Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [229]
If the rebel warships swept in with all weapons blazing, Jora’h knew he would not be able to wrest control back fast enough, even with his stronger thism. Jora’h’s ships would be forced to fire on them. The corrupt Prime Designate would attack and keep attacking until every one of his ships was destroyed in the effort. It would be a slaughter.
Udru’h stood beside the Mage-Imperator. “Are you prepared to open fire on your son, Liege? Will you destroy those ships?”
“I will do what is necessary—but no more.” He turned to the septar. “Summon Adar Zan’nh.” In the meantime, he would do what he could by extending his control of the thism, trying to reach the oncoming rebel warliners, even if he had to take them one at a time.
“The Adar is already on his way, Liege.”
Like wild animals, Thor’h’s stolen warliners careened into the much larger cohort arrayed in a defensive pattern overhead. The Solar Navy battleships had activated their protective shields, but the attackers unleashed explosive projectiles and energy beams with such ferocity that several warliners were damaged. Engines smoking and hull plates scored with deep marks, three of the Mage-Imperator’s ships dropped out of formation, struggling to remain aloft. One managed to reach the landing field, where confiscation crews were still burning shiing in large bonfires; the other two damaged warliners wavered, then careened through the canal-laced cropland, spraying mud, ashes, and water, before finally coming to rest in open fields.
Without any regimentation, Thor’h’s warliners stampeded through the loyal ships, opening fire again and again. They attacked like a pack of rabid predators pouncing on a large group of herd beasts.
The Solar Navy ships responded with conservative blows, attempting to damage but not destroy the rebellious vessels. Their tactics were too hesitant, and the captains did not retaliate with enough force. Thor’h seized the opportunity and ordered his ships to concentrate their attack on one of the lumbering warliners: All forty-five ships opened fire, and the warliner could not withstand the barrage. The giant vessel exploded.
Jora’h could feel hundreds of his crewmen dying as they tumbled into the open air, burned in the flame front. Horror and dismay thrummed through the thism like a shrieking off-key note from a musical instrument.
Jora’h sent determined reassurance through the soul-threads he controlled, forcing the crews to stay together. He could sense nothing from the traitorous Prime Designate, but Thor’h must be laughing.
Before the rebel battleships could converge over the citadel palace and strike the siege encampment, Zan’nh’s warliners returned from the nialia fields in an overwhelming display of superior military power. Now more than three hundred full-scale battleships faced the newly arrived group.
Watching the aerial battles beside the Dobro Designate, Jora’h snapped to the anxious septar, “Instruct Adar Zan’nh to implement the surrender of these rebels. He is to bring Thor’h to me—unharmed.”
“You expect them to simply lay down their arms?” Udru’h said. “They are fanatically corrupted by Rusa’h. They will not see reason. I warn you not to underestimate the danger.”
Jora’h drew deep breaths, focusing his concentration. “I am surrounded by seven times as many loyal soldiers as Thor’h has. My grasp on the thism is enough. By its own strength, my mind can direct the turncoats back to the correct pathways.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and reached his mental fingers into the rebel warliners, seeking out each mind aboard, each person who had once belonged to him. Nimbly touching the wiry soul-threads,