Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [3]
When Rusa'h tried to convert his devious brother Dobro Designate Udru'h, he thought he had found a willing partner. Leaving the impressionable young Designate-in-waiting Daro'h in charge, Udru'h set up a trap and a betrayal that led to Rusa'h's downfall and the end of his rebellion. Hyrillka was recaptured by Mage-Imperator Jora'h, and the traitorous Thor'h was seized. But the mad Designate fled, flying directly into Hyrillka's primary sun. In the last moment before Rusa'h's ship was consumed, a group of flaming faeros rose up and surrounded him, carrying him into the star.
The faeros and hydrogues continued their constant war, smothering one of the seven suns of Ildira. Now was the time for the Mage-Imperator to try his special "weapon"--his own half-breed daughter, Osira'h. With the girl's special telepathic powers, Jora'h hoped she could call the hydrogues and get them to reaffirm an ages-old nonaggression agreement. Osira'h, who had learned the truth of Dobro's human-Ildiran breeding program from her green priest mother Nira, experienced mixed loyalties and confusion, not sure whom to believe. Still, she did her duty and rode in a protective chamber down into Qronha 3 to communicate with the hydrogues.
Back in Ildira, with the civil war over, the Mage-Imperator was shocked when Udru'h revealed that Jora'h's beloved Nira was alive after all. Still in love with the green priest, the Mage-Imperator demanded that she be freed and returned to him at once. But when Udru'h went to the island on Dobro where he'd kept Nira prisoner, he discovered that the green priest had escaped and was nowhere to be found! Before Jora'h could learn this, though, Osira'h returned to Ildira with a huge armada of hydrogue warglobes, all of them looming over the PrismPalace. Now Jora'h had to face the hydrogues, knowing that if he failed to make a convincing case, the deep-core aliens would destroy his entire world.
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1
KING PETER
A heavy transport bearing the Earth Defense Forces logo settled onto the WhisperPalace plaza to the sound of cheering almost loud enough to drown out the landing jets. An honor guard carved a safe corridor through enthused spectators toward the shuttle and laid down a purple carpet for King Peter and Queen Estarra.
Taking steps in perfect synchronization with hers, the young King spoke from the corner of his mouth so none of the professional eavesdroppers could hear. "I so rarely get to announce good news that isn't an outright lie."
Well aware that Chairman Basil Wenceslas was watching and ready to respond if they made the slightest wrong move, Estarra answered with equal caution. "We've had to report the deaths of soldiers far too often. Greeting genuine returning heroes is a vast improvement."
No one had expected to find EDF soldiers alive this long after the battle of Osquivel; the missing men and women had been presumed killed by the alien hydrogues. Now, blinking in the Palace District's sunshine, thirty survivors hurried down the debarkation ramp, jostling each other as if they couldn't wait to drink in the air of Earth. All of the smiling refugees wore new uniforms provided by the rescue crew. According to reports, they had immediately ejected the clothing given to them by their Roamer captors (or was it "hosts"? Peter wondered) out the disposal chutes.
Barely able to contain the ecstatic mob, the guards let the corralled VIP relatives and selected loved ones forward. During the return voyage, former Chairman Maureen Fitzpatrick had transmitted the names of the POWs. Excited families bounced from one rescued survivor to another until, like puzzle pieces, the right ones interlocked with hugs, joyous shouts, and mutual weeping.
Despite this glowing reception, Peter knew the Hansa government was thoroughly embarrassed to find anyone there. The EDF's clash with the hydrogues at Osquivel had been an utter disaster and a frenzied retreat. Many wounded soldiers were left to die aboard disabled