Carnage, Aer-ki Jyr [beautiful books to read .TXT] 📗

to think it over, but when they would not move he ordered his troops telepathically and all of them were stunned and dropped to the ground…then were carried out one by one leaving Paul alone in the very large office.

He deactivated the tiny drone camera that was floating behind him and broadcasting to the planet what had happened without the Governor or his guards knowing it. Them getting to see his true colors would help in the coming days, as well as the display of ‘magic’ he’d just put on. Rumors could be useful or hurtful, and it was best if the populace had some solid information to work with, which meant letting them see it for themselves.

That’s why he’d left the Governor’s palace for last rather than going there first thing. Better to let the populace freak out over the invasion while the Governor was still there to tell them what was going on…or make shit up about what was going on…then they could see him and Paul face to face and get a firsthand look at what was going down, and how he was not in control in any way, shape, or form.

But also to show them that he wasn’t killed, nor were any of his guards. That was key, but it wouldn’t stop attacks from happening against Star Force personnel in the coming months. Hopefully it would reduce it during the transition period, but like many other planets before Ha’shavi, once Star Force started to actually upgrade the planet and people were personally benefited by it…that was when the real change happened. Star Force had to deliver, and they would, for promises were not enough. It had to be real for each person, and unlike so many other civilizations, Star Force wasn’t fake. They were the real deal, so they didn’t have to worry about running a propaganda machine.

The lightside never had to.

“Are you done here?” Cal-com asked, walking into the abandoned office behind Paul as the Archon was still looking out the windows behind the large desk that rose up just above Paul’s eyeline, so he couldn’t see the surface through the windows, just the top half of the buildings that were visibly swaying in the wind…attesting to how poorly constructed they were.

“I stopped transmitting when the last of the guards were taken out,” Paul said, turning around to face his friend.

“That wasn’t what I meant.”

Paul sighed. “With Duke Corrington here, I’m not really necessary anymore. He’s handled annexations before. So yeah, I think we’re done. Thanks for sticking around.”

“We’re not finished yet, so I couldn’t leave. This invasion has distracted from the purpose we came here.”

“Life has a way of doing that,” Paul agreed. “I was starting to decompress, but then a need arose.”

“Did you learn anything from that moment, or from what followed?”

“I can’t let go of my duty. I can’t make this impersonal. I just can’t, Cal-com. I am taking responsibility for the galaxy. I’m not sure when that started, but it’s stuck. I don’t feel right abandoning that, even if my actions end up the same…for I know they won’t be. I won’t stretch quite as much without that responsibility…and that means someone will suffer or die because I didn’t go far enough.”

“How do you maintain your clarity and fitness if you are inclined to overextend?”

“I don’t know. I guess that’s my next challenge to tackle. Do you have a suggestion?”

“A perspective change. If your responsibility to the galaxy remains fixed, perhaps viewing it from another angle will provide clarity. I believe I know where we need to travel to next.”

“But you’re not going to tell me?”

“Not the reason why, but you’ll know the destination once I choose it. Shall we go now?”

Paul looked around. “Nothing else to do here. I can hand the baton to Corrington on the way out. You lead, I follow.”

“That, I think, is another perspective change that you need,” Cal-com said as he turned and began to walk out with Paul trailing him a couple steps.

“You’re probably right about that,” he admitted, telekinetically pulling the doors closed behind him, only to have one swing back open due to the busted latch.

6

February 28, 154930

Kio Nutarri Nebula (Unexplored Frontier)

Neofan Temple #1

Count Meerkan stood on top of a building in the only Star Force city within the massive landscape of this Temple. It was here to monitor the Neofan as they continued to build more and more infrastructure on the surface and much more beneath it. The city being here was a condition of the Grand Bargain that had been struck between the two empires, so that Star Force could monitor the Neofan’s compliance with other tenants…and to date they had done so, as far as the Count could determine.

There were no slave races here, nor any other races save for Neofan and those within the Star Force city. Meerkan was a Bsidd Tridas, originally bred to be a warrior while smaller variants were tasked with maintenance, support, and administrative duties, but the individual born into the body did not always match the biology, and Meerkan had risen to the attention of a Bsidd Maverick, who had then redirected him into an Administrative path.

Meerkan was good at hand to hand combat…or in his case mandible to hand combat…but he had a unique knack for organization, and more importantly, vision of what could be rather than of what already was. Vision of what was, was called ‘awareness,’ while being able to see potential advancements and perils was known as ‘vision’ when used in this context. Monarchs had to have both in ample amounts, and once his skills had begun to show as an Administrator he was quickly plucked out of their ranks and taken to Earth to meet with the Director of Star Force.

After one conversation…and mental review, for the