All Enemies Foreign and Domestic (Kelly Blake series) Read Online Free PDF

graduation.   It can’t get here soon enough.”
     
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          Shadow Leader M’Taso surveyed the world beneath her and chose a mountain valley large enough to meet the required specifications and with likely mineral deposits in the surrounding mountains.   She needed to further analyze the mineral content of the deposits as identified by the S’Kauf’s sensors.
          She ordered the helm to make a standard orbital approach and land in the center of the valley, next to a knoll overlooking a small river.   The approach and landing was the smoothest she had ever seen and she commended her helmsman for his skill.   Quickly organizing her scientists and crew into survey teams, she had them turn in for the remainder of the night and get an early start in the morning.
          The following morning, the crews left the ship and went about their assigned tasks.   Geology teams trudged up into the mountains, looking for various ores.   Xenobiology teams recorded and captured wildlife specimens.   Botanist teams gathered leaves, fruit, and bark of the local vegetation.   Environmental teams surveyed the air and water and tested for contaminants or dangerous compounds.
          As the local star reached its zenith, the close-by teams returned to the ship for a mid-day meal.   One of the xenobiology teams walked to the ship from upstream and, as it pushed up a small rise, came face to face with a worker insectoid.   The large dog-sized insectoid and the team ran in opposite directions.
          While the team ran back the way they came, circled around, and hiked to the ship, the worker made a straight-line dash to the burrow, leaving a pheromone trail, which alerted every other worker of danger in that direction.   Workers and soldiers swarmed down the trail in search of the danger, ready to engage in combat.   The workers and soldiers arrived at the end of the trail, found no danger, milled around scouting, and found the path made by the K’Rang team.   Over 70 soldiers and workers now followed the trail leading towards the S’Kauf.
          As the xenobiology team reached the crest of the knoll upon which the S’Kauf landed, they looked behind and saw a growing column of insectoids gaining on them.   The K’Rang dropped their equipment, kept the samples they had acquired, and employed the speed of their hunter ancestors to try and escape.   There were too many bugs coming at them from all angles.   Other colonies’ workers came across the pheromone trail and alerted their soldiers.   Soon there were hundreds of insectoids descending on the hapless K’Rang team.
          Like a black moving carpet, the insectoids covered the K’Rang team and when they dispersed, nothing was left. A sentient queen arrived on the scene, saw the team’s abandoned equipment, and sent soldiers out to scout the area in the direction they were running.   Within minutes, the soldiers came back, leaving a pheromone danger trail from the north.   The queen held back the soldiers until she personally viewed the situation.
          She crawled forward through the tall, feathery grass until she found a small rise overlooking the K’Rang scout ship.   She observed the comings and goings of ship personnel for a while, and then dropped down off the knoll.   She sent one soldier to alert soldiers from other colonies and give them instructions to pass on to their colony.   She touched antennae with another soldier and had him alert two other nearby colonies with sentient queens.   She gave a message to yet another soldier to pass to her own colony, and then found a cool shady spot to wait for dark.
     
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          Alistair Bennett arrived, unescorted, unscheduled, and carrying Rojo, his white cat, in his carrier through the embassy mini-gate to assume his duties as the Chief of Station, the second most powerful position in the embassy.   His duties would include managing