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

it needs to circumvent political boundaries somehow. We don’t want political leaders to think that whoever makes first contact somehow owns the relationship above all others.”

“Agreed. It needs to be an international event. An opportunity for unity,” their father said. “Earth has been through a lot in the past several decades. Disease, war, civil disputes. The people on the planet seem intent on finding any excuse to rip each other apart.”

“I never saw it that way—that they wanted division,” Jason countered.

“I was being facetious.”

“Even so. Don’t take this the wrong way, Dad, but you always looked at Earth from an outsider’s perspective.”

“I did, no doubt about it.”

“Speaking as someone who grew up there,” Raena jumped in, “my opinion is that in the attempts to make sure everyone is represented, in some ways, people have lost sight of the bigger picture: the shared humanity. There’s such a focus on uniqueness and differences that it’s divided people more than bringing them together. What’s needed now is a big, outside demonstration to remind people that they’re in it together on their little planet Earth.”

“In other words, we need to make a big splash?” Wil asked.

“Yeah.” Jason nodded. “Make an undeniable show of it being Earth against the rest of the galaxy.”

Raena’s face lit up. “I think I have an idea.”

CHAPTER 17

Wil was known for a multitude of professional accomplishments, but being the person to officially invite Earth into the Taran Empire was one of the most significant. Sure, the independent jump drive and his command of the TSS forces had had far-reaching impacts, but he was about to open up a veritable universe of possibilities to billions of people who’d been trapped on their world.

It was a big responsibility he took seriously—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have fun with it. Stars knew they needed a happy moment with everything else going on.

He’d talked with his children at length about the best way to approach the disclosure. They’d walked through the official military and government response plans on record, collected by the TSS Agents who’d been doing their part over the decades to maintain distant relations with the planet’s key influencers. There was nothing in the Earth armory that could threaten a TSS ship, so the biggest concern was taking an approach that wouldn’t spark an immediate world war.

The best way, therefore, was to make the first contact very public and highly watched. World leaders were far less likely to take adverse action if everyone was in a simultaneous state of shock.

What it came down to was they needed to make a spectacle of first contact. Wil had spent enough time on Earth to know how much humans loved their big-budget movies about alien encounters. Though most of those films ended with lots of explosions and the vanquishing of the would-be extraterrestrial invaders, he was optimistic that first contact with the Taran Empire would go more smoothly.

“It’s a bit much, isn’t it?” Saera asked with a raised eyebrow as she reviewed the manifest Wil had prepared of ships to encircle Earth.

“Do you really think the media would be satisfied with anything less?”

She took another look at the lineup of vessels. “We should probably take the Conquest, too.”

He smiled. “That’s what I thought.”

No matter what they did, some people would freak out, many wouldn’t believe it, and some would be excited. Wil’s bigger concern, though, was the backlash about why Tarans hadn’t made contact sooner; millions of lives could have been saved with the medical technology he took for granted in everyday life, let alone the specialty tech. They’d need to tackle those bigger issues in time; for now, his immediate concern was simply making the presence of the Taran Empire known to all.

“Have you finalized the landing details yet?” Saera asked.

“Yes, and I was trying to settle on phrasing to send to our government and media contacts that our field Agents have been working with.”

She looked over the draft language. “Fairly casual, isn’t it?”

He smiled. “Come on, Saera. This is me. There’s no way this is going to be a formal affair of pomp and circumstance.”

“Good point.” She read it again. “I think that’s a reasonable list of requests and clear instructions. Send it.”

“All right, no going back now!” He delivered the written message and attached instructions: >>Greetings from the Taran Empire! Upon review of your planet’s state of development, we have determined that you are now eligible to join the rest of the galactic community. Our liaisons will land at the attached coordinates at 12:00 local time to initiate formal relations. Please send impartial members of your press instead of government representatives. We are making contact with the people of Earth, not the planet’s governments, specifically. We look forward to meeting you soon.<<

“Do you think they’ll go along with it?” Saera asked.

Wil laughed. “Not a chance.”

—

Sure enough, when the designated meeting time arrived, a swarm of military personnel had descended on the specified landing field in the Virginia countryside. However, along with the military was a large contingent of international press.

Wil took in the scene displayed on the viewscreen in the Conquest’s Command Center. “This should be interesting.”

“Are you sure you want to go in-person?” Saera asked not for the first time.

“I’ll have a dozen Agents watching for security threats and my own personal shields will be up. It’ll be even safer than when we were living there.”

“Okay,” she agreed, though apprehension still sharpened her features.

He’d fantasized about what it would be like to reveal the truth about the Taran Empire to the people of Earth since he’d first visited the planet as a young man with Saera. At the time, the world was reeling from political unrest and recovering from a worldwide pandemic, though that hadn’t directly impacted their travel. However,