Chapter 76

The General had just hung up the phone and told Kayla what Fred had threatened.

"When I was here a couple of days ago, Colonel Matthews told me this Fred person was another of his Alphas. We need to get Colonel Matthews or Diana to give him a call ASAP. I got the impression that this guy meant exactly what he said. If he charters a fucking jet, he could be here early tonight. We don't need anyone else getting involved in this — especially someone who hasn't had the blocks. You think you could talk one of the Matthews into..."

The phone rang. Kayla shrugged and turned to answer it. "Matthews' residence. Kayla speaking."

"Hi, Kayla. This is Evie. We ... have a slight problem. Oh, crap, I don't know how to say it. My husband is grouchy as a bear with a sore foot. He keeps worrying about you guys, so I just gave up and called. I..."

"We've been attacked, Evie," Kayla said, looking at the General, who began shaking his head.

"Attacked? Was anyone hurt?"

Kayla hesitated, cleared her throat and answered, "Everyone will be fine."

Kayla heard Evie tell someone, her voice stressed, "They've been attacked." Then back on the phone, "We're on our way."

"No, Evie. There's no use..." But the line went dead.

Kayla hung up the phone. "Dave was worried about us — really worried. They're on the way. And before you ask, trying to tell them no was useless."

Two of Matthews' Alphas back-to-back. I wonder... But Whitworth's thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing yet again.

"Matthews' residence. Kayla speaking," she answered, and hit the speaker button this time.

"Hi, Kayla, this is Tate. Uh, I was out and about and I thought I would pay you guys a visit. I'm not far away from the retreat and it's been a couple of weeks and ... well, I was just a little worried..."

The conversation went much as it had with Fred, then General Whitworth spoke up. "This is General Henry Whitworth. I'm Colonel Matthews' commanding officer..."

"Colonel? When did that happen?"

"Uh, he was promoted last week," Whitworth answered, distracted.

"Well, I'm glad to hear about the promotion, but I really need to talk to Jeff."

"He is indisposed right now..."

"Indisposed my ass. I need to fucking talk to Jeff. I'm on my way," the Sheriff snarled, his senses screaming at him that something was wrong.

Whitworth took a breath. This wasn't a person under his command, and obviously someone not easily put off. "Sheriff Tate, Colonel Matthews has spoken of you, very highly in fact, but this conversation is restricted by national security issues. I can assure you that Colonel Matthews and his family are in good hands. As soon as Colonel Matthews can, he will call you. Again, there is no need for you to come up here, or worry."

"Well, I'm on my way, anyway. We'll see what needs to be done when I get there."

The General's command voice took over, for what little good it did, "This is a military operation, Sheriff. You have no jurisdiction..."

"General, I've heard of you from Jeff, but you can stick that 'jurisdiction' up your ass. If Jeff or his family is in trouble, then I'm going to do everything I can to help. Now, I'm headed up there. If you try to bar me, I'll have every deputy in this county and the surrounding counties on the way to the retreat. You'll be ass-deep in swat teams before you know it. Not to say anything about every TV station..."

Whitworth took a breath, shifted gears and started laughing. "Okay, Sheriff, you've made your point. You will be met by a sentry at the bottom of the drive. I would appreciate it if you didn't give him a hard time. You and I will talk when you get here. Oh, and Sheriff, it will only cause problems for Colonel Matthews if you attract attention by using your emergency lights and siren."

"I'm ten minutes away, General, and there's little traffic on this road, so I don't need emergency lights. But that's the only concession I'll give you."

"I'll be glad to talk to you when you get here. Everything will make sense then," Whitworth said.

Kayla pressed the button to end the call.

"Well, this is damn sure turning into a rat-fuck — more like Grand Central Station every minute," the General mumbled as he stalked out the door into the hallway, already on his helmet radio telling Lieutenant Richardson to make the guards aware of what was going on.

Kayla was a bit young for the Grand Central Station allusion, but she had no trouble understanding what it meant. Grinning from ear to ear, she followed the General into the hallway.

Trying to distract her mind from the vivid memory of the hole in Arlene's chest and the blood spilling out her back onto the kitchen floor only a short time ago, Diana turned to Jeff. "Kayla seems to really like using your helmet."

Jeff, almost overjoyed to hear his Queen say anything positive, smiled back at her. "Yeah, that helmet is quite a bit different to the one she's used to."

"Is that because..."

Jeff let out a soft sigh. "Di, there's an awful lot of stuff that I can now tell you, and I will as time goes along, but..."

"It would sound like bragging," Diana injected, "and Alphas don't brag. Do they?"

"Uh, Di, I've never thought about it like that. Uh, about the helmet," he said, trying to change the subject. "Everyone who goes off-world is required to be proficient with a helmet. They're not the same combat helmets that the teams and I use, but they have scanning equipment, a short-range radio that's almost impossible to block, and a long-range one that isn't bad, either. When the shit hits the fan, the scientists wearing the helmets can communicate with each other, no matter what. Both radios are scrambled and damn near impossible to be overheard or unscrambled. Sometimes a group of scientists digging through ruins might think they are alone on the planet, then suddenly find out they aren't — the hard way. And there can't be enough combat teams to hold everyone's hand all the time, not with the limited size of the portal. Therefore, scientists and technicians have helmets and weapons, and are at least minimally trained to fight, then holler for help and dig in.

"Kayla, I guess being an FBI agent before she came to us, was a little more interested in the combat side of things, even though her degree is in anthropology. Hell, I have no idea why the FBI decided they needed her, other than her near-perfect grades, but she spent a lot of her off-time at the base range since she joined us."

"She wants on your team," Diana stated with certainty.

"Ain't gonna happen," Jeff said just as certainly.

"Why? If she's good..."

"Kayla almost certainly has the stress resistance and willpower to pass the tests, not to mention the intelligence, but she lacks experience. Lack of experience will get her killed on my team. And ... even if she had the experience, she's my mate. Put yourself in my place. I would be more worried about her than what would be going on. I would be overly worried about sending her into danger, and that would cause major problems on the team — and with her as well."

Diana sighed. "Yeah, I see your point, and I don't want her away from us at all, let alone being on a team that routinely goes into danger, crap, is even sent there because of the danger. But she really seems to love that helmet. Can't the General 'lose' one?"

Jeff looked at his wife. "I don't think there's any need to 'lose' one. Hell, I am a colonel, now. You think if I issued her one, she would be pleased?"

Diana giggled. "Pleased enough to fuck your brains out, I imagine."

Jeff kissed her and dropped back into the subject that was overshadowing their thoughts. "Our daughter is going to be just fine, Di. I promise."

Diana leaned into his chest. "Oh, Jeff. I'm so damn scared."

"I know, Baby. I know."

Diana, still trying to keep her mind off what had happened to Arlene, said, "What about that trooper standing outside? Shouldn't we bring him in to warm up or something? If there needs to be someone out there watching, we could all take turns while he's in here."

Amazing her, Jeff chuckled. "His only problem is boredom. He's as warm as we are."

Diana stared at him as if he were crazy. "Well, the helmet protects his head, I guess, but those BDUs he's wearing surely aren't going to keep him warm standing in three feet of snow. He isn't even wearing a coat. None of them are."

"Di, over the years, we've brought back a good bit of alien technology from off-planet. Some things we've managed to copy, or adapt to what we need. Others, we've reverse engineered into something similar to the original. The helmet controls the suit, boots and gloves. He would be warm in Alaska or cool on the equator."

"That could make millions..." Ann piped up, all the women hanging on Jeff's every word.

"But ... releasing too much advanced technology too quickly would also bring about a lot more curiosity as to where the technology actually came from. And if someone managed to trace it back to us, or the word got out that it was alien technology ... Remember, it's a base within a base. Although a lot of it is inside a mountain, much as the Ship was concealed on that planet, still, it would only take a little publicity to cause the General a lot of problems. Can you imagine how Congress would screw up the portal program to get campaign contributions and placate all their special interest groups? What about all the screaming from environmental groups whining about the impact our civilization would have on other worlds, not to mention ours? Ninety percent of General Whitworth's time would be spent keeping outside interference from getting us killed."

Diana grinned at him. "I get your point."

"Another thing. If word got out about the portal, there would be factions that would see it as the end of the world, or Satan incarnate. Others would want to make sure we approached new civilizations or planets unarmed. The 'everything is wonderful' approach. Others — other governments particularly — would see the portal as something they had to take over at all costs. And if they couldn't get it, then it should be nuked into oblivion to keep it away from other governments. But..." Jeff said, "the General has, indeed, released some of the technology to help fund the project.

"Patents on inventions and improvements on current technologies tend to bring in a lot of money over time. And the source of the patents is buried under layers of corporations and holding companies to keep the public from knowing where the ideas came from. Most people just take a new or improved TV screen, or computer monitor as the next step up in that particular technological ladder, not bothering to think about where that next step actually came from. But the leap to the technology those BDUs, boots and gloves represent is still too far beyond Earth technology to be released without raising questions. The helmets are a giant leap beyond even that..."

Kayla rushed in pulling off her helmet. "We have problems," she hissed out.

"You found more of those men?" Laura asked.

"No," Kayla answered. "The team is almost through with their search, and they haven't found anyone. Jeff, it's your uh ... well, it's Fred and Dave and Sheriff Tate. They somehow know something is wrong. Fred is threatening to rent a plane and come back here. Dave and everyone who went with him to the zoo this morning are on their way back, and Sheriff Tate will be here in minutes. The General keeps oscillating between being pissed and tickled. But we need you at the retreat..."

"Jeff..." Diana began.

But before she could complain about his leaving, "I'm not leaving here until Arlene is out of that chamber, and that's not negotiable."

Kayla sighed. "That's what I told the General. And that's the reason I brought this," she said, handing Jeff his sat phone. "At least call Fred before he wastes his money and leases a jet. I don't know whether the sat phone will work in here or not..."

Jeff's eyes lost focus for a moment, then, "It will work in here now. I'll call Fred. Shit, I didn't know my Alphas would pick up on this."

"Brother-Alphas," Diana said, as if that explained everything.

"And Sheriff Tate," Kayla said, "is going to be here any minute, and he's going to see the Ship. It's not as if this monster doesn't stand out like ... Oh, shit. I didn't mean that the way it sounded," she said, looking around her, wondering if the Ship could hear her. "The Ship is beautiful; I just meant it was big."

"Apology accepted," Jeff absently said as he dialed.

Kayla stood, stunned, scarcely daring to think what Jeff's comment obviously meant. Did the Ship hear and understand me, then tell Jeff what I said was okay? Can Jeff communicate with her that well? When Jeff was at the base on Jill's rescue mission, he didn't make any effort to go on board the Ship — but did he need to? Oh, shit, I just thought he didn't care. And I bet almost everyone else thought the same thing. I keep forgetting he's a Prime. Then the next thought, He's going to marry me. I'm already his mate. Wow, how can I be so lucky? Not only to be his mate, but to be a part of all this.

"I hear you're threatening to jump a plane and come kick my ass," Jeff teased when Fred answered the phone.

"What the fuck is going on with you? I've never felt anything like this. Do you need me? It's two fucking hundred miles to an airport that leases jets, but..."

"Fred, we're fine. Well ... we will all be fine soon. There's no need to worry. We had a little ... altercation that I can't talk about on the phone, but we'll fill you in when you get back. Just take it easy and enjoy your vacation and the return of your wife."

"'Will be fine, ' huh? So who got hurt, and how bad?"

"Fred, I can't..."

"Who, damnit?"

"Helen and I received some injuries, but we're absolutely fine right now, and Arlene will be shortly. Fred, remember how you, Jessica and Carla felt the next morning after spending the night up here? What about your health now, Buddy? Think about that. Arlene will be fine shortly."

Fred sighed. "So Arlene was badly hurt? You sure she'll be okay? Jeff, damnit, I want to come back — be there with you in case you need me."

"Fred, I appreciate that. It humbles me to hear you say it, but there is more firepower here at the moment than even you could imagine. We are absolutely safe, and Arlene will be fine very shortly. That's all I can say over the phone."

"Ah, shit, Jeff. If you say so, I guess we'll go on with our trip. Hell, we're having a ball, actually."

"Tell your ladies hello from all of us. Look, the twins' birthday is tomorrow. While they're having their party and the 'fun' is at its loudest, I'll try to sneak off and call you so we can have a chat, if you aren't tied up."

"Ah, we're not into bondage much," Fred chuckled, "although I might try that on Jessica when I get a chance." There was a grunt as Jessica hit him in the short ribs. "Well, maybe not," he laughed. "Seriously, Buddy, give me a call when you can, and we'll be up there as soon as we get back. Shit, Jeff, you know about my curiosity. I won't be able to get this off my mind."

"That curiosity was one of the things that made you a good cop, though."

"Yeah, and it got me complained on a time or two, also," Fred chuckled. "See ya."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jeff shut off the phone. "That went better than I hoped, but crap, he had already located an airport. He would have been here as soon as he could get back."

Kayla smiled at him, her hand on her hip, "I told you he was serious, and his reaction was mild compared to Sheriff Tate's. He and the General got a bit crossways for a moment or two. Tate's going to absolutely shit when he sees the Ship sitting here.

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to tell you," she went on, "General Whitworth was worried about pilots seeing the Ship as they flew overhead, so he had someone at the base call up a satellite view. Every detail of the range, retreat and the surrounding area shows up just great, but as far as satellite imagery is concerned, she," Kayla waved her hand around to indicate the Ship, "isn't here."