The color drained from Persephone's face at the implications.
"They had no idea that the traitors were trying to kill you at the very moment they were tracking the signal. They were locked out of viewing that broadcast too.
"I always wondered how a guy as smart as your uncle could be so scatter brained and inefficient with his work. I guess I know why now.
"Oh, Persephone! Guess what? You'll think this is hilarious." Her father laughed in the middle of all this bad news.
She felt her stomach sink out her seat cushion and though the bench. "What's that, Daddy?"
"While all this crap was going on, at about fifteen minutes before dawn, the commander of all our military forces said something absolutely hilarious to me. Guess what it was..."
Persephone gulped at the mention of the m
