Alien vs. Alien

“duh” look. I was really scoring with that one this weekend. Oh, well, it was probably better than the “you so crazy” look. “I’m ensuring the electronic trail ends here.”
    Before I could ask about that, I heard a soft mewling and looked into my purse. There was a Poof there. Not Harlie or Poofikins. I was fairly sure it was Jamie’s Poof. “Why are you here? Is Jamie alright?”
    The Poof purred, so I belayed panic on that front.
    “Did Jamie send you?”
    Another mewl. Might mean yes. Might mean no. Might mean the Poof was hungry. I couldn’t tell.
    The Poof jumped out of my purse and onto my shoulder. It nuzzled me, which was always nice. Bruno woke up and came over to stand next to me in that “this one’s mine” way all animals seem to have.
    “Um, a cuteness break is always appreciated, but we’re kind of at DEFCON Universal Soldier here, so if you’re here to pass on a message, Kitty needs some help.”
    The Poof jumped over to White and mewled at him. “I’m no clearer than Missus Martini. Are you requesting reinforcements?”
    The Poof heaved a Poofy sigh. It jumped onto the floor in front of Bruno and mewled rather pitifully. A Poof appealing to a Peregrine for help? Apparently wonders never ceased. Or this Poof had no ego attached to asking for assistance.
    Bruno warbled nicely at the Poof, then looked at me. Then back at the Poof. Then at me. The Poof. Me.
    “Okay, stop giving yourself whiplash. You’re right, I forgot something.”
    “You talk to tjhe giant peacock?” Stryker asked. “And it talks back to you?”
    “Later, Eddy.”
    “What did you forget?” White asked.
    “The Poofs asked me to do something for them when they went to find and help Jeff and Chuckie.”
    “You talk to the Poofs, too?” Stryker asked. “For real and not pretend?”
    “Later, Eddy. Like when this is all over later.”
    “You said you’d try to find the supersoldiers,” Jennifer supplied.
    “Supersoldiers?” Stryker asked. “You mean Chuck wasn’t kidding, they’re real?”
    “
Later
, Eddy. Shut up or die, Eddy.”
    “Are you supposed to find them to stop them from attacking?” Jeremy asked.
    “No. To keep them from being destroyed.”

    Yi

CHAPTER 74

    “W HY WOULD THE POOFS want the supersoldiers protected?” Buchanan asked. “They’re killing machines of the highest order.”
    “Killing machines that can help us fight whatever’s coming.”
    “How?” Franklin asked.
    “There’s a controller for the twelve that attacked us at the President’s Ball. We destroyed three of them, but it was amazingly difficult.” And had only been achieved because Jeff was high on adrenaline, he and Christopher were enhanced, and Chuckie had figured out how the remote control worked.
    “Difficult enough to face space invaders?” Stryker asked.
    “I hope we’re able to find out.” After all, ACE had insinuated that the supersoldiers not being ready was the concern, not that they existed. “Problem is, Chuckie is the only one who currently knows how to control the nine we captured. He may be the only one who actually knows where they are.”
    “I guarantee James knows,” Abigail said. “He’s the Head of Field.”
    “Good point, Abby. Ravi, I need you to multitask.”
    “Kind of hard, Kitty.”
    “Ravi, it’s the end of the world as we know it if you’re actually less good at what you do than what you were when I was in college.”
    He sighed. “What miracle is it you want me to perform while I continue to try to avoid my head being blown off?”
    “I need you to connect with the Dulce Science Center. They’re reverse engineering an android we managed to capture yesterday. See if you can help them. More to the point, see if you can figure out where said android called home and where it was ‘born’ if they’re different.”
    Ravi heaved another martyred sigh. “I need someone to help me with the headset and the phone.”
    “I’ll do it,” Jennifer said. Ravi visibly perked up.
    “Thanks. So, Eddy, the printer’s stopped printing. What does Chuckie actually want us to put into action?”
    “Kitty, there’s nothing,” Stryker said, sounding stressed. “I mean, there’s all the data on all of you, but when I get to the part about the Avenger Initiative, all it says is ‘go with the crazy.’ ”
    Jamie’s Poof jumped up and down. Bruno warbled and flapped his wings.
    My brain nudged again. “Nobody say anything. Don’t forget whatever it is you’re