Alien vs. Alien

already knew—his “children” had actually been amazingly good androids—or information we didn’t was the question of the moment.
    Jeff joined us. “See? You two are getting along great.”
    “Yeah, right. Um, Jeff, is it time to join Chuckie and the Gower girls?”
    “Yeah, that’s why I came to get you. They’re starting to wonder where we are.”
    “Great. You give me Jamie. I want you to bring Bellie with us.”
    “Really? She’ll enjoy that.”
    I shook my head. “I don’t care if she loves it or hates the experience down to her giant talons. Bellie has intel, and I think you and maybe Chuckie are going to be the only ones who can get it out of her.”

    Yi

CHAPTER 16

    B ELLIE WAS REMOVED FROM her luxury accommodations. She happily perched on Jeff’s shoulder and seemed quite content to stay there. I got the impression she’d been riding around the Embassy like this a lot while I was gone.
    “How is it that if a Poof is on your shoulder you feel unmanly, but you’re all over this bird sitting there?”
    “Bellie’s different.”
    “Whatever you say, Cap’n Jeff.”
    “Huh?”
    I decided not to elaborate. We headed for the elevators. The doors opened, but the elevator wasn’t empty—Buchanan was in it.
    He smiled at me and Jamie. “Hey there, Missus Chief and Baby Chief.” Then he took a look at Jeff and gaped. “And Captain Chief.”
    “What’s with all the captain stuff?” Jeff asked as we got into the elevator and he stood between me and Buchanan. “And call her Missus Martini.”
    “Malcolm can call me whatever he wants.” He’d started calling me Mrs. Chief the moment we hit Florida. I liked it, in part because it always made me want to giggle. “And, seriously, Jeff, you have a parrot on your shoulder. All you need is an eye patch or a fake peg leg and you’re all set for Halloween, which is far away, or Purim, which you’re more than a little late for.”
    “It’s a great look, really,” Buchanan added. He and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.
    Jeff glowered. “It’s not funny.”
    “Actually, it’s hilarious. But whatever. Malcolm, were you coming to see us?”
    “Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about the incident at NASA Base.”
    “Great, come on down. We’re meeting up with Chuckie to discuss that and other fun facts.”
    Jefall her f wasn’t happy about this, but I no longer cared. He was carting Bellie around; I’d take Buchanan along. At least my plus one was human.
    Buchanan looked closely at the bird. “Isn’t that Antony Marling’s parrot?”
    We got out of the elevator. “Yeah, it is. How’d you know?”
    “I researched everything related to you. I thought the bird would have gone to an animal rescue of some kind.”
    I brought Buchanan up on the specialness that was the “gift” of Bellie to me by Peter the Dingo as we joined Chuckie and the Gower girls.
    Bellie cawed happily when she saw Chuckie. “Reynolds! Reynolds! Reynolds!”
    “I see she likes you.”
    Chuckie shrugged. “The bird’s seen all of us a lot.” He winked at me. “Captain Martini likes to have her around.”
    “Seriously, stop it with all the captain stuff,” Jeff snapped. “It’s not funny.”
    “It’s pretty funny,” Naomi said as she and Abigail both giggled.
    “Captains of industry,” Bellie said. “Captains of science.”
    “What other captains are there, Bellie?” I asked.
    She looked at me. “Captains of military.”
    “Any other captains, Bellie?” The bird seemed to be considering. “Mimi, Abby, can either one of you see what the bird’s thinking?”
    “No,” Naomi said. “We don’t do animal minds.”
    “They don’t think like humans,” Abby added. “They don’t have emotions like humans, either.”
    Pity. It was never nice to find limitations to our side’s powers. “Well, it was worth a shot. Jeff, you ask her.”
    “Ask her what?”
    “Ask Bellie about captains. And secrets.”
    Jeff gave me the “you so crazy” look. “Why?”
    “Just do it.” I managed not to snap. I didn’t want Bellie upset with me.
    He sighed. “What other captains does Bellie know about?” he asked the bird in a goo-goo voice. Naomi and Abigail both put their hands over their mouths. I was certain they were trying not to laugh out loud.
    “Captains in place.”
    Chuckie sat up straight. “Captains in place where, Bellie?”
    Bellie looked at him. “Paraguay and Paris! Paraguay and Paris!”
    We all looked at each other.