Audacity (Warner's World Book 5) (55 page)
Read Audacity (Warner's World Book 5) Online
Authors: Dave O'Connor
Tags: #Adventure, #Book 5 of Warner’s World, #Space Opera, #Warner's World, #sci-fi, #Romance, #Military
Alex and Rihan both entered Phil’s office. Phil was beaming. “You asked me about Dave’s rank before he left for Q2, remember?” Phil asked Rihan. She nodded, still not sure what this was all about. “Well he’s just earnt it. Look at this.”
As his subordinates were reading the signal Phil couldn’t help but say “Five enemy caps, three lights and a swag of fighters…no friendly ship losses. How’s that for a victory.”
Rihan smiled but she scanned down to friendly casualties and her heart skipped a beat when she read about the loss of John Conrad and Chad Preston. She had to sit down. She needed physical support.
“You knew them?” asked Phil.
She nodded and then added “Since the Hermes.”
“I’m sorry, but all things considered we got off lightly.”
“Yeah, I suppose…” Rihan could still see John’s smiling face above the battle system’s station in the Resolute’s command centre and Chad’s boyish grin in the Hermes hangar. While Alex and Phil talked about the report she found herself thinking that from an objective viewpoint this would have been joyous news but from her subjective perspective it was a bitter pill.
“You OK Rihan?” asked Alex. She looked up at him unable to frame a response.
“Why don’t you take a break Rihan” suggested Phil.
She nodded, stood up and walked out. She took the elevator down to H deck where she could walk and not run into anyone. As she did so, she came to the realisation that for the last eighteen months she had experienced a series of personal losses. It had all begun when the war broke out and she lost both her parents in the first nuclear strike on New Hammersley. Since then it had been one friend after another, not to mention her unborn child on Klaster and now John and Chad.
‘What are the odds?’ she asked herself but she already knew that the odds of her getting through this war without further personal loss were small. Most of the people dear to her were in the fleet and not just in the fleet but in the vanguard.
‘Pull yourself together Rihan’ she scolded herself. ‘You’ll go barking mad thinking about that.’ She thought of Dave and wished she was in his arms right now. A smile crossed her lips as she thought how he would tell her to pull up her socks.
She about-turned and headed back up to her office.
Chapter 12. Slidwon, Istridium 0830, 8 September
The newly appointed Director of the Rogan Foreign Intelligence Agency (FIA), Raitah Pratin, sat down at her desk in the luxuriously appointed suite atop the FIA HQ building. She inclined her head with its extended cranium and cast her up and outwardly angled dark green eyes around the room. She had always admired this office. She had been forced to gloat for some time before she could finally claim it in her own right.
It had been just on a month now since she had staged the coup against her former boss. It had been engineered to perfection and now she was overseeing an even bigger coup on behalf of the First Consul, Emilius Quazor. It wasn’t because she liked the First Consul, far from it. But she did admire him. They were cut from the same cloth and enjoyed the same ruthless streak. One day there would be a reckoning but for now she was content to be his instrument for the consolidation of total power.
Agents had been despatched to sound out support with key political, economic and, most important of all, military leaders. Her hit list had been approved by the First Consul and it was of necessity a long list. Coordinating the simultaneous decapitation of powerful figures across the entire empire was a herculean undertaking, made more complicated by the need for absolute secrecy.
Military forces had to be redeployed without raising suspicions. She had found that most of their best forces were at the far flung reaches of the empire subjugating the conquered realms. One of the most alarming things she had discovered was just how few ground and fleet units were stationed in the home worlds. Thirty years of continual expansion had of necessity dispersed their forces.
Gone was the second combined fleet lost by that traitor Sallusam in the debacle over Polaris. Why he had so recklessly squandered the empire’s reserve against the humans was of little concern to her. It was history now and they were still paying the price for it.
She winced as she thought about the need to recall Agent Torine. She had been that close to executing rogan justice on ex-Admiral Meeka Sallusam. He would eventually be tracked down. Right now she had more pressing objectives for Agent Torine. Technically Torine worked for the Internal Security Service (ISS). But the First Consul had first call on her services and she was scheduled to arrive for a meeting with Raitah in half an hour.
Raitah tapped the control on her terminal and a list of messages appeared.
One of the first things she did on taking over was to insist on proper prioritisation of messages. She was determined to put an end to the long list of FLASH messages that she had to wade through each morning. Sacking the station chief on Flaxor over the issue did the trick and since then she had not received one FLASH message at all – until now.
‘This had better be good’ she said to herself. It was from Frino Maligus, a normally reliable agent she had sent to Cheklin to ensure the home world would stay in the fold when the coup was enacted. She opened it and read it. As she did she began rubbing her hands and a big smile came over face. ‘Looks like treason, smells like treason…must be treason’ she said to herself and then added out loud “Oh you’ve just made it so much easier Angina!”
Angina Slirinus was the Director of the ISS and was on the First Consul’s hit list. Frino had spotted her at the Lewista spaceport on his arrival and using his initiative kept the ISS Director under discreet surveillance. His natural suspicions were rewarded when he discovered that Angina had met with the outlawed Resistance leader, Meelanda Orocash.
Raitah leaned back in her chair and swivelled around while focussed on the ceiling wondering whether to pick Angina up now or wait. Then a thought occurred to her ‘What would have prompted you to do this?’ She stood up, walked to the wall of windows, turned and began pacing back and forth along the window wall. She ignored the view that any private corporation executive would have given their eye teeth for. Her focus was light years away.
She stopped abruptly. “She knows” she said out loud. “She bloody well knows….But how?” More pacing. Then she stopped. “Either we’ve been betrayed or she has intercepted our communications somehow.” More pacing. She stopped, looked out, saw nothing but realised a lot more. With her hands on her hips she felt sure about her conclusion. “It doesn’t matter… I can use this to my advantage.”
She went back to her desk and hailed her assistant “I need to see the First Consul NOW.” She terminated the call. With her head tilted slightly back she thought about all the things that would not be ready now that they had to bring things forward.
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The story continues.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Beijing, Earth 1910, 5 July 2513
Chapter 2. Nova Vista, Polaris 1800, 5 July
Chapter 3. Nova Vista 2240, 5 July
Chapter 4. Nova Vista 1115, 7 July
Chapter 5. Konkorda to Qwantum 1300, 23 July
Chapter 6. Konkorda Pod 2 in Qwantum, 2000, 25 July
Chapter 7. Resolute over Chelora 2300, 1 August
Chapter 8. Phantom to Sturam 0200, 2 August
Chapter 9. Kiev over Chelora 1720, 2 August
Chapter 10. Resolute over Chelora 1830, 2 August
Chapter 11. Resolute over Chelora 0145, 2 August
Chapter 12. Maelstrom over Chelora 0930, 3 August
Chapter 13. Kiev over Chelora 1315, 3 August
Chapter 14. Resolute over Chelora 0200 4 August
Chapter 15. Slidwon, Istridium 0740, 4 August
Chapter 16. Resolute over Chelora 0920, 4 August
Chapter 17. Slidwon, Istridium 1600, 4 August
Chapter 18. Resolute over Chelora 1640, 4 August
Chapter 19. Slidwon, Istridium 1030, 5 August
Chapter 20. Dregun shuttle over Cheklin 2012, 5 August
Chapter 21. Lewista, Cheklin 0845, 6 August
Chapter 22. Dorntum, Cheklin 1300, 6 August
Chapter 23. Phantom in Qwantum 1500, 6 August
Chapter 24. Raihma, Istridium 1150, 7 August
Chapter 25. Washington DC, Earth 2105, 7 August
Chapter 26. Slidwon, Istridium 2220, 7 August
Chapter 27. Resolute to Qwantum 1515, 8 August
Chapter 28. Umbrol Shuttle over Cheklin 1000, 10 August
Chapter 29. Phantom to Sturam 1400, 10 August
Chapter 30. Beijing, Earth 1500, 10 August
Chapter 31. Phantom to Sturam 1600, 10 August
Chapter 32. Phantom to Sturam 0900, 11 August
Chapter 33. Resolute to Qwantum 1600, 11 August
Chapter 34. Maelstrom over Chelora 1630, 11 August
Chapter 35. Kiev over Chelora 1700, 11 August.
Chapter 36. Kiev over Chelora 0930, 12 August
Chapter 37. Dyritka 1340, 12 August
Chapter 38. Resolute to Qwantum 1730, 12 August
Chapter 1. Resolute to Qwantum 0520, 13 August
Chapter 2. Konkorda Pod 2 in Qwantum 1100, 13 August
Chapter 3. Resolute in Qwantum 1120, 13 August
Chapter 4. Phantom in warp to Sturam 1145, 13 August
Chapter 5. Resolute in Qwantum 1255, 13 August
Chapter 6. Phantom in Sturam 1400, 13 August
Chapter 7. Resolute in Qwantum 1410, 13 August
Chapter 8. Resolute in Qwantum 1800, 13 August
Chapter 9. Phantom in Sturam 2000, 13 August
Chapter 10. Resolute in Qwantum 2230, 13 August
Chapter 11. Slidwon, Istridium 2330, 13 August
Chapter 12. Whiskey 7 to Lewista 0200, 14 August
Chapter 13. Dyritka 0530, 14 August
Chapter 14. Lewista 0600, 14 August
Chapter 15. Resolute in Qwantum 0640, 14 August
Chapter 16. Lewista 0700, 14 August
Chapter 17. Resolute in Qwantum 0730, 14 August
Chapter 18. Phantom over Cheklin 0800, 14 August
Chapter 19. Resolute in Qwantum 0820, 14 August
Chapter 20. Slidwon 0905, 14 August
Chapter 21. Lewista 1100, 14 August
Chapter 1. Resolute to Q2 1150, 14 August
Chapter 2. Resolute over Q2, 1220, 14 August
Chapter 3. Resolute in Qwantum 1630, 14 August
Chapter 4. Resolute to Q2 1715, 14 August
Chapter 5. Lewista 1730, 14 August
Chapter 6. Resolute to Q2 1830, 14 August
Chapter 7. Lewista 1900, 14 August
Chapter 8. Resolute over Q2, 2050, 14 August
Chapter 9. Lewista 2115, 14 August
