Chapter One
July 3, 2230, En Route to Earth Aboard Modified Space Yacht Beidou
Mistakes killed. Julia knew that all too well. She often punished others by taking their lives when they failed her. Sophia’s failure of imagination had led to mistakes that cost her life.
Unfortunately, knowing that fundamental truth about mistakes wasn’t the same thing as avoiding them. Julia had been forced to accept that harsh lesson.
There had been far too many mistakes in recent years, errors that threatened decades—arguably centuries—of planning, both on her behalf and that of the Core more broadly.
Was she making a mistake now, remaining on Earth with the Last Soldier and the Warrior Princess on the hunt? Julia bit her lip.
She’d intended to leave much sooner, but she had convinced herself that the
