The Moon's Shadow by Catherine Asaro Read Free Book Online Page B

than men in their thirties.
    “So.” He reclined in his chair. “Our prudish emperor talks to the air.”
    “He is intelligent.”
    “Is he now?”
    “Not as intelligent as you,” she added quickly. “Your wisdom is matchless.”
    “Hardly,” Corbal said. She would tell him he was the greatest genius alive if she thought he wanted to hear it. She might even believe what she said. Such traits had been bred into her; she came from a line of providers designed for devotion, submission, and affection. It was why he liked her so much.
    Jaibriol was a fool to send her away. Not that Corbal minded. It meant he had Sunrise tonight. And he did like her. Although she was his best spy, it had become harder and harder to offer her to other Hightons. He wanted her for himself, only for himself—and he hated that they hurt her.
    Careful. Love made a person vulnerable, which was, of course, unacceptable. He had enough to worry about, like the new emperor. He had suspected the boy’s intelligence from the start. Jaibriol had contacted him with what looked, at first glance, like a crude claim of Xir heredity. His true message had been cleverly hidden within the message.
    After watching the boy these past days, Corbal thought Jaibriol would comport himself as emperor better than his father. That wasn’t saying much; the father had lived in seclusion during the two years of his reign. The previous emperor would have been better suited to domestic life than to ruling Eube. The son clearly had more to work with. Maybe too much; the boy was proving unpredictable.
    Corbal knew he had to watch himself with Jaibriol, lest the boy discover his Xir cousin no longer transcended. Corbal had no intention of changing any other aspect of his life; being one of the most powerful and wealthy men alive suited him just fine. But he had no wish to hurt Sunrise. Providers were pleasure slaves in every sense of the word; that he had stopped transcending didn’t alter his enjoyment of her sensual charms.
    To change his brain, Corbal had needed to learn why he transcended, including how his genetics related to those of psions. It gave him knowledge possessed by few others—and so he had recognized the anomalies in Jaibriol’s DNA.
    The emperor was a psion.
    Jaibriol had hidden the evidence well; Corbal would never have noticed if he hadn’t already conducted forbidden research when he investigated his own genetics. Jaibriol III was without doubt the son of Jaibriol II, yet he was also a telepath and empath. It was impossible.
    Compelled to understand, Corbal had tried ever more obscure tests on Jai’s DNA, going far beyond those necessary to verify the boy’s paternity. Then he had cracked open the records of past emperors. It had taken an immense amount of work, and he couldn’t have managed without the intelligence networks he had been developing for over a century, but he had finally uncovered the truth.
    Eube Qox had been full Highton.
    Jaibriol I had been full Highton.
    Ur Qox had been half Highton.
    Jaibriol II had been one-fourth.
    Jaibriol III was one-eighth.
    The Qox dynasty had bred itself a Ruby psion. Corbal even understood why. Centuries ago the Skolians had found three Locks, ancient machines that had survived for five millennia after the fall of the Ruby Empire. Modern science couldn’t replicate the Locks. However, Ruby psions could use them to create a computer web in Kyle space, a universe outside of spacetime. The physical laws of spacetime had no meaning in Kyle space, making it possible to bypass the limitations of light speed—which allowed instantaneous communication across interstellar distances.
    Skolians often called the network the “psiberweb.” The name annoyed Corbal. Psions were providers. It was like saying “providerweb.” He preferred the designation “Kyle web.” Regardless of what they called it, the web gave Skolians a great advantage over Eube. Their communications sailed; Eube’s trudged.
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