“While the cat’s away?” she said.

“It has to be quick, and a surprise. As soon as he leaves, we make our move. I need your help.”

The very thought sent a chill down her spine, but not as cold as the thought of how much harm Basil could do — to her, and to the human race. “You still intend to kill him?”

Outside the room, the alarms fell abruptly silent.

“Better than that. We’ll deprive him of his power.” The blade made a whispery metallic sound as he pushed it back into the sheath. He returned it to his jacket pocket, then spoke in an implacable voice. “While he is gone, you’ll slip away from Earth. Fly to orbit, lie in wait, and as soon as the Chairman leaves the flagship, request asylum among the Confederation ships. Queen Estarra will welcome you. Tell King Peter that there’s a revolution just waiting to happen on Earth, and it’s time for him to take the Hansa back. But he needs to move quickly before the Chairman can recover from the surprise I’m preparing. We’re at the Rubicon, and we’re going to cross it.”

“Peter and Estarra won’t abandon us.” The plan made her heart leap. At last, a real chance to leave here. “And how will I get up to the Confederation ships?”

“Ask Captain Kett.” He smiled at her shocked expression. “Yes, she and Captain Roberts returned here several days after the destruction of the Moon. They seem to think the Chairman has forgotten about the arrest order for both of them. Fortunately, I deleted all records before their ship could be noticed by any scouts. I’m sure she would be happy to hear from you.”

Sarein could not conceal her surprise. She felt giddy at the thought of slipping away from Earth, possibly even returning to Theroc. “I know how to contact her.”

Cain nodded. “Make sure King Peter knows that the whole population has turned against the Chairman, but they need an alternative in place. If he returns to the Whisper Palace, the people will be on his side.”

She got up from the hard bench, listening to the movement of people out in the corridors again. “And while I’m on my way up to take sanctuary among the Confederation, what will you be doing? Can’t you come with me?”

His expression was unreadable. “No, my place is here, giving Freedom’s Sword the last key weapons they need. By the time he gets back to Earth, the Chairman won’t have a government left.”

124

Tasia Tamblyn

Now that the faeros were in retreat, the Solar Navy ships were anxious to rush off to Ildira and finish the job. Adar Zan’nh issued orders for all remaining warliners to draw together and prepare for departure.

The intact Roamer vessels were also ready to join the campaign, despite having run out of frozen wental munitions. In one of the open, bustling hangar bays on the skymine, Tasia joined the others, studying the enthusiasm on their faces. Kotto Okiah flinched at every loud noise of loading spacecraft, departing ships, and hissing exhaust vents.

“We must pursue them,” Mage-Imperator Jora’h insisted. “Ildira is unguarded. Once they arrive, Rusa’h and his faeros will sterilize the whole planet just because he failed here. He will stop at nothing to hurt me.”

“Perhaps he is not as much in control of the faeros as we believe,” Osira’h said.

Jess said, “My water bearers have returned to Theroc and are ready to throw themselves into the battle. I will call them to follow us to Ildira.”

Tasia was glad to see just how pissed off everyone was toward the faeros. It reminded her of how she felt about the Klikiss since the ordeal on Llaro. The Klikiss. still unresolved. While she was pleased at the ten faeros she had helped to snuff with her icy artillery shells, Tasia thought the plan ill considered. “Now, don’t go off half-cocked. Shizz, I can’t believeI have to be the voice of restraint. Poor planning is poor tactics. Are you really as prepared as you can be? Sure, you cango to Ildira, but you won’t win the fight. Take a breath, and do this right.”

Kotto was also agitated. “Before we can even think about facing the faeros again, we need to reload the ships with thousands of frozen projectiles.” He frowned at Adar Zan’nh. “Your warliners can’t hold up against the heat of the faeros, and we know that Ildirans have a habit of crashing their ships into things. So you need better armor.”

“Our armor is the best ever developed,” Zan’nh said flatly. “There is nothing better.”

“Then we’ll have to come up with something better — maybe something a bit unorthodox.”

The Solar Navy commander’s expression relaxed slightly. “Yes, you human engineers are good at that.”

“Ideas, Kotto?” Cesca said.

He scratched his head. “You did ask me to think of ways to use the wentals. What if we had them form a misty shield, like a cocoon, around the hulls of our ships?”

“Both the shield and the frozen projectiles would require a lot more wental water than we have available here,” Cesca said.

Tasia was optimistic about Kotto’s suggestion. It was a step in the right direction. “Then let’s get that wental waterbefore charging off to Ildira. If you want to defeat the faeros, we’ll have to put up our best fight.”

“We can get all the wental water we need.” Jess nodded to his sister. “Tasia, you can lead the Roamer charge into battle. And, Kotto — ”

The engineer surprised them by shaking his head. “I’m not going along. I already demonstrated that my weapons work, and that’s good enough for me. Mission accomplished. Now I have another project to finish — something just as important, and one that we’ve all been ignoring. You think we’ve got only one enemy at a time?”

Cesca stiffened. “But we have to defeat the faeros.”

“True, but you don’t need me with you to do that. My Klikiss Siren has been ready to test for days, but there were so many distractions. If the Siren turns out to be effective, we could get rid of thewhole Klikiss threat.”

That was all Tasia had to hear. “In that case, you need my help, Kotto. I’ve got more than my share of experience with those damned bugs, and a score to settle with them for killing the colonists on Llaro! If you’ve got a weapon, I’ll find you some Klikiss to try it out on.”

Cesca and Jess looked at her with real consternation, but Tasia faced them. “Ishould be going with you to fight the faeros. Shizz, maybe I should even be back with Robb and Admiral Willis helping to round up lunar fragments. But my Guiding Star tells me this is what Ineed to do. Trust me, Jess.”

He regarded his sister and let out a long sigh. “You’ve always made up your own mind, Tasia. You ran off to join the Eddies without asking any of us. I can’t stop you now.”

125

Celli