Alien Collective Read Online Free PDF Page B

with Cameron Maurer’s dear old mum. “I didn’t know about this when we left.”
    “Take credit for the brilliant ideas as they come and never apologize for them, especially when they’re shown to be brilliant after the fact.” Hey, that had been my motto since day one with the gang from Alpha Four, after all.
    Pierre cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Ambassador, but should the children and the, ah, non-essential personnel be involved in this meeting? Or, to put the question another way, where would our lovely Host Ambassadress like me and some of the others to take our darling little pitchers?”
    Embassy personnel only called me Ambassador when people we didn’t like or trust were nearby, or if I was missing something really important and they wanted me to focus on their words carefully.
    Leave it to Pierre, versus me, to point out that “little pitchers have big ears” and that the kids hearing about scary things happening where they lived or spent most of their days might not be in the Happy Child Rearing Handbook. Wished he’d done it sooner, but there hadn’t been time for him to do that politely, and even when he was delivering a cutting insult, Pierre was always polite. He was an excellent example for the children of how to behave in all social settings.
    Mona called in some of her embassy personnel, including their embassy physician, and they took the kids, Lucinda, Pierre, and Denise off to whatever tastefully decorated room was now declared the impromptu Bahraini Daycare Center. Walter sent Jeremy and Jennifer with them as well to provide protection, and since Jennifer was going, Ravi was going, and if Ravi was going, all of Hacker International felt they were going, too. Buchanan seemed fine with this, so I didn’t argue.
    Tito and Mahin joined the Daycare Team, Tito because he was having a conversation with Dr. Zainal and Mahin because she was having a conversation with two of Mona’s embassy staff. Fine with me—someone should be turning this into a fun time, and that meant more people protecting the kids.
    Mona also took the opportunity to ask for tea service to be delivered, both to us and to the kids and their retainers. Either her staff kept the tea stuff ready 24/7 or else she had a couple of A-Cs doing kitchen duty, because tea, finger sandwiches, tea cakes, and the like appeared quickly.
    “So,” I said after I’d had a few sandwiches, two cups of tea, and some cakes, to keep my strength up and stress level down, “I still point out that we have the best shielding around encircling our embassy, and it covers the lower portions, too. Nasty things bounce off the shield. So, was it off or damaged?”
    “No, Chief,” Walter said. “However, the shields aren’t made to stop gas. If they were, we’d die when shielded because oxygen wouldn’t get through.”
    Chose not to ask why I didn’t know this already and also chose not to ask myself why I’d never wondered about this, either. I’d taken chemistry and other sciences in school. Since Jeff and Chuckie weren’t here, gave myself a “duh” on their behalf.
    “How in the world did they get gas into our Embassy, though? Through what means? And in such a way that we were actually able to evacuate without anyone becoming contaminated or dying. And if we weren’t so able, I want names and risk levels right now. I’m asking for specifics, not generalities, by the way. And I’m asking very officially.”
    “We don’t know how they got the gas in,” Buchanan said. “Which is part of the problem.”
    “Only part?”
    “We got everyone out before the gas could reach the first floor,” Walter said before I could get even more sarcasm going.
    “Only just,” Melville added. “If the warning hadn’t come when it did, there would have been casualties.” His phone rang and he answered it. His eyes narrowed and I decided I wanted to table the rest of this conversation until he was done. To be polite. And so I could eavesdrop. And