Empire Reborn (Taran Empire Saga Book 1): A Cadicle Space Opera by A.K. DuBoff (jenna bush book club TXT) 📕

“And, to that end, I’m left with a big question of ‘why’? What’s the goal to all of this?” Ryan asked.

“A very good question,” Raena mused. “ ‘To remove the High Council’ doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s always about money and power, right?”

Her father nodded. “Usually. Either those who have it are trying to keep it at any cost, or those who don’t are trying to claim what they deem to be rightfully theirs.”

Raena got down to business. “Okay, so prime suspects. Anyone currently on the High Council who doesn’t like to play nice with others?”

Ryan let out a dry chuckle. “Several.”

“Okay, so who has the most to gain?” she asked.

“Doing an exhaustive exploration of each High Dynasty and their network of contacts would take years,” her father cut in. “As would exploring the Lower Dynasties who might be looking to elevate their social standing. And then there are those who don’t believe in our governance structure at all and wish to upend it to let anarchy reign and take advantage of the power vacuum to rebuild society to their maximum benefit.”

Raena frowned. “You’re jumping ahead.”

“Yes, but only because it’s a pointless thought exercise. Trying to narrow it down by who has something to gain would yield infinite motivations and possibilities.”

“I’m just trying to do something productive,” she retorted. “I can’t sit back and watch the Empire crumble around me.”

Her father smiled. “I wasn’t suggesting that. Simply taking a different approach.”

“Please, enlighten me.”

“Rather than asking who has the most to gain, ask, ‘Who has the most to lose?’ ”

CHAPTER 14

The sensation of Jason’s heart being crushed in a vise had given way to a hollow ache that made him wonder if he would ever be whole again.

He’d managed to avoid interacting with anyone on his way back to his quarters the afternoon before. With the TSS-wide announcement made about the attack, the other Primus Elites from his cohort would no doubt want to have a memorial for Tiff. He had several unread messages in his inbox from some of them—probably questions or condolences—but he’d tried his best to stay offline and instead focus on coming to terms with his new reality.

Hypothetical thoughts kept creeping in about how he could have asked her to stay at Headquarters, so she never would have been on Alkeer. The guilt gnawed at him. Everything he could have done differently. Except, anything else wouldn’t have been right. I can’t wallow in regret.

Sitting around in his quarters wouldn’t do any good. He needed to push through.

He was scheduled for work with his flight students again, but the classroom side of their training rather than direct flight practice. Though the academic study wasn’t as fun as being in the simulators or out in a real fighter, he enjoyed spending time with the students and seeing their enthusiasm about learning new things. Most of the course involved going over combat tactics and maneuvers for novel situations, so they got to watch footage of pilots pulling off amazing feats. On the whole, there were far worse ways to spend a few hours.

Since he didn’t feel much like lecturing, Jason decided it would be a good day to play a pre-recorded analysis of three key engagements from the Bakzen War and then have a group discussion.

His hopes for a quiet, distracting class session evaporated as soon as the students entered the room, talking in low voices to each other and glancing at Jason.

Of course, they want to know the inside story about what happened. He’d noticed similar interactions when he’d gone to grab breakfast from the mess hall. The announcement from the High Commander about an attack and prospect of a new, large-scale conflict had put everyone on edge. He was a senior Agent—and a well-connected one, as they were always quick to point out—so naturally they’d be looking to him for more information.

He braced himself for the inevitable barrage of questions. I really should have taken the day off like Dad suggested.

Bret was the first to speak up. “Sir, are we at war?”

“A state of war would need to be declared by the High Council,” Jason replied. “Until such a time as that happens, the TSS is officially in a state of high alert.”

Samantha took her seat. “The whole thing is awful.”

“Some kind of new conflict was inevitable in our lifetimes,” Wes said.

“No, I mean what happened to the station,” she clarified. “I heard there wasn’t time to do anything.” Her look to Jason said it all—wanting him to share what he’d seen firsthand.

“Yes, it happened very quickly,” he said, not knowing how to say any more without breaking down.

With the knowledge of hindsight, they could have taken action sooner. They had almost six hours from the time the spatial distortion waves appeared to when the base was destroyed. Evacuating the station was logical based on the information available at the time, which was why the order hadn’t been given. Now, though, knowing what they did, it was difficult to not think about everything that could have been handled differently.

Before the students could dig in deeper and threaten his tenuous composure, he decided to pivot the conversation into the lesson. “In battle, a lot happens quickly. As much as we try to look ahead at the possible paths stemming from each action, we are often forced to make decisions based on the information available in the moment. Sometimes, we will learn later that there was a better course, but we must remind ourselves that we’re not omniscient. So long as we make the best choice available to us at each juncture based on what we know, we can accept the outcome. Though you won’t always like it, it’s justified. We can’t dwell on what we can’t change. However, we can be informed