Forty
Lee Woken’s smug expression filled Khalin Nome's
communication screen. "We have received a verdict from the Alliance High
Court. It is not thought credible that one man could have acted alone to
flaunt and challenge the authority of the Alliance as Covonia has gone.
The ten cities of Covonia are considered to have stood with you, Khalin
Nome. The writ for your execution has been released to me. The Alliance
war fleet has moved into position within the past standard hour, as you
have undoubtedly noticed. Sentence is to be carried out immediately."
Lee Wokan glanced over his shoulder and said in a
casual tone of voice, "Commence firing, all batteries."
Nothing much happened in the next few moments. In
the background, Khalin heard the hum of Bolphan's powerful field engines
intensify somewhat. Lee Wokan looked puzzled.
Basil Whalyk spoke on an audio channel. "We are
under siege by the destroyer Eimaton. The other nine cities are being
attacked by lesser warcraft."
"So I have just been informed by the Alliance,"
Khalin said.
"What are we to do now?"
"We wait."
Laitin Doen's static ridden image sprang to life in
black and white on a side screen, a face contorted by rage and panic. "I
warned you all! You have brought certain destruction down upon
yourselves, and Tasia chooses not to die in the presence of traitors and
betrayers of the sacred trust we placed in the hands of the Ruling Council
and the Overlord of Covonia! Tasia will be a seed thrown among the
stars!"
"Not all seeds thrown to foreign soil take root,"
Khalin warned gently. "Basil, will any of the other cities be joining
Tasia?"
"The rest stand united," Basil Whalyk said. "Doen,
don't be a fool. We can withstand a siege..."
Doen's screen went dead in midsentence. Overlord
Khalin Nome felt one of the ten cities of Covonia vanish from the part of
his mind interfaced with the Covonian neural web. For the first time in
many centuries, it was simply gone, and no number of centuries would ever
bring it back.
"They're gone," Whalyk murmured in the silence that
ensued. "May the gods of infinite universes have mercy upon them."
"It is the nature of every defeat we has ever
suffered," Nome said. "We falter in our courage and our conviction. Our
losses are self-imposed. The universe around us has never shown itself to
be so cruel as we are to ourselves."
Basil spoke after a time. "What is it we are waiting
for, Khalin?"
"We wait to see what Myla will accomplish. She will
do what she thinks best for us. It is in her heart."
Nome reached out to caress the soft cheek of the
mindless child at his side, Myla’s human clone. "It happens every time.
We cannot imagine a power greater than our worst fears, and so we think we
stand helpless against our enemies. I wonder
what a child with the mind of a god can see, what power she holds.
“I wonder at the vision she will choose to fulfill."
