Empire United (Taran Empire Saga Book 4): A Cadicle Space Opera by A.K. DuBoff

Author:A.K. DuBoff [DuBoff, A.K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dawnrunner Press
Published: 2022-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The seemingly impossible task of developing a transportation solution for millions of people on short notice had confirmed for Ryan that he had a great team working for him. Ansen had come through in a major way after only a week. Not only were the transport ships ready two days ahead of schedule, but they’d even had identifying marks stripped from them to minimize the chance of them drawing unwanted attention.

“Ansen, this is amazing,” Ryan told the man.

“Just doing my job, my lord. I’m happy to be of service.”

A promotion and hefty bonus were definitely in order, but Ryan would have to deal with that later. “It is I who’s honored to have you on my team.”

Ansen smiled broadly. “Thank you, my lord.”

“I’ll let you know if I require anything else on this matter, but I should be able to take it from here.”

“I’ll be standing by.”

Ryan ended the vidcall and immediately brought up a new commlink to Wil. When the older man’s face appeared on the viewscreen, Ryan gave him a welcoming smile and nod. “I got them.”

“The ships?” Wil clarified, his tone soft with relief.

Ryan nodded. “Flight tested and a crew standing by. They’re unmarked and ready for loading.”

“That’s wonderful. I knew I could count on you.”

“Tell me where you need the ships, and I’ll get them there.”

Wil nodded. “Moving them around is going to be tricky. Since Monsari and the Coalition have such broad reach, any unusual traffic will tip them off.”

“I can set them up to look like supply freighters,” Ryan offered. The exterior of the vessels already fit with that profile, and altering the digital identification was quick and easy work. Strictly speaking, doing so was illegal, but when a police authority was working on the op, that became a non-issue.

“Yes, that would be a good way to go,” Wil agreed. “As for the logistics of where, Jason should be involved in that discussion. I’ll conference him in.”

Ryan’s viewscreen flashed to indicate another person had joined the call. The image split to show Wil and Jason side by side.

“Ryan has just informed me that the transport ships are ready,” Wil explained. “Have you identified the highest risk locations?”

“Yes, I have the targets and destinations worked out,” Jason replied. “However, I’m not sure how to go about getting people from the planet’s surface onto the ships, given the Coalition’s armed presence on the worlds.”

Ryan had no idea what to suggest. The ship’s Wil had asked for were, by their nature, impossible to land in an atmosphere. And the reason they wanted a limited number of large ships was to avoid the transportation logistics of using hundreds of small vessels. The two scenarios were mutually exclusive. “Your best bet is to use the existing surface-to-space infrastructure and spread out the arrival times to avoid bottlenecks,” he said at last.

“Self-service means having people opt in,” Jason replied.

“That was always the intention,” Wil said. “We don’t want to force anyone to relocate—just give them an option if they’re concerned about the Coalition’s activities putting them in danger.

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