The Fringe Wars

4.19

The Concept of Peace

Sol Base, Darios

Seda landed at the Sol Base docks the morning of the meeting. Tax and Corbin stepped out of the ship first. Seda disliked all the safety precautions he'd been forced to take, but he had no other choice when the CUF wanted him dead. When Tax signaled that the area looked safe, he emerged to find Hari and Reyne waiting for him.

He smiled, embracing each. "It's good to see you both unharmed."

"We're luckier than others were," Reyne said.

Seda sobered. "I saw the damage from above. How many lives were lost in the bombing?"

"Not as many as there could've been. We're still cleaning up debris, so we don't have a hard number, but it's looking like around eighty killed in the phase cannon blasts."

"Their deaths shouldn't have happened, but if that's what it took to get Parliament's attention, then their sacrifice may save thousands of lives."

Hari motioned to the waiting vehicle. "Come. We're meeting at the fringe station. Hatha's hosting."

The group climbed into the luxury Rosten. As they rode from the space docks to the fringe station, Reyne updated Seda on details not yet covered on their daily check-ins.

"So, the Littorio and the Houston are ready to defend Sol Base should this meeting turn to shit?

Reyne nodded. "Both are fully crewed with conscripts who had been serving on board and backfilled with torrents who've served on those ships before. We have good crews. The problem is, they have to keep several major systems offline so the CUF can't take remote control of the ships. That means communications can only be handled via wrist comms."

"It's better than not having the ships at all," Seda said. "Without them, Laciam could've swooped in and taken Sol Base back without bombing."

"I'm not so sure they made any difference," Hari chimed in. "I think Laciam is hotheaded enough that he wanted to show off his power."

Seda chuckled drily. "He sounds like a younger version of Ausyar."

Hari nodded. "I think that's exactly what he is, which means we will always have a delicate dance with the CUF, regardless of how today goes."

"We're here," Tax said. "That's a lot more droms than I was expecting."

Seda looked out the window to see at least ten squads of dromadiers moving about the outside of the station. Darion security forces moved toward the vehicle and formed a wall between the Rosten's occupants and the droms. Tax and Corbin stepped out to converse with the soldiers.

"Laciam notified us he was sending them down to ensure security was in place for Etzel's arrival," Reyne said. "I told him one transport would be allowed to land, and he must've packed them in there like bunks on a frigate. Good thing we're still in control of the docks. Otherwise, Laciam would have droms crawling all over Sol Base by now."

"It's a thin line we're walking, and anyone can see that. Laciam knows he can take Sol Base any time he wants it, but he'll lose the docks—either by blowing them himself or by us blowing them."

Reyne chuckled. "Don't tell Hatha that. If she thought we'd blow the docks, we'd be fighting her security forces as well."

"Oh, I'm sure Hatha sees our predicament," Seda mused. "I've known her long enough to know she doesn't miss much."

He stepped out of the vehicle and strode toward the station. Reyne walked alongside, and Tax, Corbin, and Hari formed a perimeter of sorts around them, encircled by the Darions. Seda had been to the fringe station dozens of times in his career, but this was the first time he'd been there since the blight was dropped on the colony. Except for a blackened, bombed section off to his left that was marked off, the station looked unchanged but felt entirely different. While there were people moving about, there were nowhere near the numbers that had been there a year before. The station lacked vibrancy. He hoped, over time, the colony would fully repopulate.