Free The Black Sheep (A Learning Experience Book 3) by Christopher Nuttall

I think.  The trick will be preventing them from committing genocide themselves, against the Druavroks.  Revenge is a very powerful human motivator.”
     
    Kratzok leaned forward.  “And then?”
     
    “I don’t have any solid long-term plans,” Hoshiko admitted.  “Our information on the sector is very lacking, Max.  If we’re lucky, we can put together an alliance of other races and ... convince ... the bad guys to stand down.  If not, we may have to make up a new plan on the fly.”
     
    “I’d like to go down to the surface, if I can,” Kratzok said.  “A full set of sensory recordings will be needed, Captain.  They’ll do better than a thousand pictures at explaining the current situation.”
     
    “Assuming the situation is not resolved, one way or the other, before the recordings reach the Solar Union,” Hoshiko said.  She’d never cared for full sensory recordings herself - it was a little like living through someone else, rather than living her own life - but she understood their value.  Everyone who accessed the sensory recordings would be assaulted by everything the reporter saw, not just the sights and sounds.  It was almost as good as actually being there, she’d been told, but she had her doubts.  “There’s no way to speed up the signal, I’m afraid.”
     
    “No,” Kratzok agreed.  “There should be some interesting stories to tell, Captain.”
     
    Hoshiko looked at him.  “Why are you here?  I mean ... why are you on the squadron?”
     
    “There aren't many true scoops these days,” Kratzok said.  “The reporter who breaks a piece of news, Captain, is often overshadowed by other roving reporters or armchair analysts who are happy to elaborate on The Meaning Of It All.  Getting the sort of fame I want isn't going to happen in the Solar Union.  There are just too many competitors.”
     
    He sighed.  “And then there's the rush to get your recordings and articles online before someone beats you to the punch,” he added, “and then you make a tiny little mistake and your career is blown out of the water.  Being here , Captain, limits the competition’s ability to put out their own stories.”
     
    “Except you didn’t know something was going to happen,” Hoshiko pointed out.
     
    “I was losing readers,” Kratzok said.  “A couple of my rivals had lucky scoops, a couple of others ...”
     
    His voice trailed away.  Hoshiko understood.  Being a reporter - or an artist - in the Solar Union meant an endless battle to stay in the public eye.  Losing subscribers to his mailing lists, online sites and suchlike indicated that a reporter was slowly sinking into obscurity - and, once the downward slide began, it was very hard to stop.  Gambling that something would happen he could use to rebuild his career had been his only reasonable option.
     
    She smiled.  Being the sole reporter in the Martina Sector would give Kratzok a lock on all articles and recordings, at least until another reporter arrived.  And none of his rivals would know there was anything that needed covering for at least six months, giving Kratzok an edge they’d find hard to beat.  Kratzok would have ample time to make all the contacts he needed before anyone else arrived.
     
    “You’ll have plenty of exclusives here,” she said, thinking hard.  “I may even be willing to offer you an interview with myself.”
     
    Kratzok blinked.  “You would?”
     
    Hoshiko smiled at his confusion.  She’d declined his first interview request, when he’d first arrived on station, and rarely spoken to him until the refugees had arrived.  And ambushing someone to demand an interview, even a serving government officer, was the kind of conduct that could get a reporter slapped with a heavy fine or a restraining order.  But now, he could help her as much as she could help him.  The Solar Union would find it harder to condemn her if public opinion supported her actions.
     
    Because my