Witness [A First Contact Romance]-COMPLETE

18. Activation

CHAPTER 18

Earth

2027

Seven Years Later

Sweat peppered Rory's temples as she shifted her grocery bags. The military base had a bus that she could take, but it had been packed full, and Rory preferred breathing fresh air to the stale stench of overcrowded transit.

"Oh, Rory!" Her friend waved at her from across the street. "Did you decide about next weekend?"

Rory simpered and stopped walking. "I don't think I can. It's so hard for me to get approval for travel and I've been busy with work." Those video games wouldn't test themselves. It had been nice finding work she could do from home and plenty of companies loved the publicity she brought.

Her friend groaned and picked her way across the street toward her when a car passed. "It's just ridiculous that they still make you go through this process. It's a been a decade since you came to Earth and we're all still here. The world didn't end."

"It's for my protection too. I understand."

"You're always way too understanding."

"True." Rory nudged the other woman. "I hope you have fun though. A girl's trip does sound nice."

"I promise I'll plan the next one with more notice so you can jump through all those stupid hoops."

They parted with the promise of lunch later in the week and Rory finished her walk home. After surviving the first few years, both Rory and the rest of the world had managed to accept this bizarre situation, having her here with no memory. They all had adjusted to her as best they could, to the unknown threat that lingered somewhere in the universe. And so they'd let her settle into a life here at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. Sometimes she missed those early days in the desert, but this facility better met her needs and the government's.

Rory wrestled with her front door and pushed it open. The cool air washed over her as the scuffle of little paws on the hardwood floor clashed from the other room. She smiled as the dogs sprinted for her.

"Babies!" She closed the door with her heel and fell back against it when Benji and Chip jumped up on her. Their tongues hung out, tails wishing back and forth. Making kisses at them, she bent and let them both lick her cheeks at the same time. "I'm home. Where's Daddy? Napping or researching?"

Benji barked, twisted in a circle, and sprinted for the living room, but Chip jumped again to try to reach her face. Rory took a detour to put down her bags in the kitchen, which was very distressing to Benji. He ran to the kitchen, back to the living room, and returned to her again, yipping.

"Is he in there sleeping?" She bent to lift Chip into her arms and followed her excited boy to the couch where her husband looked like a bundle of blankets. Must have been a long day.