Witness [A First Contact Romance]

19. Family

Earth

2027

"It's you. You're the one." Golden eyes stared into hers. "You're the one I'll send before we come."

The short snippet of memory had torn apart the world just like the day Rory came to kneeling in the desert ten years ago. It came apart in slow motion, in secrecy, hidden away in rooms filled with power, in a mounting tidal wave that would soon shadow homes and innocent people below before inevitably crashing into everyone's lives.

"You're the one."

The words and their ruthless intention pounded her mind.

Rory ran her fingers through her hair, struggling to unknot the tangles from the helicopter ride. Heels clacked as she rushed forward with the group–Theo, several military officers she vaguely remembered meeting before, White House aides.

"In here."

Two Secret Service agents stood beside a metal door.

No one spoke a word until the door had been closed and locked.

"Everyone stay quiet while we ensure the room is secure." General Price held his hand up while uniformed officers checked the room and everyone gathered.

It was hard to breathe seeing the group that had been assembled. Most of them were seated at the large table, while some lingered at the edge of the room. From the equipment on the tables, Rory knew they'd have others joining them, likely heads of state of several United Nations countries. Those in person were enough to intimidate. The president, vice president, the gang of eight, more generals, and a handful of cabinet members. All stared quietly at Rory.

After ten years of highly classified meetings with leaders from all over the world, Rory should have stopped feeling intimidated. At some level, she still felt like that young woman kneeling in the desert, an utterly lost stranger to this world.

But those feelings felt like a mere pinprick now. Even the terror she felt at what little she'd managed to remember about why she came to earth only scratched at the surface. The slow trickle of memories hadn't stopped since last night, and with every passing second, the unbearable weight of sorrow built. It wasn't enough to piece together very much. But while Rory had always suspected that she'd left behind people, she now felt it, and knew. Very far away on a planet filled with shadows in her mind, she'd been forced to say goodbye to people she loved.

Tears had never come easily for Rory. Since last night, though, the only reason she'd stopped crying was that she must have dried out every drop in her body. The floodgates of ten years had opened and she could not close them.

Worst of all, she couldn't picture their faces, or even think of their names. Love filled her with the notion that it belonged to people she'd once called hers. That was it. Love for people couldn't bring to her mind. It was like not remembering a word that was on the tip of her tongue, only so much worse.