Page 36 of Accidentally Fearless

Silence.

"Rory." My mother's voice was cautious—the voice she used when she was processing something big. "You're telling me you're on an alien planet."

"Yes."

"And you fell in love with a... what did you call him?"

"Velkorin. His name is Vrex. He's a military commander. He's seven feet tall and has scales."

More silence.

"Is he good to you?" my mother finally asked.

The question was so simple and so exactly right that my throat closed.

"He's good to me," I said. "He notices when I haven't eaten. He listens to me. He trusts my judgment. He—" My voice cracked. "He sees me, Mom. He actually sees me."

My mother was quiet for a long time. "Can we visit?"

I laughed. It came out wet and shaky. "I'm working on that."

Jess, who had been uncharacteristically silent, leaned into the camera. "Rory. You're telling me you got abducted by a temp agency, won an alien war using paintball strategy, and are now dating a seven-foot reptilian commander?"

"Yes."

"That is the most insane thing I've ever heard, and I'm studying tort law." She paused. "Are you happy?"

"Jess. I'm so happy."

My sister smiled. It was the same smile she'd given me when I'd told her I'd gotten the Battlezone job—not understanding, not approving exactly, but accepting. Loving me regardless.

"Then stay," she said. "But I want regular calls."

"I'll figure out the comm relay."

"And I want to meet the alien boyfriend."

"He's not technically an alien. I'm the alien here."

"Rory."

"You'll meet him. I promise."

I accepted the citizenship. The Council announced it formally. The compound erupted.

Not the restrained celebration of the first victory—it was a full, uninhibited, three-year pressure valve finally releasing. Soldiers who'd fought beside me for three weeks lifted me onto their shoulders—a terrifying experience when the shoulders in question were seven feet off the ground—and carried me through the corridors while chanting something in Velkorin that Zenir later translated as roughly "the small one who roars."

It wasn't elegant. I loved it.

By evening, the celebration had moved to the commissary, which had been transformed with what passed for decorations on a Velkorin military base—banners, lights, something that looked like streamers, but was apparently a traditional victory textile. The food was abundant.

I ate everything. I complimented the chef. I danced—badly, because Velkorin music had a rhythm structure that my human brain couldn't quite parse—with Zenir, with Korvis, and with three soldiers whose names I'd memorized using seating chart mnemonics.

Vrex watched me from across the room. He'd been watching me all evening, and I'd been letting him. The look on his face—pride and wonder, and the steady rose-gold glow of his bioluminescence—was something I wanted to memorize.

When the celebration began to wind down, I crossed the room to him.

"Take me home," I said.