We were silent, save for the constant crackle of the fireplace. Minerva's hand found mine and squeezed it tightly. I got the sense she was trying not to tremble with... rage? Fear? Disbelief? All of the above were reasonable reactions.

Leon went with the latter. "That... that can't be. That would mean..."

"A threat to Andan supremacy," General Dayton said. "If another country gains access to the Imperative, then we have lost our greatest advantage--more so now that there are so ...