and Meghina both look Human and act Human. It’s beyond cellular structures, beyond anything physical. It goes to your hearts.”
“Listening to you, I could almost imagine that any other differences are inconsequential.”
“They are.” He pulled her close, embraced her. It amazed him how the Parvii magnification system could make this tiny person seem much larger, in all respects. He wondered what the fate of her decimated race was, and knew she spent much more time thinking about that than he did.
Noah heard a low hum, and felt a gentle vibration at his feet. The glax platform shuttled them from the moorage basin toward the floating, inverted dome of the council chamber. After a few minutes, it nudged up against a docking module and locked into position. Glax double doors slid open, revealing the interior of an entrance deck that skirted the chamber.
A pair of Tulyans marched forward stiffly, dressed in green-and-gold uniforms. They each carried a cap. “Right this way, please,” the shorter of the reptilian men said, to Anton and Noah, as they stepped off the platform. “We are your escorts.” He bowed, then put his cap back on. “The Elders are extremely anxious to speak with you.”
“It is an emergency,” the other Tulyan said as he put on his own cap.
“What do you mean?” Doge Anton asked.
“I am not authorized to say.”
Noah felt a sense of foreboding.
Emerging from the gathered passengers, Eshaz said, “I’ll go with them. This doesn’t sound good.”
“As you wish.” The shorter escort led the way up a wide, travertine tile stairway, while Eshaz motioned for Tesh and Subi to join the group.
On the next level they hurried through an arched doorway, then over a wide bridge that crossed a reflecting pool. Well-dressed aliens of a variety of races were gathered in a reception area, talking in hushed tones. They looked angry. Noah noticed that other alien dignitaries were being led out of the council chamber, just beyond. None of them looked very happy.
The escorts led the small party into the immense council chamber, onto a clearglax floor that seemed to float on air, with the curvature of the inverted dome below, and the ethereal mists of the starcloud. Their footsteps echoed on the floor. The immense chamber was nearly empty, with no one in the rows of spectator seats, and a few last aliens being led out, despite their protestations.
Three stern-looking Tulyans sat in the center of a wide, curving bench.
“Something is terribly wrong,” Eshaz whispered to Noah. “Just three Elders, and no one in the visitor’s gallery. I have never seen anything like this before, and I have lived for a long time.”
The female Elder in the center looked down solemnly from the bench, and waited for the chamber to be sealed. Noah recognized her as First Elder Kre’n.
“We have very grave news, indeed,” she said.
Noah and his companions stared upward inquisitively. His feelings of foreboding intensified.
“Terrible tragedies on Human and Mutati worlds,” a much larger Elder on her left, Dabiggio, said. “Our operatives got messages off to us describing the disasters.”
“Web transmissions,” Kre’n said. “While we have had difficulties with them, due to galactic conditions, they remain more reliable than your nehrcoms.”
“Tragedies, disasters?” Anton asked. “What are you talking about?”
Kre’n scowled at him. “You don’t know? While you were away, didn’t you receive any nehrcom messages?”
“We’ve been in relay range for awhile now. Several reports came in, but nothing about any big problems.”
“Fake transmissions, I suspect. Every Human and Mutati planet has been attacked.”
Anton and Tesh gasped. Noah glowered, waiting for more information.
“The attackers cut off authentic nehrcom transmissions from all MPA planets,” Kre’n said. “It took them longer, but they also managed to cut off our web transmissions. We fear the worst for our
“Listening to you, I could almost imagine that any other differences are inconsequential.”
“They are.” He pulled her close, embraced her. It amazed him how the Parvii magnification system could make this tiny person seem much larger, in all respects. He wondered what the fate of her decimated race was, and knew she spent much more time thinking about that than he did.
Noah heard a low hum, and felt a gentle vibration at his feet. The glax platform shuttled them from the moorage basin toward the floating, inverted dome of the council chamber. After a few minutes, it nudged up against a docking module and locked into position. Glax double doors slid open, revealing the interior of an entrance deck that skirted the chamber.
A pair of Tulyans marched forward stiffly, dressed in green-and-gold uniforms. They each carried a cap. “Right this way, please,” the shorter of the reptilian men said, to Anton and Noah, as they stepped off the platform. “We are your escorts.” He bowed, then put his cap back on. “The Elders are extremely anxious to speak with you.”
“It is an emergency,” the other Tulyan said as he put on his own cap.
“What do you mean?” Doge Anton asked.
“I am not authorized to say.”
Noah felt a sense of foreboding.
Emerging from the gathered passengers, Eshaz said, “I’ll go with them. This doesn’t sound good.”
“As you wish.” The shorter escort led the way up a wide, travertine tile stairway, while Eshaz motioned for Tesh and Subi to join the group.
On the next level they hurried through an arched doorway, then over a wide bridge that crossed a reflecting pool. Well-dressed aliens of a variety of races were gathered in a reception area, talking in hushed tones. They looked angry. Noah noticed that other alien dignitaries were being led out of the council chamber, just beyond. None of them looked very happy.
The escorts led the small party into the immense council chamber, onto a clearglax floor that seemed to float on air, with the curvature of the inverted dome below, and the ethereal mists of the starcloud. Their footsteps echoed on the floor. The immense chamber was nearly empty, with no one in the rows of spectator seats, and a few last aliens being led out, despite their protestations.
Three stern-looking Tulyans sat in the center of a wide, curving bench.
“Something is terribly wrong,” Eshaz whispered to Noah. “Just three Elders, and no one in the visitor’s gallery. I have never seen anything like this before, and I have lived for a long time.”
The female Elder in the center looked down solemnly from the bench, and waited for the chamber to be sealed. Noah recognized her as First Elder Kre’n.
“We have very grave news, indeed,” she said.
Noah and his companions stared upward inquisitively. His feelings of foreboding intensified.
“Terrible tragedies on Human and Mutati worlds,” a much larger Elder on her left, Dabiggio, said. “Our operatives got messages off to us describing the disasters.”
“Web transmissions,” Kre’n said. “While we have had difficulties with them, due to galactic conditions, they remain more reliable than your nehrcoms.”
“Tragedies, disasters?” Anton asked. “What are you talking about?”
Kre’n scowled at him. “You don’t know? While you were away, didn’t you receive any nehrcom messages?”
“We’ve been in relay range for awhile now. Several reports came in, but nothing about any big problems.”
“Fake transmissions, I suspect. Every Human and Mutati planet has been attacked.”
Anton and Tesh gasped. Noah glowered, waiting for more information.
“The attackers cut off authentic nehrcom transmissions from all MPA planets,” Kre’n said. “It took them longer, but they also managed to cut off our web transmissions. We fear the worst for our
Similar Books
