Witness [A First Contact Romance]

26. Two Homes

Earth

2027

Rory sat across a table from General Price and some hotshot computer analyst whose name she could not remember. There were too many people in her life to keep them all straight. Beside her, Theo stared at the screen on the wall which showed the image of a man that neither of them recognized.

"Did you really think it was wise?" General Price asked.

Her heart hardened against the accusing tone. "I can't disappear entirely for weeks on end. People get suspicious and when people get suspicious about the alien, panic ensues."

"Yeah, I'm not talking about you streaming a game. I gave the approval for that because I trusted you to handle it well. I'm talking about what you said that forced me to cut you off midstream."

"It was a mistake," Theo said. "You should have trusted her. Now there's more speculation."

The general's eyes narrowed. He lifted his phone and played the video. Rory sat back and sighed.

"I'm the one who said it. I don't need to see it," she said.

"Maybe you do. Maybe you need to watch yourself."

"Insulting," Theo muttered. "General–"

"I'm serious. Both of you watch this and tell me if you really think it was the best thing you could do."

Rory didn't want to watch because the doubt hadn't stopped haunting her since she'd done it. All she'd wanted was to get the Replica to reach out to her, but it hadn't even worked.

On the screen, she saw herself chuckling at something her friend Stella said.

"It's not the first time I've gone off the grid and it won't be the last." Rory leaned back in her chair. "You guys have to stop panicking when it happens. I live a weird life."

"You're the canary in the mine, Rory." Oliver's lips twisted as he made a face of concentration. "We're all going to watch you and panic forever."

"I got sick and then I couldn't stop painting. I was in the zone. Got people to reach out to me though."

"So it's all for attention." Stella smiled.

"Someone I hadn't heard from in years reached out, actually. It was good to catch up. If you're watching," Rory glanced at the screen. "You know who you are. Give me a call tonight–"

The screen went blank.

"What if she had hopped on your live stream right then?" Price asked.

"I wouldn't have had to do it online in front of everyone if you had given me any kind of access to technology. I can't even text."

"You shouldn't reach out to her at all. Not without a strategic plan approved–"

Rory raised her brows. "Approved by the US government? The UN? For ten years I've played by your rules. There's too much on the line now for me to sit back."