The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [1]
Chapter 128: King Peter
Chapter 129: Sarein
Chapter 130: King Peter
Chapter 131: Patrick Fitzpatrick III
Chapter 132: Jess Tamblyn
Chapter 133: Tasia Tamblyn
Chapter 134: Sarein
Chapter 135: Chairman Basil Wenceslas
Chapter 136: Sirix
Chapter 137: Margaret Colicos
Chapter 138: Chairman Basil Wenceslas
Chapter 139: King Peter
Chapter 140: Sirix
Chapter 141: Chairman Basil Wenceslas
Chapter 142: King Peter
Chapter 143: Robb Brindle
Chapter 144: Admiral Sheila Willis
Chapter 145: Adar Zan’nh
Chapter 146: Prime Designate Daro’h
Chapter 147: Sirix
Chapter 148: Robb Brindle
Chapter 149: Tasia Tamblyn
Chapter 150: Chairman Basil Wenceslas
Chapter 151: Nikko Chan Tylar
Chapter 152: Osira’h
Chapter 153: Chairman Basil Wenceslas
Chapter 154: Mage-Imperator Jora’h
Chapter 155: King Peter
Chapter 156: Robb Brindle
Chapter 157: Jess Tamblyn
Chapter 158: Deputy Chairman Eldred Cain
Chapter 159: Tasia Tamblyn
Chapter 160: King Peter
Chapter 161: DD
Chapter 162: Mage-Imperator Jora’h
Chapter 163: Anton Colicos
Chapter 164: Adar Zan’nh
Chapter 165: Queen Estarra
Chapter 166: Margaret Colicos
Chapter 167: Sullivan Gold
Chapter 168: Nira
Chapter 169: Orli Covitz
Chapter 170: Patrick Fitzpatrick III
Chapter 171: Margaret Colicos
Chapter 172: Jess Tamblyn
Chapter 173: King Peter
Glossary
Acknowledgments
* * *
To Rebecca Moesta
Not just for this novel, but for all the books in the series and all the novels I’ve written. You have helped me find my Guiding Star not only in my writing, but in my life.
* * *
A N.E.R.D.s Release
* * *
THE STORY SO FAR
The hydrogue war had ended with a devastating final battle at Earth. Adar Zan’nh sacrificed much of the Ildiran Solar Navy to destroy the deadly warglobes. Jess Tamblyn and Cesca Peroni led the wentals and the verdani to fight the hydrogues inside their gas-giant planets; the Roamer engineer Kotto Okiah developed a new weapon to shatter the diamond spheres. Finally, the defeated hydrogues were bottled up within their gas planets, where they could cause no further harm.
The Earth Defense Forces, led by General Lanyan, had already been crippled in a revolt by the black robots, and the final battle around Earth smashed many more EDF ships. Sirix and his black robots hoped to use their stolen fleet to help the hydrogues achieve victory, but the tides of battle turned against them, and Sirix and his comrades were forced to run for their lives.
The turmoil of the battle gave King Peter and Queen Estarra the opportunity to escape the increasingly irrational Chairman Wenceslas. With the aid of Estarra’s sister Sarein, Deputy Chairman Cain, and Captain McCammon of the royal guard, they slipped away from the Whisper Palace. The Teacher compy OX purged his precious memories to obtain the mental capacity needed to operate a small hydrogue derelict, and he flew them safely to Theroc. There, Peter and Estarra declared a new unified government for humanity, the Confederation. All green priests refused to serve the Hansa unless Basil Wenceslas resigned, which the Chairman would not do. Seeing few people he could trust, Basil resorted to more reactionary tactics. As Therons, Roamer clans, and orphaned Hansa colonies joined the Confederation, Chairman Wenceslas grew more and more isolated.
On Llaro, the EDF had detained many refugees including Orli Covitz, Hud Steinman, Davlin Lotze, and many Roamer prisoners of war. While the EDF guards were waiting to be rotated home after the end of the hydrogue war, Llaro’s transportal walls activated and hordes of monstrous insect creatures marched through — the ancient race of the Klikiss, long thought to be extinct. They had returned from their distant Swarming and now wanted their colony worlds back.
The long-lost xeno-archaeologist Margaret Colicos and her compy, DD, accompanied the Klikiss. Relying on her wits and the odd tune played by a small music box, Margaret had found a way to survive among them for many years. Now she became an interpreter for the hapless Llaro colonists as the Klikiss fenced