The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [139]
Nira stepped directly in front of Jora’h, boldly placing herself between him and the gun. “You will not kill him.”
Tilton looked more flustered than angry. “You think I won’t just shoot you both if it comes to that? If I have to?”
“If you harm me, or either of us,” Jora’h said in a voice as hard and cold as frozen steel, “then you guarantee that my Solar Navy will kill every single person on this base. They will feel the moment of my death. You saw how furiously my handful of guards fought when they tried to free me. Imagine what would happen if they knew you had killed me.” Even though Jora’h despised the Hansa Chairman for what he had done, he did not wish to inflict a bloodbath on the human soldiers. His true battle had always been clear — to fight the faeros.
Tilton was holding his sidearm halfheartedly. “Then I suggest we reach some sort of satisfactory conclusion here.”
“The only satisfactory conclusion is for you to release me so I can go back and save my Empire. You and your Chairman have already done enough damage.”
Sporadic gunfire echoed through the tunnels, coming closer. Tilton seemed very alarmed.
“The Solar Navy soldiers are approaching, Commandant,” Nira said, stepping even closer to the man’s sidearm. “If you order your troops to dig in and fight back, you know it’ll be a massacre, and you’ll never hold them back. In the end the Ildirans will still free us.”
“The outcome is a foregone conclusion,” Jora’h said. “But the path to it is not yet decided. Tell your soldiers to withdraw. Let us go free. You will be saving hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives.”
“Most of them human lives,” Nira pointed out. “Do the honorable thing.”
Tilton’s expression was in knots, as if he were ready either to explode or collapse. He shifted the sidearm. “Chairman Wenceslas isn’t going to like this one bit,” he finally said under his breath. He shouted over his shoulder to his soldiers crowded in the corridor. “Pass the word on the intercom. Do not engage the Solar Navy troops!” He clenched his jaw, working his muscles. “Inform the Ildirans that their Mage-Imperator is unharmed — and will remain unharmed only if they stop killing my men.”
Slowly, the sounds of sporadic resistance died away, though the chaotic shouts continued. With thunderous footsteps, bestial-looking Solar Navy soldiers charged down the tunnels, their crystal katanas ready to slash apart any uniformed EDF personnel who stood in their way. Adar Zan’nh strode at the head of the group, looking as if he had just conquered an entire planet.
As soon as the Adar approached the holding cell, Tilton again pointed his sidearm threateningly at Jora’h. “What guarantee do I have that your troops won’t murder us all once you’ve taken the Mage-Imperator? I need assurances for me and my personnel.”
Zan’nh narrowed his eyes, fixated on the hand weapon. “This is an insult. Have you not done enough harm already?”
Tilton was extremely jittery to see the sheer number of Solar Navy soldiers pressing close. Nira stepped forward and simply plucked the weapon from the man’s sweaty hands. “You aren’t going to shoot him, Commandant.” Tilton looked ready to collapse.
Jora’h stepped forward. “Good work, Adar.”
A broad smile of relief crossed Zan’nh’s face. Unable to restrain himself, he embraced his father, then stepped back to salute his Mage-Imperator in a more formal fashion. “I have what I came for.” He glowered at the defeated commandant. “It is time for the Solar Navy to withdraw.”
* * *
97
Sullivan Gold
When the Chairman sent his family to the lunar base “for their own protection,” Sullivan had not expected the place to be pleasant. Nor had he expected to be caught in the middle of a war.
Before he agreed to go to the Roamer gas giant of Golgen with a full EDF peacekeeping escort, Sullivan followed Lydia and his family to the Moon, insisting on seeing them settled in. He tried to promise them (and, secretly, himself) that everything would be all right. This was a painful solution, but the only