They were envious and fearful of the Olt’kitapi when they met them, but the “bugs” were so advanced the Thandol feared attacking the passive seeming species. They became concerned when the insects followed their own example, and armed a savage barbarian species to be heir protectors from the Empire. The Thandol pulled farther away from them as a result, and their caution was rewarded when the Krall revolted and killed the Olt’kitapi.
So long as the wild hordes of rapid breeding Krall clans ran rampant, they stayed silent and isolated from the Orion Spur, where the Olt’kitapi had lived. After drone scouts reported the Krall had been defeated, via a trick by an enemy that disarmed them, the Thandol renewed their interest in annexing that region of space, now part of the newly formed Galactic Federation.
About the Author:
I was born in 1942, so I'm an autumn rather than a spring chicken. I live outside of Tampa, Florida with my fabulous wife Anita, and one remaining son sort-of at home, Montana. I have three older boys, Mark, Gary, and Anthony, all of whom have married and presented us with terrific grandchildren.
My early reading interests were arguably all sci-fi related, from Doctor Doolittle, Captain Marvel, to Superman. I then transitioned to "real" science fiction on black and white TV, such as Captain Video and Flash Gordon. I read hundreds of books by the science fiction greats growing up, and thousands of fair to not so greats in dual novel paperbacks and magazines. I’ve had a lifelong love of science and science fiction.
My education gravitated to science, starting out as a physics major and my depression era folks told me I'd never make a living as a theoretical physicist (probably right, and Cosmology wasn't a career field then), so I moved to Electronics Engineering. I did most of that in the aerospace field for MacDonnell Douglas Corp, in St. Louis, Mo. I worked on the F4 Phantom project, and briefly on Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL), before the fickle fates of government finance forced contract cancelations. I devoted (meaning I was drafted into) two years' service for the US Army from 1965 to 1967. A great two years, and the Army, caring not the least about my electronics background, offered this draftee a job as an Air Traffic Controller. Cool!
After discharge I spent a short time back at MacDonnell Douglas before the contract reductions laid me off, and was hired by Emerson Electric (1968), working on the design of a neat heads-up fire control system for the Army's new Cheyenne Helicopter (to be a 270-knot hybrid fixed wing/rotor craft). Never heard of it? The fickle fates of Army finance were why this time, plus Lockheed didn't keep the airframe part from crashing and burning at a crucial point in development.
I taught Electronics for about eighteen months (near starvation wages after the high pay), and finally decided to try my hand at actually supporting my family again. I hired on with the Federal Aviation Administration as an Air Traffic Controller in 1970. Thanks Army! In 1979, I changed jobs in the FAA to use my technical background to work on writing features for the software of the FAA's Terminal Automation Systems (for 28 years, with some controller time overlap). I spent exactly forty years (to the day) in federal service.
Retired, I now work as a consultant/contractor for the FAA, supporting a software system I helped to create. In anticipation of more free time while retired (wrong!), I finally decided to try my hand at writing what I love to read for escapism, Science Fiction.
Thanks for reading my books,
Steve Bennett
Published Books
Koban (August, 2012)
Koban: The Mark of Koban (February, 2013)
Koban: The Rise of the Kobani (October, 2013)
Koban Universe 1 (March, 2014)
Koban: Shattered Worlds (October 2014)
Koban: A Federation Forged in Fire (2015)
Koban: Conflict and Empire (2016)
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The End
Attention reader: This concludes our regularly scheduled broadcast at this time.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the story. More to come in Book 7. Thanks.
Koban 6: Conflict and Empire Page 47