Beyond the Veil by Hamish Spiers

Author:Hamish Spiers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: space opera adventure novel, space opera series novels, science fiction space opera adventure novel, soft science fiction space opera, speculative space opera adventure novel, space opera pulp adventure, speculative space opera adventure
Publisher: Hamish Spiers
Published: 2017-10-29T16:00:00+00:00

12. Find and Capture

Dace Keigen ruffled the soft fur of his merleion as the little animal ate his dinner.

“Good, Traes?” he asked.

Traes made a cheerful little sound in return as he chewed.

Dace smiled and looked around, enjoying the way the afternoon sunlight played on the garden and off the rocky peaks of the distant mountains. Then he went back inside the house where he saw his wife switching off the communicator.

“Odd,” she said.

Dace brushed a strand of her dark hair off her forehead, hair that showed no sign of graying. “What’s that, Jana?”

“You’ve got a Major Eslen coming to see you,” his wife told him. “Any idea what that might be about?”

Dace shrugged. “No idea. They occasionally ask me for advice on things, usually informally. Although that seemed to stop when Corinthe took over. Maybe since he’s gone, they’re falling back on their old habits.”

“I don’t know why they need to bother you anymore,” Jana said. “You’ve hardly been keeping an active eye on what’s going on in the navy these days.”

“Oh, well. Once an admiral, always an admiral, I suppose.” However, Dace knew where she was coming from. “How far off did he say he was?”

“He should be here soon,” Jana replied.

Just then, Traes came bounding through the kitchen, heading for the door.

Dace smiled at his wife. “Looks like he’s here now.”

He followed Traes and giving him a pat of appreciation, gently pushed him aside so he could get outside.

“Major Eslen,” he said to the younger man who was walking briskly up the path, extending his hand as he arrived, “I’m Dace Keigen.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” the major replied, shaking his hand.

Dace smiled. “You don’t have to call me ‘sir’, Major. My navy days are behind me now.”

“Well, I’d still like to say that it is an honor to shake the hand of the man who finally subdued the Levarc,” Eslen said. “And if you’ll forgive me, I’d feel awkward calling you anything else.”

Dace smiled. “Well, if you insist. Now why don’t you come on in and tell me what this is all about?”

When Major Eslen had finished, Dace was quiet and the only movement in the room was Traes rolling about on his lap. Dace smoothed his fur while Jana sipped a drink and watched her husband.

“So Admiral Roth is interested in hearing your assessment of the situation,” Eslen prompted.

“Well,” Dace said. “I’ve heard the particular piece of the history. Custodian Kaleathra said something about it when we were setting up the garrison on what remained of the Levarc Throneworld. Although she didn’t say much to me personally, obviously.”

“They were a vicious people,” Jana told him, sensing the shift in his mood as he remembered the day he razed their Throneworld... so thoroughly that eventually, everything was moved offworld, the Federation garrison included. “And despite what some of these new historians and analysts think, you did what you had to.” She took another sip of her drink. “Besides, I bet those historians and analysts were cheering just as loudly as everyone else was back then.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.