Alien vs. Alien

intergalactic war,” Chuckie countered with a laugh.
    “As Supreme Pontifex, I think my sister needs a giant rock, Chuck,” Gower said with a grin. He was sitting next to White and looked tired. Because, as he’d told me, he’d had to provide some power for ACE, just as the hybrid children had. However, the drain on Gower had been much more than the drain on the kids. Gower wasn’t sure why, though we both suspected it was because the kids were more powerful.
    There were lots of cheers and congratulations, which was nice. Someone, probably Kyle, put on “Chuck E’s In Love” by Rickie Lee Jones.
    “You know what I don’t get?”
    “What?” Claudia asked.
    “Why did it take so long for an A-C girl to claim Chuckie? I mean, he’s the smartest guy around.”
    “Oh, yeah, he is,” Lorraine said. “But, well . . . we don’t go for guys if they’re in a committed relationship.”
    “When was Chuckie in a serious relationship?” He’d certainly never told me about one.
    The girls exchanged glances. Claudia laughed. “Wow, on this one, you’re as dense as Jeff and Christopher usually are.”
    “Huh?”
    Lorraine sighed. “He was committed to
you
, Kitty. For years. After your wedding, there was a window of about a week when he was available. And then, well, a big ‘off limits’ signal got beamed to the rest of us. We know when to back off.”
    “Off limits? Oh! Naomi staked her claim.”
    “Strongly,” Claudia said. “Can’t blame her, really. I mean, a guy like Chuck wasn’t going to remain on the market long.”
    “Relatively speaking.” Chuckie probably felt he’d been on the market a lot longer than the Dazzlers did. But as Armstrong had plagiarized from the Bard, all was well that ended well.
    Tito and Nurse Carter came in with Hughes and Walker, both in wheelchairs. Hughes had a broken leg, Walker had a cracked skull, but for the most part, Jeff had been right—they were going to pull through.
    I gave Jamie to Lorraine, trotted over, and gave both of them big hugs. “I thought I’d never see you guys again.”
    “You almost didn’t,” Tito said. “It was a close thing for both of them.”
    “Don’t hug them too hard,” Nurse Carter added. “They both have internal injuries. Because we have A-C medical advances, they can be up and out of bed, even though they shouldn’t be,” she added sternly, which earned fake guilty looks from both flyboys. “You two get a half an hour here, and then it’s back into the infirmary.”
    “You need to get rest, too, Kitty, just like Jeff, Christopher, Paul, Naomi, and Abigail do,” Tito said. “And by rest I mean all of you are headed for isolation tonight.” I opened my mouth, but he put his hand up. “Everyone’s on an adrenaline high still, I know. Just don’t plan on staying up much longer than my two main patients here.”
    Tito and Nurse Carter tactfully took their leave. Tito joined Christopher and Amy and the rest of the flyboys, who were near the food, while Nurse Carter went and joined White, who pulled her onto his lap. Christopher noted this, and I saw him smile, then turn back and give Amy a kiss.
    Turned my attention back to Hughes and Walker. “Glad you two were able to get out of bed, let alone join the party.”
    Hughes smiled. “We’re only here because I hear tell someone ran on water to save us. And because Tito’s the best doctor on any planet.”
    Walker nodded, then winced. “I gotta remember my head’s not on tight right now.” He took my hand and Hughes took the other. “Thanks, Kitty.”
    “I may not be the Head of Airborne anymore, but you’ll always be my guys.”
    “And you’ll always be our commander,” Walker said.
    “Even if we don’t officially report to you any more,” Hughes added.
    Before we could get too mushy, we were interrupted by parrot squawks. “Mister! Mister! Mister!” Bellie was flying around the room, clearly searching for Oliver.
    Jeff caught her near Claudia’s head, and I went back to claim my baby and let the extra Dazzler nurses Tito employed fuss over Hughes and Walker.
    “She sure wants to find our favorite reporter,” Jeff said, sounding a little hurt.
    “He was here a second ago.”
    “I went to use the facilities,” Oliver said as he rejoined us.
    Bellie squawked happily and flew to Oliver’s shoulder, giving him a nuzzle. Jeff looked shocked.
    “Bellie, you really are a cheap slut, aren’t you?” I was fine with this of course, and I had a