“You misjudge him, sir. Though you two may disagree on politics, Peter does have Earth’s best interests at heart. I am certain of that. I got to know him quite well when he was here.”

“Don’t let him fool you. He’s just thumbing his nose at me — and trying to take over.”

“Sir, we are in desperate need of help. We cannot turn their offer down. You know this.”

Basil shook his head, his thoughts in a flurry. “I’ve got Sirix and the Klikiss robots also studying the countless fragments. They can set up grids and response drones to help us divert the asteroids.” He stood abruptly from his chair, letting it spin counterclockwise as he faced his deputy. “Don’t you see? If I letPeter save us, that will prove the Hansa has finally fallen. He’ll show that he’s better than I am. He wants us to let our guard down, and as soon as our defenses are spread too thin, his Confederation outlaws will invade. Peter will seize power again. That’s what he’s always wanted.”

Basil realized that everyone in the underground command chamber was staring at him. After a long moment of silence, one of the technicians interrupted. “Mr. Chairman, we just detected three more impacts in the southern Atlantic Ocean. They’ve generated tidal waves. Within the hour they will hit the Brazilian coastline. An evacuation call has been sounded, but most of the people probably won’t have enough time.”

Basil clenched and unclenched his fists, imagining that Peter himself had hurled those asteroids down to where they could cause the most damage. Cain said again, more insistent now, “Mr. Chairman, wecannot turn down the help.”

“Very well, let him pretend — but I’m not fooled.” Basil turned away, feeling defeated. Then his thoughts shifted, and he let a slow smile cross his face. Yes, he did possess one last secret weapon he could turn against Peter. He hadn’t expected to be so direct, but now the opportunity had fallen into his lap.

He had seen the numerous surveillance files of the Aguerra family taken long before “King Peter” had been introduced to the public. Basil knew how much Raymond/Peter had loved his mother and little brothers. Peter would cling to any hope that poor little Rory had survived. That boy would be a perfect lever to force Peter back in line. Fortunately, Basil had no such sentimentality.

110

Jess Tamblyn

For weeks the water bearers continued their travels across the Spiral Arm, conveying the new warrior wentals, locating fresh seedpools, bringing powerful reservoirs back to Theroc. Now Jess and Cesca needed to see what Kotto Okiah had managed to develop in cooperation with his sample wentals.

Traveling toward Golgen, Jess could never forget what had happened here to Ross, but he and Cesca had to keep their Guiding Star in sight — defeating the faeros and ending this elemental war once and for all.

But when their water-bubble ship approached the yellowish gas giant, they were astonished to see hundreds, possibly more than a thousand, Solar Navy warliners in orbit and cruising through the atmosphere above the skymines.

Though Jess could not understand why so many ships were here, Cesca gave him a knowing smile. “I think the Ildirans are in the same fight that we are.”

Though Del Kellum had offered his largest conference room for the war council, the chamber still felt crowded with eager audience members. Before the meeting began, Kellum paced back and forth, arranging for refreshments and trying to look busy. Eighteen people took seats at a long milky-white table, while others crowded against the walls. Jess and Cesca remained by themselves at the far corner, isolated and haloed by elemental power.

Tasia glanced at her brother and smiled, looking as sure of herself as she’d ever been. Kotto was there, full of news to share about his new weapons developments. Mage-Imperator Jora’h and Adar Zan’nh, garbed in ornate, uncomfortable-looking clothes, took seats side by side. Wearing only a brief shift, the green priest Nira held on to her new treeling, and the girl Osira’h remained attentive at her mother’s side.

Cesca had been right in her initial assessment: They were all in the same fight, against the same terrible enemies. And, together, they might be strong enough to win.

Wisps of pinkish clouds drifted like gauze over the room’s wide rectangular skylights, sending faint shadows across the boardroom table. Jess’s eyes were bright as he listened to the Mage-Imperator talk about the faeros incarnate and how the predatory fireballs had destroyed Earth’s Moon.

Listening carefully, Jess assessed the audience. He knew the determination of the Mage-Imperator and the Solar Navy, knew that the Roamers and green priests were ready, and knew that King Peter and the Confederation would offer any resources they could. The verdani had already fought the faeros in their worldforest, but as the water bearers returned to Theroc, the trees and the warrior wentals had suggested a new concept to combine their strengths, now that the giant tree battleships had proved too vulnerable to the faeros fires.

Yes, the allies now possessed many ways to fight that they had not previously used against the flaming elementals.

“Rusa’h is still searching for me,” the Mage-Imperator said. “No doubt he will go back to Ildira. That is where he expects me to go.”

“Then Ildira is where we will confront the faeros,” Cesca said. “We can bring all of our allies together and fight with everything we have.”

Adar Zan’nh seemed hungry. “I have more than a thousand warliners ready to engage in the battle.”

Kotto, who had been scribbling on a touchpad throughout the discussion, spoke up from where he sat at the far end of the table. “Sure, but you can’t just keep crashing your ships into things — that’s not the way to win.” He shook his head. “I’ve designed some exciting new wental weapons, though I haven’t had the opportunity to test them yet.”

“Thank the Guiding Star for that,” muttered Boris Goff.

“I would like to consider these weapons,” the Adar said. “Can they be adapted to our warliners?”

Kotto shrugged. “The wentals were perfectly happy to shape their water however we like. If you provide me with specs for your warliners’ projectile launchers, I’ll see what I can do.” He glanced down at his touchpad, made a note, then looked up at Jess. “But the wental water you gave me was only enough for about a hundred frozen artillery shells, which I already delivered to the Roamer ships in the vicinity. If we’re going to attack the faeros on a large scale, we’ll need thousands more. Tens of thousands!”

“We’ve got to be smart about this,” Tasia interrupted. “No half-assed measures. If we go to Ildira, it’ll likely be our last, best chance against the faeros. We need to make it count.”

“The clouds of Golgen are laden with moisture, all of which is infused with wental energy,” Cesca said. “We can draw on some of that water to make new frozen shells, and we can bring water from other wental planets to build up a large stockpile. Yes, we’ll be ready for the faeros at Ildira.”