“It’s likely to be the eyes. Christopher has his dad’s eyes, nose, and mouth.” He did, though his eye color—green flecked with blue—was like his late mother’s. “Look at everyone else’s eyes, do they all have a similar shape?”
“Somewhat. I see similarities in the mouths, too,” Chuckie agreed. “But not from Martini.”
“Jeff favors his father.” At least in looks and most of his personality. I’d discovered his jealous streak came from Lucinda, though.
There was general agreement that Jeff had a similar body structure to White’s but otherwise he was a clear Royal Family Descendant versus a Yates Looker. Worked for me. Jeff left the lineup.
“Christopher and Serene have Richard’s nose,” Melanie said. “And I think Kozlow does, too. But I don’t know if that’s enough to go on.”
“Kozlow’s mouth is like Gladys and Lucinda’s,” Emily added. “Without a genetic sample to compare to, I think that’s the best we’re going to get right now. But we’ve rolled with less.”
“Every operation Kitty’s in charge of,” Christopher muttered.
Chose to ignore him. “So, why was Kozlow attacking YatesCorp? If there’s a clause for the proof of the Yates Gene, why not just show up, have the blood test, and take your Seat of Power?”
“The gene’s harder to identify and even harder to confirm,” Tito said. “Possibly because of his combining with the Mephistopheles superbeing, Yates’ DNA appears to have been altered. My research is still inconclusive, but if I had to postulate a theory, it would be that without enough of a known genetic sample to compare to, no one would be able to say they were Ronald Yates’ relatives.”
And suddenly everything that was going on made sense.
CHAPTER 55
I OPENED MY MOUTH and then shut it again. I wanted to share what I’d figured out, but I realized I couldn’t. Because Gladys was in the room, and we pretty much had proof that, with the slightest effort on Ronaldo’s part, she was likely to tell the bad guys everything they wanted to know. For all I knew she was reading me right now and would be relaying what I was thinking to our enemies shortly.
Could tell Jeff, Chuckie, Buchanan, and Tim all noted me gaping like a fish. Thankfully none of them asked what was going on.
“Let’s get back to the most pressing issue,” Jeff said smoothly, presumably because he had for sure read my mind and/or emotions. “We need to determine what we’re going to do about the funeral the President’s requesting.”
“You know,” Chuckie said, “I don’t think any humans have a right to add in on this one—this is a very personal discussion that all of you need to agree upon. I need to contact Vander and Cliff anyway, so Kitty, Buchanan, why don’t you two come with me and we’ll leave your husband to manage whatever the official American Centaurion decision is for Michael’s funeral.”
“Reynolds, you okay if the other humans come along?” Tim asked. “Your discussion undoubtedly affects Alpha Team.”
“Sure. Martini, can we use your office?”
“Sure, Chuck, go ahead.”
I was impressed. Gave Jeff a quick kiss. “You rock,” I said softly. Nodded to Len and Kyle who wheeled Olga out behind Chuckie. The rest of the humans trailed out behind us.
“We could also have this meeting at our embassy,” Olga said as we waited for the elevator. “Or over at your Zoo facility.”
Assumed Olga had made the same leaps I had and that she wasn’t sure of Gladys’ range. Neither was I. Gladys ran the entire Science Center, after all.
“I think the Zoo might be best,” Buchanan said. Considered the distances. Yep, the Zoo was farther away than the Romanian Embassy, hence the most likely reason why Buchanan was voting that way. “We’re on the right floor to just walk over anyway.”
As he said this the elevator opened and Lorraine and Claudia stepped out. “Awesome, you two are here. Come with us. But first, Tito, please go with the girls and get your laptop. Don’t pass go, don’t check in on the conference room, just grab your laptop and any backups you have, and bring them and Nurse Carter back with you.”
To everyone’s credit, no one asked why, though Stryker really looked like he wanted to. The girls just shrugged and stepped back into the elevator, Tito joining them. Assumed at least half of those with me had connected the same dots I had, and I was pretty sure everyone was clear that whatever we were going to talk about needed to be done in a secure location.
“You want the rest of the guys meeting us?” Stryker asked.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Have them meet us on the second floor.”
While Stryker sent a text, Kevin and Irving exchanged a glance. “You want Pierre, too, Kitty?” Irving asked.
“Not yet.” Mostly because I had to figure that Pierre would be the one human the A-Cs would expect to be instantly available if they needed something, and I didn’t want to arouse more suspicion than we might have already.
“Do you want Denise to weigh in on any of this?” Kevin asked. “She might have a different perspective.”
Denise liked Gladys a lot, and knew her far better than I did, and I knew Kevin knew this. However, some things took precedence, Jamie being Number One. “No, but only because she’s on kidlet duty, and that goes the same for Brian.”
The girls and Tito returned, Nurse Carter in tow. “Let’s move,” Chuckie said.
“While we go,” Buchanan said as we all headed for the bridge that connected the Embassy to the Zoo building down the block, “yesterday’s events caused this to move down in importance, but we still need to get Field teams into every embassy in your neighborhood, as well as into the residences of any openly pro-alien politicians.”
Was about to ask if he was sure this was necessary when we reached the bridge. It was made of steel and reinforced bulletproof glass, so we could see outside while walking across and stay safe at the same time. Which was currently a very good thing, because there was quite a crowd in our street.
“What’s going on?” Claudia asked.
“That wasn’t there when we got Olga,” Len said.
“Looks like a protest,” Tim said, squinting. “And, if I’m reading that right, they’re protesting . . . us.”
A-Cs had better vision than humans, so Lorraine, Claudia, and I all looked more closely. Sure enough, there were signs saying things like “Alien Go Home,” “Aliens are NOT Americans,” “If You Weren’t Born Here, Leave,” “One Dead Alien is a Good Start,” and other pleasant things. Many of the signs were familiar from yesterday morning.
There were also people passing out pamphlets, and a table with what looked like a petition or two being signed was set up in front of the Irish Embassy. “Looks like Club Fifty-One is out in force.”
“Not just them,” Lorraine said, her voice tight. “Those horrible people who protest at military and other funerals are there, too.”
“Oh, fantastic. The least Christian Christians in the world and the most xenophobic morons together at last. Two bad tastes that taste even worse together. But, I have to figure that’s a love match made in hell, right there.” Wondered if they’d done their hook up yesterday, after chasing us. Probably.
“Undoubtedly,” Buchanan said.
“Com on!”
“Yes, Chief?”
“Walter, you’re back on the job so fast?”
“Yes, Chief, though William’s still here with me.”
“Good. William, please stick around. Bring the wife and kids over if you’d like, but do it via a gate. Shields need to be up on the entire Embassy complex.”
“William suggested I keep shields active, Chief. Shields have not been off since he first turned them on yesterday.”