regarded her with a small smile.
Tova stepped up to the doors. The pair of bodyguards standing there eyed her for a moment, looking nervously between themselves, and then to Hoff. He nodded, and they opened the doors for her. She stooped to get through the doorway. The doors swished shut behind her, leaving Hoff alone with his thoughts. He wondered about the uneasy alliance he’d constructed. Criminals, ISSF, and Gors—all forced to work together for the common good. It was a recipe for disaster, but none of them had a choice. They had to stand together if they wanted to have even a scant hope against the Sythians. And soon we’ll be adding Immortals to that alliance. . . .
Hoff’s thoughts were interrupted as his comm piece trilled insistently in his ear. Incoming call from Councilor Destra Heston, the comm piece declared. Hoff was grateful for the distraction. After the tension-filled meeting he’d just had, it would be nice to hear his wife’s voice.
“Hello, darling,” he said.
“Hoff, we have a situation developing.”
“What kind of situation?”
“The kind where the council just declared an emergency session. We have riots on Karpathia, Etaris, Forliss . . . basically everywhere, and almost all of the guilds are on strike. The entire economy just ground to a halt.”
“What?” Hoff sat suddenly straighter in his chair. “Why? What happened?”
“They know about the Sythian Fleet.”
“Ah . . . that does explain things. How did they find out?”
“Someone leaked recon data to the commnet. It’s everywhere, on all the news nets.”
Hoff frowned. It had been inevitable that people find out about the Sythians, since the whole fleet knew about them, but what was harder to imagine was how highly classified recon data had been leaked to the commnet. His thoughts went straight to Captain Ocheron and the rest of the outlaws. “This is the price we pay for bringing a gang of ex-cons into the fleet. The press probably bribed one of them to leak the data.”
“Well, whoever’s responsible, they’ve forced our hand. We need to make a formal statement about this crisis, and you need to give the people a reason not to be afraid.”
“Yes, you’re right. Get a holo conference together with the press. I’ll start preparing a statement. Let me know when my audience is ready.”
“I will. . . . and Hoff?”
“Yes?”
“ Should we be afraid?”
He was about to dismiss his wife’s concerns with an empty platitude, but the worried tone in her voice gave him pause. She was worried, not just as a councilor, responsible to millions of citizens on the planet she represented, but also as a mother and a wife, and she deserved to know the truth. Hoff’s eyes went to his bodyguards, who were watching him discreetly from the doorway. “Fear is wasteful, Des. What we need right now is hope. I’ll see you soon.”
“I’ll be waiting in the press briefing room.”
Hoff nodded and ended the comm call. As he left the operations center, his bodyguards took positions flanking him. He stalked down the corridor, heading for the nearest rail car tunnel, his mind twisting and turning over recent events. He considered what he was going to say to the press, briefly toying with the idea of telling them the truth, but that only led to visions of even greater unrest as the people demanded he lead them to safety in Avilon. Hoff shook his head.
No, the time hadn’t yet come for something as dangerous as the truth.
* * *
Ethan and Alara waded into a heated infinity pool, passing through gauzy white curtains of steam which rose perpetually from the surface of the water and into the chilly air. This was the Vermillion Palace on Karpathia, a ski resort built high on the near-vertical cliffs of White Cap Mountain. Guests staying at the Vermillion had the best of both winter and summer activities. While staying on the mountain they could enjoy gravboarding, ice skating, and skiing, while just a short gondola
Tova stepped up to the doors. The pair of bodyguards standing there eyed her for a moment, looking nervously between themselves, and then to Hoff. He nodded, and they opened the doors for her. She stooped to get through the doorway. The doors swished shut behind her, leaving Hoff alone with his thoughts. He wondered about the uneasy alliance he’d constructed. Criminals, ISSF, and Gors—all forced to work together for the common good. It was a recipe for disaster, but none of them had a choice. They had to stand together if they wanted to have even a scant hope against the Sythians. And soon we’ll be adding Immortals to that alliance. . . .
Hoff’s thoughts were interrupted as his comm piece trilled insistently in his ear. Incoming call from Councilor Destra Heston, the comm piece declared. Hoff was grateful for the distraction. After the tension-filled meeting he’d just had, it would be nice to hear his wife’s voice.
“Hello, darling,” he said.
“Hoff, we have a situation developing.”
“What kind of situation?”
“The kind where the council just declared an emergency session. We have riots on Karpathia, Etaris, Forliss . . . basically everywhere, and almost all of the guilds are on strike. The entire economy just ground to a halt.”
“What?” Hoff sat suddenly straighter in his chair. “Why? What happened?”
“They know about the Sythian Fleet.”
“Ah . . . that does explain things. How did they find out?”
“Someone leaked recon data to the commnet. It’s everywhere, on all the news nets.”
Hoff frowned. It had been inevitable that people find out about the Sythians, since the whole fleet knew about them, but what was harder to imagine was how highly classified recon data had been leaked to the commnet. His thoughts went straight to Captain Ocheron and the rest of the outlaws. “This is the price we pay for bringing a gang of ex-cons into the fleet. The press probably bribed one of them to leak the data.”
“Well, whoever’s responsible, they’ve forced our hand. We need to make a formal statement about this crisis, and you need to give the people a reason not to be afraid.”
“Yes, you’re right. Get a holo conference together with the press. I’ll start preparing a statement. Let me know when my audience is ready.”
“I will. . . . and Hoff?”
“Yes?”
“ Should we be afraid?”
He was about to dismiss his wife’s concerns with an empty platitude, but the worried tone in her voice gave him pause. She was worried, not just as a councilor, responsible to millions of citizens on the planet she represented, but also as a mother and a wife, and she deserved to know the truth. Hoff’s eyes went to his bodyguards, who were watching him discreetly from the doorway. “Fear is wasteful, Des. What we need right now is hope. I’ll see you soon.”
“I’ll be waiting in the press briefing room.”
Hoff nodded and ended the comm call. As he left the operations center, his bodyguards took positions flanking him. He stalked down the corridor, heading for the nearest rail car tunnel, his mind twisting and turning over recent events. He considered what he was going to say to the press, briefly toying with the idea of telling them the truth, but that only led to visions of even greater unrest as the people demanded he lead them to safety in Avilon. Hoff shook his head.
No, the time hadn’t yet come for something as dangerous as the truth.
* * *
Ethan and Alara waded into a heated infinity pool, passing through gauzy white curtains of steam which rose perpetually from the surface of the water and into the chilly air. This was the Vermillion Palace on Karpathia, a ski resort built high on the near-vertical cliffs of White Cap Mountain. Guests staying at the Vermillion had the best of both winter and summer activities. While staying on the mountain they could enjoy gravboarding, ice skating, and skiing, while just a short gondola
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