“Let’s start with the incursion at Wu U,” said Cat. “And the fake feet.”

“I would rather talk about the stuff at the school,” said Harry. He opened his can of beer. He pulled out the two scanners he had procured. None of the xenos were around the house, and the distance to the antenna was still going.

Were the bees protecting the antenna on the other planet?

How was he still getting distance? Was the antenna broadcasting faster than the speed of light? How was it broadcasting faster than the speed of light? How did he get there from John and Cat’s kitchen?

“I think we should talk about your problems first,” said Cat. “Then we can talk

about John’s.”

“I just switched jobs,” said Harry. He sipped at his beer. He felt a little sleepy. “I don’t have any problems. I can get used to not having pinkie toes. Other people have.”

“Is that what you’re calling it?,” asked John. “Fake feet seem to be a real problem to me.”

“I can get real feet when the war is over,” said Harry. “Nick said I can get cloned legs before then if I amass enough points. And the boys are all about the points. Right, boys?”

One of the drones came over for a high five. It almost crashed into the floor before righting itself.

“We’ll do fist bumps from now on,” promised Harry.

“Talking to you is like pulling teeth,” said Cat. “Don’t you want to talk to us about this?”

“Not really?,” said Harry. He sipped his beer, shaking the can and listening to the tiny sound of a small amount liquid moving around inside the container.

“This is like when we were kids, playing twenty questions,” said John. “You

would never say anything unless it was forced out of you.”

“You would always get mad cause you always lost,” said Harry. He smiled.“Those were the days.”

“Twenty questions?,” asked Cat.

“From Rosenkrantz and Guilderstern Are Dead,” said John. “You get a point for every time the other person makes a statement, but in our case we just used it to talk about stuff we didn’t care about.”

“I’ll go first to show her how it works,” said Harry. “What’s going on at your

school?”

“Gang related,” said John. “What’s with the job switch?”

“Offer I couldn’t refuse,” said Harry. “Can I have another beer?”

“No,” said John. He got another one for himself. “Who’s Nick?”

“My new boss sort of,” said Harry. “Who’s Delmar?”

“Which Delmar?,” asked John.

“Point,” said Harry. “I need an answer first before the question.”

John pursed his lips. He took a sip of beer.

“Ready?”, asked Harry. He grinned like a shark.

“Yes,” said John. “What’s your interest?”

“He might come back to try to finish the job,” said Harry. “Do you know who he works for?”

“No,” said John. “Are you going to try to find out?”

“I don’t see why not,” said Harry. “Are you carrying?”

“No,” said John. “What about your other job?”

“I work on my own schedule,” said Harry. “Do you want me to hang around and wait for Delmar and his friends to come back?”

“I don’t know,” said John. “Do you think they will?”

“Eventually,” said Harry. “What’s your read on three guys and a driver trying to break the door down?”

“They were trying to get in,” said John. He held his hand up so Cat wouldn’t speak. “How do you know they were from the school?”

“I asked them if they were mad at you, or Guy,” said Harry. “Which one of you do you think got a reaction?”

“I say me,” said John. “What are you playing with?”

“Scanners,” said Harry. “Did you know the aliens can ship stuff across the universe?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” said John. “What are you scanning for?”

“Mana,” said Harry. He held up one of the boxes. “Distance to faster than light

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

signaler.” He held up the other. “Do you want me to talk to Delmar’s boss if he has one?”

“Definitely not,” said John. “Do you remember the last time you talked to someone’s boss?”

“Yes,” said Harry. “You know I’m leaving the boys?”

“The bugs?” said John.

“Point for me,” said Harry. “Two to zip.”

John opened his mouth to say something. He saw Harry was ready with a gleam in his eye. One more strike and he was out.

And he hadn’t caught the repeated question in time to call it.

“Ready?,” said Harry, serving up the last round.

“Yes,” said John. “Why do you want to leave the bugs here?”

“To protect you and Cat,” said Harry. “Aren’t they cute?”

“No,” said John. “How did you get them anyway?”

“I bought them with monster currency,” said Harry. “Did you know they have

a ton of stuff I can buy?”

“No,” said John. “Why didn’t you buy some of your own clothes?”

“I didn’t think of it,” said Harry. “Did I tell you I was a little drugged up?”

“I think so,” said John. “Why were you drugged up?”

“Putting on my new feet,” said Harry. “Do you know how much of a chore that was?”

“No,” said John. “What about the front of my house?”

“That will buff out,” said Harry. “Do you want the boys to fix it?”

“No,” said John. “Are you sure they can?”

“I am not sure,” said Harry. “Do you want me to ask?”

“Please do,” said John. “Can you talk to them?”

“I think they understand me more than I understand them,” said Harry. “Sidebar?”

“All right,” said John. “How long?”

“Five minutes,” said Harry. He gestured for one of the bees to come closer. He had a quiet talk with the drone. He nodded to the bee before turning back to his friends. “Would you believe they can’t do work like that?”

“Yes,” said John. “Why can’t they do work like that?”

“No thumbs,” said Harry. “Can you wait for me to get somebody to fix the scorch marks?”

“I guess,” said John. “How does this new job work?”

“Just like the Marines,” said Harry. Something on him started buzzing. He looked around at the bees. They rested on various furniture, stationed with clear shots at anyone trying to get into the large central area of the house. “Is that your phone?”

“No,” said John. “Are you going to answer that?”

“Sure,” said Harry. He raised his hand to ask for a timeout. “I wonder who could be calling Delmar’s phone.”

“Point for me,” said John. He grinned. “It’s two-one now.”

Harry just waved at his friend. He tried everything he could think of but he couldn’t get it to unlock.

“I got it, Harry,” said Nick. The phone answered the call a second later.

“See if you can track the other end,” Harry whispered before holding the phone to his ear. “Joe’s Pool Hall. We got the holes, we got the sticks.”

“Delmar said you were funny,” said the rough voice on the other end. “Something about some killer bees.”

“You’re Delmar’s boss?,” said Harry. He walked to the closet and pulled out the rifle. He waved at John to cut the lights. “He let me have his phone. Seems like a nice guy.”

“I can’t let your dumb teacher friend impact my business,” said the voice. “Things have to be shown.”

“A friend of mine once told me never mistake kindness for mercy,” said Harry. He cracked the door open and peered out. He used the scope and saw body shapes moving out there in the dark. “Before I was kind, and willing to talk things over. There was no point in killing your guys if I didn’t have to. Don’t think I won’t.”

Harry waved the bees to the door. He waved his hand in a circle before he ushered them outside. He hoped a xeno didn’t show up to screw things up for him.

“Some kind of Billy Badass, eh?,” said Delmar’s boss.

“I wouldn’t say that,” said Harry. He swept his rifle side to side. “But I was in the Marines for eight years and I’ve killed more people than Scientology. So if you think you can take me with the guys I see out on the street, I want you to come up here and try.”

“He’s down the street,” said Nick. He appeared beside a car at the curb, pointing at it with both hands.

“You think you’re going to walk away from this?,” said the voice.

Harry put the phone down. He loaded a grenade in the underbarrel. He took aim, letting the scope give him a reading on range and wind direction. He duckwalked forward so he wouldn’t hit the porch. Then he pulled the trigger. The car exploded a few seconds later.

Bullets started to fly at him after everyone got over their shock. He retreated to the house, firing multishot slugs in rapid succession as he went.

The bees decided they didn’t like anything sharing their airspace that didn’t come from Harry. Ribbons of light began to slice and dice targets. Screams filled the air. Some of Delmar’s friends ran with their clothes and hair on fire from near misses. One guy lost his hand when he tried to hold on to a submachine gun struck by the flow of particles.

Some of the gang froze at what had happened in the front of the house. The smarter ones fled. There was no use getting killed if you didn’t have to. The dumber ones tried to make it to the back door and get inside the house and cover.

They were met by streams of fire arcing across the yard. That turned them around and forced them into other yards. Some of those yards had vicious dogs that didn’t like people running across their grass, so there were bites to go with the burns.

Harry looked at the carnage as two cars drove away from the wreck he had created. He wondered how many had died trying to run up on him. He supposed he hadn’t impressed Delmar all that much.

“Geez,” said John. “This is a mess. And why I didn’t tell you about the school.”

“There’s always some guy trying to ice skate uphill,” said Harry. He looked at the phone on the floor. He picked it up and put it in his pocket. “Always some guy who thinks he’s tough until he meets someone tougher. That’s how the world works.”

“The police say they are on the way,” said Cat. “I think you and your bees have to go, Harry. We’re in for a long night of answering questions.”

“I got that,” said Harry. “Can I have that second beer now? I need something to wash the lightning out of my mouth.”

“What are you going to say about all this?,” asked John. He got Harry’s beer out of the fridge and handed it over.

“They committed suicide when they saw me coming,” said Harry. He sipped at

the beer. “Some of them got away, so whatever happens, I’m leaving the boys on guard duty after I leave.”

“Do you really think they’ll come back after what just happened?,” asked Cat. She waved her hand at the small fires and chopped up gangsters and the burning car beyond the walls of their house.

“Don’t think they won’t,” said Harry. “This is going to be on the news tomorrow. It probably won’t be big compared to xenos running around loose, but it will be there.”

“I am not happy with you right now, Harry,” said Cat. “We’ve been friends for years, but right now I want to strangle you.”

“So does my agent,” said Harry. He smiled, finished his beer. “He’s yelling at me for killing people for free. I think I am going to sit outside for a bit.”

“Don’t let them see the gun,” said John. “They might think you’re too dangerous to live.”

“They wouldn’t be wrong, would they?,” said Harry. He put the scanners in his

pockets. “I really wanted to talk to you guys about trying to find where this signal is coming from, but I’ll wait on that.”

“I’ll drive you home when the police are done,” said John. “That way I can get my clothes back.”

“Just burn mine,” said Harry. “They’re still in the bathroom.”