Read Doom Star: Book 03 - Battle Pod for Free Online Page B

Corps.”
    “The delicate nature of yet another Director-in-Chief dying so soon after Enkov’s accident means we must proceed with extreme caution. While I applaud your devotion to duty, I must insist on your cooperation in the coming investigation. There is a possibility that some of your deputies have exceeded their authority.”
    “It is with the greatest reluctance that I must disagree with you, General.”
    “The possibility occurred to me,” Hawthorne said. “If you will look out your window, I imagine you’ll see a squad of cybertanks patrolling the premises. It might seem highhanded or excessively militant, but a breach of the emergency blackout orders will result in a cybertank assault on PHC Headquarters.”
    “…you take heavy responsibilities upon yourself, General.”
    “That may be true. Since we shall be working so closely together in the future, Chief Yezhov, I feel you should be the first to hear about my promotion.”
    “You’re stepping onto the Directorate?”
    “I hold the maxims of Social Unity too highly for such a move,” Hawthorne said. “Instead, the remaining directors have just ratified a new rank for me. For the duration of the emergency I am the Supreme Commander of Inner Planets.”
    “The directors voted on this?” Yezhov asked with obvious disbelief.
    “The surviving directors,” Hawthorne said.
    Yezhov’s pale reptilian eyes narrowed. “Did more than one director have a heart-attack?”
    “Including the Madam Director, there were three.”
    “…I see.”
    “I dearly hope you do, Chief Yezhov, as I need your cooperation for the coming fight. I may count on it, yes?”
    “PHC will never cease struggling for ultimate victory.”
    “I am a military man and am used to something a little less ambiguous.”
    “…I shall cooperate with you, General. Excuse me, Supreme Commander. May I be the first to congratulate you on your elevation in status.”
    “Thank you, Chief. If you would be kind enough to arrive at my headquarters in the next half-hour, I will outline my revised policies. And please, no clones this time.” Hawthorne referred to Yezhov’s use of a clone during the initial coup that had gained him, Hawthorne, control of Social Unity.
    Chief Yezhov pursed his lips. “May I be indelicate enough to ask for assurances?”
    “That will be one of my newest principles,” Hawthorne said. “Social Unity will only survive this ongoing crisis with the highest display of trust between its members.”
    “I must trust you?”
    “Either that, Chief Yezhov, or trust my cybertanks to do their duty.”
    “I agree. A new era of trust will help stiffen resolve. There has been far too much distrust lately.”
    “If it’s any consolation, Chief, I need men like you if we’re going to defeat the Highborn.”
    “Men like me, Supreme Commander?”
    “Cunning infighters with a gift for assassination,” Hawthorne said.
    “You give me too much credit.”
    “We shall see. A half-hour, Chief. Then—”
    “I understand. I’m on my way.”

-7-

    Grand Admiral Cassius, the leader of the Highborn, stood in a viewing port of the Hannibal Barca . It was the nearest of the Doom Stars to Earth. The Grand Admiral admired the blue planet. South America was in sight, with heavy cloud cover over the Amazon River Basin.
    Cassius had iron-colored hair and gray eyes. He stood like a granite statue, but there was a terrible intensity in his stare. He wore his admiral’s uniform, complete with a Stellar Cross pinned to his chest and above it a Platinum Nebula. He had won the Platinum Nebula, the highest medal in the Social Unity Space Force, for his brilliant victory of the Second Battle of Deep Mars Orbit in 2339. That had been before the Highborn Rebellion. There, twelve years ago, he had broken the combined space fleets of the Mars Rebels and the Allied forces of the Jupiter Confederation.
    The Grand Admiral heard a door open behind him. There was rustling and shuffling. The Hannibal