Peter sighed and let his shoulders sag. "You won't believe this, but I swear we didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident, a surprise to both of us. Maybe it was nature asserting itself to continue the species in a time of great threat."

Though Basil appeared outwardly calm, he seemed to carry a thunderstorm inside, a simmering frustration that had been building as each small failure added to previous ones. "Don't lecture me, Peter. Someday, at a time of my my choosing, when choosing, when I I give you leave, the two of you might be allowed to have a child. But not now. Estarra will simply have to get rid of the fetus before it becomes public knowledge. I'll have discreet medical specialists visit her shortly." give you leave, the two of you might be allowed to have a child. But not now. Estarra will simply have to get rid of the fetus before it becomes public knowledge. I'll have discreet medical specialists visit her shortly."

Peter stared, trying to quell the anger and horror rising inside him. The Chairman could easily have taken Estarra and forced her to undergo an abortion without any warning at all-instead, he preferred to twist the knife and make absolutely sure the King and Queen knew what he intended to do.

Basil gave Peter a withering look and glanced meaningfully at the pasty-faced, drugged Prince Daniel. "And please don't insult my abilities by imagining that you could stop me."

Chapter 94-DOBRO DESIGNATE UDRU'H.

Knowing there would be much more difficult conquests in the Horizon Cluster, Rusa'h had dispatched Prime Designate Thor'h with most of the maniple to absorb another Ildiran world into his ever-expanding web.

Meanwhile, one fully armed warliner would be sufficient to crush the small Dobro colony, if Designate Udru'h refused to cooperate. The giant battleship's weapons could lay waste to the centuries-old settlement and the breeding compound.

Though Udru'h coyly continued to avoid giving a direct answer, Imperator Rusa'h showed little concern when he dispatched the single warliner to Dobro. Apparently he thought the Dobro Designate had no real options. Udru'h had always been practical, and he certainly would not allow Dobro to be destroyed.

The warliner carried a full cargo load of shiing to distribute to the Ildiran population on Dobro. If Udru'h himself did not force the conversion, then he would be slain, and the question would be put to the more malleable Designate-in-waiting Daro'h. If young Daro'h also refused, then he too was expendable. Giving Udru'h any choice in the matter was obviously a mere formality.

Ruling his new thism thism network from the citadel palace, he sent the Dobro Designate back home on the former flagship, with Zan'nh himself still prisoner aboard. network from the citadel palace, he sent the Dobro Designate back home on the former flagship, with Zan'nh himself still prisoner aboard.

On the voyage to Dobro, the Designate was allowed his freedom aboard the warliner, but it was merely a larger prison. With the Solar Navy crew loyal to Rusa'h, the self-proclaimed Imperator had no worries about what one Designate could do. Once they reached Dobro, none of them doubted that Udru'h would shift his loyalties. Rusa'h claimed to understand his brother all too clearly.

Udru'h strolled down the warliner's corridors toward the sealed private cabins where the Adar was held captive. Rusa'h had said, "Perhaps on their journey, even the Adar may see the light of reason." Apparently, forcing him to watch the surrender and conversion of Dobro would be another blow to his resolve.

Udru'h knew he did not have much time.

The Dobro Designate's expression remained bland as he approached the two husky guard kithmen stationed outside the door with crystal katanas and bristling armor. Unlike Udru'h, the Adar adamantly and vociferously refused to cooperate, and the guards kept him locked up.

The two guards snapped to attention at the Designate's approach. Facing them, Udru'h used his much-practiced mental skills to mask any stray thoughts, just as a precaution, though these guard kithmen would never have had the prowess to unravel the thism thism connections in his mind. In turn, the converted soldiers were a blank to him, bound together in Rusa'h's secondary mental network. The Dobro Designate considered that an advantage. They were weaker than he. connections in his mind. In turn, the converted soldiers were a blank to him, bound together in Rusa'h's secondary mental network. The Dobro Designate considered that an advantage. They were weaker than he.

He gave them a thin smile. "Your Imperator has instructed me to speak with Zan'nh whenever possible. My brother believes I can wear down the Adar's resistance to joining your cause." He pressed closer to them, keeping his thoughts blank. His heart pounded.

Guard kithmen did not question the instructions of a Designate. The two simultaneously clenched their fists and pressed them against their chestplates in salute. Udru'h did not hesitate.

He sprang forward, raising the curved knife hidden in his left fist. He slashed viciously sideways, slicing the throat of the guard on the left, then continuing with a sweep of momentum, until he brought the point of the knife between the second guard's shoulder plate and collar. He hammered his palm against the pommel, driving the blade home.

The guard with the slashed throat bled profusely. He gasped and coughed and slid to the floor, dying. Even with the knife sticking in his neck, the other guard remained a threat for a few more seconds. The Dobro Designate danced backward, retreating as fast as he could down the hall. Roaring and choking, the second guard staggered after him, grabbing at the knife hilt in his neck.

Udru'h was not a warrior and did not need to be. The poison on the blade was sufficiently fast-acting. It was the same deeply toxic substance that was rumored to have caused the death of Mage-Imperator Cyroc'h. Ironic Ironic.

As the guard plodded forward, his pace became an uneven stagger. From the expression on his bestial face, Udru'h could sense the poison fires burning through his systems. Maintaining a safe distance, Udru'h slowed. The guard reeled, taking longer than expected to die.

The Designate looked around, anxious lest any other Solar Navy crewmen stumble upon them. He hadn't expected to cause so much commotion or such a mess. He wondered if the mad Designate Rusa'h, far off on Hyrillka, would sense the violent deaths of his two followers...

Finally, with a last grunt and a heavy clatter, the guard collapsed face-first in the hall, his crystal katana extended forward.

Udru'h had accomplished the first step. He looked at the blood on his hands, the spray pattern on his garments where the crimson had splashed. Though his head rang with lonely emptiness from being so far from his accustomed thism thism network, he kept his thoughts in order. His pulse raced, and he tried to calm himself. network, he kept his thoughts in order. His pulse raced, and he tried to calm himself.

Ildirans have killed Ildirans. For all his talk about rigidly adhering to the old ways, Imperator Rusa'h had apparently started a new tradition. For all his talk about rigidly adhering to the old ways, Imperator Rusa'h had apparently started a new tradition.

Udru'h lifted his stained crystal knife and headed for the chamber where Adar Zan'nh was held.

Chapter 95-ADAR ZAN'NH.

The chamber walls were closing in on him. Zan'nh heard footsteps moving down the warliner's corridors, but he could not sense the crewmen out there. In normal, sane times any Ildiran lived in a current of other lives, bathed in thism thism, buoyed by the existence and support of so many fellows. The passage of a Solar Navy soldier should have caused a ripple discernible even through the sealed door of the cell.

But he felt nothing. Far, far away the dim soul-threads from Mage-Imperator Jora'h faded more and more as the hours dragged on. Zan'nh had battered his knuckles bloody against the walls, but it did no good. He sank into a corner, wiping his hands and staining his Solar Navy uniform. Adar Kori'nh would certainly have chided him for his sloppy appearance. He rested his face in his palms, ground his teeth together, and held on. held on.

When he heard the commotion in the corridor, Zan'nh lurched to his feet. He crouched in front of the armored door, listening, then backed away. He paused and approached again, ready to spring on anyone who came inside. Now he did sense an echo, a thread of recognizable thism thism coming closer. He didn't understand. coming closer. He didn't understand.

The locking mechanism clicked, the door slid aside.

Though shaking and weak, Zan'nh lunged. The Dobro Designate stood there, his own garments stained. He held a crystal dagger in one hand, hanging casually at his side. In the moment of surprise, Zan'nh drove him backward, striking a hard blow on the Designate's wrist. The crystal dagger clattered to the deck plates.

Though startled, Udru'h recovered swiftly and swept his right foot in an arc that knocked the wavering Adar off balance. With a shove, he tumbled Zan'nh to the floor near the fallen dagger. The Adar grabbed for it, closed his hand around the hilt, but the Dobro Designate stepped on his wrist, pressing down with nearly enough force to crack bone. Zan'nh grunted, released the dagger.

"Enough of this nonsense." The Designate kicked the knife away.

Panting and still sprawled on the deck, Zan'nh finally looked out into the corridor beyond his cell. His wild eyes drank in the unexpected scene: the murdered guard lying in a pool of blood outside his door, the other guard facedown farther down the corridor. He stared up at the spattered and sweating Designate who loomed over him. Zan'nh's voice was raspy and rough. "What is this? You...you have killed Ildirans!"

The Dobro Designate paused another second before lifting his foot from the Adar's wrist. He stepped back, regaining his composure. "Rusa'h isn't the only one who can take extreme measures. Think of all the Ildirans he has killed." He sounded bland and matter-of-fact. "If we are not willing to do unpleasant work, then Rusa'h and his lunatic rebellion will succeed. I have always done what was necessary, and I have always served the Ildiran Empire." He looked with disdain at the Adar, then offered his hand to pull Zan'nh to his feet. "Come with me if you want a chance to end this revolt."

Zan'nh hesitated for a moment, emotions storming through his mind. Then he nodded, frantic for a way out of the chamber, off of this warliner. After his failed bargain to surrender his vessels, he was ready to destroy this ship rather than let it be used to continue spreading Rusa'h's corruption.

"Though I may eventually be damned for it in the Saga, Saga, I agree with you." Zan'nh lowered his voice. "If I had been willing to do what was necessary, we would not be in such a grim situation. Adar Kori'nh would never have let it come to this." I agree with you." Zan'nh lowered his voice. "If I had been willing to do what was necessary, we would not be in such a grim situation. Adar Kori'nh would never have let it come to this."

He followed his uncle out into the too-quiet corridor. Businesslike, the Dobro Designate leaned over the nearer dead guard. Without hesitating, he grasped the armored shoulders and began to drag the heavy soldier toward the open prison cell. "Help me hide these corpses and clean up. That will buy us time."

Blood-sticky hands did not seem to bother the Dobro Designate, but Zan'nh stood staring aghast at the two slaughtered guards. As uniformed Solar Navy warriors, these two had been members of his own crew before their forced conversion. Then he remembered all of his own loyal crewmen who had died as hostages to Rusa'h, murdered one by one until Zan'nh had surrendered his ships. His heart grew cold. He already had blood on his hands. These two guards were casualties of a civil war, and they were less innocent than those other victims had been.

Stronger now, Zan'nh grabbed the second guard, and soon both corpses were sealed behind the door. They used part of one of the dead guards' uniforms to wipe the worst of the bloodstains off the deck, so that no casual passerby would notice the marks. Breathless, they stood together in the corridor.

Though full of corrupted Solar Navy crewmen, the Ildiran battleship was nearly silent in the thism thism. Zan'nh felt only the connection from the Dobro Designate, whom he still did not entirely trust. "So there are only two of us aboard this entire warliner. Do we have a plan?"

Udru'h raised his eyebrows, somewhat amused. "I have already completed my part of the plan, Adar. I freed you. Now I rely on your knowledge of the Solar Navy, and this warliner in particular. The next step is up to you."

Chapter 96-CESCA PERONI.

Even in the heated interior of the Aquarius, Cesca couldn't stop shivering. "I never thought I'd feel warm again." Purcell said to Nikko, "We need to get away, take off before those robots come back for us."

"I'm sure they saw my ship when I flew over," Nikko said. "And I don't have any weapons aboard to defend us."

Cesca glanced at the wrung-out administrator, then at Nikko Chan Tylar, dreading what she had to say. But she was the Speaker, and she had to protect the clans. "We can't just leave here. We've got to prevent those robots from launching their ships. Then they'll be free to destroy any other Roamer bases they find."

Purcell's voice came out as a squawk. "What are we we supposed to do against them? You saw what they did to the base!" supposed to do against them? You saw what they did to the base!"

"And we can't let them do any more. Those were our people our people they slaughtered. Once they get off Jonah 12, we'll have no way of stopping them." they slaughtered. Once they get off Jonah 12, we'll have no way of stopping them."

Nikko said nervously, "I've done some foolish and ambitious things before, Speaker Peroni, but even I I would never tackle a thousand Klikiss robots." would never tackle a thousand Klikiss robots."

She still felt cold and empty, bearing the burden of so many more deaths, so much unprovoked slaughter, and she intended to do something, before it was too late.

"I don't know what we ever did to anger those robots, but I have never seen my Guiding Star so clearly. Whatever they're doing, we can't can't let them succeed. Do you have any doubt that we'll pay for it in the long run? We can nip this in the bud-and it's got to be the three of us. If we just run, the robots will be long gone before we can return with reinforcements." let them succeed. Do you have any doubt that we'll pay for it in the long run? We can nip this in the bud-and it's got to be the three of us. If we just run, the robots will be long gone before we can return with reinforcements."

Purcell turned his long face away, looking sick. "I never said you weren't right, Speaker. I just said I didn't like it. How are we supposed to stop them?"

Her smile felt as cold as the temperature outside. "Purcell, we had an idea when the robots were attacking the base. It seemed too drastic, and there wasn't enough time. Now, though, I can't think of anything more appropriate."

The black machines remained intent on their own plans, far away. Nikko deployed his ship's most sensitive sensors to keep watch, but none of the robots came to investigate, allowing the three of them time to prepare. As the acting administrator, Purcell described the details of the Jonah 12 base, sketched out the locations of all possible resources, and explained what they had to do.

When they were ready, Nikko flew the Aquarius Aquarius to the perimeter of what had been the mining base, skimming only a few meters above the stippled ground to keep out of sensor range. He landed gently out of sight, beyond the lip of a crater, kicking up a dust of hydrogen and methane ices. to the perimeter of what had been the mining base, skimming only a few meters above the stippled ground to keep out of sensor range. He landed gently out of sight, beyond the lip of a crater, kicking up a dust of hydrogen and methane ices.

"The Klikiss robots might have detected us," Purcell cautioned.

"If they're even bothering to watch." Nikko scratched his lank, dark hair. "They seemed awfully preoccupied with those ships when I flew over."

"They aren't worried about us," Cesca said. "They knew where our grazer was stranded all along, but they didn't even bother to come looking."

Though her suit heaters were turned to maximum levels, Cesca still felt a chill as she walked beside the two men. They crept over the crater's rise, closer to the expanded site of the mining base. Here, not long ago, she had stood watching Jhy Okiah's wrapped body as it launched out into space to roam among the stars. Now everyone else at the base was dead too.

The three spied on the construction complex, trying to determine what the robots were doing. Cesca used a focused line-of-sight communication beam so that no signal would bleed over for the robots to intercept. "I never expected something quite this...drastic. There's nothing left of the base, nothing recognizable at all."

Purcell made his assessment. "They've taken our processed metals and dismantled our machinery, ripping components out and reassembling them."

"The ships look almost ready to launch," Cesca said.

The administrative engineer looked at the glowing small-pile reactor. The shielded power plant was a standard design, a proven workhorse for centuries. "They've ramped up the reactor to expand its output, but it was never designed to tolerate so much. Kotto would have a fit. That pile wasn't meant to run at such levels for any length of time. That'll make our job easier. The reactor's got to be halfway unstable already."

Cesca could easily see Purcell's troubled expression through his faceplate, but she was smiling. "Then let's make it all the way unstable. Still think you can coax the plant to melt down?"

"Shizz, Speaker Peroni, the way that pile's jury-rigged we'll be lucky if that's all it does. We're more likely to generate a major supercriticality."

"As long as we're back to my Aquarius Aquarius in time." Nikko fidgeted in the cold. "Are we going to sit here and keep talking while our heat reserves run out, or should we get going?" in time." Nikko fidgeted in the cold. "Are we going to sit here and keep talking while our heat reserves run out, or should we get going?"

The trio moved quickly across the dark and uneven landscape. Cesca wished they could have left Nikko aboard his ship to arrange a quick getaway, but they needed all three of them for Purcell's plan.

Over where the base domes had been, the hulking Klikiss robots moved about assembling the frameworks of their vessels. Long cables tapped into the energy generators, and thick conduits extended from the reactor pile in sloppy tangles. The robots showed no finesse, no inclination to build anything that would last longer than their current needs.

As the three approached the workhorse reactor pile, Cesca could feel the machinery vibrating through her suit. The lights around the shielded facility were bright, and the metal was hot. Around the power plant the ground was uplifted, melted and cracked from a backwash of radiant heat.

The robots remained focused on their work.

Studying the reactor building, Purcell continued his nervous muttering on the line-of-sight channel. "Remember, I was never a genius engineer. I always did what Kotto said, and everything turned out all right." When they reached the harsh shadows of the shielded structure, he studied the external controls. "I'm not much of an innovator. I couldn't just rig a solution out of thin air-"

Cesca cut him off. "We're not asking you to find a solution, Purcell. We want you to screw the reactor up very badly."

He gave an anxious laugh. "That I can do." I can do."

Cesca and Nikko followed the engineer's clipped instructions as they pulled flow regulators from the circulating coolant systems. At a different bank, Purcell removed a cover plate and yanked out control rods doped with neutron poisons. Almost immediately, the pile began to run hotter.

Scrap metal from the torn-apart domes lay strewn on the ground; Nikko wedged a bar into the coolant systems and used the leverage to twist the pipes until they snapped. Hissing coolant spilled out onto the ground and froze hard.

Moving fast now, Purcell and Cesca tore the last of the control rods loose, tossing them far away in the low gravity. The robots would never retrieve them in time. "That's done it!" the engineer shouted. "This reactor is like a runaway ship with a blind pilot in an asteroid belt. We, uh, better get out of here."

Nikko saw a group of the insectlike automatons scuttling toward the reactor pile. "I think the robots spotted us."

"We're done here-let's go!"

With long bounds in the low gravity, they circled the overheating reactor. The Aquarius Aquarius lay unseen just on the other side of the crater rim. lay unseen just on the other side of the crater rim.

As they emerged around the corner of the shielded pile, Purcell careened to an abrupt halt in front of two looming black robots. "How did they get here so fast?" His boots skidded on the slippery, broken ground.

One of the robots reached out to grab the back of Purcell's suit. The clicking claws touched him only lightly, and the administrative engineer tore himself loose from the black metal grip and lunged after his two companions. They bounded away, each step a giant leap in the low gravity. "Keep going! Get to the Aquarius Aquarius!" Purcell gasped for breath, and a loud whistling sound came from his suit radio.

Behind them, the throbbing reactor pile was obviously growing hotter. They could even see the glow from metal stressed to its limits. While two Klikiss robots set off after the three saboteurs, other machines converged like diligent ants to work on the reactor systems.

"They'll never fix it in time," Nikko said. "Will they, Purcell?" He turned.

The administrative engineer staggered to a halt. "I think...maybe they...it's just a nick." He collapsed and fell forward.

Cesca raced back to him. "Purcell, get up. We have to make it to the ship before-" She rolled him over and saw that his faceplate was covered with frost on the inside. Whistling steam bled from the back of his insulated suit. The robot's claws had torn the fabric, opening it to the supercold environment. Purcell's face looked oddly flat and angular, as if it had flash-frozen and then broken, falling in upon itself.