by Andrew Beery
It turned out that TransCorp was a white knight in the whole affair. They had worked behind the scenes to thwart the worst abuses of Mashuta Industries. It also turned out they had a surprise for the young Queen.
On the fourth day after our arrival we received a visit from the CEO of TransCorp, Ronit Yargiv. She brought three guests with her to see the Queen.
When Tange saw them, she screamed and rushed forward to lavish them with hugs and kisses.
I had expected things to begin to return to normal. It turns out there was no returning to things the way they were. Tange’s mother refused to take up the crown again. The world thought she was dead, and she intended to keep it that way. She and Tange spent hours… that turned into days… that turned into weeks… locked away in my Ready Room.
They discussed the empire and its future. I was a part of many of the discussions. At my insistence, the various commanding officers of the surviving Battleborn corps were also looped in on the discussions. At one point they even called in Ronit and a few of the other corporate leaders.
Finally, when everything had been hashed out as well as might be expected Tange announced that it was time to address the people. This would be her third and final address as Queen. Arquat again facilitated communications by tying the Defiant’s comms directly into the global communications net.
Tange stood in my Ready Room. She was dressed in the splendor of a queen. The dress she was in was stunning. Simply put… she was gorgeous and radiated a regal presence that inspired confidence.
When she spoke, people listened. Her words this day would be recorded and would become seminal words in the history of our world. Of this I had no doubt.
“People of Azul,” she began, “We have been on a journey. A journey that began in another star system. A journey that covered unimaginable distances. A journey that seeded humanity not just on Azul but on two other worlds as well. Ours is a journey that has spanned the centuries. A journey that has taken us down paths we never expected… And now it is time for that journey to continue along a different path.
“I am announcing today that I am abdicating my throne. The time for a monarchy is past. Recent events, although brutal, have shown us that the time has come to forge a new way forward.
“Several weeks ago, I began working with the best and brightest minds to draft a declaration of intent. It establishes that all people have an inalienable right to freedom; an inalienable right to seek happiness; an inalienable right to choose their leaders and to replace those leaders when conditions warrant.
“In six months, the Battleborn will proctor an election. You will pick leaders among yourself to guide you as you begin this next journey. I wish you nothing but the best. May the Lord of the universe grant you wisdom and guide you as you forge a new and better future. Farewell and know that I am with you always.”
Arquat closed the communications link. Tange sagged as if the energy had been drained out of her. I walked across the room to her side. She smiled and wrapped her arms around me; resting her head on my chest. She had been doing that a lot lately.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you too,” I whispered back.
Did I mention she was wearing a stunning dress? It turned out I would see her in that dress one more time… on our wedding day. But that’s another story.
Epilog
The Defiant had been searching for the second Earth colony for the better part of a year.
We knew there were two other colonies out there. They were our brothers and sisters. Now that we had access to the Skip Drive again, it was time we found them.
The Founder AI, Arquat had kept detailed records of the UES Diaspora’s journey… including the location of the other colonies. Unfortunately, his data core had been damaged shortly after humanity had arrived at Azul.
The good news was Arquat had been able to reconstruct much of the lost data. The bad news was there was no index. This meant we had to check and eliminate each jump record in that database in order to locate the second colony.
The ship now carried a full crew compliment of twenty-five plus a twenty sixth crew member on the way. Tange and I had been married shortly before the Defiant had broken orbit and begun her historic quest. The twenty-sixth crew member was my yet to be born son… or daughter.
I figured I was about as lucky as a guy could get. I got the ship… and I got the girl. Who needs a bottle when you have all of that?
*** This ends Battleborn #1 ***
Watch for Book #2 in the Battleborn series
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, I’d like to acknowledge and thank Two Steps from Hell for their wonderful song Battleborne which serves as the inspiration for this series.
I’d also like to thank my wife Lori and my two daughters, CJ and Jackie, for putting up with me while I wrote this latest book. Any similarities between people in this book and my immediate family and friends are purely intentional. Of course, I wouldn’t be much of a pastor if I didn’t acknowledge God – to Him be all the glory! To keep up to date on all my books… be sure to follow me on Amazon by clicking the +Follow button on my author's page! As always… please leave a positive review!
Copyright © 2019 by Andrew Beery. All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author. First Electronic Edition: July 2019
Check out my other SCIFI series:
The Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles (9 books)
The Infinity Brigade (3 books)
The Boneyard Dog Saga (3 books)
