"Okay, Grandma. I'll text whenever I can," Rose said.
"If anything happened to you…" Her grandmother dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.
"I'll be fine," Rose replied, accepting the sudden hug from her grandmother.
"Rose is a survivor, Mom," her mother said, pride behind her words.
"Those terrible military men expect too much from you." Her grandmother dabbed at her eyes again before giving Sandage and Brown a scathing glare. "Shame on you for bringing a child into a war!"
"It's not my choice, I assure you," Sandage replied smoothly. In fact, if you wanted to blame anyone for Rose's current situation, it should be Rose. Her future self had dragged her into this mess.
"I expect her to return in one piece." Her grandmother put steel in her voice.
"Mom, it's only a sleepover," her mother said, somewhat exasperated.
"She's in excellent hands, Martha," her father said, but this only earned a glare of disapproval from his mother-in-law.
Her grandmother turned to address Rose's mom like her husband hadn't spoken. "This might seem like a brief visit, but I'll be back for Sophie's graduation, Carol. I expect to see one heck of a party ready when I get here."
"Of course, Mom." Rose's mother seemed somewhat exasperated, but smiled.
"I'll miss you, Grandma!" Danny said, hugging his grandmother's leg.
"Me too, dear. Be good for your mom, okay?" This earned a nod from Danny. Grandma turned to address Sophia next.
"And I expect you to behave, too. No wild college parties. I don't want to come to visit and see you with child already."
"Come on." Sophia rolled her eyes. "Like that'd ever happen."
"With child?" Rose blinked. What the heck does that mean?
Catching her daughter's confusion, her mom gave some clarification. "It's a long story. Your mother wasn't always the most responsible in her youth."
"And now she's stuck with a useless dullard with a dead-end job!" Her grandmother stabbed Rose's father in the chest with her cane.
"Always good to see you too, Martha," her father said with false sincerity.
"Family, am I right?" Sandage whispered to Rose, earning a giggle from her. This comment earned a glare from her grandmother.
"We'd better get going. We still have to pick up Cecilia," Sandage coughed into his fist. Her friend's hotel lay almost an hour away; security concerns, apparently.
"Bye, Grandma!" Rose waved as she joined Sandage in his car. Brown sat next to her, a silent guardian as usual—though he looked amused by all the family drama. After getting a kiss from her grandmother and mom, they drove off.
"Why must mothers-in-law cause such trouble?" Sandage mused as they drove.
"What? Does your mother-in-law openly despise you, too?" Even when Rose was young, it'd been obvious how much Grandma Galle disliked her father, a barbed comment always on her lips, but nobody had ever given her an adequate explanation of why.
"Thankfully no!" Sandage said, laughing. "But she's never approved of my job—says it keeps me away from my family. She's argued more than once that I should quit the FBI and become a foreman at her husband's factory."
"Why haven't you? Your job is pretty dangerous." Rose asked.
"It's because I love the sense of adventure my job provides me!"
"Really?"
"No, of course not." Sandage stifled a laugh. "But what this job does is important. I've seen too many bad things. I want to make sure they can never threaten my family." The car wheel squealed as Sandage tightened his grip.
"And I suppose that includes the Altair?"
"It does. I didn't choose this fight, but I'm going to end it." Rose heard the steel behind the ex-FBI agent's voice.
"You're pretty cool, Mr. Sandage."
This earned a wide smile from Sandage. "Not bad for an ex-paper pusher, eh?"
When they approached the hotel Cecilia was temporarily using, they found her and her guardian, Doctor Burbidge, already standing outside. In her hand, Cecillia friend carried her suitcase. It was shockingly small compared to what Rose had packed in the trunk. Cecilia likely possessed few possessions.
"Vera's right. Cecilia needs a shopping trip!" Rose thought.
"I expect to see her back here by 7 a.m. sharp." Doctor Burbidge's words left no room for argument. She rambled about a dozen other things Sandage needed to obey—medication, that sort of thing. The LUVOLT agent looked bored, but listened.
As the adults talked, Rose invited Cecilia into the car. "I bought this new game on my phone—want to play?"
"Sure." But her friend seemed distracted.
"Is something the matter?" Rose asked. Cecilia's surrogate mom disappeared into the distance as they drove away.
"It's nothing, but…"
"But?"
Cecilia released a sigh. "I had another vision."
"It's not full of doom and gloom, is it?" Rose said, tensing. Her bodyguard turned to face them, just as interested.
"No, but it complicates things," Cecilia replied. "I don't really understand it. Why was Vera there?"
"Vera?" Rose said, blinking in confusion.
"Sorry, could you start from the beginning? Deep breaths. We'll wait for you to gather your thoughts," Sandage said from the driver's seat.
"I was somewhere in this vision. The colors and lights…" Cecilia shook her head. "Nothing made much sense. And Vera was with me. We stood together in this other place, watching the odd scenery, and that's when the vision ended."
"Okay." Rose wasn't sure how to process this information. What the heck could this even mean?
"It doesn't sound like Earth at all," Sandage said, frowning. "How'd you end up there?"
"Could the Altair have brought you there?" Brown said, finally speaking. "We don't really understand where they come from."
"I suppose." Cecilia gave a shrug.
"You sure get around to interesting places, Cecilia." First an alien mothership and now this?
"Get serious, Rose." But Rose's comment made Cecilia's mouth rise in amusement.
"What do you think, Mr. Sandage?" Rose asked.
"Not sure. This extra-dimensional stuff is beyond my pay grade," Sandage replied.
"And I'm just dumb muscle," Brown said, giving a self-deprecating smile.
"I'll ask Doctor Gold," Sandage said. "We'll see what the science types say."
"We should ask the streamer too," Brown added. "She's an alien. She might know something."
"You mean Stella?" Rose asked.
"It's worth a shot," Sandage said, nodding.
"Okay. I'll contact her." Though Cecilia sounded like she'd rather throw herself off a bridge. "Though, she likes being called Macauley—a bizarre name for a girl," Cecilia said.
"She is an alien, though." Rose paused, recalling every detail she could about the mysterious streamer. While the VTuber liked to cloak herself in mystery, some details had leaked out. "If I recall, Stella started streaming about two years ago. She's surprisingly well-versed about the world. Like, if you asked her trivia about any country, she'd recall it almost instantly."
"That's because she used a search engine to find the answer," Cecilia said, unimpressed.
Rose ignored her friend's biting comment. "And she's a great linguist. She knows almost ten languages—most she can speak with perfect fluency." Rose's favorite streams were the ones where Stella sung songs from other countries, usually anime OPs.
"Because she's a computer program and can learn them instantly," Cecilia replied.
"Whatever the case, I've gotten the impression Macauley has been on Earth for many years," Sandage said.
"Her vTuber lore said she came to Earth to understand humanity," Rose said, thinking aloud. "I wonder if there's any truth to it."
"She has called herself our guardian angel," Sandage said. "So who knows about that, either? Only Macauley, and she's not telling."
"Just like her." Rose gave an affectionate smile and nodded. "Her paradoxical nature is part of her charm."
"Right." Cecilia's expression soured.
"Don't worry, Cecilia. During the sleepover, we'll have plenty of time to study Stella and glean her secrets!"
"Great." Cecilia scowled, earning a laugh from Sandage and Rose. Brown snorted, hiding his obvious amusement.
"Just drive already," Cecilia said.
"Jeez. She's treating a dinner and sleepover like she's going to an execution," Rose thought, amused. But she swore she'd make things fun for her friend—make her forget about the horrible things they were dealing with. She owed it to her friend—and to herself—for this little break.
---
"So, she's leaving town for a couple of days?" Lord Tarazed said, intrigued. Unlike their previous conversations, this one took place in person. They stood in a distant part of a local park, one not often visited. A nearby stream gurgled as they spoke. Denebokab and Tseen Foo watched from the sidelines with obvious curiosity.
"A friend from the LUVOLT invited her over for the weekend," Vera said. "They'll be back on Monday."
"What a perfect opportunity to smash the Red Devil to bits!" Tseen Foo said, eyes alight with excitement. "The fools!"
"Will it be that simple, though?" Denebokab said. "Luyten V seems to possess a mind of its own!"
"So what? It's four against one," Tseen Foo replied. "Sounds easy."
Vera wasn't so sure either. The Luyten V seemed to pull off miracle after miracle. It seemed foolish to discount the giant robot.
"No." Lord Tarazed said, putting the kibosh on that plan. "I want the humans to think we're scared, beaten for the moment. Besides, the Ectutai are the greater threat. The Red Devil is a quantifiable threat—the Ectutai are still unknown to us. We don't know their capabilities. Besides, attacking the Luyten V will only put their guard up. Denebokab still hasn't snuck onto their ship yet."
Lord Tarazed was being cautious as usual, focused on the bigger picture. The Ectutai had an unknown level of technology they could throw at the Altair. In warfare, information was often more valuable than easy short-term victories.
"Why haven't you then?" Tseen Foo said, glaring at Denebokab.
"It's not as simple as it sounds," Denebokab replied. "Security around the Ectutai ship is tight. They thoroughly vet everyone before allowing entry. The Ectutai have given the humans some scanners. I don't know if they can detect our kind or not."
"Wonderful," Tseen Foo scowled.
"Okab revealed to them that we can take their appearance." Denebokab said. "I doubt they know we can convert them to our kind, but they're careful about impostors. They won't let anything slip past their notice."
"Only a rat, maybe," Vera said, thinking out loud.
"Sorry?" Denebokab said, blinking in confusion.
"It's an Earth creature. A small rodent, a pest." Vera considered her host's education. "In ancient days, they snuck onto ships and used them to spread into other continents."
"Brilliant!" Denebokab said, beaming. "That just might work!"
"Sounds boring. It'd be more fun to smash your way inside," Tseen Foo said.
"Which he won't do," Lord Tarazed said, giving Tseen Foo a reproachful glare. "Indeed, disguising oneself as a tiny Earth creature could be a clever method of infiltration. Your presence will not alarm anyone if you are spotted."
"Though I doubt the Ectutai will like catching an Earth pest on their ship," Vera said.
"I'll be careful. Excellent suggestion, Aquila!" Denebokab said, beaming. This praise made Vera's cheeks run hot—a human reaction against her will. But it wasn't bad, though.
"Yes, you have proven your worth, Aquila." From Lord Tarazed, this was high praise. "As for Rose's departure, examine her house, her room—anywhere you can access. Discover any clues about how Rose became the Luyten V's pilot." Despite being Rose's best friend, she'd been rather tight-lipped about those details. Silenced by the government, no doubt.
"Sounds simple enough." Her host was a family friend. Accessing Rose's house wouldn't be difficult. Vera already had some ideas for how she might accomplish these goals.
"And then?" Tseen Foo asked, impatient.
"Then leave a trap for Rose," Master Tarazed said. "This weekend trip will drop her guard."
"Didn't you want to avoid rattling the Ectutai?" Vera asked.
"We'll make sure it appears like a tragic accident," Lord Tarazed replied. "I have a device already made for this purpose. Aquila, plant this in her house." He passed her a small silver metal box that had surprising heft as Vera grabbed it. It was an innocuous little device—one might confuse it with a cookie tin. Unlike what you saw on TV, the bomb had no timer. Heck, Vera wasn't even sure how you opened it.
It was a good plan. Somehow, the Luyten V detected when its pilot was in danger. A sudden explosion wouldn't be detectable until it was too late. She doubted Rose would pull another miracle from her hat.
A mournful part of Vera grieved her coming actions. Some human sentiment didn't want to see Rose hurt. Vera—Aquila—brushed these foolish human thoughts aside.
"It shall be done, Master Tarazed."
"Finally! Things are getting interesting! Denebokab, make sure you destroy plenty of Ectutai. Show them the terror of the Altair!" Tseen Foo said.
"I'll think about it," was Denebokab's flat response.
"You have your assignments." With that, the human-disguised Master Tarazed slinked away.
"Good hunting," Tseen Foo said before striding away.
"I really don't like that guy," Denebokab said, his tone sour. This wasn't hard to guess from their mental link, but it surprised Vera to hear him say it out loud. "Seriously. Is destruction all he thinks about?"
While Vera understood his antipathy, they were on the same side. She told her Altair comrade as much.
"Okay, sure, humanity is doomed—but the Altair exist for more than senseless destruction. Music, for example."
"Music?"
"Listen." Confused, Vera did as Denebokab instructed and heard… nothing. Some animals scurrying about some bushes, but it was otherwise quiet. It wasn't what someone might consider a grand orchestra.
"The birds," Denebokab pointed at some birds chirping in a tree. "How the wind rustles the leaves. The dogs speaking their native tongue."
Sure enough, Vera detected dogs barking in the distance. But she only stared blankly, not understanding his point. Why should they care about the chatter of lesser creatures, or the racket caused by natural phenomena? Someone clearly had spent too long in the void.
"They are our food. This entire planet is our food. We will break it down to feed the swarm," Vera said, not unkindly.
"Yeah, but it doesn't make it any less beautiful, because of how temporary it is."
"Someone's definitely spent too much time in the void." While she contained human memories, they only provided context—knowledge. Any Earthly attachments were pointless.
When Denebokab caught her expression, he sighed. "Never mind. Good luck, Aquila." He walked away, humming in sync with the birdsong.
"Strange guy." Still, as long as he completed his mission, she wouldn't complain. She bounced the destructive device in her hand, considering the responsibility the Altair general had given to her. It seemed like an unceremonious end to the Red Devil—but appropriate. She and her monster eye would die and stop plaguing her kind.
"Sorry, Rose. No climactic final battle. Just death." Vera chuckled to herself.