“That is going to take time, Jace. Time we don’t have,” his mother admitted slowly. “We have people who do know who are suited for diplomacy.”
“Like?” Jace asked.
Her lips twitched. “Me, actually.”
He blinked. “Oh. Oh!”
A blush heated his mother’s cheeks. “I’ve been playing that role in a small way with all representatives from the Alliance. Now, I can play a larger role and represent humanity to the Council and beyond.”
Jace had no doubts that his mother would be brilliant at it. “Yeah, well, yeah, I see that. You’d be perfect.”
“I’m glad you think so, because your word is going to have a lot of weight,” she told him carefully.
At that moment, Thammah landed. The gangway practically popped open and her voice came from inside, “Woo hoo, General! Time to get on board the Thammah train!”
The General snorted. “It’s hard to believe that she’s the same species as the others.”
“I think she was exiled for that reason,” Jace replied. “But I like her.”
Another member of the crew! Gehenna cried.
Yeah, I think so, Jace agreed.
“I’ll see you in the Osiris,” the General told them and headed to the Kryptoria II with a half dozen soldiers following after him.
As soon as the gangway closed, Jace said to his parents, “I’ve got some ideas that I want to run by you both. About being independent.”
“I thought you might go that route. If you aren’t under the US Military’s command, you’ll have more room to maneuver,” his mother agreed.
“Yeah. I have humanity’s best interests at heart. And I want us to be part of all of this,” he told her. “But General Intoshkin can’t be calling the shots. Not even you guys can be.”
He was surprised when both his parents exchanged a glance that seemed to indicate this wasn’t a surprise to them.
“You’re a natural at this, Jace,” his father said with admiration, but a little sadness too. “You were chosen as the Pilot for a reason.”
“I just know what I want right now,” Jace said, his heart feeling heavy in his chest as he looked for Khoth, but didn’t see him standing there like always.
“You need to be careful showing her how much you like Khoth,” his mother broke in.
His head jerked towards her. “I… he’s a friend!”
His mother’s eyebrows rose. It was almost a Khoth-like rise. “Of course, he is.”
“He is!” Jace sounded a little shrill. “He’s just been there. For all of this. And he’s handy with weapons!”
And he gives really good hugs.
“He has a lot of competing interests, Jace,” his father said in a relatively neutral way. “Just remember that.”
Jace wanted to protest. But neither of his parents was truly saying anything that wasn’t true. Yet Khoth mattered to him. Really mattered. And he couldn’t deny that either.
“I’ll remember,” Jace said finally.
“I’ll see you both later. I need to go and take care of things here,” his mother said.
Both of them hugged her. She actually turned and patted one of Gehenna’s tentacles as she passed, going towards the soldiers and a Jeep that awaited her, which had Gehenna practically floating twelve feet into the air. Her crush had noticed her! Jace bit down on his snickering.
Then with a renewed sense of purpose, he asked, “Ready to fly, Dad? Maybe to the Moon and back?”
