Webdancers by Brian Herbert Read Free Book Online

exactly where the Palace of Woldn used to be, which was considered the most central—and most commanding—position in the entire fold.
    The three leaders stood with a number of dignitaries who had been brought in after the victory here over the Parviis, including two members of the Council of Elders and a number of merchant princes. They watched while teams of Tulyan podship handlers worked in the airless vacuum with the remaining, unsynchronized Aopoddae.
    The entire Liberator fleet had been delayed while Tulyan experts synchronized and stabilized the vast fleet, necessary to ensure that there would be no rebellion in the Aopoddae ranks, and that every one of the sentient ships was working in concert with the pilots. This involved subtle methods of synchronicity and mutual respect, ways that had been known to the Tulyans since time immemorial, and by which they ensured the integrity of the immense fleet.
    “It has been very difficult to integrate so many ships,” Eshaz said, “but we’re almost there. Long ago, the Parviis did something similar, using their own methods. We’re replacing their bonds with our own, then checking and rechecking.”
    “And those are the most difficult of the bunch,” Anton said, pointing out at the podships that were still being worked.
    “Precisely. We’ve separated them from the others, and are performing final tests on the others as we speak. Keep in mind, too, that this is not a process of breaking or taming the podships. Rather, we must harmonize with them.”
    “Just as Humans and other races need to do in nature,” Noah said.
    “Well put, my good friend,” Eshaz said. He touched Noah’s left arm affectionately before pulling away. Then, looking at Doge Anton, the Tulyan added, “If final tests go as anticipated, the rest of the fleet should be able to depart for the starcloud in two days.”
    “And the recalcitrants?” Anton asked, gesturing again at the podships outside.
    “They can be left behind for more work. Eventually, they will be integrated with the others. These just have more difficult Parvii bonds to overcome.”
    Anton tapped on the window plax. “Can they be merged with the guard force of one hundred armed vessels that we’re leaving?”
    “Some, perhaps. We’ll see.”
    Outside, Noah saw three additional podships being brought into the mooring basin, including one piloted by Acey Zelk. In the only way that a Human could do this, the teenager stood on top of the vessel. He wore a life support suit, and was secured to the beast by an ornate harness. He used thorn-vines to guide the creature. The suit and harness enable him to travel at high speeds, as fast as the podship could go. The young man was grinning as he came in atop the hull, and he waved toward the viewing window.
    Noah and Eshaz waved back.
    But Noah withdrew his hand quickly. He wore a long-sleeve shirt, and the extension of his left arm had revealed something that had been troubling him for several days … a rough area of gray-and-black skin that ran from the forearm to the shoulder and down across his torso, like a mineral vein.
    He had not wanted to see a doctor about the condition, suspecting that it was far beyond anything a medical practitioner could understand. Much of his own paranormal abilities undoubtedly stemmed from the time that Eshaz had healed him of a serious head injury by connecting him to a torn fragment of Timeweb. Afterward Noah’s own sister, Francella, had attempted to kill him by the most brutal of methods, by hacking him to pieces. Through some miracle, he had survived the dismemberment attempt, growing back all of his severed body parts like an exotic lizard.
    The doctors had been dumbfounded.
    Even after all that, Noah’s demented, dying sister had injected him with a dermex of her own tainted, contaminated blood. Since then, Noah had been increasingly concerned, but had not wanted to consult with anyone about it, not even Eshaz. Whatever was happening to his