It was the doorbell that woke Emmaline up. The distinct piercing chime that could be heard even all the way up in her parents’ room. The sound rattled in her head like an unwelcome visitor, and the blissful oblivion of sleep fell away. It was back to the real world and the very real new life that had been thrust upon her only a few days before.

  Em lifted her head and realized it was plastered to the bag of Doritos she’d left in her bed last night. She pulled the plastic from her face, and chips fell all around her. Em tossed the bag away in frustration. She sat up and scowled at the chips scattered all over her. What a way to start the morning?!

  She threw back the bedcovers and stood up and let the stray chips fall to the floor as well as to get a good stretch in. A flashing blue light from her window caught her attention. Emmaline padded across the carpet with bare feet and pulled the lacy white curtain back.

  Down in the street below, there were no fewer than five news vans parked in various spots up and down the street with a significant crowd of people hanging out on the sidewalk in front of the house. A pair of police officers had waded into the fray with their car blocking traffic on one side of the road, while the light bar on top of the NYPD vehicle flashed its warning blue. The officers were gesturing at the crowd, trying to disperse them, but the reporters seemed determined to stay put.

  Crap on a cracker!

  Panic seized Emmaline. Did they know? Was the family secret out?

  “No, no, no!” Em exclaimed as she dashed from the window and out the bedroom door still in the clothes she’d worn yesterday.

  Em raced down the stairs, taking them two at a time. She reached the bottom to find Eric shutting the front door. Emmaline halted in front of her brother. Her heart pounded a mile a minute.

  “Is it out? Does everyone know?”

  Eric stopped in mid-stride, and a puzzled look flashed across his face for a moment before he must have registered what she was asking about. He then shook his head. “No. They just wanted an official statement from the family about Dad.”

  Emmaline expelled a large sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness!” And then Em’s curiosity kicked in. “So what did you tell them?”

  “As little as possible. That he was getting the best medical care possible, and we appreciate everyone’s concern and respect for privacy during this difficult time.” Eric ran a hand through his hair, looking tired. “They’ve been camped out there since dawn. Mom’s furious.”

  Em followed Eric into the kitchen, where their mother was aggressively chopping tomatoes. The knife struck the cutting board with such force that Em half expected to see the wooden board split in two.

  “Those vultures,” Mom muttered, not looking up. “Arie is lying in the hospital unconscious and might never wake up again, and those bastards just go and camp on our doorstep like we owe them something. Like things aren’t bad enough that we have to deal with a bunch of nosy busy bodies. Why can’t they just leave us alone?”

  Eric slid onto one of the barstools at the kitchen island and reached for an apple from the fruit bowl. “I told them exactly what we agreed on. They don’t know anything else.”

  “They shouldn’t need to know anything else,” Mom said, attacking a second tomato with renewed vigor. “It’s nobody’s business but ours what’s going on with your father.”

  “Well, since he’s so tightly connected to New Horizons, people are concerned about the future of the company,” Eric said and then took a big bite out of the apple.

  “That won’t be the case much longer. I talked to John on the phone this morning, and he’s going to accept Arie’s resignation letter that I gave him yesterday. He talked things over with Melody, and she thinks it’s best to put as much distance between us and the business as we can.”

  “So she knows about us and our connection to the ship?” Emmaline asked as she sat on a barstool next to her brother.

  “Yes, at least the broad strokes. John asked to tell her, and I gave my permission. She deserves to know. She’s a partner at New Horizons, so all this affects her too.”

  Disappointment filled Emmaline. What would Dad think about that when he woke up? He had been CEO of New Horizons even before she was born.

  “But what if the surgery works and he wakes up? Won’t he be upset about not being CEO anymore?” Em asked.

  “Melody made it clear she wants Arie out as CEO even if he wakes up and makes a full recovery next week. She’s concerned that once the secret gets out, it could sink the company.”

  “So that’s it!? We aren’t even going to fight it?” Emmaline pouted. It didn’t seem right. Dad was the lifeblood of New Horizons.

  Mom stopped chopping, the knife suspended in mid-air. “There’s nothing to fight, Em. Melody’s right. The moment the world realizes our family is connected to the ship that was hovering over Lake Thurmond, everything changes. Our entire lives become a media circus—worse than what’s outside right now, and we will be dragging not just the company but everyone who works there into it too. It’s better for everyone if we break ties now before that happens.”

  Em slumped in her seat. “But it’s not fair. Dad worked so hard to build that company.”

  “Life isn’t fair,” Mom said, her voice softening slightly as she resumed chopping. “Your father knew this day might come. That’s why he put together the folder I gave John. It will be alright, Emmaline. We need to focus on our family right now, anyway. Let John and Melody take care of New Horizons.”

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  “Are they asking him to give up his partnership too?” Eric asked.

  Mom shook her head. “For now, just the CEO position, but Melody is pushing for the partnership too. John’s trying to stall. He thinks Arie could at least still remain a silent partner, but I’m not sure how long he’s going to be able to hold out against Melody. Apparently, she’s not happy about being in business with someone who not only lied to her for years, but was born in another galaxy.”

  Emmaline’s frown deepened. “But that’s not fair either! Dad being from Ethia doesn’t change who he is or how good he is at his job.”

  “Unfortunately, that’s not how most people will see it,” Eric said, taking another bite of his apple. “People often fear what they don’t understand. And right now, aliens are definitely in the ‘don’t understand’ category.”

  Emmaline crossed her arms. “Well, they should get to know us before they judge us.” And then in a much quieter tone, Em braved a question she’d been thinking since before Eric had come home. “Do you care we are aliens, Eric?”

  Her brother looked startled as he stopped taking another bite from the apple and swiveled his head to settle his piercing brown eyes on her. “Why would I care? You’re my family, Emmaline. That’s all that matters to me.”

  It was like a huge weight she hadn’t known she was carrying lifted from her shoulders all at once. She jumped off her stool and threw her arms around her brother. She felt his arms wrap around her too. He then kissed the top of her head.

  “Love you, Sis,” he muttered.

  “Love you too,” Emmaline said and squeezed him hard. When she pulled away, there were tears in her eyes. She could see him smiling at her through them.

  “Hey, that goes for me too. Just in case you were wondering,” she heard Anna’s voice from behind.

  Emmaline turned to see that the woman had entered the kitchen. She stood there between the two rooms with a halfway smile that put dimples in her cheeks. The one that Michael always said drove him crazy. Em rushed Anna and hugged her with just as gusto as she had Eric.

  “Thanks, I needed to hear that,” Emmaline said after she pulled away from Anna.

  “That’s why I said it, and I mean it. Michael might be gone, and your DNA might come from another corner of the universe, but that doesn’t change how I feel about all of you. You’ve always been a second family to me, and I don’t see that changing––ever.”

  Emmaline’s heart filled up to the tippy-top with warmth, and she turned, skipping back to her barstool with lightness she hadn’t felt since before the ship showed up.

  Anna walked over to Mom, who had stopped her work and was standing there looking back at them with tears in her eyes. Anna came and patted Mom on the back and then looked at the array of food and containers in front of Mom.

  “Are you making that yummy breakfast casserole with the egg, spinach, tomatoes, and spicy sausage I like so much?”

  “I am,” Mom said as she wiped at her eyes and turned back to what she was doing.

  “I’m surprised you have the energy for it.”

  Mom shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep, and I cook when I’m stressed. I also thought everyone could use a good meal that wasn’t cafeteria food. Did you get any sleep at all?”

  Anna opened a cupboard and pulled out a stack of plates and went to set the table like she’d done it a hundred times, which she very well might have. She had spent a lot of time in their home before she’d gone off the college, med school, and later the residency in DC.

  “More than I thought I would. It was oddly comforting being in his room. Almost like he’d come in at any moment.”

  “Well, you are welcome to stay in Michael’s room as long as you want,” Mom said as she started mixing all the ingredients in a large casserole dish.

  “Have we thought about what we are going to tell others about what happened to him? Michael’s friends have been calling me, wondering where he is. I mean, they know about Arnold being in the hospital, but they are still asking questions. It’s not like Michael to go dark on his friends, especially not Frank. They’ve been best friends since high school.” Anna said casually as she finished putting out the plates and then went for the silverware drawer.

  Emmaline felt bad. Normally, it was her job to set the table, but Anna looked happy to be doing it, so she stayed on her stool and looked to Mom. Em had been wondering the same thing too. What were they going to tell people about Michael?

  Mom let out a long sigh. “I really don’t know. What do you say when a person up and disappears?”

  “We could say he’s on an extended trip,” Eric suggested, tossing his apple core into the trash. “Research expedition or something. He’s always been passionate about his work. Maybe we say Dad had set up some big research project for Michael just before the stroke, and he will be gone for a while.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t explain why he won’t call or even text his friends back,” Anna said.

  Mom glanced up from her casserole preparation. “What if we said he’s somewhere remote? Limited or no cell service?”

  “That might work for a while,” Eric said, drumming his fingers on the countertop, “but eventually people will expect some kind of contact. Even researchers in Antarctica get to make satellite calls once in a while.”

  Emmaline stared at the island top, tracing a finger along the dark green marble veining. “What about saying he’s doing some kind of classified government project? Those people can’t talk about their work at all, and Dad’s done work for the DOD. They might believe it.”

  “That’s actually not a bad idea,” Mom said thoughtfully as she sprinkled cheese over the casserole. “Michael’s internship last summer was with a defense contractor. We could say he impressed someone there who recruited him for a special project, and your father decided it was important enough to give him time away from the company.”

  “Yeah, but for how long? That’s only going to work for a while,” Anna said as she put the last of the silverware out.

  “We will cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, let’s go with that,” Mom said.

  “And if people ask why he’s there and not here with Dad during his medical emergency?” Eric asked.

  Mom’s hands froze over the casserole. “We could say... that Arie insisted Michael continue with the project. That he wouldn’t want Michael to give up this opportunity, even with everything that’s happening.”

  Emmaline nodded slowly. It sounded like something Dad would say.

  “Except Dad’s unconscious,” Eric put out there.

  “That’s not public knowledge, and I’d like to keep it that way if we can,” Mom said. “There’s no need for people to know how bad his condition is.”

  “What if it gets leaked to the press?” Anna asked.

  “Then we will deal with that if it happens.” Mom replied as she opened the oven and slid the casserole inside, then shut the door. She stood and looked at Anna, Eric, and then Emmaline. “That’s the story. Alright?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “Alright,” Emmaline said, not happy about having to lie. She knew first hand what it was like to be on the other end of it thanks to Mom and Dad. Could she really be a part of an elaborate plan to keep everyone in the dark about her brother’s true whereabouts? What other choice did she have? She certainly wasn’t ready for people to discover that she was an alien on this planet. Emmaline remembered what Eric had said about people fearing what they don’t understand.

  What would Helen, Brad, or all her other friends think of Emmaline? Would they reject her for being different? Or would they be as accepting as Eric and Anna? Emmaline realized she was terrified to know and, for the first time, she understood at least a little of how Mom must be feeling right now and all the years she had kept her secret. And a very large part of Emmaline hoped the world never learned the truth about her and her family.