Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) by Raymond L. Weil Page A

No matter, she was sure that Rios and Parker would help her finish
it off.
    “It is!”
agreed Casey with a grin. She'd never tasted anything like this sweet and sour
chicken. She took another bite, savoring the taste. “This chicken is
delicious.”
    Ryan smiled;
he was glad to see Casey enjoying her meal. He allowed himself to relax and
took a deep breath. He didn’t want to think about what a brawl in the
restaurant would have done to his career. This was a situation he hadn’t
handled very well and he knew it. He was still going to speak to Major Winfrey
about what had happened, and he was also going to mention it to Wade next time
he had a chance to speak with his older brother.
    Once the five
of them finished their meal, they headed back toward the training dome. In two
more days, they were going to try Charring Mountain once again. Ryan wanted to
spend some time with his platoon discussing strategy and what they'd done wrong
the first time. He was determined to beat that damn mountain on their next
attempt even though he knew the odds were stacked heavily against him.
    -
    Wade watched
with interest as the Constellation arrowed down toward the surface of Vesta. A
massive airlock slid open, revealing a lighted entrance, which would take them
to the massive spacedock deep inside the asteroid. Around the perimeter of the airlock,
eight small particle beam cannons ensured there was no unauthorized entry. The
helm officer brought the ship smoothly inside the tunnel, and they were soon
traveling along its lighted length toward the spacedock.
    “It’s good to
be back on Vesta,” spoke Wade, looking forward to seeing Beth.
    He'd been gone
for several weeks consulting with General Mitchell and recently promoted Fleet Admiral
Thomas Kelly about possible action against the Kleese. Kelly had been the
former executive officer of the Constellation but had shown a knack for
strategy and understanding space warfare. It hadn’t taken him long to move up
to commanding officer, then admiral, and now Fleet Admiral with the retirement
of Fleet Admiral Kirby. Wade knew that Kirby had always felt uncomfortable in
his command position. He'd heard that Kirby had gone back to prospecting in his
old prospecting ship the Raven.
    “Vesta is our
mainstay,” responded Adamson, turning toward Wade. “Everyone knows what Vesta
did to save the Human race. If not for President Randle, none of us would be
here today. It’s going to be a sad day when he steps down as president.”
    Wade nodded
his head in agreement, but it was time for the civilian government to take a more
active role in managing the habitats and even the war. President Randle
couldn’t do that forever, nor would it be wise. However, there'd been talk of
him taking on some type of advisory position to help guide the next president
through all the pitfalls of managing a Human civilization scattered across the
solar system
    On the main viewscreen,
another pair of large airlocks slid open and the Constellation entered the
massive spacedock or, as some preferred to call it, a landing bay. The bay had
been enlarged several times over the past few years. It was now eight kilometers
in width, two kilometers in length and a full kilometer from floor to ceiling.
Inside the bay, numerous ships could be seen in their berths, prospecting ships,
cargo ships, passenger liners, and even a few battlecruisers. On the far end of
the bay, three new battlecruisers were nearing completion.
    “There’re over
two thousand Kiveans inside Vesta most of the time,” commented Adamson, turning
to look over at Wade. “We’ve come a long way since our rescue mission.” He knew
that many of the Kiveans were technicians or scientists helping in ship
construction or research projects.
    Wade nodded;
the rescue mission Adamson was referring to was when they had taken a fleet to
the Kiveans’ home world to rescue what survivors they could after the Kleese
used antimatter weapons on the surface of the