Horizon Storms - Kevin J. Anderson [92]
Daro’h was full of interest. “Is that why the humans are eager to colonize so many worlds? Because their race is growing, and they need the room?”
Udru’h shook his head. “They don’t need the room. They simply want, more and more. It is their way.”
Udru’h recalled his own questions and reaction when he was younger, upon learning this information when he’d become the Dobro Designate-in-waiting. He had been innocent then, like Daro’h, guessing nothing about what really took place on Dobro. The truth eventually penetrated, though, and Udru’h had devoted himself to his life’s work.
Daro’h would do the same.
“My father spent much time with a human woman, a green priest,” said the young Designate-in-waiting. “He still talks about her.”
Udru’h guarded his expression carefully. “She weakened both his heart and his mind. But now that he has ascended and taken the thism, I believe—I must believe—that as Mage-Imperator he will do what is right for the Empire.”
“I intend to do what is right,” Daro’h promised, and Udru’h felt his heart lighten.
Inside a well-lit but austerely appointed training facility, the Dobro Designate gathered all five half-breed children born of Nira Khali. Rod’h, the second oldest of Nira’s children—sired by Udru’h himself—bowed to his father. Rod’h was six years old, but accelerated beyond his years. The Designate saw great potential in the boy, though not as much as in Osira’h.
The other three—Gale’nh, Tamo’l, and Muree’n—spent their days undergoing intensive training from medical kithmen, scientists, mental trainers, and Udru’h himself. Lens kithmen used their faint mind powers to guide the children and further awaken their telepathic skills. All of Nira’s young mixed-kith offspring were already as powerful as adult lens kithmen.
“These five children are at the heart of our plan, Daro’h,” he explained. “Even here, the guards and bureaucrats are not privy to the full scope of our purpose. Your own father did not understand, until just before he ascended to become Mage-Imperator. But you must know, Daro’h, for you will lead this work when it is your time…though I hope that after so many generations this will be the last. If the Dobro project reaches its culmination, we can finally become a normal splinter colony, a proud part of the Ildiran Empire without secrets.”
“I am ready to listen, Designate.”
Udru’h paused, searching for where to begin. “Ten thousand years ago, a titanic war swept the Spiral Arm like a storm across the ocean of space. Hydrogues allied themselves with the faeros, against the wentals and the verdani.”
“And did Ildirans fight in this war? There is no record of it in the Saga of Seven Suns. ”
“We participated…but only in the way that carrion birds take part in a battle. We were insignificant and in the path of destruction—until the Klikiss race also became involved. They developed their Torch and destroyed many gas giants, which turned the wrath of the hydrogues against rocky worlds, including ours. They didn’t understand us, didn’t wish to. The hydrogues simply lashed back and destroyed whatever they could.
“That was when the Klikiss robots turned on their masters, seeking to exterminate them and free themselves. With their machine language and coordinated computing power, they succeeded in contacting the alien hydrogues. They found common ground, established a link, and learned a form of communication infinitely more complex than anything we understand as language. They made the hydrogues understand who they were, and convinced them to aid the robots in destroying the Klikiss race.”
“Then how did we become involved?” Daro’h asked. The half-breed children also paid attention, knowing that this tale comprised the history that determined their fates.
“After dozens of our worlds were annihilated by the hydrogues,