Excerpt: There will eventually be a title

“You have everything set up here. You have our number if you need anything honey.”
“I know Mom. I’ve got this under control.” Saoirse smiled at her mother. “You guys have been working too long. Go, relax. Retire. Have fun.”
“It’s a little hard, letting this project go.” Aoife sighed. “Your father and I have been tracking that blasted thing for so long.”
“I’ll keep you in the loop.” Saoirse reassured her mother.

They had gone over this time and again. Saoirse was trained, she had the equipment in her apartment. She had a job at a publishing company as a copy editor and fact checker with plenty of reason for extensive and obscure research. It would give her a chance to earn her place on Earth as well as in the Galaxy, where she was already handicapped by her earthbound upbringing. But she liked it here. Of course she wanted to visit her parents’ home planet and explore the galaxy, but honestly she liked where she was. She told her parents her job here was a backup plan in case she couldn’t earn her place taking over their mission, but secretly she thought of the mission as a backup plan in case things on Earth didn’t work out too well.
“Mom, go. Dad’s waiting in the car.” Saoirse said just as her father appeared in the doorway.
“Did you think I would let my little girl go without one last hug and kiss for her old man?” Eoin asked in the Irish accent Saoirse so loved. Since her parents had first landed in Ireland, they had adopted the local dialect. It was a minor yet important part of their back story. Saoirse herself was American through and through, though she was decent at faking her parent’s accent. After all, they were technically faking it too. But after forty seven years (though by Earth standards they only appeared to be in their mid-fifties and had altered their paperwork to match) it came quite naturally.
She wrapped her arms around her fathers neck and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Of course not, Daddy,” she replied, imitating his accent. He shook his head as Saoirse moved to hug and kiss her mother goodbye. Finally, she stood facing both of her parents.
“I love you two. And I’ll keep you updated on everything,” she reassured them, dropping the fake accent.
“That means about you and your life as well as the project,” her mother reminded her.
“Of course Mom. Now, you two. Out.” She shooed them toward the door.
“I’m going to miss you sweetheart.”
“I’m going to miss you too Mom, but I’ve been living away from home for three years now.”
“I know,” her mother replied, “but it’s the first time you’ll be living further than easy driving distance.”
“And yet the ironic thing is that you’re the ones moving away, not me.”
Saoirse’s father grinned. “Right you are darling. Now, Aoife, we must be off.” Eoin looked at his daughter and said, “Come now, aren’t you going to at least walk us down to the car to tell us goodbye and give us a hug and kiss to see of your parents?”
She smiled at her father. “How many goodbyes do you need?”
He replied with, “At least two more Saoirse. At least two more.”
Just before Eoin finally climbed into the car, he slipped the Ponder Votum detector into the pocket of Saoirse’s sweater. She had never been allowed to touch it as a child and had almost forgotten that now it too would be passed to her.