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.Shenke needed Admiral Haines’ fleet and fast.Chapter Sixty-OneRoslyn–KoenigRoslyn’s plan worked.His political astuteness paid off once again, and his personal approval ratings rose almost overnight to an all-time high.The leak spread as anticipated and the media grasped it with both hands.Inevitably there was exaggeration and, within twenty-four hours, headlines containing “Invasion Imminent’ and “Human Cattle” were prevalent.Mass hysteria was avoided when he broadcast a live clarification of the severity of the situation and the likelihood of invasion.He dumbed-down the risk, but made sure the blame fell firmly in Alpha’s court.He emphasized the importance of Earth’s defense shield, and clarified that the shields were under ECG’s control and not Alpha’s.He reiterated the huge investment was justified and the shields were state-of-the-art and fully utilized.He would personally ensure they were maintained correctly and kept one hundred percent effective and fully operational, not just during this crisis but indefinitely.He also stated Alpha’s lack of investment in Earth defenses and poured scorn over their policy for space exploration, while investment in the defense of Earth and its colonies was ECG’s prime directive.The political genius that Roslyn possessed turned a bad situation into good and created fervor of patriotism at the same time.So why did he feel so bad? Alpha’s latest report from the Tri-Star region made depressing reading.Roslyn’s assertion to the public was that the threat of an invasion was unlikely.That statement looked a little threadbare.He needed to speak to Koenig urgently.He opened a personal comm link and waited patiently for a secure encrypted link to be established., He would need to choose his words carefully; Koenig would not be pleased with the way Roslyn handled the crisis.“Ah, President Roslyn.The savior of the masses, whereas I presumably am the devil.”Roslyn was not accomplished at eating humble pie.As a politician, when faced with an embarrassing issue, he was used to going on the offensive.Somehow this didn’t seem the right time for that.“Perhaps I took advantage of the panic gripping the planet and, perhaps, to blame Alpha was a little unfair.”“My God, that’s tantamount to an apology from a politician! By the same token, we accept that perhaps we should have heeded the Sentinels’ and the Sect’s warnings.The worst crime here is the leak, which I will assume came from your own personal desk top.”Roslyn was not about to admit to this.True to form, he went back on the offensive, armed with an acknowledgement Alpha regretted its actions.“I assumed opening one hole would have been more than sufficient for your ego and then perhaps you could have opened the other later once the original wormhole dissipated.”“We all have our crosses to bear, Roslyn.I presume you contacted me for a reason?”“How worried should we be about the threat from the Kryl?”Koenig paused briefly as if he was looking to find a way out of what he needed to say.“In short, we don’t yet know.We assume the Kryl force we are fighting is an advance fleet and that a much larger force will be on its way in due course.Certainly, from reports received right up until this evening, things don’t look good.We have over three hundred fifty ships of the line under Shenke’s control.They are joined by the fleet from the Ionian System.Losses are already mounting and not a shot has been fired from their mother ship.Put simply, we need to find a way to close the blue wormhole.”“Do you have resources working on that?”“Yes, considerable resources.We also have the Nexus company and Dr.Cameron—who is, I understand, a leading expert in the field—working on this directly.Not easy within a battlefield environment, but once we find a way, we can take action immediately [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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