Free Genesis (The Exodus Trilogy) by Andreas Christensen Page A

you asked for this meeting.” Kenneth paused, and when the governor hesitated, he continued. “So, are you ready to end this?” Havelar grimaced and looked around at all the armed men and women standing with weapons ready to fire at a moment’s notice.
    “Yes. Our war must end right here, right now,” he said. No demands of surrender, no proclamations of the will of a president of a dead country on a dead world, light-years away. Kenneth hadn’t expected this, even given the circumstances.
    “What are your demands?” he asked. “I’m not buying that you will simply lay down your arms. Not after what happened here.” He noticed the governor turning red, standing in the midst of the ruins of this place in which the rebellion was born. But he couldn’t tell whether it was embarrassment or anger.
    “No demands,” Havelar simply said. “I believe we share a common cause, after all.” Kenneth nodded. Of course, even with all their differences, both wanted to secure the survival of humans on Aurora, to create a new home for humanity on this planet. It was the means—and their visions for what sort of world it should be—that differed.
    “Come on, George. Enough of this. What’s going on?” he said.
    “Fort Andrews has fallen,” Havelar blurted, and Kenneth nodded again, impatient to hear the rest. Tina had told him as much, but he hadn’t known what to make of it. It was too unreal.
    “And if we don’t join our forces immediately, we’ll all be wiped out,” Havelar continued. He looked around, and Kenneth thought he saw his eyes misting. He had a hard time imagining George Havelar crying. The governor seemed to pull himself together and looked straight into his eyes.
    “You see, Kenneth, this is what I feared when I called for unity. This is why I was so adamant that we work together, and strengthen our position as quickly as possible.” Kenneth felt a shiver down his spine, as the enormity of it all hit home.
    “We’re not alone,” Kenneth almost whispered, lips quivering.
    “No. We’re not,” the governor answered.
    Maria solis
     
    Maria was standing beside the path leading toward the Stronghold. She had been planning to go north, back to the cave, but wanted to be at the Stronghold when the refugees from Fort Andrews came in. And of course, Thomas might be back sooner. At least, she hoped so. She was torn between wanting to go back to the cave to learn more of the Akhab, and wanting to stay to pursue the strange sensations tingling through her entire body every time she thought about Thomas. And then there was another person she was anxious to see. She looked at the refugees as the column snaked slowly by, searching for that person she hoped would be there, somewhere.
    The refugees from Fort Andrews couldn’t have looked any more dissimilar from one another. There were seasoned soldiers, with hard faces and eagle eyes scanning their former enemies as they moved under the watchful eyes of their northern counterparts. There were the draftees and volunteers, civilians dressed up as soldiers and carrying arms, but clearly green as grass, wide eyed and staring, as if they had seen more than they should have. Then there were the actual civilians, which made up the largest group, obviously. Everything from scientists dragged along in their lab coats to workers who’d run straight from tilling the barely thawed fields. There were children, too, some of which she recognized. Everyone looked dirty, grimy, and tired.
    She had already seen Tori, who had been one of the first of the civilians to come through the mountain pass. Maria thought her friend had seemed just the same as before, just tired from the long trek, and they had embraced and cried and laughed at the same time. Tori had moved on, though, because she was to go even further north, to what was rapidly becoming a fishing and farming village, and an important food source for the larger Stronghold. Tori’s specialty was agriculture, and the