Supremacy's Outlaw: A Space Opera Thriller Series (Insurgency Saga Book 3) T.E. Bakutis (read my book .txt) đ
- Author: T.E. Bakutis
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Jan believed it. Even people as despicable as Truthers wouldnât sign up to irradiate their own families, but Commander Graham Esparza and his zealot core had no reason to tell the rank-and-file anything. Esparza likely thought his actions justified, a few thousand sacrificed to âsaveâ Ceto.
The vast majority of Esparzaâs Truthers must believe they were acting as extra security for the Armistice Day parade. They would be as shocked and angry as the rest of Starâs Landing after tomorrowâs mini-nuke went off ... at least, as angry as those who were still alive. Jan hated to admit how good a plan this was.
A mini-nuke going off on Armistice Day would both wipe out the vast majority of opposing Ceto senators and create a power vacuum with President Mendozaâs death. It would both prove the inability of the CSD to protect the city and unite the people of Ceto against their barbaric Advanced âoppressors.â And worst of all, when the Truthers rolled in to save the day, it would offer Esparzaâs people the perfect platform to claim legitimacy.
Still, all this deadly nonsense didnât answer Janâs earlier question. âAnd we are now headed to Starâs Landing why?â
âWhy do you think?â Emiko asked. âWeâre going to blow the whistle on it. If we warn everyone todayââ
âWe canât,â Jan said.
âWe have to,â Emiko said.
âIâm not saying we let them blow up Starâs Landing, Em. Iâm saying you canât warn anyone.â
Emiko stared at him with wide eyes. âWhy?â She pitched up noticeably at the end.
âEsparzaâs mini-nuke is already in Starâs Landing.â
Emikoâs jaw fell open. The autotruck rumbled on. Then she closed her mouth and grimaced.
âYou know Iâm right,â Jan said.
Emiko nodded. âThe Truthers have people in the CSD, in the government, in every agency.â She wasnât even looking at him anymore. âOne will intercept any warning we send, and itâs not like Esparza will just eff off and say âWe surrender.ââ
âNo,â Jan said. âHe will, instead, set off his bomb.â
âAnd Starâs Landing has almost a million people in it. They wouldnât be able to evacuate even a fraction in time. The Truthers could still claim the Advanced bombed the parade, because, really, what proof would anyone have otherwise?â
âExactly,â Jan said. âThough, I doubt Esparza plans to kill more than a thousand or so. His tacticians have certainly estimated the fallout radius and run casualty projections. Even the radius of a perfectly placed mini-nuke would onlyââ
Emiko slammed one flat palm down on Janâs bed. âIâm a fucking mathematician, Jan! I know how to calculate radii!â
Jan captured her hand with his. âOf course.â
Emiko glared at him, but she didnât pull away. âAnd just how do you know the nukeâs already there?â
âRafe told me,â Jan said. âOr close enough.â
Rafe had told Jan yesterday that Esparza was done prepping for his operation, and the Truther base clearing out confirmed that. If the Truthers were still moving the mini-nuke into Starâs Landing, they wouldnât have been âdone.â Esparza wouldnât mobilize his people unless everything was already in place.
âRight, about Rafe.â Emiko grimaced. âThereâs something else you need to know.â
âHeâs working with the Truthers,â Jan said.
âHe sold you to the Supremacy.â
It took Jan a moment to absorb that information, square it with everything he already knew, and then add, âWhat?â
Emiko explained everything Fatima and Kinsley had explained to her, days ago, and as she did so, the vexing mystery of his five years in Tantalus prison clicked into place. The explanation heâd waited five years to learn arrived.
Jan smiled. He felt undeniably warm now.
âIâm sorry.â Emiko leaned close, brow furrowed. âI thought youâd have figured it out by now.â
âItâs fine,â Jan said. And it was, finally.
Fatima hadnât sold him out five years ago. Sheâd been betrayed as well, by Rafe, and Jan only now realized heâd always feared that heâd done something to deserve being betrayed. That heâd disappointed his family somehow.
That hadnât happened, though.
One of them had simply colossally fucked up.
Jan pressed his other hand over Emikoâs. âNo one is perfect.â And though Rafeâs own fuckup hurt, some, it was possible to bear because Jan understood why it had happened.
âIâd do anything to score a little bliss,â Rafe had said a day ago, as he sniffled his eyeballs out in their shared cell. âI did a lot of stuff I donât even remember, and the stuff I do remember, Iâm not proud of.â
Rafe had probably planned to break Jan out of CSD custody after he sold Jan out for his drug and/or gambling fix. Heâd likely had no idea Captain Varik planned to seize Jan from the CSD and send him to orbit. The problem, with Rafe, was that he was just smart enough to think three steps into a four-step plan.
There had been no malice involved in Rafeâs actions five years ago, simply stupidity. Stupidity didnât hurt as much. Jan focused his thoughts on the mini-nuke problem, because deciding how to deal with Rafe was going to take a while.
âWe canât let Esparzaâs coup succeed,â Jan said, âbut we also canât send any warning the Truthers in the government might intercept. We will need to handle this ourselves.â
âRight,â Emiko said. âSo weâll just gun through a hundred or so Truthers, give or take?â
Jan tried to sit up, winced, and failed. âActually, I have a plan that involves considerably less risk.â To his people, anyway. âWhen does Fatima return with Bharat and his family?â
âTonight, if all went well.â Emiko shuddered. âOr never, if things went south over Phorcys.â
âFatima succeeded,â Jan said. âAlso, weâll need the mimetic camouflage suits we salvaged off Phorcys six years ago.â
âFor what?â Emiko demanded. âWhat can two half-invisible
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