Spherical Harmonic by Catherine Asaro Page A

lives—
     
     
Anger surged over me, and a rush of memories. Control, hell. They were maniacs. Eldrin was my nephew. The son of Eldrinson and Roca. The Assembly had forced our marriage and demanded we have children. Rhon psions were almost impossible to produce in the lab, which made the Ruby Dynasty the only known source. Without us, the psiberweb couldn't exist. Any telop could use the web, but only we could power it. Desperate to ensure their supply of Rhon psions, the Assembly had given Eldrin and me no choice. Never mind that it threatened to tear apart our family. No price was too great.
     
     
J'chabi was waiting patiently. Seeing me focus on him, he continued. "Could you have contacted anyone in psiberspace but not remember?"
     
     
Hard as it was to do, I made myself switch gears. Brooding about the Assembly would do me no good right now. "It's possible. I tried to project an impression of my location and situation, but even if I reached someone, it might not register enough for me to remember."
     
     
He spoke with a hope that sounded forced. "If anyone can make contact, it is you."
     
     
"I hope you're right." Eventually someone would find out we had been here.
     
     
I just prayed we were still free and alive then.
     
     
    * * *
Natil stood in the doorway of J'chabi Na's home. "Come in, may I?"
     
     
J'chabi moved aside, inviting her to enter.
     
     
I was waiting a few steps back in the hall. "Have you news of Hajune and Skyhold?"
     
     
Natil walked into the hall. "Skyhold recovers slowly." The taciturn officer actually cracked a smile. "But recover she does."
     
     
"This is good, J'chabi said.
     
     
Natil seemed distracted. "Another problem we have."
     
     
J'chabi ushered us into the main living area. "Problem?"
     
     
"A ship in orbit."
     
     
My hope surged. "Skolian?"
     
     
Natil turned her dark gaze on me. "Lady, I hope this ship comes not for you."
     
     
I regarded her uneasily. "Why?"
     
     
She answered flatly. "Trader."
     
     
Ah, no. We were fast running out of options. "Are they looking for the crashed Aristo ship?"
     
     
"Yes. We gave them the two Razers." Natil grimaced. "Still the Traders say, 'We punish.' "
     
     
Her words cut like honed steel. I had seen how the Traders punished worlds. How far they took it would depend on the importance of the Aristo who had died, how close their kinship ties were to his family, and what they thought they could get away with. Their retaliation could range from kidnapping Shay natives to slagging this entire moon. Most likely they would abduct whatever Shay they could sell for a good price in their slave markets and then destroy this city.
     
     
"This is a Skolian world," I said. "They're breaking so many treaties by coming here, I can't count them." I could, actually. They were violating four clauses in the Halstaad Code of War. We could take them to trial on any one and win— which right now meant about as much as nits in a nova.
     
     
"What can we do?" Natil asked.
     
     
Good question. "Are any starport defenses still operable?"
     
     
J'chabi answered. "All were destroyed."
     
     
I stood thinking. "Tell them this: our ISC backup forces have the Aristo and crew from the Trader ship that crashed."
     
     
"No ISC backup here," Natil pointed out.
     
     
"We know that. They don't." I had been mangling the Shay syntax, but it didn't matter. The tension indicated by my "inverted" sentences fit the situation. "Remind them about the Halstaad Code. They know they're violating it."
     
     
J'chabi frowned. "I doubt that will stop them. It won't be hard to verify that we have no ISC support."
     
     
"But it will stall them. I'll keep trying to reach ISC." If I could bring in armed ships, it would put teeth into our bluff.
     
     
Otherwise, the Traders would discover that they had chanced upon a far greater prize than they expected: the Ruby Pharaoh.
     
     
     

8
     
     
The Brooding Night
     
     
     
     

…Again I awoke