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

speeches. Plus, it needed to be handled by a full Taran—someone who could really represent the Empire.”

“Well, you were there at my side in spirit.”

“Always.” Saera leaned down and gave him a kiss. “Honestly, I’m amazed by how peaceful the contact has been so far. We were all braced for the worst.”

He smiled. “It gives me hope that the rest of the Empire can take a nonviolent approach, as well.”

“I guess this means that we can start sending researchers down to Earth to look for hidden alien tech? Whatever our ancestors found important enough for them to keep vigil over Earth.”

He nodded. “On it. I suspect it will be quite some time before we know anything definitive, but I’m excited to see what they might find.”

“Me too. Where are we on the security front?”

“We should be able to begin installing the shield around Earth within the next few days. Still no sign of the enemy.”

“Good news, then,” she assessed.

More like the calm before the storm. He could feel the tension building—the kind of shift in cosmic energy that foretold impending danger. He squeezed his wife’s hand, savoring the warmth of her touch. “We can, and should, celebrate this victory with Earth, but I don’t expect the peace to last.”

—     —     —

Calls from people in Jason’s past on Earth kept coming through. Several he was certain shouldn’t even have his number. Whenever he found himself feeling irritated with the intrusion of inane questions, he reminded himself that he would have reached out to an old acquaintance he saw show up on global television, too. It was human nature to want to connect, especially to draw links between oneself and anyone with perceived celebrity status. He was famous now, whether he liked it or not.

He ignored yet another call as he strolled to his father’s office for their check-in meeting. “Have you been getting random people reaching out to you, too?” he asked his father while he sat down in his usual chair.

“Oh, it’s been constant. I want to be nice about it, but it’s to a point where I’ve needed to start sending calls straight to voicemail.”

“Me too. I can’t blame them for being curious, but a person can only take so much!”

Wil chuckled. “I suppose we could be wrestling with worse issues.”

“Speaking of which…” Jason turned solemn. “Anything new from the patrols around the Rift?”

“No, which has me more concerned than if we were seeing activity.”

“Is it possible that destroying Alkeer was enough to get even, and that was the end of it?”

“I think believing so would be wishful thinking.” Wil sighed. “The treaty was clear: all Tarans will be destroyed.”

“So, where are they?”

“A very good question. Planning a larger-scale attack, I fear.”

Jason sat in quiet reflection for a few moments. “Are the shields going to do anything to stop them?”

“Between us?”

Jason nodded.

His father shook his head. “Based on the analysis of the attack on Alkeer, that… weapon—I don’t even know what to call it—will cut through anything we have. The only potential countermeasure would be generating a spatial disruption field with a large-scale focusing aperture, such as the ateron band on the Conquest.”

“But that’s the one ship we have with that capability to do anything on a meaningful scale.”

“Our only ship, yes. But the Aesir have offered their assistance; our common Taran ties put them at the same risk as us.”

“How large is their fleet these days?”

“As usual, Dahl wouldn’t give me a straight answer. My guess is they have a few dozen ships with that capability, at most. We could perhaps protect ten planets, optimistically.”

“Ten of fifteen hundred isn’t a great percentage.”

“No. Worse, we can’t maintain a disruption field for long.”

Jason’s heart sank. “Where does that leave us?”

“We continue trying to find a way to communicate with the enemy and attempt to open diplomatic relations. Any combat scenario would result in unacceptable losses, in my assessment.”

“And if they won’t talk?”

“Then we’ll do everything we can to prevent our race’s extinction.”

CHAPTER 19

Getting back into a normal routine, if there was such a thing in the TSS, was proving difficult for Wil. In the week since Earth’s induction into the Taran Empire, there’d been reactions ranging from celebration to protests across the galaxy. Strange that one little planet could spark such strong feelings.

He tried to focus on Michael’s latest operational report, but his mind kept flipping through the multitude of high-priority issues. Tensions were rising everywhere. It would only take a tiny push to send the Empire into chaos.

“Where are we with the transdimensional imaging?” Michael asked, setting his tablet on his lap while he awaited the reply.

Wil sighed. “I wish I had better news on that front. Using the new scan data, we did figure out a way to replicate the conditions used by the Andvari to capture the image, but even CACI can’t come up with a way to maintain those conditions for a continuous video observation. So, it looks like the best we’ll get is bursts.”

“How rapidly?”

“Approximately thirty-second increments. And it’ll take almost the full instantaneous output capacity of the Conquest’s PEM, so communications and jump capabilities will be interrupted during each burst.”

Michael frowned. “That’s disappointing.”

“We have limitations, as much as I hate to admit it. And seeing a fraction of these entities is the bare minimum. What do we do with that?”

His friend shook his head slowly. “I don’t know, Wil. When we’re face-to-face in the moment, you’ll think of something, like you always do.”

“I appreciate the faith, but this time… I don’t know.”

“No sense worrying about matters beyond our control.”

“I suppose so,” Wil agreed. Not that it’ll stop me.

“Which brings us to the matter of Earth and the general unrest throughout