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Book: Last of the Immortals (The Jessica Keller Chronicles Book 3) by Blaze Ward
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Authors: Blaze Ward
Tags: Space Opera, Artificial intelligence, Space Exploration, Galactic Empire, hard sf, Space Station
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arrive.”
“Then it will be a slaughter,” Loncar concluded. “Wait. You said Keller provoked it? How?”
“Apparently she encountered Wachturm during her diplomatic mission to Lincolnshire and insulted the man,” Brand said with a triumphant tone. “We have not completed digesting Keller’s own briefing report of her mission. It lasted nearly a year, and fills several volumes of material.”
“Not hard to believe,” Loncar agreed, mentally elsewhere. “The woman is a menace.”
He shifted gears mentally and studied the bald man behind the desk.
“Why am I here?”
Brand smiled. It was not a pleasant smile, for all that the man went out of his way to cultivate suave. He was the kind of person who thought about knives in the dark too much for polite company.
“The Committee would like to call you as a friendly witness, a character witness,” Brand said. “An expert on fleet affairs who can shed light on the recent activities of Keller and First Lord Kasum. And do so in a very public forum.”
Loncar considered the implications of Brand’s words. The committee. The Senate Select Committee for the Fleet of the Republic of Aquitaine . The civilian control of the fleet, and by extension, much of the Republic itself.
He had heard rumors, mostly from Senator Tomčič. He and Andjela had been comrades–in–arms for a long time. The Premier himself, in a towering rage, threatening the entire committee behind closed doors. With Kasum watching his back and their embarrassment. Over Keller. Not something discussed over dinner, except in hushed tones.
The urge for revenge on those two men would be great.
“When?”
“The sooner we can strike,” Brand replied, “the better it will be. This information will leak eventually. If we can leak it first, we can control the news with it. Could you be ready to give your testimony in seven days?”
“Why wait that long?”
“It takes time to assassinate a man in the court of public opinion, First Fleet Lord. Especially men as popular as the Premier and the First Lord. Events are already moving, but not that quickly. We needed you on board before we sprang.”
“I see,” Loncar purred, implications and aspirations overtaking him. First Lord Loncar . Yes, that would be just the proper due to a man who had spent his entire career laboring in the shadow of his lessers. Finally, he could get the appreciation long denied him by Horvat and Kasum.
Finally.
“Yes, Brand,” he said. “That would be perfect.”
Chapter X
Date of the Republic June 10, 394 Edge of Jumpspace, Ballard System
CR–264 so rarely got to do this.
Tomas Kigali had taken days to plot the specifics of this maneuver, working closely with all the other crazy people on his staff. There had been a lot of giggling.
After all, if you were going to drop a great big brick in a really small swimming pool, you might as well go all in with it.
Normally starships, even warships, came out of Jumpspace at a respectable distance from the edge of the gravity well. It wasn’t like there was a boundary marker sitting there. And the edge of a gravity well was a squishy thing to begin with, being more of a broad zone painted on a map with a brush than cut with a razor. But still…
And they certainly came out at a reasonable speed. That was just prudent navigation. Space might be huge and vast and almost empty, but there was usually no reason to push your luck.
Unless you were in a hurry. Or trying to set a new record.
After all, the chances of someone actually being close enough to be a navigational risk were astronomically low. Even when dealing with astronomical scales of things.
CR–264 was running down the edge of the gravity well like a boar on an icy hill. Kigali had shut off all the warning buzzers. They were just getting annoying at this point, telling him he shouldn’t be doing exactly what he had planned.
At some point, the JumpSails would finally cry “Enough” and kick him back into
“Then it will be a slaughter,” Loncar concluded. “Wait. You said Keller provoked it? How?”
“Apparently she encountered Wachturm during her diplomatic mission to Lincolnshire and insulted the man,” Brand said with a triumphant tone. “We have not completed digesting Keller’s own briefing report of her mission. It lasted nearly a year, and fills several volumes of material.”
“Not hard to believe,” Loncar agreed, mentally elsewhere. “The woman is a menace.”
He shifted gears mentally and studied the bald man behind the desk.
“Why am I here?”
Brand smiled. It was not a pleasant smile, for all that the man went out of his way to cultivate suave. He was the kind of person who thought about knives in the dark too much for polite company.
“The Committee would like to call you as a friendly witness, a character witness,” Brand said. “An expert on fleet affairs who can shed light on the recent activities of Keller and First Lord Kasum. And do so in a very public forum.”
Loncar considered the implications of Brand’s words. The committee. The Senate Select Committee for the Fleet of the Republic of Aquitaine . The civilian control of the fleet, and by extension, much of the Republic itself.
He had heard rumors, mostly from Senator Tomčič. He and Andjela had been comrades–in–arms for a long time. The Premier himself, in a towering rage, threatening the entire committee behind closed doors. With Kasum watching his back and their embarrassment. Over Keller. Not something discussed over dinner, except in hushed tones.
The urge for revenge on those two men would be great.
“When?”
“The sooner we can strike,” Brand replied, “the better it will be. This information will leak eventually. If we can leak it first, we can control the news with it. Could you be ready to give your testimony in seven days?”
“Why wait that long?”
“It takes time to assassinate a man in the court of public opinion, First Fleet Lord. Especially men as popular as the Premier and the First Lord. Events are already moving, but not that quickly. We needed you on board before we sprang.”
“I see,” Loncar purred, implications and aspirations overtaking him. First Lord Loncar . Yes, that would be just the proper due to a man who had spent his entire career laboring in the shadow of his lessers. Finally, he could get the appreciation long denied him by Horvat and Kasum.
Finally.
“Yes, Brand,” he said. “That would be perfect.”
Chapter X
Date of the Republic June 10, 394 Edge of Jumpspace, Ballard System
CR–264 so rarely got to do this.
Tomas Kigali had taken days to plot the specifics of this maneuver, working closely with all the other crazy people on his staff. There had been a lot of giggling.
After all, if you were going to drop a great big brick in a really small swimming pool, you might as well go all in with it.
Normally starships, even warships, came out of Jumpspace at a respectable distance from the edge of the gravity well. It wasn’t like there was a boundary marker sitting there. And the edge of a gravity well was a squishy thing to begin with, being more of a broad zone painted on a map with a brush than cut with a razor. But still…
And they certainly came out at a reasonable speed. That was just prudent navigation. Space might be huge and vast and almost empty, but there was usually no reason to push your luck.
Unless you were in a hurry. Or trying to set a new record.
After all, the chances of someone actually being close enough to be a navigational risk were astronomically low. Even when dealing with astronomical scales of things.
CR–264 was running down the edge of the gravity well like a boar on an icy hill. Kigali had shut off all the warning buzzers. They were just getting annoying at this point, telling him he shouldn’t be doing exactly what he had planned.
At some point, the JumpSails would finally cry “Enough” and kick him back into
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