Ashby Virtual Hotel District, The Ephemor Federation

2027

Rory and Jace followed Trin down the long hall of the Ashby Virtual Hotel, ready to meet the witnesses who were gathering. Her vision of the hall seemed to flicker for an instant and then Trin froze mid-step in front of her.

At the same time, Jace and Rory both stopped, eyes on Trin. There wasn't even signs of her breathing. It was like someone hit pause on the world around them.

"I hate to interrupt your meeting." The voice came from behind them. Rory turned to see JyNell standing with a man she didn't recognize behind them. "Our friend doesn't often have time to visit, though. You'll have to meet with your new witness friends later."

"Who are you?" Rory asked, eyes on the newcomer.

"I knew not to trust you," Jace said. "Clearly, you haven't been forthcoming with us."

"Calm down," JyNell said. "It's not my secret to share. I've been around long enough to get to know people is all."

The stranger studied Rory and Jace as he walked closer. Beneath the light Rory caught the slight sheen of a synthetic body. "It's nice to meet you two after hearing so much about you. I'm High Commander Rolan. I asked Vehru to help arrange a meeting before you speak to the other High Commanders about your new bodies."

Jace glanced at Rory but she was still scrutinizing Rolan. "I see Vehru's secret alliances reach beyond the planets she's conquered."

"She's resourceful and she needed help to make it as far as she has. Just like you do. I'd like to take you to a more secure location to meet with everyone."

"This something we have a choice in?" Jace asked.

"Yes." Rolan held Jace's gaze. "You can reverse course at any time. We're not looking to coerce anyone. We also have watched you for long enough to know you're not going to tell anyone about us. It wouldn't benefit you and you're not so careless. You can always walk away."

Jace spoke in monotone. "So you're just an upstanding Federation Commander."

The other man smirked and didn't respond for several seconds. "It's a waste to tell a person what to believe about you. See for yourself and make your own judgments."

"We'll go," Rory said. "I want to meet the others."

"Wait," Jace whispered. "Who knows where he's taking us."

"It's not like we chose to end up here. If he wanted to force us to move, I'm confident he could. We should just go."

He eyed her nervously and then cast his gaze away. "Fine," he muttered.

"I want to know something first." Rory swallowed hard, thinking of her loved ones on Earth. "When will we return to Earth?"

If Rory wasn't mistaken, she thought she saw compassion in his eyes. "Soon. I'll make sure of it. If you're ready, let's go."

JyNell lifted his hand in a wave. "I'll let Trin know you'll be back soon."

Jace took Rory's hand, face tight in discomfort. It was hopeless to get him to stop worrying so much about her, especially when she really couldn't blame him.

The transportation process was nothing like when Vehru physically teleported them. It was more like walking into another room, only they hadn't actually moved. Rory blinked and she stood outside with a violet sky overhead, so reminiscent of her home planet that it seized her heart in her chest. It had been so long since she'd looked up at a sky like this.

In front of her, a massive black tower stretched toward the sky. "How much of the Federation is virtual?"

"It takes so much energy to remain in a virtual space long term. We mostly use it for short-term trips and for eliminating the need to travel. It's an expansive solar system of its own, though, with different spheres that are like new planets. This one was created in the early days of the Federation and has fallen out of use. It's one of the locations we like to meet at because it is not scrutinized."

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Rory had to tilt her head back as far as possible to glimpse the peak of the black tower reaching into the sky like a long blade. "So who are you people, exactly?"

"We're people who want to see change happen. The Federation is married to old ways that hinder our advancement with a short-sighted and selfish obsession with personal power. Not everyone wants to continue the conquest system, or at least to continue it in its current form." He met Rory's eyes for several seconds and then Jace's. "We know it hasn't been easy for you to even entertain the idea of working with Vehru."

Jace's expression hardened.

Rolan continued, unfazed. "I would say Vehru is an effective weapon, as lethal as she is strong, only that's an insult to what she has truly accomplished. You know very little of the work she's been doing. Even so, I don't agree with matching the Federation's brutality. There's no excuse for severing families."

The authenticity in his eyes reminded her of Petrin, but Rory would not trust this stranger so easily, not when she'd witnessed first-hand how conniving and manipulative these commanders could be, especially being integrated with an advanced AI. It was impossible to keep herself from hoping, however, that she'd found someone who cared about what happened to them and wanted to help them.

That seemed incredibly foolish to even wish for.

"We need to talk with you before we decide but you should know that we already are very interested in getting biomechanical bodies for you. Morfrain believes that he has control over the newer commanders. He does not. In fact, we've managed to take care of that issue."

"Say it plainly," Jace said.

"In order to deactivate a commander still in their tenure, eighty percent of the High Commanders must vote in agreement. We have enough votes to prevent deactivation."

"If a commander stays in your good graces." Rory crossed her arms.

"We have never and will never vote to deactivate a commander, not even if they're a critical danger to our operation. It's against our code."

"Your code?" Hope scratched at her heart again.

"Our code is everything to us. Our guiding principles, our mission, our hope. If we decide that we can trust you, we'll explain more."

Rory didn't like knowing so little and having to wait for him to drop her breadcrumbs, but she also didn't have a way to demand more. Her best strategy right now was to keep the possibility of an alliance open while remaining skeptical.

Rolan opened his arm to the door. "I know you don't trust me, but everything changes when you walk through these doors. The two of you and your comrades have fought for years against enemies far more advanced than you and with hardly more than your sheer willpower. It must have felt like trying to bore a hole through a mountain with your fingernails. Every day that you struggled, you not only strengthened yourself and your cause, but you showed us what you're capable of. No matter what happens, whether you choose to trust us or not, walking through these doors means you're no longer alone."

The conviction tugged on her just as it had for Petrin. Rory would not be swept up in cheap words, but she would not steel herself entirely against the hope that had been blooming in her chest. "Why didn't you show yourself sooner?"

"The danger is greater than I can express for my associates and our families, but the risk is even greater for our cause. If we don't protect our work, there will be no one to continue it, and all the planets slated for conquest will be alone. We needed to be certain that we could trust you." He nodded. "When Jace refused Morfrain's offer, it resolved our concerns about him. And when you twisted that same offer for your benefit, we saw that Vehru was right to believe in you. You've earned our trust. I can only hope we will earn yours as well."

Jace looked as skeptical as ever, which was good, because one of them needed to be to balance each other out.

"I suppose the only way to find out is to walk through that door," Jace said.

"I suppose you're right." Rolan moved toward the entrance. "After we talk, we will help you prepare for the process of gaining your new bodies. They'll question you before and if you're approved, it's a major adjustment to get used to a synthetic form. You need help"

Jace and Rory took each other's hands again.

What would Theo say if she could talk to him? He'd always been so optimistic about the human spirit and the future of human evolution. The two men she loved were different in so many ways.

Grief and pain had mired her heart for so long and the awakening of her memories had torn her in two, so much that she'd become afraid to hope, when it was always Jace who felt that way, not her. So this tightness in her chest for the hope she felt seemed entirely foreign. It was just so great, not merely for her world and these potential new allies she'd found in the witnesses, the High Commanders, and even Vehru, but also for her family to be whole again.

For many years Rory had struggled with nothing but her own will and the love of the people she called family. This time would be different. This time, Rory would have a highly advanced body and mind and others who were ready to fight, maybe even including these mysterious High Commanders.

"Things are changing, Jace." Rory stared at the black tower. "You have to believe in us and that we can win this war."

"I've always believed in us. It's the only thing I could believe in."

Rory met his eyes and thought of home–all the homes she'd ever had and the people she loved. When she returned to Earth, she'd make sure it was with the kind of weapons they had always needed to have to fight. No longer would she worry about how to hold the pieces of her family or identity back together. Rory could not let go of anyone.

Jace, Theo, Levi, her squad. Nothing would stop Rory from becoming who they needed her to be.

"Let's not waste anymore time." She walked ahead of Rolan and Jace to place her hand against the cold, looming door. If their willpower had brought them this far, what would they accomplish with synthetic bodies and powerful allies?

It was time to save her home.