Fifty-one
The voice rang out through the bridge of the
dreadnought Amikol on the channel reserved for the monitoring of Hive
transmissions.
"This is Executor General Gorlon Hague speaking, the
man who killed Dalikor and negotiated a truce with the Hive that allowed
the Alliance to rule for five centuries. Destroy Covonia and I promise
that you and the Alliance worlds that gave you birth will not survive."
Commander Biester pursed his lips. Silence ruled the
bridge for a time. "Cease fire and see what he has to say."
He opened channels to the Commander of the Sereeb and
to the office of Agent Lee Wokan of Colonial Investigations aboard the
destroyer Eimaton. "General Hague's threats exceed our theater of
operation. We will stand down until ordered by the appropriate
authorities to continue the writ of execution."
Lee Wokan leaped to his feet screaming. "No! Upon
my authority, resume the writ of execution!"
"Your authority does not extend that far,” Biester
said mildly, "You will forward General Hague's threat to the core worlds
for evaluation before we proceed with the writ of execution."
"You fool, I just destroyed Myla Rhodes! Covonia has
the Dalikor technology aboard its cities! Destroy them before it begins
all over again!”
Biester considered the strident warning and rejected
it as unlikely. "We will contain the surviving eight cities until this
matter is resolved by the highest Alliance authorities."
Lee Wokan forwarded General Hague's ultimatum to Lord
Gaston and fumed in impotent silence.
Aboard Bolphan, Talor Einsik was on his way to the
Overlord's quarters in response to the second emergency call within the
hour when he felt the tremble in the deck and the gentle thunder in the
air fall silent. Sensing that the attack upon Covonia had subsided, some
of his tension drained away. Regardless, he approached Khalin's quarters
fearing what he would find. Now would be a bad time for Covonia to lose
its leader. Several of the cities would be certain to panic.
Telemetry in the medical lab had showed Khalin's
interface with his avatar intact, although an EKG revealed a disrupting
storm of panic. Khalin had been terribly frightened, possibly a symptom
of his failing mind, but perhaps triggered again by the clone's unsettling
behavior. If he could stabilize Khalin, he would remove the child from
his custody. All Covonia needed was the figurehead of Khalin Nome in the
seat of his power. Even the empty shell of an avatar would suffice.
Einsik found Khalin's avatar collapsed upon the deck
of his visitor's reception chamber. He began a systematic search of the
apartment and found the girl cowering in the hygiene chamber.
"Please help me."
Einsik reeled back with a strangled cry.
She rubbed her arms folded against her chest. She
pleaded for an explanation with her dark eyes.
Einsik contained his panic. It took a moment before
he could make his voice work, and it was but a harsh whisper.
"Who are you?"
"Myla Rhodes," the creature said eagerly.
Einsik shook his head in emphatic denial. There was
no Myla Rhodes. The child had never existed, not as a creature of flesh
and blood.
"I was with Jeremy and Dikki."
"Committed to the void!" Einsik cried. "Gone!"
She stared at him, trembling in shock. It
accomplished nothing to deny the evidence of his senses. How the
impossible had happened could wait for another time. He looked to where
Khalin had fallen.
"Is Khalin dead?" the girl asked.
"Khalin is dying," Einsik said and found it
appalling that he was talking with the creature. The only explanation
that made any sense was almost as unlikely. Myla Rhodes had somehow
survived, but if this was the Mysaelian avatar, why was it bleeding?
"Is his body aboard the Ark?" she said.
"All crypts have been transferred to the cities. The
Ark is empty. Khalin Nome is here in Bolphan."
"I must see him.” There were tears in her eyes. “I
must speak with him before he dies."
"Council Prime Executive Basil Whalyk,” he
murmured. “See him with your request.”
She had trouble coordinating herself. She kept
looking down at herself in astonishment, sighing constant surprise and
fright.
Tears formed in her eyes. "I need Jeremy back."
Each time she spoke was like a blow to his sanity.
Basil would confirm what his senses told him was impossible. He needed a
consensus, Basil and a medical team to investigate this anomaly. Gorlon
had effectively ruled Bolphan for almost two centuries, but Gorlon was
elsewhere. Only the Council Prime Executive remained with the authority
needed to determine what to do next.
