Island in a Sea of Stars Read Online Free PDF Page B

kind of mysterious trail through the void. She had never seen anything like it.
    She wondered if Garrison had come here on purpose, if he intended to hide this strange anomaly from her and from Iswander Industries. The magnetic tracking device had stopped transmitting, but as she extended her sensors, she detected the stolen ship. Found you!
    Yes, Garrison was here. That was what mattered.

6
    LEE ISWANDER
    After making his formal case to the Roamer clans, Lee Iswander returned to Sheol, anxious to get back to business. Though he could have spent days in meaningless meetings at Newstation, chatting with clan heads and Confederation trade representatives, he had obligations at his lava-processing operations.
    Iswander enjoyed his time alone in the cruiser, but the flight seemed long. After the first few hours of putting his notes and his thoughts in order, he wanted to be back in his office. Once elected Speaker, he would have to rely on Alec Pannebaker and Elisa Reeves for the day-to-day work. Though he liked being a hands-on person, showing good leadership by being there and being involved , some things would have to change. That was the price one paid to move forward.
    Approaching the hot binary planet, he deployed the cruiser’s heat shield and descended toward the magma operations. From space, the broken planet looked dangerous, two halves playing tug of war, but he was not here as an astronomical tourist. He radioed ahead to let Pannebaker know he was coming. “Prepare a production summary for me, please.”
    â€œGot it already, Chief. I do my homework before I have fun—and by the Guiding Star there’s lots of fun now. Thermal instabilities, more than usual. Three lava geysers. One shoots half a kilometer into the atmosphere.”
    â€œDoes it pose any danger to our facilities?”
    â€œNo, it’s five kilometers away from the towers, but worth the trip to go see. I’ll take you out there if you like.”
    â€œI’ll just look at your images, Mr. Pannebaker. I’m sure you’ve taken hundreds.”
    â€œThousands, actually. Got to get just the right frame. We’ll show them off to Captain Kett. She’ll appreciate it.”
    The head of the Confederation’s largest trading fleet, Rlinda Kett was due to arrive at Sheol to take a large cargo of metal products to Newstation. It was a symbolic gesture to impress the clan heads, and the hearty businesswoman knew that full well. But she had agreed to do it, so long as he gave her sufficient inducement.
    â€œA bribe?” Iswander was familiar with the way business and politics worked, but he hadn’t thought Rlinda Kett would be so blatant about it when he had approached her.
    â€œNot at all,” she said, when they had met earlier at Newstation. “Shipping terms—I want two percent reduction in my costs on all exports from Sheol.”
    Iswander frowned, but knew a negotiation when he saw one. “Pure ingots only.”
    â€œNo—ingots, processed-metal foams, alloy films. Two percent reduction across the board.”
    Iswander offered, “Two percent on ingots, one percent on other specialty materials.”
    Rlinda was a big, dark-skinned woman who had only grown bigger over the years. She had let out a loud laugh. “Good enough—and we’re done here.I’ll have Robb Brindle and Tasia Tamblyn handle the details and draw up the paperwork. They’re the ones really in charge of my company.”
    After a handshake, they had set up a date for her Voracious Curiosity to fly to Sheol to pick up the large shipment of materials. For the upcoming election, he had particular timing requirements, though it had to look casual.
    Iswander flew in using the cruiser’s assisted piloting, as thermal disturbances roiled up to shake his ship from side to side. The cracks below were like arterial wounds that spilled molten metals and incinerated rock. His extraction facilities rode