Emmaline sat back in her seat feeling full for the first time in what felt like days. It felt good to eat something besides cafeteria food, and Mom’s cooking was always the best. And she wasn’t the only one who thought so. She saw the satisfied looks on Eric and Anna as they pushed their plates away.

  Mom was the only one who had touched very little of her food. She had been too busy texting on her phone. It had started shortly after she sat down to eat, and the look on her face was becoming angrier and angrier with each new text she got.

  “Are you going to tell us who’s upsetting you so much?” Eric was finally the one to ask the question.

  Yet another new text came in as Mom had her fork halfway to her mouth. She dropped it and looked down at the text, immediately scowling. “It’s John. Apparently, after a little time to think about everything John told her, Melody went into a fit. Now she’s saying that they shouldn’t even buy Arie out of his partnership, that she and John could press charges against Arie for going into business under false pretenses.”

  “What?!” Everyone at the table exclaimed at once.

  “Can she really do that?” Em asked as panic gripped her.

  Mom shook her head, exhaling as she set her phone down. “Not realistically. Doing that would just damage New Horizons’ reputation even more, and she’d have to come out about why she’s doing it in the first place. She’s smart enough to realize that the longer the secret stays secret, the better for everyone. She’s just upset and lashing out.”

  “I know Melody,” Eric said, his expression hardening. “She’s all about the money. She probably thinks this is a way to keep all the profits in the company. And she’s trying to convince John that Arie was never really entitled to his share since he wasn’t who he claimed to be.”

  Mom’s phone buzzed again. She glanced at it and snorted. “John just said pretty much the same thing you did, Eric. He said not to worry. He wasn’t going to let Melody rob Arie of all his hard work. He’s still pushing for Arie to remain a silent partner, but says if there is a buy out, Arie will get what he’s owed.”

  “Good,” Eric said, his shoulders relaxing slightly. “I’m glad someone is looking after Dad’s interests on the business side.”

  “Well, I have an appointment with the lawyer in about an hour. I’ll run this by him too and see if there is anything we can do to keep Melody in check.”

  “How did it go with General Rikker yesterday? I see he let you come home.” Anna asked.

  Mom nodded. “Better than I expected, actually. He seems to want to work with me, which is a good sign. I need to go back on Monday to do more debriefings. His office called a little while ago to set that up. But I want to talk to Harold and get him involved. I’m not sure how this will all shake out, but I want to make sure Arie and I get everything legally worked out with the government if we can.”

  Eric nodded his approval. “Mr. Abernathy’s been doing legal work for Dad for what, fifteen years now? If anyone can navigate this mess, it’s him.”

  Mom’s phone buzzed again. This time, she just glanced at it without picking it up. “It’s Jeff. He says he just got a room lined up for Arie at Mt. Sinai and they should be moving him later this morning.”

  “That was fast,” Anna commented as she started gathering up the plates.

  “So what? Should we just go over to the new hospital?” Emmaline asked as she handed Anna her empty plate.

  “Actually, I thought you might go with Eric.” Mom said as she fished out keys from her pocket and tossed them across the table. Eric skillfully caught the keyring with a frown.

  “Dad’s keys?” he asked.

  “Yes. When John went to the farm looking for us, he said he found the BMW in front of the house. The driver and back passenger doors were hanging wide open with the keys still in the ignition. He took the keys out, shut the doors, and locked it for us. I’d like you to go pick it up and bring it back here if you wouldn’t mind. John said he has Tyler standing by to take you out there. I can drop you off at New Horizons on my way to the lawyer’s office.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Emmaline lit up at that. “A helicopter ride? Yes, please!”

  She loved going up in the chopper. Dad sometimes would take just her up on the weekends, while the rest of the family did their own things. He had a pilot’s license, and Emmaline had already decided she was going to get hers too. She loved to fly!

  And then she remembered Dad lying unconscious at the hospital and frowned. “If you are at the lawyers and we are out at the farm getting the car, who is going to stay with Dad?”

  “I can go over,” Ann offered.

  Mom shook her head. “You don’t have to do that, Anna. We’ve already taken up so much of your time. Don’t you need to get back to work?”

  Anna had picked up all the plates and was about to walk them to the sink when she set them down and frowned. “Actually, I called my supervisor and told him I needed extended leave. That there was a death in the family. I didn’t enjoy lying to him like that, but I wasn’t sure how to explain that my boyfriend was abducted by aliens, sooo…”

  Eric snorted. “He might actually believe it with that ship showing up.”

  “Yeah, but then he’d ask questions I’m not prepared to answer, so I left it at death in a family. I just need some time to process everything. It’s too soon, you know.” Anna’s voice cracked as she said that last part.

  Mom reached out a hand to her. “Yeah, I know. Well, you are welcome to stay here as long as you want or I can take you home to your dad’s house.”

  “Actually, I think I might go with Eric and Emmaline if that’s alright with you guys. I think I want see… I don’t know… it was the last place Michael was before he was taken.”

  “I get it and we’d love to have you,” Eric said as he stood up. “I actually need to check in with my CO. I told him I would keep him up to date about when I was coming back. I think I want to stay at least until after the surgery.”

  “We don’t know when it will be. We haven’t even talked to the doctor Anna suggested.” Mom said.

  “I emailed him. I’m just waiting to hear back,” Anna spoke up. “But it could be a week or more before he gets around to Arnold. He’s a busy man.”

  “Well, I can’t leave yet. You guys need me here. So I’m staying put at least for a while.”

  “You’ll use up all your leave time,” Mom argued.

  Eric shrugged. “Then I use up all my leave. This is where I need to be, Mom. The rest can wait.”

  “I’m glad you’re staying,” Emmaline put that out there. “I don’t want you to go away yet. You just got here.”

  Eric smiled. “I’m not going anywhere, Sis.” He patted her on the shoulder and walked towards the living room.

  “Is that a chip in your hair?” Mom asked incredulously.

  Emmaline looked down at the end of her ponytail that had come around to sit on her shoulder while she’d been eating. The frizzy hair held a sizable offending Dorito, which Emmaline quickly snatched out of her hair and pocketed in her pants. Mom hated it when they took food up to their rooms. Em tried not to think about all the chips that were still littering her floor. She just hoped Mom didn’t decide to take a peek in there before she had a chance to clean them up or Em would never hear the end of it.

  “Nope, no chips here,” Em replied innocently.

  But Emmaline could see from Mom’s expression that she didn’t believe her. “I see that’s the same outfit you were wearing yesterday. Why don’t you go up and get a shower and some fresh clothes before you go?”

  “But what about my Dome-ni? We said we would talk about it this morning, and we’ve been talking about everything but that.”

  “Actually, I’ve had some time to think about that.” Mom stood up and went to a drawer where she usually kept odds and ends. She pulled the thin flat data pad out, crossed the kitchen and handed it to Emmaline like a peace offering.

  Em blinked at the device. It wasn’t until then that she remembered leaving the data pad sitting on the armrest of the recliner last night, completely forgetting to take it back upstairs with her. Naturally, Mom had confiscated it.

  “I am letting you have this for now on three conditions. That you promise not to start doing any of the exercises before we do the surgery on your dad. You don’t tell anyone about your Dome-ni who doesn’t already know. And you don’t take this outside your room. I don’t want the wrong person seeing this.”

  Excitement flooded Emmaline. “Really? But you didn’t seem to even want to do the surgery.”

  “Like I said, I had a lot of time to think about things last night, and if there is any chance it should work, we should try it, because I think it would be far better for your father to teach you how to use your Dome-ni than learning on your own, don’t you?”

  “Yes!” Emmaline said as she jumped up and down in place, the excitement feeling like it was going to boil right over. She couldn’t believe her mother was going to just let her have the data pad. No argument. No need for persuasion to let her keep it. This seemed almost too good to be true.

  “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!” Em reached out to take the device, but Mom wouldn’t let it go.

  “Just remember what I said.”

  “No doing the exercises. Don’t tell anyone and use it only in my room. Got it!”

  Mom let the device go, and Emmaline finally had it in her grasp. For a moment, she just soaked it up. This was hers. This would teach her how to use her very special talent. Well, unless Dad woke up and did it himself. Em really preferred it if it happened that way, but for now, she was happy to accept the device.

  She grasped it tightly and ran through the kitchen to take it upstairs. She was halfway up when she heard her mother call. “Don’t forget the shower!”

  “I won’t!” Emmaline cried as she rushed into her room, feeling like this day had taken a sudden turn for the better!