Earth

2027

Seeing Jace had been like a nuclear explosion detonating in Rory's heart, one that ripped through the shock of her memories returning and melted down the walls of her heart, eviscerating all in its path. A hollowed, numb drum remained in her chest.

"What just happened?" Theo's stare shifted from the door Jace had walked through back to Rory. From the corner of her eye, she saw his shoulders straighten and understanding draw heavy lines of sadness across his face. "Oh."

Slowly, Rory lifted her face to Theo, desperate to say something, but unable to form any words.

"That's him," Theo said.

Burning tears blurred her view of him. All she could think of was the look on Jace's face when Theo had put his arm around her.

General Price rushed into the hallway and skidded to a stop. "We need to talk."

Ignoring Price, she kept her attention on her husband. "Theo…"

Theo sniffed and nodded. "You don't have to say anything right now."

Her knees felt shaky and she wanted to just fall against her best friend, only she could still feel Jace's embrace. Her mind could not wrap around seeing him. So much about him was different and so much was still the same. It was clear to Rory that he'd undergone more enhancements. But the greatest change she saw was the weary strength of someone who had endured a great deal of suffering for a long time. The kind that changed a person.

And yet, he still had those eyes. He was still her Jace.

"Rory." General Price heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry, but it has to be now. Please, let's keep this simple."

Theo took her arm and asked her, "Do you want us to go?"

"Just Rory." The general looked uncomfortable as he spoke, something Rory had learned meant he didn't like what he was doing. "We need to talk to her alone."

"No." Rory pulled away, standing alone in the middle of the hallway, looking back at the place where she'd just seen Jace for the first time in a decade. "I have given you people so much. You've come to just expect it from me. I'm a person. You realize that? An actual person who has human limitations. Back off for a second."

"There's things you may not be ready to say in front of Theo." Price walked closer with his voice low. "I know you and I know that you care about what Vehru plans to do to us. This is a war. Help us. Please."

She grabbed Theo's hand and stared down the general. It was not necessary to speak about their new reality. They all recognized the changed dynamic. No longer was Rory on Earth alone with no memories and at the mercy of the United States government, or any government for that matter. Commander Vehru had plans for her and those would not be easy to thwart. If Rory did not want to talk to General Price, it was unlikely he could force her.

"I'll talk to you," Rory said. "First, I'm talking to Theo. And then he's coming with me."

The general pressed a hand to his hip and lowered his head. "Fine."

Price walked further down the hall while Rory told Theo some of the details she hadn't been ready to share before. There would be time for more later and most of what she said were things he could have pieced together himself, but it only felt right to tell him herself.

"I know there's more to say but–"

"No," Theo said. "I meant what I said earlier. We need to get through this first and have time to think. You're in shock." He tilted his head, a look of worry mingling with the pain she saw in his eyes. "Can you do this?"

Rory nodded.

"But don't you need to go back with Vehru?" Theo asked.

As badly as Rory wanted to go after Jace, the fate of a planet was in jeopardy right now. He'd left for a reason. He knew his limitations. Rory had to remember hers as well. Vehru could have told Rory that she was bringing Jace and chose instead to surprise her. Whatever the Commander intended as a result, Rory recognized the threat she faced. Shock could completely overwhelm her senses. Now was the time to think and be careful. Not blindly chase after Jace and let herself fall apart.

Vehru had plans. Rory could not let impulse guide her.

"Vehru sent me out here for a reason," Rory said. "She wanted to force us all to run into each other and she didn't bring me back with her. I don't think she has any intention of having me in that room right now." No, she must not have because Jace wouldn't be able to think with her in the room. He must have been one of the generals who Vehru planned to introduce to the world leaders.

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For a surreal moment, Rory remembered–actually remembered without having to force it–a day when all the neighborhood kids played outside. Jace had hit her on the cheek with a snowball that turned out to be a bit icey. He'd wiped the snow away with his eyes wide while he told her sorry repeatedly. She'd said it was fine because she'd just get him with two snowballs when he wasn't looking. Why that memory came to her, she didn't understand. But thinking of those two kids growing up and traveling across the galaxy to end up here as one of Vehru's generals and her Witness did not seem real.

The comfort, though, of being able to remember her own life gave her the strength to walk down the hall to meet with General Price.

Jace would deal with Vehru right now. Working with the US government was something only she could do.

"Anything you can tell us about the man you know would help." General Price sat down across from her in a conference room.

How much did Rory want to divulge about him? Before Vehru had forced her to come to Earth as the Witness, they'd been making plans of their own. How far had Jace gotten with those plans? How had her absence changed them? Without talking to him, she couldn't know his strategy. Rory was talking to General Price blind.

Rory cleared her throat. "He's my husband from Lumiea."

General Price nodded, looking down respectfully. "I had gathered that."

"He's a skilled combat soldier and I'm not surprised to find that he's high ranking now. We were ambitious." Pain almost overwhelmed her but she managed to keep her tone even. "It's safe to say he has always been the most ambitious."

The words clearly unsettled the general, but Rory would not spare him from an obvious truth. Jace had always looked intimidating, but he surprised even Rory now. He was prepared for this war.

"I don't think you expect me to be transparent with you about Jace when you most certainly consider him to be an enemy of the United States. You want to know what this means for me. Am I an enemy?" Rory swallowed hard. "Ten years later and you're asking the same question."

Price leaned forward. "You have a child who is in the hands of the woman who plans to conquer our planet. You have one husband who is a general for that woman." He cast a look at Theo. "And another who is a very valuable American scientist. These are disconcerting facts."

"Don't question Theo's loyalty." Rory narrowed her eyes.

"To you or to the United States? Until now, his interests as your husband and as a scientist have aligned well enough."

"I'm not going to help Vehru conquer our planet," Theo said.

"It doesn't really matter what I think you will or won't do. It doesn't even matter what you think. Vehru has plenty she can use against the both of you, including simply taking you hostage."

"It's hard to have allies when you are so quick to treat your friends as enemies." Theo shook his head. "Revoke my security clearance. Surveil me. Whatever. I don't care, but don't sit right there in front of me and question whether I am a traitor to my country and my world."

Rory slid her hand over Theo's knee. "They need us, Theo. They're scared, but they need us. We have a long history of cooperation that has benefitted us all. The general wants to see that continue." She lifted her chin as she gave Price a long look. "Don't you?"

He eyed Rory, clearly trying to judge her intentions. Over the years, she knew she had earned as much trust as he was willing to extend, but this situation certainly tested those limits.

A knock sounded on the door.

"General Price." A man entered with his body stiff and his brows furrowed.

They would not interrupt this unless it was something urgent. Rory twisted around to watch the general leave the room.

To her surprise, Price rushed back in minutes later, when she expected he would hide whatever had happened.

He placed a laptop on the table and ran the back of his hand over his mouth. Was he sweating?

"We just found this. It's circulating online."

Rory couldn't handle anything else right now. Helpless to stop it, she watched the video play when General Price pressed start.

"The United States is holding more like me. At least dozens." A woman with long black hair sat across from a journalist who Rory recognized, though she could not think of her name. But this did not seem to be a final cut of the news. It looked like unedited footage. "I'm just an anthropologist. I came from Lumiea to help facilitate the relationship between my planet, yours, and the Ephemor Federation. We have more advanced medicine and technology. We planned to offer humanitarian aid."

"Shit," Rory said.

"That's not what happened, though. We were silenced and taken prisoner." The woman on the screen sniffed subtly, like she was trying to hold back tears, but didn't want to show how close she was to crying. "I can't blame Rory for what she did. It was tempting to partner with the United States government. Look at the life she's been able to live. But the truth is, helping the US cover up the truth makes her a traitor, and that's not who I am. If it wasn't for the hero who helped me escape, I would still be locked up."

The video ended. Why would Vehru spread conspiracies about her if she wanted the Earth to trust her? What the hell was that?

"The claim is that we suppressed this news and prevented it from airing, so a hacktivist group named ByteRiot leaked it." General Price turned away, pacing. "There's already messages claiming to be from their leaders denying that they dropped the footage. More videos are circulating."

Vehru had just told the leaders of the free world that she was inviting them to join the Federation and before they even had the chance to deny her, she'd already started launching attacks. It was a clear message that she would not wait and she would not relent.

"Is the meeting over yet?" Rory asked. "Is Vehru still with the world leaders?"

"Vehru and all her generals left five minutes before this started circulating."

Rory blinked several times, trying to clear the fuzzy edges of her vision. The air wasn't reaching her lungs. "It's a rapid assault." The light-headedness only worsened as she spoke. "She dropped Jace right in front of me when she knew Theo was coming, made sure we were being watched so I'd have to go into this interview, and released these claims about me during it. If she's doing this to me, she's doing it to everyone else. She wants all of us disoriented." It was working, even now as Rory saw what was happening, the psychological attack took its toll on her mentally and flooded her body with adrenaline and cortisol that made her feel out of her body.

"Why does she want you disoriented when she needs to use you?" Theo studied her. "To make you easier to manipulate?"

"Or so I miss what she's doing. She did it to Jace too. She distracted us." Vehru would have prepared her generals for the conquest of Earth. That didn't mean she'd told Jace everything or that she remotely trusted him.

Another knock came at the door before it opened. "It's the president. She wants to talk to Rory."