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

be any reservations. Sharing their day-to-day lives would have introduced distractions. Thoughts of ‘maybe politics aren’t so bad’, or ‘perhaps staying in the TSS for another year would be helpful’, which could have set each of them on different paths. In truth, each of them had needed every second of preparation to bring them to this juncture.

It was sad, putting it in those terms. His best friend for the first seventeen years of his life—his other half, in many regards—and they’d parted ways in the interest of fulfilling plans set in motion before their parents were even born. Yet, he’d do it all again. Sacrifice was a key tenet of duty.

The press circus went on for almost two hours before Wil finally cut it off. Jason got off easy, only having to answer a handful of questions aimed specifically to him, while his father and sister had fielded the rest. For all his father’s talk of not being a politician, he knew how to spin narrative like the best of them. Given he’d spent most of his life with Cris and Kate, though, that wasn’t a surprise. Just because a person didn’t like something, that didn’t mean they weren’t good at it.

Jason breathed out a long breath to ease the tension in his chest as soon as they were back in the sealed shuttle. “Raena, I can’t believe you do this on a regular basis.”

She laughed. “Oh, normally the audience isn’t so complimentary!”

“Well done, both of you,” Wil said. “I don’t think we could have hoped for much more than that.”

“You did sort of skirt the question about what happens next,” Jason pointed out. “Intentional, I’m sure.”

“We don’t know yet, so I didn’t want to commit to anything.”

The deck of the shuttle vibrated as the craft took off. Jason strapped into his seat.

“The important thing is that people seemed receptive and there was no violence,” Wil continued. “The dialogue is open, and now we can nurture that relationship.”

“A proper planetary shield needs to be installed ASAP,” Jason said.

“That will be our top priority, for sure. Defensive tech is a pretty easy sell.”

“Unless someone decides to call it a cage designed to keep humans in,” Raena countered.

“Oh, stars, that would be a terrible spin. It could tank the deal right out of the gate.” Wil shook his head. “Do you think it’s likely?”

“That someone will say it or that the idea will take hold? The former, definitely. Ultimately, I don’t believe it’s worth worrying about.”

“Okay, then we move forward with expedited implementation. We’ll throw some low-level medical tech toward the UN to get things going and offer to install the shield. If we make the pledges public, the leaders will have to agree if they want to save face.”

“Of course, they’ll try to get weapons out of it—but an exclusive deal only for their country and allies,” Jason said.

Wil bowed his head. “Naturally, and we’ll politely decline. Medical and defense are all I’m comfortable handing over to Earth right now—and the Agents that have been dedicated to keeping the Taran Empire secret can now re-task their efforts on making sure those advances make it into the hands of common citizens.”

There was a bright future ahead for the planet, and that gave Jason great satisfaction. Assuming we don’t all die in an alien invasion. He pushed the thought away.

The shuttle docked with the Conquest, and they flew back to the TSS space dock in short order.

“I should get back to Tararia,” Raena said as they prepared to disembark.

“Already?” Jason asked.

“As soon as word about Earth hits the news streams, we’re going to be inundated,” she replied.

“If you can spare a couple of hours, the Primus Elites have been wanting to do a memorial for Tiff. It would be nice to have you there. We could pull something together in short order,” Jason said telepathically. He’d been stalling about the memorial, not wanting to let go. But it was time, and he didn’t want to face it alone.

“Of course, Jason. I’d love to.” Raena turned to their father. “But I can delay for a bit. It would be nice to see everyone while I’m here.”

Wil smiled. “That would be great.”

“Thank you,” Jason said in her mind.

“I appreciate you inviting me. Let’s go give her a proper sendoff.”

—

The memorial gathering was short and simple, just how Tiff would have wanted it. Tears were shed, laughs were shared. Though Tiff had left the mortal coil, she was far from gone. She’d touched many people’s lives, and she’d continue to live on with them.

Jason was slowly coming to terms with that perspective. It would take time, and he’d feel the emptiness from her loss, but he could try to live his best life on her behalf.

After the service, Jason and Raena met up with their parents to say goodbye.

“I’m sorry I can’t stay longer, but please let me know what I can do to support the transition,” Raena told them.

“Thank you for coming. I think your presence made all the difference with winning over the crowd today.” Wil gave her a hug.

“I watched the whole broadcast. They loved you.” Saera beamed.

Always stealing the spotlight. Jason knew their parents loved them equally, but Raena sure had a knack for drawing the most praise. He embraced his sister. “It was great to see you.” And added telepathically, “Thanks for being here for me. I didn’t want to say goodbye alone.”

“Please, don’t be a stranger,” she replied in his mind. “We’re both where we need to be now. We can support each other from afar.”

“And we will. Thank you.” He gave her another tight squeeze before they parted.

“I’ll walk you to your transport,” Saera offered.

“Sounds good. See you around,” Raena said to Jason and their father as she headed