Shadow Fall (The Shadow Saga) by J. L. Lyon Page A

into the basilica. “Though I did not expect you to make the trip so soon. We aren’t due to convene until the emperor arrives.”
    “The plan is in jeopardy,” Holt said. “And I did not want to discuss it over open airwaves.”
    “Are you concerned about Alexander or someone else?” Drake asked with a knowing smile.
    “I couldn’t help but notice that the emperor didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the proposed government of the Imperial Conglomerate of Cities, and that is a concern. The constitution of the new government has been drafted, but if the emperor refuses to sign I don’t know what will happen. Many of the generals and division leaders have pledged to us only because we have promised change.”
    “Oh, we will bring change,” Drake nodded. “You can be sure of that.”
    “ Democratic change,” Holt clarified. “What do you think will happen if they learn the ICC is the same farce as Alexander’s Tour of Reconstruction?”
    “They will get in line or new generals will be found. We both know how this works, and surely you see the wisdom in Emperor Sullivan’s decision. We cannot hope to form a functioning democracy and wage war against the World System. Alexander will probe every flaw, irritate every weakness, and only through absolute unity will we be victorious.”
    “And for absolute unity it will take an absolute ruler, I know,” Holt waved off the argument as the two stopped in the portico, and he lowered his voice even further. “But this war, Gordon, is about more than a feud between the Ruling Council and the MWR. It’s more than one man seeking revenge for years of wounded pride. Hundreds of thousands if not more will die in the coming years, and that is a high cost to pay if our only goal is to replace one tyrant with another.”
    “Careful, Councilor,” Drake warned, his expression hardening into a frown. “You may be the Premier’s oldest friend, but that does not make you immune to treason.”
    “Too much is at stake to remain silent. We are all traitors for the moment, and until Napoleon Alexander lays dead we may yet meet our end in a pile of ashes. Just like the traitors who met their end on this very ground.”
    Drake resumed walking, leaving the portico to make his way up into the nave. Evidence of the Roman rebellion’s final battle still lingered, as it likely would for years to come. Indeed, those traitors had failed. But they did not have the weight of the Ruling Council behind them. They were fools, all of them, to fight a cause that could not be won. But this was different. This would not end the same as that.
    “So you have inspected the city’s defenses since your arrival, I hear,” Drake said, changing the subject. “How do you find them?”
    Holt hesitated, evidently loathe to leave the previous conversation behind, “You have done well. We are impervious to all but an aerial strike, and even then they would be hard-pressed to get through our defenses. So long as we hold Gibraltar the World System will be forced into a ground war if they decide to invade. Still, I would prefer if we could keep them on defense. Have you contacted the Chilean-Argentine alliance?”
    “Not yet,” Drake shook his head. “There were to be no third parties—not until the separation. I have not gotten the chance to contact them since the emperor’s departure from Alexandria.”
    “We will need them,” Holt’s lips were thin. “If they allow us to land our troops in exchange for less strenuous tribute after the war, it will make our ground operations less risky. Then we can keep a good portion of the Great Army embattled in South America while we wage a naval war with the North.”
    “Yes, that is the plan.”
    “What have you heard from the others about the emperor’s departure?”
    “I’m sure you know,” Drake said with distaste. “The emperor delayed too long, hoping to salvage his pet project—the entire basis of which was ill-advised from the start—which