Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [185]
She would serve in the same role as the Klikiss robots had once acted—before the robots broke all ties with the Ildiran Empire at Hrel-oro. As a bridge between two completely alien species, she had to open a line of communication with the enemy, convince them to listen to the Mage-Imperator. What concessions was her father willing to make? What unconscionable bargains?
Her ship fell like a stone, and Osira’h clung to her padded crash seat, concentrating, sending out a mental message to augment the signal from her transmitting system. She needed the hydrogues to come to her. She hoped the aliens would be curious enough to come and inspect her, rather than destroy the encounter chamber outright.
The crystal walls glowed from friction as gas molecules scraped against the smooth sides. The vessel had been built to withstand these horrific conditions. Around her, the atmosphere thickened.
Osira’h tried harder, forcing her thoughts outward, as she had done many times in practice sessions on Dobro. She closed her eyes against the distracting colors and chimera shapes of the storms. She gripped tightly with her small hands and continued to send out her thoughts. I have a job to do.
She didn’t know what this task would cost her. Before, when she’d been innocent and gullible, she had been willing to pay any price to make Designate Udru’h and the Mage-Imperator proud. She had wanted to do anything to make her mentor happy. But with visions of her mother in her head, she was not as sure. Osira’h was no longer convinced that the secret-filled Ildiran Empire deserved such a sacrifice from her.
As her crystal bubble continued downward, she saw movement in the thickening vapors around her, which resolved into the smooth diamond hulls of warglobes. Blue lightning crackled from their pyramidal protrusions.
Osira’h held on, energetically sending her thoughts. I must speak with you. I represent your former allies. We want to end this war between our races.
The warglobes drifted next to her, accompanying her crystal bubble. Without warning, she was thrown to one side with an abrupt jerk as the hydrogue vessels captured her with an invisible beam. She sensed no returning thoughts, no acknowledgment.
Unhurried, the warglobes dragged her bubble like a fish in a net. Osira’h lost track of time and distance. All the while, she continued sending her message. With widening eyes and increasing awe, she saw an enormous complex of faceted globes that formed an immense citysphere. The hydrogue metropolis was full of alien angles and curves that joined in unorthodox directions. It was like a magical structure from the stories she had absorbed from her mother’s thoughts, the lost city of Atlantis or a fabled fairy kingdom.
The girl did not allow herself to be fooled. The hydrogues were not ethereal or benevolent fantasy creatures. They were deadly enemies who had already proved their thirst for utter destruction.
The warglobes pulled her encounter bubble through a membrane in the citysphere wall. Osira’h let her thoughts resonate outward in an uninterrupted silent shout. Peering through the transparent wall, she waited.
At last, quicksilver shapes formed themselves into humanoid bodies. Five of the flowing hydrogues approached her, each one identical, each costumed like the Roamer victim it had copied before. As part of her intensive training, Osira’h had reviewed every scrap of information known about the enemy, including images from the Whisper Palace on Earth.
The weight of responsibility pressed around her, like the incredible force of the surrounding atmosphere. She leaned forward against the protective crystal barrier. The hydrogue figures stood shimmering before her. It was time to open negotiations.
Chapter 92—RLINDA KETT
As luck would have it, the Moon base alarm sounded even before the Curiosity cleared the top of the crater wall. Below them, the Blind Faith was still cycling through engine warm-up. BeBob looked sick in the copilot