The Dead Sun (Star Force Series) by B. V. Larson Read Free Book Online Page A

then decided to tell him. He had to find out soon enough, and the question was a reasonable one.
    “I’m going out to the Thor System.”
    “Ah!” he said with a knowing smirk. “I understand now. You’re going to build another space station out there.”
    I frowned. Miklos and I had argued frequently about the viability of the battle station I’d built to defend the Eden System. It sat on the border between the Thor System and the Eden System, hanging near the ring on the Eden side. It had been marginally successful in its task to stop Macro incursions. Miklos had always seen it as a drain on resources that could better be used to build more ships.
    “Not exactly,” I said.
    “Very well, Colonel. I understand the nature of this call now. I will make immediate plans for departure. I don’t know if I can be up there until sometime tomorrow afternoon, as I have some appointments I’ll have to cancel—”
    I put my hand up to stop him. “Keep those appointments, Miklos. I’m assuming they involve the construction of the orbital shipyard, right?”
    He nodded, frowning.
    “That’s fine. That’s just where I want you. Nothing is more important than getting that dock set up and running. I want you on the job, doing it right. In the meantime, Rear Admiral Newcome and I will be—”
    “Newcome?”
    “Yes, Newcome. I believe that’s what I said. He’ll be flying me out to the Thor system with a small task force.”
    “Very well, sir,” Miklos said stiffly.
    I could tell he wasn’t happy, but that was just too damned bad.
    “Now,” I said, “get some sleep, man. We’ll talk more about this in the morning.”
    “Good night, Colonel.”
    We reached for the cut-off. Jasmine, who’d been out of camera range during the conversation, slid back onto the couch with me. She had pajamas on—the satin ones I liked.
    “When did you get into that outfit?” I asked.
    “I did it while you dropped the hammer on Miklos.”
    “I hardly did that.”
    “His feelings were hurt. I could hear it in his voice.”
    I made a disgusted sound. “Everyone’s a prima donna around here! Can’t I give a command assignment to the man I want for the job?”
    “Yes, but you gave it to the man who fears it, while passing over the man who assumed it would be his.”
    I looked at her for a second. She was often more perceptive than I realized.
    “I do that sort of thing for a reason,” I said. “I don’t like people to become too comfortable in their positions. I want to shake them up- to push them to realize their full potential. If I leave a good man in an easy spot for too long, he’ll become as soft as these cushions. Speaking of which…”
    I reached for her, and she resisted for a moment, but it was only a pretense. We made love the way only two people with rebuilt bodies can.

-5-
     
    The flight out to the Eden System from Earth was wonderful. Each million miles we traveled, I felt better. By the time we passed through the Tyche ring into the Alpha Centauri system, with its few, dusty, lifeless worlds, I felt great.
    I had to stop and ask myself: why? The answer was simple enough. I was tired of politicking and sitting in offices reading reports. I wanted to get out into the wilds of space again.
    I don’t think I’m a bad government leader. Sure, there are better ones around, but there are plenty who are worse at it, too. The thing is that I hate it. I’ve never liked meetings, not unless I was designing something new and interesting or maybe planning out a campaign of action. For the last long, dragging months, I’d been talking about the allocation of trillions from the world budget and listening to speeches from people making their cases. It was kind of like being a judge orchestrating an endless trial.
    I really, really hated the job and everything about it: The in-fighting, the pandering, and the jockeying for position. I didn’t hate the part about hamming it up for the cameras, but that was about the only