Dedication (The Medicean Stars Saga Book 1) by McCullough Crawford Read Free Book Online Page B

good time start piling work onto me.”
    “Dude, you need a life. And a girl. Well maybe just a girl… At least something to get you out of the hole they stuff you in and call your office.”
    Jon shakes his head, smiling, and provides a halfhearted defense of his position.
    “There is a conference down in the city in a couple of days; my advisor and I are going to it to see what’s happening. I think I’ll be able to finagle a free lunch out of her…”
    Ryan laughs and makes a rude gesture with his hand.
    “As if that even counts. But whatever, you’re out here tonight, which means we’re going to have a damn good time until we run out of night to burn. Right?”
    Before Jon can answer, both men are distracted by a commotion by the bar; a few of the patrons stand up abruptly, yelling at the screen mounted in front of them. Without noticing that their chairs are overturned, the beer drinker closest to the corner where Jon and Ryan are leans over the bar to say something to the waitress while gesturing to the screen above her head. His companion turns to the room and calls for silence. Such an unusual broach of the discreet protocol in this establishment ensures that everyone pays attention.
    The waitress skips back the news program that had been playing until the segment that had so upset the men at the bar is at its beginning, and she turns up the volume so that everyone can hear and leans against the bar to watch.
    “Breaking news tonight from the Capital,” the generically good-looking newscaster begins. “Former Senator Gavitte suffered a mental breakdown yesterday during a speech before the Senate and is now suspected of high treason. He is currently a fugitive. Any who see him are requested to call the national crime reporting line immediately.” During the announcement, a portion of the screen is dedicated to footage of the senator in question undergoing what appears to be a full psychotic break down and being dragged from the Senate chamber.
    The crowd in the bar, initially perturbed by the interruption, has gone deathly quiet. Jon has just long enough to begin to wonder what all the fuss is about before the whole establishment erupts in angry conversation. Turning back to Ryan, he sees the same anger reflected in his face.
    “What’s going on?” Jon asks. “Did I miss something important that everyone else knows about?”
    “There is this video that’s been going viral around the whole school,” Ryan replies. “We’d all thought it was some sort of hoax, but it’s not. They’re actually trying to cover it up… Here, let me show you.”
    Ryan pulls a small screen from his pocket and flips it around so that Jon can see. There, within the palm of his friend’s hand, he sees the same video that was running behind the news cast, however this version has not been carefully edited and contains the complete audio of the speech. Jon leans over the table so that he can hear over the noise in the bar.
    At the beginning of the recording, the senator is simply standing at the podium with a chart projected behind him. He looks at his notes, as if gathering his thoughts, before launching into a long explanation of the data behind him. As Jon watches, something seems to change in the senator’s demeanor. He shifts, standing a little straighter, a little squarer to the camera, and his face seems to radiate an internal energy. Then the real speech starts. The speech is passionate, it is flowing, it pulls the listener in and demands a response, but most importantly, it looks to be entirely impromptu. The senator does not look at his notes; in fact, it looks as if they are completely forgotten, the pages remaining un-shuffled once he starts talking. His passion builds until—seemingly right before he can deliver his final point—he is interrupted by another senator. The interruption is so rude, so cold, and so at odds with the direction of the speech that it doesn’t even seem to register with the senator