The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [154]
“Now, then, if you’re going to accomplish anything, you’ll need contacts and you’ll need resources. I’m appending to this message a full list and access instructions to several large funds. It’s not everything, of course, but it should be enough. I don’t want you blowing the whole family fortune on your campaign, even if you are doing it for my sake . . . and humanity’s.
“I’m also giving you a list of trusted contacts in the media and in business, people who did me quite a few good turns while I was Chairman, and I can guarantee you they’re not fans of the current administration.”
When she narrowed her eyes and looked right at him, he couldn’t believe she wasn’t really there on the other side of the screen. “I know how smart you are, and I know how well I raised you. I’m . . . proud of you. Now, go get ’em.”
She looked over her shoulder, called out to Jonas, and ended the recording. Patrick stared at the screen, his eyes burning.
Zhett beamed, already pulling up the lists Maureen had left.
They had everything they needed to get started.
Using Maureen’s sophisticated communications equipment, disguising the origin of the transmission through numerous layers of encryption, Patrick easily hacked into the open newsnets. Because so many popular stations had been taken off the air, leaving only dead static, he could easily broadcast on those channels. He contacted the media experts his grandmother had suggested, and they helped spread the message; several of them claimed to be members of Freedom’s Sword already. Using his extensive funds, he could open doors and cover tracks. Zhett, in particular, proved to be quite good at getting new recruits.
Patrick also found a way to insert messages into a popular news discussion show, interrupting a debate about future weather shifts due to the loss of the Moon. He got his largest audience, however, when he piggybacked onto a successful music and entertainment channel; in spite of the world practically coming to an end around them — or perhaps because of it — people still watched their favorite shows.
In an anger-intensified voice, Patrick made his damning statements and laid out the facts. Letting the appalling images speak for themselves, he uploaded the images of Admiral Pike’s Mantas assassinating the former Chairman because she had accepted an appointment as liaison to the Confederation. He showed the attack on the Osquivel shipyards and the ransacking of the Golgen skymines, before reminding his audience of his earlier widely broadcast confession, that General Lanyan had himself been responsible for causing the ekti embargo.
For good measure, he claimed to represent Freedom’s Sword and called everyone to take to the streets. While showing an image of Chairman Basil Wenceslas, he made a sound of disgust and asked, “Why do you tolerate this man?”
He signed off and took Zhett by the hand. He would do similar broadcasts day after day until he achieved critical momentum.
* * *
106
Mage-Imperator Jora’h
Leaving Adar Zan’nh and the majority of his Solar Navy soldiers aboard their warliners so as not to make an unnerving or overwhelming show of force, Jora’h descended to the primary skymine on Golgen.
Overhead, hundreds of warliners crisscrossed the sky in tight, impressive formations. Upon witnessing the arrival of such a great military force, all the skymine chiefs were alarmed, despite the Mage-Imperator’s reassurances. Kellum summoned his fellow managers so that Jora’h could address them and explain the true situation.
Nira and Osira’h accompanied the Mage-Imperator, and after due consideration, he decided to bring Sullivan Gold as well, since the Hansa manager’s story would astonish the Roamers. Sullivan looked shell-shocked as he described how Chairman Wenceslas wanted him to take over the