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Lydia stared at the sky a moment longer, then headed inside just as Lucas entered the kitchen with Jenny’s mother. The woman stopped and looked sheepish when she saw Lydia.

“Good morning,” Lydia said before she could speak. “Are you feeling calmer?”

“Elizabeth is feeling much better,” Lucas said. “But she insisted on coming to speak to you when she should still be resting.”

“Ah!” Elizabeth looked down. “You’re the one I tried to hit, aren’t you? I’m sorry about that. Thank you for getting us away from the soldiers.”

“Not a problem.” Lydia waved her hand dismissively. “I’m not surprised you were scared with guns being waved around and an emergency teleport addling your brain. Not to mention that thing in the sky. Did Lucas explain to you?”

“Yes.” She gave a weak smile. “Him and Laxmi. She told me all about herself. I’ll have to thank your aunt for saving me from her fate.” She shook her head. “I knew something was happening to Jenny but I didn’t realise anything was happening to me.” She looked over at Lucas. “Are you sure Jenny won’t wake up for a while?”

“Yes,” he said. “She needs to rest after Sarah rechannelled her. Would you like something to eat?”

She shook her head. “No thank you. My stomach is still churning a bit. Maybe later.” She hesitated. “You said they were showing what happened on the news? I’d like to see it.”

“Of course,” he said. “The lounge is this way.”

“My mentor spoke to me just before you came down,” Lydia said as they walked across the hall. She shot Lucas a mental run down of the conversation.

“Interesting,” he said. “And that’s a good idea about seeing what it feels like from the other side. We’ll talk to Matt, Sonia and Sarah tonight.” He reached for the lounge door but stopped as it was pulled open to reveal Ian.

“Good timing!” Ian said. “You’d better come and see this.”

“What now?” Lucas sounded resigned. “More bad news?”

“I’m not sure,” Karen said from the sofa. “It depends if this is a trap or not. I think it is and the talking heads seem to think so as well, though they haven’t said so.”

“Probably not allowed to,” Daniel said.

“What is it?” Lydia asked.

“Well, the Prime Minister just gave a press conference and invited us to come and meet him to discuss the situation and how best to handle it.” She paused. “Not by name, obviously, but ‘the people responsible for handling the situation this morning’.”

“It does feel like a trap, doesn’t it,” Lydia said. “But we might be able to use it to our advantage.” She ushered Elizabeth to a chair and sat down herself. “We’ll talk to Mum and Dad this evening and see what they say.”

—

A/N: First prompt post up for my new Space Opera here. Please take a look and prompt if you feel inclined.

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