Chapter 77: No Safe Witness

Nothing is more seductive than an answer that arrives too easily.

Leo was sent to destroy the archive but defected after learning Earth still lives. The revelation changes the meaning of every earlier victory.

The trap is clever because it offers exactly what the hero wants. Recognizing that desire becomes the only escape.

Tessa Quinn keeps the larger goal in view: decode the book list and lead the colonists beyond the dying dome. The immediate problem is smaller, sharper, and impossible to postpone.

The moment almost becomes a kiss. Instead, it becomes a promise to tell the truth next time.

Tessa Quinn must choose between the safe version of the truth and the costly one that can still save others.

The recurring signs of paper, moon dust, radio static return with a different meaning, linking this choice to what came before.

A betrayal closes the obvious escape and leaves only the forbidden route.