Location Unknown

2027

Rory had come to know a great deal over the past twenty years, but standing before twelve biosynthetic humans made her feel as lost as when she'd awakened on an alien planet with no memory.

Their faces were blurred by a hovering translucent screen that masked their identities no matter what angle Rory viewed them at. The only reason she could even discern that their form indeed was synthetic was that the fingers sticking out from their heavy cloaks held that subtle metallic sheen. Rolan, alone, stood unmasked before Rory and Jace.

The ceiling stretched so high above them that she could not even see it. Light faded to darkness overhead like the wrong end of a bottomless pit. Despite the height of the circular room, the circumference almost seemed too small for even this modest gathering. Twelve chairs formed a semicircle with two smaller ones positioned directly ahead.

The synthetic humans all sat, except for Rolan, who presumably would take the center tall-backed chair.

"We thank you for joining us. Please." Rolan extended a hand to the chairs. "Sit."

Jace watched Rory for a moment before she nodded and they both sat. He seemed stiff and uncertain that he'd made the right choice.

Only then did Rolan take his place. "I apologize for bringing you two here so suddenly and for all the secrecy. As I told you before, we come at great risk to ourselves and to our mission. I know you do as well."

Rory studied one of the High Commands, masked by the hovering screen, trying to see how much of the man's features she could make out. "It's hard to dismiss potential allies when we have none. That only makes me more wary, though. Desperation breeds foolishness. So forgive us if we're a little skeptical."

"I would never expect anything else. Your request for a synthetic body would have been denied outright in the old days. Commanders are carefully selected and only given enhanced forms after their planets have been conquered. But these are unusual times."

"Why's that?" Jace asked.

"Because the clash between the old way and progress is like tectonic plates grinding together. Soon we will all feel the quake of that great force. This is much larger than your planet, your mission, or the commanders charged with leading you. However, the war between Vehru and Morfrain mirrors the larger division within the Federation."

Rory and Jace both looked at one another. Was this true or was Rolan only trying to find common ground in order to sway them to his side?

"Some want Morfrain out. His lackluster performance when compared to Vehru will give her an edge when their war becomes public. Loyalty cannot trump results. Their shake-up will come in the midst of other conflicts and changes. Since it is not time to replace either Morfrain or Vehru, and we have not prepared their predecessors, there's the opportunity to bring the two of you in."

"But you said the war isn't public yet." Suspicion crept into her tone.

"That doesn't mean it's unknown. Morfrain has requested Jace and now Vehru has requested you, Rory. The division is clear. With our support, we could have one of you named commander-in-training while the other receives a synthetic body as part of the deal for commanders to bring along two family members into the Federation."

"Do you really think the Federation will trust us?" Jace leaned forward, the look in his eye better suited for the battlefield than this conversation. "They've been able to read our minds for a long time now."

"Not all Commanders begin their experience willing or even considering conquering worlds. It was well-known that Vehru planned to use her synthetic body to turn on the Federation."

How could that be? Rory blinked hard. "Then why did they give her a body?"

"Because the Federation determined that she would eventually come to our side. Vehru wanted to help her planet so badly that she bent her knee to her sworn enemy and took a body, knowing that rebellion would surely end in her death. The truth is that what's best for her planet is to serve as Commander. So her service was inevitable."

Then if the Federation gave them new bodies, they believed that she and Jace would actually conquer planets. "I would never do it." Maybe it was the exact wrong thing to say, but what good would lying do when they'd been able to read her mind? Worse, their sophisticated AI could study her and compare the observations to her thoughts. There was no hiding.

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

"Unfortunately, you and Jace as a team always proves to be incredibly dangerous. Because while it's true that you would never conquer a planet, clearly you would pursue the option of getting synthetic bodies. You already have. And after the family has these forms, Jace will come to the realization that he must serve the Federation to save you. Denying this role once already proved so hard for him. To take a body would mean denying it over and over, endlessly."

Discomfort tightened Rory's stomach.

"Even if Jace could withstand this pressure long-term, he would see that the next Commander would take his place, and his protest would mean nothing. Like Vehru, he would choose to conquer worlds in order to save his family and to bring peace to Lumiea. Even to Earth."

"No." Jace growled the word. "I said no once and I meant it. This work would destroy my family, not save them."

"Say no a thousand times. Two thousand. How many times can you say it while your wife and son are in their hands?"

This had been a mistake. But it was also their only hope. "So what's the point? You claimed that you had some kind of plan for us."

"We want to end the conquest system and you can help us. I'm merely explaining why the Federation can so confidently give bodies to the two of you."

"How many worlds will we have to conquer first?" The anger in Jace's voice seemed ill-advised to her at first, but she realized he just had picked up on the unspoken faster than she had. "You must have brought Vehru in on this plan too. She's still out ripping apart families."

Rolan looked to the side. No one spoke, but the look in his eye told her he communicated with someone. They must have been speaking through their AI interfaces.

"We don't know."

The concession, the honesty, stunned Rory.

"I won't conquer any. Neither will Jace."

But Rolan didn't believe her. The pity in his sad smile said it so clearly. "You don't understand what we're up against. All this time, you've fought a hopeless war. You've watched the rebels on your planet do the same. For a hundred years they've battled in the past, fighting a war already lost. But that is not our fight." His voice raised like a war cry. "We can and will win."

The power of his confidence stilled even her heart.

"It's admirable that you would sacrifice everything on the principle of never surrendering and the desperation of needing to save your worlds and your family. But it will not save you from defeat. Your plan to take bodies and rebel can never work. I believe you know this. It's simply the best shot you can take."

The truth of it crushed her heart.

"War is never just or right, especially when you intend to win."

Rory lowered her head, needing to break the spell of his forceful message. "There's always a way. There has to be."

"Why?" Rolan did not ask sarcastically or haughtily, but sadly. "If only such rules truly governed the universe."

"It is not so easy to convince us to become a woman even my child calls Death." Her husband rose from his chair now and cast a look from one end of the High Commanders to the other. "Any crime can be justified with enough passion."

"If you can find a better way, we will take it. We want to win this war as soon as possible." Rolan seemed to mean what he said.

They had no way of knowing whether they could trust these people, much less how true their claims were. "You must have an estimation," Rory said. "How many more years will this take?"

The long sigh he released twisted her insides.

"With the progress we've made and the setbacks we've suffered, at least three hundred more years. Likely longer."

Jace turned and ran his hand over his face. Rory couldn't move or breathe.

But she didn't even need to think about it. With her stare resolute, she locked eyes on Rolan.

"We'll take the synthetic bodies." Her chin lifted. "And we'll use them to save every planet. Not just our own."

With nothing to back up her promise, Rory did not attempt to justify what she'd said. Instead, she kept her stare steady.

If Rory capitulated now, how could she hope to win the war for Earth? She would make a way, even if no one else saw one.

Jace, Theo, and her squad would help. The people of Earth would help. Even her son, her sweet Levi, would try to do his part.

"I have never fought a hopeless war." Rory looked to Jace now, remembering their promise when they were young and they'd sworn themselves to this fight. "I have always firmly held onto to the hope and the faith that we will win. No one can convince me to surrender."

Rory rose as well, standing beside her husband as he turned to face the High Commanders again.

"We will take a synthetic body and then we'll show you how to win a war."

It must have sounded crazy for her to say these things, but she'd fought against rebels who refused to give up hope when it should have been impossible to hold. Rory had far more at her disposal than they ever did.

Though she expected Rolan to chastise her or laugh at her, he stood to meet her. Quiet for a few moments longer, he finally nodded.

"If anything can make the impossible possible, surely it is faith, and the fortitude of a woman who stitched back together a family torn between two worlds."

Rolan didn't believe. She could feel it. But he honored her sincerity now with his platitudes.

Truth was, Rory couldn't convince him to think otherwise. She couldn't convince herself to believe her own words.

Rory just knew that she had to save the people and the worlds she loved and that if she didn't believe it was possible, then she'd already given up.

"We will do this," she said.

And despite all odds, her heart felt as certain as if she'd had a vision of the future.

Because even though she refused to become Vehru or to spend hundreds of years conquering planets while this shadow alliance waged a long coup, Rory did realize she had more than just her people. If she was smart, she could work with Vehru and this alliance as well.

It was time to put an end to the Federation's terror and to save the planet she'd come to love.