Touched by an Alien

couple of days. But the sound wasn’t repeated, and we had people to save, so I decided not to worry about it. There were plenty of other things to worry about. “Where does this pipe lead?”
    “We’ll come out on the bottom level,” Christopher advised.
    “Safe to assume the whole complex is taken?” Jerry asked.
    “I think so. Christopher didn’t recognize the voice telling us we couldn’t land, and, let’s face it, they shot missiles at us.”
    “Who do you think we’re dealing with?” Walker asked.
    I thought about it. “The Al Dejahl terrorist organization.”
    “You sure?” Christopher asked.
    “Positive. It’d have to be more than one person to hold the entire Science Center hostage. From what my mother’s indicated, Al Dejahl has enough people, and this matters to Yates in a big way.”
    “We’re not armed well to stop terrorists,” Jerry said.
    “The element of surprise is on our side.”
    “Jeez, Kitty, did you buy a book of clichés while I wasn’t looking?”
    I resisted the impulse to hit Christopher in the butt, partially because he had a great butt and I didn’t think grabbing it right now would be a good idea no matter how I looked at it.
    We continued and finally hit a grate. Christopher moved it easily, but I figured it would have taken two human men.
    “Why isn’t it rusted?” I asked softly.
    “Special alloy,” Christopher whispered back. “Now, cut the chatter.”
    “Yes, sir, Commander.”
    “I’m going to ask Jeff to wash your mouth out.”
    I took that idea and ran with it, letting my mind wander through the gutter with it while we moved into the small utility room, clearly unused for decades. I really hoped Martini was going to be okay, because I wanted to jump his bones by the time Hughes was in the room with us.
    “Okay, how do we tell the hostiles?” Walker asked.
    “The people holding the weapons should be the hostiles.” Why was I the one answering this question?
    Christopher nodded. “If they’ve taken every floor, we’re going to have to clear it and work our way to wherever they’re holding Jeff and the others.”
    We moved out, staying in the same order as in the pipe. The floor was deserted. “Not a good sign,” Christopher said once we’d determined it was empty.
    “No, it means they’ve herded everyone to, I hope, one level.”
    “But we can’t assume that,” Hughes said.
    “True. Are there stairs?”
    “Of course.” Christopher gave me a look that said that was an idiot question.
    “I haven’t seen them.”
    He rolled his eyes and led us to an unmarked doorway. Sure enough, it was the stairwell. I guessed the aliens didn’t figure anyone would need to know where the stairs were. In case of emergency they’d just run out of the building at hyperspeed and be done with it.
    We moved up through the A-C levels—no one anywhere, including in the transient wing. Well, no one human or A-C. Our dogs and cats were in my parents’ room, but they were the only living things there.
    “Should we bring the hounds?” Jerry asked as Duke licked his face.
    “Only if we want to make a really loud entrance and give doggie kisses to the terrorists.”
    Duchess had jumped into Hughes’ arms and was licking all over him. “I thought pit bulls were deadly killers,” he said as he put her down.
    “Only if they’re trained to it. Otherwise, you’re in greater danger of being licked to death.”
    “She was really protective when I visited,” Christopher said.
    I thought about it. She was the best trained of our dogs. “Okay, we’ll bring her along, but believe me, leave the others here.”
    We hooked on Duchess’ lead and then moved out. Hughes had her and the baseball bat. Christopher took the baseball back since Hughes had his hands full. I figured he was finding it comforting because he was spinning it in his palm.
    It was the same thing on the next floors—all deserted. It was eerie now for real. But we made good time since Christopher, after the second deserted floor, just ran from room to room.
    “Which floor is the launch one?”
    “Top. That’s probably where they are.”
    We hit Floor Two and finally found activity. This was human medical, but there were people here. Not too many, just several armed guards around one door.
    “That’s where they have Jeff and the others.”
    “How the hell can you tell that?” Christopher asked me.
    “Genetics.”
    “Okay, so, we get them out.”
    I knew exactly how Martini had