Two of Jora'h's damaged defender ships reeled away, limping toward cleared landing areas. At the point of the wedge, Thor'h's warliner careened toward the Mage-Imperator and the siege troops working their way up to the citadel palace.

Adar Zan'nh's clustered warliners tried to block the rebel ship's advance, but as soon as they closed in, the other two rebel vessels split away from the Prime Designate and threw themselves in the way. In a horrendous explosion, the two rebel warliners took out the nearest Solar Navy ships in a suicidal impact that left a black scar of smoke and wreckage dripping out of the sky.

The deafening boom and shockwave stunned the armies on the ground. Jora'h shaded his eyes, feeling the sting of tears and the wrench of sorrow as so many Ildirans died.

The two rebel warliners had sacrificed themselves just to let Thor'h fly safely to his target. His father. His father.

The lead warliner ripped through the smoke, plunging downward as if the Prime Designate meant to crash into the side of the hill where Jora'h stood. Zan'nh's flagship roared after him, firing repeatedly at the other ship's engines. At the last moment, Thor'h pulled up and leveled off, so that he could dump his last barrage of explosives. Then the stolen warliner opened fire on the ground troops, mowing down dozens of Ildiran soldiers.

Explosions ripped along the sloping path up the strategic hill. Guards threw themselves upon Jora'h to protect their leader from injury. The Dobro Designate quickly found cover for himself. Air support swooped in, providing protection, but a swath of soldiers fell, like stalks of grain under the scythe of the Prime Designate's strafing run. Thor'h held nothing back, depleting all weapons systems in his final attack.

From the ground, Jora'h watched the battle play out. Following hot behind Thor'h, Zan'nh drove his own warliner forward, as if to be just as reckless as his rebellious brother. The howl of enormous engines sounded even more deafening than the successive explosions of detonating artillery. The pair of warliners circled and approached each other like two asteroids about to collide. Zan'nh didn't seem to care if he rammed his brother out of the sky.

Thor'h dragged his ship aside at the last moment, and the two giant ornate vessels only caromed off each other, barely striking and sliding along each other's hulls, then separating. Armor plating smashed against armor plating with a titanic clang, followed by the shriek of scraping metal. Heedless of the damage to his warliner, Thor'h succeeded in swinging around and heading back to complete his attack.

Udru'h shouted, "Liege, tell the Adar to destroy that ship now! There is no saving Thor'h." Even without any remaining weapons, Thor'h could plow his warliner into the hill and obliterate the Mage-Imperator.

Jora'h picked himself off the ground. Shading his eyes as the shadow fell over him, he stood to face the oncoming vessel. "Not...yet." He clamped his teeth together and squeezed his eyes shut. With all his mental strength, he sent out a shout through the thism, thism, an absolute command. He concentrated utterly on extending his mental grasp, focusing on the minds of Thor'h's command crew, a few at first, then all of them. One at a time, he seized their thoughts and wrenched them back to the overall an absolute command. He concentrated utterly on extending his mental grasp, focusing on the minds of Thor'h's command crew, a few at first, then all of them. One at a time, he seized their thoughts and wrenched them back to the overall thism, thism, as he had done with the other vessels. He sensed their souls, herded them back into the fold. as he had done with the other vessels. He sensed their souls, herded them back into the fold.

He reached for Thor'h, his own son, working to wrest him from his criminal rebellion. But Thor'h blocked him off, sliding away from his father's mental touch. Jora'h was astonished. He had been unaware that the Prime Designate had such power or resolve. Reeling, he grasped the other Ildirans.

Suddenly, aboard the last rebellious battleship, the crewmen, now reconnected to the primary thism, thism, understood the crimes they were about to commit. Jora'h felt as if he could see through their eyes, though his own son remained a blank to him. In the command nucleus, the warliner's crew frantically changed course. At the last moment, the lone warliner pulled up and roared overhead, nearly scraping the roof of the citadel palace. understood the crimes they were about to commit. Jora'h felt as if he could see through their eyes, though his own son remained a blank to him. In the command nucleus, the warliner's crew frantically changed course. At the last moment, the lone warliner pulled up and roared overhead, nearly scraping the roof of the citadel palace.

The newly freed crew then turned against Thor'h in his own command nucleus. Surrounding the former Prime Designate, they seized him as he howled and thrashed with frustration.

While the Solar Navy had focused on stopping Thor'h's wild suicidal run, Imperator Rusa'h had used the diversion to make his escape. Unexpectedly, a single royal escort craft shot upward from the courtyard, ascending under intense acceleration like a projectile fired from heavy-caliber artillery.

The soldiers surrounding the citadel shouted. The Dobro Designate, always suspicious, grabbed a nearby soldier's comm device and barked into the general channel, "Zan'nh! That is Rusa'h. He is going to escape."

"No," the Adar transmitted. "He will not."

Jora'h's Ildiran soldiers finally rushed the rest of the way up the hill. Sweeping into the citadel palace, they captured it from the last rebel holdouts, those most strongly corrupted by Rusa'h, tangled and strangling in the heretical thism thism. Even though the Hyrillka Designate had fled, his brainwashed followers continued to fight against the Mage-Imperator, many of them to the death. Jora'h's soldiers were sickened at what they were forced to do to achieve victory.

The Mage-Imperator glanced up at Zan'nh's warliners in their pursuit of the royal escort ship. Now if only Rusa'h could be stopped...

Chapter 121-ADAR ZAN'NH.

Increase acceleration!" Zan'nh stood on his command platform, issuing orders. "Intercept that vessel before it reaches orbit." The navigator shook his head. "Impossible, Adar. His acceleration is too great. We will not be able to catch him."

"Continue pursuit. How far can he go with that escort shuttle?"

"Those engines appear to have been modified, Adar. The thrust is already much higher than expected." The man shook his head. "But he does not have the capability of leaving the Hyrillka system."

"Where does he intend to go?" Zan'nh wondered. "Follow him!"

From the main command group at the citadel palace, the Mage-Imperator sent a message. "Take the Designate into custody if you can, Adar...but do what you must to ensure that he does not escape. Rusa'h has caused too much damage already, and we must end this."

The Adar's flagship continued to build up speed in pursuit. The heavy warliner's momentum increased slowly, but his engines were superior to the equipment on the small royal shuttle. The Hyrillka Designate was nearly burning out his propulsion system in a crazed but pointless flight. Zan'nh continued to transmit warnings, demanding the Designate's surrender, but Rusa'h defied him.

In space around them, the closely packed stars of the Horizon Cluster glittered as if someone had hurled a handful of gemstones into the black emptiness. Hyrillka's orange secondary star shone high above the other planets while the large blue-white primary burned like a flare at the center of the solar system.

"The Designate corrupted all of you, forced you to turn against your Mage-Imperator." Zan'nh looked fiercely at his own crew. "He is responsible for immeasurable turmoil and bloodshed. We must stop him before he escapes to continue his heresy and rebellion."

Soon, the mad Designate's intention became apparent. His objective was not escape at all.

Flying his ship at impossible speed toward the center of the Hyrillka system and the bright primary star, Rusa'h sent a last message to the pursuing flagship. Instead of sounding desperate and fearful, the Designate seemed almost triumphant.

"I will return with these last faithful followers to where all illumination is pure and intense. We will become one with the Lightsource. Unbelievers like you would find it intolerable-but we will be saved."

"He is flying directly into the sun. Open fire and damage his engines. We have to stop him."

The warliner's gunners took several careful shots, but as Rusa'h flew closer to the star's hot corona, sensors and aiming systems became unreliable. One shot caused minor damage to the royal shuttle's propulsion systems, but the Hyrillka Designate flew onward. Another shot caused significant damage to the engines, but by now it was far too late. The escape shuttle had been caught in the quicksand of stellar gravity. It fell toward the photosphere, where plumes and flares roiled upward and plasma oceans bubbled in turbulent cells.

Zan'nh could barely keep his balance as the flagship rocked in the magnetic storms. Static flared across the viewscreen. Sparks showered from several control panels in the command nucleus.

"We need to pull back, Adar," said the navigator. "The Designate's ship is already lost, and if we suffer more damage to our own engines, we won't be able to pull away."

"He is not worth it, Adar," the weapons officer insisted. "He is already lost."

Zan'nh stared at the heavily filtered image on the screen. Rusa'h's vessel was no more than a small glinting flare as it tumbled into the sun. The Adar finally nodded. "Pull us back. I will not allow my uncle to cause any more deaths-certainly not ours." Straining, the warliner backed away.

In a final transmission that roared with background static, the Hyrillka Designate cried out, "Behold! The Lightsource has not abandoned us!"

To Zan'nh's surprise, something happened in the gaseous layers of Hyrillka's primary sun. Flares looped up for thousands of kilometers, like open archways following magnetic field lines. The churning convection cells of the roiling star cleared for a moment, like clouds parting.

To his amazement, Zan'nh saw incredible structures, like a city city on the surface of the sun-spheres and domes and pyramids that contained molten incandescent material too bright to look at. Rising through the ionized clouds was a cluster of fiery ellipsoids, vessels shaped out of sheets of flame and controlled thermal energy. on the surface of the sun-spheres and domes and pyramids that contained molten incandescent material too bright to look at. Rising through the ionized clouds was a cluster of fiery ellipsoids, vessels shaped out of sheets of flame and controlled thermal energy.

"The faeros!" His voice was filled with awe. "That sun has a faeros city in it."

Fireball ships rose up to shelter the Hyrillka Designate's craft moments before it would have burned up. Rusa'h sent a final transmission. "Behold the light, so bright and pure!"

While the flagship warliner lumbered out to a safe distance at the edge of the corona, the fiery entities surrounded Rusa'h's ship and then returned to their incandescent plasma sea. In spite of the viewscreen filters, Zan'nh's eyes watered from the intensity of the light, and he could discern nothing more as the faeros fireballs vanished into the depths of Hyrillka's sun.

Shaken and subdued, his officers snapped off reports. "Most primary systems are back online, Adar. We are effecting repairs to our damaged systems. We can make it safely back to Hyrillka."

Zan'nh stared for a long moment at the blue-white sun where the mad Designate had vanished, then nodded. "Yes. Take us back to the Mage-Imperator. This revolt is over now."

Chapter 122-KOTTO OKIAH.

Uncertainty was an unusual feeling for him. The possibility of his own folly turned Kotto's insides to ice water. But as the group of Roamer ships plunged toward the diamond warglobes above Theroc, he knew he would never get a better chance. It was good to test a concept in actual practice.

Seven Roamer ships from Osquivel flew like sparrows into a hurricane, ready for a direct fight against the hydrogues. Beside him, his freckled pilot-Jared Huff-wore a cocky, half-mad grin. "Here we go, Kotto. Looks like the drogues are just waiting for us!" Huff had worked with Kotto in the ring shipyards, swiftly putting together stacks of the simple devices. "I hope those doorbells of yours work."

"We have verified all the calculations," KR said. "There is little logical reason for an error." Kotto had insisted on taking the two technical compies with him, rather than leaving them back at the hydrogue derelict.

"We must prove the concept by testing the doorbells in a realistic environment," GU added.

"A 'realistic environment' could get us all killed," said Jared.

"We'll see in a minute." Kotto was intimidated by the amount of faith the Roamers had put in his single idea. They believed believed in him. "Of course they'll work." He squeezed his eyes shut as Huff accelerated. in him. "Of course they'll work." He squeezed his eyes shut as Huff accelerated.

He had performed the calculations over and over, but innovative concepts always carried a certain degree of risk and uncertainty. He'd experienced enough setbacks in his career to know that reality didn't always conform to engineering projections.

A dozen enemy spheres swooped through the high atmosphere of Theroc, diving down to spew icewaves or crackling blue lightning over the scarred worldforest. The warglobes were so intent on exterminating the verdani that they paid no attention to the insignificant Roamer vessels.

Kotto transmitted to the other six ships. "Um, is everybody ready?"

The warglobes were coming up fast. Kotto had a hard time grasping the sheer size of those incredible spheres. By quick estimate, he calculated they were over a hundred times larger than the small derelict he had explored. What if they did not operate on the same principle? His whole plan could fall apart- "Kotto, you seem to be wool-gathering again," GU said.

"Kotto, if we don't release your thingies soon, we're going to smash right into those drogues. That would be embarrassing, and not too effective."

"Right! Everyone deploy doorbells. Launch the membranes now."

Before the hydrogues took notice of the newcomer ships, the cargo doors opened and thousands of thin mats scattered out like giant confetti. Each about two meters square, the rectangular sheets fluttered down and moved toward their targets like gnats following the smell of sweat. After dumping their loads, the Roamer ships sped away as the alien vessels plunged toward the giant trees.

Like high-tech flying carpets with adhesive backing, the blizzard of membranes spread out. Kotto had given them only simple propulsion systems, assuming that hitting the side of an enormous warglobe should not be difficult. Though most drifted uselessly away, some of the mats hit their targets and clung to three of the diamond spheres.

"Ding-dong! Anybody home?" Kotto's eyes burned because he was afraid to blink even for an instant.

As soon as they adhered, the membranes began cycling slowly through acoustic modes, increasing amplitude, thumping and vibrating. One of the resonance mats finally hit upon the warglobe's correct vibrational frequency, and Kotto saw a bold square-shaped crack appear in the diamond hull.

The hydrogues didn't know what had hit them. The doorbell mat triggered a hatch to open, just as Kotto had done on the small derelict sphere. The same principle on a much grander scale. On the other side of the same sphere, a second resonance doormat triggered the frequency, and another cavity formed in the hull.

From inside, the hydrogues' ultradense atmosphere blasted out like a rocket jet. The warglobe tumbled, spun, and wheeled like an ancient Chinese firework. Huge pillars of condensed atmosphere spewed away.

The Roamers whooped and cheered. "Like a balloon that somebody let the air out of," Jared said with a loud laugh.

"Exactly as predicted," KR said.

Careening out of control, the first warglobe struck a glancing blow against one of the other alien ships, then ricocheted into space as its atmosphere vented. Inside, the hydrogues would probably die from the decompression. There was no way they could regain control, even if they survived.

Almost simultaneously, the second and third warglobes vented, sending two more of the alien spheres into reckless tumbles. Other warglobes now rose out of Theroc's atmosphere and began to converge on their unexpected attackers.

Kotto saw them coming. "Uh-oh. Do we have enough membranes to deploy again, Jared?"

"We've got quite a few-we worked round the clock, remember? But those little mats are slow. Now that the drogues are warned, they can dodge them."

"Dump them all anyway. It'll be like dodging raindrops. The drogues can't miss every one of them."

The first opened warglobe still sputtered. Its atmosphere mostly drained, it continued spinning away, dark and dead.

The Roamer ships dispersed the rest of the doorbells.

"Okay, we'd better scatter," Jared said.

"Be my guest."

The clan vessels raced away, but the responding warglobes were faster. An electric bolt lanced out, vaporizing one of the seven Roamer ships. Kotto made a strangled sound. "Just keep flying!"

Jared worked the controls, dodging and spinning. "On the bright side, this beats using the Klikiss Torch to blow up an entire planet."

"Pat me on the back later. Right now, use both hands to control the ship." Kotto felt nauseated, but he didn't dare vomit.

Even so, he was pleased his idea had proved effective. The resonance doorbell technology was easily copied, swiftly and cheaply manufactured. Finally the humans had a way to stand up against the enemy. He hoped he would live to see the end of the war, rather than die a hero here.

One of the pursuing warglobes slammed into several drifting adhesive mats, which immediately clung to its hull. Two new openings burst through the diamond shell, triggered by the vibrational pattern. The doomed warglobe crashed like a self-propelled wrecking ball into another hydrogue sphere, smashing the pyramidal protrusions and sending both warglobes in opposite directions.

"That's five down!" Jared said with a loud hoot.

But more warglobes came after, and the Roamer ships could not fly away fast enough.

Kotto checked the statistics on his screens. None of their little cargo ships had any more adhesive mats to throw in the way of the pursuers. They had used them all. "This doesn't look good."

"A conundrum," KR said.

But Jared was staring in amazement at what he saw across the dark blanket of space. "Hey, Kotto? What is that? It can't be a comet comet. Look how it's moving. By the Guiding Star, it's faster than-"

A streaking sphere of ice, like a fingerpaint smudge of luminescent white, hurtled toward them, trailing a wake of mist behind it in a long, arcing tail.

The nearest warglobe opened fire behind them.

Chapter 123-CELLI.

Half of the warglobes had pulled away from the forest to pursue the harassing Roamer ships. According to chattered reports over the communications systems, several of the giant diamond spheres had been destroyed. Destroyed!