Jeff returned with a tall ceramic mug, setting it gingerly in front of me. “That’s all you get for the day, but it should be enough to let you digest human food,” he said. “Drink it slowly.”

The blood had been heated to body temperature and swirled with something dark. I took a tentative sip. The dark swirl was chocolate, bittersweet and miraculously perfect against the salty backdrop of the blood. I took another, larger sip, trying to savor the taste, trying not to let myself gulp it down.

My stomach grumbled. I put down the mug and resumed my reach for the toast, and this time, no one stopped me.

“Since we’re all up now, how about you get around to the top-secret invasion planning?” Toni flashed Jeff her brightest smile. “Tell us your secrets so we can betray you better.”

“What’s terrifying is that you clearly think that will work,” he said flatly.

“Actually, I’m with her,” I said. The toast tasted like, well, toast. It wasn’t a symphony of flavors like the blood, but it didn’t turn to ashes in my mouth, either. I licked my lips, resisting the urge to reach for my mug as I continued. “I sort of need to know what’s going on. I’m grateful to you for breaking me out, but I have no idea what’s been happening. I’m pretty sure I’ve been fired from my job by now. I couldn’t call in while I was being held captive by NASA.”

“Last alphabet org I expected to see getting serious about the invasion, by the way,” said Toni. “Sure, it’s aliens, and aliens are technically a space thing, but they have no budget. They’re at like, cans with string stretched between them levels of funding. People never understood how important space planning was.”

“Honestly, that’s probably why they were able to focus on the invasion,” said Graham. “They don’t have much public funding, but there have always been people willing to throw them a little money here and there to look into their pet projects. I wouldn’t be surprised to find an entire privately bankrolled alien affairs division.”

“Which suddenly has the chance to become relevant,” I said. “Did anyone catch the name of the woman who pulled us off the plane? I’d like the chance to thank her personally for how she handled things while I was in her care.”

“Agent Donna Brown,” said Jeff. “She’s been working with their alien-monitoring team for years. They have files on all of us. Even a few Toni didn’t know about.”