The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [141]
When he finally worked his way through the muscular guard kithmen, Sullivan faced the Adar and the Mage-Imperator. He could barely catch his breath. “My family and I request sanctuary in the Ildiran Empire. Please take us with you.”
“This is quite a turnabout, Sullivan Gold.” Jora’h looked at him in surprise. “Have you changed your mind about staying in the Hansa?”
“Yes, sir, we have,” Lydia piped up for him. “Our whole family has.”
Surprisingly, the Adar spoke in his favor. “This man has already demonstrated how much he has to offer our people, Liege. We know he would be a continued asset to the Empire.”
“And my family can be just as useful. This is my wife, Lydia.” He pointed to the rest of the group. “I’ll introduce the others later. The Chairman had them all held hostage. Please take us back to Ildira. We’d much rather be there.”
Mage-Imperator Jora’h turned a sad but understanding face toward him. “The faeros have invaded Ildira. Hundreds of thousands have already died. Mijistra itself is obliterated, as is the Prism Palace. I am no longer sure how much of my Empire remains.”
Sullivan was shocked to hear the news, but he did not change his mind. “Nevertheless, we’d still rather take our chances with the Ildirans. We’ll help you however we can. This hasn’t been a picnic here.”
The Mage-Imperator nodded, then gestured for them to follow. By the time they climbed aboard a large troop transport, Sullivan had calmed the family somewhat. “It’ll be all right — I mean it this time.”
Clusters of ships rose away from the landing fields on the Moon to join the crowded warliners in low orbit. Sullivan was amazed at the speed of the frantic mass exodus. The whole operation was astoundingly efficient.
While the Solar Navy retrieved its personnel from the Moon, the outer ring of warliners remained ready to intercept the first reinforcement battleships that were en route from Earth. From start to finish, Adar Zan’nh’s lightning strike and his near-bloodless rescue of the Mage-Imperator lasted no more than two hours.
Once all personnel were aboard, the first septas of warliners streaked away toward a prearranged rendezvous point. Sullivan and his family followed the Mage-Imperator and Nira into the command nucleus of Adar Zan’nh’s warliner. Jora’h and Nira’s young daughter Osira’h greeted her parents with hugs. Sullivan wasn’t sure if he belonged there, but none of the Ildirans complained.
Warliners continued to streak away, one by one, as soon as their crews returned. While waiting for the rest of the evacuation, the remaining Solar Navy maniples clustered in a defensive formation, prepared to depart once they had finished guarding the retreat. Though his primary mission had been to rescue the Mage-Imperator, Adar Zan’nh insisted on remaining there until all ships had gotten safely away.
When the last cutters and troop transports landed aboard the flagship, he looked at the Mage-Imperator’s warliner, which had been seized by the EDF, still in a parking orbit over the Moon. He seemed to be weighing options, deciding whether or not he had time to retrieve it.
A new set of alarms shrieked throughout the command nucleus. “Adar, incoming vessels! They are on their way to the Moon from outside the system. A . . . vast number.”
“It’s probably the EDF chasing you,” Sullivan said, trying to stay out of the way. “But I didn’t think they had that many ships left outside of the solar system.”
Zan’nh stood with his father, staring at the main projection screen. “These are not Earth vessels. In fact, these are not truly vessels at all . . .”
Moving so swiftly that the sensors had difficulty tracking them, bright lights drove forward like flashes of fire from deep space. It looked like a frenzied cluster of stars shot into the solar system, flaming ellipsoids too numerous to count.
“If the faeros knew to come here, then apparently Rusa’h was not killed in the destruction of Mijistra, as we hoped,