The Shattered Empire (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

his robes.  “One of my younger monks followed them and found that this was the contact code they used at the planetary ansible.”
    Mason took the slip of paper.  “Whatever you feel about this, I know it is my fault.”  Lauren hated the tone of defeat in his voice.
    “Fault is inconsequential,” Lan answered.  “To use terms of blame and fault is to imply causality, to suggest that man is stripped of choice, that we act only in response to others.”  He cocked his head, “All men have free will... you have a choice, now, just as these other men did.  What you do with it is up to you.”
    Lauren shivered at his words.   They were outwardly calm, yet there was a sense of warning and knowledge there... as well as resignation.  Lan knew what choice Mason would take, yet he warned him anyway.  If he really wanted to stop Mason, he wouldn't have given him the paper, Lauren thought.  She watched Mason as he walked away with slumped shoulders.
    Almost as if he had read her mind, Lan spoke, “To deny him the information would be to deny him free will, you know.”
    Lauren looked sharply at the old monk.  “Free will is overrated.  I'd rather have a happy, ignorant life.  Since I can't have that, I just want revenge.”
    “How can one be happy without freedom?” Lan asked.
    Lauren shook her head, “I don't have time for your riddles, old man.”  She looked him in the eyes, “And if you really gave a damn about Mason, you'd have protected him from the only choice he could make.  He spent a decade or more burying Tommy King.”
    “A wolf could never be happy living as a sheep,” Lan said, his voice sad.  “Nor, despite what it tells itself, would it find happiness in denial and isolation.”
    All of the parables and similes and his odd behavior just became too much.  Lauren wasn't certain if Lan wanted Mason to return to being the pirate Tommy King or if he didn't.  For that matter, half of what he said sounded almost as if he said Tommy King wasn't a bad man.  She stared at the old monk for a long moment as she searched for the right words.  Eventually, she settled on the truth.
    She glared at him suspiciously.  “You are weird,” Lauren finally said.
    ***
     
    Eldorado, Garris Major System
    Colonial Republic
    May 3, 2403
     
    Mason McGann stalked through the streets, his head ranged in a predatory sweep  as he led the way to the ansible building.  His long legs drove him down the street at a pace just short of a jog, yet his hands remained close to his holstered pistols.
    Lauren hurried to keep up.  She felt almost winded as she trotted next to him.  For a moment, she felt ridiculous as she glanced up at him.  She barely stood as high as his shoulder, and his lean frame compared to her made her look like a pudgy duckling trying to keep up with a wolf as it stalked through a farmyard.
    She shook off the mental image as they rounded the corner.  Down the street she could see the billboard for the ansible building.  It looked to be a corporate building, though on a Colonial Republic world like this, that could mean it was run by a government monopoly, freelance corporation, or conglomerate which owned the planet outright.  Lauren didn't know enough about the planet or system to guess.
    Mason paused and she saw his eyes range the street.  “Worried about anyone seeing us?” Lauren asked.  She kept her voice low and level, in the crowded streets, she didn't want to draw further attention to them.  As it was, the people who passed them seemed to catch some sense of danger, they parted around them and left a couple meters of space to spare.
    Mason answered after a moment, “There's been a team that kept us under watch since we left the monastery.  I think they're just there to observe, but they might try to snipe us as we come out of the ansible building, if the meet doesn't go to plan.”
    Lauren didn't allow herself to look behind.  “How far back?”
    “Two teams,” Mason said,