Alien vs. Alien

up almost exactly like a Rubik’s Cube,” Chuckie continued. He held up his cube. It glowed, but I could see that each side was faintly different in color from the others. “It moves similarly, so each square, row, and side means something. I’m nowhere close to determining how it works all the way around, but after a variety of experiments, we determined the right formation for traveling through the dead zone. We tested and ended up outside the walls.”
    “We each went back in, separately,” Jeff said. “So the one in the tunnel could go for help if the one in the room couldn’t get back out. But the pattern is consistent. And the goal was simple—I want to be on the other side of this wall, in the room.”
    “Or I want to be outside this room, in the tunnel. I was glad to be right on that one,” Chuckie said as he fiddled with his cube.
    “We were looking to see what we could pick up from the tunnels when you found us,” Jeff added.
    “Why were you two just sauntering along?” Christopher asked. “You were moving slowly by any standards, let alone ours.
    “Because Reynolds threw up for ten minutes straight while I spent time on the losing end of a fight with Clarence, and then we both got to enjoy Clarence hitting us for a while, and then we were locked in a room with no water or food, and we’ve both used a lot of energy, and, speaking for both of us, we feel like crap. I have no hyperspeed left, and as Reynolds confirmed earlier, he can’t take hyperspeed right now anyway. We ehad no choice but to ‘saunter.’ ”
    I looked at both their expressions. “You need adrenaline, don’t you?” I asked Jeff.
    “No, I’m sure I’m fine.”
    Tito sighed. “I’m sure you’re not, and we have a world of hurt heading for us, so let’s get you taken care of.”
    While Jeff whined and complained and Tito, Christopher, and White overruled him, I put on my Recap Girl cape yet again and brought Jeff and Chuckie up to speed on what had gone on in their absence, which included introductions of those here and elsewhere they hadn’t officially met and all the other niceties.
    I might have mentioned how distressed we all were with their being kidnapped and all that more than once, but who could blame me? Not Naomi, if her chiming in was any indication.
    Chuckie was overjoyed to discover Franklin was truly now the man in charge at Andrews and concerned about Hamlin’s disappearance, which he hadn’t been briefed on.
    Ravi interrupted to demand information from Chuckie about how he controlled the nine supersoldiers in his charge. Once the information was relayed, and Chuckie confirmed that he, Reader, and Tim—and only he, Reader, and Tim—had access to where these nine supersoldiers were housed, I went back to theories and recaps. I’d gotten so good at this over the past couple of days that I didn’t miss a thing. White, Buchanan, Oliver, and the Middle Eastern Contingent even applauded when I was done.
    The nice thing about Tito being here and Jeff not being at death’s door was that the adrenaline could go in via the vein in his arm rather than stabbed into his hearts. It was the most pleasant adrenaline injection of his I’d ever experienced.
    Ravi chimed in again as all this finished up and Jeff was rolling his sleeve down. “We have confirmation of control of all supersoldiers, from teams in Paris and Paraguay. I’ve also apprised Commanders Reader and Crawford of our status.”
    My phone beeped. I had a text. “James says that he and Tim are so thrilled that the two of you are alive and well, they plan to celebrate by kicking alien invader butt.” Another beep. “Tim says that he appreciates that we took forever to let them know you two were okay.”
    “Enough with the guilt,” Jeff said. “Does my mother know I was missing?”
    “Yes, indeed. And I’m sure she’ll make you feel even guiltier than I possibly can.” Another beep. “James says that, under the circumstances, now that Chuckie’s back, he’d like to suggest that we get Alpha Four’s help, pronto.”
    Chuckie shook his head. “I don’t know why they wouldn’t be helping you already, even with me gone.”
    “I explained that. World War Two. And such.”
    “Yes, I know,” he said patiently. “But you’re at least as trusted by them as I am, Kitty.” He gave a mirthless chuckle. “Besides, what we really need is an ozone shield.”
    “Why?” Jeff asked.
    “It stopped the parasites when Alpha Four had