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messages that were sent by Chad and turned to Jinks, who said, “Should we send two more fleets to him?”
    “They wouldn’t arrive in time. Chad will have to handle the situation.”
    Jinks sat down and shook his head as he stared at the recording of the faceoff between the Silver Ship and the Clearwater. After a moment he looked at Lukas, “Is it possible that Pat is controlling what’s happening there?”
    “No, I’m sure he’s not. What happens there will be purely a matter of fate.”
    “What about the Sentinels that went there?”
    “That’s part of fate. It’s not something we can affect. We have more than we can do here and we must focus on the task at hand. I need you to get Loree to send some of her scouts out to other galaxies to find a habitable planet if this one fails.”
    Jinks blew out a breath, “Why must it always be war!?!”
    “War is the ultimate way to force your will on others. Once you succeed using it as a tool, all the other tools are removed from your toolbox.”
    “Why is that, Lukas?”
    “It’s the fastest way to cut to the chase. Most don’t have the patience to use other tools.”
    Jinks lowered his eyes, “Are we like that?”
    “Not yet.”
    “But we could be, right?”
    “We are quite capable of becoming conquerors and would probably excel at it. However, there is always someone else out there stronger than the conqueror du jour. Breaking that chain is worth the effort.”
    “I’ll tell Chad you said that.”
    “I suspect he already knows, Jinks. That’s why I sent him.”
    “But he’s our greatest warrior.”
    “It takes a warrior to understand it. You should have learned that lesson already.”
    “You’re talking about the Mosul 25?”
    “I am. Do you know what would have happened if you had been allowed to go in and attempt to rescue them?”
    “I think I would have done exactly that.”
    Lukas sat back and shook his head, “I had a long conversation with Gerome about Mosul. You know he was in the headquarters unit that was running the operation?” Jinks nodded. “The CIA operatives learned before you arrived that the women had been moved out of the Warlord’s camp to another part of the city. They sent you there knowing the entire area was set up to ambush your unit.”
    Jinks’ eyes narrowed, “I never heard anything about this.”
    “You were spotted moving in and the Warlord was warned. An inside informer told the CIA that it was a trap but they intended to allow your unit to go in anyway on the chance you might get lucky and kill the Warlord. The Warlord agreeing to talk with the CIA operative at the last moment is what led to your recall.” Jinks just stared at Lukas in silence. “The point is, you couldn’t have saved the women; they weren’t there and you would have possibly lost your entire unit. When the women were killed, it wasn’t in that camp. They were slaughtered at the other location and their bodies brought back to the camp to nail to the walls. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it.”
    “Why didn’t Admiral Kitchens tell me about this?”
    “For what purpose?”
    “So I wouldn’t go on blaming myself for what happened.”
    “He didn’t want you to hate your country any more than you do now. He told me that not everyone was like those that made those terrible decisions.”
    Jinks lowered his head and Lukas slowly shook his head, “Jinks, there are times when you’re trapped in situations where there is no way anything good can happen. It’s how you come out of them that determines what kind of person you’ll become.” Jinks looked up at Lukas and saw him smile, “I’m proud of what you are, Jinks. It’s time to forgive yourself and look toward the future.”
    Jinks started nodding slowly and then stood up, “I have an enemy to confront. Thank you for telling me this.” Lukas nodded and turned to leave. He stopped, turned around, and looked at Lukas, “I did take care of that Warlord.”
    Lukas