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speaking, there aren’t any differences in our basic DNA composition. We’re the exact same species with minor evolutionary changes. My home is just farther away.”
    She nodded, letting him know she’d absorbed every word and tried to not think about the implications of such a statement. We’re the same. That means we could be together, have kids, the works. Not like I want any of those things now , of course. But a future isn’t some kind of crazy impossibility . She cleared her throat. “The others will come around once it stops feeling so surreal that there is other life beyond our planet.”
    â€œI know, but thank you for making this transition easier on me. When I can just be me, Earth starts to feel like home. Like I never left. Having even a few moments where I can enjoy such a sensation helps.”
    She wasn’t sure how to respond. Going out of state for a few days made her homesick, she couldn’t imagine going to a whole other planet.
    Alan pulled his arm away from her grasp, gently. She noticed the absence of his warmth right away all the same—the absence of him. “Please don’t think less of me for needing your validation.”
    â€œNever,” she whispered. “It’s good to have every so often.”
    â€œYes, I should leave you to your work.”
    â€œIt’s not hard,” she mumbled. “So if you wanted to stay and keep me company until I have to go back, you can.”
    He cracked a tiny smile. “For a few more minutes.”
    â€œRight, duh, you probably have way more important things to do.” Cadence shook her head and focused her gaze on the packet she was putting together, silently praying he didn’t think too much of her idiocy.
    â€œI still have a little time to spare,” he insisted.
    When she noticed how hard her heart was beating, she realized that was the something missing when she was with JD. Perhaps my lip-lock with Alan wasn't as much of an accident as I thought. No, I can’t get involved with him. It’ll only end badly. Once all of this is over with, he’s going to be on the first ship back to Altura, and I’m never going to see him again. He makes for a convenient rebound crush. But for the rest of the day, she entertained the thought anyway.

Chapter Three
    A ngela settled into her usual spot on the couch in the “War Room” of the Apartment while the rest of the group mingled about before their meeting began.
    Group meetings had been few and far apart, lately. Normally, Angela wouldn’t mind. Meetings meant there was work to be done. If they had nothing to do, that hypothetically meant the war was winding down, right? The problem was, she knew that wasn’t the case. Last she’d checked the other tribes were getting ready to start expanding their teams by tapping more Earth teens for super powers. The goal was to grow their teams to the point where the Alturan presence on Earth couldn’t be kept a secret any longer, and then begin the real fight. Alan had once told her the war had already decimated another planet in a far off solar system.
    To have the war end in the span of a year was a pipe dream. She knew better. It wasn’t going to be so simple. Even more so if there was any hope to having the repercussions of the Alturans’ visit be minimal.
    That meant she was being left in the dark. During the last mission, Alan purposefully left her and JD at home. Since the mission, she’d heard nothing.
    Why don’t they trust me all of a sudden?
    It bugged her. She was devoted to the cause, and she didn’t get devoted to much. The red tribe’s main goal was to push their enemies off of Earth, leaving it as untouched as possible. She believed in that goal more strongly than anything in her entire life and Alan wasn’t using her to achieve it. Whatever was going on, the rest of the team was in the know. Cadence kept glancing at her in ways