The Tribari Freedom Chronicles Boxset by Rachel Ford

Author:Rachel Ford [Ford, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Tal glanced around the room at Nees’s security detail. It was a scrappy band with a distinctly amateur look.

And what does that say about you, his mind kicked in, getting your ass kicked by them? It was a fair point. But, still, there was something in the nervous twitching, the uneasy postures, the sideways glances that told him that these were not men and women accustomed to being in uncomfortable situations.

The source of their discomfort was no mystery. The frequent side-eye he was getting told him all he needed to know on that front. Whether they thought he was a dirty cop or an imperial spy, he wasn’t sure. But that they mistrusted – and resented – him was clear as day.

Governor Nees, though, seemed not to notice. At least, she pretended not to notice. Unlike her ragtag posse, she had a keen eye. Tal doubted she was oblivious about what was going on under her nose.

“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” she was saying. “Many of you have met Mister Tal Imari. The rest of you have heard that he’s joined our team.” A few grunts of acknowledgement sounded. “We’ll do full introductions later, but that’s actually not the reason you’ve been called here.”

She drew in a deep breath. “I just got news from Central. Supreme Leader Velk is dead.”

Silence filled the room. Tal spoke first. “What?”

“There’s a revolution going on. Or concluded, I guess. We were mostly cut out of the interplanetary network, once Trapper’s declared independence. The last we heard, there was marching in the streets. The new government has been restoring communication, and messages started coming in this morning. And…apparently, a few days ago, the primary palace was taken, and the supreme leader…well, he was executed.”

“Executed?” someone said. “My gods.”

“Good,” another voice chimed in. “That son-of-a-bitch was happy to let Halford kill us. May he rot in hell.”

Halford was the former governor of Trapper’s Colony, a man who – before the planet’s own revolution – had been brought in by Velk to increase oil production. Thousands had died under his short-lived leadership, so it didn’t surprise him to see the scowls and hardened glances that his name evoked.

“But this changes the situation,” Nees said, guiding the conversation back to whatever point she was trying to make. “With Velk permanently out of the picture, we don’t have to worry about him restoring control.”

“Good.”

“But that doesn’t mean that whoever succeeds him will have any lesser designs on our planet.”

“Trapper’s is oil rich,” Tal nodded. “A new government may find that kind of resource hard to pass up.”

Nees nodded too. “Or they may respect our claim to independence and open trade negotiations. Which, of course, would be the ideal situation. The point is, we don’t know what’s going to happen. And while we can all hope for the best, we need to prepare for the worst.”

“Invasion?” someone asked.

“Yes, potentially.”

“How did you prevent an invasion in the first place?” Tal wondered. During the worst periods, Velk had been willing to countenance dozens of Tribari deaths a day to keep production up.

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