15.
For the next five days after the arrival of the Terrian Primes, Odette was orbiting Earth on the Navigator. It was strange to her after being on the planet for so long, going back into her role as Paragon and conferencing with the races of the Alliance as they arrived.
Padric, Nova, and Bas were all with her, while Warin stayed on Earth in search of the Whispian soldiers who still threatened the planet. None of them had spoken to their human friends after the night of the State Dinner when all was revealed. They wondered if they would even be able to still call them by such a title.
Odette hated how Duke found out everything so suddenly without her even getting the chance to explain herself. Of course, no one was able to see it in her expressions, slipping effortlessly back into her Terrian control. For the past two days, she'd been in the Navigator's comm room, keeping track of the Whispian activity on Earth and the Alliance arrivals.
For the moment, she refused to look into any news feeds from Earth. She'd heard through whispers of all the riots and protests after the president's press conference the morning after the arrival. And it wasn't just in the United States either. The entire world was up in arms.
Many of the world leaders who had been in D.C. when the Primes arrived were still there. They had been in multiple conferences with the president, but nothing of what they were speaking of had public. There would no doubt be opposition. Once they knew the very threat that meant to destroy their planet, maybe they would feel differently about the offer of protection.
Most of the time, Odette was in her quarters. Whenever she wasn't, she was congratulated on a job well done with her assignment, getting close to the president and his family. But whenever she was reminded, all she could think of was Duke and the betrayal he must have felt. She'd been playing her part for too long, using him and his obvious attraction, that she forgot it was just that.
Now, she felt like an outcast within her own society, longing to be back on Earth instead of on the Navigator with the rest of her race.
Now, she was in her quarters, looking out the window at the planet below them.
Evangeline spoke through the comm system. "Guardians Nova and Sebastian request entry."
"Accept," Odette spoke, and turned just as the door slid open, revealing a worried-looking Nova and Bas.
The two of them noticed where she was looking. There expressions didn't need words to accompany. They knew what she wanted, but she couldn't have just yet.
"Are you all right?" Nova asked, sitting down on the bed. "You have hardly come out of your quarters in the time we have been here."
Odette nodded once. "I am fine. So much has been going on these past few days. I am still trying to get back into the Terrian way of things. It is a harder transition than I would have thought," she admitted. She turned away from the window, looking between the two of them. "Tell me, what has occurred over the past few hours?"
They looked at each other before Bas spoke. "The Primes are in conference with Queen Elektra as we speak and Emperor Mehrab is on his way from his ship. The Nereidians should be here in a matter of hours and King Marinus will join."
Nova continued. "After all races of the Alliance are present, they will convene once more before they head to Earth. President Mitchell has convinced the world leaders there for the State Dinner to meet with them. Most of the population of Earth is against it, even after his press conference explaining what has happened."
"Did he mention Comae at all?"
She shook her head. "He did not want to speak of it when he still knew so little. He did acknowledge that a threat was made from another race known by the Terrians and that we were here to help the humans. He called for another press conference after the meeting between the leaders of Earth and the Alliance races."
Odette shifted in her seat. "Anything else?"
The two of them shared another look, one that Odette knew. They were keeping something else from her.
"What is it?" she asked. "There is something else, is there not?"
Nova was the one to nod and answer first. "Photographs of you and Duke have surfaced from the dinner and from the videos humans have been putting up on the internet. It did not take long for them to put two and two together. Questions of your association have risen...and Duke's not been seen since that night. They believe him to be staying out of the public eye, though we do not know if he is at the White House or not."
She could only imagine what they were thinking as they dug up images of them over the past months. Maybe she brainwashed him? Or did she threaten him with her alien weapons? They could have beem looking more into who Odette and the others were, finding out they'd gone to school with Duke and Lizzie and Padric working at Clark's coffee shop. The story weaved its way into Odette's mind on how it must have looked to the other humans. The aliens were making friends with the President's children, which gave them a direct link to one of the most powerful men in the world.
"We have not looked at any of the feeds from Earth because of it," Bas admitted. "Prime One has a few of the Guardians monitoring them, as well as keeping tabs on the Whispians we know are on the planet, including Comae."
"But Pallas and his human accomplice have disappeared from the D.C. area," Nova said. "They have been searching for them, but they seemed to have left the planet entirely. The problem is there are no other ships besides those in the Alliance at all in the solar system."
Odette tried to think back on the meeting with the president, his family, and Graham. "Did we even tell them Hudson Wallace is a traitorous Terrian named Pallas?"
She shook her head. "They still believe him to be human. But when we meet again, we will have to tell them who he really is and what his intentions are."
"We do not even know, other than he is working with Comae."
"Well, then, we will have to tell them our suspicions."
Odette was silent, looking down at her hands folded in her lap. Now, even more was piling up in front of her. Somehow, she needed to convince Duke to speak to her...that is, if she could find out where he was. No way would she be able to go up to the White House herself.
She stood then, feeling Nova and Bas watching. "I am going to speak with Prime One."
"She might still be in the meeting with the Alliance."
"Then I will wait."
She headed for the door, which slid open silently, and headed down the hallway toward the common room on the Navigator. Dozens of Terrians, Bodtics, and Tretytes passed her, each giving her proper greeting, but she hardly paid any attention. Her feet were taking her to the conference room aboard, which Queen Elektra was just leaving. Her half humanoid, half machine body was draped in light purple gossamer fabric decorated with jewels that matched the crown atop her head.
Odette paused, bowing her head in respect.
"Paragon," Queen Elektra greeted. Her voice was normal, though it held a metallic trace in it.
"Queen Elektra."
"I must congratulate you on your assignment to Earth. I have not had the chance to do so before today. The humans do not seem to, though, by their news feeds. They believe us to be here to destroy them, rather than give them our protection."
Odette looked into her metallic silver eyes, seeing the honesty there. "Thank you. And I am sure after the humans of Earth learn all that we have in our possession, they will come agree to that protection."
Elektra nodded once more before continuing down the hallway on, her new, shapely metal legs striding under the gossamer fabric.
Hugo and Salvatore were next to exit, both giving her a nod of acknowledgement.
"Diana was expecting you would want to have a word with her. Nova sent her a comm just before the meeting ended," Hugo said as they continued down the hallway. "She is waiting for you inside."
Nova. Odette sighed, shaking her head.
Diana was waiting silently at the conference table in the center of the room. Along one wall, feeds from every Alliance planet were displayed on a holographic screen, as well as some from Earth. Odette tried to keep herself from reading or looking at any of the images. Instead, she kept her eyes on Diana as she sat.
"Nova informed me you would like to speak," Diana smiled, folding her hands on the table in front of her. "I must say I did not think it would be this long before we had this conversation about you going back down to Earth."
"I was needed here," Odette stated flatly. "My assignment on Earth has been completed and now it is on to the next, wherever that may be."
Diana's smile remained as her eyes softened. "Your assignment on Earth may have been completed and your next is already being discussed, but you are not ready to move on from this planet just yet."
She shook her head without saying a word.
"There is a reason you feel like Earth is also your home."
Odette didn't object, staring down at the table.
"There are several reasons, in fact...a few of which you do not know."
Yes, there were several reasons for her strong connection to Earth – Duke, her human family, the beauty of the planet, and the fact that she did have a previous connection with being born there.
She could still feel Diana watching her before she lifted her head. Something in her expression made her think there was something she wanted to say, but Diana kept quiet.
"Is there something else, Prime One?" Odette asked.
Diana shook her head slowly, leaning back in her chair. "No, nothing," she denied. "Now, after the leaders of the Alliance have their meeting with Earth's, you, Nova, Sebastian, and Padric will all head back to Terra with us. There, we will plan out the exportation of Terrian tech and weaponry to Earth. Of course, we will keep what Agents are on the planet there, just in case Comae's followers decide to do something. You will oversee the exportation and, eventually, Earth's leaders' trip to Terra for their official Worlds Alliance induction."
Odette nodded once, glad she was already given another assignment...and one that involved Earth.
"And after," Diana said with a slight pause. "After...well, as Paragon, you have never had the duty of serving as an Ambassador to a newly inducted planet like I myself did with the Bodtics. I believe you will be suited well in such a duty on Earth, so you will serve for three years, coming back to Terra when the need arises."
Odette stared wide-eyed at Diana, her heart jumping in her throat.
Three years on Earth, of waking up and falling asleep on the beautiful planet, of getting to know the humans even more than she did in the few months she already had, of finally being able to live as a Terrian without fear of her secret being exposed...
And getting to spend that much time with Duke...if he would have her, of course.
The thought of getting to see how he would change in those three years made her begin longing for it already. Getting to grow with him made her heart start beating rapidly in her chest. Because she wouldn't just grow physically and mentally beside him. Her love for him would, too.
"I am guessing you are up for the challenge of being the Terrian Ambassador to Earth?" Diana asked, smiling still.
"Yes," Odette whispered with a slight nod. "Yes, of course, I am."
"Good. Now, I will go ahead and give you your first assignment...and that is to go back to your home on Earth and catch up on the news of our arrival. I know you have not while you were in the comm room here. If you would leave right now, it should give you enough time to get through much before nightfall."
She stood, gesturing for Odette to do the same. And instead of the usual Terrian farewell, Odette rushed around the conference table and wrapped her arms around Diana in a fierce hug, something she hadn't done since she was a child. Laughing slightly, Diana returned it, running her hand over the back of Odette's head.
"Thank you," Odette whispered before pulling back. "Thank you so much."
And when she did, Diana took her face in her hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead, another something that hadn't happened since she was a child. "You are very welcome."
***
Odette situated herself in the Lander pod, locking the harness into place before the Terrian at the controls gave her the all clear. She nodded, pressing in her desired coordinates into the system. Once they were in and the course set, she started up the engine and the dock below her disappeared.
Before the engine fully powered up, the pod was in a freefall, being pulled toward Earth's surface at a rate that would have made her sick had she not had the atmospheric balancers on. The pod still shook around her as the stars above grew in their distance and the blue and green Earth rushed up toward her.
The pod jerked once when the engines were at full, slowing it down as she neared the planet. By the time she entered the troposphere, her course glowed on the screen before the pod shot onto it.
When she was close enough to the ground for people to see the pod, she enabled the cloaking shield. She didn't want to be seen as the enemy like so many of the humans thought they were. She just wanted to go to her home on Earth and pretend she was a normal human girl again.
The home she shared with Padric, Nova, and Bas slowly came into view as her speed reduced. A feeling of longing rushed through her when it did, along with an overwhelming sense of peace. She had never felt that way on Terra before, but – just like anytime a feeling so strong came on – she tried to reduce it to being on Earth for too long.
But this time, she didn't.
Checking the perimeter of the house, she landed the pod in the back yard. Luckily, the landing was quiet, so even if there were humans around, they would have barely heard a thing. She undid her harness just as the front of the pod opened up, allowing the cool Earth air rush in. Once she was out, the pod closed off again, disappearing as the shield enabled once more before shooting back into the sky, bound for the Navigator.
With so much change over the past week, it felt strange to Odette as she walked toward the back of the house.
Strange, but normal as she found the spare key they'd hidden under a rock by the patio step to unlock the back door.
Strange, but normal as she stepped inside and a green laser scanned once over her for identification.
Strange, but normal as she made her way to the screen hidden behind a painting wall to disable the security system.
The house was eerily quiet as Odette walked through the living room and down the hallway, passing all of the photographs they'd taken and printed out to fill their home with life. She had to pause when she reached the one of her and Duke Padric had candidly taken at a Monday night Mitchell family dinner. Duke had his arm draped across the back of her chair, his head thrown back in laughter, and Odette was looking over at him with a slight smile she remembered had grown bigger just a moment later.
Still in her Paragon uniform, it felt otherworldly to her as she entered her and Nova's room. Their clothes were still hanging in the closet, untouched since the day of the State Dinner. Now, all she wanted to do was change into jeans and an ACDC t-shirt Duke had jokingly given her just a few weeks before...which was precisely what she did.
She was headed for the comm room, intent on catching up on Earth's news feeds and maybe even a vid log since she'd forgo them over the last few weeks. The leather chair and wooden desk were empty when she walked in, though it had always been that way. They had made advancement to the room, putting the touch screen below a retractable panel in the desk along with the holographic projector.
Odette pressed a notch in the wood lightly and the screen appeared just beside it. Another touch to an icon on it brought up the holographic screen just in front of the wall. On it were feeds from Terra and the Navigator that orbited Earth, along with any that were intercepted by the other races who had their own ships above.
"Hello, Paragon," Evangeline greeted. "Welcome back. How can I assist you?"
"Search all of Earth's news and vid feeds for coverage of the Terrian Primes' arrival, but none with news of myself or Duke Mitchell," she commanded, not wanting to hear what they were saying about them. "Specifically for President Mitchell's press conference the day after."
In an instant, thousands of images, text, and vid feeds flooded the screen. Odette's eyes were scanning through each and every one as she dismissed most. There were only a few even worthy of reading through, but it was the White House's official press release and vid feed that she stopped at to watch.
"Play vid feed," Odette said quietly, sitting back as it began.
Flashes of cameras appeared as Calvin walked up to the podium with Alanna and Graham behind him. He didn't look tense, but not particularly pleased either.
"Good morning," he began, folding a piece of paper before stuffing it into his suit pocket. "As the world this morning most definitely knows, something not many of us have ever seen before occurred last night. I am going to tell you all the truth of what happened and what is to come. The videos surfacing on the internet are not lying. The truth is that an alien spacecraft did in fact land on the Ellipse just outside the White House."
With the brief pause, the cameras flashed again as concerned murmurs floated around.
"Another thing that has come up in the time between then and now is it seemed like we – meaning myself, my wife, and my Chief of Staff Graham Townsend – knew exactly who these aliens were. We were not hostile toward them, rather surprised at their arrival. And again, I would like to tell the truth...because we do know who and what they are. We have known about their existence ever since they came to Earth twenty-two years ago."
Despite the next round of even louder concerned murmurs, the president continued.
"They come from a planet called Terra, which is located in their solar system they call Dromade in the Andromeda galaxy. They are able to travel with the use of a device that creates a wormhole in space called a Spaceway. They're not here to harm, just like they weren't when they came before.
"We met them here in D.C. just a few days after they had landed on the planet in one of their ships. There were six of them – two Searcher and four Guardians. The Searchers, we were told once we knew who they really were, had found the intelligent life on the planet. Humans, in fact. The Guardians are their form of government, headed by the Primes. Their Paragon – who is next in line for a Prime position and oversees all Guardian activity – was also on the planet.
"The three Terrians who were videoed last night were the three Terrian Primes, Diana, Hugo, and Salvatore...and they were our friends the last time they were here."
Calvin looked back at Graham, whose hands had balled into fists at his sides. That look Odette had come to know appeared then. It happened whenever the topic of his wife came up.
"As for their Paragon who had also come to Earth...she fell in love and married a human. Her name was Athena Townsend, Graham's wife."
Odette reached forward, pausing the vid feed as her jaw dropped open.
Her parents had died in the car crash that injured Graham and killed his wife and child. That was the accident that occurred just before she was born on Earth.
And Graham's wife...she was Terrian. The Paragon before Diana was.
Quickly, she brought up a search of Athena Townsend, leaning back in the leather chair when the only image found appeared on the screen.
No wonder Graham said Odette reminded him of her. She was Terrian, not human...and all Terrians looked alike. Athena and Odette had the same color hair and eyes, the same facial features, the same build. And what Graham had said to her the night of the State Dinner only confirmed it even more.
"Play vid feed," Odette said then, though she kept the picture of Graham and his wife on the screen.
"As I'm sure you all know already, on the night of December twenty-fourth twenty years ago, Graham and Athena Townsend were in a head-on collision crash that killed Athena and their unborn child. There were two other Terrians with them that night and they also perished, though their deaths were not publicized. Just a day after the crash, the other Terrians still on Earth left to go back to Terra. We haven't seen them since...until they landed on the Ellipse last night.
"As for why they are here now," President Mitchell continued, shifting his stance behind the podium. "They have come to warn us of another alien race that threatens Earth this very moment. These threats will not be taken lightly, as they have had to deal with this tyrant leader time and time again. The Terrians have offered their support and protection against this person, who they have confirmed is already on Earth along with a few of his forces. Once we know more, though, we will make another public announcement.
"So for now, I will leave you with this last truth – we are not alone in the universe. We never were, never will be. But we have found allies in the Terrians and the other races of the Worlds Alliance. They were our allies twenty-two years ago when they landed here for the first time. They were our allies when my best friend fell in love with one of them. They are our allies now and will help us in keeping our planet ours." President Mitchell nodded once. "Thank you."
He turned and grabbed Alanna's hand as all of the reporters began shouting their questions. Graham clasped his hand on his shoulder, giving him a thankful nod as the three of them disappeared through a door to the left of the stage.
When the vid feed went black, Odette slumped back once more, everything rushing through her mind in a blur. Graham and Athena Townsend's picture was still up on the screen, making it almost impossible to think about anything else but them and what had happened all those years ago.
When someone cleared their throat behind her, she jumped, hand going to the comm bracelet on her wrist, prepared to take them out with a strike of her bo staff.
Duke was standing in the doorway, eyes wide as he looked at her. "I honestly didn't think I'd ever see you here again."