"What if something happens to the Chief Mage?"
"You'll take my place," Kano said nonchalantly.
"Don't be so flippant! Okay, let's take a step back. If something goes wrong, who can fix it? You're the best in the entire Tower at Space Spells. If there's a problem, someone needs to be on standby to help, right?"
Poincare had a point. Besides Kano, the next best was Paulina, but she didn't have the prodigious talent required to handle the ground operations while Kano himself was taking the risk. Having her do it would be worse than Poincare forcing himself to take over.
Jules Poincare suddenly added, "I think you're just trying to run away. Run away from this mess."
"Jules! How many years, how much energy have I poured into this project! Success is right in front of us. Why won't you let me take this final step? Why?" Kano held up the telegram from Rorschach. "Let me tell you, this wasn't some spur-of-the-moment decision..."
