"Who did?"
"Someone in psibers.p.a.ce."
"There is no one in psibers.p.a.ce."
"There are. Two people." His voice caught. "Once Dehya said to me, "In the future I predict I cease to exist." Then later she said perhaps she would exist again."
"You know how Dehya talked." Roca took his hands. "She rarely made sense."
"She always makes sense. You just have to figure her out." He tilted his head toward the screen. "It"s her."
Roca sighed. "It would be strange indeed, wouldn"t it, if Dehya and Taquinil were in there, lost forever?"
He grinned. "Ah, but Roca my love, when have you ever known your exasperating, charming, brilliant, and hammer-headed sister to stay lost when it came to solving a computer problem?"
She patted his hand. "It is a pleasant hope, yes?"
Eldrinson knew she didn"t believe him. But he had no doubts. He knew Dehya. The joy washed over him, sweet after so much grief.
They went to the house amphitheater and joined Tiller Smith to watch the recording from Glory. Made originally in the Hall of Circles, the three-dimensional image replayed here on the holostage. The ceremony consisted of various Hightons giving speeches, the longest and most ornate for the emperor, then the Empress Mother Viquara, then her consort Kryx Quaelen. Corbal Xir surprised them and gave Sauscony a eulogy, a short one, but still a speech in honor of his late Skolian counterpart. The Aristos clicked their cymbals twice for Jaibriol, once each for Viquara and Quaelen, and not at all for Sauscony.
When the rituals were done, Corbal stood before the Carnelian Throne and looked out at the Aristos. But instead of stating his claim to the throne, he spoke as if he were beginning yet another speech.
"A new age has begun for Eube," he thundered.
"Oh, get on with it," Eldrinson grumbled. "Why do they always say that?"
"Many of you have heard rumors of negotiations between my office and the Allieds," Corbal said. After a well-timed pause, he added, "These rumors are true."
Cymbals whispered in the Hall. When they quieted, he said, "The Allieds had in their custody a man. A Highton man. A trade was arranged, this man for a prisoner in my possession." As cymbals whispered, Xir held up his hand. "Eube has triumphed! As we will always triumph."
"Do you have any idea what he"s talking about?" Roca asked.
"Not a hint," Eldrinson said.
Tiller turned to them. "Apparently the pilot who brought this in was so worked up he started to transmit before he landed."
"Do you know why?" Eldrinson asked.
Tiller shook his head. "Not yet."
"And so it was agreed between the Allied Worlds and Eube," Corbal said. "Our Skolian captive for their Highton captive." He paused. "That Skolian was Eldrin Valdoria."
An angry discord of cymbals filled the hall. Roca put her hand over her mouth and Eldrinson stared at the stage. His son? Free?
"It"s a lie." Roca"s voice cracked. "They"re taunting us. No Highton alive would be worth giving away their Key when they have a Lock."
"I can check on it," Tiller said. "The s.h.i.+p that brought this in should know." When Roca nodded, he bowed and strode out of the amphitheater.
Corbal waited. Finally the Aristos became silent, watching him with cold marble faces, waiting to see what he could possibly offer to atone for what he had given away.
He raised his arm to the great arched entrance of the Hall and said: "I present to you, His Honor, Jaibriol Qox the Third, Emperor of Eube."
For the first time in her life, Roca heard voices come from the Circles. As one, the heads turned to the entrance.
Jaibriol III strode into the Hall. Barely more than a child, he walked with confidence, the image of his father, yet taller, larger, stronger, more regal. Razers surrounded him, but in the force of his personality their presence faded.
He reached the dais and climbed its steps. Corbal bowed to him, then withdrew to the front row of the Circles. So the emperor stood alone, looking out at the a.s.sembled Aristos. And he began to speak.
His voice resonated, with surprising authority for someone his age. As he lauded a new era for Eube, Eldrinson watched-and saw what no one else would see, because it was too incredible. He knew the way Jaibriol tilted his head, knew that cheek structure, which looked Highton but had subtle differences, knew the power in that voice, having long ago heard it himself from another seventeen-year-old.
In Jaibriol III Eldrinson saw his own daughter.
The emperor praised his Highton mother, a woman secluded with her son, following what had become a tradition for the Qox line, to hide their heirs. Born almost nine months after his father disappeared, Jaibriol III had lived during all the years of his father"s a.s.sumed death in secret, with his mother who had only recently pa.s.sed away. Eldrinson recognized the woman Qox described, knew the nuances of behavior he lauded. She was no Highton.
The emperor"s listeners reacted with an uprush of emotion. Three times during his speech they chimed their cymbals, caught by the charismatic performance.
Tiller returned and spoke to Roca and Eldrinson in a low voice. "It"s true. Your son Eldrin is in the custody of the Allied emba.s.sy on Delos."
"Thank you," Roca whispered. She looked at Eldrinson and he took her hand, squeezing it. Safe. Eldrin was safe. The Ruby Dynasty might all be prisoners, but at least they were free from the Traders.
On the holostage, Jaibriol turned to the camera, obviously aware his words would go to a far larger audience than the Hall of Circles. In a quiet voice, he said, "We have suffered the ravages of our conflicts. Let us now seek to heal. To the people of the Skolian Imperialate and Allied Worlds of Earth, I say this: Meet with me at the peace table. Let us lay to rest the hatreds that have sundered our common humanity."
Jaibriol III extended his hand, reaching across the stars.
So the first planks of a bridge were laid, a tenuous arch that could span a river of hatred and let humanity cross above, out of its grasping reach. The bridge might take years, even decades, to complete.
But it had begun.
Family Tree.
Time Line.
circa 4000 B.C.
Group of humans moved from Earth to Raylicon.
circa 3600 B.C.
Ruby Dynasty begins circa 3100 B.C.
Raylicans launch first interstellar flights; rise of Ruby Empire.
circa 2900 B.C.
Ruby Empire begins decline circa 2800 B.C.
Last interstellar flights; Ruby Empire collapses ...
circa A.D. 1300 Raylicans begin attempts to regain lost knowledge and colonies.
1843.
Raylicans regain interstellar flight 1866.
Rhon genetic project begins.
1869.
Aristos created 1871.
Aristos found Eubian Concord (aka Trader Empire) 1881.
Lahaylia Selei born 1904.
Lahaylia Selei founds Skolian Imperialate and takes Skolia name 2005.
Jarac born 2111.
Lahaylia Selei marries Jarac 2119.
Dyhianna (Dehya) Selei born 2122.
Earth achieves interstellar flight 2132.
Earth founds Allied Worlds 2144.
Roca born 2169.
Kurj born.
2204.
Eldrin Valdoria born; Jarac dies and Kurj becomes Imperator; Lahaylia dies 2206.
Althor Valdoria born 2209.
Havyrl (Vyrl) Valdoria born.
2210.
Sasucony (Soz) Valdoria born 2219.
Kelricson (Kelric) Valdoria born 2237.
Jaibriol II born.
2258.
Kelric crashes on Coba (The Last Hawk) early 2259 Soz meets Jaibriol (Primary Inversion) late 2259 Soz and Jaibriol go into exile (The Radiant Seas) 2260.
Jaibrial III born (aka Jaibriol Qox Skolia) 2263.
Rocalisa Qox Skolia born 2268.
Vitar Qox Skolia born.
2273.
del-Kelric Qox Skolia born 2274.
Radiance War begins (also called Domino War) 2276.
Traders capture Eldrin; Radiance War ends.
2277.
Kelric returns home (Ascendant Sun); Dehya coalesces (Spherical Harmonic) 2278.
Kamoj Argali meets Vyrl (The Quantum Rose) 2279.
Althor Vyan Selei born.
2328.
Althor Vyan Selei meets Tina Santis Pulivok (Catch the Lightning).
Tor Books by Catherine Asaro.
THE SAGA OF THE SKOLIAN EMPIRE.
Primary Inversion.
Catch the Lightning.
The Last Hawk.
The Radiant Seas.