Earth isn’t the same as I imagined. The air isn’t as sweet, the grass isn’t as green, and the water isn’t as clear. But with all its flaws and quirks, it reminds me of the humans it is home to. I’ve settled down in a little midwestern town that is home to more than it’s fair share of repatriated humans, which will only be a problem if their government starts poking around.

  -Gato

  --------------------------

  Nora wrapped Maggie in a warm hug, stroking her hair gently as Maggie kneeled next to her wheelchair. “There now Maggie-my-love, things aren’t as bad as all that, are they?”

  “Momma, how are you here?” Maggie gripped her free hand tightly. She was here, right? She could feel her, see her, even smell her. If this were some kind of trick it was a damn good one.

  “It’s a long story, and one I don’t want to say where so many ears could be listening. Theo, where can we talk privately? We have a lot to talk about. All of us have a lot to talk about.” Nora said the last without her usual humor, looking sternly at Theodrakis.

  “The grotto, or the main house.” Theodrakis said, staring at Nora’s legs. “What happened Nora? You were fine when you left, but now.... Why are you in a wheelchair?”

  “My Key started to react badly after the pregnancy, we’re not sure why.” Nora said mildly. She patted Maggie’s cheek lightly, and then spun her wheelchair around, rolling it down the path. “I’m certain Ux’thu would be fascinated, and his scientists. Is he around right now?”

  “He’ll be here in a little while, we left him at the spaceport talking with S’il Vala Reshka’i about Maggie’s training.” Theodrakis hurried to catch up to Nora, his long strides carrying him to her side. Maggie fell into step beside Electra, with Robin floating along at the rear doing a good impression of walking along behind them.

  “Reshka’i is here?” Maggie couldn’t miss the tension in her mothers voice. And apparently neither could her father. He reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder.

  “Nora, she’s the foremost authority on Ancient’s technology. I don’t want our daughter to go through unnecessary pain and trauma because she didn’t have the right training to use her Key.”

  “I’m certain Reshka’i doesn’t share your concern.” Nora said flatly. “She’s more interested in finding out more about the Keys than helping anyone.”

  “I’m not disagreeing with you.” Theodrakis said. “And I don’t like it either, but we use what resources we must. Right now, she’s a resource that can’t be matched anywhere else in the galaxy. Ux’thu will help make sure that Maggie is treated well during the training, she’s his granddaughter after all.”

  Electra pressed her lips together into a thin line, barely suppressing a snort. “Ux’thu is a Silvarian, and he’s kept slaves, just like the rest of them.”

  “Will you hold his past against him? None of us are exactly innocent.” Theodrakis said softly. They rounded a corner and stepped into a cave littered with glowing fauna. Lights were set directly into the walls and ceiling, even the floor, and one whole side of the cave was full of a gently steaming pool. “Or have you forgotten some of the things you’ve done Electra?”

  “I haven’t forgotten.” Electra said, her voice hard. She looked around the cavern, giving a small nod of approval. “No place for people to hide to listen in, good. Any listening devices Nora?”

  Nora closed her eyes, taking in a deep, slow breath. Maggie watched as a faint glow formed beneath her eyelids. When Nora opened her eyes, they were solid orbs of blue light, no pupils, no irises. A chill ran down Maggie’s back, and she resisted the urge to take a step back. “Nothing beyond the house intercom system. We’ll be fine here.”

  “Then can someone explain how you’re here, and what’s going on?” Maggie’s voice rose, and she looked away from Nora’s alien eyes. With a couple of blinks though, Nora’s eyes returned to their normal soft green, and she smiled gently to Maggie.

  “Take a seat Maggie, we’ll explain everything as best as we’re able.” Nora rolled over to a set of thick pillows piled in one corner of the cave, low and wide. Maggie dropped onto one, crossing her legs as Electra and Theodrakis settled down beside her. Robin shrank down, perching on her shoulder among her curls. She relaxed with the familiar weight. When had Robin become one of the more normal things in her life?

  “Let’s start with how you’re here. Did Theseus bring you?” It was the most logical option that Maggie could think of. There was no way Earth technology got them all the way out here! They hadn’t even gotten out of their solar system, let alone however far away this was.

  “Theseus?” Nora and Theodrakis asked at the same time. Maggie winced, she had been avoiding telling Theodrakis about Theseus. But now the cat was out of the bag she supposed.

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  “I’m guessing that’s a no. So how did you get here?”

  Maybe they have a ship of their own. She’s a Keyholder. Maggie caught a glimpse of a figure at the edge of her vision to go with the voice, but did her best to ignore it. She couldn’t even remember exactly when she had started seeing people that weren’t there, but it was worrisome. How crazy was she, exactly?

  “The same way we got to Earth. We flew Electra’s ship. We’ll need to refuel before going back, but it shouldn’t be a problem.” Nora said. She watched Maggie intently, and leaned forward in her wheelchair. “Maggie, who is Theseus?”

  “Robin’s brother.” Maggie said reluctantly and glanced at Robin.

  “It’s our fault that she found the Key.” Robin said with equal reluctance, and stood on Maggie’s shoulder, bowing slightly. “I’m sorry. We both are. We never intended for anyone else to get caught up in all this.”

  “But you had a Key, on Earth.” Theodrakis said. “Why did you have a Key on Earth of all places?”

  “Hey, I still want some answers too!” Maggie said, reaching a hand up to lightly touch Robin’s knee. “You flew Aunt Electra’s ship here? Since when does Aunt Electra have a spaceship? Where even was it? How did you know where to go?”

  Nora frowned, studying Maggie and Robin for a moment. She nodded a little. “Electra used to fly deliveries between stations, her ship isn’t much to look at, but it does it’s job. Especially with some of the Ancient’s technology we were able to incorporate into it. We kept it in the junkyard, and as for how we knew where to go? We didn’t know you’d be here, but we knew Theodrakis and Ux’thu would, and they would be able to help find you. How did you wind up here anyways?”

  “I was running away from Flame. Doc Tomas had suggested where to go to get away from her, turned out to be-” Maggie paused, glancing at Theodrakis. “Turned out to be Dads ship.” It still felt strange to call him Dad, but she was slowly getting used to the idea. It was less weird than Ux’thu being her grandfather. Now that was just weird.

  “Eh, it could be worse.” Te’chik said dismissively, and Maggie could almost see her shrug, lounging back in the pillows of the cavern. “At least he’s not getting drunk at family parties.”

  “Not like I’ve seen him at any family parties.” Maggie grumbled, earning a concerned glance from Electra and Theodrakis.

  Nora watched her carefully, but didn’t respond to the seemingly random comment. “Flame and Tomas? Last I knew they were both in the Freedom Coalition. Why were you running from Flame?”

  “She was trying to kill her.” Theodrakis said flatly. “She shot Maggie in the back, if it weren’t for her Key she would be dead.”

  Nora’s face paled, her mouth dropping open. “She wouldn’t...”

  “She did. I have the security recordings to prove it.” Theodrakis thawed slightly, and he shrugged. “But I don’t think she knew who Maggie was. Tomas did, but I don’t think he told Flame.”

  “Why wouldn’t he- no, never mind, I can imagine why.” Nora looked at Maggie, looking her over with renewed concern. “How are you feeling Maggie? And you best not lie.”

  “I feel fine, really.” Surprisingly, it wasn’t a lie. All the previous aches and pains were gone, and she didn’t even feel that scared anymore. Maybe she was just getting numb to the weirdness, but she really did feel fine.

  “Any ghosts? Voices? Aches or pains?” Nora pressed. “Numbness in any of your limbs?”

  Maggie looked at Robin, then back to her mother. “Uhmm... ghosts, yes. Voices...”

  “Don’t you dare lie.” Nora said firmly, narrowing her eyes slightly.

  “Voices yes... no aches or pains now, and no numbness.” Maggie admitted. She hadn’t wanted to admit to hearing voices, but she never could lie to her mother, not successfully anyways.

  “You hadn’t mentioned voices before.” Theodrakis said, and even Robin was looking at her with a laser-sharp gaze. Maggie felt herself squirm inside, Te’chik’s snickers echoing in her ears.

  “You didn’t mention anything to me either. Didn’t we tell you to mention things like that? I swear we told you to mention things like that.” Robin said.

  “I already thought I was going crazy, I didn’t want to get thrown in some space loony bin.” Maggie hunched over slightly, wishing she could get out from under the gazes of her family.

  “It was stranger for you to not mention seeing or hearing things. How long have you been hearing the voices and seeing ghosts?” Theodrakis shifted on his pillow to look directly at Maggie. The movement put him closer to Nora, his shoulder brushing one of her knees. Nora reached out, gently resting a hand on his shoulder.

  “I imagine you’ve been hearing them for some time now, haven’t you?” Nora asked softly.

  “Since I got the Key. They don’t always talk a lot, but they’re there. As for seeing ghosts, well, Robin is a ghost so I’ve been seeing him since Earth as well.” Maggie grinned weakly, hoping they wouldn’t pry further than that. She didn’t want to give up any hint of where her ship was. Not that she had any clue herself.

  “You’ll figure it out. We’ll take a look at some maps tonight and compare notes.” Te’chik said. She at least didn’t seem concerned by people finding out Maggie had been hearing her. “Your mom has a Key too, I bet she saw and heard her fair share of things too.”

  “Do you hear voices Mom?” Maggie looked up at Nora, surprised to see her smile sadly.

  “I used to. Not anymore though. I can only assume it means my ship is dead.” Nora looked down at her legs, then seemed to give herself a shake, returning her gaze to Maggie. “But yours must be alive and well, for you to be hearing it. Your ghost friend I suspect is an entirely different matter though. But perhaps related to Ancient’s technology as well?”

  “We think so. My brother and I, that is. Nothing else makes even a little bit of sense. But we never did figure out what happened or why I got stuck here, but my parents didn’t.” Robin said softly. “If any of us got stuck, it should have been my mother, she was the Keyholder.”

  “But instead you got stuck here. I can’t say I’ve seen ghosts quite like you before. You’re much more... here.” Nora looked Robin over, her forehead wrinkling a little.

  “He’s not actually a ghost.” Theodrakis said between gritted teeth. “There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

  Nora laughed, patting Theodrakis on the shoulder. “So you have always said. Electra, why don’t you take Maggie for a little walk while Theo and I have a talk?”

  Electra smiled, but stood up. “Come on Maggie, you can tell me all about your adventures while these two get caught up.”

  “Uhm, alright?” Maggie stood up as well, giving her parents one last look before following Electra out of the little cavern. What was that all about?