Flashpoint (Book One of the Drive Maker Trilogy) by Quinn Adam

Author:Quinn, Adam [Quinn, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2016-08-09T04:00:00+00:00

Cherran ultimately took his shuttle straight to the governmental complex. He was admittedly a little nervous to be going into a Cabinet meeting without Shuping and her uplink implant at his side, but the emergency session of the Cabinet was called immediately after the resolution of the Treaty Day attacks, and there was too much on the line for him to meander. By the time he left the hotel, the Meltian Guard support team had determined that there was no recoverable data on Gerald’s screen, so Cherran took the worthless chunk of metal to show the Cabinet.

Unfortunately, his own nerves were nothing compared to how twitchy—paranoid, even—TeSeComm was when Cherran’s pilot attempted to secure a landing platform. Eventually, they were obliged to land in Freedom Square, where one of the president’s aides met Cherran and rushed him to a nondescript conference room deep within the building. President Gunther, Economy, Resources, and Health were already seated, while Commander-in-Chief Altez and Director Harrison attended virtually.

“I must lodge my concern,” Altez said, “that in the wake of such a gruesome attack, it may be unwise for us to seat five members of this Cabinet in the same room.”

“I appreciate your concern, Mr. Altez,” Gunther said, “but this complex has more firepower and better shields than most destroyers, and there are no less than ten squadrons of Meltian Guard interceptors currently patrolling Telahmir’s airspace. The continuity of the Meltian government is not at risk.”

“We may be relatively safe,” Harrison said, “but the Meltian Republic is not. Which is why, Mr. President, I would like you and the rest of this Cabinet to support my enhanced ship-tracking measure in the Subcommittee on Planetary Defenses.”

Cherran pursed his lips. This was not what he wanted to talk about, but he realized that the Treaty Day Attacks were a lot fresher in the minds of the other Cabinet members than the Trascion affair at the moment.

“I may be popular, but I am no magician,” Gunther said. “I could not foist a measure that sounds like something out of the old GG on this Republic even if I wanted to.”

“Mr. President,” Harrison said. “I understand there is opposition, but one of the main reasons this attack was so—in Mr. Altez’s words—gruesome was that we are unable to account for many of the military-grade ships that enter our borders. All I am proposing is that we mandate the installation of manufacturer-specific tracking chips in all new starships with flip drives, enabling—”

“Straight out of the GG handbook,” Economy said. “Not to mention that the burden of compliance would damage our interstellar shipping considerably.”

“Fine.” Harrison raised his arms in mock-surrender. “I recognize that planetary security is a topic poisoned by the legacy of the GG, but I hope that each of you recognize that if there are many more attacks like this one, the Meltian people will not continue to let ideological squeamishness hold them back from concrete action.”

“Threats are out of place here, Mr. Harrison,” Gunther said. “If you can accrue a sufficient number of votes, your measure may pass, though I do not think it likely.

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