Talosian Chronicles 5: Raptor Squadron Read Online Free Page A

up. At first they all believed the fleets would be split up and sent to protect alliance worlds, but then the rumors started that command had something up their sleeve and had managed to talk the Council out of splitting up the fleets. They also began panicking because they said we were going to get rid of the Alliance and form an Empire of our own. I tried to keep everyone calm, but the rumors were pervasive. I watched the same broadcast as everyone else. I sure didn't hear anything that said we were doing that. It was suggested as an eventual possibility, but that was all I heard," Belirus said.
    Ian nodded. "We did talk the Alliance out of splitting up the fleets. We have a much more effective strategy in mind. One of the reasons we were so late in departing is that I was still working with the Intelligence and Command staff to work out that strategy. We do have a major part to play in it, and I'll tell you all about it later. The other reason we were delayed was because Luke and the rest of the Council got to be pretty popular after the main meeting."
    "Oh?" Belirus asked. "I kind of thought H'joles might have thrown you to the wolves when he said that."
    Luke swallowed the bite of steak he was eating and nodded. "He did, but it was in a good way. I'd planned on asking for their help anyway. The way it turned out, we have more help than we know what to do with!" He chuckled as he took a drink. "Very soon, there are going to be a lot of Alliance personnel arriving at Atlas to be assigned to different projects in the system. I dare say that most of our projects will be completed within the year because of it."
    "Even the Pleiades stations?" Belirus asked.
    "Especially those. The priorities are the stations, then the academies. Of course, those won't be the only projects getting more workers; we have enough coming, and can easily ask for more, to fully staff every project on the books. Some of those coming will be staying as both students and instructors at the academies. Others will be going to Phoenix Base to learn how to build the Defense Networks, and they will be heading out as soon as teams are formed.
    "The computer department on Phoenix will be tripling in size because, while the Alliance agreed to give our Sentient AI a try, they agreed that manufacturing of those units be controlled and isolated. Which means only Phoenix will be building them. So, all the relevant researchers, scientists, and technicians will be coming to Phoenix.
    "The Pleiades stations will be fully staffed and defended. We will still retain command of them, but they will be brought up to full strength." Luke snorted. "We'll even be getting a civilian police force!"
    "It sounds like we're getting invaded!" Belirus said.
    "We are, in a manner of speaking." Ian took a drink of his beer. "I've been given the rank of Fleet Admiral in the Alliance. While we are far too small to rate a full membership within the Alliance, we are basically gaining all the benefits of it. Luke was asked to assemble and send a full diplomatic team as soon as he can, and not just a single representative."
    Luke nodded and picked up the conversation. "All the people coming to us will be, in effect, our citizens. They will retain all the rights and privileges enjoyed by everyone else. The Alliance is entering into a kind of political and social flux. The speeches Ian and H'joles gave really seemed to impress the leaders and Ambassadors attending. They really are going to try to make us all just one nation instead of a group of nations. No one can tell how this'll eventually pan out, but I see it becoming sort of like the United States on Earth. The Alliance will become, in effect, the federal government, while the separate nations will become the states."
    "Let's just hope they can avoid the corruption that seems to be effecting the nations currently," Chloe Brighton replied. "For their part, the Alliance Intelligence Branch seems to be already set up that way. Of course, it