Exos: Before the War | Sci-fi Short Audiobook

please consider subscribing to the channel if  you enjoyed today's story thank you for listening exos Before the War by pe Rowe to think of a  time before the war is to think of a fantasy it seems to me now to a time when we had the  luxury of indifference when choices weren't existential didn't tear families apart that was  exos then a playground where my children were to grow unmolested by the realities of their human  past here we are haunted all over again my fears the same fears of a trilli

on mothers preceding all  told we were still lucky when the trasp came to us it wasn't a sudden shock in the dead of night in  the form of explosions and death as it was with so many others they arrived in an oddly shaped vessel  we quickly absorbed the manner of for war vessels were soon to predominate the space around us the  trasp demanded access to our system's political Authority knowing full well there was no one  such Authority in Garvin a that they told us was no longer acceptable they'd

be making specific  demands of us and there would be an authority to be held accountable if for no better reason than  to know whom to discuss consequences with should be failed to live up to their demands consequences  was a terrifying word to a collection of peoples with no means of defense and a population  living overwhelmingly on cylinders orbiting the two planetary outposts of garbanates Rocky  inner worlds to intentionally lay open the inner portions of our bulky homes to the vacuum of 

space was no major challenge for even that first trespore ship we'd naively relied on our  neutrality distance and peaceful nature thinking that the virgin in Conflict couldn't spread to us  out of the direct path as we were between uterus and the trash protectorate suddenly after nearly a  full year of Rumblings here they were and here we were a network of floating cans ready to be shot  out of the Stars little more than target practice the only limiting factor the number of slugs the  trasp ha

d carried for the occasion that and the possibility that we could do something for them  more useful than cease to exist so they dealt us demands instead of Destruction for us that was the  first lesson of warfare never destroy resources that could be more useful producing for your  cause than no longer producing at all this was the entire point of the trash demands exclusivity  no longer were we to export resources to driesens or helenia before offering them to trasp they  promised two percent

above Market costs on all products in exchange for right of first refusal  all official relations with utterus commercial or political would cease immediately when the  alternative was destruction and death it hardly seemed a choice but there was no official body  or person with the authority to make that choice on behalf of both settlements which was to say  nothing of the hundreds of individual cylinders in each group realizing the state of political  Anarchy they'd found us in the trasp gave

us three months to form a Unified Government and accept  their terms leaving the consequences unspoken then they Departed the Han Outpost though  neighbors kept their political matters to themselves and were happy to have of us on exos  do the same even cylinder to cylinder there was no particular governing body established that  time had come none of us were political animals that fact was what had brought us out of the four  major civilizations of the battery into the quiet of independent comm

ercial life most of us had deep  space qualifications largely in mining but hardly limited to that one Enterprise we had an abundance  of AG Specialists Builders Traders engineers and Bot handlers we'd have remained well positioned  to survive independently if not for the want of Fighters and power Brokers among the neophytes  who went charging into that now obvious vacuum was my husband Brian David Bretton whom everyone  knew as BD except for our two daughters who knew him as Daddy nearly every

one was grateful BD did  jump into The Fray Brian David was well respected liked certainly smart and good looking often too  much so for his own good BD was well known on the EXO cylinders as a winner and a lead later in his  younger years he'd Captain the Barth foxes and led us to two exos wide football championships winning  one system-wide title though such a low population system as ours didn't boast Professionals of  the caliber found on atho sciopos or helenia our little Barth boxes meant

something to us and  the rest of exos BD was a natural choice and a popular one it wasn't merely loyalty that overrode  the misgivings I had about BD being back in the spotlight again I knew him better than anyone  despite his personal flaws he was clear-headed under pressure calculating smart even ruthless  whenever he saw an opportunity an opponent didn't yet recognize if any Among Us was going to see the  field more clearly than BD I certainly didn't know who it was if there was ever a time f

or him to  step back into the Limelight this had to be it we discussed it for several days before I gave him my  blessing my encouragement even our two settlements formed the first exploratory panel within 4 48  Hours both urgency and the people demanded a near immediate response our group of self-sufficient  engineers and skilled trades folk suffered none of the counterproductive infighting common to  political processes on larger systems it's harder was drafted from a template and individuated

with  the help of AI strategists based on population distribution six representatives were to be chosen  from Han five from the cylinders and one from the planetary Outpost while exos would have five total  wraps again with one from the planetary Outpost and four from the cylinders PD was elected with 62  percent of the vote in our district expediency was preferred to a thorough campaign otherwise some  of the political problems I came to pose would likely have come out as candidates were being

  vetted four days after the trash Baltimore the 11 Representatives met for the first time to discuss  the garbanate systems response at that point the mood at least in the Barth cylinder where BD and  I made our home was that acceptance of the trash terms was a foregone conclusion I suspected that  was only because the shock of the situation had led to a strange Collective paralysis a near  complete unwillingness to explore alternative paths forward it wasn't just my ataran background  that inf

ormed my strong belief that a robust debate needed to be held it was the principle  of cherishing our independence for so long and then rushing to ratify trasps subservience at the  first threat without even a hearing I'd have felt the same way had the warship been a Terran when  BD arrived home to Barth following two straight days on Han where the talks were being held I  did my best to absorb what little he revealed of the proceedings I'd resolved while he was away to  try not to impose my vie

wpoint but when it became clear to me that the hearings were trending more  toward formality than debate I waited until we'd put the girls to bed before asking him whether  Alternatives were being discussed he glared at me nearly three straight days away from home  discussing nothing else Minka in the first minute we have a Alone Together you pull me right back  to it I saw it and tried to get him to make eye contact with me it's only the outpost's future  our girl's future BD you didn't think y

ou'd get off that easy with me no he said of all people I  figured you'd have something contrarian to say he got up from the sofa and offered me a glass of  wine I declined and he helped himself I could tell by the way he poured the wine he was upset  with me I let him stew on it for nearly a minute in silence after he returned and sat beside me the  longer I sat quietly the more frustrated he became it's a serious responsibility he said I take it  seriously that's why the people selected you lo

ve I am their representative he said not ours there  it is yes there it is five minutes of quiet time alone and you couldn't wait a minute more to  put me in an ethical conflict I couldn't help but laugh please BD tell me about your ethical  conflict merely discussing the most consequential decision in the history of this settlement with  your wife the mother of your daughters he shook his head inside no please I said we agreed not to  discuss the meetings with friends and family the rumor mill

is bad enough already the rumors I've  heard save all but agreed to the trasp terms and their rumors there's much to be determined have  you determined when there will be a public hearing BD because if I don't have a say here I'll make  sure I have one where my thoughts can be heard I appreciate that you are supportive of me Minka  after everything and I assure you every point we discuss is with the security of the system at the  foremost of our minds but you must appreciate that even if you mad

e a compelling case against this  arrangement I couldn't be the one to Champion it you're a terror and wife exactly my Italian wife  but I'm not really a Terran that should stand for something and I certainly wouldn't suggest we  Ally with them you're going to tell me anyway Minka you may as well now all I want is an  assurance that we've explored other options you're presuming we haven't but please I'll listen  if you have an idea we haven't considered helenian driesen Speedy aren't getting inv

olved they've  pledged neutrality as did we until we had our hands forced I said treason's rings are vulnerable  Are you seriously suggesting the trash would open a front with driesens and helenia while fighting  Ataris as well no what I'm suggesting is that driesens and helenia would have caused to feel  a lot more secure with the lettered systems and all the independent outposts as neutral peaceful  onlookers with their backing rather than having the entirety of the battery erupting into  conf

lict let them back a strong line far from the Eastern battery a buffer if we could  persuade them to back the independent systems that would vocalize the conflict and they and  everyone else in the sector would be safer for it I could tell by the way he bristled in silenced  for nearly half a minute that it was a position that hadn't been considered and all those hours  of meetings on Han which was exactly why there should have been open hearings I told him as  much when he'd finished musing ove

r the idea for long enough to turn and look at me they've  been clear about their intention to stay out of the conflict then we convinced them of the truth  BD they won't stay clear this demand from trasp is already an act of aggression against the treasons  the Lesser Risk by far will be in militarizing and backing the independence of the smaller systems  in what of trasp he said how do they react when they find out the first thing we did was run off  to driesens and helenia for their protectio

n we're still more useful to trasp alive is the fear of  their overreaction really greater than the real chance we could retain our independence and avoid  war he stroked his chin you have quite a head for this Minka perhaps it should have been you in the  room this week nobody wanted my head in there love I said they wanted your head a figurehead you mean  they did get a better looking head and figure I said stroking the hair above his ear you might be  the only one who believes that love I'd c

ertainly debate you on that point BD was correct about  one major point that I was totally unprepared for my ataran surname Romero was now an Infamous  surname and I had been here in the safety of our home surrounded by our close friends and Neighbors  in public debate was no longer just the sensible thing free people's did even if it wasn't meant to  do so it signaled more than simple diligence and thoroughness of thought people were picking sides  and this was not Parsons DSE versus Barth foxe

s this was existential questioning the plan meant  something now and even though nothing had been decided everyone was already behaving as though  it had Brian David was correct about perceptions I could not be seen to Champion my proposition  both because of my Heritage and because of the perception of nepotism it would surely project  nor could BD Advance the proposal for the same reasons we would need another champion a Fearless  One and in the moment courage seemed in short supply BD departe

d for Han the first thing  the following morning for another three days promising to explore the idea of petitioning the  dreesins with a few of the sympathetic delegates with Brian David's renewed public profile I'd been  wary of stepping out beyond our neighborhood where he was well liked publicly and respected for the  friend and neighbor he was in our small District Barth was a large residential cylinder though and  though most of my memories from his football days were of overwhelming publi

c support I still  had Vivid memories of the few bad incidents in the weight of the public eye this time too  it was politics not sport but I also knew I could Model A Life lived in fear to the girls so  I decided to take them out for lunch at the food court by the south aperture it had an excellent  view of the planet in the viewing gallery and the benefit of a meal I didn't have to prepare at  the restaurants what I was unprepared for was the entirely different tenor of the public gaze  there

was a certain restrained politeness to it on behalf of the children I guessed but the mood was  almost palpatly dark something bubbling beneath the people's Spirit far beyond the anxiety and  concern for the fate of our sleepy little corner of the Galaxy as we sat doing our best to gaze out  at exos and the Stars even the girls who were far too young to understand what was happening around  them they sensed that the energy of the place was wrong darkening unwelcome it was a very quiet  lunch it

was a long walk from our apartment to the aperture and I brought the stroller for Bella  because of it on the way back I let trune push her and I found myself scanning the crowd like I  imagined a security agent must while guarding a high-profile client anticipating danger with each  swivel of the head Barth had never felt other than a safe and loving home to us something had changed  that I didn't yet have the sense for I talked to BD very briefly that night on a call when he  got out of sessio

n he didn't have much energy left after their long day mostly he said they were  listening to concerns from the different factions mining Representatives transport The Growers  fears were building that once trasp had their exclusivity at gunpoint their demands would grow  as the war deepened the representatives discussed our growth potential and realistic benchmarks  for delivery then one of the miners asked the question nobody had dared to ask before if  the trash will take our medals at gunpoi

nt what's to stop them from demanding we make war  machines for them or even worse what's to stop them from conscripting our children if they grow  starved for Fighters or skilled laborers those questions had derailed the entire evening BD said  valid questions I told him he was quiet he knew where I stood unfortunately he'd yet to make any  significant progress swaying anyone to take up our position the common response was that we were far  too distant from driesen's system for Athos and iofos

to ever stick out their neck so far that's  my point to begin with BD I said to move the line so far they never feel threatened I understand he  said I'm trying to make the case I love you Minka I need to go kiss the girls for me I to go it was  an Abrupt end to a brief time to speak that day I didn't even get a chance to tell him about lunch  with the girls my concerns I had the sense there was more something more but he was gone so fast  the following day I contacted Michelle Omega she was amo

ng the few people on all of exos who shared  a similar background to me having been educated on ederis before moving out to Garvin 8 with her  former spouse she was originally from hellenia initially for reasons I wasn't ready to admit  were real Michelle was reluctant to meet me for lunch finally when I couldn't take the hint she  just said it I don't want to be seen with you Minka it's not that I have any suspicions  about you your husband is the rep for the whole District but the two of us to

gether it  wouldn't look good for either of us Michelle Minka this is getting serious come to the house  then we don't have to go out she sighed and I waited through a long uncomfortable pause before  she finally agreed to meet me at the apartment she appeared that afternoon wearing a hooded  shirt that hung nearly halfway over her eyes and she stepped inside the second I opened the  door Michelle explained that she'd been receiving undue attention from friends and colleagues about  her backgrou

nd on uterus and that suspicion she feared would only flare up further if she was seen  with the nataran people were talking about me and apparently there was some resentment toward BD for  not being more open about my background before the vote as though we should have anticipated their  totally unwarranted paranoia about my loyalties that's the word for it Michelle said paranoia  people looking over their shoulders looking for trash informers the Terran spies that's how  it happened at Veronia

they say nobody knows that I said I know menka but try telling a mob of  paranoid people there being unreasonable somebody has to you first we have to live here Michelle  these are our friends and neighbors something about the way she cast her eyes to the side made  me think she had other plans I inquired with the long look helenia she said I won't work for them  Minka not them I'm not the only one either really how many I know 10 or 15 people on Barth alone  I have a cousin in Gracia I'm going

to stay with his family until I find a place just until the  conflict is over I hope there's something to come back to Minka I really do I love exos or  at least what it was but I see here now I don't recognize I know we don't see each other much  anymore but I'll be sorry to see you go if you and BD ever need out she said we can get you out  I laughed BD and I can't leave he's the district rep she Shrugged offer stands Minka Michelle  stayed for a few more hours and played with the girls when

she left she hugged me as though she  never expected to see me again it seemed surreal the following day we stayed in the visit with  Michelle and the walk to the aperture had left me very much unsettled to the point I thought I  should discuss our safety with BD before I went out with the girls again genuine violence was  extremely rare on exos but as Michelle had made clear exos was changing I'd felt it too when I  spoke to BD again the following evening he told me he'd had some traction with

one of the key members  of the commission I didn't know for certain in the moment but I had a sense for which of the other  tenet was it's very tenuous Minka but I suspect we can get it discussed with reasons we're going  to need to set up everything properly perfect encryption and assurances of secrecy on their end  our people are very wary of this getting back to the trasp darcia's father can get us in touch with  people in the government on Athos then it'll be a few weeks before we expect to

hear anything back  from them in the meantime we're going to have to prepare to deal with the trasp it was better news  than a firm no but it sounded like a long shot it does make sense to be prepared for both eventual I  told him I've invited darcia back to exoseminka I want you to meet her I think you'll like her she's  got a great mind for this political stuff just like you sure I said I had been correct about BD's  Ally on the council it was always going to be her when Brian David arrived ho

me from Han the  following evening he introduced us to darcia Marty before her election to represent the Han  Outpost she was the youngest lead engineer on their mining service she'd come from a family of  prodigious mining industrialists from Athos whose many branches reached far out across the battery  and back to Athos again the Marty family wielded political power nearly as foundational as the  metal structures upon which the trillions and driesens made their home for most I imagine it was 

difficult to see that level of depth in darcia for outwardly she seemed A sharp beautiful young  woman but she gave very little away to me she was instantly too familiar a far more dangerous  shade of old troubles long buried I could tell that even socially maybe especially socially she  was calculating and brilliant the girls were just finishing up dinner when they arrived and it  struck me that darcio is always the perfect distance from us the girls were both thrilled to  have Daddy home of co

urse and excited to have this new visitor darcya sensed whenever a step further  forward would have seemed intrusive and she had a way of standing right on the cusp of awkwardness  or overstepping watching our family smiling she was pleasant and complimentary and patient when  BD and I took turns over the course of the hour required to put two excited young children to  bed lovely wine she said when I traded places with BD as we put truni down glad you think so I  said I wouldn't have guessed it

'd be any better than what you have on Han miners aren't exactly  known for our high standards when it comes to food and drink even one from your family the extended  family that's a different story Minka I was born here though my people are Han Roughnecks it was  an obvious lie darcia Marty was no roughneck there was a long awkward silence and during it I felt  compelled to get up and help myself to a glass of wine as well by the time I joined her again she  sensed that I wanted to know about A

thos I didn't even ask the question she just started talking  about it the ethosians are of the strong belief that The Independents are too fragmented to risk  Alliance building if there are any Unity among the letters in the smaller systems it might be a  different story but the reality for them is that defending their own system with united front and  overwhelming force is a safer bet than stepping between two warring Empires they see isolationism  as the only play it's a mistake I said from o

ur perspective perhaps their strategists and  AIS game the situation from their position they don't foresee any conditions under which  either warring faction aggresses against them not so long as they're engaged with each other  what do any of us know about war I said darcia Shrugged in a way that suggested she knew more  than she was willing to share so we just roll over for trash then I said we still have a few  more people to talk to and a few more cards to play she said my family has more i

nfluence on  helenia than indrisons nothing settled yet just then BD came into the room we were just discussing  dreesins she informed Brian David as he poured himself a glass of wine I know it's not the news  any of us wanted I found myself struggling to hold my tongue as BD sat beside me stretching his arm  over my neck he knew me well enough that he could sense nearly every layer of emotion bubbling  beneath the polite face I was wearing we don't have a lot of information Minka at least not g

ood  information BD said the fighting is picked up out by Berea point in the inner campus Veronia from  what we hear is all but obliterated it won't be long before the fighting spreads throughout the  letters BD tells me of family out there darcia said don't we all she conceded as much with a  look you've spent time on eteris darcia asked me I have University what do you make of all  this she asked this madness I don't recognize it the Italian people I know them far too well to  believe they've

chosen this path for themselves it seems they did though she said not everything is  as it seems you want to believe the best in them BD said and you want to forget that we're making  deals with the very people who came to us issuing ultimatums for our lives at gunpoint it's an ugly  business BD said the rest was just small talk we sat and zipped a few more glasses of wine  before BD and I were too exhausted to continue being polite any longer darcia though looked as  though she could have gone

on all night smiling pleasantly in our living room that she could  play politics all day long and still negotiate our family's household so effortlessly baffled  me I found every second exhausting I went off to bed and waited for BD to get her settled in the  guest room when he came into the bedroom a few minutes later he stood just inside the doorway it  was almost like we could read each other so well we didn't need to talk anymore I'm exhausted he  said can we wait until she's gone Minka when

is she leaving in the morning I shook my head what  needs to be said an awful lot Minka he said just not tonight I lay down and rolled over it wasn't  the first time we'd slept with our backs to each other it might have been the first time I was  tired enough to sleep well despite the anger I dreamed about the birds on helenia only they  weren't robotic they were real birds feather and Bone a heartbeat I dreamed I held one in my hands  terrified I would crush its delicate body and when I threw

it into the air it flapped its wings and  flew away in the morning darcia took coffee but she didn't eat she insisted that she had a shuttle  to catch as she was leaving she knelt to say goodbye to truny who'd taken a liking to darcia's  easy Manner and pretty smile darcia brushed her hair in just such a way with her thumb that I  felt a pull in my gut at the base of my spine it took every ounce of self-control to keep from  shouting at her to take her hands off my child then there we all were a

gain Brian David me and  the children it was a few hours before the girls went down for a nap the fight if you could call it  that was hardly a discussion I didn't need to hear much from BD I knew that woman was lying about  Athos the same way I knew I wouldn't have her touching my children she intended to do nothing  for us for exos for her Han Roughnecks I knew she would be gone the second I got uncomfortable  here in Garvin 8 BD didn't seem to know that he was too busy professing his Fidelity

to me to  the girls to our family we need darcia he told me as soon as he thought I believed him if we're  gonna have any chance at gaining traction with helenia Minka we need her family's connections  he seemed to believe it I couldn't believe he did he happened to be standing in our kitchen  in the same spot Michelle was when she told me she was leaving exos I had the sudden clear  moment of dread I had the sense that BD wasn't particularly clueless among our Representatives  he was genuinely

representative of them he had all been so perfectly unprepared for everything  that had come our way for what was coming the trasp the war this is our home Minka BD professed  we're going to fight for it he wasn't accustomed to my being speechless whenever I'd been angry in  the past I'd always let him know it I wasn't angry though I was thinking I could tell my reticence  scared him I'm not going to let anything happen to exos he told me I smiled and let him leave it  at that in the week that

followed with bdoa on Han I began to reach out personally to anyone I could  think to talk to on Athos on helenia I still had friends from University scattered throughout the  battery I couldn't shake that image I had in my mind of Michelle saying aloud what I'd felt in  my heart I would not work for trasp I wouldn't have my daughters grow up under them the few times  the girls and I left the apartment that week I had the sense that we were walking in a foreign place  none of it had happened ove

rnight though there'd been tensions we'd ignored then well over a year  before there was the disaster at Veronia and the posturing the talk of war and we'd looked at each  other as though nothing was wrong hoping and still we were hoping all the while any of us with eyes  to see knew there was something dark at the heart of this war that was so pure and unspeakably wrong  that none of us even comprehended what it was as the days and then weeks tick by the tension  only grew in every cylinder cir

cling exos people became increasingly anxious as the treaty went  unratified the miners especially understood what it meant to be a tributary state to a larger power  many of them had come to the carbonate system to escape the grind of steady quotas imposed on  the contractors by Athos and helenia in those gluttonous consumers only demanded metals to  build and trade none of us had any mind for the demand that would be leveled Upon Us in  the service of Destruction BD called nightly with updates

he was trying he was also lying to  me about Darcy MRT who I was fairly certain was lying about everything especially her intention  to lead Han and exos through the war one of my ataren friends on Athos saw the situation with  clear eyes than anyone in Garvin 8 and she saw because she looked at darcia's own family they're  consolidating medals here faster than at any time post-construction she told me the authority  oceans are arming quietly but they're putting together the most devastating fi

ghting force in  the history of humankind business has never been better for that Marty girls family by the final  weeks before the trash were slated to return I'd given up on the hope that Athos helenia or anyone  else would come to our Aid with foresight and organization they could have saved hundreds of  settlements and billions of lives but it became clear that the gigantic bureaucracies treasons  was famous for were churning nearly as fast as they could to react to the developing war betwee

n  trasp and utterus to ask them to be proactive was to ask the impossible it was another fantasy  fueled by the naive hope that we should have meant something to them when in reality we were  a column on a spreadsheet x amount of metal and raw materials among thousands of other trading  partners not worth rearranging the entire sector's defense structure Over My Hope was now to salvage  what remained of our family by that time Michelle was getting established with her cousin on helenia  she mad

e it clear that the offer to join her there stood and I told her that a few weeks earlier it  had seemed laughable that I would leave exos now with the trasp approaching it seemed far like  earlier than I'd ever have imagined I needed to see BD first though we needed to talk about our  daughters BD and the rest of the representatives had been in session on Han for weeks trying to  settle the terms of the system surrender no one was honest enough to frame it that way though and  because of that t

hey either weren't yet aware of the reality that the subjugated don't dictate the  terms of their own servitude or they weren't yet ready to tell the public this hard fact BD didn't  talk as though it had quite sunk in for him it struck me that they were straining to put the  system in some satisfying order to the internal factions on Han and exos when trash arrived though  I knew they would simply dictate their own terms and certainly they wouldn't be written to satisfy  our people's needs I to

ld BD I needed to come visit him he insisted he'd come home no I said we  need to talk outside the apartment BD got quiet I know you're upset that I've been away so much he  said I knew what he was going to say and I did encourage you to run as our representative Brian  David I did I do regret that but probably not for the reasons you might think how do you know what  I think Minka I'm coming to see you I'll be on hot and tomorrow that afternoon I took the girls  down to the aperture again they

were beginning to feel penned up and were growing antsy ironically  I was starting to feel Freer than I had in weeks it wasn't that I didn't feel the emotions I knew  I should have but the existential reality of the trasp gave me a Clarity of purpose that dulled  everything else to A Chorus of Whispers while in front of me it was a single voice a clear certain  voice calling me forth toward a single purpose I was unafraid the girls and I ate lunch amidst  The Whispers louder as they continued to

grow a Terran a Terran they bothered me no longer  because I was calm so were the girls after we'd finished eating we stood in the darkened  observation room overlooking the planet gazing at exos and the stars as the whole of the cosmos  spun trune kept looking up at me sensing something meaningful about the moment but she was too  young to understand what Bella was too young to do anything other than Wonder at the spinning  Planet how it floated out there up and around again go back to uterus

someone shouted from  behind one of the benches along the causeway she a woman's voice scolded him awful man there  were some other muffled words I couldn't make out followed by children I didn't turn  around just looked down at the girls I couldn't keep from smiling even at their worst  the people here still had a decency about them I still had a sitter I knew we could trust so  the following afternoon I left the girls at home and set off for Han I dressed much the same way  Michelle had the af

ternoon she'd come to visit two months prior all kinds of rumors were circulating  some of them about BD breton's a Terran wife I'm sure probably some about him and the single young  representative from Han most of the rumors were nonsense per usual not all of them were I kept to  the corners and watched my surroundings it wasn't so much fear as vigilance I sat by the window  on the brief trip over to Han the majority of the flight burning at low sub light on both ends  of the jump it made for i

nspiring views of our little system exos with her Rocky red Browns and  Han her bright white glow like the pictures of the Moon of Earth all those little spinning  cylinders where most of us lived I saw two visions of each one as garbanate was then as my  memories would always keep it in my heart Han and before the war the second Vision wasn't of flame  but of the floating husks of cylinders blown open to space destroyed too fast to even burn the  outposts the trasp would need to destroy for the

people who hadn't fled by then would surrender  or they would die of exposure running off into the Arid landscape when the trash strike Bots came  down to clear the city this horrible Vision was a gift Odd as it may sound it was like knowing  the future I had the same dual understanding of my situation with Brian David I knew I should  have been enraged after swearing on all that was most sacred to us to never let it happen again  here we were the most critical hour of our Lives being pulled ap

art again by his worst impulses but  above the emotion was that same Clear loud voice a Clarity of purpose rendering all else trivial  emotions now were a luxury I could feel it later I met BD in the suite where the representatives  were being housed it was perhaps the nicest room I'd ever seen in the entire Garvin 8 System he  kissed me on the cheek and invited me to sit and he began by apologizing for being away from us  for so long BD I hope you don't feel as though I pushed you into this tha

t's what I fear more than  anything that you'll stay here to The Bitter End out of loyalty to the people we both love here  what do you mean stay Minka where would we go I know about you in the Marty girl Brian David  don't debase us both any further by lying BD I can feel it his head dropped any side you don't  need to say anything I need you to know I do love you I just see you in a different light I told you  last time I wasn't going to go through this again Minka I'm sorry I never meant to h

urt you to hurt  the girls I didn't come here for an apology BD I didn't cry this time there were no histrionics  neither for me nor him but took a deep breath together when they come I said I cannot be here  our own neighbors are already cursing me for my ataran name I won't have my daughters grow up  in fear or be taught to resent their own mother where will you go Michelle Omega has arranged  for passage for me and the girls to helenia we're going to stay with her until I got word  it's safe

to head toward the letters if the fighting is still far back we'll try to get out  to my parents it's best the girls be somewhere safe he said best you b2bd I'd love it if our  daughters still had their father when they get to be our age nobody thinks it's going to be as  bad here as you seem to make a the trash Barn interested in fighting us they just want us  to supply resources please don't stay here to die for these people I told him they wouldn't die  for you I took this position to ensure

nobody has to die I'm not going to abandon everyone before  the trasp even arrive you need to come home with me tonight I told him your daughters need to kiss  their father goodbye Eastside it won't BD stopped he almost said it I knew him so well I knew  what he was going to say about what it would look like to the people on both settlements  to have his wife run off the signal that would send then he almost apologized for thinking it  what time's the next shuttle he said instead some wounds hur

t so completely you cannot  properly feel them I think the Mind does things to us we cannot know the mechanisms of  self-preservation these scars we carry don't make us any better just different how untouched  we were then such joyous creatures in the years that follow I will remember that there was an  exos before the war and there will be one again exos before the war this has been an original  story written and read by pe Rowe thank you for listening I'd like to take a moment to thank all  th

e new viewers and especially the Channel's new subscribers this is still a very young channel so  every like a new subscription helps me to continue to grow and reach new listeners I'm grateful to  those of you who've listened liked and subscribed so far if you're still here listening and haven't  subscribed yet I hope that if today's story didn't sway you you'll come back soon and give me  another opportunity to earn your subscription for the Sci-Fi writers out there I've started a  series of f

iction craft talks to run alongside this series called row rights based on my previous  lecture series the mechanics of fiction writing which focuses on honing the art of fiction writing  using all the best information from the fields of narratology cognitive science Linguistics as well  as traditions and craft if you're interested that channel is linked here and the first episode is  already out based on my story the first man so for the writers out there I hope to see you there soon  that and

more exciting things will be happening on this channel every Thursday morning throughout  the week on Twitter and always on my website rowlett.com thank you so much for listening this  has been PE Rowe and I hope to see you next time