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planet into the Commonwealth had stalled again and again even as
the rebel factions grew and multiplied. Now, both the Arawaj and
Shri-Lan groups held firmly established territories here, well
supplied by anti-Union sympathizers in other part of the vast
Trans-Targon sector.
    Desperate to avoid becoming the official
headquarters of Shri-Lan activities, the governors of Bellac Tau
had appealed to the Union, offering control of the jumpsite in
exchange. No one seemed to find it especially ironic that, if not
for the Union itself, the planet would still be minding its herds
and fisheries without even an inkling of worlds beyond its
moons.
    “ Anything interesting?”
    Her eyes returned to her scanner display when
Tomos Reko came around the front of the airship. “Nothing. Caravan
coming in from the north. No com noise from that. Rudjo sent a
couple of skimmers out to meet them.” Entire tribes of nomads
roaming the plains to trade their salt and animals meant a constant
influx of new people for Shon Gat. Among them, protected by Air
Command’s mandate of non-interference with indigenous populations,
traveled bandits and rebels. The best Union personnel could do was
to inspect each caravan from a distance to make note of Bellacs
with smoother skin, softer dialects, better equipment – all far
more common in Ballac Tau’s urban areas than out here.
    The Centauri soldier leaned his rifle against
the hover’s skids and slouched beside her. There was a fresh breeze
up here in the rocky hills and both were glad to have left the
dusty town for a while. Their endless patrols of Shon Gat’s alleys
in this heat covered their skin in a disagreeable paste of sweat
and dust, all the more unpleasant for being trapped under their
lightly armored combat suits. Both of them had removed their
helmets although Nova still kept her bright red hair under a
camouflage scarf.
    “ I say we stay up here a while longer,
to make sure,” he said, clearly enjoying his turn to partner with
the only pilot in their platoon and spend the day in the sky. It
was their job to display Air Command’s physical presence in these
hills, look for weapons caches, and investigate suspicious activity
not easily detected through electronic surveillance.
    “ I think that’s wise, Sarge.” She
scanned the flat horizon for signs of vehicles or power sources.
All was quiet. She took her time with her visual inspection; some
of the peculiar salt pillars that rose from the ground like giant
mushrooms could turn out to be a nomad on his desert beast. Or a
rebel on a skimmer. “Nothing from the tether, either.”
    From here, the ground base of the elevator
leading to the nearly completed skyranch, now settled into its
synchronous orbit above the planet, was just a smudge in the
distance. Her sensors showed vehicles and outbuildings and the
massive perimeter fence, patrolled to ward off schemes by Shri-Lan
rebels to hamper the construction. Nova’s eyes followed the
graceful line of the caged tether upward until it disappeared into
the ever-present haze blanketing the planet.
    Another condition for allowing the Union to
control the nearby jumpsite was the construction of Skyranch Twelve
and, soon, Thirteen. Solar power and light ensured a boundless crop
of produce grown in microgravity to feed Bellac’s growing and
diverse population. The elevator guarded by their Air Command
garrison delivered water, air, and supplies over a three day trip
into space. Eventually, it would carry the orbiter’s harvest and
electricity surplus back down to the surface.
    She looked up at the scanner on top of their
hover while she adjusted it. Of course, providing a skyranch over
Bellac also meant a very effective orbital communications and
surveillance array for military use, making it a worthwhile
expense.
    “ Too quiet, you think?” Reko reached
back into the hover to fetch a bottle of water.
    “ Could be the heat.” She accepted the
bottle from him and pointed it at her