Read Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Pursuit for Free Online

from their
circle over the past twenty months, and all would return again sooner or later,
Loren was sure.  But this group was their core, the people that made up the
bunch he trusted his life with and who would help him end this war with the
Primans.  All that was missing was the small detail of exactly how they'd do it, but he knew it would happen.  He had faith in
them.
    "So nice of the admiral to arrange a
meet someplace civilized," Cory said lazily, enjoying the breeze from
behind dark sunglasses and a wide brimmed sun hat.
    "Of course," countered Web,
ever the one to see the shifty side of things, "I find it very interesting
he wouldn't give us the catalog number or coordinates of the place.  Just asked
us if we remembered the tranquil planet we staged over while looking for the
Priman DNA virus a while back.  Didn't even want Avenger in orbit."
    Loren nodded knowingly.  And that was
exactly how Admiral Nodam Bak, secretly in charge of the most covert aspects of
the war with the invading Primans, had wanted it.  It made Loren think this was
another of the man's off-the-books assignments, though these days he had just
as much reason to keep information from his own government as the enemy.
    Since the dubious truce that the Senator
had announced was made policy, Confed's military had been on the defensive both
at home and afar.  The Primans were still chopping away at their numbers
through ambushes and skirmishes, but the Confed navy was prohibited from
seeking engagement or even probing disputed territory.  Officially, it was so
they didn't jeopardize their fragile truce by antagonizing the Primans. 
Unofficially, Loren and a handful of others suspected Senator Dennix had been
compromised by the enemy and was somehow doing their bidding.  His chief
advisor had been a Priman agent, and under the influence of powerful truth
drugs had described the procedure of how they gave orders for him to carry out;
he belonged to the enemy.  Proving it was going to be tough, though, especially
since the entire government was infested with yes-men whom the senator had put
in place in the weeks and months after his rise to power following the Primans'
opening move of the war when the enemy had kidnapped the entire Confederation
government.
    The proof would have to be airtight,
without any dispute.  The testimony of the Priman agent wouldn't be available,
as she'd committed suicide in confinement before any official statement could
be taken.
    And so, here they were.  If they came
forward with charges now, they'd be labeled traitors, rebels or Priman
sympathizers, and run off in disgrace. 
    "Anybody up for joining the rebel
systems yet?" Loren asked casually, though it was not by any means a light
topic among the Confederation military.  With almost a third of Confed's navy
defected to the outlying systems, nothing could be taken for granted anymore.
    "Are you going to get us a signing
bonus or anything?" asked Merritt.
    "Hey, I'll be honest; I had to think
about it, if just for a little while.  But while I hate the idea of taking
orders from the senator, I'm enough of a pragmatist to know that the best way
to take Confed back is from the inside.  Once we get the government
straightened out, everyone will be back and things will be normal again."
    "Well," added Web, "as
normal as they ever were."
    Loren just pointed at Web in a gesture of
agreement.
    They all stared into the waves in silence
after that, letting the soothing sound of the breakers lull them into
tranquility.
    Loren's ears perked up at a faint noise. 
It was barely audible under the sound of the waves, but it was different; a
constant sound, maybe getting louder in fact, but not the back-and-forth of the
waves, either.  It sounded like thrusters.
    He sat forward in his chair, eyes
squinting behind sunglasses as he searched the sky.  He looked over and saw
that everyone else must have noticed it, too.  Pretty soon they were all
standing, backs together, as