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

orders are a little vague , she thought.  If they feel I overstepped myself, they can find grounds to condemn me .
     
    “All I ask is that you explain why we’re doing what we’re doing as well as what we’re doing,” she said.  He’d understand the unspoken part of the offer.  You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours .  He'd know what she was asking him to do, but it worked in his favour as well as her own.  “The public needs to know the truth.”
     
    “Of course, Captain,” Kratzok said.  He gave her a long considering look.  “When can we hold the interview?”
     
    “After we reach Amstar,” Hoshiko said.  “I have too much work to do to sit down with you before then.  But you can watch from the bridge as we enter the system.”
     
    “I look forward to it,” Kratzok said.  He paused.  “They’ll see us coming, won’t they?”
     
    “Yes,” Hoshiko said.  It wasn't easy to fool gravimetric sensors.  The Druavroks would see her squadron as it lanced towards the system.  She’d thought about having her warships towed by freighters, but there hadn't been time to organise it.  “But we’ll do our best to keep them guessing.”

Chapter Six
     
    The Swiss Government declared a state of emergency after armed militia bands tried to cross the border into Switzerland from Austria.  Martial law has been declared.  Members of radical Islamic groups have been rounded up and marked for deportation.
    -Solar News Network, Year 54
     
    “This,” Thomas muttered, “is incredibly frustrating.”
     
    He wasn't sure if the XO had assigned him to the task because he wanted a fresh pair of eyes or he merely wanted to give a young and inexperienced ensign a task that would keep him busy for several days, but either way he hadn't been able to pull anything useful out of the datafiles they’d obtained from Martina.  Either there wasn't much on the Druavroks, which struck him as unlikely, or the local settlers had deliberately decided to withhold information the squadron could actually use .  Their homeworld was clearly identified, their history as yet another race of bully-boys was discussed, but there was very little else.  There was certainly nothing that might suggest why they’d suddenly decided to declare war on the rest of the known universe.
     
    Or maybe it’s just the bastards on Amstar , he thought, as he flipped through the remaining files.  The rest of the Druavroks might have no intention of fighting a war.
     
    He puzzled over the thought for a long moment.  The Tokomak had spread millions of settlements of every known race right across the galaxy, mixing hundreds of races together in melting pots that hadn't been anything like as effective as the Solar Union.  He’d been told at the Academy that they’d probably hoped to play divide and rule.  They’d certainly not bothered to do more than the bare minimum to ensure that everyone got along.  Given that some races rubbed others the wrong way, fighting and ethnic cleansing on a galactic scale was perhaps inevitable. 
     
    But we took in aliens and invited them to live with us as equals , he added, silently.  The Tokomak had far greater resources.  Why couldn't they do the same?
     
    The Academy had had some pretty sharp things to say about the Tokomak, he recalled.  They were the masters of the known universe - had been the masters of the known universe - but they’d been sluggish, slow to move and unwilling to recognise that other races moved at a faster pace.  Maybe it had been so obvious to them that races should work together that they hadn't realised that other races might disagree.  Or, perhaps, they’d hoped there would be war as a way to stay on top.  They’d certainly played favourites among their subject races.
     
    He sighed and turned his attention to the holographic display showing the local sector, including five hundred settled systems and nineteen homeworlds.  The Druavroks came from the far