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Her Nove for her when she reaches the surface It lights the way for her as she cli, strands of stardust in her hair She can’t wait any longer, words tuhost is no irl closes her eyes, she can hear it:

Looking for you

I’M SCRAMBLING, BULLETS PINGING OFF the ladder around me, when suddenly Jubilee’s not belowas I twist to see where she’s gone, fear singing through round And even in the dark, even in theout across her arm

"Jubilee!" My screaunfire Myback down the ladder; I can’t see anything other than her body

Then she lifts her head, and etting her left elbow underneath her, then falling back into the, and I can’t hear what she says as she stares up atfroround below Then she screaain, and this time I can hear her shout "GO!" I can see what the effort costs her

So I do the only thing I can I force ainst the frantic orderseach handhold and hauling,new purchase There’s aat the top--it serves as a lookout tower too, perhaps--and I turn ainst the pane It shatters, and I sh, landing in a muddy heap on the floor of the e up toto keep my head below the line of the s I’ array of broadcast equipear we use in the caves And yet it’s not co about the controls is fa ofto tune out the sound below and send my focus back Back before the last planetary review, the last rebellion, back to a time when home meant a roof, a bed of my own I can’t remember my mother’s face, but I can see her hands still, curled around a transy during the rebellion, but noatch theon the floor of the tower I see her hand holding the trans across to depress a button so the display leaped to life And I re over the buttons until I find the sequence I need to transalaxy There’s a row of switches labeled EXTERIOR LIGHTS, and I flip theures below freeze, half blinded, stu starts to die away

Next to the light switches are those for the loudspeakers, and I flip those too The speakers aboveto my people and Jubilee’s in the coalaxy

I hold down the button on the side of the transmitter and start to speak "My name is Flynn Cormac"

Below, I see a couple of heads snap up at the sound of my voice, or maybe at my name--I can’t tell whether the silhouettes are soldiers or Fianna "This is a transmission for the people of Avon, and for all those beyond Avon who can hear eneration of my family from this planet We’ve been locked in conflict for years now Fighting for the right to be heard, fighting for the right to live, just because our planet hasn’t passed review yet And the soldiers here have been fighting too, for order, for peace Terrible things have happened to all of us Good men and women have died, and the people of Avon have been driven to turn on each other" I’ so hard the lual’s tiny body and unseeing eyes, and of the rief that drove McBride to kill him "Desperation has led my own people to the ine a future without war"

There are so s I want to say--I want to talk about the whispers, the way LaRoux isolated them, tortured them, forced them to evolve into individuals they were never o back I wish I kne to share their grief with the galaxy, but I don’t knofrom a secret facility LaRoux Industries has had here for years LaRoux his on Avon, creatures completely different from us Whispers frohts He’s used the, to block our trans for help Until LaRoux is brought to justice, we’re not safe None of us are"

I see figures huddled wherever there’s shelter, ready to resu in an instant--but for now, they listen I clear

"We need you to watch us We need you to ask about us, and care about us, and re too We need your protection, and we need you to know that if anything happens to Avon, it was LaRoux, not an accident Don’t let hi you and trusting you to bear witness for us" I suck in a deep breath and let it out in a rush "Thank you Message ends"