Twilight Wars by Robbie MacNiven

Author:Robbie MacNiven [MacNiven, Robbie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Media Tie-In, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Space Exploration
ISBN: 9781839082382
Google: SAK6EAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Aconyte
Published: 2023-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Quann, Sol Federation Colony World

Governor Forebeck called Zara into his office on the morning he left Quann.

The strain recent times had put him under was clear. The broad, straight shoulders had become lean and rounded, the square-jawed face gaunt, the silver-streaked hair now patched with white. He looked like a broken man. Zara supposed in a way he was.

He apologized for leaving. She told him not to. He had his orders. In truth, she didn’t begrudge him. Living under the constant threat of war was no life at all.

“I’m making you acting governor in my absence,” he told her from behind his desk.

“Sir, I’m hardly qualified to–” she began to say, but he cut her off.

“You’re absolutely qualified. More so than me. I just give good speeches. You’re the one who’s been running this damned place for years now. You and the rest of the staff.”

“Wouldn’t Jord have to ratify it?”

“I think they’ve got more important things on their mind at the moment,” Forebeck said with the merest ghost of humor. “If I declare it, it stands until they say otherwise.”

Zara didn’t really want to accept, but it was something she had already largely come to terms with. As the most senior member of the administration left behind, she would become governor in all but name anyway. At some point she was going to have to embrace the weight of that responsibility.

“I’ll try to make you proud, sir,” she told Forebeck. He stood slowly and walked round the desk to shake her hand.

“I think pride is one of the reasons we’re in this mess,” he said. “I know you’ll do everything you can to stop this becoming any more disastrous. And you won’t be alone. We’re all going to fight in your corner back on Jord. Well, maybe apart from Smyth.”

“I’m just glad I don’t have to put up with him anymore,” Zara said. “At this point I’d rather face the Letnev firebombs.”

•••

Later that day, Zara and Traquay bade farewell to the rest of the colony’s leadership, who were boarding a shuttle on the edge of Aruzoe Prime Gateway. The shuttle would take them to the Letnev ship in orbit scheduled to see them through the blockade. Afterward, Zara and Traquay returned to the Federation Hub’s control center. Zara had ordered the entirety of the remaining government staff to gather there. While the leadership of Quann might have departed, the dozens of lower-level administrators that made up the main body of the colony’s governing apparatus hadn’t been authorized to depart. They were Zara’s colleagues, the real vehicle of colonial rule. The sight of them looking toward her as she entered the control room was equal parts reassuring and intimidating. She was no longer another cog in the machine. Now she was expected to direct it.

She was glad she still had Traquay. There was guilt too, but she no longer had time to wallow in that. If she was going to maintain Quann’s government and avoid a descent into anarchy,

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