Alien vs. Alien

Weekly News
. I realize that’s not the same thing as the
Washington Post
, but it’s still a legitimate news outlet, in that sense, and if it’s followed up by an official announcement from other sources, it will indeed be believed.”
    “And if you’re right, then you don’t have to resign in reality,” Armstrong added.
    “What do you mean?”
    He shrugged. “Your mother and Mister Reynolds have been trying to find out how far and deep various connections run. Gaultier, Marling, Yates, Al Dejahl . . . to name only four. These people were connected at the highest levels. Therefore, the P.T.C.U. and the ETD have to be politically careful. You’re distancing yourself so you don’t have to be careful at all. However, if you can prove their suspicions correct, then you’re a hero.”
    “Or she’s dead,” Mona said. “Political intrigue is fraught with danger.”
    “Everything is fraught with danger right now. I’m not doing the math—how long do we have until the alien armada shows up close enough for people to know or them to hit us?”
    “We have no idea how long-range their weapons are,” Franklin said. “But the estimate is that they’ll hit the outskirts of our solar system by late tomorrow.”
    “Wow, that’s going to bring new meaning to the term Blue Monday, isn’t it? Okay, do we need to call for a floater gate? It’s a long walk back to Colonel Franklin’s office.”
    Hacker International all looked a little shifty suddenly. Franklin noted it, too. “Gentlemen, what are you trying to hide?”
    They didn’t seem to want to share. “Guys, seriously, now isn’t the time to hide anything. Now’s the time to come through like heroes. Or, you know, I can just kick you until you talk, which is always nice for working out my stress issues.”
    Stryker sighed. “Fine, fine. Keep your feet away from my groin and shins. Chuck had a gate installed here. So he could come and go without anyone at Andrews or the C.I.A. knowing about it.”
    “Classic Chuckie. But how did he do that?”
    White cleared his throat. “Under the circumstances, once you moved to the Diplomatic Corps, Charles requested a variety of additional security measures, which Paul approved. I’d assume this gate was one of them.”
    “Why weren’t we told about this, though?”
    White shrugged. “Need to know, and we didn’t.”
    “Right,” Stryker said. “So, if you can see it and make it work, go for it.”
    “You can’t see it or make it work?”
    “You’ve known him how long and you somehow think Chuck trusted us with that information?” Stryker shook his head, obviously dismayed with my naïve nature.
    I decided not to spend the time going for a battle of the witty put-downs. Instead, I did what the A-Cs with us were doing—I looked for the gate. Well, all the A-Cs other than Jennifer, who was clearly engrossed in helping Ravi. She seemed intently engrossed, meaning that she was probably giving in to the Dazzler Weakness—brains. Which spelled potentially lucky times for Ravi.
    However, we needed to get the gate found and calibrated. Which wasn’t as easy as it sounded. “I don’t see it anywhere in the room,” Naomi said.
    “I looked behind all the pizza boxes and other crap, too,” Abigail added.
    “Seriously, why aren’t we going for the obvious? Dudes, where’s the bathroom?”
    Henry led us to a door behind a bank of large servers. He opened the door. We all stepped back. “Wow. Does the cleaning lady like never come here?”
    Henry gave me a dirty look. “It’s fine for our delicate needs.”
    “I’m refraining from comment. So I don’t have to breathe. Jeremy, you’re low man on the totem pole. Find the gate.”
    The Gower girls, White, and Ibacked away. Jeremy shot me a look that said he’d liked me just fine up until now, then stuck his head into the room. He pulled it out fast. “If it’s in there, it’s really hidden well.”
    Henry closed the door. “Sorry. Feel free to clean it to your personal requirements.”
    “Dude, that would require a self-contained nuke.” I looked around. “Where does Chuckie appear from, when he drops in via Gate Express?”
    “No idea,” Henry said. “He sneaks up on us.”
    We left the bathroom area. “Yuri, when Chuckie sneaks up on you guys, do you hear him coming from one area more than any other?”
    Omega Red seemed to give this consideration. At least, he cocked his head to the right, instead of to the left, which I chose to