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give," she said. "Why don't you 'old friends' fill in your new bud about
these important things, okay?"
Korkal regarded her a moment, as if making up his mind about
Then he nodded. "His race and mine," he said calmly as he his head toward
Harpy, "though we have been enemies for of your years, have finally come to an
agreement about
Yeah? Like what?"
I'he necessity of destroying humanity as utterly and completely as
Call. "Oh, boy," Char said. Suddenly her voice sounded small. She at
Korkal's fur-ringed face but, having no way to interpret what saw as truth or
not, she looked down at her knees and bit at her lip.
Jim knew exactly how she felt.
On Hunzza, in the swarming heart of the Imperial Nest, a colonel turned his
head slightly as his huge eyes widened. He had monitored this particular
channel for nearly three years, and not once had he ever received a message
beyond the periodic electronic throat clearings designed to test whether the
link was still functioning perfectly.
Next to him the chief duty officer, a general despite commanding only this
small group, stared back at him.
"Is it... ?" the general began.
The colonel blinked his eyes nervously, rapidly, the Hunzzan equivalent of
uneasy laughter. "Uh... yes. It's real."
The general flashed several rows of white fangs, turned, and initiated a
series of alarms. On a holoscreen before him appeared the visage of a much
higher-ranking general.
"Yes?"
"We have a request to establish the hot link," the first general said.
The second general went silent, then tightened his jaw and nodded. His
Imperial Majesty will be notified of the request." He paused. A flash of
darting pink showed at the edge of his suddenly exposed tooth line.
"Who is calling?."
And though cation was unnecessary, his nevves got the better of added, "Of the
Albagensian Empire." .
Half Moon was as close to rage as she ever allowed get. Her skin was flushed
dark, her eyes showed a hint web, and her harsh, raspy voice was dangerously
low and
"I don't care," she instructed a male underling, a man Horchow, whose face
looked as if he'd been kicked in the balls ' trying to ignore the pain. "You
fred him. He can't just them. Endicott, the girl, the
Hunzza. And Korkal Emut D, him, too. Find them all."
"Yes, Madame Chairman." Horchow knew better than to thing else when she was
in this kind of mood. He enjoyed his comfortable position. He hoped to
maintain it, if he could current fiasco.
She stared at him. "Use whatever it takes. You have any you need. But fred
them!" "Yes, Chairman." "Get out."
She watched as he turned and left her office. For a was alone. Not really
alone--she had never been really alone, 1 one moment, since she took this
office. Something or always with her, watching, listening, sensing. But her
human system had evolved over thousands of years to react to ence, not the
ghostly tendrils of the electronic fog that encased her in a cocoon of
security. So she felt alone, even wasn't.
There was a thin streak of dust on the far right corner of her It showed
plainly in the afternoon sunlight slanting in from dow behind her. An
incredibly expensive antique mantel clock above the fireplace on the far wall.
She listened to the sound, her own pulse might respond by slowing to that
softer, more cadence.
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What did it mean? She had gone along with Korkal. She
Now everything had vanished. Korkal, the boy, the Hunzza, the little girl
whose name wasn't really Char. Delta had warned her the aliens were monsters,
but she hadn't believed him. Now Delta gone, too.
She sat silently in her chair, staring at the dust, and knew that even hundred
people were in this room with her, she would still be alone.
For the first time since the explosion of his satellite had freed her to the
power she'd held only in name, she missed Delta. He'd a monster. But now,
more and more, she was coming to another ion He'd also been right.
It took monsters to deal with monsters. She was afraid she might too human to
serve.
arpy slowly lifted his head and stared at Korkal. "What? Albagens
Hunzza together? What are you talking about?" "Shut up, Harpy," Char said.
But some fevered strength had come back into his voice. "No! What you mean,
Korkal?"
Korkal's gaze slid toward Jim. Jim nodded. He felt a growing sour ness in
the back of his throat. Harpy was terrified. He hated putting the screws to
the Hunzza this way, but he had to know. Harpy had secrets, but secrets were
a luxury Jim could no longer afford to allow--to himself, or to those around
him.
"Fell him," Jim said.
A cone of red light appeared in the center of the room and began to flash. A
bell chimed. A soft voice murmured, 'he vessel is under attack. Alert. The
vessel is under attack."
CHAPTER TEN
Heldun Und Rorg was a low-level navigation specialist, only recently promoted
to a station on Command Deck. It was a minor station, hidden in a flock of a
hundred similar interfaces, nearly a quarter mile from the crag of the
captain's chair.
Rippling sheets of color were still flaring across the vast transparent dome
covering Command Deck. The hooting of alarms had been turned off, but the
warning colors remained as a reminder that the Albagens Pride was still under
attack.
Rorg glanced up at the star fields that arched over the deck. The view was
spectacular. The great glowing flag of the galaxy's lens, called by the
locals the Milky Way, covered a good part of the visible sky.
But coming in over that vast arch of stars were tiny flashing lights, barely
visible.
The attackers were former allies, the escort left behind to help secure
Sol System from Hunzzan attack until a larger blocking force could arrive from
Alba. But their orders had changed, and now they flung themselves at the
armored might of the Pr/de. Rorg knew they were doomed, except for one thing:
Her orders had changed also.
She lowered her gaze from the dome to the party now making its way in the
distance. It was a small group, but she recognized the familiar figure of the
captain, Korkal Emut Denai, in the lead. Directly behind him were two humans
and a Hunzza. A small group of guards made a screen around them as they
walked. Rorg showed a flicker of fang as she stared at the Hunzza.
The group was about a third of the way in from the entrance to
Command Deck, moving slowly in the general direction of tain's chair.
The captain was talking with the male human, one--she thought his name was
Jim--was making a reply. He his hands as he spoke. She sensed his urgency,
even if she understand his gestures.
She reached up and unplugged the cable from her socke! glanced around to see
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if anybody had noticed her disconnection the navigation networks, but her
supervisor was busy with station. She reached into a pocket of her jumper and
felt the molded lump there. It nestled in her hand as if it had been made so,
which it had.
She did not know Park Ling Mundel at all. She had no idea immediate source of
her orders. But they had come with all the activation codes, and so she had
no choice about obeying Shortly after she'd received them something had
happened. She still not sure exactly what. But something had changed heart
of the ship's controls. For a period of time it had almost that something [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]