Warpath by Randolph Lalonde Page A

would beg an audience with the highest power
in the Codis solar System was because he wanted something, and there
were a number of things Tate could think of that Wheeler could
deliver.
    “I’m going to make
you the leader of the Order of Eden,” Wheeler said. “You’re one
of the only Governors who have passed on the framework program, and
have been smart enough to stay away from the current leadership.”
    “Powerful people who
get too close to Eve or that Beast tend to end up in their place with
no hope of advancement or dead, with very little in their epitaph,”
Governor Tate said. His bot brought him a mug of nutmeg cocoa as he
sat down in a firm armchair across from Wheeler. The drink was an all
natural treat, the ingredients cost thousands of credits when they
were available.
    “Very good, Nancy,
now could you record everything that is said here?” Wheeler asked.
“I really do plan on taking you with me, and we’ll make more than
point zero zero seven percent use of that wonderful brain of yours.”
    A sip of his drink
revealed a perfect texture, flavour and temperature, something he’d
been trying to have his bot, Nancy, to master since she’d entered
his home. “I don’t know if I want control of the Order. They’ve
fallen in line behind Eve, and the military feeds on the image of the
Beast. They’re zealots, near crazed.”
    “Then the Regent
Galactic Forces, corporate control,” Wheeler said, “That’s even
easier. You’re right, the Order is so crazed now, it’s like a bag
of flaming cats. That is, except for the segments of the Order you
already control. I hear recruitment is down thirty five percent
thanks to Valent’s game of Chinese Whispers.”
    “It’ll come back
up. People want the community and opportunity Order membership
brings, and if I can do that without demanding the fervour that Eve
does, then they’ll see the rational choice.”
    “That’s not going
to be possible. Eve is coming here,” Wheeler replied. “Just
something I heard on the Order of Eden Command Network. She’s going
to gather your Order members into the fold.”
    “What? She travels
with so large a group, getting her onto this side of the Ironhead
Nebula would be a massive undertaking, I would have heard something,”
Governor Tate said.
    “No, not if she had a
double spreading her message elsewhere. She wants to surprise this
sector, appear as though by some miracle,” Wheeler said. “It’ll
work for some, and the rest of the Order followers here will see
that, by taking her lead they can elevate themselves faster than they
could if they just stayed here, fighting in your ranks. You’re
about to have a workforce shortfall on three of your planets,
probably four. All the biggest ones, really.”
    “And you’re going
to tell me that you have the solution, that you can put me in a
higher position than the Mother of the Order?”
    “No, I’m going to
put you up as her equal. I’ve seen across this digital landscape,
the plains that remember our footsteps like they are pressed into
stone. The Beast hates the zealotry and sacrifice that Eve demands as
much or more than you do. He could use an ally in Regent Galactic
too, especially on this side of the Iron Head Nebula, where the
majority of their resources and fabrication assets are. If you drop
all your suppositions about him, and forget his public persona, which
is a farce, if you ask me, you’ll find that he’ll become an easy
ally. I can get you in front of him through his own secure network,
and I know you’ll be able to take it from there if you respect
him.”
    “That’s all, just
respect him,” Governor Tate said, deeply interested. The Beast
commanded forty two battle groups at last count, half a billion souls
engaged in military service, and his forces grew every time they
conquered a new outpost or world. Even his manufacturing capabilities
were growing, especially over the previous two months. “There has
to be more to