The Farming Saint in the Starry Wasteland (Elizabeth Schofield) novel Chapter 429

Chapter 429 Scheming Rats

But it was still an opening.

If he could find something during the inspection, if he could make that man bow his head in front of him…

His steps slowed for just a moment, then quickened again.

The Fifth Military’s building blazed with light against the dark of the night.

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In one of those windows, Gregory still sat behind his desk, fingers tapping against the surface, his gaze directed somewhere out into the darkness beyond the glass.

One tap, then another, then another.

That rhythm, patient and precise, like something waiting.

Or something calculating.

The notification tone sounded just as Elizabeth was in the middle of talking with Linnea and the others, gathering information about conditions in other sectors. She was mostly trying to figure out where she might source the livestock breeds she wanted to raise on the farm.

She glanced down at her device. It was the navigational lane approval confirmation from the Interstellar Route Authority.

She’d expected it, so she wasn’t particularly surprised.

That said, it did absolutely put her in a wonderful mood.

That wonderful mood lasted approximately three seconds before a second notification arrived. “Interstellar Route Authority: Armed Inspection Notice.”

Elizabeth opened it and read through it line by line.

When she finished, she looked up. Her face was still, though her brow had drawn together very slightly.

“Boss?” Linnea asked carefully.

Elizabeth turned the device screen toward her.

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Linnea leaned in to read it, and the color shifted in her face. “An armed inspection… in three days? That’s incredibly fast.”

“Ha.” Elizabeth pulled the device back and stood up. “Looks like the Interstellar Route Authority’s efficiency is something to behold when they actually feel like moving.”

Standard protocol for armed inspections required at least a week’s advance notice, followed by another week’s preparation

window.

From approval to inspection, the standard buffer was two weeks minimum.

They had three days.

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To am

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Chapter 429 Scheming Rafs

Clearly, someone was hoping they wouldn’t have enough time to get their affairs in order

Well. So what?

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Even if they’d been given one day, she’d meet it head–on.

“Linnea, could you please let Desmond and the others know to gather in the conference room after dinner?” Elizabeth said. “Bring everyone from the weapons division.”

“Everyone?” Linnea paused. “Including Hexo and the others?”

“All of them. And Melton, Tiffany, and Tyson.” Elizabeth nodded. “That’s all for now.”

Linnea acknowledged it and hurried off.

After dinner, the conference room was fully lit.

Elizabeth sat at the head of the long table, with nine people arranged down both sides.

Desmond sat at her immediate left, and moving right came Tobin, Sevyn, Sebastian, Scott, Hexo: six veterans out of the Hewitt lineage, spines straight, expressions composed and intent.

On her right sat Melton, Tiffany, and Tyson, three people with very different presences, but all of them looking at her with the same focused seriousness.

“Everyone’s here,” Elizabeth said, and activated the projection from her wrist device, casting the display across the center of the table. “In three days, an armed inspection team from the Interstellar Route Authority will be arriving at the farm. This is the notice. Take a look.”

The projection expanded, and all nine of them leaned in at once/

A few seconds of silence settled over the room, the soft light from the device screen casting faint reflections across every face.

Desmond was the first to look up.

“Boss,” he said, his voice steady and grounded, “we’ve all worked as armed inspection evaluators before. This is territory we know.”

Elizabeth looked at him, and something satisfied settled in her eyes. “I knew I was asking the right people. Start from the beginning. What does an armed inspection actually cover? I want us to have a clear picture.”

Desmond nodded and cleared his throat.

“Armed inspections are split into two parts,” he said. “The first is facilities and equipment. That covers the number of ships, their classifications, whether their weapons configurations meet the required standard, and whether the ground infrastructure, landing pads, maintenance bays, fuel reserves, ammunition storage, meets safety regulations.”

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