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able to rebuild in the fertile valley. Avalon had been a very popular vacation destination before the Fall. Even with the total destruction of the only major city on the planet, almost a hundred thousand people had survived.
    The last Emperor of the old Empire had even sent his son fleeing before the last of the Imperial Fleet went to engage the rebels in a do or die last-ditch effort to save the Empire from total destruction.
    It certainly seemed that do or die turned out to be the latter since no Fleet vessels ever followed Lucien to Avalon. Of course, no rebel vessels came either, thank God. Perhaps they’d exterminated one another. Kelsey certainly hoped the rebels were long gone.
    The boy-Emperor’s escort had stuffed him into a life pod as soon as soon as their ship made orbit. A wise decision since the rebels destroyed their ship before Lucien’s pod even made it to the atmosphere. The escorting Fleet units fought bravely, but they couldn’t stop the attack on the planet.
    Even though it was impossible to know for certain, the prevailing theory was that they fought to mutual extinction with the rebels. All anyone knew for sure was that any detailed knowledge of the rebels and their aims was lost in the chaos and death.
    One thing they did know was that some Fleet units had defected and fought savagely against their brothers. The aims of the rebels remained a subject of intense debate in the various history departments to this day.
    She opened her favorite book on the subject to one of the few surviving picture of Lucien, taken a few months after his arrival. The boy-Emperor looked filthy and had a heavy sling full of grain over his shoulder. He also looked like a man determined to save every one of his subjects if it killed him.
    His example of working just as hard as every one of his subjects set the tone for his descendants. All sought out public service. All gave much of their time to improving the lives of the people they ruled. Yes, the people were no longer struggling to survive the winters, but the same desire to serve filled her.
    Kelsey envied her half-brother. He was living her dream and boldly going into the old Empire. She knew he’d find the answers she craved. Perhaps that would make up for the chaos her family had made of his life.
    The library door opened and her father came in. “There you are. I went to your room to talk, but you’d vanished. I was afraid you’d snuck off to stow away on the expedition.”
    She perked up a little. “Do you think I could hide out until they made it into the old Empire? I could pack enough food to stay in some crawlspace and sneak out for showers.”
    He laughed and sat down beside her. “I’m afraid not. I’d worry terribly about where you’d gotten off to and send word to every corner of the Empire to search for you. The fact you just expressed an interest in the expedition means I’d send word to Jared. He’s a good man. He’d turn his ships upside down to be sure you hadn’t slipped aboard. He knows them much better than you do.”
    “Pity. Seriously, though, what could I do to prepare for a future mission? I know the competition to go must been intense. I’m not sure I’m good enough to make that final cut, no matter how hard I work. Sometimes your best just isn’t good enough.”
    “You are rather behind in your technical education if you wanted to be a leading scientific candidate on a future mission,” he admitted. “The people who made the cut this time worked hard for a decade or more in their chosen fields of study. You’d probably have to expend a similar amount of time going forward to be where they are now.”
    She slumped in her chair. “That’s what I was afraid you’d say. I’m afraid being an Empress in training isn’t very useful on a mission of exploration.”
    “True. That’s more Jared’s job. Perhaps you should look over the personnel manifest to see what kind of specialties they might need for future expeditions. I