James C. Glass Empress of Light

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slap on a shoulder, a little shake, a few soft, encouraging words.
Jumdshan still felt uneasy about the man after hearing his lies to Lingdan
Zedenbal. They'd been so smooth, and with conviction, all for the cause, of
course, but Jumdshan had had to bite his tongue while he listened to them. The
veiled insinuation about his safekeeping of payroll cash had been an insult,
for he'd trusted Ghaimish enough to let him be there on more than one occasion
when he'd opened the vault.
Anger had turned to suspicion, and he'd gone to the vault again to count
everything in it, but found it was all there. Still, he felt a nagging
distrust of the man, a feeling that there was more to his agenda than a quest
for independence, and now the critical moment of that quest was at hand.
"There's a message for you, Steward!"
Jumdshan turned around, startled, saw a man in the orange jumpsuit of second
level, beckoning to him.
"I was passing by Communications, and they sent me to get you. It's something
about ship movements in the blockade." The man turned, walked away towards
Communications, and Jumdshan followed him quickly.
Now it begins
, he thought.
They went down a corridor and made a right turn towards Communications, along
a narrow hallway brightly lit by ceiling panels. Halfway there, the man ahead
of him slowed, and turned left, giving a little wave to indicate he was taking
his leave of him, now that Communications was only a few doors ahead.
Jumdshan waved back, and walked past him.
He only made it two steps before a hard arm snaked around his throat, pulling
him back in a strangling
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grip, and choking off his cry. There was a horrible, sharp pain in his lower
back, then numbness everywhere as he was released, crumpling to the floor.
"Now for Ghaimish," muttered his assailant, and the sound of shuffling feet
faded away with Jumdshan's last breath.
"It's not the usual stuff, Ma'am. There're some pretty big pieces in this
swarm, and we calculate impact with the city in just over four hours," said
the voice in Yesugen's ear.
Yesugen pressed a hand to her other ear when Kabul shouted an order to someone
behind him, and waved a hand at him for quiet.
"I can't spare any ships, now; we're moving in on Gutien!"
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"Wouldn't help anyway, Ma'am. Under full thrust, you're still seven hours out
from the city. It'd be too late for them. Should I warn the city?"
Yesugen thought furiously; the child she carried seemed distressed by her
sudden mood, and shifted inside her. "No. There is something else I can do.
Keep tracking the swarm, and let me know if there are any changes in
trajectory."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Her face felt hot, and the baby shifted again, poking at her with a little
fist, or foot. Kabul shook his head, and gripped her arm.
"Couldn't be worse timing. The shuttles are down, and the cruiser is coming
in," he said.
"Take over for a moment, Kabul," she said. "I must call Yesui for this."
Kabul nodded, and Yesugen leaned back in her chair, folding her hands
together, and closing her eyes.
Yesui! It's Yesugen, and I need your help. Come quickly!
No answer. Yesugen bit her lip in frustration, and mumbled, "Oh, don't you
dare to be off playing somewhere. You promised to be here
!"
Yesui! Please!
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The answer was like thunder in her mind.
I'm here. I'M HERE! Don't be so impatient, Yesugen. I just did the most
marvelous thing with my brother's ship, and there was only a small problem
with
Yesui! Listen to me! An asteroid swarm is approaching Lan-Sui City, and some
large pieces in it could destroy the city. I'm too far away to help, and we're
beginning our attack against Gutien. Can you use the gong-shi-jie to take care
of those asteroids, Yesui?
Of course. Where are they?
About a hundred thousand kilometers out from the city, and closing fast. Do
you want coordinates?
No matter. I see them, now. Oooh, there are some big ones in there. I really
need to eliminate the alpha ring to stop all of this. I'll get right on it,
Yesugen. Bye!
And she was gone. Yesugen opened her eyes, and saw Kabul grinning at her.
"She's a delight," he said, for although he'd not heard Yesui's words, he'd
felt her presence.
Yesugen shook her head. "When I see her in the gong-shi-jie, she's a
beautiful, grown woman. When I
talk to her, she's a child."
She stood up, patting her stomach. "I want to get ready early, Kabul. Let's
see if I can still squeeze into one of those environmental suits."
"I wish you wouldn't go down there," he said. "I can take care of everything."
"The fighting will be ended, dear, and I need to be there to assure the men
and their families there will be no atrocities committed on Gutien. Now be a
good father, and find me a suit that will allow our child room in which to
move."
They hurried away to the shuttle bay.
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The warehouse floor shuddered, as if something enormous had been dropped on
it. Everyone's eyes went wide with surprise, and they hunkered down
reflexively behind the barricades. Ghaimish snorted at their frightened
reaction, and walked to the pile of crates before the inner door of the lock,
rifle in hand. He pressed an ear to the steel wall there, and listened, then
jerked back when there was a loud clang.
"They're outside!" he shouted. "Get ready!" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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