The Phoenix Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page B

we
allow it. And by destroying ourselves in pitched battle and civil
war, we are only enabling our enemies to destroy us. The time has
come to unite against the common foe; the true enemy. Not human
against human, or brother against brother. But man, woman, and
child against any who would destroy us or take away our way of
life!
    “We must unite! Rally to my banner and save
our worlds! I hereby declare the re-instatement of the true
Imperial Assembly and strip the Assembly of Capital World of all
its powers and legal responsibilities, as it is clearly held
hostage by a dangerous usurper. I invite all sitting Assembly
members of the now defunct and illegitimate Assembly on Capital
World to reach out to me and join me to sit upon the Royal Imperial
Assembly. And to those planets who wish to elect new
representatives, because your current ones are held hostage on
Capital World and cannot or will not be recalled, I urge you to
seek new leadership. Elect your officials and then send them to me.
Coordinates shall be provided. Together, as monarch and elected
Assembly, as the Empire was always meant to operate, we will save
our worlds!”
    Raidan folded his arms, wondering just what
intelligence the queen was referring to about a Rotham invasion
which was imminent. Raidan himself had alerted the queen, thanks to
Samil Cross and Tristan, that the Alliance was a deterrent of the
past only, but he hadn’t had it confirmed the Rotham fleet was
actually sighted and on its way.
    That must mean Calvin got through and got
his messages out , thought Raidan. He felt a small measure of
happiness to think Calvin was still alive out there and collecting
good intelligence, but it paled in comparison to the revelation
that the Rotham were going to attack imminently. If only they’d
attacked before the battle at the Yards , thought Raidan
desperately. We could have united then and chased them back to
Ro with their tails between their legs. Instead, we butchered
ourselves and offered our necks to the Rotham…
    Raidan had turned to go to his office, eager
to contact Tristan, when the queen’s message abruptly stopped
playing its loop, now replaced by counter propaganda. This time it
belonged to Caerwyn Martel, who, although not seated upon the
throne itself, not yet anyway , stood in the throne room as a
symbolic gesture of his claimed authority as Steward of the Empire
and denounced the queen and her warning.
    “To all my children from The Rim to the
Capital, to the Far Clusters, and most especially to you in The
Corridor, I, as Steward and Guardian of this Empire, am here to
tell you, fear not ! For there is no Rotham threat
approaching our borders; I can promise you that.” Upon seeing
Caerwyn’s self-regarding face, his eyes gleaming with power lust,
Raidan felt a profound anger swell up inside him and he wished he
had the means to dispatch an assassin and end the pretender, this
man who singlehandedly might well destroy the Empire, putting an
end to all the great wonders, marvels, and creations humanity had
brought into the universe. Caerwyn was the epitome of everything
wrong with the Empire: a liar, a sellout, vile, contemptuous,
corrupted. He was a lord of the people rather than a servant of
them. He hadn’t an ounce of patriotism anywhere in his blood and
would likely sell children for organ-farming if it meant he got to
line his pockets with a few extra Q. Hell, he probably already did
that, and worse!
    “I have reports from Intel Wing and the
Fleet, and they may be corroborated as I am releasing them to the
public, which clearly indicate no Rotham presence visible by any
Imperial listening post anywhere near the DMZ,” continued Caerwyn. That might be true enough , thought Raidan, but the Rotham
fleet could easily be sitting and waiting inside Rotham space
before blitzing through the DMZ and into The Corridor. And if
Caerwyn thinks to wait until a listening post detects the fleet
before marshaling a response…then his ignorance