Cloud Rebel (R-D #3)(8)

"Of course, Deonus."

"I wish we had a Larentii," I muttered as I turned to go. "They understand everything."

*

Ilya

I studied the photograph on the tablet Colonel Hunter had given me. Merle Askins, former Director of the CIA, had posed for that photograph, knowing we'd be drawn in. Was he acting on his own accord to kill me or another of Colonel Hunter's men, or was he following the orders of another?

I knew what those orders felt like—I'd lived with that illogical obsession for more than a year. Askins was dead, now, but that didn't mean he didn't have many more just like him—if they'd had the same blood type and had received his blood.

Once someone survived the drug, its effects could be spread like a virus, tainting any other with the same blood type. I suppose the same could be said for me—that someone else could be created just like me.

Forcing away the shudder that shook me for a moment, I turned back to the photograph. "How many?" I asked it. "How many more of you are out there, waiting to kill me?"

*

Notes—Colonel Hunter

It was late and I'd already called Laci to tell her I was coming home when Matt Michaels called.

"Director Michaels?" I said when I answered his call.

"I just wanted to put you on alert after Rafe was targeted in Vancouver," he said. "If there are still survivors out there, they may want all of us who were involved taken down."

"That's not what I wanted to hear," I said, lifting my jacket from the hook beside the door. "Laci is just beginning to calm down and feel safe again."

"The thing is," Matt went on, ignoring my comment about Laci, "They don't have the full story—they likely have whatever the media has put in front of the public. That means that the aliens who killed all those people aren't included in that equation. They only see us as the perpetrators, and whoever they are, they want us to pay."

"I suppose it doesn't matter that Phillips had world domination on his agenda? That he'd planned his moves carefully to pull world leaders together so he could bend them to his will?"

"Somebody may want to step into his shoes," Matt responded. "Plus, we've never found those nuclear warheads he sent to the insurgents."

"You had to bring that up, didn't you? At least they've been quiet lately. Maybe they're still terrified that Corinne will make more of them dead."

"Or, if they learn she was taken away," Matt didn't finish.

"You know she's back, don't you?"

"I heard. I'm waiting for her to show up and slap me through a wall."

"You may have to explain that to me," I said.

"In time. Maybe. Look, I need to go. Just keep your eyes open. You may want to ask for additional security. It's times like these that I miss Nick and Maye the most."

"Yeah. Well, I'll consider the security part. Thanks for the heads up."

"No problem."

*

Corinne

"My love, what have you been doing?" Valegar woke me with soft words.

"Huh?"

"This—siphon—that you've attached to yourself to draw in sunlight?" If he hadn't been sitting beside me, and if he'd been human, he might have been tapping a toe, waiting for me to answer.

"Well, it's a way to get light at any time," I mumbled my excuse.

"That should only be used for emergencies," he scolded gently. "You should be filling yourself with sunlight whenever it is available, instead of a constant, crippled pull provided by a siphon. Besides, sunlamps made with Earth technology are very poor substitutes."

"Right." I sat up with his help, discovering that I lay naked on a bed inside a lavish hotel—one that bellied up to a beach in Oahu.

"Come, I will take you elsewhere, and I will assist you in pulling sunlight into your body."

"Can I have ice cream after that?"

"If you want it, yes."

"Do we have to be naked?"

"It helps if you are in your natural state, blue skin and all." The corners of his mouth twitched.

"Fine."

"I like this very much—all my studies of Earth will be put to the test," he smiled and folded space with me.

*

Ilya

At least nothing was broken when I woke on the floor in my hotel room. The mattress, sheets and pillows were strewn across the space, the chair and ottoman upside down against the window.

I appreciated the fact that I could straighten everything without having to pay for damages when I checked out. While I worked to put the room back to rights, I cursed the former President in as many languages as I knew.

"I'm leaving for the airport," I informed Colonel Hunter after buying coffee at a nearby shop and loading my bag into the rental.

"Good. Matt and I want a meeting with you when you get back."

"Tomorrow?"

"I have a ten o'clock with the Secretary of State, but Matt and I are available for lunch. We can eat and talk if you want."

"Of course."

"Any uh, unusual charges on your room, this time?"

"None, I'm pleased to say. Did Director Michaels say what his concerns are?"