Of Fire and Night - Kevin J. Anderson [89]
"I am your successor. Why do you hide things from me?" he finally said. "Explain what really happened here. Why did you exile that green priest to an isolated island? Why did you hide her even from the Mage-Imperator?"
Udru'h turned to the young man. The possibilities of how much damage Nira could still do flickered like embers ready to be fanned into flame. "All my reasons are the same one: I did it to strengthen and protect the Ildiran Empire. I have told you everything you need to know."
Walking toward the camp fences, the Dobro Designate stared at the subdued breeding camp. He had mixed feelings about what would happen to the experimental subjects now. His life's work, indeed the whole centuries-long plan for Dobro, was over. Udru'h could not help feeling an emptiness, an abrupt malaise that set in along with the realization that he had achieved an impossible task. And now what?
Daro'h lowered his head in surrender. "Your behavior has changed since Osira'h returned, Designate. You were once so passionate about our work here. Now that she has succeeded, what is to become of Dobro?"
"I feel the ending of the thing that has been our very reason for existence for centuries." His words were sharp with a bitter aftertaste. Udru'h turned from the enclosed breeding compound where the humans continued their routines. He had fulfilled his role, done everything that history and his bloodline asked. He was finished. "I never thought success would be as disappointing as failure."
Udru'h reached a decision that made him sad, yet also gave him a sense of liberation and freedom. He placed his left hand on Daro'h's shoulder, turning the younger man to face him. "This is a time of changes. I have taught, and you have learned, but Dobro is a different splinter colony now. My advice and experience will not benefit you further. There should be a clean transition."
Daro'h frowned. "What are you saying?"
"I will return to Ildira." He turned back toward his private dwelling. The Designate-in-waiting had already made his own home in a different part of the settlement. "There are too many eyes here, too many who would judge without understanding what I have done, or why. I will retire and never see this place again." He took a sad look around the grassy hills, the settlement, the croplands. This should have been a fine and thriving splinter colony, where colonists could have a life of self-sufficiency. Maybe if he left, the stain would go with him.
He turned to Daro'h. "From now on, Dobro is yours."
52
CHAIRMAN BASIL WENCESLAS
The Chairman was always upset when things didn't go right, and that had happened a lot lately.
From his private control center, a grim and silent Basil listened to the screams and gunfire echoing through the monitors. Implanted microimagers in the silver berets' armor went dead one after another. Engineering Specialist Swendsen flailed against the reactivated Soldier compies. Finally Sergeant Paxton's imager--the last one--died to a whiteout of static.
Basil made a sound of disgust and looked around for someone to blame. "Swendsen announced that the repeater virus worked. All the compies were shut down. What happened?" He squeezed his hand into a fist and then forcibly relaxed his fingers.
"Dr. Swendsen may have spoken prematurely," answered Eldred Cain from the seat beside him. The hairless deputy appeared paler than usual. His lips were twisted as if he were enduring a bad bout of indigestion. "I inspected their planned mode of attack, and it appeared sound."
The Chairman's jaws clenched so tightly that his muscles ached. "Link to the on-site command center. I want to watch what's happening outside the factory. They've got to contain those compies before they break through the cordon."
With nimble fingers, Cain accessed a different set of imagers. "Too late already, Mr. Chairman."