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daughter’s ire and to lessen the blow to herself from saying the words aloud. “Because you shouldn’t have to hear your mother called a traitor. I didn’t want you to see any of this.
    “I hate that you’ve been gone for four months, but now, honestly, I wish you’d stayed away another one.”
    “You think I care what some svoloch politician says about you? What you’re doing is incredible. And it was a great speech. Hell, I was moved.”
    The last part was delivered in a teasing tone, and she relaxed; part of her had worried Alex would be disappointed in her somehow. It seemed foolish in retrospect. “I did try.”
    “Do you think it will work?”
    Caleb joined them then, and Miriam accepted a quick hug from him before responding. “It won’t prevent bloodshed, if that’s what you mean. Will it bring me the support of the people I need to pull this off? Will it win over the hearts and minds of the rank and file, of the masses? Maybe. I’m not a politician or a public speaker. I’m not…” her chin dropped “…I’m not exactly a charismatic figure. This isn’t what I do.”
    Alex smiled. “Sure it is. You do what is required in the circumstances, right? You always have.”
    The cryptic insinuation reminded Miriam where Alex had been these last months. “I suppose I do. What did you find?”
    “Through the portal?” Alex’s gaze drifted to Caleb, and they exchanged a weighty look. “We can talk about it later. You have a counterinsurgency to lead right now.”
    That was true enough. Off to her left an officer hurried up to Rychen, and they conferred in hushed tones. She fought the urge to rush over and hear the news this instant. Was the officer corps falling her way or abandoning her in droves?
    Futzing to and fro like a schoolgirl wasn’t going to change the answer, so she imposed calm on herself and refocused her attention on Alex. “Very well. But answer one question for me: can anything you’ve learned help me here and now? Is there anything I’ll later wish I had known today?”
    Alex’s expression grew uncommonly solemn, and Miriam realized her daughter looked tired. Strained. Concern flared, but discovering the reason for the strain would take longer than she had at present.
    “Just know it’s vitally important for you to get this one right. I mean, of course it is, clearly. But if we—people, all of us—head down the wrong path now, it will have grave consequences beyond the obvious. You need to win this fight. We need to be the good guys.”
     

2
    MESSIS I
    E ARTH A LLIANCE O RBITAL S TATION
M ESSIUM S TELLAR S YSTEM
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    “ W HY DIDN’T YOU tell her?”
    “Tell her humanity’s ancestors are the worst mass murderers in the history of the cosmos? That they’ve run roughshod over entire galaxies, killed untold trillions, committed genocide on countless species and are now the most reviled, feared beings in the multiverse?”
    Caleb sank into one of the chairs scattered around the small breakroom an officer had directed them to. “Yeah. That.”
    “Somehow it didn’t strike me as the pep talk she’d be hoping for. It hardly provides the inspiration needed to keep fighting.”
    “But it does.” She sensed him watching her as she wandered through the room searching for…she wasn’t sure. “It’s the best and most important reason to keep fighting.”
    “Which is what I did tell her. That she seriously, no-shit needed to win.” Alex massaged her face with her hands, trying to revive herself a bit. Projecting a bright, spirited persona for the benefit of her mother had been draining.
    “I want to stay here for a while longer—talk to Richard and find out more details on how screwed up the situation really is, then try to catch a few minutes with Mom if I can. You should go see Mia and reassure yourself she actually is doing well.”
    “You don’t want to come with me?”
    “I already know Mia’s doing well.” She forced a smile and tapped a fingernail to her