Sterling shone her thousand-megawatt, Hollywood smile at Lionel through tear-stained lashes. There aren't many people who can manage so many plays of emotion on a face at once, but Sterling could. One of her many actress superpowers. Superpowers needed on earth, not on this godforsaken moon.

"Sorry for the delay, my lady." Lionel offered Sterling his Gripple. Sterling nodded in thanks, took the magical cloth, and daubed her eyes. "Are you not well?"

Warmth flooded outward from Andie's chest at Lionel's kindness and concern for Sterling. Despite a penchant for clown pants and neon, the Zuts were the best people Andie knew, and they deserved a lot better than to hide in a sub-basement in a Hollywood high-rise, forced to work as accountants at an evil tabloid.

"I'm fine now. All will be right now that my family's here." Sterling returned the Gripple. "Lionel, this is Andie."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Andie," Lionel said, his voice as smooth and sweet as caramel syrup.

She rose to greet Lionel but stood too quickly, and despite the magical spacesuit, stars obscured her vision. To stay upright, Andie leaned against the arm of the sofa before extending her hand. He smiled at her but didn't shake. Maybe handshaking wasn't a Zut custom. She should know this.

"The touch of a Master Zut is a powerful thing," Sterling said gravely. "Sometimes people even glimpse the future." Sterling looked at Rachel.

"How wonderful," Rachel said.

But Andie had a completely different reaction. Goosebumps prickled up her arms and neck. The touch of a Master Zut? Glimpsing the future? Andie had never even heard of a Master Zut, so why was she so scared. It made no sense to fear an unknown future when the future was always unknown. She had that weird, niggling feeling you get when you can't remember if you locked the door. Get it together, Andie. You can freak out after we're all back on earth.

"Now you're talking to yourself?" Bad Andie said.

"And how is this any weirder than talking to you?"

"If you don't know the difference, I'm not telling."

"Earth to Andie? Are you going to talk to us, or are you in your accountant's dream world?" Sterling said, grinning. "What do accountants dream about, anyway? Numbers floating in clouds Amortization schedules? Hot IRS agents?"

If Sterling only knew that what went on in Andie's brain was a thousand times weirder than any of those. "Can you be quiet right now? I have enough to deal with."

"More than you even know."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure, but I like the idea of hot accountants. I even have a few romance titles on my 'to be read' shelf. The Stimulus Package. Double Entry. Lack of Internal Controls."

Andie giggled despite herself, causing Sterling to throw one of her decorator-perfect tasseled pillows at her. It hit her in the chest before landing on the floor. "Andie!"

"Agh. I'm not quite myself. Sorry, Lionel. I'm Andie, and it's lovely to meet you," Andie said, shaking the crazy from her brain.

"I heard that," Bad Andie griped.

"You were meant to."

"I am honored," Lionel said, bowing while holding his hand over his heart. "But please sit, Miss Andie." She picked up the pillow Sterling had thrown at her and sat, placing the pillow beside her on the sofa.

"And this is our mom, Rachel," Sterling said.

Rachel smiled in her beatific fashion, leaned forward, and nodded her head, setting her beads tinkling.

"Miss Rachel," Lionel said.

Sterling scrubbed her hands together in childlike anticipation. "All right, Lionel. We're ready for you to take our food orders." She grinned at Rachel and Andie. "You guys are going to love this. Who wants to go first?"

Not me, Andie did not say out loud. Because doing so would just make her fear more real and not to mention an opening for a line of questioning from her super-nosy best friend.

"I will," Rachel said with her usual excitement about an unfamiliar experience. Andie marveled at how well her mom seemed to take all this alien weirdness. "This will be fun."

"May I, Miss Rachel?" Lionel said.

"Of course, dear."

Lionel touched Rachel's head and smiled. "Very well. I have your order."

Good sign. Rachel not only survived but also wasn't at all flummoxed by the touch of a Master Zut. And no big revelations about the future. So all good.

He moved on to Sterling. Once again, no big deal.

Andie did some deep yoga-type breaths. She really needed to calm down. This insane adventure was almost over, and she was starved. It seemed like forever since that burger at Norma's. Plus, they needed to get this done and get Lionel out of the room so Andie could hear the rest of Sterling's story, convince her to come back to earth, and locate Andie's boyfriend, who had evidently been misplaced by the most inept drone army in the universe.

It is fine. I am fine. All will be fine.

"Andie's turn," Sterling said.

Lionel positioned his great neon-clad body so close to Andie that she could almost feel the silk folds of his clown pants as they fluttered in the central air conditioning. Zuts have a different idea about personal space. He bent forward from his waist, his long white fingers hovering over her head. "May I?" he said.

"Oh, of course." She closed her eyes as three cool fingers gently pressed against her forehead. Her breathing slowed, and she felt a sense of harmony she hadn't experienced since she'd last been in Oliver's arms, so long ago, on the beach.

All was peace.

Until it wasn't.

Lionel snapped his hand back so abruptly, it actually sounded like a whip. His white brow wrinkled, ridges as pronounced as a Ruffles potato chip.

Blue light leaked out of Andie's fingertips. She gripped the arm of the sofa, still spilling blue light. Her head spun: her heart shuddered like a burst of photos from a paparazzo's camera. Her entire world pulled back, receded like an ocean before a tsunami, leaving things exposed that should definitely remain underwater.

It could not be true.

Could not!

It was a death sentence.

"Baby." Rachel caressed Andie's cheek. "It will be okay."

Baby? When had Rachel ever called her baby?

Puzzle pieces fell into place—persistent nausea, blue light, constant hunger, losing the chip after making love to Oliver, Star's protectiveness.

Sterling skirted around the coffee table and knelt beside Andie. "Hon, are you all right? And what's that blue light?" Andie concentrated and got her Neuronic energy under control.

"What light?"

"That ..." Sterling pointed to Andie's fingers. "I swear I saw blue light. Come to think of it, after the banquet, when Talia threw me in the car. You did that blue light thing then, too. Wait ... are you an alien? It makes so much sense now. Why else would you be working at an alien-run tabloid? Plus, you like numbers so much it's unnatural. And you made me see Revenge of the Sith seventeen times."

"Of course I'm not an alien," Andie said. "It's been a long day is all," Andie breathed. "What with the leagues of jellyfish drones trying to kill/rescue me? Having my boyfriend abducted. Playing "chase scene" with Tom Cruise. Discovering my best friend is running a secret alien reality TV show. Not to mention being thrown into a filthy dumpster. Okay, technically, I did just mention this." She knew she was rambling, but what else could she do? Oh, deflect. She cleared her throat. "Um, don't change the subject. We were about to hear the story of how it is you are running this place."

"I shall return with your orders," Lionel said, politely exiting the office, giving the ladies a chance to talk in private.

"Andie, bad deflection. You must be human, or you would be way better at subterfuge. Tell me what's going on?" Sterling said, holding Andie's now non-leaky hands while surreptitiously examining them.

"Like I said. Rough day," Andie lied.

Sterling shook her head, pursing her lips. "I know you're not telling me something. Mama, what's happening with Andie?"

Rachel smiled all mysteriously. "All will be revealed."

Even though Andie loathed that line, it relieved her that her mom wasn't forcing the issue. Right now, Andie needed to think. To hide. To focus on Sterling and the task at hand. She concentrated on pushing down the tiny life-altering thing which had somehow squirmed out from the depths, flopping in the sunlight like a fish deprived of water. She'd nearly succeeded when Bad Andie made another appearance.

"I saw."

"Shut up," Andie said. "We know nothing for sure yet."

"Uh, huh."

"We need to back this up with science, not magical alien woo hoo."

"Uh, huh? And that blue light? It's not yours, is it? It's because of the ..."

"Look, before I freak out about the idea that I'm pregnant with Oliver's lovechild, I'm going to have a pregnancy test, dammit! Because I don't know if you remember what Cyra said about human/Amu sexual congress, but I will remind you that the punishment for interspecies intercourse is death. They will not abide a half alien baby. If it's true, I have to disappear."

"What about Oliver? The father."

Andie picked up the pillow and hugged it against her belly. "I think that's pretty obvious. He can never know."