Free Atlas: Infinity Verge Trilogy: Book II by DJ Morand

back to the holo-display and deleted the reports. She sent a message to the reporting vessel and advised that the reports were not to be circulated by her command. The response was immediate.
    Understood, it read.
    Hire well and get out of the way, Andromeda thought. She had handpicked her network and each of them would do the job she assigned them and they would follow orders without question.
    Andromeda had consulted Arvol about it once and he agreed it was wise. He had said, it is wise to create your own network so that you know it can be trusted. She appreciated his praise and his help. The Vald’s assistance had uncovered several plots by the Remnant to undermine her authority. While the Remnant had planned nothing direct, they planned to usurp her power. Instead, she had limited theirs under the guise of security. The elders had not liked it, but they knew their presence on Quintar IV was by her leave. Andromeda smiled. Things were going well for her. She wished she could do something about the rebellious Abel Cain, but that was a matter for another day. She had bigger fish to fry.
     

8: ABEL CAIN
     
     
    Quintar IV - EFNF Alpha Base: Spaceport
    2973 ESD - Saturday, May 15th 10:00 hours
     
    Abel walked the spaceport outside of the main military installation on Quintar IV. The port was a massive collection of capable freighters, fighters, and various cargo and personnel carriers. He was furious. In addition to having his commission revoked he had been grounded. The Fleet Admiral sent out a planet-wide notification that he was on a no-fly restriction.
    Flakking woman thinks she can bully me , Abel complained.
    He watched as various craft lifted off and ventured into the great beyond. He missed Dark Space, he missed the Kodiak , but most of all he missed Zee. Abel had to admit to himself that he missed Echo too. He had half expected her to support his rebellion, part of him had hoped for it. When she did not it sealed the last nail in their relationship.
    When Echo accepted his commission as the commanding officer for the TP-D it crushed their friendship too. He had let his temper get the best of him. They both said things they did not mean, but he had instigated the fight and broke the ties. Now, here he was standing in a spaceport unable to even board a ship, let alone fly one.
    He looked up at the dark clouds forming above.
    Great, he thought, now it’s going to rain .
    The deluge started moments later. As if in defiance of the storm, ships still came and went booming with the thunder or in contention with it. Abel walked solemnly through the pouring rain. He was soaked in moments. Storms on Quintar IV were not like the storms on Earth or even like the ones on Mars. The showers were wet, but they were never cold. The bright star in the Quintar Prime system kept all planets in the habitable zone well heated.
    Abel Cain decided his mood was particularly suited for the rain today - gloomy and brooding. He looked around for some sort of shelter from the storm. As warm as it was, he was tired of being wet. A sign caught his attention, Blue Lagoon . He looked at the electronic sign, an odd tree that appeared to have no branches and a small tuft at the top was lit prominently.
    The tree resembled a palm tree in some senses, but it was something native to Quintar IV. Abel decided a drink might be refreshing. As he entered the pub he learned quickly that it was primarily a Quintarran pub. The sea of blue faces greeted him, some with worry and others with curiosity. As he understood it, the relations between Quintarran and humans had become strained after Andromeda limited Quintarran freedoms in the past month.
    Abel almost turned around and backed out of the pub, almost. A burly Quintarran at least as wide as he was tall, approached Abel. Abel prepared for a fight, but when the Quintarran spoke he calmed.
    “You … Abel?” He said in very broken English with a very wide smile. Sometimes Abel forgot that Quintarrans had