I nodded. “Understood.”
She threw her hands up. “Well! That was easy enough. See? We just needed to talk woman to woman.” Her face wore a victorious smile, and she extended an arm to shake hands.
I shook her hand confidently. The Divinity soldiers escorted me back to my plane where Jane and Chris waited anxiously inside with their faces pressed to the windows. My escort knocked on the door until it opened and the steps lowered for me. I told them thank you and said goodbye. Once I was inside, the entrance closed behind me. Everyone rushed to their seats and Jones went to the cockpit.
It was silent until we were in the air and headed in our previous direction. Jane was the first to speak; her voice almost a yell. “What happened back there?”
“We reached an agreement.”
“An agreement?” Chris prompted. “What kind of agreement?”
“For starters, we’re going back to Circadia.”
The cabin erupted with Chris’s and Jane’s exclamations. “What?” they yelled in unison.
“I told her we’re going back to Circadia, which is true. I need to speak with the Herrold brothers immediately. We have to go back to Mumbai. Who wants to tell the pilot?” I looked at both of them and quickly realized neither of them was going to do so. I rose from my seat and walked down the aisle to inform Jones of our change of plans. I smiled and closed the door to the cockpit behind me.
When I emerged, Chris was waiting for me. “You can’t do this!” he pleaded.
“Yes, I can. And you’re going to help me, Chris.” I patted him on the shoulder and walked back to take my seat.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
When we arrived back at the base, the staffers greeted us and escorted everyone to the main building through the darkness cast by the clouds of debris overhead. The brothers stood in the conference room with a familiar guest to meet with us.
"Hello, Aella. Back so soon?” Ross asked.
"Yeah, change of plans. Axel Cason, so nice to finally meet you." I extended my hand to shake with the man I'd been trying to meet this whole time.
"Nice to meet you as well," he said. "You're not easy to find, about like me, so I figured I would wait for you here. Your channel is almost bigger than mine now. Figured it was time for me to post an interview. You know, before I lose any more views." His smug smile said it all. He was happy to be here whether he'd admit it or not. The unbiased news reporting had suited him well for the most part, but not this time. This time, I could tell there was personal motivation.
I laughed and looked at Phillip. "I have a lot to speak to you about before my interview if you have the time."
"Why me?" Phillip asked.
"Jane shared some information about some previous projects here. I think they're still valuable, and I'd like to discuss reinstating one of the programs."
His eyebrows raised and his eyes went wide. "She's talked to you extensively then?" His cheeks turned the brightest shade of pink.
I winked. "Yeah, she tells me everything, but only the good stuff!" The snort that came from my nose was appalling as I cracked up at my joke.
"Well, then." He pursed his lips. "We can speak in my office. Ross should probably accompany us. These ideas and plans were as much his as they were mine."
Ross nodded and shook hands with Axel. He followed Phillip toward the office, which left Axel and me alone in the empty room. We made eye contact and held it for a moment until I turned to follow them.
Upon entering the office, I noticed the two brothers appeared nervous. They looked at each as if searching for an answer that neither one of them was capable of producing. "Hey guys," I said shyly. I wasn't sure how to begin the conversation. It was their project. Their program. Not mine. I had no right to ask them to do anything, but I had to. "So, Jane and I were talking, and—"
"Here we go." Phillip chuckled.
I smiled, then continued. "She told me about an old project you guys had called The Nucleus." I paused to see their reactions when I named the project.
Their eyebrows raised, and Phillip’s head dropped. "Where are you going with this?"
"From what Jane told me, The Nucleus Project was a potential attempt to colonize new planets. Possibly even outside of our galaxy. Is that correct?"
Ross opened his mouth to say something, then stopped. When he finally spoke, he gritted through clenched teeth, "It's supposed to be a top-secret project. One no one was supposed to know about." He looked at Phillip with a side-eye that could kill. "The technology and the ideology behind the entire thing is extremely controversial."
"Controversial?"
Phillip shied away from his brother's glare. "Extremely. It poses the questions of 'should we?' Along with 'why?' and 'how? A lot of those questions aren’t easily answered and make some people uncomfortable."
"Isn't it easy? Maybe not then, but now..."
"Things have changed considerably, and maybe you're right. Maybe the answers are easy now, but I still have to ask, why?" Ross leaned in with his elbows firmly pressed against the worktable. “Why do you think it’s a good option?”
"When we came here, I was scared I wouldn't be able to control myself as I wanted. I worried that I would be driven by my emotions and lose myself—and I did, but not how I imagined."
Phillip turned his head to the side.
"I found myself fighting a battle that wasn't mine to fight. I came here for Circadia. I said I didn’t want to lose myself, but I did. I came to Earth for Circadia, but then I saw what The Divinity was putting people through, and everyone who was suffering, and I wanted to fight. I wanted
