“Elaborate.”
“Her children, who were conceived under special circumstances, wouldn’t exist. PEEPs may not form. If they did, the timing would be wrong, and because of this, another special child would not be conceived. All the good Mia had done would not happen. The friendships and alliances that were formed wouldn’t happen organically. She also knew that if she was going to try to relive history, she would have to let Lobo, Billy, Yann, and Neil die, and she couldn’t bear to do that. The last straw was when she realized that Ted and Cid wouldn’t be around to help to save a child who was prophesized to become an angel hunter. Because of meeting the Martins, he now helps the angels. I watched the horror of what had happened and would happen seize her. It broke her heart and she died.”
“But she is here alive.”
“Ted and I saved her.”
Ameen nodded. “You walk on thin ice, my friend. You’re a ghost and you interfere with the living.”
“I’m an agent of Mother Nature. I work within her laws. I only interfere if it is for the good of the individual or to send evil packing.”
“Mia protects you from the clergy.”
“She has also promised me that if I go ghost crazy, like her Misty Mother did, she will end me herself.”
“Mia, is this true?”
“Yes. He is my best friend, but I will end his existence if I feel he has lost his nut. I promised him that. I always keep my promises.”
“I bet you do,” Ameen said. “Where are we? Oh yes, waiting on Sage Fire. Judge Roumain, your assertions and evidence that Mia was programed to be an assassin are strong. I think I can speak for the others that we find it valid. We also see one thing that comes up in the testimony of Burt and Stephen that is probably why the experiment went wrong. Mia is kind. We will investigate who was involved in this project. I suspect there were outsiders involved. I promise that we will sort this out. And I, like Mia, keep my promises.”
“Thank you.”
“Mia, what compensation do you want from this governing body for the heartbreak you have gone through?”
“I don’t want compensation. I want to make sure that this horrid practice stops, that the perpetrators are disciplined according to your rules. I know the membership is vast, and I really don’t have much faith in this process, but… it is a process I must go through. I’m a product and not a person. Just stop a moment and take that in. If not for Shane Quivers, I may have been blind-sided by the candle and not seen what really was going on.”
“What do you feel was going on?” Ameen asked.
“I feel that I was once again manipulated. But this time not to work on behalf of this council. I was being manipulated to wipe you all from the face of the heavens and Earth. And I wouldn’t have been kind.”
Chapter Thirty-six
Sage Fire walked in. The woman was beautiful. She wore the ceremonial dress of the Ute people. Her long hair was traditionally contained. Sage Fire, although spirit, walked with soft feet. The viewers higher up thought the woman had floated in. She faced the dais.
“Sage Fire, thank you for coming. We won’t keep you long. Turn and look at the woman behind you.
Sage Fire did so.
“Who do you see?”
“I see the elder version of the child who killed the deer-woman and freed me of the horrible yoke of that tenure.”
“In an alternate timeline,” Ameen clarified.
“I was aware later I had two memories of that time of my life,” Sage Fire said.
“Tell us, who ordered you to kill Mia Cooper?”
“Her grandmother, Fredericka Cooper.”
There were loud exclamations of surprise around the room.
“Were you given a reason?”
“She said the child was a failed experiment of the council, she must be killed, and her soul confined to the Dark World where she couldn’t do any harm.”
“This didn’t happen.”
“No, Mia Cooper bested the deer-woman in battle. I remember telling her I could not stop the reapers. You know how they are. Once you call them, that’s it. On the bright side, they cleared that horrible place of those tormented spirits while I battled with Mia. It’s hard fighting a child, even one with an adult mind.”
“Why didn’t you report what had happened. Why wait twenty years?”
“I only remembered the alternate timeline a few days ago.”
“Thank you.”
Sage Fire nodded and turned back to Mia. “You were a challenge. I’ve never been bested before. You killed me, yet you were kind and released me from the deer-woman. You could have left me to decompose in her shattered body. Thank you, Mia.”
Mia nodded.
Ameen waited until Sage Fire left before speaking to Roumain. “There appears to be a conspiracy in our midst,” Ameen said. “We have one clear suspect, the others, not so clear. We will act upon this, I promise you, Judge Roumain.”
He nodded and stepped aside.
She looked over at Mia and said, “Mia, you aren’t the product of your genetic engineering. You are the result of letting trust and love into your life. I see we had restricted you from having children at one point. Why was that?”
“Fredericka said it was a council decision. You would have to ask her.”
“I see it was lifted, and you have two children,” Ameen read off. “Oh!” She looked out and spoke, “Because we aren’t going to abuse the privacy of children, I’ll just say that your children are
