Free Kitty Katt 11: Alien Separation by Gini Koch Page B

our enemies think.”
    â€œNo argument,” Reader said. “So, Siler, what’s your recommendation on how we handle the Stephanie situation?”
    Everyone sat down, though Siler and Buchanan both remained standing. “You need to have a small group that goes down and just deals with the governor and his supposed issue. You need another group that goes down and openly searches. Then you need several small commando teams to do the actual reconnaissance.”
    â€œWe’re not at war,” Amy said. Others in the room nodded their heads.
    â€œWrong,” I replied before anyone else could. “We are.” As I said this, I felt something heavy on my feet. Whatever it was, it didn’t feel like fur, feathers, or Jamie. And I could see Jamie, who’d moved from Mom and Dad over to Gower, who was bouncing her on his knee.
    While Siler and others started explaining the war situation to Amy and the others who somehow had a rosy outlook, I risked a look under the table. My purse was on my feet, and since I’d left it in our rooms when we’d gotten back to the Embassy this was likely to mean one thing and one thing only—Algar had deigned to take an interest. But if he was doing so now, that meant something was about to happen. That this something was going to be bad was a given.
    â€œBattle stations!” I shouted as I grabbed my purse and flung it over my neck.
    As rallying cries went, this was a good one. For a fort, a submarine, or a battle cruiser. Only we had no actual battle stations in the Embassy. On the other hand, superfast people and those who work with them on a daily basis tend to react swiftly when any kind of cry like this is shouted out.
    As everyone started to move, however, something freaky happened. And, considering that nothing normal had happened to me since I’d joined up with Centaurion Division, this was saying a lot.
    Light encircled and surrounded me and several of the others. Light from nowhere inside the Embassy. The light was multicolored and flashy, bright but still easy to see through. It didn’t hurt, but the light seemed intent on keeping me inside it, as if I was in some sort of tube made of the light.
    I couldn’t really move, and I could tell that others couldn’t, either. But not all the others. Those kept stationary all looked similar—like they were flickering images instead of people. I was in a good position to see pretty much the entire room, which was nice, since my head was also invited to the immobilized portion of the current festivities.
    Jeff had tried to lunge for Jamie when I’d shouted—I could tell by where he was looking and how his body was arched when the light surrounded him. He wasn’t going anywhere, though. Neither were Christopher, Chuckie, Reader, Gower and Jamie, Tim, Tito, Kevin, the flyboys, Lorraine, Claudia, Serene and Brian, and Abigail Gower, the youngest and now only other remaining Gower sibling.
    The princesses were also flickering. Unlike everyone else in the room, however, they didn’t look freaked out. They looked worried, and somewhat anticipatory, but not afraid.
    Len and Kyle were running for me, Amy was about to grab Christopher, and others were aiming for the rest of us. “No!” Siler thundered, as he body slammed the boys so that they flew into White, who didn’t go down, but steadied them. “Don’t touch them!”
    Those not flickering like an old movie froze. “What’s happening to them?” Denise cried out as she held onto Raymond and Rachel and the three of them stared at Kevin with looks of terror on their faces.
    â€œKitty, is this the death ray?” Buchanan asked, voice shaking just a bit. Noted that Siler had zipped back after knocking the boys aside and was holding him back, presumably to keep Buchanan from diving for me or Jamie.
    â€œHardly.” It was fairly easy to move my mouth. Well, that was nice for me—I