Alien vs. Alien

we’ll be able to hear everything, even things you mutter under your breath.”
    “You don’t know me,” I muttered under my breath.
    “Yes, I do,” Stryker said.
    “I could have been there and back in this time,” Christopher snapped. He had a point.
    “Fine, fine, we’re going. Ready, Mister White?”
    “Willing and eager as well, Missus Martini.” White took my hand, and we headed down to the basement.
    Since discovering the hidden elevator and all the other fun things the former Diplomatic Corps had installed way back when, we’d removed all the basement clutter they’d had strewn around to disguise said elevator and such. We’d also uncloaked the switch that turned the elevator on. This only helped the humans, but said humans appreciated it.
    I appreciated that we could quickly hit the button and head down the three stories to the start of the Tunnels of Murky Doom without tripping over boxes. “Walt, we’re in the elevator.”
    “Go ahead, Chief, you’re cleared. Advise when leaving and I’ll close that shield back up.”
    “Is the entire Embassy unshielded?” I asked as White hit the down button.
    “No, Chief. I put this section under its own shielding once you were all back. Even if someone were to breach the tunnel and make it into the elevator, they couldn’t come into the Embassy.”
    “Excellent, Walt, you rock above all others.” The elevator wasn’t the fastest in the world, but that gave me time to test out our equipment. “So, how many people besides Walter can hear me?”
    “Everyone,” Stryker said in my ear. “We have the two of you on speaker.”
    “Nice. Who’s going to talk us through the tunnels?” The sounds of arguing came through clearly. While we waited, I rummaged around in my purse and pulled out my Glock. “I’m ready. Whenever, you know, someone’s going to agree to tell us which ways to turn and all that.”
    “I will,” Christopher said finally. “Since none of the humans are going to actually be able to see the two of you on camera.”
    “You won’t see us, either. The cameras can’t catch hyperspeed.”
    “No kidding. I can judge where you’ll be when.”
    I looked at White. “You think he’ll really be able to?”
    “I can hear you,” Christopher snarled.
    “Oh, I’m sure Christopher is more than u 󀀅zp to the task,” White said with a chuckle, as the elevator stopped. I kicked the Gaultier Enterprises symbol, the door opened. “Leaving the elevator now, son, and we’ll be going at the slower speeds to avoid overshooting turns and targets. Walter, please lock up behind us.” White took my free hand, and we zipped off.
    “And I’d like to miss booby traps.”
    “We’ve cleared the tunnels,” Stryker said.
    “I know Chuckie, and all of you, and I’m betting that they’re not cleared so much as suspended for a moment or two.” There was some grumbling from the room, but no one denied the charge. “As I thought. Mister White, keep the eyeballs peeled.”
    “I always do, Missus Martini. Especially when teamed with you.”
    “Careful, Rick honey, or I’ll have to hurt you.”
    Suppressed a shudder as we ran past the former secret lab, which I now thought of as the Burial Ground of the Hot Zombies. Tried to spot where around here would lead up to the Lincoln Memorial, but either we were moving too fast or I didn’t look in the right places, because I saw nothing but murk and really well-made walls.
    True to his own hype, Christopher told us each turn right about when we’d need it. Since White was on the fifty-miles-plus plan, I let him again do the major hyperspeed work.
    Did my best to register where we were and what our surroundings looked like, but the cameras hadn’t sold the tunnels short—even with enhanced A-C vision, it was hard to make much out. But because we passed a couple of the dead-zone rooms on the way, I was able to spot similarities. The tunnel walls were smoother around the dead zones. And there was a kind of gentle tug as we went past, as if the areas wanted us to slow down and check them out. But I hadn’t experienced that tug when we were near the destroyed secret lab room.
    “Slow down,” Christopher said after a variety of twists and turns that seemed close together but I knew were actually miles apart. “You should be coming up on the area where the camera went offline.”
    White slowed us to a walk. The tunnel turned. We put our backs to the near wall and inched toward the