The Forgotten Empire: War for the Empire by Raymond Weil (children's ebooks online TXT) 📗

the dancing. The chefs were still busy cooking, and more food constantly came out. “This wedding must cost a fortune,” commented Cheryl, as she filled her plate from the serving trays.

“I thought you were watching your weight,” teased Dylan.

Cheryl laughed. “I am, but it doesn’t hurt to splurge every once in a while. How long are you staying?” Cheryl knew Dylan needed to get back to his fleet.

Dylan smiled. “A few days at least. Things are pretty quiet at the star cluster, and Captain Manson can handle everything until I get back.”

“You really need to promote someone to rear admiral,” commented Cheryl. “Either Captain Manson or Captain Fulmar.

Dylan let out a deep sigh. “You’re right. I will discuss that very subject with Fleet Admiral Marloo, while I’m here on Golan Four. How are your restaurants and clubs coming along?”

Cheryl turned a little red. Some things she didn’t want Dylan to know. “Just fine. We now have restaurants in all the major cities on the core worlds, all serving Earth food. It’s becoming quite popular.”

“And the clubs?” Dylan planned on visiting several of Cheryl’s clubs, without her knowledge. It wouldn’t surprise him if she were pushing the boundaries some.

“Oh, you know. There’s music, dancing, and of course a lot of drinking. As the size of the military grows, so does the service my clubs provide.”

Dylan saw that both Derrick and Layla had come back into the ballroom. Derrick had his usual vice admiral’s uniform on but still wore his purple cape. Layla had a long gown on and looked absolutely ravishing. Dylan smiled when he saw Ensign Allert latch onto Derrick’s arm and head out onto the dance floor.

-

“I’ve waited for this nearly all my life,” said Brenda, with a huge smile on her face.

Derrick grinned and, taking Brenda into his arms, moved around the dance floor. “I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you for teaching me how to dance properly.”

“You’re doing it now,” replied Brenda happily. “This is what I’ve always dreamed of, living in the Palace, dancing at one of its balls.”

-

Layla watched the two, smiling. She was not jealous of Brenda, who had become a good friend. Layla knew Brenda was enjoying this dance more than anything else they could have offered her.

“May I?” asked Governor Alex Therron of Bratol Three.

“You may,” said Layla, smiling and taking the governor’s hand. She knew this would be a long night, but it also offered opportunities to talk to many governors, including some who had not yet joined the Empire.

-

In his personal quarters, Councilor Damora watched the wedding events in the Human Empire on the large viewscreen in his private office. Already reports of more unrest flooded his office. He slammed his hand down on his desk, cracking the top. He frowned and then stood. In the last hour he had already sent messages to Morag Prime and to the High Council, informing them of what he had done. He had also expressed his concerns about missing Councilor Ardon Reull.

The Confederation was falling apart around them. It was become more essential that they keep a firm grip on the other six races of the Great Council. The Morag were the only ones who had actual warfleets; the other sixty thousand worlds of the Confederation were completely unarmed.

As Damora paced back and forth, he thought over what he needed the other six races to do. It was essential they keep all the inhabited worlds in their region of space under their firm control. This rebellion must be brought to a stop and soon. They could not allow the Human Empire time to fully arm itself. Damora stopped, realizing the Confederation was now facing its greatest danger since its inception—a danger so great that even the massive Morag fleets might not be enough to keep the Confederation together.

-

On Morag Prime, the High Council was still meeting. They were busy discussing the current situation and what could be done to bring it back under control.

We must send operatives to all the worlds in revolt, sent Delann. We can take over the minds of their leaders and bring these riots to a stop.

After the Empire’s broadcast, the presence of any Morag will only bring about more unrest. It would take thousands of our people to bring a single world back under our control, replied Addonis. I suggest we bring all of our shipyards fully online and activate the reserve fleet. The Morag kept a huge number of older outdated ships in stasis. While not as powerful as our current vessels, they should be useful in putting down any unrest on Confederation worlds. They could also be used for patrol duties in the Confederation, while we use our modern vessels to take on the Human Empire.

It will take several months to do as you suggest. Time in which both Earth and the Human Empire will be growing stronger, sent Brant. We may find ourselves in a very long and difficult war.

We have no choice, replied Addonis. If we don’t conquer the Human Empire, someday they will come for us.

Then I suggest we increase the defenses around our worlds, as well as all our inhabited moons, sent Hiram. While we already have adequate defenses, we should ensure the Humans cannot attack any of our worlds.

Your suggestion is a wise one, answered Addonis. I’ll give the order immediately to construct more and better orbital defenses.

What about Lormallian Councilor Reull? asked Delann. Is he a threat?

I doubt it, replied Addonis. However, it might be wise to learn of his exact location. I’ll have some of our operatives on the Lormallian worlds search for him. On every one of the major worlds of the six other ruling Confederation races, there were beings who were under complete telepathic control. It wouldn’t take long to figure out where Councilor Reull