Looking for a free sci-fi short story? Here’s my story Toynbee’s Gate. I hope you enjoy it!

I would not give up. I refused to allow Cardinal Giacomo to intimidate me with his piercing stare and deep, booming voice. To help me focus, I had declined a chair and knelt before the Cardinal’s desk on the marble floor, clenching my rosary beads in my folded hands. The metal crucifix, jabbed into my palm, heightened my discomfort, but I would not break. For my brother’s sake, I couldn’t.