up his back, knowing what Sofia needed to hear, knowing he could not say it.
And then he was calm—unnaturally calm, calm beyond quiet. The shiver of fear disappeared, and a tranquil certainty he had known once before filled him, and he was not himself. He became, for that moment, someone else, someone looking back upon this moment from a distant future, someone who knew the truth as it had already been writ. "I will not destroy their homeworld," he said at last from that distant place. "The fate of their star is for Mercedes to decide, and for the people who will join her."
"As long as we keep it in the family," Sofia replied, pressing her head into his shoulder.
* * *
Jessica stepped from her cocoon, wobbled a moment, and walked quietly out of her office, out of the hall, out of the building, into
And then he was calm—unnaturally calm, calm beyond quiet. The shiver of fear disappeared, and a tranquil certainty he had known once before filled him, and he was not himself. He became, for that moment, someone else, someone looking back upon this moment from a distant future, someone who knew the truth as it had already been writ. "I will not destroy their homeworld," he said at last from that distant place. "The fate of their star is for Mercedes to decide, and for the people who will join her."
"As long as we keep it in the family," Sofia replied, pressing her head into his shoulder.
* * *
Jessica stepped from her cocoon, wobbled a moment, and walked quietly out of her office, out of the hall, out of the building, into