Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [208]
"We are at a cruxpoint, Father. But all is not lost."
Jora'h had already sent a signal, placing the warliners in orbit on high alert. Two maniples of warliners were descending at high speed, burning through the upper atmosphere to position themselves in front of the sixty watchdog hydrogue spheres. "I had hoped Tal Lorie'nh would reach Earth in time. Perhaps I should not have sent his warliners away from here."
Osira'h looked up at the interlocked panes of the skysphere dome. No one could get there soon enough to intervene. Only she could deal with the hydrogues.
"The emissary is coming. He is very angry." Strangely, Osira'h felt more anticipation than fear. She was actually looking forward to this.
The small containment chamber careened through the Prism Palace corridors like a diamond wrecking ball. The emissary smashed through a gateway, knocked down an arch, and streaked along the stained-glass halls. Ildirans scrambled out of the way.
Osira'h stood in front of the Mage-Imperator. "Allow me to speak to him, Father. It may be our only chance."
"I should never have brought you and your mother into this trap."
"Wait. An unwise hunter may be caught in his own trap," the girl said.
Overhead, the warglobes were dropping lower, crackling with blue lightning. The Solar Navy defenders would never destroy the diamond spheres in time. Even if they did, the explosions and wreckage would level half the city.
The girl faced the furious emissary as he entered the chamber and came to a halt. The liquid-metal figure within had already formed into a human shape surrounded by swirling internal gases. An ominous voice thundered out: "You knew the price you would pay if you did not comply with our instructions, and yet you betrayed us at Earth." Despite his anger, the hydrogue's simulated expression did not change. "We will now obliterate your city, your world, and your race."
With the grace of an Isix cat, Osira'h walked down the steps and stopped innocently before the containment sphere, undefended, nonthreatening. In her mind the bridge between herself and the deep-core aliens had never been completely severed, but she had closed off access in her mind, like slamming a gate shut. "Before you destroy us, we have vital information the hydrogues should consider."
"What information?" the doubtful emissary said.
"A fatal weakness in the verdani, and a flaw you can use to annihilate the returned wentals." Osira'h's mother had explained many things she'd learned from her renewed link with the worldforest. "We offer this information to save our lives."
"Tell us."
"Only if you spare the Ildirans," she said.
The emissary seemed taken aback by the girl's boldness. "We will decide the worth of your information once we know it."
Seeming to accede, she said, "I will communicate it through my mental bridge." Her face went blank and, without waiting for permission, she opened herself in the way she had learned, reestablishing contact. The hydrogue emissary opened access to the bridge from his side. Good. His cooperation made her task easier.
Always before, her contact with the hydrogues had been accommodating, even subservient. Not this time. Catching them off guard, she smashed the narrow gate open wider with the battering ram of her mind. She felt no hesitation about what she had to do.
But she needed more. When the emissary recoiled in surprise from the power of her mental touch, Osira'h took a step backward and reached out for her father's hand as he came down to join her. They touched and bonded. He