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As if daring the guards to kill them, the half-breed children joined their mother and sister-savior whom they revered. Rod'h sent a disturbed look toward the defeated Udru'h, then faced forward.

Soldier kithmen followed orders without question, but they did not know how to deal with complicated and unclear decisions. Finally, Udru'h croaked out through bloody lips, "Bring Daro'h! Do not be fools."

The upper windows of the Designate's residence swung open. Daro'h had been there observing, arguing with overprotective guards. "Hold your weapons! There will be no more killing."

The guard kithmen froze but kept their crystal spears ready. Angry humans pushed forward, growling. Nira and Osira'h stood beside the former Designate, in front of all the others.

Daro'h sounded distraught. "Why are you doing this? I gave you your freedom. I tore down the fences."

Osira'h cried, "You never told them about the hydrogues--and how the Mage-Imperator agreed to betray humanity."

"If the hydrogues are going to kill us anyway," Benn Stoner shouted from behind, "why shouldn't we kill all of you first?"

Nira stepped forward, apart from the mob's simmering anger. "We can stop this now--or we can all perish." Glancing behind her, she added, "Do not underestimate the strength of these people. They've got nothing to lose." The screams and the roaring flames demanded her attention. "We will help you get this madness under control. Please let us help you--there isn't much time. And afterward, you can tell them all the truth."

Udru'h swayed, then dropped to his knees. Osira'h stepped away from him. "Do as they say," the former Designate called.

Roaring flames now spread across the hills and through the Ildiran settlement. Daro'h commanded his guards to cease their attacks, to work instead--with the humans--to save whoever could be rescued from the burning buildings. "Or we will all be dead before the hydrogues come anyway."

80

CHAIRMAN BASIL WENCESLAS

Whenever he summoned Deputy Cain, the pale man came with some optimistic report that Basil had not asked for. It was as if Cain strategically wanted to fend off unpleasant issues by arming himself with something irrelevant. Or was it a deeper plan? He wondered what the man would bring this time.

Basil had called his deputy to the rooftop gardens of the stepped pyramid. The carefully manicured shrubs, dwarf fruit trees, and sweetly pungent exotic flowers were maintained with a geometric precision that he wished he could impose upon his own people. It comforted him to see how the plants thrived and yet maintained their exact places.

Cain waved a data display screen. "The crew at the hydrogue derelict has made a new breakthrough with the exotic wall that is similar to the Klikiss transportals. The engineers have activated the energy source. We anticipate this will lead to a great many new developments."

Basil pursed his lips. This was indeed interesting. "Good, we can make it function. Now, how long until we know how to shut down a warglobe? We've heard reports that the Roamers even have some kind of effective weapon that they used against the hydrogues at Theroc. If the damned Roamers can figure it out, I expect the Hansa to do better."

"If we can make the hydrogue ship work, Mr. Chairman, we can probably figure out how to break it down. It's generally easier to screw things up."

Basil scowled. "Yes, I am very familiar with screwups. Speaking of which, I've decided to send another small retrieval ship to Qronha 3 in search of our missing rammers. Just in case. They've got to be out there somewhere. Maybe we can bring back some of them."

Cain looked perplexed. "I thought the Soldier compies stole the rammers."

"Probably. But Stromo's green priest mentioned a curious transmission they intercepted. We had a surveillance compy hidden among the rammer crews. If we strengthen and lock onto the spy signal, it could lead us to the rammers."

"Interesting."

Basil's jaw clenched. "And it will give