Ragnarok: Colonization, intrigue and betrayal. Andrew Claymore (primary phonics books .txt) 📖

“Always,old buddy,” Max said seriously. “Always.”

Maxgrunted. He gazed up over the walls at the highlands. The breeze waswarm and… oddly spicy somehow. Well, this is an alien world…

“Howdid this happen?” he asked Martin.

“Shipsshowed up,” Martin said, shrugging. “We fought. We won, justbarely, but we won.”

“Yeah,I get that.” Max shook his head. “How did you end up taking yourmarching orders from that teenage girl?”

Martinwas quiet for quite a while, so long that Max was wondering if he’dgiven his old pal offense. When he finally replied, it was quiet andmeasured.

“Thatteenagegirl,”Martin said, gently stressing the words, “came here as a prisoneron the Deathstalker,Memnon’sflagship.Sheescaped into the guts of the ship while they were in path.

“Sherigged the ship to crash; took her chances, along with the crew. Shesaved us from orbital bombardment afterBill stopped that first salvo.”

“Shit!”Max chewed that over for a bit. “More to the kid than I thought.”Maybe she’snot such an entitled brat, after all.

“You’renot wrong,” Martin agreed. “She fought her way clear of thewreck, confirmed Memnon’s… situation… and then…” Helaughed.

“Whileme and the boys were still complaining about our ouchies, shecommandeers a fighter, right out from under my nose, and brings downtheenemycorvette that’s still smoking, down in the valley.”

“Enemycorvette...”Max said,shaking his head.“She had good reason to be pissed, didn’t she?” AmI saying she might not have done all that if they hadn’t killed hermother?He sucked at his teeth meditatively, staring down at the carboncretecobblestones of the ‘square’.

“She’sgot more than just rage going for her,” Martin said, as if guessingat Max’s thoughts.

“Webrought her back here but the chairman and Mal were having a pissingcontest over who should be calling the shots. Don’t get me wrong,”he looked over at his friend.

“They’reboth good men. They just had very different ideas on how to approachthe burning shit-dumpster we had on our hands.”

Hepulled out something from his pocket, wrapped in a plant-fiber sheet.He opened it, broke the snack-bar inside in half and offered him apiece.

“Shewatched them piss on each other’s legsfor a bit, getting nowhere but making great time. Finally, she justtells them that,since she’s first in the line of succession, she embodies bothmilitary and civil authority.

“Theycan go do their jobs and, if their playgrounds intersect, she’lladjudicate.”

“Justlike that?”

“That’swhat Mal and Sushil thought too. They were ready to go home and stewabout it but she wasn’t going to waste the momentum. Told Mal hehad to provide me with security for what’s left of the Kuphar,which is an airbase, now. Can’t have any scheming insurgentsattacking us while we’re waiting for nanites to build our hangarsunder the mountains.”

“Noshit?” Max was starting to feel grudging respect for the youngwoman. “How’d he take that?”

Ashrug. “Probably better than either of us would have. Remember,Mal’s originally from the empire. Feudal authority is absolutethere. He might have been quietly hoping she kept her mouth shut buthe still knew she was the rightful authority on the ground.

“Ifshe’d told him to kill all the colonists and then off himself...”Martin threw his hands out to the sides. “I’m not saying hewouldn’t do it…”

“Howthe hell can they live like that?” Max exploded. “Those numb-nutshave ships that can travel between systems in a couple of weeks andthey still live like a bunch of medieval serfs?”

“Yousaying we’re any different?” Martin arched an eyebrow at him.“Folks back home spend a lot of time beating their chests andscreaming about freedom…”

“So?”

“So,”Martin said darkly, “sometimes it feels like it’s just morefeudalism but with better marketing.”

“Bullshit!”

“Ohyeah?” Martin folded up the wrapper and slipped it back in hispocket. “Who’d you have to choose between last election?”

“You’rekind of proving my…”

“’Causethey both probably take ‘donations’ from the same companies.”

Helooked at Max. “Those companies are ruled by the hereditary class.Same shit, different marketing. Politiciansare just the middle men.”

Maxjust shook his head.

“Anyway,”Martin gotup. “Let’s go pay our respects to Wild Bill.”

Maxfollowed him across the square to a stone pavilion set against thepark wall. It opened at the back into a small enclave among thetrees.

Itwas a circular space, surrounded by a heavy metal fence to preventvisitors touching the massive trees around them.

Afigure in the center, a statue built outof bronze bynanites, stood in EVA armor, looking up to the sky. It held a pistolin one hand and playing cards in the other. Afresh,brightblue flower had been tucked in behind his ear.

Maxfelt a lump in his throat.

Acesand Eights.

Whowants breakfast?

Refuge

Unity, Ragnarok

“Keepthem closed,” Vikram urged. “We’re almost there.”

Gabriellawas trusting him not to lead her over the edge of the roof or, atleast, she was acting like someone who could trust anyone.

He’s asweet guy, she reminded herself.He’s excited to show me what he’s been doing up here,so just go along with it.

Did hejust cook this whole thing up for another excuse to hold hands?She shook the idea off. Not that I’d mind but I doubt heeven thinks of me like that. The girls here are freaking gorgeous…She shook that off as well.

Thelast thing she needed right now was more complication in her life.She spent half her time resolving disputes among the colonists andthe other half wishing she’d kept her mouth shut.

Theproblem was that her mouth, as often happens, had kicked into gearbefore her brain could run the numbers. Whatelse was Isupposed to do?

They’djust lost most of their defenses, the garrison commander and thechairman were arguing and there were two crashed ships pouring enemysurvivors out into the jungle.

Theteenager in her, used to being the rebel against adult authority, hadsuddenly realized that she wasthe authority. The law was clear and it was literally written intoher neurons by one of those pods.

She’dstarted with Mal, who was pretty much certain to respect the feudalsystem he’d been created to serve. With Malon board, Sushil hadn’tput up any objections when she’d asked him for volunteer coloniststohelp manthe walls.

Theproblem with taking on leadership was that too many folks thoughtyou’d do their thinking for them. She suspected that the folkspestering her were simply a headache she’d inherited from Mal andSushil.

“Openthem!” Vikram said.

Shedid. The top floor of the McAdam house had previously been flat andfeatureless, except for Terry’s apartment and a pad for therunabout.

Now,there was an arcaded walkway leading from the stairs, past theapartment and