Chapter 23Belen was seated in her dark, cushionedchair behind her desk when she heard the trill of a Stephen Fostersong, denoting a message coming in on one of her secret lines. As acorporate president in a galaxy where many planetary governmentlooked with suspicion on CEOs – especially when those CEOs did notpay bribes – she maintained her own limited, but very effective,intelligence networks. She tapped the button on the screen and amilitary man appeared.
“Captain Jerico, good to see you.”
“Same here Ms. Morganthal. But I mayhave some bad news for you.”
Belen frowned. The captain wasstationed at Fort MacDonald, the military installation on the edgeofthe galaxy. If he had bad news, it could be lousy news,indeed.
“Go ahead, captain.”
“We are on red alert. Our command hasreceived infor
