This was full-on warfare.
Jeval’s heart sank like a stone. He said, “Take us out of here, Talon.”
Talon said, “I thought you’d never ask.”
The ships formed a line and sped away from the warp, heading east, heading toward the fleet of Federation ships run by a rebel general and the father of their biggest ally and enemy.
But even those things were not enough to take his mind off the truth that had just hit him right between his eyes. It was the truth; he knew it was the truth.
The old Oracle had said that one would come to take her place. That it would be centuries before it happened but that one would come. They had all chosen to believe her because they had no choice. She had refused to leave the surface of their original planet, claiming that she had seen already down to the end of her days and that that was where she would die. She had been gravely wounded, and the odds of her being able to survive her wounds had been low anyway, but leaving her behind had been a terrible blow to the morale of those who had escaped. Not everyone on his original planet had been lucky enough to make it to the ships in time to leave the surface before the planet was eaten by a warp.
An Oracle.
Margie?
Was it possible that Margie was their new Oracle?
He walked into the chamber he shared with her to find her stepping out of the cleansing chamber. His eyes went right to her abdomen; it was swollen, and he knew then that it was not Margie who was the Oracle that his people had long since awaited.
All of his defenses crumbled. “You’re carrying a child.”
Her head moved up and down. “Yes.”
“It was the child who spoke to you.”
She nodded. “How did you know?”
His breath came in a hard and awed gasp. “The Oracle comes.”
She stared at him. “I don’t understand.”
Jeval closed his eyes. “The Oracle brings great war and the possibility of great peace. It’s true then. The Federation will fall. Not should fall. Not must fall. Will.”
The End
