SECOND CHANCES - Chapter 7
11 May 2018Jemine Caesar
Degginal DeVerre’s personal office was small, much smaller than most expected of a man whose word was law in over a dozen systems. It was simply adorned, with a modestly-sized viewport behind him. In truth he seldom used it, being far more at home in his nightclub.
Yet today the aging man had need for discretion. He would soon be entertaining a guest, one who was hesitant to show her face in public. So, too, did the business at hand not necessarily need to be known by the rest of the council. In recent months, the paramilitary group-turned-Pegasi fiefdom had been run by a tight triumvirate. Degginal, Jaquel Rainrix, and Victor Laius had kept things from spiraling out of control, each hesitant to add new members after the fiascos that had been Azalea Constantinestu and Marrakech Morgan.
Victor Laius, of course, had been one of the founding members of the firm, back when it was strictly a Bubble-based merc unit. When misfortune and tragedy had almost destroyed them, he and the handful of Black Omega survivors had relocated to Pegasi, hoping to find easier pickings among the more backward societies. What they found was a labyrinth of hopelessly splintered politics and savagery, and knew that he would need powerful allies among the locals.
Degginal DeVerre proved to be that ally, not because he himself was a bastion of power but because he was the hub of a dormant network of those who were. He had once been Rabat Morgan’s right-hand man, his liaison with the several subordinate clans beneath the Morgan umbrella, each having since gone their own way. Yet the network was still in place, lacking only a central authority to command it. With Degginal’s guidance, Black Omega became that authority, delving into the field of system administration in place of strict mercenary work.
Read the whole of Chapter 7 here...