The difference had simply been one of numbers. The Prophet had shared his training and led an army of 100 dedicated Paladins, whereas the Prelate had tried to defend his True Faith alone.
Chapter 66
Jenkins walked back into his apartment flanked by his newly appointed house-arrest guard. He had a small bag with his personal items. He’d only been in maximum security for a day. The evidence, other than Sharnia’s hunch, had not been sufficient to overturn the rule of law. He was innocent until proven guilty (albeit under house arrest with a pre-trial hearing due in the next few months to establish the charge).
The guards deployed outside his building. Jenkins was glad of them; when Sharnia had heard about the Earth Mission QET grid blackout she’d had to be restrained from tearing him in half.
Inside the apartment, he took out the damaged hologram of Katrina and put it on a table. He would get it mended later. It didn’t matter; Katrina was on her way home—twelve years out.
The proof would be hard for anyone to get. There was another ship a few hundred years from Earth that would vector past on its way home, but it would take years for it even to turn on its current heading. He had plenty of time to build a defence.
Jenkins looked around his apartment. He couldn’t quite believe he hadn’t been simply killed by Sharnia. The Deputy Chairman had acted decisively. Jenkins was grateful, although he couldn’t be sure it was altruism or even GF political expedience on the Deputy’s part; there would be something in the Deputy’s own ambitions that he would undoubtedly be serving.
Walking over to the large windows, he looked out over the sprawling city. The next steps would need to be played out carefully. The support for the GF movement was growing; although the atrocities, if uncovered, would dampen it, they would still be in the ascendance.
Contrary to Jenkins’ personal instinct, the Deputy had said the worse the atrocities the better; given many GF executives were Gadium citizens in high standing it would highlight the moral predicament Gadium was in; underline the we’re a broken society message.
Ultimately, if they could secure a critical mass of support before any serious contrary evidence of Vantch or Earth appeared, then victory would be assured.
His pre-trial would be a cornerstone of garnering that support. He would use despair as his defence. He would claim he’d been pushed into committing these atrocities after witnessing, time and again, the devastation Gadium perpetrated in the name of continuity, stability and stewardship.
Jenkins looked across the city to the government tower holding the GEC executive.
You pushed me; you pushed me until my soul could no longer endure the torment. You have made a monster out of me… and a monster I will be.
About the Author
I am Nick M. Lloyd.
In common with many independent authors, I spent a long time investigating all the other options before finding my dream job. Of course, given the financial difficulties of writing for a living, it’s not a job really—more a cheap alternative to therapy…
…not that it is cheap…have you seen the cost of printer toner recently?
As of early-Oct 2014, I have one novel published (this one), and I am working on another.
I can be found:
Twitter @nick_m_lloyd
Facebook nickmlloyd.writer
www.nickmlloyd.com
And, of course, if you were ever to read my book…please leave a review with Amazon, Goodreads…etc. (reviews written on scraps of paper and thrown onto a bonfire don’t always get to me).
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
About the Author