The Ashes of Worlds

“I still can’t convince myself this isn’t a trick.” Zhett looked furtively at the streets behind them. “What does the deputy have to gain by doing this?”

“He’s a smart man. He can see that the Chairman is herding everyone over a cliff — and he doesn’t plan to be one of the lemmings.”

In the crowded streets and plazas, Freedom’s Sword was holding demonstrations. Observing that the protests had gotten wilder in the days since their arrest, Patrick could not help but view the groundswell with a certain level of satisfaction. “A lot of crap is hitting a lot of fans.”

When they walked in among the demonstrators and added their shouts to the rising tide of anger, he was surprised to hear someone call out, “Look — it’s Patrick Fitzpatrick! He’s free!”

“I heard they were executed.”

“They must have escaped.”

“He showed us the evidence against the Chairman!”

“The bastard Chairman murdered his grandmother.”

Patrick flinched, not sure he was ready to draw so much attention, but too many people had noticed him, so he decided to embrace it. He raised both hands as word rippled through the crowd. Some of the noise died down, though people at the outer fringes had no idea what was happening. “Yes, we’re out of prison, and we need to continue our work. All of you are part of the solution.”

“How can we help you?” someone yelled.

“We need a safe place,” Zhett said. With a devilish grin, she added, “And transmission equipment. It’s time to overthrow the Hansa and bring back King Peter. The Chairman’s away for the moment — so there’s no better time.”

Patrick felt giddy with the righteous knowledge of what he could help accomplish and what the old Battleaxe would have done if she had been around. And, yes, he felt a hint of satisfaction at being able to get even for her sake. “I’ve got a plan.”

The crowd swept them along. Even if Hansa guards had come after Patrick and Zhett, these demonstrators would have shielded them. That thought gave him a strange sense of empowerment.

In no time, the group whisked the two of them away to a sheltered place, gave them computers, network access, and imagers. While stewing in his cell, Patrick had mulled over the things he still needed to say. He had mentally rehearsed his speech over and over, polishing his anger and focusing his words.

Now that he finally had another chance, he let loose with a new broadcast, calling them all to arms.

132

Jess Tamblyn

After leaving Golgen, Jess and Cesca guided the Solar Navy and the Confederation ships to Charybdis to make their final preparations. Surrounded by a shimmering haze of energy, the pair stood in the command nucleus of the Mage-Imperator’s flagship.

What had once been a primordial ocean alive with the water elementals now appeared to be a scarred wreck. But Jess and Cesca had broken through to underground aquifers that gurgled up into hot, eager pools. Several of his faithful water bearers had returned seedpools of living water here as part of their work, as well. Those seedpools had flowed and multiplied. Right now, thousands of the tree-bubbles were streaming across open space from Theroc, accompanied by the water bearers in their own ships.

The battle on Golgen had left many of the Solar Navy ships battered and scarred, their anodized hull plates scorched, the solar sails in tatters. Nevertheless, the warliners still formed a mighty fleet with all the Confederation ships that had joined the group.

Adar Zan’nh was impatient to face the faeros as the numerous ships descended over the newly awakened oceans, but Jess assured him the process would not take long. “The wentals know what to do.”

Zan’nh clenched and unclenched his hands and spoke as if reminding himself. “A rush into battle is often a plan for defeat.”

“Give Kotto’s new idea a chance,” Sullivan Gold said. “It sounds like something Tabitha Huck might have come up with.” The Adar looked at him and responded with a faint smile before he nodded.

As the warliners swooped over the cracked landscape covered with large pools of resurrected water, the wentals simmered and rejoiced. The mass of ships cruised low over the glistening pools, and the rejuvenated oceans and lakes bubbled beneath them.

Columns of wental water leaped into the air like cyclones, and fountains of elemental liquid dispersed themselves into a thin spray. The living fog surrounded each warliner and Roamer ship in a cocoon of mist that sparkled in the hazy sunlight. As the combined fleet raced onward without pausing in their flight, each ship gathered a gauzy wreath of protective vapor.

Through their wentals, Jess and Cesca instructed the liquid entities to follow the patterns Kotto had earlier devised, forming themselves into frozen artillery shells. The ships in the combined war fleet drew more of the wental water into their holding chambers, and aboard each vessel, crewmen loaded the icy projectiles into gunports.

Also joining their fighting force, hundreds of pearlescent tree-bubbles arrived from Theroc, like foam droplets on a cosmic tide, each encapsulating a small but vital treeling. Nikko Chan Tylar and the rest of Jess’s volunteer water bearers followed along in their ships.

Jess could feel the powerful wentals surging within his body, ready to challenge their opponents. “The faeros incarnate can be destroyed, and the rest of the faeros can becontrolled. Just like the hydrogues. But it will not be easy.”

Cesca took Jess’s hand, and he felt the crackle of energy flow between them. She addressed the Mage-Imperator. “We will lead the charge. The faeros incarnate is as much our enemy as he is yours.”

They went to the warliner’s launching bay, emerged from the airlock, and shot themselves away from the ornate hull, tumbling out into the misty swath that surrounded the warliner. Gathering the droplets around themselves, Jess and Cesca formed a new wental ship for themselves.

Behind them, as the combined fleet left Charybdis and entered open space, all the ships were now veiled in misty shields. Flying their bright sphere in front of the gathered battleships, the new wental bubble shone like a Guiding Star.

In a great sparkling mass, the Solar Navy and the Confederation fleet streaked toward Ildira.

133

Tasia Tamblyn

Ihate bugs,” Tasia said, sealing the hatch of the Roamer cargo hauler in preparation for leaving the main Golgen skymine. “Ireally hate bugs. And you will too, Kotto — as soon as you get to know them.”

Kotto Okiah sat eagerly in the copilot’s chair. “I hope that doesn’t mean you’re having second thoughts and would rather be off fighting the faeros. We have to test the Klikiss Siren.”

“No second thoughts at all. My loathing for those bugs gives me all the more incentive to squash them. It is up to us, you know.”