Paul is used to sharing headspace, you know. Wondered if Gower had also gone into Sandy in order to show the superconsciousness that his head was a safe haven. Probably.

Ah. And now you make the offer you know I will find hardest to resist. I understand why ACE calls you his leader.

You can't take on a real human form, can you? That's why you're utilizing the elements around you wherever you're 'landing.'

Correct. None of us can attain solid forms such as yours. Unless we co-join. Some have done that in the past. They corrupted and were hailed as gods. Some were good. Some were not. All interfered.

ACE was careful about the interference. And neither ACE nor Paul has declared themselves a god. Jamie won't either.

You cannot say that for Jamie. Not yet. However, if ACE will do with her as he did with Paul, then you should not need to fear. And, I agree about Paul. I have looked into his heart and mind and he is a good person.

Yes, he is. And ACE will protect Jamie, and himself. So, some of that 'become a god' thing will be dependent upon what you and your people do, you know.

I know. And I . . . will consider your offer made on Paul's behalf.

He'll make it himself if you need or want him to.

No. Not just now. He sounded slightly evasive.

Ah, you and Paul were talking about this while we were inside you, weren't you?

We may have been, yes. However, I must take the time to think about the ramifications, because once that decision is made, it cannot be rescinded.

So, speaking of which, what happens now?

Now, I will allow you, and ACE, to continue on without my interference.

Wow. Thank you.

You say that as if it were not a foregone conclusion.

Sandy, dude, I take nothing for granted.

Yes. It is one of your greatest strengths. That, your almost suicidal bravery, and your ability to trust those that the evidence says you should not.

Is that a clue of some kind? Or just a backhanded compliment?

I suppose you will find out. I will . . . see you later, Kitty.

Later as in soonish in our terms, or later as in a long time from now?

Both.

Why are you leaving?

Because I have much to consider. And you have much to deal with. Soon. In your terms. Very soon, and very much.

Oh good. Or, as we call it, routine.

CHAPTER 38.

YES. I understand why ACE wants to interfere. The urge is overwhelming.

Oh, give in to it and give me a little hint.

You are wasting great time, worry, and effort on a foregone conclusion.

Wow. That's your idea of a hint? Was one of your kind the Sphinx or something in a previous millennium?

Possibly so.

And with that, Sandy dissipated in front of us. The sand blew away, but this time, there was no tornado or backward dark film phenomenon. So either Sandy didn't need to do that and it had all been for show-always a real possibility-or his idea of "gone" was actually doing more Earth Walkabout.

Had the distinct impression that, in addition to other things, Sandy had discovered a sense of humor. Hoped that was a good thing, though that hint of his was a lot more like what Algar liked to pass off as help than anything else.

"What the hell?" Jeff asked. "It says it understands us and then leaves?"

Realized that Sandy had done what Algar normally did-moved me out of time to have a conversation. But it was something ACE had never done.

Whether that was good, bad, or indifferent, it didn't matter right now, though. I knew a "you're about to be attacked" hint when I heard one.

"We're about to be attacked."

"By what?" Christopher asked.

"By whom?" Chuckie added.

"By something or someone we've spent a lot of time, worry, and effort on, when whatever they or it are is a foregone conclusion. I think."

Chuckie cocked his head at me. "Repeat the clue exactly."

Shrugged. "Okay. 'You are wasting great time, worry, and effort on a foregone conclusion.' That was it. Oh, and that we'll have much to deal with, in our terms, very soon. Which I'm pretty damned sure means we're about to be attacked. So, um, battle stations. And all that."

"You told us not to bring in military," Reader pointed out. "So we have nothing to battle with."

"We are here," Rahmi said, sounding offended.

"And we have our battle staffs," Rhee added, sounding just as offended.

"I meant the rest of us," Reader said quickly. "We need to get some better weapons than we have on us."

"Too late," Tim said, as he pointed northwest, toward the mountains, nearish to where the exploded bunker had been. There was a road that went through the mountains, and something was coming down it. Something that was stirring up a lot of dust.

A-C eyesight was better than human, but that something was still far away and small. We all squinted. "I can't tell what that is," Jeff said. Everyone else agreed that they couldn't, either.

"Should we investigate up close?" Rahmi asked, now sounding eager. For the princesses, this probably hadn't been a very exciting mission so far.

However, I didn't like separating when we had no idea of what was going on. "No, not yet."

The princesses sighed, but moved forward and faced the oncoming whatever it was, clearly in order to be the first line of defense.

"I wish we had binoculars. I'd like to have a clear idea of what's heading toward us, as opposed to sending someone from the team to scout."

"I could do it, but whatever, hang on," Christopher said. He zipped off.

"Seriously, baby, why not let the girls take a look?" Jeff said. "They're as fast as we are, and what could hurt them?"

"Oh, fine. Rahmi, Rhee, stay together, don't engage, just zip there, observe fast, and come back to report."

The princesses shot Jeff a look of gratitude and raced off. They returned before Christopher.

"There is a herd of animals running toward us," Rahmi said, sounding like this was, once again, not the excitement she'd been hoping for. "We don't know what kind."

"Big animals?" Gower asked.

"About the size of Duke," Rhee said. Duke was my parents' Labrador who was, like the rest of their dogs and cats, living with us in the Embassy. "They have tusks and what look like quills."

Christopher returned, binoculars for all in hand. "I have Home Base on alert, just in case whatever's coming is dangerous."

"Looks dangerous," Tim said. "Though I'm not sure if this is an attack or the filming of a show from the Discovery Channel."

Sure enough, the binoculars provided proof that there were a ton of animals all stampeding down and out of the mountains. Lots and lots of animals. As near as I could tell, all the same kind.

"Are those . . . wild pigs?" Jeff asked.

"No. They're not pigs. I'm pretty sure they're javelinas, or peccaries if you're not from Arizona."

"Distant cousins to pigs, in that sense, and hippos," Chuckie said. "They're native to the Southwest, and other parts of the country, too."

"Wasn't Natural Studies great? God, I miss college-nothing crazy ever happened there."

"You and I remember college very differently," Chuckie said.

"Everyone's a critic."

"Glad I put Home Base on alert," Christopher said. "Those hava-things look nasty."

"Javelinas. Ha-va-LEE-nas. It's not that hard a word. And there's a problem with the javelinas."

"Beyond that they're stampeding toward us and we're not getting out of the way?" Tim asked.

"We can outrun them," Christopher said. "Trust me. Tito gave me enough adrenaline that I can run us all to D.C. if I need to."

"You're back to rocking, Christopher. And yeah, Tim, the stampede is the issue-not that there is one, but that there are enough javelinas to create stampede conditions. There are an awful lot of them. I don't think anyone's running a javelina ranch nearby. So where the heck did they all come from?"

"I want to know why they're heading for us," Buchanan said. "Something has to be driving them or drawing them, and since there's no food for them here, driving is the option that wins."

"They're still a ways away," White said. "The binoculars make them seem much closer than they actually are."

"No kidding," Tim muttered.

White went on as if he hadn't spoken. "So I doubt we need to panic. As Christopher said, we can run away."

"I'd like to run away," Tim said. "Those things aren't tiny."

"Oh, as Rhee said, they're about the size of a Labrador."

"There are a ton of them and I don't want to have a Lion King death," Tim said.

"A what?" Christopher asked.

"Oh, Megalomaniac Lad, you complete me. It's a movie, Christopher. One of the many animated masterpieces from Disney. And Tim, relax. I just want to figure out what's causing the stampede and then we'll run away from the desert not-really-piggies, okay?"

"There," Buchanan said. "Just coming off that road."

Dust was blowing up, but not from the javelinas. They were creating dust, but this dust was behind them. It wasn't like the dust Sandy had created. It was sort of shimmering and looked vehicular in nature.

Sure enough, a dune buggy with two people in it bounced over something and so above the dust. The driver and passenger both didn't look familiar, but it was clear from how they were driving that they were herding the javelinas.

"Think it's just some kids joyriding?" Reader asked.

"Maybe," Chuckie replied. "They don't look armed."

"The way this day's been going, no," Buchanan said. "Assume they're armed in ways we can't see."

"Well, what are they armed with? Javelinas?"

"I'm going to refer to the poignant and terrifying Death of Mufasa scene from The Lion King," Tim said, "and say 'yes,' the big pigs that aren't really pigs but look enough like warthogs to pass are large enough to trample us. Let's get a couple of tanks and herd them elsewhere."

"I see you were traumatized as a child. Poor Megalomaniac Lad. We'll work on that."

"That seems like a reasonable plan, however, trauma or not," White said. "But we don't want the animals harmed if possible, and tanks would certainly be harmful. I wonder, Missus Martini, if you could, ah, use your talent to calm them down or send them in another direction?"

"Worth a shot, Mister White." Concentrated. I'd never tried to mind-meld with an animal I didn't know. Got nothing. Concentrated harder. Got more nothing. Decided to call in backup.

"Harlie, Poofikins, come to Kitty." The Poofs arrived on my shoulders. "Good Poofies! Can you help Kitty tell the javelinas to calm down or run back home?"

Poof reactions were not what I was expecting. Both Poofs jumped down and turned large and in charge. When the Poofs were in Protect and Attack Mode they were as big as Jeff, with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Still fluffy, though.

Harlie roared, and every Poof attached to every person here arrived, all large and toothy. Whether they'd been in everyone's pockets or not was a Poof Mystery I didn't have time to try to solve right now. They clustered up near the princesses, who were in front of the rest of us again in their standard Protect and Defend postures, presumably for the same reason-to form a protective barrier.

"What's going on?" Jeff asked. "Beyond the obvious."