Book 3 - Ceremony by Glen Cook Read Free Book Online

accepted by every silth,
was the fact that one day Marika would have to meet Bestrei in
darkwar. The confrontation was fated by the All. There was no
escaping it.
    When Marika reflected upon that chance she was afraid, for she
was unsure of herself with the great black, with Bestrei. Most of
her life she had been hearing about Bestrei and how terrible the
Serke was. The one time their paths had crossed she had been awed
by the raw power in the silth. The Serke and their rogue brethren
allies had mounted several incursions into the home system the past
few months, attacking the mirror project. Bestrei had not
participated. Bestrei would not pariticipate in such trivialities,
in the estimation of silth who knew her. She would be contemptuous
of such nuisance tactics. She would not be seen till she was
offered a traditional challenge with dramatically high stakes.
     
    As seemed inevitable, fate stalked Marika’s trail. As her
Mistress of the Ship began to put on speed toward the trailing
trojan point, Marika received a generalized touch from a fartoucher
sister riding a picket darkship far out in the direction from which
Starstalker
and the raiders always appeared. It was brief,
cut short.
    Turn about
, Marika sent to her Mistress. Starstalker
is coming.
    The plane of the touched reeked with the fear of the Mistress
and bath. The Mistress returned,
This is not our proper task,
mistress.
    Turn about. Set course upon the Manestar.
    The darkship wheeled.
    The speaker in Marika’s ear began to babble as slower
electromagnetic waves brought the warning.
     
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II
    They are very daring this time
, Marika sent. Many
minutes had passed.
Starstalker
and the raiders were closing with
the leading trojan. Never before had
Starstalker
come in so close.
The Serke had been afraid to risk her. Losing her would mean losing
the brethren she had brought aboard her.
    Marika’s Mistress of the Ship returned,
They must be
armed with more powerful weapons.
    The possibility had occurred to Marika. A few bombs of the kind
that had destroyed TelleRai could kill the project. Having them
delivered might seem worth risking
Starstalker.
    She opened to the universe, sensed the movement of everything
nearby. A dozen brethren ships and five darkships accompanied
Starstalker.
For the moment Marika was alone, the only
defender capable of intercepting the raiders. The sisters down
below remained confused, as always. Those within the work site
could not get out into free space in time to save themselves, let
alone do any defending.
    Did the Serke know she was here? Had they recognized her? There
was no indication in their behavior. The rogue ships were headed
toward the mirror. The silth were forming a screen meant to
intercept help coming up from the planet. Marika was tempted to
strike at
Starstalker
itself, to destroy any chance for
the criminals to escape, but she feared that might allow the rogues
a chance to kill her project.
    The rogues had to be halted first.
    She went out the long arm of the darkship, her specially built
wooden darkship, her darkship that so amused the sisters of the
great titanium crosses. The struts bore shields showing her own
personal and Degnan witch signs instead of those of a particular
cloister, as was the case with all other darkships. She reached the
Mistress of the Ship and sent,
I will take it now. I am
fresher. You guard while I attack. Do you understand?
    Yes, mistress.
The silth responded with an absolute
lack of enthusiasm, despite understanding the necessity presented
by the situation.
    Marika assumed control, urging the darkship onto a course that
would cut that of the rogue vessels from behind.
    She put on velocity till she felt her bath begin quivering with
the strain of her demands, felt the displaced Mistress shuddering,
wanting to tell her to ease back, that they were too near space
cluttered with materials for the mirror.
    Marika swooped into the wake of the rogues and tasted the bitter
flavor of ions