War on a Thousand Fronts: A Military Science Fiction Space Opera Epic (Aeon 14: The Orion War Book 6) by M. D. Cooper

Author:M. D. Cooper [Cooper, M. D.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: The Wooden Pen Press
Published: 2018-05-31T00:00:00+00:00

COOKOUT

STELLAR DATE: 08.31.8949 (Adjusted Years)

LOCATION: Ol’ Sam, ISS I2

REGION: Pyra, Albany System, Thebes, Septhian Alliance

“Seriously, there’s no better option!” Finaeus waved his arms in the air. “Look, ask Saanvi, she’ll explain the resource allocation benefits. A ring is the best option. We only stopped building them because we were tired of people breaking them.”

Cary glanced at Saanvi and Finaeus, then looked to the Theban general, a man named Andre who looked like he wanted to be optimistic, but was too worn-down to put much effort into it.

The small cookout had gotten larger—which seemed to be normal for the lakehouse soirees. Even the delegation of Theban leaders had shown up to mix and mingle.

Normally she liked it, but this night, Cary had been hoping for a somewhat more intimate gathering—of course, it could also be that she felt lonely without Faleena sharing her headspace.

“It’s true,” Saanvi nodded enthusiastically. “Especially with the trade route with the Inner Empire—stars, now there’s a group who needs a better name—we’ll have everything we need. However,” she paused and cast an appraising eye at Finaeus. “From what we learned in school, the FGT stopped building planetary rings because you worked out other methods for stabilizing a planet’s climate without the use of a ring.”

“Well, yeah,” Finaeus shrugged. “But people were breaking them. Over a hundred planetary rings were destroyed during the FTL wars, and many more in the dark ages that followed. Rings, it turns out, are a great way to destroy a planet, via sabotage, or misuse. Sorta defeated the purpose.”

“So why build one now?” Cary asked, a questioning eyebrow raised.

Finaeus flashed one of his signature grins her way, and she found herself growing ever more enamored of this man. Not in any sort of amorous sense…

Well, maybe, but I’m not going to home in on Cheeky’s guy.

Attractive in his lanky, rugged way or not, Finaeus was more like the fun uncle that livened up the whole party when he arrived. The fact that he always looked like he’d be more at home on a ranch herding bison than building some of the largest megastructures ever created was all part of the man’s charm.

He also had the best stories, and he never left any of the juicy parts out.

“Habitation, and the refugees,” Finaeus answered simply. “You know that. The planet below is a mess, and non-ring terraforming techniques take a lot longer to pull off. Sure, we could do it with a diffuse array of satellites on the quick-ish, but that doesn’t solve the living space issues. Not to mention that Hudson is going to have some brutal winters, from the atmospheric dust the battles there kicked up.

“Nope, ring’s our best bet. Bring these people out of the stone ages, too.”

Saanvi laughed at Finaeus’s last statement. “I think the Albany System is nice—or it was, from the vids we’ve seen.”

General Andre sighed, giving his head a rueful shake. “I’m not sure whether to be delighted or offended.”

<Three words, Cary,> Saanvi said privately. <Planetary stasis shield.>

<Shit, are you serious?>

Saanvi sent over a mental shrug.

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