"I'm here to finish the job my sister started," said the menacing cat woman. "Petula Winslow must die. If you resist, you'll die with her."

At the sight of the intruder's gun, Bitzi nearly fainted with terror. The kids gasped and trembled, fearing for their lives and knowing of no way to escape, or to protect the innocent baby. Jenny, for her part, wisely stepped back and put up her hands.

The shaggy-haired woman stepped forward, training her revolver on the bassinet in which Petula lay asleep. "Step away from her, all of you," she warned them. "You don't want to die for nothing."

"Don't hurt my baby, please!" begged Bitzi. Driven by panic, the kids jumped to one side or the other, leaving a clear path for the woman to execute her murderous intentions…

…except for Alan.

Placing himself between Bitzi and the armed stranger, he said bravely, "You don't have the guts to kill a defenseless baby."

"I have the guts to kill you," said the cat woman, aiming her gun at the midpoint between the boy's eyes.

"Alan, don't!" squealed Fern.

"Let me put that differently," said Alan as his heart pounded and shook. "You don't have the guts to kill a defenseless baby with your bare hands."

The armed woman hesitated momentarily.

"It's nice and neat if you use a gun," said Alan boldly. "The blood splatters everywhere, except on your hands and clothing. You can even wear the same outfit tomorrow, without washing it. But it's an entirely different matter when you have to use your hands and get them dirty."

"I'm perfectly capable of killing with my hands," the cat woman assured him. "If you don't move aside, I'll demonstrate my skill by snapping your neck."

Alan stepped backwards until he was at Bitzi's side. "Snapping the neck of a smart-mouth kid is easy," he said to his mortal enemy. Then, reaching up into the bassinet, he grasped Petula's waist and started to lift her out.

"What are you…" said Bitzi, but she was too weak from fright to stop him.

Alan swung the baby girl until she was in the cat woman's line of fire. "Snapping the neck of an infant is much harder. I don't think you have it in you."

"Are you crazy?" Binky yelled at him.

The armed woman grinned with pride. "Very well," she said in a sly voice. "I'll snap Petula's neck—then I'll kill you with my gun."

"No, no!" cried Francine, covering her eyes with her hands.

Sweat poured down Alan's face as he watched the cat woman put out her hand. Her man-like fingers wrapped around the back of Petula's neck, and her thumb pressed against the baby's throat. Bitzi could only stand and weep, while the kids held their breaths and waited for the inevitable snap.

It didn't come.

As she felt the warmth of Petula's skin against her own, an overpowering feeling of affection filled her merciless heart. Tears of love formed in her eyes and coursed down her cheeks. Instead of murdering the infant, she tenderly placed her hands around its back and drew it to her breast. She moaned with pleasure as she cradled and caressed the child.

"What…the…freak?" was all George could utter.

Alan sprang forward, seizing the revolver from the cat woman's limp hand. She seemed to barely notice, so consumed was she by love for the baby in her arms.

"How did you do that?" said Beat in reverent awe.

Alan passed the revolver into Bitzi's trembling hands. "You know how to use this better than I do," he said respectfully. The rabbit woman, beginning to realize that the danger to her baby had passed, clenched her lips and pointed the barrel of the firearm at the intruder.

"Give me my baby, you slime," she growled.

The cat woman recoiled at the sight of her own weapon being used against her. "No, please!" she begged. "Just let me hold her a little longer."

"Give me my baby NOW!" Bitzi bellowed.

"No, wait!" said Alan, grabbing the furious woman's gun arm. "It's okay if she holds Petula for another minute—if she's willing to answer some questions."

"Yes, anything!" said the cat woman desperately. "I know I'm violating orders…I know I could be executed for treason…but…but I just love her so much…"

"What's the real purpose of the Yordilian exodus to Earth?" Alan demanded to know.

Panic and indecision registered in the cat woman's expression. "I…I…" she stammered.

"Shoot her," Alan told Bitzi. For a moment it appeared that the fiery-eyed rabbit woman would do so.

"All right, I'll tell you!" said the cat woman with resignation. "We were sent as a vanguard for a large-scale invasion, to destabilize Earth society and weaken its defenses."

"Why do you want to take over Earth?" Alan asked her.

"Because we need your men," replied the woman as she fondled Petula's mostly bald scalp. "Nearly all the men on our planet were destroyed by a biological disaster. We don't want to take your men away from you—we just want to share them."

"Share our men?" said Beat indignantly. "I'll be buggered if you do. I'm a human being, not a Mormon."

"What does killing Petula have to do with all this?" was Alan's next question.

"That was part of the deal we made with the Alliance to get them to look the other way," the cat woman answered. "To prevent the appearance of a new Dark Augusta, we were instructed to eliminate the duplicate Augusta. We didn't find out she had a daughter until we received Heath Holcombe's report. After that, it was a simple matter of slipping truth serum into Augusta's coffee so she would reveal her baby's location."

"Murderer!" shouted Arthur.

"You're a monster," Bitzi spat at the woman. "I should kill you now."

"I deserve death," said the cat woman miserably. "I betrayed my sisters. I fell prey to this baby's enchantments. Please, do me a favor and shoot me while I still want to die."

"This country has a system of justice that decides whether you should live or die," said Beat as she dialed the police on her cell phone. "It's not as perfect as the English system, but it serves."

While Bitzi forcibly took her baby away from the sobbing cat woman, the kids mobbed Alan and congratulated him for his cleverness in thwarting the murderous cat woman.

"If only we had four thousand Petulas," said Buster. "Then the invasion would be over before it started."

Next chapter: The cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers!