Alien Collective by Gini Koch Page A

clear that, as far as Prince was concerned, if I wanted some alone time, then he was going to be with me and we would be alone together. He was like a canine Buchanan, but I didn’t share that with either one of them, because I wasn’t sure if they’d be flattered or insulted.
    I was also quite clear that Prince didn’t actually need to go but was enthusiastically willing to work as my distraction. He was great that way, and much easier to convince to go along with my plans than any of the men, particularly Buchanan.
    “Oh, you want to go for a walk, boy? Sure thing. I think I’d better let Prince relieve himself,” I said to Olga and Adriana. “I’ll take him out back.”
    “Enjoy yourselves. We will tell everyone where you are should they be searching.” With that, Adriana wheeled Olga off and, thusly covered, Prince and I headed for the doorway. No one seemed to notice. Good to see how Vital to the Cause I was.
    I’d been here before and knew my way to the back. As with most of the embassies around town, there wasn’t a huge backyard. However, there was an outside patio with some grass along the enclosure’s walls and that was good enough for what I wanted.
    “Can I help you, Ambassador?” One of Mona’s many retainers had spotted us.
    “Oh, I’m just heading out back to walk the dog. So to speak.”
    “I can do that for you,” he offered. I didn’t know him, but this meant absolutely nothing. I didn’t know half of the Field agents I’d met over the years or the many politicians in town I’d been introduced to, sometimes more than once. My not knowing someone on Mona’s staff was low on the Surprise-O-Meter.
    Like all the others on staff he was dressed impeccably. He was reasonably attractive, though he didn’t really look like Mona or Khalid, and he certainly didn’t look like Oren, Jakob, or Leah. But all that meant was that he wasn’t Israeli and wasn’t from the same regions Mona and Khalid were.
    Upon closer inspection he looked sort of European, with dark hair and eyes and olive skin. Then again, this meant nothing, really. With this so-not-rare coloring he could be Middle Eastern or Italian or American or half a dozen other nationalities, all things considered. He was vaguely familiar, so I assumed I’d seen him here before.
    However, regardless of where he originally hailed from, I didn’t want company for this little trip, company I didn’t know in particular. “Oh, Prince is picky. Aren’t you, boy?”
    Prince knew a cue when it was offered. He bared his teeth and gave a low growl.
    “Ah. Well then, would you like me to accompany you?” He was dedicated, I’d give him that. Whoever he was. Wondered for a moment if he was a spy or an enemy, but how would he have gotten in? The Bunker District embassies all had massive amounts of security, and the Bahrainis were no slackers in this regard. Especially today, I’d have to figure no one was getting in without a lot of Proof of Citizenship and so forth.
    “Nope, I’m good, thanks.” Headed off, Prince still growling. Suggested he calm it down, in my mind. Yeah, I could talk to the animals both verbally and mentally. Dr. Doolittle had nothing on me. Jeff’s excitement about this particular skill knew no bounds.
    Got to the back door and went outside, making sure the door was unlocked so we could get back inside without issue. Prince finally stopped growling, so that was good. Checked behind me. It was a glass door—bulletproof, of course, but still, glass—which made it easy to see that the Helpful Servant was still there, watching me. Maybe he didn’t trust me.
    Couldn’t argue about this concern—after all, I had people all around me who trusted pretty close to no one. Wouldn’t be a surprise that Mona had more than Khalid hanging about to cover the watching for suspicious activities.
    Prince and I trotted around for the sake of faking out the guy watching us and maneuvered ourselves to a spot where we couldn’t be