Kaine's Retribution by D.M. Pruden

Author:D.M. Pruden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fuzzy Slipper Publishing

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Malkovich

THE COLLAR CHAFED. Except for the patch on the shoulder, the uniform they gave him was standard officer’s kit. It even sported a lieutenant’s epaulette, prompting salutes from the armed Rangers he encountered as he was escorted through the catacombs. The only difference was the crest that replaced that of the UEF. For Hayden, that alone was enough to make him feel like a traitor.

He had discovered it laid out on the bunk when he emerged from the shower. Concerned that he was being observed, he masked his revulsion as his finger traced the outline of the unfamiliar emblem patch. His mind wandered to thoughts of his father and what his words would have been on the matter. For generations, Kaines were raised to be staunch patriots and defenders of the Confederacy. To see it fragmented must have devastated him. To know that his own son was responsible for it would have killed him.

Hayden understood and respected the Confederation; its emblems, flags, coats of arms, and insignia were all pregnant with centuries of tradition. It had all been drilled into him since he could remember. The Kaine name was forever linked to the empire, for his family had been key players in its history. To say that it all was a part of his makeup would not have been an exaggeration.

But this new flag—he had no knowledge of what it stood for. He understood the meaning and commitment associated with wearing the UEF uniform, but this abomination merely made him feel like taking another shower.

The ironic thing about his reaction was that he hadn’t always felt this way. During his youth, and later after graduation from the academy, he regarded everything the Confederation represented with ambivalence. He knew his future was intricately intertwined with its institutions, and he was destined to serve—perhaps even govern one day. It was a canvas upon which his own achievements would be painted. But the ideals of patriotism that his grandfather and father shared had never been his.

Not until everything was lost.

Hayden spent ten years contemplating the consequences of his actions. He alone had brought crashing down what his family helped build. In their eyes, he would be a worse traitor than the men who wore this uniform. They only did so because they had no other hope. Perhaps a variation of this scenario was playing out in every star system that had once been a part of the great empire: billions of people forced to abandon ties to the home world for something less, merely to survive. The idea made him ill.

And yet what a decade of wandering in self-imposed exile attempted to teach him—what Stella had tried to convince him of—was that had he not acted, everything would be much worse.

Then along came Pavlovich, with his promise of a new dawn, a chance to rebuild everything and root out the evil he claimed rotted the Confederacy’s core. If what he said were true, perhaps reestablishing FTL capability would be a mistake. Maybe

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