Page 92 of Strange Lights

“The spaceships in the sky, the activity all over this world⁠—that’s my species, those who survived the fall of our planet,” Orion says. “They’ve finally found us, the rest of the survivors. The Helpers have been able to restore limited communication with Mothership now that they are closer. They don’t mean humanity any harm. They’re coming for us; they’re coming for the children who made it to evacuation.”

“If you had told me years ago that you left Agency 51, you’d have known all this already,” Luca says to me. He sounds like he’s struggling to maintain his composure. “I would have been there for you. Orion could have found Eldi a long time ago.”

“Reggie isn’t entirely at fault,” Orion says, cutting through the thick film of guilt that I’ve already been sinking into without Luca’s help. “Reggie helped me escape, and I knew she had escaped, too, and I lied to you, Luca.”

“Why would you lie about that?” Luca says, eyes narrowing.

“I asked him to,” I say, meeting Luca’s eyes even though I want to look away. His expression is the definition of looks that could kill.

“And I didn’t trust Reggie,” Orion says. “Not until recently. I knew too much about her. I hated Adele, and Reggie is Adele’s . . . child.”

Orion stops short of spilling my secret. He could tell them he didn’t trust me after he learned I’m Adele’s clone. That I’m an exact copy of her. I remember that fateful night, running from Adele, Orion crouched behind me on the steps, listening as she told me the truth about who I am. He was there when I left my sisters behind. Calvin squeezes my hand. He’s the only other person in the room who knows this worst fact about me. Orion is watching me with a cool, calculating stare, and I know he’s remembering that night too. When I don’t take the opportunity he gives me to confess, Orion continues.

“I thought she might turn on you or me, especially once I knew your history with her. You would fall for any trap she set.”

Luca glares but doesn’t dispute this, and I resist the urge to shift uncomfortably.

Orion turns to me and says, “But also I thought you seemed more like me than any other human I’d met. That the monster everyone saw might actually be just a mask. I watched you treat her”⁠—his eyes flick to Zara⁠—“like I treated Eldi. Like you had no choice but to take care of her like she was yours. I saw you loved her. And the Winnebago, our friends, helped you. That had to count for something. You’d asked me to lie for you, say you were going back to work for Adele. Then it looked like you actually did do that.”

“It wasn’t me,” I say.

“All we knew was that there was someone at Agency 51 wearing your mask, your weapon,” Luca says. “I didn’t want to believe it, but it sure seemed like you didn’t want to escape anymore.”

“Why would none of you at least mention that the oldest Kingsley sister was a farce? That she was no longer at the base?” Gemma asks. “You were working with us. That’s a big piece of intel to hide.”

I’ve seen Zara humiliated enough times to recognize the look on her face, though she’s gotten better at hiding it. Shame.

“It was Adele mostly,” Zara says. “Hiding behind that mask and fooling everyone into thinking you hadn’t left.”

“Mostly?” I ask.

“Sometimes one of us,” Meredith says. “Anyone could wear that Gauntlet, but she always controlled it.”

“We couldn’t fight it like you could either,” Zara adds.

“You could have at least said it was an imposter.”

“What would I have said?” Zara says. “Oh, by the way, that masked person torturing and intimidating people, that’s just me. But I promise you can trust me anyway. Or blame it all on Meredith? There were times Adele and her eldest appeared together; you wouldn’t have believed it was only Adele.”

The true horror of it sinks in then: They were like puppets on a string.

“The part I don’t understand,” says Calvin, “is why bother pretending you were there all along?”

“Aside from saving face, having to admit her favored child turned their back on her? She knew I would be listening, would hear the rumors and realize Regina Kingsley could never be anyone but Adele’s daughter. To make sure I remembered her message, ‘You and I are the same. You never really get to leave, can’t escape who you are.’”

“What you are is different than who you are, Reggie,” Calvin says. “You can’t escape your genetic makeup; you can’t rewrite your origin story. But you’re more than the sum of your mistakes and your mother’s sins. The future isn’t written by your past; people get to change and grow. The way you behave and treat others matters more than the blood running in your veins. You get to choose who you are as a person.”

“I heard those rumors of you that filtered out too,” Orion continues. “So I didn’t know what to think about you. Now I know you actually stayed away all those years, that you went back for Eldi, even though you left your sisters behind . . . When I remember the sacrifices I made, the judgment calls, I realized you were doing the same. You were trying to save them all, even if the way you did it was wrong.”

All the terrible things Orion showed us. All the moments he entrusted to us. Every cruel thought, every mistake, every moment of shame. He hid none of it, trusting the better moments would make up for it. When he saved Eldi, when he held her through those cold nights, when he gave her a chance to hide and run. He trusted us to judge him worthy anyway. I meet Orion’s eyes and understand.

“So you kept my secrets,” I say.

“You helped me escape Agency 51. You kept Eldi safe when I wasn’t there. I owe you one for that.” He’ll keep this last secret of mine; he will tell them nothing about my being Adele’s clone. He might not even judge me for keeping it. This part of the story is mine to tell.

“So, what do we do?” Luca asks. “We can’t let Adele destroy Orion and Eldi and the last of their species.”

“My kind will protect their own,” Orion says. “We aren’t violent. Our aim was never to conquer and kill for the sake of it. I’m the reason the other children are on this planet. We were looking for sanctuary, safety. Your planet was my last hope. We landed here alone and lost.”