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“Do you have the marks anywhere else?” Padam asked.

The color in Nell’s cheeks rose. “I have. They’re all over me.”

“It does sound more like an allergic reaction than an exploratory procedure,” Solan said.

“I’m telling you it’s the truth. This is a big conspiracy you lot are hiding.”

“You lot?” Solan’s brow lowered. “You’re suggesting all aliens are involved in this?”

“I bet most of you know about it,” Nell said. Her tone was accusatory, and she wasn’t being rational, but this anger had burned inside her for such a long time. It felt good to let it peek out.

“I assure you, we don’t,” Padam said. “I am sorry if something bad happened to you. I know the compensation paid to humans with a valid claim will only go some way to resolve the issues of alien abductions.”

“I don’t want money.” Nell hadn’t bothered to put forward a claim to the Alien Abduction Compensation Fund opened on Earth. It wasn’t about the money. It was about discovering what had happened to her. She had blanks in her memory, and she hated that.

“I would like to help you with your book research,” Padam said, “but I know nothing about this. We were never involved. It is not right.”

“You don’t think I’m telling the truth?”

“I’m sure you are,” Padam said as he cast a worried look around the group.

“It is true. My therapist tells me so.” She gritted her teeth. She’d said too much. Every time people found out she used a therapist, they got that same sympathetic look on their faces as if to say, ‘Poor crazy Nell, she tries hard to keep it together, but she’s a walking disaster.’

“The best therapy I can suggest,” Solan said, “is to work it off in the gym. When I have a problem, beating the crap out of something works for me.”

“Great advice,” Nell muttered.

“It does work. I can help you if you’d like,” Padam said. “We can be sparring partners.”

“The only way you can help me is if you tell me the truth.”

“I can’t tell you about something I know nothing about,” Padam said.

Nell had had enough. She stood and pushed back a chair. “I’m not feeling well.”

“Nell, wait,” Heather said. “Don’t leave. We’re having a nice evening. Let’s forget all about aliens and talk about something fun.”

“We are not fun?” Padam asked.

“You’re lovely,” Heather said swiftly.

“How can we avoid aliens?” Nell spat. “They’re everywhere. They’re all around us. Everywhere I go, I bump into them.”

“You are living on a space station,” Solan said. “It’s going to be hard to avoid us.”

Nell threw her hands up in the air. “Don’t I know it.” She walked out of the bar without a backward glance. She’d had enough of aliens and enough of her friends poorly thought-out advice. None of them understood her. They hadn’t been through the same thing she had.

Nell could never love an alien. Not now and not ever.

Chapter 6

“This one is called Stonehenge.” Rane stood beside a large depiction he’d painted of a bunch of crooked fallen stones. “It was an area of significance on Earth. Humans worshipped there. I hear it’s a place of great mystery.”

Kwon stood in front of the painting, his chin resting on one hand. “The rocks look realistic. I feel I could almost touch them.”

“It’s the texture of the paint,” Rane said. “It makes them look alive.”

Kwon glanced at his friend before moving to the next painting. “And this is...”