Ch 42
Monday morning, Mr. Nader Congratulated Bob with his District 5 win for the boy's soccer team. They beat District 6 five to four. He then said, "And your girl's team did even better, they shut out their opponent twelve to Zero. Congratulations, Joan Connor and Allison Young. This weekend, District two and three will be playing to see who can try to beat you. After Christmas, you will be playing the winners of that game."
"We only got one game left then?" Joan asked.
Mr. Nader looked at her. "I expect you will be going to the State championships. Quite possibly the Olympics from there."
The class cheered.
Joan had a good day in school. What she didn't know, was she was being talked about in Austin. The Texas Women's soccer league, got a look at Joan playing and saw a future super-star. They wanted her for the upcoming summer Olympics. Just her speed and her ability to keep snatching the ball from the opposition. They were going to watch her closely. If she made the State championships, they were gong to recruit her.
Bob had a game Saturday, so Joan and Allison went with Carol to go watch him play. First was the District 2 and 3 Girl's soccer game. It was a tight game, both teams fought hard, District 2 won the match in overtime 2-1. Joan could see all the girls were exhausted at the end of the game. She stood up and cheered just for the maximum effort they had given.
Bob's game didn't go quite so well. As a mid-back, Bob did intercept many balls to kick them back to the forwards, but the forwards weren't making any goals. by halftime they were down 2-0. The third quarter, positions were shifted, and the brilliant coach put Bob in as a fullback. Again, he was making saves and getting the ball back downfield. They did manage to get one goal and keep the opposition mostly at bay, but they still made another goal, ending the game at 3-1. Joan thought their coach was stupid or something. Why not put Bob up front where he could do more good?
After the games, Joan couldn't see Bob when he was with his team, so she stayed at his house until he got home to give him a hug of condolence. Bob agreed with her, his coach was an idiot. The forwards they had were boys who's parents had money, and the coach was more focused on appeasing them instead of winning the match.
.
That Saturday, JJ explained to his Moms Peggy wanted to see if she could catch her one ex-mother going to the store so they could talk. Delilah gave him some money, so he and Peggy could have a late lunch, and made him promise they'd be back my dark.
On the two-seater bike, JJ and Peggy headed off to town. Thankfully, half way around the lake, there was only one smaller alligator sunning himself on the road, but there was road to get past him. They had a nice ride into town, getting there around 12:45. JJ cruised the grocery store parking lot. He pedaled while Peggy searched for their car. Not seeing it, they hung out by the entrance for a while, then took a ride through town the way her old parents would be coming from.
Passing the hardware store, Peggy pointed and called, "There they are!" She waved heartily, so did JJ. The woman in the car waved back, the man only watched straight ahead.
"huh?" JJ asked, he watched for traffic, and turned the bike around. Shifting down a gear, he pushed the pedals hard and chased them.
"Johnny, keep calm, please," Peggy asked. "That was my middle father."
JJ swallowed what he wanted to say and offered, "I'll wait for you outside. I know they are ... how they are, but it makes me upset that they would throw you away."
.
Mika had seen Peggy on the bike waving to her with a smile on her face. Mika couldn't help by wave back.
"She's not in our family any more," Middle husband said.
"Because she chose her own life," Mika stated, not happy about it.
"She chose to be involved with violent ones."
"You will never accept the fact we must change, will you?" Mika asked. "What is Eddie suppose to do for a mate?"
"His prospects are truly dim," he said sadly. "The other ships either never made it or went someplace else."
"Teaching him how people are here, and how to deal with them would help," Mika countered.
"They are a violent species here. We made the mistake of seeing a healthy planet and landing, committing ourselves. That is our mistake we must live with."
"If we are to survive, we must understand better. Peggy has tried to tell and show us that," she countered.
"She has embraced the violent way." he stated. Pulling into the parking lot, he found a place to park. "I need to go to the automotive section, I will meet you when I'm done."
Mika got out of the car and followed her husband inside. She was dreading what might become of them.
.
JJ pulled up on the sidewalk outside the store entrance. Peggy went to get off, JJ clasped her hand. Casting her a worried look, he said, "I'll be right here when you come out."
Peggy felt Johnny didn't want her to go. He was afraid they would be mean to her. "I have to try," she said softly.
Johnny nodded. "Yeah, I guess you do. I'll be here for you." He let her go and sat back to wait.
Peggy went inside. Scanning, she saw her middle father walking across the front of the store, Mika was headed down an isle with a cart. She hung back until he disappeared down an isle, then ran up to Mika.
"Hi, Mika, are you guys doing OK?" she asked.
Mika turned and a smile grew on her face. She hugged Peggy. "It's good to see you! How are you doing? We've been worried."
"I'm doing great!" Peggy beamed. "I really wish you could come visit, everyone has been so nice to me! You should see my bedroom! That giant woman, Sonya, is living in town with her boyfriend now, so I got her bedroom, the bed is HUGE! It's like the size of by old bedroom all by itself. It even has steps to get up into it, and my bathroom, the tubs nearly the size of a swimming pool!"
Mika chuckled at her. "So you are doing well there? How is your emotions living there?"
"Better than I could hope for," Peggy said firmly. "Everyone is nice, a bit strange, but nice. I feel ... safe there. The amount of love I feel it's like a blanket around me, and I know I am well protected. They even protect the alligator."
"There's an alligator there? Isn't that dangerous?" Mika asked, concerned.
"They can be, but Joan feeds this one. I feed it too! It's real big, but the only one it tried to hurt was a man who'd hurt it," Peggy explained. "After that John and the family made him go away because he wanted to take the alligator for more research, Joan put the alligator back in the water. Those people weren't nice, they were thinking about wanting to do experiments on me. The Connors ran them out then called... Police I think. Any way, they aren't coming back. Cameron saw to that. Many of the Connors don't like the alligator that much, but the even protected her so she has a safe place to live," Peggy said in a long run.
Mika shook her head. "I could never be brave enough to even get close to something like that."
"Once you understand them, they aren't that bad," Peggy explained. "The alligator at the house has her place, she has her nest of eggs and her area. Just stay out of her area and feed her and everything is fine."
"This alligator hasn't attacked anyone?" Mika asked
"Only the lawn mower," Peggy said with a giggle. "Joan was mowing the lawn. From what I know, the alligator charged it. It wasn't after Joan, but the mower. I guess it thought the mower, being loud, was attacking Joan or something. It destroyed that lawnmower. We got a quiet electric mower now."
"So how are you and JJ? does he share that huge bed with you?"
Peggy shook her head. "All the parents have made it clear, no doing anything like that until we're graduated from school and married." She then frowned and added, "And Johnny and I got six more years of high school after this year."
"I'm surprised they are so strict about that," Mika said.
"It is a bit of a pain, but that's their culture," Peggy said with a shrug. "It's something I need to learn to live with. I'll endure it, after all, I get to see Johnny every day."
"You do look at the bright side of things," Mika said.
"Mika! Why are you talking to her?"
Peggy turned to see Middle father coming, looking angry. He waved a hand at her. "She has chosen to be one of the violent ones! Don't you remember what she did at the house?"
Peggy noted Mika looked down and gripped the cart with white knuckles. She knew she should just walk away, but something made her say, "Yes I ran those truly bad people out. How terrible of me."
"That's right, it was! You're nothing but another violent person! Not fit to be around us!"
Peggy frowned at him. She knew it was bad to argue, but he felt he need to say, "Tell that to Johnny, or any of my new parents who DO care about me."
"You are a great disappointment, leave us!" he barked.
Peggy shook her head. "I feel sorry for you." She turned and walked out. A few mothers who were shopping turned their glares at middle father. Peggy could feel they were not happy with him. Even though it was over, Peggy felt stabs of pain from his words of hate. She kept herself from crying as she fled the store.
.
JJ saw Peggy come out looking down as she walked. She sat down in her seat and in a quivering voice asked, "Can we go?"
JJ began pedaling. Peggy was obviously upset. Trying to think of something to calm he he asked, "Where do you want to go? How about we go sit and have lunch someplace?"
"Just someplace quiet, please."
"K." He went down a side street and found a vacant lot, and pedaled to the back. Seeing a nice shade tree, he parked under it. "We got quiet and shade. Is this good?" he asked, meaning to be silly.
Peggy got up and moved over onto his lap and held him. Tight. He wrapped his arms around her and petted her back and hair. "Are you OK?" he asked.
In a hitching breath she said, "I just can't deal with them any more."
"You don't have to," he assured her.
"All I wanted was to talk to Mika and middle father ... he really hates me now!" she said in a sob.
"He told you that?"
"Worse, he felt it."
JJ looked at the tree. "Umm, could you wait here, I'll be..."
"No!" Peggy said and cast him a frightened gaze. "He's not worth it. I know you want to go back and confront him. To get him mad so he tries to hit you. Johnny, I don't want you to get in trouble like that."
JJ huffed. "Right now, I wouldn't mind so much. I really don't like the way they treat you. You're a princess to me, I can't see why they just ... threw you away. It's just plain wrong."
"This was my fault," Peggy said firmly. "I though I could talk to Mika. She is nice to me."
"Maybe some day you can, it won't be anytime soon I bet," he offered.
"No," she agreed and tried to snuggle closer. "I'm branded as violent because I protected them. That is all they see, that I was violent to those robbers."
"Well, I think you were very brave to stand up to them," JJ told her. "A bit nuts maybe, but brave."
That made Peggy giggle. She looked up ad him. He moved to kiss her and she plunged into the kiss, deeply. They kept kissing for a while. After they'd kissed enough to make their lips sore, they parted to gaze at each other lovingly.
JJ asked, "So what do you say I take my lady our for lunch?"
"Whatever you want, my love," she said honestly.
.
Delilah needed to make a store run anyway. She also knew Peggy was going to try to talk to one of her mothers. She drove down the east side of the lake, knowing JJ and Peggy took the west side. Instead of parking in front like the other customers, She drove Christine around to the side and parked out of easy view. Then she walked round back and waited.
Seeing the Littleton car pull in, she went into the back of the store and found an empty cart and went to the front to pretend to look over the bakery selections. Mr. Littleton went down an isle. She followed discretely, listening carefully. She head when Peggy began talking to Mika. They were having a nice conversation until he showed up. Delilah turned the last corner as Peggy was walking out. She strode up and rammed her cart into him.
He stumbled and eyed her with venom.
"Oh I'm sorry," Delilah said with a fake smile. "I wasn't watching where I was going. What were you just doing?"
Trying to maintain his composure, he said, "Sorry, I didn't see you."
"But you did see Peggy, didn't you? You cast your hate on her, right?" Delilah said as her smile vanished and she stepped up to him, making him step back and bump into the shelving.
"What I do is none of your concern,"' he stated.
"Wrong!" Delilah spat. "Peggy is our daughter now, not yours. We defend our family and at times we do it in an ugly way. I hear about you mouthing off to her again or even looking at her with a scowl and I'm going to come see you, and I promise, it won't be pleasant! Unless you can be decent, you don't talk to her, about her or even look at her. If you have the brains to comprehend, then don't say anything. Just take my warning to heart."
Delilah then retrieved her cart and nodded to Mika. "Good day, Mrs. Littleton, I hope you have a pleasant day."
A couple of the women in the isle clapped as Delilah passed them. They exchanged smiles and nods. Delilah started her shopping.
.
JJ took Peggy to the old trailer type restaurant in town. It wasn't very big and it was old and worn, but it was clean and the burgers and fries they got were good. JJ did his best to cheer Peggy up with silly comments and jokes. He got her to smile and giggle.
"Yeah, I asked Miss Winters if she was going to punish me for something I didn't do," JJ told her.
Grinning, Peggy asked, "Why would she?"
"That's what she said. I told her I didn't do my homework and she punished me anyway," he said with a frown.
Peggy giggled and clasped his hand. "You're just trying to cheer me up," she said with a grin.
"I am. Is it working?" he asked.
Peggy's cheeks turned pink. "Yes it is. Thank you."
"Any time," he replied with a smile. "On the way back, I can show you this hive of bees. All they do is wander around the hive. We call them Maybees."
Peggy belted out a snort. "Dumb joke."
"But you're still grinning," he pointed out.
Peggy's face softened. "How about if we take a ride? There is something I want to show you."
"OK," he said gazing at her.
JJ paid for the meal, then got up, giving Peggy a hand.
"Go out to the bike, I'll be right out," she told him, then headed for the bathroom.
JJ went out and turned the bike around so he didn't have to back up. Peggy came out a moment later and got on. "Out to the lake?" she asked.
"Here we go."
Pedaling out on the lake road, Peggy pointed out a path going behind a hillock most of the way home. "Oh, over there," she said.
JJ turned onto the path. They bounced a bit as they went along, then Peggy said, "This is good."
Right after JJ stopped, she climbed back into his lap again, leaning back some. It was then he saw Peggy was sporting pokies. Not very big, but her nips were clearly visible through her shirt.
In a soft voice and blush, she said, "I've got a bit of problem. My nipples are kinda hard and a bit sore, so I took my bra off. It didn't help. Maybe you could rub them for me? Or kiss them and make them feel better?"
JJ flushed. "I ahhh," he slowly reached up and petted a breast.
"Under is better," she coaxed. She guided JJ's hand up under her shirt.
"Is this really OK?" he asked in a whisper.
"Anything you do with me is OK," Peggy whispered in return.
Slowly, he slid his hand up and down her side, feeling her bare skin. He gazed at her, she returned her gaze with a wanting look. They plunged into a kiss. As they kissed and he gently petted her little breasts, one then the other to make them feel better, then softly petted her bare sides and back. They didn't realize Unchained Melody had begun softly playing.
Oh, my love
My darling
I hunger for your touch
a long, lonely time
and time goes by so slowly...
Delilah knew where JJ and Peggy went. After unloading groceries, she asked Christine to go give them some music to make out by. On the road, across the mound from where they were, Christine had the window down while she played the radio.
.
HONK HONK
JJ and Peggy perked up. "A car horn?" he asked.
HONK HONK
In a quick shuffle they got themselves together. "Someone saw us?" Peggy asked, blushing brightly.
JJ noted the sun was about to go down. "Ahhh we gotta go."
He backed the bike up and turned around. Clearing the hillock, he saw Christine's tail fins. Coming closer, no one was in the car. Christine started up and rolled a ways, then stopped.
HONK HONK
"She wants us to follow," Peggy said.
"Yeah, this is weird," JJ said and pedaled after the car.
Peggy laughed. "Johnny! Can you tell me who in our family who isn't a bit strange?"
JJ smiled. "Good point. I like strange though."
"Me too!" Peggy beamed. She projected her feelings of love and happiness out, she knew Christine would like that.
.
On the Groom Lake base, General Watson's ID was checked at the secue gate. He and his driver were allowed in. They pulled up to a Quonset hut. The driver got out an stood by the car. General Watson went inside. Going in an office, he greeted the pale blonde, blue eyed man. "Hello, Jack how are your people doing?"
"Fine, General!" Jack beamed. He paused an asked, "You have news?"
"I do," Watson said and sat down. "I got a police report on the Littleton's, down in Texas. Seem they had a home invasion. No foreign powers, just some illegal immigrants came to plunder. Their daughter, Peggy, drove the invaders out using her empathic abilities. From what the report said, it scared all of them and they kicked her out."
Jack face planted. "Is Peggy all right?"
"Yes, the Connor family adopted her. She's living with them now, and from what I understand, she's doing well."
"Are these Connors good people?" Jack asked.
"They are, and national heroes," Watson said proudly. "I know they will let nothing bad happen to Peggy."
Jack nodded. "By their insistence, we agreed to let the Littletons go their own way. It doesn't sound like they are doing very well. They always were ... what you'd call cultists. They refuse to listen to any opinions other than their own."
Watson winced. "Gotta agree with that. They aren't making any friends in the town they live in. Frankly, I'm not seeing much except a bleak future for them."
"I know we agreed to stay away from them, but is it possible to see Peggy? I just want her to know we're not all like that," Jack asked.
"We can arrange that. Would you like the Connor's phone number? The best one to talk to is Cameron."
"Yes, please. May I ask why Peggy was adopted by the Connors and not brought here?" Jack asked.
"The sheriff said they insisted. Cameron heard the Littletons were going to kick Peggy out since she was seeing Cameron's son, Johnny. This got back to Cameron and she wasn't happy." With a knowing look he added, "You don't want to be around Cameron when she isn't happy. Anyway, when those people went in to the Littleton place to rough them up and grab what they could, Cameron grabbed the sheriff and got up there quick. Peggy had already scared them out. To be blunt, Cameron killed the robbers. She made it look like a traffic accident. Anyway, the Littleton family decided Peggy was too violent to be there, so they kicked her out and Cameron adopted her on the spot. She wasn't going to let a child be homeless."
"Why did she kill them?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You heard of cyborgs?"
Jack nodded. "I have, and I got to meet Catherine Weaver. A very interesting person, even though she is liquid metal."
"Cameron is one too. TOK 715, she's a terminator. Designed to kill. If anyone threatens her family, that's what she does. She removes the threat," Watson told him. "I'm sure the whole family are cyborgs. They are decent people, most of the time. If we need help with an unusual problem we can't correct. They correct it."
Jack took on a concerned look. "And she adopts children?"
"They have another daughter they adopted, a girl who lost her parents in a car accident. Cameron saved the girl from dying. Like I said, most of the time, they are good people. Just don't make the mistake of threatening them or trying to do them any harm."
"Yes," Jack said thoughtfully, "I would like to meet them and talk with Peggy."
.
Jack called Cameron and explained who he was, another Atlantian from the ship they all came on. He wanted to come meet Peggy and talk to them. Cameron agreed, and made it next Sunday. She told him to make sure he came 'hungry'.
.
Saturday, the Girls' soccer team went to Austin and won 14-0. Joan and Allison didn't give them a chance. Deliriously happy they had won the District playoffs, They got a group picture taken, then got their Regional champions t-shirts. At the sidelines, Joan put hers on right away, shedding her uniform shirt to replace it. Seeing this, other girls did also. Cameras snapped and video cameras watched.
Once back in the locker rooms, Coach Hugues chided them for changing clothes on the field, but her lecturing fell on smiling faces.
Cameron had told Peggy someone was coming t see her. A little nervous, Sunday she stayed by JJ. Of course with everyone from around the lake there, Joan and and Allison took a swim. Peggy wanted to, but this Atlantian named Jack was coming to see her.
Sitting side by side in the yard, looking down at the dock and the lake, JJ could see Peggy was nervous.
"I'm sure it's nothing bad," he offered. "You know we'll protect you."
She leaned into him. "I know. It's just I don't know what to expect. Is he going to chide me and try to, I don't know, take me back or something?"
"I doubt it. If he does try to take my sunshine away, he won't be happy," he told her. Seeing tiny ripples in the water, he frowned. "What's that?"
JJ and Peggy got up to go investigate.
.
Jack rode down the road in the back seat with General Watson. "I see they live out by themselves also?" he asked.
"They do. They like the quiet life. Joan and Cameron bought the lake and all the land around it years ago. Recently, they petitioned to have the lake deemed an alligator sanctuary. There's alligators here that have DNA modifications they found out about, and they are keeping a close eye in on them. They want to find out just what this modification does."
"They aren't going to eliminate them, are they?" Jack asked.
Watson chuckled. "No, one they got living right next to the house. For an alligator, it's fairly calm. The only thing it attacked is a lawn mower. Cameron suspects the gator thought the mower was attacking Joan. It never bothered the mower until Joan was using it."
Jack noticed the windmill, and the barn, the garage as they drove by. The house was good sized also. "I take it they have money?" he asked.
"They made a movie, then a TV show. They got plenty of money from that, and instead of throwing wild parties, they invested it," Watson told him. "Their big event is Sunday cookouts with family and friends."
Coming down into the parking area, they got out to see Peggy run partway up the yard and called, "They hatched! Come look, we got a whole bunch of tiny alligators!" She then ran back down to the dock.
Kids ran down by the dock. Jack could see a large alligator floating in the water nearby. Curious, he walk down with General Watson. A blonde came up beside them. "Hey General, you two might not want to get that close, she doesn't know you."
"Hello, Delilah, This is Jack. Jack, Delilah Connor."
"Greeting's Ma'am," Jack said politely. "When you said she, you mean the alligator?"
"Yes, If her eggs hatched, there's a good chance that she may be a bit aggressive."
They got closer to see tiny forms in the water, hundreds of them. In the lake off the dock, Joan came up out of the water not far from the big alligator and yelled, "Catch!" and threw a fish at the dock. Peggy squeaked and moved back, JJ caught it.
"Why are you fishing?" he asked.
"To keep the fish away from the baby alligators!" Joan announced then in a roll, disappeared with a splash of her tail.
Allison surfaced, looked at the crowd, waved then went back under.
When Jack neared the dock, the big alligator moved towards the dock.
"Joan and Allison are keeping fish away, since they eat baby alligators," Delilah told them. The alligator knows them both, so she isn't worried about them being in the water, but you should back up a bit."
In the water, Jack could see a long, mermaid form swim by fast. He tipped his head slightly, "It's almost like these alligators are family."
"They do kinda grow on you," Delilah said with a smirk. "For alligators, they are pretty smart."
"The DNA modifications?" General Watson asked.
"We think so. They recognize people and things. They are still wild animals, so be very careful around them."
Cameron came by them. "JJ! Here's a knife, cut the fish up into tiny chunks for the babies."
"OK, Mom."
Cameron came back to greet them men. "General Watson, and you must be Jack?"
"Yes, You are Cameron?" he asked and stuck his hand out.
Cameron shook it. "Yes. I understand you want to talk to Peggy?"
"Yes, please, there are things she needs to know, and I don't believe her family told her," Jack explained.
Cameron nodded. "Information is good. We will not allow any berating or nasty comments to her. If you do, you will be shown to your car so General Watson can take you to a hospital. Understood?"
Jack got the warning loud and clear. "Yes, Ma'am. You can listen in also if you like."
"Good. Peggy needs all the support she can get."
Jack noted Cameron had a neutral face. He wasn't feeling anything from her. He motioned to the dock, where JJ was cutting up fish and Peggy was tossing the bits in the water that the baby alligators were snapping up. He could feel Peggy was having a good time. "We should wait until they get done."
"We'll call you when dinner is ready," Cameron told him and walked on her way.
Louise and Jackie helped toss fish bits to the alligators. Joan and Allison patrolled the water around the area. looking for fish coming to get a meal. Joan didn't get any more, but chased off a few.
The baby alligators once they had some food, moved into the bank to hide themselves. Joan and Allison got out, Joan got the alligator's food and fed her, then they went up for dinner.
.
At dinner, Jack praised John and Cameron for their cooking skills. Sitting across from JJ and Peggy, he said, "Peggy, it looks like you are having fun here. You are happy?"
"I am," she said and cast a blushing smile at JJ.
"That's good," he said returning her smile. "Has anyone ever told you why we shot off into space?"
"No, My parents said it was only to escape the mean people."
"That is partially true," Jack replied. "Our government wanted to ease the overcrowding. See, our planet is over crowded. Not enough of anything. Being hungry and well, having nothing made many people angry and very aggressive. Fixing the problem by letting people die was not a good solution. All of us on this planet came on a single ship. Several ships left, each looking at what we believed was a habitable planet. We chose the one where legend stated our original city of Atlantis was located."
He paused and added, "It's not here. I found out Earth legends say it was here, but suffered a catastrophic disaster. Those who could not flee, died. We were hoping to find some of our own kind. Through study, we found humans here are very similar to us. Due to the earth and the environment, we believe that we are ... cousins, nearly the same, but evolution has changed each of us so we are no longer the exact same species."
"The stories of Atlantis are true," John said.
"They are," Jack agreed. "Peggy, your clan are what they call cultists here. They had seen much violence and were so appalled by it, they vowed never to be violent themselves and pushed that belief to the extreme. While being peaceful and beneficial is always the best thing to do, they refused to be or support violence under any circumstances."
"They don't understand that sometimes you need a wolverine," Peggy said.
"Correct," Jack said, knowing Peggy realized at times, one need to unpleasant things. "When we left, there were many climbing walls and trying to force the ship doors open so they could come also. The ship was already at maximum capacity if we were to make it all the way here. It was either let them break in, so no one would be saved, or take off anyway." He frowned. "That killed many, and it was heart breaking, but if anyone was to have a chance, it had to be done."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Peggy offered.
"Everyone was sorry," Jack said. "Your parents decided they could not be around the rest of us that let people die, so General Watson here arranged for them to live here so they could have their ... own place in peace.I do keep up on what's happening here, watching out for them the best we can, but things still happen we can't control. You are happy here, that's fine. I wish you the best. If you ever want to see more of us, even out of curiosity, you are welcome to visit."
"Thank you," Peggy said sincerely. "I do have a question, one of my old mothers, Mika, isn't the happiest with the way my old family ... believes. Is there something we can do for her?"
Jack shrugged. "Everyone has free will, child. We can't interfere with her life. If she truly wants to leave, she can. We would welcome her with open arms. If she doesn't want to, there's nothing we can do."
Peggy frowned. "That sucks."
"It can," Jack said with a grin. "That's the way it is."
"So, if I can convince her to leave, then maybe she can come live with everyone else ... wherever you are?"
"We are on the base at Groom lake," Jack told her. "You have to be careful, Peggy. By suggesting that, you may put her under greater strain than she already is. Think of her feelings."
Peggy nodded. "Jack? Thank you for coming."