Witness [A First Contact Romance]-COMPLETE

69. In the Depths

Earth

2027

Theo placed the handmod on his palm and thought again about trying it for himself. The training program had already begun with carefully selected candidates who had already begun using them. There was still worry about if the handmods could cause any harm, but thanks to the data from Lumiea, Theo was able to reassure everyone that they were safe.

It was data that world leaders now also had. Rory's data drop had given the world invaluable information that he had quickly transferred from the handmods to a secure server. The government needed to keep a tight lid on what was arguably now the greatest weapon against the invaders, so Theo was not entirely sure of how they planned to keep the Federation from stealing it back. But he knew they'd swiftly acted to make copies and protect the information. Theo worried about the technology and intel being shared fairly with all of the nations of the world, but he couldn't get anyone to tell him who it had been sent to.

If the US kept it for themselves, it would be the greatest act of self-sabotage in history. He trusted the president, though, to see how desperately the world needed to cooperate.

The enormous victory of the data drop had been completely overshadowed by Rory's livestream. He'd heard nothing from her after her short video and the message for him. Jace had looked on the verge of death. Clearly something horrible had happened.

Theo closed his fingers around the handmod and looked out the window to the clear sky. He knew Rory would reach out to him as soon as she could, so each passing hour only made him more worried. Was she okay? Where was she?

Sweat gathered at the nape of his neck. He couldn't stand around being scared for her. If he wasted valuable time fearing the worst, Rory would be disappointed in him. They were at war with an incredibly powerful enemy.

General Price's voice tugged him from his thoughts. He'd returned to the room after stepping out. "What do you think?"

"I'm struggling to think about anything except whether my wife is alive."

"You have to trust Rory."

"What she did is beyond what Vehru ever expected of her. I'm confident of that. She gave us so much information." Theo shook his head. "I should be with her right now."

"She sent you here for a reason. Focus on what you can do."

Theo faced the general. Funny that the two of them had ended up in underground bunkers so many times. It was too dangerous to have the data anywhere that someone could find it so with Theo having access to what they'd allowed, he needed to be some place secure. "I think that the Aeroluxes are produced in this solar system, likely on Earth, and that Vehru will probably start using them now that we've gained all this information."

"That's not what I care about. How do you think we can combat their systems?"

"What do your other guys say?"