Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [192]
‘What a wonderful choice.' Though he remained confused and distressed, Caleb didn't argue further. He sealed the hatch and cycled the evacuation pod.
The faeros circled, targeting the wentals in the water tanker's hold. Denn could feel it. He barely noticed when the pod launched. Caleb tumbled out into empty space at the far edge of the solar system.
Alone inside the tanker, Denn tried to contact the roiling wentals, but his throat felt seared. The threads that he had recently recognized as , as echoes of telink, suddenly grew hot. The faeros pressed against the trapped water tanker, so bright that even the filters couldn't block it all out.
At least Caleb had gotten away.
Denn could sense something stronger, something ominous, like a flame rushing along a fuse. His new connections had opened a back door for the faeros to enter. His body grew hot, his skin started to sizzle, his eyes watered - and his tears turned to steam. He lifted his hands and saw his skin glowing with an inner fire, as if his very blood were boiling. Then he burst into impossibly hot flame, his whole body consumed from the inside out.
Fireballs engulfed the water tanker. The structural plates softened to dripping, vaporized metal. As the wentals began to boil, the hull split open and the released water gushed like a geyser.
The remnants of the Tamblyn tanker exploded, leaving nothing but gas and shrapnel. The vaporous wentals spread out, but arcing plumes of faeros corralled the water beings. The pulsing fireballs dragged the living wental water into the nearby sun.
One hundred and seventeen
Mage-Imperator Jora'h
Long ago, Jora'h had visited the magnificent worldforest, leaving Nira and Ambassador Otema behind, foolishly believing them safe from his father's treachery. He had been so innocent then, never guessing the terrible things Mage-Imperator Cyroc'h had been doing right under his nose. When he returned to Ildira, his father had told him Nira was dead. A lie.
In private meetings, the royal couple and the Mage-Imperator discussed many matters of importance to them all. King Peter and Queen Estarra, who had also been tricked by political machinations, shared much about the dark dealings of Basil Wenceslas. Some of the Chairman's actions reminded Jora'h uncomfortably of what his own father had done. And the news grew worse.
The green priests were abuzz with horror over messages they had just received from a green priest on Usk, a small colony that had dared to declare its independence. Nira wept as she described to Jora'h what she had seen through the trees, the appalling bloodshed, the brutality of the EDF troops, the crucifixion of the town's elders. Jora'h was relieved that he had not mistakenly travelled to Earth, expecting the Chairman to speak for all humans, as he himself spoke for all Ildirans.
The King and Queen had internal struggles to face, much as he had faced the mad Designate's rebellion in the Horizon Cluster. And the Mage-Imperator could help them. They could - help each other.
On the day after all the formalities and receptions and feasts, Jora'h stood with his beloved green priest out under the sheltering canopy. The Theron people, Roamer traders, visitors from Confederation colonies, and more green priests gathered around to hear the Mage-Imperator make his announcement of contrition - the very reason he had left his Empire and come to the heart of the new Confederation. This was what he had needed to do all along, before the anger festered. Build bridges instead of burn them.
King Peter wore a formal but comfortable suit that struck a balance between uniform and royal raiment. Estarra looked beautiful in traditional Theron cocoon-weave garments that revealed the rounded swell of her belly, and reminded him with a pang that he had not been with Nira when Osira'h was born…
He faced an audience hushed with anticipation. It was time to make things right. Nira leaned toward him to whisper, ‘I love you.' It was all the encouragement he needed.
Jora'h told them all about the Dobro breeding programme, without pause,