Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [14]
The threat left a sour taste in his mouth. He sensed disquiet among his crew. No Ildiran in memory had ever delivered such an ultimatum.
“Adar, a shuttle has just launched from the spaceport near the citadel palace.”
“Is it armed? Is it a military vessel?”
“It appears to be a transport ship, but it is proceeding to orbit at great speed. Several smaller vessels are in pursuit.”
A transmission flickered on the screen and the haggard visage of his brother Thor’h appeared. The gaunt young man’s eyes glittered with a wild desperation. “Zan’nh, protect me! Give me sanctuary!” In the tight image, Thor’h worked the controls of the sluggish transport ship. Sweating, he glanced repeatedly down at his screens, watching the close images of his pursuers.
“Explain yourself, Thor’h.” He intentionally did not use the Prime Designate’s title.
“Our uncle has gone mad! He believes that he is the true Mage-Imperator, and he murdered Pery’h—but I have escaped.” Thor’h’s fingers raced across the controls, and a sudden increase in speed threw him back against the pilot’s seat. Alarms shrilled in the background. “I insist that you take me into the protection of a warliner. Rusa’h has already sent ships after me. He will destroy me before he lets me go—I have too much vital information.”
The short-range pursuers opened fire on Thor’h’s escaping craft, but their shots missed.
Brow furrowed in thought, Zan’nh grasped at any thread of hope, of sanity. At last, this was an explanation he could accept. Designate Rusa’h had become unstable after suffering a severe head injury during a hydrogue attack on Hyrillka, but it had been difficult for Zan’nh to believe that Thor’h, the Mage-Imperator’s chosen successor, would willingly turn against the Ildiran Empire.
“Very well, Thor’h. We will take you aboard the flagship warliner.”
“Another vessel has launched from the citadel palace, Adar,” said the sensor operator. “It is a larger ship, a royal shuttle.”
Zan’nh considered this for a moment. “What is its weapons complement?”
“Nothing apparent.”
The communications officer looked very surprised. “Adar! The Hyrillka Designate demands an audience with you aboard the flagship.”
The Hyrillka Designate sent his image from the royal shuttle. “Adar Zan’nh, I am responding to my brother’s summons.” The formerly soft and corpulent Rusa’h appeared thin and hardened, like tempered metal. “It was not necessary to make such threats. We are all Ildirans, are we not?”
“You will come aboard my warliner willingly?” Zan’nh asked in surprise.
“It is my privilege to serve the Ildiran Empire.”
“You killed Designate-in-waiting Pery’h and tried to assassinate the Mage-Imperator. We just watched you firing at Thor’h. You have a strange way of showing your loyalty.”
Rusa’h seemed calm and unshaken. “Once I have had an opportunity to explain myself, you will understand.”
Thor’h broke in again, frantic as his racing shuttle approached the gathered battleships. “I refuse to be aboard the same warliner as the mad Designate. Direct me to another ship, brother. Keep me safe!”
“You will be safe.” After a moment’s consideration, Zan’nh signaled Qul Fan’nh. “Allow Thor’h to dock aboard your warliner. If it makes our mission simpler, we will keep the two separate.”
Thor’h’s shuttle flew erratically, no doubt because the Prime Designate was not comfortable piloting ships for himself. Zan’nh knew his brother had never bothered to learn practical skills, preferring instead to indulge himself with the fine luxuries available to his station.
Qul Fan’nh transmitted a guidance beam, and the fleeing cargo craft drifted directly into a receiving bay on the maniple’s first warliner.
Troubled by Thor’h’s words, the Adar reconsidered what might have happened here. Had the Prime Designate been forced against his will, while Rusa’h alone committed the crimes? Assuming that Thor’h participated in the crime, the Mage-Imperator had commanded Adar