Witness [A First Contact Romance]-COMPLETE

65. Inklings of Trust

Earth

2027

Vehru sat in the chair across the room from Jace and Rory with a fresh bottle of vodka in hand. The image of Rory proclaiming that she'd accept the biomechanical body was stuck in her mind. "What were you thinking?"

"That I have no other choice." Rory held Jace's hand as he slept in the medical pod. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"You don't know what you just got yourself into." Vodka flowed like acid down her throat. "I've made it as far as I have because I've actually conquered planets. You cannot simply take a synthetic body and not do the job."

Bronze eyes tore away from Jace to focus intently upon Vehru. Her Witness had changed, no longer the naive and singularly focused Aeryn, nor the trusting and sharp Rory who had navigated a foreign planet without her memory. This woman looked like the one who had risen from the ground of Fort Freedom on Liberation Day and promised Vehru that she'd made a mistake. "Are you telling me you plan to fail?"

A moment of confusion passed over Vehru. "Fail?"

"You've been going on and on about how you plan to change things. The future can be different. You have ties with the Federation and have cultivated a good relationship. Jace and I can actually help create a better system."

"That easy? You think you can make a better one than I can?"

"I don't know who you once were." Her knowing gaze did not waver. "Before the Federation conquered your world, before Morfrain tormented you, before you twisted yourself into an invader–I don't know who that woman was. She's gone now, though, and the things you've done have changed you. You aren't capable of creating peace."

If Vehru could make peace then she wouldn't war with her vodka every night, so this was not something she could refute. These plans had been in the making a long time, though, and Rory didn't have the experience to know a better way. "You've lost whatever hope your family had for peace once the war is over."

"There was never going to be any peace after the war. As we speak, you have troops all over Earth deceiving desperate people in every nation. By the time this is true, you'll have turned families against one another and ensured a life without freedom forever. What kind of peace is that? I grew up on Lumiea. There was no peace in my life."

Vehru leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Updates from her Replica came through periodically. They had not managed to entirely suppress the footage that Rory released, but they did remove it quickly as it resurfaced. So far, there had been no word of the data Rory dropped. They'd managed to keep it hidden and quiet. These were only setbacks, though. It wouldn't stop the invasion.

"Getting your bodies won't be easy, you'll have to meet with the High Commanders, and agree to their terms. When you return, you'll be getting used to new forms while Earth is in the middle of a war. Morfrain should deny your request because your job as Witness is too important to go fooling around with a synthetic body at one of the most critical times in your mission."