Read Online Audacity (Warner's World Book 5) by Dave O'Connor - Free Book Online Page B

though this was an unwanted but expected incision into her physical body. She hated space travel.
    “I could go” piped up Adrian. “You are needed here. We can’t afford to have you away for a month.”
    Malissa smiled in appreciation. In her mind she was weighing up the options, the pros and cons. She knew her presence would add more weight but her gut feeling said it was a waste of time no matter who went. ‘Mmm…but Julian is right, we need them.’
    She leaned over and placed her hand over Adrian’s on the table. “Thank you Adrian. I will prepare a message for you to give to Tegoola.” She withdrew her hand and sat back upright in her chair. “Remind him that friends in need are friends indeed. If they want favourable trading terms to continue we need more than words. We want their military support.”
    She glanced across at the picture of Abe Lincoln hanging over the mantel piece. She knew now how lonely he must have felt in those early years of the American civil war. Turning to Julian she asked “So Yomoto’s over Chelora now?”
    Julian nodded. “He won’t be able to launch ‘Bitter Woods’ till the Enterprise arrives next month.” Malissa nodded. She still didn’t like the ominous sound of that code word for the operation. “You saw that report on a possible PME?” asked Julian.
    “Yes and it scares the bejeezus out of me” responded Malissa. Julian frowned as he saw the expression of anger rising on Malissa’s face. He was all too aware that he had only just managed to persuade her to hold off on a retaliatory nuclear strike against rogan cities, well at least for four months. “I want a briefing on this PME tech asap. Can we re-acquire it? What are the risks and how long will it take? We also need to see if we can develop a counter to it? Get our best minds onto it.”
    “Of course” replied Julian. He thought about arguing against such a move but decided to hold for now. “It may well not be PME. The Resolute is on its way to confirm. They should be there in a week. So we may know in less than a fortnight.”
    “Wasn’t the Resolute supposed to be leading the Recon mission?” asked Kaito.
    “They will rejoin the recon task group directly from this investigation” replied Belinda. She prided herself in being on top of the latest plans.
    “If only we had ten more Resolutes” exclaimed Malissa. Those watching could see the strain on her face. She was middle aged when she became Chief Minister and now after seven years in the job she felt and knew she looked decidedly a lot older.
    “Chief Minister” said Kaito “can we go over the election campaign now?”
    “No, not now.”
    “But we need to” insisted Kaito in his quiet but insistent tone. Over the last four years he had found it the best approach to appeal to his boss’s sense of responsibility.
    But this time it wasn’t working. “Tomorrow. I promise. I think that’s all. Thank you everyone.”
    Kaito gestured his frustration with his hands but he knew the limits. He stood up and, like the loyal assistant that he was, ushered the others out of the conference room.
    “I tried” he said defensively to Adrian in the outer chamber.
    Adrian nodded. “You did. She can’t keep ignoring it. We’ve got just over a year.”
    “I know.”
    “She needs to appoint a successor soon if they are to be given the best chance of winning.”
    “Two terms isn’t enough” expressed Kaito with a hint of annoyance.
    “No, two terms is more than enough for any man or woman or federation for that matter” added Adrian with a smile. He was well aware of Kaito’s views on this matter. But Adrian held to the belief that the reins of power held too long become the reins of tyranny and he would give his all to prevent that no matter who the candidate was.
    Kaito had the good sense not to argue the point. He knew all too well that Adrian would oppose any move to lift the two term limit on the highest office. But he also knew that the