Alien vs. Alien

rest of this floor, she was dressed in white. She didn’t smile when we finally reached her.
    She wasn’t ugly, but she wasn’t Dazzler level in any way, so it was a safe bet she was human. Most A-Cs at least shot you a smile the first time they met you, too.
    Chuckie handed her his badge. “I have personnel for the HSAC exam,” he said without preamble. “You should be expecting us.”
    The woman didn’t look impressed by the badge, which was a first in my experience. She examined it and sniffed, then examined all of us and sniffed again. Not the “what’s that smell” kind of sniff, but the “you’re beneath me” sniff. I wondered if she’d ever met Mrs. Darcy Lockwood, my Washington Wife class instructor, or if she’d picked up how to be supercilious all on her own.
    Her clothing didn’t scream “impressive.” The suit was okay but a little baggy on her, and her blouse was sort of wrinkled.
    Before I could ask if she’d recently lost weight, she deigned to speak to us. “My name is Sandra. I’ll be monitoring your activity during the HSAC.”
    “Does that mean you’re administering the test?” Chuckie asked.
    “No. We have someone for that. I’ll be there to ensure there is no cheating.”
    “Why would we cheat? It’s not like we won’t get into a good college or something if we flunk.”
    This earned me another dismissive look. “You’d be surprised.” Sandra turned back to Chuckie. “I had five individuals listed.”
    “There should have been six.” Chuckie indicated Buchanan. “He should be on the list, too. May I see it?”
    Sandra handed a small clipboard over, a tad unwillingly if I was any judge. I was sure she’d recently lost weight, because the clothes just didn’t fit her right. Maybe she was still dieting and so hungry. I didn’t like to miss a meal, so I could cut her some slack over being a little testy due to limited caloric intake.
    “Huh.” Chuckie showed the list to Jeff, who grunted.
    “What?”
    Chuckie looked at me. “Your name isn’t on the list.”
    “Cool! I’ll just wait out here with all of you, then!”
    “You have to take this test, Kitty,” Christopher said, shooting me Patented Glare #1.
    “Apparently I don’t.”
    “Kitty Katt?” Sandra asked.
    “That’s me, yes. Well, my maiden name.”
    “Ah.” She pulled out a slip of paper from her jacket pocket. “Yes, I have you here. Kitty Katt-Martini. You’re supposed to take the test alone.”
    “I beg your pardon?” Chuckie and I said that one in unison.
    Sandra shrugged and handed her slip of paper to Chuckie. His eyes narrowed. “This is highly unusual. I’ll have to clear it. With much higher level personnel,” he added meaningfully.
    This didn’t seem to bother Sandra, who shrugged again. “Suit yourself. We’ll take the others in now.”
    “No,” Chuckie said firmly. “They all test together or they don’t test at all.”
    Sandra heaved a sigh while Chuckie tried to make a call. “No reception,” he said finally.
    “That’s because this floor is insulated in all ways,” Sandra said. She didn’t add “duh,” but it was obvious she was thinking it. “So you can leave to make your phone call, or we can follow the orders given.”
    Chuckie seemed torn. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t want to let Sandra win this one on general principles, all oddities aside. Plus, I wasn’t wild about being tested all by myself in the first place, and I was certain Mom wouldn’t be pleased that Buchanan wasn’t in the room with me.
    Then again, getting this test over with had advantages, and we were already here. “I’ll be okay,” I said quietly to Chuckie.
    Jeff took my arm and Chuckie’s and moved us away from Sandra’s desk. “I’m not getting anything but annoyance from her,” he said in a low voice. “She wants us to stop wasting her time so she can get her job done and go home, but that’s all I’ve gotten. No malicious intent, other than the fact she’s not happy to be here on the weekend.”
    “I don’t like it,” Chuckie said. “There’s no reason for Kitty to be tested separately, other than to have an easy way to attack her when she has no backup.”
    “You want to go back and do this at Langley?” Jeff didn’t seem excited by the idea. “We have a lot going on that we have to handle the moment we’re back in D.C.”
    Chuckie heaved a sigh. “No, you’re right. I’m probably seeing things that aren’t there.”
    “First time for