“You know, he recognized me.” Brian said slowly. “I realize that’s not significant, but it was . . . odd. He said ‘nice to see you again,’ and then he laughed. I thought he was just being a jerk. But he really seemed to be enjoying himself, and not like, say, Howard Taft was enjoying himself when he wanted to kill all of us. It was like he was having fun, playing around.”
“Ronald Regan.”
This definitely got the entire room looking at me.
“What does the Great Communicator have to do with this?” Reader asked.
“He was the only President who didn’t seem to age while he was in office. I can remember my Aunt Carla saying that he hadn’t aged because he was an actor and for an actor there’s no better role than being President.”
“Does that woman have a view that’s not insulting to someone, anyone, somewhere?” Jeff asked.
“Not really. But she has a point. Actors love a role of a lifetime, don’t they?”
Raj nodded. “And, as so many like to share all the time, troubadours are pretty much tailor-made for roles in the entertainment industry.” Saw the light go on in Raj’s eyes. “You don’t think he’s the one in charge this time, either, do you, Ambassador?”
Now wasn’t the time to tell Raj to stop it with the formality, but made a mental note to remind him later. Everyone was stressed out, and in times of stress, we all reverted to what was comfortable or familiar, after all. “No, I don’t think he’s in charge. Someone else is.” Looked at Tim.
Who nodded. “Like you said to Christopher back at the Science Center, this sounds a lot more like the Mastermind.”
CHAPTER 47
JEFF GROANED. “We’ve had enough ‘fun’ with the Mastermind to last a lifetime.”
“He, or she, isn’t stopping. And, let’s face it, for all we know, Apprentice Tryouts have started up again.”
“So, what was the point of taking our people?” Christopher asked as Gower, Naomi, Abigail, Gladys, and White joined us. “You said you thought it was to get Patrick and Jamie.”
“And I still do. Tim pointed out that only the Poof I asked for by name went to help.” I swallowed. “I shouldn’t have sent him, either, because despite what happened, I don’t think they ever intended to hurt anyone in the room other than Brian.”
“Why are you all here?” Jeff asked the newest arrivals. “You need to be with your parents.”
Gower shook his head. “Uncle Alfred and Aunt Lucinda are here now. We don’t have time to indulge the grief. We’ve never been this exposed or vulnerable.”
“I don’t understand why ACE didn’t help us,” Abigail said softly. Gower’s shoulders slumped.
I really felt for Gower. He’d been through more than enough. Time to be the Resident Bearer of Bad News again. “ACE is gone. In a way. He hasn’t been with us since the end of Operation Destruction. We don’t know how to get him back. So, right now, ACE can’t be in any equation we’re working.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered if we’d still had our talents,” Naomi said.
“Don’t blame yourselves—”
“I don’t,” she said before I could finish. “I blame you.”
“How is it Kitty’s fault?” Tim asked.
“She’s the one who had us burn ourselves out during the invasion. If we hadn’t, we’d have been able to get away from Al Dejahl and my brother would still be alive.”
“Never, ever let me hear you complain about that again,” Gower said, with full Authority of the Office of the Supreme Pontifex in his tone. “Our jobs are to protect the innocent. That was the best reason to burn out talent that anyone’s ever had. You two saved tens of thousands as well as national treasures this country could never reclaim.”
“She didn’t mean it that way,” Abigail said. “It’s just . . . we couldn’t do anything.”
“We could do even less,” Jeff said. “None of us like feeling impotent, but that’s not a reason to attack each other.”
Naomi seemed to ignore what they were saying and, instead, advanced on me, eyes flashing. “You called for Fuzzball, I know you did. You’re the only one the Poofs listen to. If you’d stayed the hell out of it—”
“You’d all be dead,” White said calmly. “And Naomi, as our Supreme Pontifex said, that’s enough.”
“No, it’s not. Michael’s dead and for what? So we can do whatever Kitty says again? And get more of our people killed?”
I knew she was grieving, but Naomi was reminding me a lot of when she’d been a total Bridezilla. It wasn’t a good personality style for her. And it was a complete 180-degree change from this morning and how she normally was.
“Mimi, calm down,” Chuckie said soothingly. Amy and I both winced in anticipation.
Sure enough, Naomi spun around and turned on him. “You always take her side! You think she never makes mistakes! You act like she walks on water! I’m sick of it! I’m sick of all of this. My brother’s dead and all you’re all doing is lounging around chatting.”
She was getting hysterical. And, while grief and stress did terrible things to people, Naomi wasn’t normally a raging bitch. Brian had been blindfolded, and that meant the others probably had, too. The men had been stripped to the waist but all the women had had their shirtsleeves torn off. Why?
I knew in my gut that Michael wasn’t supposed to have been killed—he was one of the few adult hybrids out there, he was more valuable to the bad guys alive. But none of the hostages had really had time to compare notes.
Naomi was still freaking out and most of the others didn’t seem to know what to do. Tito and Nurse Carter were speaking quietly to Melanie and Emily, so I knew they were coming up with a medical response. However, I wanted this stopped now, and I knew how, and I knew Amy did as well. She and I exchanged a look and she nodded. Fine, she had my back on this one if necessary.
Rahmi and Rhee had noted my little exchange with Amy, and they both nodded to me. Good, if necessary, I’d have Amazonian backup, too. Hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.
Went to Naomi, who was now screaming at Gower, White, and Abigail about how they never supported her or loved Michael. This was officially too much, and I stopped worrying about her or anyone else’s reaction to what I was going to do. I spun her toward me, and slapped her as hard as I could.
She stared at me. “What the hell?”
I grabbed her arms and yanked them toward me. Sure enough, there was a needle mark and a forming bruise. “You were injected with something during capture, weren’t you?”
“Yes!” She was back to screaming. “We were attacked and—”
Slapped her again. “I don’t know if they gave it to everyone else or just you. But you were the one screaming before, and you’re really off the charts right now. You’re not acting at all normally. And since you’re not planning a wedding, and only a couple of hours ago you were totally normal, I’m going to just spitball this one and say that you’ve been given Surcenthumain.”
Naomi’s eyes were still flashing. She reminded me of how Jeff had looked when he’d been given the huge dose of Surcenthumain during Operation Drug Addict. And yet, she didn’t feel any stronger than an average A-C. I could keep hold of her wrists without really trying.
“Kitty, Melanie, and I weren’t injected with anything,” Emily said.
“I wasn’t injected, either,” Brian confirmed.
“Or me,” Abigail said, showing her arms.
“Why pick Mimi?” Chuckie asked.
“Because she’s your wife and whoever’s in charge of all this really hates you.”
“Remember that comment,” Tim said. “I guarantee Kitty’s right.”