Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [209]
Udru’h gave him a small, contained smile. “As you command, Adar.”
The two men made their way up one deck after another to the warliner’s bridge, not bothering to hide their movements. Though they did not want to fight, both of them held weapons, and Udru’h knew they’d be able to kill many of the disoriented brainwashed crewmen, if it came to that. Instead, the Solar Navy soldiers who saw them responded with confusion; the crewmen shook their heads as if they had lost track of their thoughts.
Udru’h mused, “I wonder if Rusa’h is aware that he no longer controls these followers.”
“I hope he can sense much more than that,” the Adar replied, his voice dark with anger. “I hope he feels his entire rebellion crumbling.”
At the threshold of the command nucleus, Udru’h paused. “Our time grows short. According to the projected flight plan, the warliner should be nearing Dobro.”
“Then we must do something about that.” Zan’nh strode onto the bridge like a victorious general. His voice was powerful enough to startle even the shiing-disoriented crewmen at their posts. “Your Adar has returned to his command! You will follow my orders.”
His eyes blazed as he stared at one Ildiran after another, demanding their obedience. Still reeling, the crew could not yet realize what they had done, but the shiing made them easily susceptible to suggestion. They were torn from the corrupted thism web now, entirely adrift. Some of the command crew looked woozy and stunned, others showed an edge of panic. They had no guidance from the Hyrillka Designate and nothing else to hold on to.
“You will listen to me.” Zan’nh’s voice had the strength of a seasoned commander, not unlike Adar Kori’nh’s.
Designate Udru’h stood beside him, both of them showing firm confidence. After a long moment, one of the wobbly crewmen stood and pressed his fist to his chest in a formal Ildiran salute. The warliner’s captain shook his head as if waking from a dream. He stared at the Adar’s insignia, then finally seemed to recognize it. He stumbled backward. “Adar!” He also offered his salute.
One by one, the crewmembers surrendered. As the warliner continued toward Dobro, Udru’h smiled. “That was very good, Adar.” Seeing the planet grow large in the warliner’s screen, he opened his mind and allowed the strands of normal thism to unreel in clear silvery soul-threads. “Since your scan operators do not seem very alert, perhaps you should check the screens yourself?”
Zan’nh adjusted the warliner’s long-range sensors. His eyes went wide as he detected several blips, then a few more, then a huge cluster of fast-approaching ships.
The Dobro Designate smiled. So! Despite his resentment toward Udru’h, Jora’h had indeed taken a chance and followed his brother’s plan!
“Is it the rest of my maniple? Did Thor’h—?” Zan’nh looked at his listless crew, and uncertainty was plain on his haggard face. “I doubt I’m capable of taking this warliner into battle just yet.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
It rapidly became apparent that far more than a maniple of warliners stood against them. A huge force bristling with weapons blocked the single rebel battleship. Three hundred forty-three vessels: a complete Solar Navy cohort.
The Dobro Designate had no desire to hide his presence now. He felt the linkage, pleased to realize how near the Mage-Imperator was. Hundreds of weapons were prepared to open fire on them.
He turned to explain to Zan’nh. “Knowing when Rusa’h would arrive to threaten Dobro, the Mage-Imperator dispatched a heavy Solar Navy force to make a stand here. They intend to obliterate this ship.”
The Adar reacted with surprise. “But we are both on board!”
A thin smile crossed the Dobro Designate’s face as he nudged aside a transmission operator and began to focus the warliner’s comm system himself. “Your father