Empire Reborn (Taran Empire Saga Book 1): A Cadicle Space Opera A.K. DuBoff (guided reading books TXT) 📖

Wil patted Jason on the back. “How are you feeling?”

“A little better.”

“Good. It’s important to find peace in the ways we can. Today was a big day—ends and beginnings.”

Jason looked down. “Yeah, it’s one for the record books.” He had conflicting emotions; joy from seeing his homeworld united with the Empire, sadness from finally saying goodbye to his friend. It was a turning point in many ways. One of those days he’d look back on decades from now and recognize as a critical juncture in his life.

He stood in quiet contemplation with his father, the two of them alone in the corridor. Eventually, their gaze met.

“We actually did it. Earth, reunited with the Empire.” Wil shook his head with disbelief.

Jason smiled in spite of his heavy heart. “Congratulations. You’ve made history yet again.”

“I’m glad you could be a part of it. When we made the call to raise you on Earth, I wasn’t sure you’d ever be able to talk with people from your childhood about the truth.”

“Mom’s side of the family must be freaking out right now.” Some of his tension released as Jason laughed, thinking about his extended family who were always so skeptical about global conspiracy theories.

“Oh, yeah. They’ve already started calling. Speaking of which, I should probably stay on top of that while your mom’s with Raena.”

“All right. I’ll catch you later.”

Jason headed to his quarters, hoping to get time to decompress after the turmoil of the day. However, not long after he’d settled onto the couch, his phone lit up with an incoming call. The caller ID pulled from the contacts list on his old Earth phone as a teenager indicated that it was Seth. They’d been friends during middle and high school, and he’d briefly dated one of Raena’s best friends.

Ah, shite. Here we go.

Jason considered letting it ring and dump into the generic voicemail that existed for this very purpose, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything. The point was to integrate Earth with Taran culture. He was in a rare position to be a bridge.

He answered. “Hey, Seth. Long time no talk.” To his surprise, speaking his native tongue of English was strange within TSS Headquarters.

“Holy shit. You actually picked up,” Seth said.

“Yeah, well, how often do you get a phone number ending in 4-3-2-1? Couldn’t give that up.”

“Right. Yeah.” His friend’s voice was deeper than Jason remembered, but that was to be expected now that they weren’t teenagers. More striking was the uncertainty in Seth’s tone. He’d always been confident, often to the point of being brash. None of that was evident now.

“I can guess why you’re calling,” Jason began, hoping to help the other man get comfortable.

“Um, it’s…” Seth sighed and let out a little laugh. “It’s crazy, man. We thought it was a joke, and then we recognized you. So, we decided one of us should reach out. Just wanna know, is it for real?”

“Caught me by surprise, too, when I found out,” Jason replied. “But yes, it’s all very real.”

“A couple of us were messaging back and forth, arguing about if it was really you or not. But twins with the same names and looked that similar to you—I knew it had to be.”

“Yeah, a lot can change in a decade.”

“You’ve been living with aliens this whole time? We’d wondered what happened to you.”

“They’re not aliens, exactly,” Jason said. “Extraterrestrials might be a better description.”

“I guess.” His old friend paused. “So, the ‘Taran Empire’, huh?”

“I’m sure that’s where terra is derived from. I’m not sure why there’s a difference in spelling. Lost in translation, perhaps? But yeah, Tararia is the center of it all. Raena lives there full-time now.”

“Huh.”

“Hey, I know this is a lot.”

“It’s, uh… No one knows what to say.”

“That’s understandable.”

“I mean, there are aliens! And they look like us. And they want to help us?”

Jason didn’t bother to correct the use of ‘aliens’ again. “It makes sense, though, doesn’t it? In a weird way.”

“I don’t know. It all seems pretty out there to me. But I figure it has to be real if I have a personal connection to it.”

“Once the initial shock wears off, it’s pretty amazing.”

“I’ll bet! Those ships look epic.”

“Oh, they are.”

Seth chuckled. “I know we haven’t talked in forever, but we were friends for a long time, ya know? It’s weird thinking back on things. I keep wondering if there were signs I should have noticed, or whatever.”

“Hey, man, even I didn’t know. Seriously, one day everything was normal, and then I was living in the moon. Mind-bending shite. Shit,” he hastily corrected. Figures now I finally get the hang of it.

“I can’t imagine.”

“I had to see it to believe it, as cliché as it is. Actually, our first night here, I snuck out to go up to the surface port. It wasn’t until I saw the walls of the crater and the stars that it started to sink in.”

Seth laughed. “You totally need to take people on ship rides to show you’re for real.”

“We might have to, if seeing a shuttle land isn’t enough.”

“Hey, if that program ever happens, I expect a spot on the first flight.”

“You bet.”

“So, how’ve you been?” Seth asked. “Seeing anyone?”

Jason’s heart was struck by another pang of sadness about Tiff. “Things are good. No one right now. But I’ll say, the dating pool just opened up by a few trillion to everyone on Earth, so there’s that.”

“I won’t complain.” There was a contemplative silence. “Should we be worried?”

“How do you mean?”

“About Earth becoming part of the Empire.”

“This is the best thing for Earth,” Jason assured him. “Tech. Resources. Opportunities. I hope it brings the people of the planet together.”

“Me