The changes to their expressions were obvious. Some were fine, but it was those who were the most vulnerable--the most shy, who would be hurt the most by the knowledge she could see so clearly into their minds. To see the hurt in Francene and Sidnee's eyes, and to know that few others in this group could never treat her normally again, it was a twisting knife in Naomi's gut. One that she had felt many times before.
But she fought back against that feeling, hardening her will like iron. She fought against the lump in her throat and the blood that rushed to her cheeks, angry at herself for letting her own feelings have such a terrible effect on her. She would take that feeling a thousand times before she lied to these people's faces. It was not what a leader did.
With incredible strength, Naomi walked to Anna's side as if nothing was wrong. "That's a great idea." She told her with a bright smile. "I'm starving. Why don't we let the military make all of our preparations, and we have one last delicious meal before we head out?" For a moment, she considered asking the General's permission to do so. But the second she decided to ask, she learned he would have accepted without hesitation. She decided to say nothing to him instead.
To Isalah she said, "Ten seconds is not enough warning. We'll still need scouts! Francene, your drone will be incredibly useful to us. And besides..." In saying the words that came next, the barest hint of Naomi's true feelings slipped through. "I've got enough to worry about already..."
The next few moments were decided in a rush. The General began organizing the movement to outfit the class of heroes as best as they could. Francene asked by a soldier to follow him to one of their high-tech drones, a hasty dinner with the best food they had immediately ready was prepared, and the students found themselves with a few moments of freedom. Sitting together somewhere on a blanket, eating away from the rest of the regular humans, they had a few moments to be at peace and do what they wanted.
It would be the last time they were truly safe and at peace for a very long time.