An Enemy of the State by F. Paul Wilson

Author:F. Paul Wilson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction, Science fiction, American, General
ISBN: 9780425068335
Publisher: Berkley Books
Published: 1984-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

IT WAS THE FIRST TIME LaNague could remember being happy to see Broohnin. He and Doc Zack and Radmon Sayers had waited in the warehouse office into the hours toward dawn. The money drop earlier in the evening had gone off as smoothly as the heist that morning. Things were looking up all over, at least as far as his plans for the revolution were concerned. Everything was going according to schedule, and going smoothly. Too smoothly. He kept waiting for a kink to develop somewhere along the line, waiting and hoping that when it appeared he would be able to handle it. The meeting tonight between Metep and his Council of Five could possibly produce a kink, but that was unlikely. There was no way out for the Imperium now. No matter what they did, no matter what they tried, they were unaware of the purpose of Boedekker's activities on Earth. The Imperium was going to crumble, that was for certain. The Boedekker aspect of the plan would enable LaNague to control the exact moment of its fall, its rate of descent, and its force of impact. The Boedekker aspect would ensure an impact of such force that no trace of the cadaver would remain.

“What's the word from the meeting?” LaNague asked as Broohnin entered the office.

“Nothing,” Broohnin said, scowling through his beard. “A complete waste of time. You wouldn't believe what they wound up deciding to do after hours in hush-hush conference.”

“Spend more money, of course,” Zack said.

Sayers nodded. “Of course. But on what?”

“Probe ships?” Broohnin looked around at the uncomprehending faces.

“That's right—probe ships. I told you you wouldn't believe it.”

“What in the name of the Core for?” Sayers asked.

“To find aliens. Haworth wants to jump over to the next arm of the galaxy and sell stuff to aliens. He says they're over there and they can save the Imperium.”

As Zack and Sayers began to laugh, Broohnin joined in. The three of them whooped and roared and pounded the arms of their chairs until they noticed that LaNague was not even smiling. Instead, he was frowning with concern.

“What's the matter, Peter?” Sayers said, gasping for breath. “Have you ever heard of a more ridiculous idea?”

LaNague shook his head. “No. Never. But it may ruin everything.”

“But how could—”

LaNague turned away from the vidcaster toward Broohnin. “When does construction start?”

“Immediately, from what I can gather.”

“Is it going to be a military or civil project?”

“Civil. They're going to run it through the Grain Export Authority.”

“And monitoring?”

Broohnin looked at him questioningly. LaNague's intensity was alarming. “I don't—”

“Communications! The probes have to have a place to report back to, a nerve center of some sort that'll co-ordinate their movements.”

“That'll be the GEA comm center, I guess. That's where all the grain pods reported to as they assembled for a run. It's got all the necessary equipment.”

LaNague was up and pacing the room. “Have you got any contacts in there?” Seeing Broohnin nod, he went on. “How many?”

“One.”

“Get more! Slip our people onto the duty roster in the communications area.

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