Kessa could not quit the grin that stretched her beak. Fears had weighed heavily on her ever since Thomas disappeared, and now she felt so light, she could almost float.

Minutes earlier, the city—and the whole galaxy, it seemed—had been doomed. The Lady of Sorrow had transformed into a monster and batted away shuttles and bombs all night, but the Torth had eventually driven her away, either with the triple gaseous threats or with their relentless attacks. Evenjos had evacuated along with most of the shani warriors.

Rumors swirled about Garrett. It was said that both he and Zai fought valiantly and protected thousands of people, but the rumors had died down. Maybe one or both of them had fallen. The war palace was in another part of the city and communications were broken. No one knew if they survived.

Kessa had feared that even if Ariock returned, he would blunder straight into a Torth trap.

Instead?

Kessa laughed from the joy of seeing Thomas healthy and well. She could hardly wait to hear about how the Bringer of Hope had persuaded the Wisdom to return.

But the story needed to wait for a safer time. The bunker trembled from distant shock waves, causing equipment to rattle. Dust sifted off the ceiling.

“Look!” someone shouted.

The lab’s other occupants pointed at the livestream views high up on the wall. As Kessa watched, a streamship angled towards a shuttle, and collided with it in the upper atmosphere. Electricity swept outward as the larger streamship continued on its way with a shuttle-sized dent in its hull. The collision created a visible shock wave.

In another monitor, a swarm of robotic drones flew towards armored Torth, angling towards them like predators hunting prey. One drone slammed into a Torth’s head. That one fell.

Other Torth invaders ran. Drones chased each and every one, like intelligent bullets.

“That should teach the Torth to mess with us!” someone yelled.

Missiles launched. They targeted aerial transports. Each missile hit its target, no matter how the transports swerved and rolled.

Kessa gawked at the carnage.

In every view, invaders tried to flee on hovercarts or hoverbikes. Thomas must have spent a lot of time building a defense system, because remote drones intercepted them, blasting them from above.

Kessa had never seen Torth weaponry do that.

Well, that made sense. The Torth Empire was all about harmony and cooperation. Torth did not shoot each other on a large scale. The Majority had ensured that no single citizen had the technological power that Thomas was now displaying.

He must have broken dozens of ancient Torth laws.

“Thomas is doing it!” someone yelled. “He’s saving us!”

People watched the monitors as if invested in a contest, waiting to see a winner. They cheered every time a Torth invader ran or died. Lab technicians bounced on their toes, too overcome with happiness to act like dignified professionals. There was a lot of frequent cheering.

Kessa was surprised when her secretary, Yanyashta, impulsively hugged her.

She laughed and hugged back. Freedom might be a tiny point of light inside the vast darkness that was the Torth Empire, but it would not be extinguished. Not today.

Thomas seemed oblivious to all the celebrations. His hands raced through holographic menus, selecting commands and setting variables.

Yanyashta hissed and jerked away. One of the Twins was approaching.

“We can help to make this a more complete victory, I think.” Mondoyo’s eyes sparkled with what looked like joy. “Will you hear our suggestion?”

Penitents, in Kessa’s experience, rarely showed emotion. Mondoyo was the exception to the rule. Every time she spoke with the pudgy super-genius, he seemed to be trying to make up for lost time.

“Yes?” Kessa invited.

“While Thomas slaughters the invaders,” Mondoyo said, “will you allow Serette and me to remind all Torth in the Megacosm that they are welcome to find refuge in Freedomland?”

Kessa tightened her beak. Penitents were not permitted to ascend into the Megacosm. That was one of her rules. “If I allowed that,” she said, stressing her refusal, “the Torth would be able to see through your eyes, figure out where you’re hiding, and bomb us to death. So no.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She figured that would send Mondoyo away. He avoided confrontations.

But he lingered, almost rudely close.

Kessa stepped back, trying to give him a hint. He should not enter within range to read her mind.

“We calculated the risk to reward ratio,” Mondoyo said. “And the odds are very favorable for us. There is only a two percent risk that any Torth can get past our cascades of mental trivia and dredge up sensitive military intelligence. The Death Architect is our biggest concern, and her schedule indicates that she will be asleep right now. Together, Serette and I are swifter thinkers than she is. We can leave before she probes our minds.”

Kessa shook her head. Thomas had already invited Torth renegades to join him. He had begged. He had pleaded for the entire Torth Empire to switch sides. It hadn’t worked. Why try the same futile gambit again? The Twins had showed up only after he’d quit trying.

“Do not ascend,” Kessa ordered.

Mondoyo looked so frustrated, Kessa wondered if he could read her mind despite the respectful distance between them. She took another step back.

“I know you think it’s futile,” Mondoyo said. “But Thomas did not fail. He persuaded the Upward Governess right away. And me. And, I believe, millions more.”

Millions. And more.

Kessa frowned. Surely more than three renegades would have made the perilous journey to Freedomland, if Thomas’s pleas had worked at all?

Thomas himself had all but admitted failure. She had seen defeat in his slumped shoulders as he’d zombified lines of captive Torth. She had heard defeat in his refusals to meet her for dinner. He had stopped believing it was possible.

“Many Torth are opportunistic,” Mondoyo said. “They’re scared to leave the Empire.” He indicated the monitors, where blasters targeted and destroyed armored Torth. “Right now, the Conqueror is giving them good reason to be scared to stay.”

Kessa saw a cornered Torth shoot down a drone. Moments later, a nussian tackled him.

“The Majority will be teetering right now,” Mondoyo said, “due to the sudden reversal of this battle. A lot of Torth only want a logical reason to switch sides. This would be a well-timed message.” He spread his hands. “Once they see how well we’re treated? And how easily Thomas can win? I think our message will be enticing, particularly to other super-geniuses.”

That was a good argument.

Kessa wondered if she was being fooled.

“Hold on.” She walked briskly to Thomas.

Part of her feared that he would ignore her, or worse, get up and leave. She could not gauge why he had left, or whether he could afford a minor interruption.

“Thomas?” Kessa decided to keep her request succinct. “The Twins wish to try and persuade more Torth to join us. I want to trust them, but I would like your opinion.”

Thomas glanced at her from the corner of one purple eye. “I’ve been known to be wrong when it comes to matters of trust.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that.

Thomas scrolled, tapped, tapped and scrolled. Holographic tools blinked in and out of existence as he made quick selections. “I think you’re a better judge of character. It’s your call.”

Kessa blinked.

“Sorry.” Thomas sounded distracted. “Let’s catch up later? I’m enacting a remote takeover of the enemy-controlled transports.”

Kessa left him to his work. She crossed the floor, back towards Mondoyo. Serette had joined him, floating by his side. One Twin awaited Kessa’s decision with a friendly, amiable expression. The other one looked sour and annoyed.

“How do you plan to persuade the Torth?” Kessa asked the Twins bluntly. “What arguments will you use?”

“We don’t look like much,” Mondoyo said humbly. “But in the Megacosm? Super-geniuses command a lot of respect.”

Kessa had heard that. The Upward Governess had been elected to serve the Majority as the de facto ruler of the galaxy for a brief time. Now the Death Architect seemed to be filling that role. Super-geniuses did have an outsized influence.

She nodded for him to go on.

“Four of the best have joined Thomas’s side,” Mondoyo said.

Was he counting Thomas? Kessa wondered.

“We like being here,” Mondoyo said. “Other Torth will, too. They don’t have to remain trapped in a dying empire that gives them fewer rights than slaves. We can point that out.”

Serette nodded.

Kessa perched on a desk and assessed the Twins. Perhaps two humble penitents with twinned minds might actually succeed where the Conqueror had failed?

“Thomas did not fail,” Mondoyo said.

Kessa scooted back. Had she accidentally sat too close to him, within range?

“Sorry.” Mondoyo looked embarrassed, and he floated backwards a bit. Serette did the same, perfectly in sync with him. “I was just reading your face, not your thoughts. Anyway, we believe that Thomas primed the Torth Majority to go for an alternative lifestyle. All they need right now is a little tiny push.”

On the monitors, grenades flew.

Wildfires died.

Torth died.

“Just a bit of extra persuasion,” Mondoyo said.

Perhaps, with the right timing…

“All right,” Kessa decided. “Go ahead.”

She hoped she was not making a galaxy-sized mistake.

But Thomas seemed to trust her. So did the Twins.

The two super-geniuses bowed their heads in unison. They closed their eyes, perhaps to minimize the chance of any foreign Torth peering through their perceptions.

Kessa watched them.

The Twins did not show any hint of emotion or expression. The Megacosm tended to have that effect. It sucked up attention.

“Holy sand vipers!” someone exclaimed.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” a technician asked. She sounded like she was pleading.

Varktezo gawked at the monitors, wide-eyed with disbelief.

Kessa glanced in that direction… and she slid off the desk, standing, because she had to stand in order to take in the impossibility which was taking place on multiple screens.

The Torth had quit defending themselves, or setting buildings on fire, or murdering innocent people.

Instead, Torth were kneeling.

Some appeared to inject themselves with inhibitor, then go prostrate on the ground. But other Torth shot their kneeling comrades in the back! Or they hurled balls of fire.

They clashed, more serious than any Alashani duelers.

Torth were fighting Torth.

Soldiers stood back and watched while their targets killed each other.

Kessa tore her gaze away from the insanity displayed via livestream, wondering if the Twins had anything to do with this.

Mondoyo and Serette opened their eyes in unison. One seemed triumphant, one regretful.

“The Torth Empire,” Mondoyo reported, “is in civil war.”

Kessa tried to comprehend what that meant. Were Torth versus Torth battles taking place throughout the entire galaxy? Not just here?

Thomas’s mouth fell open. He looked as if he was experiencing something new and incredible for the first time ever.

“The Megacosm,” Mondoyo said into the silence, “is breaking.”