Page 63 of Reformation
Steven let that sink in for a moment before following it up with, “Well, if hewasoutmaneuvered, then what does it mean that the pirate ships were destroyed by someone on the inside?”
Jezria let herself smile now. “It means,” she said with a calm she didn’t really feel, “that Garrett got his revenge in some way. I can only hope that whatever our enemy has planned next, he’s doing it a long way away from Garrett Helms.”
“Do you really think he’d abandon his position on Olympus, where he’s consolidated all of his power?”
It felt a bit foolish, discussing Raymond Alexander in such oblique terms when both of them knew exactly who was behind the attack on Pandora at this point, but Jezria knew that it paid to be safe.
“I think he probably doesn’t have a choice, at this point. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have abandoned his fleet to a traitor’s fate. No, I imagine some very interesting things are happening back on Olympus. See what you can find out.” She pressed up from her chair with a low groan—lord, how long had she been sitting? “I’ve got to get ready to meet Captain Obede. Let Dr. Reynaud know we’re going to need emergency procedures at the hospital and get everyone with a hint of medical training there to assist.”
“Understood, ma’am.”
Chapter thirty-seven
Garrett
It was satisfying for Garrett, in a rather dark and Schadenfreudian kind of way, to see every single one of his official lines of communication absolutely clogged with people wanting to talk to him.
Senators, lower-level politicians, interplanetary business leaders—Garrett went down the list of pending contacts and took great pleasure in ignoring all of them. He didn’t have to care, not right now. He’d done just about all the caring he was capable of. With the news coming in that the siege of Pandora had broken, that the pirate fleet was completely destroyed, and that—tellingly—President Alexander himself was about to leave Olympus for a sightseeing tour of distant planets, well … it all added up to a whole lot of pandemonium.
And that was what Olympus deserved, after the advantages they’d entrenched for themselves for so long.
“Oh, stocks are plummeting,” Garrett commented, full of faux sympathy as he watched the indicators. “Incidents of direct and indirect rebellion on Fringe planets are worrying Central System lawmakers. Confidence in the office of the president is at a fifty-year low. Shocking. So shocking.”
“You ain’t fooling anyone, darlin.”
“I’m not trying to,” Garrett said, not glancing at his hallucination. “This is what you reap when you sow so many seeds of distrust in governance. It’s time for the Central System to realize just how much they’ve been taking advantage of the Fringe planets, and how hard that’s going to be to continue once the veil of administrative secrecy is pulled back. They had a long-term plan for either getting rid of them or putting them into positions of abject servitude, and they’ve failed. Ha. Ha. Ha.”
“Maybe you’d better take your meds now, honey.”
“No.” No, he couldn’t do that yet. Jezria had finally reached out to him, just once, to let him know that she had no news about Jonah yet, but that she was still searching for him. His father was missing as well.
If Garrett lost the little comfort he got from his friendly, imaginary sweetheart and had nothing to fall back on, he’d lose it. He knew it; it would be the end of ability, end of mind, end of heart. It was bad enough he still had no clue where their son was. He wouldn’t be able to take it. He just wouldn’t. “Not yet. Not until we know something certain.”
“This isn’t good for you, Garrett. You know that. It’s been too long.”
“It won’t be much longer.” He spared Jonah a smile. “I promise. Things are happening fast now. Look.” He enlarged a hologram and projected it into the air. “That’s Raymond’s personal ship. He’s about to take off.
“Run, run, as fast as you can,” he whispered. “Fly away, you wretched little man. You’ll be hounded out of the entire civilizedgalaxy once more of your towers start to topple.” He watched as the ship lifted out of its landing bay, engines flaring as it fought to escape the thick, cloudy atmosphere of Olympus. It was a powerful ship and moved smoothly upward.
“What’s that?” Jonah pointed at the far side of the screen.
“It’s a … huh.” Garrett looked closer. “Debris, perhaps? Some sort of unauthorized spacecraft?”
Jonah shook his head. “No, look at its trajectory.”
“Oh.” Garrett’s eyes widened. “Oh, hell. What?”What?
“It’s on an impact course with the president’s ship.”
“He’ll evade.” Garrett watched the screen raptly as the ship shifted trajectories, then felt his jaw drop when he saw the unidentified object do the same. “Oh.Oh.”
“It’s following him.”
“It’s … more like modulating its fallintohim.” Garrett ran scenarios in his mind even as he watched Raymond’s ship continue to waver in its course, trying to find a way out from under the shadow of its ever-nearing impact. “What the hellisthat?” Whatever it was, it had some complex and very-complete shielding. If Garrett couldn’t get a read on it, then he wasn’t sure the capitol’s sensors could either. “What am I overlooking?”
“Someone who wants to kill President Alexander, I suppose,” Jonah said with a shrug.
His comment hit Garrett like a fist between the eyes. He frantically opened a private channel and sent out a call. Nothing … nothing … finally, he got recognition, voice only.
