* * * * *
Demosthenes, Nomansland.
The current position of Demosthenes put them within radiant distance of a yellow sun and the cheerful light blazed through any windows on the port side of the Demos, including Bellona’s private quarters.
Dyse stood at the window, staring out at the sun, his eyes narrowed against the glare.
“You asked to see me,” Bellona reminded him.
“I think I am facing what you call a dilemma,” Dyse said. “I asked Khalil for his advice before coming to speak to you. He was very strongly against me telling you what I am about to say. That makes me hesitate, because I trust Khalil’s judgement.”
Bellona’s heart fluttered. “Yet you are speaking to me, anyway.”
“You value the truth,” Dyse said, “no matter the cost of hearing it. That is why I feel compelled to speak despite Khalil’s entreaties that I not.”
“That is your dilemma?” Bellona asked. “To please Khalil, or to please me?”
“Yes.” He moved away from the window. “I have decided, though, to give you a choice. Then you can accept the consequences or not.”
Bellona kept her smile in place. “You’d better tell me, Dyse. You’ve said this much.”
Dyse pushed his hands into his pockets. “Khalil encouraged me to roam through data files. Anywhere and everywhere. Data is my currency, you see. Before, I would only go where directed for my sources. It didn’t occur to me then that it was a type of slavery. Only now I have been in your company for a very short while, do I see the limitations I was working under.”
“I didn’t know that,” Bellona said truthfully. “You have been roaming where your curiosity takes you?”
He nodded. “I came across a data store. Karassian. It was buried very deep. I think they believe they have destroyed the data, but…well, I am me.” He smiled. It was a roguish expression.
“What files?” Bellona asked stiffly, her pulse accelerating.
“Xenia’s memories,” Dyse said.
She held still, while her heart skittered.
“Sang tells me that you complained once about never knowing when someone would attack you or berate you for something Xenia had done, like Alkeides.”
“I did say that.”
Dyse shrugged. “If you reinsert the memories, then you’ll know exactly what Xenia has done. That is why Khalil is so against it. He feels you would hate yourself, if you knew. He says it is not necessary for you to know, when you are surrounded by Ledanians who also don’t know what they have done in the past.”
“Leave well enough alone,” Bellona murmured.
“Yes, that is what he said.” Dyse withdrew his hand from his pocket and placed a centimeter square box on the table. “They’re smart crystals, so the memories won’t corrupt. You can take your time deciding. You can take years, if you want. They’re there when you want them.”
Bellona stared at the box long after Dyse had gone.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Demosthenes, nomansland.
Bellona glanced at Sang. “Ready?” she asked.
He nodded.
She cleared her throat, as the lens dropped down to the level of her face and hovered in front of her.
“My name is Bellona Cardenas,” she begun. “Many of you already know of me as Xenia. Up until a few days ago, I was forced to revert to Xenia’s appearance just to convince you I was really her, that Xenia is a person, not an android as the Karassians would prefer to believe.
“Today I have dispensed with that appearance. Xenia no longer exists and hasn’t for three years. In the meantime, something has happened in our galaxy. Something significant. Something every person, every android, every computer that can hold abstract thought, should consider.”
* * * * *
A big screen had been generated at the end of the dining room. It was running the live footage as Sang walked in. Bellona was still setting up, the camera close in on her face.
“A city killer was used for the second time. We of the free worlds once more lost hundreds of thousands of people and our beloved Cerce City. This is despite my promise to all free world people that it would never happen again. I failed you in this only because the free worlds did not understand that I meant what I said.”
Sang poured two mugs of coffee from the real brew sitting on the hotplate and took them over to the table where Hero sat watching Bellona. He gave her one of the mugs.
“You didn’t want to be in the room with her?” Sang asked. “Be counted as one of them standing with her?”
Hero shook her head with a small smile. She touched her chest. “In here, I know I am hers. I always have been. That’s all I need to know. Everyone else can bugger off.”
Sang considered her. “Only now I see it, too,” he pointed out.
“Of course you do. It’s a small club. We all know each other.” She smiled impishly and drank.
* * * * *
Kachmarain City, Kachmar Sodality, The Karassian Homogeny
As the sun set, Chidi moved around the apartment, polarizing all the windows so that nothing could see in. Then, still looking over his shoulder, he generated a screen and tuned it.
The sound came in first, Xenia’s voice with the lovely modulations and timbre. “Now, though, the free worlds understand what I mean. We have a meeting of minds and on one thing we are very clear.”
The images flickered into place, with odd distortions because of the security hacks and work-arounds Chidi had set up to disguise the feed. Xenia—the woman called Bellona—stood centered in front of the lens, which was slowly pulling back to show the people standing behind her. Dozens of them, dressed in regal and diplomatic finery. Chidi recognized many of the faces and although he couldn’t name them right now, he would research them later. One of them, at least, he did know, only because he was one of the most vocal and visible leaders of the free world and in the last few days everyone had speculated wildly about how Lin Alberda, the governor of Cerce, had survived the city killer.
Bellona was still speaking. “You will soon learn about a new technology, one that only the free worlds control. It is a bridge forge that allows us to go anywhere we want in the galaxy, instantly. We do not need ships, or null-engines, or guns to fight off bigger ships. We can step into the room you are sitting in now, if we choose to. No security shield ever invented can stop us.”
Chidi shivered with atavistic delight and glanced around his empty apartment. Perhaps, one day, she would step into this room…
* * * * *
Demosthenes, Nomansland.
As the lens floating slowly backward, Bellona continued to speak. “We have a base of operations that you will never find. It is constantly moving and can never be targeted. Demosthenes is from where we will enforce our will.
“What is our will? It is simple. Independence from the Alliance yoke, free will and self-determination. They are simple things. They are the right of every free person, no matter what their origins. We will enforce those rights. Push us and we will push back. Annex us and we will throw off your collar and force you to flee back to your ships and your empires.
“If you are listening to me now and agree with what I am saying, then join our fight. Go to any civil administration in the free worlds and tell them you want to help and you will be recruited to the cause.
“On the other hand, if you are listening to me now and think we are bluffing, consider this. Demosthenes is untraceable. You will never find us, but we can find you. We know where you live and sleep and dream and hope. We can reach you anywhere, instantly. Try to interfere with the free states and we will hit back.”
Bellona gave the lens and everyone who was watching a small smile. “I am Bellona Cardenas of the Free Worlds. Remember what I have promised.”
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The next book in the Indigo Reports series.
The next book in the Indigo Reports series is Worlds Beyond, the last book of the series. It will be released in September 2017.
In the meantime, if you like space opera style science fiction:
Faring Soul, Book 1, Interspace Origins
Rumors emerge that Catherine Shahrazad has returned from the fringes and been seen in Federation space. Wherever she goes, her name and her history cause civil unrest, riots and worse. The Federation Board doesn’t want her there. Neither do the leaders of Cadfael College, the educators and moralists of the galaxy. No one pays any attention to the reticent navigator called Bedivere X, who pilots her ship better than she does.
The truth about Bedivere threatens the entire Federation.
His feelings for Cat might just save everyone.
This book is part of the Interspace Origins science fiction romance series:
Book 1: Faring Soul
Book 2: Varkan Rise
Book 3: Cat and Company
___
Winner of the SFR Galaxy Award 2015
I know Tracy is a great writer but I was not much into science fiction. Well, now I am!!
Buy Faring Soul now.
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About the Author
Tracy Cooper-Posey is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author. She writes science fiction and romance. She has published over 85 books since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favorite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.
She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year and Byzantine Heartbreak was a 2012 winner. Faring Soul won a SFR Galaxy Award in 2016 for “Most Intriguing Philosophical/Social Science Questions in Galaxybuilding” She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught writing at MacEwan University.
She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, reading science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian Canadian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.
Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey
For reviews, excerpts, and more about each title, visit Tracy’s site and click on the cover you are interested in: http://tracycooperposey.com/books-by-thumbnail/
* = Free!
Blood Knot Series
(Urban Fantasy Paranormal Series)
Blood Knot*
Southampton Swindle
Broken Promise
Vale
Amor Meus
Blood Stone
Blood Unleashed
Blood Drive
Blood Revealed
Blood Ascendant
Beloved Bloody Time Series
(Paranormal Futuristic Time Travel)
Bannockburn Binding*
Wait
Byzantine Heartbreak
Viennese Agreement
Romani Armada
Spartan Resistance
Celtic Crossing
Kiss Across Time Series
(Paranormal Time Travel)
Kiss Across Time*
Kiss Across Swords
Time Kissed Moments I
Kiss Across Chains
Kiss Across Deserts
Kiss Across Kingdoms
Time and Tyra Again
Kiss Across Seas
Kiss Across Worlds
The Kine Prophecies
(Epic Norse Fantasy Romance)
The Branded Rose Prophecy
The Stonebrood Saga
(Gargoyle Paranormal Series)
Carson’s Night*
Beauty’s Beasts
Harvest of Holidays
Unbearable
Sabrina’s Clan
Pay The Ferryman
Hearts of Stone (Boxed Set)
Destiny’s Trinities
(Urban Fantasy Romance Series)
Beth’s Acceptance*
Mia’s Return
Sera’s Gift
The First Trinity
Cora’s Secret
Zoe’s Blockade
Octavia’s War
The Second Trinity
Terra’s Victory
Destiny’s Trinities (Boxed Set)
Interspace Origins
(Science Fiction Romance Series)
Faring Soul
Varkan Rise
Cat and Company
Interspace Origins (Boxed Set)
Short Paranormals
Solstice Surrender
Eva’s Last Dance
Three Taps, Then….
The Well of Rnomath
The Vistaria Affair
(Romantic Suspense)
Red Leopard*
Black Heart
Blue Knight
White Dawn
Go-get-‘em Women
(Short Romantic Suspense Series)
The Royal Talisman
Delly’s Last Night
Vivian’s Return
Ningaloo Nights
Jewells of Tomorrow
(Historical Romantic Suspense)
Diana By The Moon
Heart of Vengeance
Scandalous Sirens
(Historical Romance Series)
Forbidden*
Dangerous Beauty
Perilous Princess
(Historical Romance Series – Spin off)
Rose of Ebony
Soul of Sin
Romantic Thrillers Series
Fatal Wild Child
Dead Again
Dead Double
Terror Stash
Thrilling Affair (Boxed Set)
The Endurance
(Science Fiction Romance Series)
5,001
Greyson’s Doom
Yesterday’s Legacy
Promissory Note
Quiver and Crave
Xenogenesis
Junkyard Heroes
Contemporary Romances
Lucifer’s Lover
An Inconvenient Lover
The Sherlock Holmes Series
(Romantic Suspense/Mystery)
Chronicles of the Lost Years
The Case of the Reluctant Agent
Sherlock Boxed In
The Indigo Reports
(Space Opera)
Flying Blind
New Star Rising
But Now I See
Suns Eclipsed
Worlds Beyond
Non-Fiction Titles
Reading Order
(Non-Fiction, Reference)
Reading Order 2016
Copyright Information
This is an original publication of Tracy Cooper-Posey
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
Copyright © 2017 by Tracy Cooper-Posey
Text design by Tracy Cooper-Posey
Edited by Helen Woodall
http://helenwoodallfreelanceediting.blogspot.ca/
Cover
by Dar Albert, Wicked Smart Designs
http://wickedsmartdesigns.com
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
FIRST EDITION: May 2017
Cooper-Posey, Tracy
Suns Eclipsed/Tracy Cooper-Posey—1st Ed.
Science Fiction—Fiction