“They can’t do that,” Cas said quietly before looking around at us.

I had nothing to say.

I had no faith left in the Council and judging by the grim looks on Andy, Elliot and Aquila’s faces, they didn’t either.

“They’ve done it before.”

I turned to stare at Peggy, hoping that I’d heard her wrong.

“It has, hasn’t it?” she asked Andy, looking worried.

He nodded gravely.

“During the last war,” he added.

“They made drafting a legal thing so the orphanages had to turn kids over as soon as they were of age. They lowered the age for compulsory deployment and made leaving your post before retirement a crime,” Peggy explained shakily.

My hands slowly clenched into fists as she spoke and nausea grew in me. I knew that was coming. The Council were going to do it again.

Fear shot through me.

“We need to get Sammy out before this gets any worse. They’re going to do it again and if he’s taken to an actual base rather than a training base, we’ll never be able to get him out,” I said quickly as the crushing realisation that we might not get him out crashed into me.

“We will,” Andy promised. “If we get even a whisper of them planning to do this, we’ll push the plan forwards and get them out."

I looked at Aquila, needing to see her agree with Andy.

Her eyes met mine and she nodded, just once, but it was enough to free some of the fear from my heart.

“Cas, are you alright?” Andy asked gently.

I looked over at him.

The colour had drained out of his face and he was shaking.

“Cas,” I prompted softly, reaching out and placing a hand on his balled fist.

He looked up, his eyes alight with anger.

“They’re going to do it again, aren’t they?” he whispered, his voice unsteady.

I licked my lips and debated lying to him.

“I think so,” I said finally.

“How? How do they keep getting away with this?” he asked desperately.

I wished I had an answer for him but Peggy did.

“It’s the Council, no one can stop them.”

“But that doesn’t seem right!” he exploded. “I don’t get how we got to this stage where they can just do whatever the fuck they want and no one can stand in their way!”

“They designed it that way,” Peggy sighed, sounding truly exhausting.

It seemed like she’d had that exact discussion with herself multiple times before, trying to come up with an explanation.

“Not quite,” Elliot said.

Our heads snapped up as one, focusing on him.

“What do you mean?” Peggy asked.

“The history that the Council made us teach wasn’t quite accurate,” Andy said.

“What’s the truth then?” Peggy demanded, sounding hungry for knowledge but also furious that we’d been lied to.

Andy shook his head and glanced at Elliot.

“You know it better than I do,” he said.

Elliot nodded and sat up a little straighter.

“So,” he said, his voice taking on a tone that was reminiscent of Andy’s when he was teaching us something. “The Council started hundreds of years ago and, contrary to what they now teach, it actually started to protect the planet. To stop them from having another Earth Scale tragedy.”

“But,” Peggy started, sounding confused. “Do they not count what happened on Irision as an Earth Scale tragedy? And what about all of the other planets that have been destroyed because of the Council’s actions!”

Elliot held his hands up in acknowledgement of her words.

“I know, I’ll come on to them,” he said. “So originally it was something that people were elected onto and the people of Nova, and the other core planets that make up what was once called District One but are now known as the Nova District, would vote on who they wanted to represent them.”

Confusion washed over me.

It made sense. The Council was meant to represent the people of the districts and all decisions were supposed to be focused on bettering our quality of life so we should get a say in who gets to make those decisions but at the same time, it sounded farfetched.

That wasn’t how things worked. Not now, at least.

The Council chooses who they want to join them. It’s almost always someone from Nova. Someone who will uphold their vision of creating a universe so similar to how Earth was. Selfish and power-hungry. They didn’t care about bettering our quality of life, they only cared about themselves.

“But how did it go from the people of the district electing people to the Council choosing their own members?” Peggy asked, her hands twitching like she longed to take notes.

“Gradually. I like to think that it was not a measured or premeditated transformation but…” He glanced at Aquila who met his gaze unwaveringly. “Others believe it was.”

“At first, they claimed that due to the size and population density of Nova, it was unfair for them to only have one Council member supporting their interests. Then, over the next fifty years or so, it was argued that the votes were skewed and that they needed more transparency with them so the system was changed. Only the elected officials and other planetary leaders could vote in the Council election. It was meant to be a temporary measure until they could develop a better system.” Andy broke off and shook his head.

“But that wasn’t temporary?” Peggy guessed.

“Not really. It became more of a race and language argument after that. People argued that planetary leaders only supported candidates from their own planet and a new ruling was brought in stating that every candidate needed to speak the prevalent Novian language, as that is where the Council Headquarters have always been.”

I looked to Peggy who had cocked her head.

“Did they teach our language on the other planets?” she asked.

“Very good question,” Andy said, making Peggy beam with pride. “Not really. It was taught in some select schools, in the wealthier areas.”

“Ah,” I said quietly. “So only those who taught themselves or were wealthy could run for Council unless they were from Nova?”

“Correct. That meant the Council was skewed even more towards Nova and before long, we had our first fully Novian Council. That’s when the laws were changed again, to much outcry.”

“The Council states it was best for everyone and fairest for them to choose their members, taking into account who has the highest level of public’s approval. That is why they still do a vote but, of course, the results of that vote are never publicly shared so it is impossible to know to what extent the public’s views are actually used,” Aquila sneered.

“So, it changed from the people of the universe choosing the Council members to the Council members having full control over who they elect?” Peggy summarised.

“Correct. It was over a period of hundreds of years so people hardly saw it coming. They staked their claim on the galaxy, making it impossible for planets to continue without them and their trading routes, and now they are free to do whatever they want.

“But I still don’t get it!” Cas cried. “How could the Council go from people who wanted to help the galaxy and protect people to my dad?”

“People rarely go into a position of power without ulterior motives. Unfortunately, the Council is made up of people who want more. More power, more money, more of everything and they don’t care as much about the cost,” Aquila replied, her tone disgusted.

“Then why do you do it?” Peggy asked.

My mouth dropped open and I turned to look at her, unable to believe that she’d just asked.

“You’re in a position of power. Do you have an ulterior motive? I’ve just spent the last however long trapped by the Council. I refuse to help someone who might make things worse for the people of this universe.” She jutted her jaw out and stared at Aquila.

To her credit, Aquila didn’t flinch. I expected her to and I think if I were on the receiving end of Peggy’s glare, I probably would have.

“I’m where I am today for one very specific reason. I want to take the Council down. After that, I have no desire to lead. Ideally, I’ll retire on a small ship somewhere in the corner of the galaxy,” she said, surprising me with her openness.

“Why?” Peggy pressed. “Why do you want to take them down so much?”

Aquila was silent for a moment as she examined Peggy.

I almost wanted to step in. To tell Aquila that she didn’t need to tell us if she wasn’t comfortable with it but I wanted to know too. I understood where Peggy was coming from, I couldn’t do this if I didn’t know.

“The Council ordered the death of my family when I was seven. They ran a small smuggling ring in the outskirts of the Nova district. Risky, I know, but the IA mostly left us alone. We provided medical supplies to the planets too poor to be able to afford the Council’s inflated prices but my parents made a mistake. They were constantly told of other planets and other people who need our help and would die without us,” she swallowed and looked down.

Her thumb repeatedly tapped against her forefinger in a motion I’d noticed before but never paid any attention to and a small smile came over her face.

Mods, Peggy told us, examining Aquila closely. I think she must have a photobank linked to eyes.

I watched the way Aquila’s eyes flickered from side to side ever so slightly. She must have been looking at photos.

“But that desire to help people is exactly what got us on the Council radar,” she said after a few seconds but it felt like much longer. “It wasn’t long before they came for us. My family hid me in a post pod and sent me towards Freo and, ever since, I’ve been working to bring them down.”

I swallowed.

The post pods were small, dark places. It must have been a horrific journey.

“I like to think you already know why I am where I am but it’s always nice to make sure,” Andy said, gently pulling the attention away from Aquila so that she could compose herself. “It is and always has been to protect kids just like the three of you. There are countless others on the bases down on Nova and on other planets who are completely under the Council’s rule. I want to put a stop to that so that they can be safer.”

I nodded.

I already assumed that was Andy reason. He made the base such a different place and was always politely butting heads with the Council to implement better rules for us and the other bases.

My gaze fell on Elliot and I wanted to ask him for his reason but he noticed us all looking at him before I had a chance to speak and laughed.

“Well, the only reason I’m helping to run this ship is because of this guy here,” he nudged Andy gently and grinned. “It’s hard not to work your way up the ranks when you’ve got a guy on the inside feeding you the Council secrets.”

Aquila sighed and rolled her eyes at him.

“Really? That’s the only reason you’re here?” she asked sarcastically.

“Pretty much,” he said with a shrug. “If I’d stayed quiet about it, I would have never so much as seen the inside of this room.”

“But instead, you barged into my room in the middle of the night and demanded that I take you to the Captain immediately,” she said with a soft smirk.

“It was an emergency!”

“And you most likely saved Freo because of the information you had from Andy, showing your keen judgement skills and strategic ability,” she countered.

“Eh,” was all Elliot said but he grinned. “It probably helped that I’d already joined the fighters at that point.”

“Probably.”

A gentle beeping from Aquila’s screen made me jolt and I stared at her worriedly as she read something on the screen.

“Ah,” she said after a pause that made my heart race. “Cas and Peggy, would you mind stepping outside? Aries, we have a call in a couple of minutes that you’re needed for.”

Sammy, I told them, answering Peggy’s worried gaze.

Okay. Meet you outside?