"I'd never heard of these until today, son."

Chuckie's wasn't the only human mind that could move fast when needed. Mine liked to comply now and again as well. "Richard, I'm sorry, I know you don't know this, but now's apparently the time. I know Terry went to see Yates right after the Mephistopheles superbeing showed up. She was going to ask for his help. Instead, he infected her in some way. Whether it was with a parasite or something else, I'm not sure, but that's what killed her."

White clenched his jaw but otherwise didn't betray emotion. Christopher put his arm around his father; Abigail took and squeezed White's hand. "I'm fine, children," he said quietly. "Confirmation of long suspected truth is something of a relief."

"I know it was a long time ago, but do you know where Yates was the week before Terry got sick?"

"It still feels like yesterday most of the time, so yes, I do remember. He was in Washington, D.C. Rumors put him at his club."

"Which we can safely assume was the same country club the dead zone is under. So, maybe he had the cube, maybe Terry followed him, something, but somewhere along the way, she found it. Figured out how to program it and brought it back with her. So she could pass on what Jeff and Christopher would need in order to survive without her."

"But she never told me where she got it," Jeff said. "Why not?"

"The same reason she didn't tell you many other things. You were ten years old, and she was already giving you more responsibility than any child should have to bear."

"So, how did you two get out?" Stryker asked. "The room's impregnable."

"With our tools, yes," Chuckie said. "But not if you use the cubes properly."

"Only works if you're with the smartest guy in not just the room you're in, but any room in the world," Jeff said. Proudly. Wow. This was a red-letter day in a lot of ways.

"Thanks. It's based on mental telepathy, which would sound like so much New Age junk if we didn't have A-Cs doing similar every day of their lives. It requires more than wishing to make it work, however."

"So how did Jeff manage it?"

They both chuckled. "Lucky accident, as near as we can tell," Chuckie said. "He was pressing the right points of the cube at the right time, and was completely focused on his goal, which was a clear and simple goal."

"How do you mean?" Buchanan asked.

"Martini wanted to get the two of us away from Clarence and to safety. That's a clear goal. 'I want to be rich' isn't as clear a goal, for example, because it's not saying how you're going to get rich, it's not saying what you consider rich to be, and so on."

"Makes sense." Who was I to argue? I could talk to animals now. I had no That's So Crazy leg to stand on.

"If you look at the cube, it's set up almost exactly like a Rubik's Cube," Chuckie continued. He held up his cube. It glowed, but I could see that each side was faintly different in color from the others. "It moves similarly, so each square, row, and side means something. I'm nowhere close to determining how it works all the way around, but after a variety of experiments, we determined the right formation for traveling through the dead zone. We tested and ended up outside the walls."

"We each went back in, separately," Jeff said. "So the one in the tunnel could go for help if the one in the room couldn't get back out. But the pattern is consistent. And the goal was simple-I want to be on the other side of this wall, in the room."

"Or I want to be outside this room, in the tunnel. I was glad to be right on that one," Chuckie said as he fiddled with his cube.

"We were looking to see what we could pick up from the tunnels when you found us," Jeff added.

"Why were you two just sauntering along?" Christopher asked. "You were moving slowly by any standards, let alone ours.

"Because Reynolds threw up for ten minutes straight while I spent time on the losing end of a fight with Clarence, and then we both got to enjoy Clarence hitting us for a while, and then we were locked in a room with no water or food, and we've both used a lot of energy, and, speaking for both of us, we feel like crap. I have no hyperspeed left, and as Reynolds confirmed earlier, he can't take hyperspeed right now anyway. We had no choice but to 'saunter.' "

I looked at both their expressions. "You need adrenaline, don't you?" I asked Jeff.

"No, I'm sure I'm fine."

Tito sighed. "I'm sure you're not, and we have a world of hurt heading for us, so let's get you taken care of."

While Jeff whined and complained and Tito, Christopher, and White overruled him, I put on my Recap Girl cape yet again and brought Jeff and Chuckie up to speed on what had gone on in their absence, which included introductions of those here and elsewhere they hadn't officially met and all the other niceties.

I might have mentioned how distressed we all were with their being kidnapped and all that more than once, but who could blame me? Not Naomi, if her chiming in was any indication.

Chuckie was overjoyed to discover Franklin was truly now the man in charge at Andrews and concerned about Hamlin's disappearance, which he hadn't been briefed on.

Ravi interrupted to demand information from Chuckie about how he controlled the nine supersoldiers in his charge. Once the information was relayed, and Chuckie confirmed that he, Reader, and Tim-and only he, Reader, and Tim-had access to where these nine supersoldiers were housed, I went back to theories and recaps. I'd gotten so good at this over the past couple of days that I didn't miss a thing. White, Buchanan, Oliver, and the Middle Eastern Contingent even applauded when I was done.

The nice thing about Tito being here and Jeff not being at death's door was that the adrenaline could go in via the vein in his arm rather than stabbed into his hearts. It was the most pleasant adrenaline injection of his I'd ever experienced.

Ravi chimed in again as all this finished up and Jeff was rolling his sleeve down. "We have confirmation of control of all supersoldiers, from teams in Paris and Paraguay. I've also apprised Commanders Reader and Crawford of our status."

My phone beeped. I had a text. "James says that he and Tim are so thrilled that the two of you are alive and well, they plan to celebrate by kicking alien invader butt." Another beep. "Tim says that he appreciates that we took forever to let them know you two were okay."

"Enough with the guilt," Jeff said. "Does my mother know I was missing?"

"Yes, indeed. And I'm sure she'll make you feel even guiltier than I possibly can." Another beep. "James says that, under the circumstances, now that Chuckie's back, he'd like to suggest that we get Alpha Four's help, pronto."

Chuckie shook his head. "I don't know why they wouldn't be helping you already, even with me gone."

"I explained that. World War Two. And such."

"Yes, I know," he said patiently. "But you're at least as trusted by them as I am, Kitty." He gave a mirthless chuckle. "Besides, what we really need is an ozone shield."

"Why?" Jeff asked.

"It stopped the parasites when Alpha Four had theirs up." My mind raced. "Oh. Wow. Um, I have a really clear and focused goal, Chuckie."

"On it."

"Do you think these things can do that?" Jeff asked, looking at the cube in his hand.

"Worth a shot. So, while Chuckie plays with our Outer Space Rubik's Cube, where is the one Terry programmed? I'd figured Clarence stole it way back when."

"Makes sense, but if he is the one who took it, he hid it somewhere," Jeff said.

"The Embassy," William said, before I could. "That's why he's trying to get in here. He lost his cube and knows where a spare is stored."

"That must be how they were able to enter the dead zone they used for the secret lab-they had the cube and figured out how to work it."

"We think each dead zone houses a cube," Chuckie said. "I was hoping to test and see if we could get into one of the others with one of the two we have."

"So does that mean our world is littered with these cubes?" Oren asked.

"Too little data to make an accurate hypothesis," Henry said.

"Oh, but I'm here, and I'm great with making a really good guess. Yes, assume there are Power Cubes in every dead zone. And if we could find the one Clarence hid in here, we'd have three." An idea formed. "Poofies, can you find the missing cube that mean old Clarence stole and hid?"

The three Poofs with us appeared from wherever they'd been. Harlie did a mewl-growl thing, and a few more Poofs appeared out of nowhere. I decided not to question. The Poofs bounced up and down, then disappeared.

"Great, the Poofs are on the hunt." One problem down. I thought faster. "So, based on our earlier assumptions, I'm going to make another leap."

"Why not?" Omega Red said. "It's all speculation right now."

"Oh, it won't be speculation for long, Yuri. We know the Ancients came by more than once. I think it's a safe bet that whatever the aliens are that are headed toward us, they dropped by, too. The Ancients hung around and interacted. But maybe these other aliens didn't. They could have been like ACE-they came to watch and observe, maybe take some tests, but they're supposed to be leaving us alone. They put their cubes and tunnels into the earth a long time ago, and they're using building materials we can't access or probe with A-C talents or Earth-based technology, so that probably means metals from another world."

"Why are so many important things on top of these cube rooms, then?" Buchanan asked. "It can't be random chance."

"No, I agree with you. I go back to the idea that they're working as attractors of some kind. Maybe they probe and give subliminal suggestions. I felt a kind of tug when Richard and I went by the dead zones we passed on the way to find Jeff and Chuckie."

"I did as well," White confirmed.

"So I think they've been influencing us in some ways, either the cubes, the space invaders, or both."

"I can agree," Chuckie said, still fiddling with his cube. "Because while we both wanted to get out of the room, there was a strong draw to stay in it."

"I think if I'd been in there by myself, I might not have gotten out," Jeff said. "And not only because Reynolds figured out part of the cube when I couldn't. Once I calmed down it was very . . . soothing to be there."

"So maybe that's why you were both so calm when we found you-the room chilled you out."

"Maybe." Chuckie shrugged. "We don't have enough data to even make an educated guess at this time."

"Okay, fine," Christopher said. "So why did you mention the Ancients, Kitty?"

"Because of the Dome. I think that Ancients' ship was shot down by the cube that probably resides under the Dome. And I think that happened because these guys and the Ancients didn't get along."

"Enough to shoot another vessel out of the air?" Jeremy asked.

"Look, I realize that we humans like to think that sentient life on other planets will have found a way to get along with everyone and would only come visit when they want to share how to make world peace a reality. But we have examples in the Alpha Centauri system that say it's a nice idea but not something that happens in reality. Utopia's a great vision. But it's a hard thing to actually create or maintain."

"Let's say you're right," Henry said. "Why build the way they have? The tunnels and rooms are so small. We discussed this earlier-you can't get a car, let alone a tank, in there."

"Maybe the aliens aren't as big as we are."

"There was plenty of room for me and Reynolds in the tunnels," Jeff said. "The room was pretty big, too. About the size of our old apartments in the Science Center."

I missed the Lair. Wondered if we'd ever see it again, then decided it was currently the least of my worries.

"The denizens of the Alpha Centauri planets are roughly our size," White said.

"Maybe we grow them taller out here in the Boondocks of the Milky Way. Maybe I'm wrong. We're going to find out, I'm sure."

The computers started beeping like crazy. "You're right about the world of hurt, Tito," Big George said. "And Kitty, you're right, we're going to find out about the invaders, and soon. Chuck, we need you to hurry."

"Why?"

"Because everyone's wrong about the armada arriving Monday. It's here, right now."

"In our part of the galaxy?" Christopher asked.

"No," Stryker answered, voice shaking. "In our solar system."

CHAPTER 90.

THE IMAGE ON THE SCREEN was indeed the armada. "Is that Jupiter?"

"Yes," Big George said.

"Military worldwide is going to DEFCON One," Henry said.

"Wow. I think we're really beyond that. I put us at DEFCON Total Freak-Out, but what do I know?"

"I don't have enough time to figure this out," Chuckie said quietly. "If I did, I might be able to put an ozone shield up. But I don't think that's an option now."

"Where are the missiles aimed?" Franklin asked.

"Some external," Stryker said. "Some internal."

Everyone was very quiet. I could hear R.E.M. singing in my mind-this could very well be the end of the world as we knew it. The heck with that. I dug my iPod out of my purse.

"What are you doing?" Jeff asked softly.

"The instructions Chuckie left for us were to activate the Avenger Initiative. That initiative said 'go with the crazy.' We're all scared. I'd personally rather be having sex with you than facing space invaders so powerful that we can't even comprehend how they're traveling as fast as they are. However, duty, apparently, calls."

"But Reynolds is here now," Jeff pointed out.

"I have no idea of what to do," Chuckie said. "I honestly wasn't prepared for our enemies to come back so soon, let alone with this kind of backup."

Wanted to hear tunes but needed to make calls. Decided I could do both until telecommunications went down. God alone knew if that was all that would be taken out. No, couldn't go there, even though I was terrified. Everyone was terrified, even the men used to dealing with the biggest, fugliest monsters around.

This situation was threatening everyone and everything I cared about. And that flipped me from frightened to what had been working for me since Day One with Centaurion, and even more so since Jamie had been born-I was really, really angry.

Put my earbuds in, spun the dial without looking, hit the button for play at random. Made sure the volume was such that I could still everyone in the room. Didn't care what was playing, as long as it was music. Interestingly enough, hard rock didn't come on. Adam Ant singing "Viva le Rock" came on.

Sent a group text out. Happily, telecommunications was still working. "Where do we think they're going to come?"

"Alien arrivals seem to happen in the Southwest the most," Stryker shared.

"Why do you think they're going to bother to land?" Jennifer asked.

"Because they've put some time into this planet."