Alien vs. Alien

access.”
    I stared at him. “Wow. I think I know where you’re talking about. And, yeah. It’s perfect. And loaded with A-C Security dudes.”
    “The reth="2st of us aren’t so clear,” Amy said.
    “Probably not. But, um, just in case, I’m not going to say aloud where Mister White and I are talking about.”
    I looked at Bruno, who nodded his approval. Excellent. Now for the hard part—getting there. Well, in one sense, getting there was fairly easy. But we had to do it in such a way no one would be aware we were going there until everyone was safely tucked away.
    I looked at White. “One big floater gate or do we all trundle over to the Embassy?”
    “I believe a variety of jumps might be preferable.”
    “Makes sense.” It did. If we were congregating in one area then jumping again, logic would determine that we hadn’t left someone behind. Logic would be wrong, but it was worth a shot, and I didn’t want to take too long to get things and precious cargo locked up and away.
    My phone chose this moment to ring. “Hey Christopher, what did you find?”
    “Nothing, which I suppose is a good thing. What have you come up with?”
    “Oh, I think it’s time for us to have a party.”
    He was quiet for a few long moments. “Is this you trying to pass along information in a way no one else would understand?”
    “Yes.”
    He sighed. “I’m not James, Jeff, or Reynolds. I don’t get your Kittyisms first thing out of the gate.”
    “And yet, there you are, right with me on the plan.”
    “No. I’m nowhere with you on the plan. I have no idea what the plan is, and if we continue on this way much longer, I won’t have anything other than a migraine.”
    I had to accept that this was probably true. “I want to get everyone who’s in danger and not equipped to properly protect themselves to safety. I also want to be sure said someones have others with them capable of kicking butt. And I want them hidden very safely somewhere that’s still easy enough for us to access.”
    “Kitty, seriously, in the time you’ll spend trying to get me to figure out your innuendos, they could launch their plan and kill everyone. Let’s assume our phones aren’t tapped and everyone in the room with you is trustworthy, andjust tell me what the hell you want me to know.”
    “You take all the fun out of everything, you know that?”
    “Not according to Amy. Seriously, what’s going on?”
    “We need to gather up every family with a new hybrid baby or one on the way, along with any Embassy personnel who aren’t A-Cs or equipped to kick serious butt, and get them hidden safely where our enemies wouldn’t expect.”
    “Where is that? We gave them all our responses to emergencies. They know everywhere we’d go, and in what order.”
    I rifled through the papers. Sure enough, no one had mentioned it. I could try to get him thinking along my lines but Christopher was probably right—I had to trust those with us and that our phones weren’t tapped or we got nowhere. Nothing fort him it but to forego innuendo and tell the world of the genius that was me and White.
    “Your dad and I want to get everyone out of Dodge and into the Dome.”

    Yi

CHAPTER 43

    T HE DOME’S FULL NAME was the Crash Site Dome. It was the real spot where the first aliens to visit Earth, the Ancients, had crash-landed on their second visit. So far as we knew, they’d done a lot better their first time coming around to say hi.
    The remains of the Ancients’ spaceship powered the Dome. Apparently their fuel cells had a half-life like nothing else in the galaxy. The Dome was the main gate hub for the entire world, and had the most Security of any A-C facility. It was, essentially, the A-Cs’ version of JFK, LAX, and every other big airport rolled into one, without the mess and fuss most airports put you through, like parking garages and a zillion Cinnabon outlets.
    It was also hidden from anything and everything human technology could discover. As far as I could tell, it was hidden from alien technology, too, because, so far, no one had tried to take the Dome out of commission. Maybe they couldn’t, I didn’t know. But I did know where it was and that it was going to be the last place anyone would think we were staying.
    “Oh.” Christopher was quiet. “That’s a really good plan.”
    “Thank your dad, he’s the brains of the operation. Anyway, I want everyone other than you, Tito and Walter out of the Embassy and over to the