Read Online Out of the Ashes (Rise of the Empire Book 3) by Ivan Kal - Free Book Online Page B

believe that Igor is right. There is no point in alarming Olympus just yet.” Eldritch said in his calm voice.
    “What? You mean for them to come and get blown to pieces by that?” Williams asked, pointing towards the hologram in the middle of the table.
    Eldritch raised his arms and shook his head. “Nothing like that. It is probable that those ships will not be here when they arrive. They are obviously a part of a convoy. True, we didn’t know that one was scheduled, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t. As soon as they load the materials they should be on their way back to Ra’a’zani space.”
    At that Jennifer calmed down a bit, “And what if they decide to stay?”
    “Well then we can tell Olympus, they are still a year away. There is no point in alarming them with something that might not even be a problem a year from now.”
    “Eldritch is right.” Jacob said. “They must be an unscheduled convoy. But those ships pose a long term problem for us.”
    “Yes,” Anissa said. “Even if we liberate the system, if they have that kind of ships, it won’t take them long to take it back.”
    “Their size doesn’t necessarily mean that they are better than ours.” Akulov said. Jacob looked at the tall Russian.
    “Perhaps you are correct, but most likely you are not.” Jacob said, shaking his head. “For now none of this matters. We need to continue on the assumption that those ships will leave. Otherwise, our chances of success drop dramatically.”
    “Yes, Jacob is right. And space is Olympus’ problem, let them worry about those ships.” Akulov said. Jennifer turned on him and was about to open her mouth when Eldritch put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.
    Clearing his throat Jacob drew attention to his side of the table, “We need to decide on the course of action. I will need to return to the belt soon.”
    “Our priority must be the Rome base. It has the biggest number of Ra’a’zani and their pet thralls.” Akulov said.
    “Yes.” Jennifer agreed reluctantly, “But it is heavily guarded, I don’t think that we have enough trained people to take it by force.”
    “Then we need to raze it to the ground. Perhaps we can plant bombs? We have a few people inside.” Eldritch said.
    “We could, but it would take a lot of guile to get the explosives inside. Ra’a’zani might not watch us that closely, but their sensors are good.” Jennifer said.
    “The best course of action would be to take it out from the distance.” Anissa said. “With the fabricators now online, we have started to manufacture weapons for my submarines. The Lords and Colorado could get to the Mediterranean sea undetected, and fire missiles from close enough that they don’t have time to respond.”
    “That could work, but their defense systems are good. It would be best if we could shut down their defense grid, even for a few minutes.” Jacob said.
    “And what of our people that live there? No matter how much we try to contain the destruction it will spill into the city. We could be killing thousands of our own.” Jennifer said.
    “Collateral damage, those people would gladly give their lives if they knew Earth would be free.” Akulov said.
    Jennifer immediately blew up. “We can’t possibly make that decision for them!”
    Eldritch intervened before Akulov could respond. “Calm down Jennifer. You are correct that we can’t make the choice for them, but there might not be another way. We can’t tell them as we risk exposure.”
    Jacob could see Jennifer struggling to say something, but he spoke before she had the chance. “We might not be able to tell them well in advance, but we can send word just before we hit, for them to take shelter. It might not save everyone, but it is something.”
    “Jacob is right, we can spread the word just before the attack.” Anissa said. Jennifer looked around the room and then nodded defeated.
    “There are still other outposts spread out over the globe. Taking