Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [204]
"This is an emergency, Daniel. They're guarding the Chairman."
"What kind of emergency? Some sort of attack?"
"Yes," Estarra said as kindly as she could. "The hydrogues. You've got to come with us. Hurry!"
"We can take you to the Chairman," Peter said.
"Do you know what time it is?" He blinked, then stared at Estarra and Peter again. "And why are you two dressed like that? You don't look much like a King and Queen. It's an embarrassment."
Peter gave the uncouth young man a meaningful look. "The Chairman's in the middle of a crisis, and now he's calling you to him. Haven't you figured it out?"
From the blank expression on Daniel's face, obviously he hadn't. Peter continued, exasperated. "The Chairman has ordered the Queen and me to retire. He promised us a new identity and a nice, safe villa where we can live a normal life, but only if we leave immediately. The Chairman plans to crown you right now. From tonight on, you'll be King." He smacked his hands together, and Daniel jumped at the loud noise, unable to believe what he had just heard. "So hurry up!"
"The Chairman wants to crown me? Tonight? But I thought--"
"You know how he is when he makes up his mind," Estarra said. "He decided this would be the most dramatic time."
Grinning, the Prince hurriedly put on shoes. When he looked unsure about which clothes to wear, Peter gestured him to follow. "Don't worry. There's a full staff waiting to dress you. But you have to come with us right now."
Not knowing what else to do, and very frightened about the consequences of not obeying orders, Daniel followed them.
119
ADAR ZAN'NH
The humans didn't have a chance. Optimistic and overambitious, as always, they had hung all their hopes on one plan. They had gambled everything on their last stand at Earth, and they had believed Ildiran assurances. Now they were more vulnerable than ever.
The hydrogues were watching.
Though he'd never been overly fond of humans, Adar Zan'nh still felt soiled after the promises he had made, delivering the words exactly as the hydrogues, and his father, had told him to do. It did not seem right. Were the deep-core aliens truly monitoring even ship-to-ship transmissions? It seemed best to err on the side of caution. He particularly didn't like the thought of hydrogues using his Solar Navy to attack the Hansa.
Zan'nh looked stonily at the Ildirans in his command nucleus. They all knew the Mage-Imperator's orders. He watched intricate tactical projections showing the hopelessly outnumbered EDF ships preparing to meet the oncoming wave of hydrogues. He was sitting on the crux of a moment that would always be remembered in the Saga of Seven Suns. Honor or victory . . . humans or Ildirans, survival or annihilation. The hydrogues had pushed them to this.
Through the warliner's speakers, General Lanyan yelled obscenities. He cursed the Adar by name, howling at the Ildiran commander for his betrayal. With a frown, Zan'nh gestured toward his communications officer. "Switch that off. I have no desire to hear it." Abrupt silence fell on the warliner's command nucleus.
The Solar Navy crewmen aboard the flagship were clearly uncertain about what they had come here to do, but they obeyed their Adar's commands. Zan'nh turned away from the inundated EDF ships, humanity's last--and insufficient--defense. He wanted no distractions right now.
Before Zan'nh could issue his fateful instructions, before he could trigger the cascade of events that would change--or end--history, his tactical officer yelped. "Adar, more incoming ships! All of them show the configuration of Earth Defense Forces vessels."
"How many?"
"An overwhelming number! Twice as many as the humans had before."
"Is it a trick?" Zan'nh rushed to the screen and identified the sensor signatures of Juggernauts, Mantas, Thunderheads, and whatever other gunships the EDF had managed to assemble. "Did the humans deceive us? Are they not so wounded as we were led to believe?"
New armed war vessels cruised