In the meantime, down on the planet Earth in the Denver suburb of Aurora, two women lay side by side in the wee hours of the morning. They were both gorgeous, with dark brown hair and dark eyes, and many people thought that they were related when they were out in public or working together on the nearby Buckley Space Force Base.

But relatives don't normally do what the pair of them had just been doing that had made their bodies slick with sweat.

"Damn, that was amazing," Emma Wolfe murmured. "I should have moved you in here sooner." She was born of an American mother and Filipino father, accounting for her dusky complexion and features.

"Shh!" replied the other woman, Vivienne Hunter. She was also of mixed heritage, though of an American father and Indian mother. The pair of them could easily spot the differences between themselves that others couldn't, and it made things a little different since they shouldn't be together thanks to antiquated military regulations. "You know I'm not supposed to be here Emma. Us lowly sergeants can't sleep with the brass, especially when we're both women. They don't like fraternization. You Majors need to have better partners."

"Well damn, baby girl, I fraternized the fuck out of you a little bit ago. Want me to do it again?" Emma rolled over atop Viv, attaching her lips to her left nipple as the younger girl moaned happily.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

But such was not to be. The sound of a car door slamming, and loud yelling outside alerted them to an all too common problem. "Shit," muttered Emma. "Let me go get her. Can you start some hot chocolate?"

"Yeah, I got it. Go get her."

The pair hurriedly threw on sweatpants and tee shirts, not caring if they mixed and matched the clothing since they were virtually the same size. While Viv went to the kitchen and got the hot chocolate, Emma went and cracked the front door, peeking out at the scene in the driveway next door.

"Get back here, you bitch!" screamed a greying, overweight man at the rail thin blonde woman who was stomping towards the front door. "I'm not done with you!"

"Fuck you, Irv! I saw that bitch blowing you in the alley, don't try to deny it!" The woman opened their door, and then walked in, slamming that door too.

"Come on baby, you know it meant nothing. She owed me for the bag of coke, nothing else!" The man let out a growl of displeasure, then walked towards the door as well. When he disappeared, with one final door slam, Emma gazed at the back seat of the car where a tiny blonde head with pretty blue eyes gazed out the window at her.

She jogged barefoot over to the car door, then opened it up and unbuckled the little girl from the back seat. She was only five or six, Emma wasn't sure because the girl didn't know herself. She didn't even know the relationship the girl had with the neighbors. Was she a foster child? Their own kid? A relative? All she knew was that they came home like this at least a few times a week, and then Emma and Viv would play moms for a night because the little girl's guardians couldn't be bothered to.

Viv had only moved in with her last month, and even now they had to be careful, but she had been there off and on for sleepovers for a couple months prior to that, so she was well acquainted with the deal. There had been no available officer's quarters when Emma had been assigned to the base, so she had grabbed the first townhome rental that she could, and that meant having unpredictable neighbors. Even as a Major, she didn't make a ton of money in the military, but she had enough to be comfortable, and there was a second bedroom that she'd put a small bed in for her frequent tiny guest.

"Come on Bree, you're coming for a girls' night, okay? Viv is already making hot chocolate."

"Okay!" was the soft little voice. "Thanks, Emma."

It broke her heart every time that this happened. This girl was simply adorable and didn't deserve to be living that kind of home life. The bruises on her little body showed that she was punished or had their fights bleed into her being blamed for things, and it made Emma wish she could take her away from all of this.

Little did she realize that she just might get her wish, though not at all in the way that she expected.

She didn't hesitate to pick Bree up and hold her tight while walking quickly back to her house. She didn't even know the names of the neighbors, but she detested them. They didn't deserve such a girl. Hell, she never even considered being a mom at this age, she always hoped that she'd just be a pilot out in space like her older half-sister, but for Bree she'd find a way.

When she got inside, she saw Viv stirring the pot on the stovetop, with chocolate mixed into it already. The younger woman smiled at Bree, and quickly came over and gave the girl a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hello there, sweetie. You look cute tonight. Thanks for coming to visit us, we missed you."

"I missed you, too," Bree replied softly. "Thank you for coming to get me."

"You know you're always welcome here, little one." Emma bounced the girl on her hip and made her smile in reply. "Do you want some popcorn too? Maybe we can watch a movie?"

"Yes please!"

A short time later, the three of them were huddled up on the couch, enjoying the latest Disney movie and giggling while enjoying the popcorn and hot chocolate. It was a good night, considering the circumstances, and the couple kept glancing happily at one another, knowing that they could put a smile on Bree's face, even after the crap she had to deal with at home. Hell, her parents wouldn't even notice that she was gone. They'd just find her playing in the backyard the following day and would let her back in. Evidently, they just assumed she went inside and slept, only to go back out and play. They never even wondered where the extra clothes she wore came from, or how she was fed.

They simply didn't care. She was an afterthought to them.

Emma never understood that. Her mother had remarried after the death of her first husband, and she had been the result of that second marriage, while her sister Lena had been from the first. But even though she wasn't his daughter, her father, Arjun, had raised and loved Lena as his own. She knew that not every kid got that lucky, but she never understood the thinking behind treating a child like that.

Bree never made it through the first movie, falling asleep leaning against Viv's shoulder. The pair got her situated in the guest bedroom and then retreated back to their own bed. They were lucky it was a weekend, and that neither of them had duty the next day, but it would still be a long one. With a satisfied sigh, partially from the earlier sex and partially from the knowledge that they did something good for Bree, Emma found herself drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, Emma got breakfast started early. She knew that Bree loved blueberry pancakes, and she always made some for her with fun shapes on them. Today she made them look like stars, because she saw a message from her sister, and she was up in the stars. She didn't know what it said yet, she would check after breakfast, but she couldn't wait to see what she was up to these days.

"That smells delicious, babe." Viv padded barefoot into the kitchen in a pair of booty shorts and a long tee shirt that made her long legs look even tastier than the food.

Emma almost growled with desire at the sight of her girlfriend parading like that but knew she couldn't do anything about it just yet with Bree in the other room. "Damn, baby girl. You need to put clothes on before I do something that will scar Bree!"

"Put clothes on?" Viv acted confused, turning her back to Emma and shaking her nice, plump ass at her. "Is this too much for you to control yourself?"

"Viv, seriously?" Emma said quickly. "You keep that up and I'm gonna spank that!"

In response, Viv took two hops back towards Emma, and then shook her hips again, almost daring her to do it. With a flick of her wrist. The Major smacked her on her right ass cheek with the spatula, and then went back to flipping the pancakes as though nothing happened. Viv let out a squeal, and then a string of giggles as she turned and then moved into her lover's arms for a quick kiss.

"You're gonna kiss that and make it better later, right?" she murmured softly.

Emma pulled her closer with the hand that didn't have the spatula and leaned in, nipping at her ear. "You might get a few more spanks for teasing me, but you'll get well taken care of baby girl."

Viv smiled happily. "You always take good care of me, so I never worry about that. Is Bree up yet?"

"Not yet. You want to check on her? I have food ready, so she can get something warm in her belly." She could remember the first time she found Bree abandoned like that, maybe eight months prior when she first moved in. She'd come back after a late shift and saw the blonde hair peeking up from the back seat when the self-driving car parked itself. The neighbors' car was a much older model, and the door locks didn't work anymore, having short circuited she assumed, and they didn't answer the door when she tried to bring Bree over to them. She brought her to her own house, and the little girl quickly had her wrapped around her finger. She had never regretted taking her in that night, nor any of the subsequent nights.

Viv disappeared into the guest room, returning with the tiny blonde in her arms as Bree rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Good morning mommies!" she mumbled through a yawn.

There was a moment of shock and panic on both women's faces before it was replaced with a shared smile. That didn't sound too bad at all.

Meanwhile, down in Texas, 18 year old Lexi Walsh trudged up the long dirt driveway of the family ranch towards her house. It was a big ranch, and a long walk, and it felt even longer with the ache in her heart. She'd seen her girlfriend, Liz, in the school shower after PE with another girl, and they were most certainly not just washing each other's backs. They'd been dating for almost four months, and while Lexi realized it might have just been a high school crush and first heartbreak, it really did hurt. Liz hadn't even been sorry, and the vile things she'd said afterward made her more miserable than ever.

And then her horrible day got worse. She had barely gotten halfway up the drive when a plume of dust arose near the house and made its way towards her. Moments later, her ex-girlfriend's sporty little electric truck shot by, with Liz waving her fingers at her, a cheeky grin on her face. Lexi's face fell, as she couldn't think of a single reason for Liz to be at her house without her that didn't involve her outing Lexi to her parents. LGBT rights had come a long way in most areas of the world, but that didn't include Texas ranch country. If anything, the events and news from the discoveries in space over the last few months had her parents clinging even tighter to the church and their beliefs.

Sure enough, she hadn't even got to the house when she could see her things flying out through the shattered glass window of her second floor bedroom. Several items were very fragile, like her snow globes, and exploded when they hit the ground. Tears were already streaming down her face when her father's florid face stuck out the window.

"You have thirty minutes to get your shit and get the fuck off my property! No daughter of ours will be a blight against God's word!" he screamed.

She just stood and stared at the sight. Her clothes were scattered on the ground, entire drawers full of them having been yanked out of the dresser and then broken and scattered across the dusty yard. Torn pieces of posters that had been ripped from her walls fluttered in the slight breeze, and even her pillows bounced down onto the ground. Her gaze swept about, trying to take in what she could gather up and carry out of there in fifteen minutes. Her father had said thirty, but it was going to take half of that to get back down the driveway and off his property, so she had to hurry. She didn't want to know what he'd do if she wasn't gone in that time!

She had no real plan, but in her mind her life was already over. Opening up her backpack, she dumped out her school supplies and then started gathering things as quickly as she could. Underwear, jeans, a couple of tee shirts and a pair of bras. Anything that she could stuff in, she did. With a sob of relief, she saw her little jewelry box, and grabbed that too, and then started to run down the drive. The jewelry wasn't important, but she had $60 in that little box, all that was left from the money she'd gotten from her 18th birthday.

There was no goodbye, no hug, not even a wave, she was just gone. When she reached the main road, she took a right, heading north. She had no idea what was up there, just that it was the closest border to get to another state, even if that would be many days away.