1

Flawless

WITH a happy sigh, I nestled closer to Rigel in the back seat of his parents’ car as they drove me home from the Jewel High Homecoming dance and the most perfect evening of my entire life. Even being named Junior Class Princess couldn’t compare to spending three whole worry-free hours with Rigel—dancing, sharing loving thoughts, stealing an occasional kiss when the chaperones weren’t watching…

Best of all was knowing we had a whole future to look forward to—together.

“I understand your aunt was finally told the truth this afternoon?” Rigel’s dad asked, breaking into my contented thoughts.

“She was,” I replied, “though it took Mrs. O’Gara and Kyna a while to convince her it was all true, especially since I didn’t have a chance to prepare her before the President showed up. I’ll be really interested to see how she acts toward me—toward all of us—now.”

“She should at least lighten up on all the rules and chores she usually dumps on you. Right?” Rigel gave me a sideways hug with the arm he had draped across my shoulders.

I smiled up at him. “Hope so.” It would be especially great if she was willing to let me spend more time with Rigel.

“What was she told, exactly?” Dr. Stuart asked from the front seat. “Lili O’Gara mentioned they’d spoken but didn’t give any specifics.”

Understandable, since the Stuarts and O’Garas couldn’t very well discuss Martian stuff while chaperoning a high school dance.

“We were already running late, so there was only time for the basics,” I told her. “The colony on Mars, how I ended up on Earth, and that I’m now the Sovereign. Oh, and that I was actually on Mars over the summer instead of Ireland, and how Rigel and I sort of, um, saved the world last night.”

“How did she take it?” She turned partway around to regard me curiously.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I think she was too boggled to say much. She’s bound to have a gazillion questions now that it’s had time to sink in, though.”

“That may take a while,” Dr. Stuart cautioned, concern furrowing her brow.

I blinked at her in surprise. “Why?”

“Such a revelation must challenge everything she thought she knew. She may need time to adjust. If that should prove to be the case, I recommend you not rush her.”

I nodded, though knowing Aunt Theresa I considered it a lot more likely she’d demand every last detail before letting me go to bed tonight. For now, I was happy to just snuggle—discreetly—against Rigel for the rest of the ride home.

“What do you say we spend some time together in the arboretum tomorrow afternoon?” he murmured as he walked me to my front door a few minutes later. “Maybe get ice cream first, then spend some time just…chilling.”

“Sounds perfect, especially after the week we’ve just had.” I squeezed his arm. “It’s a date.”

Smiling, he kissed me good night. His lips on mine felt impossibly good, sending wonderful sensations sizzling through my body.

“G’night, M,” he whispered. “See you tomorrow.”

I was still floating on air when I turned to go inside.

“Ah, you’re finally home.” Aunt Theresa emerged from the kitchen as I walked in. “It’s almost midnight.”

“Sorry. Dr. and Mr. Stuart were chaperones at the dance, so we couldn’t leave until most people were gone. We came straight here after, though, just like I promised.”

Still smiling, I braced myself for the barrage of questions sure to follow. If my aunt weren’t ready to talk yet, like Dr. Stuart suggested, she would have already gone to bed, to avoid me entirely.

“Hmph. Well, you’d best get to bed. It’s late.” She yawned, one hand over her mouth.

I blinked. Really? No questions at all? “You didn’t have to wait up.”

One gray eyebrow rose. “I always have. Why should tonight be any different?”

“I just thought… Never mind. Did you tell Uncle Louie about—?”

She gave a little twitch, her expression now shuttered. “I haven’t spoken with your uncle about anything out of the ordinary this evening.”

I nodded uncertainly. “That’s…good, I guess.” I’d been the one to suggest she not tell him. “But isn’t there anything you wanted to—”

“I’d rather not stay up talking tonight, if you don’t mind. As I said, it’s late. Good night, Marsha.”

“G’night, Aunt Theresa.”

I slowly mounted the stairs, feeling slightly disoriented. Taking time to adjust was one thing, but she was acting like that conversation earlier had never even happened.

Had the Council sent someone here after I left to erase my aunt’s memory or something? As soon as I reached my room, I checked my omni, since Kyna, as head of the Council, definitely would have messaged me if they had.

I needed to get in the habit of checking for messages more often anyway, since not doing so had nearly been disastrous this afternoon. What if the President had shown up while I was still in my underwear? Shuddering at the thought, I pulled the little communication device out of my nightstand drawer. No message this time.

Could Dr. Stuart be right that my aunt wasn’t ready to accept the truth yet?

True, it was still hard for me to believe everything that had happened the past few days. First, those super-advanced aliens, the Grentl, appearing in orbit without warning. Me, Marsha Truitt, personally warning several of the leaders of the free world. Then, last night, Rigel and me surviving, against all odds, when our desperate, last-ditch effort kept the Grentl from zapping Earth back to the Stone Age.

Still, denial seemed totally out of character for Aunt Theresa. Probably she was just tired, like she’d said, so decided to wait until after church tomorrow to start pumping me for details about the whole Martian thing. I just hoped once the interrogation started, it wouldn’t go on so long it delayed my date with Rigel.

But even if it did, I realized, Rigel and I now had the rest of our lives to be together! Grinning at that wonderful thought, I started to tuck my omni back into its hiding place in an old glasses case, then shrugged and left it on my nightstand. Assuming Aunt Theresa’s memory hadn’t been wiped, I didn’t have to keep secrets from her any more.

Even better, now that word had gone out to all the Martians about what Rigel and I accomplished last night, and how it was our graell bond that made it possible, we no longer had to worry about them constantly trying to keep us apart.

All things considered, my life should get way easier from now on. In fact, only twenty-four hours after thinking I might not have one at all, my future was looking pretty darned awesome!

Walking to church the next morning, it was obvious from Uncle Louie’s cheerful chatter that he was still blissfully clueless about all the Martian stuff. However, the doubtful glances Aunt Theresa kept shooting my way confirmed there was nothing wrong with her memory.

She definitely remembered. She just hadn’t wanted to talk about it last night.

When we reached our usual pew, the O’Garas were already there.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Molly told me as her mother and my aunt headed for the choir room to warm up. “I wanted to stay in bed this morning, but Mum wouldn’t have it.”

Brown-haired, gray-eyed and almost always bubbly, Molly had gradually become my closest friend this past year—especially since I could never tell my longtime friends Bri and Deb the truth about myself.

“There was no point even suggesting that to Aunt Theresa,” I said with a laugh, “though she was yawning a little over breakfast, too, since she waited up for me.”

Molly’s older brother Sean—my so-called “destined Consort” according to Martian traditions—slanted a glance my way. “To ask you questions?”

“No, actually. So far she seems to be pretending yesterday’s conversation never happened.”

“Huh. Maybe give her time? Change can be hard, you know.”

Dr. Stuart had said the same thing, but I knew Sean wasn’t only talking about Aunt Theresa. He’d seemed to have a good time last night with his date, Homecoming Queen Missy Gillespie, but it was clear he was still struggling with the whole idea of Rigel and me being a couple again.

Sean was tall and really handsome, with thick coppery hair and bright blue eyes. But Rigel was absolute perfection—to me, anyway. And had been since the first day I’d met him.

Even as I thought that, I felt Rigel’s distinctive vibe—a happy surprise, since it was the first time he and his parents had come to church since my return to Jewel four weeks ago, right before school started.

Hey! I thought to him as they headed to one of the remaining empty pews, a few rows up and to the right. Sleep well?

Yep. I dreamed about you…again.

Ditto. I grinned at him, then noticed Sean’s frown, so started fiddling with my program. After witnessing what our graell bond could do last week, Sean claimed he understood now why Rigel and I had to be together but it seemed mean to flaunt it in front of him.

Rigel and I “chatted” a little more during the service, mostly about the alone time we planned for this afternoon. We still had a lot of catching up to do after three months of pretending to be apart, then three more of really being apart.

After the service, during the usual socializing as everyone slowly made their way toward the door, several people made a point of congratulating me on making Homecoming Court. I thanked them politely, of course, but Aunt Theresa positively beamed while responding much more effusively.

I did my best to ignore her subtle bragging, which would have made me uncomfortable even if it didn’t seem so out of character. Angling away from her, I instead focused on snagging a few minutes with Rigel before we left—until another conversation caught my attention.

“—and even more arriving this week, she told me.” Mrs. Billingsley, who owned Belinda’s Books on Diamond Street, tapped her finger on the side of her nose. “She said the ones she saw look like they’re fresh out of college.”

“There was an article in the Indy Star business section this morning about it,” old Mrs. Batten said. “Louise read it to me. Some high-tech GMO company moving its headquarters here.”

Melinda Stevens, who waited tables at the Lighthouse Cafe, joined the group. “Four of the new folks—two couples—stopped in for dinner last night. They sounded like they’re from hoity-toity schools back East but at least they’re good tippers. Not real talkative, but nice enough. All of them looked like they could have been magazine models, too.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Wonder if they’ll be hiring locally?”

“Not so far,” Mr. Strauss, the grocery store manager volunteered. “Billy was out by the old transmission plant and asked one of the workers putting up those new fences around it. Sounds like they’ll be doing some kind of sensitive research, so they’re bringing in all their own people. At least to start.”

“Long as they spend their money locally, I won’t complain,” Agatha Payton declared. “They can stop by Glitterby’s any old time they want, ‘specially if they’re that easy on the eyes,” she added with a cackle.

I kept moving and reached Rigel a moment later. “Are you hearing any of this?” I asked as we clasped hands, recharging each other. “Do you think—?”

He nodded. “My dad mentioned something at breakfast about more Echtrans moving to Jewel. Sounded like something the Council already had in the works before…you know.”

Before the Grentl showed up on Earth’s doorstep a week ago.

“Some have been trickling in since late last year, but this sounds bigger.” I bit my lip. “I wonder why the Council hasn’t said anything to me about it?”

His parents joined us then, followed by my aunt and uncle and all four O’Garas. Aunt Theresa, I noticed, spoke a lot more politely to the Stuarts and especially Rigel than she had previously. I also thought she seemed slightly nervous around both them and the O’Garas. When we got home, I’d try to reassure her that they—and I—weren’t anything to be scared of.

We were nearly to the church door when Mrs. Crabtree, who lived across the street from us, accosted my aunt.

“Theresa! Do tell, why were those black, official-looking cars at your house yesterday? You and Louie haven’t been up to anything nefarious, have you? They looked like they might be from the government or something.”

Aunt Theresa froze, sending a panicked look first at me, then at Mrs. O.

“We saw those cars, too,” Miss Batten chimed in from just behind us. “They drove down Diamond and turned up Opal just as Mother and I were locking up Quilt World. You said it probably had something to do with that explosion near the high school Friday night, didn’t you, Mother?”

Before she could answer, Molly piped up with, “It did, actually, but it turned out to be a prank.”

“A prank?” Mrs. Crabtree echoed doubtfully.

Molly nodded. “I was at M’s house helping her get ready for the Homecoming dance when some men from the FBI showed up. Apparently someone called in a fake report that M knew something about that explosion. Probably a girl jealous she didn’t make Homecoming court, trying to keep M from getting to the dance in time to be crowned Junior Class Princess.”

Trying to hide my admiration at Molly’s quick thinking, I nodded. “They acted like they already suspected it wasn’t true, but they still had to check things out. They just asked me a few questions, made a quick search of our house and left. Still, it was a little scary, wasn’t it Aunt Theresa?”

Still looking slightly stunned, she bobbed her head. “Er, yes. Yes, it was.”

Uncle Louie looked at us both curiously. “Why didn’t you—?”

“Not now, Louie,” my aunt snapped. “That is, I, er, didn’t want to worry you over nothing.”

Mrs. O’Gara took charge then, saying something about lunch waiting and herding us all outside—probably because Aunt Theresa wasn’t managing to look nonchalant at all. We said goodbye to the Stuarts and had just started walking with the O’Garas up Emerald Street when Uncle Louie said, “The FBI really came to our house yesterday?”

“Yeah, it was like Molly said, just a jealous classmate trying to cause trouble.” I answered quickly so Aunt Theresa wouldn’t have to lie to him.

Before Uncle Louie could ask any more questions, Mr. O changed the subject. “I understand a front is expected to come through later today and cool things down a bit. That will be a relief, won’t it?”

The rest of us agreed a little too enthusiastically, but Uncle Louie didn’t seem to notice anything weird about it. Not that he’d ever been particularly perceptive. We all determinedly talked about the weather until we got to our house. The O’Garas kept walking—they lived around the corner on Opal Street.

Once inside, Uncle Louie went into the living room and turned on a football game while Aunt Theresa busied herself making lunch. I joined her in the kitchen, figuring this would be a good opportunity to reassure her about everything.

“Aunt Theresa, I know you’re probably a little—”

“Marsha, would you mind getting the cold cuts and cheese out of the refrigerator?” she interrupted. “Oh, and the mayonnaise as well.”

After a startled moment, I complied. The sense of surrealism I’d felt so often over the past week started creeping back as she built sandwiches for all of us, meticulously placing the cheese, then the lettuce, just so.

“You weren’t home to do any of your usual Saturday chores yesterday,” she said after a moment, not looking at me. “Will you be able to do them today, or do you have other, er, plans?” I detected a trace of the same nervousness she’d displayed around the O’Garas and Stuarts at church.

“I promised Rigel I’d meet him in town sometime this afternoon, but I should have time to get my chores done first. Especially since it looks like Uncle Louie already mowed the lawn.”

“I did that myself, before he came home from work last night. Here, set these on the table for me. Er, please.”

She was being as weirdly polite to me as she’d been to the Stuarts at church but otherwise she seemed determined to act like nothing was different. And maybe, with the Grentl crisis over, everything would run smoothly enough that her life wouldn’t need to change much at all.

I’d kind of hoped mine would, though…