A New Dilemma (Imitai Book 8)

Chapter One (Nerida):

Baltimore International Airport was crowded as usual, but not at the level Baratos and I experienced as we stepped into the baggage claim. My short but wavy blue hair bouncing as my cyan eyes skimmed the area looking for our checked items.

"Back in the United States," I said, shaking my head as my Catalonian husband and I walked past other carousels to where all the other passengers of our final flight were. "After a long ass tour, we're finally going home to rest!"

Home. Of all the places, we were finally here. After traveling to places as far as Bangkok to Lima or London to Johannesburg, we were finally home. The final stop of our world tour.

Might I add that many of those stops were two to three-night concerts? Ashley Asha only had to deal with mostly two during her days as a disk jockey. Well before my Aunt Callisto joined her side. Now she's sitting in the big chair as the CEO while my aunt works as her personal assistant. Both of them are one of America's most iconic power couples.

I, Nerida Stanwell, actually went on tour without a single hitch on this planet. No need to cut it short just because some baddie was afloat wreaking havoc. Believe it or not, that hasn't happened in a while.

Though, I don't like it.

Which is why I opted for a world tour. Especially after being involved in a spaceship crash that killed just about every single member of my crew. That concert was an ill-fated one, but this one was worldwide on Earth to keep things safe. Dedicated to the lives lost of course, and I donated half my wages to the families of the victims.

Many have written me since my return from Catalon, urging me to continue playing and to not allow terrorism to win.

It's been the message down here on Earth. Especially since there used to be terrorists running rampant throughout the planet. Nowadays, many of them are in fear that I'd eventually catch onto them.

Especially since just about every country decided to follow South Korea's suit in CCTV. Closed-circuit television was a pretty big one. Believe it or not.

The Allied Planets and the rest of the universe were even inspired to make CCTV a planet-wide thing. Even in the oceans using super-sensitive satellite imagery. Say that last sentence fast!

We hurried through the baggage claim and hopped into a limousine provided by Ashear Records. The driver politely relayed the message that Ashley didn't need me to go in. No one told us that we were going to be flying for more than an entire day.

We returned to our condominium at Silo Point. Spacy and simple was the way we kept the home. Other than all the art on the walls and in the living room and bedroom, it was a simple home. I hardly held on to any of the clothes in my wardrobe, but I daresay this superhero belt came handy whenever it came time to spring cleaning.

Honestly, I've thought about it before. I don't think Angela is the first descendant of Empress Pedonia to have cybernetic powers. To be frank, I think this Professor Agnur Mertiatus might have been some form of technopath, a superhero who knew how to put technology together and make it good.

If he had the ability to invent a belt that gave me the ability to change clothes so damn quickly, then he most definitely had to have that knowledge as a technopath!

"It's just the two of us again!" I said as we walked through the plain white doors into what looked like a simplified light beige hall with a wooden floor and furniture with the matching black colors. "You know Baratos, I never saw this much of Planet Earth as a kid. Like, I've been to a few places whenever my father was sent somewhere, but most of the time I was living in a suburb an hour from here."