Scattered Suns by Kevin J. Anderson Read Free Book Online

relief from the Solar Navy crewmen. They had dreaded the possibility of direct conflict with their fellow Ildirans.
    Zan’nh had led these fighters in a recent ineffective defense of Hrel-oro. There, he had lost one warliner and seen a second one crash. Many crewmembers had died fighting against the deep-core aliens. He would not let any more of them fall because of his poor decisions.
    “Adar, the Hyrillka Designate is preparing to enter our docking bay.”
    Zan’nh nodded. “Gather seventy of our best soldiers and protocol officers as a standard reception committee. They will demonstrate the proper formalities as we receive him into custody and escort him to quarters. Once we return to Ildira, the Mage-Imperator will dispense his justice. Our job is only to deliver them for trial.”
    “Will you lead the reception, Adar?” the primary protocol officer asked.
    “No. That would show him too much honor. I will remain here. My uncle has committed unthinkable crimes. In light of the Designate’s recent erratic behavior, I want to keep him isolated.”
    The gaudy royal shuttle landed in the primary docking bay without incident. Uniformed soldiers and ceremonial guards accompanied the protocol officers as they hurried to accept the Hyrillka Designate’s surrender. The warliner’s heavy doors sealed shut, trapping the new arrivals.
    From the command nucleus Zan’nh observed via his small screens. Seventy members of the reception committee filed in perfect ranks across the open deck to stand in front of the ornate royal shuttle. The protocol officer used a signaler to call his followers to attention.
    Three boarding doors of the royal shuttle unfolded. “Prepare to receive the Designate,” the protocol officer called.
    Suddenly, fully armed Hyrillkan rebels boiled out of every opening. Their movements were chaotic and unpredictable, like a flurry of beetles racing away from a fire.
    Zan’nh shouted a warning over the intercom, but the reception committee was already reacting. The protocol officer ordered the soldiers and guards to change formation—just as the Hyrillkans opened fire with shockwave energy weapons. Stun-blasts mowed down the waiting Solar Navy crewmen. They fell like heavy bundles of rags to the deck.
    From the command nucleus, Zan’nh yelled, “Send more troops! Full teams to the docking bay, now!”
    Rebels continued to pour out of the two shuttles, well over a hundred of them, each one armed. So many! They must have been crammed shoulder-to-shoulder inside the royal shuttle and the military escort craft.
    At last, Rusa’h’s beautiful pleasure mates emerged, carrying themselves as if they too were hardened warriors. Long knives were strapped to their shapely hips, and they carried energy weapons. Narrowing their eyes, two of the women shot down the primary protocol officer, and he crumpled to the floor.
    In the midst of the firefight, a group of attender kithmen scuttled out of the royal shuttle. They carried a portable chrysalis chair that looked exactly like the Mage-Imperator’s. Leaning forward in the counterfeit chair, Rusa’h smiled as he assessed the carnage.
    Weapons fire continued inside the docking bay, but the Hyrillka Designate’s rebels quickly overwhelmed the crew, taking them all prisoner. Two pleasure mates raced to the door controls before Zan’nh’s reinforcements could arrive. The women sealed every entrance to the bay, code-locked the controls, then smashed them to block all access.
    Finally the Hyrillka Designate turned to where he knew Adar Zan’nh would be observing him through imagers. He sat back in his reproduction of the Mage-Imperator’s royal seat. “Adar, your crewmembers are only stunned. However, I will kill every one of these hostages unless you surrender this warliner to me.”
     
    Chapter 6—PRIME DESIGNATE THOR’H

    After his cargo craft docked aboard Qul Fan’nh’s warliner, Thor’h schooled his expression and manner to convey urgent distress,