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convince me attending was a great idea. To avoid running screaming into the street, I strove for distraction.
    “So, why are you guys going to Washington tomorrow?”
    Mom sighed. “We have some politicians making problems.”
    “What kind of problems?”
    “High-level security problems,” Mom said pointedly.
    “High-Level Security Girl, here. Spill it.”
    Mom glared at me. “No.”
    I looked at Dad. He looked uncomfortable. “Oh. It’s about Centaurion.”
    Martini’s eyes narrowed. “What now?”
    Mom sighed again. “Not about Centaurion all that much. Though the incident in Paraguay is worrisome for a variety of reasons. We have various pressures coming at us from a variety of sources. Several House and Senate subcommittees are dealing with issues that either directly or indirectly affect Centaurion Division.”
    “Wow, that was a lot of confuse-speak.”
    Now I got the mother-glare. “What part of ‘I’m not telling you’ isn’t coming through?”
    “All of it. What part of ‘tell me anyway’ aren’t you catching?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Why me?”
    “Like mother, like daughter,” Martini offered. “I’m interested, too, of course.”
    Mom snorted. “And as you’re the head of all A-C military operations, which means the head of the A-C government, I’m not at liberty to tell you, Jeff.”
    He shook his head. “Richard is the leader of our people.”
    “Religious leader, yes,” Mom agreed. “However, when it comes down to it, who gives the orders to shoot or cease fire, who gives the orders to fight or not, who gives the orders for what scientific research is done or ignored? You do.”
    Martini shrugged. “Christopher does some, too. So does my father, honestly. And Richard does as well.”
    I coughed. “And yet, when it all comes down to it, the person whom those three people have to obey is . . . you.”
    He looked embarrassed. “I suppose.”
    Dad cleared his throat. “It’s not quite that simple.” We all looked at him, and he shrugged. “It’s not. I’ve actually studied the Centaurion agreements with the United States government. The ranks are set up, yes, but there’s a check and a balance.”
    “Jeff and Christopher are the check and Richard’s the balance?”
    Dad smiled at me. “Pretty much, yes. Scientific research, though, is more of a general bailiwick. However,” he added to my mother’s glare, “if Jeff were to say that a project should or shouldn’t be done, then it would or wouldn’t happen.”
    Martini nodded. “Same with Richard, though. And there are some things Christopher and I have no influence over.” He looked embarrassed and upset suddenly and took a fast interest in his food.
    It didn’t require genius to come up with why. “In all social and religious situations, what the Pontifex says goes, right?”
    Martini sighed. “Yes. And he’s got more than just what he wants to do to consider.”
    This also wasn’t new news. “I know. The older A-C generation isn’t into that whole ‘intermix with humans’ idea.”
    “Some of the younger ones aren’t either,” Dad said quietly.
    “Since when?” All the younger A-Cs I knew certainly were, or weren’t against it.
    “I meet different A-Cs than you do, kitten. And some of them are, oh, call it more orthodox than the others. Not the majority, mind you. Most are hoping things will change and they’ll be allowed to marry humans. Some would be okay with it if said humans converted to the A-C religion. But just like not all the older A-Cs are against interbreeding, not all the younger ones are for it.”
    Well, this topic had somehow gotten more unpleasant than the high school reunion one. I tried for another idea change—either it’d help or I’d achieve the hat trick in terms of bad dinner conversation. “So, Mom, which politicians are you seeing?”
    “The President and his closer advisers,” she said quickly. I got the impression she was all for us getting onto a mutual enemy