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

worry continued to build while she hung up the posters along corridors in the transit station, keeping her face tilted down to avoid any potential cameras from getting a good look at her, despite her coverings. More people mean they’re going to do something even bigger. And why would they need those kinds of specialists?

She didn’t want to run, but she decided that she had to do something. The Alliance was too powerful and up to something too nefarious to leave unchecked. Yet, her options were limited.

Lexi needed help, and quickly. The obvious choice was to report the known crimes to the Guard. Though the Guard’s Enforcers were responsible for civil peacekeeping, she had yet to see them take meaningful action to address the situation. She didn’t trust them to follow through on whatever information she might give. Assuming she would only have one chance to send out a tip, she needed to make it count.

If not the Guard, then who? Part of her wanted to write the Taran High Council directly, but it was unlikely that would go anywhere. The TSS, on the other hand, would have a mandate to look into potential leads. Are they any more trustworthy than the Guard?

Ultimately, she decided they must be, simply because if they weren’t, then that would mean there was no one to step in and help. She couldn’t let herself believe that she was doomed.

The question then became how to reach out. There were plenty of reporting channels, from written correspondence to vidcalls. Some promised anonymity while others were designed for insiders to share information in exchange for witness protection. Neither option appealed to her. What she wanted was help—backup with the ability to get in deeply enough with her to get answers and then be in a position to do something about it.

Her only viable option, then, was direct contact. A personal plea. She couldn’t very well go offworld to the nearest TSS field office, but she could send a video message securely enough.

With the last of the posters hung, she began working her way back toward the Alliance office. Midway on the trek, she spotted a particularly secluded side street she’d been down before. It was likely the most private place she could get access to quickly.

Lexi jogged down the alley until she found a dead-end alcove between two buildings. No one was around. This is my chance.

She pulled out her handheld and began recording a video.

“My name is Lexi Karis. About a year ago, a friend of mine, Melisa Zedra, went missing. I tracked her to Duronis and found out that she had joined up with a group that calls itself the Sovereign Peoples Alliance. This is the organization behind the recent attack on the spaceport.

“The news reports about it being an ‘accident’ are lies put out by the Alliance itself with the intent of damaging the reputation of the High Dynasties. The Alliance says that the High Council has too much power and that we’re better off without it. Too much centralized power breeds corruption. Maybe they’re right, but I don’t think the Alliance’s methods to get out that message are in the best interest of the Taran people.

“I didn’t know what the Alliance had planned when I joined up; I only wanted to find my friend. This violence is awful, and I want it to stop. I’d try to leave, but I worry about what might happen if no one is watching from the inside.

“I don’t know if you can do anything to help, but I needed to say something to someone who might be able to make a difference. The Alliance is one part of something bigger. I don’t know how far it goes. All I can say is that I doubt Melisa is the only person to have gone missing.

“My branch of the Alliance is based in the neo-industrial district of Duron City, intersection of Meridian and Fairmont. They’ve started putting up ads for new recruits—all kinds of specialists, like molecular biologists and geneticists. I don’t know what they’re planning, but it can’t be good. Please, if there’s anything you can do, send help.”

Lexi replayed the message to confirm that she’d touched on the relevant points. It was all there. Her handheld may as well be a nuclear bomb.

Before she could lose her nerve, she sent the message directly to the contact for the nearest TSS field office and then scrubbed the evidence from her handheld. All she could do now was wait. Stars, I hope this is the right move.

—     —     —

The happy buzz from the successful contact with Earth hadn’t lasted as long as Raena had hoped it would. Though relations with that one planet were trending in a positive direction, conditions in the colony worlds near the Rift were quite the opposite.

“Our silent approach doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere,” she commented to Ryan as they sat down to their joint evening strategy session. It had become their daily ritual to debrief after their respective workdays and see how they could help each other with their overlapping governance responsibilities.

He shook his head and ran a hand over his dark hair. “It’s playing out just like your dad said it would. Saying DGE should be held responsible for negligence. It’s unbelievable people will swallow a story like that without any evidence.”

“I’m sorry you’re in this position. That we’re in it.”

“I want to make a statement so badly. What kind of leader stays silent after people have died?”

Raena nodded. “You’re right. I get what my dad was saying about how it could be spun, but maybe there’s something we can say to walk the fine line. I can’t stand seeing the Empire like this.”

She brought up the latest compilation of footage from the Outer Colonies. Her throat tightened as she took in the images of the riots