Read Dreadnought (Lost Colonies Trilogy Book 2) for Free Online

she eyed one another coldly for a moment.
    “It’s a Star Guard officer,” Jillian said. “Should I let him in?”
    “Yes, if he’s passed the metal detectors.”
    “That may not be good enough,” Zye interjected quickly. “They vary in composition. Some have polymer-based internal components.”
    Jillian glanced at Zye, then at me. “It’s your call, sir.”
    “Let him in.”
    There was some rough complaining in the hallway as the man was inspected and ushered into the hospital room.
    I almost hoped the visitor did turn out to be a Stroj imposter when I saw who they’d been patting down and irritating. A red-faced Admiral Halsey confronted me. He was my superior, one of the top commanders of Star Guard.
    “Private goons, Sparhawk?” he demanded. “You’ve got the balls to doubt your own commanders?”
    “I’m sorry, sir,” I began.
    “Well, don’t be,” he said, cutting me off. “With all the shit you’ve been through, I can hardly blame you. May I come in?”
    As he was already standing in my hospital room, I made a gracious gesture. He began to speak then, and while he did so Zye and Jillian both gave him suspicious glances now and then.
    “Fortunately for you, I’m not a Stroj,” Halsey assured me. “They don’t seem to love you much do they?”
    “They don’t seem to, Admiral,” I said. “They’ve gone to a lot of trouble to take me out. It seems excessive.”
    “This time I think the enemy is playing the game right. They know you’re one of our best and brightest. Sure, the Guard has always leaned on you. You’re a man from a Great House invading the ranks of Star Guard. It’s bound to make jealousy and envy spring up in the hearts of every mean-spirited man.”
    I thought of reminding him he’d been quite high on that list of distinguished doubters, but I passed on the idea.
    “Again, my apologies,” he said. “It’s clear there are forces here on Earth, forces allied with colonists, who don’t want us to leave this star system.”
    Turning that thought over in my mind, I quickly decided he was right.
    “You’ve got a point, sir,” I said. “I’ve been wondering about that for some time now. Why haven’t we attempted to leave the Solar System again?”
    “Political reasons, mostly,” Halsey admitted. “People were burned by the loss of all contact with other star systems. The Cataclysm triggered an economic and social collapse. We turned inward, and we began to think that was a good thing. Powers arose who benefited from the status quo.”
    He eyed me significantly.
    “You’re talking about the Great Houses,” I said.
    He nodded slowly. “Think about it. We’ve got longevity combined with legal cloning and the ability to pass on that power to progeny—we’ve become a planet controlled by dynasties. Long term familial power has become institutionalized with the help of our technology.”
    I shifted uncomfortably and began to dress as he spoke. He caught my mood.
    “Heretical talk, I know,” he said. “But now that we’ve made contact with other worlds, people are wondering again, questioning. That’s precisely what the Great Houses didn’t want.”
    “Do you think it was a conspiracy?” I asked. “Or maybe just an evolutionary shift in thinking over time?”
    He shrugged. “It could have been either. I’m a student of history… did you know that, Sparhawk?”
    “No sir,” I said, pulling my sleeves on painfully. They rasped over my flaking skin. My teeth bared themselves in discomfort.
    “Well, I am. History teaches us that every society has its blind spots, evils they perform without question. They come to believe their barbaric practices are hallowed traditions. Think of the Romans with their blood-sports in the coliseum. Or the Mayans, who sacrificed thousands of innocents to please their heartless gods. Even the Americans, more recently, came to believe in—”
    “Sir?” I interrupted, now fully dressed. “May I ask what this has to do