The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [112]
Ridek’h heard them, but echoes of the mental shout also resonated through the barrier, and the faeros incarnate realized that someone was helping his victim. Burning Rusa’h stood nonplussed at the blackened dry mouth where the seven streams converged, curious about what could be powerful enough to prevent him from taking what he wanted.
Run, Ridek’h!
Osira’h caught a ripple of the young man’s thoughts, feeling his resolve as he faced death, his satisfaction that he had accomplished what he had wanted to. She shouted out again, penetrating his awareness with a glimmer of the plan that was under way to destroy the mad Designate and divert the faeros. Your work is done, Ridek’h. Go — we will help you escape.
Reeling, the boy scrambled from the blazing Prism Palace while the faeros incarnate was momentarily paralyzed with surprise. Ridek’h ran headlong down the well-trodden path that led away from the hill.
Nira’s five children found the strength to maintain their shield, but now the mad Designate came after them along the mental pathways. Tracing their thism connections, Rusa’h used all his strength to lash out at Osira’h and her siblings. But they thwarted him, diverting his concentration using the protective powers of thism and the verdani telink, as well as their own synergy.
Rusa’h bellowed in their minds, demanding to take all of their soulfires for the salvation of the Ildiran people. Osira’h could feel him battering at her mind, trying to rip information from her. The faeros incarnate sensed something was about to happen.
And young Ridek’h kept running.
In her mind, Osira’h felt the mad Designate become suspicious. He had caught a glimpse of the trap about to be sprung.
She clenched her brother’s hand tightly. They had to keep Rusa’h busy for at least a short while longer. The boy Designate had far to go before he could hope to escape the impending holocaust. The timing would be close.
Adar Zan’nh was ready to launch his ships. Prime Designate Daro’h remained in the cave shelter, prepared to seize back the Empire. Up in the shipyards Tal O’nh had implemented the initial stages of his plan.
The end was coming.
Somehow, in their efforts to protect Ridek’h, fear and anticipation trickled through the barriers the children had set up around themselves. A few revelatory thoughts slipped free — and the faeros incarnate caught a hint of what the Prime Designate planned to do. He knew his danger.
Osira’h could hear his flaming roar throughout the web of thism.
By the time he unleashed his fury from the Prism Palace, Rusa’h was no longer concerned about one defiant boy, but his own survival.
* * *
79
General Kurt Lanyan
General Lanyan had already faced the subhive on Pym with a small group of soldiers, and he had no interest in repeating the escapade, but Chairman Wenceslas hadn’t given him a choice. So, he kept reminding himself that this was an opportunity to show what he was made of. At least this time he had a strong enough military force to really do some damage to the bugs.
Though he was glad to be at the helm of a Juggernaut again, feeling secure in the giant ship’s mass and armor, he still had plenty of concerns. In a single Manta, Admiral Diente had been too easily overwhelmed. With the Thunder Child and seven accompanying Mantas, though, Lanyan had a great deal of firepower, including atmospheric-dispersal bombardment capabilities that would turn half a continent into a lake of molten glass. From what he had seen of Pym before, that could only improve the scenery.
This time, he vowed the Klikiss wouldn’t take him by surprise. Unlike Diente, Lanyan did not plan to negotiate.
As his ships approached, Lanyan transmitted over a coded channel (not that he expected the bugs were eavesdropping on EDF transmissions), “Admiral Brindle, I want this to be a swift and devastating operation. As soon as we acquire a target, drop the scorchers and level any structures down there. Wave after wave, constant bombardment. That should do the trick.”
“Yes, General,” Brindle said from the helm