Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund Page A

Wars of the Lost had rendered every other land on Earth uninhabitable.
    But it was far more important to emphasize the truth—that the land itself had been created by the last general, the one who’d won the last War of the Lost by cracking open the Earth and killing all his enemies. Had he not done that—whoever that brave man was—there would have been no New Pacifica in the first place.
    The aristos who’d ruled the land for so long were nobodies—probably descended from janitors or servants on the Lost General’s ship. The only reason they hadn’t ended up Reduced was that they’d been too poor to get the genetic enhancements that had accidentally caused Reduction. And then they’d taken advantage of the Reduced descendants of the people who’d really won the war.
    Like the Lost General. No one knew what had become of him and his family. They were Lost, their children Reduced, and the aristos had never kept records about that sort of thing. It could even be the Aldreds. Probably was, considering that Damos Aldred was such a great military mastermind, too.
    And Vania was determined to be just the same.
    As the first course was served, Citizen Aldred directed his sights on her. “How is the siege of the Ford plantation progressing, Vania?”
    “Very well, sir. I’m told the fortifications will fall in less than a week.”
    “Excellent.” Her father smiled. At his right, General Gawnt rolled his bulbous eyes, but Vania did her best to ignore it, as she did all his snide remarks and badly hidden whispers of “nepotism” and “brat.” Vania was young to be captain, and some people had a problem with that. But she didn’t know why anyone should be surprised. She had an aptitude for leadership and politics, like her father. Just because they had the same talents and went into the same line of work did not make them like the aristos, whose hereditary positions and privileges had been the bane of Galatea. It would have been wasteful of her father not to take advantage of her natural talents over some quibble about favoritism, just as it would have been wasteful of him not to utilize Justen’s scientific genius, just because his name was Helo. The revolution would never have been this successful without Justen’s contribution.
    She wished Justen were here. She doubted Gawnt would be making these comments if Justen Helo were looking him in the eye.
    “I heard a report that you were using unconventional methods to convince the Fords to surrender,” said another of the lieutenants. “How did that work out?”
    Vania grimaced. “Unfortunately, it didn’t. We bribed the nanny to smuggle the children beyond the barricade, believing that the parents would surrender themselves for their offspring’s sake.”
    “Good idea, Vania,” said her father, and she beamed.
    General Gawnt cleared his throat, and Vania’s smile withered.
    “Unfortunately, the nanny was a moron and lost the younger ones to the Wild Poppy.”
    “The Poppy!” General Gawnt snorted. “Again?”
    Vania took a deep breath. “However, there is good news. The nanny failed to retrieve the heir, so there’s no real harm done. Lord and Lady Ford will surrender eventually, and when they do, we’ll have them, the heir to the Ford estate, and their entire inner circle.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me about this before, Vania?” her father asked.
    “I handled it.” Vania clenched her hands beneath the table as all eyes turned in her direction. “The servant has been appropriately punished, only the youngest children escaped, and the siege remains on schedule.”
    “ Appropriately punished ?” echoed Gawnt. “How?”
    “Reduction, of course.”
    “Did you interrogate her first?” he asked. Vania wondered whether or not the man was capable of speaking without spittle flying from his lips. “Did she give any information that might help us track down this Poppy?”
    “She was an idiot!” Vania insisted. “She didn’t even need the