Page 52 of The Alien's Private Redemption

"I'm fine," she said. "I think. Are those the keys to the truck?"

"They are. The Colonel gave you his personal vehicle, and a stipend in cash for gas. I suspect it was out of his personal accounts."

She grinned. "He's smarter than I thought. Or he realizes just how far back into the mountains we're going to make this call."

It was still before noon when they left the base and Angela didn't realize how long she'd been holding her breath at the gate when they drove out until the world started to spin slightly with the deep breath she took when the arm went up letting them out.

Human vehicles were not made for Chelion but Angela was happy to drive the entire way while he asked her questions about where they were going.

With all his questions, she realized that he had, in a very real sense, lived under a rock for most of his adult life. What modern culture he was exposed to was brought in by the women they kidnapped and the few humans willing to trade with them.

When they pulled off the highway eight hours later, she was describing some of her favorite cartoons to him.

"Bugs Bunny may have been a chaos spirit," she told him with a grin. "But he was also one of the greatest landscape artists of our time."

Zoric, who did have some knowledge of Bugs Bunny, laughed and agreed with her. Then, he turned his gaze to the solid rock wall that seemed to have sprung up directly next to the truck.

"I thought you said their were roads out to your mother's house?"

"There are," she said. "We're just not taking the obvious ones."

"You're right, I would never have mistaken this for a road. It barely looks like a deer trail."

She grinned at him. "It's sturdier than it looks. And it's faster than taking the routes everyone else knows. We'll get there before midnight this way."

"Were you ever able to tell your mother you were coming?"

Angela shook her head. "She doesn't have a phone. There used to be a party line that ran to the base of the mountain but they stopped supporting that around the time I was born. No cell towers out here or anything, either, but she has her ways of knowing things."

Her accent got thicker the deeper they drove into the mountains and she tried to hide her embarrassment from Zoric. She'd worked hard to drop the worst of it when she'd joined the Marines but some of it stuck no matter where she went.

The trees and rocks pressed closer to the truck and an unnatural hush fell over the cab. While they'd been talking for hours on the highway, neither of them seemed inclined to so much as breathe heavily as they got further into the forest that climbed up the mountains.

Finally, with almost ten minutes to midnight, they pulled into a clearing that had been invisible from the road. There was acabin in the middle of it, with rusted tools in the yard, and a warm yellow light glowing in the window.

A woman, almost the spitting image of Angela with maybe a little more silver in her hair, opened the door. Warm light spilled out from behind her onto the porch and Angela found herself returning the smile she could barely see across the front yard.

"Hey, Mama!" she called, stepping out of the open truck door. "Did you miss me?"

"Angel!" her mama shouted, and rushed out of the house to pull her into a hug. "Oh, Angel, I was so worried about you. They kept you buried so deep, I couldn't see what was going on."

"I'm alright, Mama," Angela said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm alright. And I have someone I'd like you to meet but we need to make a call before it gets too late."

Her mother pulled away and looked over her shoulder at Zoric. Surprise and fear crossed her usually unflappable mother's face, before she turned back to her daughter.

"You're cutting it mighty close if you want an answer soon."

"I know," Angela said. "I took the shortcut, too. So maybe he'll be awake a little later."

"You can try. It's on my dresser. Hurry if you're going to try tonight."

Angela nodded and hurried into their house. Behind her, Zoric had been stopped by her Mama, with a "Not so fast, young man. We're going to have a talk."

The mirror she'd been looking for was on her mother's dresser, like she'd put it down only a few minutes earlier. Picking up a pin from the cushion that was sitting next to it, Angela pricked her finger until a drop of blood welled up, then she tapped it three times against the glass. The blood smeared against the glass, then disappeared as the silver backing turned black and a familiar, ageless face appeared.

"Angela," he said, obvious pleasure in his voice. "I had not thought to hear from you again so soon! Your mother told me you had extended your time in the Marines."

She nodded and bit her lip. Somehow, she wasn't surprised her mother hadn't told him about the legal issues. They never liked to bother him with unimportant things.

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