Dominion by John Connolly

channels of communication on occasion, mostly by discreetly mentioning some detail in the knowledge that she would pass it on, but he had always been careful not to openly acknowledge her divided loyalties. He thought for a moment.
    â€œDo what you must,” he said, resigned now to the inevitable. “Balen and I will try to get word to the Military commanders we have left. Perhaps they can break out their forces from the barracks and try to stop the landings, or stall them. At the very least, it’ll give them time to seize ships and start evacuating.”
    But even as he spoke, he knew that there was little hope. Any unscheduled craft trying to leave the planet over the coming hours and days would be blown from the skies by the Corps, either by remote weaponry on Earth or their fighters above. By the time the ships carrying the spores began to descend, he would be surprised if there was a single Corps official or Securitat left on Earth.
    A hand touched Danis’s arm. His wife was beside him. She leaned forward and kissed him gently, then laid her head upon his shoulder. It was as close to intimacy as they had come in many months.
    â€œLet’s give a chance to as many as we can, Illyri or human,” she said. “I will see you back here when we’re done. I promise you, Danis.”
    And then she and Althea were gone.

CHAPTER 14
    O vernight, Danis, Peris, and Balen contacted everyone they could think of to warn them of what they believed to be coming, but for the most part their concerns were met with polite bafflement. More often than not, they received raucous laughter in response.
    â€œHave you been drinking again, Danis?” asked more than one base commander. The governor cringed at the “again.” How little weight his supposed authority wielded; how fractured the Military chain of command had become here on Earth, how insubordinate. The sense that they’d been left to rot was pervasive among those who remained on the blue planet, and they were more concerned about their vulnerability to superior Corps forces than of crazy talk from a washed-up figurehead who was known to be too well acquainted with the bottle.
    â€œYou say there are spores being sent from space to destroy us?” repeated Rupe, a former member of the castle guard who now headed up the Military detail in Santiago. “Alien spores, Lord Danis?”
    He sounded worried, and for a moment Danis thought he’d finally found someone outside of Scotland who was taking him seriously, until Rupe added: “Perhaps you should see a doctor, Governor. You’ve been under a lot of pressure.”
    There was no more that he could do. He could only hope that Fian and Althea were having better luck. Danis did manage to call in one favor, though. He succeeded in contacting Junior Consul Steyr, the Diplomat who had overall command of the European continent. To Danis’s surprise, he had always found Steyr reasonable, even honorable, and they had worked well together during Danis’s time as governor. Steyr was on his way to a departing shuttle, fleeing like the rest, when Danis got him on-screen.
    â€œYou’re leaving us, Consul?” said Danis.
    Steyr smiled at the older Illyri. There was a hint of sadness to it.
    â€œAll Diplomatic personnel have been ordered to leave the planet,” Steyr replied. “Our time here is coming to a close.”
    â€œAnd Military personnel?”
    Steyr’s smile faded.
    â€œFor the most part, they are to remain on Earth.”
    Danis trod carefully. This was not a secure channel.
    â€œI have a feeling that those left behind may have cause to regret their posting,” he said. “I would consider it a great personal favor if the restrictions on Military travel could be relaxed to permit some of my staff and family to join the exodus.”
    â€œThose are not the orders we have received.”
    â€œWe are all Illyri,” said Danis.