Alien vs. Alien

feeling Bellie was smart enough to know that, ultimately, between me and her, I was going to win in the fight for Jeff’s love and affection.
    She looked at me. “Jeff has Kitty. Bellie has Mister.”
    “I like where your birdbrain’s at, Bellie. MJO, you okay with another pet?”
    “Actually, yes. I haven’t had any in the last faew years because I’m gone so often, but Miss Bellie is so bright and well trained, I can take her with me. And, as events have shown, I know Button can take care of itself anywhere. May I assume if I have to go to dangerous parts of the world that I may leave Miss Bellie in your good care?”
    “Absolutely,” Jeff said quickly.
    “Aww, your avian mistress has chosen a different sugar daddy. You’ll just have to make do with me.”
    Jeff grinned as he put his arm around me, and the music switched to “Hold Me” by Jamie Grace. “I’ll take that deal.”
    My parents commandeered Jamie under the legitimate excuse of not having seen her for a month. The rest of Alpha, Airborne, and our extended Embassy team floated over one by one, each one sharing what they’d done during the weekend, how close a shave they’d had with death, what they’d been worried about. No one was topping Hughes and Walker on the close shaves, but that was okay by me.
    Jeff looked around the room. “You know, this was the big test—how would we handle things when it looked like the world was going to end. I think everyone did a great job. And the right people are where they need to be.”
    “Girlfriend was right,” Reader said, flashing me the cover-boy grin. “When it came down to it, what we had that our enemies didn’t was us. As long as we’re together, nothing can break us.”
    “Together forever, right, James?”
    Everyone agreed we were a team ’til the bitter end, as “Last Days on Earth” by Tears for Fears came onto our sound system.
    “Right,” Jeff whispered in my ear. “You’re mine until the worlds ends, and then for the rest of eternity.” He kissed me, and, as always, everything else faded into the background.
    So we were outed to the world. So what? Maybe they’d chase us off Earth. Maybe they’d try to turn to us for every emergency. Or maybe they’d accept that we were just like everybody else—people who loved each other and would fight to protect our world from all the bad things out there trying to destroy it.
    Ultimately, it didn’t matter. I was with Jeff, and we had Jamie, and that meant we had everything we’d ever need.
    Bad guys of the galaxy beware. And all that.

    Yi

Coming in May 2013:
    the seventh novel in the
Alien
series
    from Gini Koch
ALIEN IN THE HOUSE

    Read on for a sneak preview

    Yi

“W HY ARE YOU BOTH HERE SO EARLY?” Reader asked. He sounded mildly annoyed. This seemed to be the Standard Reaction Mode for whoever was the Head of Field for Centaurion Division when dealing with Chuckie.
    “Not that it isn’t great to see you both,” I added. Hey, I was the co-Head Diplomat and I tried to practice my diplomatic skills whenever it was convenient and easy. “Unless you’re bringing news of doom and gloom, and then come back later, okay?” I also didn’t like to overdo the practicing.
    Chuckie grinned. “No, for once, not coming by to share how the world’s going to end tomorrow.”
    Good. I wouldn’t have to tell Walter to spin “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones. Though I had Stones songs on the playlist for tonight’s festivities because the British Counsel was supposed to be in attendance and I wanted to play more nicely than I had before and pretend I thought the Stones were sort of in the same league as Aerosmith, even though Aerosmith was the greatest and the Stones were merely good.
    Cliff nodded. “Under the circumstances, the Department wanted to ensure that you and we feel your Embassy is secure. I decided to come by with Chuck, as opposed to sending a team here.”
    “Thanks, we appreciate that,” Jeff said. “So what do you need to see?”
    “Any common areas the guests will be in,” Cliff replied. “This is really just a formality, not a white glove test.”
    “Excuse me?” Jeff sounded confused, which wasn’t a surprise.
    “Earth saying. Your mother would understand it.” This I knew for a fact. Happily, the A-C Operations team, who I called the Elves because I never, ever saw them perform their wondrous and magical duties, handled the cleaning of every A-C facility, including the Embassy. If the