Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [36]
Basil frowned as he stepped back into his quarters. “The matter is under review, and no cause for your concern.”
Peter gave a knowing nod. “You taught me to use answers like that to avoid giving any information.”
Basil narrowed his gray eyes. “Then that’s one lesson you remember, at least. Try to pay more attention to the other ones.” The Chairman sealed himself in his quarters.
Estarra looked at her husband, wide-eyed. “Do you have to provoke him?”
“I can’t let him forget that I know his game.” Peter slipped his arm around her waist. “No matter how much I despise Basil, those Soldier compies still worry me. I know he’s just as uncertain about them as I am—but because the EDF can’t do without the Soldier compies, Basil doesn’t want to find anything wrong with them. The war effort couldn’t afford to lose them. He’s not stupid, though. Even with all his reassurances, I doubt he’s ignoring the threat entirely.”
“He just doesn’t want to tell you what he’s doing?”
“Because that would validate my suspicions. He’ll never admit that. I’ve still got OX digging into the matter, but lately his time has been committed to Prince Daniel.”
The two of them crossed to the forward observation deck to watch as they approached the seven suns of Ildira. The pilot had detected unusually violent flare activity in one of the stars, a component of the Durris triple sun, and therefore chose a course that allowed them to enter the core Ildiran systems along a completely different vector.
They sat in plush chairs on the observation deck to watch the streaming stars. Surrounded by the endless wilderness of space, Estarra felt alone and vulnerable, far from Earth and far from Theroc. She clutched Peter’s arm, and he held her close, reassuring her without words, though he was in over his head as much as she was.
Estarra tried to take heart from the knowledge that they would soon be in the fabled city of Mijistra, in an ancient alien empire that had remained stable for more than ten thousand years. Among the Ildirans, as guests of the Mage-Imperator, she was sure that all their troubles would seem far away.
Chapter 15—ADAR ZAN’NH
After Thor’h opened fire on the doomed warliner, explosions continued as bulkhead after bulkhead ripped open. Aboard the flagship, Zan’nh clutched the railing to keep his balance against the torrent of screams from the helpless Solar Navy crewmen as they died.
Trapped and desperate, he could barely catch his breath, but he squeezed out the words. He could think of no other choice. “Thor’h! I will—I will destroy your ship! I will order all my warliners to open fire!”
Thor’h just chuckled. “Do you think I could believe such absurdity? That you or your crew would slaughter the innocent crewmembers of this warliner, merely to eliminate me and seven rebels? This ship is full of your own Solar Navy soldiers. Remember that. Ildirans do not fire on Ildirans.” He laughed again. “You have neither the strength nor the nerve. It is an alien concept to you.”
As if to prove his appalling resolve, Thor’h launched a second volley against the already dying ship. The unnecessary stream of explosives tore the remaining shreds of the Ildiran battleship’s hull into smoldering droplets of slag that drifted in random trajectories, propelled by dwindling momentum.
Through the thism, the deaths of the last crewmembers plunged like hot knives into Zan’nh’s back. Across the comm channels of the remaining forty-six warliners, Solar Navy soldiers wailed, unable to accept the impossible reality.
“Your pain must be unbearable, Adar,” the Hyrillka Designate said, his tone a mockery of compassion. Then, as the seconds ticked away, Rusa’h ordered more hostages to line up for execution in the docking bay. “I appeal to you again—surrender your ships and put an end to this suffering.” When Zan’nh did not answer, the Designate heaved a sigh. “Two minutes left.