Krel Belmont stared at the woman on the screen. She was merely smiling serenely, like a refined and humble scholar, yet he could always sense the inscrutable authority she held over him.
Unfortunately, he was now completely used to that pressure. He even welcomed it.
If they weren't separated by tens of thousands of light-years, he might have seen spiritual light flash in those sapphire eyes. Perhaps he could even have made out some faintly glowing clockwork patterns.
Krel felt as if all the warmth were draining from his face. He managed to force a smile and asked cautiously, "So, this is the mission you only had to start describing before I got dizzy?"
"Yes, the mission that sounds like an excuse to get you killed," Amita Berenkester replied with a smile, her arms folded.
"...So, Annie, what did you see? A chance of improving our odds?"
She gave a slight shake of her head and blinked. Her elegant lashes fell like blinds over the strange light shimmering in her sapphire eyes. "Krel, you know my position. Prophecies are only ever a reference. Only logical deductions based on real information and clues can lead us to the right conclusions."
Yeah, right. We're obviously just a move we can afford to lose. Krel thought it, but naturally didn't dare say it aloud.
"Rather than saying we took the Este Base, it would be more accurate to say the Empire abandoned it. Our colossus is complete, and the Imperials have received our signal."
As an important member of the Alliance's ruling class, he had long suspected as much. Even so, the revelation made his scalp prickle. "So that means your Miss Yulian from before..."
If that was true, it would be the greatest strategic deception of the century!
"They never noticed?"
"They