Hero's Legacy by Fred Hughes

Author:Fred Hughes [Hughes, Fred]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theogony Books
Published: 2024-09-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13: Fixing Earth

Sol System

Empire Date: March 1047

Kyle Kane, sixth earl of White Hall, stared at the French doors long after his guest had left. A normally controlled individual, he couldn’t understand why he’d let Snake Atwater get under his skin the way he had.

That’s not like me, he thought, and I don’t hold a grudge against him for what happened to my mother. That was all her own doing. Kyle decided it was a good thing Allison was off on one of her expeditions, though. She had loved his mother. Well, maybe not love. Let’s call it admiration. Mother was enormously ambitious, and so is Allison. Allison holds her brother, the emperor, and Atwater responsible for Mother’s death.

Kyle moved to the desk, sat down, and touched the call button. “See if you can get a hold of Princess Allison,” he asked his administrative assistant.

A moment later, his wife’s face appeared on his comm display. “Good Morning, my love.”

“It’s afternoon here, Dear. Why the call now?” Allison asked. Normally they spoke in what for her was the late evening.

Kyle sighed. “I have a meeting with the representative from the American government, which I expect to be contentious.”

“They are arrogant in their requests,” Allison responded. She’d sat in on the previous two meetings. The Empire was trying to distribute resources, food, clean water, medical supplies, and other necessities to help the Americans living in the devastated northern and western sections of what had been the United States. That country’s government, which had been living underground since Mordor conquered their country, was happy to receive the help. The sticking point was that they wanted the help to come to them, then they would distribute it. Kyle would let them help distribute it, but insisted the Empire would be in charge to ensure the aid went to the right people, and not into a politician’s pantry.

“But you’ve dealt with them before,” she observed. “What’s really bothering you?”

“Remember when I told you about the unannounced arrival of a diplomatic ship?” His wife nodded. “They spent nearly two days giving me the runaround about their mission. I learned this morning it was Snake Atwater, and he’s here on a mission for your brother.” Kyle saw his wife stiffen at the news.

“And he’s here for…” she trailed off.

“Being the typical James Bond type, he was very cagey about that. Atwater explained he was here to dig up intelligence on the Zenkarr by talking with the Mordorians. It wasn’t until the end of the conversation that he realized I was worried he was investigating me.”

“You thought he was?”

“The thought crossed my mind,” Kyle admitted, “and Atwater is his pet attack dog.”

“My brother is many things, and I hate most of them, but he’s always sincere. He wanted you for the role of viceroy. Hell, he recruited you himself. The other thing I respect about Hazard is, he won’t stab you in the back. If he was coming after you, you’d know it. He wouldn’t have Snake sneaking around and digging up dirt.

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