Between Darkness and Light by Lisanne Norman Page B

demanded Raiban, sitting upright again. “Until a few months ago you were merely one of the Brotherhood, not even its Leader!”
    â€œGuild Master,” corrected Lijou softly. “But I have led them for nigh on eleven years now, Raiban. One of the reasons Rhyaz was chosen as Warrior Master was because of his tactical skills.”
    â€œTactics in the classroom is one thing,” began Raiban disparagingly.
    â€œIf I remember correctly, he led the Brotherhood in the Desert War against the Tribes,” interrupted Rilgho, reaching into a pocket for a packet of stim twigs. “Did a damned fine job containing the situation before we arrived. And after,” he added hastily, lest he be misunderstood.
    Rhyaz inclined his head in recognition of the compliment, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly as he did.
    â€œSay your piece and have done with it,” snapped Raiban.
    â€œMartial Law isn’t necessary at this juncture,” said Rhyaz. “But we must implement the evacuation of key personnel from Khoma, Teesul, and Touiba, as they are the worlds most at risk.” Leaning forward, he pressed his comm again and a holocube of Alliance and Prime space began to form in the center of the table.
    â€œAs you can see from the chart, we need to extend our combined fleets around those worlds and make our first stand there. We can effectively block the M’zullians and prevent them from penetrating further into Alliance space. Because of the Watcher patrols, each of our main allies is aware of the situation and has come here today with authorization from their home world to do just that. Better to fight them there and have room to retreat if necessary than to wait till they threaten us one by one.”
    â€œMakes sense,” said Rilgho. “Combine now and get used to working together before any crisis develops.”
    â€œWhat about the Primes?” demanded Chuz. “The M’zullians are their people. What part are they playing in all this?”
    â€œAs I see it, we have two options. Either we keep the Primes out, or we involve them. If we involve them, our best option is to get them to talk to the M’zullians, point out that we represent a stronger force and it’s in their interests to make a treaty with us. If we keep the Primes out, we have no option but to go for a preemptive strike. Hit the M’zullians hard before they know we exist.”
    â€œWe’ve no way of knowing the M’zullians will talk to the Primes,” said Nesul. “What if they see them as inferiors, the way the Warriors we’ve been training here see Prince Zsurtul?”
    â€œThey may respond to the Prime Emperor,” said Lijou. “The alternative is a protracted war.”
    â€œWhat’s the problem with that?” demanded Raiban. “We outnumber them and our technology is more advanced!”
    â€œIs it? We’ve nothing like that ship-eating device!” said Rhilgo.
    â€œAnd they’re more aggressive,” reminded Rhyaz quietly. “We might beat them in space, but then we’ll have to land on their world and fight it out on their territory. It’s a war we cannot win by traditional methods. Remember Keiss and the psychotic hatred of the Valtegans there. They made suicide attacks rather than surrender to us. Only genocide will stop the M’zullians, make no mistake about that. Or an armed peace settlement.”
    â€œI notice the Chemerians are absent,” said General Naika, reaching for the jug of water on the table and pouring himself a glass. “What plans have you for those two-faced tree climbers, Rhyaz? Don’t trust ’em as far as I could spit one! Wouldn’t put it past them to make their own approach to the M’zullians.”
    â€œYou won’t like my suggestion, General,” said Rhyaz.
    Naika’s mouth opened wide in a toothy grin. “Spit it out, Commander,” he said with a rumble