Alien vs. Alien

all the rest of the Z’porrah ships.”
    “That’s great, but I’m still worried about what we’re going to do with the supersoldiers,” Christopher said. “I’m not the only one who’s noticed that the minute they’re broken we get an extra-resilient superbeing, right?”
    “No, you’re not the only one,” Chuckie said. He had something in his ear.
    “Did you just join
The Matrix,
or are you on a weird headset?” It certainly wasn’t a Bluetooth from Hacker International.
    He grinned. “Weird headset. I’m talking to the Alpha Four command ship. They’re aware of all of our various problems. Just handling them in order of need.”
    One of the Alpha Four battle cruisers hovered over the debris, and another hovered over the parasites. Both drew their targets inside the ships’ bellies.
    “Wow, I hope they have some sort of antiparasite lining inside there.”
    “We do.”
    Turned to see Alexander standing there. Correction—King Alexander. He looked much less like the unsure kid we’d befriended and much more like a ruler.
    Chuckie bowed his head. “Your Highness.”
    “Good to see you . . . Your Highness.” I followed suit and did the head bow. Jeff and Christopher did as well.
    Alexander smiled at me. “Our apologies for being late.”
    “Yeah, we know, you had to be sure all the crap with Ronaldo and LaRue wasn’t just a really elaborate ruse on Earth’s part to bring the Z’porrah to conquer your system.”
    “True enough.”
    “Took you long enough to figure it out and get here,” Jeff said. Then he handed Jamie to me, grabbed Alexander and hugged him, and it was back to informal. Christopher and Alexander also hugged, Chuckie shook his hand, and Jamie and I got a joint hug. Then Alexander took Jamie from me and did all the goo-goo stuff people do with babies.
    “Thanks for the Peregrines, they rock. We were a little slow on the warning messages, though.”
    Alexander shrugged as he patted Bruno’s head. “It happens.”
    “By the way, why did Christopher and I wake up before the Peregrines arrived?”
    Alexander looked surprised. “Because of your talents. And because Christopher is the Primary, and therefore the overall protection of the principality rests with him.”
    Christopher and I exchanged an “oh really?” glance. “Great, good to know. Just checking and all that.”
    Jeff took Jamie back as the last superbeing on the ground was destroyed. “What are you going to do with the Z’porrah ships?”
    “We’ve destroyed at least half of the fleet they sent,” Alexander said. “We could destroy them all. But we’ll show them mercy, and they’ll be clear that we’ve so done. We will also ensure they understand that should they try this again, we
will
destroy them all.”
    Chuckie was having a quiet conversation with no one, so I assumed he was talking to the Command Ship again. “Yes, thank you.” He turned back to us. “The Z’porrah have officially surrendered. The ones in the air are being sent back to their solar system. Their command ship is the one on Earth, and we will be taking the crew as political prisoners.”
    “Is their ruler here?”
    “Hardly,” Alexander said. “Their ruler is back on their home world.”
    “Where most rulers tend to hang out. Why are you here?”
    “Because my family and principality were being threatened, and we needed to show the Z’porrah we are not cowardly. My mother and Councilor Leonidas, as well as the rest of the Planetary Council, are still on Alpha Four. And this way, I got to get out of the palace and do something exciting.”
    “Oh. So Jareen isn’t here? Or Queen Renata, Felicia, or Wahoa?” Now that I knew we’d see tomorrow, it would have been nice to see the rest of my friends, too.
    Alexander grinned. “The others wanted to come with me. However, Jareen is expecting, and warp space travel is not recommended for pregnant women of any race. The rest needed to remain to ensure our solar system was protected in case we were not successful in protecting Earth. Everyone sends their good wishes to you and suggests you visit our solar system for once.”
    The Feliniad and Canus Majorian ships encircled the Z’porrah ships and herded them toward the remaining Reptilian ships. The sky between the Reptilian ships had a weird, wavering sheen to it. “Have they created a spatiotemporal warp net thing?”
    “Yes,” Chuckie replied. “It’s got a more official name, but I know better than to waste