The Circadia Chronicles: Omnibus: The Complete Colonization Sci-Fi Series by Heather Heckadon (books to read to get smarter .txt) 📗

her legs in a lady-like position. She went to speak, then stopped. What the hell is she thinking? My mind raced. "Look, we're both leaders. We're both women. We both know we get our way." She shot me a wink like we were best friends. "Just this once though, I think we should compromise."

"You don't know what I want." I wasn't entirely sure I knew.

"I know we have some common goals. You want Circadia back, right?"

She had a point there. I shrugged to portray myself as aloof about the subject.

"I can make that happen for you. I can put you in charge up there right now."

She had my attention, and I couldn't hide it. "What's the catch?"

"No catch. We need Leslie back here, and you're a born leader. It seems like a natural fit, especially since Leslie will be back here on Earth." She shrugged. Apparently, she was trying to play it cool too. I knew she wouldn't have brought me here if it was no big deal, since I wouldn't have come to Earth if it were that simple.

"So what? I lead Circadia, and you lead Earth?" I asked.

"Well, technically The Divinity would rule all, but you and I would be the two main leaders. Appointed leaders, as we call them." She smiled. Her eyes pressed mine for answers.

That made me snap back to reality. She wasn't offering me Circadia, at least not how I thought of the world. She was offering me a leadership position with no change. I'd be doing their bidding. People on Circadia would still suffer. People here on Earth would certainly still suffer. It was oppression at its finest. She had no plans to put me in power, only to get rid of me.

"What if I refuse?"

"What?" Her voice went up an octave.

"What if I refuse the leadership position? Then what?"

The smile on her face quickly faded into a scowl. "I don't know, Aella. We hadn't discussed that since we thought you would be happy about the offer."

"Oh, I'm sure you did!" I laughed. "I realize I've been on Circadia for a while and don't completely understand what happened on Earth, but I'm here now. I can see what you've done with the place, and it isn't pretty. Before, I only cared about Circadia, but you made it personal for me." I felt my face shift to the most threatening expression I could pull off. I stood and stared down at her in her chair. "You think giving me a gold star will make me forget all the pain you caused me? All my loss? My love?" I was yelling at that point and shaking. "You think you can erase that by giving me a job?"

She stuttered. "Well, that wasn't me. That was Leslie."

"Under your orders! I didn't realize it at the time, but I do now. I never thought it was possible to want anyone dead more than I wanted Leslie dead, but here we are. I'm looking at her. You're as responsible as Leslie, if not more, for killing Garrett." I sighed.

"I don't know who Garrett is."

"That makes it worse!" I couldn't help but cry because I was so angry.

She sat quietly in her chair and looked both disturbed and scared. Then she slowly stood, careful to avoid touching me or getting too close. When she backed away to give me some space, she said, "Sounds like we're not going to agree on anything then."

There it was. She said it. The words I knew I would eventually hear. I hadn’t known who would say them or when. I didn't expect it to be this early in the trip, but we had arrived. Those were the words that would set the path. I knew what I had to do now.

I sat. "I'd like to go home now."

"As you wish," she agreed. The bag went back down over my head with ease.

THEY DROPPED ME OFF at the Herrold brothers’ front gate. I walked solemnly to the entrance and scanned my fingerprint until the gate opened. I moved inside and around the yard to the conference room. It was empty when I got there, but I was exhausted. I sat in one of the chairs for the heads of the table and propped my feet up, then nodded off into sleep. The world faded away until I heard Jane yelp. I opened my eyes to see her soda spilled on the floor and over her shirt, and a look of wonder on her face. "She's back!" she yelled.

I heard people running on the tile, then the Herrold brothers, Smith, and my bodyguard entered the room. They stopped when they saw me and stood quietly. "Hi, guys," I mumbled, still half asleep.

They immediately bombarded me with questions. “What happened?” “Who took you?” “Where did you go?” “Did they hurt you?” “Are you okay?” “What now?” “Did you see Axel with them?” “Who was it?” I was overwhelmed.

I sighed. I knew they needed an update, but I didn't have a lot of energy. "Everyone quiet." The voices stopped and raised eyebrows and sideways glances shot my way. "It was The Divinity. Christina Gibbins was at this big mansion of a house. Her and her men. That's all I saw. They kept a bag over my head so I have no idea where it was, but it took a couple of hours to drive to and from there each way. She offered me a leadership role on Circadia. I refused."

"A leadership position on Circadia?" Smith asked.

I was surprised to hear him speak. "Yes, I would have replaced Leslie."

His eyes went wide. "Why would you turn that down? That's what we've wanted!"

I let a moment of silence pass as I contemplated how to say what I wanted. "It would never be truly ours. It's not only us anymore, and it never was. We were running from our problems, and it was great for a while, but we have to stay. We have to fight."

"Aella..." Jane mumbled.

"So now