Freehold by William C. Dietz Read Free Book Online Page A

of the compound. She told the weary troopers manning it to take a break. After they had left, she gazed out across the endless drifts of bodies, the countless fires burning in the distance, and then down into the tiny compound she'd killed so many to protect. Why do we do it? she wondered. Because it's us or them, the soldier in her answered. But looking down she knew there was another reason. Because for the moment the killing ground below was home, the tiny figures moving from one wounded Zonie to the next were family, and because there was nothing else. And she knew they'd soon leave to do it all over again somewhere else. The tears rolled down her cheeks for a long time before she went down to help with the wounded.

Chapter Four

    As the room lights came back up, they turned to Stell, waiting for his reaction. He didn't have one ready. Stalling for time, he made an elaborate ritual out of lighting a new cigar. Whoever shot those pictures had guts. He wished he could meet them. But he knew he wouldn't and why. The thought made him sad. At the same time, another part of him stood aside observing and analyzing. It said he couldn't afford such emotions, that too many people depended on his objectivity, that if he failed, they too would die. Had died. How many lost today? With a sudden pang of guilt, he realized he didn't know.
    “Colonel Stell?” Kasten's voice jerked him back into an embarrassing silence.
    “Excuse me,” Stell replied with a twisted smile. “I'm terribly sorry about the settlement. Your people were very brave. Pirates?” Stell knew pirate raids on frontier planets like Freehold weren't all that uncommon. Out along the edge of the empire Imperial Navy patrols were few and far between. Some even said that the Emperor allowed the pirates to exist because they helped keep the Il Ronnian empire in check, and did so at no cost to him. As a member of the Star Guard, Stell had always resisted those arguments, partly because they seemed disloyal, but mostly because he didn't want to believe the Emperor would put money before lives. But then they had demobilized his brigade, citing budget cuts, and had reduced the size of the Navy for the same reason. As a result, pirate raids had increased, and so had clashes between the pirates and the Il Ronn. So now he wasn't so sure anymore.
    Kasten regarded him for a moment through steepled fingers before speaking. “Yes, Colonel, they were pirates. However, please don't think the raid you saw was a random event. Rather, we believe it's part of a larger pattern of activity.”
    “Speak for yourself, Oliver,” Roop interjected. “We don't all believe in your wild allegations.” Satisfied that he'd said his piece, Roop slumped back into studied boredom, his aging chair desperately seeking to accommodate his new position with a hiss of cranky pneumatics.
    Kasten smiled tolerantly. “As you can see, the Senator and I disagree about why the pirates keep attacking, but more on that in a moment. First, a little more history. Are you familiar with Standard Planetary Agreements, Colonel?”
    Stell frowned as he dredged up what little he knew on the subject. “I know it's an agreement of sale between a planet's owner, usually the Imperial government or a large company, and a would-be buyer, most often a group of settlers. Beyond that, I draw a blank.”
    “That's plenty,” Kasten said with a smile. “Briefly, here's how it worked in the case of Freehold. Having found and claimed Freehold, and having assured themselves there were no massive mineral deposits, or other resources they cared to exploit, Intersystems advertised for buyers throughout the empire. Among the roughly 250,000 qualified respondents were my mother and father.” Here Kasten looked affectionately at his daughter and winked. “I'm afraid you'll have to hear the story one more time, honey.”
    Olivia laughed, and reached out to squeeze his hand.
    “So a consortium was formed,” Kasten continued, “and