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The Jericho fleet was leaving the meeting point and, in fact, the entire space known to the Empire and the Federation. Bartle once again led his people into the unknown. This time, however, they were not branded criminals and religious fanatics in the eyes of the people, but valiant albeit temporary comrades-in-arms. The Mendes family expressed a desire to remain in the Frontier sectors, Bartle left the Liu family with orders to guard Jericho-3, and the Custodians were to maintain order in the former Jericho sectors. The Emperor, who up until the last moment was ready to give the order to attack Jericho’s fleet in case of aggression, was glad that Bartle had acted wisely and that he would not have to lose half of the remnants of the Imperial fleet for the sake of an old grudge.
A few minutes after the Jericho fleet left the sector, two ships emerged from warp: a small yacht and a cargo ship. The young and beautiful guest quickly made her way to the Emperor’s cabin. The Emperor nodded to her, and she stood to his right in front of the huge screen. Everything was done quickly, and remote control of a special compartment in the cargo hold of the second ship was successfully established.
“Open the container,” ordered the Emperor, and the automatic system obeyed him, bringing out the biomorph that had been frozen in the cargo ship.
The Emperor waited a few minutes for the creature to thaw, then turned on the microphone and said:
“I demand communication.”
The creature did not even flinch, as expected, so the Emperor repeated the same phrase in the language of the Precursors. The biomorph instantly ceased its chaotic behavior. Now it listened attentively to one of the rulers of the galaxy.
“We have destroyed your former masters,” said the Emperor, “and now we are strong. I offer you the chance to leave our territory.”
“Innn yourrr cuuultureee, it is cusssstomaryyy to giiiive sooomethhhhing in rrrreturrrrn,” the biomorph slowly growled, giving the impression that the Bione controlling it did not fully understand the concept of words. “Wwhyyyy ssshoooould weee giiive uuuup ourrrr plaanssss?”
“I am giving you, or more precisely, the Bione who is currently controlling this body,” said the Emperor, “a safe passage and supplies of iridium to reach other parts of the galaxy, and I will stop the charged weapon that destroyed your brother who attacked humanity. In return, I demand that you return what you took from me. I will know your answer by your actions.”
The biomorph froze, the Emperor turned off the screen and finally leaned back in his chair for the first time in three days. Ms. Summer looked at him with her black eyes and saw his exhaustion.
“What do you want back from them?” asked one of the Revenants’ leaders.
“Hope,” said the Emperor. “Now that I have a few interesting things from the former masters of the Galaxy, I can restore hope. The way they manipulated minds allows us to extract the human part from a biomorph and then place it in a clone that is free of the Liu virus. Especially if it is a ‘wild’ biomorph and no Bione protects its brain from such actions.”
Soon, Ms. Summer left the Emperor’s flagship, already knowing what name she would take next. She shared the Emperor’s hope that humanity would manage to leave the Black Abyss of forgotten stars and reclaim what belonged to them by right. This hope was shared by Bartle, who eavesdropped on the conversation between the Emperor and Ms. Summer from his ark rushing through the vastness of the universe, realizing that saving even a small fraction of people affected by the Liu virus would be a huge breakthrough.