Read Doom Star: Book 06 - Star Fortress for Free Online

things. There has been no time.
    JUBA-RYDER: (to Marten) Do you denounce your FEC affiliation and awards?
    MARTEN: Do you denounce sending people to the slime pits or allowing some to enter punishment tubes where they drowned to death because they failed to pump fast enough?
    HAWTHORNE: Please, let there be peace among us. (Looking at Juba-Ryder.) I appreciate your zeal for Social Unity. You are to be commended for it and you are a true guide to the masses. However, at this time there is no reason to stir up old memories. We are attempting to save humanity from annihilation. Nothing else matters. If we must work hand-in-hand with murdering Highborn to defeat the cyborgs, I will do it.
    JUBA-RYDER: I am at your orders, sir. You are the guiding hand of Social Unity and no one else could do as you’ve done these past years. Some have questioned your zeal, but they were wrong to do so. I know your heart, and it beats strongly, pumping true socialist blood. As for the Grand Admiral, I would like to speak in his defense for a moment. Despite what has been said here concerning Highborn, we should remember that Cassius agreed to work with us against the planet-wreckers. Without his actions and those of other Highborn, human life on Earth would be extinct. We must never forget that. And logically, what Cassius and the Highborn have done once, surely, we can expect them to do again.
    CONE: I agree with much of what you say, particularly that without the Highborn, Earth would be a dead planet.
    MARTEN: If the Highborn had never attacked you, Social Unity would have possessed enough warships to destroy the planet-wreckers on their own.
    CONE: Hypotheticals don’t interest me. The Highborn saved human life by their assault on the planet-wreckers. They might help save humanity by attacking the cyborgs in the Neptune System.
    JUBA-RYDER: You agree with me then that the Supreme Commander should meet with Cassius?
    CONE: (Shakes her head). Cassius’s motives may have changed since the planet-wreckers a year ago. In fact, I believe they have changed.
    JUBA-RYDER: On what do you base this assumption?
    CONE: My communication with Admiral Sulla.
    JUBA-RYDER: This is an amazing statement. You have spoken with the chief Ultraist?
    HAWTHORNE: At my orders, she has.
    JUBA-RYDER: (Glancing from Hawthorne to Cone). What does Sulla say?
    CONE: There is a fierce battle going on between the Highborn. Cassius has been losing political ground as new commanders rise up. Then several weeks ago, things began to change. Sulla believes Cassius resorted to assassination in order to place one of his people in high command, namely, the newly promoted Admiral Scipio.
    JUBA-RYDER: Is assassination unusual among them?
    CONE: Apparently, it is. It means the Grand Admiral has possibly changed his feelings about murder and now willingly employs it as a tactic. I find that troubling.
    JUBA-RYDER: I find your admission of communication with Sulla troubling. We’ve spoken here about our distrust of Cassius. Sulla is an Ultraist. Yet apparently we have no problem speaking with him. Sulla’s view about us is even harsher than the Grand Admiral’s. For what possible reason could Sulla be speaking with us, and why do you seem to trust him?
    CONE: (Looks at the Supreme Commander).
    HAWTHORNE: (Nods).
    CONE: Our trust comes because Sulla is in an inferior position compared to the Grand Admiral. In addition, Sulla wishes our help in assassinating Cassius.
    JUBA-RYDER: (Sits up). Sir, this communication with the Ultraist could be a trap. Sulla—it seems obvious what is happening. This is a loyalty test by them. The two Highborn work against us, they are testing to see if we are trustworthy.
    HAWTHORNE: The citizens of Social Unity are not their subjects.
    JUBA-RYDER: If we take the Force-Leader’s words at face value, the Highborn believe we are animals. An Ultraist would have an even lower opinion about us. We must tread with caution and keep out of their political