she’d undoubtedly been here before and had the entire layout memorized.
    Unfortunately, I had time to think but didn’t feel that speaking aloud was a good idea when we were out in the open, so to speak. Which meant I stressed about Jeff and Chuckie. Interstellar invasions were the big picture, sure, but people I loved dearly were in much more immediate danger. This wasn’t helping. Focused on getting to Stryker. If nothing else, I could take out the΀ fear and worry by kicking him.
    We reached a boring looking building, which was saying a lot, all things considered. Based on my Inverse Boredom Rule—which said the more boring a building looked, the more vital and secret its function—we were heading into Super-Duper High-Security Clearance Territory.
    Franklin ushered us inside, then took us downstairs. Down a lot of stairs and a lot of levels. We walked it, instead of taking an elevator, which I found interesting. I knew Stryker well, and, frankly, the idea of him taking stairs, ever, was kind of farfetched. More farfetched than what was going on with the rest of the galaxy right now, as I thought about it.
    “Colonel, why are we taking the stairs instead of the newfangled elevator?”
    Franklin shook his head. “Stairs are safer.”
    “Security is breached,” Oren said.
    “How so?”
    “You don’t lose a colonel without something being wrong,” Jakob replied. “Let alone everything else we now know about.”
    “It’s easy to trap and kill people in an elevator—they have nowhere