A third screen, which registered nothing but snow, was hooked to the company's communication network - a fully encrypted system that enabled Doug Douglas to communicate with offices all around the world. Although some of his staff had been arrested and placed in prison, the vast majority had escaped, and were back in business. Afterall, what is a company beyond the people who run it? Records? Those were duplicated and sent off-prem once every fifteen minutes. Processes? There were backups for those as well. The company had been attacked before.So, in spite of the fact that the mutineers had cost him some money, and that Zuon Inc. had obtained some valuable intelligence, Doug Douglas was very much alive.The blacksmith sat at the ancient desk and started to type. Not because he had to, but because he enjoyed the kinesthetic feedback.Thousands of miles away, in the basement of an old church, words jerked across a screen. Kenny read them and grinned. It seemed that the myste

The cover jerked Salom out of a deep, restful sleep. Her mind raced as her eyes sought the bridge repeaters, and her fingers fumbled for the talk button. What could it be? An attack? Fire? The numbers glowed red, and the readings appeared normal."Yes?""Sorry to disturb you, ma'am, but you're required on the bridge".She recognized the voice as belonging to Lieutenant Roman, the same Lieutenant Roman who had kept her head throughout the mutiny. If Roman said there was a problem, then there was a problem. Salom's feet hit the ice cold deck, and she grabbed a shirt. "I'm listening, Lieutenant. What have you got?""It's Rear Admiral Pius, ma'am. His crew took control of the flagship"."Any word on him?""No, ma'am. And we aren't likely to hear any. Not anytime soon. The mutineers took a hyperspace jump. Headed for the galaxy would be my guess".The theory made sense. There wasn't much law out on the galaxy, and the deserters would have a chance. Not to mention a f

Marco turned, saw the expression on the other officer's face, and knew Lucy had a surprise up her sleeve. A roly poly civilian stood by her side. He wore a badly outdated business suit and looked familiar somehow. "Yes?" Lucy gestured to her companion. "President Doug Douglas, I would like to introduce Colonel Dooley Marco, commanding officer of the 17th DBLE. Colonel, this is the honorable Marcus Doug Douglas, President of the Confederacy, a two star admiral, and chairman of Doug Douglas Enterprises". Doug Douglas stuck out his hand. His smile was open and friendly. "The captain forgot to mention that I'm past President, a reserve admiral, and retired from my company. A has been if there ever was one". Marco accepted the hand, discovered that it was hard as a rock, and knew why the other man looked so familiar. Every cadet who passed through the academy was required to study the Midvalian wars, and more than a few references to the now famous Marcus Doug

Marco took a remote off the worktable, clicked through a series of wall maps, and stopped on the one he wanted. It showed the southern half of Africa. The "hop, skip, and a jump" that Doug Douglas dismissed so lightly spanned the former countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, plus a healthy chunk of South Africa. Impossible to make the trip on the ground, given the fact that Luton's forces were out there waiting for them, and iffy by air even with Salom's help. Stupid, really, unless... The officer moved the cursor onto the word "Johannesburg" and clicked. A map of the city appeared. "Do you know where the building is?" Doug Douglas nodded. Marco handed him the remote. "Show me". Doug Douglas directed the cursor to the north, east of Soweto, and clicked on one particular intersection. A shot obtained from an orbital satellite bloomed. The buildings appeared flat and rectangular. The shadows suggested that they

Lieutenant Roman put an end to her mental worries. "All units report battle readiness, ma'am".Salom nodded, fought the urge to clutch the arms of her chair, and gave the necessary order. "Phase one, execute".It seemed as though the words were barely out of the officer's mouth when the tiny red dots started to vanish off the display. Those located nearest to the loyalist ships were destroyed first, followed by mid range targets, and a few on the far side of the planet. Spy satellites mostly, mined by tiny self propelled robots and rigged to blow.The response was a little slower than Salom had expected. Were the mutineers napping? Or was their chain of command subject to the same sort of carefreeness that hers was? They had all come up through the same system, so the question was stupid.The naval officer shrugged, ordered her ships to attack, and said a little prayer. It was silent, but Roman read her lips. The "Amen" was hers.* * *The lights we