Scattered Suns - Kevin J. Anderson [86]
When at last the group of Manta cruisers departed, leaving behind both disarray and relief, Denn met again with the Grand Governor. In her face, he saw the depth of the fury and resentment she had so carefully hidden for the past few days. For the anger to penetrate even her studied placidity, he knew it must burn hot indeed.
“At least that’s over with,” Denn said with a wry cheer he did not feel. “I appreciate your not hanging us out to dry.”
“If I had any doubts before, this has dispelled them.” She glanced up at the open sky, as if Stromo might still be up there eavesdropping, and Denn saw her jaw clench for a moment. “After all this time, the Hansa finally sent discretionary ships to Yreka. They could have brought food, medical supplies, equipment...but they just wanted to push us around. You on the other hand, who had no reason to help us, came here with the things we needed, despite the potential risks to yourself.”
Denn flushed. “I can be as altruistic as the next man, ma’am, but my people really need the trade, too...”
Caleb scratched under one arm. Both of them were anxious to get back into familiar Roamer clothes. “The Big Goose has dumped on plenty of other colonies. Let’s hope those other people feel the same as you all. If you give us a shopping list, we’ll see what we can arrange for our next trip here—”
The Grand Governor’s brow furrowed; she was still seething about the EDF. “We accept your proposal, Mr. Peroni, and look forward to whatever the Roamers want to offer. I had already made up my mind to allow a bit of surreptitious trade, but now I’ve decided to actively help you. We will set up a black-market interchange station here, and the Hansa can go to hell for all I care.”
Chapter 40—IMPERATOR RUSA’H
Hyrillka was already his, and now that he had control of the seized warliners, Rusa’h planned to strike out across the Horizon Cluster, bringing his enlightenment and power to many more Ildiran planets. The first step would be Dzelluria, less than a day’s journey away.
Everything on Hyrillka was going well. He expected nothing less, since he had witnessed the true path to the Lightsource.
Recently he’d been amused, and not at all surprised, when the Mage-Imperator sent three scout cutters to investigate what had happened to Adar Zan’nh. Even through his corrupted soul-threads, Jora’h would certainly have sensed the deaths of so many victims during the hostage crisis, and then the explosion of the sacrificial warliner. It should have been an excruciatingly clear message, and a warning, just as the execution of Pery’h had been.
He didn’t expect his brother to listen. It would be a long and painful road before the man who called himself Mage-Imperator accepted his defeat and surrendered to Rusa’h.
The scout cutters had blundered into the Hyrillka system, poking around. Though aware of the possible danger, the Solar Navy crewmen had not been prepared for the trap. Since they were not part of Rusa’h’s new network, they had been unable to feel thism on this whole planet, and thus his converts had easily seized them. His warliners had surrounded the three cutters, and the confused Ildiran crew had demanded explanations.
Rusa’h had found it easiest just to gas them with shiing to make the cutters’ crews susceptible, so that he could pull loose their soul-threads and restring them onto his own network. As soon as the drug wore off, the scout crews belonged entirely to him. And he added three new armored cutters to his military force.
Neat, swift, simple. And now for the next phase.
Rusa’h had already dispatched Prime Designate Thor’h with one of the warliners on a special mission to Dobro. Thor’h carried a message: an offer or an ultimatum, depending on how Udru’h received him. The new Imperator felt he might find an ally in the Dobro Designate, who clearly disagreed with many of Jora