Alien vs. Alien

about the next words that were goinghatfon to come out of my mouth. “You don’t see these pictures and whatever scandal they might cause as a big deal, do you?”
    “Oh, they can and likely will be made to be a very ‘big deal,’ ” Olga said gravely. “But they are hardly the biggest deal, so to speak.”
    Buchanan finally spoke up. “You think the pictures are just a distraction, don’t you?”
    “A distraction from what?” I asked this one, because I knew Buchanan had a good idea of what was really going on.
    “A distraction from more important things,” Olga replied, speaking to Buchanan, not me. “You are prepared?”
    He shrugged. “Not really. The mess at NASA Base ensured the Ambassador can’t actually know everything that’s going on.” He smiled at Olga. “At least, she can’t hear about it from anyone who officially knows.”
    Olga beamed. Clearly Buchanan was moving straight to the head of the class. “Ah?”
    Buchanan grinned. “However, it seems fortunate that no one in this room has been briefed on anything yet. So there’s no one here who could compromise their security clearance, since they don’t know what is or isn’t classified.”
    Olga nodded and looked to me. “Definitely keep Mister Buchanan close at hand, Ambassador. He will be most useful to you and your Mister Reynolds.”

    Yi

CHAPTER 21

    B EFORE I COULD QUESTION WHY Olga had mentioned Chuckie and not Jeff in terms of Buchanan’s usefulness, Adriana popped her head into the room. “I’m sorry, Ambassadress, but the Ambassador just called. He’ll be home shortly.”
    “Ah, then I must ask our guests to take their leave. My Andrei will be wanting his dinner right away.”
    We all took the hint. We were on Romanian soil while in their Embassy, and Andrei wasn’t quite as aware of things as his wife and granddaughter were. I was quite willing to continue to keep him in the dark.
    We said our good-byes, and I noted the boys both hugged Adriana. I knew without asking that it was hard for her to be trapped in the Embassy as much as she was, even though it appeared she spent the downtime training in how to be the best New KGB operative ever. But I didn’t begrudge her some handsome male attention, and the boys were happy to provide it—she was a cute girl.
    Buchanan walked us across the street. “I’ll find you tomorrow.”
    “You’re not coming for dinner?” I’d gotten used to eating with him.
    He shook his head. “Your husband won’t like it.”
    “I’ll bet you twenty bucks that bird will be joining us.”
    He laughed. “Probably. But we’re back home now, and we need to have things appear to be normal.pear to /fonnth="
    “Whatever you say.”
    “See? That’s only one reason you don’t want me at dinner.” He grinned as I blushed. “See you later, Missus Chief. Try to give the bird a chance. And if you really can’t stand her, I promise she’ll meet an untimely death due to a sniper’s bullet.”
    “You’d shoot Bellie if I asked you to?”
    He nodded as he turned and walked away. “Yeah. My job has nothing to do with making your husband happy.”
    I waited to go in until Buchanan turned the corner. “Does anyone else want to know where the hell he goes?” To date, I’d never been able to spot or find Buchanan unless he wanted me to find or spot him. And I’d tried. It was as if he had Dr. Strange’s Sorcerer Supreme powers. Jeff hadn’t liked it when I’d mentioned that comparison.
    “No,” Len said shortly.
    “Ditto,” Kyle added.
    Come to think of it, the boys hadn’t liked the Dr. Strange comparison, either. There were times, like now, when I felt the boys saw Buchanan’s existence as my mother saying the boys weren’t good at their jobs. I knew this wasn’t true, but now probably wasn’t the time to get into that particular discussion.
    “I’m just curious. He sort of comes and goes like the wind.”
    “I don’t care where he goes as long as he shows up when you need him,” Len said. “I want to know what’s really going on.”
    “Me too,” Kyle agreed. “From what he said, it sounds like we should avoid finding out, though.”
    “I agree,” White said. “I think our little team would be better off remaining out of the loop, at least for now.”
    “What do we say if someone tries to tell us something?” Len asked.
    “Tell them part of the truth—you don’t want to know because you don’t want to have to censor yourselves around me. I’m sure