Seattle

It had taken Xanthi three years, to find the first.

She had a small bar, in downtown Seattle where she worked, with another woman that - Xanthippe clearly felt it, entering the place - was her companion.

The two of them gravitated one around each other as much as possible while serving their clients, and the other woman, too,  buzzed Xanthi's senses.

"The shining" - something so diffused, at home, that she had to go away, to discover that it was there, an uncounted-for superpower: the ability to spot her compatriots, or those that had been colonized by the same energizing microbes.

Both the woman behind the bar and the waitress felt it, too. It showed on their faces - they were confused, as they likely did not feel the same around anybody else but each other.

The sensation was strong - the companion, too, was well on the way to Bethanity, to say so.

She could hardly ever fly, the brain had to grow up with the powers to learn that trick - pretty much like speaking or seeing - but Xanthi didn't doubt that the little blonde lacked anything of whatever else characterizes a Betan of her size - near invulnerability, superhuman strength and speed, inhuman endurance.

As soon as she saw how the two interacted, Xanthi knew that these were two that she could not convince to come back home.  Not that she had much intention to pursue the idea, to begin with - this was an absolutely informal mission, that she picked only as favor to her "Earth 77" sociology teacher, Bridget Johnson, formerly of  Crabtree, Oregon.

The first of the three sisters that Bridge has left on planet, Amalia Starling, appeared to be very happy, with no need whatsoever for an interstellar relocation.

From the data that Xanthi collected, Amalia's adoptive parents were decent people, a bit more decent than Bridget's parents - these had sold their daughters to the army, so that she could be used as a super-weapon in the last war.

Amalia's parents were a couple of old hippies, with non-violence as a credo, and convinced their daughter to hide her powers and be happy with what she could have on her human work.

There had been only one accident, when Amalia almost ripped out the penis of her then boyfriend, in an orgasmic muscular fit. The incident was the trail that had led Xanthi to find the lost Betan.

Luckily, the boy had not been colonized - when Xanthi first tracked him, she immediately knew why... her guts shivered simply approaching him. The bugs inside her didn't like at all his immunity system.

Few and rares, but some such persons were also at home, though there they were considered - more than lucky - thoroughly handicapped.

These two appeared happily mated to each other - no reason to keep her eyes on them.

Xanthi sipped her coffee, payed, took a stroll though the park and, when she felt sure that nobody was watching, she took off, being careful to keep under the Seattle -Tacoma Airport ATC radars.

One found, two still missing.