CHAPTER 28

Earth

2027

"Aeryn," Vehru said in a chuckle. "At long last. It's wonderful to finally see you again."

The commander's arrival set off a chain of events that happened so fast Rory struggled to keep up.

Secret Service surrounded President Saito in a human wall around her as they backed her up for the nearest door, weapons raised. Security did the same for the other leaders as they attempted evacuation.

"It's not necessary. I come in peace." Vehru shrugged. "At least, today."

"Leave them alone." Rory–Aeryn–she didn't know who she was right now. Both of those women and neither of them. Standing before Vehru with panic spreading through the most powerful people in the world, for the first time, she was someone else entirely. She was the Witness. And fuck Vehru if that woman thought she'd decide what that meant. "Don't come to their planet and terrorize them."

Her stomach tied in knots. Would Vehru trap everyone here and prevent evacuation? What kind of defensive measures would the US employ then? The situation could escalate radically and quickly.

Theo clutched her arm, trying to pull her against him, but Rory shook her head. "You should go."

"Don't you ask me to do that." Theo narrowed his eyes.

Vehru didn't move to stop anyone from leaving. Soon, the politicians had successfully evacuated, leaving several generals, soldiers, and Secret Service agents in the room. They all spoke in hurried voices on phones and radios. It reminded Rory of bees buzzing about. Though she couldn't focus on any of them, she couldn't miss the hive of panicked people flying around the room.

In the midst of the chaos, Vehru smiled and spoke calmly, as though they were having a casual conversation. "So many people have missed you. I didn't expect I'd be one of them." The commander's eyes fell down Rory as if measuring the woman she'd grown into. "I did think you'd be different. You were so fierce on Lumiea. Is it your dogs that've made you soft? Or your Earthling? Maybe just forgetting who you are?"

Tossing words carelessly at one another diminished the gravity of what Vehru had done to Rory and her family. To the girl she'd once been when she lived as Aeryn. For a moment, she closed her eyes and saw the dry desert ground in her first moments on Earth. She saw the baby she hardly remembered curling a hand around her finger. Imagined the child's father alone without her.

Rory thought of how many families Vehru had destroyed on her home planet and how many she would destroy on Earth.

Cold fingers of vengeance bit into her heart and squeezed it in the rhythm of its hard beating. When Rory opened her eyes, she stepped closer to Vehru with a slow, purposeful stride.

"Rory–" General Price ripped the phone away from his ear and pivoted to her. Theo grabbed for her.

But it was only Rory and Vehru now. Aeryn and the Commander. The Witness and the one who sent her.

They stood so close that Rory could feel the unnatural coolness of Vehru's breath on her forehead. "This is my home." Rory tore into the woman's golden eyes with her stare. The calm threat beneath her steady voice hardened the edges of her words. "It's my planet. Not yours."

Vehru watched her with a lopsided grin. Beneath the surface of what appeared to be amusement, however, darkness clouded her eyes. Or was it sorrow? Sorrow so deep that the black of its bottomless depths looked like something sinister. "That's why I chose you. Every world deserves a Witness they can trust."

The rush of fighter jets blared over the tin roof of the storage building. Every door opened at once as armored soldiers rushed in, barricading the perimeter with their tall shields. The garage door lifted to an armored truck and a tank pulling up.

Vehru and Rory didn't look away from one another, even as the Commander spoke to someone else.

"General Price. Rory trusts you and so I'll trust you, for now." One furtive glance in his direction. "Advise these soldiers that opening fire will be very dangerous. This won't hurt anyone."

At that, Theo ripped Rory to him, not asking for permission this time, and dragged her away from Vehru. Her legs felt numb as she continued to stare at the other woman.

Five small beads popped off Vehru's shoulders and expanded in the air to a flat disc. They flew high up in the air. Soldiers aimed their weapons. Cries broke out from some of the men.

"Don't engage," General Price roared. "Not yet." He pointed at another general. "Don't let them engage. Tell the pilots to keep eyes on those if we lose line of sight."

All amusement fled Vehru's face. The discs flew outside and Rory looked over to see one snap to the side of a fighter jet.

The jet began to descend, not in an uncontrollable crash, but in what appeared to be a careful and purposeful motion.

There was no stopping what came next though. The pop of gunfire erupted outside and echoed throughout the metal building. The fighter pilots shot at the metal discs.

"Foolish," Vehru said. "I was only landing the planes."

"You knew they'd open fire," Rory said.

"Doesn't make it any less foolish."

General Price held his radio to his ear. Rory couldn't make out the voice on the other end with the rest of the noise. She waited to hear planes crash into the ground. To feel the swell of heat from an explosion or watch the nose of a plane tear through the roof. Instead, quiet soon followed.

Sweat dripped from the General's face. "All the planes were taken over and landed. No injuries."

"I told you this wouldn't hurt anyone. You're lucky your pilots didn't injure your own people." Vehru turned in a tight circle and looked out at the soldiers surrounding her. "I understand the limitations of your people. That's why I didn't prevent your leaders from fleeing, even though I came all the way here to meet them. I know how quickly violence can erupt." Her attention turned to that of the generals now. "I thought it was time to introduce myself. You already knew my name." The discs flew back into the storage area. Soldiers ducked and followed them with their guns. "I want you to know what I'm capable of."

Rory and Theo looked at one another. She slid her arm around him. It felt inevitable that one day Vehru would rip them apart, just like she'd ripped apart Rory's first family. But she couldn't let that happen again. "You have to let go of me now," she whispered. "And trust me."

It felt cruel to ask this of him when he looked so afraid for her. Theo hesitated, but then let his arms fall.

"It fascinates me that in every world it is you who first greet me." Vehru looked at the soldiers again. "Young, faceless kids in uniforms. None of you asked to be on the front lines of this while your leaders hide. You're so accustomed to living in unfairness that you don't know there's another way. You–"

Rory tightened her hands into fists and moved away from her husband. "Shut the fuck up, Vehru." Though she still remembered so little, her past and present collided in the fury climbing within her. Then she turned to look at the soldiers. "None of you listen to her. Today, this is between me and her. Your time will come and don't let her tell you how to feel about it. You decide for yourselves."

"Usually the Witness waits to address the world until more memories return." Vehru tilted her head back and laughed. "You're so protective. I should have known you wouldn't be able to resist. Very well, children." Vehru waved her hand at the soldiers. "We'll talk another day."

In a flash Vehru crossed the distance separating them and seemed to appear directly in front of Rory.

"Things will get complicated with the military if I stay any longer. I'll be back soon. But first, it's time for you to remember." Her hand slid over Rory's eyes. General Price was shouting something. She thought she heard Theo's voice. It all faded in the distance so much, though, that Rory could only catch Vehru's whisper in her ear.

"Don't be scared of the pain. It won't last forever." Vehru's voice sounded impossibly tender. "You're strong enough to survive this."

Knives–no, swords, or bullets, or bombs–ripped through her skull. Rory was certain that was those were the only things that could cut through her with such blazing agony.

It was the kind of pain so consuming that she didn't remember falling or losing touch of the world or of the feel of Vehru's hand on her.

And Rory would have killed to stay in that torment, because it was better than what her heart would soon face.