life had been hell. Harsh and icy, the Varz queen had been a sadistic nightmare. By that time, Ixpar had ruled Coba, a young Minister full of fire. She had freed Kelric from Varz—and so provoked the first war Coba had seen in a thousand years.
I've an analysis of your gauntlets, Bolt thought.
Kelric put away his memories. Go ahead.
They consider whatever you plan to do dangerous enough that you need them for your protection. However, apparently they deem your wrist guards acceptable, even beneficial, to your needs or emotions.
His emotions? Even he wasn't sure how he felt. He stared into the drawer. One of his Calanya bands was missing. It had come off during his escape from Coba and probably lay buried somewhere in the ashes of Ixpar's Estate.
Kelric gathered the bands and packed them into his duffle. Then he left for the docking bay.
"Prepare for launch," Kelric said. The cabin of the ship gleamed, small and bright. An exoskeleton closed around his pilot's chair and jacked into the sockets in his spine.
As the engines hummed, Bolt thought, Your bodyguards aren't here.
Kelric didn't answer.
Mace, the ship's EI, spoke. "Bay doors opening."
A hiss came from around Kelric as buffers inflated to protect sensitive equipment in the cabin. His forward screens swirled with gold and black lines, then cleared to reveal the scene outside. Two gigantic doors were opening, their toothed edges dwarfing his vessel, and the rumble of their release growled through his ship. Beyond the doors lay the glory of interstellar space, its gem-colored stars radiant against the dust clouds and the deep black of space.
Bolt's thought came urgently. You must not leave without security.
I have it. Kelric laid his hand on the massive Jumbler at his hip. The gun had to be big; it was a particle accelerator. It carried abitons, antiparticle of bitons, the constituents of electrons. With a rest energy of 1.9eV, bitons and abitons produced nothing more than orange light when they annihilated. But that was enough. In the atmosphere, the beam sparkled as it destroyed air molecules; when it hit anything solid, the instability of the mutilated electrons blew apart the object.
One gun is not enough to guard the Imperator, Bolt thought.
The ship is armed. And I used to be a weapons officer.
Even so. You should have—
Bolt, enough.
With a great clang, the docking clamps released Kelric's ship. He maneuvered out of the bay, leaving the Orbiter along its rotation axis. The great notched edges of the doors moved slowly past, as thick as his ship was long. Communication between Mace and the dock personnel murmured in his ear comm. To them, the launch was routine. No one knew he was alone. He had told Najo, Axer, and Strava he was taking his other guards, and he told the others he would be with Najo, Axer, and Strava.
As his ship moved away from the Orbiter and through its perimeter defenses, Kelric spoke into his comm. "Docking station four, I'm switching off your network and onto the Kyle-Star."
"Understood," the duty officer replied. "Gods' speed, sir."
"My thanks." Kelric cut his link to the Orbiter, but contrary to his claim, he made no attempt to reach Kyle-Star, the interstellar mesh of communications designed to guide starships.
Bolt, he thought. Download my travel coordinates to the ship.
I don't think you should do this alone.
I've made my decision.
I'm concerned for your safety.
I appreciate that. Now send the damn coordinates.
You are sure you want to do this?
Yes! I'm also sure I don't want to argue with a node in my head.
Bolt paused. Then he thought, Coordinates sent.
"Coordinates loaded," Mace said.
"Good." Kelric took a deep breath. "Take me to Coba."
IV
Viasa
Jaibriol ran. Struggling for breath, he raced through tunnels of dark rock that absorbed the light. A void was gaining on him, drawing closer, closer. A talon grasped his arm—
" No!" Jaibriol sat upright in bed, his
I've an analysis of your gauntlets, Bolt thought.
Kelric put away his memories. Go ahead.
They consider whatever you plan to do dangerous enough that you need them for your protection. However, apparently they deem your wrist guards acceptable, even beneficial, to your needs or emotions.
His emotions? Even he wasn't sure how he felt. He stared into the drawer. One of his Calanya bands was missing. It had come off during his escape from Coba and probably lay buried somewhere in the ashes of Ixpar's Estate.
Kelric gathered the bands and packed them into his duffle. Then he left for the docking bay.
"Prepare for launch," Kelric said. The cabin of the ship gleamed, small and bright. An exoskeleton closed around his pilot's chair and jacked into the sockets in his spine.
As the engines hummed, Bolt thought, Your bodyguards aren't here.
Kelric didn't answer.
Mace, the ship's EI, spoke. "Bay doors opening."
A hiss came from around Kelric as buffers inflated to protect sensitive equipment in the cabin. His forward screens swirled with gold and black lines, then cleared to reveal the scene outside. Two gigantic doors were opening, their toothed edges dwarfing his vessel, and the rumble of their release growled through his ship. Beyond the doors lay the glory of interstellar space, its gem-colored stars radiant against the dust clouds and the deep black of space.
Bolt's thought came urgently. You must not leave without security.
I have it. Kelric laid his hand on the massive Jumbler at his hip. The gun had to be big; it was a particle accelerator. It carried abitons, antiparticle of bitons, the constituents of electrons. With a rest energy of 1.9eV, bitons and abitons produced nothing more than orange light when they annihilated. But that was enough. In the atmosphere, the beam sparkled as it destroyed air molecules; when it hit anything solid, the instability of the mutilated electrons blew apart the object.
One gun is not enough to guard the Imperator, Bolt thought.
The ship is armed. And I used to be a weapons officer.
Even so. You should have—
Bolt, enough.
With a great clang, the docking clamps released Kelric's ship. He maneuvered out of the bay, leaving the Orbiter along its rotation axis. The great notched edges of the doors moved slowly past, as thick as his ship was long. Communication between Mace and the dock personnel murmured in his ear comm. To them, the launch was routine. No one knew he was alone. He had told Najo, Axer, and Strava he was taking his other guards, and he told the others he would be with Najo, Axer, and Strava.
As his ship moved away from the Orbiter and through its perimeter defenses, Kelric spoke into his comm. "Docking station four, I'm switching off your network and onto the Kyle-Star."
"Understood," the duty officer replied. "Gods' speed, sir."
"My thanks." Kelric cut his link to the Orbiter, but contrary to his claim, he made no attempt to reach Kyle-Star, the interstellar mesh of communications designed to guide starships.
Bolt, he thought. Download my travel coordinates to the ship.
I don't think you should do this alone.
I've made my decision.
I'm concerned for your safety.
I appreciate that. Now send the damn coordinates.
You are sure you want to do this?
Yes! I'm also sure I don't want to argue with a node in my head.
Bolt paused. Then he thought, Coordinates sent.
"Coordinates loaded," Mace said.
"Good." Kelric took a deep breath. "Take me to Coba."
IV
Viasa
Jaibriol ran. Struggling for breath, he raced through tunnels of dark rock that absorbed the light. A void was gaining on him, drawing closer, closer. A talon grasped his arm—
" No!" Jaibriol sat upright in bed, his
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