Our terminal let us know Molly and her friends were porting, so we waiting.

Molly and I looked at one another, and we shared a feeling of unease. A diplomat spoke with her friends, a couple older than us. Pas walked to us with a look of concern, but Ryee shook his head. His color is light. I yet shake from our encounter!

Tan smiled. "Are you ready, Molly?" He smoothed his suit.

She swallowed audibly. "Now?"

Tan put an arm around her. "It is better to do this quickly. I can file papers in court, and the earlier for this, the faster. Legal business is even slower here than on Areon!" He gave a look upwards and she laughed.

I didn't know Tan in Rainbow, but I knew his brother, Vonn. Oh. He died in Eicken Hospital! I noticed how his arm trembled. Later, I'd want to try to heal him. I knew all the horror stories from that place!  "Let's go!"

Binneas waved to change their clothing, and so did we.

Molly wore a modest dress, in the same cobalt blue as their ties. Hers and mine were mid-calf and Keea's was an ankle-length, very satiny dress in cobalt blue, their family color. Quite a change from jeans and T-shirts! The men wore three-piece deep blue suits with white shirts and ties of our family color. They also wore their diplomats' sashes. Tan Links and all of the men had diamond cuff links, large ones, and matching tie tacks. Molly and I had diamond and semi-precious stone jewelry in a rainbow of colors.

Ryee opened the portal and shielded Molly's thoughts from others. Tan did not hear her.

We appeared down the driveway by a purple limo. "It's purple?"

Lineas chuckled. "Thordes volunteered to drive it if we made it purple. All Thordes like purple. Zheien alternate family colors. Elshars wish for blue, so theirs are."

"Oh, blue like DS!"

We passed her father's red sports car in the driveway. Parked sideways.

We walked up on the porch and Molly used her key. We all watched.

Molly's parents had fast food wrappers on the counter. Her mother looked sleepy. "Molly, who's this?"

Tan stepped forward. Her father noticed the expensive blue pinstripe suits and paled. He wore a brown sports coat and tan sweater vest. "Mr. Brown, I am Tan Links, lawyer for Alliance Embassy. How do you do?" He offered his hand and her father shook it.

"Lawyer? Why are you here this early?"

"I represent Molly Brown, and Binneas and his parents. Binneas opened a formal courtship with Miss Brown this morning."

Both her parents paled! Molly put her arm around Binneas. He smiled.

Lineas stepped forward. "We wish you to allow Molly to move into our house. I think you know why." He frowned at his son, who went pale!

Mr. Brown waved towards the living room. "Let's sit down and discuss this. Fern?"

She gave a look towards a black cabinet and he pulled at her arm. She went. They led us inside to a white living room. Many plants hung all around it. The couches were also satiny white.

Binneas helped Molly to the loveseat. Her parents stared.

Mr. Brown glared at them.

We took the sofa next Binneas and Molly. Linneas and Keea sat on another at an angle.

Mrs. Brown picked a few hairs off the arm of the other love seat, where she and her husband sat not touching. "Molly, we need to get rid of that animal! I can't stand all of this cat hair messing up my beautiful sofa!"

"Mom, I have something to tell you. It's important." Molly sighed and tears streamed down her face, which reddened. "I want to move in with his parents."

Her mother gasped loudly. "How could you? Of all things! I'll never be able to show my face at a party again! Do you ever think about anyone but yourself?" She cried. Pulled the hair claw out in back. Threw it on the white marble coffee table.

"I knew it! So I'm assuming that you did it?" Mr. Brown glared at Binneas, who turned a striking orange. "What country are you from?"

He stood. "We come from the colony of Fhiah. I am very sorry I dishonored your daughter. We want to marry as soon as possible. I love Molly, and I can support her. My parents and I are diplomats. She will have the best medical care. She can continue to attend school in any college of her choice."

"How dare you talk about love? You just wanted one thing, didn't you? Now you've ruined our lives! Who knows about this?" Her mother shook her finger at him. "What kind of pervert are you, to have sex with a 12-year old kid?"

Her loud thoughts made all of us shake. Rumbles shook the floor.

Both Molly's parents startled and looked around! "What's that?"

Lineas stood and made Binneas sit closer to Molly. She hugged him. "Who are you to accuse my son, when you live in sin? Molly tells us you both are unfaithful, and expect her to lie about this to the other!

"My son loves your daughter, and he is very willing to marry her. She wishes to marry him. I encourage both of you to repent. Father of All is very displeased with you!"

"Why shouldn't I cheat on Jeffrey, when he looks at everything in skirts? Then he accuses Molly of being promiscuous! No wonder she turned out like this. Self-fulfilling prophecy!" Mrs. Brown sneered at her husband.

Rumbles increased, and her parents looked scared.

"Repent ye, repent ye, o sinners!" Lineas frowned at both of them.

Mr. Brown stood up. Glared at his wife. "This is your fault! I never asked Molly to lie for me, but I know you wanted her to lie for you! I'm sick of you, and I'm leaving, right now! You can clean up this mess yourself!" He stormed upstairs.

Lineas waved to Tan. "Here is my lawyer. If you will sign these papers, we can let these young ones go before a Juvenile Court Judge for permission to marry. My wife and I wish for Molly to live with us." He gave the address. Mrs. Brown paled. So did her father, at the top of the stairs! Lineas gave her his card with all of their phone numbers. She stared at his card case, gold with diamonds that sparkled before he closed it. Binneas had one, too, and gave her his card. His had a veris embossed on it, a holographic design. Theirs had a red flower. The holograms shone as Mrs. Brown laid them on the table.

"Where do I sign? And, do you do divorces? I want a good lawyer." Her dull brown eyes stared on him.

Tan handed her papers marked with yellow. On a gold clipboard. Mrs. Brown almost dropped it, so it must have been heavy! "I am very sorry, but it would be a conflict of interest for me to represent you. Sign here, please." He gave her a very expensive pen.

She signed, and kept it. He let her.

Then, Molly stood and looked upstairs.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I need to pack my things—"

"You don't get anything. Get out!"

I stood. "Mrs. Brown, you cannot keep her things. Mr. Links, please explain Georgia Law to her."

He did, but she smiled a wicked smile. "See ya in court!"

Mr. Brown came down the steps with his bags. Put them by the door. "Molly, I have a few things to give you, Hon." He smiled at his daughter as he reached up on top of the entertainment center and got a clear box with several items. Molly smiled.

From the large kitchen, on top of their cabinets, he brought a cloth cat carrier. Then, another box from the garage.There were many wrapped packages. Lineas and Keea took all of them, and we helped.

Molly held a glass ballerina in trembling hands. I saw it in her yellow room in Rainbow, where we sat on her bed to talk at times.

"We had a lot of fun that day, didn't we? Your 8th birthday."

"Yeah. Those were happy times." Molly sighed.

"Call me anytime, Hon. I won't be going to those parties any more."

Molly nodded.

Her mother held out a card. "I'm not paying for these—"

"I  can pay Sylvania's vet bills!"

"You never had any money —"

"I worked for Dr. Ashley last summer. Dad signed the papers."

"I thought that was just a volunteer position." Her father leaned against the doorway.

"I opened a bank account and still have $500 in it."

Tan smiled. "Well, such a responsible young lady! I think this will help when we go before the judge. He will have to allow your marriage." He took a large cardboard box.

"Oh, Ben, I can't wait!" Molly smiled at him. 

"Don't expect me to come." Mom reached into the black liquor cabinet. "I need a drink."

"No, you don't. Have some vek ea!" Molly crushed a handful in her face. She gasped, and froze like that. "You used to be a nice person before you started drinking. Now you won't ever want that stuff again!"

Her father's blue eyes opened wide! "What did you do? I'm calling the police!"

Molly put a hand on his phone. "She's not dead. When she wakes up, she won't crave alcohol any more. My new friends aren't from Earth. They are Zheien, and they're better  than us. They brought new tech for Earth, if Earth wants it.

"See this?" She gave him a green cube. "You can ask it any question you want. In this thing is an aandat." Molly pulled up her short sleeve on her dress and let him see. Explained it. While she did, she waved up another one for her mother and it dropped on her ankle.

But I felt something and we ported back to the ship!