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

reviewing the news reports had revealed to him that humans were a passionate race with good intentions but prone to tribalistic thinking. They were similar to other Tarans in that way, and at least that offered a common frame of reference for how best to approach the integration.

It wasn’t until he’d lived on the planet while his twins were growing up that he’d learned to appreciate the intricacies of Earth’s cultures. He knew it would be impossible to approach each of the major governments in an identical manner and expect the same, welcoming result. That was why he’d made it a point to address the citizens of Earth as a whole, not any single governing entity. It was about promoting commonality. He sincerely hoped it would work.

But, to hedge his bets, he wanted to also make the most spectacular show of power they could with their already stretched resources. If he was to convince Earth that they were better off unified with the Taran Empire, then they needed to make the Empire look like the shining jewel of the galaxy. And he was prepared to put on a bomaxed good show.

All of the TSS ships they could spare were set to simultaneously jump into Earth’s airspace and take up low orbit. Though the craft wouldn’t be particularly visible from the ground, an array of new lights would join the night sky on the opposite side of the planet from the meeting. Government and military surveillance would see the full picture, though, and some of those images would no doubt make it onto worldwide media outlets, probably along with headlines like, ‘ALIENS!’ and ‘They Have Arrived!’ in bold letters. He couldn’t help but smile thinking about it.

The door to the Command Center opened. Jason and Raena entered together, not nearly as in sync as they’d once been with each other.

“Go time?” Raena asked in English. It had been a while since Wil had spoken the language, but he was fluent from the years spent living as a local.

“All good on this end,” Wil confirmed.

She rubbed her hands together and grinned. “All right.”

He was glad to see her focused and excited. When he’d last visited with her on Tararia not long ago, she’d been too tense. However, the spark had returned when she offered to travel to Headquarters and be a part of the big show. She’d always thrived in challenges when she had control over the action, so she was in her element; the business with the Outer Colonies was different, requiring her to remain hands off. Perhaps this project with Earth was a therapeutic displacement of those frustrations.

Jason smiled slightly. “I wish we could see their faces when we jump in.”

“I’m sure there will be plenty of ground-level footage captured,” Wil said.

Jason, likewise, was doing better than he had been since Alkeer. It was only natural for him to be despondent after witnessing something like that, and especially after losing someone who’d been close to him for so long. However, he seemed to have inherited Wil’s ability to compartmentalize and commit to the task at hand, no matter what else was going on. It would serve him well in what was to come.

Wil checked the reports from the other ships in the fleet. Everyone was in position and ready to jump. “Okay, let’s go make contact.”

The Conquest executed a short-range jump from behind the moon, within the shielded zone out of sight, into broad view. Simultaneously, the rest of the fleet popped in, speckling the surrounding space with flares of blue-green light from the spatial distortions. The ships took a coordinated flight pattern to drop into low Earth orbit, concentrating most of the vessels on the side of the planet presently cloaked in night, so the appearance would be visible to anyone watching with magnification.

“Any military response?” Wil asked.

Rianne kept a close eye on the scan data. “We’re picking up orders to stand at the ready, but no incoming fire.”

He released a relieved breath. “Good.”

“Our Agents on the ground have checked in and given the go-ahead,” Saera stated.

“I guess it’s almost that time, then.” Wil brought up some of the top network video feeds to see if anyone was talking about the appearance of spaceships yet. A handful of the live broadcasts were starting to react, expressing surprise that the ‘strange message’ seemed to be panning out.

“Good luck,” Saera bid Wil and gave him a quick kiss.

“See you soon.” Raena gave her mother a hug, and then she and Jason followed Wil down to the hangar in the belly of the ship.

They boarded a shuttle they would take to the surface along with a contingent of Agents as a security detail, not that Wil was overly concerned. Still, better to be overly cautious in such matters, especially with his children.

Wil kept a close eye on the scan as they descended through the atmosphere, looking for any potential threats. Fighter jets appeared in the vicinity, but they made no offensive action.

“Escort?” Jason asked.

“More like watchdogs, I suspect,” Wil replied. He looked over at his children. “I’ll go out first. If any crazy person out in the crowd tries to take a shot, I’d rather it be aimed at me.”

Raena frowned. “You don’t think that will happen, do you?”

“No, but I’d rather proceed with caution. I’ll test the waters with a welcome interview, and then you can join in once we know it’s going well.”

Jason nodded. “There is the possibility this fails spectacularly.”

“I hope it doesn’t,” Wil replied, “because TSS Headquarters will be in a bad situation if we can’t establish good relations with Earth.”

Raena straightened in her seat. “Then we’ll charm them into submission.”

The shuttle was on its final approach to the specified field. It wasn’t far from where their family had lived when the twins were young, near Saera’s relatives