Read Online Dusk (Dusk 1) by J.S. Wayne - Free Book Online Page A

paces and raised his voice so it cut through the fog of grief and anxiety cloaking the room.
    “Fellow diplomats!” he cried. “I call for an immediate vote to determine the next Ambassador to the Interstellar Confederacy. I name Olivia Gunnarson as my candidate! Who will second my vote?”
    With suspicious speed, Ingrid, Ling, Merrick, and half a dozen others cried, “Aye!”
    “Will anyone else stand forward to be considered?” Granger’s body language suggested he was willing to entertain alternate suggestions, but the look on his face and the way he bit off the words indicated dire straits ahead for anyone who dared to take up the challenge.
    No one moved.
    “Then I put it to a vote, here and now. All in favor?”
    The room erupted into a wall of sound as dozens of lungs shouted, “Aye!”
    “Do I hear anyone against?”
    Now the members hesitated, each looking at the other to see if anyone dared speak. Olivia could almost hear their thoughts: Whoever the new Ambassador was, he or she would certainly be the assassin’s next target, assuming that Trelawney had in fact been murdered because of what he knew about the gallartium negotiations and not because he had run afoul of someone for more personal reasons. Everyone there would have given their eyeteeth for the opportunity Olivia had just been handed by acclamation, but none of them was willing to purchase that opportunity or the power that came with it at the possible expense of a vastly abbreviated lifespan.
    Granger waited for an interminable count of ten and then nodded.
    “Very well. Then, fellow diplomats, it is my great pleasure to introduce you all to Her Excellency, The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Interstellar Confederacy, Olivia Gunnarson!”
    Every person in the chamber burst into applause.
    Olivia wanted nothing more than to grasp Merrick by the nearest protruding part she could grab and run. Everything was moving far too fast, from just another day of deliberations to the murder of her friend and mentor to acceding to the pinnacle of power on Dusk. No one outranked her now; even the Governor of Galacia, the closest thing to an absolute monarch the planet boasted, could look at her only as an equal.
    What the hell do I do now ? she thought frantically, looking around at the familiar faces bearing markedly unfamiliar expressions that plainly said they expected her to command them.
    She held up her hands for silence. As if a switch had been flicked, she received it.
    “Everyone, take your seats,” she ordered. “We have much to consider.”
    * * *
    Olivia sagged against the wall of her room, pressing her hands against her eyes. Merrick sat on the bed, watching her as closely as he might a man juggling live, armed plasma grenades.
    “Oh, God. Merrick, what am I going to do?”
    He smiled. “You’re going to do your absolute best and make them proud they decided to give you the chance.”
    She looked anything but reassured. “Merrick, I want to do the right thing, but every instinct I have is screaming at me to just walk away from this, tell Terra we’re not interested, and let it be.”
    He longed to go to her and comfort her, but he knew Olivia well enough to know she wouldn’t appreciate the attempt right now. If she had her way about it, Merrick would discreetly exit the room and only return when she had herself back under control. Of course, as her bodyguard, Merrick was required to consider her safety first and her wishes second. It ran completely counter to his more amorous instincts where she was concerned, but he knew as well as anyone the potential danger she was in.
    Time to start thinking like a bodyguard, Merrick .
    Galacia City Security had released the scene and removed Trelawney’s body for a deep-tissue scan. The cause of death had been determined to be a stab wound to the top of the neck, directly between the Atlas vertebra and the base of the skull. According to the medic who had recorded the injury,