The Prize: Book One Read Free Page A

man asking you to come and see him was equal to a royal command, and not something taken lightly.  After the Emperor himself, Director Markoff was the second most powerful man in the realm, and from this office controlled nine tenths of the Tellurian Empire.  A decidedly unmilitary gallop would be a more apt word to describe the General's undignified progress through the Palace complex.  The Palace staff and guards knew where he was going by his rate of progress, and most smiled to hide their own discomfort at receiving such a summons.  The General took a seat, noting the data pad sitting in the middle of the blotter as he did.  It was impossible to tell Director's age, what with 'e-long' treatments.  Some said he was at least 280 standard Tellurian years old and going strong.
     
    Some carefully whispered that he'd outlived, or disposed of anyone who threatened his or the Emperor's position, and kept the remainder of the so-called 'elite', and self-aggrandizing power brokers within the far-flung reaches of the Empire in line with the contents of his massive data bank.  More than one, of the so-called untouchable upper class, had their wives, children, or other family members go missing for a short while.  Most returned unharmed, but not always.  Placing his cap on the table beside the blotter, General Tandy sat, and tried to make himself relax through sheer force of will, it partly worked.
     
    "We have a problem, General.  One that I hope you can help solve.”  The dry voice continued as the Director's eyes skipped from one holoscreen to another until his gaze settled on one in particular.
     
    "And what would that be Director?”  Tandy felt his gut tighten.
     
    General Tandy would have liked to read something comforting into the 'we' and 'you' statement but didn't.  He was good at solving the Director's problems, and the main reasons he stayed alive so long.  That in itself didn't guarantee he would remain so.  Shortly after taking command of the Special Services Division of Imperial Security, he'd heard through rumor control that his predecessor had taken early 'retirement' as it was euphemistically called.  Tandy suspected he was still serving the Emperor.  His ashes were probably fertilizing the Palace flower gardens like so many others before him if the truth be told.  It was amazing how much the fertile soil around the Palace ground had increased in the last hundred years.  Especial considered the fact the gardeners had never imported any.  It went without saying, that anything he could do for the Director to prolong his own existence was a foregone conclusion.
     
    Turning to face the General, the Director leaned back in his soft comfortable chair, elbows on the armrest as it automatically adjusted to his new position.  With a casual flip of his wrist, he pointed his index finger toward a screen on the wall to his right.  The holoscreen flickered a moment as his implant sorted through the index of stored images, steadying and enlarging to cover the whole right wall with a view of a beautiful blue-green planet as seen from a high orbit.
     
    "Imperial Startography Institute tell me that this planet is designated Sigma Alpha Prime, and no ship of any kind, dares go closer to it than one AU of this planet without being destroyed.  By that I mean, being violently pulled down as if caught in the gravity well of a black hole.”
     
    "I see.”  Tandy wasn't sure he did, but he felt uncomfortable saying nothing.
     
    "Do you?”  The Director eyes flicked around to meet the General's for a moment, his lips tightened as if he'd bitten into something sour.  “The planet has a string of warning buoys around it in a polar orbit just beyond the one AU boundary, broadcasting in a multitude of alien languages.”  The Director's voice had an edge to it the General hadn't heard before, something that sounded suspiciously like anger, or maybe it was just his overactive imagination.
     
    “Had the