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Confederation navy
had learned to adjust for, stymied the fire control computers of the Carline
defenders.  Only at the end did some of the defender ships attempt to
coordinate their own fire manually, but it was too little, too late.  The
coalition of private vessels, armed merchantmen, and three ancient frigates
that were only in orbit for lifeguard duty were the extent of the defenses that
Carline could put up.  Captain Vol did lose one cruiser with all hands in a
rare uncontained reactor meltdown and several others were damaged, but overall
it was a rousing success for the Primans; a planet in exchange for one ship.
    Their quarry
destroyed, the Priman cruisers resumed their original places in orbit above the
planet.  Once you controlled the skies, the planet was at your mercy.
    This time, Ravine
didn't have to even demand they answer the comms; there was a message waiting
for them.  It was another Qualin, though this one wasn't wearing the elaborate
formalwear that the former Governor had been dressed in.
    "I am
Tzeuss," the Qualin began tiredly.  "What are your terms?"
    Representative
Ravine was already mentally crossing the first world off her list of planets to
conquer.
               
     
    "We're going to
need to find a way to restrict travel in some way if we're going to avoid a
wave of secessions," stated Enric Shae, senior assistant to Senator Dennix
and the only other person who knew about his relationship with the Primans. 
They were discussing the recent secession that Admiral Bak had been talking
about, and the implications were not good.  The planet in question hadn't even
joined another alliance; they'd chosen to simply exist independently, a true
slap in the face to the Confederation considering the Primans were snatching up
their outer planets left and right lately.
    "We can make it
happen," Dennix assured him.  He was confident of his personal outlook
today, and had the casual air of someone who was carefree.  He leaned back in
the chair behind his oversized, ornate wooden desk, the place where he seemed
to spend most of his time these days.  Even the Governing Committee knew how
this game was to be played; they came to his office when decisions needed to be
made.  Everyone on that committee had newfound power to influence the
Confederation, and they all owed their places to him.  He wouldn't let them
forget it, either.  He had once hoped to consolidate power into a position of
President, something the Confederation had done away with long ago on the
grounds that one person in control of so many hundreds of planets and billions
of lives was not a great idea.  He'd settle for control over a docile committee
instead if the results were the same.
    "The greater the
crisis, the more power we can claim," Dennix assured his accomplice. 
"They'll relinquish their rights in bits and pieces in return for the
promise of safety.  Most of the major news outlets will report favorably on our
policies; we'll just need to think of a legitimate sounding reason why we need
to regulate inter-system travel.  The real-world details, how it will affect
people on a daily basis, aren't important.  What we tell the people,
that's what is important.  And we'll have no more of these planets taking leave
of the Confederation, because I'll need us strongly united at home if we're
going to expand at the tail end of this invasion.  We just need to keep any
trouble makers busy," he finished, thinking chiefly about Avenger and
Admiral Nodam Bak.
    "We also need
to keep Tana Starr in line," Shae observed.  He saw the look that Dennix
was giving him and explained.  "After she had Velk transferred to the
prison facility here on Delos, she began seeing him regularly.  None of the
guard shifts has noted anything about it in their logs, and I've taken pains to
keep those personnel rotated very often so nobody is there often enough to
notice her repeated visits.  But sooner or later, somebody will ask why an
advisor