Free Skybreach (The Reach #3) by Mark R. Healy Page A

said.  “Yet.”
    “We don’t necessarily have to outgun them,” Iris said.  “If we can take Consortium employees hostage we could possibly force them to lay down their arms.”
    “Wait a minute,” Talia said.  “Taking hostages?  These are innocent people you’re talking about here.”
    “We want to do this bloodless if we can,” Silvestri assured her.  “But we also have to be prepared for the possibility that it might not go down as cleanly as that.”
    “Get with the program, sugar pie,” Holger drawled.  “The Consortium are the bad guys.  Who cares if they end up with a few paper cuts?”
    “It’s not as simple as that,” Talia said.
    “The skin of the habitat is very thin,” Lazarus said thoughtfully.  “Delicate.  There are no firearms permitted there, even by the Crimson Shield.  If you were to brandish your weapons there, you could effectively hold the entire habitat hostage.  One well placed round might cause a catastrophic explosion.”
    “It’s a possibility, but we don’t want to destroy the entire habitat,” Silvestri said.  “No one wins if that happens.  Our aim is to force the Consortium to relinquish control of the Wire, that’s all.”
    “How does that work, exactly?” Knile said.  “Are we just expecting them to stand aside while we do our thing?”
    “We’re going to demand that the Consortium personnel vacate Habitat One,” Silvestri said, “at which point we’ll assume full control of the Wire.  After that we’ll officially begin Stage Two of Skybreach.  That involves implementing a system where random citizens are chosen to travel up the Wire instead of those with the most creds in their pockets.  There is a cruiser waiting to take refugees out to Enceladus, one of the moons of Saturn.  I can contact the captain using the comms aboard the habitat. ”
    “How many are you hoping to fit aboard?” Knile said.
    “The cruiser will be the first of many.  They’re rebuilding an aging society there and need young immigrants.  We’ll hopefully establish a steady stream of refugees. ”
    “Damn,” Holger said, scrubbing his face.  “This seemed a lot easier when there was fifty of us working on it.”
    “And when we had a few months up our sleeves to prepare,” Remus added.
    “None of us are under any illusions that this is going to be a cinch ,” Silvestri said.  “There’s a good reason why no one has ever overthrown the Consortium system before – it’s a tough nut to crack.”  He looked around the room.  “But we can do it.  I know we can.”
    Talia couldn’t help but feel daunted by the enormity of the plan that Silvestri had laid out.  Now that she understood the ramifications of what they were attempting, the endgame seemed distant, the mountain before them almost insurmountable.  Looking around the room, she could see that the others were struggling with similar realisations.  There was a very long and complicated chain of events that needed to fall into place perfectly for this plan to come off, and they all knew it.
    But what other choice was there?  They had to push forward.
    “I agree with Silvestri,” Talia said, gathering her courage.  “We can do this.”
    Knile looked at her and smiled approvingly.  He gave her a little nod of appreciation.
    Silvestri held his hand out toward the door.  “Then let’s begin.”
     

 
    9
    “Hey, asshole.”
    Aksel faltered as he left the meeting room, scowling, and turned to see Roman standing in the corridor.  He was leaning on the wall casually with his arms folded across his chest, a supercilious expression on his face.
    “What?” Aksel said incredulously, as if it were inconceivable that he should be addressed in such a fashion.
    “You heard me,” Roman said.
    Aksel turned to face him.  “What’s your problem, kid?”
    “‘Kid’?” Roman scoffed.  “That’s rich.  You’re practically the same age as I am.”
    “Not really.”  Aksel glanced behind