Empire Reborn (Taran Empire Saga Book 1)

Chapter 1.2

It wasn't often that TSS High Commander Wil Sietinen found himself perplexed, but this particular set of information defied explanation. He had been studying the report from the Prisaris base for the better part of the evening and was no closer to understanding the strange incident.

"Wil, come to bed." His wife, Saera, was standing in the doorway to their bedroom. Based on the scowl twisting her beautiful features, she wasn't pleased that he'd brought work home to their quarters—not that she hadn't done the same on numerous occasions in her capacity as TSS Lead Agent.

Wil leaned back on the couch with a sigh but didn't close the report. "It doesn't make any sense."

"You can deal with it later."

"I'm not so sure," he replied with a frown. "This salvage ship attack is too bizarre to be a coincidence, given the proximity to the Rift." Ever since the end of the Bakzen War thirty years prior, the Rift had been on his mind. The spatial tear was formed when a planet was destroyed in a massive telekinetic assault. Despite the TSS' attempts to heal the wound, a sliver of it had remained—and was slowly growing again. He and others had been keeping an eye on it from afar, hoping nothing more would come of it. I should have known better.

Wil gestured to the report on the viewscreen and waited for Saera to get the gist of the contents.

"This can't be right," she murmured.

"I can't find any evidence of it being falsified. In the event it is genuine..."

"Stars..." She sunk down onto the couch next to him.

"We can't take any risks with the Rift. We need to be ready to respond if this situation develops."

"Do you think this has anything to do with what Jason alluded to in his message?"

If it does, we're in more danger than I can imagine. He took a steadying breath. "This attack was days ago, though."

Saera smoothed her hand over her auburn hair. "Have you spoken with him yet?"

"No, I wanted to finish going through this first, since I'd rather keep the conversation rooted in observable facts." Wil knew firsthand how visions from the nexus were cryptic and difficult to interpret. Years ago, when his son had visited the nexus, they had interpreted what he'd seen to be a sign of the coming revolution within the Empire. At the time, it fit, but it could have meant anything.

Wil stared at the impossible report on the viewscreen. "I've always feared that what he saw was actually another impending threat. Though Jason has never said as much, I think he's wondered the same. I don't know why else he'd bring it up now."

Saera groaned. "Because things can never be easy for us."

"Hey, we had a few years without a galactic-scale disaster to worry about."

"Not funny." She continued reviewing the frustratingly sparse information—so far, only a transcript of an interview and a single image.

"Have you evaluated scan data from the area?" she asked.

"I was just about to."

Saera leaned forward, fully engaged. "Then let's figure this out."

---

Like what you read? Please vote or comment!