Page 7 of Jace

“Did you learn about the Invicta guard assigned to him and forget all about that too?” Jace asked.

She laughed and then realized he wasn’t joking. The serious look on his face looked even more stern, if anything.

“Uh, no,” she said. “That definitely wasn’t mentioned. Does every Imberian baby have a guard?”

He frowned.

“What?” she asked.

“I will explain everything,” he told her. “From the beginning, to be sure.”

“Thank you,” she said as meekly as possible.

The poor guy seemed as stressed out as she was, though she couldn’t imagine why. He had known the plan from the start. Maybe it was all the wrecked spacecraft hulls they were passing. They were kind of creepy, if she was being honest. But she sensed it was more than that.

“Long, long ago,” he began, “the Invicta force was known only for the bravery and loyalty of its dragon warriors. The galaxy had enormous respect for our brotherhood.”

“That is still true,” Susannah pointed out.

“But it’s not quite the same,” he said. “Everyone knows what we did on Imber.”

Even she knew what he was talking about. He was right, everyone did, even the poor Terrans on their hard scrabble planets. But she clearly didn’t understand it the way he did.

“It was a mistake,” she said.

“Our forces annihilated what turned out to be an innocent planet,” he said sadly. “The gentle people of Imber are gone.”

“Not anymore,” she told him, gazing down at Zeke. “And besides, that was long before your time. There can’t be an Invicta alive who was involved in the destruction of Imber.”

“They are still my brothers,” he said immediately. “We are all responsible for the actions of our force. And it is my generation that received the honor of making what amends we can.”

“The Intergalactic Council allowed you to create pod babies from preserved Imberian DNA,” Susannah said.

“When they are grown, they will inherit their ancestral home,” he said reverently, gazing down at Zeke. “A wealth of minerals and beautiful land await them on Imber. The Invicta have guarded it for a long time. Soon, we can finally restore it to Imberian hands.”

“So, he was truly created with Imberian DNA,” she said.

“Of course,” Jace retorted. “This is why I must safeguard him until he is of age. Just as I guarded his pod while he grew.”

“If he is Imberian…” Susannah trailed off, trying to think of a polite way to ask her question.

“If he is Imberian, what?” Jace asked impatiently.

“Why does he look like you?” Her words came out louder than she meant and hung in the air for a moment.

“The people of Imber instinctively adjust themselves to match the people they spend time with,” Jace said.

“Like chameleons?” Susannah asked.

“Something like that,” he said. “It was a helpful trait for the residents of a planet that was in the path of so many intergalactic trade routes. Zeke looks like me because I’ve spent so much time guarding him.”

“Incredible,” she breathed. “Like a baby bird imprinting.”

But birds did that with parents. Maybe this dragon warrior was more to the baby than just a guard.

They walked on in silence for a long while, passing more of what she’d begun to think of as ghost ships along the path as the sun began to hang low in the sky.

“Are you tired?” he asked after she’d slowed considerably.

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