Senescence (Jezebel's Ladder Book 5) by Scott Rhine Read Free Book Online

population for wealth. Our servants
have servants. I can eat anything, travel anywhere, and never need to work
another day in my life.”
    “But you do. Why?”
    Boredom? Gazing out her
enormous window, Laura answered, “In spite of the corporate pig sty, I help
people every day. I’m literally carving my initials on the future of mankind,
managing millions of years of evolution in the span of one lifetime.” She
paused, allowing herself to dream. “Someday, I’ll be able to do it free of
Grandfather’s iron glove.”
    Her badge beeped. Tetsuo Mori’s
voice boomed, “Laura, dear, please stop by my booth.”
    Mother and daughter glanced at each
other. This couldn’t be a coincidence. As Laura left to answer the summons,
Kaguya grabbed her hand. “Don’t let him use me against you.”
    Ten years ago, Tetsuo had punished
the pair by keeping them apart until Kaguya was a drooling zombie, painting on
the wall with her own baby food. “You stood up to him for me. Now it’s my
turn.”
    Refusing to release the hand, her
mother said, “There’s more you don’t know.”
    “I know all I need to for now. I
love you.” Laura made certain her suit jacket and badge were in place before
jogging to the Mori’s booth overlooking the amphitheater.

Chapter 5 – The Price of Freedom
     
    The stockholders’ meeting had begun on a Friday, after the
normal close of business on major exchanges. Even so, Laura saw the stock
ticker on the wall going wild. The sales volume jumped through the roof, for
both sales and purchases. This can’t be good.
    The old man hunched behind his
desk, talking to Koku, a formidable AI. Koku eliminated whole layers of middle
management, allowing her grandfather to keep a personal rein on more of his
empire than any tyrant in history. The machine could also raise a defensive
bubble around him in an instant. “Looking lovely as ever, my dear.” He wore an
oxygen mask because his lungs had been burned by an assassination attempt five
years ago. His company had merged with Fortune Enterprises during his
hospitalization.
    Laura bowed respectfully.
“Mori-san, how may I serve the family?”
    He gestured to the walls filled
with news reports. Banners under the talking heads varied greatly. “A new era
of alien technology or war?”
    “Fortune stockholder shot down over
Pacific.”
    “Local SWAT apprehends the
astronaut.”
    Mother’s dream just turned into
a shit storm. “ Sanctuary has returned?”
    “So they claim,” Mori croaked.
    To add another layer to the circus,
Mori enabled audio on the Fortune news feed. The newscaster said, “Then federal
law enforcement trumped them and took custody in the parking lot. The military
now has seized the crash site and is questioning witnesses. Meanwhile, the UN
Space Agency is appealing to the US State Department for jurisdiction. Traffic
was snarled over the entire grid as news crews and crowds tried to get a look
at the man from Sanctuary .”
    On screen, eight men in combat gear
shoved a man in archaic space armor toward a military aircraft.
    “Only one man?” Laura asked. “Who?”
    In answer, Mori brought up another
news channel featuring a city official. “We refuse to indulge in rampant
speculation. Without a genetic test we can’t confirm this man is a child of
Captain Llewellyn. Even if he proves to be Lou’s child, it in no way validates
his claim of being from space. Lord knows that man slept with enough women here
on Earth.”
    Mori muted the chaos. “CEO Hollis
has ordered the Fortune media division to keep cameras on Stewart Llewellyn at
all costs.”
    Laura nodded. “If we look away for
an instant, he could disappear.”
    “Our floaters don’t have the speed
to follow that aircraft, so she declared a bounty. We crowd-sourced tracking
data from the photosphere until we pulled in aerial surveillance from our
aerospace division.”
    “They’re taking him to a military
detention facility,” Laura guessed, recognizing the model of