"Perhaps something will happen in the mean time to change things completely."
"What?"
He tapped his nose, but said nothing.
"You know you don’t need to hide when you visit Max. No-one is going to bother you, and I suspect Arthur and his people would like to see you more."
"I'll think about it."
He threw me a mock salute, and vanished. I made it to the rear of the bridge, before being interrupted by Jane.
"Ralnor general for you Jon."
I changed direction to my ready room, and thumped down in my chair.
"Go."
The general looked amused. He was also in a Ralnor office, so obviously wasn’t on Terminus anymore.
"Imperator, a very strange thing happened a short time ago. We had a report from Keerah hours faster than it should have taken, describing a strange fleet in the sky, a missing volcano, and a tidal wave. I take it you've had an interesting day?"
He paused, grinning.
"Finally we find out your big defensive secret. A fleet of ships, each one of which dwarfs even a fleet of our battleships. You are indeed as powerful as you claimed. And the fact you've not unleashed them before now, gives credence to your claims of wanting peace."
He looked serious now.
"I took up your offer of walking your network of stations, and was curious as to why you allowed me to do so without an escort. I saw no signs of hostility, and in fact answered a lot of questions as to what species I was, and where we lived. Not to mention questions by many of your business people about what they could sell to my people, and what was available to buy from us."
"We live in interesting times. Our ceasefire is in place, as I believe is a similar one with the Keerah. Some of our local traders are investigating trade options, and in due course, our diplomats will be seeking to best yours regarding trade treaties. What do we have to do in order to get the same communication speed to Ralnor that the Keerah currently enjoy?"
He laughed, indicating an answer was not sought, but there was a benefit to it happening, so I added it to my list of things still to be done.
"We will be in touch Imperator."
He saluted, and the vid ended. I wondered when he'd think to try a real time conversation.
There was no real response required, so I headed for home. The party was already well underway, but I passed it by and went into my office, where I found David waiting for me. I gave him a report, and he left to update both the council, and the Imperium leaders.
Within an hour, the various media across the Imperium were telling everyone the Imperator had pulled off a miracle, hostilities with the Keerah had ended, and negotiations for peace would begin soon.
I sighed. At best, I'd made the Keerah blink. Time would tell if it actually generated peace. One screen on the wall was playing the media reports on Keerah. The death toll was mounting. But there was no mention of an enemy fleet in orbit, or hostile fire on the planet. A volcano had erupted, and they'd even found some crackpot expert who'd been predicting it for years, and been ignored.
Jane walked in and sat down.
"Stop beating yourself up Jon. It was the best possible outcome we could hope for."
"I know."
"I left a clone on Keerah. It's a security droid body, with the suit giving a Keerah shape. It's still invisible in the war room, but as soon as I get the chance, I'll move to somewhere harder to be discovered in. I'm also in some of their computer systems already, and helping things along subtly with their relief effort."
"Try not to be discovered. We want peace, and finding we infiltrated them would undo the work so far."
"Confirmed. Now Imperator, sir, get your arse out to the party."
Sixty Four
"Jon? Wake up."
"Jane?"
"You need to see this."
"Which this is that?"
"The Ralnor general sent another vid."
"What time is it?"
"You've been asleep for less than an hour. Get up."
I hauled myself out of bed, and padded around to my office in my boxers and t-shirt.
"What?"
A vid started on the wall. It was the Ralnor general, and he looked hassled.
"Imperator. The Trixone have begun a major attack all along our frontier with them. Every system leading into our space has been hit with overwhelming forces, and we are for now falling back. The bulk of their forces are small ones such as you and Arthur use, being carried around on their battleship sized ships. Instead of several dozen ships, they are now swarming us with hundreds."
"I've also had confirmation they hit the Keerah frontier at the same time. It's now becoming obvious they've been planning this offensive for a long time now, and your involvement merely brought things forward, and allowed them to evaluate our front line forces, and adapt to them."
"You will have our diplomats on Terminus in a few hours' time. A non-aggression pact between us is now essential, and we will need your help moving fleets into position to counter their advance. Now we'll see how genuine you are about building a peaceful relationship with us."
"I will see you soon Imperator."
He saluted and the vid ended. Jane looked at me.
"The Trixone have been attempting to enter our space as well, but the rift there is holding. The few ships, mainly fighter size, which made it through, were easily destroyed by the battlestations. It seems we're now in a full scale war regardless of if we want to be or not."
I sighed.
Two steps forward, one step back. My belt shifted into my uniform.
"Wake everyone up."
"Confirmed."
The story continues
in
Blind into the Breach.
* * *
Jon Hunter will return
in
Imperator.
Map
This map is representational only. It does not reflect actual distances, just establishes connections. Above and to the left of Reaper's Crossroad is Keerah space. Above and right of Reaper's Crossroad is Ralnor Space. Below Triffid's Shuffle is Trixone space.
Black lines are jump connections. Dashed red lines are Hunter rift connections. Dashed blue lines are station and planet rift connections. Dashed orange lines are communications rift connections.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to –Jeff- for the new BigMother MkIII design, Scimitar Battle Carrier design, and finally for images of Unassailable and Relentless, now all on the cover for this book. Also for the new battlestation design, also on this cover.
A Message to my Readers
Three books into The Hunter Imperium now, and it's still every bit as much fun to write as the first Jon books were. For those waiting, sorry for the delay, but once again my health slowed down the writing.
The Hunter Legacy Universe is now a timeline more than 3000 years long. The Hunter Legacy began it, A.I. Destiny continued things in the Gaia galaxy, and The Spacemage Chronicle explained some of the past, especially where those four mysterious beings came from, who rescued Jon and the team from Outback's sun at the end of Hero to the End.
The Hunter Imperium continues in parallel to A.I. Destiny, with the continuing adventures of Jon and his team, and people. Reaper's Crossroad happens at approximately the same time as Queen Jane. And now the Imperium has been set up and the stage set for the future, all sorts of possibilities are appearing.
Lots to come. Stay with me.
If you have enjoyed this book, I hope you will take the time to leave a review on the Amazon site. All reviews are greatly appreciated, as they help assist purchasing decisions by other readers.
Sales and reviews help me to focus on my next challenge. In the time frame of this series, being both two years in book time, and two years of real time, I've changed into a full time writer. As such, sales pay my bills, and my ability to continue writing is dependent on sales of this series, and what comes after.
As well as individual book revi
ews, I hope you will visit the Amazon series page, and leave a series review. The series page can be accessed from any book page.
I thank you for your support, and hope you will continue to read the next book in this series.
Please join me on the series Facebook Page:
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Timothy Ellis
Also by Timothy Ellis
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The Hunter Legacy Timeline
Approx. 3100 years before Hero to the End
Yesterday's Spacemage (chapter one)
Tomorrow's Spacemage
646 years before Hero to the End
The Long Road to Gaia
102 years before Hero to the End
One Last Battle (a short story)
82 years before Hero to the End
Yesterday's Spacemage
Today's Spacemage
Tomorrow's Spacemage
2 Years before Hero to the End
Hero at Large
Hunted Hero Hunting
Send in the Hero
Make or Break the Hero
Hail the Hero
Burnside's Killer
Hire a Hero
Jane's Christmas
Hero to the Rescue
Hero at the Gates
The Long Road to Gaia
1 Year before Hero to the End
Home is Where the Hero Is
Hero in Darkness
Hero to the End
Here be a time line shift.
Immediately after Hero to the End (Gaia galaxy)
Admiral Jane
Queen Jane
Snark's Quest
Destiny Stone
Talisman of Tomorrow
Leader Jane
Immediately after Hero to the End (Earth galaxy)
Crossover
Hunter's Terminus
Reaper's Crossroad
Blind into the Breach *forthcoming*
Imperator *forthcoming*
The Hunter Legacy Universe Series in the order written:
The Hunter Legacy
A.I. Destiny
The Spacemage Chronicle
The Hunter Imperium
Reaper's Crossroad (The Hunter Imperium Book 3) Page 28